Verrater/Vichand

Stats
Name: Verrater "Vichand" Tyrannyth, the Partisan Title: Traitor to the Light, servant of the Lich King, Knight-Lord of the Will, former Rider of Stormwind, former Commander of the Knighthood of the Lion, Knight-Champion of the Alliance, former Crusader-Champion of the Scarlet Crusade, former Neophyte of the Scarlet March Age: Mid 20s Hair color: Brown Eye color: Bright, glowing blue (formerly green) Skin color: Fair Height: 6 feet, 2 inches Weight: 220 pounds Spouse: None Children: None Siblings: None Parents: Deceased

Appearance
Standing at just over six feet, Verrater, also known as "Vichand," appears as every other human man. The most distinguishing features on this man are the scar over his right eye and the apparent burn marks ringing his neck, disappearing under his collar. In addition, his eyes always glow a bright blue.

Very rarely is he ever seen without his armor, choosing to remain constantly entombed within the protective shell. His entire body, save his face and head, is covered is severe burns. The flesh all over his form is taught and leathery as though he were burnt at the stake.

While wearing armor meant to disguise the fact he is a Death Knight, Verrater keeps his arms and armor in pristine condition, going to great lengths to cleanse the slightest imperfection. When openly operating as a Death Knight, or especially as an agent of the Lich King, his weapon and armor are caked with blood both dried and fresh, as well as ichor and bits of other flesh, creating an air of disease around him.

Personality
Verrater is, first and foremost, a military man. He respects the chain of command and, when is called on to do so, issues orders with the expectation that all others will follow them without question. He is also ambitious, having climbed the ranks of organizations such as the Stormwind Royal Military and the Scarlet Crusade, his most recent achievement being put in command of the Will of the Scourge, a militant, and separate, branch of the Cult of the Damned.

The quality very few recognize below the stern commander's features is his conniving gift of manipulation. Always the warrior, he is not without his wiles, but he allows others to believe him too simple for such intrigue.

Background
Born at Northshire Abbey to a Lordaeron refugee, Vichand (as he was born) was raised among the clergy there. His mother was a priestess of the Light, his father a soldier of Lordaeron assigned to the Lordemere Internment Camp. His father was slain during the orcs' escape from the camp, his mother fleeing to Stormwind with her unborn child before the onslaught of the Scourge and the threat of plague.

Vichand was learning the ways of the Light to follow in the footsteps of his mother and grandfather, who was a priest of the Light in Lordaeron years prior. Fate, however, would alter his chosen path of healing and comfort. At age 8, Vichand bore witness to his mother's brutal murder at the hands of the Defias Brotherhood. Again, fate would frown on him as a majority of his peers, his childhood friends, were captured and slain by the very same group. Having seen the Stormwind Guard incapable of defending the people, Vichand began to train in the martial arts, merging the training he had already received to begin his training as a paladin.

When he came of age, Vichand made his way to Stormwind and enlisted in the Royal Guard, being assigned to a first-response group known as the Riders of Stormwind. In his time with the Riders, Vichand proved his mettle against the Horde and the other threats to Stormwind, including the Defias Brotherhood, Vichand rose to be the Lead Rider, the third in command behind the Commander and Captain.

Again, fate placed an obstacle before him.

Both his commander and his captain went missing. Vichand took the Riders far and wide in search of the missing officers to no avail. Stormwind High Command determined that the commander had abandoned his post and, having failed to report even when he was in leadership, the decision was ultimatelt to disband the Riders. With those few Riders who remained, Vichand petitioned High Command to allow for another, similar unit that he would lead. They offered that if he could find ten willing and able members, they would grant his request. Within a week, the Knighthood of the Lion was born. Serving as first-responders, while an important duty of the Knighthood, was not their only one. The Knighthood took to training those who sought military service in the proper methods of combat and the discipline inherit to the military. The Knighthood was also responsible for acting as defacto guards when the situation arose.

