Karolus Vårtorn-Korppari

"I have resolved never to start an unjust war, but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies"

- Karolus

Karolus Vårtorn-Korppari is a Skanoric noble who serves as the reigning King of Varland and Prince of Rostkamm. Born to Karolus Vårtorn-Korppari of Varland and Ulrike Lejonet of Elsmark-Nordstein during the waning years of the Second War, Karolus grew up surrounded by the increasingly militarisation of the Skanoric Kingdoms that followed the initial Great Wars.

Taking the throne at the age of 15 in 612 K.C, the eve of the Third War, after the death of his father due to an unknown stomach disease, Karolus was immediately thrust into the 2 year long Northern War which pitted Varland against a coalition of the remaining Skanoric Kingdoms.

Though outnumbered 3-1 by the enemy coalition, Karolus managed to lead the Varlandic Army to almost total victory, knocking Elsmark-Nordsten out of the war with the support of elements from the Stormwindian and Tirassian Navies, collapsing the initial armies sent by Nøland-Huszárvidék and defeating the forces of Rogacznaród by 613 K.C.

After the revelation that the entirety of the war had been concocted by Dreadlord agents of the Burning Legion and the resulting collapse of Nøland-Huszárvidék to the Scourge Invasion, Karolus, alongside his cousins (and former enemies) Fredryk IV of Elsmark-Nordsten and Avhustus II of Rogacznaród formed the Skanoric Alliance and fully brought their Kingdoms into the fold of the Grand Alliance, with Karolus leading the Varlanders in support of the Alliance in the numerous wars of the next decade.

A staunch supporter and campaigner for the return of the Principality of Rostkamm, Karolus was instrumental in the signing of the Third Treaty of Westyrstadt, with Varland paying over half the 180,000 Gold Sovereigns that sealed the treaty, a bout of generosity which directly led to his election as the first Prince of Rostkamm for over two centuries.

Now in the months since the Third Legion Invasion of Azeroth, Karolus has busied himself in the training of the Varlandic and Rostkammyr Armies in preparation for the support of the Argus Campaign.

Appearance
Not a relatively tall man by normal standards, Karolus stands at the average height for a Skanoric man, 5'10", with a slender, though broad-shouldered, build. His face consists of a chiselled, relatively high cheekboned and broad fore-headed visage, complemented by a mop of red-brown hair, now receding due to the stress of 15 years of warfare. In recent months he has also begun to grow a moustache and sideburns.

Notably for a man who has spent his entire adult life fighting, Karolus lacks any scars, whether from gunshot or blade. This seeming imperviousness to injury has led many of his men to believe he is unable to be harmed by common weapons, although whether he believes this himself he refuses to reveal.

Clothing and Equipment
Due to commonly choosing to command his Kingdom's heavy cavalry, in battle Karolus typically chooses to wear a standard Varlandic Officer's Blue Greatcoat, trimmed with a lion's pelt and bearing epaulettes displaying his rank, or in more recent months a Rostkammyr Officer's White Greatcoat, trimmed with a wolf's pelt and also bearing epaulettes displaying his rank.

Over this coat is worn a simple steel breastplate, bearing the three roses of Varland, while under it is worn a jupon of moosehide and felt. Additional protection for the legs is provided by high leather riding boots and trousers, while his his hands are protected by leather gauntlets and his head by a steel cabasset.

During peace Karolus still opts to wear his military uniform, although he does away with the heavy parts such as the breastplate and cabasset, wearing a simple bicorne or tricorne as headgear.

Weapons
As he prefers to fight on horseback, Karolus bears the common weapons of Skanoric Heavy Cavalryman, the ancestral Dark Iron Bastard Sword Daggryning, a long dirk, heavy lance and a brace of pistols.

Personality
"This shall hence become my music"

- Karolus

Karolus is known for his extreme lack public emotion, even by the standards of Skanoric culture. Commonly believed to have no sense of humour whatsoever, Karolus typically drops his stoicism only among close friends or family, with the only humour shown among others consisting of sarcasm or snarking.

He is also reported by many to have an "almost inhuman" tolerance for pain and loss, along with choosing to completely abstain from alcohol, sex or any other "frivolous pursuit", instead preferring to focus his thoughts solely on leadership and warfare.

Although mostly considered to be an honourable combatant, Karolus has not hesitated in the past to order the death of surrendered prisoners, such as ordering 5,000 men to death for what he considered to be collaboration with the Burning Legion.

Early Life - 597-612 K.C
Born during the last years of the Second War in Rosen Kronor Castle, Karolus was the first child of Karolus XI and his wife Ulrike. Spending his first two years in the care of his mother while his father led the Varlandic forces in assisting the Alliance in the reclamation of the Greyhallow Peninsula, which contained the family fiefdom of Westyrland, Karolus was a relatively lonely child, as although he would eventually have four brother and two sisters, all of his brothers died in infancy, leaving him as the only surviving male child and heir.

