Finnley Coppertop

Finnley Coppertop is a Forsaken Rogue, currently aligned to the Dagger detachment of the clan Dagger and Totem. Finnley revels in combat, and is possessed of a particularly bloodthirsty nature at times. He prefers keeping himself to himself, although will often be found sharing tactical advice, or nuggets of nostalgia from his colourful past. He considers himself mostly neutral with the clan as a whole, viewing their unlikely arrangment as one of convenience. Regardless, he is loyal to his Chieftain, Gremkarc of Orgrimmar, and will fight tooth and nail to defend him.
==Background==
====Growing up in Stratholme, the first====
Initially an orphan of the city of Stratholme, Finnley Coppertop was never going to be gifted with an easy life. He learnt from a young age to steal for his living, and became acquainted with the many dark alleys, nooks and crannies the city had to offer. Never becoming more than a nuiscance for the authorities, other urchins gravitated towards the young Coppertop, who set his eyes on taking what the city had to offer for his own. He escaped the wrath of the Orcish Horde during the Second War by posing as a young acolyte of the Light, escaping with a regiment of knights and refugees to Lordaeron's magnificent capital. There, he lay low, until the eventual reconstruction of Stratholme in what is now known as the Eastern Plaguelands.
====Of Stratholme the second, and Viper Nest====
With Stratholme reconstructed and thriving once more, this time land-locked and nestled closer to elvish territory, Finnley vowed to misbehave once again. Signing up with a local criminal gang-leader "Larrick One-Thumb", Finnley persuaded the disillusioned of Larrick's companions to his side, while silently "dealing" with those who could not be bought one way or another (usually acting as an anonymous informant for the authorities under the alias Blindeye). Finally with the odds in his favour, Finnley struck Larrick down after a particularly successful heist. Larrick's men, now Finnley's, watched as the relentless criminal butchered their former master, taking his dagger as a trophy. They did nothing as Coppertop plunged Larrick's own dagger into his former leader's throat, the choking last words of One-Thumb cursing Coppertop to suffer the same fate one day. The body was dismembered, and the parts were sent to smaller, rival gangs as a warning - the price for crossing Finnley Coppertop would be dear indeed.
With his former mentor eliminated, Finnley stepped in to reforge the gang in his image, naming it "Viper Nest". With a goal of smuggling, extortion from the local markets, blackmail, and murder, Finnley recruited a score-strong band of bandits, corrupted militia, convicts, murderers, bounty hunters, and a general rabble of disreputable folk. This was no easy task - Stratholme's militia presence had doubled, perhaps moreso, since its reconstruction. Paranoia was a mistress freely wandering the streets, and though the threat of the Orcs had died down with their incarceration into the internment camps, fears are not so easily quenched, and yet his numbers were bolstered as more and more were attracted to Coppertop's success and ruthless style.
====The Red Moth, and the Culling of Stratholme====
One particular thorn remained in Finnley's side, however. It kept the Viper's Nest from becoming the dominant criminal force in Stratholme's underworld. The Fiery Claw were a young, upstart band who had recently infiltrated the city after too much attention had been drawn to bandit activity. Lead by a daring young woman going by the alias of The Red Moth, they outmaneuvered Viper Nest at every opportunity. They antagonised by leaving calling cards. They goaded with open challenges of dominance. The more bloodthirsty of Viper Nest grew restless, seeking an open challenge, and questioning their leadership, that others might lead the gang in a better direction. Contempt grew among those who betrayed One-Thumb for Coppertop, wondering if they had made the wrong choice. Finnley was caught in a risky situation - the loyalty of his followers was waning, and he was losing ground to these new upstarts of the Claw. Yet, open war with the Fiery Claw would not become an option, lest it shed far too much light on the underworld dealings within the fine city.
Coppertop settled on a dangerous gambit - an open invitation to plunder the necklace of one of the more popular nobles, Lady Larasque, revered for her beauty, with the promise of the failing gang dissolving and leaving Stratholme, never to return. Red Moth naturally agreed to the challenge. However Finnley never intended to play by the rules, even the ones agreed upon by him and his rival. The night of the heist, all sixteen members of the Fiery Claw were murdered, leaving just their leader before Coppertop, and five of his best thieves. Impressed by the young beauty's vigour and natural capability for such escapades, Finnley extended an invitation into Viper Nest, to join him at the top. Red Moth agreed.
Their glorious unison was most profitable, but short-lived. Not more than half a year afterwards, Prince Arthas Menethil stood at the gates of the city with his loyal soldiers, ready to purge Stratholme following the distribution of the tainted grain. To the pairs' horror, their own men had been falling to the plague due to proximity - in part, some of the shipments were waylaid, and redistributed at a mark-up going straight to their own pockets. Inadvertently, Finnley and Red Moth had done but a small part in helping spread the plague of undeath, something Finnley considers on reflection "Shitting on his own doorstep". With Viper Nest dwindling to a mere half-dozen members from its previous thirty-six strong operation, the remnants fled through the sewers and wildnerness, headed towards the capital. Red Moth and Coppertop posed as a travelling merchant couple, with the gangmembers their associates. They even went as far as to marry under the aliases Beren Callus and Samantha Foriska.
