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Logo-alliance Ardan Coward
CorporalArdanCoward
Private First Class Ardan Coward, MA
Art by Ayie_OlaerArt

Race Nationality

IconSmall Human Male Human
Stormwind Flag Stormwindian


Born

November 14th, 21 LC (19 Years)
Montroux, Westridge, Stormwind


Positions

Private First Class


Faction

Stormwind Icon Alternative The First Regiment

Affiliations

StormwindfactionIconnew Kingdom of Stormwind


Reaction

Alliance | Horde

Alignment

Neutral Good

Family

IconSmall Human Male Othan Coward (Father, Deceased)
IconSmall Human Female Marellin Coward (Mother, Active)
IconSmall Human Male Othan Coward, Jr. (Brother, Deceased)
IconSmall Human Female Natalliah Coward (Sister, Deceased)

Status

Alive

I guess that's what the Army's for: to stick all us fools in.

–Ardan Coward, to Sergeant Samuel Cooper

Ardan Othan Coward comes from a humble family of peasant farmers from the Westridge village of Montroux, and in all likelihood he would have followed in their footsteps. Fate, however, had different plans, as did Magistrate Vance B. Tyrhault. After Coward's blossoming romance with the magistrate's daughter Lily was discovered, he was promptly enlisted at the magistrate's command, and now he is a soldier of Stormwind's First Regiment.

Description[]

The man you see before you is not one his hometown friends would recognize. He was a man who would have been described as plain and simple, with a long face and unkempt brown hair down to his shoulders. However, the military has gotten its claws into him, taking his short, lean peasant build and leaving him clean, sculpted, and strong. He's well-tanned and well-muscled, with deep, cocoa-brown eyes, streaked with gold, and a smile just a tad too confident to be considered properly shy. Though his speech is simple and his tastes are simple, and he just generally seems a good-natured country boy, there is no denying he now walks with a soldier's swagger.

History[]

Ardan's early history can be difficult to pin down, as it is almost certain that no one in his family was literate. However, town records along with military records have shown the following, at least.

Ardan is the last of three children born to Othan and Marellin Coward of Montroux, and the only child to survive to adulthood. His older brother, Othan Jr., sickened around a year after Ardan's birth and died at the age of six. His older sister, Natalliah, lived to fifteen, and was killed alongside their father in an accident that resulted in their wagon overturning into a river while returning from market. From this point on, Ardan and his mother were solely responsible from this point onward for maintaining the peasant farm his family had leased from the local landowner Vance B. Tyrhault. It seems that they were generally successful, though it's likely their share of the land was reduced in order to lease out to other peasants to farm. Ardan was known in Montroux for supplementing the family's practically nonexistent income by doing logging work for townsfolk, procuring firewood for the winter season.

In the summer of 39 LC, Ardan began secretly courting the magistrate's daughter Lily, a year his junior. The two had grown up close, and that summer it blossomed into a full romance. They attempted to keep it quiet, but to no avail - Magistrate Tyrhault discovered the two. The magistrate promptly had Ardan conscripted into the Stormwind Army, and he was quietly banished from the township.

His Majesty's Army[]

Ardan Coward Cropped

Private Ardan Coward, sporting the Medallion of the Alliance (art by Ayie_OlaerArt)

Ardan Coward was enlisted as a Recruit at the Westbrook Garrison on December 28, 39 LC. He was assigned to the spear infantry and trained for the melee. He was hard-working and in good physical shape, but his illiteracy and lack of motivation proved troublesome for some of the officers responsible for his training. Not two weeks into his service, he was deployed to Bloodmyst Isle to handle an Undead incursion. During this time, he was exposed to dark magic, the blight, and vasts hordes of the damned, but he persevered.

Not long after, the Army was deployed to Uldum under the command of Alteraci Marshal Zaria Blackmoore in an attempt to crush the forces of the Old God N'zoth. The hard-fought campaign proved vain, however, with the Coalition forces pushed into a bloody fighting retreat from their command center at Mar'at. Ardan was badly injured twice during the course of this campaign, and was briefly quarantined out of fear of Void exposure. His gallantry in the face of certain death in the final defense, however, earned him a promotion to Private, the Medallion of the Alliance, and the prospect of a long military service that he was uncertain he really wanted.

On Trial[]

Soon after the First Regiment's return from Uldum, Ardan's relationship with Lily Tyrhault resumed, brokered under a gentleman's agreement between Ardan's friend Darioch Aurelious and the magistrate. However, this agreement soon broke down under pressure from a more eligible suitor of Lily's, and a local militia captain filed a criminal complaint against Ardan on the magistrate's behalf. Ardan was placed on administrative leave for a period of two months and sent home to Montroux. The charges filed were of an archaic nature, in an attempt to supersede military jurisdiction; regardless, he was defended by military attorney Lieutenant J. Terence Griswald. After a lengthy trial and negotiation process, all the charges were dropped, and Ardan was cleared to return to duty at the end of May of 40 LC. This was the end of his relationship with Lily Tyrhault, and Ardan seemed disinclined to return again to Montroux, though he continued to send money home to pay for his mother's rent. Griswald notably recommended further investigation into Coward's conduct, but no investigation within the Army occurred.

That is not to say, however, he escaped the Army's gaze. On July 19th, Coward was given corporal punishment of five lashes for Insubordination against Lieutenant Abigail Potter, and temporarily suspended from duty while he recovered, as per Army regulations no magical healing could be administered. He returned to duty about a week after the punishment was administered.

