Vanidicus Alexander

"From discipline comes strength, from strength comes willpower, from willpower comes magic, from magic comes mastery, from mastery comes discipline."

Vanidicus ‘Van’ Alexander is a Battle-mage in the service of Magus Senate of Dalaran. Van is a career military man who seeks to make a name for himself in service to the Kirin Tor. Van is an Archmage of the Kirin Tor and continues to apply his many years of military training to serve the Senate and his peers as best he can.

Description
Van tries to project himself as a stern man. His eyes are not wide and his lips don't usually hold a smile. There are many hard lines across his face and a light scar on his right cheek. His red beard is full and long hair is tamed into two braids with occasional wisps of hair escaping despite his best efforts, though nowadays he keeps them braided beneath his hood. His nose is slightly crooked from a previous break that didn't heal as well as it could have. His left pinky is shorter then is right, as it is missing the top two portions of it. He tries to carry himself with knightly dignity, having once been a knight before discovering his gift for magic and his stride is measured and rigid.

Vanidicus also always carrier his weapons with him. A sword he has carried since his young days, and a simple staff with a focusing crystal on the head that he carved himself. He has since named his weapons; his sword, Force, and his staff Motivation. Named after the two things that have gotten him to where he is in life.

History
When Van was born to lesser noble family that had a longstanding tradition of knighthood in Stormwind some 13 years before the Dark portal opened. Growing up it had been his dream to follow in the footsteps of his father, Jordan Alexander. Eventually his dream was realized when he was squired to a knight named Richard Johnson of the Stormwind Army at the age of 13. When the Orcs came pouring through the Dark Portal and the Stormwind Army marched for War his father never came back. Vanidicus remained in Stormwind performing various errent duties until Richard returned, he had been grievously wounded during an initial skirmish and had been evacuated home, missing an arm. When the Orcish Horde came for Stormwind, the recovering Richard took his young squire Van and followed the rest of the surviving humans to Lorderon. Van spent the next six years training under Richard and also a knight named Anderson, when the Orcs came back again and marched north, he was ready to fight to avenge his father. He engaged in several small battles and skirmishes and earned several field promotions in the brutal combat but finally proved himself above and beyond the call of duty during the alliance reinforcement of Quel'thalas and was promoted to Sergeant. After the war he stayed with the army to help train new recruits, eventually he left  to return to his foster father, Richard. They retired to a small village in northern



Lorderon and took up smithing and farming. When the third war came and Lorderon fell to the foulest betrayals, the Scourge began to ravage the land. It didn’t take them long to reach his village. Richard and Van rallied a valiant defense but it was ultimately not enough, most died, including Richard, but Van managed to escape with several villagers. Eventually though, the Burning Legion would come in force, and Archimond the Defiler would destroy the realm of Dalaran, killing a great amount of people. As Van and the remaining villagers fled south from the Scourge they met up with fleeing survivors and Magi from Dalaran. It was at this time Van discovered his gift of magic.

The Dalaran Survivors and the remaining few villagers banded together and helped protect each other over the months from the rampant undead and Van continued to learn what magic he could from the mages who were willing to teach him. Learning what he could, over time he became proficient in force magic and arcane usage as it allowed the most ammount of brute force. He also made efforts to learn of frost magic over time, but like many other more intricate magics, they for the large part eluded him. He would combine these techniques with his knightly training and act as a battle-mage in defense of those that he held dear.

After the battle of Mt. Hyjal and the defeat of the Burning Legion Van returned to stormwind and assisted in its rebuilding and defense. His mage companions returned to Dalaran to rebuild and his few surviving villagers settled in Stormwind. He joined the stormwind army, his rank carrying over, and served as a magical advisor and rear support at the Dark Portal during the War in Outland, defending the gate from demonic incursion into Azeroth.

