Tolthon Hudson-Backenridge

**Born**
 **Spouse**
 **Race and Affiliation**
 **Titles**
* Marquess of Aldershire
* Lord Lieutenant (SVD)
* Lieutenant Commander (SWA)
* Lord of Backenridge Manor
* Lord of Hudson Manor
 **Family Ties**
 **Issue**
Abigale Hudson-Backenridge
Louise Hudson-Backenridge
 **Signature**
 **Coat of Arms**

**Lord Tolthon Hudson-Backenridge, 9th Count of Silverdane**, known informally as **Count Silverdane**, or simply **Silverdane,** is a Stormwindian soldier, landowner, and conservative statesman. Born **Tolthon Adrian Hudson**, Silverdane was a young unlanded officer of the Brotherhood of the Horse before a complicated political crisis in the Duchy of Eastvale ended with his marrying Adelie Seymour, the Countess of Silverdane, and his assuming lordship over that county.

A gentleman, a knight, and a practical man, Tolthon undertook his new duties as Count Silverdane with a self-effacing and self-sacrificial style derived from strong feelings of devotion to his wife, his children, his people, his new duke, and his country. He served in the Northrend Campaign, leading the companies raised from Silverdane as an officer in the 16th Regiment. While he was in Northrend, he surveyed and later acquired large tracts of land there, becoming one of the primary stakeholders in and advocates of the colonization of Northrend.

## Biography

### Early life

Born **Tolthon Adrian Hudson,** an unlanded and minor member of House Hudson, Silverdane grew up in Bridgeport—with several years spent in exile in Kul Tiras during the Orcish Wars—overshadowed by his cousin, Benedict Hudson, the heir to the family seat of Whitecliffe. While Benedict, who harbored delusions of grandeur, was groomed to rule the family estate and enjoyed a fast track to officership in the Navy, Tolthon trained as a page from the time he was seven and became a squire at the age of twelve.

Tolthon later became a member of the Brotherhood of the Horse and a Knight of Stormwind. By his twenties, Tolthon had emerged as a reliable cavalry Lieutenant of decent ability, recommended by a steady, controlled, and precociously mature temperament.

### Marriage to Adelie Seymour

In 610, at age 22, Tolthon married Adelie Seymour, the sixteen-year-old Countess of Silverdane, by arranged marriage in a complex grand bargain struck between the Great Houses to settle the matter of which house should rule the County of Silverdane in the Duchy of Eastvale.

In order to prevent conflict between the great families which were rattling their swords over the issue, it was allowed that a minor member of a minor house should be allowed to wed the young Countess, and Tolthon's character, reputation, the dowry which his wealthy family offered, the relative aloofness of House Hudson from the politics of Eastvale, and the Countess' own consent, secured the match.

Tolthon became Count of Silverdane and the lord of Backenridge Manor. He assumed the martial, administrative, and ceremonial responsibilities which came with the title. He was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of the county and commissioned a Knight-Captain in the 16th Regiment and instructed to maintain the county's provincial militia. In order to avoid the appearance that House Hudson was imperializing, Silverdane took the name Hudson-Backenridge and registered himself with the House of Nobles as belonging to a new minor House with a new coat of arms which blended elements of the Seymour and Hudson crests.

Silverdane went to great lengths to demonstrate his loyalty to the Duke of Eastvale and, to his cousin's frustration, to avoid becoming entangled in family feuds in the Duchy of Westridge.

By all accounts, Silverdane's marriage to Adelie was a happy one as mutual trust, affection, and dependence grew between the pair. Adelie quickly gave Tolthon two children, a son named Tenedrian and a daughter named Abigale. Eight years later, she gave birth to twins which they named Louise and Varian.

### Northrend Campaign

The Eastvale Regiment was raised for the Northrend Campaign against the armies of the Lich King in 623. Silverdane, 33, was raised as an officer and given the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He served as an assistant and aide to his Duke and had the responsibility of overseeing the companies raised from Silverdane throughout the campaign. He demonstrated himself a tough, mature, and capable officer.

In laying and executing plans, he was not particularly brilliant or inspired. It was his willingness to expose himself to the same conditions as his men, to toil beside them, to care deeply and genuinely about the wellbeing of his men, and to assert himself with iron will which won the loyalty of the Silverdane men who went with him. By the time the Army was in Northrend, Silverdane seemed to have made it his mission to return with as many of his men alive as possible, and he keenly felt the death of each man as a loss to wives, children, and parents—as well as to the County.

With his superiors and fellow officers, Silverdane was deferential—although he often chafed at the way provincial troops and officers were treated by members of the regular Stormwind Army. Provincial troops and officers were considered lesser by their professional counterparts, although Silverdane seemed to have come to the belief by the end of the campaign that the Alliance had no finer soldiers than the men under his direct command.

