Aretain Kingsmith

Aretain Kingsmith is the  c urrent  Lord of Seedfall and leader of the shattered Kingsmith House. Formerly the Lord of Avern and Longshore, lands passed down through his family for generations, he abandoned his holdings after Avern fell the Scourge shortly before the discovery of Pandaria.

He is a Knight of the Silver Hand, his kind heart and ability to always show compassion giving him the name 'Cyrus the Merciful' among the Lordaeron common folk and among his brothers and sisters of the Order, recent and past events have caused great strain on his ability to retain the name however, although he has managed to do so regardless. In recent times he and his surviving people have fled to the shattered remains of Draenor, where they have built a neutral settlement over the ruins of Tuurem. Named Seedfall (mostly due to the insane number of seeds which fell on the workers from the nearby trees during construction) it is a peaceful settlement and a home for Aretain's people who seek to escape the chaos of war.

Appearance
A tall man with an imposing build Aretain stands tall, between five to six foot at least and has considerable muscle mass. He is fit and healthy, although his face is somewhat gaunt in apperance for reasons not known, although some rumors point to events both current and past as the cause for such a change. He has piercing green eyes, the color of jade, which seem to shine brightly even in the dark gloom, and his hair is a shining silver-grey, although there are hints of blonde hiding within the strands.

Often seen in casual garb, a loose shirt and black pants, he seems more like a commoner than a noble especially when he is among his own people, but this changes when he is due to be at a court meeting or at a similar event, where the finery that he wears is consistent with the styles worn by Lordaeron nobles. A swordsmaster at heart, he and his personal guard also maintain a fine set of armor for these occasions, heavy plate as black as ebony with a silver trim and each set has the symbol of his house etched into the breastplate, a kingfisher sitting on an anvil.

He seems to be a kind man by outward apperance, almost always holding a smile when in pleasent company. Only a few issues and topics can cause this expression to change, although what exactly they are is known only to him.

Early Life, The Beginning.
Aretain was born the eldest child of V iktor Kingsmith  and his wife Lucia shortly after the end of the Second War. His father, a veteran of that very war and a true warrior of Lordaeron, heralded him from a very young age as the next Lord of Avern and gave him the finest education that money could buy with tutors being brought in from as far south as Stromgarde. Sadly for both his father and mother Aretain never really took to the lessons, choosing instead to spend time at the blacksmiths forge learning the secrets of the metal trade, if you could consider watching and not participating as 'learning' at least. He also trained with the local guards when he could, which is to say when his father wasn't looking for him, as a result he learned to swing a sword at a very young age and by the time his fifteenth birthday came around he was already an accomplished warrior at least in training only.

This was only further comlicated by the fact that Aretain was a commanding influence on his two younger brothers, Stefan and Olias and like his elder brother they to wished to take up the sword and train. This fact caused his father no end of grief, for he believed that his son was better suited to be at court, so that he could learn the customs that he would need for when he would eventually take his father's place, but also to 'cultivate the family legacy' as he put it and certainly -not- training himself and his brothers to be violent unsophisticated brutes.

The Silver Hand Arrives, Training Begins.
It was shortly after his sixteenth birthday that Avern would see the first Knight of the Silver Hand enter the city gates. Lord Edward Kang, also known as Ballador the Bright, a knight serving under Uther the Lightbringer. Lord Edward had arrived at the city seeking recruits for the Silver Hand and so he looked through the rank and file of Avern's soldiers, picking a few of the more seasoned guardsmen to join him.

It was by pure chance that Lord Edward passed by the blacksmiths forge that day and stumbled into Aretain, or rather, watched Aretan as he practiced on one of the training dummies. Impressed by the toung man's footwork and stance despite his lack of battle experience and age, Lord Edfward then pursued a much more difficult task, convincing Lord Viktor Kingsmith to allow him to take his eldest son as a trainee of the Silver Hand. Eventually he succeeded in this task and so with a tearful farewell to his family, all of whom remained behind, Aretain relocated to the home of the Silver Hand, to Stratholme where he was sworn in as an initiate of the Silver Hand.

His life in the Silver Hand was not all that bad. His training was difficult but he was patient and more understanding than some of the elder trainees and even some of the knights themselves. This impressed some of the teachers that instructed him and lead him to become food friends with some of the fellow initiates many of whom looked to him for advice on passing their own tests and understanding the virtues of the Silver Hand. Advice he was more than willing to pass on which only gave him increased favor within the ranks of the Order.

A Wife Found, A Son Born
A year after his initial training within the Silver Hand began, Aretain now seventeen, stumbled quite literally into a young woman within the streets of Stromgarde. Like him, she too was a noble and she made him realize it with her fiery attitude and lashing tongue throwing insults at him for even daring to lay a hand on her. Despite his apologies the woman stormed off, leaving him in the street not only wondering what had just happened but also, how he was going to marry this woman..

He would eventually meet her again, and like the first meeting this one too was accidental but far less destructive. Through this second meeting he learned her name, Ameralia Stormborn. He also learned that like him she too was a noble, but from the southern kingdom of Stromgarde and only present within the city because her father was 'too cheap' to bring tutors from Stratholme and would rather throw her daughter to the wolves and grasping hands of the common folk than pay for the tutors to instruct her at home. The meeting ended, this time on good terms with the pair becoming good friends after such a simple introduction.

