Ghillie

Name
Ghillgethen Tancred Bellinus

Physical Traits
A tall man with grey hair and beard, his face creased with age and tanned with work and weather. These days Ghillie will usually be seen wearing a mix of rich cloth and finely wrought plate armour, a flame imbued blade hanging at his side.

Race and Class
Human Spellsword.

Guild
University of Dalaran.

Occupation
Explorer and mecenary soldier now turned student of the arcane.

Family
Mother (Eoforhild) deceased. Father (Gahareet) missing in action during the 2nd War, presumed deceased. Sister (Ælfgyfu)murdered.

Background
Two years before the first Orcish invasion of Azeroth, Ghillgethen Tancred Bellinus was born to a loving father and a doting mother in the hamlet of Abercroisan in Gilneas, western Lordaeron. His father was an officer in the mighty Gilnean navy and Ghillgethen, always called Ghillie by his parents, spent a comfrotable childhood, unperturbed by the growing rumours of war to the south. It was soon after his eighth birthday that Gilneas finally joined the alliance of Lordaeron and entered the second war against the horde and Ghillies' father Gahareet left his son and wife, now bearing their second child, to sail against the orcish fleet.

The war was nearly over when the young officer in the shiny uniform came to call, bearing an envelope sealed with the insignia of the admiralty. Ghillie saw his mother recoil from the proffered letter, shaking her head at the grave-faced man on the doorstep and crumple into a chair. Confused, Ghillie took the letter from the man, broke the seal and drew out a a folded sheet of paper. "The admiralty regrets to inform"..."Capt. Bellinus"..."while in the line of duty"..."presumed dead"..."sympathies". The words thudded dully in his chest as he read them. Ghillie slowly closed the door on the man and went to comfort his mother.

This fatal sea battle proved a dark turning point, not only for The Bellinus family but for Gilneas at large; the massive losses sustained that day were enough to tip the balance in the minds of the Gilnean people and in particular their leader, Genn Greymane. It was at this point that Gilnean support for the Alliance was withrawn, its remaining troops and ships recalled, and, perhaps most significantly, construction of the Greymane wall began. With increasing paranoia and urged on by insidious nobles, King Greymane threw all the resources he could muster into the building of the wall and in a matter of weeks the massive barricade was thrown up all along the border of Gilneas, new laws were passed banning passage in or out and from that point on, Gilneas was sealed.

In the months that followed, the war ended and the rest of Azeroth started to heal itself while, behind their barrier of stone, the land of Gilneas began to rot. King Greymane became more and more withdrawn; handing power to corrupt nobles who raised taxes to ludicrous levels to compensate for the loss of the trade Gilneas used to enjoy with its neighbour states. A new police force, The Civil Guard, was put in direct control of the populace, martial law in all but name. Six months after the end of the war and the raising of the wall, Genn Greymane declared himself king and took the throne of his now beleagered, frightened country.

It was into this 'new' Gilneas that Ghillies sister, Ælfgyfu, was born. Her name, meaning 'a gift from the elves' was fitting for it was said in Gilneas that 'a gift from an elf was as like to bite as bless' and of the baby girl this was certainly true; for her mother, already weak with the loss of her husband did not survive the birth. Ghillie, now ten, and his sister were taken into care by their mother's sister and her husband, an old soldier who lived in the great forest working as a game keeper for lord, now king, Greymane. The couple had no children and treated their orphan nephew niece as their own and though the kingdom was now a place of fear and oppression, the four carved out some peace and solace for themselves in their cottage on the edge of the forest. Ghillie began to learn the ways of the forest from his uncle, helping him to set the traps that brought meat to the kings table. He learned how to track and tame, how to kill and how to skin. He grew skilled in the use of sword and spear, of bow and gun and he grew tall and broad and strong. Ælfgyfu grew through childhood too and, as the years passed, a gawky girl began to blossom into a beautiful woman.

Her beauty was to prove fatal for it attracted the attention of Craenyth Gremlan, the captain of the local civil guard, and a man feared and despised by all. Chancing upon the siblings in the woods as they checked their uncles snares, this Gremlan assaulted Ælfgyfu while his men restrained her struggling brother and, when his advances were rebuffed with a knee to the groin, drew his knife and stabbed her to death. Ghillie escaped his captors, then tracked them down and killed them one by one. His sister avenged, Ghillie was forced to flee Gilneas. With the aid of his uncle and aunt he evaded the coastal patrols and swam from his homeland into the unknown.

Much has happened since the day Ghillie staggered up the stony Hillsbrad beach and collapsed under the weight of his new found freedom. He has served as a mercenary scout for the alliance, worked as a blacksmith, and found adventure waiting for him at every turn. Ghillie's passion for journeying and exploration led him naturally to the Guild of The Travellers, led by Grand Explorer Sanastar D'Arellien, and in their company he began to feel at home for the first time since his exile began. He prospered in the guild and rose to assume the rank of Master Voyager, part of the guild's inner council, also serving as the society's chronicler.

It was during the Northrend campaign that the life of Ghillgethen Bellinus took a most unexpected turn. Ghillie had signed up to serve in a mercenary battalion, shipping out to the frozen wastes in command of a company of skirmish troops and scouts. The trials and tribulations of the campaign as a whole are a matter of public record and well known to anyone reading this; suffice to say Ghillie acquitted himself well and became known to the Alliance high command as a man who could be counted on to get the job done.

It was just as the Alliance were massing their forces for the final push into Icecrown that Ghillie was summoned to Wyrmrest Temple. In an audience with Chromie, representative of the Bronze Dragonflight, he was asked to take part in a mission for which he, as a Gilnean, was uniquely suited. The Keepers of Time had uncovered another plot by the infinite Dragonflight to derail history, this time by preventing Gilneas from joining the second war, denying the fledgling Alliance the power of their navy and turning the tide in favour of the Horde. Ghillie was to use his knowledge of his former homeland to infiltrate the court and foil the plan. Ghillie agreed without hesitation and was flown directly to the Caverns of time and then some 20 years into the past.

The mission was a success, Ghillie, aided by a young bronze drake, Xardormu, orchestrated a guerilla campaign against the Infinite Dragonflight forces who were attempting to destabalise Gilneas and force Greymane to withdraw his support for the war effort. This success came at price though for, during the very attack which guaranteed the Gilneans would sail to war, Ghillie and Xardormu were taken captive by the fleeing Infinite Dragonflight forces and imprisoned in an alternate timeline. For over forty years the two were held prisoner before the Keepers of Time were able to trace their timeline and assemble a strike team to rescue them.

Ghillie and Xardormu were returned to the present a relative month after they had left it but for Ghillie it had been half a lifetime. In recognition of this and as special thanks for his sacrifice The Dragonqueen, Alexstrasza, bestowed a gift of fire magic upon him in a ceremony atop Wyrmrest Temple. Though he is yet to master his new skills, Ghillie has already learned to imbue himself and his weapons with the power of flame and now seeks further tutelage in the Arcane.

Criminal Record
Recently exonerated by king Genn Greymane for the murder of Captain Craenyth Gremlan and two men at arms of the Gilnean Civil Guard.

Current Status
Following his release, Ghillie has struggled to resume his previous life. Friends who saw him as a man of 29 only months ago are now greeted by a 72 year old. Ghillie is also getting to grips with his new talents in fire magic and this has led to him taking the decision to engage in a course of studies at the University of Dalaran, he hopes the learned mages will properly teach him to master his new gifts.