PART VI

DEATH KNIGHT OFFSHOOTS

Throughout my travels across Azeroth I have heard of other groups of undead dark warriors who bore some similarities to Death Knights, and yet did not quite deserve this name for various reasons. This is a brief description what I was able to find out.

Deathlords

Now this is a very strange tale. Former Paladins who betrayed the Light and gave in to their darker impulses, turning against the innocent and committing heinous atrocities throughout Lordaeron during its final days – sounds just like the Death Knights of the Third War, except that they became something else. They are known as Deathlords and few have ever encountered them, with even fewer living long enough to recount such a story.

Deathlords are undead, for certain, yet unlike anything we have ever seen before. Whatever vague descriptions I was able to recover picture them like something more similar to Revenants – semi-spectral, highly volatile, exuding a strong dark aura, and not under the control of any higher being (not even the Lich King himself). They allegedly possessed both great physical strength and the ability to cast deadly spells from several different schools of magic. Facing such a foe alone was beyond foolish.

A member of the Horde who had definitely encountered at least two Deathlords and defeated them in battle was the half-breed known as Rexxar. Alas, he is a very nomadic creature and is hard to track down. And even if I could find him, I doubt he can help me much – he is more of a brute than a scholar. The unconfirmed information I was able to find suggests that he faced two varieties of Deathlord – a weaker one on the Echo Isles that seemed to draw its power from the sea and the Deeplord Revenants inhabiting the coast, and a considerable deadlier variety somewhere along the coast of Dustwallow Marsh, known as the Eldritch Deathlord – a monstrosity of such raw power that even Rexxar and his brutish companions barely survived the fight. It is curious that these creatures seem to favor ocean shores. Could it be that their transformation has something to do with the seas, or perhaps the dark powers that dwell deep beneath the waves?

The Magisters of Silvermoon were, thankfully, able to examine two artifacts recovered from such creatures. From the weaker variety Rexxar plundered a helmet, reforged by an unknown force to resemble a crown. It could empower its wearer physically and spiritually, while also allowing them to cast bolts of "pain" – the Magisters guess that this is some kind of shadow or fel magic. The Eldritch Deathlord carried a mighty shield, which could also empower its user, while also engulfing them in searing flames that would burn anyone foolish enough to get within melee range. This magical effect sounds somewhat similar to a spell employed by the Night Elf Demon Hunters.

The Host of Suffering

Orbaz Bloodbane, a coward of the lowliest order, escaped from the battle of Light's Hope chapel before its tragic conclusion and remained loyal to the Lich King. He somehow managed to crawl back to Icecrown and beg for forgiveness from his master. Not only was he forgiven for his spinelessness, but he was also given command over a new cadre of "Death Knights" that were to replace the children of Acherus – the Host of Suffering.

I do not consider these dark soldiers to be true Death Knights as they lacked all of the fine skills and discipline which made us the fighting force that could crush the Scarlet Enclave, and later on many other threats throughout Azeroth and Outland. The Host of Suffering was a ragtag band of warriors that wielded shadowy powers, and were unswervingly loyal to Arthas, and yet lacked the true spirit of Death Knights. They even had the three schools of Blood, Frost, and Unholy, yet their headmasters (whose names are not worth mentioning here) had a rather shallow understanding of their doctrine and abilities.

The only aspect in which the Host of Suffering could compete with us was their headquarters – the long-rumored Malykriss, the Vile Hold – a new kind of necropolis wrought entirely of Saronite – the dark metal mined from the deepest reaches of Northrend, and used for the construction of the Icecrown Citadel and many of the Scourge's greatest weapons. Had Malykriss been completed, it could have been unstoppable, and not even Acherus would have stood a chance against its might. Thankfully, with some help from mortal heroes, we were able to sabotage its construction and ultimately defeat the Host of Suffering, slaying Orbaz Bloodbane before he could escape again.

It is touching, on some level, that the Lich King considered us, the Knights of Acherus, valuable enough to replace with a very similar order, and yet the substitute was quite lacking and could not really compare to us. Now they are just another closed chapter in the story of our struggle against our former master.

PART VII

THE FUTURE

So here we are, honored reader, at the end of this humble tome. You saw laid down before you the complete sequence of events that led to our existence and all the tragic events that surrounded it – from the long-forgotten death priests of Draenor, through the unholy riders of the Old Horde, all the way to the present, where we ponder our newfound freedom.

Did you learn something useful? Just as this tome can help you understand us better, so can you, through your reflections, help us understand ourselves as well. Are we heroes, villains, or victims? I leave the answers to these questions up to you.

Where do we go from here? What will happen to us in the future? Will the peoples of Azeroth ever truly accept us among them? Only time can tell... but one thing is certain – there will always be a need for heroes in this world and beyond, as evil never sleeps.

But then again, neither do we...

-THE END-

And a few final words from the author...

It's still hard to believe this is finished – it dragged on for at least 5 years due to all kinds of reasons, too numerous to list here. And I know it took 5 years because the earliest known version of this fan fic, a DOC file I found on my old laptop, was created in January 2015. If you're curious, the first parts of this work to be written were Alexandros Mograine's speech and Sir Zeliek's corrupted prayer book scribblings. That's what that old file contains. At that time I did not yet have a clear vision what exactly I wanted to write. Then I thought to focus only on the Death Knights of WoW, but my love for Blizzard's older games prompted me to include some material about the old Death Knights of the Second War (one of the most feared units while playing Warcraft II). Eventually, I decided to go big and encompass the entirety of the Warcraft series, which led to the creation of the Necrolyte chapter...

For the sake of comparison, my Doom Encyclopedia took about 6 months to complete, and I still remember vividly that November night when I put the full stop to the last sentence. I suppose I will remember this night as well. I am mere minutes away from finally publishing this.

Could I do something similar again? Perhaps. Warlocks could be a good choice of topic, since they have been a part of the series, in one way or another, from its very beginning in 1994. Besides, "darker" characters are always more interesting to explore, so Rogues are a possibility as well. Or spellcasters in general (except for Druids, I've never had much love for playing this class). Other types of Warcraft fan fics are a possibility as well, possibly focused on older events (e.g. the Second War).

Well, I hope you enjoyed this journey through more than fifteen years of accumulated Warcraft lore. I did enjoy writing it, even if it seemed endless at times. As always, comments, reviews and suggestions are welcome and highly appreciated. This is how I refine my style and become a better writer.

Thank you, and see you next time... whenever it may be.

Lyubomir Ivanov, April 20, 2020, 21:51 (local time)