#arthas

The Scourge mounted at least four separate attacks on Light’s Hope Chapel within a span of ten years, none of which were successful. Though small, unassuming, and out-of-the-way, the chapel was coveted by the undead for the very same reason it was ultimately unconquerable: the thousand corpses interred in catacombs beneath its sacred grounds, each of which belonged to a warrior or champion of the Light who had met their end in battles long past [Ashbringer: Dust to Dust,Quest: The Light of Dawn,Comic: Death Knight, Chapter Four].

The sheer number of bodies buried under Light’s Hope Chapel may have made the hallowed sanctuary an attractive prize for the Scourge, but it also made it an incredible locus of holy power. Even in death, the champions’ combined connection to the Light was so potent that their presence alone circumvented multiple Scourge invasions. Though the odds were always in the undead’s favor, they were never truly able to overcome the Light’s power at the chapel, something which may very well have cost them the war against the living [Ashbringer: Dust to Dust,Quest: The Light of Dawn,Quest: The Fourth Horseman].

The earliest confrontation to occur between the forces of the Light and the Scourge at the chapel happened well into the Third War. The Argent Dawn, charged with protecting the holy site, had done all they could to keep it secret, but it was only a matter of time before the undead discovered the truth of what lay under the chapel. Sure enough, a massive army led by Kel’Thuzad moved to attack in the hopes they could raise an army of Azeroth’s strongest and most honored champions to use against the living. Facing overwhelming odds, a young Darion Mograine sacrificed himself during the conflict by plunging the corrupted Ashbringer into his own heart – something which stirred the souls of those buried beneath the chapel. All at once, the Light burst forth in a dazzling display from the ground as far as the eye could see, decimating the Scourge’s ranks and forcing them to pull back, though not before Kel’Thuzad was able to raise Darion as a death knight [Ashbringer: Dust to Dust].

Perhaps spurred by this failure, the Scourge tried again sometime later in a battle infamously known as the Siege of the Sanguine. Designed and orchestrated by a lich named Kirkessen the Zealous, the Siege of the Sanguine is thought to be one of the Scourge’s largest organized assaults on Light’s Hope Chapel. Nevertheless, their attack was quickly routed by the Argent Dawn after Kirkessen personally suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Lord Maxwell Tyrosus [Object: Compendium of Fallen Heroes].

The third and fourth battles to transpire at Light’s Hope are perhaps the most well-known of the Scourge’s attacks on the chapel, having taken place in recent memory. Incidentally, they are also the most similar. In both conflicts, death knights were employed on the front lines and entrusted with attacking the chapel to claim its fallen. Like those before them, the death knights were ultimately unsuccessful, stopped by the power of the Light each time [Comic: Death Knight, Chapter Four,Quest: The Light of Dawn,Quest: The Fourth Horseman]. That, however, is where the similarities end.

While the death knights of Acherus attacked Light’s Hope to raise an army, the third conflict – unceremoniously known as the Battle for Light’s Hope Chapel – was not actually driven by that so much as it was the Lich King’s desire to draw out and slaughter some of the Light’s most powerful champions [NPC: Rayne Dialogue,Quest: The Light of Dawn,Comic: Death Knight, Chapter Four]. Wary of how impregnable Light’s Hope had proven to be after two failed assaults, Arthas resigned himself to a more modest goal and used his death knights as bait to accomplish it. Before either the death knights or Arthas could make much headway, however, the Light weakened them severely. This allowed the death knights present to break free of the Lich King’s indomitable grasp mid-battle and turn against him, putting a decisive end to their incursion [Quest: The Light of Dawn].

Several years later, a cadre of death knights led by Darion Mograine returned to Light’s Hope Chapel at the behest of Bolvar Fordragon. Charged by the new Lich King with raising Tirion Fordring as one of the Four Horsemen, Darion and the others attacked the chapel, only to find themselves stopped by the Light’s presence, as had happened several times before. In an ironic twist of fate, Darion would not only die again at Light’s Hope Chapel, but also be raised a second time in service of the undead – this time as the leader of the Four Horsemen [Quest: The Fourth Horseman].

The Church of the Holy Light

Humanity’s foremost religious organization, the Church of the Holy Light, was formally established in the heart of Lordaeron many centuries ago. The spiritual teachings that gave birth to the church, however, date back much further to the time of the Troll Wars when a human warrior named Mereldar began having visions of beings made of the Light. Those strange holy lifeforms – known as naaru – taught her and others about the wisdom of virtues such as protection, justice, retribution, holiness, and compassion – all tenets that would later be embodied and espoused by countless paladins and priests of the church. Enlightened, Mereldar and the others set out to write down the beings’ teachings in a series of books that quickly sparked the formation of a significant religious movement in the Eastern Kingdoms [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume II, pg. 126]. The Church of the Holy Light, as it would come to be known, eventually expounded all sorts of other virtuous ideals, but its core principles – the five tenets put forth by Mereldar – would always remain unchanged.

