Mass murderer, tale of the wandering Vrykul

((This is a free time project to write down an adventure, I won't be writing down the name of the main character before the end, perhaps you can guess who this is before that. Send me an MP if you do and feel interested in it.))

In this world I have been almost everywhere, I have traveled to the great desert of Tanaris to the rainy forest of Stranglethorn, from the great city of Stormwind to the Undercity.
I have meet many great people through my travels, many who became great, great people. Some however ended up becoming my worst enemies, I still have nightmares about those people, nightmares telling me I should have killed them when I meet them. Some of those great people have been Uther the Lightbringer, Bolvar Fordragon and Archbishop Alonsus Faol himself. I have shaken hands with Thrall and fought battles against and with Arthas, or the Lich King as he is called now.
Even now I feel the chill running down my spine just thinking about that name, the man who changed my life and ended my happiness in one single day. The man who made me do things that haunts me today and forged me into the man I have become.
However, through my life of traveling I have never met someone who truly understands me, understands why I travel around the world and isolate myself from civilization. I can only hope that one day I will meet the person who understands me.
Through my life I have had many encounters with people who wish me dead or tortured, some even wanted to eat my heart, for example, I can’t take a single step inside Eastern Plaguelands because the amount of people that wants to kill me, The scarlet crusaders wants me to join their cult, the cult of the damned want me to become their death knight or their minion, The undead wants to eat my brain and the Argent crusaders would almost force me to join them saying that it is my destiny, that the light kept me alive to fight the undead in the Plaguelands and reclaim Lordaeron. That is not the reason I am kept alive, the reason is because a curse is placed upon my shoulders, a curse to watch the world burn and fall to pieces. I was there to watch Lordaeron fall over itself, I was there when we slaughtered the people of Stratholme. I watched the city burn to the ground with blood on my hands and tears down my cheek. That is the curse placed upon my shoulders, I must carry the burden of what I have done to the grave, alone.


The beginning.
It all started when I was a young boy in the age of eleven, I was walking with my father through the streets meeting the different people he was doing trade with. It was a sunny day with not a single cloud in sight, the clear blue sky and no wind inside the city of Stratholme made it extremely hot that day. I remember meeting about fourteen different people, none of them is alive to this day however that is to be expected after all that has happened with Lordaeron. After meeting with my father’s official merchants we went to visit one of fathers “Friends” Who had offered my father a very good deal on some weapons. I didn’t think about it much back then and I didn’t really care about it either.
“Dad, when can I see mom again?” Father looked down upon me and gave the usual frown and disappointing look. “Patience son, soon.” We walked into a dark alley took a right turn, the walls were covered with green, wet moss, I could also smell urine and occasionally see the beggars walking around the corners. The alley was three men wide and had a few broken boxes lying here and there.
“Dad, I don’t like this place.” I look up and give father a nervous look. Father ignores it and moves further into the alley.
After taking a left turn we stumbled across a man covered in rags, he was holding something sharp and shiny in his left hand, his left foot was on top of something that looked like a corpse. Father was quick to react and pushed me behind him while flexing his teeth, he quickly grabbed for his sword but it was too late. The man quickly ran toward father as he were grabbing for his sword, he quickly tossed the knife toward father and into his shoulder, father fell back while roaring loud, the alley picked up his voice and sent it echoing around.
While father fell back over me the man quickly drew another knife from his belt, when he came close enough he grabbed fathers wrist and held him up while stabbing the sword into his guts several times. I fell back and looked up on the actions that were occurring in front of me. Suddenly I felt something wet raining down on my face, right between my lip and nose. Slowly I moved my tongue up and licked it; it tasted of metal and was thick.
The man let go of father and let his body fall over me while running away deeper into the ally to escape the people coming to investigate.
Among those people coming to investigate was a large man dressed in white armor and a long, blue coat. He quickly ran towards father and placed a hand upon his wounds and started whispering prayers that I have long since forgotten. When he understood father couldn't be saved he lifted him up and saw me crying underneath him, covered in fathers own blood.

That is how I meet Halahk the Lifebringer, the one who would guide my path to both survival, and mass murder.

