Standhaft Garithos-Lionheart I

''"Until my dying breath, I will defend all Humanity and the Grand Alliance of Lordaeron. By the grave of my father and by my noble birth, this I swear." -Standhaft Garithos''

Lord Standhaft Garithos is a young nobleman of both Lordaeron and Stormwind blood, heir to the Barony of Blackwood in northeast Lordaeron near the border with Quel'thalas (not to be confused with the forest of the same name in the northwest region of Blackmarsh) and a stalwart patriot of the Grand Alliance.

While technically the heir to the Barony of Blackwood, the town and all its vassals were destroyed in the Second War, and again in the Third War, so there remained nothing left to inherit save for ruined and plagued land. Standhaft inherited no men-at-arms or any lands save for a small manor in Stormwind. As such, Standhaft, while born of a great legacy, occupied a position little higher than a landed knight when he came of age.

Personality and Appearance
Possessing the courage and drive of youth, Standhaft is a brave and bold man. His family is paramount and his friends are held in high esteem, and he holds close to his heart the ideals of valour and honour. He thinks of himself as an intelligent and cunning man, and is to some degree, but in truth he is much too direct to be thought of as truly sly. He is a man who oft misses the subtleties of nobles and when he does detect them: misreads them. Standhaft wins more battles on the field and with his blade than he does in court.

Though he is a devout follower of the Holy Light, his beliefs are colored by his father's ruthlessness and grave views on the world and further by the very harsh realities of Azeroth following the opening of the Dark Portal. Standhaft Garithos is man whose actions bespeak the conviction and determination of his beliefs. Some view him as zealous in his unwavering persuit to destroy the fulcrum of true evil and some others view him as heroic for the very same things.

"Born in the South to die in the North." -Tattooed on Standhaft's left arm

Standhaft Garithos is a brutishly large man, whose presence speaks of training from an early age. His strikes are as avalanche unleashed and his guard as unbreakable as the mountain. Few men in the realm can match his natural strength. The seed of his father can be seen clearly in him, as he is his father's spitting image. The powerful jaw of the Garithos line and even Grand Marshal Othmar's grave visage have been passed to him.

Early Life
Standhaft was born the only child of Baron Othmar Garithos and Leliana Hannelore Manstein. The love of the two nobles was not one to last, however, and soon after Standhaft's birth Othmar returned to Lordaeron where he rebuilt Blackwood while Leliana remained in Garithos' manor at Stormwind with their son.

Growing up in Stormwind during the aftermath of the Second War, Standhaft came to know the tales of all the valiant Alliance heroes and began to venerate them from an early age. The Lion, Anduin Lothar, and the wielder of the Broken Sword, Turaylon. Daelin Proudmoore, master of the seas, and Danath Trollbane, slayer of trolls and orcs alike.

His mother was a women of strong piety and began from the start to instill in the young boy strong faith. And then at the age of six, he began to summer away with his father who fanned the spark of Stormwind's martial nature into the flames of an unwavering warrior.

Oathkeeper, Patron Saint of the Unwavering Warrior
Othmar sent his son to the safety of Stormwind when the Scourge of Lordaeron first began. When King Terenas Menethil II died, many crumbled in despair and were dispatched with great ease by the traitor prince Arthas. With Uther the Lightbringer's death and the shattering of the Silverhand, it seemed there were fewer and fewer men with the courage to defend Lordaeron from the darkness and, indeed, many nobles fled south with their men-at-arms to other kingdoms or west with Jaina Proudmoore rather than stand and fight.

Yet, even with little to no support and against such overwhelming odds, Grand Marshal Othmar Garithos made good on his vow to defend mankind and fought an unwinnable war first against the undead scourge and then against the demonic armies of the Burning Legion. Where 10,000 years ago the night elf empire and all its allies were shattered by the Burning Legion, Othmar rallied the broken armies of Lordaeron and matched the Burning Legion's advances move by move, meter by bloody meter. He struck impossible victories against the Burning Legion when he halted their advance at Thoradin's Wall, and when he recaptured Dalaran and Captial City.

Eventually, the dreadlord Detheroc was able to force Othmar to capitulate through the use of his dark powers where military strategy had failed. Othmar was briefly freed from this mind control by Sylvanas Windrunner. Together they formed an alliance and retook Capital City from the dreadlord Balnazzar, but Othmar was betrayed and murdered by the banshee Sylvanas on the twilight of the battle.

Blackwood did not survive the Third War, though when precisely it was destroyed is unclear.

Rather than lose hope, a fourteen year old Standhaft turned his anguish to hatred. He closed his heart to the pain and swore to venerate his father's memory, to finish the mission that his father began, to devote his enitre life to leading and protecting his people. Though some forget Othmar's achievements and sacrifice, Standhaft does not. All of the Eastern Kingdoms might have fallen without Othmar's valiant defense and though his ultimate mission was a failure, the son would see it finished.

Champion of the Alliance
Martial and tactical training consumed Standhaft's life for the following five years until the Lich King's undead forces attacked Stormwind directly. At this point, Standhaft joined the Stormwind Army as a knight. During the Northrend campaign he rose to the rank of Knight-Captain and was appointed command of Stormwind's 71st Infantry Battalion which would later adopt the sobriquet of the Blackwood Brigade.

Standhaft proved to commendable leader of men and a supreme warrior in his own right. His own unwavering determination to defeat evil in the face of terror and overwhelming odds inspired the soldiers following him to greater acts of valor. Many of them chose to enter into Standhaft's personal service after the war.

[This is a work in progress. This section should document Standhaft's rise as an Alliance champion and roughly covers the time passed during WotLK, cataclysm, and the earlier parts of MoP.]

The Cycle Continues
[This is a work in progress. This section should document Standhaft's return to his father's mission to defend Lordaeron, mankind, and the Alliance.]

The Future
Coming Soon...

Quotes
-"I will crush every foe, slay every beast, and destroy all who dare stand against me. Every fallen enemy will know that they have faced something indestructible."

-"Let justice fall!"

-"For Lordaeron! For Stormwind! For the Alliance!"

-"Let me show you my Compassion, traitor."

-"I am a man of Virtue. Compassion. Tenacity. Respect."

-"Light save the Queen and all the Grand Alliance."

Trivia
-Standhaft is a badass who isn't afraid of anything.

-Standhaft's Barony, Blackwood, shares a name with a forest in Blackmarsh which is also called Blackwood.

-Standhaft marches in the rear of the Queen's Army en route to the defense of Stromgarde.

-The two dating systems used are the King's Calendar and 'A.D.P' which stands for After Dark Portal.