Post by Manovan Marrowsteel on Jun 30, 2006 5:27:25 GMT 1
(( Almost everything mentioned for both Horde and Alliance in this story has happened ingame. ))
The Scourge and the attack on Lordaeron
As the Lich King had been born, he mentally summoned powerful individuals. One of those was the archmage of Dalaran, Kel’Thuzad. After hearing the summons from Northrend, the archmage wanted to communicate with the voice. He resigned himself from the Kirin Tor to learn from the Lich King. Kel’Thuzad abandoned Dalaran forever, and traveled alone to the shores of Northrend. As he came to the war-torn ruins of Azjol-Nerub, he saw the scope and ferocity of Ner’zhul’s power. That’s when he began to realize that allying himself with the overwhelming Lich King might be much wise and fruitful. He finally reached Icecrown and approached it boldly. As he walked through the frozen halls he got shocked over that the undead guards ignored him and let him pass, as if he were expected. He walked far deep in the glacier and finally stood before the Frozen Throne where he offered his soul to the Lich King.
Kel’Thuzad’s first mission was to go to the world of men and found a new religion that would worship the Lich King as a god. By using his powers of illusion and persuasion, he lulled the massess of Lordaeron into trust and belief. During three years time, Kel’Thuzad gathered a clandestine brotherhood called the Cult of the Damned. As the cult grew, Kel’Thuzad made sure to hide its doings from the authorities of Lordaeron. The Lich King placed his plague-energies into a number of artifacts called plague-cauldrons. Kel’Thuzad’s next mission was to transport those cauldrons to Lordaeron, where they would be hidden in various cult-controlled villages. Those cauldrons would act as plague-generators, sending the plague seeping out across the unsuspecting farmlands and cities of northern Lordaeron. The plan worked perfectly. Many of the northern villages were contaminated almost immediately. As in Northrend, the people who contracted the plague died and arose as slaves of the Lich King. Kel’Thuzad looked upon the Lich King’s army and named it the Scourge, because soon it was about to march upon the gates of Lordaeron and scour humanity from the face of the world.
As king Terenas had convinced the Alliance leaders to lend money and laborers to help rebuilding the southern kingdom of Stormwind, which had been destroyed during the orcish occupation. The higher taxes that resulted, among much more, led many leaders to believe that their kingdom would be better off seceding from the Alliance. The elves departured, as they thought of a poor leadership among the humans. As the elves had stubbornly left, Gilneas and Stromgarde seceded as well. But king Terenas still had allies to rely on – Admiral Proudmoore of Kul Tiras and king Varian Wrynn of Azeroth, as well as the wizards of Kirin Tor and the mighty dwarven king, Magni Bronzebeard.
Kel’Thuzad and the Cult of the Damned struck first by releasing the plague of undeath upon Lordaeron. Uther Lightbringer and his fellow paladins investigated the regions in hope of finding a way to stop the plague. Among those paladins, Manovan’s cousin Dunbaton who got killed by a mob of flesh-eating farmers carrying the stench of rotten flesh. As the words of Dunbaton’s death had reached Lordaeron, the Marrowsteel family got devestated, and the noble paladin’s parents became arrogant and reserved. King Terenas’ son, prince Arthas, took up the fight against the Scourge and succeeded in killing Kel’Thuzad. But even so, the undead ranks swelled with every soldier that fell defending the land – even the killed paladin, Dunbaton Marrowsteel. As prince Arthas took extreme steppes to conquer the enemy, his comrades warned him that he was losing his hold on his humanity. Prince Arthas brought the battle to Northrend where he intended to end the Lich King’s threat forever. But instead, the prince fell prey to the Lich King’s power, and believing that it would save Lordaeron he claimed the cursed runeblade, Frostmourne, giving him unfathomable power. The runeblade though, stole his soul and turned him into the greatest of the Lich King’s death knights. Arthas led the Scourge against his own kingdom, where he murdered his father, king Terenas, and crushed Lordaeron under the Lich King’s iron heel.
The end of the Marrowsteel family and Manovan’s flight to Southshore
Hundreds of undead soldiers rushed through the gates of Lordaeron, killed every human they saw – men, women and children – and fed on their bodies. The soldiers of Lordaeron fought back with full strength, but as their forces decreased, the Scourge forces increased. The parents of Dunbaton finally left their home and ran over to the house of Manovan’s parents. But as they entered the door they got stabbed to death by undead soldiers and fell down on the carpet of the Marrowsteel house. Manovan’s father, who was a retired paladin, grabbed his old sword and held back the undeads the best he could. He was in his late fiftees and had lost much of his skill for not being in a battle for more than ten years, but undeads were crawling over each other’s chopped off limbs to get to the panicked man. Drenched in cursed blood, the retired paladin died while swinging his sword. His last words to his wife and son were: ”Escape from Lordaeron. Run and never look back.”
