[hider=The Duskwood Branch of the Defias Brotherhood ]

[b]Name: [/b]
Defias Brotherhood (Duskwood Chapter)

[b]Held Territories:[/b]
Addle's Stead
Yorgen's Farm

[b]Other Assets:[/b]
While this chapter of the Brotherhood is viewed as radical by the others due to recent practices, it is still considered apart of the Defias Brotherhood and thus can call upon resources and allies abroad. 

Unknown to most, this Chapter also has Cult of the Damned ties... and can likewise do the same with the Scourge. 

[b]Goals and Motivations[/b]:
Officially, the goal of the Defias Brotherhood is vengeance against Stormwind and the House of Nobles. To a degree, this is true for the Duskwood Chapter as well... but Bautic Mortice has greater plans for it.

His goals include but are not limited too:
Claiming Raven Hill and the Cemetery behind it.
Either bringing Morbent Fel and Abercrombie into the fold or eliminating them. 
Securing all of Duskwood for the Brotherhood by any means necessary.

The Duskwood Chapter of the Defias Brotherhood is considered to be filled with extremists and radicals, even by the standards of the Defias Brotherhood. The main reason for this belief is the fact that unlike the other chapters of the organization, this one has started to practice necromancy. In their eyes, they do not see it as that big of a deal; After all, demonology and warlock practices have become fairly common among the spellcasters of the Brotherhood, so in their eyes this is merely another source of power to be taken advantage of... even more so considering Duskwood's history with dark magic and the massive graveyard found within it. 

In truth, there is a secret inner circle of the chapter. Those, like Bautic Mortice, who have been inducted into the Cult of the Damned proper.

[b]Recent History[/b] : 
The Duskwood Chapter of the Defias Brotherhood was always somewhat... more open minded to certain, dishonorable tactics and powers. In part this was due to the dangerous nature of Duskwood itself; In a cursed land in which the undead and creatures from the realms of nightmares themselves tended to be drawn, there were things far worse then a bunch of humans wearing red face masks. Fail to take the land and its occupants seriously and there were fates worse then death to be had.

With magic afoot, the Brotherhood sent its foremost expert on the subject to take a leading position in Duskwood. At first, Bautic's arrival didn't herald much of a change in day to day operations, but a 'chance find' would shake things up soon enough. Bautic [i]claimed[/i] to find some tomes on necromancy, stolen from some of the local necromancers and 'began to study it in order to get a better idea of what to expect in the local area', through in truth this was merely a carefully prepared story in order to have some justification what happened next. 

A few days after Bautic 'found the tomes', a worrying sized force of undead marched on Addle's Stead. At first it seemed like the settlement would have to be abandoned, but then Bautic stepped forward. Before the hostile mob could start their attack, Bautic called upon the dark powers of necromancy to impose his will on the dead, stopping them in their tracks and causing their threat to the Brotherhood to cease. Feigning that he only knew enough to be able to hold the undead, Bautic ordered the Defias nearby to destroy them (an act they committed without issue). 

With the threat dealt with, an... [i]interesting[/i] conversation was had among the Duskwood chapter. While there was a general degree of unease among a number of Defias due to the idea of death magics, the incident became a strong argument for learning how to command the dead, if for no other reason then to allow the Brotherhood to protect itself from the bloody things without as much personal risk as fighting them required. For his part, Bautic was more then happy to help teach those under his command how to do so... and the first steps of corruption began.

[b]Key Players:[/b]
Bautic Mortice. See below.
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[hider=Bautic Mortice]

[b]Name:[/b] Bautic Mortice

[b]Faction: [/b]
Publicly: Defias Brotherhood
Secretly: Cult of the Damned 

[b]Rank/Role:[/b]
A leading figure of the Defias Brotherhood, being both magically talented and apart of the Stonemason Guild before the troubles with the House of Nobles began. While not the leader of the Brotherhood, Bautic is still a powerful and influential figure within the Brotherhood with his own faction of followers within it. 

Also the highest ranking member of the Cult of the Damned in the Southern Eastern Kingdoms. 

[b]Appearance:[/b]
Bautic Mortice is a middle aged man who has seen a lot in his life. His black hair has started to thin and gray, his face is covered in winkles while his blue eyes always seem glassy and tired. Despite being a mage Bautic is remarkably physically fit for his age, beating the stereotype of magi being physically frail. 

