Eitri

Name, Age and Birthplace
Full name is Eitri Thazdrun Flareaxe (Thazdrun coming after Eitri's grandfather). He was born in Thelsamar of Loch Modan, and is currently 256 years of age, making him one of the oldest Ironforge dwarves to be still in the military.

Current Occupation
Eitri is the Lt. Colonel of the Mountaineers Third Brigade, under the leadership of Colonel Angst Ironboot. He still holds the ranks of Captain in the Knights of Arathor and Lt. Colonel in the Stormpike Guard and attends both battlefields in times of peace from the Mountaineer perspective.

He furthermore is a smith, miner and trader, as well as collector of rare minerals.

Eitri is also a paladin, adept in offensive combat and delivering vengeance and weak in healing.

Childhood
Eitri was raised to a strict moral code instructed by his father, Bronk. Eitri was taken to the Mithrildeep Mine at the age of 19 to assist his family with mining, while his adoptive sister, Norhild, would help Eitri's mother - Silvera Mountainhelm with the trading of minerals that Thazdrun Flareaxe had managed to establish successfully before Eitri was born.

In the meanwhile, Eitri was instructed since early to combat by his father. The two of them would often go on skirmishes against the Dark Irons in the borders between Loch Modan and the Badlands - and often Eitri would return home on Bronk's shield. By the age of 32, Eitri had managed to gain valuable combat experience - both in manoeuvring that Bronk Flareaxe was a master at - and in psychology.

Alongside Valand Thunderbrew - uncle to the current Ragnar Thunderbrew - and Bruuk Barleybeard, Eitri joined the Ironforge Hammer Elite Sixth Division under the leadership of Tholvad Mithrilhorn. Tholvad's first comments on Eitri were harsh; he commented on that he 'had never seen such a complete lack of talent in combat to a soldier before'. After seeing Eitri fight more and improve, Tholvad changed his mind.

Eitri was always somewhat jealous over Valand in their early years, because of the immense skill the only slightly older dwarf was demonstrating. By the time Eitri was 39 and already serving in the Sixth Division for 6 years, Valand was 45 and Sergeant Major in rank, making himself one of the youngest dwarves to reach so close to an officer rank. Eitri made it the purpose of his life to surpass his friend.

Six years later, on Eitri's 45th birthday, he was still only a Sergeant in rank; Valand, who was a hotheaded dwarf, would often pick on him and the good friends would have lots of arguments over it.

Early Military Years (-197 to -102)
Eitri, in his military career was being reinstated to various units a lot. He served in the Hammer Elite Sixth for 16 years (from -197 to -181) and was then transfered to the Third Division, under Wildhammer Berthok Eaglehammer's leadership, who quickly got him to be his second in command. He served with the Hammer Elite Third for 7 years only, being transfered again, this time to the 16th Riflemen Squad where he received most of his gunning training.

The main part of Eitri's career was the self-made Firehammer Clan, named after Dhorak Firehammer, his grand-grand-grandfather - a Clan made of individual dwarves that were inofficially protecting Dun Algaz. During the Dark Iron crisis of -160 to -149 the Firehammer Clan proved a lifesaver more than once - Eitri's ingenious tactics in addition to his Lieutenant's Averan Steelchain's military experience and Valand Thunderbrew's passion lead to many powerful attacks being crushed away before they could pass Dun Algaz. (The main Dark Iron settlement of the time in the Wetlands was known as Thaurissan's High Forge and was levelled by the Ironforge army in -125) Eitri Flareaxe, however, was ordered to give up his post after the crisis with the Dark Iron resurgence had died down. Despite Valand Thunderbrew's complaints and Averan Steelchain's diplomatic attempts, Eitri agreed to move the Clan to the north.

Little did they know, however, that Eitri was in fact planning to fend off the Dark Iron attacks from outside Dun Algaz. Once it was found out, the King ordered the Clan's officers to be thrown to jail for 3 years for disobedience. Eitri is still bitter about this effect.

