User:Slamshady/Michael Jollner

Michael Elgin Jollner, also known as M.J., is a veteran of the Dragons, a Special Forces Unit of the Alliance army, as well as a former priest of Lordaeron. Known for his pragmatic approach to situations, his ways are not common among followers of the Light. In addition to his well-renowned work as a priest combating the Plague, he has also accomplished many seemingly impossible feats in his service to the Dragons and is held in high regard by the few who are aware of these acts.

Early Life
Born to merchant parents in Alterac 10 years before the opening of the Dark Portal (age 39), he was training to take over his father's fur trading business when Lord Perenolde broke the sovereignty of the kingdom in year 6, causing the business to fold with the rest of Alterac. On their move to Lordaeron, the caravan his family was traveling with was ambushed by orcs, killing his mother and gravely wounding his father. Beseeching the heavens for help, Michael was miraculously able to bring his father back from the brink of death to survive long enough to reach the nearest village. Upon arriving in Lordaeron City with his father still on bedrest in the village, Michael was forwarded to the Church of the Holy Light on the insistence of the people he traveled with. He became a priest before long, and was able to help his father through his wounds.

Priesthood
He served as a priest in the large monastery in northeastern Tirisfal Glades (what is now known as the Scarlet Monastery), teaching young hopefuls the ways of the Light until year 20, when the Plague began spreading throughout Lordaeron. He left with many other priests to assist in containing it. Like the others, he met only frustration when his fellow humans could not be cured, followed by horror when they arose soon after as undead. Jollner employed a method of cremation as soon as someone died of the Plague after finding out that the undead were immediately hostile upon reanimation (he found this out at the expense of one of his assistant's lives). Although going against the standard method of burial for followers of the Light, Jollner knew that there was no other way. In this unorthodox manner, he preserved the lives of those who stayed healthy through the spread of the Plague, including his own. It is because of his actions that the city of Tyr's Hand never succumbed to the plague until much later when Acherus arrived.

Recruitment into the Dragons
When the denizens of the city proclaimed their allegience to the Scarlet Crusade, Jollner left under his own volition due to conficting ideologies. Because of his great contributions to their city, they let him leave peacefully. Knowing Lordaeron had fallen, and assuming his father to be dead, he traveled to Stormwind, where he was immediately sought out by Regent Lord Bolvar Fordragon to partake in the newfound special forces team. Jollner accepted, and began to take combat training to become a paladin, as he believed he could contribute more to the world that way than as a simple priest.

Military Service
He first met Sam Benson in the Blackrock Depths, where they followed intelligence gathered from a secretive earlier mission to discover the secrets of the Dark Iron city. After the re-opening of the Dark Portal, Jollner was assigned to "Prestige" group, where he served as a member until the assault on Blackwing Descent, when he was re-assigned to "Sunder" group due to the lack of members in the former group. He served here for a short period of time before rejoining Prestige again. After subduing Algalon the Observer in Ulduar with a team led by Benson, Jollner was the one to bring the Observer's reply code to Dalaran and set it off just in time to save Azeroth from whatever may have happened in the "re-origination" process. This act earned him an unofficial title among those who witnessed it - "Herald of the Titans."

Current Activities
He currently resides in the Cathedral District in Stormwind, passing his time outside his teaching duties as a paladin with weapons training and a trading business based off the tenets he learned from his father when he was young.

Appearance
After leaving Tyr's Hand, he let his close-cropped dark hair grow out as it slowly became streaked with dark gray. By the time the Dark Portal was re-opened, his hair became a solid shade of the smoky gray, falling to almost to his shoulders. Piercing blue eyes go against his quiet demeanor. Never skilled in martial combat, he is almost always found now with a medium sized warhammer and shield while wearing ornately worked plate armor. He tends to keep the same dress in the city to inspire those he sees.

Personality
Up until his encounter with the Plague and his more recent escapades with the Dragons, he was well-mannered and fatherly. After the sights he has witnessed in recent years, he has taken a more apathetic approach toward many things. Still a devout follower of the Light, he actions remain radical, as he handles situations much more pragmatically than most priests or paladins. He will do what is necessary to ensure the victory that he deems is more pertinent to the cause he is championing.

Equipment
Due to the variety of friendships formed, opponents bested, places visited, and trust earned during Michael's life, he has acquired a large collection of notable weapons and armor.