[b]Personality:[/b]
A jaded and bitter man who has endured hardship, war and being held back due to being among the poor, common masses rather then the wealthy elite all his life, Bautic embraced the Cult of the Damned and sort to prove his loyalty to Kel'thuzad and the cause of the Scourge numerous times. While originally disappointed to be instructed to flee south with the refugees instead of staying and fighting on the Lorderan Front, time has allowed Bautic to take comfort in the wisdom and trust of his mentor and leader in the role that he was required to play in service to the Lich King. 

While his connection to the Cult of the Damned is a closely guarded secret, Bautic has great sympathy for his fellow members of the Dafias Brotherhood and earnestly believes in their cause almost as much as his own in service to the Lich King. While his intention of corrupting the Brotherhood and making them a new branch of the Cult of the Damned could be seen as self serving, from his point of view the two causes are naturally aligned and combing the two together naturally made perfect sense. 

[b]Biography:[/b]
Bautic has seen and endured no end of hardship in his life. Despite having a gift for the arcane and a mind for magic, he was born into a peasant family in Lordaren and thus couldn't afford to travel to Dalaran or Silvermoon to seek a higher education. When the Orcs invaded he was one of many levy forces conscripted in order to fight against the green skinned tide; He lost a number of friends and family both in combat and to the orcish raiders as they struck at non military targets for supplies during the conflict, as well as witnessed a number of things that scarred him as a person.

Returning to civilian life, the work and taxation imposed upon the peasantry after the war by the Alliance only served to make Bautic jaded and bitter with his kingdom. When the voice of a former Archmage of Dalaran offered him an alternative Bautic was more then happy to accept. Finally able to embrace magic under the guidance of Kel'thuzad, Bautic proved himself an ideal student who highly respected his master. As plans started to fall into place through, Kel'thuzad proved to be a forward thinking individual; Rather then have the whole Cult remain in Lordaran, a number of them were selected to leave in different stages. Bautic was selected to be among the first to leave, boarding a ship with other craftsman and workers who were traveling to Stormwind to assist with its rebuilding efforts. 

Joining the Stonemasons Guild was a simple enough endeavor to do and Bautic's non-necromatic magical abilities made him out to be a rather talented hedge mage. This made him a highly valued commodity, since it was rare to have anyone with magical abilities willing to assist with 'peasant work'. The betrayal of the House of Nobles (and by their unwillingness to force the nobles to pay their dues, the Royal Family) resulted in a riot and the death of the Queen. The Stonemasons Guild was disbanded and its members banished from the city of Stormwind without respect or payment for their time and services, leaving many destitute.

While Bautic had fully intended to take advantage of the situation to establish a new branch of the Cult of the Damned from scratch, before he had the chance to he was approached by Edwin VanCleef with an offer to form what would later be known as the Defias Brotherhood. Seeing the benefits of being a leading figure in this new organization, Bautic accepted. While it took some time, the slow radicalization of the Brotherhood (without Bautic's direct involvement) gave Bautic the perfect excuse to introduce necromancy as a valid tactic; Officially the tomes and knowledge of the art was gleamed from the independent necromancers in Duskwood rather then agents of the Scourge and Bautic makes damn sure that his standard lessons reflect this.

However for those that strive for more power in these dark arts... Bautic is more then happy to help enlighten them of the greater powers that the path provides.         

[b]Powers and other Abilities:[/b]

Talented Hedge Mage: Outside of the field of Necromancy, Bautic is a magic user of some skill, but clearly lacking a formal education, instead learning from one of the other practitioners of the arcane outside of the centers of learning. While he clearly favors frost magic, he knows enough about arcane cantrips in order to be a useful person to have around. According to SI records of him, he is judged to be a rather dangerous individual due to his magical abilities but suspect that in an actual one on one fight with a mage from Dalaran that the Hedge Mage would fall pretty quickly. 

Master Necromancer: Having studied under the former Archmage Kel'thuzad, Bautic's true magical potential are in the necromatic arts. While he has elected to hold back his true degree of knowledge and skill in public and among his Defias allies in order to fly under the notice of the authorities, privately he is a [i]lot[/i] more dangerous then anyone on this side of the Eastern Kingdoms knows. Personally, he specialized in the arts of reanimating the dead and weaponizing the icy chill of the grave.

Physically Fit: Surprisingly, Bautic is a rather healthy, physically strong individual. While a lot of this has to do with a life of hard work and physical labor, some members of the Cult back in Lorderan suspect he might have used his knowledge of the dark arts to improve himself to some degree.      
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