Willbert Hrusch

**Willbert Hrusch** is a Gilnean gunsmith, renowned for his high quality firearms; supplying powder weaponry to the armed forces of the Kingdom of Gilneas, and more presently, the Kingdom of Stormwind.

Hrusch was born in Wellerstead, Gilneas City. Shortly after his birth he was handed off to a matron of the Rose Cottage; an orphanage in central Gilneas, where he met Doctor Vern, Owen Trimble and a number of other unwanted youths. During his younger days, Willbert Hrusch, in conjunction with Doctor Vern and others formed the Rose Thorn Gang, along with Ibram Wellersby and Teresia Benish. The gang fell apart some years before the onset of the Gilnean Civil War after the murder of miss Benish. Attributed to an accident, some former associates of the gang have reportedly whispered that the woman's death was at the hands of Hrusch himself; however these associates have since conveniently gone missing after the Fall of Gilneas.

Some time prior to the erection of the Greymane Wall, Hrusch began to practice gunsmithing. Rumour persists that during these formative years Hrusch supplied the notorious Silver Sun Company with powder based weaponry, however the man claimed these rumours to be nothing but slander propagated by his competitors.

During the Gilnean Civil War, Hrusch's gunsmiths produced numerous firearms for the Gilnean royalists forces. Somehow, the man managed to miss the draft. Rumours continue to persist concerning the man's lack of service; Hrusch has failed to give any kind of response.

Since the Gilnean Diaspora of 28 ADP, Willbert Hrusch has established a gunsmiths in the Dwarven District of Stormwind. He, along with four other master gunsmiths established the trans-national Gunsmiths Guild in 29 ADP, and currently sits at the head of their organizational body, along with his four compatriots.

In recent times, Willbert Hrusch has been the under the scrutiny of a number of dead end investigations held by the City Watch for a myriad of charges. Murder, extortion, bribery, blackmail, corporate espionage, slavery; none of which came to any solid conclusion. Hrusch denies these accusations, stating that Altfried Fiske, the most vocal naysayer of Hrusch and former leading member of the Gunsmiths Guild, to be deranged, suffering from his old age and an ailing mind.

## Appearance & Personality

Willbert Hrusch is a man of middling age, far from the prime of youth. His physique has been molded by years of excess; a port belly, jowls and the like. Yet he moves through street and workshop alike with deft precision, a byproduct of a turbulent upbringing. His hair is cut short, brown in colour yet turning grey in places. His upper lip is covered in a bushy and well maintained mustache, tended to like a prized rose bush.

Though outwardly seen as a generous and benevolent man, Willbert Hrusch, and the Gunsmith's Guild as a whole, has donated swaths of money to the Kingdom's voluntary institutions dedicated to tending to it's less fortunate. However, those who truly know the man, or spend a long period of time in his company, can see how his rise from the gutters of Gilneas to the head of one of Stormwind's most influential guilds has changed him. Long will he talk about the trials and tribulations he endured during his long crawl, to any and everyone. Yet even still, to those that know him best, he is a dangerous man; unwilling to stop at any bollard, any barricade that might bar his further ascension to those gloried and glittering heights.

## Rumours

* According to rumour, Willbert Hrusch makes use of child labour in many of his gun factory's around Stormwind's Dwarven District, using children orphaned by war.
* The parties of the Gunsmiths Guild are some of the grandest functions catered to Stormwind's high society within the walls of the White City. It is said that no expense is spared, and that all manner of pleasure can be found therein.
* Word has it that Hrusch is a frequent patron at the Blooming Rose.
* It is said that Willbert Hrusch has connections within Stormwind's constabulary.