He also participated in the expeditionary fo rces to Northrend and served at Valiance Keep in Borean Tundra, combating the presence of the garrisoned scourge and serving as a squad leader for attacks on local scourge holdings. Eventually he was given leave to visit the recently relocated Dalaran where he reunited with several of his magi friends in the Kirin tor and learned a few tricks, taking time to become proficient in several helpful ways of frost magic. He turned down an invitation to join however as he felt he had a duty to Stormwind first. Upon returning to Valiance Keep he served with distinction during the dealings with Naxxanaar and was promoted to Staff Sergeant. Once the Lich King fell he returned to Stormwind where he primarily oversaw the new recruits and enjoyed some much needed down time.

When the cataclysm hit and broke the world, he watched Deathwing land on the gates of Stormwind he fell into a period of depression which lasted for several weeks. How could he fight against something like that with sword and spear and what magics he knew? During this time Van spent much of his free time with the Stormwind Circle of Magi, trying to improve. He served as an in between for the stormwind circle and the Stormwind army during this time trying to coordinate their efforts better as the Horde began a campaign of aggression. He served in multiple theaters across Azeroth; Stonetalon Peaks and Ashenvale primarily as heavy and demolition units.

Now that the Mists of Pandaria have parted and the horde on the march the Stormwind Army has sailed to the newly discovered land to fight against the increasingly aggressive horde. Van sailed with the Army as auxillaries to the 7th legion forces to Lion's Landing as part of the overarching Operation: Shieldwall in Pandaria under High Marshall Twinbraid. He served primarily in Scouting and demolitions functions with the Engineering Corp, learning much more about explosives and sparking interest in own studies into the matter. Once the main landing and beachhead was established, Vann acted as part of the Garrison force, engaging in operations and skirmishes against the horde for the duration. Eventually Van's battalion was rotated home on leave to rest and recharge and while on leave the city of Orgrimmar went under seige. The city fell relativly swiftly, only a day or two before Van's battalion was to ship out again. Now that peace finally has a chance to reign, Van is on leave from the Army to study in Dalaran, where he hopes to gain magical knowledge and form strong alliances, it is there where he hopes to make his future.

Activities Since Joining the Magus Senate
Van has been busy since joining the Magus Senate. He has used this opportunity to learn and master several techniques he had been unable to perform up until this point. With aid from Archmage Verus Baelheit he has mastered Blink and has developed spells of his own design. To the Kirin Tor he has brought a military mind and has been highly efficient and capable at dangerous fieldwork in service to the Violet Eye, the Senate, and to the Archmagi who would call on him. Some of these activities include purging the Dalaran sewers of arcane rifts and their spawned horrors, various expeditions, and joint work with the First Regiment of the Stormwind Army. Due to his leadership skills and combat acumen, Vanidicus has since risen through the ranks of the Magus Senate to full Senator and has been promoted to Commander of the once defunct Battlemage Corp. Van swiftly began making reforms, instituting a training regiment and increasing the martial prowess of those under his command. Van now advises the Archmagi on combat matters and often works with Councilor Arranax DeVin, The Minister of the Interior, he works in Triumvate with The Violet Eye Inteligence organization and the Dalaran Guard. Van also hosts a series of classes on abjuration and transmutation, allowing for the creation of manablades and constructs of magic to be used in battle. Since ascending to position of Mage-Commander, Van finds himself doing more paperwork, his least favourite thing. Though Zanbor Emerson absolutely adores it and demands more reports.

The Alchemist Campaign
Working together with Archmage Baelheit, Vanidicus discovered research that led to the unearthing of the work of one of the first one-hundred human magi, a man called 'The Alchemist.' After disovering the locations of several tombs, each containing fragments of the journals and recipe for a potion, the Magus Senate Deployed a series of excursions to recover them.

During the first outing, Van deployed ahead of the main body of magi to serve as scout, checking the area out, as they were deep within Forsaken territory. Finding nothing of note, he called the Magi in and they entered the first tomb. The tomb was filled with strange two-dimensional shades, flat as paper and mean as an angry bull and unaffected by physical strikes. They slunk in the shadows and struck cowardly at the magi group, fortunately the recovery of the journal page was swift and the group was able to ex-filtrate easily.