Manovan had not at that age begun his training as a paladin, and was to inexperienced to fight back the Scourge, so he and his mother fled the Marrowsteel house through a window. His father’s words echoed in his head. Don’t look back, he thought for himself. But as he couldn’t help it, the last thing he saw while looking in through the window of his old house, was his father raising from the dead looking at him with bleeding eyes. The streets of Lordaeron was covered with both undead and human corpses, and the screams of scared people hurted his ears, even though they got slightly dampened by the noise of the burning buildings. It was over. Lordaeron was lost.
Manovan and his mother ran through the dangerous streets where the battle still was fierce, and the both seemed to succeed in avoiding the minions of the Lich King. They were close to the outer gate when they realized they were chased by undead farmers. ”We won’t make it”, Manovan’s mother shouted. ”We will die as everyone else, and become like those things.” Manovan sighed irritated and bit his lip. If only his father was here. As he thought those words he could feel the presence of a nearby undead, hobble towards them with its sword scoring the dirty ground. It was his father. The two Marrowsteels got paralyzed in fear by the limping father who’s blood had started to coagulate already. As he closed in, Manovan managed to slightly take a step back, leaving his mother in the hands of her rotten husband. This would be a sacrifice he had to make for himself to survive, but from here on he would take up the training as a paladin and never need to sacrifice something again. He left Lordaeron without regret, not even mourning over the lost of his parents.
Manovan ran for hours, too scared to get tired. His legs hurted but he didn’t care. He ran south towards Hillsbrad Foothills and managed to get there before the Scourge did. He made Southshore into his new home, where he would start a new life as a paladin. Raising paladins was expensive though and in these times of war, there wasn’t even enough men to protect the northern lands from the Scourge. Manovan would have to give up is ideas of becoming a paladin.
The victory of the mortals and the rugged port city of Theramore
The Lich King, who knew that his time was short, called his greatest death knight Arthas to his side. Arthas had been involved in a civil war in Lordaeron, where the banshee Sylvanas Windrunner with half of the standing forces, staged a coup for control over the undead empire. The rebel group was known as the Forsaken, and they claimed the ruins of Lordaeron for themselves. As Arthas came to Northrend he found the night elf Illidan’s nagas and the blood elves waiting for him. He and his allies raced to the Icecrown Glacier to defend the Frozen Throne.
Arthas outmaneuvered Illidan and reached the Frozen Throne. Using the Frostmourne, he shattered the Lich King’s icy prison and placed the enchanted helm and breastplate on himself, making himself the new Lich King. Illidan had to flee back into Outland, leaving the Scourge at Northrend where they currently are rebuilding Icecrown. The world suffered many lossess during the war, but the mortals was victorious.
The remaining Alliance forces under Jaina Proudmoore settled in southern Kalimdor, where they built the rugged port city of Theramore. The peace between the orcs and the humans was shattered by the arrival of a massive Alliance fleet in Kalimdor. That fleet had left Lordaeron before Arthas destroyed the kingdom. The fleet was led by Jaina’s father, Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore, who was a staunch enemy of the Horde. He made his daughter help him fight the Horde, or choose to help Thrall defeat her crazed father. She decided to help the Horde, and her father got killed in battle. For that, the orcs allowed Jaina’s soldiers to return home safely to Theramore.
As Manovan had heard the news about the new town of Theramore and the bravery of Jaina Proudmoore, he decided that Theramore would be where he could pick up the art of the paladin. He took a ship to the city and walked right into the keep where Jaina was stationed. He couldn’t get far though as Jaina was in a meeting and had no interest in speaking to him, so he decided to write her a letter. After the letter had been delievered, he got himself a carpenting job at the docks, where he was irritated over the delay of the answer. It took about three to four weeks before Jaina sent him an answer, saying that he could start his training as a paladin, but that would have to be in Northshire Abbey in Elwynn Forest.
Manovan Marrowsteel traveled to Northshire Abbey where the situation was bad due to the Defias Brotherhood. Among him there were more people from Theramore, from a group called the Theramore Lancers. Manovan got invited to the guild and decided to follow the way of the paladin so he could finally return to his home in Lordaeron and slay those undeads with the weapon in his hand.
Picture of Manovan as a Theramore Lancer:
The break-up of the Theramore Lancers and the new home in Stormwind
At the side of the Theramore Lancers, Manovan Marrowsteel – paladin in training from the forsaken city of Lordaeron – grew stronger every day. He got assignments from mighty people, from the Cathedral of Stormwind and from his leaders in the Theramore Lancers. He traveled west to Westfall, where he fought the Defias Brotherhood at the destroyed fields and burned down farms. Inside of him, he felt some kind of pleasant joy while killing those bandits. He felt closer to his home in Lordaeron.
As Manovan got stationed in Lakeshire among some other of the Lancers he could feel arrogance and criticizm among the members of that organization. He heard from Arad – captain of the paladins – that commander Ragax had left the Lancers by unkown reasons and captain Arad had gotten promoted into the new commander. Manovan, who liked the new commander very much, got relieved by the news and decided to follow his new leader until he was strong enough to reclaim Lordaeron. That will was also the reason he got promoted into the new captain of paladins.
