Chapter Nine: Return to Northrend
It took much less than a month to reach Northrend.
The undead vessels were powered by magic, rather than their ragged sails. They shot through the sea quickly. Combined with water magic from Jaina, Arthas was able to reach the shores of Northrend soon.
Arthas landed on an island a ways away from Daggercap Bay. Here several of his men's ships had been blown off course to crash. He'd had to evacuate them through a number of alliances with the natives, and it had taken time.
There was no one alive on it when he arrived.
The barren and isolated rock was truly mournful, with only a few trees. The scattered remnants of a few campfires and some cut trees were the only evidence of life. Arthas walked to the top of a hill alongside Jaina, carrying a telescope.
"Northrend," said Arthas, feeling like one returning home after a long absence. "It feels like a lifetime since I was last here."
Jaina shuddered, her heat spell having prevented her from freezing to death. But it hadn't helped the curvaceous mage remain comfortable in this weather. "Is it always this freezing?"
Arthas looked up to the sky and remembered the battles fought here so long ago. He smiled at the memory, oddly enough. "Hmm, no, this is actually excellent weather. The sun is out right now, so it isn't quite so cold.
"I wonder how Falric is doing."
"Falric?" said Jaina. "You are sure he's still alive."
"Despite Ner'zhul's best efforts, yes," said Arthas. There had been so many other things to deal with. "I was able to retain enough sanity not to kill him. It may be that we can make contact with him.
"Though he may be an enemy as well." He paused. "I've sent requests for information to the Blue Dragons, but nothing has come to me yet."
"What should we do, then?" asked Jaina.
"Our first order of business is to get to the mainland and contact the undead garrisons in this region." decided Arthas, looking to the sky. "There is a new Lich King to deal with. We must reach Icecrown quickly."
He looked through his telescope at the mainland and frowned. In the distance, he saw the structures of High Elves. They would have had to be here for some time, certainly. And there were dragonhawks launching as they rushed toward them on swift wings.
"So," said Arthas, "Kirrasan information was at least partially accurate. The high elves are here. Ready yourselves for battle, but do not strike until I give the word!" He had only a token force here, he'd dispatched a large part of his fleet to secure other shore holdings.
Perhaps that had not been a wise move.
On they came, landing in large numbers. At their head was a tall, high elven woman with flying red hair. She wielded a magnificent golden colored sword and wore armor that bared her midriff. It also showed off ample bosom, so one wondered why she even bothered. A skirt was beneath her as she swooped down to land before him. "Prince Arthas, I an Lan'athel of the High Elves! We have sworn to avenge the ghosts of Quel' Thalas.
"This dead land... will be cleansed!"
Arthas felt a cold sort of fury at their sheer audacity. Who were these enemies of the Scourge to lay claim to it? As though they had done anything to earn their rule? "Northrend belongs to the Scourge, elf! You made a terrible mistake by coming here. Slay them!"
Jaina teleported between them and cast a spell as a shockwave of magic stopped the two armies. Arthas halted. "Wait!
"Stop!"
"Why?" asked Arthas.
"Arthas, these are our allies!" said Jaina.
"No, they aren't," said Arthas, mystified at how she'd come to that conclusion.
"I find myself in agreement with the Betrayer," said Lana'thal.
"You're calling me a betrayer?" asked Arthas incredulously. "You, the race whose foreign policy can be summarized as 'all take and no give?'"
"Wait, this doesn't have to happen!" said Jaina, before turning to Lana'thal. "Listen, Lana'thal, you are in the service of Prince Kael' thas, are you not?"
Lana'thal paused. "I am."
"Let me speak with your leader," said Jaina. "Prince Kael' thas and I have been friends in the past, and comrades. It may be that we can avert this without further bloodshed."
"You must be joking, Jaina," said Arthas, finding this whole thing absurd.
"Prince Kael' thas does not desire your death," said Lana'thal after a moment, to Jaina. "I am willing to allow you an audience."
"Jaina, you're wasting your time," said Arthas. "Kael' thas and I have been planning to kill eachother for years. He isn't going to bury the hatchet, even if you do flutter your eyelashes at him."
