Get busy dying

Elijah Wesley sat hunched over in the dark, icy cave, shivering from the biting cold. The sharp winds of the Storm Peaks whistled harshly through the mouth cave, a stark reminder to Wesley of the cruel conditions he was sworn to work in. Arthas, the cursed Lich King, had long been defeated, but the work of the Argent Crusade and Silverhand was not yet complete in the bitter north. Peacekeepers needed to stay behind. Ties with new allies had to be strengthened. The victory had be gained at the lost of many lives, and even despite that, there was still the need for watchers. The Paladin stood upright, and decided to continue his duty. Stepping out through the rocky maw, he was met with a blast of frozen winds; and an unfamiliar feeling - That of which was no feeling at all. How strange , thought Wesley, he had been sure he was cold in the cave. Had he ever felt cold?

The isolation is getting to me

He shook his head and continued his march, his boots crunching through the cotton-like snow. This wasn't the only time he had "strange thoughts" out here, in the wastes of the Plains of Echoes. Sometimes, in his minds-eye, he could make out an angelic being, large and feminine, terrifying yet welcoming. It sung a song, a song of unlife and death. The creature, he supposed, did resemble the Val'kyr of Icecrown, but he was certain they had sent to the Nether.

Why bother myself with this nonsense?

Wesley shrugged, and continued onward.




****************************************

Scene: A tavern, somewhere in Horde territory. An elven arcanist and rough-looking Goblin are sharing a drink and a loud conversation. You find it difficult -not- to eavesdrop.


" A Forsaken Paladin?!"
" Tha's wha' he seems to think 'bout 'imself anyways."
" Did you inform him that the Forsaken aren't exactly known for committing upstanding members to the Silver Hand?"
" That's the bloody thing.. Fella' seems to think he's a human."
" Huh. How strange - Though not unheard of. Sometimes the trauma of undeath can suppress memories, and sometimes even cause a form of insanity in the subject. When did the Paladin die?"
"Can't be too sure, mate. He knows Arthas s'dead. Don't know jack about the Sundering though. 'Is minds boggled."
" Surely you could tell by decomposition rate?"
" Naw, not really. 'E's got the claws and the fecked forsaken feet, bu' is face is.. sorta' normal."
" Normal? You're kidding."
" Well na' normal. E's obviously -dead-. Bu' e's not rottin'. It's probably the frost, slowin' the rot."
" You are correct, I wager. So, did you inform the cursed bastard that he was not infact human?"
" I did, 'e didn't believe me, so I showed 'im a mirror. E' flipped the lid! Lad was swingin' 'is sword 'fer me like I was Arthas 'imself!"
" How odd. Well, you're done with K3 for now. Perhaps the sod will meet his true end by somebody else's blade."

****************************************

OOC:
Hello! One of my characters, Elijah Wesley(in-game: Sanrus) isn't quite aware he's dead, and has yet to be introduced to the RP community. He's currently an OOC member of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, but will shortly be IC. I decided that in the meantime I'd like to do something a bit different. The conversation above between the elf and goblin is a rumour that your character may have heard, either firsthand or through the grape vine. Maybe he/she has decided to see what all the fuss is about. An undead paladin? How odd. Perhaps there's an ally to be made out of him. Maybe your character would prefer a purer Horde, and seeks to destroy what will eventually be another soldier for the ever-growing armies of the Dark Lady. Maybe they're just curious! Perhaps you'd just like to chat! Regardless, I'd love to get this guy roleplaying, and the Storm Peaks makes a nice change from the usual. Please send me an in-game tell, on either Sanrus or Aelatharion, and we'll arrange something.

Like.

(0_0) A Hordie Lexadin You sir... *claps*

Hopefully not.

And as far as I know this won't be an undead using the Light, but a 'new' sort of paladin!

Interesting..... well I'll hopefully have an odd Hordie starting too not undead but if we're on at the same time .Northrend RP

Let's hope it stays One Lexgrad, we don't need two.

Anyhow, out of pure lore curiosity- Is he capable of using the Light? If so, considering he is unaware of his own death, how does he reflect upon that using the Light feels like he's searing his own body with fire each time he uses it?

I concur with your opening statement.

As I stated earlier, while I am not 100% sure - I don't believe this paladin will be using the Holy Light.

Even if he does, that's fine. Forsaken can use the Light.

I've always found the concept of an undead paladin fascinating, and it's a shame blizzard didn't add it to the great class shuffle. It's a shame Sunburn has passed away, she would have loved it.

Good luck!

it's a shame blizzard didn't add it to the great class shuffle.

While they exist and could easily become a playable class the majority of WoW's playerbase thinks that they don't exist and that they would be ridiculous as a result of not really knowing a thing about the lore. It'd be a lot to swallow for said people and thus a bad marketing idea, sadly.

I personally don't disagree with lore. I just think up to now it's been carried out horrifically and a disgrace to role-play. But hey, I'm entitled to my opinion of course!

It's not any more ridiculous then the shoehorned tauren paladins and priests. They must have come as a big surprise to a lot of people as well, the only prior "lore" on them I've ever seen was two NPC's talking in Thunderbluff. Yet they happened, and where implemented pretty neatly.