Growing up.
After father died Halahk took me back home to inform her on what had happened, sadly when he reached the front porch to the large house we owned it was too late. The front door was broken open and both the staff and my mother had been slain, we never found out who had done it, however I suspect one of the many enemies father had as a business merchant.
Halakh discovered my mother had been a priestess of the light and assumed I could have the same abilities as she had, as it proved out I did. Halakh adopted me as if I was his own son and raised me, for a short while he tried finding out if my family was from Stratholme, I never did find out where I was from sadly but I’m guessing father could have been from Northrend and that he had traveled here for the gold that could be earned through selling difficult to acquire wares.
That also might be why it felt like home when I traveled to Northrend with... I guess you can call it my screwed up family, all though the others might disagree and just call it business partners, I look on them as a family. We stick together no matter what and I will protect them even if it cost me my life.
Anyway, Halakh raised me as his own son, and as his son I quickly learned about the light and its gifts to the people. He was strongly religious and believed everything happens for a reason, he believed even when the Portal opened that there was a reason behind it and it has proved out, he was right as always. When I grew twelve I healed someone’s wound for the first time, it was a beggar that had stumbled and scrapped his knee while kneeling down to Halakh, I had just walked over to him and placed my right hand over his shoulder when light started to illuminate around the man’s knee.
That was when Halakh decided to train me in the light and take me as his squire, I learned much, and more than much. I learned about the ways of the paladin, the three virtues was my first lesson; Respect, Tenacity and Compassion.
Even now I hear his voice echoing in my head. “Remember son, being a paladin is the greatest honor one can have.  People look up to you and look to you for guidance, thus you must show them the way of the light.”
These words are etched into my soul and will never fade away even as time moves on.
Time moves on and I move up into the ranks from squire to a full-fledged Paladin, the day they handed me my mace and a title fathers smile was so bright it literally shined up the whole chapel. Today the title is my last name instead of just a title, which is because I want to remind myself of who I am and what I have accomplished through life.
I don’t remember when it happened, however I know it was raining that day I meet her.  I sat underneath a birch tree and was preaching about the lessons of the light for myself; the rain was cold and bothersome, however calming and some what it felt like all my worries was washed away.  Suddenly the rain stopped and I opened my eyes to look upon a beautiful, wet women standing in front of me. Her blue hood with golden strings moving along the edges of it was taken of her head and laid on her neck instead covering her head. She was close, just one hand away from me actually. She stared right into my eyes with her, strange violet eyes. Her blond, wet hair covered some of her face as she bowed down over me, sticking to her face.
She carried a blue robe with golden thread spun into her clothes here and there, the moment I saw her I knew she was a mage. I didn’t really have much against mages even though father had told me to not mingle too much with the kind, it was their fault that the portal had opened in the first place after all. In fact many humans despised mages in those days because of all the horrible things they had done, which was one of the reasons I rose up and walked away from the female, pretending I didn’t even see her. Over the next two weeks I would meet her several times, she was persistent, annoying and bossy, however there was something about this that I liked about her. It didn’t help that she was intelligent, beautiful and very fond of nature.
Before I knew it the bells rang in the church and we had a child, a daughter to be precise.
After we married each other we moved into my old house where me, father and I used to live before, I didn’t know it back then however.
Father wasn’t pleased about this, he never did forgive me for marrying a mage, but I didn’t really care about his opinion on who I married for that matter.
After spending a long time with my family I had to leave, the plague had finally become a great threat and I had to serve the light as I always had to.
I walked out of the courtyard and look back on my daughter waving at me, I give her a smile and wave at her, my eyes closed and for a second I remember all the good memories I have had with her. When I open my eyes again the door is closed, I look up at into the round red window five meters over the door were I see a familiar person standing with her left hand on the glass. I could see her crying trough the tainted glass, she had warned me about going to war before, that I might never come back. I knew what I was getting myself into, or at least I thought so.
I remember giving her a bright smile and a wave before turning around and leaving, that was the last time I got the chance to talk with her in a long conversation.