The next set of research revealed the next tomb location, a crypt buried underneath Stromgard. The past histories of Syndicate and Ogre activity and the presence of the shades had the Tor on high alert for this deployment. Van took Kalecthos Delanor and Jaine Winterchill ahead as an advance guard to secure the site and to establish a portal connection. Unfortunately, due to magical disruption, a close proximity site was unfeasible and due to building shade presence forced the group to retreat to the now defunct Stromgard mage tower, fighting shades along the way. After reaching the tower and erecting hastily constructed wards, the three established a portal link up and brought the rest of the Magus Senate through. Van transferred command to Archmage Baelheit and they fought through the ruined city, shades leaping from the shadows. Eventually their progress was blocked by a wall of darkness, the magi together were able to concentrate enough power to breach a hole in the darkness and with Van holding it open, allowed the group to get through, Van diving through as it closed. They broke into the crypt with little further difficulty save for minor shade presence and a large one which was defeated by combined powers, they then evacuated. It was during this expedition that Van proved himself a highly capable leader to the Magus Senate and Van began working with the Battlemagi.

The third outing would prove to be a success for the Senate, but disaster for Vanidicus. The third tomb was found in the Badlands buried in a mountain and forgotten till it was unearthed by some unfortunate workers. Van once again led an advance party and found the tomb entrance. The shades this time didn't confront them directly until they they tried to enter and only sought to repel them. They succeeded and Senior Magus Tammini, Archmagi Sprocket, and Senator Kalecthos were forced to retreat to establish a portal link up location. After bringing the main body through, they approached the tomb, the shade presence increasing massively. Vanidicus and Kalecthos remained outside while the group went inside. Van and Kalec began a running battle to distract the shades, getting separated early on as they ran through the small canyons. This would prove to be bad, as Van was struck in the chest by a phantom blade. Looping around, Van got back to the entrance to the crypt and held the shades off until Kalec got back to reinforce him, but not before taking several wounds to the chest and legs and left arm. He was evac'd by Kalecthos and Baelheit through a portal to Dalaran as they began to get overwhelmed.

The most recent find has been beneath Stormwind itself. Finding a crypt deep beneath the mage's quarter in the city, shades began to quickly overwhelm the group. Van rallied the group defenders to himself and began directing them into various defensive patterns, allowed the rest of the group to gather the things they needed. As they were backed into a corner, Van and the other Battlemagi held back the tide until they could escape, though Kalecthos was injured.

The last location was found in the Blasted Lands, long ago the Alchemist was burried in the once lush forest; now a fel-tainted ruin. After Van was fully recovered from his wounds suffered in the last two expeditions he set off to find the location of the tomb. Based on research done by Baelheit he was able to find the general area, but was repelled by the high Demon activity. Returning to the senate with his findings and reporting to the governing body. The next day he gathered the newly formed Battlemage Corp and deployed ahead of the main group to establish a staging ground, the group moved noth from Surwhich and encountered heavy resistance from entrenched demons. After killing a small group, the three went engaged stealth operations, moving quickly through the tainted land and erecting wards around a defensible position. They then stabilized the portal link and brought the bulk of the Magi through. It was not so easy however, shades in the area, one content to watch from afar, made one last mighty effort to defeat the magi. Assembling into a great construct, it hammered on the wards as magi came through from Dalaran. Eventually it broke through, sending the magi of the battlemage corp reeling from feedback and began to attack the magi. Van recovered quickly and gave the order to scatter while the battlemagi put themselves between the shade construct and the magi. With a combined effort the shade was defeated and the group moved north. As they moved they found the land twisted and blackened without even any fel taint, the land sucked dry. As they approached the site, a demonic creature lept out and attacked the group. The creature revealed himself to be the alchemist, an impossibly ancient being who had survived all these years luring magi to him and draining them. The Alchemist flickered between a decrepit yet corrupted form and a mighty demon. The Alchemist took them by surprise and lept onto Archmage Vincent and began to suck him dry, Van unable to make it in time, he settled for ripping the being off of him with the help of Lord Arranax DeVin. The Alchemist rampaged around the group, scattering their numbers, until Archmage Baelheit was able to piece together the spell required to defeat the once-human creature. Giving the order to defend the Archmage at all costs, Van and the other magi encircled the Archmage to protect him, Kalec Delnathor taking a hit as the Alchemist knocked him away with inhuman strength. Shortly thereafter Archmage Baelheit was able to prepare the spell and blast the being, stripping him of his power and reducing him to a decrepit, barely alive, nearly rotting being, ranting and raving, it was pityable. As everyone else watched the pitiful creature scream hatred towards them, Baelheit, a decendent of a first one-hundred magi, stabbed The Alchemist through the chest, killing him finally. The corpse of The Alchemist crumbled into dust shortly after due to extreme old age. The Alchemists tome(spellbook) was recovered from the site and now rests in the Dalaran Vaults, to be experimented on carefully for the good of all Azerothians.