Just a few days after that promotion words spread about commander Arad being missing. Manovan hurried up to the headquarters in Theramore to ask if it was true. ”I´m the new commander, captain”, a familiar voice said. Captain Manovan turned his head into the direction of the voice and could see the figure of a well-built man come out from the shadows of the not so brightly lit room. It was Holod, captain of the mages. Manovan bit his tongue, irritated by the situation – but he hadn’t the privilegies to speak up about what he had in mind.
Manovan Marrowsteel rushed out from the room and ripped his tabard into pieces while running to the soon leaving ship. He would leave the Theramore Lancers for good, and find a new home in Stormwind City. As he had come to Stormwind though, he couldn’t find neither a place to live, a way to get money or an organization to join. Until he saw a small piece of paper nailed to the port of Stormwind Keep.
The Stormwind Militia seeks you, citizen of Stormwind, who are willing enough to grab your sword and join us in the fight against the undead, the Horde and all enemies of the kingdom of Stormwind. Seek out commander Dagren if you think you are worthy.
Of course he was worthy. Manovan Marrowsteel, paladin from Lordaeron, cousin to Dunbaton Marrowsteel and son to one of the most famous retired paladins of Lordaeron. Manovan Marrowsteel, captain of the Theramore Lancers - he was strong enough to join this militia, he was sure. He wrote Dagren a letter and they decided for a meeting. At the meeting they spoke about the Stormwind Militia, about Manovan and his background in the Theramore Lancers, and his role in this new organization. Manovan Marrowsteel, now a full member of the Stormwind Militia.
The taint of Duskwood and the return to the kingdom of Lordaeron
As Manovan had gotten a new role in the Stormwind Militia, he got transfered to Duskwood to continue his training as a paladin. In that land he could see a black sky in the middle of the day, and the terrible sound of the likes of nightmares came from the trees around the town of Darkshire. It reminded him deeply from the time he ran away from Lordaeron and left his mother to die in the hands of the Scourge.
Along the road between Darkshire and Westfall, an enormous abomination with the smell of hatred and coagulated blood patrolled and killed everything in its way. It was the meeting with that creature that led to Manovan’s decision. He wanted to once go back to Lordaeron to see his homekingdom. And most of all to kill undeads in numbers that would break his enchanted hammer of steel.
And so he did – Manovan asked his commander for an assignment in Lordaeron, and it took lots of begging before he got the mission. He was about to go to undead lands to investigate about the Forsaken moves.
Tirisfal Glades was a dark and creepy place, far from as beautiful as it was those years ago when Manovan used to live in these lands. He crossed a farm which was tainted by a horrible smell of death. He wondered if his parents were still walking among the Scourge or Forsaken, or if they had been killed and rottened in the darkness of a tomb. He would probably never find out.
Manovan Marrowsteel was exhausted and dirty, and he felt shivers in his spine by walking in these forests. Suddenly he heard the cracking noise of a broken stick, and turned around. Behind him stood a douzen of Forsaken men and women spectating him with their glowing eyes. They had bones sticking out of the body and the smelled horrible. Manovan took carefully a step back, and a female warrior in front of him quickly pulled her sword. He tried to take another step but fell as the undeads stormed towards him with full strength, ripping him apart like beasts.
A bright light came from nowhere and penetrated one of the Forsaken with great power. From the shadows came Dagren riding on his horse. He channeled some divine magic and in seconds killed the present Forsakens. But it was too late. Manovan was already dead.
The memorial ceremony and the awakening in Deathknell
Dagren gathered the remains of Manovan Marrowsteel and returned to his militia in Stormwind. He decided to let the body be cremated in case a plague had entered the corpse to later let it rise as an undead. All that was left was ashes. The ceremony was held in the Cathedral of Stormwind and the militia later marched to the top of a cliff at the border between Elwynn Forest and Westfall to throw the ashes out in the wind. ”May you rest in peace”, Dagren said.
Picture of the Stormwind Militia’s memorial ceremony of Manovan:
[ www.team-monkey.dk/c-19/funeral/images/WoWScrnShot_031406_211754.jpg ]
The ashes of Manovan Marrowsteel flew through the wind – it crossed the mountains at north and after a month much of the ashes had spread in the lands of Lordaeron, the home of a paladin with more or less a heart of morale.
A Forsaken apotechary found some of the ashes in the grass outside the ruins of Lordaeron and he gathered as much as he could of it. He later went down to his lab in the Undercity where he had the remains of a fallen warlock. The reason was merely to test something out. Was it possible to reanimate the ashes of a cremated person if there would be a new container for the soul that remained in the ashes.
The apotechary put as much of the ashes as he had find in the heart of the fallen warlock and blessed him with a dark spell. When the body was ready to be animated he put it in the tomb in Deathknell. The next day – Manovan Marrowsteel stood once again, in the body of a fallen warlock, but with broken memories of his old life as a paladin.
