Seekers of the Epitaph: Frozen Wastes

by Xarmar13

Journey to the North

After the battle at Light’s Hope Chapel and the Lich King’s embarrassing defeat, the death knights who swore revenge on him organized themselves into a group called the Knights of the Ebon Blade. At the same time, the paladins of the Argent Dawn and the Knights of the Silver Hand formed a union called the Argent Crusade.

Both forces were making preparations to travel to the Lich King’s domain of Northrend. For the Knights, it meant that they needed to free Acherus from the Scourge.

Jaqueline was pulled aside by Thanatas to discuss matters. Jaqueline began, “When ya mentioned that ah would receive somethin’ for freein’ mahself, ya meant this blade, didn’t you?” She pulled out her runeblade, one that she learned was named Appleblight.

As she spoke, she suddenly became conscious of her multi-tone voice that seemed inherent in all death knights. With all the destruction, slaughter and chaos, she never had time to think about how she sounded.

Thanatas nodded, “Correct, that blade carries immense potential. In time you will learn its secrets and your power will grow with it. I don’t know the full potential of that weapon but it will definitely surpass the likes of Arthas’ Frostmourne. The might of the Shadowlands courses within it. Appleblight will answer to no other master but you.”

“Sounds impressive, but how do ah tap into that power?”

“You will need an instructor. I watched you fight the Scarlet Crusade and everything you did. You seemed to rely more on swinging that sword around and seldom accessed the runes on your old blade. It’s fine to utilize your warrior skills but you need to learn to use your new necromantic powers on top of that. I can only guess that in his haste to get his invasion started, Arthas didn’t even bother to instill the knowledge all death knights have which left you stumbling to discover your powers when you showed some of your rage.”

Jaqueline thought about her experience as a death knight and realized that she didn’t know how to use her powers properly. Her thoughts turned to Thanatas who seemed willing to teach her. Though from what she had seen of her in action, Jaqueline understood that the figure before her was a sick and twisted individual. And yet, if she was forced to choose between her and Arthas, she would choose to be trained by the woman who seemed invested in helping her old friends and herself to grow stronger.

Her thoughts suddenly turned to her friends. Realizing what she had become, Jaqueline couldn’t go back to them. With Flutashe being a druid, death magic would certainly drive her away. Bella being a paladin, the two of them would be mortal enemies. Stella would probably reject her too since the mages of Dalaran always had a problem with necromancers.

Jaqueline sighed, “Ah can’t go back to mah old friends.”

Thanatas raised an eyebrow, “Sounds like you’re assuming that they will reject you for being a death knight. I think you give them too little credit. I’ve been observing their adventures in Outland and they fairly quickly allowed a demon hunter, a practitioner of fel magic, into their group.”

“Why would they do that? Aren’t them demon hunters all crazed with the green stuff that they would kill everyone around them?”

“Apparently not, the demon hunter is Flutashe’s sister and she seems to work well with the others. Stella was probably the most wary of them but she warmed up to her all the same. Besides, you have all traveled with me over your past adventures so seeing another death knight probably won’t be nearly as shocking the second time around. Don’t let your fears drive you to inaction, Jaqueline Pomerton, you need to know before you can come to grips with what you have become.”

“It ain’t that easy to just walk up to ‘em an’ tell ‘em ah’m a necromantic warrior with all sorts of evil powers.”

Thanatas rolled her eyes, “I could wax philosophical with you, but I won’t. They accepted a demon-infused force of chaos and Mena has an eldritch horror, my daughter I might add, in her head. It would be hypocritical of them to not still be fine with accepting a ‘necromantic warrior with all sorts of evil powers’ at this point. Besides, even in the unlikelihood that they do reject you, you still have the Knights of the Ebon Blade who will still treat you like their sister.”

That got Jaqueline thinking about her own sister. Blossom Pomerton was still living happily in Stormwind. She dreaded what her little sister would say if she saw what she had become.

