Free will.
Most of the undead were perplexed by this change. They wandered the fallen kingdom in confusion, unsure of what to do. But there were other Scourge who saw the Lich King’s weakness as an opportunity for revenge. Among them was the banshee Sylvanas Windrunner.
Ever since her death, Sylvanas had thrashed against the Lich King’s control. Her efforts had always been fruitless. The Lich King’s will had been as strong as steel, and the entity had forced her to make war against the living. Her hatred of the Lich King and his foremost servant, Arthas Menethil, had swelled. Vengeance and rage consumed her soul, but she’d had no means to channel them at her enemies.
Now she did. Sylvanas rallied other free-willed undead and gave them a purpose. They would never again have the lives that had been stolen from them, but they would have revenge. Their first victim would be the creature who had devastated Sylvanas’s beautiful kingdom, he who had ripped away her future and made her into a monster: Arthas.
Sylvanas wasn’t the only one seeking to destroy the death knight. Varimathras and the other dreadlords had learned of the Lich King’s weakness. They took control over part of the Scourge with the hope of eventually launching an invasion into Northrend to vanquish the lord of the undead. Much like Sylvanas, they knew that eliminating Arthas was the first step toward this goal.
Arthas was in no condition to quell these uprisings. As the Lich King’s power faded, so, too, did his own. The once-feared and nearly invincible death knight found himself hunted on multiple fronts by Sylvanas and the dreadlords. Though Arthas was willing to fight, he had a more pressing purpose. The Lich King had commanded him to abandon Lordaeron. The entity needed all those Scourge that were still loyal to him to be at his side in Northrend, for he knew it was only a matter of time before Kil’jaeden struck at the Frozen Throne.
The Lich King was right to expect a reprisal from his enemies. But it would not come from the dreadlords or Sylvanas Windrunner. It would come from Outland.
After reaching Outland, Kael’thas Sunstrider and Lady Vashj led their people through the cracked, barren expanse of Hellfire Peninsula. Illidan Stormrage was nowhere to be found. For days, the blood elves and naga wandered the desolation until they spied Warden Maiev Shadowsong and her Watchers.
Though Maiev had captured Illidan, she had been unable to find a way back to Azeroth. The gateway she had used was gone. Many other portals existed on Outland, but none of them led home. Maiev did not know the geography of the shattered realm, nor what dangers awaited her. She and her Watchers treaded carefully until they discovered something quite unexpected: soldiers from the Alliance.
The remnants of the Sons of Lothar had established a bastion known as Honor Hold in Hellfire Peninsula. Maiev saw these refugees as her best chance of finding a way out of Outland. But before the Watchers could reach Honor Hold, Kael’thas and Lady Vashj struck. The blood elves and naga emerged from the dust-blown wastes with blades drawn. Fierce though the Watchers were, they were hopelessly outnumbered. Kael’thas and Lady Vashj liberated Illidan and drove Maiev and her surviving followers into the wilds.
Illidan suppressed the urge to hunt down Maiev. Chasing after the warden on the Broken Isles had ultimately been a waste of time, and he would not repeat the same mistake twice, no matter how much he wanted to destroy her.
Illidan appraised his new forces with satisfaction. The blood elves were highly trained and loyal fighters. Their leader, Kael’thas Sunstrider, was a gifted sorcerer, albeit wrestling with inner demons. Illidan immediately sensed the turmoil gnawing at the elves’ hearts. He bluntly told Kael’thas that there was no cure for their addiction to magic. However, that did not mean they were doomed to live in torment. Illidan promised to find a new source of magic for Kael’thas, one even greater than the Sunwell.
It was not the answer Kael’thas had been hoping for, but it enticed him nonetheless. It wasn’t often that he met someone with a greater mastery of magic than he had. Kael’thas had already come this far. He would cast his lot with Illidan.
Following his liberation, Illidan formed a plan to seize Outland from Magtheridon and the Legion’s forces. First, he would shut down the numerous gateways on Outland, portals through which the Legion sent reinforcements to the realm. Then Illidan would launch his army at Magtheridon’s seat of power: the Black Temple in Shadowmoon Valley.