Months passed with Aretain and Ameralia meeting as often as they could as friends, at least at first, but soon Aretain would wear down the thorny exterior that Ameralia presented to the world and they would both come to care for each other. By the time they were both eighteen, and after following the noble customs, the two were wed in a small but intricate ceremony. Ameralia Stormborn became Ameralia Kingsmith and she happily moved her life from Stromgarde to Avern so that she could be closer with her new husbands family.

Three years later when they were both twenty-one, they welcomed their first son into the world with Aretain naming him Erys Kingsmith after his great-grandfather.

Years That Followed, The Beginning of Fresh Conflict
The years that followed the birth of his son passed by as if they were a blur. Aretain grew older, now in his thirty sixth year of life and a coronated Knight of the Silver Hand having been given the name 'Cyrus the Merciful' by his fellow paladins. Erys, now fifteen, had grown into a fine young man, his mother's fiery attitude showing within him, but tempered by patience and calm of his father. He also showed many of the same qualities that Aretain did when he was his age which made Aretain believe that Erys would be more than capable to become a Knight of the Silver Hand as he had already managed to do. Presenting him before his old mentor Ballador the Bright and fellow senior of the Order, Gavinrad the Dire, he beamed proudly when they both gave their nods of approval. Erys, like his father, was to become a Paladin.

 All however was not right in the world as Aretain would soon learn. News had reached him that the Orcs were on the move again, that the internment camps had been shattered completely and the Orcs contained within had escaped. Stragely enough however the bulk of the Orc Horde had avoided conflict with the humans only fighting where they had to, a fact which puzzled Aretain as he had grown up on the stories of the Orcs being bloodthirsty monsters who sacked villages and murdered innocents. Sadly the bulk did not count for the actions of few and it had come to the attention not only of Aretain but the rest of the Silver Hand that an Orc raiding party was descending on the helpless village of Strahnbrad. Assigned to combat this threat was a young paladin, but more than that the Prince of Lordaeron himself, Arthas Menethil. Aretain too was assigned to the defense, but more so as one of the Prince's guards, placed to ensure that Arthas remained unharmed in the battle to come.

Sadly for the citizens of Strahnbrad, Arthas and his soldiers, Aretain included, arrived too late to defend it with many of the town guard and civilians dead, or carried off to locations unknown. They did however force out or kill the remaining orcs including their leader. Stranbrad was essentially saved, but it would not remain that way for long as time would show soon enough.

The weeks following flew by at a blur. Aretain continued to serve as one of Arthas's soldiers and fought not only the remaining orcs from the same raiding party that sacked Strahnbrad but also against a rising undead menace, although Aretain would have no idea exactly how much of an impact that the undead would have on future events. He was present when Arthas put the necromancer Kel'Thuzad to the sword, and regretably he was also present at the Culling of Stratholme where his loyalty to the Menethil line proved more powerful than his loyalty to the Silver Hand. He entered the city with Arthas and killed the majority of the population of Stratholme, an act which strained him greatly, more so when he engaged the Dreadlord Mal'ganis. The horrors that he witnessed, both in the killing of the people and the unholy power that the Dreadlord brought to bear caused physical change in Aretain, his hair changing from it's regal blonde to silver grey, the color draining like water from a metal tub.

He was never able to forgive Arthas for what he did to the city, and himself for his part in it, and so he broke away from Arthas's service after that day, rejoining Uther the Lightbringer and the other paladins of the Silver Hand, not knowing that in breaking away from the service of the now angered prince, he was saving himself from a much darker fate.

A King Slain, A Kingdom Destroyed
Aretain continued to fight the Scourge as best as he could in the months that followed the Culling of Stratholme. The battles were for the most part one sided, with the Scourge having the numbers and as a result many small towns and even some larger hubs fell to the undead forces. Thankfully however the captial remained untouched, becoming a beacon of hope in the dark days that perhaps Lordaeron could survive this chaos. However fate itself would conspire against the kingdom in a way no one could have expected.

<p style="text-align:justify;">Arthas, having sailed to Northrend after Mal'ganis, returned to the Captial amidst celebrations, but these celebrations and feelings of pure joy changed into horror when Arthas put his own father to the sword, killing him in his own throne room. He paved the way for Lordaeron's destruction, the undead army, now his army, rampaging through the Capital. Aretain's parents, who were both present within the city at the time were slain, a fact which shook Aretain to the core when he learned of it, as he was now the Lord of Avern, although he was not ready for such a responsibility.

<p style="text-align:justify;">Then more bad news would hit him hard, as he learned that not only was Avern itself under siege by the Scourge, but that Ameralia Kingsmith, his loving wife had been killed by the undead shortly before the siege began, her caravan on it's return from Longshore having been overrun entirely.

