Hello everyone!
The Burning Legion has invaded azeroth once again and our friendly neighberhood demon
Calydus offers warlocks 3 different weapons to pursuit, knowledge gained from a book called
the tome of blighted implements, containing information about weapons which could be used
against the legion.
In this case we’re going to go for the Skull of the man'ari, perfect for the Demonology
Warlock.
From the book we learn that it’s very powerful and it’s held by an even more powerful Dreadlord,
but there is a weakness.
The skull has a will of its own soif we can commune with the skull, we might be able to
convince it to serve us instead!
We’ll need some reagents from dalaran to perform the ritual and commune with it so
in the city we pick up some grave dust from a freshly dug grave, a can of overheated oil
from the engineering shop.
An aged snowplum brandy from the lounge which a drunken mage is not too happy about, but
who cares about mages and we collect a stag blood sample from a stag within the magical
menagerie.
It’s up to us to decide if we can to obtain it with dark magic or carefully take a small
blood sample, either way, we collect everything Calydus needs for his ritual.
“Calydus found a perfect spot for the ritual!
Come, friend, meet Calydus in the room behind the curtains at the place called the Violet
Gate.”
“Now what?!
One day, I will free myself of your control and...wait...you’re not my master.”
The skull must be convinced that it is in its best interest to be in our possessio since
forcing it into servitude would make it far weaker.
Easier said then done though since the skull at first is not convinced.
We’re not the first creatures from a doomed world to beg for his aid, we should save ourselves
the wasted effort and go jump into a fire!
So the famed Thal’kiel chose to submit to the demons in the end, that line gets his
attention as he would easily bring the demons under his control was it not for them constantly
draining him of his powers.
Then allow us to free you Thal’kiel and together, Burning Legion will bow to us.
We will be the masters!
“Hmpf...fine then.
Come to Felsoul Hold if you truly believe you can free me.
But if you’re not up for the challenge, you’ll be joining me in eternal torment!”
“Calydus knows where that is.
Calydus can help!”
Calydus makes us a gateway to felsoul hold, but many demons stand in our way and the current
owner of the skull, the dreadlord Mephistroth, is not too happy with us trying to steal his
treasure so as we go deeper into felsoul hold and take on anything Mephistroth has to throw
at us, let’s talk about the history behind the skull of the manari and how it ended up
being a floating skull, forced to serve the legion.
A long, long time ago, before the coming of Sargeras to Argus, the eredar Thal'kiel ushered
in a golden age for his people.
Thal'kiel was a sorcerer of unparalleled talent, and he and his Wakeners pushed the limits
of summoning and binding magics, conjuring the arcane entities that helped build the
capital's wondrous architecture.
Thal'kiel also devised the machines that focused the world's latent arcane energy, suffusing
Argus with peace, harmony, and vitality.
All were in awe of his abilities, including his young apprentice, Archimonde.
There were rumors that Archimonde coveted Thal'kiel's power and influence, but the eredar
leader dismissed these as pure fabrication, for his apprentice had shown him nothing but
devotion.
Archimonde had even gone to great lengths to commission a custom-made crown for Thal'kiel,
taking the measurements for his head himself.
Thal'kiel led an order of eredar magi called the Wakeners, specialists in the arts of conjuration
and binding.
They were renowned for their clever arcane constructs, exploring new frontiers in summoning.
Yet Thal'kiel was never one to rest on his laurels.
He thirsted for more.
Seeking to elevate his order to levels undreamed of, he searched uncharted terrain, venturing
farther than any eredar had dared before.
His spells plumbed the vastness of the Great Dark Beyond, petitioning for a deeper well
of power.
One day, he received an answer.
Thal'kiel was brilliant, but he was not wise.
A dark presence whispered to him, and the eredar's mind was consumed with visions of
power beyond his wildest imaginings, of ranks upon ranks of deadly servants eager to obey
his every whim.
