The Undead Scourge

The **Scourge** (or **Undead Scourge**) was one of three major undead factions existing in the world of Azeroth (the other two being the Forsaken and the Knights of the Ebon Blade). Until recently, it was a major player for control of the world. Created initially as the precursor to an invasion by the Burning Legion, the Scourge broke free from their demonic masters and — under the iron rule of the dread Lich King — have built up their power base on the Arctic continent of Northrend. Their influence spreads throughout Northrend, as well as the Plaguelands in northern Lordaeron and southern Quel'Thalas, and even Kalimdor to a small degree. A terrifying and insidious enemy, before its downfall the Scourge was perhaps the most dangerous threat to the world of Azeroth.

## Origins

The Scourge was (and still is) a vast army of the undead created by the Lich King — the being formerly known as the orc shaman Ner'zhul. Under the control of the Burning Legion, the Scourge's mission was to spread terror and destruction across the world in anticipation of the Legion's inevitable invasion. A mission that was almost undone before it even began when the Nerubians attacked and began the War of the Spider, however the conflict ultimately ended with the Lich King's first major triumph (while the Nerubians were immune to the plague, their corpses could still be reanimated). The Lich King was impressed by his enemy, however, and adopted Nerubian architecture for his own, as a testament to the spider lords' tenacity and age.

The Lich King, now uncontested in the ice realm of Northrend where he ruled from the Frozen Throne, unleashed the terrible Plague of Undeath southward into human lands. As the plague encroached on the southlands, countless humans fell prey to Ner'zhul's mental control and life-draining sickness every day, swelling the ranks of the already-considerable Scourge.

Though Ner'zhul and his Undead Scourge were bound to the will of the Burning Legion, the Lich King constantly strove to free himself and gain vengeance upon the demons for dismembering his body and damning him so completely. To this end he sought a champion to carry out his will and decided that Prince Arthas Menethil would be the perfect choice. During the Scourge Invasion of LordaeronArthas became increasingly enraged at the devastation the undead caused and sought to their end threat by any means necessary. This would led the young prince to Northrend, the roof of the world, where he would obtain the runeblade Frostmourne and killMal'Ganis, who he thought was in command of the Scourge. It here that the whispers of the Lich King guided Arthas into becoming Ner'zhul's champion and the greatest of his Death Knights.

The now champion of the Scourge returned to Lordaeron, where he killed his own father and rallied the Cult of the Damned to his banner. The Scourge then preceded to destroy what was left of Lordaeron and ended the life of Uther the Lightbringer. From there the Scourge ravaged the ancient elven kingdom of Quel'Thalas and defiled the Sunwell, which resurrected the necromancer Kel'Thuzadinto the Lich. With Kel'Thuzad once more among them the Scourge moved forward to destroy the magi-city of Dalaran and claim theBook of Medivh, which resulted in the summoning of the demon lord Archimonde int to the world and Dalaran's destruction. It was this point that the Archimonde ordered that the Scourge would be commanded by the Dreadlords, however in his arrogance and haste to claim the World Tree as his own Archimonde forgot to return control of the Lich King to Kil'jaeden, a move that Ner'zhul took advantage of.

Shortly before the Battle of Mount Hyjal, Ner'zhul engineered the downfall of the Legion by having his lieutenant, Arthas Menethil, alert the Demon Hunter Illidan Stormrage to the presence of the Legion in Felwood. Illidan's attack on the demons there brought about the death of Tichondrius and the destruction of the Skull of Gul'dan, which greatly weakened the Legion and made it possible for the Alliance, Horde, and Night Elf forces to stop Archimonde during the Battle of Mount Hyjal. It was at this point that Ner'zhul was finally capable of making his bid for freedom, effectively cutting all ties to the remaining demons as well as the remaining demon lord, Kil'jaeden. Such a move inspired Kil'jaeden to incredible heights of anger, and it was the demon's turn to lust after vengeance. But, thanks to the Legion's defeat, Kil'jaeden was stripped of his capacity to simply bring about swift destruction, and was forced to use more subtle methods to dispose of his rebellious creation.

## World of Warcraft

The Scourge was primarily concentrated in the Plaguelands. Their primary fortification and "capital" in Lordaeron was the ruined city of Stratholme, under the rule of Baron Rivendare the scourge controlled majority of the city but the humans of the Scarlet Crusade held a small section. The Scourge had also been seen in Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest in Lordaeron.

