Orazio Garibald

Orazio Garibald is a minor lord, knight, and battle-mage serving under the banners of House Garibald and Madelynne Albrecht, Queen of Lordaeron. Having conducted near-constant battle and research since the Third War, Orazio is an exceptionally experienced and deadly pyromancer. His talents have only recently been put to use in service to Queen Madelynne; his affiliation with the Scarlet Crusade lasted to the horrible end.

Orazio's history revolves around fortune's wheel: after years of continuous political advancement, the Garibald family lost their relevance and livelihood with the Third War. Orazio's expert arcane training led to distinguished service in the Crusade, but all honors were lost with its demise. Now left with truly nothing, the once-master of Hasic found sudden patronage and purpose under the Red Queen. Orazio is now a rising star once again; his ambition has suffered little, if any, from his repeated failures.

Appearance
Aside from his wielding spell instead of accompanying his sword with the Light, Orazio stands as a suitable symbol for the flower of Lordaeronian nobility. A robust figure means that, while not used to the rigors of constant combat with heavy arms and armor, the young baron can indeed take on many other knights on the field of honor and prove their equal. Wide shoulders give his otherwise-average height a sturdiness, an overpowering persona. This strength is only relatively recent, as he did not begin his physical training until the start of the Third War.

While built and bred for battle, Orazio betrays the vanity and preening endemic in those less suited for combat than he. His chest-length scarlet plumage is always thrown over one shoulder and kept in immaculate shape. Strong, elegant features surround a pair of vine-green eyes and a straight Arathi nose. His normal expressions, however, hardly look like those a man given to flaunting his beauty. Thin lips are hewn into sharp, grave gestures.

History
Orazio is the only child of his father Maginulf Garibald and mother Ionna Harwyn. His father was the first son of the first Baron Garibald, Bartolomeo; his mother was the second daughter of Duke Marmecus Harwyn, the official overlord of the Eastfold Region. The marriage represented a cementing of the two families after Duke Harwyn's disastrous River Campaign. By the birth of their first and only child, a nominal peace was struck between Hasic and distant Stromgarde.

Maginulf's tireless efforts in continuing his own father's legacy proved effective in giving Orazio every advantage in life. A distinguished, unblemished family history gave him the respect of nearly every educated man in Hasic. His father's connections (and money) landed Orazio both a place in the prestigious magical school in Dalaran and a private tutor of his own choosing. Possessed by stories of heroism and danger from the Second War, he drifted towards the combat arts--especially pyromancy. His master of fire magic took him to every corner of the Eastern Kingdoms in the search for disparate sources of arcane learning. Pushed to excel, Orazio proved himself a diligent and ambitious student. He allowed none of his peers to surpass him--and when they did, his response was nigh-obsessive.

When allowed to visit home, Orazio proved receptive to even greater influence from his family. Maginulf regaled the boy with tales of the greatest Lordaeronian heroes, himself and his father especially. Ionna acted with all the grace and diplomacy of a lady from her ancient highborn legacy, and her haughtiness gave the young heir high standards for what constituted "nobility". Finally, Maginulf's dearest friend Salordi Cecyl? was a perennial source of friendship in Hasic. His strange ideas on religion and morality, coupled with his less class-conscious, more capitalist behavior, were foil to the feudal desires of the Garibald family.

The Third War
Rumors of vile plague spreading through eastern Lordaeron seeped into public knowledge just as the teenaged Orazio was finishing his studies. His tutor off and away to study the effects of supposedly-tainted grain, the mage returned to Hasic on the verge of a political upheaval. His father, already the preeminent member of the Free League, had secretely secured a marriage to Count Ambroise Comnus' firstborn daughter, Virn. This alliance would secure acquisition of nearly the entire countryside surrounding Hasic under the twin houses of Comnus and Garibald. Orazio, nonplussed as he was that he must marry a woman ten years his senior and not live his twenties independent and single, acquiesced without complaint. He even delighted in the shock that so many minor nobles and merchants had expressed on finding out.

Now that Maginulf was all but prince of Hasic, he despaired in the lack of knightly training given to Orazio during his absence in Dalaran. Though the son proved puissant with spell, the father thought it only fitting that a lord, especially one from so noteworthy a knightly family, be trained in swordsmanship. So began Orazio's second phase of tutelage, now under his own father and the border knight Segelin of Brill.

This was as peaceful a time as Hasic and the Garibald family would ever witness, and it lasted a grand total of half a year. Stratholme's burning weighed heavily on the minds of every burgher and baron, but everyone thought the threat was over until news arrived of King Terenas' assassination. Lordaeron was now in chaos. Stromgarde, though holding together, faced a twofold threat from fleeing Orcs and strange invaders only known as "The Syndicate." Hasic stood on its own.

The Crimson Legion
With the fall of Lordaeron came knights and soldiers trickling into Hasic from the north. These men, containing some bedraggled survivors of the Silver Hand, banded together to survive their conditions in the already-cramped countryside of Eastfold. These men would eventually form a large portion of the Scarlet Crusade, which found its own home in the streets of Hasic. Their rising authority, however, clashed with the perpetually-proud men of the Free League. Before these tensions could come to a head, however, tragedy struck.

