Alexandria Williams

Dame Alexandria Williams is a Stormwind native who was born only days before the sacking of Stormwind City at the end of the First War. She is a Knight of the Order of the Silver Hand and currently serves as the Dame-Commander of Eastburg under Lady Terez Ascania.

Despite this, Alexandria is mostly known for her service as an errant paladin. Widely heralded as a champion of the common people, she has spent two decades abroad throughout the kingdoms and beyond fighting anything that would threaten the weak and innocent that she is oathsworn to protect.

## Personality & Beliefs

Alexandria is a jovial woman that is easy to get along with for good-aligned characters. She is kind and maternal, always looking to assist her peers, protect her subordinates, and care for her friends. Though she can be stern, she is seldom angry; though she hates evil actions, she seldom finds hatred for another person.

As a paladin, Alexandria holds her oaths to the Order of the Silver Hand and the Duchy of Eastburg above all. Any law that acts in contradiction to the Light's virtues is unjust. Any lord or general that commands her code be broken must be illegitimate. She refuses to be driven by the demands of the secular world, and this has earned her a reputation as a maverick or even a zealot among the regulars that see her in the field. It is known: if you seek to bring about injustice, no matter how lawful in the eyes of the House of Nobles, Alexandria will stand against you.

## Description

Alexandria is a woman built for combat, standing at an imposing 6' 2" with a musculature befitting her profession as a knight. She is broad with muscle, but even her peak physical form belies the true strength bestowed by the divine spark of the Order of the Silver Hand.

Her facial features are relatively plain; burgundy hair frames her surprisingly fair face dotted by eyes of the same color. Outside of the genderless mask of her armor, her femininity is subtle and relatively modest. In casual clothes, one might occasionally spot the Fist of Tyr tattooed onto her shield-bearing shoulder or a pair of angelic wings seared into her back. Heavy scarring runs across her body, permanent reminders of every brush with death across her lifetime of service. They carry their own sort of rugged beauty... or so she is told.

She most often wears relatively plain clothing and little or no make-up. Alexandria often eschews the privileges offered to her by her newer station in Eastburg, and still lives more or less like a knight-errant.

## Biography

Though Alexandria often refers to herself as a commoner - and she certainly lived as one prior to becoming a paladin - she is the unknowing daughter of a long line of knights. For generations, her family has served the Kingdom of Stormwind through the Brotherhood of the Horse. These records were lost or destroyed during the First War, and with them went the privileges that may otherwise have been granted to her for her heritage.

She has seen combat in virtually every major theater of warfare since she was knighted during the Third War, and has spent most of her life in service to the Order of the Silver Hand as a knight-errant. More recently, she joined the Ducal Court of Eastburg as the duchy's Dame-Commander, finally ready to settle down and start a family in a more stable environment.

### Early Life

Alexandria's first memories are of the winding roads that led brought mother and the other refugees to Lordaeron led by Lady Mara Fordragon immediately after the First War and the fall of Stormwind. By the time she was a toddler, her mother had renounced her secular titles and joined into the service of the budding Order of the Silver Hand. This was what defined knighthood to Alexandria: not its roots in temporal nobility, but the shining examples of what it could become with faith and an earnest desire to do good.

She spent her early years as a squire, learning to maintain armor and weapons, studying the nature of the Light, and surrounded by the early paladins of the Order of the Silver Hand. Though her mother's name carried her far, her own reputation began to develop as a firebrand. She confronted bullies, often violently. She was a promising student, but often found herself in trouble - sometimes even stealing food or money for the other refugee children. Over time, Lordaeron became her second home, one that welcomed her and seemed to share the values instilled within her by the paladins she so revered. Eventually, she fell in love with and would go on to marry her first love, James Cooper: her mother's squire who she grew up alongside.

It was in the final days of the Third War that she was knighted, a fledgling paladin of barely eighteen when she was instilled with the Light's grace. Watching her mother fearlessly confront the terrifying Scourge in the midst of battle, she quickly learned what happened to those who faltered in terror before the undead. She matured swiftly into a warrior despite her young age, and performed as admirably as a teenager could until her second home was reduced to dust and echoes.

By the Light's grace, the Order of the Silver Hand managed to regroup in Stratholme, but it was no lasting respite. Unbeknownst to them, Lord Dathrohan had been replaced by the sinister Balnazzar. Radicalism grew throughout the ranks. Even her own aunt and uncle stood with Abbendis, a Chapter Master uplifted by the trusted Dathrohan, as he insisted that the purity of the Order would never be fouled by the unclean: the lesser, inhuman races of Azeroth. Alexandria's mother turned away in disgust and followed Lord Maxwell Tyrosus when he abandoned the corrupted Order of the Silver Hand to form the Argent Dawn, taking James and her daughter with her and forever severing the only remaining extended family she had left.

In a vicious skirmish between siblings - one Argent, one Scarlet - Alexandria's mother eventually cut down her own brother.

Until the war against the Lich King, Alexandria remained with the Argent Dawn. She honed her skills against the undead and did her best to continue the legacy of the Silver Hand - soon enough, the Argent Crusade sailed to Northrend following the Battle for Light's Hope. Alexandria and James, having recently produced a son named for his father, went with them.