As he took his first step as a Forsaken, he felt a huge ache in his head. Fragments of memories past by in an instance, and he knew it must be the memories of the warlock container. What he saw was Dalaran, Kel’Tuzad in a beautiful purple robe and lots of laughter. Laughter that suddenly changed into cries and not long after into screams of fear.
Manovan suddenly smiled with his dislocated jaw. He was not dead, he was very much alive. If not more alive than before. Within his rotten heart was the souls of two warriors. He would not be alone, he would not be afraid. Because he was home. Home in Lordaeron once more.
The last battle of the House of Praetoria and the arise of the Council of Medivh
Manovan had fought many undeads when he was alive, but now when he was undead himself – he had to adapt to the surroundings. In fact he didn’t really care whether he killed undeads or humans. He was home in Lordaeron again. As he developed his strength as a warlock, he met up with a guild called House of Praetoria. They took him in as one of them, and drove him towards battle. The enemies were the foul druids of Circle of the Moon who had personally challenged the guild by decapitating their former leader. The new leader, Drakarm, led his men into battle – and unfortunately suffered defeat.
Many men and women were killed that day, and only some of them were once again ressurrected. Drakarm disbanded his guild as he became one with the voice of Medivh, calling him from inside his mind. Manovan didn’t really care if he would be part of a guild called House of Praetoria or Council of Medivh. It didn’t make any difference. One major difference though was that the new guild followed a new more peaceful ambition. Manovan despised the Alliance, as he despised every other person but himself. He decided to become like a rebel within the Council, and still kill and devour humans that would cross his path.
It was within this guild that Manovan Marrowsteel learned the way of the warlock.
The attraction to the bloodstones and the new ambition
Once when Manovan was killing wizards in Dalaran, he found a journal that was written by someone named Belamoore. He read about bloodstones which fused with fresh blood and increased in magical power. At the beginning he did not actually care about what he had read, but the living mind who shared body with him – the voice he called It – talked to him as it seldom did before, and convinced him about the power of bloodstones being something astonishing. Manovan got to learn that It once had been cousin to the warden Belamoore, and he had been using bloodstones to increase his powers as a demonologist. Manovan decided to seek out the source of the myth, the bloodstone ore, and investigate about it himself.
It was in the eastern part of Arathi Highlands, where Manovan found the lesser bloodstone ore that could prove if the theory about its power being true or false. He harvested much of it and brought it back to Undercity where he sent one piece of ore, together with the research journal, to Abraxas of Council of Medivh. He asked him as a friend to experiment on the ore for him, and see its powers and if it actually devoured fresh blood to increase in might. He got the answer that bloodstone was made up by divine material, and within it had not only blood – but energies of all the elements as well as the powers of life and death. It was a stone with great magical properties which could strengthen everyone knowing how to use its power. Manovan always kept some bloodstone ore with him, and it did not take long before he could even smell its presence in his bags. He knew that the bloodstone was not merely an object, but an entity with a life of its own. It made him stronger, it made him smarter and it also made him think he was better than anyone else.
One day he sent a letter to Drakarm of Council of Medivh written in human blood, where he said farewell to the order. Manovan wrote that he had found an ambition he wanted to follow, and that keeping himself in a peaceful guild as the Council would only limit his powers and not help him achieving his ambition. The ambition he longed for was an order of his own, that would be a strong military army fighting the Scourge, the Alliance and everything else that would oppose him. The voice that had whispered to him about this ambition did not belong to It, neither did it belong to himself. It was a whisper that came from the bloodstones in his backpack and it was a voice stronger than anything else. He wanted a guild that would fight for the philosophy of the bloodstone – an army that would fight strong opponents, defeat them and fuse with their powers – as when the bloodstone drinks fresh blood. He wanted an army that would have the same energy as a bloodstone, that would strengthen beings around them just by morale and honor – an army that honorable among the Horde and Forsaken that it would be an idol to other guilds and adventurers. He would call this army the Bloodstone Order.
In the depths of Razorfen Downs, Manovan Marrowsteel prooved his trust to the voice within him, by telling him about the powers he would be able to possess – without loosing himself to the Burning Legion or to the mind of It. Manovan knew that by growing stronger along the path of the warlock, he would not strengthen his soul but the body and mind that belonged to It. The warlock of Kirin Tor would sooner or later unleash himself from his prison within, and take over the body completely – either fading the soul of Manovan out or switching place with him. Manovan knew that there were but one option for him to choose, if he would be able to grow powerful without loosing all control the ashes in this body’s heart possessed. That option was to increase the powers of the soul stored in those ashes, and he did that by fusing with a bloodstone as the bloodstone would fuse with blood. Manovan ripped up his enchanted robe and pressed forcefully the ore through his rotten skin, his muscles and ribs until it had become one with his heart. He knew that by doing this, It would not have as easy to gain control of the body as before.
The bloodstone in his heart made him much stronger than before and as he had found heroes along his way, he felt ready to form the army of his ambition. Bloodstone Order was now formed, and Manovan Marrowsteel was its bloodlord. It was such a small order, but with great potential.