The Holy Order of Northshire Clerics

Sometime well before the First War, a few members of the Church of the Holy Light moved south and established Northshire Abbey on the outskirts of Stormwind City. Because of their great skill in the healing arts, the clerics of the abbey typically accompanied Stormwind’s soldiers in times of war and mended their wounds whenever needed [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume II, pg. 125-126].

Unfortunately, they were targeted by the orcish horde during the First War for the very same reason they were lauded by their brothers and sisters in the Alliance - their prowess with the Holy Light. Many of the clerics – unarmed, untrained, and unable to defend themselves – were massacred when the horde razed Stormwind City, although some survived and fled to Southshore with other refugees [Tides of Darkness, Chapter Six,World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume II, pg. 125-126].

Though the clerical order was all but wiped out in the First War, their demise paved the way for a new, more powerful holy order in the coming years known as the Order of the Knights of the Silver Hand.

The Order of the Knights of the Silver Hand

Formed by Archbishop Alonsus Faol shortly before the Second War, the Knights of the Silver Hand were mostly born of a need for more capable warriors and leaders on the battlefield [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume II, pg. 152-153,Tides of Darkness, Chapter Five]. Distraught at what had happened to the Northshire clerics, the Archbishop proposed the idea of training a small group of priests and knights to wield the Light in battle [Tides of Darkness, Chapter Five]. Just as Mereldar before him, Faol believed the core traits of the Silver Hand to be retribution, holiness, protection, justice, and compassion, each of which was embodied by a founding member of the order [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume II, pg. 154].

Although initially small, this branch of the Church would grow quickly in size after the Second War, with notable paladins like Arthas Menethil and Alexandros Mograine joining its ranks. The original organization, however, was rather short-lived. After Uther refused to join Arthas in culling the infected civilians of Stratholme, the prince suspended the paladins from service – something which he technically did not have the power to do [NPC: Arthas Dialogue,Ashbringer: Death is Contagious]. Nonetheless, the order fell apart not too long after when irreconcilable ideological differences between its members caused it to fracture, leading to the formation of the Argent Dawn and the Scarlet Crusade.

It was not until after the Third War that the Knights of the Silver Hand reformed, this time with the help of renowned paladin Tirion Fordring [Quest: In Dreams]. Unfortunately, the holy order would dissolve yet again a couple years later – absorbed into the newly-formed Argent Crusade at the start of the war against the Lich King – only to be revived for one final time following Tirion’s death at the Broken Shore in Legion [Quest: The Light of Dawn,Quest: A United Force].

Of the many different holy orders existing today, the Knights of the Silver Hand likely resemble the core Church most in their principles and beliefs. All paladins who join the reformed Knights of the Silver Hand must swear an oath to protect the weak, uphold what is righteous, fight against injustice, and act honorably [Quest: Champion: Delas Moonfang,Quest: A New Path].

The Brotherhood of Northshire

Although he spearheaded the formation of the Knights of the Silver Hand, Archbishop Faol also took it upon himself to reform the Holy Order of Northshire Clerics after the Second War as a new religious organization known as the Brotherhood of Northshire [Plaque: Archbishop Alonsus Faol].

The Scarlet Crusade

While the Scarlet Crusade was not officially founded until after Alexandros Mograine’s death, the xenophobic ideology that ultimately led to their split from the Knights of the Silver Hand began to emerge approximately a year earlier – around the same time Prince Arthas culled Stratholme [Ashbringer: Death is Contagious]. It started when the Knights of the Silver Hand, lacking the sufficient numbers needed to stop the Scourge, moved to recruit from other races. Some prominent disciples of the organization, believing that “lesser” races such as night elves, dwarves, and gnomes would pollute the order, refused to include any non-humans in their ranks despite the pleas of their compatriots that such a thing was necessary if they were to put an end to the Scourge threat [Ashbringer: Death is Contagious,Ashes to Ashes]. Disgusted at his comrades’ racist beliefs, the paladin Maxwell Tyrosus took many of his followers and left the Knights of the Silver Hand. Those remaining, including the likes of Saidan Dathrohan, Renault Mograine, and Brigitte Abbendis, went on to form the Scarlet Crusade [Ashbringer: Ashes to Ashes,Quest: Annals of the Silver Hand]. 

