Hello everyone, Gulefritz here with the 2nd chapter of Battle for Lordaeron.
This chapter is longer than the first. This chapter is ment to explain what happened after the siege of the Capital and the start of the undead campaign in warcraft 3.
The border between Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest.
The loss of King Terenas Menethil the second was a great blow to the Kingdom of Lordaeron. In the time following the Battle for Capital City, Arthas has left the city to burn, taking most of the undead force he raised inside of the city with him to plunder the areas of Tirisfal Glade and the Silverpine Forest. He needed to bolster his forces before moving east into Andorhall.
The undead soldiers by now had started to rot. The living flesh of the freshly raised soldiers started to rot and fall off their bodies. Slowly but surely the last traces of their humanity were removed. The mere sight of these warriors scared most defenders who were stupid enough to try and fend of the undead horde.
The citizens of the northern part of Silverpine Forest fled south to the cities of Ambermill and Pyrewood. Words spread, and these cities started to fortify their homes for the oncoming army of death. Some tales even erupted, that the Archmage Arugal, who had taken up residence in Silverfang Keep, had started to work on a spell, a spell that would end the undead scourge.
If the rumor was true or not, the people did not care. They still fled as fast as their legs could carry them. With time the first refugees crossed the pass leading into Hillsbrad Foothills. Initially the guards at the pass stopped them, trying to get an insight into the situation, but when they were told the situation, were they unable to take in the betrayal of Crown-Prince Arthas.
It took some time before one of the soldiers finally pulled himself together and send a rider to the city of Tarren Mill. Lord Othmar Garithos was there with his forces. The lord had mobilized his forces to hunt down the last remnants of the orcs in the Alterac mountains but were now forced to face this new threat.
But the fate of the lord his army will be told another time.
While Arthas moved south, Lord Uther, Highlord of the Silver Hand, had led an assault on the Capital City. He had taken all the paladins and knights inside of Andorhall and marched on the city. The old highlord stormed forward and smashed any undead soldier that would dare to face the wrath of the Lightbringer.
The Knights of the Silver Hand slaughtered the undead forces. Their hammers smashed the heads of the ghouls, their swords cut down the necromancers who were trying to raise as many undead as they possibly could, and their armor defended them against the arrows that had killed so many days before.
With time the heavy armed knights reached the palace. Lord Uther kicked open the door leading into the throne room.
Inside the room waited an army of skeletons and necromancers. The knights were outnumbered, but they had the strength of their Highlord on their side, and most importantly, they had the light on their side. The soldiers charged forward, straight into the lines of waiting skeletons.
Their swords broke the foul magic that kept the skeletons walking, and soon they were reduces to nothing but piles of bones. The paladins broke through the lines of skeletons. The weapons the skeletons held broke on the shields held by the paladins. Uther personally started to swing his hammer around, killing all the necromancers one after one.
With time the knights cleared the room. They gathered all the undead warriors and necromancers and piled them outside the palace. When they were all piled, did they set them on fire, making sure the undead would never rise again, and the souls that once inhabited the bodies, would go free and join the light.
Meanwhile Uther gathered all the Paladins of the Silver Hand, and they started to consecrate the palace. Uther personally went to the old king's bedroom and took some of his belongings. For years he had prepared the tomb where the old king would lie the day he no longer could guide his people. Unfortunately, Uther could not burry the man's body, so he decided to put in the King's armor and his sword.
The knights gathered at the tomb where Uther put down the items. The tomb itself was placed below the throne room, where light would shine down upon it from above. The tomb rest on a large stone, which itself sits on stairs. Uther stepped back and turned around, looking at the knights below him, giving them a sad nod before turning back to the coffin.
"Today we part with you, King Terenas Menethil. I, personally, part with a friend. For seven decades you looked over us, guided us and made sure the people of Lordaeron prospered. You guided us through the horrors of the second war, you inspired us to fight the orcs, and we succeeded"
Uther paused and put a hand on the tomb.
"Now, we face a new threat. You were taken away from us, not from natural causes, but from betrayal, by your own kin. Arthas has with one move not only destroyed our homeland, but also ruined the name of the Menethils for all eternity"
Uther turned around and looked at the men behind him.
"Arthas expect us to cower before him. He expects all of his former homeland to bow down and serve him, or else he will make us. But we will not let this scourge defeat us. Lordaeron is our land! Lordaeron is for the land of the living, not the damned! We will destroy Arthas and liberate those damned souls he has stolen! For King Terenas!"
A loud roar erupted from the knight.
"For King Terenas!"
With that the Highlord ordered the men to evacuate the city. They had what they came for. While he had taken care of the ceremonial funeral, had the cleric Fairbanks and Paladin Renault Morgraine, son of Alexandros Morgraine, picked up the ashes of the burned king and sealed it inside an urn. Uther declared he would defend the urn until his death, how very true those words were.
Renault handed over the urn to Uther who smiled at the young knight.