"I was able to reason with you," noted Jaina. Then she looked at Lana'thal. "Take me to Prince Kael' thas."
Lana'thal looked between the two of them with a calculating gaze. Finally, she moved forward and drew out a red stone and handed it to Jaina. "Very well. This hearthstone will guide your teleportation stone."
Jaina took it. "I'll be back."
There was a flash of magic, and she was gone.
There was a long silence. Arthas looked to his men, who wanted blood, then Lana'thal and her men, who were more than willing to give it. Lana'thal planted her sword in the ground. "...You and you warriors may rest easy. There will be no war between us so long as negotiations are ongoing."
Was she going for a surprise attack? Arthas nodded and smiled. "You were a knight of the Alliance, Lana'thal. Lying ill becomes you."
They both wanted this. Lana'thal drew her sword out of the earth and took a stance, as Arthas mirrored the motion. "Well spoken, TRAITOR!"
And then she shot forward, far faster than Arthas expected. Leaping into the air, she stabbed down, and it was all he could do to turn the blade from his throat. On came the elves, clad in golden colored armor with obvious bloodlust. The undead rushed to meet them.
Then Arthas was fighting sword to sword with Lana'thal, parrying, and slashing. She was amazingly fast, and he had trouble reacting. Even so, he sidestepped at the last minute and nearly took her head off.
Their blades clashed.
"I'll admit, you're putting up a better fight than you're vaunted King ever did," said Arthas. "But then he is an avatar of his position.
"He wouldn't represent your people well if he wasn't all talk!"
Shoving her back with Frostmourne, Arthas raised his sword. Sending out waves of dark energy, he resurrected the corpses of the dead. More elves landed on zeppelins to fight. Lana'thal backflipped away and slashed down two ghouls without even looking at them. Sheathing her sword, she sprang forward. She drew it with massive speed, radiating flame.
Arthas was driven back, struggling to hold her back. How had he never heard of these women before?
"You will find that the strength of Quel'thalas goes beyond your mortal comprehension!" said Lana'thal, smiling. "Prince Kael' thas commanded that I guard the shore against you, and by the Light, not one of you undead shall pass!"
Then she radiated a wave of flame that burned away all the undead around them. Arthas slid back, warding the magic off with his own as they circled one another. "I must wonder where you were during the battles in Lordaeron."
"Fighting the undead you sent to ransack my land," said Lana'thel. "I was spared the horrors of the Second War because I did not know how to fight. I missed the conflict of the Third War because I was not near the fighting.
"When it ended, I drove the undead around Silvermoon before me! I hunted them alone, fighting to redeem myself for my absence, and was found worthy of Quel' delar!"
"How splendid," said Arthas. "What is Qul'delar, and why should I care?"
Lana'thal paused, looking a bit disappointed. "Quel' delar. It was forged by the Night Elves."
"So was every sword forged by the Night Elves," noted Arthas, noting the battle was still even.
"Yes, but this was blessed by the Dragon Aspects!" said Lana'thel.
"Why?" asked Arthas. "What was it used for? Who enchanted it, and how were all five dragon aspects convinced to help?"
"Well... um... it's a symbol of resistance against the Scourge!" said Lana'thel, seeming to be grasping at straws.
"The Scourge didn't exist until twenty years ago," said Arthas. "And that weapon looks like it has a pretty standard high-elven design. I find it far more likely that it was enchanted by ordinary mages, and they made the whole thing up so you'd feel special."
"SHUT UP!" snarled Lana'thel, surging forward. "I am special! The pawnshop owner said so!"
She unleashed a flurry of strikes against him, attacking with a berserk fury. Arthas parried each one, finding that he was quite enjoying the fight. Even so, he decided it was about time that he got serious as the fight reached the top of the hill.
"I'll admit, you are proving more dangerous than I'd thought, Death Knight," said Lana'thal. "But I wouldn't have had it any other way!"
And then the ground trembled.
The earth burst open to the left flank, and out of it poured crypt fiends. Hundreds upon hundreds of crypt fiends. At their front was a gigantic beetle-like creature, a monstrous nine feet tall. It had huge pincers instead of hands. Around it were scuttling hundreds of beetles a full foot wide and six inches tall.