They also had been reported to have a presence as far away as the Barrens in Kalimdor; The lich Amnennar the Coldbringer and his forces participated in the Scourge's assault on Mount Hyjal during the Third War. Afterward, the Lich King instructed his servant to remain in Kalimdor and expand the Scourge's influence, and so Amnennar began plans to create a base from which to strike at Orgrimmar and Theramore. To that end, Amnennar had set his sights on recruiting the recently displaced and desperate quilboar people, promising them power over death so they could repel invaders in their lands.

The necromancer-lich Kel'Thuzad, the majordomo of the Lich King, once controlled the Scourge in Lordaeron from his citadel of Naxxramas, floating over Stratholme and Plaguewood in the Eastern Plaguelands, but Kel'Thuzad eventually retreated along with his floating fortress and returned to Northrend, in order to combat the forces of Dalaran and the combined might of the Alliance and the Horde.

## The Burning Crusade

The Scourge had appeared many times in the blood elven lands of Quel'Thalas mostly on the tainted land known as the Dead Scar. The high elf traitor Dar'Khan Drathir, slain during the Third War, ruled the Scourge in Quel'Thalas from the fortress of Deatholme until he was eventually slain by blood elf and Forsaken forces. A few members of the Scourge had been seen fighting the Burning Legion on Quel'Danas.

## Wrath of the Lich King

After the merging of Arthas and Ner'zhul, the Lich King entered a period of dormancy as he slept and dreamed atop the Frozen Throne. In the meantime, his minions rebuilt Icecrown Citadel as he made his plans for conquest of all of Azeroth. Finally, after several years, the Lich King awoke and unleashed his attack on the unsuspecting world.

The forces of both the Alliance and Horde then arrived in Northrend to confront the Scourge on its home soil, until at last they were prepared for a final assault on Icecrown. After facing a gauntlet of the Scourge's most powerful leaders, the greatest champions were able to reach the Frozen Throne to confront the Lich King himself.

In the epic battle that ensued, Tirion Fordring used the sword "Ashbringer" to shatter "Frostmourne", releasing the spirits within that then aided the champions as they sent Arthas to his demise. This did not mean then end of the Scourge, however, as the spirits of both Uther the Lightbringer and King Terenas Menethil II had warned that without anyone to control it, the Scourge would be free to destroy the world.

As Fordring contemplated placing the crown upon his head (thinking there was no one else who could accept such a burden) the disfigured Bolvar Fordragon appeared and stated that it was his fate to be the Jailer of the Damned. Fordring then reluctantly crowned Fordragon as the new Lich King, and moments later ice imprisoned the Lich King once more.

## Cataclysm

By the time of the Cataclysm, the Scourge is little more than a shell of its former power in Lordaeron.The Lich King is dead, the Scourge command structure all but wiped out, and the remaining legions of undead held in check by Bolvar's sacrifice.

Becoming the new Lich King has been a difficult transition for Bolvar and he needs a bit of time to reign in the Scourge. Though the Scourge in Northrend are asleep, the Scourge and Cult of the Damned operating in the Plaguelands are autonomous. There are still sizable Scourge forces in the Plaguelands of Lordaeron who continue to serve their now-dead master. The island fortress of Caer Darrow, home of the Scholomance, is the major Scourge holdout west of the Thondroril River, and their forces can also be found in Andorhal.

Some former servants of the Scourge have found their way into the ranks of the Forsaken. The val'kyr, the winged harbingers of the Lich King, were brought into Sylvanas' fold after the Lich King's demise. The Banshee Queen used their necromantic powers to solve the problem of her people's limited numbers by raising their slain mortal enemies as Forsaken.

After the Shattering, both the Alliance and the Forsaken started
making major efforts to expel the Scourge from Andorhal. The ruined city became a warzone between the Alliance under the command of Thassarian, and the Forsaken under the command of Koltira Deathweaver. Araj the Summoner led what remains of the Lich King's forces in Andorhal, their power diminished by the death of their lord. This major conflict in this war effort came to be known as the Battle for Andorhal. The combined forces relentlessly slaughtered Scourge and ultimately destroyed Araj.