After the conclusion of the Northrend Campaign, the 16th Regiment returned to Eastvale and disbanded, although Silverdane stayed with a small core of servants and officers in Northrend to partake in colonial activities there.

### Northrend Land Speculation

The 16th Regiment trekked primarily through Howling Fjord and Grizzly Hills. Along the way, Silverdane made a point to survey the lands he saw. He retained the services of a professional surveyor and assessor and kept a detailed journal of the lands and the natural resources which he came across. Many officers and soldiers during the war were paid for their services with grants of land in Northrend, though most did not stay and wished to cash in their properties quickly. Cash-strapped colonial governments sought to sell off land to spur colonization, raise revenue, and expand their tax base.

Thanks to the work he started during the war, Silverdane and a small group of other opportunistic young officers were well placed to collect the best properties on offer in Northrend at rock-bottom prices. They later re-sold these properties to settlers and extraction concerns at a much higher price, once proper surveys were conducted and their true value became known.

The managing of these sales, properties, and the debt he incurred consumed much of his attention over the following years, and he was often absent from Silverdane and Stormwind—even as he directed money and instructions home for the improvement of the Backenridge estate and the County as a whole. In 629, he petitioned the House of Nobles to have his remaining holdings incorporated as the overseas Marquessate of Aldershire, which he used to mint several nobles from among his entourage through the use of paper Baronies, Viscounties, and Counties.

All told, it appears that Silverdane's colonial activities were only mildly profitable—he sits on vast acreages of wilderness in Northrend which are slowly appreciating in value, though selling them to colonials has been slow and patrolling them for squatters and protecting the colonists against trolls has been expensive. Silverdane's experience in Northrend has informed his political views and his interests with respect to colonization and the House of Nobles.

## Personality & Beliefs

Count Silverdane is a reserved, dignified, and intense personality. He was raised and educated in a world where deference to social betters, diligent service, and quieting one's own ambition in favor of those better born were seen as virtues. As such, he rarely shows emotion in public and comes across as genial, polite, and self-effacing. However, those who know him best—those who serve with him and under him—are right to suspect that at his core, he is a man of strong feeling, will, and temper.

In terms of his habits, Silverdane is well organized, detail-oriented, and keenly practical. He rises with the sun, a military habit which he never shook off, and appears to have a distaste for conspicuous luxury and money concerns—even as his rank and station demand that he keep up the appearance of being a wealthy and generous man. He is often mistaken for a man much wealthier and more privileged than he actually is.

For himself, he spends little except what is necessary. With his sons, he is strict, wanting to instill in them the same austere attitude towards money and possessions which he has. With his daughters, he is more giving—doting on them occasionally with gifts befitting their rank and station. With his wife, Adelie, however, he appears to spare no expense in encouraging her hobbies and supporting her happiness by filling Backenridge Manor with all sorts of exotic animals and the facilities and staff to support them. The couple are reputed to be very happy together and act as each other's confidants and closest friends.

## Description

Silverdane is a man of prodigious physical strength, health, and endurance, well suited to the rugged environments of Northrend which he returns to often. He enjoys hunting, riding, and trekking through his Northrend holdings with his wife, who often accompanies him to Northrend and serves as a constant companion.

## Titles

### Count of Silverdane

*See: County of Silverdane*
Tolthon's primary title is the Countship of Silverdane, which he has by virtue of marriage to Adelie Seymour, the Countess of Silverdane. Adelie, being sporadic in her interest in ruling and politics, has in Tolthon a highly focused, methodical, and attentive counterpart, leading many close to the pair to treat Tolthon as if he were the formal holder of the title and not her. This ambiguity in who really rules sometimes leads to conflict between the pair, and is a sore spot for Silverdane.

### Marquess of Aldershire

*See: Marquessate of Aldershire*
Silverdane holds title to a large amount of land in Northrend, gathered together into the overseas Marquessate of Aldershire, which is recognized by the House of Nobles.

### Lieutenant Commander

In the Stormwind Army, Silverdane holds the provincial rank of Lieutenant Commander—a rank which has him act as a trusted aide to his Duke when the militia is called. In the 16th Regiment, the companies raised from Silverdane are, by tradition, his to command.

### Lord Lieutenant

Silverdane is the designated crown officer in Silverdane, tasked with organizing the militia and seeing that royal edicts are enforced.

## Gallery

Silverdane's signatureHudson-Backenridge Coat of ArmsTabard worn by Hudson-Backenridge retainers and militiamen from Silverdane and Aldershire when not in service to the Stormwind Army.