The cursed word.
I remember riding for several days before reaching my destination.
Clip, clop, clip,clop.
The horse hooves echoes around the empty town, everyone around me carries a grim face and many are coughing up blood all around us. I had brought with me eighty soldiers that have sworn to follow me even to the legendary Orchish homelands if they had to.
We stop in the middle of the camp and look around the town square with a grim look on our face, we had gotten news on what has happened further north, were Prince Arthas was now fighting the undead. The orders were simple, slay any undead that we saw, kill the plague spreaders and keep the citizens safe. We were not unique, the orders had been spread to most members of the Silver hand, even Arthas had received the orders.
I looked around the town. It wasn’t that big, if it had been Stratholme things would have been much worse. Many of the houses seemed to be in excellent condition and there wasn’t even a spec of water to be seen any were save from the well that stood still on the left side of my horse. The people however were acting suspicious, many of them had hid their faces under hoods and were coughing or mumbling something to themselves.
I slid down from my mount and walked over to one of them and drew my hammer before placing it on the ground, holding it still with my right hand. For a moment I think on what to do before raising my voice and yelling into the town.
“Citizens! Gather around, I have an important message to give.”
It was as if they hadn’t even heard me, I growled to myself annoyed, I was young and arrogant in those days, yet for good reasons, Paladins was and had been looked up to for a long while now.
I walked towards one of the citizens and grabbed his hood, quickly pulling it off. “Citizen, do you-..” I stopped myself and looked upon the creature that stood before me, this human couldn’t be alive anymore. Skin had started falling off the man and he had started rotting, he quickly pulls his hood up and mumbles something about Master.
I quickly back away from the mass and back to my horse, then I yell out an order that seemed right at the moment. “Draw your swords! Form a circle, archers in the middle! Shield wall, Shield wall!” I repeated the last order to make sure everyone heard my order, and they did, everyone did hear it.
Quickly my men set up a defensive circle with the archers in the middle and sword men outside with their shields up.
An arid silence suddenly fell upon the town as the citizens stopped dead in their tracks and looked over at us. For a short moment I was unsure what would happen, if it was already too late or if I had just made a fool out of me. However my instincts were right as they had been many times before, the mass of people suddenly led out a loud shout before charging towards us and onto our shield wall. I stood in the middle of the circle shocked and unable to speak, the archers looked at me for orders, and for a minute all they could do was shout at me for orders.
With one word I started what would become a curse upon my soul.
“Fire.” The archers heard me and reacted quickly, they loaded their bows with sharp iron and steel arrows and fired upon the undead, and when they ran out of arrows they drew long spears to fight behind the shield wall. One by one the people fell, one by one we butchered them like pigs in butchery.
After that order I gave another one. “Search the city for survivors.. Slay them all, for Lordaeron and its people.” While my men walked around the city butchering whoever survived I sat on my horse telling myself that what I did was for the best. I looked on one of the soldiers wandering around the city, he was dressed in blue armor, a white cape hanged behind him with a matching hood and mask. I had told all of my soldiers to wear this so that they wouldn’t be taken by the plague, personally I didn’t bother with this, all Paladins are immune to diseases and plagues, even this one.
After the town survivors had been butchered we burned down the town and its supplies, I could still hear the cries of women and children trapped inside the buildings as we left the town and headed back to Stratholme.


Several days once again passed by before I got home to Stratholme, what awaited me there was a familiar sight, something that I wished wasn’t true.
Someone had followed my example, or rather thought about the same thing as I did.
The culling of Stratholme had begun.

