How Bael'spar became a warrior inthe Lich King's army
Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 4:34 pm
On Death Knights
Report as Commissioned by Lady Nyx
Written and Submitted by Scribe Yaen’gohl Due’maes
I was approached a year ago by Lady Nyx in a form that I find I shall not describe with words. As any who have dealt with her understand, she requests and one acts. It had come to her attention that the Frozen Throne to the North was energizing in some new way. Lady Nyx needed more information, and pressed me into that service.
Our Library, while vast, did not include too much on the topic of the lands to the North, or of the current state of Arthas. I would need my own source in that matter. To that end, I recruited my master, Bael’spar “Guardian Fist†Mon’tisto, Light of the Sun’s Fury, Master Engineer and Designer, Nightwarder of Nyx, Bane of the Proudmore Wine Cellar, and many more titles beside. His initial duty was to get me an interview with Lady Sylvanus Windrunner, which was an easily achieved task considering their relationship. Lord Varimathras was most difficult in this, and I shall be writing a protest at his obstructions to my duties.
Lady Sylvanus had noted that she could feel the cold mind of the Lich King once again attempting to assert its control, but she had kept his influence from her subjects. However, she could send no agents to investigate, for they would be without her protection. We worked, though, on a profile of the perfect agent to send into the Lich King’s demesne.
Our profile indicated that they would have to have some working knowledge of the “mysticâ€. Warriors and rogues were immediately out then. Druids and shaman might find themselves removed from the source of their powers, and be helpless before the Scourge. The harsh climate would necessitate the use of uncomfortable and unwieldy gear; taking priests, warlocks, and mages out of consideration. Any hunter chosen, would have to spend serious amounts of time away from their pets, and having to learn quickly to befriend those creatures under the sway of the Lich King. Therefore, only a paladin would really be of service in this category.
The second need of the profile is that the agent be able to resist the will of the Lich King. We could not think of an adequate way to accomplish this. However, we did chance on the idea that someone who was a mental tabula rasa might be able to fall below the notice of the Lich King, or at least not be able to be used to get back at us should he fail. The only true candidate that fit both characteristics was my master, Bael’spar.
Ladies Sylvanus and Nyx took turns taking him under their direct control, which he seemed able to slip out of. As they explained it to me, controlling his mind is like steering your wolf by the tail after it had been bobbed and coated in grease. They could do it for a while, but they would lose track of him.
My master, aside from the “training†that he was receiving from Ladies Nyx and Sylvanus, had taken to working on chassis for devices he would need to complete his charade.
I was not idle at this time. I began to peer along the fringes of the Scourge army. I had seen these Death Knights, and knew that my master would be most capable of fitting into their number. I was given the secondary task of learning all that I could of them. A job that proved too difficult aside from basic observation, which was to prove useful enough.
Using pictographs and drawings of the Death Knights, we had appropriate armor constructed for Bael’spar. My master constructed devices that, in turn, allowed him to mimic the effects of the Death Knights. It was the Lich King, though, that made infiltrating my master a possibility.
Thanks to the assistance of a few of my colleagues, we determined that Arthas “wakes†the Death Knights. Not having a good idea of the outcome should we submit my master’s corpse to the Ebon Hold, we had to get him there alive. Arthas’s renewed attacks on Horde gave us the opening we needed.
Before we moved, we took Bael’spar to an inn, and let nature take its course. When he had finally passed out, we packed him into a crate that appeared similar to those that bore the tainted grain to Booty Bay. In that crate, Bael’spar and his tools were taken to the Eastern Plaguelands. My colleagues and I, having followed the trail thus far, loaded my master into a weapons crate that was bound for the hold. We followed it there.
The images that I was assaulted with in those dark halls will be forever burned into my nightmares. This is a place where one is turned against one’s own, and made to enjoy it. In this moment, I feared for my master, but the plan was in motion. With a maneuver that few outside the stealthed brotherhood could manage, Bael’spar’s groggy form was switched with a newly awaken Death Knight. Our saps flicked out like lightning, and he was in a crate headed for the surface before he could even take a breath.
We returned with the acquired Death Knight to the Apothecarium in Undercity, where research on their physiology is being conducted.
The following is from Bael’spar’s debriefing.
I heard the Lich King call a name. It was Bael’thas, for it had been on my mind. I wondered how my uncle faired. Now, this name was in my ears and mind with a voice that bordered far more on the graveyard side than Sylvanus. On taking a look around, all I could think was, ‘Ebon may mean black, but everyone doesn’t have to wear it.’
Arthas would yammer about ‘Die’ and ‘Cut it short!’ and so on. He was hard to have a conversation with, and fealt that all black was a good look for his Death Knights. He may be lord of the Scourge, but he’s also the Count of Cliché.