The campaign was unforgiving. Illidan asked much of his followers, and he gave little in the way of praise. But his unwavering sense of purpose and the sheer force of his will energized his soldiers and pushed them forward.
As Illidan Stormrage closed in on the Black Temple, he found new allies among the Broken. The twisted creatures were part of the Ashtongue tribe, and they were led by a former draenei exarch named Akama. He also sought to liberate the Black Temple from Magtheridon, albeit for different reasons. The stronghold had once been a sacred draenei site. Akama saw reclaiming it as a means to redeem the Broken in the eyes of the draenei race.
Illidan Stormrage’s army crashed against the Black Temple and drew the wrath of its defenders. Magtheridon had infused orcs with his blood, transforming them into crimson-skinned, battle-crazed warriors called fel orcs. Demons fought alongside these soldiers, training the Legion’s war machines on the invaders. They bathed the terrain outside the walls in emerald fire, but it wasn’t enough. Illidan and his followers cut their way through the Legion’s defenders and confronted Magtheridon himself.
Illidan, Lady Vashj, Akama, and Kael’thas Sunstrider were formidable on their own. But together, they were unstoppable. For all his terrible strength, Magtheridon succumbed to his enemies with alarming speed.
Illidan could have killed Magtheridon, but the pit lord was more useful to him alive than dead. He had seen what the demon’s blood had done to the fel orcs. It had transformed them into bloodthirsty creatures who lived for only one thing: war. Illidan could use such single-minded soldiers in his own army. And with Magtheridon’s blood, he could create even more.
Illidan appeared before the rest of the Black Temple’s defenders. He offered them a simple choice: bend the knee or face oblivion. Some chose death, but most accepted Illidan as their new master. Though many were fel orcs, demons also bowed their heads in subservience.
The fact that Illidan allowed demons into his army appalled Kael’thas and Akama, but he assuaged their fears. Forging a pact with demons was an opportunity. They could reveal much about the Legion’s strengths and weaknesses. This knowledge could aid Illidan and his allies when Kil’jaeden inevitably retaliated against him.
That retaliation came much sooner than Illidan expected. On the heels of victory, the fiery visage of Kil’jaeden appeared before him and his followers.
The demon lord had learned of Illidan’s insurrection on Outland. He trusted Illidan even less than he had before, but he believed the former night elf was useful. Illidan had gathered new allies like Kael’thas, and his army had grown.
Kil’jaeden was still confident he could manipulate Illidan. Demons were conniving creatures, and it was not uncommon for them to betray each other in search of power. That was exactly how Kil’jaeden saw Illidan’s recent transgression: his servant had claimed Outland as a prize. Kil’jaeden demanded that Illidan return to Azeroth and finish off the Lich King. If he obeyed, Outland would be his to do with as he pleased. If he disobeyed, Kil’jaeden would do everything in his power to rip the broken realm from Illidan’s control and destroy the former night elf.
ILLIDAN STORMRAGE, AKAMA, LADY VASHJ, AND KAEL’THAS SUNSTRIDER BATTLE MAGTHERIDON
For Illidan, this ultimatum was a stroke of good fortune. He needed more time before he could begin his true war against the Legion, and Kil’jaeden had given him just that. Illidan Stormrage once again feigned subservience and rallied his army to invade Azeroth. Using one of the many portals on Outland, he crafted a new gateway back to that world.
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He did not take the full might of his forces with him. Illidan left behind Akama and some of his other followers to secure Outland in his absence.
When Illidan Stormrage and his army arrived on Azeroth, the Lich King’s worst fears were realized. Kil’jaeden had sent his servants to vanquish him for good. They were determined, and they wielded formidable magics that helped them reach Northrend with astonishing speed.
Arthas Menethil had no such way to hasten his journey. By the time he set foot in Northrend, Illidan’s forces were already marching toward Icecrown Citadel.
There was only one route by which Arthas could reach the Lich King before his enemies did. He plunged into the forgotten corridors of Azjol-Nerub, the nerubian kingdom that stretched below the earth. It was not an easy path, nor was it a safe one. Azjol-Nerub was ancient, a place built when the world was young. Minions of the Old Gods lurked in its depths, and they were determined to stop Arthas from helping his master.