<p style="text-align:justify">Unable to aid Avern with what few soldiers he had under his command, he ordered his men to hold the city as best as they could while he moved to push the Scourge out of Lordaeron, a task made so much harder with the fall of the capital and the large number of undead soldiers that had come from the slaughter of so many innocents. Rallying at Andorhal, he regrouped with the surviving paladins of the Order. Gavinrad the Dire, Sage Truthbearer, Ballador the Bright and Uther the Lightbringer all converged in the one location, along with Aretain's brothers, Stefan and Olias and his son Erys.

<p style="text-align:justify">What followed was perhaps the largest slaughter of paladins in the known history of Azeroth. Arthas, now a death knight of the Scourge, had for some reason decided to push for Andorhal personally, his army arriving at the city and subsequently invading it. Aretain and Erys were both with Sage Truthbearer's soldiers and thus were not aware of what was happening elsewhere in the city, it was only shortly before Arthas and his Scourge charged their forces that he would learn that both Gavinrad the Dire and Ballador the Bright were dead, killed by Arthas himself. This had a secondary impact for Aretain not only because he considered Gavinrad and Ballador good friends but also because both of his brothers had served with those soldiers. Stefan and Olias were dead..

<p style="text-align:justify">The final battle that Aretain took part in at Andorhal happened shortly afterward. The Scourge crushed into the forces that Sage Truthbearer commanded, the death knight dueling with Sage personally as initiates and knights fell to the claws and blades of the undead. Aretain and Erys were forced back to the southern bridge where they could only watch in horror as Arthas finally cut down Sage, leaving his crumpled body to be trampled by the ever growing Scourge army. Unwilling to let his son die, he ordered Erys to flee and warn Uther, but it was too late. Arthas lashed out with his runeblade and threw a coil of pure death straight at Aretain. The blow itself would have killed him, but rather than see his father die Erys pushed Aretain backwards, jumping into the path of the bolt himself. The force of the push combined with the blood-slick terrain caused Aretain to lose his footing, he tumbled over the edge of the bridge, slamming into the water beneath, the last thing he saw was the lifeless corpse of his son being ripped to pieces by the ghouls he had desperately tried to stop.

<p style="text-align:justify"> <h3 style="text-align:justify">The Aftermath, A Man Broken.

<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:15.75pt;">Aretain surfaced at the edge of the Darrowmere Lake a short time later in an area thus far untouched by the Scourge. Looking back at the now burning ruins of Andorhal, he broke down in grief for what had happened. The Silver Hand was shattered, his brothers and son were dead and he was alone. Had anyone survived? He had no idea and as he sat there on the edge of the lake his mental state began to change. Grief turned to anger, anger turned to hate and soon he was a boiling cauldron of rage, his body burning from the hate he felt toward Arthas and the Scourge.

<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:15.75pt;">Taking up his warhammer he began to move deeper into Darrowmere Forest, avoiding any large ruins where the undead might be in overwhelming numbers. As angry as he was, he was no fool and knew that if he wanted revenge he needed to stay alive, something that attacking Scourge strongholds would not accomplish. As he travelled he killed any Scourge he came across, along with any bandits who were foolish enough to try to rob him. Eventually after many months of wandering he arrived at Darrowshire, only to find it in ruins, which is something he expected at this point. What he did not expect was to find living men and women, not refugees but warriors who had taken up a new banner. They welcomed him into their company and brought him to Light's Hope Chapel, where he learned that this order was the Argent Dawn, an organisation dedicated to wiping the Scourge from Lordaeron.

<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:15.75pt;">While he sympathized with them and aided them when he could Aretain did not join the Order officially. He stayed with them as more of a refugee than a loyal subject. Eventually leaving when he learned that the Alliance south of Arathi had survived. Forced to move on foot, he travelled back the way he came like before, killing anyone who dared challenge him, and murdering any scourge that he came across without question. Along the way he observed soldiers in red and white killing the Scourge as well, but he did not approach them, instead continuing along his path until he reached the very area where he had washed up on the edge of Lake Darrowmere. From there he followed the river south, through Hillsbrad before passing the ruins of Thoradin's Wall.

<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:15.75pt;">He continued south until he reached the lands of the dwarves where he was fortunate enough to be granted a gryphon to fly south to Stormwind. After arriving he moved straight to the Church of the Holy Light to inform the Priests and the Paladins who served there what had happened in the north. While they themselves already knew about the chaos, regardless they welcomed Aretain in, giving him a place within the Cathedral to call his own, although it was more a storage room than a place where one might live, regardless of comfortability.

<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;text-align:justify;line-height:15.75pt;">There he remains to this day, growing older while remaining as a teacher, gaining friends and helping those who request his aid when he can..

Personality
Aretain is difficult to place in many ways. He has the experience of an old veteran and at times the mannerisms but maintains the fire of someone much younger. He is a kind man, often smiling and happy to joke around with those that know him and slow to anger, at least most of the time. When angered however he can be seen as fierce and aggressive, but not overly violent.

As a blacksmith and an engineer more so by hobby than as a trade, Aretain has a love for the forge and the heat which it provides, but also understands the value of written word and other documentation, an appreciation that was passed down to him by his father. He also understands the value of diplomacy and can at times be very persuasive when it is called for.