These demonic forces made Thal'kiel's arcane constructs look like a child's playthings.
Afterward, he would despise the arcane, his passion reserved only for fel magic.
Thal'kiel's mysterious benefactor bestowed upon him the ability to summon lesser demons,
and the eredar immediately spread the knowledge to his Wakeners.
Imps and felhounds, infernals and abyssals, all executed the commands of Thal'kiel and
his sorcerers.
Convinced that this was the start of a new era, Thal'kiel feverishly prepared to present
his wondrous pets to the rulers of Argus, Velen and Kil'jaeden.
Brilliant.
Not wise.
In the presence of Velen, Kil'jaeden, and the eredar rulers' inner circle, the sorcerer
Thal'kiel demonstrated what his fel darlings could do.
First, he summoned scores of his familiar arcane constructs and arrayed them in orderly
rows.
Then the sky went dark, and the clouds roiled as a storm of meteors crashed down.
From the craters emerged an army of infernals--which Thal'kiel unleashed on the constructs.
It was a symbolic display of the new era he saw for his people.
He watched rapturously as the demons obliterated the unfortunate arcane entities, smashing
and burning them until only smoke and embers remained.
Such was the demons' fury that even the nearby columns and statues were reduced to rubble
and ash.
An acceptable sacrifice on the altar of progress, as far as Thal'kiel was concerned.
But when he looked upon his colleagues' faces, he didn't see the approval he expected.
Kil'jaeden's expression was remote, inscrutable, but there could be no doubt about how Velen
felt.
He condemned Thal'kiel's new summonings and ordered him never to conjure them again.
The following is from an account of Thal'kiel's last days, written by an anonymous Wakener.
It was recovered from Archimonde's private archive.
""After Master Thal'kiel's disastrous demonstration, Velen forbade him from conjuring demons, denouncing
his 'new era' as a failed experiment.
Thal'kiel withdrew to his chambers for weeks.
He neither ate nor slept.
His only companions were the demonic minions he would summon and then banish in rage, or
so we guessed--all we could hear were the shrieks of imps as they were thrust back and
forth between this realm and the Twisting Nether.
We also sensed the presence of other, larger entities with him, shadowy apparitions of
baleful influence, though his servants swore that no one had entered his sanctum.
""When finally Thal'kiel emerged, he was changed.
He had aged by centuries, alone in the dark with his thoughts and his thralls.
His back was twisted and stooped, and there was an odd glimmer in his eye.
He summoned his Wakeners, and we answered the call, for we loved him like a father.
""He looked at each of us in turn, and said only, 'The new era begins.'""
Thal'kiel commanded his Wakeners to continue their experiments in summoning fel creatures.
In secret, he and his sorcerers conjured demons of increasingly dire aspect, and they cast
powerful spells to hide their minions in covert training grounds.
Shielded from the eyes of Velen and Kil'jaeden, Thal'kiel slowly amassed a great demonic army
with one purpose: to install him as dictator of Argus.
The Wakeners were united behind Thal'kiel, save one--his apprentice, Archimonde.
Although he had no aversion to demons-in fact, he rather enjoyed them--Archimonde was driven
by ambition, and he was eager to prove himself to Velen and Kil'jaeden.
The night before the Wakeners were to stage their coup, Archimonde revealed Thal'kiel's
plans to the rulers of the eredar.
""You shall have his head for this,"" Archimonde said.
Velen and Kil'jaeden were stunned to learn of Thal'kiel's treachery.
He had summoned legions of fel beasts to build his personal empire, plotting to assassinate
the eredar rulers.
He had tapped into a strange new source of power whose limits were unknown, and he needed
to be stopped, swiftly and without mercy.
To prove his loyalty to Velen and Kil'jaeden, Archimonde broke the wards that hid where
Thal'kiel's demonic army was marshaled, and he led a contingent of magi in storming the
secret training grounds.
The battle did not last long.