Regardless, she had paths before her and she had a choice to make. There was no way she could go back to the Argent Crusade, as they called themselves now. She could choose the safe route and return to the Knights as they make their march to Icecrown where the Lich King lives, or she could choose the riskier route and return to her old friends. Jaqueline chuckled to herself, she wasn’t fooling anyone. Safe choices never suited her.

“Alright, so where are they right now?”

Thanatas smirked victoriously, “Good, you seem to be on board. I will make sure to train you in how to fight like a death knight. Now, give me a few minutes, I need to have a long distance conversation with my cousin.”

Turning away from Jaqueline, Thanatas opened the psychic link. However, Twilight Sparkle was the one to begin the conversation, “Is it over? Is Applejack back to normal? I cut the feed because I couldn’t bear to see her killing those innocents.”

“Yes, princess, we have secured her from the Scourge and her mind is her own again. As for her future, there is no returning her to life. Her destiny is in the realm of death. That Maldraxxian Seed will feed her runeblade and bring out its full potential as well as Applejack’s. It will be up to me to guide her growth.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Applejack may be part of the living dead, but her soul remained intact and that was what really mattered. “Alright, then despite this setback, the project still appears to be on track.”

“Now with that settled…Sophia, what’s the status of the others?” Thanatas asked.

“My observer has been keeping tabs on Crystal’s group,” Sophia reported. “They are making preparations for their Northrend adventure. They will be taking a zeppelin there. The Horde’s expeditionary force is being led by Garrosh Hellscream.”

“We will need to keep an eye on that orc, he’s bloodthirsty and reckless. What about the targets?”

“Starlight decided to join her friends on the voyage. Apparently, some of their mages disappeared when they investigated the source of a global magic drain coming from a place in western Northrend. She will be investigating the disappearances.”

“That would be Malygos’ doing,” Thanatas explained. “Ever since he regained his sanity from absorbing the essences of several nether dragons, he came to some flawed logical conclusion that the world’s mortal spellcasters were to blame for the rampant magic in the world. He’s causing more harm to the world than they are in his idiotic crusade that’s only going to get the other flights pissed at him.”

Sophia continued, “The others are making preparations for their exploration of Northrend.”

“Alright, make sure they don’t leave yet. Have them come to the gates of Stormwind where they can reacquaint themselves with Jaqueline. You may also want to warn them of her new status.”

Once Thanatas closed the link, she turned to Jaqueline again, “I will open a Death Gate to Stormwind for you but I will not be accompanying you. Politically, I am still a member of the Horde so I can’t be seen with you.”

Jaqueline nodded, “Ah understand, so when are you plannin’ to train me?”

“We will have plenty of time during the voyage for training. I will drag you into the Realm of Shadows so we can train in secret. Now, let's return you to your friends.” She created the dark rift with a skull above it before gesturing toward the portal.

“Room for one more?” another voice asked. This one belonged to Thassarian, whom Jaqueline had come to respect during her brief time among the Scourge, alongside Koltira. “Some of the Knights of the Ebon Blade have decided to return to their people and lend them their blades in the war against the Lich King. Koltira and I shall negotiate with our respective leaders.”

“Provided they don’t kill us on the spot,” Koltira added.

Jaqueline and Thassarian walked through the Death Gate and entered the lively forest of Elwynn just in front of the entrance to Stormwind. The lush foliage of the trees and the brilliant sunlight that filtered through the canopy used to fill her with comfort and joy. With her recent transformation, it filled her with anxiety.

The guards at the entrance spotted the two and their pale skin and figured that they might be undead. Given the recent Scourge attack on Stormwind, the city was on high alert for further attacks.

Just as the guards were about to sound the alarm, they heard the snap of a teleport spell where they turned their heads to spot the heroes of the Sunwell incident.

“Thank the Light you are here, we’re under attack from death knights,” one guard said.

“No, we’re not, guardsman, we were just informed to expect them as guests,” Stella said. “I understand your confusion since we were only just informed of their coming. Sophia is explaining everything to King Wrynn as we speak. We are here to catch up with our friend while we wait for the king to send his envoy.”