The Scourge and the attack on Lordaeron
As the Lich King had been born, he mentally summoned powerful individuals. One of those was the archmage of Dalaran, Kel’Thuzad. After hearing the summons from Northrend, the archmage wanted to communicate with the voice. He resigned himself from the Kirin Tor to learn from the Lich King. Kel’Thuzad abandoned Dalaran forever, and traveled alone to the shores of Northrend. As he came to the war-torn ruins of Azjol-Nerub, he saw the scope and ferocity of Ner’zhul’s power. That’s when he began to realize that allying himself with the overwhelming Lich King might be much wise and fruitful. He finally reached Icecrown and approached it boldly. As he walked through the frozen halls he got shocked over that the undead guards ignored him and let him pass, as if he were expected. He walked far deep in the glacier and finally stood before the Frozen Throne where he offered his soul to the Lich King.
Kel’Thuzad’s first mission was to go to the world of men and found a new religion that would worship the Lich King as a god. By using his powers of illusion and persuasion, he lulled the massess of Lordaeron into trust and belief. During three years time, Kel’Thuzad gathered a clandestine brotherhood called the Cult of the Damned. As the cult grew, Kel’Thuzad made sure to hide its doings from the authorities of Lordaeron. The Lich King placed his plague-energies into a number of artifacts called plague-cauldrons. Kel’Thuzad’s next mission was to transport those cauldrons to Lordaeron, where they would be hidden in various cult-controlled villages. Those cauldrons would act as plague-generators, sending the plague seeping out across the unsuspecting farmlands and cities of northern Lordaeron. The plan worked perfectly. Many of the northern villages were contaminated almost immediately. As in Northrend, the people who contracted the plague died and arose as slaves of the Lich King. Kel’Thuzad looked upon the Lich King’s army and named it the Scourge, because soon it was about to march upon the gates of Lordaeron and scour humanity from the face of the world.
As king Terenas had convinced the Alliance leaders to lend money and laborers to help rebuilding the southern kingdom of Stormwind, which had been destroyed during the orcish occupation. The higher taxes that resulted, among much more, led many leaders to believe that their kingdom would be better off seceding from the Alliance. The elves departured, as they thought of a poor leadership among the humans. As the elves had stubbornly left, Gilneas and Stromgarde seceded as well. But king Terenas still had allies to rely on – Admiral Proudmoore of Kul Tiras and king Varian Wrynn of Azeroth, as well as the wizards of Kirin Tor and the mighty dwarven king, Magni Bronzebeard.
Kel’Thuzad and the Cult of the Damned struck first by releasing the plague of undeath upon Lordaeron. Uther Lightbringer and his fellow paladins investigated the regions in hope of finding a way to stop the plague. Among those paladins, Manovan’s cousin Dunbaton who got killed by a mob of flesh-eating farmers carrying the stench of rotten flesh. As the words of Dunbaton’s death had reached Lordaeron, the Marrowsteel family got devestated, and the noble paladin’s parents became arrogant and reserved. King Terenas’ son, prince Arthas, took up the fight against the Scourge and succeeded in killing Kel’Thuzad. But even so, the undead ranks swelled with every soldier that fell defending the land – even the killed paladin, Dunbaton Marrowsteel. As prince Arthas took extreme steppes to conquer the enemy, his comrades warned him that he was losing his hold on his humanity. Prince Arthas brought the battle to Northrend where he intended to end the Lich King’s threat forever. But instead, the prince fell prey to the Lich King’s power, and believing that it would save Lordaeron he claimed the cursed runeblade, Frostmourne, giving him unfathomable power. The runeblade though, stole his soul and turned him into the greatest of the Lich King’s death knights. Arthas led the Scourge against his own kingdom, where he murdered his father, king Terenas, and crushed Lordaeron under the Lich King’s iron heel.
The end of the Marrowsteel family and Manovan’s flight to Southshore
Hundreds of undead soldiers rushed through the gates of Lordaeron, killed every human they saw – men, women and children – and fed on their bodies. The soldiers of Lordaeron fought back with full strength, but as their forces decreased, the Scourge forces increased. The parents of Dunbaton finally left their home and ran over to the house of Manovan’s parents. But as they entered the door they got stabbed to death by undead soldiers and fell down on the carpet of the Marrowsteel house. Manovan’s father, who was a retired paladin, grabbed his old sword and held back the undeads the best he could. He was in his late fiftees and had lost much of his skill for not being in a battle for more than ten years, but undeads were crawling over each other’s chopped off limbs to get to the panicked man. Drenched in cursed blood, the retired paladin died while swinging his sword. His last words to his wife and son were: ”Escape from Lordaeron. Run and never look back.”
