Undead History Undead History is a section of the manual . The Shaman , Ner ' zhul : Origin of the Lich King . The orc ish clans , bound by a noble , shamanistic culture for thousands of years on the world of Draenor , knew nothing of corruption or spiritual decay . But the sinister agents of the Burning Legion sought to forge them into a voracious , unstoppable army . The cunning demon , Kil ' jaeden , second in command of the Legion , saw that the savage warriors had vast potential for murder and bloodshed – and set out to corrupt their tranquil society from within . Kil ' jaeden appeared to the orcs ' most respected leader , the elder shaman Ner ' zhul , and told him that he would bestow upon the orcs great power and make them the undisputed rulers of their world . He even offered the old shaman untold mystical knowledge if he agreed to bind himself and his people to the Legion ' s will . Calculating and power hungry by nature , Ner ' zhul accepted Kil ' jaeden ’ s offer and made a Blood Pact with the demon . By doing so , Ner ' zhul had sealed the orcs ' fate and damned them to become the unwitting slaves of the Burning Legion . As time passed , Kil ' jaeden recognized that Ner ' zhul did not have the will or the brazen audacity to follow through with his plan of forging the orcs into a bloodthirsty horde . Ner ' zhul , realizing that his pact with Kil ' jaeden would only lead to his race ' s annihilation , refused to help the demon any further . Enraged by the shaman ' s defiance , Kil ' jaeden swore to take vengeance upon Ner ' zhul , and corrupt the orcs despite him . Kil ' jaeden found a new , eager apprentice to lead the orcs on the path to oblivion - Ner ' zhul ' s own nefarious protégé , Gul ' dan . With Kil ' jaeden ’ s help , Gul ' dan succeeded where his teacher had faltered . The evil , power - hungry Orc not only abolished the ancient practice of shaman ism – which he replaced with the study of demonic Warlock magics – but united the Orc clans into the volatile Horde that Kil ' jaeden had envisioned . Ner ' zhul , powerless to stop his former apprentice , could only watch as Gul ' dan masterfully transformed the orcs into mindless agents of destruction . Years passed as Ner ' zhul brooded silently upon the red world of Draenor . He watched as his people staged the first invasion of Azeroth . He heard the tales of the orcs ' Second War against the Alliance of Lordaeron . He bore witness to the treachery and corruption that seemed to be destroying his people from within . Despite Gul ' dan ' s masterminding the Horde ' s dark destiny , Ner ' zhul knew that he himself was responsible for setting it all in motion . Shortly after the end of the Second War , the news of the Horde ' s defeat reached the orcs who remained in Draenor . Ner ' zhul , knowing that the Horde had failed its mission to conquer Azeroth , feared that Kil ' jaeden and the Legion would take dire action against the remaining orcs . To escape Kil ' jaeden ' s imminent wrath , Ner ' zhul opened a number of mystical portals that lead to new , unspoiled worlds . The old shaman rallied the remaining orc clans and planned to lead them through one of the portals , and into a new directed destiny . Before he could execute his plan , Ner ' zhul was forced to deal with an Alliance expeditionary force sent to Draenor to destroy the orcs forever . Ner ' zhul ' s loyal clans managed to hold the Alliance forces at bay while the old shaman opened the raging , magical portals . To his horror , Ner ' zhul realized that the portals ' tremendous energies were beginning to rip the very fabric of Draenor apart . As the Alliance forces pushed the orcs further back into the hellish world , Draenor began to buckle in on itself . Realizing that the battling clans would never reach the portals in time , Ner ' zhul selfishly abandoned them and escaped with his elite followers in tow . The evil group of orcs crossed through their chosen portal just as Draenor blew apart in an apocalyptic explosion . The old shaman believed he ' d been lucky to escape death . . . Ironically , he would live to regret his náiveté . Kil ' jaeden and the New Deal . Just as Ner ' zhul and his followers entered the Twisting Nether – the ethereal plane that connects all of the worlds scattered throughout the Great Dark Beyond – they were ambushed by Kil ' jaeden and his demonic minions . Kil ' jaeden , who had sworn to take vengeance on Ner ' zhul for his prideful defiance , tortured the old shaman mercilessly by slowly tearing his body apart piece by piece . Kil ' jaeden kept the shaman ' s spirit alive and intact – leaving Ner ' zhul painfully aware of his body ’ s gross dismemberment . Though Ner ' zhul pleaded with the demon to release his spirit and grant him death , the demon grimly replied that the Blood Pact they had made long ago was still binding – and that he would make use of his wayward pawn once again . The orcs ' failure to conquer Azeroth as the Legion intended forced Kil ' jaeden to create a new army to sew chaos throughout the kingdoms of the Alliance . This new army could not be allowed to fall prey to the same petty rivalries and infighting that had plagued the Horde . It would have to be dogged , merciless , and singleminded in its mission . This time , Kil ' jaeden could not afford to fail . Holding Ner ' zhul ' s tortured , helpless spirit in stasis , Kil ' jaeden gave him one last chance to serve the Legion or suffer eternal torment . Once again , Ner ' zhul recklessly agreed to the demon ' s pact . Ner ' zhul ' s spirit was placed within a specially crafted block of diamond - hard ice gathered from the far reaches of the Twisting Nether . Encased within the frozen cask , Ner ' zhul felt