Barithorn Stanbridge

Barithorn Stanbridge is an undead priest that was once a Paladin in service to the Alliance. Even before that, he was a member of the Scarlet Crusade. He is currently trying to adjust to his new life as an undead, but has dark intentions for those that made him what he is.

Early Life
Barithorn Stanbridge was born to James Stanbridge, a Marshal of local law enforcement around the township of Brill, and Miracira Delane, the leader of a feared group of bandits known as the Brill Hounds. As neither parent were willing to give up their way of life, an agreement was made in which Barithorn would be raised by his father, told that his mother had died in childbirth. From an early age, Barithorn was taught of the Light and the Three Virtues. When he came of age, he became a squire for the Knights of the Silver Hand and trained to become a Paladin in Lordaeron.

When Barithorn was sixteen years old, the Scourge came to Lordaeron. During this time, he was separated from his father and fled the city under the care of several priests and older paladins, which lived in hiding from the ravaging undead. Barithorn's group of trainees were eventually brought into the ranks of Grand Marshal Garithos and his forces, but the Grand Marshal had little time or patience for the recruits and set them to menial tasks. During this period, Barithorn was a stablehand and his training relapsed somewhat. Barithorn witnessed Garithos' betrayal of the Blood Elves and was among the troops that were possessed by the Dreadlord Detheroc.

Barithorn along with many of his fellow trainees deserted Garithos upon being released from Detheroc's mind control. The general consensus was that it was the Grand Marshal's arrogance and overconfidence that led them to that perilous position in the first place and that allying with the undead under Sylvanas Windrunner was the wrong road to tread. This small band of Paladins and those still in training called themselves the Wandering Light, an idealistic group of young men and women who sought to free Lordaeron from the grip of the undead. But the small group could do little or nothing against the enemy before them, as infighting and flaring tempers among the older Paladins paralyzed the group and stunted any progress or growth. Before long, the group splintered.

Joining the Scarlet Crusade
Barithorn and his companions sought refuge in the old monastery in northern Tirisfal Glades, but found it fully active and controlled by their former peers from the Knights of the Silver Hand, now known as the Scarlet Crusade. Learning of the Crusade's intentions, the same as the Wandering Light but much better organized, Barithorn pleaded with them to be allowed to join, finish his training, and free Lordaeron. He and his companions were taken in and put under quarantine to determine whether or not they were "clean". When he was finally released from quarantine (which he will not discuss to this day), he was quick to don the tabard of his new cause and complete his training.

Constantly, he requested to be among the patrols in the areas around Tirisfal Glades and the Plaguelands, in order to find his father, with the hope to find him, alive and well, and bring him into the order. Days turned to months, which turned to years, without a single sign of or word from James, and Barithorn steadily began to lose the hope that had been sustaining him for years. When he was 22, he was informed by his superiors that his father had been killed along with a group of "compromised" refugees by Scarlet patrols near Heathglen as they tried to seek safe haven. Barithorn was enraged by the news, demanding proof that they had been compromised by the Scourge, but his demands were rebuffed. This was a double blow to him, to learn that his father was killed and that it was at the hands of his comrades, which he saw as a betrayal. He toiled with what he was to do, until an incident made that decision for him.

Word reached the Monastery quickly regarding the appearance of the dread citadel Acherus and the legions of Death Knights that were raining hell upon the Scarlet Enclave which, until that point, had been the only region of the Eastern Plaguelands completely untouched by the Scourge. Scarlet forces from Tirisfal Glades and Hearthglen were mobilized immediately under the command of Galvar Pureblood to reinforce High General Abbendis' position, and Barithorn was among the forces sent from the Monastery. However, as they entered into the Scarlet Enclave, the full force of the Lich King rained death upon them, in the form of Frost Wyrms. In the confusion and chaos, he slipped away from the front and escaped through Tyr's Hand. He evaded capture by the Crusaders, but was seriously wounded by the attacking dead. With some considerable effort, he practically dragged himself to the Argent Dawn's Chillwind Camp, where he was able to receive medical attention.

Paladin of the Alliance
Barithorn explained his situation to Ashlam Valorfist, Commander of the Chillwind outpost, and was given permission to fly to Stormwind. Once there, he went immediately to the Cathedral of Light  and counseled the priests and paladins. After a consensus, it was decided that he was to be re-trained in the ways of the Light, a sort of "de-Scarletization" process. To this end, he gave all his worldly possessions to the Church, save for some simple clothes and a battle-worn hammer, and withdrew to the Northshire Abbey. Under the watchful eyes of the Church of the Holy Light, Barithorn began to re-learn the ways of the Light and become a full-fledged Paladin in the service of the Church. Though he had intended to join the order of the Northshire Templar, a chance encounter with a Draenei named Zhaigan forced Barithorn to set aside those plans and join the relative newcomer organization called the Manatech Faction, of which Zhaigan was the leader. From him, he learned that his father James was still alive, albeit as a Knight of the Ebon Blade and with his sanity in question. According to Zhaigan, James had recently joined the Faction, but was constantly on the move. In his time, Barithorn met and became friends with many if the guild members, and eventually reunited with his father, trying to keep him out of trouble.

