Hieronymus Gaunte

Hieronymus Gaunte is an undead medical alchemist affiliated with the Argent Crusade. Due his neutral faction loyalty he is played Horde-side as Gaunte, and Alliance-side as Gauntt (human model, still undead) for occasional cross-faction storylines.

Appearance
Though Hieronymus dresses meticulously, with little skin visible between his heavy robes and scholarly calfskin gloves, his undeath is unmistakable. His complexion is bloodless and drawn, and an eerie yellow glow fogs his once-blue eyes. Close up, the alchemical elixirs he uses to preserve himself give him an astringent odor; he can be observed imbibing these potions throughout the day on a strict schedule.

Even in life Hieronymus was not a tall man, and death has further stooped his frame to an unimpressive five and a half feet. He has a stuffy, rather indignant air about him, as though he spends most of his time ensconced in a broom closet reading scientific treatises, which isn’t far from the truth. However, despite his uptight mannerisms, Hieronymus is uncharacteristically friendly-looking for a member of the undead and his hesitant smile radiates genuine warmth. When not engaged in conversation, he often looks troubled. Kindred souls may recognize that he is lonely and still struggles with his undead state.

He is reluctant to advertise the fact that he’s an alchemist after Wrathgate, but a canny observer might notice the faded stains on his gloves and the quiet clinking of glass vials in his pockets.

History
Hieronymus affects an upper class accent so perfectly that no one would ever guess he grew up in the slums of Lordaeron City, the eldest son of an impoverished family of five. His parents were often absent, and he shouldered the burden of raising his younger siblings—especially his baby sister, Gwyndalinne. As Gwyndalinne grew old enough to care for herself, he set his sights on earning a scholarship to study medical alchemy at one of the city's prestigious universities. Upon acceptance, however, he found that he needed to conceal his poverty-stricken origins to avoid censure, and has donned a nobleman's airs ever since.

By the time of the Third War, Hieronymus was twenty-four years old and had established a small practice in Brill. He was among the first wave of civilians infected with the Plague of Undeath, cutting short his desperate attempts to find an alchemical cure for the strange illness spreading across Tirisfal; perhaps a mercy, in a way, as he never witnessed his stricken patients rising from the grave. When he regained free will under Sylvanas's leadership, several years had passed, and he had only fleeting recollections of his time as a mindless Scourge pawn. Purposeless, wracked with guilt, and believing his family dead, he returned to his abandoned laboratory in Brill to pick up where he left off, a shadow of his former self. He has never resolved the troubling question that began plaguing him then: is he really the same person as before, or just a corpse going through the motions? Stripped of physical sensation and human connections, he often feels as though he's only behaving the way he thinks Hieronymus ought to behave out of habit—maintaining his ethical code through obligation, or perhaps desperation, but not genuine humanity.

Though Forsaken principles never sat well with him, he knew what came of those who spoke out against the Dark Lady, so he kept his head down and focused on his lonely work. Yet after Wrathgate, his embattled conscience no longer permitted him to continue on as a Forsaken alchemist. Inspired by Leonid Barthalomew and other "redeemed" undead, he offered his medical services to the Argent Crusade still eradicating remnants of the Scourge in the Eastern Plaguelands. He has lived in a humble workshop on the grounds of Light's Hope Chapel ever since.

Tragically, and ironically, he discovered shortly after enlisting that Gwyndalinne survived the plague and served as a paladin in the Argent Crusade in Northrend. Despite regular inquiries, he has not been able to uncover her current whereabouts.