It was in command of this unit that Vichand would meet a young kaldorei named Elidove Moonshadow. Elidove was the victim of abuse at the hands of her betrothed, a kaldorei hunter with a penchant for womanizing. At first, thier relationship was one of friendship; she was too afraid of her fiancé and Vichand too honorable to try and convince her that her choice was wrong. Over time, however, their relationship began to blossom into more. Eventually, Vichand had become so infatuated with her that he slew her fiancé, claiming his abusiveness had finally gone too far. Vichand soon found himself proposing to her, thinking he had finally found the woman he was meant to be with.

Fate, however, had another plan.

Over the months, he learned that her fiancé had not been as abusive as she had made him out to be. Further, he learned that she was something of a harlot, disregarding any vows of monogamy. Worse, she began to treat with Vichand's enemies, having secret meeting with those who would see the Commander of the Knighthood murdered. Eventually, when confronted with the fact she was unloyal in more than one regard, she declared that she had fallen in love with another - Vichand's worst enemy. The man was an abusive warrior who sought at every turn to undermine Vichand's efforts, including destroying his relationship. Vichand was devistated, becoming reclusive and shirking his duties. He had taken to spending long bouts in the field, aiding the Alliance as a whole and sacrificing his commitment to Stormwind. In this Vichand was successful: He attained the rank of Knight-Champion for his leadership and excellent martial prowess. No amount of fighting could fill the whole that Vichand felt with the loss of his love. Luckily, Vichand's former commander returned having reported being on a religious journey. His ex-commander spoke of a different path of the Light, one that was focused on the destruction of the Scourge and the purification of the world.

Vichand decided to abandon his command, and his humanity. He slew the woman whom he had loved, as well as her newest love interest and the Knighthood's second in command. With the Knighthood in shambles and well on it's way to dissolution and with several warrants issued for his arrest, Vichand journeyed to Tyr's Hand and joined the Scarlet Crusade. Little is recorded of the time he was there and he is willing to say less. It is known that Vichand underwent the ritual of the Purifying Flame, being lashed to a stake and burnt to clear away all of the impurity he had accumulated during his relationship with the Night Elven woman. Though most die during this rite, Vichand was blessed with survival, the flames never reaching his face and a sudden storm of violent proportions quenching the flame. Within the annals of the Great Crusade, Vichand is also noted as having lead many successful cleansings against Scourge holdings and many successful raids against the Forsaken and their allies, the Horde. Vichand is noted as having shown exemplary dedication to the Crusade and was given the title of Crusader-Champion to reflect his unwavering loyalty, as well as the title "the Partisan" as a compliment.

After more than a year in service to the Crusade, however, Vichand uncovered the deep seated corruption within the commanders of the Crusade. While he felt their isolationism was justified, as were their views on the other races of the world, he had discovered a secret link with the Scourge - the very foe they battled. Overhearing the Grand Crusader speaking to an operative of the Scourge, Vichand abandoned the Crusade. In his time with the Crusade, he had heard of the coup that had been staged by others who, like him, had found the corruption within the Grand Crusader but were still opposed to the Argent Dawn's lack of conviction. So, Vichand followed their path and went to Stormwind to join with the Scarlet March.

Vichand only spent a short time in the March, despite his earnest desire to see their beliefs blossom. The Lady Servitor had retired from her post and the Grand Inquisitor was in a state of recovery, leaving the March muddled and confused. Despite his efforts, the March did little more than cause problems within Stormwind with their views on the other races. Even working closely with the March's Grand Crusader, Malakov Brightgrasp, Vichand found his effort a futile one. Disheartened but still loyal, Vichand advised to the March commanders that they relocate their center of operations to Southshore and seeking to drive the idea home, Vichand moved to the port town to act as a religious advisor to any who wished it. It would be here that Vichand would die and Verrater would be born.