Knuckle Sandwich[]

By the summer of 40 LC, Ardan had become an avid participant in the Glory Fighting Championship as a Lightweight combatant. Known by the moniker "Knuckle Sandwich", he had a startling first fight, fighting someone above his weight class and taking him down by knockout in two punches. From then on, he became a dark horse contender for the Lightweight belt. On August 9th, he arrived at the arena in Stormwind Harbor to face off against Fin'diel Kalash, the standing champion. After an inconclusive first round, Ardan was defeated by knockout in the second - an axe kick straight to the head, his first loss in GFC. Despite the setback, Ardan walked off the arena unassisted, and indicated his intention to contest Kalash for the title again another day.

Ardan is known for an orthodox stance with heavy reliance on powerful punches. His only loss to date is against the standing Lightweight champion.

Unfortunately, later that same evening, Ardan was on patrol when he and his company were ambushed by a trio of men identifying themselves as the Commoners' Party. During the course of the attack, Ardan was badly injured by an explosive device carried by one of the assailants and was magically evacuated back to Westbrook Garrison for emergency treatment. He was placed on suspended duty for weeks due to the severity of his injuries. In September he had returned to duty and was promoted to the rank of Private First Class, but he was recalled to Stormwind for additional medical treatment after a collapse on guard duty shortly thereafter.

Ardan returned to duty in late autumn, though there were concerns among his superiors whether or not he was medically fit for duty. As such, he was relegated to night watch duties until the Regiment's next deployment. His nineteenth birthday, his first birthday since his conscription, came and went quietly. After New Year's, when his GFC contract expired, he began looking for new fighting competitions to participate in, and found his way to Bell's Fight Night. His first bout there was a disastrous defeat, but he would still go on to return for later bouts.

Road to Service[]

CorporalArdanCoward

Aspirant of the Ducal Guard (art by Ayie_OlaerArt)

In late January of 41 LC, the First Regiment was deployed to Duskwood to handle an Undead incursion; it was Ardan's first field deployment since his injury the previousyear. Originally kept on watch, as he had been at the garrison, he began seeing action in the field as the campaign progressed. He does not appear to have made any significant contribution to the Regiment's war effort, but regardless what he saw and did there seemed to inspire the young man. Within a week of returning to Westbrook, Ardan took the Corporal's examination and submitted a request to join Westridge's Ducal Guard. He also began a correspondence with the Dawist priest Hassan Mazaheri, whom he had met by chance at Darkshire, one of many religious figures he would engage with in the coming months. He became an aspirant in the Guard on February 9, 41 LC.

The Path[]

In March of 41 LC, he was deployed to the Pearl Isles, a distant island colony of Stormwind's. His deployment here is particularly well-documented, as he kept a journal during his time here. A religious movement known as the Path, led by the charismatic Father Selith, had become prominent in the town of Barfleur, and Ardan volunteered to infiltrate the movement. As part of his infiltration, he kept a journal, out of concerns from his superiors that he would fall under Selith's sway. His journal contains the first mentions of a connection with Kaitriona Williams, then a Sergeant in his company. Multiple times he mentioned worries that she would no longer believe in or care for him, and at one point described a strange dream in which he misplaced a valuable necklace that she had given him.

Ardan suffered a gunshot wound to the leg during the deployment, which, coupled with officers' concerns over his objectivity and loyalty, led to his duties being increasingly restricted during the latter half of the deployment. Throughout the campaign, he expressed his own doubts regarding both Selith and his own comrades, particularly one Sir Vitallion Stansfield; he seemed committed to keeping the peace between the various factions in Barfleur, and was frustrated by the recurring hostilities. Ultimately, the officers' concerns regarding Ardan's objectivity and loyalty proved correct; after receiving multiple blessings from the Father, the second of which healed multiple of Ardan's chronic injuries and ailments, he expressed a wholehearted belief in the Path.

It is real. The Light spoke to me. Her voice was beautiful. I cannot remember what she said but I remember her voice. I remember the feeling of falling and the sound of chimes as she saved me. I am no longer afraid.

My hand no longer shakes. The scars of the whipping are gone. I feel her warmth with me even in the cold nights.

The Light is with us. She is with us all.

–Ardan's Barfleur Journal - March 23, 41 LC

Ardan fell away from the Path after discovering the true nature of the Path - a cult centered around a Lightforged Shivarra called A'xiri. He alleged that his soul had been stolen by the Shivarra, along with the souls of all of the followers of the Path, called the Embraced. He participated in the Regiment's final offensive against the Shivarra, which resulted in the destruction of Barfleur. He survived, though his writings suggest that he was not convinced he had been fully restored with A'xiri's defeat. In late April, he was transferred to Stormwind's Royal Hospital for evaluation, where he is believed to remain.

Trivia[]

  • Ardan was partially deafened and suffered from bouts of ataxia and other impairments due to explosive injuries suffered while on patrol near Goldshire. These conditions were miraculously healed by the Shivarra A'xiri, along with several scars on his back from the same and from a prior flogging. Unfortunately, in return, A'xiri fractured his soul, and fragments are still missing.
  • Ardan's name has no official legal spelling. A peasant born to an illiterate family, the particular spelling of his name "Ardan Othan Coward" on military records actually comes from Magistrate Tyrhault. While Ardan typically spells it the same way, having learned to read from military personnel, he has never objected to seeing it spelled differently.
  • To his chagrin, Ardan has been repeatedly injured in the field and spent a significant amount of time in the infirmary, to the point that he actively avoids reporting his own injuries in order to stay out of it.
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