Hello everyone!
The Burning Legion has invaded azeroth once again and death knights are able to pick up
3 different artifacts to empower them in this war.
For unholy death knights it’s Apocalyps, an ancient blade crafted by the Nathrezim
also known as Dreadlords, which spreads plague, death and violence in its wake.
Apocalypse is a powerful tool of destruction.
The blade was wielded by the Tirisgarde before it fell into the hands of the Dark Riders.
Now the only way to find it is to hunt down the riders to their secret lair and the Lich
King fills our mind and tells us where to go:
Lich King: “The sanctum of the Dark Riders is hidden even to my sight, though many in
Duskwood have given their lives to unearth it.
I sense one such presence in Manor Mistmantle...a man strong in the Light.
If he could be bent to your will, he may prove to be the key you require.
“
So to manor mistmantle we go and to kill some time while we travel, let’s talk about the
history of this artifact and why a weapon crafted by the Nathrezim found its way into
the hands of the tirisgarde and the dark riders....
Most stories about the Burning Legion speak of countless demons stampeding over worlds,
but the cunning nathrezim know that brute force is not the only way to conquer an enemy.
One lie can break an alliance.
One drop of poison can cripple a giant.
One disease can reduce a great city to a graveyard.
The nathrezim blade called Apocalypse has accomplished all of these things.
It holds the power to spread plagues, incite wars, and turn ally against ally.
In the right hands, this weapon has singlehandedly brought entire civilizations crashing down
before the Legion's armies ever began their invasion.
It was not crafted by a single nathrezim.
Many of these demons forged and shaped the blade as a tool to hasten the fall of worlds.
Over the course of centuries, Apocalypse passed from one nathrezim to another.
Whenever Apocalypse changed hands, its nathrezim owners would alter and refine it.
Through the lessons learned from their conquests, they endowed the blade with new plagues and
maledictions.
In this way, Apocalypse became a fusion of all the dark arts the nathrezim had at their
disposal.
Each wielder used it to weaken mortal civilizations and leave them vulnerable to conquest by the
Burning Legion.
Through the creation of plagues and famines, Apocalypse stoked the fires of paranoia.
Through acts of murder and betrayal, the weapon drove the Legion's enemies to turn on each
other.
Even the mere sight of the blade was enough to sap the strength of mortals and cause them
to tremble in fear.
Kathra’natir was the last of the Nathrezim to wield Apocalypse.
The weapon passed to him during the Burning Legion's invasion of Navane.
This world was home to a handful of intelligent races.
Though they shared a history of enmity, they put aside their differences and united against
the demons.
The alliance was tenuous at best, easy prey for Kathra'natir and Apocalypse.
He walked among Navane's resistance forces, disguised as one of their own soldiers.
He whispered rumors of betrayal in every ear, inflaming old hatreds and ancient rivalries.
All the while, Apocalypse clouded the defenders' ability to reason.
They began to fear each other as much as the Legion.
In one night of wanton bloodshed, Navane's army went to war with itself.
Thousands of years ago, the city of Dalaran was inundated by reckless spellcasters.
Their abuse of magic inadvertently tore open rifts in reality.
Through one such rift, Kathra'natir clawed his way into Azeroth and found Dalaran ripe
for upheaval.
Many of the city's non-magic users were superstitious, and they viewed spellcasters with thinly veiled
unease.
Kathra'natir used Apocalypse to inflame these fears.
He tainted Dalaran's water supplies and food stores.
Gruesome plagues ravaged the city, which the common folk believed had originated from the
magi.
Kathra'natir admired his handiwork from a distance, listening to the symphony of chaos
that filled the night.
By sunrise, not a single soldier remained to oppose the Legion.
To fight back against the dreadlord, the first guardian came to be.
Alodi was infused with power from the council of tirisfal and set on the task of vanquishing
Kathre’natir.
He succeeded in doing so and although the demon was gone, the weapon remained behind
and he made a report about it.
In the blade's presence, I am physically weakened.
Strange thoughts swim through my mind.
Dark things I will not repeat here.
The weapon has a way of dredging up fears long forgotten and giving them new life.
And these are just some of its tamer qualities.
I have requested that we destroy the weapon, but the other council members have reservations.
They would prefer we lock it away alongside other artifacts recovered from demons.
It is not the ideal course, but so be it.
If this council is to survive, it must do so through mutual trust and understanding.
My only hope is that it never sees the light of day again.""
Long after Kathra'natir's defeat, Apocalypse resurfaced.
It was a time of great turmoil for the Council of Tirisfal.
The current Guardian, Aegwynn, had gone rogue.
Seeing no other recourse, the council created a new order called the Tirisgarde to capture
the troublesome Guardian.
The Tirisgarde armed themselves with mighty artifacts to overwhelm Aegwynn.
They soon learned that artifacts alone were not enough to best a Guardian of her caliber.
She outwitted her hunters time and again.
Out of desperation, the council finally unearthed Apocalypse and other closely guarded relics.
