Liam Willhelm

Liam 'The Lion' Willhelm is one of the earliest paladins during the second war, formerly of the Order of the Horse, his skills in the light are only rivaled by his combat ability. Serving since the earliest days of the first war, up until the fall of the Lich King, he is an extremely experienced knight. His current whereabouts are unknown.

{h1:c}History{/h1}

{h3:c}The First War (Warcraft: Orcs and Humans){/h3}

Born in Grand Hamlet, now Darkshire, Liam led a rather normal life for his earliest years. When he was 35, well into his service in the Order of the Horse, the orcs came. Slaughtering thousands in their path of destruction, the Orcs would only be stopped at the gates of stormwind, where Liam along with many other knights, routed the orcish forces with their impressive combat ability atop their armoured steeds. This deed bolstered his spirit, but only for a moment as some time later, his home of Grand Hamlet was razed to the ground by orcish forces. Hard-fought battles were waged over the rest of the first war, culminating in the destruction of Stormwind itself. Now living there, Liam barely escaped with his life.

{h3:c}The Second War (Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness){/h3}

Fleeing to Lordaeron with the other survivors, he made a home for himself among it's capital city. The drums of war rumbled once again, the newly formed Grand Alliance of Lordaeron preparing to face against the orcish threat. Liam, already being a prominent knight of the horse, was trained in the ways of the light some time after the original four paladins had been established. Wielding an elvish sword he took from the corpse of his long-time friend Moranithel Manawhisper, he fought with the fury of the light behind him. The war was long and hard-fought, the orcish warlocks and death knights proving to be the hardest to combat. But victory finally found itself upon the Grand Alliance. The final battle of the Second War in the Searing Gorge found many champions to fall that day, but Liam was not among them. Having survived the battle, although gravely injured by a warlock's spell, he was spared from the duty of chasing the orcs back through the Dark Portal.

{h3:c}The Third War (Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos){/h3}

With his greys starting to appear every now and again, he was reluctant to continue fighting as first, but then came the Scourge. Like nothing he had ever seen, they ravaged the land. Like a sickness they were not obvious at first, but soon they infested the land, turning his own countrymen against him. Serving under Uther the Lightbringer at this time, Liam was detatched to Stratholme when the prince had gathered forces. Being unable to slaughter an entire city, he was officially suspended from service, the Knights of the Silver Hand disbanded. This did not stop him, as he saw Arthas slowly going mad with his hunt for Mal'ganis, he stepped away from the kingdom - Instead choosing his own path to fight the undead. This would lead him to escape the slaughter of Arthas against his own people, again narrowly avoiding the fate of death. Over the years, he would encounter the Scarlet Crusade, formed from former knights of the Silver Hand to combat the undead. He joined whole-heartedly, taking up the crimson banner to burn the scourge corruption. However, as the Crusade grew more corrupt, their methods too fanatic, Liam along with many others, stepped away to form the Argent Dawn. Their original mission intact, and now free to fight the undead in their own ways, the Argent Dawn met great success in fighting the undead. But it was not enough.

{h3:c}The Horde-Alliance War (World of Warcraft: Vanilla){/h3}

In the years that followed, the reformed Horde and Alliance of Lordaeron fought across Azeroth. Liam wished no part of this conflict, instead focusing on fighting who he thought were their true enemy: The Scourge. He helped adventurers fight against the scourge, delegating tasks to them in order to assist the Argent Dawn.

{h3:c}The Outland Excursion (World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade){/h3}

The Dark Portal re-opened, opening hope to the aging Liam that he might see his old friends once again. Charging forth through lines of demons, the Alliance and Horde both assaulted through the portal and set up bases. Finding the Sons of Lothar, Liam met many of his old friends, but he also found many corpses. Readily accepting the aid of the Draenei, as they were strong with the light, he quickly gained a reputation among the forces of outland, eventually gaining a suit of Vindicator's armour, along with a Draenic Hammer of Light. Over the course of the Excursion, he would make several enhancements to his armour: Including but not limited to a propulsion system, which unleashes a torrent of holy fire from the crystals within his armour, allowing him to charge much like a gnomish rocket. Within Shattrath city, when the Scyers arrived, he allied with them due to his unwavering belief that any being can be redeemed throught the holy power of the light. Eventually, their time in outland came to a close, and he returned to his duties within the Argent Dawn.

{h3:c}The War of Northrend (World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King){/h3}

Arthas had awoken, and launched an attack on the two capital cities of the Alliance and Horde. The world was on the edge of war, with both armies setting sail to the cold land of northrend. Not only this, but the Argent Dawn has been assaulted by the Death Knights of Acherus, lead by the Lich King himself, following the destruction of the Scarlet Enclave. Highlord Tirion Fordring revealed himself upon the battlefield, bringing with him the strength of the light itself. The Death Knights defeated, Arthas showed his face. Upon seeing the butcher of Lordaeron show his face once more, for the first time in years, hatred entered his heart. However, he was able to look passed this for the newly formed Knights of the Ebon Blade, still believing redemption was possible for any being, even the cursed undead. With Tirion's return, the Argent Dawn and the remaining knights of the Silver Hand came together as one, to form the Argent Crusade. Now under a new banner, Liam and the other Crusaders charged into Northrend. Leading assaults upon the various undead settlements within the frozen north, Liam once again proved that age was no factor for success - as nearly every battle he fought was won. However, this would change at the Wrathgate - when the Forsaken were betrayed from within, who then betrayed the Horde and Alliance, along with the Argent Crusade. Eventually, the Argent Crusade  ventured into Icecrown, to assault the Citadel. Arthas fell, and Northrend, along with all of Azeroth, was free from the grip of the Lich king. With this old enemy defeated, Liam ventured to Redridge, retiring in his old age.