The group approached Jaqueline who could see mixed expressions of joy and sorrow on their faces. Flutashe, Mena, Stella and Bella moved close to her like they were still friends which gave her a feeling of hope that her changes didn’t change their bonds. Raida stayed at a distance, which was reasonable since the two had never met before.

Bella scanned Jauqline’s new armor and weapon and gasped. “By the Light, that armor looks so dreary and I can tell it’s made of something I have never seen before. What is it?”

Jaqueline rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, “Sorry Bells, ah have no idea what this stuff is either, all ah was told was that ah needed to put it on to complete mah ‘terrifyin’ visage.’ Though for some reason ah keep hearin’ weird voices in mah head, been doin’ that since ah put on the first piece.”

“Violetta says that the metal is called Saronite,” Mena explained. “She also says that the whispers come from the Old God locked away in Northrend and that the metal is actually his blood mixed in with other minerals from the land. She can get rid of the whispers but it would weaken the durability of the armor.”

“Which would mean that crafting anything out of this metal would be risky to the bearer’s mind,” Bella concluded. “This is likely one of the new types of minerals to be found in Northrend. Once we explore the continent, I should be able to make something much better for you than that.”

Stella decided to address the elephant in the room, “So what happened? I heard from Sophia that you ended up becoming a death knight for the Scourge then broke free from their control, but how did you end up like this in the first place?”

With a sigh, Jaqueline recounted her ill-fated mission to liberate Stratholme from the Scourge while struggling to keep her heart beating. The others gasped in horror when they learned that the magical core caused her demise and that the Lich King brought her back to life as a death knight under his control. She included the horrifying parts of what he made her do as she recounted her efforts to destroy the Scarlet Crusade. She also mentioned that it was thanks to her new runeblade that she found the will to free herself.

“Arthas really has become a monster, hasn’t he?” Bella questioned. “To think, someone that I trained alongside in the past when we were Uther’s students would turn out like this. It makes me sick just thinking about it!”

“Ah hear ya Bells, ah ain’t lettin’ him get away with these atrocities anymore.”

Once she finished catching up with the others, Jaqueline decided to meet the demon hunter who kept a respectable distance from her. For some reason, she had an urge to tease her a little. “So you’re a demon hunter? Ah didn’t know they came as scrawny as an imp.”

Raida’s eyes widened in shock for an instant before she glared at the death knight, “You wanna repeat that? I thought I heard some chump ask me to kick their ass.”

Jaqueline couldn’t help but smirk as she brought her retort, “With those skinny legs? Ah wouldn’t feel a thing.”

“You wanna try me?”

That was when the death knight’s eyes widened as she realized what she was doing. She shook her head to clear it. “Uh, mah apologies, dunno what came over me there. For some reason, lookin’ at ya roused mah competitive urges.”

“Nah, don’t sweat it. I think I actually felt the same when I looked at you,” Raida responded. The two stared at each other for a moment before they shared a laugh.

Thassarian stayed quiet as he looked at the group. Jaqueline seemed really close to the group and he didn’t want to impose himself. Seeing them getting along like that made him consider if he should find his sister, Leryssa, and explain himself to her.

When the envoy arrived, he escorted the group to Stormwind Keep. The citizens had mixed feelings about the death knights, given how they were once of the Scourge. With a group of heroes escorting them, they decided to keep a neutral stance toward them. It wasn’t long before they stood before Varian.

Varian chuckled as he looked upon Jaqueline. He remembered when she and her friends rescued him from the Dark Iron Dwarves. Seeing her kneeling before him helped him to see that her status may have changed but her loyalties to the Alliance have not. “First warlocks came to Stormwind offering their dark magic to aid the Alliance, then demon hunters entered my throne room and kneeled before me to swear fealty, now we have death knights reestablishing their old ties. We certainly live in interesting times.”