Manovan had not at that age begun his training as a paladin, and was to inexperienced to fight back the Scourge, so he and his mother fled the Marrowsteel house through a window. His father’s words echoed in his head. Don’t look back, he thought for himself. But as he couldn’t help it, the last thing he saw while looking in through the window of his old house, was his father raising from the dead looking at him with bleeding eyes. The streets of Lordaeron was covered with both undead and human corpses, and the screams of scared people hurted his ears, even though they got slightly dampened by the noise of the burning buildings. It was over. Lordaeron was lost.
Manovan and his mother ran through the dangerous streets where the battle still was fierce, and the both seemed to succeed in avoiding the minions of the Lich King. They were close to the outer gate when they realized they were chased by undead farmers. ”We won’t make it”, Manovan’s mother shouted. ”We will die as everyone else, and become like those things.” Manovan sighed irritated and bit his lip. If only his father was here. As he thought those words he could feel the presence of a nearby undead, hobble towards them with its sword scoring the dirty ground. It was his father. The two Marrowsteels got paralyzed in fear by the limping father who’s blood had started to coagulate already. As he closed in, Manovan managed to slightly take a step back, leaving his mother in the hands of her rotten husband. This would be a sacrifice he had to make for himself to survive, but from here on he would take up the training as a paladin and never need to sacrifice something again. He left Lordaeron without regret, not even mourning over the lost of his parents.
Manovan ran for hours, too scared to get tired. His legs hurted but he didn’t care. He ran south towards Hillsbrad Foothills and managed to get there before the Scourge did. He made Southshore into his new home, where he would start a new life as a paladin. Raising paladins was expensive though and in these times of war, there wasn’t even enough men to protect the northern lands from the Scourge. Manovan would have to give up is ideas of becoming a paladin.
The victory of the mortals and the rugged port city of Theramore
The Lich King, who knew that his time was short, called his greatest death knight Arthas to his side. Arthas had been involved in a civil war in Lordaeron, where the banshee Sylvanas Windrunner with half of the standing forces, staged a coup for control over the undead empire. The rebel group was known as the Forsaken, and they claimed the ruins of Lordaeron for themselves. As Arthas came to Northrend he found the night elf Illidan’s nagas and the blood elves waiting for him. He and his allies raced to the Icecrown Glacier to defend the Frozen Throne.
Arthas outmaneuvered Illidan and reached the Frozen Throne. Using the Frostmourne, he shattered the Lich King’s icy prison and placed the enchanted helm and breastplate on himself, making himself the new Lich King. Illidan had to flee back into Outland, leaving the Scourge at Northrend where they currently are rebuilding Icecrown. The world suffered many lossess during the war, but the mortals was victorious.
The remaining Alliance forces under Jaina Proudmoore settled in southern Kalimdor, where they built the rugged port city of Theramore. The peace between the orcs and the humans was shattered by the arrival of a massive Alliance fleet in Kalimdor. That fleet had left Lordaeron before Arthas destroyed the kingdom. The fleet was led by Jaina’s father, Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore, who was a staunch enemy of the Horde. He made his daughter help him fight the Horde, or choose to help Thrall defeat her crazed father. She decided to help the Horde, and her father got killed in battle. For that, the orcs allowed Jaina’s soldiers to return home safely to Theramore.
As Manovan had heard the news about the new town of Theramore and the bravery of Jaina Proudmoore, he decided that Theramore would be where he could pick up the art of the paladin. He took a ship to the city and walked right into the keep where Jaina was stationed. He couldn’t get far though as Jaina was in a meeting and had no interest in speaking to him, so he decided to write her a letter. After the letter had been delievered, he got himself a carpenting job at the docks, where he was irritated over the delay of the answer. It took about three to four weeks before Jaina sent him an answer, saying that he could start his training as a paladin, but that would have to be in Northshire Abbey in Elwynn Forest.
Manovan Marrowsteel traveled to Northshire Abbey where the situation was bad due to the Defias Brotherhood. Among him there were more people from Theramore, from a group called the Theramore Lancers. Manovan got invited to the guild and decided to follow the way of the paladin so he could finally return to his home in Lordaeron and slay those undeads with the weapon in his hand.
Picture of Manovan as a Theramore Lancer:
The break-up of the Theramore Lancers and the new home in Stormwind
At the side of the Theramore Lancers, Manovan Marrowsteel – paladin in training from the forsaken city of Lordaeron – grew stronger every day. He got assignments from mighty people, from the Cathedral of Stormwind and from his leaders in the Theramore Lancers. He traveled west to Westfall, where he fought the Defias Brotherhood at the destroyed fields and burned down farms. Inside of him, he felt some kind of pleasant joy while killing those bandits. He felt closer to his home in Lordaeron.
As Manovan got stationed in Lakeshire among some other of the Lancers he could feel arrogance and criticizm among the members of that organization. He heard from Arad – captain of the paladins – that commander Ragax had left the Lancers by unkown reasons and captain Arad had gotten promoted into the new commander. Manovan, who liked the new commander very much, got relieved by the news and decided to follow his new leader until he was strong enough to reclaim Lordaeron. That will was also the reason he got promoted into the new captain of paladins.