He was released in -111. The Clan worked for 9 more years before disbanding.

Second and Third Wars
Eitri served in various units after -102, gaining high ranks in most of them. These include the Knights of Arathor (Major rank), Stormpike Guard Ninth (Lt. Colonel rank), the Mountaineers First upon their creation by Gillrog Stonehammer (Captain rank) and others. He kept switching while doing trading until late before the Second War erupted.

In the Second War, Eitri was tasked with assisting now Mountain King Kelv Sternhammer against the Horde's invasion of Loch Modan. The Sternhammer Shockforce managed several hard blows against the Horde's side troops. Using hit-and-run tactics, the dwarves and gnomes managed to cause some good damage; however, the Horde's irresistible force drew them back to Ironforge Mountain. Eitri, Bruuk Barley and a Thelman Slatefist assisted Kelv Sternhammer in reaching entrance to the Ironforge Airport, from which they assisted the Alliance in the fights for Thandol Span.

Following the defeats of the Horde and its pushing back into the Dark Portal, Eitri returned to Thelsamar, where he spent his current life trading and training. When the Third War erupted, Eitri was moved to the front to assist the Alliance. He was present in the fight of Mount Hyjal under the command of Jaina Proudmoore; however, as the Burning Legion waged on Eitri and his troops were literally ran over. Eitri was presumed as dead by the Burning Legion, who ignored his unconscious body. He was later picked up by Jaina's troops and carried home.

Service in the Mountaineers Third Brigade
Eitri joined the Brigade one year after its re-forming by Angst Ironboot. He jumped through the ranks until the rank of Captain, where he remained stable for a while. His job was to recruit new dwarves (and later gnomes) and take them in to military training. Eitri's overly aggressive and harsh attitude towards his soldiers has made him disliked by most Mountaineers, with only a few members in the Brigade actually enjoying his presence. His gruff, grumpy, distrustful nature in addition to his strength, military experience and aggressive behavior have made many Mountaineers fear him. They rarely approach him outside duty.

In a conflict with The Dark Embrace, Eitri was knocked out and nearly killed by an attack of the banshee Ashana which knocked him out of a window in a building in Raven Hill. His unconscious form was then used by Nirofen Litfuse to escape. He was present in all conflicts with The Earthfury Clan, including the killing of Hrisskar by Angst Ironboot. He has defended Dun Garok and the Alliance with the Mountaineers in all the attacks of the Earthfury Clan that were led by Chieftain Torakk.

Family
Thazdrun Flareaxe, grandfather; deceased. Thazdrun was a miner and a prominent figure in the establishment of trading between the Wildhammers and Ironforge dwarves right after the War of the Three Hammers, setting trade routes of minerals found in the Mithrildeep Mine between the two.

Thelgada Frostbeard - Flareaxe, grandmother; deceased. Thelgada's family were always strong with trading. Upon marrying Thazdrun Flareaxe, she helped him greatly in his quest for setting up the trade routes that sparked up the Dwarven economy again.

Bronk Flareaxe, father; deceased. Bronk Flareaxe was a strict, harsh man who was always distant from his family but loved them to the core. He dedicated his life to the family. Bronk Flareaxe was killed upon the collapse of the Mithrildeep Mine. He was 303 years old when that happened - obviously the Flareaxes have a thing with living long.

Silvera Mountainhelm - Flareaxe, mother; deceased. Silvera died 3 years after her husband's death, unable to bear the pain of his loss anymore. She was an adept trader and tailor, but was also a fierce fighter. It was often joked amongst the townspeople of Thelsamar that Bronk was not really a war veteran of the War of the Third Hammers, but his wife abused him physically often.

Norhild Flareaxe, adoptive sister; presumed deceased (missing). Norhild grew up to become a markswoman of the wild. Her love for poetry and the wilderness made her write lots of poems which were published by Roetgar Silverink. She used to write after the nickname 'Lendr'.

