Baereus Williams

Baereus Williams is the legitamized son of Altheras Williams, a soldier of Arathor before his death on a battlefield in Lordaeron during the Third War. Son of Altheras Williams and an unknown tavern wench, Baereus was taken in as Altheras's trueborn son, even despite the protests of Altheras's wife. There Baereus was ignored by most of his step-siblings as well as his parents. Instead, the brother of Altheras, Barlio Williams, took on the duty to raise the young boy. Unlike Altheras, Barlio was more militaristic, he taught Baereus how to fight against enemies of all types and on his twelfth nameday he was taken to the sight of a small skirmish, where he watched as the opposing forces were executed. Upon his father's death, Baereus left Arathi with his uncle, where his training was even furthered through fighting as a mercenary. At the age of twenty the young Arathorian returned to his home, world-weary and ready to simply settle down and live a quiet life. But to his dismay, he found that his home was in an even worse state than when he left. Syndicate controlled much of the lands and the Horde were now present in the Highlands. Being the patriot is was, he took up arms with a group of Arathorians lead by a man who called himself Duke Tritus. Under this man, Baereus aided in recapturing the city of Stromgarde and many lands around it. Quickly climbing to the position of captain. He served the Duke loyaly for some time, leading a small unit behind the Forsaken siege lines during their siege of the now Arathorian controlled Stromgarde. There he destroyed many of the Forsaken's supplies, including siege engines and weapon caches. This earned him the rank of commander, serving under only Force Commander Mathilan Lionblood and the Duke himself. But his newly found rank was shortlived, during the first civil war he stood beside Tritus as a supporter, but Mathilan quickly changed his mind, showing him the futility of aiding the Mad Duke. In a coup the Mad Duke was overthrown in order to prevent a full on war. He was then executed and Mathilan was ascended to the title of Duke. The new Duke, being a good friend of Baereus, ascended the commander to lordship for his services, acting as a bannerman to House Lionblood. Baereus Williams was also ascended to the title of Hand of the Duke, where he lead in the Duke's place when needed.

Under the rule of Duke Mathilan, the Kingdom of Arathor flourished, many came from all around to help in the recreation of Stromgarde. The Hand and the Duke both married and all seemed well, until the Duke's wife, Dovee Lionblood, was found guilty of adultery on multiple accounts. This caused Mathilan to spiral into depression, leaving the Hand, now seperated from his wife as well for the same thing, to rule in his stead. Unlike Mathilan, who was a noble by blood, Baereus had no idea what he was doing. He lead as he did in the military in which he was just and unwavering in his decisions. Being the enforcer of the order, Baereus was always seen as strict and occassionally cruel by members. After some time of leading, he eventually gave in to the pressure, leaving the order to go work on his family's farm. This eventually lead to Palatine Everen taking control. Later on, when confronted by one of his supporters about there being a group loyal to him and wishing for him to return and rule, Baereus reluctantly accepted. Taking the title of Highlord due to other minor nobles electing him as their leader. At first this new covenant formed opposed Everen's rule but Baereus quickly learned from his mistakes and made peace with the Palatine. Together Everen and Baereus worked together, gaining many new allies for the two orders. This went on for some time, yet again Arathi was prosperous and yet again that changed. Tiberius, the bastard child of the Mad Duke, arrived in Stromgarde claiming his father's titles and demanding that the Palatine and Highlord kneel to him. In an attempt to settle things peacefully a meeting was made by the Palatine so that there may once again be peace between Arathorian orders. As the Kingdom of Arathor and the Arathorian Covenant were. In this meeting weapons were bound so that it did not come to bloodshed, of course this did not work. As the Palatine was evacuated along with his supporters, Baereus Williams and his small force remained to protect his beloved city. Outnumbered and scattered Baereus's men stood no chance, being beaten down and captured within minutes of Everen's larger force abandoning them. Unlike his men, Baereus was not to be spared, nor did he wish to be, he fought five men at once, only to end with a sword being driven through his gut. Even then the Highlord refused to kneel before the bastard of Tritus. But his soldiers were brought before him, his commanders, Taylor Fontaine and Ara Stone, begged him not to swear fealty to Tiberius. But he knew that if he refused, not only would they be slaughtered, but so would his wife and two children. With tears in his eyes, the Arathorian fell to his knees, swearing alliegence to Tiberius before falling unconscious from his wounds. For weeks he lay in a comatose state as priests and healers tried their best to bring him back. Even though they succeeded, they could not have predicted his mental state. The man was broken, he stayed in bed for days on end, refusing to eat most of the time and more than once trying to take his own life. He failed his people and could never forgive himself for that. Weeks passed with the Highlord in this state, the city of Stromgarde was no longer safe for his followers, the threat of Tiberius's thugs raping or killing them was too high.

As he continued to sulk, Baereus found his sorrow slowly turning into rage. While a man of honor, he would not stand to watch as his people lived in fear. Breaking his oath to never take up arms against Tiberius and his men, Baereus took on a second personality, a man who wore nothing but furs and covered his face with the pelt of wolf. He lead his small group of vigilantes on raids against the Bastard Duke's caravans, he murdered the man's officers and hunted down any who were foolish enough to walk the streets alone. Upon the disappearance of Tiberius and his thugs, Baereus was left with a shell of a city and only a skeleton of what was once his thriving order. This drove him even further into madness, he lashed out at those he loved, driving them further and further away. Eventually, he vanished without a word, fleeing the city to go find peace at his farm. But he did not make it, the Forsaken captured the half mad lord and tortured him for three days, experimenting on him and simply commiting atrocious acts for pure pleasure. On the brink of death he was found by his childhood friend, Rexis Springfield, along with a small troop of paladins lead by one of his halfbrothers, Victor Williams. Again he looked Death square in the face and laughed, escaping its cold clutches and going to live in the mountains with Rexis.

Now Baereus Williams has returned from his hiding upon hearing of the survival of Duke Mathilan Lionblood. He was given the title of Hand yet again and now leads the Kingdom of Arathor's military force, purging his homeland of those who threaten it.