Just a few days after that promotion words spread about commander Arad being missing. Manovan hurried up to the headquarters in Theramore to ask if it was true. ”I´m the new commander, captain”, a familiar voice said. Captain Manovan turned his head into the direction of the voice and could see the figure of a well-built man come out from the shadows of the not so brightly lit room. It was Holod, captain of the mages. Manovan bit his tongue, irritated by the situation – but he hadn’t the privilegies to speak up about what he had in mind.
Manovan Marrowsteel rushed out from the room and ripped his tabard into pieces while running to the soon leaving ship. He would leave the Theramore Lancers for good, and find a new home in Stormwind City. As he had come to Stormwind though, he couldn’t find neither a place to live, a way to get money or an organization to join. Until he saw a small piece of paper nailed to the port of Stormwind Keep.
The Stormwind Militia seeks you, citizen of Stormwind, who are willing enough to grab your sword and join us in the fight against the undead, the Horde and all enemies of the kingdom of Stormwind. Seek out commander Dagren if you think you are worthy.
Of course he was worthy. Manovan Marrowsteel, paladin from Lordaeron, cousin to Dunbaton Marrowsteel and son to one of the most famous retired paladins of Lordaeron. Manovan Marrowsteel, captain of the Theramore Lancers - he was strong enough to join this militia, he was sure. He wrote Dagren a letter and they decided for a meeting. At the meeting they spoke about the Stormwind Militia, about Manovan and his background in the Theramore Lancers, and his role in this new organization. Manovan Marrowsteel, now a full member of the Stormwind Militia.
The taint of Duskwood and the return to the kingdom of Lordaeron
As Manovan had gotten a new role in the Stormwind Militia, he got transfered to Duskwood to continue his training as a paladin. In that land he could see a black sky in the middle of the day, and the terrible sound of the likes of nightmares came from the trees around the town of Darkshire. It reminded him deeply from the time he ran away from Lordaeron and left his mother to die in the hands of the Scourge.
Along the road between Darkshire and Westfall, an enormous abomination with the smell of hatred and coagulated blood patrolled and killed everything in its way. It was the meeting with that creature that led to Manovan’s decision. He wanted to once go back to Lordaeron to see his homekingdom. And most of all to kill undeads in numbers that would break his enchanted hammer of steel.
And so he did – Manovan asked his commander for an assignment in Lordaeron, and it took lots of begging before he got the mission. He was about to go to undead lands to investigate about the Forsaken moves.
Tirisfal Glades was a dark and creepy place, far from as beautiful as it was those years ago when Manovan used to live in these lands. He crossed a farm which was tainted by a horrible smell of death. He wondered if his parents were still walking among the Scourge or Forsaken, or if they had been killed and rottened in the darkness of a tomb. He would probably never find out.
Manovan Marrowsteel was exhausted and dirty, and he felt shivers in his spine by walking in these forests. Suddenly he heard the cracking noise of a broken stick, and turned around. Behind him stood a douzen of Forsaken men and women spectating him with their glowing eyes. They had bones sticking out of the body and the smelled horrible. Manovan took carefully a step back, and a female warrior in front of him quickly pulled her sword. He tried to take another step but fell as the undeads stormed towards him with full strength, ripping him apart like beasts.
A bright light came from nowhere and penetrated one of the Forsaken with great power. From the shadows came Dagren riding on his horse. He channeled some divine magic and in seconds killed the present Forsakens. But it was too late. Manovan was already dead.
The memorial ceremony and the awakening in Deathknell
Dagren gathered the remains of Manovan Marrowsteel and returned to his militia in Stormwind. He decided to let the body be cremated in case a plague had entered the corpse to later let it rise as an undead. All that was left was ashes. The ceremony was held in the Cathedral of Stormwind and the militia later marched to the top of a cliff at the border between Elwynn Forest and Westfall to throw the ashes out in the wind. ”May you rest in peace”, Dagren said.
Picture of the Stormwind Militia’s memorial ceremony of Manovan:
[ www.team-monkey.dk/c-19/funeral/images/WoWScrnShot_031406_211754.jpg ]
The ashes of Manovan Marrowsteel flew through the wind – it crossed the mountains at north and after a month much of the ashes had spread in the lands of Lordaeron, the home of a paladin with more or less a heart of morale.
A Forsaken apotechary found some of the ashes in the grass outside the ruins of Lordaeron and he gathered as much as he could of it. He later went down to his lab in the Undercity where he had the remains of a fallen warlock. The reason was merely to test something out. Was it possible to reanimate the ashes of a cremated person if there would be a new container for the soul that remained in the ashes.
The apotechary put as much of the ashes as he had find in the heart of the fallen warlock and blessed him with a dark spell. When the body was ready to be animated he put it in the tomb in Deathknell. The next day – Manovan Marrowsteel stood once again, in the body of a fallen warlock, but with broken memories of his old life as a paladin.
