Willelm

Information

Player: imagenashyun

Character Full Name: Lord Willelm-Anthony Salsborough

Character In-Game Name: Willelm

Nickname(s): Willie, Will, Pupster, Puppykins

Association(s): House of Salsborough, Kingdom of Gilneas, The Love Exchange

Race: Worgen

Class: Hunter, Noble/Businessman

Age: 54

Sex: Male

Hair: As human, he has receding graying blond with small, short curls accompanied by thick mutton chops to the sides of his face. As a worgen, he (tries to) keep fairly groomed light-gray fur with some curls to his mane, though his newly attained lupine nature tends to make his work rather futile.

Eyes: Blue

Weight: 5'5" (human), 6'5" (worgen)

Height: 120 lbs. (human), 210 lbs. (worgen)

Appearance

Usual Garments/Armor: Willie's style of dress often composes of the proper three-piece suit on top of a corset, the waistcoat of a different color from his coat and trousers. He is also very fond of the high shawl collar, accompanied with different patterns of cravats tied to a soft bow. Oftentimes when going outside, he'd put on a brown double-breasted longcoat with a black top hat and stylish cane. A fur cloak is usually reserved for special evening parties.

As a worgen, the clothes appropriately stretch though at times they rip. Especially the corset.

Other: Willie looks different from the in-game model in that he's a very specific body shape, due to the girdle he wears around his waist. As a human, he is very streamlined and thin, with a stiffened back and small waistline. As a worgen, though far taller and muscular, he's still small in comparison to other men afflicted by the curse.

Personality

Alignment: Lawful Good

Willelm was brought up spoiled, ignorant of the ways of life among commoners and, well, anyone who isn’t Gilnean. His perspective towards other races, classes, cultures, and the like is very narrow and even misconstrued and skewed; as such, he often times comes off as a mean-spirited bigot. In truth, Willelm is caring and compassionate about others; he just has a -very- messed-up view of what “compassion” is.

Much of Willelm’s anger and anguish of his past was repressed and restrained, primarily due to his upbringing but also because of his position in society; at all costs, he must be upright, strong-headed, and sound. All of this will come crashing down, however, should any slight provoke him--he will transform into his worgen form at the drop of a hat. Because of his dishonesty with himself, Willelm has poor control over his feral nature once he becomes a worgen; though he has the clarity of a human, he will be prone to more lupine instincts such as the drive to chase after moving objects and the taste of raw meat. Often times, Willelm needs the emotional support of others to change back, and the lack of a family provides fear and insecurity in himself as a person as well as a worgen.

All in all, Willelm is a good man with many skeletons in his closet. It’s just that his worgen side often brings them out with the simplest of slights.

History

Willelm-Anthony Salsborough was born in the upper districts of Gilneas to an influential family that capitalized their wealth by trading between the other cities of the Eastern Kingdoms--particularly in the ownership of land that covered parts of the northern woods, as well as of the sales of rare and expensive furs from exotic beasts as well as contributions to fashion. As a young man not one to idle, "Willie" would would engage in the hunt himself, often shooting beasts with the finest skins he could find; as such, hunting was moreso a pastime for him than an actual job, for otherwise he was comfortable and well off with the money his family made. By the time he turned eighteen, the family name of Salsborough was secured through the marriage of his arranged bride, Helena.

Much to the dismay of the Salsboroughs, however, was that of Gilneas' involvement in the Second War. With great reluctance, the Salsboroughs contributed some of their wealth to Gilnean efforts, primarily to avoid embarassment in not displaying proactive loyalty to the Greymane crown. None of the Salsboroughs would count on losing their wealth in greater numbers, however, as the King would erect the Greymane Wall; in doing so, almost all of the Salsboroughs' foreign trade allies were entirely cut off. Though the Salsboroughs have enough money to be well-off for a very long time, the loss of trade partners and opportunies to hunt have cut off the value of their trade. As the Northgate Rebellion occurred, however, the family would split: members who sided with Crowley would do so primarily for selfish gain (to regain their trade partnerships in other kingdoms) while members who sided with Greymane would do so to avoid accusations of treason. Though Willelm simply wishes for the chance to leave and hunt again, he reluctantly sided with Greymane and managed to avoid imprisonment while rebels in his family were incarcerated.

Restlessness fell upon the House of Salsborough. Despite the family possessing income through land ownership, the influence they had on fur trade and fashion have all but dwindled. Willelm and Helena would erupt into disputes over power and wealth distribution within the family, due to both disagreeing on how to handle their money. Scandals followed soon after as ruin came upon their marriage and reputation: Helena began squandering her side of wealth through gambling and uncontrolled compulsive buying, while Willelm started pursuing lovers among other women. It did not take long until the marriage was completely split: the couple separated, and the Salsborough wealth suffered even greater.

As though things couldn’t get any worse, the curse of the Worgen began plaguing the people behind the Greymane Wall. By this point, Willelm’s hunting skills have dwindled due to inaccessibility to more favorable targets outside the Wall; it didn’t take long for him until he was overwhelmed by the worgen’s bite within his estate. The House fell completely, and Willelm lost his home as he fled to Duskhaven with the other citizens of Gilneas. Completely overwhelmed with his afflicted curse, Willelm had to set aside his pride as a noble in order to receive the cure to keep his curse under control. He went along with the others to Darnassus, where he humbled himself further by getting to know the night elves there.

When Gilneas re-integrated with the Alliance, Willelm made a move to Stormwind to check--out of curiosity--of Salsborough funds held in Stormwind banks. Lo and behold, much of his wealth outside the Wall made through fashion trade was secured; he had enough to set up a new estate and hire new workers to maintain the land. But accompanying his sudden change in lifestyle came with a changed perspective in life--Willelm has lived so selfishly with his wealth that he no longer had a family to call his own. Inspired by the compassion and guilt the Night Elves had for the worgens’ curse, Willelm decided to start a business based on helping others while still searching for occupants and buyers of his land.

The opportunity would come in buying a now-defunct business known as The Love Exchange, a business devoted to matchmaking, family/marriage counselling, and community housing. Though the material business, lying in The Love Boat, was sunk in Stranglethorn Vale, the contractual and intellectual ownership was still intact. However, Willelm didn’t like the business’ mission: to provide love, romance, family, and community to all people, regardless of race, orientation, or--above all--faction. Due to the wars between the Alliance and the Horde, Willelm recognizes how dangerous this mission is... and how it’d really just be bad business. However, Willelm was genuinely intrigued with extending his clientele to members of the Horde as well as the Alliance; thus, of all the mission objectives the Love Exchange had, the only one he kept intact was its political neutrality. Willelm would buy the business from its previous owner, the spirit walker draenei, Kapre. He then hired its previous workers to assist him with establishing the business, especially its new rules.

This is a big jump of change for Willelm, even though he had previous experience with running a business. The problem with it all, however, is not if the business and his new life goals would succeed. It’s if he’ll find a way to forgive himself for the mess he has become through the work he'll now take upon himself through The Love Exchange.