his consciousness expand ten thousandfold . Warped by the demon ' s chaotic powers , Ner ' zhul became a spectral being of unfathomable power . At that moment , the Orc known as Ner ' zhul was shattered forever , and the Lich King was born . Ner ' zhul ' s loyal Death Knight s and warlock followers were also transformed by the demon ' s chaotic energies . The wicked spellcasters were ripped apart and remade as skeletal Lich es . The demons had ensured that even in death , Ner ' zhul ' s followers would serve him unquestioningly . When the time was right , Kil ' jaeden patiently explained the mission for which he had created the Lich King : Ner ' zhul was to spread a plague of death and terror across Azeroth that would snuff out Human civilization forever . All those who died from the dreaded plague would arise as the Undead . . . and their spirits would be bound to Ner ' zhul ' s iron will forever . Kil ' jaeden promised that if Ner ' zhul accomplished his dark mission of scouring humanity from the world , he would be freed from his curse and granted a new , healthy body to inhabit . Though Ner ' zhul was agreeable and seemingly anxious to play his part , Kil ' jaeden remained skeptical of his pawn ' s loyalties . Keeping the Lich King bodiless and trapped within the crystal cask assured his good conduct for the short term , but the demon knew that he would need to keep a watchful eye on the Lich King . To this end , Kil ' jaeden called upon his elite demon guard , the vampiric Dreadlord s , to police Ner ' zhul and ensure that he accomplished his dread task . Tichondrius , the most powerful and cunning of the Dread Lords , warmed to the challenge , fascinated by the plague ' s severity and the Lich King ' s unbridled potential for genocide . Icecrown and the Frozen Throne . Kil ' jaeden cast Ner ' zhul ' s icy cask back into the world of Azeroth . The hardened crystal streaked across the night sky and smashed into the desolate , arctic continent of Northrend , burying itself in the deep , shadowed hallows of the Icecrown glacier . The frozen crystal , warped and scarred by its violent descent , came to resemble a throne , and Ner ' zhul ’ s vengeful spirit stirred within it . From the confines of the Frozen Throne , Ner ' zhul began to reach out his vast consciousness and touch the minds of Northrend ' s native inhabitants . With surprising ease , he enslaved the minds of many indigenous creatures , such as ice troll s and the fierce wendigo - and drew their evil brethren into his growing shadow . He found that his psychic powers were almost limitless , and used them to create a small army that he housed within Icecrown ' s twisting labyrinths . As the Lich King mastered his growing powers under the Dread Lords ' persistent vigil , he discovered a remote human settlement on the fringe of the vast Dragonblight . Ner ' zhul decided to test his powers and his dread plague on the unsuspecting humans . Ner ' zhul sent the plague of undeath , which had originated from deep within the Frozen Throne , out into the arctic wasteland . Controlling the plague with his will alone , he drove it straight into the Human village . Within three days , every human soul in the settlement was dead . Yet , in a surprisingly short amount of time , the dead villagers began to rise as zombified corpses . Ner ' zhul could feel their individual spirits and thoughts as if they were his own . The raging cacophony in his mind caused Ner ’ zhul to grow even more powerful – as if their spirits provided him with much needed nourishment . He found it was child ' s play to control the zombies ' actions and steer them to whatever end he wished . Over the following months , Ner ' zhul continued to experiment with his plague of undeath by subjugating every Human inhabitant of Northrend . With his army of undead growing daily , he knew that the time for his true test was nearing . War of the Spider . For ten long years , Ner ' zhul built up his power base in Northrend . A great citadel was erected above Icecrown and manned by growing legions of the undead . Yet , as the Lich King extended his influence over the land , a lone , shadowy empire stood against his power . The ancient , subterranean kingdom of Azjol - Nerub , which had been founded by a race of sinister humanoid spiders , sent their elite warrior - guard to attack Icecrown and end the Lich King ' s mad bid for dominance . Much to his frustration , Ner ' zhul found that the evil Nerubian s were immune to not only the plague , but to his telepathic domination as well . The Nerubian spider lords commanded vast forces and had an underground network that stretched nearly half the breadth of Northrend . Their hit and run tactics on the Lich King ' s strongholds stymied his efforts to root them out time after time . Ultimately , Ner ' zhul ' s war against the Nerubians was won by attrition . With the aid of the furious Dread Lords and his innumerable undead warriors , the Lich King invaded Azjol - Nerub and brought its subterranean temples crashing down upon the spider lords ' heads . Though the Nerubians were immune to his plague , Ner ' zhul ' s growing necromantic powers allowed him to raise the spider warriors ' corpses and bend them to his will . As a testament to their tenacity and fearlessness , Ner ' zhul adopted the Nerubians ' distinctive architectural style for his own fortresses and structures . Left to rule his kingdom unopposed , the Lich King began preparing for his true mission in the world . Reaching out into the Human lands with his vast consciousness , the Lich King called out to any dark soul that would listen . . . Kel ' Thuzad and the Cult of the Damned . There were a handful of powerful individuals , scattered across the world , who heard the Lich King ’ s mental summons . Most notable of them was the Archmage , Kel ' Thuzad , of the magical nation of Dalaran . Kel ’ Thuzad , one of the senior members of the Kirin Tor – Dalaran ’ s ruling council – had been considered a maverick for years due to his insistence on studying the forbidden arts of necromancy . Driven to learn all he could of the magical world and its shadowy wonders , he was frustrated by what he saw as his peers ’ outmoded and unimaginative precepts . Upon hearing the powerful summons from Northrend , the Archmage bent all of his considerable will to communing with the mysterious voice . Convinced that the Kirin Tor was too squeamish to seize the power and knowledge inherent in the dark arts , he vowed to learn what he could from the immensely powerful Lich King . Forsaking his fortune and prestigious political standing , Kel ’ Thuzad abandoned the ways of the Kirin Tor and left Dalaran forever . Prodded by the Lich King ’ s persistent voice in his mind , he sold his vast holdings and stored away his fortunes . Travelling alone over many leagues of both land and sea , he finally reached the frozen shores of Northrend . Intent on reaching Icecrown and offering his services to the Lich King , the Archmage passed through the ravaged , war - torn ruins of Azjol - Nerub . Kel ’ Thuzad saw firsthand the scope and ferocity of Ner ’ zhul ’ s power . He began to believe that allying himself with the mysterious Lich King would not only be wise , but potentially fruitful . After long months of trekking through the harsh arctic wastelands , Kel ’ Thuzad finally reached the dark glacier of Icecrown . He boldly approached Ner ’ zhul ’ s dark citadel and was shocked when the silent undead guardsmen let him pass as though he was expected . Kel ’ Thuzad descended deep into the cold earth and found his way down to the bottom of the glacier . There , in the endless cavern of ice and shadows , he prostrated himself before the Frozen Throne and offered his soul to the dark lord of the dead . The Lich King was pleased with his latest conscript . He promised Kel ' Thuzad immortality and great power in exchange for his loyalty and obedience . Kel ' Thuzad , eager for dark knowledge and power , accepted his first great mission - to go into the world of men and found a new religion that would worship the Lich King as a god . To help the Archmage accomplish his mission , Ner ' zhul left Kel ' Thuzad ' s humanity intact . The aged , yet still charismatic wizard was charged with using his powers of illusion and persuasion to lull the downtrodden , disenfranchised masses of Lordaeron into a confidence . Once he had their attention , he would offer them a new vision of what society could be - and a new figurehead to call their king . . . Kel ' Thuzad returned to Lordaeron in disguise , and over the span of three years , he used his fortune and intellect to gather a clandestine brotherhood of like - minded men and women . The brotherhood , which he called the Cult of the Damned , promised its acolytes social equality and eternal life on Azeroth in exchange for their service and obedience to Ner ' zhul . As the months passed , Kel ' Thuzad found many eager volunteers for his new cult amongst the tired , overburdened laborers of Lordaeron . Surprisingly , Kel ' Thuzad ' s goal to pervert the citizens ' faith in the Holy Light towards belief in in Ner ' zhul ' s dark shadow was easily attained . As the Cult of the Damned grew in size and influence , Kel ' Thuzad made sure to keep its workings secret from the authorities of Lordaeron at every turn . The Forming of the Scourge . With Kel ' Thuzad ' s success in Lordaeron , the Lich King made the final preparations for his assault against human civilization . Placing his plague energies into a number of portable artifacts called Plague Cauldron s , Ner ' zhul ordered Kel ' Thuzad to transport the cauldrons to Lordaeron where they would be hidden within various cult - controlled villages . The cauldrons , protected by the loyal cultists , would then act as plague generators , sending the plague seeping out across the unsuspecting farmlands and cities of northern Lordaeron . The Lich King ' s plan worked perfectly . Many of Lordaeron ' s northern villages were contaminated almost immediately . Just as in Northrend , the citizens who contracted the plague died and arose as the Lich King ' s willing slaves . The cultists under Kel ' Thuzad were eager to die and be raised again in their dark lord ' s service . They exulted in the prospect of immortality through undeath . As the plague spread , more and more feral zombie s arose in the northlands . Kel ' Thuzad looked upon the Lich King ' s growing army and named it the Scourge - for soon , it would march upon the gates of Lordaeron . . . and scour humanity from the face of the world . An Heir Apparent . Though the Dread Lords were pleased that Ner ' zhul ' s true mission had finally begun , the Lich King himself brooded within the tight , shadowy confines of the Frozen Throne . Despite his vast psychic powers and his complete dominion over the undead , he longed to be free of his icy prison . He knew that Kil ' jaeden would never release him from his curse . And , due to his great power , he knew that the demons would destroy him as soon as his mission was completed . Still , he had one chance for freedom - one chance to escape his terrible curse . If he could find a suitable host - some hapless dupe who was torn between darkness and light - he could possess that body and escape the confines of the Frozen Throne forever . Thus , the Lich King sent his vast consciousness out once again and sought the perfect host . . .