Although they started out thinking of other races as simply “unclean,” the Scarlet Crusade would grow much more dogmatic in their beliefs over time. They rationalized that because the Scourge had no restraints on their tactics, neither should they if they intended to triumph over them [RPG: Dark Factions, pg. 87]. As a result, the Crusade eventually came to believe that all outsiders were potential carriers of the plague and thus had to be destroyed [Page: Scarlet Monastery,RPG: Lands of Conflict, pg. 94].

The Argent Dawn

Following his departure from the Knights of the Silver Hand, Maxwell Tyrosus formed his own order that, unlike the Scarlet Crusade, would continue to preach the values of the Holy Light and accept all races. This new religious organization was known as the Argent Dawn [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume III, pg. 103,Ashbringer: Ashes to Ashes,Quest: Annals of the Silver Hand].

Though the Dawn sought to adhere to the ideals of the Church of the Holy Light in a way that their compatriots in the Scarlet Crusade did not, the non-canon RPG asserts that they still strayed from the church’s established teachings in a notable way. Similar to, but far less fervent than the Scarlet Crusade, the Argent Dawn maintained that the church’s methods of dealing with their enemies was insufficient. They were convinced that since evil constantly changed, so too must the forces of good change to deal with them [RPG: Dark Factions, pg. 87].

Many holy organizations – namely, the Knights of the Silver Hand and the Scarlet Crusade – survived time and time again despite incurring heavy losses and undergoing massive restructuring. The Argent Dawn, however, ceased to exist as a faction entirely following its assimilation into the Argent Crusade during the war against the Lich King [Page: Argent Dawn].

The Brotherhood of the Light

The Brotherhood of the Light has existed for some years now, but its origins and why it was established are somewhat unclear. An old and likely outdated quest implies that the organization was formed prior to the Argent Dawn, whereas more recent sources claim that the sect was formed afterward and is in fact an offshoot of the Dawn [Quest: The Fate of Ramaladni,NPC: Crusade Commander Korfax Dialogue,RPG: Dark Factions, pg. 126]. While not canon, it may be worth adding that the RPG asserts the Brotherhood of the Light was formed a few years after the Third War, suggesting that it was indeed established after the Argent Dawn’s inception [RPG: Dark Factions, pg. 126].

Nevertheless, the Brotherhood was founded by a group of priests and paladins who, much like the Scarlet Crusade, held ideological beliefs that put them in contention with other sects of the Church. Where the Argent Dawn traditionally adhered to a strict code of morals and ethics, the members of the Brotherhood of the Light shirked such restrictions and did not consider themselves held in check by human emotion [NPC: Crusade Commander Korfax Dialogue]. While that makes it seem as if their ideals aligned with the Scarlet Crusade’s, the Brotherhood actually found the Crusaders to be without reason and overly zealous in their cause [Quest: Like Rats].

The Argent Crusade

After the events at Light’s Hope Chapel that culminated in many death knights gaining independence from the Lich King, Tirion Fordring took it upon himself to merge the Argent Dawn and the second iteration of the Order of the Silver Hand into a new order known as the Argent Crusade [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume III, pg. 174,Quest: The Light of Dawn]. Although the Crusade would carry out many additional tasks in the coming years, it was initially founded with the express purpose of putting an end to the Lich King [Quest: The Light of Dawn].

The Scarlet Onslaught

Not dissimilar to the Argent Crusade, the Scarlet Onslaught was also primarily established to go north and obliterate the Scourge once and for all. The idea of a “Scarlet revival” made from an elite cadre of the Crusade’s most faithful remaining in the Eastern Plaguelands was first proposed by a man known as Bishop Street. It was only when the Crusaders arrived in Dragonblight, many months after their departure from New Avalon in the Plaguelands, that their leader High General Brigitte Abbendis officially sanctioned the Scarlet Onslaught [Item: The Diary of High General Abbendis,NPC: Lord-Commander Arete Dialogue].

Although Abbendis and the rest of the Onslaught’s leadership were killed partway through the war against the Lich King, the organization continued to persist well into Legion [Quest: Onslaught Envoy].

did i share this one with you guys

Modern AU. DnD game)

I painted from a brilliant fanfic. That’s the art)

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“Dead Boy`s alive but without sense
I need a near-death experience
Heart once bold
Now turned to stone
Perfection my messenger from hell”

Кто упал в Warcraft, тот я)

Эксперимент с чёрной бумагой.

Артас