As he took his first step as a Forsaken, he felt a huge ache in his head. Fragments of memories past by in an instance, and he knew it must be the memories of the warlock container. What he saw was Dalaran, Kel’Tuzad in a beautiful purple robe and lots of laughter. Laughter that suddenly changed into cries and not long after into screams of fear.
Manovan suddenly smiled with his dislocated jaw. He was not dead, he was very much alive. If not more alive than before. Within his rotten heart was the souls of two warriors. He would not be alone, he would not be afraid. Because he was home. Home in Lordaeron once more.
The last battle of the House of Praetoria and the arise of the Council of Medivh
Manovan had fought many undeads when he was alive, but now when he was undead himself – he had to adapt to the surroundings. In fact he didn’t really care whether he killed undeads or humans. He was home in Lordaeron again. As he developed his strength as a warlock, he met up with a guild called House of Praetoria. They took him in as one of them, and drove him towards battle. The enemies were the foul druids of Circle of the Moon who had personally challenged the guild by decapitating their former leader. The new leader, Drakarm, led his men into battle – and unfortunately suffered defeat.
Many men and women were killed that day, and only some of them were once again ressurrected. Drakarm disbanded his guild as he became one with the voice of Medivh, calling him from inside his mind. Manovan didn’t really care if he would be part of a guild called House of Praetoria or Council of Medivh. It didn’t make any difference. One major difference though was that the new guild followed a new more peaceful ambition. Manovan despised the Alliance, as he despised every other person but himself. He decided to become like a rebel within the Council, and still kill and devour humans that would cross his path.
It was within this guild that Manovan Marrowsteel learned the way of the warlock.
The attraction to the bloodstones and the new ambition
Once when Manovan was killing wizards in Dalaran, he found a journal that was written by someone named Belamoore. He read about bloodstones which fused with fresh blood and increased in magical power. At the beginning he did not actually care about what he had read, but the living mind who shared body with him – the voice he called It – talked to him as it seldom did before, and convinced him about the power of bloodstones being something astonishing. Manovan got to learn that It once had been cousin to the warden Belamoore, and he had been using bloodstones to increase his powers as a demonologist. Manovan decided to seek out the source of the myth, the bloodstone ore, and investigate about it himself.
It was in the eastern part of Arathi Highlands, where Manovan found the lesser bloodstone ore that could prove if the theory about its power being true or false. He harvested much of it and brought it back to Undercity where he sent one piece of ore, together with the research journal, to Abraxas of Council of Medivh. He asked him as a friend to experiment on the ore for him, and see its powers and if it actually devoured fresh blood to increase in might. He got the answer that bloodstone was made up by divine material, and within it had not only blood – but energies of all the elements as well as the powers of life and death. It was a stone with great magical properties which could strengthen everyone knowing how to use its power. Manovan always kept some bloodstone ore with him, and it did not take long before he could even smell its presence in his bags. He knew that the bloodstone was not merely an object, but an entity with a life of its own. It made him stronger, it made him smarter and it also made him think he was better than anyone else.
One day he sent a letter to Drakarm of Council of Medivh written in human blood, where he said farewell to the order. Manovan wrote that he had found an ambition he wanted to follow, and that keeping himself in a peaceful guild as the Council would only limit his powers and not help him achieving his ambition. The ambition he longed for was an order of his own, that would be a strong military army fighting the Scourge, the Alliance and everything else that would oppose him. The voice that had whispered to him about this ambition did not belong to It, neither did it belong to himself. It was a whisper that came from the bloodstones in his backpack and it was a voice stronger than anything else. He wanted a guild that would fight for the philosophy of the bloodstone – an army that would fight strong opponents, defeat them and fuse with their powers – as when the bloodstone drinks fresh blood. He wanted an army that would have the same energy as a bloodstone, that would strengthen beings around them just by morale and honor – an army that honorable among the Horde and Forsaken that it would be an idol to other guilds and adventurers. He would call this army the Bloodstone Order.
In the depths of Razorfen Downs, Manovan Marrowsteel prooved his trust to the voice within him, by telling him about the powers he would be able to possess – without loosing himself to the Burning Legion or to the mind of It. Manovan knew that by growing stronger along the path of the warlock, he would not strengthen his soul but the body and mind that belonged to It. The warlock of Kirin Tor would sooner or later unleash himself from his prison within, and take over the body completely – either fading the soul of Manovan out or switching place with him. Manovan knew that there were but one option for him to choose, if he would be able to grow powerful without loosing all control the ashes in this body’s heart possessed. That option was to increase the powers of the soul stored in those ashes, and he did that by fusing with a bloodstone as the bloodstone would fuse with blood. Manovan ripped up his enchanted robe and pressed forcefully the ore through his rotten skin, his muscles and ribs until it had become one with his heart. He knew that by doing this, It would not have as easy to gain control of the body as before.
The bloodstone in his heart made him much stronger than before and as he had found heroes along his way, he felt ready to form the army of his ambition. Bloodstone Order was now formed, and Manovan Marrowsteel was its bloodlord. It was such a small order, but with great potential.