hello everyone!
Seeking to live a holy life, a life guided by the virtues of honor and justice is a noble
goal, however for some, like archbishop benedictus, it is harder than it seems.
In times of hardship and pain dedication to this purpose can seem misplaced, and we have
seen that once ardent believers can lose faith.
Archbishop Benedictus is one such person.
In his youth, Benedictus like many others, was a follower of the Church of the Holy Light,
and so enamoured with his faith was he that he became a student of Lordaeron’s Religious
leader, the much beloved Archbishop Alonsus Faol.
Alonsus, being described as warm and kindly and being rather similar to Greatfather Winter
in appearance as much as personality, taught Bendecitus for many years, his young student
even helping the Church of Light in the construction of Stormwind’s most striking monument- The
Cathedral of Light.
Benedictus had lived through the first war and the second, and though the suffering he
saw troubled him greatly his faith remained strong.
In some ways he even saw the conflicts as a test of his beliefs.
After the death of his beloved mentor Alonsus, Benedictus took on his role as the Archbishop
of the Church of Light and he swore to continue the good work that Alonsus had begun so many
years before.
It was with this role and responsibility that Benedictus faced the third war.
A brutal war between Lordaeron and the demons of the burning legion.
Benedictus could not conceive how The Holy Light could let Lordaeron fall, how it could
abandon the good people of Lordaeron.
As he saw the fates of King Terenas, Prince Arthas, and the Paladins who themselves fought
in the name of the light, Benedictus’ faith was at breaking point.
Why had the holy light not protected them?
Why had it abandoned its loyal servants?
Whilst outwardly he appeared as the pious Archbishop, the embodiment of staunch and
unshaking devotion to the faith, inwardly Benedictus’ mind was roiled in uncertainty.
Archbishop Benedictus was not alone in having a vulnerable state of mind.
After the third war many people had witnessed some unspeakable horrors.
It was these people, recovering, mourning, and questioning that caught the attention
of an apocalyptic organization, the Twilights Hammer Cult.
The Twilight's Hammer clan had heard the whispers of void lords and fanatically believed in
their ultimate goal of complete apocalypse, and once they heard the whispers of the Old
Gods on Azeroth they became overcome with euphoria, this would be their stage on which
they would bring about the Hour of Twilight, when shadow would envelop the world and snuff
out all life in existence.
Their leader Cho’gall agreed and their numbers grew, taking in members of all races and the
clan became a cult.
Following the whispers of their new favourite entities the Old Gods, the Twilights Hammer
had aligned themselves with Deathwing, previously known as Neltharian the Earth-Warder, the
dragon aspect of the Black Dragonflight.
Now he was known as a very big, very angry dragon that had been corrupted by the Old
Gods and wanted to usher in the Hour of Twilight.
As Deathwing was busy trying to destroy Azeroth, including an attack on Stormwind City, Cho’gall
sent cultists out to the major cities to bring more people into the fold.
Some of these cultists of the Twilight's Hammer upon learning of the Archbishop’s unease,
flocked to him, pretending to be followers of the Holy Light who came to him in need
of guidance.
Perhaps seeking out the broken and the vulnerable of society had granted them the ability to
spot signs of the Archbishop’s turmoil in his everyday demeanor.
The words they spoke were calculated and deliberate, they told him of the void, its everlasting
presence that would not, could not, ever leave its followers like the Holy Light had done
so readily.
These words crept into the susceptible mind of Benedictus and for the first time he found
himself turning his back on the Holy Light.
He was confused before, he was uncertain, but these fellow followers of the Holy Light
had been abandoned too, and they spoke of the void as a familiar comfort, the comfort
that once the Light had provided him.
Perhaps, he thought, the idea of shadow magic was not so corrupt and unthinkable after all,
perhaps he had been lead to believe that by the Church of the Light.
Just as they had done when the Twilight Hammer set foot upon the land of Azeroth, the Old
Gods whispered to Benedictus.
Their words tendrils of doubt creeping into his mind.
They told him that the Holy Light was far from just and giving, it only tolerated perfect
order and obedience and it cared little for its devout followers.
Slowly the dreams crept through his mind in his dreams and after many nights Benedictus
dreamt a vision of the Hour of Twilight, a time when the Old Gods would break free of
their prisons and end all life on Azeroth.
The thought gave him comfort.
An ending, a purge of the Light’s tyranny over him.
He thought it would grant him freedom, but he had no idea how imprisoned he had really
become.
The void, he thought, was not the source of lies, but of every possible truth, and he
pledged his life to serving it.
Benedictus fell into the fold of the Twilight's Hammer, becoming one of its most influential
members.
It took sheer willpower to continue wielding the power of the Holy Light, and the public,
still seeing Benedictus as the kindly head of the church, had no idea of the corruption
that had taken hold of the Archbishop.
As the cultists had done to him, Benedictus did to others, outwardly offering the comfort
of faith to the disillusioned as he slowly converted them to his new cause.
Benedictus’ corruption ran deep and he was intent on ushering in a new age.
One free from the corruption of the light.
Not content with merely bolstering the numbers of the Twilight Hammer with the disillusioned
and those seeking guidance, Benedictus was ready to make a grand statement.
One Remembrance Day, when Stormwind was still repairing following an attack by Deathwing,
the citizens of Stormwind were closing the celebrations of the day and would soon gather
in the grand Cathedral for their king to speak.