Caught off guard, the Wakeners were easily defeated by the invading magi, and without
commanders to direct them, the demons were slaughtered.
Archimonde himself confronted his master as he was summoning reinforcements.
With a single stroke of his blade, he decapitated Thal'kiel.
After they crushed Thal'kiel's rebellion, the eredar rulers' magi burned the Wakeners'
bodies so their fel taint would not spread, and they destroyed the rebels' writings to
suppress the knowledge of their foul arts.
Archimonde oversaw the effort, and when it was done, he was hailed as a hero.
Soon afterward, Archimonde commissioned one of Argus's finest jewelers to gild Thal'kiel's
skull.
He claimed that he was preparing it for viewing--as a grim warning not to follow Thal'kiel's path.
In truth, he had it adorned with metals that would enhance its ability to channel magical
energy, the perfect decoration for the perfect sorcerer's skull, which Archimonde proudly
displayed in his domicile.
Archimonde eventually rose to lead the eredar alongside Velen and Kil'jaeden, and by all
accounts, he was a wise and sagacious ruler.
In actuality, however, a demonic presence had been slowly infiltrating Archimonde's
mind, using Thal'kiel's skull as a conduit for its pernicious influence.
While Archimonde slept, he saw visions of civilizations consumed in magnificent fel
fire, and a dark god standing at the head of a glorious army.
The entity whispered promises of strength that were impossible for mere mortals to comprehend,
and Archimonde drank them in, eager to learn more of this mysterious being and his invincible
legions.
Thus when the Dark Titan, Sargeras, finally came to Argus and offered the eredar a place
in his kingdom, Archimonde was the first to accept.
After Archimonde became one of the Burning Legion's generals, he put Thal'kiel's skull
to good use.
In life, Thal'kiel had been unmatched in his ability to control demonic minions, and his
skull was no less adept.
World after world fell before Archimonde as he channeled his commands through the skull,
compelling multitudes of demons to obey, his forces obliterating opponents with the grace
and precision of an expertly choreographed ballet.
Since then, possession of Thal'kiel's skull has passed between a handful of Sargeras's
elite generals, with preference given to those who lead invasions of the fallen titan's most
sought-after worlds.
The dreadlord Mephistroth, commander of the Legion's vanguard in Azeroth, was the last
to be seen with it.
“Did oyu think i would stand idle as you clawed your way through my minions?
Listen mortal as the treasure you fight so hard to obtain is broken to my will.”
“Blrrrrr, curse you!
I will not give in.”
And so Thal’kiel became the skull of the man’ari and it’s kinda interesting to
see that they actually gave a backstory as to how Archimonde became one of the leaders
of the Eredar.
makes you wonder what Kil’jaeden and Velen did to earn their spot.
Regardless, we’ve taken on all of the demonic forces that Mephistroth had to throw at us
and now all that remains is taking on the dreadlord ourselves.
“I grow tired of your interference!
Die!”
Despite the dreadlords power, our army of demons greatly outnumber him and they’re
firmly under our control.
I mean, who can stand up against mighty felhounds and imps, not mephistroth...that’s for sure!
“Enjoy your victory while you can warlock.
Muhahahhaha.
This isn’t over between us.
It has only begun!”
Pick up skull, I have the powerrrrrrrrrrrrrr
“Freedom!
The feeling is sweet, but Mephistroth’s magic has diminished my power.
Let’s depart this place before the dreadlord is able to return.”
It will be up to warlocks to get to know Thal’Kiel better and restore him to his full potential.
Like most skulls, his comes with a cautionary tale.
Thal'kiel the Denied was once a great leader of the eredar, until he was not, until he
was nothing more than screams that echoed across Argus.
A skull serving as a grim reminder of the price you pay for dealing with demons.
A cautionary tale indeed, one that has been heeded by none and demonology warlocks will
not be the first as they wield its power in the war against the Legion by turning the
powers of the enemy against them.
Thank you very much for watching everyone!
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