They distributed these dangerous weapons to the most loyal and gifted Tirisgarde members.
Apocalypse was entrusted to Laith Sha'ol.
From the very moment he held the blade, a darkness bloomed in his mind.
It would continue to fester and swell until it consumed him entirely.
Apocalypse granted Laith Sha'ol more power than he could have hoped for, but it came
at a price.
Hatred tainted his thoughts.
His wish to see Aegwynn brought to justice became a wish to see her dead.
Laith narrowly missed cornering his prey in the small human village of Corwell.
He interrogated the townsfolk, accusing them of conspiring with Aegwynn.
Though Corwell's people knew nothing of the Guardian's whereabouts, they succumbed to
Apocalypse's influence.
Before long, neighbor regarded neighbor with suspicion.
Paranoia sank its poisoned fangs into the quaint village.
In a fit of rage, Laith cut down the town elder.
The death ignited a wave of violence.
Friends and family turned on each other with bare hands, teeth, and whatever else could
serve as a weapon.
Only Laith walked out of that village alive and would leave his marks on history, go down
in legends.
There was increase in disease, famine, and violence.
The exact cause of these hardships is unknown.
One interesting theory associates them with a nameless horseman who carried a sword of
sinister origin.
In some legends, this figure rode a pale horse.
In others, a black mare with eyes aflame.
Wherever the horseman passed, trouble followed.
Crops withered.
Diseases festered.
Innocent folk simply dropped dead.
For this reason, the horseman was known by many names: War, Death, Famine, and Pestilence.
When Guardian Aegwynn learned of Laith Sha'ol and Apocalypse, she made a stand to spare
the world from the demon-forged blade.
Aegwynn lured him into a trap, expecting to make short work of her adversary.
She had underestimated Apocalypse's true strength.
Laith unleashed the blade on the Guardian, draining her life force.
None of Aegwynn's spells could shield her from Apocalypse's vampiric power.
On the verge of collapse, she screamed a desperate incantation that shattered the connection
between Laith and the sword.
In that moment, the darkness in Laith's mind vanished.
He remembered everything he had done while under Apocalypse's influence.
All the heartache.
All the vile deeds.
All the deaths.
Overcome with horror, he dropped Apocalypse where he stood.
Then he ran, and he never looked back.
The council of tirisfal send out their agents to find and reclaim the blade since reports
said that Aegwynn attempted to destroy the blade and
neutralize its powers, but she failed to do so.
She then took steps to seal the weapon away in a place where no one would find it.
For Laith Sha’ol, he never saw the blade again, but in a cruel twist of fate...it would
pass to his offspring.
After his battle with Guardian Aegwynn, Laith settled in Stormwind City and started a family.
He spent his days helping those in need as a way to atone for his past.
His son, Ariden, did not live such an unselfish life.
Ariden traveled the lands of Stormwind with a group of dubious merchants.
These grifters sold counterfeit elixirs and artifacts, swindling innocent folk out of
their personal fortunes.
When the merchants tried to sell their wares to Guardian Medivh in Karazhan, their luck
changed.
Medivh saw straight through their lies and at this point he still had the spirit of sargeras
inside of him, someone you don’t want to mess with.
To punish the merchants, the Guardian cursed them to act as his servants.
Ariden and his fellow con artists became known as the Dark Riders.
From that day forward, they would haunt the land, seeking out lost artifacts and bringing
them back to Karazhan.
One of the artifacts recovered by Ariden was Apocalypse.
Ariden knew nothing of Apocalypse's origins or its deadly powers.
But due to his father's history with the weapon, he felt an unnatural pull toward it.
The need to find Apocalypse burned within Ariden's soul, and he led the Dark Riders
on a feverish search to uncover the mysterious artifact.
The Dark Riders scoured the lands of the Eastern Kingdoms before finally discovering the blade
in the Badlands.
Despite Aegwynn's efforts to hide Apocalypse, it had somehow surfaced again.
Who had abandoned the weapon in this place, Ariden did not know.
Nor did he care.
He held the blade aloft, and the burning need within him finally subsided.
In the years to come, he would pilfer many other artifacts, but none would ever exert
the same pull on him as Apocalypse.
None would ever feel so strangely familiar.
So the artifact is in the hands of the dark riders, a story told within the comics.
There we read about a priest named Revil Kost joining a party into Karazhan in an attempt
to take on the dark riders and return artifacts to their rightful owners.
It seems like the dark riders are done quite yet and more artifacts are waiting to be obtained
so who better to recruit for aid then Revil kost himself:
Revil Kost: “Stay back!
I may be wounded, but the Light will protect me.
What?
Have you not come to finish what the Dark Riders started?”
Revil has long searched for a way to rid Duskwood of the dark riders curse but not it seems
like he has become the hunted.
Though we share a common enemy, the sins we bear prevent him from aiding our cause.
The Light is not well served by taking power from one evil only to bestow it upon another.
Sorry Revel but we’re not some balance druid coming to seek your aid, we’re death knights
and you’ll help weather you like it or not.