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* Our Undead Scourge is currently placed during the Mists of Pandaria expansion storyline.

* Under no circumstance has the Scourge the intention of ever going to Pandaria, nor does it know of its existance.
* "Azerothians" believe the Scourge to be extinct, since they don't know that their once beloved hero Bolvar Fordragon has taken the role of, perhaps, the most antagonistic legend the world has ever known.

* Our Scourge is unaffected by Bolvar's control, simply due to the fact that he is a Paladin, and dealing with such a Dark Power (Lich King's Helmet) has taken its toll on him, leaving him rather weak. So only the lesser undead in Northrend are under his control. Any Necromancer is able to retain their free will, and to grab control over a certain amount of minions... Theoretically the stronger the undead minion, the less minions he can control in total.

* Our Undead Scourge is divided into 2 factions: The Black Mantle, loyal to Lorthermur Pendragon and the Grip of Damnation, under the command of Malleus. The Mantle are currently located in the Eastern Kingdoms, while the Grip is currently based in Northrend.

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## The Beginning

When the Lich King awoke from his slumber, he rallied his armies in Northrend and ordered an assault on the Alliance and Horde's capital cities, Stormwind and Orgrimmar. The casualties on the later were numerous, and both King Varian and Warchief Thrall saw this as provocation enough to start a war with the Lich King.

Although this marked the Lich King's return, he intended to cause a much heavier impact in the world. So he stroke the Scarlet Crusade in Eastern Plaguelands, by releasing the Scourge Necropolis: Acherus on the Scarlet Enclave. At dawn, death knights began to descend upon the lands below, after the Horn of Acherus sounded. The first Scarlet Crusaders that fell, were raised as ghouls and geists to support the Death Knight units at the Lich King's disposal.

While most death knights were not worthy of mention, there were a few who actually stood out. Namely the Death Knights, Malleus and Lorthermur. They fought against the Scarlet Crusade and were relentless
in their task. By the day's end, they stood amongst Highlord Darion Mograine, Thassarian, Orbaz Bloodbane and Koltira Deathweaver as they confronted Highlord Tirion Fordring at Light's Hope Chapel. Even though, the Lich King confessed that all death knights were a means to an end, in this case to bring Tirion out of hiding and exposing him so the Lich King could kill him, some remained loyal to him, while others like Mograine, Thassarian and Koltira turned on their former master.

Both stayed true to the cause and rejoined their master in
Northrend, where both men received a commendation for their exemplary service. Lorthermur was awarded the rank of Baron. It was some time later that they were appointed members of an elite group led by General Menelaus, whose military division focused on completing "delicate" tasks, which mere troops could not complete.

## Forging of Bonds

Now working separate from the common soldiers, Baron Lorthermur and Malleus were granted some perks within the Scourge. They also met other potential members within their division such as Heini "The Dreadshade", Icebane Dremon, Reynall, Scourgelord Tyrannus, Soulkeeper Kishin, Ryder Wrathbane, Jankelstein and several more...

Some were more friendly, others were more strict and didn't approve of forming bonds with their teammates, they were rather individualists, Scourgelord Tyrannus, for instance. He was recognized as perhaps the most strict, violent Scourge member in the group. Despite being a "leader", the ultimate decision was Menelaus', which eventually caused some minor disagreements.

Lorthermur quickly befriended Ryder Wrathbane and Soulkeeper Kishin. And later on, Heini "The Dreadshade", Dremon and General Menelaus himself. He came to despise the Scourgelord, who seemed bent on berating his comrades for minor "things".

Malleus, on the other hand, did not feel much like forging bonds with the rest of the group. Though he wasn't on bad terms with anyone, for the exception of the Scourgelord and a Darkfallen who would later on join the group, his name was Darabi.

## Twist of Fate

Even though, most of the Scourge's army was in Northrend, this Scourge division acted more on Azeroth, more specifically in the Eastern Kingdoms. Scholomance was their base of operations. Eventually, though, they were recalled to Northrend, as the enemies of their master drew closer to Icecrown Citadel.

But a few weeks before that, a meeting was arranged in Scholomance, reuniting all members of Menelaus' division, to decide the best course of action to turn the tide of the war against the Horde and the Alliance.

