- "There are many questions left unanswered in this world, however the existence of the Light is for certain."
- —Terimas Manning[src]
Terimas Manning[1] is a knight-champion of the Alliance and an officer of the Remnants of Lordaeron. Spending most of his youth within the criminal underworld of Lordaeron, Terimas strived for redemption as he served in the Alliance forces during the War against the Lich King. He joined the Order of the Golden Law, aspiring to become a paladin of the light. After a falling out with the order's hierarchy, Terimas left the order to become a prominent officer of the Remnants of Lordaeron.
Biography
Early life
Terimas Manning was the youngest of three children born to Robert and Alana Manning (née Carlisle). He was born two years after the first orcish invasion of Azeroth, in Stratholme, Lordaeron. His mother died giving birth to him, and as a result his father blames him for her death.
Terimas and his two older brothers — Devon and Hansen Manning, grew up in near-poverty as their father became a severe alcoholic, causing his business to plummet. As time passed, Robert became increasingly abusive to Terimas and his brothers. Devon would often comfort Terimas by telling stories about the holy light, which Hansen would often dismiss it as mere fiction. As Terimas continued to pray, his domestic life took a turn for the worst as Devon ran away from home and shortly after Robert drank himself to death. After being placed in the King's Square orphanage with Hansen, Terimas denounced his faith in the Holy light.[1][2]
Stratholme Syndicate
- "Look, I don't know how my brother did it, but somehow he managed to kill our employer... and just like that, he was calling the shots."
- —Terimas talking about Hansen's rise to power.[src]
As Terimas grew to adolescence, he became a common thief, stealing goods off the streets alongside his older brother. During one of their usual escapades, Terimas and Hansen ran into Dugald Lanstroud, a criminal overlord of the Stratholme Syndicate. Seeing potential in their abilities, Dugald hires the two brothers in his distribution ring. Terimas spent the next few years working loyally for Dugald while Hansen often rebelled against his employer's orders. When Dugald received word of Hansen's defiance, he arranged for the elder brother's execution. However, what was initially thought to be an easy execution turned into a successful assassination as Hansen plunged the knife meant for him into Dugald's throat - effectively taking over the Stratholme Syndicate. Terimas was initially shocked by the recent turn of events, but quickly welcomed it as he and his brother became one of the most powerful people in the criminal underworld of Lordaeron.
Under Hansen's command, the Stratholme Syndicate expanded as far north as the Thalassian Pass and as far south as the Silverpine Forest. Terimas would become head of distribution while Hansen would appoint his longtime friend, Ramsey Skeldon, as his second-in-command. Unbeknownst to Terimas and Hansen, the Cult of the Damned began infiltrating the Stratholme Syndicate under Skeldon's supervision. After many of the Syndicate's members went missing, Terimas informed Hansen about the strange disappearances as well as the significant drop in profits. Hansen lashed out at Terimas, blaming him for the deficiency in their revenue. After Skeldon became aware of the brother's suspicions in his activity, he made a deal with Baron Rivendare to give out Hansen's identity as the "Red Merchant" and arrest the two brothers in order to increase their traffic in weapons, drugs and the plagued grain produced by the Cult of the Damned. Terimas and Hansen were soon ambushed and arrested by Stratholme guards who planned to have them executed within the following weeks.[1][2]
Plague of Lordaeron
Lordaeron guards during the Culling of Stratholme.
During their imprisonment, the plague began to rapidly spread throughout the city. Before long, the Prince of Lordaeron himself arrived in Stratholme only to realize the people were already infected by the plague and were beyond saving. When the Prince and his royal footmen began the culling of the city, Terimas and Hansen used the chaos to their advantage to escape captivity. However, before the two brothers made it out of the city, Hansen was ambushed by a group of undead. In a moment of cowardice, Terimas ignored his brother's plea for help and left him behind, allowing him to be killed by the undead scourge.
Over the next several weeks, Terimas witnessed the plague consume the land of Lordaeron, one town at a time. He remain in the wilderness as a precaution to avoid the undead epidemic, however, he found himself traumatized over the turn of events that had occurred. He eventually attempted to take his own life until he was stopped by the dwarven Silver Hand Knight, Ghorin Brighthammer. Feeling sympathy for the boy, Ghorin took Terimas in his home and taught him the ways of the Holy light. Despite his skepticism, Terimas eventually saw the true power that the light possesses and became inspired to harness that power himself. Ghorin hesitantly agreed and began informally teaching him how to wield the holy light.
After the Kingdom of Lordaeron fell against the Scourge, Terimas and Ghorin traveled south to Stormwind, where they would remain for several years.
