The Deathlord of the Ebon Blade had adamantly refused the new Lich King's request.
She had finally overcome her aversion to the 'gift' Bolvar had given her – the ability to raise others as death knights – but she would not use that gift indiscriminately. She and many others in the order had always maintained the Ebon Blade was better than both the Scourge and Forsaken in this regard. "Death knights don't make other death knights" had been their mantra for years, and this…this went far beyond simply raising more of their kind.
The Deathlord would not alienate every single paladin on Azeroth by attacking Light's Hope Chapel, and she would not force undeath onto anyone unwilling, particularly not Tirion Fordring. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Bolvar had countered. But she remained steadfast in her refusal, and proposed a compromise instead. The former paladin considered it, and found it acceptable.
Spirit-speakers. Shamans of multiple races and both factions, all employed to contact the spirits of the dead, to offer them something the prior generation of death knights had never been given.
Choice.
Some of them were eager to come back, to fight the Legion, particularly those who'd died on the Broken Shore. Some wanted to remain where they were, in peace. The Deathlord respected their wishes, no matter what they decided, and the ones who chose to rise were welcomed into their order. They retained no memory of their time in the spirit realm, however. Once back in their physical bodies, only memories from their existence in the physical world were accessible. This was explained to them as well. None of them minded.
Some accepted the Deathlord's offer instantly. Others, like Liam Greymane, accepted only with the assurance that their loved ones still lived. And others – like Tirion Fordring – had refused outright.
She'd expected he would decline, of course, but she still felt he should be given the choice. He thanked her for that…and then told her he had a far better suggestion than himself for the new leader of the Four Horsemen.
So now she and the others stood in a semicircle around the old gravesite, with the shaman in a trance and kneeling before it. And as the incense burned and the spells that parted the veil between the worlds took hold, a ghostly figure shimmered into view.
The spirit listened silently as the situation was explained, and when the offer was made, he had only one question for them.
"Does the mage Khadgar still live?" he asked.
"He does."
Anduin Lothar smiled, his decision made. "Then by all means, bring me back."