Kidnapping of the Archbishop
Some time later the Clergy of the Holy Light called a meeting of the big players of the Alliance in a mission involving the Archbishop of the Clergy of the Holy Light. Three representatives of the Magus Senate were chosen; Councilor Baelheit the diplomat, Vice-Chancellor Vorien in Chancellor Emerson's stead, and Commander Alexander, head of the battlemagi. Along with Councilor DeVin as an interpreter. The four of them traveled to the Stormwind Cathedral to hear the summons. The news that the Archbishop had been kidnapped was delivered to the assembled devout and armsmen. The magi of the Kirin Tor had been called to act as transport to the Northern Realm of Tirisfal and as martial aid. The magi opened a mass transit portal with the aid of several other kirin tor members to move the group. They arrived and the magi blanketed the group in a shroud of concealment and they moved to the Undercity to negotiate for the bishops release only to be given a box of desecrated remains. Van was shocked and dismayed by this, he wanted to strike, having seen this man and attended his sermons, but was given orders to stand down. The group was given an hour to evacuate the area before artillery bombardment of plague explosives began. They traveled north to the resting place of Foal, outside the former bastion of scarlet power, the old monastery. There the bishops purified the remains of the Archbishop and found his soul was lost, tied to the land, doomed to wander. The group dispersed to try and sense his soul and call out to him. Van, wanting dearly to save the man who had given him and his soldiers some solace when they needed it, searched with the others, and eventually he found the soul of the Archbishop wandering the plagued woods. Van called to him, tried to get his attention with praises to the Light, but he knew none, only having attended mass and knowing no liturgies. Eventually he managed to get the attention of the Clergies paladins and priests and guide them to the spirit of the man. They were able to summon him back to his ashes and preserve his soul, giving it peace and letting him move onto the next life. Van was very upset by all this, a man he highly respected was killed, and a high ranking alliance official at that. He drank alot for a while, but soon composed himself to return to his duties.

Hunting the Hunter
Several weeks later after being promoted to the Vanguard rank within the Senate and taking a greater roll in organizing Kirin Tor paramilitary forces, Van was having celebratory drinks with several members who had recently risen to prominence when an alert went out over the Signet Ring communication system. The alert was a top priority alarm signifying that an alarm from the Arcane Vaults had been triggered by one of the workers there; the Vaults had been compromised and an artifact had been taken. Quickly running to the Violet Citadel to find that the other magi were beginning to assemble. The council ordered the Citadel locked down; Van tightened security and ordered his battlemagi to seal the exits. In the now sealed citadel, Vanidicus and the assembled senate magi began to search for clues. While they were searching a vault worker presented Councilman Baelheit with a list of missing items, it read one; The Alchemist's Tome. Finding no clues, the three council members present deigned it a worthy enough task to enlist the aid of the Eye of Dalaran. Baelheit was called away to lead the search around the city and left the investigation in Vanidicus' hands. Using it's considerable arcane might, the assembled magi used it to scry for clues. The eye revealed that a Night Elf that had been reported moving about the city public spaces had broken into the citadel and had neutralized the wards with demonic power and stolen The Alchemist's Tome and left as quickly as he had entered, taking nothing else. The senate then sent Councilman Zanbor Emerson to Darnassus to meet with Dalaran Ambassador Zalphar and the Night Elves for operational permission within the city.

