Meet Nikolas

For YEARS now, I've had a character in my brain whose stories I have wanted - and tried - to tell. Numerous times I've started and stopped, but he's always there, hanging out in my synapses, ready to burst into action as soon as I can put finger to keyboard.

Meet Nikolas Greyfog.

Okay, technically this is Charlie Cox, a British actor best known for his roles in Stardust, Marvel's Daredevil and Boardwalk Empire. But he's also the person I chose to imagine when I write Nikolas Greyfog, and in my head this is what Nikolas looks like.

Here's what he looks like in Azeroth right now: 

As you might surmise, especially if you play Warcraft, Nikolas is a hunter. At least, in game he is. In my headcanon, he's more of a ranger, in that he doesn't have a dedicated pet with which he hunts and does battle. He does have a raven, named Nip, which Nikolas has trained to be his eyes and ears and with whom he's worked out a kind of communication for basic information. Nip is also a capable messenger, carrying notes or items from Nikolas to others and vice versa.

Nikolas is the son of Altus and Naya Greyfog, born in the year 2 (by reckoning of when the First War started) in Northshire. The former was a paladin with the Order of the Silver Hand before he died fighting the Undead during the Scourge invasion. The latter trained as a mage in Dalaran before marrying Altus, and was part of the Alliance Expedition to Draenor after the Second War. Once the portal to Draenor collapsed, the entir expedition was lost and presumed dead. Nikolas has a sister, Katia, who at a young age began to study the ways of the Light in Hearthglen and eventually became a priestess. After the Scourge came, Katia remained in Lordaeron with the group that would come to call themselves the Scarlet Crusade, bent on revenge against the undead invaders.

The Hinterlands of Azeroth, where Nikolas spent much of his time growing up.

After Altus became close friends with several Wildhammer dwarves during the Second War, he took a diplomatic post at Aerie Peak and took his family with him (Naya went with the expedition the year following). When he was reassigned further north, Altus took Katia with him but, at Nikolas' request, left his adolescent son with the dwarves. In the years that followed, Nikolas learned all about the wilds of the Hinterlands, his teachers including the Wildhammers, as well as high elves from the nearby Quel'Danil outpost. In addition to a traditional education of reading and writing, Nikolas learned to hunt, to track, to shoot; he learned about which plants can feed, which can heal and which can harm. Nikolas also became enamored of gryphons, spending much of his free time watching the Wildhammer gryphon handlers care for their beasts. For his 15th birthday Nikolas was gifted a gryphon cub of his own, a female he named Silvereye after her bright, glimmering eyes.

Among the dwarves his main teacher was Dobrin Stonefeather, the dwarf who befriended Altus in the Second War and invited the Greyfogs to live at Aerie Peak. His high elven mentor was Thalion Silverleaf.

When he was 18, Nikolas finally left the Hinterlands and took a post as a scout in Brill. It was only a year later that the Scourge invaded, forcing Nikolas, and thousands of others, to flee west to Kalimdor. Rather than stay and build a new life there, Nikolas joined the crew of the very ship that carried him west, the Fate's Fortune. Over the five years that followed, Nikolas worked his way up the chain of command and is now first mate on the ship, which moves supplies and cargo - and occasional passengers - between Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, occasionally stopping in places like Kul Tiras or Northrend.

This is basically what the Fate's Fortune might look like.

In combat, Nikolas is very skilled with a bow and with a rifle. The former skill he learned from the high elves, the latter he acquired while at sea from his shipmates. He prefers to fight from afar, avoiding hand-to-hand combat, but he can hold his own there if needed.

His gun is similar to the one seen below (Azeroth's gun models get too fanciful for me so I had to go real-world) - it's dwarven-made but gnome-designed and allows for between 10-12 shots per minute (far better than the more common muzzle-loaded versions). It was a gift from the Fortune's captain when Nikolas became first mate.

Nikolas carries two short swords with him into combat (or when he would be out in the woods scouting or anticipating any trouble). They're a high elven design and were a gift from Thalion Silverleaf (see below). As a last resort, Nikolas is a skilled fist fighter, something he learned from (mostly drunken) dwarves at Aerie Peak.

Now, more about his personality and such (based off a Twitter thing where you list characteristics of an original character):

Nikolas doesn't drink a lot, but on the very rare occasion he does, he prefers either Dwarven ales or Elvish wines. Otherwise, he'd just as soon drink cool water as anything, but he might indulge in a melon or moonberry juice. He likes simple food, not too rich or fancy; his typical meals are a combination of bread (he loves sweet cornbread and Mulgore spice bread), meat (if not fish, he favors beef or chicken) and cheese (Nikolas is always up for Dalaran sharp or brie from Stormwind). Breakfast is his favorite meal, and most often he eats some version of porridge with nuts and/or berries mixed in, as well as fruit (his favorite are snapvine melons from Elwynn and goldenbark apples from the orchards in Loch Modan). He's got a bad sweet tooth, and always stocks up on sweets of myriad kinds while at port.

Nikolas is not really a night or day owl, so to speak; he's really able to adjust his inner sleep clock to the needs of the day. On the Fortune he works any variety of watches and shifts so the flexibility is necessary. He's generally a light sleeper, able to wake quickly but also return to sleep quickly. He's also very much a side sleeper, switching sides frequently while sleeping.

Nikolas is a fair cook, having spent time with Gezrin Copperpot, the Fortune's cook, and learning some tricks from the gnome. But he's not likely at all to try new recipes or tinker with old ones, and would just as soon cook a simple meal. Where he excels is in finding and creating meals out in the wilds, using any number of game/fruit/berry/nut//root/mushroom options to come up with something.

His favorite smells include a forest during/after rain, cold mountain air and the sea. He is not a cologne wearer, but baths often enough so that he doesn't stink. Nikolas has always loved autumn and winter more than spring or summer, mostly because that's when the dwarves have their best holidays. His favorite is Winter Veil, followed closely by the Harvest Festival. He never missed Brewfest, but mostly for the cheeses and meats rather than the drinks.

Nikolas does NOT have a good singing voice, but he's skilled enough on the lute. He loves music, even if he can't sing, and could listen to dwarven drinking songs or elven odes any time. Nikolas can't draw worth a spit, though he's become somewhat adept at carving things from wood. Nikolas loves to read, especially anything related to history and dragons.

Nikolas rarely gets haircuts, only often enough to keep it out of his eyes, and more often than not has a heavy scruff. He is by no means fashion forward, he just prefers simple shirts and pants and comfortable shoes. In battle, he does have a thorium mail shirt and leather armor to put on. He doesn't wear any jewelry save a silver ring with an emerald inset, gifted to him by the Quel'Danil elves on his 17th birthday.

Nikolas is a kind soul, quick to reach out to help others, but also shy, so he doesn't make friends quickly. He used to be fast to trust others, but his experiences have diminished that part of him. Nikolas is claustrophobic, and suffers from periodic anxiety. When Nikolas was younger, Dobrin gave him a small totem carved from stone, tied to the Elemental Spirit of Water, and that helps Nikolas calm down when the anxiety hits. He also attributes his love of the sea to the element's calming effect on him.

That calming helps Nikolas keep his temper at bay, but if set off, he can be very heated and impassioned, particularly when he sees or experiences what he perceives to be injustice (something his father spoke and taught much about).

So. That's Nikolas. That's the guy inside my head when I'm writing stories in Azeroth. Hope you like him!