Einrich

==Einrich Vol Kast==
Race: Undead 
Age: 38 at time of death 
Birthplace: Stratholme 
Class: Warlock
Professions: Enchanter, Tailor
Affiliations: The Lich King, The Forsaken, Curse 
Appearance: Einrich is a well-rotted corpse that puts forth an air of aristocracy. His blonde hair is matted and tangled but often brushed back, styled as best a head of dead hair can be. Alabaster skin is stretched tight over the skeleton underneath and bones show through in many places. He is missing his lower jaw entirely and appears to have bolted leather straps across his marred, eyeless, noseless face. Despite the obviously horrific appearance of this Undead man he wears fine robes and livery, often silk, and conducts himself with poise and practice. When he speaks, his voice is a calm, resonant, lich-like echo that projects locally in Gutterspeak. 
==Personality==
Deceitful and often sarcastic, Einrich prefers to keep his intentions to himself at all times and speak only when the matter pertains to his personal interest or progress. While this may mark him as cold to some, he views it as efficient. Words are not to be wasted on deaf ears and action should never be taken without planning. He is very self-absorbed, especially when it comes to the extensive research he has devoted to unlife and necromancy. Oftentimes he will gleefully speak at great lengths about his findings and new discoveries, despite obvious interest or hostile feelings. However, his speeches never seem to reveal much other than the nature and intent of his experimentations, likely so that no one will be able to duplicate his research without him.
==History==
===Mercantile Minds===
Born in Stratholme to the wealthy Vol Kasts, Einrich was the youngest of three sons. The first served as a soldier in the Second War and continued his service in the armed forces of Lordaeron through the Third War. The second died of an early childhood illness before Einrich was born. With the loss of two perfectly good heirs, Einrich's father pushed hard for him to study economy and trade, sending him to expensive private schools for the best in education. Luckily, the youngest took eagerly to the flow of coin through the realm and would soon run the business alongside his aging father. While not mobile traders themselves, the Vol Kasts were well-known for trafficking goods in the city, serving as a central hub for those who wished to turn a profit with or without the sanction of local authorities. Generous bribes and loopholes in local customs allowed a healthy undermarket to thrive beneath the eyes of Lordaeron officials.
===The Mysterious Tome===
When Einrich's father passed away, Einrich himself inherited the shop. He continued the thriving trade of "Rarities and Assorted Goods" under the family name and frequently took interest in local rumors about artifacts, dig site discoveries, and news from far-away lands. Though he was no mage, Einrich loved magic and all the mysteries surrounding it, oftentimes paying seedy individuals great bribes to let him hold on to talismans, books, staves, and other wizard paraphernalia for "safe keeping." This led to his personal collection of dozens of arcane items ranging from mundane books on theory and applications to lost Dalaran spellbooks.
One night, just before closing shop, Einrich was approached by a ragged traveler who offered to sell him an ancient tome of spells for a pittance of gold. The shopkeeper was overjoyed to obtain the item without any further questions and soon began browsing through its pages. Its contents were mostly related to the manipulation of souls and necromantic techniques, forbidden arts long-since banned by the Kirin Tor. In the secrecy of his shop storeroom Einrich began to unravel the mysteries within using all the books and talismans and resources he had collected throughout the years, intent on learning all he could of this deliciously tantalizing find.
===The Purging of Stratholme===
Einrich had begun the unthinkable. He was openly practicing necromancy in his shop, utilizing innovative alchemical products that had been theorized about in the illegitimate journals of dead wizards and supposed madmen. He studied the effects of necrotic fluids and concoctions on stray animals. The more he learned about the Shadow and the manipulation of life forces, the more he subconsciously felt his humanity slipping. While his business practice was far from upstanding, at worst it put gold into the hands of unscrupulous individuals. But this pressing desire to know more was taking far more away from him than he realized. Before the reclusive shopkeeper could reconcile the impact of his trespasses, Arthas came to Stratholme and in a fit of madness razed the city and its living occupants.
Einrich was able to flee the city, taking with him only the old tome of shadow magic and a few of his notes. He cursed Arthas and his damnable crusade as he bunkered down in an abandoned farmstead. At first things seemed dismal but stable. He was alive and he still had his notes, even though all of his progress had been literally shattered. Restarting his precious projects was the first goal; only after he was reestablished would he be able to exact revenge on the mad prince. Such a burning hatred drove Einrich day to day as he scavenged on what he could for the last few weeks of his life, living in secrecy in the run-down old shed in which he had taken up residence.
