Jeppathum Thistlebang

Jeppathum Thistlebang, known to his friends as Jeppa, was a quiet gnome who enjoyed quality time with his wife and a few halfpints with his friends at the pub. For nearly 200 years he made a steady living selling paintings until the advent of the second war. As a patriotic gnome, he felt it was his duty to join forces with the dwarves and humans to defeat the orcish threat, so he joined the gnomish flying core and flew bombing raids over horde targets in southern Lordaeron for over a year.

Or his return to Gnomeregan he felt a new affinity for the traditional gnomish pursuit of engineering, having been required to maintain his own gyrocopter during the war. He also found he couldn’t sleep and was often distracted. Friends told him he had Orc War Syndrome and to seek compensation from the humans, but he never did and so his discontent deepened.

When a dark force threatened Gnomeregan, he joined his fellow gnomes is building the city’s defences, but as the situation worsened the authorities decided that it was every gnome for himself. Deeply depressed Jeppa returned to his wife and prepared to leave the life he had known for so long. He had just packed up his tools when he heard the sound of evil laughter and turned to find the menace from the deep had grabbed his wife. Not knowing what else to do, he picked up an axe and charged at the monster. He knew it was futile but he had to try. As he charged he heard the scream as the creature pierced his wife’s heart and losing all conscious thought he threw aside his axe and raised his hand. A bolt of pure hatred flew from his hand and the beast fell, howling in agony. Jeppa didn’t wait to see if it was dead he just ran and hoped.

Describing what happened once he had rejoined the other refugee gnomes in Ironforge, he discovered that his, until now dormant, talent for channelling the demon realm meant he must be a warlock.

Or that day he vowed to learn all he could about the shadow arts in order one day be able to defeat the dread force that had invaded his home and killed his wife.

Realising that this could not be achieved brooding over his halfpint tankard he set out into the world to seek out the training of professional warlocks and seeing plenty of corrupted beasts on whom to hone his talent. He also realised that this training would not come cheap so he sold his tankard for a mining pick and determined to pay his way with the skill he associated with the war, deciding only to take up his paintbrush again when his home had been cleansed of evil.

As his skill increased and he discovered the greater threat to the world from the Scourge he tried to join the forces of those dedicated to its destruction but the paladins of Stormwind Cathedral shunned him as a non believer and a practitioner of evil magics.

Distraught from his rejection by the forces of the light Jeppa almost abandoned his quest. But he resolved to win the fight single handed if necessary so he continued his learning until one day he discovered a little known sect devoted to the goals of the Light but not blinkered by the views of Stormwind Cathedral. The Azeroth Templars welcomed Jeppas dedication to the eradication of evil and agreed to send a few chosen zealots to assist him in the cleansing of Gnomeregan. He in turn agreed to give all the help he could to the destruction of the Scourge and the good of the Azeroth Templars.

	The author is in no way affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment. This story is Copyright of Kinsul © All Rights Reserved.