Jeremaias Auromere

"You cannot compromise principle. It is either applicable always, or applicable never. It is not something to which you commit only when it is convenient--unless, of course, you want to raise an evil overlord."

Under construction (probably always, as the puppeteer almost as much a perfectionist as the puppet).

Character Analysis
(Coming soon. Sorry, but I ran out of time on this first go.)

Childhood
Jeremaias Dominic Auromere was born to Baron Ezekias and Lady Anna Auromere at their estate in Lordaeron. Unlike the average hero, he is not the oldest and therefore the heir apparent to title and fortune, nor is he the third son and therefore destined to marry a princess by being foolish but deserving. He has to settle for being the second of two boys, for which there is no significant fate laid out by fairy tales. He did, however, inherit the blond hair and blue eyes of the ancient family line, which had all but vanished when one of his ancestors married a Hanover (whose brunette genetics proved to be very dominant indeed).

Much of his childhood was spent indoors, because he was forever weighing himself in the balance (compared to his older, stronger brother Marcus) and finding himself wanting. Being the son of a nobleman, he was not excused from the typical exercises of a youth educated for knighthood, but he preferred to focus on intellectual and artistic pursuits (partly because he was better at those than Marcus was). As he would have to carve out a place in the world for himself, he often searched for a career that would interest him; as a result, he applied himself in tremendous bursts to anything from cooking to playing the violin to horticulture. That he is a voracious and uncommonly fast reader helped a great deal.

This process was disrupted with the arrival of the Scourge. The Auromeres escaped alive, but lost everything except a few assorted articles they managed to take with them. They resettled in Southshore, and Ezekias began to scratch out a living for his family through trade. Marcus, who came of age shortly after arriving, took a job in the Azurelode Mine, where he is currently a shift supervisor.

Adolescence
Jere continued to dabble, poking his nose into every corner of knowledge he was allowed, and continued his knightly education as much as he could. At 14, he was "called" (as he would always put it) to ministry; he took the channel available, which was to travel to Stormwind and begin training as a priest. This was not disagreeable to him, because he now dreamt of being a simple country pastor--and of marrying Selene Branson, a somewhat older girl from Southshore with whom he was quite taken.

Both of these dreams, however, would be derailed. Selene did not reciprocate his tentative affections, preferring (and marrying) Marcus. Worse yet, his overclocked sense of chivalry and honor drove him to fistfights with his fellow acolytes, which he usually won rather decisively. He was nearly expelled for his pugilistic approach. To this day, Jere is not sure who was behind his transfer to paladin training, but it was there that he flourished.

The First Regiment
Upon "graduating" to active service in 34 L.C., Jere signed up with the First Regiment of the Stormwind Army. He would not call his career brilliant, despite reforming the way the regiment would handle crime investigations and rising quickly to the rank of sergeant. His acts of distinction were many and varied, and Field Marshal Maxen Montclair came to trust and occasionally confide in the young man where he would not confide in higher-ranking officers.

However, Jere did not see his own performance as particularly heroic; his perceptions were overshadowed by the lack of respect he received from his comrades-in-arms. He was actively betrayed or humiliated by most of the people he knew, in a rapid series of unpleasant incidents; Jere began to believe that revealing his thoughts and feelings were the cause, and retreated into a stoic shell. His youthful training in formality and etiquette resulted in his outward persona of a cold, proper person.

With this embrace of his neuroses came a heightening of his reasoning faculties. He became the Regiment's go-to man for investigations, and eventually wrote a section of the training manual on the subject. Combined with his unusually good memory, exquisite manners, and extreme stubbornness, he managed to unravel quite a few mysteries.

The Demonslayer
Despite his gift for investigation, the Cult of Ner'zhul was a constant irritation to Jeremaias. When Hal'desh managed to escape captivity one evening, Jere concluded that more permanent ways to handle a demon needed to be discovered. He resigned from the First Regiment in order to pursue an avenue of possibility: crystals. Reasoning suggested to him that fel, being energy, might be cancelled by the application of other energies and wavelengths. He thus began a journey around Azeroth and Outland, studying under draenei jewelers, inspecting silithid hives, and trying to apply what he learned to the handling of demons.

While he was working in Tanaris, he was approached by Lord Zacherias "Felbane" Hamlin of the Felbane Irregulars. Zacherias had already recruited two of Jere's former comrades--Tolath Barthalomew and Archbald Marren--and they had recommended Jere. Jere gave Zacherias a brief rundown of his theory and, although disappointed that the former Argent Dawn Templar's lack of interest in the mechanics, joined the Irregulars.

Yet again, Jeremaias proved himself not merely competent, but exceptional, and he has become Zacherias' right-hand man, quickly replacing Areliah Walker as her attentions became more focused on her relationship with Tolath (and her temper got too many people blown up).

The Potatoweaver Trade Cooperative
After the Felbane Irregulars made a nuisance of themselves to the Burning Legion in many ways, their headquarters and bank were infiltrated and rifled. Although the culprit was a megalomaniacal gnome by the name of Pistashyo, none of them knew this, and instead believed that it was an agent of the Legion. To protect the Irregulars, Zacherias ordered them to scatter, go deep undercover. Jere proposed to Zacherias that they use a "cover" as an excuse to interact publicly, and they hashed out a plan: Zacherias would remain the public (and only) face of the Irregulars, and the rest would serve as a pool from which Zacherias would draw for missions and assignments. Meanwhile, the Irregulars would operate as the Potatoweaver Trade Cooperative, using everyday commerce as a front to maintain their network. 9001 Potatoweaver became the public CEO, but Jeremaias, posing as her assistant, is the lynchpin between Zacherias and the others.

As If That Weren't Enough...
Now settling into a dual role as a jeweler and a freelance crusader for all things good and right in the world, Jeremaias began to think about whether he should marry. This question, though, was answered for him rather suddenly. His parents had been in contact with Tolath's parents--that is, Count Issachar and Countess Tiraline Barthalomew--and a marriage had been arranged for him with Neraine Barthalomew. Jeremaias had already deduced that Tolath was the son of the pair who had protested Tirion Fordring's exile by going into exile themselves, but he was thoroughly shocked and angered to discover that Tolath had rejoined the world primarily to find a wife for himself and a husband for his little sister.

Jeremaias, being a sensitive young man who thought of himself as a cosmic chew toy, naturally took offense at the fact that he had not been informed of the negotiations, much less been consulted. He knew, though, that refusing to go through with the marriage would not only make his parents look dishonorable, but would insult the Barthalomews and leave him unhappy anyway, so he began a correspondence with Neraine.

As it turned out, his not being consulted was a result of a tremendous misunderstanding (everyone involved thought someone else had told him), and Neraine and her father offered to release him from the arrangement. Under Zacherias' advice, Jere suggested that the marriage simply be delayed, and chose to "own" the situation by doing things his own way. He started writing ridiculously overblown, purple-prose letters in the style of "courtly love", with postscripts that eventually reflected his actual thoughts in more normal language. Neraine endeared herself to Jere by catching on to what he was doing, and they are continuing in this vein.