And Arthas was just as determined to find a way through the forgotten city. In desperation, he cleaved through the Old Gods’ servants and emerged at Icecrown Glacier before Illidan. In preparation for war, the death knight rallied every undead he could find in the frozen wastes.
Illidan was surprised at the sudden appearance of Arthas and the Scourge, but he was not deterred. Battle erupted in the shadow of Icecrown Citadel. Neither side took prisoners. This was not a war of conquest; it was one of total annihilation.
As the fighting wore on, Arthas rode out to meet Illidan in one-on-one combat.
Though his energies were dissipating, the Lich King infused some of his remaining power into Arthas. It was a dangerous gamble that pushed the entity even closer to the edge of oblivion, but it was the only chance he had to survive. If Arthas failed, the Lich King would fall, and so, too, would the rest of the Scourge. But if the death knight succeeded, it would turn the tide of battle against the blood elves and the naga.
In full view of the two armies, Arthas Menethil fought Illidan Stormrage. Frostmourne crashed against the former night elf’s legendary warglaives, the Twin Blades of Azzinoth. Bolstered by the Lich King’s infusion of power, Arthas gained the upper hand.
Frostmourne sliced into Illidan’s flesh and nearly killed him. Yet Arthas never delivered the final blow. The Lich King’s will urged him to go to the Frozen Throne as soon as possible.
As Arthas sought out his master, the Scourge slaughtered as many of the blood elves and naga as they could. Illidan and what was left of his army retreated to Outland in disgrace.
Illidan was gone, but that did not change the fact that the Lich King’s power was continuing to bleed through the crack in the Frozen Throne. The Lich King would eventually fade from existence altogether, his energies dissipating into Northrend’s frigid air. There was but one way to escape this fate: to merge with his greatest champion.
ILLIDAN STORMRAGE CONFRONTS THE DEATH KNIGHT ARTHAS MENETHIL IN NORTHREND
Through this act, the Lich King could do more than save himself from oblivion. He could finally claim a physical vessel and use it to free himself from the Frozen Throne. The Lich King knew of the inner doubts that had long plagued Arthas, and he believed the death knight’s mind would be easy to subdue.
At his master’s command, Arthas stepped before the Frozen Throne and shattered it with a single strike from Frostmourne. The enchanted helm containing the Lich King’s spirit tumbled to the death knight’s feet.
If Arthas took up the helm, the Lich King promised him that he would ascend to true power, but the death knight hesitated. Was his master merely seeking to use him? Would the Lich King destroy his mind after he donned the helm? He did not know for sure, but one thing was certain: if he did nothing, his master would fade away, and Arthas would be weakened. His enemies were many, and they would do anything to end his existence. Without the Lich King’s power to draw on, Arthas feared he would eventually fall to his hunters.
Thus, Arthas embraced the unknown and placed the helm upon his head. The Lich King’s power flooded into him. Their spirits merged, becoming one of the mightiest entities the world had ever known.
Arthas Menethil’s departure from Lordaeron did not bring peace to the region. Undead that were still loyal to the Lich King roamed from the center of the fallen kingdom to the eastern edge of the Plaguelands. From the southwest, Othmar Garithos and the remnants of the Alliance were launching offensives into these lands. And trapped between these sides were two rebel undead factions: one led by Sylvanas Windrunner, and the other by the dreadlords Balnazzar, Detheroc, and Varimathras.
The dreadlords sensed the hatred burning within Sylvanas, and they saw her as a useful ally. They offered her a place in their army.
In response, Sylvanas gave them war. She had only recently regained her freedom from the Lich King, and she was not about to pledge herself to a new master. What was more, the dreadlords had helped bring the plague of undeath to Azeroth. They had helped create Arthas. And, by extension, they had made her into a monster.
Varimathras was the first to succumb to Sylvanas. To escape defeat, he kneeled before her and promised to act as her obedient servant. Loyalty meant little to demons, a fact that Sylvanas understood well. But she saw Varimathras as a potential weapon. He was powerful, and he knew what tactics the other dreadlords would use against her. As long as he remained useful, she would allow him to draw breath.