To be honest I find Undead paladins less of a stretch; many of them where paladins in life, and they are free. No reason why an order of forsaken paladins couldn't exist.

Fortunately, as role-players, we are not always bound to the class selection blizzard has made for us

I don't mind Undead Paladins, but if you take a look at the battle.net forums you'll see a massive "lolwtf" storm each time someone mentions it as people don't believe it to be possible as they view everything black and white (As in that the Undead are only bad guys and that the living are good guys.)

Not only Battle.net.

Vangrel Lansire wrote:

Kyrby wrote:(0_0) A Hordie Lexadin You sir... *claps*

Hopefully not.

Coppersocket wrote:Let's hope it stays One Lexgrad, we don't need two.

Neither remark is about being an undead paladin.

As I previously stated:

I personally don't disagree with lore. I just think up to now it's been carried out horrifically and a disgrace to role-play. But hey, I'm entitled to my opinion of course!

Now I suppose is the right time to ask to stop further derailing the thread and perhaps await the poster to explain what sort of paladin this will be. (I shed some light already but I don't know 100%)

Thank you

erwtenpeller wrote:Not only Battle.net.

Vangrel Lansire wrote:

Kyrby wrote:(0_0) A Hordie Lexadin You sir... *claps*

Hopefully not.

Coppersocket wrote:Let's hope it stays One Lexgrad, we don't need two.

That has nothing to do with Undead Paladins. Did I ever state that I found this a bad idea?
I said I didn't want another Lexgrad.

I missed quite a few responses, I was doing some work this morning so was away from my computer, I'll try clear up a few points though.

What is a Paladin? Wowwiki says:

Paladins are the virtuous defenders of the weak and tireless, unfaltering enemies of the undead. Mixing elements of the warrior and the clerics of the Holy Light, the paladin is a tough melee fighter.

and

The paladin is a "warrior of the Holy Light". They uphold all that is good and true in the world and revile all that is evil and sinister — especially undead and the Burning Legion. They offer succor to the beleaguered and smite their enemies with holy fervor.

We can take two characteristics of the Paladin away from this
- They use Holy Light.
- They are capable Melee fighters.

What if we played around with those concepts? What if he used the arcane instead of the light. He would be a battlemage. What if he used necromancy? He would be a death knight. But what if he used shadow? Shadow has been considered a subschool of magic in WoW mechanics. It is the opposite to the Light, yet it is also co-existent with the Light, one may argue. He may be called a Shadow Paladin, if you can forgive the theatrics.


I debated the idea of Sanrus using Light or Shadow. Like priests who are risen in undeath, he has the choice of either. I do believe the Light would be a perfectly reasonably option; Though with undeath, I think Sanrus' mind would drift toward Shadow.


Think of him as perhaps a shadow priest, in plate armour, wielding a large weapon. Fanaticism toward the Light itself/The Naaru will begin to shift toward The Dark Lady. The Moral Law upheld by the Silverhand will be twisted to the standard of the Forsaken. He will remain deeply religious, but with a different religion. Traits like mercy and compassion are slowly undone and replaced with those of righteous indignation and zeal. Sanrus would begin to see those outside Sylvannas' will as "Heretics" who must be "Purged". Sanrus has been Born Again, into the arms of a loving Dark Mother.
This transformation will of course, take time. Getting to terms with undeath is priority #1.


Thanks for the support too, guys. I'm sure we can all have some fun with this concept. Please feel free to shoot me a tell for RP with this guy! It doesn't matter on your race, he will react differently to each one.

NOTE: I am not fully aware who Lexagrad is. I have not roleplayed with him so will withhold any judgement and comment concerning him.

The Silver Hand will be reborn to uphold Lordaeron once again, in the name of the Dark Lady!

Death to the living! Long unlive Sylvanas!

Please, oh please start the order of the Obsidian Hand!

erwtenpeller wrote:Please, oh please start the order of the Obsidian Hand!

... That sounds cool.

Just sayin'.

That it bloody well does (0_0)...
* rez's Sunburn from the grave and joins *
LoL if only

Also go Lex...ya gotta know by now I <3 a good redemption storyline

Kyrby wrote:* rez's Sunburn from the grave and joins *

Sunburn has already been "rezzed" from the grave.

Couldn't wait for me ehhh ><

Sounds a Cool Char, I have a horde Lex so we can meet up some time. Good luck with it dude.

Lexgrad wrote:Sounds a Cool Char, I have a horde Lex so we can meet up some time. Good luck with it dude.

Thanks =)

Out of curiousity, what class are you using to represent him in-game? A Death Knight, or a Warrior?

Forsaken Paladins are a great concept, something I truly wish they had introduced with the sway of new class/race combinations for Cataclysm. Personally I imagine Undead Paladins to be like the Dark Knight/Black Paladin variants of Dungeons & Dragons table-top games, former warriors of the Light who have either fallen or received corruption to twist their judgement and flip it on its head.

After all, if he truly believes himself to be doing the Light's work; I don't think the Light has much say in it!

Looking forward to coming across him.