Lionell

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Appearance

Lionell can most often be seen wearing a full set of plate armour, carrying his weapon of choice; a two handed sword. His entire armour looks to have been taken care off, apart from some light scratches here and there. It is a simple armour at a quick glance, but it's design seems to have been altered in places specifically for Lionell. It's shoulder-pads bear the crest of Lionell's family on it, in a mixture of gold and vivid red.

The hilt of the sword, carries the same crest only smaller and forged into it so that it goes around the entire hilt from bottom to top. The blade itself, seems to be made out of a fine steel but carries no decoration. It carries signs of having been reforged at some point however.

Other: He always carries several things around his belt, sacks and pouches either containing some food, water, and coins.

Personality

Alignment: Neutral Good

Lionell is a valiant knight, or so he sees himself. His faith is placed in the light and everything that happens, happens with a reason. It's either a test of his skills, judgement or weaknesses. And as such, Lionell constantly trains himself, pushing himself to new edges and new limits.

Justice. He seeks the path of the right, wherever he may be. Be it on the side of the law, to catch a thief. Or be it on the side of the thief, who stole to feed his family. He has no quarrel with human laws, and follows them till the situation asks for a different approach. Motives are an important aspect, and in his belief, he seeks for the good in each motive. That does not mean that he will turn a blind eye to evil, but in all that can be summed up as evil, must rest some good deep down. In his eyes, you can not be completely evil, just twisted down to the point of no return.

Loyalty, to those who he considers to be friends. To those who request his aid, and to his family line. He is, the sole member still living of Westernwood family, but upholds the ideals like everyone before him. He wears his armour, like those before him. Fighting for the near forgotten and lost ideals of his family line. He defends his family name, his friends, or his employers to the best of his capabilities, even if it means getting wounded or killed in the end.

Generosity, to those who need it. Do what others can't, and give what others need. While the family fortune is slowly lessening, Lionell would rather become poor in good faith, then to become rich in a poor one.

His racial views, would be different per race. While untrustworthy of most Horde members, he would rarely attack on sight. Forsaken would be the exception to this rule, who are an abomination that needs to be destroyed.

He is indifferent towards the Orc's, Trolls and Tauren. Though trolls are watched closely, he would not attack any of these races straight away. Motivations first, see what they are planning and up to and if it's endangering human society in any way, he would act on it. While he knows he is hated by many Orc's, he realizes their point as well. It was the humans who placed them into camps, and used them for their own entertainment. They were no better then slaves back then.

For Alliance races, he has no strange opinions. Fellow humans are always liked, as are dwarves. While gnomes are a bit 'unique' from his point of view, their arms and technology have become unmissable in warfare. The Draenei are the righteous and the just, and Lionell admires how they put through their hardships while keeping their believes firm in the light. The Kaldorei however, are an eccentric and a paranoid bunch, who Lionell would rather not see in the same group. Until they trust him, he shall not trust them.

Underneath all these values, lays a man with a broken heart. Carrying so many scars, that he rarely talks openly about his family. His memories are his burden to bear, and only in the company of trusted friends, would he tell his tale. He honours his lost relatives by praying, doing good, and upholding the line and values of what his family had taught him. Yet during stormy days and nights, Lionell often closes his eyes, wishing it all was different.

History

Year 0

Born during the first war, Lionell his family mansion stood near the Lordaeron borders. His family who seemingly had it all consisted of a loving mother, stern but just father, along with two brothers and a sister. Quite the tight bunch, Lionell was the most recent addition to his line. The next one in the age list would be Michael, who was two years older. After him, Sarah came, and last but not least, Jacob.

It wasn't always easy being the youngest of them all, but his father loved them all equally and during these six years, Lionell grew up in peace. The destruction of Stormwind surely was a major event, but Lionell was far too young to have experienced any of it.

Year 6

The years went on, and at the age of six he found himself observing both his brother and sister. He watched them both spar in the field, practising and improving themselves rapidly. The weapons they used were sticks, but it clearly showed both had prowess with fighting. One could say they both were equally matched, and had their own unique strengths and weaknesses.

In this year, Lionell's father heeded the call to war. The situation looked dire with the Horde starting it's assault on Lordaeron. The mansion never got hit, but Lionell's father did. Being wounded several times in battle, he was lucky enough to survive and return home. Crippled however, as his left leg had not survived the assault. Over the years, it would make the man bitter and even more stern in his regime over the house, and proved that war truly leaves scars.

Year 10

Lionell finds himself thrilled with books, and documents of all sorts. Pieces of writing which predicted and supported the founding of his name. Yet the young man's interests also varied towards books regarding military tactics and warfare. Books telling heroic stories and legends of old, but also the history of more recent events. His lust for books would stuck with him over the years, despite his brothers and sister teasing him for it. Sometimes a book would get 'lost' and nobody had seen a thing, other times they just took it and ran off. Regardless, Lionell always found ways to keep reading and studying, satisfying his thirst for knowledge.

Year 16

As peace followed, Lionell became further of age and eventually joined the tradition of being trained into the art of combat. While his prowess with ranged weaponry seemed to lack, he made up for it with a bright head and unusual tactics. Tactics that managed to surprise his brothers and sister during sparring, which at times led him to victories. At other times it ended with a bruise on his head. During his training he also began to take an interest in horsemanship and exploring. At times he took hour long trips into the fields and countryside, only seeing what he had already known for all these years. But on each trip he hoped for something new, an adventure as one might call it.

