Though the wedding guests included some of Thereth's friends from the war, they were unprepared for a fight and their enemies swarmed over them. Thereth herself fought bravely, but it was a slaughter, and once the dust settled, she and her betrothed were both among the dead.
But the Scourge were not finished with her by far. Recognizing her strength as a warrior, they took her body back to their leader, the Lich King, to be resurrected as one of his elite, unholy champions: a death knight. The process left her mind and senses intact (unlike most of the Scourge troops, who were shambling zombies), but stripped her of empathy and bound her to the Lich King's will. For three years she served under him, trampling soldier and civilian alike beneath her hooves. The Lich King's goal was to destroy all life on Azeroth, and accordingly, his death knights slaughtered hundreds, with their main target being the radical Scarlet Crusade. Once they had decimated their enemies in the Eastern Plaguelands, their King ordered them to prepare for an attack on the holy order of the Argent Dawn at Light's Hope Chapel.
Nearly the entire force of death knights assembled at Light's Hope, and, at the behest of their King, began their brutal attack. It was then, however, that Highlord Tirion Fordring, exemplary paladin and leader of the Silver Hand, appeared before them. The death knight commander, Darion Mograine, fell to the Holy Light coursing through the paladin, and ordered the knights to surrender. As Thereth and her comrades watched in stunned silence, Darion was forced to recall his former life as a soldier of the Argent Dawn, and the Lich King arrived to reveal that his plan – from the moment of the death knights' creation - had been to sacrifice his knights in order to entice Tirion out into the battlefield.
The betrayal of their King broke the spell holding the death knights to his will, and they turned to Darion for leadership. He assisted Tirion in driving the Lich King off of the chapel's holy ground, and swore the knights to retribution against him. Christening them the Knights of the Ebon Blade, he led them in reclaiming their base of operations from their former Scourge allies, then instructed them to offer their services to their respective factions. The Ebon Blade would reforge their ties with the Horde and Alliance, and strike their traitorous maker down when the time was right.
(very very brief mention of suicide below.)
The return of her spirit and will left Thereth lost and numb. She could now comprehend both the losses she had suffered and the atrocities she had committed under the Lich King, as well as her unnatural state of existence. Without further direction, she returned to her homeland in search of her family.
They accepted her back into their lives - a move that she understands to this day was a testament to their love and an extreme stroke of luck - and she slowly began to rebuild herself. She continued to hone her martial skills, now supplemented by unholy magic, and struggled to come to terms with herself as an undead in a society deeply invested in the natural order. Eventually, she decided that her continued existence was a chance at redemption, and that the Earthmother might not approve of her curse, but that she wished Thereth to do what good she was able to, now that she had been freed from the Scourge. After all, there was no undoing what had been done. She could only move forward, and begin protecting the innocent again.
Along her journeys, she worked with many groups and comrades, but it was a happy accident that she reconnected with Garnath. He introduced her to his guild, and she found herself growing fond of many of them, in particular a young blood elf named Duibhin. The charming mage had a knack for getting into trouble and a need to be taken care of, and Thereth's dormant mothering instincts kicked in until she began to think of him almost as her own (despite technically being younger than him, and also a cow). They often adventured together, and dutifully played their part in the war against the Lich King.
The fall of the Scourge was a triumphant relief for all involved, but it was quickly followed by the return of the corrupted dragon Aspect, Deathwing. In the midst of this Cataclysm, the famous orc warrior and acting Horde Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, slew Cairne Bloodhoof in ritual combat. The kill would have been honorable – if a huge loss to the Horde – but for the machinations of the Grimtotem tribe of tauren, who had secretly poisoned Garrosh’s blade. Thereth was not present for their brief, bloody, and ultimately unsuccessful coup, but was enraged and marked the Grimtotem down as “fair game” for her wrath and considerable strength.
She and her friends continued to serve the Horde as adventurers, but she found herself dissatisfied with Garrosh's continued leadership. She had always been an obedient soldier, however, and figured that it was not her place to question her leaders (even though she really really wanted to sometimes).
After Deathwing's fall, she took a break from adventuring to spend time with her family. It was then that she finally decided to make a longstanding wish of hers come true – that of motherhood. She was doubtless no longer able to have biological children, but there were (far too) many orphans from the wars in need of homes, and she had befriended many of them during the Horde's annual Children's Week celebrations. Her status as a soldier and her curse as a bloodthirsty death knight had made her delay the decision for a long time - if she were felled in battle, any child she might adopt would become an orphan again; and though she kept herself carefully in check in terms of her need to maim and kill, the thought of losing control and harming her family was more terrifying than any monster she'd ever faced. In her respite from adventuring, she realized that she had already allowed one child – an orcling named Pith – to become attached to her, and that giving him a loving family, even if only for a short while, was preferable to leaving him in the orphanage. And if she ever were to lose control – well, she of all people knew how to destroy herself before that happened.
The adoption was quietly arranged to fall on the day of Garrosh's invasion of the Alliance city of Theramore. Thereth and her family were 'conveniently' unable to attend the slaughter.
Once Pith had been settled, she reluctantly left her home to journey to the rediscovered continent of Pandaria. Upon her return, she found that Garrosh had ordered that the children of Orgrimmar work for the Horde war machine. Her family was now living in Thunder Bluff, a short zeppelin ride from Orgrimmar, and the threat to her new son was the final push she needed to act. She proposed to her family that they relocate – to Pandaria. The land was vibrant and inviting, and she had easily made friends with the charming and inquisitive Pandaren. Though it was a big move both physically and mentally, her standing as the second-oldest woman in the family (after her mother) meant that she traditionally had some decision-making power, and they eventually agreed.
