Chapter 1: Dark Rebirth: Rise of the of the Damned
The first thing that I became aware of as I awakened was the cold. It was a chilling jolt to the system, one that would make a lesser man weep for the warmth of home. The next thing I felt was the feel of strange armor. Whatever I was wearing was neither the Truesilver of the Silver Hand's plate armor nor the war armor of the Lordaeron Knights. No, this was… different. I groaned, the fog of sleep starting to fade. What was I doing… ah yes, that's right… I'm supposed to be dead. Recognition flashing through my head as my last memories quickly played out in my mind. The ascent to the Frozen Throne, ending my predecessor, and taking up his crown to ensure the survival of Azeroth. For the first time in what seems to be ages, I opened my eyes.
'It hasn't changed much…' I mused. I tried to flex my left arm, only to struggle. Looking closer through the frosty blue tinge that the world had taken for me, I saw that I was still somewhat covered in frost and ice. I closed my eyes and summoned some of my strength. I moved and was surprised at how easily the ice covering me broke and fell off. I braced myself and arose from the Throne ('my throne…'), shaking the ice and the cobwebs off and took a few experimental steps. 'Everything is in working order, it seems.' Finally, I looked down upon myself and, for the first time, began to assess myself visually.
The armor I wore seemed to be the armor of my former predecessor, the one that was trapped within the ice when I struck him down with Frostmourne. It was black, with depictions of skulls everywhere. I had a cape, with a hood, and a scabbard for my runeblade. Fur lined my boots, obviously made for survival in the frozen wastelands. With the helm upon my head, I could only imagine how intimidating I must look.
"I have become Death…" I mumbled. "Destroyer of worlds."
"You have become much more than that, my lord," a voice exclaims. I look up to see a banshee floating towards me. "I am Shiva the Screamer, your Majesty. I am the head of your caretakers. Allow me to be the first to welcome you back to the land of the living."
I stared at her for a moment. She honestly looked like any other banshee, generic in her features. However, her aura felt more… sinister. Yet, there was a ring of honesty in her voice. Suddenly, I could feel her mind just beyond my perception. She was trustworthy.
"How long?" was all I asked her.
"Six years and five months exactly, your highness." She responded, knowing exactly what I was asking about.
I slumped back down upon my throne. I was asleep for over six years?
I stared at her, a grim expression taking over my face.
"Tell me…" I demanded of her. "Tell me everything…"
0-0-0-0
"Shortly after your ascension, your powers encased you in ice, beginning the healing process and preparing your body to be able to withstand the powers you now wield. Your armor was magically transferred onto your person to better allow you to channel the necrotic energies you now command. This process was quite lengthy and took nearly an entire year in and of itself. During your slumber, the Burning Legion took advantage of the dimmed voice of your predecessor and took command of your field troops. They used the undead to completely decimate your homeland of Lordaeron. Yet, your kingdom was not the only one to fall. Much of Tirisfal Glade became corrupt. Stratholme became a breeding ground for the undead. The Barov family fell to the whims of Kel'thuzad, their lands and their crypt, Caer Darrow given to the Cult of the Damned, the human faction of what eventually became the Undead Scourge. Caer Darrow became host to the Scholomance, a school for the necrotic arts. The surrounding lands became the Plaguelands, a field of diseased and corrupt life. Through the Plaguelands, came the invasion of the High Elves of Quel'thalas. Though they put up a valiant fight, the city of Silvermoon fell, most of its denizens slaughtered, and their fount of power, the Sunwell, corrupted beyond repair to bring back the necromancer Kel'thuzad as an undead Lich. He now orchestrates the conquering of the Eastern Kingdoms via his floating necropolis, Naxxramas.
"Over the course of the Third War, a new faction of Undead split from the control of the Burning Legion. The Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner was killed in the defense of Silvermoon and brought back to life as a banshee by Kel'thuzad and a Dreadlord named Varimathras. She later broke free of their control and sought out her corpse and reanimated it, becoming a Dark Ranger. She is currently the leader of the Forsaken, and has taken up residence underneath the Ruins of Lordaeron, where the Undercity thrives. The few survivors of Lordaeron fled south to the dwarven city of Ironforge, where they arranged transport to the kingdom of Stormwind, the last of the human kingdoms. Your father, Terenas Menethil, was said to be amongst the survivors, though we have not seen him outside of the city.