Come together for a feast day, the majority of Hasican nobles and guilders died to a mysterious outbreak of plagued food. For three days, the city sank into chaos. Orazio was forced to kill his own father, but even that shock did not stop him from leading whatever living men he could to clear the city of undead. His pyromancy came to conspicuous use, and the young baron was now the hero of the hour. Riding on this wave of authority, he proceeded to exterminate the remaining Free Leaguers, whom he viewed as responsible for the plague in Hasic.

After a short-lived and contentious appointment as the Scarlet "mayor" of Hasic, Orazio stepped down from his position under pressure from the local commander to join the military wing. His own fiance, who had postponed their marriage several times after her own parents' demise, had already left for Stratholme. The baron was invited to join her, and the two became the first of the Crimson Legion's battle-mages. Their skills were honed in the streets of Stratholme, and Orazio earned many honors for himself around the Plaguelands.

The Crusade Withers
New Avalon took whatever initiative away from the Crusade that hadn't been bled out in their constant sorties against the undead. Abbendis' departure, combined with the decimation of the armies of Tyr's Hand and Hearthglen, reduced the vaunted Crimson Legion to an isolated outpost. An eerie silence befell the burning city. With Grand Crusader Dathrohan's mysterious disappearance, leadership devolved into petty factionalism. Though fighting between the generals never broke out, tensions prevented the Legion from taking any action except maintain their fragile perimeter.

With Dathrohan's return, however, the fight was taken out of the Crusade entirely. Rumors spread that the Legion's leader simply sat and brooded in his chambers, not allowing anyone else to enter. A madness had taken him, one which even the paranoia-stricken members of the tiny bastion could easily recognize. Resolved to leave as quickly as they could, Virn and Orazio gathered whatever followers they culd and set out to flee the burning city. After a short and bloody fight at the gates, the small party managed their escape.

But the world outside Stratholme proved even more dangerous. Free of the Lich King's grasp, undead roamed without rhyme or reason. After multiple ambushes, the dozen or so crusaders began to dwindle. Progress was slow, hard-fought, and exhausting. Soon enough, only Orazio and Virn remained. Only their magic saved them, but soon enough, wounded and robbed of her will to live, the last lady of Comnus lied down to let herself die. Her husband dragged himself into a panicked Southshore, a broken man with nothing left.

Theramore
Baron Garibald had not lost the will to live, but in his heart he knew the Crusade was over. He bribed his way onto the last boat for Theramore and fled. Upon arrival, the mage took on the job of a simple forager and mercenary. A chance encounter in one of the many sailors' sinks, though, brought him back into contact with his old friend Salordi Cecyl. The two shared their experiences since the Third War, and after multiple talks Orazio learned of a new force in the Alliance: Her Royal Majesty, Queen Madelynne I. Taken in by Salordi's talk of finding a higher purpose, and resentful of his abandoning the Legion in Stratholme, the mage resolved to fight for House Albrecht. Upon the arrival of Madelynne Albrecht, and her breaking the siege of Theramore, Orazio bent the knee to swear service to the new queen.

The Queen's Man
Baron Garibald renewed his vows to Lordaeron at an exciting and chaotic time. The discovery of Pandaria necessitated Lordaeron's support for her southern ally, and Orazio was among the first wave to land on Krasarang's shore. Once arrived, he applied himself to every task that Queen Madelynne would give against the Horde.

Meanwhile, Orazio had befriended and secured an oath from the border knight Sir Farnes Lyon, an aging bastard of Duskwood. While seemingly a doddering old man, the knight proved himself time and again to be a steadfast soldier and loyal vassal, despite his spotted name. With the knight's help the lord started to develop a miracle concoction from the mysterious rain poppy, an herb only found in Pandaria. Sir Farnes was soon sent back to Lordaeron to assist the Silver Hand, and it was there that the border knight represented House Garibald against the Dread Rebellion. Both the lord and his only knight accrued honors during the campaign, landing them a position from which to curry further favor with the queen.

Personality & Philosophy
Orazio is a man treading the boundary of two worlds. On the one hand, he is the proud descendant of a noble house, raised from a long line of unquestionable knights. Honor drives his idea of service, and he takes great satisfaction out of fulfilling the role of a good mage, a good lord, a good vassal. He shows pleasure in the generous, flamboyant lifestyle of a gracious noble, and he does not hesitate to throw himself into the fray of battle. Most of all, he strives for perfection in every aspect of his life. No talent is wasted. At the same time, his arrogance can hardly be contained; he is at best dismissive, at worst disdainful of the common people--despite his own family's reputation as social climbers; and his tolerance of failure and "wasted potential" is wrathfully low.

But while every bit influenced by the flower of Lordaeron's nobility, the baron is not a classical knight. The chaotic politics of Hasic leave him suspicious, deceitful, even callous. He has no doubt that evil must sometimes be committed in order to advance the greater good, but his idea of when and where to practice that evil is perpetually hazy. He also embraces the art, learning, and culture that defined his home for so long. He is eager to embrace new technologies and ways of thought--as long as they support the idea of landed nobility. A master of voice and false humility, he also has a mask for every occasion. Bold in battle, Orazio is rather cautious and conciliatory in the political realm. His public voice is itself a last line of defense.

Past & Current Titles

 * Baron of Hasic
 * Baron of the Wash
 * Count of Itonum (Exinguished)
 * Representative of the Free League (Extinguished)
 * Grand Banner of the Free League (Extinguished)
 * Scarlet Mayor of Hasic (Relinquished)
 * Crimson Legionnaire (Extinguished)