Balthear Post-Agrent Crusader
Balthear was the eldest son of a Paladin of the Silver Hand and a Herbalist from Dalaran. He spent his youth playing around in and near Dalaran with his brother and helping his mother gather herbs for her shop in Ambermill. When Balthear became a teenager, his father, Graythear saw his natural ability with the light and sent him off to train as a priest. Balthear trained most of his teenage years to become a priest and after graduating from initiate to apprentice he was dispatched to Andorhal to finish is apprenticeship. Over the next few years Balthear learned to become a powerful Priest and was gladly welcomed into the parish in Andorhal, he was a favorite clergymen of many of the townsfolk especially the head clergyman's eldest daughter Lesha.
Balthear was tending to his duties in the chapel gardens, just outside of Andorhal when he saw one of the most beautiful women in the city, Lesha Dawnbringer, the daughter of one of the head of the clergy for the church wave and smile at him. Balthear became smitten with her and decides to talk to her at the Fall festival that weekend. During the festival, both Balthear and Lesha approach one another simultaneously to tell the other of their feelings for them. They soon found that they had similar interests and soon after the festival they start dating. After a few months of dating, Balthear presents her with a ring for marriage to which Lesha accepts. Lesha excited as any young woman is to being propsed to takes both the ring and Balthear to her father, Rindil the senior clergymen of the Anorhal parrish. Rindil, a patient and wise, but strict Elf, is skeptical of Balthear and his motives and asks to meet with him at a later dte to explain. At this meeting Balthear apolgizes for not asking him before proposing, but has only the best of intentions for his daughter. Rindil accepts his apology and accepts the engagement, but explains to him that according to an ancient Elven teaching he must get the acceptance of the Elven councilman in Quel'Thalas for the marriage to be legal in races homelands. Balthear thanks Rindil and sets off to the north for Silvermoon to talk with the councilmen. After talking to the councilman, and pleading his plight as well as doing a few tasks for the council as well as doing a few parrish stops up in Quel'Thalas, Balthear and Lesha are officially engaged in both homelands. Balthear returns to Rindil and Lesha wit the good news; Lesha, excited by the good news heads for the family home in Eversong. Balthear, happy about the situation himself, sends a message to his family of the good tidings and the whole family makes a trip up to Andorhal to celebrate. Graythear, Elena, Malthear, Ilthear (Balthear's Father, Mother, Brother and Uncle) arrive with food, drink and good tidings for him. Balthear also sends a note to Lesha asking her and the rest ofher family to come back down to celebrate. Lesha comes back from Eversong with her mother and sisters to join in the celebrations. That evening the men decide to take Balthear out for a night at the local tavern to celebrate. The night starts out great; songs are sung, food is eaten and ale is consumed, but later on in the evening problems arise between the men. Graythear, learning that his youngest son wishes to learn the arcane from his Brother Ilthear, a mage in the service of the exiled royalty of Stormwind, instead of following in both his and Balthear's paths decides to disown him. Both Rindil and Balthear try to ease tensions but make it worse by each of them taking a side, Rindil taking Graythear's and Balthear taking his brother's side. After much shounting and words being said that shouldn't have been Graythear and Rindil storm out of the tavern. Mathear and Ilthear calm down Balthear and suggest that they let cooler heads prevail. Malthear also says that he's not worried and that Ilthear said he cold stay with him while he studies and says that he will leave for the south with their uncle the following morning. The day after the celebrations Balthear wishes everyone farewell as they all go their own seperate ways; Malthear and Ilthear to the south, Graythear, Elena, Lesha and her family to Ambermill for the wedding preperations and Rindil to the capital city for a report on the recent problems with a new cult. Over the next few months the city of Andorhal starts to change from the once vibrant and green place that it once was. The skies grow darker and shifty shadows move in and replace the sunlight and green. More and more of the parishoners are talking about the new cult gaining strength and power. Balthear at the time writes it off as superstition, until he recieves a missive from Rindil asking him go to Dalaran and help with the defense of Dalaran, which is being attacked by the new cult. Balthear, thinking this could be a good time to mend the bridges with his father makes the trek to Dalaran. When he arrives there is utter chaos, Undead are roming free and unchecked fire is raining from teh sky and the