At any rate, I wandered the halls of Ebon Hold, hoping to find something more fitting. I tried not to touch anything, and neither would you if you saw what passes for hygiene in that place. I listened to his instructors rant on and on about controlling the blood, taming ice, and utilizing one’s unholy force. Since I was in-cog-neat-o, I chose the Unholy path of education. It allowed me to bring my mechanical corpse into play. On the fly, I had to fashion a gargoyle. When I get back into the shop, I hope to be able to update the design. The wings, I had to…uh, borrow. While the individual might not be able to do much with them should I return them, they are developing an unpleasant odour.
Shall I now confess the crimes I committed under the direction of the Lich King? I killed a bunch of people, though only one Sin’dorei; so it shouldn’t matter much. I felt bad, but I think she may have been touched. She kept talking to me like she knew me. Well, maybe she knew of me. I am well known after all. I just have no recollection of her. Perhaps that is a kindness to me.
I took up arms against the Argent Dawn. I was convinced to don their uniform to infiltrate them and give them bad information. That time, they really didn’t have to twist my arm. I was able to wear something other than black for a brief period. My pores opened up, and I was able to relax for a bit. I even diced with some of the sailors on board one of their vessels. One of them was going to show me the “Argent Dawnâ€, if you catch my meaning; but one of Arthas’s pet Knights was watching me. Couldn’t allow myself to be reported to Arthas now, could I?
After I proved my worth, they sent me to the real front, Light’s Hope Chapel. I shall recount that battle in my memoirs, but the point that I think I was sent on this trip was to account the Death Knights. Well, let’s just say that it wasn’t just Sylvanus who was able to break the Lich King’s grasp.
At this point, Bael’spar rants about the treatment he received when he was sent from Ebon Hold to Orgrimmar. I was pulled away from my studies by the type of yelling that seems done only by mobs bearing torches and pitchforks. Having been the subject of such a mob, I went out to sympathize with the condemned. Imagine my surprise at witnessing my master being spit upon and covered in rotten vegetation. It was hard to believe that all the orcs that I called friends would do this to my master. I watched in silence and shadows as he progressed to Thrall’s Chamber.
Recognizing my master once his helm was removed, the grunts responsible were admonished. The full potential of these new Horde forces has not yet been realized. However, I’m certain that they will prove to be an asset, even if that is only n decimating the Alliance’s supply of them.
Report as Commissioned by Lady Nyx
Written and Submitted by Scribe Yaen’gohl Due’maes
I was approached a year ago by Lady Nyx in a form that I find I shall not describe with words. As any who have dealt with her understand, she requests and one acts. It had come to her attention that the Frozen Throne to the North was energizing in some new way. Lady Nyx needed more information, and pressed me into that service.
Our Library, while vast, did not include too much on the topic of the lands to the North, or of the current state of Arthas. I would need my own source in that matter. To that end, I recruited my master, Bael’spar “Guardian Fist†Mon’tisto, Light of the Sun’s Fury, Master Engineer and Designer, Nightwarder of Nyx, Bane of the Proudmore Wine Cellar, and many more titles beside. His initial duty was to get me an interview with Lady Sylvanus Windrunner, which was an easily achieved task considering their relationship. Lord Varimathras was most difficult in this, and I shall be writing a protest at his obstructions to my duties.
Lady Sylvanus had noted that she could feel the cold mind of the Lich King once again attempting to assert its control, but she had kept his influence from her subjects. However, she could send no agents to investigate, for they would be without her protection. We worked, though, on a profile of the perfect agent to send into the Lich King’s demesne.
Our profile indicated that they would have to have some working knowledge of the “mysticâ€. Warriors and rogues were immediately out then. Druids and shaman might find themselves removed from the source of their powers, and be helpless before the Scourge. The harsh climate would necessitate the use of uncomfortable and unwieldy gear; taking priests, warlocks, and mages out of consideration. Any hunter chosen, would have to spend serious amounts of time away from their pets, and having to learn quickly to befriend those creatures under the sway of the Lich King. Therefore, only a paladin would really be of service in this category.
The second need of the profile is that the agent be able to resist the will of the Lich King. We could not think of an adequate way to accomplish this. However, we did chance on the idea that someone who was a mental tabula rasa might be able to fall below the notice of the Lich King, or at least not be able to be used to get back at us should he fail. The only true candidate that fit both characteristics was my master, Bael’spar.
Ladies Sylvanus and Nyx took turns taking him under their direct control, which he seemed able to slip out of. As they explained it to me, controlling his mind is like steering your wolf by the tail after it had been bobbed and coated in grease. They could do it for a while, but they would lose track of him.
