Arthas Menethil: Encyclopedia II - Arthas Menethil - The Rise of the Death Knight

Arthas Menethil - The Rise of the Death Knight

Using the newfound power of Frostmourne, Arthas tore down the Dreadlord's defenses and faced him on the desolate field of battle. The Dreadlord gloated in his victory; he had known all along that Arthas would choose the path of power, regardless of its outcome. However, The Lich King had one more gift for Arthas: vengeance. Arthas killed the Dreadlord, and marched off into the swirling snow, leaving all his men behind to be slaughtered by the undead or the unyielding elements.

Several months passed as the plague ravaged Lordaeron. However, on a spring day the bells of the Capital City rang clear; the Prince had returned. Arthas walked through the streets, cloaked and wearing armor that radiated the evil in his soul. He strode into the throne room of the King, and in front of shocked advisors savagely ended his father's life. With the blood-stained crown still rolling on the ground, he uttered the words that tore down the last remnants of the greatest alliance Azeroth had ever known: "This kingdom shall fall, and from its ashes shall arise a new order to shake the very foundations of the world."

What exactly happened to Arthas is something of a mystery. Still of living flesh, his soul had nonetheless been stolen by the malignant powers of Frostmourne and its creator, the Lich King. No longer the prodigy who had claimed the hearts of all Lordaeron with his brave exploits as a Paladin of the Silver Hand, now he sought their bodies to fill the ranks of the Undead Scourge. He was now the champion of the very force which he had given his humanity to try and destroy.

Arthas was instrumental in the scourging of the land. He gathered together the Cult of the Damned, which Kel'Thuzad had spent years organizing, and learned of the truth behind the Scourge. The plague itself had been an initial strike by the Burning Legion, a demonic army that employed the Dreadlords and had spent countless millennia rampaging through the Great Dark Beyond. The Burning Legion was led by the Arch Warlock Archimonde, and was preparing to destroy the world of Azeroth. Shortly after meeting his new master, the Dreadlord Tichondrius, Arthas was visited by a specter of the past. He began to see the necromancer Kel'Thuzad as a ghost who whispered in his ears the truth of the invasion. Kel'Thuzad led Arthas down a path of destruction to retrieve his body where he had been left to rot, and to retrieve a sacred urn that held none other than the ashes of King Terenas. Casting aside any doubts of his descent to utter darkness, he slew his old mentor and greatest friend, Uther the Lightbringer, to obtain the urn.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Rise of the Death Knight", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki