User:Griffonclaw/Griffonclaw



Griffonclaw was born on the "wrong side of the bed" by Lord Mordos Silverlaine, whose father had held the lands around what is now known as North Tide's Hollow before Kel'Thuzad and his Cult of the Damned finally unleashed the plague of undeath upon Lordaeron, and the Archmage Arugal responded with summoning the Worgen.

Lord Mordos acknowledged his bastard son, but when the child's mother died shortly after childbirth, he gave the child up to the Church of the Light, to be reared as one of the Defenders of the Light; the death of his mistress and Griffonclaw having come to live with him had created numerous problems with his wife; to her, the boy was an uncomfortable reminder of things best forgotten. When Griffonclaw scarred one of his elder cousins in self-defense, he was given the nickname Griffonclaw, which would eventually replace his given name until it was all but forgotten.

Griffonclaw became a ward of the Cathedral of Light, and spent his first years in the Church-sponsored Orphanage, attending Mistress Danna's school in the daytime. His best friend in the Orphanage was a slender, sneaky fellow named Storvid. Storvid had a talent for taking things which didn't belong to him, and Griffonclaw became adept at defending his friend's body, if not his honor.

Griffonclaw also would have his first crush on a girl two years his senior, named Damisette Cloyce. Damisette returned his affection, and the three of them became good friends, although Griffonclaw would fall out of touch during his later training in Ironforge.

As he grew he was instructed in the basics of combat by Arthur the Faithful and Woo Ping, showing an aptitude for the blade in spite of knowing that the mace and maul were the preferred weapons of the Defenders of the Light. Griffonclaw was allowed to apprentice himself in limited fashion to Dane Lindgren, who taught him the basics of working with metal, and his time not spent either in the library reading treatsies on history and philosophy or on the practice yards were spent at the forges. At age fourteen he was sent to serve as page to Valgar Highforge, where we would continue his education in both the arts of war and of the forge.

At the age of seventeen he was sworn into the Order of the Silver Hand, pledged to stand between the defenseless and those who serve the Darkness. As a squire, he would serve Sir Khalven Brightspur, one of Prince Arthas' warband, and accompany his knight when assigned the job of putting down the depredations of the orcs in Lordareon who had escaped the interment camps, stationed in Strahnbrad. They would ride in the van when Arthas and Jaina Proudmore fought the Plague in Brill and Andorhal, and later, Stratholme. Khalven Brightspur was one of the knights that followed Arthas' order to purge the entire town, but Griffonclaw refused to participate, and followed Uther's force after Arthas declared the Order of the Silver Hand disbanded, and all who went with Uther accused of treason.

Masterless and alone, Griffonclaw accepted a place as a common soldier in Jaina Proudmore's force, and sailed for Kalimdor. He fought under Jaina's banner at Stonetalon Peak, and was left for dead, crawling his way off the main field, and killing two orc soldiers who attempted to loot what they thought was his corpse. Using their armor and gear as a disguise, he wandered, joining up again with the combined human/orc army under Jaina and Thrall. He would survive a running defense on the slopes of Mt. Hyjal, and participated in the defensive line whose survivors would ultimately found The Hammer of Magni.

After the battle of Mt. Hyjal, he would spend some time in and around Ratchet, working for the Steamwheedle Cartel as a courier and troubleshooter, carrying small packages and urgent messages; he would establish a trusted relationship with the investors who would open the Gilded Rose in Ratchet at this time. When he chanced to travel to Stormwind, he took oath again, sworn in by Archbishop Benedictus and Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker, becoming a paladin of Stormwind. He completed his errand for the Steamwheedle Cartel, and took up his first assignment at Northshire Abbey.

During the early days of his return, Griffonclaw would run afoul of the political machinations of Bishop Delavey, would eventually maneuver Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker, the head of the Stormwind Order of Light, into releasing Griffonclaw from his vows. The Hammer of Magni would arrange for His Majesty Magni Bronzebeard, ruler of Ironforge, to declare Griffonclaw a dwarf and citizen of Ironforge, making him eligible to join the dwarven Order of Light.

