Baldassar Partiger

**Nation**
 **Born**
 **Titles**
* Inspector General of Stormwind
* Duke of the Transmontane
* Count of the Aspera Coast
* Baron of Daubaine
* Knight-Companion of the Brotherhood of the Horse
* Commander of the Stormwind Army (ret.)
* Lord High Speaker (former)
* Lord High Prosecutor (former)
* Ambassador (former)
 **Beliefs**
 **Signature**
 **House**
 **Relatives**
* Lord Leviticus Aspera, Count of the Aspera Coast† (cousin)
* Vaerien Greyson, Duke of Tannon (uncle)
 **Coat of Arms**

Lord **Baldassar Ulysses William Gregory Antonius Partiger** is a Stormwind human aristocrat, statesman, diplomat and military officer who has served as a Minister of the Crown on five occasions (twice as Lord High Speaker, once as Lord High Chamberlain, and twice as Lord High Prosecutor). Author of a great deal of both statutory and constitutional law, he was the framer of the first independent Judicial Charter, and contributed significantly to multiple major amendments to the Grand Charter.

Born into the military-aristocratic Partiger family, he was raised on the Kingdom's frontiers, and this shapes much of his philosophy and his experience. Commissioned into the Stormwind Army at sixteen, he served as a Lieutenant in the then 13th Redridge Fencibles until the death of its Colonel, his mother Lady Caroline Partiger, where he took his place as Colonel due to the privately-raised nature of the regiment. During his command, the 13th Redridge Fencibles became the North Redridge Yeomanry. His service mostly remained in proximity to the Kingdom's northern border, with foreign deployments only beginning with the Grand Alliance's campaign in Antorus in early 628 K.Y.. In late April 628 K.Y., he handed down command of the North Redridge Yeomanry to become Commander of the newly created King's Foreign Legion. He would later spend time with the 2nd Regiment, Stormwind Guard to react to the general breakdown in law and order, before retiring from military service due to the loss of his leg in a terrorist explosion in Stormwind City.

Whilst he had been Baron of Daubaine, and therefore a Lord Temporal since 617 K.Y., he had persistent commitments in Daubaine until he entered politics in early April 627 K.Y., having arranged his home affairs under a sturdy administration. The foundation of the House of Nobles' modern procedures, significant sections of the constitutional law of Stormwind, and several key sections of the statute law came as a result of his efforts.

In terms of his business endeavours, Lord Partiger's ties to the wealthy Greyson family through his father, Lord Edward Greyson, brought him into the possession of a large trading company, the East Azeroth Trading Company, through which he imports and exports commodities, and sponsors colonial ventures such as the Leonia Company.

Whilst a controversial figure due to his political influence, Lord Partiger's participation in the fields of constitutionalism and statesmanship continue to have effects on the politics of modern Stormwind.

## Personality & Beliefs

### Personality

Lord Partiger can be held to be generally amiable and even flirtatious, though this has moderated somewhat since the injury that removed his left leg. Driven and purposeful, he considers service to the state to be the highest of virtues, and often immerses himself heavily in work to support the government and administration of the Kingdom of Stormwind. Despite his red hair, he's not generally known for a poor temper, though he can be very obviously frustrated by his medical limitations.

It is a matter of some record that Lord Partiger is an avid horticulturalist, and is very keenly interested in the study and collection of plants, particularly rare ones. He was observed during the campaign at Antorus in the Legion War collecting samples from the alien world he found himself on.

He is possessed of a very strong loyalty to his friends, and places a great value on his familial bonds. Despite his disapproval of his uncle Duke Vaerien's political direction, he still cares for him deeply, and he often mourns the loss of his maternal cousin Leviticus.

### Political Beliefs

Lord Partiger's political alignment could be considered generally conservative. Though his experiences in the First Battle of Ashenvale have caused him to discard many of his racial views on the member species of the Horde, he still holds a firm belief that many Horde races (the sin'dorei excluded) require radical societal reorganisation to function as modern, moral states. His royalist streak is unquestionable, with his Alliance diplomatic policy during his time as Lord High Chamberlain configured towards ensuring that due respect is given to the High King's authority - it is Baldassar's ultimate belief that the supreme secular authority on Azeroth is, in fact, the High King. It is this devotion to Anduin and his office that partly fuels his disdain for Gilneans, which has been compounded with a mixture of fury over their treachery in the Second War, poor experiences with Gilneans in general, and horror at the insubordinate nature of their King, which has - in his opinion - come dangerously close to destabilising Stormwind.

An ardent constitutionalist, his views on the importance of the rule of law are cast-iron, and he is generally known to be antagonistic to the point of rancour towards any measure that he feels dilutes the role of the legislature in favour of the individual Ministers. In this regard, he can be considered somewhat small government, not favouring large executive departments.