"Dalaran was next. Kel'thuzad by this time had summoned a horrible demon of the Burning Legion. Archimonde the Defiler successfully destroyed Dalaran before setting his sights on the continent across the sea: Kalimdor, home of the night elves. There, lay his ultimate goal: Nordrassil, the World Tree. It was here that he met his end, at the hands of the humans, orcs, and night elves.
"Six years has passed since then, my Lord, and many struggles have been fought. The humans betrayed the last of the High Elves, now known as Blood Elves, and have cut their ties with the Alliance. They now are a part of the new Horde, consisting of the orcs and their allies, the tauren, the undead Forsaken, the Darkspear trolls, and the Blood Elves. The Human alliance has persevered since, and has taken a new ally, the draenei of the planet Draenor, which was also the homeworld of the orcs. Now, with the Draenei in their fold, along with the Dwarves, Gnomes, and Night Elves, the Alliance is now stronger than ever. The Burning Legion has, for the last two years, been trying to break into our realm to finish what Archimonde started in trying to eradicate us all. They have a small presence in Darkwhisper Gorge, to the south of Winterspring in Kalimdor, and in the Eastern Kingdoms they dominate the Blasted Lands and the Isle of Quel'danas, where they struggle to summon Kil'jaeden to this world through the remnants of the Sunwell, which was hidden somewhere within the isle. Several times, the Legion has gotten close to achieving its goals, and the Horde and Alliance are doing all they can to stop their presence once and for all…"
0-0-0-0
I sat there, upon my throne, contemplating the summary that the banshee had put out for me. In six years, my beloved Kingdom had fallen, my lands corrupted, and my people shattered. My father… his fate was still unknown… only rumors of his survival floating about. What of Varian… was he even still alive? Did he succeed his own father as King of Stormwind? What of my beloved Jaina? Did she even survive? Did she make it to Kalimdor, the land beyond the sea which the old Prophet warned us about? So many questions that must be answered, and yet I knew that those answers where unobtainable for the near future. I had greater concerns for the moment.
"Hear me now Shiva," I growled at the banshee, "for you will be the messenger of my first command."
"Your will is mine, my Lord," she replied, bowing before me.
"This entire world is at war," I said as I stood, Frostmourne humming with power at my side. "This world is at war, and yet we are completely unprepared for its coming. We must fortify this continent if we are to survive the coming years. We must start by fortifying Icecrown. The citadel below must be expanded on. We will raise it high into the surface as a beacon of death to any who would dare try to invade. From there, we will expand outward. Send out missives to our forces in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms to seize all hostilities on the Horde and Alliance and withdraw to their respective strongholds. Let them know that they are NOT to initiate any confrontations, they are allowed only to defend themselves if need be."
"As you command, Master."
I watched as she floated away to carry out my commands. I turn back to my throne and stare at it for a moment. I can hear the screams in the back of my mind now. There is a connection between myself and my new subjects. Their voices where almost maddening, a chilling, piercing sound with enough rage to drive even the strongest of wills to the brink of insanity.
"I need to get out of here…" I mumble to myself, and I did just that. With Frostmourne at my side and the Helm of Domination upon my head, I set out.
0-0-0-0
Icecrown had changed very little in the six and a half years since I've been frozen… I have walked for nearly an hour, it seems. During my venture, I have begun to assimilate the knowledge of those under my command, those that are connected to me. Through this connection I have gained knowledge of what I had become the moment the Light had abandoned me: a Death Knight. The average Death Knight was a master of Undeath, Frost, and Blood. Through their runeblades, their power was formidable indeed. My runeblade, Frostmourne, on the other hand, was special. It acted in tandem with my Helm of Domination to channel the necrotic energies that the Death Knights wielded. The power of blood, the very life-giving substance that made life possible, capable of healing oneself and fortifying ones constitution to unbelievable heights. The power of frost, capable of chilling opponents to their very bones, with the power to deal devastating damage up front. The power of Undeath, the power which allows me to give new life to the dead, and the power to churn out diseases devastating enough to cripple even the strongest of foes.
All of this, I assimilated, new skills burned into my psyche, skills not too dissimilar to what I once knew as a Paladin of the Silver Hand. The very thought causes me to stop and take in my surroundings. I am at the top of a cliff, of sorts. Below are thousands of undead troops, marching towards Icecrown. No doubt ready to begin the fortifications I had asked for. I know not why, but the very sight of these creatures, these new subjects of mine, caused an old memory to surface; a conversation between father and son, which took place after a particularly harsh battle that I had led not too long after I had ascended as a Knight of the Silver hand.
