Wesley Forthrite


 * "I don't really think of myself as brave, you know. But when I squired for Sir Duncan, he told me stubbornness and determination might suffice."
 * —Wes, on setting out on his quest.

Sir Wesley Forthrite, known to his friends as Wes, was an Escanorian knight of Meridian and once a sworn protector of Queen Weira. Early in Prince Phobos' coup, the sorcerer removed many of the queen's most loyal knights using magic—in Wes' case, imprisoning him in a crystal artifact as could be done with a Mystic Heart. After Weira's daughter Elyon was restored to the throne, an accident while taking stock of the palace's lost treasures broke the seal and released him. After some confusion caused by his sudden appearance, Wes vowed to make up for his failure to protect Queen Weira by seeking out and freeing his old comrades whom Phobos had banished by other means, embarking on a great many adventures with the aid of W.I.T.C.H. and many of their allies. After his quest was completed, he swore his sword anew to Weira's daughter and became a trusted member of the Meridian Royal Guard.

Biography
Wesley was the firstborn son of Sir Wendell Forthrite, a landed knight of Meridian who held the title to the watchtower known as Holdfast. The ancestral House Forthrite had served the Escanorian monarchs for generations, since their founding by the fourth-born son of Sir Brandis—one of the first humans to arrive on Meridian—and Wesley would be expected to continue their tradition. From the age of six, young Wes was sent away to be fostered by friends at court and serve as a page to begin his training. Though he took quickly to his lessons and duties, he made few friends, preferring to spend what free time borrowing ballads and epic poems from the palace's library. He held a special love of fairy tales and romances, imagining he would court a noble lady when he eventually attained knighthood.

At fifteen, after nine years of service as a page boy, Wes became eligible to squire for a knight, the next step in the path to his own knighthood. He prepared diligently for his coming presentation to the knights at court, and because of his relatively low birth as the son of a mere landed knight, was given a fine tunic from his father to appear desirable. The day before the ceremony, however, Wes was called upon to serve the capricious young Prince Phobos at the evening meal. When a serving girl mistakenly spilled wine on the prince, Phobos unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse on her, demeaning her intelligence as a product of her Galhot heritage. Wes tried to intercede on her behalf, distracting the Prince only to become the target of his ire, and Phobos stained Wes' tunic with a full decanter of wine in his fury. Though he was saved from further backlash by the dismissal of Prince Consort Zayden, who admonished his son for the outburst, Wes returned to his quarters distraught over the ruined tunic.

Upon waking the next morning, however, Wes found his tunic thoroughly cleaned and pressed for him. Bewildered, he asked the other pages and soon learned the Galhot serving girl, Mildred, had snuck in during the night and taken it for cleaning. Though unspeakably grateful, Wes could not thank her immediately as the presentation ceremony started early in the day. Despite his appearance, Wes was passed over by the most powerful and wealthy knights in need of squires. Each needed to make alliances with other powerful houses, and House Forthrite was below their consideration. But at last, a lowly bachelor knight named Sir Duncan chose Wes, promising to teach him the ways of knighthood and provide clothes on his back and food in his belly, even if they would be of peasant quality. Though troubled by the lowly assignment, he promised to serve Sir Duncan faithfully if he could be given just a few moments. Duncan acquiesced, and Wes used what time he had left in the palace to seek Mildred out and thank her.

Having no way to repay Mildred's kindness, Wes asked her for a favour to carry with him, as a knight would a lady. Though she had no fine handkerchief or jeweled ring to bestow, Mildred tore free the tie of her blue apron and fashioned it in a bow. Accepting this gift, Wes promised to come back and one day return it to her. With his word given, Wes and Duncan departed the capital to seek service on the road.

Squiring for Sir Duncan
Together, Wes and Duncan had many adventures. At times, they would swear fealty to a lord or landed knight, living in their castle in exchange for serving as guards and chasing bandits from their roads. When the lord no longer had need of their service, they would move on and live by their own means, negotiating coin from villages for driving off larveks, mogriffs, and other native beasts of Meridian. Most evenings, Duncan and Wes would spar to teach the young squire swordplay, and when able Duncan would teach Wes to ride and set up targets to practice jousting at. In return, Wes ensured Duncan's horse was fed, his armor scoured free of rust, and their clothing washed among other chores to ensure Duncan was always ready for his duties as a knight. From Duncan's example, Wes learned not only the ways of knighthood, but how to apply its code to the world and act with honor in times of uncertainty. With time, the pair grew to be as close as brothers.

Four years into Wes' training, Sir Duncan had sworn his sword to Lord Doran of Torus Filney when the lord was visited by Queen Weira, accompanied by an entourage of numerous knights and servants. The Queen had come in response to rumors of a Banshee having crossed into Meridian from another world, seeking to capture it and use the wishes a Banshee owed its captor to resolve the rising tensions between Meridian's human and Lurden populations. Lord Doran placed his household at Weira's command, including his household knights, but Duncan expressed doubts about using a wish to force people to get along. Though many of the royal entourage took offense on the queen's behalf, the Queen forgave Duncan, who in turn promised to abide his oaths as a knight and follow her commands. Wes privately berated Duncan for disagreeing with their queen, but Duncan held firm and reminded his squire a knight owes his liege the truth, even when they don't want to hear it.

