User:Joshmaul/Corruptor: The Life and Times of Joshmaul the Warlock

A Chronicle of One of the Most Powerful Allies of the Forsaken, Written by One Who Walked in His Shadow

Prologue
Many questions have been asked in regard to the one they call the Corruptor. Questions of his sanity, of his "spiritual alignment" (a load of Light-blinded propaganda, in my humble opinion), of his loyalties. Perhaps this is my opportunity to answer them.

My name is Sekhesmet. I was once a priest of Lordaeron, killed during the plague that annihilated that kingdom. At the time where this tale begins, I was "fresh from the grave" - having only recently resurrected from my six-year slumber in the family mausoleum in Brill. I was confused, without a purpose, and (at first anyway) disgusted at the changes that had overcome me. I came to Undercity where the confusion left me. The Dark Lady gave me part of my purpose back, and I eventually got over my wretched state, even though I was relatively well preserved - as well as a walking corpse could be, anyway. I served as a priest of the Forgotten Shadow, preaching the divine will of the Forsaken to the masses. I also joined the Royal Apothecary Society, where I aid them today in their efforts to develop potions, poisons and plagues in our war against the living and the dead alike. It was during that early training that I met an orc warlock training under one of his kin at the temple in the Magic Quarter. I distinctly remember that he had a rather odd, echoing voice, like two people speaking as one - one voice with the gruff accent you would expect from an orc, and the other...human.

His name was Kiran Joshmaul, he said. His was an unusual surname; the first half of it was a shortening of "Joshua", a human name. I asked him about that, and he told me about himself. That he had been a human once, but his spirit was separated from his body by one he once trusted - and left to wander the dimensional plane until he found a somewhat unwilling host in the orc shaman whose body he had taken, and whose soul he had sent to the Nether. Now to any uninformed observer, this may come across as a fantasy concocted by a raving lunatic - which he was, by the way. But having encountered the worgen, and heard about the wonders of technology used by the Light-beings called the naaru, I know that other dimensions exist in addition to our own. Who knows what kind of world the warlock once lived in?

Joshmaul then told me that he had once been a great monarch at the time he was betrayed, and he now intended to rekindle his empire by conquering the world of Azeroth. Like the megalomaniac he was, he even had the temerity to think he could obtain Atiesh - the powerful staff wielded by Medivh in his life. But all who had ever held the staff when it was whole died horrid deaths, and it had since been shattered into fragments - all but one guarded within the halls of Naxxramas (though it was reclaimed within a month after Joshmaul made his boast - a fact that enraged him to no end). I offered him my services as a member of the Royal Apothecary Society in exchange for his protection - I had no doubt at that time that Saavedro, my former apprentice and later the Corruptor's sworn enemy, would seek to destroy me at any opportunity. Joshmaul agreed, though I think he was a little skeptical; I was weakened by the long sleep of death, but he knew I had possessed great power in life. Thus began a long, relatively fruitful relationship.

Was the Corruptor insane? Yes. Evil? Most definately. But what endeared him to us is that, being born a human and living within the body of an orc, he fit in best among the Forsaken because of his unusual circumstances, and because - unlike the rest of the Horde - we practice our magics openly. He understood the necessity of being forward with our practices: "We have shadow magic, and we intend to use it."


 * - Sekhesmet of Stratholme

Chapter 1
''The best way to begin such a story is to go from the beginning. I have been able to deduce much of the history of Joshmaul's host form, the orcish shaman, from analyzing the memories left behind when Joshmaul took possession. The Corruptor always said that these visions always appeared in his mind, and that he always dismissed them without a thought. I have been able to piece together what I can, and make it into a coherent narrative.''

Before he became the Corruptor, the orc was known as Urgan; he was a member of the Bleeding Hollow Clan of orcs on their homeworld of Draenor...