Vichand accompanied a unit of Alliance mercenaries that was utterly destroyed by the ambush that had been set by their intended foes: The Forsaken. Having been dealt a mortal blow and far too exhausted to heal the wound, Vichand simply thanked the Light for the strength he had been given to defeat the foes he had, and prayed that the enemies of humanity would be cleansed.

As his body began to give out and his body began to grow cold, Vichand heard a voice; a voice that was at once so beautiful and so terrible that it could only be on voice; the Light. This voice told Vichand of a chance to cleanse the world, to bring all it's people peace and equality through death. The voice spoke to Vichand about a man who had been singularly empowered by the Light to bring the world under his command and send all of the world's souls to rest in the embrace of the Light through death. The voice told him of the Lich King, Arthas, and that the doctrines Vichand had known as a mortal were flawed and biased, based on human greed and the desire to keep all things for themselves. The voice told him that the Arthas, the prophet of the Light, wished to give all of the world the gift of undeath, the gift of eternal peace and the escape from pain and conflict. All that the voice asked of Vichand was that he declare himself beholden to Arthas, the Prophet of the Light and the Lich King, and that he allow his old self to die and be born anew. Thus, Vichand was no more and Verrater was born.

Feeling empowered by the Light's promises, delivered unto him by this voice, Verrater pulled together what energy he had left and made haste to the School of Necromancy, the Scholomance located at Caer Darrow. The servants to the Lich King had been informed of his impending arrival and accepted him openly. They saw to his wounds and, for a month, taught him of the art of Necromancy from the Light's prospective. Having recovered and learned as much as a man not of the arcane could, Verrater journeyed to the Eastern Plaguelands and joined with Acherus, the Ebon Hold, where he would train for the next several months to be one of the Lich Kings champions: A Death Knight.

Following the events of the unsuccessful attempt to destroy the Argent Dawn and the declaration the all the Death Knights under Darion Mograine would fight against the Scourge, Verrater quickly stole away from the Hold without breaking the facade of being loyal to the Highlord. While most had felt a great betrayal when Arthas had declared that the attack's purpose was to draw out Tirion Fordring and that the lives of the Death Knights were unimportant, Verrater felt it a simple question of duty. As a soldier, Verrater felt that his commander had the foresight to do what he felt necessary to achieve his goals. Further, he felt that death was transient considering the Prophet of the Light, Arthas the Lich King, could bring people back from the dead and empower them as his champions. Surely none among the Ebon Hold were afraid of dying when they could simply be revitalized, could they?

Knowing that his allies were dreadfully few, Verrater used the connection that all members of the Scourge shared, the connection that allowed them to all know of His great plan. Verrater used the connection to call out to others who also felt that they belonged in the service of the Lich King and drew them together to undermine the Alliance and the Argent Crusade, as well as wage war on the Horde and try to incite a full-scale cross-faction war.

Goals and motivations

 * To corrode the foundation of the Grand Alliance, that it may fall away into chaos and the Lich King can end their threat.
 * To incite a full-scale war between the Alliance and the Horde so that neither force can properly wage war on Icecrown.
 * To bring more people into the Will and to spread the word of the Prophet of the Light's divine gift.

Idiosyncrasies

 * Despite allowing his battle armor and weapons to accumulate all manner of blood and ichor, his ornamental armor, as well as anything he wears to hide the fact that he is a Death Knight, is kept in pristine condition.
 * He speaks well of the other races, though privately, he denounces them all and attributed His divine gift to be the forte of humanity.

Public knowledge and rumors

 * There is a warrant out for Vichand's arrest. Charges include:  Dereliction of duty, abandonment of post, three counts of murder in the first degree, one count of assaulting a member of the Stormwind Royal Guard, three counts of treason against King and state.  The warrant is years old and only those who specifically keep up with old warrants and bounties would know of it.
 * Verrater becomes violently perturbed when his ornamental armor repeatedly becomes soiled.
 * Verrater will openly preach to any who will listen about the gifts of the Holy Light.
 * He has barely containable hatred and rage when confronted with a Night Elven woman, especially an insistent one.