sounds of battle fill the air. Balthear quickly finds his father and the two talk and mend most of the bridges burnt the last time they met. Balthear preparing to aid his father is told to leave and go the their home in Ambermill. Balthear rushes to Ambermill the outskirts of the town are littered with dead animals and people and as he enters into the city proper sickly looking people walk slowly by scowling at him. He finally arrives at his childhood home and looks around for his mother. Elena staggers through the doorway looking as sickly as the rest of the townsfolk. She explains that the last shipment of grain was poisoned or plagued by someone or something and that she is dying from consumption of the grain as well as most of the townsfolk. Before she dies she tells him how proud she is of him and his brother and to keep each other safe. Balthear burns her body and then gives her a proper burial. Gathering up all the non-sick civilians he can find he tells them to head south. He then heads back to his familys home gathers some valueables and burns the house to the ground. On his way back out of town he finds one of his parents friends leading his family south. He thanks Balthear for coming and directing them to go sound and he tells Balthear that Lesha went to Andorhal to get your help. The man also tells him that the new cult has rooted itself in that area and to be careful. Balthear thanks the man and gives him some of the family's possesions for travel costs and as a thank you. Along the way to Andorhal, Balthear meets a contingent of Silver Hand Paladins heading from Dalaran back to Lordaeron City. He asks how the defense at Dalaran went. The paladins tell him they tried valiantly to defend the city, but in the end were defeated and the mages closed off the city to everyone, and that his Father was one of the casualties of the battle. They hand him his father's armor and hammer, say a quick prayer and wish him lightspeed. Grief stricken and frenzied Balthear rushes headlong into Andorhal looking for Lesha. When he arrives in the town center a battle is raging between undead and the last of the Silver Hand. The Paladins are putting up a valiant defense but all seems lost and just as he sees Lord Uther ride in to the fray and rally the troops, Balthear is knocked unconscious. He awakes in a dungeon surrounded by prisoners from several battles in Lordaeron. Balthear is frantic and asks around about Lesha hoping to find out finding out that she has been captured too. Time goes by and the prisoners become less and less until Balthear is the only one left. One afternoon the door to the cell opens an oafish man with long grey hair and a thick scraggily beard wearing a tattered and stained mage's robe with a book made from flesh chained to his torso and the skull of a giant moose resting upon his head strides in. The Robed man identifies himself as a Necromancer, a chief Lieutenant in the Cult of the Damned, he explains that he has been saving Balthear for last because he sees potential for him to be a great servant of the Lich King, and offers to help him start down this path. Balthear laughs at the Necromancer and tells him that he will be judged accordingly for his henoius acts by the council in Lordaeron once he escapes. The Necromancer laughs, the Necromancer then informs him that Loraderon has fallen and that nobody is going to come for him and leaves telling the guards to make sure he is almost dead before the "ritual" is to take place. Weeks go by and Balthear becomes malnourished, the only way he survives is off of the rainwater and what little rations he had squirreled away in his pouch. One evening Balthear is awaken by the sounds of clanging of steel and wood, he gets up as fast as he can and looks through the cell door's window. Lesha and her father, Rindil are leading a band of elves killing everything that tries to stop them. They open up the door to his cell and toss him a weapon. They fight their way out of the dungeon and away from keep where they were being held. Balthear and Lesha both overcome with emotions leap into each other's arms. Rindil and Lesha then catch Balthear up to speed on the happenings with Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas, that both of their homelands have been destroyed and that the Elves are no longer welcome in the Alliance and are escaping for Outland. Balthear shocked at all of this news asks where can he go for refuge, as ther aren't many places for a human to go in the area. Rindil sadily says that he cannot accompany them to Oulands because of the new Elven leader and tell him to go south. Lesha also tells him wi th tears in her eyes that they can no longer be together because the new leader of the "Blood Elves" as they are now called, refuses any of their kind to be sullied by human or any other non-elven race's taint. Rindil and Lesha hug Balthear and tell him that they may never see him again. Distraught and saddened by all of the events that have transpired Balthear takes off to the south.