“Glad to see you’re in good spirits, Your Majesty,” Jaqueline said. She and Varian shared a laugh together. “Also, with all due respect, Your Majesty, would you please not let Blossom know that ah’m a death knight, at least not yet. Ah’m not sure she would take well to knowin’ that she’s the last livin’ Pomerton left.”

Varian nodded, “Very well, I take it that you will tell her though? She will find out eventually, especially since she and my son are close friends.”

“Ah got mixed feelings about that, Your Majesty. Blossom is twelve and Anduin is eleven, nearly twelve, but the protective big sister part of me wants to give your son the usual threatenin’ speech while the part of me that knows better would prefer to not be in the Stockade for threatenin’ royalty.”

Varian laughed uproariously at that comment, “You may be an undead now, but you haven’t changed on the inside. It’s good to see that you have returned. I’ll make sure the citizens understand that some of the Lich King’s death knights have joined the Alliance. Now, all of you should head to the harbor once you are ready. The first ship to Valgarde will be departing soon. I need you to provide assistance there since they seem to be having trouble with some new enemies we have never encountered before.”

Once dismissed, the party of seven, Sophia included, traveled to the other side of the city where the harbor was. The harbor was a spacious area about the size of Stormwind’s other districts with several docks and a number of supply crates in piles around the area.

The ship they were headed toward was their newest naval destroyer. Unlike their usual ships, destroyers had a fortified hull with a steam engine to keep the ship going in times of unfavorable conditions. The bow was equipped with an icebreaker since they would be sailing into freezing waters.

The crew welcomed the party aboard alongside a number of other soldiers and adventurers seeking to be the ones who defeat the Lich King. As they mingled, the crew prepared the engines for the long voyage to the southwestern coast of Northrend. It wasn’t long before the ship left the dock and they were underway.

During the voyage, Jaqueline let her friends know that she would vanish every now and then since Thanatas needed to train her in how to use her powers. Every few days she would be pulled into the Realm of Shadows where she learned about the runes on her blade and the general use for them. However, Thanatas also mentioned that the runes along the blade had more than one purpose.

Usually, a runeblade was only capable of bearing six runes that pulled magic into itself to replenish the runes once used, however, there were thirteen runes on the blade with three more on the apple part of the hilt. Six of the thirteen could be used for general necromancy.

At one point, Jaqueline mentioned the strange arm that grew from her back and hooked a chain around Orbaz’s arm which yanked him to her. Thanatas explained that she stumbled upon one of the runic powers of the blade. It was called Abomination Limb and it was the easiest rune to access because it was attuned to her power as a death knight.

Thanatas instructed Jaqueline on how to unleash devastating diseases, icy destruction and bloody fury with her runes while informing her that each rune used provided power to her body that she could unleash in the form of crushing strikes. She also showed her how to create a barrier of flesh and bone to protect herself instead of using a shield.

Other than the training, nothing else of note happened during the month they spent on the voyage. By the time they got to Valgarde, they were already a few days into the new year.

The settlement was built along the bay with an inn and a tower serving as the only structures with a stone wall serving as a defense from land-based attacks. Most of the settlement had a number of tents set up for the soldiers.

Once they disembarked from the ship, the group reported to the one in charge of the settlement, a vice admiral named Keller. Keller had informed them that ever since adventurers began sailing to Northrend, the situation had begun to improve.

He went on to explain how the adventurers dealt with a nearby village of half-giant people called vrykul and liberated any Valgarde prisoners they had captured.

The vrykul, as they discovered, were actually the ancestral race of humanity that was born when vrykul began giving birth to deformed children. Those who couldn’t bear to have their children butchered to keep their race pure sent the children to distant shores where they developed the first civilizations of humanity.

Keller explained that the vrykul worship the Lich King as a death god which made Jaqueline scoff which the vice admiral noticed and smirked in response. The leader of the vrykul in the region was an ancient king named Ymiron who had recently awoken from a sort of stasis slumber and was now leading the vrykul from atop the massive tower to their north which was named Utgarde Keep. Keller decided to let the job of clearing out the keep be the role of the party. He wanted them to start with the lower level and eliminate the one leading the raids on Valgarde, Ingvar the Plunderer.

