Character Bio: Meredith Worthward

[Kerath]

A couple of caveats before I begin. This is my first time creating a character bio for RP purposes. I haven't RPd before but have had a nosy through some of the open RPs on the forum here so figured it would be a good idea to have a character planned out in case I decide to join in.

My lore knowledge is fairly patchy - I worked from a timeline on wowwiki and tried to research points I was unsure of, however, timelines were slightly contradictory at points. I tried to pin down Meredith's age etc as best I could but there are some things I improvised quite heavily (particularly troop movement, reinforcements and the like) as I couldn't find sufficient info. If there is anything glaringly wrong or that does not ring true according to Lore, please let me know and I'll tidy it up. I also think I may have rambled on a bit too long in her history :S but once I got going I just couldn't stop!!

Constructive criticism is most definitely welcome. I'm aware that I'm a first timer so would appreciate some old hands to guide me (ooer )

Name: Meredith Worthward
Age: 29
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Class: Warrior

Languages: Common, a smattering of Dwarvern and Gnomish from serving alongside
Alliance forces as a mercenary.

Faction: Alliance (ish)

Personality: Strong-willed, stubborn at times. She is cool under fire and two decades or martial training has lent her confidence in her abilities and an air of calm self assurance. Despite being capable, she is uncomfortable being in leadership roles with a heavy burden of responsibility, though she is willing and able to command smaller squads in battle.
She values her few close friends - mostly what remain of her family - and is extremely loyal to them.
Direct and forthright in speech and action, she has little patience for tiptoeing around problems, preferring to grab the bull by the proverbial.
She has opted for the life of a mercenary, rather than a regular in the Alliance
armed forces, because whilst she is proud of her heritage and her homeland, bitter experience had led her to find that the goals and actions of the Alliance as a whole, sometimes differs from her own values. She picks her own battles; she does not allow others to pick them for her.

Likes/Dislikes: When cooling her heels, she enjoys drinking and gambling with her comrades. She has an open-minded approach to other races and cultures and enjoys learning about the other races that comprise the Alliance, particularly the dwarves and gnomes - aided perhaps, by her partiality to Dwarven brews. She also respects and admires those with prowess in arms and martial pursuits and throws herself into her training to improve her own skills. She has some skill at smithing, having learned the trade from her uncle in her youth and takes pride in her twin swords, which she crafted herself with the assistance of her uncle. She dislikes racial bigotry and despises bullies, although she does have her own blind hatred of the undead (including the Forsaken) following the death of the father she idolized during Arthas's campaign in Northrend. She respects the power of the Light, but has little patience for proselytizing priests and members of the clergy.

Appearance: She is olive skinned with arresting, hazel eyes. Her nose is a little too long and her mouth a little too wide to be considered pretty, but she is a handsome woman, which when combined with her height inherited from her father and a figure kept trim by rigorous training, means that she cuts an imposing figure.
No longer freshly in the flower of youth, she has crow's feet at the corner of her eyes, the beginnings of laughter lines around her mouth, and a line between her dark brows from a habitual frown whenever she is deep in thought or concentrating. She eschews women's fashions and prefers to dress in a more practical style, when she isn't armed to the teeth - tunics, shirts, trousers and high - topped boots.
Her one concession to femininity is her hair, which is long, thick, glossy and a shade of brown so dark, it's nearly black.

Strengths/Weaknesses: She is skilled in a variety of weapons and unarmed combat, though she favours dual-wielding swords and carries a pair of self-made blades at all times. She is self disciplined when she needs to be, and strong-willed enough to meet most challenges head on.
Her stubborn streak can lead her to be pig-headed and unbending. She is solid, reliable and can take charge in the heat of battle, but the idea of being solely responsible for the lives of other people on a daily basis terrifies her and makes her unsuitable for high rank or leadership. She has little-to-no understanding of the workings of magic and distrusts magic users as a result, (though she isn't usually openly hostile) which is to her own detriment given the prevalence of magic users in the Alliance.

History:
Meredith was born during the turmoil of the First War. Her father, Bernard, a soldier in the army of Stormwind married her mother, Sophia, shortly before the arrival of the orcs and the outbreak of war.
Meredith spent her infancy with Sophia in Stormwind, rarely seeing her father – only when he could snatch a few days scant leave from his duties. Fortunately, Sophia had support with her infant child and solace from the loneliness of her husband’s absence by spending most of her days with her sister, Annie and Annie’s husband, Patrick. Patrick was a skilled blacksmith supplying arms and armour to the human armies, he welcomed the extra assistance around the forge and Meredith’s presence was a balm to the family – too young and innocent to be touched by the fear and apprehension prevalent in the city.
Stormwind held out longer than any could have hoped, but finally the inevitable happened. When Meredith was still a babe in arms, the city was sacked and overrun by savage orcs.
Meredith’s family sought to escape the fall of the city and flee north to Lordaeron, but tragically, Sophia was separated from the rest of them during the chaos and butchered by marauding orcs. Annie and Patrick, knowing that they now held Meredith’s young life in their hands – as well as their own – had no choice but to leave her behind and make good their escape. Joining up with other refugees outside Stormwind, they made the journey to Lordaeron under the care of Anduin Lothar.

Bernard, absorbed in the doomed defense of the castle, was unaware of his wife’s death. He managed to escape with the tattered remnants of the army and join the refugees heading north. He eventually tracked down Annie and Patrick shortly before they reached Lordaeron and with heavy hearts, they broke the news to him. Heartbroken, Bernard resolved to spend as much time as his duty would allow with his young daughter.

