User:Vladnova/Joseph VanBlade

Joseph VanBlade, also known as Commander VanBlade and Frostwolf's Bane was a soldier who fought alongside Prince Arthas Menethil in the third war, before he was abandoned when Arthas left his troops during his descent into madness. Since then, VanBlade has returned to the mainland and become a hero of the Alliance, leading many successful charges against the Horde, especially in Alterac Valley, and becoming a close Ally to the Argent Dawn and Argent Crusade. He is also the father of Kaiyan VanBlade.

Recently, en route to the Howling Fjord in Northrend, VanBlade and a number of troops mysteriously disappeared and their whereabouts are currently unknown.

Early Life
VanBlade was born in Elwynn to Cain, an Admiral of the Stormwind Army, and Maell, a tailor from Eastvale. He quickly gained favour from the locals by assisting in ridding the lands of gnolls and murlocs at a very young age, with no request for reward. At age 11 he began to learn the ways of blacksmithing in Goldshire, and was capable of creating many fine weapons and armor pieces that the other apprentices could not.

By the age of 17 he had already developed a reputation as a exceptional swordsman and fighter, single handedly defeating a group of bandits raiding Goldshire, and proceding to uncover their entire operation, shutting it down and saving Elwynn from much structural and collateral damage. Six months later, he was recruited by the Stormwind Army as an official Guard of Elwynn.

The Third War
By the time of the Third War, VanBlade was a high ranking soldier in the Stormwind Army, and joined the troop commanded by Prince Arthas Menethil who were working their way through Lordaeron, combating the Plague. VanBlade had never witnessed such horror as he did in his war years, but with his lion-hearted spirit he managed to deal with it better than most of the veterans, and when his squad's second in command was ravaged by ghouls in Alterac, VanBlade assumed the position.

During the Culling of Stratholme, VanBlade stayed with Arthas and the troops who remained behind after Uther the Lightbringer's condemnation of the Prince's actions. VanBlade believed he was doing the right thing, taking to heart Arthas' words "Those of you who have the will to save this land", because he was determined to never let the world fall to darkness. When the culling began, VanBlade was in charge of defending the base stationed just outside the city, as Arthas took most of the troop inside.

VanBlade shut his eyes and grimaced as he heard the screams of innocent villagers being cut down by both his own squad and the demon Mal'Ganis, the piercing yells of slaughtered women and children wounded his very soul. He stood up and walked away from his post in the watchtower, to calm himself, leaving his helmet and weapons as he began to question whether he had made the right choice. As he left the tower, an ill breeze blew his long hair from his face and the smell of decaying flesh burnt his nostrils. He turned quickly to the outpost's gate where dozens of Undead minions were racing towards him, ghouls, abominations and necromancers alike.

VanBlade ran to the blacksmith's and ordered the Dwarven smith, Bromni to sound the alarm, at the same time taking up the only weapon he could find, an aged glaive. VanBlade sprinted outside again as his small number of troops joined him. He ordered them to mount their steeds and charge the scourge head on. Rallying them with the words, "If we are to die, then we die for the freedom of our people!" he lead his men into the oncoming wave of undeath. The men fought bravely and fearlessly, as a true testiment to the resilience of their race, and what they were fighting for, but eventually the vast numbers of scourge became too much, and VanBlade was the only one of fifteen left. Forced back to retreat within the watchtower, he climbed to look upon the terrors that enroached upon him. Looking out on the stained field of battle he saw the corpses of men, dwarves, elves and scourge strewn across each other, and the bodies of his friends being crushed into the ground by monstrosities of the scourge. A single tear crept down VanBlade's face as he let out an almighty roar of anguish and rage, and he picked up his sword and shield and tore down the steps of the tower to meet the merciless army in a final act of defiance. Whilst it is unknown just how many scourge there were left, all that is certain is that a hero, largely outnumbered, with the spirit of his people and flashes of steel cut through walls of undead flesh, roaring for the loss of his fallen comrades and stood upon a mountain of husks, victorious.

When Arthas returned, he rewarded a hugely embittered and mournful VanBlade the rank of Captain as he ordered his men to man ships to leave for Northrend, in pursuit of Mal'Ganis, immediately. Having gone too far to turn back, and with the desperation for the war to end, VanBlade followed the Prince to the icy wastes.

In the frozen valleys, VanBlade found himself questioning both his Prince's judgement, and sanity, a concern he never put forward to his regiment, through fear of treason. Instead, the young captain followed Arthas' orders, so far as to assist in killing the mercinaries who the Prince claimed had burned down the Alliance ships, although Vanblade never believed it. When Arthas returned in possession of Frostmourne, but without Muradin Bronzebeard, VanBlade's trust in his leader had finally shattered, and he renounced his alleigance to the Prince, who, so driven by his charge on Mal'Ganis with his new blade, didn't even register his captain's 'treason'.

The regiment waited months for Arthas return, many died from the cold, many more by native beasts named Nerubians. The remainder believed that the Prince was dead, but VanBlade had other suspicions, and swore revenge on the one who had betrayed his people. As acting captain however, he had to put the safety of his men first, and led all who would follow him in search of transport home, whilst at the same time, the corrupted Prince Arthas had returned home, and forcefully claimed the Kingdom of Lordaeron in the name of the scourge.