Lorthermur took a bit longer to arrive, unlike his fellow comrades and Malleus... he was greeted by Heini "The Dreadshade", and before he could end his conversation with Heini, two mysterious figures walked into the room. They weren't members, and something was wrong with them, one of them didn't feel like being part of the Scourge, but the other one did. They were both Orcs, one of them was a Death Knight and he was taller than most of kin. The other one wasn't a melee fighter, a sorcerer of some sort.

The Orc Death Knight presented himself as "Kazagore" and claimed to have important news for us along with orders from the Lich King at Icecrown Citadel. All the group members present converged on both newcomers and circled them. It was then that all these years of companionship and trust simply fell apart.

Kazagore claimed that Menelaus and Heini "The Dreadshade" were conspiring against the Scourge and secretly provided battle plans and base locations to the Argent Crusade. At first his claims were dismissed, as there was no real evidence to back them up. But eventually, doubt began to grow on all the present and soon they turned to Heini for proof that he was innocent.

Heini was shocked by the accusations thrown at him, and the
nervousism in his voice was palpable. Some took it for all the proof they needed to side with Kazagore. Once Heini became surrounded by nearly all of his former companions (with the exception of Lorthermur, who didn't see reason to side with Kazagore, and Malleus who simply wanted no part in this bloody coup), they all jumped on him like a pack of feral dogs. Scream filled the halls of Scholomance and about half a minute of being gouged, sliced, stabbed, thus suffering from multiple wounds... He screamed something unintelligible and an aura surrounded his body, before it collapsed in front of us all. With one of the traitors dead, only the General remained. Kazagore led the charge and managed to dethrone the "mastermind".

In the end, Kazagore proclaimed himself leader of this Division, by order of the Lich King. And everyone followed... well almost, everyone...

## Defeat from Within

With Kazagore in charge, many felt secure, and motivated to give their all to ensure that the Argent Crusade would not benefit from the information handed over to them by the traitors.

For weeks, Lorthermur's suspicions and distrust for Kazagore remained hidden. Eventually Lorthermur met with Malleus in an undisclosed location. And both men agreed that Kazagore was an imposter, a vermin eating at the foundations of this empire that was forged from the death of loyal and strong men and women from all sentient races in Azeroth (talking about playable races only), Baron Lorthermur's words.

Malleus and Lorthermur conspired against Kazagore from that moment on, hoping to one day dispose of him like he had disposed of their friends. The Orc Death Knight became aware of both death knights' distrust for him and reluctance to serve him. He feared his web of lies would be exposed, eventually, if he did not get rid of them. The other orc who had stood alongside Kazagore, was named Nera'hul and he was a master of subtlety, so he suggested that the duo be sent on "important" assignments, as far as possible from their comrades, that way a possible mutiny would not occur.

And so they did, both Human Death Knights were given specific instructions on different areas of Northrend, separate from each other aswell. Lorthermur was in charge of eliminating the Scarlet Onslaught near Icecrown. He was given control over a small army to wipe out the Scarlet Fanatics. The mission was rigged from day one, it was impossible for Lorthermur to take drive the Scarlets out with that small amount of troops, but through some miracle the Baron was on his way to succeed, if not for a message sent to him by one of his comrades stating that the Argent Crusade had reached Icecrown Citadel.

Baron Lorthermur arrived at the Citadel, the heart of the Scourge
 Empire, days before the siege. And he worked on preparing the defenses, laying traps, and organizing the troops. The Siege of Icecrown Citadel would not be over in a day, it took days in fact... and those traps placed by Lorthermur Pendragon and Icebane Dremon, were responsible for delaying the Crusade's assault. However it was a lost cause, Icebane Dremon was cornered by Ebon Blade Death Knights who ganged up on him before slicing his head off, Malleus was lost in action and never heard of until recently, Kazagore retreated to Scholomance and Nera'hul was nowhere to be seen. Lorthermur immediately knew that they were not part of the Scourge and were trying to undermine it.

With nearly all hope lost, the Baron grabbed those loyal to him (a small group of Undead) and abandoned the battlefield, he sailed back to Scholomance, only to find Scholomance "cleansed". Wiped of any Undead... outside the school, in Caer Darrow, Kazagore had been impaled. Lorthermur Pendragon saw no reason to linger there, maybe there were Crusaders in the area, so he fled into the Plaguelands where he and his folk would stay hidden for months...