Golorn Frostbeard, distant cousin; alive. Trader in Kharanos.

Physical Appearance
Eitri looks old, with a huge white beard and worn out in colour, blue eyes. His hands are strong and rough, with various small wounds from the hardships he's been exposed to. He has several scars on his face and body, including;

-A big scar on his nose, which is the most easily seen one. It is speculated that he lost this in some titanic fight against a demon, while it actually is Bruuk Barleybeard that caused it. -A wound on his right eye, making it function very little and close to not at all. However, he refuses to wear an eyepatch since it would completely kill his vision on his right eye. -A long slash wound on the right side of his stomach, caused by the weapon of a Felguard during the Battle of Mount Hyjal. It is the one wound that knocked him unconscious yet saved his life and the only permanent wound from the hands of a demon. -Several minor scars on his hands from rough mining days and combat exercise with crude weapons. -A small yet deep slash from his chin that runs down on his neck. This isn't quite visible due to his beard covering it.

Eitri has a variety of armor he wears. One of the sets his uses is a set crafted by Lightforge, one of the arguably rarest minerals in Azeroth. Another one is his Mountaineer Uniform. He uses a variety of weapons, the most known one being a majestic one handed hammer with a shield with the logo of the Alliance, with a good quality one handed axe on his belt. His belt also hosts a smithing hammer with Eitri's initials on it "E.T.F", a small mining pick and two big, golden flintlocks. He also has a flask of his own, self-made ale strapped there.

Criminal Record
-Several assaults of varied people in varied places. -Disobedience against the King (served sentence for it). -Abusive behavior towards varied people. -Offensive language against guards and other officials. -Questioning of Gillrog Stonehammer and Angst Ironboot's authority in the presence of the former. (served sentence for it; a slap around the back of the head.) -Disobedience in the presence of Ulgarf Flamebeard.

Current Status
Eitri currently is doing what he always does, serving the King under the flag of the Mountaineers Third. He is known by a few people to have an affair with the MUCH younger than him Gwen-Bella Slatefist, younger sister of Haelga Slatefist (with whom Angst Ironboot had an affair, ironically). He still keeps contact with Bruuk Barleybeard and is currently trading with blacksmiths Furen Longbeard, Grimand Elmore and the Deepforge family of Ironforge (note; the Deepforges have a monopoly on the blacksmithing business of Ironforge and are capable of shifting the prices around at their will, which often infuriates Eitri). He is now a Lt. Colonel in the Brigade and the right hand of Ironboot in many of his operations.

Sources of Inspiration
The only actual source of inspiration I got upon creating Eitri was Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody from the popular Harry Potter series. Moody is depicted as a grizzled war veteran who trusts nobody, is mad as a hatter and distrusts nearly everyone. Moody is also adept in combat and is depicted as having no emotional weaknesses. He is also quite... inattractive, which is a characteristic of Eitri - although this doesn't apply to dwarves, since grizzledness and scars add to beauty in some dwarf females' eyes. I decided to take four aspects of Moody and put them on Eitri. Moody lost a part of his nose in a fight with a man named Evan Rosier; likewise, Eitri lost a part of his nose too, but to a fight with his friend, Bruuk. Moody also makes his own drink and food so he doesn't get poisoned; I found this aspect very interesting and took it in. Thirdly, Moody keeps talking about 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE' which is his motty and I knew I -HAD- to make Eitri have that. Fourthly, of course, is his status as a war veteran and a grumpy man who trusts nobody.

Ironically enough, after a recommendation of Angst I watched the film Full Metal Jacket and saw that the Drill Sarge in the film was quite similar to Eitri. The insults he used made me laugh endlessly, because I know I had used THE EXACT SAME insults on Eitri on his soldiers countless times and I didn't even know of the film's existence. I guess the Drill Sarge should be added as a... source I wasn't aware of.