Iustus

"I am the might of the Onslaught. Bid me march to war."

- Onslaught Commander Iustus

Once a brutal warrior in the service of Lordaeron, now a brutal warrior in the service of the Raven Conclave; little has changed for this man over the years, other than whose skulls he has been directed to crush underfoot. His current whereabouts are unknown, but he is rumored to be held in reserve in the Pit of Revelation, the first and greatest of the Raven Dreadnaughts, ready to be unleashed.

Description
Fairly average in height and with a medium frame, Dieter Falke might have been a rather unmemorable looking man if not for the enormously bulging arms and oversized hands that earn him his Strongarm moniker. Combined with less overstated but tremendously powerful muscles in his upper back, he has the ability to comfortably use bows that few other humans can pull or string and to throw spears with tremendous force.

An adulthood spent largely as an archer on some lonely wall or riding a gryphon into the wind has left Dieter with a lean weathered face and a great many lines and crowsfeet. Though his hair has receded to little more than a lank blond and grey ring around the sides and back of his head, he remains a ruggedly handsome sort of man in the eyes of some.

With a soldier's bearing and a calm, even, and polite temperament, he seldom raises his voice or outwardly angers - but his cold green eyes are those of a killer and a man who has both seen and done terrible things. Though he is always interested in the well-being of those who serve under him, there are very few to whom he displays any open warmth and even they see it rarely.

Early History
From the start, Iustus was destined for darkness. Born to humble peasants in a nothing town in Silverpine, he went to work early as a farmhand and grew up strong and dangerous; he developed a reputation as a sadistic bully in his village, not an angry man but one who took a grim satisfaction in hurting those who crossed him. At age 16, a few years before the Plague of Undeath ravaged his homeland of Lordaeron, Iustus enlisted in the Lordaeronian Royal Army and was stationed at an Orcish internment camp. Even the battle-hardened veterans of the Second War were fearful of the hulking dark-haired warrior, who seemed to take pleasure in brutalizing the prisoners and had the gumption and, more terrifyingly, the cunning to do it in ways that would make it difficult to retaliate. Once the Plague hit and the Army began losing men, he was quickly redeployed to the Eastweald and given command of a unit as a Sergeant. His unit would sack towns believed to be harboring cultists, and after the Culling of Stratholme, they began simply burning villages at the first sign of infection. Even after the collapse of the Lordaeronian government, Iustus continued to lead his unit as before, simply changing banners from House Menethil to House Garithos and finally the Scarlet Crusade. He was lauded as an example of zeal by the Grand Crusader and elevated to the rank of commander. He would bear this rank when he joined Abbendis's expedition to Northrend.

The Onslaught
Upon Barean Westwind's arrival at New Hearthglen, Iustus was quickly singled out for Westwind's personal honor guard; this is a man who would balk at no order, who would kill friend as soon as foe, all for the glory of the Raven. He made multiple pilgrimages to the sacrificial pit that would become known as the Pit of Revelation with Westwind and Triana Brandt, and it is believed that he became the first Raven Dreadnaught, a form of death knight utilized by the Onslaught. He continued to serve as Westwind's bodyguard until the latter's disappearance at the end of 29 LC, at which point Iustus, too, faded away into the annals of history. His ultimate fate, unlike Westwind's however, is not described in any Onslaught text, leaving open the possibility that he remains alive and active in the Raven's service.