Huttser Swope

''"The tenacity of the wolf ancient is the stuff of legend. Learn from his example, and victory is all but certain. While we're true to breathe in the most righteous breath, we're given a feeling of heartfelt purpose, and a sense of hope. For something bigger than ourselves. Always remember." ''

Huttser Swope is a Gilnean military figure whose accomplishments date all the way back to the Northgate Rebellion. His journey has stretched through aiding many Gilnean operations, such as several years of assisting the Gilneas Liberation Front, and has led him to become a Lieutenant of the Grey Hand, a Gilnean military-based society. Although Huttser spent many of his Gilnean years in a reclusive state, which drove him to never leave the Northgate Woods until the Worgen outbreak occurred, he is one of the most renowned hunters to have stepped out of Gilneas. He now serves with distinction as a Lieutenant of the Grey Hand.

Physical Appearance
Huttser Trey Everett Swope stands at eight foot, four inches tall. This mountain of a Worgen has an intimidating stature, as he holds a massive amount of upper body strength. A scar vertically lines his right eye, and upon inspection, it's surprising that his eye itself was not stricken by the blow. He has long, sharpened claws that have obviously seen a lot of use in battle, and one could discern that when Huttser is in a close-quarters confrontation, he would resort to using his claws.

Huttser's fur is a pitch black, which, if he wasn't already due his size, gives him a fearsome and intimidating appearance. However, this is offset by the fact that he has a relatively kind and calm face for a worgen. His eyes are a pleasant shade of light green, which is an anomaly from the rest of his body, which does not have one bright feature.

"The Climb" - The Childhood and Upbringing of Huttser Swope
Huttser Swope was born on April 15, 1015 (Gilnean calendar) in Duskhaven, Gilneas to wealthy parents. His father was a bigtime business investor as well as contractor. His mother was a rather simple woman and didn't have many cares in the world. One of the few she had was her son. Kyle was born a few years later. Both boys were raised on the rather large manor on the outskirts of Duskhaven. They lived a young life of opportunity. Marcus, Hutter's father, sent both of the boys to school and they both received a proper education. Kyle and Huttser learned how to speak eloquently, became very literate, learned a good deal about Azeroth's history, and also learned how to handle a sword.

During Huttser's teen years, Marcus felt as if the things that were being taught to his son were repetitive and pointless. He pulled Huttser out of school and taught him other useful skills at home. Marcus, in his youth, had been an avid hunter, which was a skill he wanted to pass on to his brighter son. The manor had an extensive private collection of books that Marcus had bought, many of which had been first editions. Kyle remained at school and continued to struggle with his studies while Huttser remained homeschooled. He learned his father's tricks about business, how to hunt, how to more properly understand novels, the history of Gilneas, and how to maintain a household.

Huttser was content with his home life. He liked the isolation from the rest of the world, because, overall, he didn't like Duskhaven very much. He felt as if its way of life was far too linear and planned. As Huttser enjoyed himself at home, Kyle would return from school every day with a discontent frown on his face. Kyle was old and intelligent enough to realize that Huttser was his father's favorite son and he could never come to terms with this fact. Huttser knew this too, and pitied Kyle extensively. Even so, Kyle would walk to school alone every morning and Marcus would take Huttser into the Northgate Woods and teach him how to hunt. After a while, Huttser decided that his brother deserved the same privilege. Marcus did not work very often, as most of his income came through his business investments, but when he commuted to Gilneas City for contracting, Huttser would take Kyle into the woods and show him what he knew about hunting. The two brothers bonded there and Huttser took it upon himself to be the sole protector of his little brother. Bullies at school would regret crossing Kyle Swope because it meant inducing the anger of his older brother. Life was good at the Swope estate, but Huttser became increasingly restless and discontent as time went on.

It wasn't long before Huttser turned eighteen and reluctantly left the estate (and Kyle) behind. He was hesitant to leave his younger brother, but he was sick of his stationary life at home. He moved to Gilneas City where he lived in a second-floor room of a tavern and sniffed out odd jobs from time to time. Huttser never hung his head in any place for very long afterward. He lingered in different places every few months. His life was a mess. He lived on very little income. Still, he considered it defeat to return to his father and beg for his aid. At some point, he decided that it would be best if he fended for himself. He started to save up his money, but following a serious injury from a working accident, he went bankrupt and was forced to return home.