"Onward for the Scourge!" cried the creature, in a voice like wind from the darkest pits. "Slay them in my name!"
"Who the-?" began Arthas/
"Damn," said Lana'thal. "It's him! Pull back, wretched! Pull back to the shore!"
The High Elves fled rapidly and as the creature came, Arthas was sure to resurrect those around him. As he did, he halted and looked at some of the bodies and was surprised. Many of them had an unnatural white skin and a receding hairline. They did not appear to be injured or sick, but there was a feral look to them.
"Wretched?" said Arthas. "That's a unique name to call their brethren. Some new elf subspecies?" What did they start breeding when he wasn't looking? How many different subspecies of this endangered race were going to show up?
Nothing personal against Vashj, but Arthas had hoped the Naga would be the last cousin of the High Elves. He turned to the gigantic beetle-like creature. The insects were devouring the corpses. This annoyed Arthas, he'd been about to use those.
"Thanks for the assistance, mighty one," said Arthas.
"I have come to aid you, Death Knight." said the creature, voice making Arthas flinch by his presence. "I am Anub'arak, ancient king of Azjol-Nerub."
"I welcome your aid, Anub'arak, but we have little time for pleasantries," said Arthas. He wondered when Jaina was going to come back and report her failure. Or worse, her success. "We must reach Icecrown immediately.'
And then the ground shook again. Looking up, Arthas saw the whole continent shaking. A vast cliff of ice broke off and descended into the water. Small figures fled this way and that in fear. "Seismic tremors. What tortures this land?"
It was a question he'd have to ask later. Arthas turned back to Anub'arak. "So, Anub'arak, why are you here? Do you serve the Lich King?"
"No." admitted Anub'arak. "I was once a great leader of the Nerubians; however, I was killed in battle and resurrected. Ner'zhul utilized me as a battle commander to keep control of Northrend. The living are always a threat to his empire.
"When Archimonde destroyed Ner'zhul, his hold over me was broken."
"Then why are you helping me?" asked Arthas.
"I am not so easily accepted by an empire that I helped destroy," said Anub'arak. "A decade ago, we Nerubians were the greatest of all the races of Northrend. Now we are scattered and broken, and I am considered to blame.
"I have gathered to me my own retinue and led them. It is my goal to refound my old empire, albeit with a different kind of my people.
"These elves came here recently.
"Ever since they did, I have felt Ner'zhul's mind again. He has combined his efforts with the leader of this expedition. Even now, they are trying to regain control of me."
"And you don't agree?" guessed Arthas.
"I have no desire to spend the rest of existence serving a skeletal orc, however powerful," said Anub'arak. "You, however, seem to be able to exist independent of the Lich King, and through you liberate your servants."
"So you wish to make an alliance against a common enemy?" asked Arthas. He doubted Anub'arak would want to trade one master for another so soon after getting his freedom.
"Yes," said Anub'arak. "I will aid you against these elves. However, in return, I desire something."
"What is it?" asked Arthas.
"The Lich King must be destroyed," said Anub'arak. "I will not give up my free will to that monstrosity again, nor to a successor. And I doubt any of the living races shall mourn his loss."
Arthas considered the power available from becoming the next Lich King. He decided it really wasn't worth it. He smiled and offered his hand. "Well, I believe we have an accord." He offered Anub'arak his hand.
"..." Anub'arak snapped a pincer. "If I clasp your hand, you are liable to lose it."
Arthas drew his hand back hurriedly. "Right, yes, I just thought of that.
"Let's go kill some elves."
"Agreed," said Anub'arak.
This looked like the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.
Author's Note:
Nothing personal against Lana'thal. I just can't help but notice that this super special awesome warrior with her totally radical sword is not mentioned anywhere besides Northrend.
In any case, we have something a bit more depressing to discuss, though you've probably heard of it. It still needs to be said.
...
And Blizzard disappoints again. There isn't really any way to say it.
I just opened Warcraft III Reforged a few days ago.
You know how they showed a remastered cinematic? The one that displayed the original intro updated with brilliant new graphics? So you thought that all of the cinematics would be updated.