He would serve a short stint as the Guild Leader of the Hammer of Magni, and leave the guild shortly after handing over the reins to Nytle Twiggs. After stints with the ERA and Argent Exodus, he has returned to the Hammer of Magni to serve under Master Thrinwizzle.

Griffonclaw served as part of the reserve force of the Argent Dawn during the reawakening of the Dark Portal, and has since served with distinction in the Hellfire Peninsula.

Shortly after rejoining the Hammer of Magni, Griffonclaw pre-emptively prevented a starving thief from robbing him as he ate in the Pig & Whistle in Stormwind, his favorite watering hole in that city, by the expedient of buying her dinner. He recommended that she use her skills as part of the Hammer of Magni instead of suffering the inevitable fate of rogues and thieves in Stormwind - a gallows or the Stockades. The footpad, one Kestralil Shadowhawk, joined the Hammers of Magni a week later, and they began seeing each other romantically. They were married in the area above the Northshire Abbey falls.

Shortly thereafter Griffonclaw and his spouse were part of an assault team on the Shadow Council in the Shadow Labyrinth under ; they opened a rift to the Twisting Nether, and decoyed the chaos elemental lord Murmur and closed the rift behind them in an attempt to end his threat to the Outlands. Unfortunately, the survivors of their attack, including Grandmaster Vorpil, who was ressurected by use of a soul stone, used the Codex of Blood to summon Murmur again.

As the rift closed, the group discovered that the dimension in which they were trapped had neither air nor gravity, and they found themselves flung away from Murmur into the void. His comrades Thrinwizzle and Taelea were spun away in different directions, away from them.

Kestralil, Noctarre, Griffonclaw, and Noctarre's Felguard were sent off in roughly the same direction. Noctarre, thinkiing quickly, cast Enduring Breath on herself, Kestralil, and Griffonclaw. She then commanded her Felguard to grab Griffonclaw, and throw him to her; with no gravity, the felguard spun away in the opposite direction while Griffonclaw was sent towards the women. Noctarre grabbed Kestralil's cloak, and pulls her close. Together they managed to grab ahold of Griffonclaw as he he passed nearby. Noctarre continues to keep their breath renewed, while they share their food.

Kestralil and Griffonclaw allow themselves to die so that Noctarre can preserve their souls into soulstones, while using their collective food to stay alive. While in this state, Griffonclaw's spirit is summoned to serve Gandling, Headmaster of Scholomance. Because Gandling does not know Griffonclaw's real name, he cannot compel Griffonclaw's spirit, which gravitates to Stormwind, where many prayers for him have been said by friends and family.

Noctarre conceives a plan, and sends an Imp as messenger to a former colleague in the Scions of Darkness. The warlock travels to the Archmage Xylem in Azshatra, and together they use the imp's connection to Noctarre to open a portal, bringing them through. Kestralil is immediately revived, but Griffonclaw's spirit does not immediately return, although his body reanimates. In a coma, the three of them make their way to Theramore, where, with the help of the Steamwheedle Cartel, Griffonclaw's spirit is summoned and returns to his body.

Until the invasion of Northrend, Griffonclaw and Kestralil work for Lady Jaina and Tirion Fordring, heading the front company Universal Exports, which raised money, ships, and supplies via legitimate merchant enterprises and the occasional insurance fraud. When the Crusade to Northrend was launched, all the shipmasters of Univeral Exports turned flag and flew the Alliance flag, chartered as supply and troop transport.

Griffonclaw joined Tirion on the shores of Northrend, taking the fight to Arthas and his minions. He is currently in detached duty in Northrend.

A more expansive history and gallery of Griffonclaw's armors and costumes may be found at the Steamwheedle Cartel RP Community Archive.

Griffonclaw played on the Server:Steamwheedle Cartel US server