### War Against the Lich King

Alexandria landed in the Howling Fjord along with the rest of the Argent Crusade, fighting her way up through Dragonblight, Zul'drak, and into Icecrown. Battle after harrowing battle, the campaign in Northrend took a fledgling paladin with a chip on her shoulder and made her into a weapon of righteousness. She took readily to the shield, and was soon present on the very front lines as the Argents pushed far north to found the Argent Tournament Grounds.

That is where Alexandria would stay until the final march on Icecrown Citadel, helping to prepare for the tournament and fighting to earn herself a place in the assault. Both herself and James placed well enough that they were given roles as rear guard, protecting the champions of the Ashen Verdict from being set upon from behind by defending the Court of Bones.

When Arthas died, the Scourge ran rampant for a precious few moments. They overran the defenses, viciously tore apart Alexandria's comrades, slew her husband, and just before the blade fell to send her on to the Shadowlands... Bolvar Fordragon claimed the Helm of Domination. Her enemies walked away. She was spared, and to this day she cannot answer why.

### The Shattering

Alexandria spent the next several months in mourning for the loss of James. She returned to Stormwind with her son until Deathwing came, bringing with him the upheaval and terror of the Shattering. Though she regretted leaving behind her son to return to her role as a paladin, she felt she had no choice. As the Twilight's Hammer rose up, so too did Dame Alexandria, determined to protect the only family that remained and the home that she had already lost once.

Primarily, her service brought her to the Twilight Highlands. She aided the Wildhammers and did battle both with the Dragonmaw Clan and the Twilight's Hammer as they sought to bring about the end of the world via the Hour of Twilight. She honed her role as a shieldbearer during this time, and began to earn some meager degree of fame for her fortitude. Her reputation as a shield-bearing knight-errant spread through the ears of the common people. During the Siege of Wyrmrest, she fought with the Twilight's Hammer, their corrupted elementals, the servants of their masters in the Black Empire, and even a handful of Twilight Drakes.

### War in Pandaria

Alexandria had precious little time to spend with her son before she found herself again in a distant land, Pandaria, to assist the Alliance in their mission to prevent the Sha from overrunning the kingdom - and then to prevent Garrosh Hellscream from claiming the Divine Bell. Soon enough, she found herself upon the shores of Durotar. As a shieldbearer, she led from the front and pushed deep within the city; it was the first battle for which she was not only present, but for which she felt as though she had made a real difference. No war machine, twisted shaman, or void-corrupted monstrosity could stand in the way of delivering the Alliance's champions to their goal.

Hellscream fell, in time, and Alexandria returned to Stormwind to enjoy what little time she could with her son before the Dark Portal opened yet again, and from it poured the Iron Horde. For her service against the servants of the Black Empire, the Order of the Silver Hand awarded Alexandria with the legendary Holy Warrior's Plate, a set of armor as iconic and finely-crafted as the Order can offer.

### Third Legion Invasion

The invasion of the Burning Legion saw Alexandria truly come into her own. Protected by the fabled Holy Warrior's Plate, she led the charge against countless demonic incursions and then proceeded onto the Broken Isles. Following the disastrous incident on the Broken Shore, she fought valiantly mostly in Stormheim and Suramar where she took large part in the ongoing civil war.

Oddly, duty called her away for a time. In the Twilight Highlands, another Twilight's Hammer sect reared its head, and for a few brief weeks, Alexandria found herself stationed in Thelsamar, Loch Modan. In a bittersweet month, she saw both some of the most horrific acts of terror she had ever witnessed, but also found love in the arms of Inquisitor Merellia Hallewell, then a member of the Scarlet March: apostates who had abandoned the Crusade to rejoin the Church of the Holy Light in Stormwind, seeking penance for their atrocities.

Soon enough, Alexandria returned to the Broken Shore. There, fate tested the budding Templar of the Silver Hand in a trial by fire. In a freak accident - or perhaps an assassination attempt - Alexandria was drawn into the Twisting Nether itself, where she was confronted by a Doomlord. The battle was long and arduous, but despite her immense wounds that show on her abdomen to this day, she overcame the greater demon and was miraculously rescued by the Kirin Tor.

For her success, Alexandria was granted the title of Champion of the Silver Hand as well as Truthkeeper, a Crest of Holy Fire rumored to be unbreakable.

### The Fourth War

Alexandria was eager to fight in the War of Thorns and in the Siege of Lordaeron; with the Silver Hand resurfacing, she could certainly not ignore the horrific behavior of the Banshee Queen. Following Lordaeron, Alexandria's fight soon moved to Kul Tiras. For the first time, Merellia went to war with her; fearing that she would see a side of her partner that would remind her of the schism in Lordaeron, Alexandria ran. Though she continued to fight in Zandalar and Kul Tiras, she did so alone as a knight-errant, occasionally attaching to Alliance units as she went from front to front. The two would not be reunited until after the Black Empire's assault, during which she returned to the Vale of

Eternal Blossoms to fight tooth and nail for every inch of ground that could be held against the denizens of the Void. It was a tenuous relationship that formed between the two; Merellia was rightfully distrustful after two years of silent separation.

