Yancy

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Gnome maleWarrior Yancy Boltwing
Yancy Boltwing
Gender Male
Race Gnome
Class Ace
Association(s) Gnomeregan
Status Alive

Yancy Boltwing is a 89-year-old Gnome Ace. He is played by Jonoth.

History

Yancy was born in the great city of Gnomeregan. Like many Gnomes, he took to engineering like a fish to water, studying the intricate systems of moving parts and learning how things worked together. This would be a theme of the years to come, as Yancy came to strongly value working with others to achieve his building goals. He got along well with not only his fellow Gnomes, but with their neighboring Dwarven allies, enjoying their storytelling and especially their ale.

The first time Yancy laid eyes on an aircraft, he immediately fell in love. When the pilot noticed his fixation, he offered to give the Gnome a ride in the gyrocopter, as she was looking for some repairs and upgrades and wanted him to see first-hand some of what she wanted improved. And Yancy revelled in it! The wind whistling around them as they cut through the air like a hot knife through butter, the view of Dun Morogh from high above, and the danger of keeping the gyrocopter on course. Yancy knew on that day he wanted to be a pilot more than anything in the world. And so he struck a barter, exchanging his skills with a wrench for flying lessons.

Yancy was an eager and quick study, having the basics under his belt in no time. But he wanted more! So he often snuck out at night and flew on his own, taking dangerous risks by turning the land into his own obstacle course. He would see how high he could go up, try to cut between trees and roll away from incoming mountain peaks. But one day, as he tried to cut through a pair of trees, he mistimed his turn and slammed his wings into their solid barks, his life being saved only because he was low enough to the ground that the fall was not great, and that beyond the trees lay an open field of snow where the gyrocopter grinded to a halt. Yancy knew he would have to answer for the damage, and as he had been working for little while training as a pilot, he did not have much to try an compensate his mentor.

Upon confessing his late-night joyrides, and the subsequent damage to the gyrocopter, he was told that he would have to make it up through service to his people, and subsequently enlisted in the Gnomish army. His skills as a pilot continued to grow, and when the Alliance of Lordaeron was formed, Yancy was one of the many Gnomish pilots to lend their abilities during the Second War, his unorthodox flying style giving him an advantage on the battlefield. When he returned home, his mentor was proud of him, releasing him from his debt. But Yancy promised that whenever he was needed, he would be in the air gunning down the enemy.

Yancy spent the subsequent years after the Second War working as a freight pilot, transporting goods across the Eastern Kingdoms. He earned a reputation as a speedy deliverer, but due to his style of flight he was rarely entrusted with fragile goods. He earned a decent living, but secretly longed for adventure. But as the saying goes, he should have been careful what he wished for.

As the Third War came, Gnomeregan geared up to once again aid their allies, but trouble arose when an army of Troggs invaded their capital city of Gnomeregan. With little time to react, Yancy mostly had to rely on his melee training from his military years, barely fighting his way to his aircraft with his life. Pistol in hand, he tried to get as many Gnomes as he could onto his cargo plane and shoot down incoming Troggs. With his plane filled to capacity, he took off just before the city was flooded in radiation, the packed plane and his own fatigue making it a bumpy ride. Landing near Ironforge, most of his passengers survived the flight, with a few unable to live through the rough trip and others dying from injuries they sustained before boarding.

Yancy and Anissia

A despondent Yancy wanted to fly back in a gyrocopter and assault the Troggs, but his mentor, who found Yancy at one of the taverns in Ironforge, persuaded him to wait, and to allow the Gnomes time to reorganize and prepare to take back their city. She also emphasized how important it was that they stick together, as most of their proud race had perished in the invasion. She said they were like cogs in a machine, and they needed to turn together to make it work. Inspired by her words, Yancy had a series of cogs tattooed on his arms, and chose to spend the meanwhile assisting the Alliance after the war, eventually flying his way to the frozen landscape of Northrend.

Yancy initially settled in Fizzcrank Airstrip with some of his fellow Gnomes. However, word of the battles father north led him to eventually find his way to Icecrown, which had become a warzone between the Scourge and the races of Azeroth. Yancy met up with the Argent Crusade, providing aerial cover for the ground troops as well as flying rescue missions to save soldiers stuck behind enemy lines. On a search and rescue mission, he located a battle mage too weak to teleport to safety on his own. He had Yancy fly him to Dalaran, and Yancy spent a few days there to repair his gyrocopter.

While wandering around one evening, he bumped into a tall figure, knocking her and her stack of books over. He blushed as he scampered to retrieve the books and help her up, when he saw her glowing green eyes, he was taken aback. He had heard about the Blood Elves, and their fel-tainted eyes, but he still remembered the elves from years ago, when they were members of the Alliance. His curiosity piqued, he asked her what all the tomes were for, and she told him of her plans to enchant a broom to allow her to fly. The thought of a beautiful girl who wanted to fly was heaven to Yancy, and he spent the next few days speaking with her, asking her about her progress and talking about the war, and about how much both the Elves and the Gnomes have lost over the years. Before returning to combat, he told the Elf that he would be back to see her creation at work, and wished to share a flight with her. With a sudden kiss, she said he would have to come back alive first, and Yancy returned to battle, determined to keep his fellow soldiers alive and return to the woman that had him smitten.

After the fall of the Lich King, Yancy found his way back to Dalaran, and he found the young woman waiting. She surprised him with her finished broom, and together they shared a flight over Crystalsong Forest. From then on, the pair have been almost inseparable. Knowing that those in the Alliance may not look favorably on their love for each other, the two have stuck to neutral towns when together, visiting their own lands by themselves to avoid as much complication as they can. Yancy continues to fly cargo and lend his piloting to just causes.

Personality

Alignment: Neutral Good

Yancy's time as a pilot has made him quite the thrillseeker. He has a strong urge to explore, and his regular stays at inns and taverns across Azeroth has helped him develop into an extrovert. He has a strong admiration for the gryphon-riding Wildhammer Dwarves, which has also caused his fondness for their dark-colored ale. When it comes to his engineering work, Yancy is intensely detailed and focused, exercising caution over innovation especially with his aircraft, which he makes up for with a very unorthodox and improvisational flying style.

Yancy is also married to a Blood Elf wife. Political factions complicate their relationship, and he is often forced to refer to his bride in little detail while in Alliance towns. He carries discomfort at having to hide his marriage from his own people, but shows little regret in his decision to be with her. He will often move with her through neutral towns and cities for at least a small measure of security, though he anticipates a time where the word about his relationship will spread to the point where neutral towns will be all he has access to.

Appearance

  • Scale/Height: 3'2"
  • Weight: 44 lbs
  • Hair: Black
  • Eyes: Green

Simple cloth and leather garments for everyday use, and a warm pilot uniform for travelling by air, especially in cold regions.

Other: Has an intricate series of revolving cogs tattooed down his arms. Usually carries a steam pistol and a wrench.

Skills and Abilities

Yancy is a skilled pilot in both land and especially aerial craft, having flown missions both in Gnomeregan and Northrend. His military training makes him a slightly above average melee combatant, his guts making him appear more formidable than he really is. He also balances out his average pistol marksmanship with his ability to fire under pressure, showing little hesitation to shoot if necessary. As an engineer, he focuses on building and maintaining vehicles such as gyrocopters and motorcycles, as well as developing lightweight defence mechanisms such as steam pistols and mechanical shields.

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