"It is a shame your father could not be here tonight Renault. Normally I would have given this honor to him"
"Father's right hand is giving him trouble and has been since the siege of blackrock spire"
"Must have been quite the wound from picking up that thing. Even Fairbanks here are unable to cure it"
Renault let out a sigh.
"Father says he is happy, as it gives him more time with Darion and me. He did tell me though, that he would soon be out to serve the Kingdom once more"
Uther put a hand on the young Morgraine's shoulder.
"I am sure he did lad. I am happy your father sends you in his place. Now let's get going, we must be out of here before Arthas returns"
With that the Knights left the palace. They had only lost a few soldiers in the battle, but it still broke Uther's hearth to see his men die to something Arthas had created. He ordered the men to be burned, their armor salvaged and a cleric to give them the last goodbye.
The Knights and paladins left the city and not a minute to late. Fifteen minutes after the last knight had left the city, had Arthas reemerged from his ravaging of the Lordaeron countryside. The knights rushed east and managed to reach the bulwark before Arthas had caught up to them.
The bulwark was a series of hastly set up fortifications. Barricades had been set up and a few watch towers were in the making. Workers were working day and night, all with the intention of keeping the traitor prince within the lands of Tirisfal Glades.
Unfortunately for the workers, the King of the Damned did not like to be detained, and he has eyes and ears all over Lordaeron.
Five days after Uther and the knights passed the Bulwark, Arthas personally lead an army of undead warriors against the still constructing fortifications.
A cold fog had laid down around the Bulwark, reducing the visibility of the surrounding area. A few soldiers went to the top of the half-built towers but were unable to see anything. That was, when they spotted something dreadful.
Several undead warriors, stumbling forward, came out of the fog. All of the soldiers were walking as if they had no muscles in their arms, but they were still fully armed in Lordaeronian armor. A giant blob of battered blue and white armor with the twin-headed eagle on their chest. The soldier immediately ran to the nearest bell and started to alarm the bulwark.
"To arms! To arms! The undead are here! The undead are here!"
With that soldiers prepared themselves. Soldiers who were previously playing a game of dice suddenly stormed to the barricades. Soldiers who had not slept for ages and just fell to sleep bolted to the barricades. Lines of soldiers formed at the barricades, forming a long shield wall.
Unfortunately for the soldiers, their line was not thick. No more than two lines were they able to form, but they would fight with that they had.
Slowly the fog lifted, and the defenders could see the scale of the enemy they were fighting. The sight shocked most of the defenders, some even turned around, taking a few steps back. A dismounted knight noticed this and shook his head.
"Steady men! We are soldiers of Lordaeron and will fight for our homeland and for our people!"
Before the defenders stood an army of at least fifteen hundred strong. Right in front, riding a fallen horse, were Prince Arthas Menethil. The prince pointed his blade at the defenders. The defenders were no more than eighty men strong. The undead army rushed forward and charged straight into the lines. The force of eleven hundred undead smashed into the frontline and almost pushed them back.
But the line held, and the knights and soldiers started to push back the undead horde. Hand to hand fighting started and the soldiers cut down undead soldiers, only for them to fight on. One undead soldier lost his arm but kept on fighting as if nothing happened. When the soldier cut off the head, would be the moment the undead soldier fell to the ground.
"How do we kill these fiends!"
A nearby knight immediately yelled.
"I've fought with the Prince in Hearthglen. The undead would keep on rising until we killed the one who maintain-!"
Before the knight is able to end the sentence, would he be hit by an arrow to the head. Undead archers had arrived from the back and fired at the men in the line. The arrows hit the joins of the armor and pierced through. Soon enough the arrows hit more and more soldiers, and the eighty men were now just ten.
These ten men died a horribly but fast death. The undead soldiers cut them down as they were nothing. Soon enough eighty men and fifty undead lied on the ground.
Slowly enough, Arthas rode through the broken blockade. Arthas grinned and raised his right hand, and soon enough all the dead soldiers, undead and previously living soldiers stood up again. The newly raised soldiers picked up their weapons and joined the rank of the undead horde.
"You were right. Your people are easier to defeat than expected"
Arthas shook his head and sighed.
"To think I used to lead them into battle, and yet defeat them so easily, shows how pitiful the people of Lordaeron is"
An acolyte walked outside of the undead horde and walked up to the prince.
"This acolyte brings word from my makers henchmen"
"My lord. My lord asks you to the take caution when walking into Andorhal. We have agents in the land ready to aid you and our scouts tells us that Uther the Lightbringer has departed to sorrow hill. If you bring in the whole army, would his paladins surely find us, and it would be almost impossible to kill the Highlord"
The prince nodded and motioned for three knights to arrive. He turned around and looked at them.
"Falric take a third of the scourge and purge Silverpine of the living, Marwyn, take another third of the scourge and clear out the rest of Tirisfal Glade, and Baron Rivendare, take the last third and wait my summoning, before marching into Hearthglen, until then set up the cauldrons and plague the land"
All three knights nodded, and the prince turned towards the pass.
