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Rise of the Lich King
The elder shaman Ner'zhul was once among the greatest spiritual leaders
of the orcs. Deceived by the demon Kil'jaeden, he set in motion the events
that led to the orcs' corruption and the creation of the bloodthirsty
Horde. Yet ultimately Ner'zhul refused to give his people fully to the
demonic ranks of the Burning Legion.
The demon lord Kil'jaeden punished Ner'zhul for his defiance, destroying
his aging body and torturing his spirit. The demon then offered Ner'zhul
a final ultimatum: serve the Legion unconditionally or suffer eternal
agony. With little other choice, Ner'zhul pledged to obey Kil'jaeden and
was reborn as a terrifying and vastly powerful agent of the Legion –
the Lich King.
Ner'zhul's spirit was magically shackled to a suit of ancient armor and
bound to the mighty runeblade Frostmourne. To ensure Ner'zhul's obedience,
Kil'jaeden sealed the armor and blade within a specially crafted block
of ice collected from the far reaches of the Twisting Nether. This frozen
crystal was then cast into the ripe and unsuspecting world of Azeroth,
settling in the desolate, snowy wastes of Northrend.
Among the abilities bestowed upon the Lich King was lordship over death
itself. From within his Frozen Throne, Ner'zhul summoned a number of undead
to serve him and tested his army against the nerubians of Azjol-Nerub
and their mighty spiderlord, Anub'arak. Although the War of the Spider
raged for years, many nerubians who fell in battle quickly became bound
to the Lich King's iron will. Anub'arak himself was eventually ambushed
and slain, rising again to join Ner'zhul's ranks as a fearsome crypt lord.
The Lich King appeared to be faithfully serving his master, but he had
in fact hatched a cunning and subversive plan. To that end, he created
a small fissure in his prison, pushed Frostmourne through it, and directed
his minions to carry the runeblade away from the Frozen Throne. Ner'zhul
intended to use the sword as bait for a mighty champion: a loyal subject
who would free him and serve as a vessel for his restless spirit. While
Frostmourne was positioned to serve its future purpose, the Lich King
dutifully proceeded with his demon master's true agenda...
Since arriving on Azeroth, the Lich King had been formulating an insidious
plague of undeath, a terrifying disease meant to annihilate humanity and
create an army faithful to the Burning Legion. To expedite the spread
of this contagion, the Lich King recruited a powerful ally in the ambitious
mage Kel'Thuzad, a senior member of Dalaran's ruling council.
Under the Lich King's watchful gaze, Kel'Thuzad created the Cult of the
Damned, a group of humans to whom he promised social equality and eternal
life on Azeroth. The cultists spread the plague throughout Lordaeron's
northern villages, amassing a host of mindless undead. Kel'Thuzad looked
upon the growing army and named it the Scourge, for at the Lich King's
whim it would surely scour humanity from the face of the world.
The archmage Antonidas suspected that the undead plague was magical in
origin, and so he sent the sorceress Jaina Proudmoore to the northlands
to investigate. With her went Prince Arthas Menethil, only son of King
Terenas. Jaina and Arthas tracked down and killed the Lich King's servant,
Kel'Thuzad, but the necromancer's death failed to halt the rise of the
Scourge. As the battle against the undead wore on, the prince's faith
and patience began to wane.
Joined by the legendary paladin Uther the Lightbringer, Arthas and Jaina
nevertheless arrived at the gates of Stratholme too late to stop the distribution
of plague-ridden grain. Arthas realized that the innocent villagers would
inevitably join the growing ranks of undead. He ordered Uther to purge
the town and slaughter the civilians before they could become minions
of the Scourge. When Uther refused, Arthas accused the veteran knight
of treason and disbanded the Order of the Silver Hand. Uther and most
of his remaining cavalry left the village in disgust, and Jaina, horrified
by Arthas' decision, abandoned the prince as well.
Despite the loss of his supporting forces, Arthas carried out his plan,
putting the city's innocents to the blade and burning every remaining
structure to the ground. Something in Arthas snapped that day, and as
he walked away from Stratholme, he left much of his humanity in the flaming
ruins.
The prince then dedicated himself to stopping the Scourge at all costs.