Post War
When VanBlade's regiment returned home, finally after years of fierce survival, they found the Alliance in ruins, a shadow of it's former self, with Lordaeron completely lost, and the High Elves of Quel'Thelas gone, betrayed by the prejudice of a human general. In their place, The Kaldorei, or Night Elves had joined the Alliance after their part in the battle against Archimonde. The world was a changed place for VanBlade, and found himself slipping into his own madness in a life of exile, until he was approached by King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind, who, from members of his old regiment has heard tales of VanBlade's skill and bravery. The King convinced VanBlade to stay in Stormwind, and become reaquainted with his old home, so that he may once more prove his worth to his kin. Since this, VanBlade has been eternally grateful to the King for saving him from his own madness.

The King appointed VanBlade the position of Commander of the Alliance Forces against the Horde, with whom the old hatred's had reawoken, something VanBlade was used to, having been away for the brief period of fragile peace since the Battle of Hyjal. He fought in many wars, in both Arathi and Alterac, before taking a few years away to revisit his oath to see Arthas brought to justice by fighting in the plaguelands alongside the Argent Dawn. It was during this time that he met his to-be wife Melissa, who was a mage determined to avenge her lost family. It was not until VanBlade learned that Arthas had long since returned to Northrend, that he and Melissa moved back to Stormwind, They were not married at this time, and seperated briefly as VanBlade returned to Alterac to fight the Horde.

Frostwolf's Bane
During his years as Commander in Alterac Valley, VanBlade became increasingly infuriated, and some times intolerable of all the young soldiers looking for nothing but glory, and who abandoned strict tactics to try and 'play the hero'. During VanBlade's most famous battle, seven such soldiers were taken captive by the orcs and held in the east tower of Frostwolf Keep. Despite his grudge, VanBlade led a small number of rogues and scouts to the walls of the Frostwolf enclave, through use of espionage and exceptional combat skills, his team managed to breach the fortress. A most memorable moment occured when the Commander pulled down a wooden watchtower to crush an entire guard unit of orcs. The team entered the fortress and engaged in battle with great numbers of orc scouts and guards, VanBlade throwing an guard through a reinforced wooden door to gain access to the east tower. When at the top, the Commander ordered his men to take the captive soldiers to the rendevous point just outside the fortress where the cavalry could collect them, whilst he himself stayed behind to cause a distraction. This 'distraction' caused VanBlade to return to Dun Baldur hours later with the decapitated heads of two high ranking Orc generals, and the newly rewarded title of 'Frostwolf's Bane'.

Family
After he returned from Alterac, VanBlade was reunited with Melissa during a brief stay at The Blue Recluse. They courted for just a few months before they were engaged to be wed. VanBlade took time off from the army to raise his family with his now-pregnant wife. They moved far away to the mountain lands of the dwarves, and settled in Loch Modan, where VanBlade took up the name of Joseph Farwood and became a blacksmith once more, in an attempt to save his family from the enemies he had made during his years in the army. They had a single child, a boy who they named Kaiyan. Not many years after his birth however, a mysterious messenger came to the house of Joseph Farwood giving news of a boat leaving to Northrend in an attempt to scout the lands in search of Arthas, and to identify safe places where basepoints could be made, for a planned invasion by the Alliance to take out the traitor Prince once and for all, sometime within the next decade. Confused by the fact the messenger knew his real identity, Joseph suggested to Melissa that they move, and raise their child in Ashenvale, the forest of the elves. For 4 years since the move, Joseph managed to raise his son and live peacefully with his wife, until the messenger appeared again. Realising his family would never be safe whilst he was being headhunted, Joseph decided to go, and scout Northrend with the proposed 'Band of Heroes', promising his wife that he would return within a year, giving her all his gold and arranging special watch by the Ashenvale sentinals to ensure her safety.

To keep Kaiyan safe, Melissa never told him their family's last name, however, at a young age, Kaiyan began to show his father's greatness himself, magnified by the magic energies of his mother's genes, by the age of 8, he showed near super-human strength, and by the age of 10, his sword skills were better than most sentinals'. It was, however, at this age, that his father's past finally came to his family.

One night, when Kaiyan was in bed, the quiet forest cottage was shook by the sound of heavy iron hammers and axes, the screams of night-elves and the roars of the horde. An orc of monstrous size burst through the door, followed by a gaggle of undead. Melissa began to defend herself, but was eventually subdued by the Orc and his diminished number of ghouls. Demanding to know the location of the son of 'The Commander' the Orc raised his axe to Melissa's throat as Kaiyan burst out of his bedroom with his father's old claymore, just as the Orc lunged forthe child, Melissa summoned her magical energies to teleport Kaiyan far away.

Disappearance
During their time in Northred, the 'Band of Heroes' attempted to traverse to the lands of the Vrykul, The Howling Fjord. However, en route, their boat was shrouded by a mysterious mist, and non of them have been seen since.