That was a lie.
They updated the intro for the trailer and nothing else.
The graphics are a bit better, I guess, but I disagree with some of the art design.
They could have easily swapped out all the models in the base game and gotten the same effect.
The new user interface for the pre-game menus is also much worse, ruining the feel of the original.
Starcraft 1 Remastered I liked, despite basically just being a reskin. But this is different.
Starcraft 1 Remastered cost fifteen bucks and told you that it was a graphical upgrade. It said the gameplay and stuff were the same.
Meanwhile, Warcraft III reforged was probably easier to mod but cost thirty bucks. It promised me an expanded storyline and all kinds of amazing improvements. It lied to me in the trailer by telling me the cinematics would be upgraded.
Now I'm sure a lawyer will say that they never promised they'd improve all the cinematics.
But a lie is a deliberate attempt to deceive. And they knew bloody well what they were saying by including upgraded intros. Even if they would never admit it.
Oh, and who could forget that they changed the license agreement for custom maps. Basically, they said that anything you create in the Worldedit now belongs to them.
...
...
You know, for months, I've been really glad that I pre-ordered Warcraft III reforged. I was glad I could get the game without the moral conflict of endorsing Blizzard's support of tyranny. I really wanted to play the game, and even if I probably could have asked for a refund, I pretended I couldn't.
...
...
Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was the first strategy game I ever played. One of the first games I played period, and it really captured me. I remember I had to beg my dad nonstop to let us get it. Those now-primitive graphics were awesome at the time. I still get a rush of nostalgia when I look at them.
I wasn't very good at it, of course. Often I had to get my dad to bail me out, and only in recent years have I beaten the game. Later I bought Starcraft, and I remember it was the first video game story that really got to me.
Up until then, I'd only played RTS games where you lead one side to ultimate victory. So I assumed that when I played the Terrans, I'd overthrow the Confederacy. Then I'd beat the Overmind and conquer the protoss.
I remember that when I played the Ion Cannon mission where Mengsk is revealed for what he was. I honestly didn't think it was the final mission of the game. I figured this was act 2, that we'd beat Arcturus Mengsk and then go on to beat the bad guys.
I still remember when I watched that cutscene, the Inauguration and when it cut out at the end.
I thought to myself, 'that's it?' (edited)
Arcturus Mengsk won? The zerg weren't defeated? We didn't learn anything about the protoss?
It enraged me, and when I played the UED campaign, I enjoyed every minute of crushing Arcturus Mengsk. My vendetta with Kerrigan was formed here, out of a desire to avenge Praetor Fenix.
I played Warcraft III, and loved the characters, cried at the tragedies. The fact that the story only continued in WoW was always a massive disappointment to me. My dad never let me play MMO's, you see because he refused to pay monthly. So I felt like I'd never really be able to finish the story.
My alienation from Blizzard began when I found out Illidan had been reduced to a generic villain. Then killed off as a raid boss. Illidan had, in my mind, been the true hero of Frozen Throne. He was a misunderstood anti-hero persecuted for doing what was necessary. I loved his dynamic with Kael' thas and Vashj, and I shipped Kael and Vashj as well.
But no matter how bad Blizzard's stories got, I never hated them as a company.
Even at their worst, Blizzard seemed like they were trying to make a fun game. Maybe the story wasn't great, but you'd never see them pull a Fallout 76, or release a game that just didn't work.
Blizzard is a pillar of my childhood.
My fanfiction career started because I wanted to address the cliffhanger of Warcraft. I wanted to create some closure. My first fanfic, Bolvar's Folly, was a straight parody that was well received. Later I tried to do a serious fic 'Lord of Azeroth', which went nowhere.
If Blizzard Entertainment had not existed, I probably would not be a writer.
I would never have been able to achieve my technique in storytelling without my fanfics. I was... am... defined by the stories that Blizzard Entertainment told.
I respected Blizzard.
...Never before, in my entire life, have I been genuinely ashamed to have bought a Blizzard game. The idea was inconceivable to me.
Fuck you Activision.
To hell with them, I'm gone.