During his time in the Manatech Faction, Barithorn trained and grew as a paladin, while also honing his abilities as an botanist and using the plants he studied to create potions and elixirs. In addition, he made sure to keep good relations with the various Alliance factions, trying to keep his nose clean. He traveled and quested all over the Eastern Kingdoms to Kalimdor to the outer reaches of Outland and to the coldest parts of Northrend, doing the Light's work, as he believed. Northrend ended up being the toughest time in his life. He fought in battles all over the snowbound continent, but faced some of his toughest battles in Dragonblight, under the command of High Commander Halford Wyrmbane's 7th Legion. It was there that while on a quest to eliminate his former commanding officer, High General Brigitte Abbendis of the Scarlet Onslaught, he was captured by a Forsaken party near the settlement of Venomspite, where he was tortured for information. After several months of captivity, during which he was withered to the point of being a walking stick figure, he was rescued by a 7th Legion unit and sent back to Stormwind to recuperate. Little is known as to how he recuperated, but there was a noticable change in his attitude, to a definite anti-Forsaken tilt.

Ignoring the advice of his comrades as well as the priests and healers, Barithorn returned to Northrend and participated in the Argent Tournament made it through the Trial of the Champion, but as the healers predicted, he returned to battle too quickly and ended up re-injuring himself during the Trial of the Crusader. He was taken off the front, rendering him unable to participate in the final assault against the Lich King.

Following the death of the Lich King and the end of the War in Northrend, Barithorn kept to himself, almost completely withdrawn from the Manatech Faction, instead spending a great deal of time in the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind while he recovered from his injuries. During this time, he became involved in the investigations into a supposed doomsday cult and participated in an undercover investigation. As time went on, he took a more active role as elementals plagued the Alliance capitals.

When Deathwing made his return and the world felt his wrath, Barithorn began to fear what seemed to be the end of the world and his faith in the Light was greatly shaken. However, after being counseled at length by Abbot Kaston Electus, he left the Manatech Faction and joined the Church of Northshire. He did not have long to delve into his studies as a Knight of the Church, however, as the Worgen-cursed Gilneans rejoined the Alliance, and Barithorn jumped at the chance to answer a summons by the 7th Legion to assist the Gilneas Liberation Front in taking the country back from the Forsaken. Not only would he repay the debt he owed to the Legion for setting him free, but he would also gain some measure of revenge against the Forsaken that had put him through several months of hell. He departed immediately for Gilneas.

Death and Rebirth
Barithorn was stationed in Gilneas City, near the Light's Dawn Cathedral, where he routinely patroled, taking orders from Master Sergeant Pietro Zaren. He was one of many in a squad of 7th Legionnaires that assaulted key Forsaken positions, Dreadwatch Outpost and Rutsak's Guard. However, a Forsaken sneak attack left Zaren and whole squads of his submariner forces dead. Outnumbered and outmuscled, Barithorn died with the blades of Forsaken agents driving into his body.

The peace of death would not last long, as his soul was forced back into his body and his rotted corpse was raised by the Val'kyr. Disoriented, confused, and more than just a little shaken up, he hid until the fighting died down and fled from Gilneas. Once he had recovered his senses, he found that something went awry during the raising process. His muscles had withered to just about nothing, rendering him unable to wear heavy armor or even barely hold a sword. While he was still able to wield the Light as he always had, to use it as he was harmed him more than it helped, as the powers of the Light burned his flesh. Despite that, he intended to train in the ways of the priest. However, the fury and rage at his predicament came to the forefront of his mind. Thoughts that had barely scratched the surface was he was alive now stood above all. Revenge. Murder, justifiable or otherwise. Hatred. And so, he began to walk the path of the shadow priest, further plotting to make those who made him what he is suffer.

He steadfastly refused to call himself a Forsaken, referring to himself as either undead or "fallen". In his mind, the Forsaken are an organization of undead individuals, not a race of people, and he refuses to be part of the group that killed him and raised him.

Appearance
Standing upright, Barithorn is roughly 5'9" but he is normally hunched over. He has shoulder-length black hair. His general attire consists of a pair of slacks, a simple tunic, and a headband.

Personality
Barithorn's tone is general snarky and sarcastic, a far cry from the way it was when he was human. He still tries to help people to the best of his ability, but has a hard time suppressing the rage inside of him.

Relationships
His father is James Stanbridge, a former Marshal for Brill, and Miracira Delane, the leader of the bandit clan the Brill Hounds. He maintains somewhat friendly relations with the goblin Mishanzy Manclamp and with Alawys Mulryan, a former Scarlet Crusader that had become undead herself.

As far as he is aware, he is not related to Stephen Stanbridge.