In time he traced the source of the plague to Northrend. With a heavy
heart and steadfast determination, the prince set out for the snowy roof
of the world. In Northrend Arthas was surprised to find an old friend,
the dwarf Muradin Bronzebeard. Muradin had been searching for a blade
renowned to have legendary powers: the blade called Frostmourne. Arthas
resolved to seek out the enchanted blade and wield it against the Scourge.
However, at Uther's urging, King Terenas soon recalled Arthas and his
troops. Before the expedition could set sail for home, Arthas secretly
hired indigenous mercenaries to burn the ships. Leading his troops to
the ships, Arthas feigned surprise and ordered his bitterly disappointed
soldiers to hunt down and kill the mercenaries.
Arthas then scoured the desolate wastes for what he believed was the
key to his people's salvation. In time Muradin and Arthas discovered Frostmourne
and read the foreboding inscription on its pedestal. The inscription warned
that Frostmourne's wielder would indeed gain power eternal, but at a cost:
"Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit."
Despite the warning and Muradin's protests, Arthas swore that he would
pay any price to possess the blade.
At the prince's reckless urging, Frostmourne freed itself from the ice
in which it was encased, in the process taking Muradin's life. Arthas
seized the blade, which destroyed what little remained of his humanity.
The prince could not have guessed that the Lich King was the blade's true
master, nor could he have known that in addition to Kil'jaeden's enchantments,
Frostmourne possessed an ability that had been bestowed by Ner'zhul: the
ability to steal the souls of the living.
With Frostmourne in hand and a growing darkness in his heart, Arthas
wandered into the frozen wastes to answer the call of his new master...
All of Lordaeron rejoiced at Prince Arthas' triumphant return from Northrend,
but their elation was not to last. Not long after Arthas knelt before
King Terenas, the former paladin thrust Frostmourne into his father's
heart. At the Lich King's command, the fallen prince went on to murder
his mentor, Uther the Lightbringer, and claim Kel'Thuzad's remains. When
Arthas had finished, Capital City, formerly one of humanity's crown jewels,
had been reduced to a silent wasteland of death and despair.
The death knight Arthas then marched his ever-growing army of the undead
into the forests of Quel'Thalas, slaughtering the elves in his path as
he smashed through the gates of Silvermoon. Arthas laid claim to the legendary
Sunwell, using its powers to raise Kel'Thuzad as a lich and leaving the
high elven lands utterly devastated in his wake.
Kel'Thuzad in turn opened a gateway to usher in Archimonde, a powerful
demon lord of the Burning Legion. Upon his arrival Archimonde declared
that the Lich King's usefulness had reached an end. While Archimonde pursued
the Legion's goals, Arthas traveled to the continent of Kalimdor. There
he met and advised Illidan Stormrage, a powerful demon hunter whose interests
aligned with those of the Lich King.
The Third War ended with Archimonde's demise, and Legion forces on Azeroth
were scattered in the wake of his death. Arthas returned to Lordaeron,
where he was assailed by painful visions that he learned were a sign of
the Lich King's weakening power. The death knight journeyed back to Northrend
and was confronted by an army of elves: survivors of the Scourge invasion
of Quel'Thalas. The elves had joined forces with Illidan Stormrage in
order to march on the Frozen Throne. The crypt lord Anub'arak arrived
and guided Arthas into a series of ancient tunnels that allowed the pair
to reach the Lich King quickly.
Arthas emerged from the subterranean caverns to face one final challenger
barring his path: Illidan Stormrage, who had become a demon. Illidan engaged
the death knight in single combat, Frostmourne clashing against Illidan's
Twin Blades of Azzinoth. Ultimately the demon was left bloodied in the
snow as Arthas advanced, undeterred by the voices of the past echoing
in his head, warning him against the action he was about to take.
Some say that Arthas was still in control of his own actions when he
ascended the steps of the Frozen Throne; others claim that he had been
the Lich King's creature ever since taking up Frostmourne. Whatever the
case, a single voice stood out in the death knight's mind as he reached
the runic armor encased in ice. "Return the blade," commanded
the Lich King. "Complete the circle. Release me from this prison!"
With a roar, Arthas brought Frostmourne down, shattering the Frozen Throne.
He then donned Ner'zhul's helm, sealing his union with the Lich King.
The Lich King waits now, scheming to lure adventurers down the same dark
path that Arthas tread. Frostmourne hungers for the souls of both the
brave and the foolish, and somewhere Ner'zhul's voice still echoes within
the helm of the Lich King.
"Now, we are one."
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