Sylvanas gave no quarter to the other dreadlords. Though her undead were few, she had gained formidable new powers in undeath. Moreover, her years as a ranger-general had made her a master of strategy and battlefield tactics, and she methodically dismantled the dreadlords’ forces.
Detheroc was the next dreadlord to fall before her wrath. Balnazzar barricaded himself behind the walls of Lordaeron’s fallen capital and prepared for the inevitable siege. His efforts were in vain. Sylvanas and her forces stormed through the city, defeating the dreadlord and seizing the stronghold for themselves.
With the capital under her control, Sylvanas now had a refuge to protect herself from her enemies. She named her followers the Forsaken and proclaimed herself their Banshee Queen. Sylvanas ordered the Forsaken to establish a new kingdom in the city’s subterranean crypts, dungeons, and sewers. This putrid warren became known as the Undercity. In its toxic corridors, Sylvanas Windrunner and her Forsaken planned their vengeance against the Lich King.
After Arthas Menethil merged with the Lich King, he remained in Northrend. The task of commanding the Scourge in Lordaeron fell to Kel’Thuzad. Though Sylvanas Windrunner and her Forsaken were entrenched in the Undercity, the lich’s undead still dominated much of the Plaguelands. Yet there was one troublesome enemy that constantly vied for control of Kel’Thuzad’s domain.
The Order of the Silver Hand had been devastated by the war with the Scourge, but its remaining paladins banded together and vowed to drive the undead from the land. Among these pious warriors was Alexandros Mograine, wielder of the Ashbringer. The weapon, crafted in Ironforge and infused with the Holy Light, had become a thing of legend. It destroyed any undead that it touched, leaving only ash in its wake. As the paladins waged battle against the Scourge, word of Alexandros’s deeds spread. He soon took on the same name as his sword.
THE FATE OF GARITHOS
Sylvanas Windrunner did not lay siege to Lordaeron’s capital alone. Detheroc had ensorcelled Othmar Garithos and many Alliance soldiers. When Sylvanas defeated the dreadlord, she also liberated the human commander and his forces. Garithos distrusted Sylvanas and her undead, but he saw the dreadlords as an even greater threat. He agreed to help Sylvanas assault the capital, and she promised to give him control of it in return.
Only too late did Garithos learn what a promise from Sylvanas truly meant. After conquering the city, Sylvanas rewarded Garithos with death. Her ghouls feasted on the human’s remains. All they left behind were bones.<
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LANDS OF THE EASTERN KINGDOMS AFTER THE THIRD WAR
The paladins were elusive and resourceful, and the Scourge had little luck defeating them in open combat. While these holy warriors focused their attention on the undead, another foe infiltrated their ranks unseen: Balnazzar.
The dreadlord had succumbed to Sylvanas’s forces in the siege on Lordaeron’s capital, but he had not been destroyed. He had used the last of his power to flee into the Plaguelands. Without the help of the other dreadlords, his command over the undead was limited. He kept to the shadows, fearful that the Scourge might one day discover his presence. In the paladins, Balnazzar saw a means to protect himself—a means to create a new army.
Balnazzar killed a venerated paladin named Saidan Dathrohan, and then he assumed his form. In the guise of such a respected holy warrior, the dreadlord was confident that he could twist most of the paladins into his service. Yet there was one he believed was beyond his reach: Alexandros Mograine. The wielder of the Ashbringer embodied piety and valor. The sooner he was gone, the sooner the other paladins would fall under Balnazzar’s influence.
Over time, the dreadlord manipulated Alexandros’s eldest son, Renault Mograine. He turned the young human to darkness and forced him to commit one of the gravest of acts.
Renault murdered his father with the Ashbringer.
Alexandros’s corpse and the Ashbringer sword were later recovered by the Scourge. Kel’Thuzad saw a use for both of them. The lich raised the legendary paladin into undeath and transformed him into an obedient servant. The Ashbringer itself, having been used for such an atrocious purpose, was distorted into an unholy shadow of the sword it had once been.
World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 Page 12