By the age of 12, Karolus had lost his mother to a unknown illness and his father, who was both in mourning and beginning to show symptoms of the stomach illness that would eventually kill him, was heavily focused on the military build-up of the Skanoric kingdoms that was as much a response to the believed "threat" of the Alliance of Lordaeron as it was to the true threat of the Orcish Horde. This resulted in Karolus' teenage years being no happy than those of his youth.

Coronation and the Northern War - 612-614 K.C
"It is strange that both my cousins ​​want to wage war against me. Well, it must be. But King Avhustus has dropped his word. Thus we have the right on our side, and thus the Gods and the Light will assist us. I intend first to crush my one enemy and then talk to the others."

- Karolus

On the 5 of April, 612 K.C, following the death of his father, Karolus ascended the throne as King of Varland and Grand Duke of Korppari. Most eventful of his coronation was the scuffle between the Patriarch of Rosholme, who would have normally taken the role of crowning the new king, and the members of a visiting Church of the Holy Light delegation, who claimed that "true representatives of the Light" it should be their job to crown the new King.

Karolus is said to have resolved this dispute by picking up the crown and placing it upon his head, stating "As my power is divine, I shall be crowned by the Gods and the Light themselves".

The king's new reign was almost instantly beset by problems. Firstly there was the issue of what exactly had killed Karolus the XI, a mystery unresolved until later events revealed that it was likely some form of Fel-derived sickness or poison. Secondly, there was the initial reports of the Plague of Undeath, which arrived at Varland approximately two weeks after the coronation.

Finally, on May 7, a month after the coronation, a strange fire took a hold of Rosen Konor, the primary castle of Varland. Primarily made out of wood and normal stone, the fire soon took hold of the castle, forcing the royal court to evacuate and resulting in the destruction of the majority of the Varlandic national archives. By the time the fire had finally burned out, only the central keep, made with advanced techniques and magis, still stood. Once again, the exact cause of the fire was unknown, although later events once again suggest it was likely Legion sabotage.

With tensions rising from those who believed that it was best to send troops to reinforce the Alliance of Lordaeron against the rising Scourge and those who believed that it would be in Skanoric interests to simply defend the southern way-gate that connected them to the mainland, it was no surprise that war soon sparked. Following the choice of Nøland-Huszárvidék to send troops into Moormark, a border Duchy that managed to stay free of both Elsmark-Nordsten and Nøland-Huszárvidék by having Varland guarantee its neutrality, to attempt to force the local military to assist in the defence of the southern way-gate, resulting in Karolus' choice to send a detachment to ensure the neutrality of Moormark, a choice which merely resulted in a full-blown declaration of war by Nøland-Huszárvidék.

Almost immediately after this declaration of war, the remaining Skanoric Kingdoms, Elsmark-Nordsten and Rogacznaród, also declared war upon Varland, truly beginning the Northern War. In fact, Karolus' cousins, the Kings of Elsmark-Nordsten and Rogacznaród, had been drawn into talks with King Leopold I of Nøland-Huszárvidék, by Johann Estoburg, a nobleman of Estomeria who had lost many of his lands to Karolus' father and in return wished the downfall of Varland. Convincing the three kings that Karolus planned to destabilise there lands with this plague to allow for Varlandic expansion, Johann managed to instigate the initial attack on Moormark, drawing the entirety of Vildskanor into war.

Battle of Elshavn
However, Karolus did no plan to take defeat laying down. Mobilising the 60,000 strong army left by his father and calling on the aid of the Stormwindian forces of Greyhallow and the Tirassian forces of Tol Nuit, Karolus led the entirety of his fleet, the supporting forces of Greyhallow and Tol Nuit, and a 7,500 strong brigade of the Varlandic Army in a lightning strike at the Elsic capital of Elshavn, encircling the city and using the threat of naval bombardment to force Elsmark-Nordsten from the war.

Battle of Meribourg
Following this sudden victory and having reduced the ratio of enemy forces from 3:1 to 2:1, Karolus immediately returned with his fleet to Rosholme, embarking two Corps of the Varlandic Army and transporting them to the Estomeric capital of Meribourg, which was invested by 60,000 men of the Nølandic Army. The following battle, which pitted 15,000 Varlanders against 60,000 Nølanders was a massacre, the Varlandic forces attacked under the cover of a blizzard, resulting in the complete destruction of the Nølanders Army, with 15,000 Nølanders killed and 30,000 Nølanders captured or wounded compared to the loss of 750 Varlanders dead and 1,500 wounded.

Battle of Kliszów
With the Elsmarkers now out of the war and the Nølandic Army requiring a complete rebuild, Karolus turned his attention on Rogacznaród. Driving his forces deep into Rogaczsy territory, Karolus met the 30,000 strong enemy forces at their defensive position at Kliszów with his army of 15,000 men, once again driving his enemies from their defences and dealing 1,800 dead and 2,700 wounded and captured to the Rogaczsy Army, at the cost of 300 dead and 900 wounded of his own.

