Etienne

Information

Player: landashua

Character Full Name: Rene Etienne Claure

Character In-Game Name: Etienne

Nickname(s): N/A

Association(s): Stormwind

Race: Human

Class: Warrior (Cavalryman)

Skills and Abilities: Seriously good horsemanship.

Age: 44

Sex: Male

Hair: Bald, greying mustache.

Eyes: Blue

Weight: 75kg / 165 lb

Height: 1.85m / 6'1"

Appearence

Usual Garments/Armor: Etienne usually sports the typical ware of a hussar, a tight-fitting outfit consisting of a fur lined blue jacket decorated on the front by gold braid, a broad golden sash around his waist, and a pair of tight fitting slacks with golden braid down the front of the legs reaching to about mid-thigh. Under his jacket is a second tight fitting shirt, decorated similarly.

Other: Etienne wears various scars from a lifetime of war, none exceptional, however.

Personality

As per the typical Hussar, Etienne is conceited to a fault. It takes a brave man to charge unarmored into the enemy, and usually a man foolish enough to let it go to his head. Despite his pride Etienne manners well in most situations, if a bit awkward in a non-military setting.

History

Reiss Etienne Claure was born to a quite well-to-do family in Stormwind proper, some fifteen years before the first war. His father had been a long-serving member of the guard, his mother a rather popular singer in the city. He began his schooling a year earlier than most children after showing a quick wit and an almost innate ability to pick things up on the first try.

In school Reiss eventually started going by his middle name, Etienne, which had been passed from father to son for generations in his family. He performed well enough in each subject, not the top of his class but sufficient enough to earn good marks. Etienne had a certain charm about him that brought the young man popularity with the other students, as well as his teachers.

At the age of twelve Etienne was squired off to a Stormwind cavalryman. He picked up the trade quickly, as he had done his entire life. Horse riding came natural to the young boy and he thoroughly enjoyed keeping the stables. As was often the case the young squire traveled with the cavalryman to the front lines of the First War. Seeing first hand the brutality of the conflict against a previously unknown enemy would forever change Etienne, hardening the fifteen year old.

During one particular skirmish Etienne's mentor came back grievously wounded, the man's horse running instinctively back to the camp. That the number of men making it back to the camp were so few was a cause for major concern. The dying cavalryman left his horse to Etienne, with a simple command - "Flee!", and shortly the camp was overrun by the green horde.

At the tender age of fifteen Etienne fled, running his horse nearly to death to return to a larger camp with news of the defeat. He lied about his status and age in order to take up arms in the coming defense. Hours later the Orcs were assembling for their assault, a tide held back by an increasingly wary levy. Shortly, the men knew, the levy would break and the green tide would pour forth.

Screams from the orc line sounded their charge, horns from the human camp echoing back shortly after. Etienne had no time to think and was simply caught up in the charge, following closely with the other cavalrymen. He knew their formations, how to attack, how to swing from a horse, but now came the crucial time to put it into action. He leaned into his saddle and drew sabre, wafting the blade high above his head. The cavalrymen split into two columns, slashing at the flanks of the orcs before enveloping them in a circle.

Blades clanged together, green limbs were severed, lives were ended. The cavalry soon let off the assault, having inflicted great casualty but also suffering damaging losses to their own numbers. The surviving humans retreated back to the camp, Etienne among them. The pride inside the young man's heart overwhelmed any trace of fear, pushing the bitter, crippling emotion back into the far reaches of his mine, where it would forever dwell. Etienne had survived a charge.

The thrill of battle has never lost its novelty for Etienne, who after serving the rest of the First War under guise eventually joined the cavalry legitimately when he came of age. Mounted combat, he figured, was better at speed, and chose to forsake armor for himself and his horse. He chose to be a Hussar.

The Second war featured many charges similar to his first, only feeding the already conceited hussar's ego. Dashing bravado was his signature, foolish bravery his calling card. No mission was too dangerous for the man, no assignment too daring, Etienne fed on the thrill - but his appetite proved insatiable. Though never a cruel man, Etienne would pursue charges well past their advantage, seeking personal glory over his own well-being, let alone that of his companions.

Refusing to back down, Etienne pressed his last charge of the second war dangerously deep into enemy lines. A head-on charge was never advised, save for a suicidal stalling tactic, but onward he rode, sabre wafting above his head. Used to finding the smallest of lanes Etienne sliced through the line, many of his companions following shortly behind him. But his blazing trail ended shortly into the orcish mass. His horse was struck dead and the hussar dismounted, where he fought with all the fervor and skill he could muster. Etienne was plagued by the screams of his companions as they fell around him, the young hussar having charged many to their deaths.

When all looked bleak, Etienne and several of his companions in a loose circle, hope glimmered in the distance. The paladins of Lordaeron rode to the rescue of the cavalrymen, and shortly behind them charged a mass of infantry. The fighting continued for several hours more, but what had seemed like a certain defeat turned into an assured victory. Etienne, however, was not so happy with the victory. Many of his companions lay dead largely because of his own foolishness and he swore to temper his lust for glory on that day.

Etienne still fought bravely, and perhaps a bit foolishly, during the Third War, but the insatiable appetite had been forced down. Still not one to shy away from a dangerous mission Etienne began to put his men first, his own glory second. The fighting in the third was was unlike anything he had previously seen. The enemy was unnatural, not always willing to stay down when cut down. The loss of Lordaeron shook Etienne to his core, as it did with most humans. To see the city plagued and the countryside wasted was damaging to him, as it would have been to any other who witnessed it.

His morning for Lordaeron could not last forever, though, and it slowly sank to the back of his mind. A burden every citizen of Stormwind carries. Etienne never served in the Outland, but he did travel to Northrend with a small contingent of cavalrymen and helped establish Wintergarde keep, even fighting in the area during the siege of Naxxramas.

Now the Hussar finds himself back home in Stormwind, settled in relative peace. Thirty years in the saddle have taught him many things. But he's not quite willing to retire, yet. The old boy still has a good campaign left in him.