Thomas Darreld

Professor Thomas Darreld, PhD (October 21st, 1110 F.A. - Present) is a Gilnean-born archaeologist from Gilneas City.
==History==
===Childhood===
Thomas Darreld was the first child born to Henry and Alison Darreld. A middle-class working family that lived in Gilneas City, Henry worked for the local press while his mother Alison was a nurse. A year after his birth, his younger brother Oliver was born. The two were very close.
===Early Years===
Thomas' passion for history appeared early in his life. He read many books during his youth, many of them on subjects pertinent to sciences. Staying alone for the most part, he had only one other good friend with whom he spent time: Matthew Farstone, who shared his passion for science. When he wasn't with his brother Oliver, he was with Matthew - The two were very nearly inseparable.
The roots of his pragmatic view on combat were first seeded in school, when some of the other students tried to bully him while he was alone. Although they were more, when it eventually came to blows he managed to defend himself very well. After this incident, he was mostly left alone. During this time, his mother had gotten pregnant again, and Thomas' little sister Sophie was born.
===University===
Moving out of the house, Thomas continued his education to university. Still very much a loner, now even more so due to Matthew going on to join the army, he studied in history and archaeology. Not much happened during this time, and he graduated a few years later.
===Professor at the University===
After graduating, Thomas returned to his university - This time as a professor. Although competent in his field, he was known for sometimes ending his classes early when some of his more important archaeological researches came up. He was generally well-liked by the students for his enthusiasm in the subject and for being good-natured, while others did try not to waste the free time his shortened classes left.
However, this ended up nearly getting him fired for having cancelled several hours of teaching. Despite the students still having good marks, it wasn't a good example for the institution. Although he was never officially fired, the city was sieged during the Northgate Rebellion shortly afterwards and was later attacked by the worgen, forcing the evacuation of the city.
===Invasion of Gilneas===
With the end of the rebellion, Thomas returned to Gilneas City and resumed his post as a professor. It didn't last very long, however, and early in the morning one day, he was awoken by loud knocking at his door by a guard. The city was under attack by the worgen, and they were evacuating. Grabbing a few of his possessions, he followed the guard outside as they ran towards the evacuation point. As they left, two worgen jumped out and attacked them. The guard was killed, but Thomas managed to kill one of them with his pistol and wounded the other, quickly leaving the area before it recovered.
Arriving in the Merchant Square, which was overran with worgen fighting the guard, he came across his brother Oliver and his fiancée, who were both evacuating as well. Making their way across the Square which had become a battlefield, they ran towards the Military District, where they would rendezvous with other evacuees. However, the worgen Thomas wounded earlier caught up to them, mortally wounding Oliver in a frenzy before anyone could react. Thomas quickly ended the worgen's life afterwards.
Evacuating through the Undertaker's Pass below the city, he arrived in the Headlands, not too far from Keel Harbor. He stayed there through the massive exodus and the Battle of Gilneas City, later evacuating to Darnassus with most of the remaining Gilnean population who didn't stay behind.
===Travelling the World===
====Stanglethorn Expedition====
After the exodus from Gilneas, Thomas left Darnassus for Stormwind, along with several others. He started to travel the world a bit more, turning to a more hands-on approach to archaeology. His first expedition, deep within the Stranglethorn Vale, was a troll catacomb. Within it he found a statuette that represented Hethiss, the snake loa. Unfortunately for him, disturbing the catacomb raised the dead trolls buried in the crypts, and he was forced to fight his way out. Dodging several traps he had avoided on his way in, he escaped the dark crypts and started to travel back to his camp. 
While travelling back towards Stormwind, he was ambushed and captured by Avaritia Silverwind, a member of the Silvermoon Reliquary, and her hired mercenaries. They beat him and stole the statuette from him, although he managed to escape sometime afterwards - stealing back the statuette right from under her nose. The two would meet again several times in the future.
==Description==
===Physical Appearance===
A middle-aged man, Thomas stands at approximately 6'11" feet tall and weights 194 lbs. He has pale white skin and dark brown eyes, nearly as dark as his black hair. The 35-year old archaeologist has a perma stubble and can often be seen wearing a pair of round glasses. Although his eyesight is impeccable for his age, he instead wears a pair of glasses that aren't made to adjust his eyesight - They're simply made of glass. 
He usually wears a simple brown jacket with a dark colored shirt visible underneath (Usually grey or black) and a brown hat. On rainy days, or when his jacket isn't available, he wears a dark brown leather longcoat over his shirt instead.
===Arms===
Although he's more of a scholar, Thomas is no stranger to combat. His only owned weapon is his double-barreled derringer pistol of Gilnean design which he keeps concealed in his clothes at all times. However, he doesn't restrict himself to weapons he carries on his person. If it can cause harm to his foe, he'll use it: Table legs, broken glass shards, metal buckets and the like.
==Personality==
: "They say that curiosity killed the cat. They also say cats have nine lives, so I ought to be alright."
Thomas can't really be described as either good or evil. If it seems like a good idea to him, he'll go for it. Not inherently an evil person and usually good company, he can often be opportunistic when opportunities arise. This, along with his great curiosity, made him end several of his classes early so he could continue his research on whatever he was studying at the time. While this often led him to make unfortunate decisions and nearly got him fired, he'd never willingly do something that would go drastically against his (Rather lax) moral code. He can also often be snarky and sarcastic.
If there's one thing that greatly angers him, it's when people recklessly desecrate artifacts and ruins without even trying to be careful. He also hates people who search for artifacts only to keep them for themselves, or worse, intend to use them in dangerous ways. He believes that the history of Azeroth should be there for everyone to appreciate.
==Skills==
===Sciences===
As a graduate of the University of Gilneas with a PhD in archaeology, Thomas has a good understanding of the subject. He also has some knowledge of biology, geology, alchemy and geography, most of which are usually used when he's working in the field.
===Combat===
: "Only an idiot brings a sword to a gun fight."
Despite being more of a scholar, Thomas is no stranger to combat. Although he is not trained to fight like soldiers and the like and is usually pitted against foes much stronger than him, he takes a more pragmatic view on battle and uses his wits and intellect to compensate for it. He has rudimentary knowledge of ranged fighting, and can use matchlock rifles and a blunderbuss decently. Additionally, he always carries a pistol on his person. He also has skill with blades.
A combat pragmatist, he'll shoot first, fight dirty, pretend to surrender, throw sand in his opponent's eyes and even hit someone in the groin if it's what's needed to win the fight. He fights in random and unpredictable manners that make him practically impossible to read and predict.
===Languages===
In addition to his native language of Common, Thomas is fluent in Dwarven, Gnomish and Thalassian. He is also capable of reading texts written in kalimag and titanic glyphs, and with great effort can translate texts written in draconic runes.
Category:Characters
Category:Human
Category:Gilnean
Category:Archaeologists