After spending time gathering data and negeotiating with the Night Elves the senate bided their time, helping the Night Elves keep watch and wait while the Eye of Dalaran was reconfigured to be able to find the Demon Hunter. Eventually they found fel trace in Darnassus and went to investigate. After finding several powerful concealment wards and patches of groing Fel Fire the Magus Senate quickly moved to rid the land of the source. Expecting the Hunter they found a Satyr, who they swiftly killed, but not before the Satyr shouted a warning, seemingly to or about a hunter. Upon realizing that the source of the Fel Taint lay deeper underground, they went into the barrow dens, finding the Demon Hunter at last, poised to kill a druid. Rushing to help the druid they attacked the hunter, allowing the Druid to escape. The hunter agrily attacked them back, calling them fools, before grabbing the alchemists tome and escaping, telling that they had just let a demon in disguise loose. Oops. Several Kirin Tor cleanup teams were dispatched to the city to help deal with the fel problems.

In the interim the scrying teams of Dalaran worked hard to find the Demon Hunter. Once unable to triangulate the hunters location further, they narrowed it down to the Night Elven Territories in Northern Kalimdor. To ascertain the location of the hunter, Van took a team of battlemagi to do reconnaissance, sending two other teams out to search other locations. Upon arriving, the Battlemagi established a focal point to sweep out from and found they had walked into a trap as they were picked off one by one. The hunter had not killed them though, Vanidicus later found them imprisoned. Van was unable to release them and it was only when he was thrown through the shadowy wall did the imprisoned battlemagi get a chance to fight back. Repelling the demon hunter and wounding him and managing to cut off a piece of his kilt, staining it with blood in the process. They quickly retreated and turned the cloth over to the council for them to work with the scrying teams to properly find the hunter.

The utilization of the hunter's gear to locate him was a success. Vanidicus and Battlemage Rosenthal found his hideout in Feralas and opened a portal nexus, while Jaine maintained the portal Van scouted ahead. Upon reinforcement from the senate they marched upon his mountaintop refuge and found themselves trapped in a circle of fel fire. They found themselves ambushed by the hunter, sustaining a few casulties, and eventually flushing out the Demon Hunter, an elf named Nighthaunter. After a brief combat the Hunter accepted defeat and relinquished his weapons. After a session of the Nighthaunter yelling at the Senate, the "Druid" Banehollow, actually the demon. Showed up, having stolen The Alchemist's Tome from the Demon Hunter's allies by killing them, he then effortlessly shrugged off the Senate's attacks, paralyzed them, and departed after making ominous threats regarding Dalaran. The Demon Hunter was then bound by the battlemage corp, and restrained and taken to The Violet Hold, awaiting trial, for a reason that Vanidicus cannot comprehend.

After a trial, the demon hunter was coerced into aiding the Magus Senate. The battlemage corp took him from the hold and transported him to Banehollow's location in felwood. Once reinforced by the Senate they took off into the demon corrupted barrow dens. The hunter hid them in shadow to avoid enemies but eventually they were blocked in a ritual sacrifice chamber. Many desecrated bodies lay strewn about, but one man was barely alive, begging for help. None would come them as a portal opened in him, allowing a doomguard to crawl from his body and attack the senate. The Demon Hunter took advantage of the distraction and used the opertunity to get ahead and find Banehollow. Defeating the demon the magi found the hunter engaged in battle with the Dreadlord already and the Alchemist's Tome fueling several portal gates. Vanidicus ordered magi to try and hold the portals shut while the rest of the senate fought the demon. As magi managed to close the portals the demon's strength waned and eventually he was defeated. In the chaos the demon hunter had grabbed the tome before the senate could and began sealing the portals. He walked towards the last one, repelling the magi's attempts to bind him with shielding spells from the spellbook. As he stepped through the last closing portal, he tossed the book back to the magi as a token of goodwill. The Demon Hunter is currently MIA to the chancellor's displeasure.

