Leonid Artemus-Vardus

[Rogan 158]

 

The following bio is for a deceased character, with some plot elements dedicated to a phase storyline, so there'll be some aspects that'll be not-relevant to the main lore of Warcraft/not-canon. Stuff that applies to modern Warcraft will be marked in red.

 

"I appreciate the honour, brothers, but my place is home, in Strahnbrad."

~ Leonid I

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Name: Leonid Artemus-Vardus

Age: Unknown at time of death | 24

Birthplace: Alterac City

Status: Deceased as of World of Warcraft | Alive

 

Appearance

A healthy, fit man, Leonid boasts a powerful chin, a head of fair hair, and an overall powerful face, he does not seek to conceal his eyes, however, those grey eyes are his secret weapon, a drug to those who dare stare him in the face, either clouded by anger or burdened with sadness, they show more emotion than his body; his rolled shoulders are typically clothed with cloak, gambeson, and tabard, while a bascinet hangs at his waist, the helm he earned from his fight against the bandit Barahim Irontoe. While not particularly muscular, he does have a thin, lanky form which suits his particular choice of light gear, a kite shield and a sword would be his weapons of preference if not for a quill.

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Having been born during a time of strife, Leonid was thrust into a position at barely twelve years of age  that'd be considered uncomfortable to others, but he learned to adapt quickly, his noble birth granting him nepotistic elements and received a higher education prematurely, expressing an incredible talent in learning and administration, he was chosen as a ward for the current king, Aiden Perenolde. One of the many in the courts of Alterac he developed as a teenager into adulthood serving as a scribe and page, being taught the ways of the court until he reached the age of eighteen, where the man-in-making was given the precarious duty of scribe for a knight by the name of Sir Mikael Turstrandt, the warden of Alterac's borders, and one of Aiden's most loyal generals. 

Sir Mikael Turstrandt, painted by Russel C. Lark

Meanwhile the house of Artemus collapsed financially, his drunkard father sinking it's reputation and wealth with only Leonid's personal coffers having any sort of sustained income, whilst House Vardus was caught in a conspiracy, and the core members imprisoned. For all intents and purposes, the reputation of Leonid's family was destroyed beyond repair. The climb back up will be a long and tedious one.

 

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It was under the nightmare of the Second War did Leonid shine as an individual, helping Sir Mikael defend the borders against the orcs as a runner and counter-siege expert, creating plans and designs for all sorts of wicked weaponry to delay the orcs and littering the countryside below Castle Turstrandt with traps capable of delaying the Horde to allow the Gilnean Legion and the main bulk of the Alteraci Army to sweep in and smash the Horde's push multiple times, but it seemed worthless, as while the human forces fell apart, the orcs grew in number until Doomhammer's personal vanguard completely shattered Sir Mikael's valiant defenders, and the Horde pushed into Alterac only to be met with open gates at the city.

Aiden Perenolde had betrayed the Alliance and signed Alterac over to the Horde. With figures like General Hath, Colonel Kavdan and Sir Mikael unable to retort Alterac fell into degradation, the orcs swarming unmolested into Lordaeron due to the king's willingness to side with the enemy. However Leonid, and many others led a partisan movement to usurp the King, and actively fought against both Perenolde and Horde troops in the region, harassing them non-stop with the intent to completely disrupt Horde lines in Alterac, and redeem the people. It worked for the most part, and as the fighting continued Leonid grew and shaped into a fully fledged fighter, donning his kite shield and sword combination around this time as an effective hit-and-run tactician. They were winning.

Darrow Hill Brigade, painted by Russel C. Lark

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As a reward for his service, Leonid was given co-governorship of Strahnbrad on behalf of the occupation forces, his status as Baron was maintained as he took the mantle for the next sixteen years, ruling fairly and kindly, he was regarded as a strong leader and a well-meaning man, honing his diplomatic craft throughout the decade and coming out of it stronger and ready to lead his people.

Or so it would've been, were it not for the knife buried within his heart by Aliden Perenolde, Leonid, now in his later years was foolish enough to trust the Syndicate, and allowed them into his home, where his throat was cut, and his body cut up and thrown into Lordamere. Leonid died betrayed by the people he attempted to save.

 

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Spinner of Webs - Whatever it may be, he must be spinning quite a large web..

Naive Diplomat - He is new to the world of diplomacy, reading books doesn't give you all the knowledge you need.

Tactical Mind - His mind is trained for learning the arts of war, learning your enemies, your friends..

Fit - Despite the sheltered life, he is still fit enough to move actively. A trained body helps a trained mind

Trained Administrator - He is well versed in the art of self-sorting, this makes him a very careful person.

Dead - He's fuckin' dead.

credits to rufus-jr.deviantart.com for the paintings

Edited October 22, 2017 by Rogan

[Romeo 320]

yo wtf this is sick, loved the quote in the beginning

[TheDemon 109]

+1 just for being CK fan. And another +1 for this being good.

[Void 33]

The art in this bio is quite nice, also a unique bio format compared to the others (that I have seen.)

Edited December 17, 2017 by Arbiter
typo

[Rogan 158]

romeo you bumped this and made people see it i hate you 

[Romeo 320]

3 hours ago, Rogan said:

romeo you bumped this and made people see it i hate you 

[Rae 40]

On 2017-07-19 at 1:39 PM, Rogan said:

Dead - He's fuckin' dead.

 

This was my favourite part

[Visaerys 22]

Had me at the CK2 stenghts and weaknesses. Nicely done. But I must say it isn't the first noble from Strahnbad personally, so it isn't that unique to me. However, your story is by far the most interesting one.

[Rogan 158]

On 12/27/2017 at 9:18 AM, Visaerys said:

Had me at the CK2 stenghts and weaknesses. Nicely done. But I must say it isn't the first noble from Strahnbad personally, so it isn't that unique to me. However, your story is by far the most interesting one.

In the server/setting that this character came from, he'd slip into the canonical role of this guy. But yes, it's quite common for Alteraci noblemen/women, hence why I've probably dropped this character, haha.