3/4
But the Scourge were not finished with her by far. Recognizing her strength as a warrior, they took her body back to their leader, the Lich King, to be resurrected as one of his elite, unholy champions: a death knight. The process left her mind and senses intact (unlike most of the Scourge troops, who were shambling zombies), but stripped her of empathy and bound her to the Lich King's will. For three years she served under him, trampling soldier and civilian alike beneath her hooves. The Lich King's goal was to destroy all life on Azeroth, and accordingly, his death knights slaughtered hundreds, with their main target being the radical Scarlet Crusade. Once they had decimated their enemies in the Eastern Plaguelands, their King ordered them to prepare for an attack on the holy order of the Argent Dawn at Light's Hope Chapel.
Nearly the entire force of death knights assembled at Light's Hope, and, at the behest of their King, began their brutal attack. It was then, however, that Highlord Tirion Fordring, exemplary paladin and leader of the Silver Hand, appeared before them. The death knight commander, Darion Mograine, fell to the Holy Light coursing through the paladin, and ordered the knights to surrender. As Thereth and her comrades watched in stunned silence, Darion was forced to recall his former life as a soldier of the Argent Dawn, and the Lich King arrived to reveal that his plan – from the moment of the death knights' creation - had been to sacrifice his knights in order to entice Tirion out into the battlefield.
The betrayal of their King broke the spell holding the death knights to his will, and they turned to Darion for leadership. He assisted Tirion in driving the Lich King off of the chapel's holy ground, and swore the knights to retribution against him. Christening them the Knights of the Ebon Blade, he led them in reclaiming their base of operations from their former Scourge allies, then instructed them to offer their services to their respective factions. The Ebon Blade would reforge their ties with the Horde and Alliance, and strike their traitorous maker down when the time was right.
(very very brief mention of suicide below.)
The return of her spirit and will left Thereth lost and numb. She could now comprehend both the losses she had suffered and the atrocities she had committed under the Lich King, as well as her unnatural state of existence. Without further direction, she returned to her homeland in search of her family.
They accepted her back into their lives - a move that she understands to this day was a testament to their love and an extreme stroke of luck - and she slowly began to rebuild herself. She continued to hone her martial skills, now supplemented by unholy magic, and struggled to come to terms with herself as an undead in a society deeply invested in the natural order. Eventually, she decided that her continued existence was a chance at redemption, and that the Earthmother might not approve of her curse, but that she wished Thereth to do what good she was able to, now that she had been freed from the Scourge. After all, there was no undoing what had been done. She could only move forward, and begin protecting the innocent again.
Along her journeys, she worked with many groups and comrades, but it was a happy accident that she reconnected with Garnath. He introduced her to his guild, and she found herself growing fond of many of them, in particular a young blood elf named Duibhin. The charming mage had a knack for getting into trouble and a need to be taken care of, and Thereth's dormant mothering instincts kicked in until she began to think of him almost as her own (despite technically being younger than him, and also a cow). They often adventured together, and dutifully played their part in the war against the Lich King.
The fall of the Scourge was a triumphant relief for all involved, but it was quickly followed by the return of the corrupted dragon Aspect, Deathwing. In the midst of this Cataclysm, the famous orc warrior and acting Horde Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, slew Cairne Bloodhoof in ritual combat. The kill would have been honorable – if a huge loss to the Horde – but for the machinations of the Grimtotem tribe of tauren, who had secretly poisoned Garrosh’s blade. Thereth was not present for their brief, bloody, and ultimately unsuccessful coup, but was enraged and marked the Grimtotem down as “fair game” for her wrath and considerable strength.
She and her friends continued to serve the Horde as adventurers, but she found herself dissatisfied with Garrosh's continued leadership. She had always been an obedient soldier, however, and figured that it was not her place to question her leaders (even though she really really wanted to sometimes).
After Deathwing's fall, she took a break from adventuring to spend time with her family. It was then that she finally decided to make a longstanding wish of hers come true – that of motherhood. She was doubtless no longer able to have biological children, but there were (far too) many orphans from the wars in need of homes, and she had befriended many of them during the Horde's annual Children's Week celebrations. Her status as a soldier and her curse as a bloodthirsty death knight had made her delay the decision for a long time - if she were felled in battle, any child she might adopt would become an orphan again; and though she kept herself carefully in check in terms of her need to maim and kill, the thought of losing control and harming her family was more terrifying than any monster she'd ever faced. In her respite from adventuring, she realized that she had already allowed one child – an orcling named Pith – to become attached to her, and that giving him a loving family, even if only for a short while, was preferable to leaving him in the orphanage. And if she ever were to lose control – well, she of all people knew how to destroy herself before that happened.
The adoption was quietly arranged to fall on the day of Garrosh's invasion of the Alliance city of Theramore. Thereth and her family were 'conveniently' unable to attend the slaughter.
Once Pith had been settled, she reluctantly left her home to journey to the rediscovered continent of Pandaria. Upon her return, she found that Garrosh had ordered that the children of Orgrimmar work for the Horde war machine. Her family was now living in Thunder Bluff, a short zeppelin ride from Orgrimmar, and the threat to her new son was the final push she needed to act. She proposed to her family that they relocate – to Pandaria. The land was vibrant and inviting, and she had easily made friends with the charming and inquisitive Pandaren. Though it was a big move both physically and mentally, her standing as the second-oldest woman in the family (after her mother) meant that she traditionally had some decision-making power, and they eventually agreed.