Personality and traits
Two decades of military training have given Vanidicus a no nonsense and structured outlook on life. He believes in order above all things and while he is open to new ideas and modifications to existing strategy on the basis of pragmatism, he does not approve of wild deviation from the norm and is slow to accept new ideas and doctrine. He instead preferrs to rely on tried and true techniques and rigorous practice. He applies this outlook to how he goes about his studies and training in magic. Van strongly approves of Dalaran’s now official ties to the Alliance, but he strongly disapproves of Jaina Proudmoore’s appointment to leader of the Kirin Tor. Van sees her as an unfit leader driven by vengeance and emotion over practical doctrine which he believes will lead to aggression above and beyond what is required and rapid action without attention to consequences; a practice which Van intensely dislikes.

Despite Vanidicus’s hardline personality, he is not without a softer side. While he maintains his composure most of the time he is not good with speaking to women and can come off as somewhat chauvinistic or overly chivalrous. He deeply appreciates the company of comrades who have earned his trust and jokes occasionally when the mood strikes him, finding humor in the small things. Van also has an intense dislike of paperwork. Slows things down.

Spiritual Beliefs
Van is a devout follower of the holy light. After more then twenty years of soldiering and war he has gained a healthy respect for the power of The Light, having been healed by it many times and had his wounded men healed and bolstered by it as well. Every Sunday he goes to mass in his home city of Stormwind.

Lately however his faith in the church has been shaken. While he maintains a devout opinion of The Light, The Church has fallen in his esteem due to the acts of Men. More zealous and fervorous elements within the church have acted against his new home of Dalaran. Van considers these acts dishonorable and shameful. Upon the revealing of these actions, the Archbishop of The Church of The Holy Light himself addressed the Magus Senate, declaring his lack of knowledge and inability to control the elements within the church acting against other Alliance Organizations.

Equipment
Vanidicus has used much equipment over the years, swords, shields and spears, he has come to favor a select few since his tutelage under the mages of Dalaran.

-  Force. The broadsword he has carried since his first days in the Army. It has been in his hand through one hundred battles and will participate in one hundred more. He had not named the sword for a long time. Eventually, using what little skill in enchanting he possessed and the help of the Stormwind Circle of Magi, he was able to enchant the blade with a magical aura, giving it an absurdly sharp cutting edge as a displacement aura around it pushes material aside. It also maintains its strength as it were newly forged. Van uses the blade as a focus as well, using it to project bother bursts of arcane force to augment it’s combat power.

'''- Motivation. ''' Since being elevated to Archmage, Vanidicus has used his vastly increased skills and ability to craft himself a new staff. His new staff is a solid adamantite rod with carved grip, it is tipped with a green manacrystal carved by Van himself. The style is similar to many other Kirin Tor staves but is slightly smaller and weighted differently to allow it to be swung about with one hand.

- Flintlocke Pistol.  Since the standardization and introduction of firearms into the military, most NCO’s or higher have carried a sidearm of some sort and Staff Sergeant Vanidicus Alexander is no exception. A finely crafted side arm with small carvings done by his dwarven friend, Angris Stoutheart, it is capable of firing two shots before reloading. Van keeps this sidearm on a small holster on his lower back, hoping to keep it concealed as to be a surprise when he uses it.

- '''Kirin Tor Signet Ring. '''One of dozens of identical rings worn by every Mage of Dalaran. Focusing on the ring activates its ley-channel, enabling contact with colleagues over vast distances.

- '''Kirin Tor Isignia Necklace. '''Crafted by Senate Artificer Kalecthos Delnathor, this enchanted glass and brass necklace is worn prominantly around his neck and onto his chest over his tabard. Hung from a thin yet highly sturdy metal chain, this necklace is not just for show. When pressed it will create varying levels of Illumination, each subsequent press will increase the illumination, with a 6th press creating fire, with a 7th turning it off. Van will typically conceal this under his gear during combat as to not have it snag on something or be pulled on by a opponant.

Relationships
Vanidicus has many friendships in the guard and maintains contact with his former villagers in stormwind and his magi friends in Dalaran. Now that he lives in the mage city he gets to see them a lot more. He has had no significant long term romantic relationships, but a person of his affection remains garrisoned at Valiance Keep. He hopes to one day see her again.

Trivia
Vanidicus translates to “Speaker of Lies.” Though this is far from the truth.