About two years later, his brother, Malthear, is helping a family in Elwynn forest with an arcane disturbance when he finds Balthear living in the back of their barn drunk, half-clothed, semi-demented and penniless. Malthear takes his brother home and nurses him back to a normal state. Balthear then expalins about their father, mother, Lesha and the Alliance crumbling, and tells this brother that there is no where fro them to go and that they might as well just fortify where they are and wait for the end. Malthear laughs and explains to him that the Alliance isn't gone just that the shift of power moved south, to the newly re-built Stormwind, and that he knows a few Paladins who would like to speak with him. After another 2 long years of dragging himself away from alcohol and learing all the Stormwind Paladins could teach him, Malthear gives him his father's armor & hammer and tells him that he must be the family's Paladin heir. Balthear then spends the next few years continuing his training and helping out all over Azeroth. From the Defias uprising to the problems in Westfall, to Ashevale and the skirmishes with the Horde all the way back to Lordaeron with the Scarlets and up into Stratholme and the scourge, he even joins the Argent Dawn after witnessing the events in the Eastern Plaguelands. After his adventures on Azeroth he travels to the Outlands looking for Rindil and Lesha. Along the way he meets several new friends, a Dwarven hunter, a Draenei warrior and a Human rogue. After witnessing firsthand the destruction of Illidan the Betrayer in teh defiled Karabor Cathedral in Shadowmoon Valley Balthear helps both the Elves and Draenei to start the restoration of the monestary at Karabor. After all these events Balthear decides to settle down with his friends in Stormwind and sets up an Alcheny/Herbalist Shop. Where he and his friends make potions and sell herbs, and Balthear his friends and his brother spend much of their time goofing around at the local taverns and having fun. One autumn afternoon an Argent Dawn soldier rushes into the tavern where Balthear and his friends and brother are and asks if he will join the Argents and fight up in northrend against the Lich King. WIthout hesitation, Balthear re-enlists in the now reformed Argent Crusade. He spends the first few months in a trench in the Dragonblight keeping his team(his brother, the Draenei warrior, the Dwarven hunter and the Human rogue) alive. They succeed in helping to clear the area of the Lich Kings taint and prevent the Dread Citadel Naxxramas from decending upon the land. The team is then sent into the Ice Troll kingdom of Zul'Drak. It is here that he confronts and defeats the Necromancer that he was held captive by. On a cold fall evening in the argent camp in Zul'Drak he sees Rindil walking into the camp cold and tired, overjoyed at the prospect of seeing him again he invites him into his tent and shares his meal with him and asks how he and Lesha are. Rindil explains that Lesha was conscripted to be a part of Prince Kael's army and was caught and killed before she could defect to the Scryers of Shattrath. He on the other hand escaped and returned to Silvermoon where he learned of their new leader and that they had just become an ally of the Orcish Horde.
Saddened by the loss of his one true love Balthear thanks Rindil for the news and the chat, he says goodbye to Rindil, who thanks him for the meal and shelter. They both make a pact that day that if they ever meet on a battlefield they will stand down and not fight one another. Balthear and his team are then re-stationed in Icecrown where they saw some moderate action at the pass leading into Icecrown iteself. After helping Lord Fordring take the pass into the glacier and confront Lich King Unsuccessfully. Balthear and his team are injured as well as most of the attack force. After recuperating at an aid station Balthear and his team are re-stationed at the Argent Tournament grounds helping to keep peace between the factions for the rest of the campaign. After his service to the Crusade, Lord Fordring Honourably discharges Balthear with several medals, a nice pension and sends him on his way with the full blessing of the Argent Crusade. Balthear then says his goodbyes to his team and gets on the first boat back to Stormwind.