Benedictus had arranged for Varian and his son Anduin to reunite at the grave of the
former queen, Tiffin.
Neither were expecting to see each other for this unexpected family reunion.
The corruption of the Archbishop was thorough, and bringing both royals together whilst the
citizens were distracted was no mistake.
Moments after Benedictus made his excuses and left, The crowns of Stormwind were ambushed
by a group of dangerous looking men as they stood around the grave of the late Queen Tiffin.
The assailants were warded by dark magic, and as the royals fought their way through
the bolstered attackers a sorcerer managed to finish a summoning portal before being
killed.
It was now that the attackers became obvious, a towering half man and half dragon emerged
from the portal clad in the armor of the Twilight Hammer Cult.
The hulking behemoth was an unyielding force, overwhelming Varian and nearly killing him.
Archbishop Benedictus stood in front of his loving congregation, certain that his Twilight
brothers had been successful in their attack of the Wrynns.
He could imagine no other outcome, the idea that anything could triumph over the agents
of the void was unthinkable.
Benedictus saw this as a day of great triumph and that through him the world would be purified
of the great tyranny of the Light.
The citizens of Stormwind were paying about as much attention to what the Archbishop was
saying as they would have in a boring history class, because when Benedictus told them with
a booming voice, that the world was being cleansed by divine fire, and that they would
remember these days as the crucible from which a new age was born, nobody screamed, panicked,
or even raised an eyebrow.
They just cheered.
Nobody knew that their kindly Archbishop was a key member of the Twilight’s Hammer Cult.
Afterall, like he had told Anduin a short time before: “to heal the world, we must
keep a few secrets”.
It was a huge shock to the Archbishop to see the King and Prince he had left to assasins
stumble onto the stage.
He was completely speechless, but he bowed and stepped aside, giving way to the King
he had taken for dead.
Now was not the time to show his hand.
The leader of the Twilights Hammer, Cho’gall, had been slain at the hands of adventurers
storming the towering Bastion of Twilight.
With their leader gone, the cult needed a new maniacal sociopath to lead them, and Archbishop
Benedictus was just the person.
Whilst still keeping his involvement with the cult hidden, he chose a new name for himself.
He was now the Twilight Father.
The next place we see the Twilight Hammers Cult and their insane leader was in Dragonblight.
Deathwing has tasked them with destroying the dragons of Wyrmrest Temple and to do so
they will need a flight of vile chromatic dragons.
These were the vile experient of Deathwing’s son, Nefarian.
He sought to transfer the essence of all dragonflights into one type of dragon which would then be
stronger than all others.
His experiments proved futile and so too did the experiments of the Twilight Hammer on
the eggs of the kidnapped blue dragon Kirygosa, the whelps born malformed and unable to make
it to drake size.
Nefarian had one final experiment, the culmination of all his knowledge, a large five-headed
Chromatic dragon named Chromatus.
Nefarian was killed before he could breathe life into the vile abomination.
Benedictus, the Twilight Father, saw this monstrosity as the beginning of the end.
“Chromatus lives” he told Kirygosa with a malevolent joy, “so that the aspects will
die”.
Chromatus was successfully brought to life by the Twilight Father and his cult, but with
Thrall aiding the remaining Dragon Aspects Chromatus was slain.
In a wild panic The Twilight Father pleaded to his master, Deathwing, to save his life.
Although Deathwing was enraged at Benedictus’ failure, he ultimately sent him back to Stormwind
and told him to lay low.
Archbishop Benedictus, now also known as the Twilight Prophet, saw Thrall as the final
obstacle that could stop the mighty Deathwing and sent the newly corrupted Archdruid of
the flame, Fandral Staghelm to stop him.
For a moment it appeared that the Twilight Prophet might have succeeded, Fandral having
torn the elements themselves from Thrall and leaving his spirit scattered amongst the elemental
planes.
Like most of Benedictus and the Twilight Hammer’s plans, however, this was short lived.
Thrall was returned to full might with the aid of his beloved Aggra and Fandral met his
fate shortly after.
With failure after failure under his belt, The Twilight Prophet took matters into his
own hands.
He tried to kill Thrall himself at Wyrmrest Temple in the Hour of Twilight dungeon.
Benedictus attacked Thrall and his companions and he
was finally slain.
You can tell the Bishop in the Cathedral of Light of the fate of Benedictus, yet they
turn you away.
Bishop Farthing insisted he was away on a mission, and following Farthing’s mysterious
disappearance Bishop Arthur will tell you that both Benedictus and Farthing are conducting
missions.
Although he has been slain in Warcraft, you can have the limitless pleasure of slaying
him over and over again in Hearthstone coming with the beautiful flavor text ‘Nobody expects
the Archbishop’s benediction!” “spanish inquisitoon clip”
He really is making no effort at hiding his real allegiance in the tavern however and
although he goes by the name of Archbishop Benedictus he is wearing the full dark purple
attire of the Twilight Hammer Cult.
Like any good cult leader he is capable of drawing others to his cause, and upon being
played he will shuffle a copy of your opponents deck into yours.
Quite the charistmatic man, once devoted to the light but the tragedies of the world pushed
him towards the dark side.
Makes you wonder what other priests might fall if you push them far enough, but that
might be something for the future.
For now, thank you very much for watching everyone!
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