Scourge Invasion of Vildskanor
"This was no just, nor legitimate, war. It was merely a ploy to weaken and blind us from the true threat."

- Karolus

Having forced both Elsmark-Nordsten and Rogacznaród out of the war, Karolus marshalled his army at the Nølandic border, intending to force his final enemy to terms before allowing peace. By the time he had mustered 30,000 men at his camp, the triumphant Scourge forces, having conquered Quel'thalas and now expanding outward to secure the rest of Lordaeron had dispatched a horde of undead through the way-gate in Northern Lordaeron, destroying the remaining Nølandic forces and killing King Leopold I. This loss of control by the government of Nøland resulted in widespread panic and revolution, along with displaying to the remainder of Vildskanor the true threat of the Scourge.

Although it was clear that if not stopped, Vildskanor would fall to the Scourge in the same way Lordaeron had, Karolus still refused to sue for peace with the remaining Kingdoms, as he still believed this conflict should not be ended except by the defeat of his foes. This would change upon the capture and resulting execution of Johann Estoburg, an execution that merely revealed that "Johann" had been the disguise of a Dreadlord, though for how long no one would ever know.

Immediately calling his former enemies to the bargaining table, Karolus and his cousin-kings forged an alliance of their nations, bringing the surviving kingdoms of Vildskanor fully into the fold of the new-forged Grand Alliance. The combined forces under Karolus were initially swelled by the released Nølandic prisoners from the Battle of Meribourg, though over half of these new recruits would desert during the push into what was left of Nøland.

Battle of Fraumiasto
Dividing his army into 6 Army Groups of 15,000 men each, the Skanoric begun their push through eastern Rogacznaród and into western Huszárvidék. Leading the southern-most Army Group, Karolus himself brought his forces through the marshes that surrounded Nøland. Unfortunately, this would bring him into conflict with the surviving living population of Nøland, which had formed the "republic" later known as the Grand People's Confederation of National Democratic Councils.

These forces, numbering almost 30,000 strong, met the Army Group under Karolus at the city of Fraumiasto. Once again Karolus led his men to victory, leading a cavalry assault which took the Nølanders in the rear as the infantry attacked their front, resulting in the death of 10,000 Nølanders and the capture of 5,000 compared to 500 dead Varlanders and 1,000 wounded. Karolus would go on to order that any of the 5,000 captives who refused to join with the Skanoric Alliance were to be executed for collaborating with the Scourge, resulting in the execution of most captives.

Battle of Huszárés
By 614 K.C, Karolus' forces had reached the Huszáric capital of Huszárés. Having grown to 120,000 strong following the redeployment of the Greyhallow Demi-Brigade, which had formerly been deployed to assist Grand Marshal Garithos in Lordaeron, the combined Alliance forces dug in around the ruined city to prepare for the Scourge assault.

Leaving the main forces of Elsmark-Nordsten and Rogacznaród to defend the river while he brought his Varlanders and the Greyhallow forces across the river on the flank, Karolus managed to drive a wedge into the Scourge forces, leading his cavalry in clashes with Crypt Fiends and Undead Horsemen as the infantry struggled in the mud against the ghouls and the artillery obliterated the undead attempting to cross the river.

Eventually the battle forced a turning point, with the Lich King's already precarious hold over the Scourge combining with the damage done to the invading forces to break the mind-control over the surviving undead, resulting in the retreat and rout of the enemy forces. However, due to the intense casualties dealt to his own men, with 30,000 men dead or wounded, Karolus was forced to lead his own forces in retreat back to the border, the Scourge Invasion blunted but no land reclaimed. By this time in his reign he was only 17.

A Time of Peace - 614-619 K.C
Though the threat of the Scourge had ended with the Battle of Huszárés, the politics of Vildskanor had been changed forever. Now leading the Skanoric Alliance alongside his cousins, the rebirth of Nøland as the Grand People's Confederation of National Democratic Councils, a self-proclaimed republic made up of both the living and undead citizens of the former kingdom, and the reborn country's alignment with the Forsaken of Lordaeron caused Karolus to begin attempts to better integrate Varland into the Alliance.

Choosing to strengthen his ties with Stormwind and Greyhallow, Karolus took a number of young Rostkammyr nobles as his wards, including his cousins Vannesira Smith and Anastyra Grauravyn. This fostership also allowed Karolus to regain some of the familial companionship he had lost in his own childhood, which assisted him as he spent the next five years reforming both military and civilian sectors of his kingdom.

Full Title
The full title and style of Karolus is as follows: Karolus Vårtorn-Korppari, Twelfth of His Name, by Grace of the Gods and Light, King of Varland, Prince of Rostkamm, Grand Duke of Korppari, Duke of Skanor, Estomeria, Kiemura, Pomeria and Morundwald, Count of Westyrland.

Magic
"The sword has to do the best for it does not jest"

- Karolus

Relationships
"I’ll likely be married to the soldier mob for better and for worse to live and to die."

- Karolus