Grand Inquisitor Isillien Grand Inquisitor Isillien is a level 63 elite human in the Western Plaguelands . Isillien is the spiritual heart of the Scarlet Crusade . Once a devoted priest of the Holy Light , he now sees his dedication to the Crusade as an even greater purpose . This dedication is real ; it ’ s a powerful and total commitment to something that has measurable results — something the Holy Light never gave . Early in the life of the Crusade , he developed techniques for inquisition and questioning , as well as holding cells and torture chambers to extract information or to hold prisoners or initiates to see if they are infected by the plague . Undead are also held in these cells , and Isillien often visits them late at night , always alone . Crusaders say he enters the dungeon looking angry and almost mad ( “ mad ” relative to the average crusader , which would be justifiably insane to the average eye ) . He exits calm and smiling , and speaks to no one about what he has been doing , and no one cares enough about the undead to wonder too much . He is 55 years old . Biography . The priest Isillien was formerly a priest of the Holy Light in Lordaeron , assigned to be the liaison for the Knights of the Silver Hand . There he worked closely with the elder High General Abbendis and his youthful charges , tutoring the young paladins in their quest for truth . He fled with Abbendis as Lordaeron fell to the Scourge . Priests and paladins fought as the Scourge attacked the city , but they fled as Lordaeron fell around them . Some whisper it was the wounds both men received in battle , or perhaps just the shock of seeing their whole purpose destroyed , but since that day both Isillien and Abbendis have been quite insane . Isillien and Abbendis wandered the area as the Scourge defiled the land , destroying what undead they could , gathering what warriors would join them . They had but one concern : eradication of all that had destroyed Lordaeron . Isillien became the spokesman for the group , his ravings gaining more followers than repelling them . Isillien is the heart of the Crusade . Abbendis and Isillien felt that although they had a good base , they really needed to attack the Scourge where they were the thickest : in the Eastern Plaguelands . Isillien took on the title of Grand Inquisitor and control of the Western Crusade , while Abbendis led the majority of the forces to Tyr ’ s Hand in the east to strike at Stratholme . Isillien guides the priests in the Crusade in their new roles as inquisitors , based in the Western Plaguelands . He is in charge of questioning undead and mortals alike to ferret out whatever information he can on the movement and settlement of the undead . Isillien controls the warriors through his impressionable paladin Taelan in the west . Isillien taught Taelan Fordring about the Holy Light and what it was to serve . When the Scarlet Crusade was founded , Isillien realized that the order would be forced to deal with living adversaries as well as undead . Sadly , most spells focused toward either harming one or the other — a difficulty he was determined to resolve . Isillien developed a series of variations on healing spells that would not only inflict harm upon the undead , but on living victims as well . He passed this teaching on to each potential inquisitor , and it has become one of their trademark abilities . During a meeting of members of the Knights of the Silver Hand in Southshore , he tried to destroy the dark crystal then - Commander Mograine had recovered after the Battle of Blackrock Mountain with Smite - only to find out it absorbed the Light . This discovery led to the creation of the Ashbringer . Quest involvement . Grand Inquisitor Isillien yells : You will not make it to the forest ' s edge , Fordring . Highlord Taelan Fordring yells : Isillien ! " Taelan : This is not your fight stranger . Protect yourself from the attacks of the Crimson Elite . I shall battle the Grand Inquisitor . " " Isillien : You disappoint me , Taelan . I had plans for you . . . grand plans . Alas , it was only a matter of time before your filthy bloodline would catch up with you . It is as they say : Like father , like son . You are as weak of will as Tirion . . . perhaps more so . I can only hope my assassins finally succeeded in ending his pitiful life . The Grand Crusader has charged me with destroying you and your newfound friends , Taelan , but know this : I do this for pleasure , not of obligation or duty . " Isillien calls for his guardsmen . " Isillien : The end is now , Fordring . " The battle between Taelan and Isillien commences . Finally , Isillien brings Taelan down . " Isillien : Enough ! " He quickly strikes down Taelan . Isillien laughs . " Isillien : Did you really think you could beat me ? Your friends are soon to join you , Taelan . " Grand Inquisitor Isillien turns his attention towards you . A minute later , Tirion Fordring arrives at the scene . " Tirion : What have you done , Isillien ? You once fought with honor , for the good of our people . . . and now . . . you have murdered my boy . . . " " Isillien : Tragic . The elder Fordring lives on . . . you are too late , old man . Retreat back to your cave , hermit , unless you wish to join your son in the Twisting Nether . " " Tirion : May your soul burn in anguish , Isillien ! Light give me the strength to battle this fiend . Face me , coward . Face the faith and strength that you once embodied . " " Isillien : Then come , hermit ! " Isillien and Tirion engage in combat , and here Isillien falls . The impact this fight has is very long - reaching . " Tirion : A thousand more like him exist . Ten thousand . Should one fall , another will rise to take the seat of power . " Tirion Fordring falls to one knee . " Tirion : Look what they did to my boy . " Tirion Fordring holds the limp body of Taelan and softly sobs . " Tirion : Too long have I sat idle , gripped in this haze . . . this malaise , lamenting what could have been . . . what should have been . Your death will not have been in vain , Taelan . A new Order is born on this day . . . an Order which will dedicate itself to extinguishing the evil that plagues this world . An evil that cannot hide behind politics and pleasantries . This I promise . . . this I vow . . . " This is the very beginning of the events that will ultimately lead Tirion to create the Argent Crusade to bring the fight to the Lich King in Northrend .