Rowan Greywolf

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General

Species
Gender
Height
6'00"
Status
Alive

Appearance

Rowan is a sentient animated armor who is an old Arathian soldier from millennia past. He stands with a knightly posture, with frosty blue eyes that peer through the slits of his helm. He carries a shield with the Menethil coat of arms etched into its front with a longsword with a pommel ornamented with a wolf's - a symbol of his family from olden days. His grey wolf pelt wrapped around his neck is his last memento of his family in an otherwise modern shape and design of his exterior plating resembling Menethil Kingsguard.

Personality

Rowan Greywolf at a glance is the representation of a loyal knight. He is devout in his serving to the Menethil family, namely Jaina, and will do anything to protect their kingdom. To many, he seems like a paragon and a symbol of duty, honor and chivalry. Those that know him a little better see there is more to the animated armor than the noble knight.

Rowan is a well studied knight in both arms, chivalry and warfare. He often counsels those in the matter not just with the blade, but matters of leadership and righteousness as well. He speaks with an earnestness and directness in his tone in a way he might pass his wisdom to younger generations.

Rowan, in company of those new to him tends to speak very little - only offering counsel when needed. To those that he is more comfortable with, he tends to respond with wit, sarcastic humor and straightforwardness. His connection with Velameestra, Uther and many of the Menethil family can attest to this. Beneath the honorable knight lies a man who is not afraid to say what needs to be said. Many believe he is the way he is due to duty and honor; but the truth is that Rowan is a man who wants the world to be better than it once was. To him, the Menethil Family is his way he can help Azeroth in a way he never could during his own time.

Background

Millennia before today, Rowan was born to a knight’s family that had spanned for generations during the Arathi Empire. He was raised with the virtues of an honorable knight. This was a simpler time - when man was united under a single banner. But that simple time turned to bloodshed as the first Troll wars scoured over Lordaeron.

Rowan was one of the first to conscript. The eager young man wanted to live up to his family’s legacy and became the knight he was destined to be. For a short time he was. He fought valiantly and bravely. Fighting off hordes of trolls but one day, during an ambush by the Blackspear Headhunters, he was mortally wounded.

His sister, who was a Queen to a prominent Lord, begged the mages to save his life. Unfortunately, his physical body was too far past the threshold to retain his soul. Using a lost magical ritual lost to the ages, Rowan’s soul was bound to a suit of armor.

Rowan was never fully able to come to terms with his new body. He could not feel, everything felt empty… cold… lonely. Sworn to servitude, the mages that bound his soul used him as an expendable soldier in an army filled with soul bound armors. Rowan still remembers their name: “the Hollow Knights.”

Rowan began to doubt his existence - but he could never truly die. He was reanimated again and again. Everytime he fell in battle he would be grafted into a new set of armor. Rowan began to despise who he was.

In a great battle, the Hollow Knights held off an attack in Hightower Keep, where Rowan and his company were defeated, causing their bodies to lie dormant for millennia.

During the second Troll War, Troll warcasters managed to decode the magic used to bind the Hollow Knights; and after finding their remains in Hightower, the army against the humans. Rowan no longer had control over his body. The Arathi mages still retained Rowan’s sentience - but the trolls took it away completely; they however still left enough sentience to see what Rowan did to his people.

For an excruciating amount of time, Rowan would kill those he did not want to kill. Perform acts of torture and executions that went against Rowan’s every fibre and being.

When the Alliance pushed the trolls back during the Second War, Rowan found himself defending Zul’Gurub’s final citadel. It was there that many of the Hollow Knights were destroyed by Arthas and his forces.

Rowan and Arthas met in combat, with Arthas easily besting the last Hollow Knight. However, as the other knights fell, Jaina kept a close eye with the arcane magics surrounding them. Before Arthas could destroy the armor, Jaina stopped him - finding the seal that the trolls held over Rowan and freeing him from his binds completely.

Rowan explained his situation - his history and his life. Rowan wanted to die then and there and be done with life to finally rest. However, Jaina’s kindness strayed him otherwise. Giving him complete freedom of thought and his actions, Jaina brought Rowan back to Lordaeron and treated him with kindness and respect. For the first time in a while, he was not just a tool for destruction - he was treated like a human.

For the following months, Rowan stood close by Jaina’s side answering questions about the Arathi empire. However, the passage of time had made it difficult for Rowan to remember much. It is Rowan’s hope to find his culture once more to document and share his knowledge with Jaina. As time went by, Rowan’s respect for Jaina grew more and more immense and as Jaina gave birth to her second son, Uther, Rowan swore the rest of his entire life to serve Jaina and her family.

Jaina accepted with open arms, with Rowan becoming her personal guard and advisor. Though working directly with the Royal Guard, Rowan usually only takes orders from Jaina herself. Rowan isn’t sure where he will end up - but he will do so next to Jaina’s side or wherever Jaina asks him to go.

As Uther Menethil grew to be the man he is today, Rowan stood close by as one of Uther's mentors and bodyguard. As Uther grew, so did Rowan's loyalty for him. Rowan awaits the day he will one day take the throne and become maybe an even better leader than Arthas and Jaina were.

Chapter One: Matters of Life and Death

Appeared In

Chapter One: Matters of Life and Death

Trivia

Categories: Chapter One | Fighters | NPCs