The hunt would prove difficult, and nearly disastrous. Many knights were injured as they followed the Banshee into dangerous places, or underestimated her razor-sharp claws. As its end neared, Duncan prevented Weira herself from chasing the Banshee through a portal back to its home world, saving her from a trap on the other side. Summoned to a private audience after, Wes was present as Duncan answered the Queen's questions. When asked if he thought his Queen had been wrong, Duncan allowed her errors had been made in desperation as she sought answers to difficult questions of ruling. Duncan was even asked for advice on solving the problems posed by the expanding Lurden population. Pleased by his answers and appreciating his honesty, Weira rewarded his loyalty with elevation to the Royal Guard. Though surprised, Duncan had come to personally respect the Queen for her willingness to listen, and swore to protect her with his life. Wes later apologized for doubting Duncan as it was not the squire's place, and as result Duncan kept Wes as his squire in the queen's service.

Returning to the capital, Wes found himself in new company as squire to a member of the Royal Guard.

Quest for Sir Duncan
The search for the first lost knight would take Wes and his allies into the deepest gloomy reaches of the Forbidden City, where Duncan had been cursed to walk forever, unable to find his way out.

Quest for Sir Owen
As Elyon and Galgheita's investigation revealed, Phobos' spell upon Sir Owen had cast him out of Meridian and into another dimension. What none had expected, however, was this dimension was revealed through Elyon's magic to be Earth, and Wes' next quest would have him depend on the members of W.I.T.C.H. to guide him in a strange, modern world.

Quest for Sir Tordek
With Owen content to remain with his new family on Earth, Wes would next return to Meridian to seek the Galhot knight, Sir Tordek. In the course of his journey, he would learn his former love, Mildred, was still alive, and struggled with feelings of wanting to seek her out despite the urgency of his quest. He would ultimately be reunited with her, and though disappointed to learn she had not waited for him and started a family of her own, they would part as friends.

Thwarting Sir Lucan
After learning the ultimate fate of Sir Tordek in trying to stop Sir Lucan's obsession with revenge against the whole of Meridian's royal family, Wes and his allies took up his cause in a race to stop Lucan and protect Queen Elyon.

Service to Queen Elyon

 * Wes: "She was a natural ruler. She loved to listen and solve the problems of those who came to her. She could put others at ease, and be laughing with someone she'd met the hour before as if they were the oldest friends."
 * Elyon: "She sounds great. Really... great. I wish I could see the fun in listening to villagers argue over sheep grazing rights. The more I learn about her, the less I think I'll ever live up to her."
 * Wes: "You... may not have her zeal for livestock disputes. But you do have some advantages she never could have dreamed of. I've seen your world. Its technology, its people. You have the chance to introduce those lessons here."
 * —Wes encourages the young monarch.

Returning to service at the court of Meridian, Wes proved a great help to the new Queen. Having known Weira closely, Elyon often called on him to guess what her mother might have done in the face of difficult decisions, and advise her on the traditions and culture of her restored home.

Wes would take part in a jousting tournament held as part of Queen Elyon's fourteenth birthday celebrations, but was defeated in the semi-final by Irma Lair.

Personality and Traits
As a knight, Wes was sworn to obey the laws of chivalry and strove to live up to the ideals of knighthood. Honest and kind, Wes' gentle disposition made him an ideal knight in the peaceful days of Queen Weira's reign. Often, he would ride out on patrols with fellow knights and offer his service to the kingdom's outlying villages in the name of the Queen. While he accomplished great deeds with sword and shield, slaying larveks and other fearsome beasts, he was best known for his faithful friendship towards Meridian's other knights. He often mediated and defused disputes between more proud or hot-tempered brothers, believing cooperation was always possible. His trusting nature, however, allowed Prince Phobos to remove him as an obstacle in his ascension to the throne.

His failure to protect the queen was a source of deeply-held shame for Wes, causing his thoughtfulness to become crippling self-doubt. The only way he knew to make up for these failings was to risk his own safety, striving to rescue the other victims of Phobos' spells. Unable to forgive himself, Wes was all too willing to put himself in danger for the sake of his quest, sometimes gravely so. His new allies taught him not to let one mistake lead him to further error, and his mission would not have succeeded without their guidance or their strength. From them, he learned to rely on others again.

While as used to salt meats and hardtack trail rations as the fare of royal banquets, Wes enjoys smoked cheeses above all else.

Equipment

 * Arming sword A simple, double-edged straight sword with a cruciform hilt, Wes' sword was his principle weapon as a knight, both for battle and ceremony. As such, Wes took scrupulous care of the blade and spent time almost every evening polishing or sharpening it to keep a mirror finish and sharp edge on the Meridianite steel. Having been given to him by Sir Duncan, Wes treated the sword as a symbol of his knighthood, and by extension, his own identity. Thus, its near-loss on one adventure greatly troubled him. At a length of 79 centimeters, Wes favored using the reach it afforded him to thrust and parry, though its blade was stout enough to slash and hack through hard armor just as well.