Selzen DeVann

Duke Selzen DeVann is a citizen of Stormwind and The Grand Alliance. A native of Stormwind, Selzen saw a childhood and upbringing plagued with violence. With his life uprooted multiple times due to wars, the man has taken well to his recently acquired lands and position within the Commonwealth. He grew up raised as a Knight, but due to circumstances in the wars he took closer heed to the tactics of the scouts and assassins employed to provide Alliance armies with crucial information. He has seen service in nearly every war since the Orcs first invaded, combined with his years spent as a detective and agent of SI:7 the man's clever tricks and fast mind are put to work maintaining the abundant wealth of his recently acquired lands.

Appearance
At a firm age of fifty-six, Selzen finds himself in the midst of a well-aged grace. What's left of the man's youth is slowly being replaced with the weariness of age, but so far he has found a comfortable and often-remarked handsome middle-ground. The man's single eye displays a dull green, providing a very common compliment to his rusty red hair. His expression can be seen in a wide range of emotions, though most notably his smiles are always made to be bright and warm. A life of conquered hardships sometimes shows through, giving all the more motivation for his smiles.

Having been raised and trained as a Knight, Selzen has not been afforded the luxury many others of his craft have been. A lithe, agile body is perhaps the furthest from what the man sported. By no means was he fat, but he held a broad frame with a solid layer of muscle. He was simply a large figure, on the larger side of a 6'4" man's proportions. While some may have altered their training to better suit the tasks Selzen often performed, the man found his own workarounds and to this day keeps in shape as a small way of honoring the men whom raised him as a child.

It is often said that most people are seen mostly in their armor, or some time of protection. For Selzen this is a constant. He is never seen in public or even within the confines of his own keep without the full compliment of his leathers. It is one of the most powerful marks of his paranoia, and the man has been known to attend and even officiate weddings whilst wearing the same leathers he had worn earlier that day to slay a dragon with. The armor is so akin to a second skin that the man balks when it is touched, expressing agoraphobic tendencies.

History
Selzen's history is a story the man makes a very thorough effort of keeping hidden. Buying off witnesses, bartering for evidence, destroying leads, the man has never been found guilty of a crime and is rarely accused of anything. For most it is difficult to tell if it is simply yet another manifestation of his paranoia, or the intent to keep something buried. The man's story changes frequently, and when confronted about conflicts involving the different stories he makes an effort to brush it off.

His most recent history, stretching back only a few years, proved too difficult for Selzen to fully scrub the traces of. Stormwind has seen his mark left in many a location, ranging from a brief stay as a Magistrate to working as a Detective and SI:7 agent. Internal investigations, private eye work, involvements in plots and rebellions. Selzen's reputation is in many different corners of Stormwind, and is often just as diverse as the stories he offers to cover up his past. While he claims to be retired from all of that, there's little doubt the man is still wary of enemies left in the shadows of Stormwind.

Time in the Commonwealth
As Selzen got on in his years the man began to seek an end to his hectic and violent lifestyle that often came with the life of a field agent. Through means which never found themselves recorded the man was granted a significant chunk of land in the then newly-formed Commonwealth of Arathor. He took to these lands as though he were born for it, quickly using old connections to offer homes and jobs to the destitute vagrants roaming portions of Stormwind's countryside. In a few short months what was once a mountains valley turned into a populated and bustling landscape, with mining and farming operations starting without delay.

Selzen's major contribution to the Commonwealth was the introduction of his unique brand of engineering. Using theories and research gathered over the years in both mechanical and magical education, Selzen had compiled together something he claims to be a "Grand Theorem". He refuses to show the full contents to others, but claims it is the source of his brand of engineering. A strange mixture of magic and technology, blending the two almost seamlessly together. Some could claim he's taken inspiration from the Draenic technology seen in better quality upon Draenor, yet others still claim the man, being the thief that he's rumored to be, has not only stolen other people's work, but also parts and machines from Titan facilities across Azeroth.

Selzen's technology functions in different capacities and off of different energy sources depending on the situation. Predicting the necessity for varied tiers of power output, Selzen has put together methods of batteries of various scale. Mana used to generate electricity through traditional means is Selzen's mainstay effort, though he has been known to utilize runes and other smaller-scale cantrips as well. The man himself is no skilled spellcaster, hardly capable of throwing out things such as Fireballs, but he has spent years researching the application and scripts of runes. What little mastery of mana he does have is wholly invested into efficient cantrips, spell effects layered over eachother at minimal cost to create something complicated.

These power cells have been used to create more efficient mining, farming, medicinal, and construction tools. As an additional effort he had even been applying his ideas to the military might of the Commonwealth, and had presented plans for a device which would put wands into the hands of even those completely devoid of magical talent. Selzen was on more than a few occasions caught boasting about humbling the very perception of spell casters, showing the world that magic can be made accessible to the common man.

Return to Stormwind
As the months dragged on in Selzen's service to the Commonwealth he found himself growing politically and morally distant from his noble peers. Arathor's leadership seemed more concerned with warring against its' Alterac neighbors than it did stabilizing itself for the future. On many occasions he quarreled with the voting council and leadership, making himself well-known as man whom in no capacity would tolerate the nation he served starting a civil war amongst The Grand Alliance. He had served too long and worked too hard to see a handful of warmongering youths tear apart decades of sacrifice by men and women he had grown up with.

When Arathor inevitably acted upon their desires of war Selzen promptly seceded from the Commonwealth, making a public declaration of such before quickly disappearing through a portal to Stormwind. His first act was to prostrate himself before the Crown, and swear the eternal loyalty of his lands to the future of Stormwind. From then on the lands of Goldhaven belonged to Stormwind, its' citizens once more secure in the knowledge that they would be protected from invasion. For not even Arathor would be bold enough to seek vengeance against Selzen if it meant the wrath of Stormwind's armies.

Since then Selzen has kept himself busy with the various duties expected of a Duke within his lands. He can be seen on rare occasion offering people legal advice for Stormwind's courts, but these days it's unlikely for the man to make the trip south for social reasons, his lands require far too much of his time.