"It is time to visit an old friend"
With that Arthas set invincible into movement, riding into the pass joined by two acolytes. The prince rode into the hills of green land of Andorhal. He did not know where the acolytes were leading him, but he kept on following them, that was when he noticed who they lead him to.
There on a hill infront of him stood a dreadlord. Angered the Prince raised Frostmourne and rode forward.
"Mal'ganis! I do not know you survived but thi-"
The dreadlord raised his right claw at the prince.
"Calm yourself Prince Arthas. Like Mal'ganis I am a dreadlord. My name is Tichondrius, a lieutenant of Kil'jaeden"
"My makers henchman"
Arthas put down Frostmourne and nodded at the dreadlord. The dreadlord looked away from the death knight and looked over the land.
"My handing over the land to the scourge, have you completed your first test. Now begins the next phase of the master's plan. The cult of the damned needs to be reunified, and the Highlord of the Silver Hand needs to fall"
With that the prince turned around and rode out to complete the new task he had been given.
Days later in the shore city of Southshore.
Alexandros Morgraine had summoned clerics and paladin of the Silver Hand for a meeting in the tavern of Southshore. Originally the paladin had invited Uther, but the old Highlord were needed in the lands around Andorhal so he decided to stay behind.
Renault Morgraine walked into the tavern and there at the table sat some of the highest ranked members of the Silver Hand and Lordaeron army.
Alexandros Morgraine, paladin and second-in-command of Uther the Lightbringer after Saiden Dathrohan. He was sitting with a sealed iron box.
Abbot Fairbanks, personal friend of Alexandros and the two men usually fought and prayed together.
Brigitte Abbendis, daughter of High-General Abbendis who was busy organizing the forces of Tyr's Hand against the undead scourge.
High Bishop Isillien, tutor of the tirisfal priesthood and recently recovered from the battle of the Capital. He was the one who was the most displeased by this summon from Morgraine.
"I hope this is worth it Morgraine. Wasted time here could be used to destroy Arthas and his scourge"
Morgraine turned to the old bishop and smiled at him, giving him an reassuring look.
"Arthas and his scourge is the very reason I called all of you to this tavern"
Alexandros motioned for the iron box in front of him.
"As some of you might know, I picked up a crystal during the battle of Blackrock Spire. Today I have decided to show you the result of this crystal"
With that Alexandros put his hand on the table and pulled off his steel gauntlet. It would reveal a hand bandaged with old and dirty bandages. The paladin took off the bandages and the sight shocked all the men at the table, Renault almost vomited.
"My hand has been mangled and the light driven from it. If I touch it with the light will it hurt immensely and start to burn. But this crystal is the reason I brought you here"
Alexandros looks around at all of them. Isillien looks at the paladin with a skeptical look, considering the possibility that Alexandros is an agent of the Scourge in hiding.
"This crystal is the force of something pure shadow. It devours all life and corrupts it beyond repair, as my hand shows. I believe we should try to find the light's counterpart"
Alexandros put in a key and opened up the crate, showing it to all present.
"And I believe this crystal is key to find it"
Immediately Isillien slammed his hand against the table and pointed an accusing finger at Alexandros.
"How dare you Morgraine! How dare you compare the purity of the light with the vile corruption of the shadow. You are an agent of the scourge and most be destroyed, just like this crystal!"
With that the High Bishop send a strong wave of light into the crystal, but the result shocked all of the men nearby. The crystal absorbed the light and its immense shadow aura started to diminish. Isillien looked at the crystal, then over to Alexandros, then back to the crystal and send even more waves of light into the crystal.
All the other paladins and priests joined in on the purging of the crystal, even Renault. With time the shadow aura of the crystal were purged. Alexandros raised his hand and they all stopped. Morgraine could feel the strong and warm aura of the blade. It was as if it wanted him to touch it. against better judgement, Alexandros went forward and held the crystal with his mangled undead hand and a miracle happened.
The crystal purified his hand. His undead hand were healed and it went from being a black deformed undead hand to the normal strong living hand it used to be. He held the crystal and looked around at all of the persons present.
"Seems, brothers and sisters, we have found the Light's counterweight. From this crystal will we forge a weapon that will challenge Arthas and remove his scourge from Lordaeron. I will ride for Ironforge immediately, while I am gone Renault you are in charge of Darion"
Renault nodded and faked a smile.
"Once again I have to be the babysitter of that runt. If only the plague had taken him"
With that the men gathered their belongings and went their separate ways. All of them went to places where they could do most in the defence of Lordaeron, but in the coming days they would all get the devastating news, that would change the future of Lordaeron forever. They would hear of the death of Uther the Lightbringer.
With that I end the 2nd chapter of Battle for Lordaeron. In the next chapter we will be introduced to the survivors, but also see the formation of the Scarlet Crusade.