“So be it!
By the Light be purged!”
Fight, fight fight
“Enough!
Stay your weapon!
The Riders will be upon us soon enough, and nothing is gained if we both die here!
Help me hunt them down., and I will tell you what I know.”
He’s left with little choice now.
He can’t face another Dark Rider ambush alone and we’re obviously formidable so
he makes us a deal.
He’ll help us find our artifact, but only if we allow him to return to others in their
possession to their rightfull place.
Seems like a fair deal so lets get out of here.
“It seems you’ve been followed.
Dark Riders!”
Kill dark riders.
“The battle is won, but there will be more.
Quickly to Ariden’s camp!”
“Ariden was the first of the Dark Riders, and I believe he leads them now.”
“His camp is still in Deadwind Pass, strangely untouched after all these years.
If my convictions are correct, the key to finding the Dark Riders, as well as the artifacts
they still covet, can be found there.
Revil: Here!
The camp is in this clearing.
Let us search it.”
This is the place where the merchant, Ariden, set up camp while he was trying to ply his
dubious wares to the sorcerer Medivh.
We search the place and find a relic Box: The box contain various magical looking trinkets
and baubles.
Upon close inspection, these “relics” appear to be nothing more than clever forgeries.
A Compasss: The compass is old and weathered with use.
It appears to be malfunctioning – the compass arrow is erratically changing direction and
never settling at true North.
A Fur blanket: The bedding in the tent has been undisturbed for quite some time.
and some Fine boots: These boots are in surprisingly nice condition for their age.
It’s odd that they would still be left here after all these years.
Ariden: “Turn away now, interloper!
The horrors of the past will be your undoing!”
Revil: “I think that means we’re on the right track.
See what you can find in that journal.”
Dark energy hums from the journal, which appears to be the writings of Ariden, and chronicles
his time in deadwind pass.
One entry in particular stands out: “I hear the whispers.
They call me from the wet soil of shallow graves, hearkening me to my legacy.
But what legacy?
The merchant I once was had no special bloodline...Nevertheless, I am drawn to it.
The dread blade... the world-ender...apocalypse.
“
Ariden never knew about his fathers history with Apocalyps, but his journey let him to
the gravesites off of the lake near Karazhan.
Nobody knows who is burried there, but they may be the key to finding the Dark Riders.
We can speak with the dead so time to wake them up and see if they can point us in the
right direction.
“Understand, I cannot be a part of what you must do.
When you are finished, meet me outside Karazhan.
I will visit the church and pray to the Light for mercy upon both our souls.“
We raise a couple of useless forgotten dead until we find an interesting spirit, the previous
owner of the blade now burried here near karazhan.
“No!
The blade must remain buried!
You cannot have it!”
“Ariden....no!
Why did you unearth that cursed blade?”
“It must be retrieved.
He cannot control the unbridled wrath within.”
“Go to the catacombs.
The curse must be lifted.”
“The sewer entrance is this way.
Follow me!”
“Take care!
There is a dark energy emanating from the spirits of this place.
We had best not get too close.”
Kill dark riders and cursed guardians.
Revil: “The way is blocked!”
Ariden: “Intruders!
You will go no further!”
Ariden: “Do not think you have won!
Conservator, do your duty!”
Kill conservator
Revil: “Keep your guard up!
I fear Ariden is not done with us yet.
The artifact chamber looks to be just ahead.
Let us proceed.”
“Over here!
Is this the relic you seek?”
Ariden: “So this is what you’re after?
The artifacts of Karazhan belong here, and I will not allow them to be taken away!
Revil: “You have no right to these artifacts, fiend!
They must be reclaimed in the name of the Light!”
Ariden: “Your Light does not reach here, priest!
If you want the blade, death knight, come and claim it!”
Revil: “Quickly, after him!
I will only slow you down...”
Kill more dark riders and guardians – confront Ariden
“You are a persistent one.
Very well!
If you so thirst for the power of Apocalyps, then I will show it to you myself!”
“Feel the wrath of the world-ender!”
“It calls to soul long dead...
“You are not the only one who can control the undead, death knight.”
“Ssss....souls of the dead!
Aid your master!”
“No!
The power...is mine!”
“The power was not yours, Ariden.
You did not wield Apocalyps.
Its dark energies wielded you as its weapon.”
That voice...father?!”
“Rest now, my son.
The curse is lifted.”
“You are free.”
Pick up Apocalyps.
I have the powerrrrrrrr
“It’s over.
The deed is done.
Take your weapon.
I must return the other artifacts to their rightful owners.
I hope for both our sakes, that we do not meet again.
“
Lich King:
“I can sense the power of the world-ender within you, death knight.
You are prepared for the war to come.
Revil will not forget the transgressions that happened today, but we have what we come for
so its time to be on our way.
We’ll now wield Apocalyps, the world-render in our war against the Legion and our adventures
through the broken isles.
However, those are a tale for another so for now thank you very much for watching everyone.
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guys....see ya!