The biggest adventure he had seen during those days would be the one involving a storm. He had set out during a bright sunny morning, riding out for hours like he had grown accustomed to. But during his trip, the weather took a turn for the worst. He ended up in a storm, and a rough one at that. The clouds blocked out the sunlight, the rain soaked his attire and his horse, and with a lack of vision, he steered his horse down the path. It slipped and fell through it's front legs, after which a loud snap followed.

The horse had broken both of it's front legs, and lay squirming and whining about. Being in no position to survive, Lionell pushed himself to it's feet and stared dumbfounded for the first few minutes. When realisation kicked in the young boy unsheathed his weapon. With closed eyes and a shaky hand, he used his first real weapon to put the being, that had served him for years, out of his misery. He knew he couldn't have done anything to save him yet that did not mean he was guiltless. Lionell did not wish to see the horse crippled for the rest of his life should it actually manage to survive through the night.

There he sat, soaked, crying, shaking and shivering. A 'man' of sixteen years old with a dead horse in front of him. A decision Lionell would never forget for the rest of his life. When the storm calmed down, Lionell had not moved. He had been sitting there, and would be found by the oldest brother Jacob, who upon finding Lionell, did not speak a word.

Having been brought to the mansion, he was taken care off by the servants but would lay still in bed for several days. Becoming sick and having to deal with the painful memory of his former loyal steed would cause his will to act to be deprived. The fix? Both of his brothers dragged him out of bed, punched him on the shoulder and told him to get on with life. Which Lionell after the most emotional sparring fight of his life, did.

Year 20

When Lionell had reached the age of twenty, he and his brothers signed up for guard duty in Lordaeron. Lionell's sister had chosen to travel but through letters stayed constantly in touch with her family.

Year 23

Three years later, the letters stopped. Spring turned into summer, summer turned into fall. The family did not see letters, nor heard anything of their beloved Sarah. Not until the season turned into winter, in which a carriage rode up through the snow to the mansion.

It carried the lifeless corpse of Sarah Westernwood, who had been ambushed a few days out of Lordaeron. There had been rumours in the city for days about thugs and bandits but Lionell and his brothers were restricted to stay within the city walls whenever they were on duty. Sarah's dead body was the result of this restriction. A miss not a single one of the family members had truly gotten over till their own deaths. Lionell mourned for months but having learned the lesson about grief a long time ago, carried on with his guard duty.

Year 25

Year twenty-five, Lordaeron was brutally infected, attacked, and eventually burned to the ground. In the chaos of the event, Jacob and Michael were cut off from Lionell as they tried to double back to the mansion. Micheal arrived first, but found himself too late as the mansion had already been put ablaze. There was no sign of Lionell's mother nor father, and everything the three men once possessed, was no longer there.

Jacob had been killed in his attempt to make it back to the mansion, but the two men wouldn't know until several days later. Michael pulled Lionell through another phasing of grief as they both hopelessly tried to put the fires out, but it was of little effect. The mansion crumbled down and left only ashes in the scourge's destructive wake.

Biting themselves through another era of sorrow, grief, and hopelessness, the two men still had each other. Both of them moved on with whatever they had left, finding survivors here and there which they tried to help. Ending up in the city of Stormwind, Lionell and Michael went towards the nearest tavern. They sat down, gained a mug of coffee, and stared in utter silence.

The silence went on for the first two days, till Michael started mentioning all the good things he had once possessed in his life. Lionell simply responded with a stare which only broke off when he ordered another drink. But by the end of the night, their plans were made. They were the last two members of the Westernwood family, the last two of their noble line. Michael knew he couldn't live on like this and set out to find himself a wife and to settle down.

Lionell would remain seated, till his brother had walked out. He would remain seated till the next morning arrived. Paying for his drinks upon this new morning, he signed up for new guard duty the moment after, and found himself joining the Stormwind Guard.

The contact between Michael and Lionell went quickly downhill after. The bond between them seemed to have been twisted, it had been fading, and after a few months of going on like this, it had vanished entirely. Michael had found a lovely wife and had settled down. The peace for Lionell's brother did not last long as he died shortly after due to unknown reasons.

The hardships he had endured, had taken it's toll and reduced his lifespan. Maybe it was simply that he had lost the will to life, maybe he had contracted some sort of disease on the way. Regardless, in a spring month, Michael died. They never truly found out why yet the same sickened feeling reached his wife who didn't want to live on without him. She killed herself the night Michael died and left no heritage behind.

Year 27

For the next three years Lionell pulled himself back. He became more introvert, more silent, and due to his poor work, was dismissed by his commanding officer within the Stormwind Guard. He had mourned and he had stared. He had yelled and he had fought.

But in the end he had returned. To his ideals and to the family's values. As sole remaining member of the Westernwood family, he had pledged an oath to himself to not let his line die. He had pledged an oath to take revenge on everything and everyone that had caused this. He had scolded nature herself, and rode through the wildest of her storms.

And Lionell had made it out safely, with a straightened back. His family fortune had lessened over the years and all of it's members had been killed. But not him. He would use whatever he had left to make this piece of rubbish he had been born into, a better place. One way or another he would protect and serve others. Hoping to prevent whatever hardships life had intended to bring down upon them.

Year 33

The last three years of his life had been spend in servitude to others, to those who needed his skills, and to those who needed his help. To those who needed his money, and to those who needed his faith. He became a well seen man in the Stormwind Cathedral, firmly believing it is the only place he can still feel the spirits of his family. He had worked on himself and improved both body and mind.

For he was Lionell Westernwood, proud knight of the Westernwood family and sole upholder of the Westernwood family line.

Lionell

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