User:Grihm Bloodtusk/George Vardus

George Vardus was a Human former priest who became disillusioned with his faith with the razing of Alterac. He was notably foggy in all aspects of his being, thanks to the swill swirling around his liver. He was a major fan of Brewfest.

Disillusionment
George was always a patriotic nationalist, and served on the sidelines of the Second War healing the wounded and caring for the sick of the Grand Alliance. At first he fully supported the Alliance, but when his king, Lord Perenolde, betrayed the Alliance and allowed the Horde to pass through their mountain passes unimpeded, Vardus quickly accepted this and had no problem going along with the plan of his kingdom.

However, when this treachery was uncovered and Thoras Trollbane of Stromgarde marched in and imposed martial law, Vardus witnessed first hand as his nation crumbled in front of him. His faith quickly drained from him and he felt empty, disillusioned, and incredibly depressed. He was embarrassed by the event that had transpired and his now-lack of as he felt personal freedom and before long had delved into the concept of alcoholism far too much to ever crawl back out of it again. He became a wanderer as the nation began to fall into utter ruin and chaos and eventually found himself in Dun Morogh, where he partook in a Brewfest, and became an instant fan. The following years of his life were an absolute blur to him as he stumbled from tavern to tavern.

He happened to be in the same tavern one day as a band of three minor-league adventurers which would lead him to his destiny. He was a quiet drunk that night, and when the trio somehow found out that he was in fact a priest, they stepped up to him, introduced themselves and offered him a position amongst their ranks. At first he utterly refused - he harbored no will to aid any member of the Alliance (although even as drunk as he could get he was always tight-lipped about being from Alterac, to avoid beatdowns) and cared not for anything or anyone but his steins and his souvenir brewfest hat. Samuel and Robert were quickly put off by his smell and drunken stupor, yet Camomile saw a way to get him to agree to help - she stated that if he went with them and aided them with his healing skills, he would get all the booze he could ever hope to guzzle, and from a multitude of taverns. That squared it for Vardus, and he instantly and enthusiastically volunteered his skills as Camomile sashayed towards the door. For weeks, he would not regret his decision as the booze kept coming.

The Invasion At Caer Tyuid
The band eventually grew exhausted on their journey and decided to lodge at the local tavern in Caer Tyuid while awaiting daybreak before heading out again. It was just their misfortune that that exact night also ended up being the one in which a band of rogue Orcs, still operating under the banner of the Blackrock Clan, chose to see the small town as little more than a razing opportunity. Only 20 members strong, they were led by the fierce general, Gorax Headcrusher. The fierce warriors attacked during the darkest hours and soon the band's hunter, Samuel Dodson as well as their guide Guer'fran, would wake up and proceed to work on awakening the rest of the band. However, Vardus had unsurprisingly spent the entire night guzzling from the local tapped selection and he was more than a little passed out as Robert and Sam attempted to shake him awake. They succeeded just in time however and when told what was occurring he sobered up real quick and hid alongside his two roommates. Within mere seconds, an Orc Grunt brought his heavy leg against the door to their room bursting in and leaving the door to go to wood paneled heaven. While he had a powerful, overpowering stench to him which Robert almost choked on, Samuel was a survivalist and could keep himself silent and Vardus was still drunk enough for it to not even so much as phase him. The sight at slept-in beds but no inhabitants set the Orc off-guard, and it stepped cautiously into the room, only to be quickly leaped upon by the trio. It took a minute to bring the monstrosity down but it finally fell to the floor. Samuel wanted to make sure the beast was a goner and put a bullet through its brain, to which Vardus simply shrugged. As they were leaving the bar, Vardus took as much of the swill as he could for himself; in the end he would be of little help to the others as he poorly rationed his ill-gotten gains into the coffers of his liver.

In truth, Vardus did not want a fight, and failed to kill even one foe. He was very much still an Alteracian and was perfectly willing to flee the battle site. However, when he saw their guide and friend Guer'fran fall to a Horde attack, he felt inclined to aid the others. They had been good to him, and he was failing to feel as flee-worthy as perhaps he should have, instead he began to bash Horde troops with his heavy-weighted twin steins. He happened to stumble across Samuel as he breathed his last due to two throwing axe wounds and the subsequent Exsanguination, he felt himself worthless to the party; he was their priest, and now two of their numbers were dead. He glanced at his steins in disgust and tossed them to the ground before rushing to the aid of his remaining friends. At that point it was down to just General Gorax himself, and Vardus came to a realization that he was entirely without weaponry. He successfully healed Robert of a minor wound from Gorax's axe the Gorefountain, and protected Camomile from death with a magical shell. However, he was soon out of mana and could do little else to help the duo in their fight. He stared in horror as Robert was temporarily crippled by a shot to his hamstrings and he was left dazed and open to attack. Just as Gorax prepared to finish the Half-Elf off, Vardus had an epiphany - his life had been nothing but meaningless in all sense of the word, and these two had fought bravely for their cause. With that in mind he quickly jumped up to Gorax and punched him, leaving Gorax confused for a second before he laughed and brought his Gorefountain down upon Vardus instead. His reflection in the blade was the last thing he ever saw as it cleaved him in half, but for him the split second seemed to last forever. He took note of the smile that had bloomed on his face, and felt satisfied that he had made everything all right.

In the end, only Robert and Camomile made it out of Caer Tyuid alive of both groups, although a solitary surviving native of the town was found amongst the wreckage as well. The group failed to save the small town from being razed, and to this day it has fallen into obscurity.

Equipment
For the curious, this is the set of items which George Vardus is seen wearing:
 * Head: Blue Brewfest Hat
 * Chest: Brewfest Regalia
 * Boots: Brewfest Boots
 * Left Hand: Filled Blue Brewfest Stein
 * Right Hand: Filled Blue Brewfest Stein

Trivia

 * George Vardus was a minor character mentioned in a poorly-written, very short story Gorax's Revenge, which I wrote while playing Warcraft II, around the age of 12.