'My son… the moment you were born, the very forests of Lordaeron whispered the name… Arthas…'
While the memory caught me off-guard, I felt something beneath my feet. Something big, enormous even. I knelt and wiped some of the snow gathered off of the ice, letting my ethereal vision gaze into the icy tomb, and came upon a monstrosity. One which I felt I could use… both as a weapon, and a beacon of death and despair for my enemies…
'My child… I watched with pride as you grew into a weapon… of righteousness…'
I got up and drew Frostmourne from my side, pointing it towards the ice before me, snowflakes falling around us as we waited, gathering energy from within and from without for the task that I had set myself to do. The sword seemed to almost draw energy from the snow and the frost around it, taking on a blue-ish hue as I began the channeling of runic energy.
'Remember… our line has always ruled with wisdom… and strength… and I know you will show restraint when exercising your great power…'
Sword brimming with power, I knew it was time. With my sword in both hands, tip facing downward, I knelt as I brought it down and pierced the ice to the hilt, channeling the gathered energies to the corpse encased within. A bitter wind started blowing the moment the energies where released, snow being scattered in all directions as the ice below started cracking and shifting. I stood as the great dragon below began to break free from her tomb below. I can feel the connection forming now… Sindragosa was her name… a dragon of great strength and power, which fell in battle over five thousand years ago, and former consort of Malygos, leader of the Blue Dragonflight.
Her left forearm was freed first, her claw slamming down mere feet from me. The ice behind me shattered as she rose, no longer a dragon, but now the greatest of the Frost Wyrm's. She will be their Broodmother, their Queen.
Finally freed from her tomb, she stalked overhead, blue frost energy now glowing from her chest and expanding through the rest of her skeletal body, her gaze now upon the army of the damned, just as mine was, before launching herself over them and into the sky.
'But the truest victory, my son… is stirring the hearts of your people…'
The ghouls and skeletons below turned, gazing at her magnificence as she glided above. Sindragosa rose above them, sending out a chilling roar, imbuing the army below with her strength. The army responded with a war cry as they too became imbued with her strength, their own bodies' now glowing blue with the power of frost.
I smiled my first true smile in over six years as I take in the scene, letting the truest of victories fill me with hope as well.
'I tell you this… because when my days have come to an end… you shall be King…'
Preparations have begun. At long last, the Scourge as a faction was no more. Our vigil over the world at large had finally begun. Now and forever, the Army of the Damned has been born.
To Be Continued…
Post-Chapter Notes: My apologies for taking too long on this fic. I actually have a good excuse as to why it took so long, and here it is: I Procrastinated! =D Hahahah, just kidding. While I actually DID procrastinate a little, it was only by a week, which I took to kind of distance myself from the fic a bit so I could beta it with a fresh mind. Other than that, most of the time spent in creating this chapter was spent adding, cutting, and rewriting. I had a lot of crap that I wanted to get out in this chapter, but I also needed to decide what to put out now and what to leave out for future chapters…
Anyway, enough of that, here are my personal thoughts after reading the final cut of this fic: tis a good read, but t'was a bit shorter than what I originally wanted. I actually had a little over 6k words, but between cutting all the crap I didn't really want in it, cutting out parts that I wanted to save for other chapters, making adjustments where I needed them, and compensating for said adjustments in certain areas, I pretty much slimmed it down to around 2.8k. I didn't want too much fluff and empty calories, at least not in this chapter, since all that would do is strain the eyes more than they need to be, plus I wanted to more or less lay more groundwork before we get to the nitty-gritty of the main fic. This one will pretty much be kind of like an alternate universe, some events happened differently in WC3, WC3:TFT, as well as Vanilla WoW and WoW:TBC. The majority of this fic will take place right before patch 3.0 went live, during the SWP portion of TBC. From there, some elements will be kept from WotLK, while others will be touch-&-go/made up on the spot. We'll see what direction I can take this in.
One more thing, updates will continue to be sporadic, as real life has me working sporadic hours at work and necessities require me to work overtime so that I can pay bills. Sorry guys, but I can't write if I can't eat! =P
Till next, keep reading, keep reviewing, and until next time, I'll be watching you…