User:Joshmaul/Englebert Blunderwitz

"'A wrench-turn here, a tinker there, BOOM! Headshot.'"
 * - Captain Englebert Blunderwitz

Captain Englebert Blunderwitz is an officer of the Gnomish Elite Aerial Rangers (G.E.A.R.) who serves on the front lines against the Horde. The son of a priest, Englebert does not indulge in theology or philosophy, but in engineering and tracking down enemies of the Alliance.

Biography
Englebert is the son of a physician and alchemist named Wilbert Blunderwitz and his wife Nella Cogmixer. When the path was opened for them during the Cataclysm, Wilbert became among the first gnomes to take up the priesthood. However, Englebert elected to serve in the Gnomeregan militia, as well as become an engineer in his own right. He was part of the guard forces in Gnomeregan when it fell to Thermaplugg's treachery, and was part of the guard set up at Tinker Town in Ironforge during High Tinker Mekkatorque's residence there. During Operation: Gnomeregan, Englebert served in the combined Alliance army that Mekkatorque had raised to retake the city from Thermaplugg, and was trapped in the lower halls when Thermaplugg set off his irradiator. He was rescued by the S.A.F.E. forces sent to find survivors before he succumbed to the radiation, and was decontaminated before returning to duty.

Englebert largely remained on the home front for most of the campaigns that followed, honing his skills in a number of different engineering disciplines, particularly gunsmithing, as well as crafting and maintaining an array of mechanical beasts - mechachickens, robo-rabbits, and the like - for offensive purposes. When the Burning Legion arrived, he decided to take up the path of the hunter and joined the Unseen Path, which had begun inducting gnomes into its ranks. He was promoted to the rank of captain, and given command of a company previously commanded by a warrior named Marennia Sputterspark. Marennia's elder brother, Professor Rakeri Sputterspark, was a powerful warlock and had been estranged from her for years, but his death ultimately drove her to madness, and made her into a threat. In addition to whatever duties he was given by the Unseen Path, Englebert was also instructed to find Marennia if at all possible. By the time the campaign against the Legion reached Argus, however, Englebert was certain Marennia was dead, and put her out of his mind. He would soon have far greater problems to deal with.

Bringing his mechanical pets (which had expanded considerably) and his firearms expertise to the fore, Englebert joined the fight in Kul Tiras, often participating in defending Boralus and its environs from Horde attacks. His bravery and skill earned him recognition from his superiors back home, who told him that a new unit was being formed that brought out the "best in gnomanity", and offered Englebert a place in the ranks. He accepted, and was deployed to the island of Mechagon off the western coast of Kul Tiras. During his service in Tiragarde Sound, he had heard of a mysterious gnomish vault surrounded by mountains of rusting scrap, which some gnomish engineers and scientists believed to be evidence of a "lost gnomish civilization". That civilization was discovered on Mechagon, but found in the throes of civil war between the mad King Mechagon, who sought to mechanize all life on Azeroth, and his son, Prince Erazmin. Englebert had heard from veterans of Northrend about a similar mechagnome, Gearmaster Mechazod, who sought the same goal.

After King Mechagon was defeated, Englebert was shocked to discover that Marennia was alive and among the members of the Rustbolt Resistance, having arrived on Mechagon during the Legion war and undergone "upgrades". He was also dismayed to see that her bitterness towards the Alliance, whom she blamed for Rakeri's death as much as the Horde forces that defeated him, had not changed - mainly because by that time, it was clear that an overture would be made to unify Gnomeregan and Mechagon. That came about when High Tinker Mekkatorque, grievously injured by the Horde during the battle of Dazar'alor and sustained in a sealed escape pod, was brought to Rustbolt, where the mechagnomes were able to revive him. Much to Englebert's surprise, Erazmin and his people chose to follow Mekkatorque not as High Tinker, but as the new King of the Gnomes, virtually guaranteeing reunification. Gratified as he was by this, however, Englebert was worried that Marennia's rage and bitterness would lead to trouble... as he soon discovered when she arranged to bring Rakeri back from the dead.