Kyle was overjoyed to have his brother at home again. At this point, Huttser had been gone for five years. He was twenty three and his brother was twenty. He was out of work for months because of his injury, which included a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He felt pathetic that he lived off his parents' money and did nothing. However, being home did come with one advantage. He could visit the woods again. He didn't hunt for a while, due to his knee, but he spent extensive amounts of time in the forest and was drawn to it. Every time he visited the forest he would venture deeper and deeper inside. He would often take Kyle with him, simply for nostalgia's sake. He was surprised at the brother he had come home to. Kyle was different. He was stronger, more confident, and more content. Kyle went on to become a Duskhaven guard, which was a fairly menial task, but he enjoyed it all the same.

After Huttser recovered from his injury, he decided that his months of inactivity were over. He enlisted in the Gilnean military and became a sharpshooter. Due to his father's teaching, marksmanship came very easy to him. While he trained to become one of Gilneas' finest, tensions were at an all time high in Gilneas. Huttser got to encounter action when his platoon was ambushed in the Headlands. He performed admirably, killing several of Crowley's rebels, but his platoon was nearly wiped out. In the midst of the battle, Huttser tore the same ligament. He cursed under his breath when he felt the pain. He knew that he had not recovered for long enough to return into action, and as a result, he received the same injury again, and worse. He was in no position to flee, and thus he was captured by the rebels.

When word reached Marcus Swope's ears that his son had been captured, he paid a very pretty sum to negotiate and bring Huttser out of captivity. The son who returned home was not the same one who had left to join the military. Instead of excited for the future, bright, and enthusiastic, he was sorrowful and apathetic. It took Huttser two years to get over his injury and he was forced to sit idle as the rebellion raged on around him.

"The Northgate Rebellion" - Two Years in the Forest
Huttser (mostly due to the demands of his father) was very conservative about returning to the "swing of things" again after recovering from his injury. He made sure that his knee was mostly healed before he started working again. He never fully recovered from it, though. The work of Gilnean harvest witches, no matter how many his father purchased, failed to heal him. However, due to his history of injury, he was not re-admitted into the Gilnean military. Marcus had Huttser join him on business endeavors, where Huttser made his own wage. In reality, Marcus simply took a slice out of his own salary and directed it to Huttser to make him feel not useless. Huttser hated it with a passion. He knew that in this regard, he was not his father's son. He quickly left the job, much to Marcus' disappointment.

For around a year afterward, Huttser sniffed out his own job as a private tudor of common in Duskhaven. It was in these days where Huttser found a love of literature. In fact, the writings of mankind were one of the only things he liked about civilization. In his time off of work, Huttser would often bring a book into the woods or read. This pattern grew larger as he began to take parchment and ink with him, and began to write. Even though he wished he could use his skills to fight for his homeland, he decided to live in reality. He knew that he would never wear a military uniform again. He was content enough with his life.

One morning, when Huttser returned home after writing in the Northgate Woods at dawn, he returned to his sobbing mother as well as his father who comforted her in response. Kyle had run away from home. Huttser was furious with his family. He was furious with himself. The small amount of contentedness he had found quickly evaporated and he returned to despising his home life. The worse fact of the matter was that he was in no position to leave home again. He wanted to feel important again. On a Saturday afternoon, Huttser put on his Gilnean military uniform, retrieved his rifle, and headed into the Northgate Woods. If he would never fight or hunt again, at least he could trick himself into believing that he could.

Huttser could see a glint from behind a tree. He held up his rifle, ready to fight. The glint got larger as the man behind the tree lashed out at him. A large man, fully clad in plate armor, ambushed him with his greatsword. It was not a difficult fight. He had failed to get the drop on Huttser and he fired his shotgun underneath the opening of the helmet, causing a few shells to enter his neck. As the armored man fell to the ground, he took off the man's helmet. The dying man who proceeded to cough blood on him was his own brother. Huttser formulated the conclusion that Kyle had indeed run away to join the rebels. Kyle's neck was torn open by the shotgun shells, unable to speak. However, as he died, he held Huttser's hand. The tragic accident in the forest resembled all of Gilneas, and how pitiful the Northgate Rebellion was. It was maddening to Huttser that something as trivial as territory could lead brothers to kill eachother without hesitation. He buried his brother, and in his shame, vowed to never leave the forest.

