Lor'themar Theron

Lor'themar Theron

**Lor'themar Theron** (pronounced "LOHR-theh-mawr THEH-rohn") is the Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas and thus the temporary ruler of the blood elves on Azeroth. Lor'themar was once the second-in-command to Ranger General Sylvanas Windrunner, and assumed temporary leadership of the high elves after the Scourge onslaught.

## Background

As a Farstrider lieutenant, Lor'themar Theron frequently clashed with the Amani trolls of Zul'Aman. On one such outing, his three-man-party was ambushed and attacked by Amani raiders, and Theron was brought into a sacrificial chamber. Here, he met the elves Liadrin, Dar'Khan Drathir, and Galell, and the four attempted to free themselves before the torture began. The Amani chieftain Zul'jin himself confronted them and planned to interrogate them over the elven runestones scattered around the land. Zul'jin personally submitted Lor'themar to a gruesome torture, slicing him below the navel and thrusting his fingers into the wound, then painting his face with Theron's blood. After a struggle, Lor'themar freed himself from his bonds, and fought off the trolls long enough for a replenished Dar'Khan to warp the group to safety.

Lor'themar rose steadily through the Farstriders' ranks over the years. He was made a ranger captain some time before the Second War, became Ranger General Sylvanas Windrunner's second-in-command, and spent at least part of his career as a warden of the Sunwell.

## Second War

In the Second War, Lor'themar was second-in-command to Sylvanas Windrunner, Ranger-General of Silvermoon. Lor'themar joined his brethren in the battle against the invading Old Horde forces after King Anasterian Sunstrider resolved to crush the Amani once and for all. Lor'themar, his armour coated in the blood of his enemies, met with Alleria and Turalyon during an aerial invasion by the Dragonmaw and their subdued red dragon mounts. Alleria introduced him as one of the elves' finest rangers, and Theron and Turalyon, who shared the rank of second-in-command to the military leader of their respective races, developed a mutual respect during the conflict.

Lor'themar noted that he and his warriors had managed to escape the inferno wrought on by the rampant red dragons, but that they cannot breach the flames to save their people just yet. Though Alleria favored fighting on in spite of the unfavorable odds, Lor'themar was able to convince her that retreat was the wiser option. Lor'themar then accompanied Khadgar, Turalyon, Alleria, and Kurdran to Capital City, and fought in its defense. The capital was under siege by Orgrim Doomhammer, though Doomhammer quickly abandoned this battle upon learning of great treachery at the hands of his chief warlock, Gul'dan. While Theron and Alleria battled in Lordaeron, the elves in Quel'Thalas sortied troops to destroy the Amani for good. Zul'jin was captured in the chaos by Lor'themar's close friend and comrade, Halduron Brightwing, in whose custody the Amani chieftain was tortured mercilessly. Halduron had intended to drag him back to Silvermoon so that Lor'themar could decide his fate, but Zul'jin escaped during an Amani raid and fled into hiding.

Following the Second War, Lor'themar was promoted to the rank of ranger lord (*Alar'annalas* in Thalassian) by Sylvanas Windrunner in a grand ceremony and draped with the Fora'nal cloth to symbolize his progression. He was congratulated by King Anasterian Sunstrider himself.

## Third War

Years later, following King Anasterian's secession of Quel'Thalas from the Alliance, Lor'themar had become a chief commander of the Farstriders — specifically, tasked with watching over the Sunwell and safeguarding those who, in turn, would watch over all of Quel'Thalas. During this time, Lor'themar was approached by Dar'Khan Drathir, a disillusioned face from the past who craved the recognition he felt he had never received.

Dar'Khan used his friendship with Lor'themar to gain intimate knowledge of Quel'Thalas' defenses, ostensibly to bolster them after the Hordes invasion during the Second War, and informed the death knight and scion of Lordaeron, the evil Prince Arthas (whom Dar'Khan had sold his loyalty to), of how to bypass them. Lor'themar and his company had been patrolling near the mountains of Zul'Aman when he began to notice hints of an invasion. They rushed to An'owyn, whose invisibility had been dispelled and whose hidden mooncrystal—one of three which empowered the grand shield, Ban'dinoriel ("Gatekeeper" in Thalassian), around Silvermoon—had been stolen. Lor'themar, reasoning that even if the crystals had been displaced, the magi could still empower Ban'dinoriel themselves, made haste to An'daroth, the second resting place of the mooncrystals. It became gradually apparent to Lor'themar that treachery was at work, but with the kingdom in imminent danger, he had little time to speculate on it.

At An'daroth, only corpses and strangely decayed ground remained. To Lor'themar's disbelief, the dead were reanimated and butchered many of his rangers. Lor'themar deduced that decapitation would fell the risen elves, and dealt with several in such a manner, though his wounds and fatigue slowed him down. After a struggle, Lor'themar was brutalized by several undead guardians, one of whom raked his face and damaged his left eye. Forcing the ranger lord down, the undead prepared to deal Lor'themar killing blows, though Halduron Brightwing and his rangers arrived and fettered the risen guardians with arrows. Theron and Brightwing then rushed back to the capital, hoping it was not too late.

Despite Lor'themar's belief that the situation could still be salvaged, it was already too late. The Ranger Corps fought Arthas at every turn, but were pushed further and further back towards their capital. Sylvanas Windrunner was slain by Arthas outside Silvermoon, the city was sacked, and King Anasterian and the entire Convocation of Silvermoon were also slain. Theron fought his way to the Isle of Quel'Danas, but the well had already been defiled by Arthas.

With the deaths of Anasterian, the Convocation, Grand Magister Belo'vir, and Sylvanas, Lor'themar assumed temporary leadership of the high elves and, along with his much-reduced forces, remained in Quel'Thalas after the fall of Silvermoon as a resistance to the Scourge remnants. Lor'themar reclaimed The Bazaar from the Scourge, and made it a makeshift base for any elven survivors he could find. Soon after, Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider returned to his homeland, and surveyed the damage done to his kingdom. He sent the archmage Rommath to confer with Lor'themar, and to prepare for his arrival. Lor'themar showed the prince to the body of his father and was present when the king was cremated on a funeral pyre. Lor'themar accompanied Kael, Rommath, Halduron, Liadrin, and several others to Quel'Danas once more, to destroy the tainted Sunwell before the Amani could seize it.
Lor'themar when Prince Kael'thas destroyed the corrupted Sunwell.
The group returned triumphantly to Silvermoon, freed from the threat of the Sunwell's corrupted state, though the loss of the Sunwell led to a withdrawal-based lethargy for the survivors, who had become dependent on the well's arcane energy. Kael'thas then proclaimed the high elves reborn as the blood elves, in honor of all those perished. Appointed as Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas, Lor'themar was commanded to safeguard the land and seek a cure for their people while Kael'thas took a group of the blood elf forces to join the New Alliance resistance against the Scourge in Lordaeron, led by Lord Garithos. His old friend Halduron Brightwing, Ranger-General of Silvermoon, aided him in this task.