He is nonetheless a proponent of maintaining the feudal-aristocratic system, albeit holding that "the tree is only as healthy as it is attended to, and this tree is well due pruning" - that is to say he believes unfit and unuseful peers should be deprived of their titles. He's not an opponent of the movement to create a House of Commons, but is eager to see it shaped by sound constitutional principles, and is generally opposed to populist politics.

### Religious Beliefs

Lord Partiger is a public adherent of the Church of the Holy Light, and has maintained positive relationships with a number of bishops and other church ordinaries. He is, nonetheless, generally nonconformist, not drawn to support one church faction over another, and in terms of the authority of the law, is of the very public belief that the authority of the state always trumps that of the church.

## Description

Lord Partiger is a tall man, of some 6'4" in height, and well-built. Despite his injuries, clear efforts have been made to remain in substantially good shape. Whilst the pallour of his skin has suffered somewhat on account of his recent illness, he appears to be generally healthy. Most notably, however, he appears to be missing his left leg, which was destroyed in a terrorist incident in Stormwind City in 631 K.Y.. When moving around, he has the aid of a cane and he uses illusion magic to provide a prosthetic. Red-haired, he has a short, well-groomed beard, and is mildly freckled.

In terms of his dress sense, he has a preference for formal clothing, and leans towards martial dress, often wearing his dress uniform as a retired Commander of the Royal Stormwind Army. If occupying some other formal position, he will often wear the appropriate dress - court robes of velvet and gold were worn during his tenure as Lord High Speaker. Although it wasn't unknown, he generally didn't like to wear armour in the field, finding it restricting and redundant in light of his magical capabilities.

## Titles

### Duke of the Transmontane

Lord Partiger's older, ancestral title of the Barony of Daubaine, and the wider Viscounty of Blackblood's Folly, are nestled in the border regions of Redridge and the Burning Steppes. Expanded following his first retirement from the House due to poor health, the region consists of narrow passes and fortresses, used for the general defence of Stormwind's northern borders. With the recent aggrandisation of these lands with Red Clay Canyon, centred on the Barony of Argyle, this has formed the upper part of the new Duchy of the Transmontane, consolidating its administration with the County of the Aspera Coast, which has become the Lower Transmontane.

### Count of the Aspera Coast

Lord Partiger rules over the County of the Aspera Coast, a coastal region on the northern shores of the Elwynn region. Having inherited this fiefdom from his cousin Lord Leviticus Aspera, he has not yet fully acclimated to living in the area, but has found managing and incorporating its assets into his general possession to be a simple enough matter, and has used the land to ennoble others, including future Lord High Chamberlain Celesanna Wintersong.

### Knight-Companion of the Brotherhood of the Horse

Like the Viscounty of Blackblood's Folly, Lord Partiger was invested with a Knight-Companionship of the Brotherhood of the Horse for his civil service, having served the Kingdom by then as a Head of the Civil Service and as the Lord High Speaker. Although not of the same class as the military knights of the Brotherhood, he has always taken his knighthood seriously and considers his brother knights closely.

### Commander, Stormwind Army (ret.)

Having started his career of command in the privately-raised garrison regiments in his ancestral lands in Redridge, he would go on to become Commander of the King's Foreign Legion, a unit raised to provide a mechanism for citizenship through service for many of the Alliance diaspora who find themselves moving through Stormwind. He and his unit served with some distinction in numerous theatres, culminating in his temporary promotion to Marshal for Operation: Heterodoxy in northern Tirisfal, conducting a punitive expedition against the fundamentalist Scarlet sect, the Army of the Truthful. Nonetheless, following the loss of his leg, he would retire with the rank of Commander.

## House

Lord Partiger is the head of House Partiger, of the Redridge Mountains. A military-aristocratic family dating back some years, they were traditionally based in the Daubaine Pass, one of a number of mountain passes between the Redridge valleys and the Burning Steppes. The cadet branch of the family, House Aspera, was endowed with the County of the Aspera Coast, in northern Elwynn, which reverted to Lord Partiger on the death and extinction of that branch. Lord Partiger is a relative by blood of House Greyson, and his name used to be double-barrelled to reflect his father's house.

## Relationships

Lord Partiger is unmarried, though experienced a lengthy engagement with Kalren Geroux, then the Lord Chief Justice of Stormwind.

He has a relatively good relationship with Vaerien Greyson, the Duke of Tannon, who is his paternal uncle.

He was close to his cousin, Lord Leviticus Aspera, 1st Count of the Aspera Coast, but Lord Aspera died during the Fourth War.