Huttser would go on to live there for two entire years without leaving. In the early days, living there was difficult. Winter was coming to a close on the eve in which he had killed his brother. There were no healers in Gilneas who were skilled enough to completely repair his injury, so he was forced to hobble along on his own. He nearly died during the early days of hypothermia. However, he managed to outlast the winter and live by hunting and gathering. He knew that he was not alone in the forest. He shared the woods with a large wolf pack which he tried his best to steer clear from. Not too long after he discovered the existence of the pack, he came across a runt of the pack, left behind and abandoned unintentionally. Huttser decided he needed a purpose in that forest. He took the wolf for his own, fed it, and raised it as his own. He named this wolf "Fell".

Fell fully grew during Huttser's time in the forest, and the pair were inseparable. Huttser was actually content living by "roughing it" in the forest. He enjoyed it more than his life in Duskhaven. However, on Azeroth, every good thing must come to an end, and so did his time in the forest. The rebels had become desperate. They needed raw supplies to keep the war effort going. As a result, they sent small hunting parties into the wood to look for hide. They hunted most of the wolves that lived there. Huttser, furious with their tampering with the forest, began to kill them as they ventured in the forest. Inside the rebellion, rumors sprang about a "murderer in the woods". Out of revenge for fallen soldiers, more and more rebels began to venture inside the Northgate Woods in search of Huttser.

They found him. Around a half dozen men spotted Huttser and Fell near the river and opened fire. Huttser fled into the woods to try to gain himself time to ambush them. However, after a few minutes of running, he realized that he had lost Fell. His heart began to race and he dashed back toward where the rebels had found them. He opened fire and killed several of them with his rifle. After he ran out of the very little ammo he had brought with him, he retrieved a sword from one of the fallen ferociously killed the three others in melee combat. It wasn't long before he heard a whimper from near the river. Fell laid right next to the bank, shivering in a small pool of blood. Huttser roared with rage, and whatever confidence he had left in humanity had left him.

Huttser carried a dying Fell into the small lake in the middle of the Northgate Woods. He held him on top of the cool, shallow water to relieve his pain. Fell died in his arms. Huttser buried him next to where he had buried Kyle. He had no purpose in the forest anymore. The rebels' insistence on hunting him down had made living there too dangerous, and his only companion had been killed as a result. He left the forest and returned home.

"The Seed of Goldrinn" - The Worgen Outbreak
Huttser was on his way home to his parents when he was attacked by worgen in the countryside. Even though his leg was still in a bad way, he was able to fend off several worgen using his makeshift knife. He was attacked a second time on the road to Duskhaven by yet another worgen. Thus, Huttser was forced to make a stop in Gilneas City to rest and wait until the countryside grew quiet. That didn't happen. He was not let out of Gilneas City for a good while. After two weeks, the alarm sounded through the city. Countless amounts of "wolf-men" invaded Gilneas City from the rooftops. He suited up in a Gilnean uniform and aided the Prince in clearing the city of Worgen. It was no use; they were forced to flee. He was bitten unsuspectingly by a worgen on the way out. It wasn't long before he succumbed to Goldrinn's power.

When Huttser approached Duskhaven again, still in the service of Prince Liam, he had changed. He had become one with the animal that he valued even more mankind; the wolf. After being given the cure, he was not stationary for long. He checked on his parents, who, to Huttser's relief, were still safe and sound. He didn't have much time to rest. The Forsaken had attacked the coasts. Gilneas, which had been safe behind its wall for years, had been caught offguard.

"Disaster" - The End of an Era
Blessed by his worgen form, Huttser killed dozens upon dozens of forsaken soldiers in the assistance of Gilneas, but even with the wave of newfound worgen soldiers, the Gilneans were unable to stave the Forsaken invasion. The troops pulled back to the Greymane Manor, where Huttser holed up for a while, biding his time and planning one last defensive effort. However, during his stay there, the Catacylsm occurred. An earthquake ruptured Gilneas. When the land became quiet once more, he ventured outside of the Manor to see the effects.

What Huttser saw was the most horrific image of his life. Before his eyes lay a new sea where Duskhaven once was. The land under the town had become one with the sea, and the town was completely submerged into his ocean. His two parents, the last of his family, with it. In blind rage, he started to stage suicide missions against Forsaken. His ruthless, honorable nature gained him a reputation as a Gilnean hunter of legend, but even with his accomplishments, the Gilneans would lose their homeland.

