Cardrius Bartholdi
From RavenholdtWiki
| Cardrius Bartholdi | |
|---|---|
The mage in Theramore | |
| Guild | Currently Guildless |
| Race | Human |
| Class | Mage |
| Faction | Alliance; Dalarian Loyalist |
| Profession(s) | Herbalism; Inscription |
| Age | 37 |
| Player | User:Cardrius |
Contents |
[edit] Physical Description
At a Glance
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Detailed
Cardrius is a middle-aged human of a frail build. Though tall, his frail figure robs him of some the dignity that an otherwise fuller figure would give him. Nonetheless, he still manages to come off with a dignified and stately bearing.
His face is neatly framed by a set of well-trimmed mutton chops and mustache, all solid brown in color. His upper lip is a bit protruding, indicative of an iron will that often causes him to bite his lower lip. His cheeks are a bit gaunt, like the rest of his figure, but that only serves to accent his strong chin and add to its effect.
The only other thing worth mentioning is his smile. Oddly enough for his character, its extremely affable and welcoming, and it can often win over people who don't otherwise know that it contradicts most of his personality.
[edit] Personality
"Proud", "stubborn," and "cunning" are the three words that best sum him up.
Cardrius is extremely opinionated and often deals in extremes - if you're not with him, then you're against him. While this makes it hard for him to build up alliances with opposing viewpoints, he does manage to see gray areas at time, but only if circumstance forces him to.
He's extremely self-confident - some would say overconfident or arrogant - and he always seems disturbed when someone looks at the exact same problem as he does, devises a different solution than he does, and then attempts to implement it against his protests.
However, Cardrius does have a strong sense of self-righteousness that is the foundation of a very strict code of self-conduct and that also gives him a strong sense of purpose.
[edit] History
Born thirty-seven years ago in Dalaran, Cardrius grew up fairly sheltered. His father was fairly well-off, working as an archivist in the city and who at times dabbled in the trade of magical artifacts. His mother, Cardrius was told, was an alchemist; he wouldn't know, as she died when he was three and he never thought about her much. As a result of her death, though, his father grew increasingly protective of his only son and tried to take as active a hand as possible in shaping his future.
He had a private education, but most of what he learned came from whatever books his father brought home from his workplace. Given his frail physique, Cardrius chose not to go outside much, and he spent most of his time indoors. His books were one of the few things he had to spend his time on. With the hard economic downturn spurred on by the First and Second Wars happening at this time, he was lucky that his father escaped financially intact.
Eventually, his father passed away and left a small fortune to Cardrius, who used it to set up a small mercantile circle to continue his father's off-and-on artifacts business. Cardrius himself, now twenty-three, landed a job as an adjutant to a Kirin Tor diplomatic envoy; he spent of his time writing, reading, and sorting various memorandum and papers. Though he was ambitious to rise to a better off (and better paying) position, there were only so many ways to outshine his fellow clerks; there are only so many ways to properly file diplomatic papers. Eventually though, after making some more acquaintances and having them pull strings for him, he got assigned as a the main aide to an envoy assigned to the Kirin Tor's Silvermoon delegation. The envoy's posting lasted five years, and Cardrius did the best job he could. His tenure in this position finally ended with a promotion (or shelving, as Cardrius then called it) to the lead archivist in a small repository in Dalaran.
Though he wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of having a dead-end career, Cardrius was at least happy that he could finally indulge himself in more bureaucratic legwork. He quickly set about with his new job, and his little artifacts-trading business gave him a strong list of contacts. Life carried on in this fashion for awhile until the events of the Third War began.
He, like most other Dalarians, originally scoffed at the idea of a few zombies overrunning their city. True, Kel'Thuzad had been one of the ruling members of the Kirin Tor, but Antonidas had dealt with him. "Besides," they thought, "he can't do much without an army, and a few reanimated corpses hardly constitute an "army"."
Following the destruction of Lordearon, Cardrius and the other citizens of Dalaran began to think their old confidence was a bit outdated. As an alternative to turning his back on his city and running, Cardrius enlisted with the Dalarian reserves.
When Arthas finally reached the outskirts of Dalaran, Cardrius was ordered to join a platoon defending a section of the southwestern walls. Cardrius was specifically assigned to a tower, and he was able to watch as the Scourge armies poured through the other sections of the city - for whatever reason, the Scourge didn't seem interested with his particular area. However, Cardrius, and the other members of the platoon, looked on in horror as Arthas finally breached the Violet Citadel and Archimonde was summoned into Azeroth.
The shock wave that accompanied Archimonde's summoning leveled most of the taller buildings that remained in the city. Cardrius's own tower's foundations were destroyed, and it collapsed into a pile of rubble; Cardrius was buried under it until some soldiers fished him out and put him on his feet again. Semi-consciously, Cardrius followed some others out of the city and eventually came-to again when he was with a stream of refugees pouring south.
Eventually he reached Southshore, and after resting at the inn for four days he booked transport on a ship heading to Stormwind. Once he arrived at the city, he inquired about a job in the city's mage academy. He eventually landed practically the same position he had in Dalaran - head archivist.
Eventually, Cardrius grew disillusioned with the glamorous world of filing and decided to join the increasing number of adventurers and free-lancers making names for themselves.
[edit] Adventuring
Adventuring, as a career, suited Cardrius well. He quickly grew in ability and stature, but he remained mostly isolated from all forms of companionship. To this day, only a few could ever call themselves "friends" of his.
Still, his cold (and oftentimes outright hostile) demeanor doesn't impede his success, and h's managed to accumulate a very respectable fortune, which his few friends will attest to that he shares generously (to them, of course). Whether such generosity compensates for certain, more unsavory, tactics he often employs for his own game is up for debate, though.
He also kept his interest in artifacts and books alive, and accumulated a vast amount of each in his time. Using an intricate web of contacts and clients, he often knows if any items of value are ever being moved, and if he could potentially acquire them to sate his own avarice.