The culling of Stratholme.
Father had already been there once, I came in just at the right moment to see him leave, with father I saw two other knights, Margroth the Defender and Dagren the Orcslayer.
Behind those three came Uther the Lightbringer, and a little after that came Jaina Proudmore, all thought I didn’t get to greet them and ask about what was going on I understood it quickly by looking at their faces. The plague had come to Stratholme.
At that moment I was wondering if I could walk right past Arthas and into the city, however I chose to be cautious and took the secret entrance instead. I opened the sewer gates, let my eighty men into Stratholme and closed it behind me.
It didn’t take long before chaos overtook Stratholme, rumors moved around about a Demon named Balnazar entering the city spread like wild fire around the city. I looked around and saw that the people were frightened and sick, many of them ran inside their homes however a few of them ran for the exit. I had locked the sewers to make sure no one could use them.
During our travel through Stratholme we meet hordes of undead and even saw glimpse of the demon now and then. I knew I had to hurry so I told my group to double time it through the places where it felt safe, yet keep their guard up.
Finally after an hour of running, hiding and fighting, not only against the undead but some of Arthas own troops we reached the destination, my home.
I told the soldiers to guard the entrance while the archers took position in the windows. Meanwhile I ran around the house searching for my bellowed wife however she was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly I heard a scream coming from the cellar, I ran as quick as my legs could carry me down into the cellar and looked around. Where there once was a wall there was now an opening leading into a dark corridor, I prayed for the light and walked inn.
Inside the room there was a thick smoke and I could feel shadow magic at work, sending a chill down my very spine. I stumble over something and look down, there on the ground is my wife, her once beautiful face now decayed and hollow. I fall to my knees in front of her and hold her in my arms telling her lies about everything is going to be alright, even though we both knew this was where it ended. While stroking her slowly over her chin she slowly died in my arms, only to be reanimated again after a minute. I laid my hand over her face and whispered words of the holy light, lighting her body up into ash.
I turn around with tears in my eyes when I notice my daughter lying on the ground inside some kind of purple, large rune on the floor. She is transparent and covered in a thick smoke like substance that could only identify as shadow magic. How this chaos had eroded was beyond my understanding, I ran to her and placed my right hands palm over her forehead. I could feel the shadow magic slowly working into my skin as I whispered the holy light, banishing the evil within her. I quickly thoss her over my shoulder and run out of the room where my guards are telling a few civilians that they can’t enter.
One of the archer runs over to me and tells me they have spotted a mass army of undead walking towards us, while Arthas was leading a small army of himself towards the undead army, if we didn’t get out of here quickly we would be trapped between the battle with no chance of escape.
I think for only a moment. The entrance was covered with refugees, and the house’s back entrance had collapsed due to the fire bursting out everywhere in the city. There was only one choice as I saw it. “Butcher your way through the refugees then we head back to the sewers I told them.”
For a moment there was only silence, both from the refugees and the Soldiers. “Well, what are you waiting for? They are infected and will die anyway move on!” I yelled with anger on my men, without further argument they drew their swords and started butchering their way through the civilians and onto the streets. I could hear the screams of innocent lives over the whole city that day, I can still hear them haunting my dreams, however at that time, all that mattered was survival for me and my daughter.
After pushing our way through the Stratholme we headed for Dalaran and stayed there for a while gathering our thoughts. I stayed in an Inn for about three days, throwing up of just the thoughts of what had to be done the last two weeks.
When I came out, the men who had served me so willingly in many battles had left, leaving only a note for me and my daughter.

“New orders arrived, headed to Northrend with the Prince.”

That was the last time I saw them.

Vry’kul on the loose.

I left my daughter in Dalaran in the hands of my wife’s brother, hoping she would be safe there.
After that I left Lordaeron, never to return again.
I decided to travel down south and to Stormwind were I stayed for three years, I read through many books and learned about the world and wild, I learned about shadow magic and things about the Light I never knew before, I learned about history architecture. I read through every book I could get my hand on which was quite a lot.
After the three years in the library I left Stormwind and traveled the world, exploring the many things that existed while trying to forget my past and Lordaeron, at one point I was even traveling with a group of pirates from Booty bay and over to the forgotten lands of Kalimdor were I meet friendly orcs, trolls and the legendary taurens in their travels. Yet these things could never compare with the sights I saw, elven architecture and elves was one of the things I just couldn’t stop studying, at one point I even got to meet face to face with an elf. Back in those days few had seen a human so it was quite the spectacle when she took me into their village and introduced me to everyone there.
*Thorvald takes the pipe out of his mouth and blows out some smoke from his mouth.*
Aye, those were the days, the days I could do what I want whenever I wanted it.
*Thorvald slowly pushes himself up from the log on the ground and looks up into the dark night, the sky is covered in clouds so you couldn’t see neither clouds nor the moon. The only thing keeping the area light up was in fact the bone fire standing in front of him sending sparks into the air*
Now I think it is time to go to sleep.
*The pandaren children looks up at him in awe and their parents seems lost in words, this man had after all just told them a story that would be difficult to believe if they hadn’t been there themselves.*
What don’t you believe me? I’m a paladin I can’t lie or else the light would leave me forever.
*Thorvald slowly walks towards the huge tent behind him, the tent that he have had for so long with the crest of Lordaeron etched into both sides of it.*