Huttser was furious when the Gilneans retreated from their homeland. He had respected the late Prince Liam and wanted to immediately avenge him. He began to formulate the conclusion that Genn's conservative nature toward the Forsaken factored into losing the land itself. As he sailed with the night elves to Darnassus, he looked at the newly-abandoned Gilneas and promised himself that he would return and bring life to his home once more.

"Causeless Rebel" - Life After Gilneas
It took Huttser a good several weeks to realize that for now, he would have to stow away his ambitions for returning to Gilneas and try to carve a life for himself on the outside. He had never left Gilneas before he had sailed to Darnassus and he decided that he wanted to familiarize himself with the new world. He had no ties to any faction or any person anymore. His family and country had died. He had become a causeless rebel.

Huttser had lost his estate and inheritance when Duskhaven became one with the sea. He was dirt poor and had only lived off the rations that Gilneas had given him. Even though he had a bad knee, he still figured that killing was the only honest profession he had left, and he did just that. Huttser Swope became a mercenary, known for killing his bounties and contracts from a long distance away without detection. He drifted from country to country, familiarizing himself with the land of Kalimdor. He found it much different than Gilneas. It was mostly composed of frontier, not cities and industry. The forests, plains, and mountains of Kalimdor were a welcome change for him. However, he would inevitably return to the Eastern Kingdoms to locate himself closer to Gilneas.

When he was off the job and resting inside a city or small settlement, he spent hours visiting with the locals and reading in the local library. He realized, after a while, that he was perhaps more fond of history than literature. After he had saved up enough money to last for a while, he spent most of his days in the northern kingdoms, poking into the forgotten ruins of old civilizations such as Strom and Alterac.

"Return" - The Gilneas Liberation Front
Huttser managed to have his knee fully healed by what were perhaps the greatest healers of the time -- cenarion druids. He felt as if new life had been breathed into him, now that he was physically capable of fighting again. Once word reached his ears that the Gilneas Liberation Front had been formed, he quickly traveled back to Gilneas to assist the cause. He came to highly respect Darius Crowley. He did not respect his past -- the fact that the man had stirred up an entire war over his territory, but he respected what the man was trying to accomplish. He fit in quite well into the ranks of the Liberation Front, finding a good position as a ranger. Still, it seemed as if they remained in a stalemate with the Forsaken. He was frustrated that they hadn't really, despite the effort, pushed back the Forsaken.

When Sylvanas staged an attack on southern Silverpine, the Gilneas Liberation Front's front defenses were crushed by the Forsaken's numbers, and they proceeded all the way to the Front's doorstep. Huttser killed several Forsaken soldiers in the defense, but it seemed as if they were beginning to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of troops that the Forsaken had mustered. Still, he and the other soldiers fought on, hoping to force them to retreat. However, there never was a Forsaken retreat. Word soon reached Huttser's ears that Crowley had surrendered in order to save his captive daughter. The war had ended -- the Forsaken had won.

Broken-hearted, Huttser silently fled Silverpine soon after. He moved to Stormwind City, the Alliance capital, and felt a tremendous amount of guilt over his defeat in Gilneas. He spent his hours either drinking or reading for several months, until he finally decided that he detested the city and was disinterested about what route he wished to take from this point.

"Into the Wild" - The Duskglade Pack
Huttser was haunted by his memories in the Northgate Woods -- he longed, more than anything, for a quiet life in the woods once again. However, during his time in Stormwind, he had met a fellow worgen named Yoska Duskglade. The man was strong, confident worgen that Huttser was drawn to from afar. He inquired about why such a stand-up worgen was "wasting his time in Stormwind", and Yoska replied that he was gathering strength for his pack. He elaborated on what it truly was -- the pack was a group of Worgen who had given up their civilized identities and lived off the forest, relying only on eachother.

Never before had Huttser found an opportunity to let go of his civility and live among his own kind, letting his wolvish tendencies take over. He seized this opportunity and spent time in Silverpine with Yoska and his pack for a few months. His time in the forest, once again, helped define his personality. It was in the Duskglade Pack where he learned how much he truly loved to hunt -- how satisfying it was to sate the thrill of it. His views on which direction the pack should take inevitably clashed with its leading figures and he eventually parted ways with it, but he carried many of the Duskglade's ideologies with him.

Huttser roamed the wild on his own for a time, hunting and gathering to stay alive, but once word reached his ears that another cause had risen to bring justice to the fallen Gilneas, he quickly returned to Stormwind and sought it out.