Then the Scourge killed him.
===The Forsaken and Varimathras' Request===
The Plaguelands were rife with death and destruction as Stratholme turned into a warzone. The dead poured from every hill and valley to fight the beleaguered defenders of humanity, bashing heads with the scattered pockets of militia and the Scarlet Crusade. Einrich was no exception. His service was unwilling, mindless, cloudy. The time he spent in service of the Lich King was like a bad dream, his higher functions locked away by the invincible will of Ner'zhul. It was not until some time after the Scourge's conquest of the Plaguelands that Einrich "woke up," fully aware of himself and his actions once again. Though he did not understand the reason for it at the time, Einrich spent a great deal of time contemplating his strange curse, reanimated though horrifically mangled. He fled to Tirisfal Glades in hopes of finding survivors or allies like him. It was there that he was approached by a group called the Forsaken. Independent of Ner'zhul or Arthas or any of the foul liches under their control, this new faction was intent on revenge, destroying the Lich King once and for all to ensure the continued safety of their undead brethren. While their plight was much like his own, Einrich declined joining their ranks in the Undercity, declaring that he had been too long a servant and needed time to recover what he once was.
While he worked tirelessly to restore his experiments, the former shopkeeper was kept under close watch by the agents of the Undercity. Varimathras took a special interest in his endeavors and soon petitioned Einrich on contract to assist with a unique service. A Scourge weapon, supposedly abducted from Kel'thuzad himself, needed to have its animating soul bound and an alternate means of powering its body instated so that the dreadlord could use it as a tool for the Dark Lady, or so the demon claimed. The automaton's animating soul was powerful and intriguing and in the end irresistible. Einrich began to probe its secrets and its past, a mistake that would prove to have dire consequences.
The creature's soul was a literal gateway to the iron will of the reborn Lich King. Einrich tapped too deeply into the icy clutches of Northrend, but instead of slavery he found a proposition. Arthas offered immortality, power, and fortunes unimagined in return for keeping a close eye on the experimental weapon, keeping it in check until it was time to rise up against the upstart Sylvanas. Without many other options he warily agreed, waiting until he could remove himself from the watchful eyes of the Throne before debating with himself. He stalled the project several times, petitioning for more time until Varimathras began to suspect his motives. The prototype "Orloc" was removed from his jurisdiction and turned over to Meridith Deathweaver for safekeeping and development, much to his dismay. Angered, Einrich decided to infiltrate her cadre of subservient Forsaken and monitor the project's development, knowing that the soul contained within would be yearning for escape. As the only one with the knowledge of the binding procedures used on the phylactery, he would be the only one able to contain it before it became a "problem," and the only one who could release it at the Lich King's behest.
===Into the Unknown===
After several months of observing his usurped project, Einrich gave up hope that something would go awry until Meridith approached him. Orloc's condition was degrading. Einrich deduced that it was largely due to the phylactery within breaking down and allowing the animating soul of the creature to escape. Reluctantly the warlock decided to teach Meridith rudimentary re-binding in order to keep things under control. His paranoia of both the Lich King and the Forsaken discovering his true motives toward the other led him to join an expedition to Outland, where he believed Arthas could not reach. Under the premise of researching void-matter and other mysteries of the broken world, Einrich slipped away into hiding.
The last person to see the insane warlock was Meganna, seeking more information about a strange entity trapped inside a sword. Einrich knew when he encounterd the blade that this was the key to the lock he had created - the Lich King had found him at last, and this was the final task he needed to complete - he would craft the key, or be destroyed. Hastily encouraging Meg to leave, Einrich provided her with a secretly-necrotic formula that would force her to steep the blade in dark energy, empowering it and allowing its bound entity - the trapped consciousness of Oran Locke - to complete his purpose and become a powerful agent of the Lich King in his own right.
After the encounter with Meganna, Einrich vanished, disappearing into the unknown, possibly the Nether itself.
Category:Horde
Category:Forsaken
Category:Warlock
Category:Miner (A)
Category:Tailoring (A)