Keller then went on to explain more of what occurred in the region known as Howling Fjord. The Forsaken had set up a couple of settlements in the region and were experimenting with some dangerous substances. One vrykul village ended up as guinea pigs for their latest strain and the way he described it told the group that they wouldn’t wish such a thing on their worst enemy.

The next point Keller made was that they made contact with a race of walrus people who called themselves the Kalu’ak which translated to tuskarr in their language. The tuskarr were a friendly race who really enjoyed fishing.

Another report about the Horde was that they had made contact with who appeared to be a subrace of tauren who bore a resemblance to bison known as the taunka. It didn’t take much convincing to get them to join the Horde so they would likely be treated as enemies.

There was one piece of information that piqued the interest of Violetta. An excavation team of dwarves had dug into a canyon and had reportedly lost their minds, attacking friends and foes alike in a crazed frenzy. The eldritch horror suspected that the dwarves dug too deep and discovered a rich vein of saronite which likely meant that the Old God on this continent was whispering into their minds.

Finally, Keller reported that they discovered a new race of dwarves made of metal. These iron dwarves were hostile to everyone and reports from the Explorer’s League informed them that they answered to a mysterious figure known as Loken. However, they didn’t have any further information at this time.

With the group briefed about what was going on in Northrend, it was time for them to get to work and their first task was defeating the vrykul residing in Utgarde Keep.

---

Lokosh and the others soon arrived at Warsong Hold, a towering structure of fire, stone and steel built into a quarry. When they spotted the leadership discussing strategy, they secretly rolled their eyes when Garrosh gave his definition of strategy. It wasn’t hard to figure that the other leader, Varok Saurfang, would roll his eyes too. Garrosh believed that the solution to free their supply lines from the Scourge and Alliance was to apply brute force.

“Is this a bad time?” Talia asked.

The two noticed their entry and turned to face them. Garrosh grunted while Varok addressed them. “Good, you’re here. I will brief you on the situation.”

Varok then discussed what was happening in the region of Borean Tundra. He pointed out an Alliance stronghold not far from their location but had not given them any trouble. Some Alliance deserters were recently handed over to them. “Cowards like that aren’t worth killing, we should have just fed them to the spiders below,” Garrosh commented.

Saurfang also mentioned that they discovered a strange race of half giant people who shrouded themselves in mist and wrapped themselves in seaweed. When they died they left nothing but a pile of seaweed on the ground.

Not too long ago there was also a Scourge presence at the landing site that appeared to be led by a powerful lich that matched the description of the archlich of Naxxramas, Kel’thuzad. It was originally thought that the archlich and the citadel were still assaulting the Plaguelands but recent reports suggested that the flying fortress had returned to Northrend.

There was also a brief mention of a radical offshoot of the Cenarion Expedition called the Druids for the Ethical and Humane Treatment of Animals. Garrosh referred to them as a joke and not worth their time, a sentiment that Varok agreed with. The organization agreed to not engage in any hostilities against the Alliance or Horde as long as they didn’t harm the wildlife.

Other than that, the Horde had been harassed by the Blue Dragonflight demanding their spellcasters in exchange for leaving them be. Naturally, this resulted in hostilities.

“Now, let’s get underway,” Garrosh said. “Report to our stablemaster on the upper level of the hold. They will provide for you transport to our taunka allies in the northeast. Aid them however you can. If you end up breaking the Scourge stronghold in this region while you are there, it will go a long way in our campaign against the Lich King.”

With their assignment given, Lokosh, Talia, Groun, Farra’jin and Feloma proceeded through the Horde stronghold to find the stable master and begin their new mission.

Author's Note:

The Northrend campaign is finally underway and as usual, the players with no life...err, I mean the adventurers who got there first have done most of the field work. I will be doing most of the dungeons but there is a couple I decided to leave out because of something I want to do.

Hope you all had a great Christmas!