Northrend Campaign
From left to right: George Farsings, Calvin Brookes, Terimas Manning, and Hadrian Warlayton.
When war broke out in Northrend, Terimas was one of many who enlisted in the Valiance Expedition. He spent his first few weeks in Northrend doing menial tasks ordered by his leadership. During this time, Terimas became closely acquainted with George Farsings, Hadrian Warlayton and Calvin Brookes. When Terimas heard that Ghorin was leading an infantry unit to join Bolvar Fordragon at Angrathar the Wrathgate, he volunteered himself to join as he wished to fight alongside his mentor. Terimas, Hadrian and Calvin were all selected to join Ghorin's infantry unit.
After the unit's departure from Valiance Keep towards Fordragon Hold, Terimas noticed a storm was coming from the north. Terimas continued to follow the rest of the unit as they traveled through Dragonblight. As the winds began to pick up, Terimas noticed that Calvin was nowhere to be seen. He withdrew from ranks in order to find him. Terimas eventually found him attempting to abandon the Valiance Expedition. Terimas convinced Calvin to go back after telling him that he won't survive for very long out in the froze wasteland on his own. As the two headed back to rejoin the others, a heavy snowstorm ensued causing them to lose their sense of direction. After finding themselves completely lost in a blizzard, Terimas and Calvin urgently searched for shelter. Terimas and Calvin eventually found shelter in a small crevice on the edge of a hill. The two lost soldiers built a fire for warmth, hoping to wait out the storm before they start to head back to their unit in Fordragon Hold.
Captured by the Scarlet Onslaught
The next morning they were abruptly awoken by a group of Scarlet Crusaders led by Aurelia Titus who held them at sword-point. The Scarlets took the two as prisoners and decided to head back to New Hearthglen. During the journey to the Scarlet's base of operations, the group was ambushed by Nerubian assassins. Despite being the Scarlet's prisoners, Terimas and Calvin were forced to fight back the Nerubians and save Aurelia and the Scarlet Crusaders' lives.
Argent Tournament
Assault on Icecrown Citadel
Order of the Golden Law
Terimas later decided to join the Order of the Golden Law to pursue his goal in becoming a paladin. Before his induction into the order, Terimas was given an interview to which he attended late and intoxicated. His interviewer, Talleah Rosethourne, was ready to dismiss the potential initiate until she came to an understanding of what he was going through at the time. Talleah gave Terimas a second chance and allowed him to be inducted on the condition that he maintains his sobriety for the remainder of his time within the order.[1]
During this time, Terimas struggled to find his place within the order. He felt like an outcast and didn't get along well with many people. However, he became fast friends with fellow initiates, Cenaedis Swiftarrow and Jaroby Bertrand. After a few weeks within the order, Terimas was assigned to the Southern Regiment in Duskwood. He participated in several patrols in the area after receiving word of an evil entity lurking in the cursed woods.
Siege of Stromgarde
Departure
Remnants of Lordaeron
Tracking the Forsaken
Ambush at Deadwind Pass
Final Duel with Hansen
Third Legion invasion
Hunt for Mordros
Captivity on Nihilam
Army of the Light
Physical description
Terimas in his Golden Law uniform[3]
Terimas stands at an average height of 1.80 m / 5'11" and weighs at 186 lbs of lean muscle mass. His most prominent features include his shoulder length ginger hair and a roughly trimmed goatee. He also has light blue eyes which he inherited from his mother.
He is almost always seen wearing a sleek truesteel armor accompanied by a blue cloak and a tabard that represents his order. Since the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate, Terimas has wielded Ghorin Brighthammer's legendary mace Brighthammer.
Since his captivity on Nihilam, the Doom World, Terimas' hair has grown long and frail. His eyes look tired and his skin has become pale with a slight tint of green due to prolonged exposure to fel magic.
Personality and traits
Terimas is known to most as an ambitious and charismatic paladin who devotes his life to the light. He presents a friendly demeanor to most strangers he comes across to compensate for the mistakes that he made in his youth. However, Terimas struggles with an inner turmoil over his place in the world. He finds himself at odds with his own mental state, seeing himself as a lesser man than many of the great paladins that came before him. He aspires to one day be as great as them, but his own self-loathing often gets in the way of that. He developed an alcohol addiction trying to suppress these feelings as well as trying to cope with the traumatic events he has experienced.
Terimas has shown several traits of cowardice and self-centeredness. On multiple occasions, Terimas has let fear get the better of him, causing him to make decisions that he would later regret. During the Culling of Stratholme, Terimas allowed his brother, Hansen to get mutilated in order to save himself.