My master, aside from the “training†that he was receiving from Ladies Nyx and Sylvanus, had taken to working on chassis for devices he would need to complete his charade.
I was not idle at this time. I began to peer along the fringes of the Scourge army. I had seen these Death Knights, and knew that my master would be most capable of fitting into their number. I was given the secondary task of learning all that I could of them. A job that proved too difficult aside from basic observation, which was to prove useful enough.
Using pictographs and drawings of the Death Knights, we had appropriate armor constructed for Bael’spar. My master constructed devices that, in turn, allowed him to mimic the effects of the Death Knights. It was the Lich King, though, that made infiltrating my master a possibility.
Thanks to the assistance of a few of my colleagues, we determined that Arthas “wakes†the Death Knights. Not having a good idea of the outcome should we submit my master’s corpse to the Ebon Hold, we had to get him there alive. Arthas’s renewed attacks on Horde gave us the opening we needed.
Before we moved, we took Bael’spar to an inn, and let nature take its course. When he had finally passed out, we packed him into a crate that appeared similar to those that bore the tainted grain to Booty Bay. In that crate, Bael’spar and his tools were taken to the Eastern Plaguelands. My colleagues and I, having followed the trail thus far, loaded my master into a weapons crate that was bound for the hold. We followed it there.
The images that I was assaulted with in those dark halls will be forever burned into my nightmares. This is a place where one is turned against one’s own, and made to enjoy it. In this moment, I feared for my master, but the plan was in motion. With a maneuver that few outside the stealthed brotherhood could manage, Bael’spar’s groggy form was switched with a newly awaken Death Knight. Our saps flicked out like lightning, and he was in a crate headed for the surface before he could even take a breath.
We returned with the acquired Death Knight to the Apothecarium in Undercity, where research on their physiology is being conducted.
The following is from Bael’spar’s debriefing.
I heard the Lich King call a name. It was Bael’thas, for it had been on my mind. I wondered how my uncle faired. Now, this name was in my ears and mind with a voice that bordered far more on the graveyard side than Sylvanus. On taking a look around, all I could think was, ‘Ebon may mean black, but everyone doesn’t have to wear it.’
Arthas would yammer about ‘Die’ and ‘Cut it short!’ and so on. He was hard to have a conversation with, and fealt that all black was a good look for his Death Knights. He may be lord of the Scourge, but he’s also the Count of Cliché.
At any rate, I wandered the halls of Ebon Hold, hoping to find something more fitting. I tried not to touch anything, and neither would you if you saw what passes for hygiene in that place. I listened to his instructors rant on and on about controlling the blood, taming ice, and utilizing one’s unholy force. Since I was in-cog-neat-o, I chose the Unholy path of education. It allowed me to bring my mechanical corpse into play. On the fly, I had to fashion a gargoyle. When I get back into the shop, I hope to be able to update the design. The wings, I had to…uh, borrow. While the individual might not be able to do much with them should I return them, they are developing an unpleasant odour.
Shall I now confess the crimes I committed under the direction of the Lich King? I killed a bunch of people, though only one Sin’dorei; so it shouldn’t matter much. I felt bad, but I think she may have been touched. She kept talking to me like she knew me. Well, maybe she knew of me. I am well known after all. I just have no recollection of her. Perhaps that is a kindness to me.
I took up arms against the Argent Dawn. I was convinced to don their uniform to infiltrate them and give them bad information. That time, they really didn’t have to twist my arm. I was able to wear something other than black for a brief period. My pores opened up, and I was able to relax for a bit. I even diced with some of the sailors on board one of their vessels. One of them was going to show me the “Argent Dawnâ€, if you catch my meaning; but one of Arthas’s pet Knights was watching me. Couldn’t allow myself to be reported to Arthas now, could I?
After I proved my worth, they sent me to the real front, Light’s Hope Chapel. I shall recount that battle in my memoirs, but the point that I think I was sent on this trip was to account the Death Knights. Well, let’s just say that it wasn’t just Sylvanus who was able to break the Lich King’s grasp.
At this point, Bael’spar rants about the treatment he received when he was sent from Ebon Hold to Orgrimmar. I was pulled away from my studies by the type of yelling that seems done only by mobs bearing torches and pitchforks. Having been the subject of such a mob, I went out to sympathize with the condemned. Imagine my surprise at witnessing my master being spit upon and covered in rotten vegetation. It was hard to believe that all the orcs that I called friends would do this to my master. I watched in silence and shadows as he progressed to Thrall’s Chamber.
Recognizing my master once his helm was removed, the grunts responsible were admonished. The full potential of these new Horde forces has not yet been realized. However, I’m certain that they will prove to be an asset, even if that is only n decimating the Alliance’s supply of them.