"Redemption" - Wolves of the Gray Rose
Huttser Swope and Lord Rhazar -- two men who had common interests and should have been friends, but their personalities got in the way. There was Huttser, who wanted more than anything to charge into Gilneas and root out the Forsaken once and for all, regardless of what it would cost, and there was Rhazar, who had good intentions, but was too conservative with his order to accomplish his goals.

Huttser immediately respected Rhazar from the moment he met him. He had stumbled across the man in the Stormwind Keep, standing in front of a tattered banner bearing the Gray Rose's sigil. Lord Rhazar quickly realized the potential of Huttser's raw, yet potent skills. Rhazar took Huttser under his wing and showed him how to command a group of soldiers, and Huttser's sense of battle strategy continued to improve over the months he spent with the order. After several months of upholding the order's ideals, Rhazar saw fit to promote Huttser to Knight-Champion, which was an officer role of sorts. He had finally gained the ability to command Gray Rose soldiers, and he intended to use this ability. However, the road ahead was not quite as simple as Huttser expected.

There came a time when an important dilemma was at hand -- The Gray Rose met and discussed whether they should transition to the fight up north instead of residing in Stormwind City, miles away from the war. The answer about whether to move north or not was almost a unanimous "yes", and the Gray Rose prepared to move north. However, corruption festered in the brass and it caused the Gray Rose to become stagnant, even after it had voted to move. Huttser was furious. He claimed that the order wasted time and talent by sitting in Stormwind and waiting. After his pleas to move north fell on deaf ears, he became sorrowful. Apathetic to the cause. He handed in his resignation from the order soon after, and a chunk of the order, who had remained loyal to him, followed him out.

"A Change of Heart" - The Nordrassil Accord
WORK IN PROGRESS

"Start the Machine" - The Birth of the Grey Hand
WORK IN PROGRESS

Larka Swope
WORK IN PROGRESS

Callie Rin
WORK IN PROGRESS

Equipment
Always in a professional mindset, Huttser would rarely ever be seen out of his armor. His gray chainmail is plated by scale and bone. It is not a regular garb for a ranger, and 'tis obvious by the craftsmanship, which is flawed in some areas, that he fashioned the armor himself. The armor is remarkably light for how many reinforcements are attached, which grant him fantastic mobility at the cost of leaving a few vulnerable points in the joints of the armor.

Contrary to most Gilneans, Huttser is not partial to guns. Rather, he prefers using his own longbow. Although it is hard to tell, the bow is, in fact, a simple longbow made out of Northgate oak-wood, which has been heavily modified and reinforced by bone and insect carapace. It is Huttser's own masterpiece that has yet to fail him in combat. In close quarters, Huttser prefers his claws, but he has alternate options. He may be seen wielding a poleaxe, forged from steel and bone, which emits a chilling blue aura. Huttser is an experienced engineer, and thus, he has put his skills to good use. There is a large slit on his right gauntlet. What lies inside is possibly his most lethal melee weapon; a retractable saw.

If you observe Huttser's chest, you would see his tabard, which has a black coloration, containing a sigil of two wolves. These are obviously the colours of the Grey Hand. The leather straps and several other decorations on the tabard resemble one that belongs to a high-ranking member, which is true to Huttser's case. He is one of the Hand's few Lieutenants.

Personality
WORK IN PROGRESS

Tactics
You will hardly ever see Huttser without his wolf. The spectral beast that is almost always by his side, named Fell, has a story of his own, which is a personal one that Huttser will probably not utter to anyone who is not close to him. The way in which he calls for his wolf is an interesting one; Huttser hums a strange, yet sad and beautiful melody, which causes the wolf to flicker into view. Huttser is a master sharpshooter who excels in brining enemies down from afar. He is a rugged trapper who uses animal venom, explosives, and traps as deadly weapons. He is a master of the wild who can use a wide variety of beasts to assist him in combat. His large range of abilities, along with years of independent study, have forged him into a very versatile asset to his companions.

Because of Huttser's versatile nature, it will be very difficult to predict his style. His preferred method of attack is from afar, using his various types of arrows, while Fell takes care of excess combat. In between, his traps are a very useful way to dismantle enemies. If he is caught in close range, he will either be using his polearm, claws, or glove-saw, and he is equally lethal with each type of weapon.