Gorvan Kozlek

Gorvan Amadeus Kozlek is Death Knight and former Paladin of the Silver Hand.

## History

### Early Life

Named after his Great-grandfather, Gorvan Amedeus Kozlek was born into a minor and long since impoverished Lordaedronian noble family late in the winter of 571. Taught religious values from birth his first twenty years of life were humble, but enjoyable. At 22 when word came from the south of the appearance of the Horde he planned to enter service in the Royal Army, but was convinced by a close friend to accept an education in the Church that had been offered to him on his 21st birthday.

Relatively isolated in north-western Lordaeron during the First War he was kept only vaguely aware of the outside war and Lordaeron’s non-participation. He took well to his training and quickly proved to be adept with the holy magic granted to priests of the Light. Although not classically handsome he nevertheless possessed great personal charisma and a comforting presence. He was well liked by the local villagers in no small part because of his willingness to get down in the mud and assist them with his prodigious physical strength.

### The Three Wars

A combination of these qualities along with his youth made him a prime candidate for the to-be-formed Order of the Silver Hand. He travelled along with a handful of knights and priests south to the Kingdom of Stormwind to begin their induction and training. Although a lesser swordsman than the most renowned of his fellow knights, he nevertheless proved to be exemplary with the blade and hammer. At the end of his training and ascension to Knighthood his father gifted him the heirloom blade once wielded by his namesake, “Flame Herald”. This ancient family relic was wrought with runes of fire that could burn away foes while leaving its wielder unharmed.

During the events of the Second War the blade’s name would also become his moniker. He served admirably during the Second War. Many Orcs fell before the Flame Herald and he, along with the rest of his Order, were highly celebrated by the Alliance after the final victory. It was both a relief and a source of pride to Gorvan to fight beside the knights and soldiers of Lordaeron.

With the war concluded Gorvan returned to his hometown to assist in rebuilding and to minister to his fellow Light worshipers. It was during this time that Gorvan, now married, began to develop a greater appreciation and interest in theological texts and discussion. Although no great sage or writer, he produced several short pamphlets of his musings on the virtue of the Light and its system of objective morality.

The sudden appearance of the Burning Legion and the start of the Third War saw Gorvan, now in his mid 30s, take up Flame Herald once again. Fighting was fierce and utterly destructive. The Knights of the Silver Hand proved their value once again as staunch defenders of humanity. Gorvan believed with certainty in the eventual victory of the Alliance. The view lasted until the first reports of the undead Scourge.

Travelling to the areas of greatest infection Gorvan began a personal Crusade against the undead that would last until his death.

### Death of the Flame Herald

It is often said that if one lives by the sword they too shall die by the sword. So did Gorvan fall to his own blade. The awakening of the Lich King brought ever greater numbers of undead to the rotting fields of eastern Lordaeron. Joined by ever growing numbers of adventurers and warriors Gorvan consistently led small units into battle against the hated enemy. The last of these battles was fought in the ruined village of Darrowshire far to the south of long dead Stratholme.

The average mindless undead were easily bested by the blessed arm of a holy Paladin such as Gorvan. It would take a far greater force to slay the veteran Gorvan Kozlek and this time such a force took to the field in the last hours of his life. A Death Knight of the Scourge at the head of an army of undead challenged the Light sworn humans. The duel between Gorvan and that dreaded caricature of a Paladin was neither glorious nor quick. Matched in skill the two champions traded blows. Runeblades cut through enchanted armour and howled against each other as the magic weapons waged their own mirrored battle. Unlike his foe Gorvan was mortal and well into his 40s. Unable to match the endless stamina of the undead knight he was slowly ground down over the course of several minutes. This would prove to be his undoing. A too late parry by a leaden arm allowed his foe to drive his weapon through the Paladin’s armour and into his torso. His death was ignominious. Taking Flame Herald from Gorvan’s nerveless fingers the undead warrior thrust it’s tip through the Paladin’s armour and into his heart, killing him instantly.

### Birth of the Frost Herald

His devotion to the Light, humility, and long years of war against the undead had earned Gorvan a rightful and eternal rest in the afterlife. His last living thoughts were of promised salvation. He was tired now, so very tired. He could rest now like the brothers, fathers, and sons he had buried in his years of war. The pain was gone now and slowly his mind receded into darkness.

Gorvan’s long service as a champion of the Light and his fighting prowess had not gone unnoticed by his allies nor his enemies. On that day in Darrowshire the forces of undeath claimed Gorvan’s body and soul so that he might herald a far darker cause.

Stripped of his armour and still impaled by his weapon Gorvan awoke to unlife amongst a pile of bodies and the chanting of a malevolent language that he impossibly knew. He rose from the ground noting the mouldering black robe that covered his body and the dull chill of the stone beneath his feet.

As his vision fully returned to him he noted the decrepit humans chanting before him. “Cultists.” He whispered to himself and became aware of the unnatural and hollow echo his voice had become. He pulled the hilt of Flame Herald free from his chest, but at some point the weapon had shattered leaving most of it broken in his body.

Broken weapon in his hand he advanced on the closest cultist. The human ceased chanting as Gorvan approached him with a look of concern on his face. Gorvan thrust the shattered weapon forward in a killing stab, but suddenly halted half way to his target. He shook his head with a feral growl. There was a greater will than his that commanded his body. The will of the master.

Noting his successful resurrection the Scourge taskmasters commanded him through the trials of a death knight. He hardly noticed the begging of the Elf he had been ordered to slay. Nor did he take note of the thin layer of ice creeping across his dead flesh and armour. His final task before his christening as a true Death Knight was to forge a runeblade. Carefully he had drawn each fragment of Flame Herald from his chest and then placed them in the runeforge. The broken weapon reacted violently. Its flames burned Gorvan’s hands as he forced the dark magic of the Scourge into its runes. Slowly, as if being strangled, the flames died away and the sword was reforged in the image of its master. Dreadfully hungry for the taste of warm flesh and souls, the weapon and its master’s rebirth as the Frost Herald was complete.

Having been abandoned by the Light, Gorvan obeyed his master’s orders with cold enthusiasm. He would show the warriors of the Scarlet Crusade that the Light was a perfidious ally and that to fight the Scourge was an act of supreme folly.

Even when freed from the will of the Lich King at the climax of the Battle of Light’s Hope, the man Gorvan Kozlek had once been never returned. Bitter, spiteful, and eternally cursed he has entered the ranks of the Knights of the Ebon Blade. The Frost Herald has taken up his blade against the undead of the Scourge just as the Flame Herald once did, but now he fights in silence and with calculated cruelty. There is no glory left for Gorvan Kozlek, only an eternity of war and hunger.