The following two years were uneventful for Meredith. She lived primarily with her aunt and uncle – who had set up shop in Lordaeron to continue supplying arms and armour to the burgeoning Alliance forces. Her father continued to visit her as often as he could, until the outbreak of the Second War, when duty inevitably pulled him away from hearth and home.

Following the Alliance’s triumph in the Second War, Meredith’s aunt and uncle returned south to Stormwind, to begin rebuilding their lives there. Bernard transfer request was granted, and he joined them there, taking up guard duty in the city as the citizens started to rebuild and thrive.

When Meredith turned nine, Bernard began to teach her skill-at-arms, determined that his daughter would never die alone and helpless, as her mother had. Uncle Patrick, similarly determined that a young person should know a useful trade, trained her as an apprentice Smith. Meredith was absorbed in her training. She had a natural skill with the blade, she is naturally deft and quick – Bernard’s efforts enhanced and encouraged those traits, until, at the age of seventeen, her skill began to surpass his own. Somewhat confounded – as a Sergeant in the King’s forces, Bernard was more of a workhorse fighter, strong and powerful with decent enough technique, but he lacked the finer skill to help Meredith progress. He turned to his superior, Captain Rogers, to further her training.
Her skills positively bloomed under his tutelage and she joined the army after her nineteenth birthday.

We rejoin Meredith’s story as the plague begins to ravage Lordaeron. Forces are called North to join up with Arthas as he plans to sail to Northrend in the wake of his encounter with Mal’ganis.
Captain Rogers is beset by foreboding about the mission, and harbours secret doubts about Arthas’s stability. His only concession to his doubts is to leave Meredith behind in Stormwind with the reserves, while he leads reinforcements (including Bernard) to Arthas’s aid.

Meredith is enraged by the decision of her superior, but unable to circumvent his order, she remains, fuming in Stormwind.
When word reaches her of the fate of Bernard and her Captain, she is bereft: Her father, killed in action, her Captain, missing in action in Northrend. Her frustration at being left behind turns to guilt – if she had been there, if she had found a way, maybe she could have tipped the balance some how, maybe they would still be alive and well. She turns to Annie and Patrick for comfort, they try to tell her such thoughts are folly. Logically, Meredith knows they are right. But in her heart of hearts, she cannot assuage her guilt.

She is dishonourably discharged from duty when she heads north to Lordaeron – flagrantly ignoring orders to remain with reserves in Stormwind to ensure the security of the city.

She reaches Lordaeron as the remnants of the army – those not killed by the plague and raised by the scourge - are organizing their flight west. Too harried and desperate to turn away an able-bodied fighter despite her lack of official status, what remains of the high command in Lordaeron allows her to stay and assist with the organization and defense of their flight west to Kalimdor.
It is there that she becomes embroiled in the fight against the Burning Legion – struggling for her very life against demons with no thought of mercy and no compassion for anyone on Azeroth – or anywhere else.
Her harrowing experiences against the Burning Legion mature her – where there was once a talented but headstrong girl, there is now a strong willed and capable woman.

After the defeat of the Burning Legion she returns to Stormwind, takes her lashes for dereliction of duty and continues to learn Smithing with her uncle, choosing to put aside her blade for the time being and enjoy a time of peace.

And then comes the call to arms: Heroes wanted to take the fight to the Scourge!
She is unable to resist the chance to learn more of the fate of her beloved father and captain, and joins the second Northrend expedition as a mercenary. She helps the Alliance to establish their foothold in the Borean Tundra and it is there that she encounters the long lost Captain Rogers – as a Death Knight in service to the Knight’s of the Ebon Blade. He tells her of the circumstances of her father’s death – caught between the burning Alliance ships and the encroaching Scourge, Bernard’s unit fought hard until there were barely any survivors, and then those that were left – including Bernard – chose death by the flames, knowing that at least, would prevent their corpses from being reanimated by the Scourge and used against their loved ones. The Captain himself, had been taken earlier in the fighting by a sword thrust to the lungs - to be reanimated later, falling under the Lich King’s sway.

Meredith is not directly involved in the events surrounding the final fall of the Lich King, though she fought in many battles against the undead forces in the Tundra, then later in the Icecrown region, she was not one of those chosen to enter the citadel to take the fight to Arthas himself.
After the Cataclysm rocks Azeroth to its very core, she returns to Stormwind once more, to assist with repairing the damage wrought by Deathwing and wait to see where events may take her next…

[The Madgod]

Firstly, welcome to the RP forums!

Secondly... I did a quick read through and couldn't find anything negative to say about this character. There's detail as to how she's felt throughout her life, there's an interesting character that goes along with the story of the games quite well, it's all very well done.

And there wasn't really any rambling. It was lengthly and detailed, which is what we like to see!

[Kerath]

Firstly, welcome to the RP forums!

Secondly... I did a quick read through and couldn't find anything negative to say about this character. There's detail as to how she's felt throughout her life, there's an interesting character that goes along with the story of the games quite well, it's all very well done.

And there wasn't really any rambling. It was lengthly and detailed, which is what we like to see!

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the kind words! The research paid off then

[The Madgod]

It's my pleasure. Glad to have you here

[Darced]

I thoroughly enjoyed Meredith's tale, great job. Indeed, welcome to the forums! Also, This character would be a perfect candidate for "The Grey Family" Faction; if you're interested feel free to PM me.