### Opening the Veil

When Sylvanas Windrunner shattered the veil, chaos erupted in Stormwind. Merellia returned to Drustvar to aid her Kul Tiran brethren, and Alexandria remained in Stormwind to fight the Scourge alongside the Argent Crusade. Once Stormwind was safe and the Coalition had secured Icecrown in another bloody campaign in Northrend, Alexandria proposed to Merellia before returning to service as a knight-errant. The two were married several months later.

### Dame-Commander

During the celebration following victory over the Blood Trolls during Operation Thornwall, Alexandria stumbled into Lady Terez Ascania, Duchess of Eastburg. The two were quick friends and soon grew close, developing a bond of trust that blossomed into romance. While Alexandria distrusted the nobility, she eventually came to make an exception for Ascania who she believed was a friend of the common people that she had sworn to defend. As the duchess sought to rebuild her court, she eventually asked Alexandria to serve as the Dame-Commander of Eastburg and a member of her Privy Council. Alexandria accepted, and she has served there since.

## Equipment

As a Champion of the Silver Hand and the Dame-Commander of a major duchy in the Eastvale, Alexandria enjoys access to equipment of a very high quality. She has a number of weapons in her arsenal, including the traditional warhammer of the Order of the Silver Hand, an heirloom longsword that has been passed through her family, spears, lances, and more. Below are her most iconic armaments.

### Holy Warrior's Plate

Granted to her for exceptional service beginning in Icecrown through the end of the Siege of Orgrimmar, Alexandria is the owner of one of the few sets of this ornate armor that were crafted by the Order of the Silver Hand. A heavy set of plate with powerful blessings and enchantments, it sets any of its wielders apart from a crowd and bolsters the faith of their fellow soldiers on the battlefield.

### Truthkeeper

On the Broken Shore, Alexandria bested an immense greater demon in single combat during the most intense battle of her entire life. For her continued excellence, she was named Champion of the Silver Hand and had Truthkeeper bestowed upon her. The Crest of Holy Fire is an unrivaled bulwark, a powerful artifact that has the ability to produce barriers of holy fire to protect not only Alexandria, but her allies. It is rumored to be unbreakable. Truthkeeper is most often paired with the consecrated flail that came alongside it.

## Relationships

### Family

Alexandria has few living family members. Her mother, Dame Myrina Williams, is a legendary knight-errant whose name and success gave Alexandria something to prove since she entered her knighthood. She is relatively absent from Alexandria's life. Alexandria's father is unknown to her. Her extended family is all dead, either slain by the Orcs, the Scourge, or Myrina herself during the schism in the north. She has one living cousin, unbeknownst to her, who joined the Scarlet Crusade following the schism.

### Marriages & Partnerships

Alexandria's first husband, James, died in Northrend during the Ashen Verdict's assault on Icecrown Citadel. In 632 K.C., Alexandria was re-married to Merellia Hallewell. In 634 K.C., they were both wed to Lady Terez Ascania, creating the current rulership triad of the Duchy of Eastburg.

### Squires

Alexandria has brought up two other Knights of the Silver Hand. Dame Ilaian Thorne was her first student, graduating around K.C. 630. More recently, she took Alandrah Leighton under her wing.

## Awards & Honors

### Awards & Honors Explained

#### Grand Alliance Medal of Valor

Issued to Dame Alexandria in 632 K.C. for standing fast against a Frostwyrm Broodmother, saving countless lives as she protected the Coalition’s forces from its destructive breath attacks with her artifact shield Truthkeeper.

#### Grand Alliance Medal of Valor II

Issued to Dame Alexandria in 633 K.C. for her stunning victory over a champion of the Forsaken High Command at the Dance of the Dead in Lordaeron, thereby rescuing the Lord High Speaker of the Kingdom of Stormwind, Lady Terez Ascania.

#### Medallion of the Alliance

Issued to Dame Alexandria in 632 K.C. for her bravery at the front of the shield line during the siege of the Court of Bones in the Northrend Campaign following the Opening of the Veil.

#### Commendation for Leadership

Issued to Dame Alexandria in 633 K.C. for her leadership during Operation Anchorwake, during which she led a successful assault on the ruins of Theramore to prevent enemies of the Alliance from escaping with prisoners of war.

#### Grand Alliance Battle Standard

Issued to Dame Alexandria in 633 K.C. for honorable deeds during the Siege of Northwatch Hold.

#### Dire Decoration of Sir Gavinrad

Issued to Dame Alexandria in 633 K.C. for performing a miracle of the Light as an ascendant paladin as she struck down the champion of the Forsaken High Command during the Dance of the Dead in Lordaeron.

## Gallery

Dame Alexandria with her first squire, Dame Ilaian Thorne.Dame Alexandria shortly after her victory at the Tournament of Ages, K.C. 633Dame Alexandria's heraldry.Dame Alexandria during the Northrend Campaign, K.C. 632Alexandria's communion with the Light at the Dance of the Dead.