====Of the fall of Lordaeron, and Viper Nest====
With their exodus and asylum sought in the capital, Finnley had become drastically paranoid of any action whatsoever - word of the Prince's actions had reached Lordaeron, followed soon by his journey to the roof of the world. Stratholme was certainly no simple task to milk for what it was worth, but Lordaeron was considerably tougher to crack, especially with his numbers greatly diminished. Red Moth, Finnley's "wife", however, saw it as their greatest opportunity - claiming the underworld of Stratholme for their own was no small feat, but their names would forever go down in legend if the capital were held in their criminal grip. With a heavy heart and no shortage of grey hairs, Finnley vowed for one last heist to sate his wifes, and his own appetite for greed.
The chessboard for the final game had been laid, the tomb of the Menethil family the board of choice. During the planning and training to the immensely complicated and daunting task, Red Moth and Finnley grew closer together. Previously they had been little more than working partners with a mutual respect, until they became trusted companions, and eventually lovers. It is believed that Finnley even knows the real name of Red Moth, although he would never mention it to anyone. Months passed, and finally the plan was set in to motion at the dead of night. The operation was a striking success to begin with, and for the briefest of moments Coppertop believed himself the greatest thief of all time.
Red Moth, however, had other plans.
The betrayal of his wife came to head during the escape. Her deliberate arousal of the garrison had caused the fleeing Viper Nest across the rooftops. With one of the Viper Nest taking the fall for the break-in, the remaining five fled to the safety of the highest buildings, ready to scale the walls down and escape back to the wilds, possibly seeking refuge in Stormwind to the far south, if at all possible. Red Moth, however, never intended for Finnley to get that far. Cornering him atop a bakery overlooking the moat. With his remaining members siding with his wife, Finnley cut through them in a daring four-on-one fight, slaying one after the other for their betrayal, his anger white-hot.
His chest was pierced by a dagger. A familiar dagger - the dagger of his former mentor Larrick, now in the possession of Red Moth. The two stood close, as she smiled, and kissed him goodbye before roughly kicking him off of the rooftop and into the moat. He fell, screaming and cursing her name. He landed with a crash in the moat, the dagger still potruding from his chest, and as his life seeped away from him, he vowed revenge in some way, somehow.
Ten days later, the Prince of Lordaeron returned.
====Of second chances====
Fate, it seems, had not finished with Finnley Coppertop. Arisen by the plague of undeath, he served as a mindless minion of the Scourge. Yet as time went on, something peculiar happened. He felt the whispers of the Lich King quieten. Demands became orders. Orders became suggestions. Suggestions bled away into nothing. Before long, Finnley Coppertop found himself purged of the Lich King's dominance, and with a large score to settle. Siding with the other Forsaken and the Banshee Queen, he did his small part to help claim the lands for his kind, carving out the Undercity for their own. His first act upon regaining his free will, was the removal of the dagger from his chest. A familiar weapon, and one that brought back terrible memories and the name "Red Moth". Seething with anger, and with a reputation to rebuild, Finnley sheathed the weapon in a tattered boot he happened to still be wearing, and has carried it ever since. His hunt took him many place - Silverpine, Hillsbrad, the Arathi Highlands, up and down the Eastern Kingdoms, and even across the sea to Kalimdor, yet the Red Moth had simply fluttered her wings and taken flight, or so it would seem. It did, however, give him plenty of time to build a sizeable list of contacts across the two continents.
Following a tip-off from a Goblin informant in Gadgetzan, Finnley Coppertop travelled to Razor Hill in Durotar. The informant had instructed him to infiltrate Tiragarde Keep to search for clues, and that a caché of supplies had been buried recently at the heart of Razor Hill, an Orcish outpost. Believing he was finally on the trail of his long-sought revenge, Finnley arrived at Razor Hill only to find the caché a trap - a wired seaforium bomb, set to explode. With quick thinking, and co-operation from the Horde clan Dagger and Totem, Finnley and Watrus disposed of the explosive before anyone could come to harm. Noticing the strength and skill of the clan, Finnley offered his services, seeking to aid them via his list of contacts and own personal skill in combat. He was inducted into the clan following the rite of passage - the Stonetalon Trials. In exchange, he intends to use the clan to help him with his own vendetta - find the Red Moth, and give her back her dagger, most likely through her chest cavity.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
==See also==
* Link
==External links==
* External link
Category:Characters
Category:Forsaken
Category:Horde
Category:Rogue
Category:Archive
Category:Male