User:AHeys

=Morsmortis of the Ebon Blade=

Morsmortis of the Ebon Blade is the moniker of one of most brutal and fearsome Death Knights since the inception of their Order. Before his corruption, he was known as Athamar Dawnbringer and served as a High Priest of Quel'Thalas, and later once their order was created; a Blood Knight of Silvermoon. He was trained as a Paladin under Lady Liadrin herself, one of the first to do so. Unfortunately, joining the Blood Knights was the first step in his descent into becoming a Death Knight.

Biography
Athamar Dawnbringer was born to Kath'Remere Dawnbringer and Anarial Suntreader shortly before the Dwarven War 'The War of the Three Hammers'. Young Athamar grew up during a tumultuous period of time, and witnessed the decaying relationship between the High Elves of Quel'Thalas and the Humans of Lordaeron. Determined to help serve Quel'Thalas through these dark times, he looked to the Light and embodied it's very essence in becoming a High Priest. During this time, both of Athamar's parents were killed when journeying to Lordaeron Capital City. In a sign of the madness that would one day consume Athamar's soul, he went into the wilderness of Eversong Forest and called up the powers of the Shadow, destroying a human encampment wherein his parents were reported to have last been seen alive. Four were killed in the attack, and when the authorities arrived, they assumed the Troll Shadow-Priests of Zul'Aman were pushing outward, as they had been for years. It was not until returning to Silvermoon City that he realised what he had done and lamented beneath the Altar of Light. The light washed through him, and cleansed him of the physical burden of what he had done, but the memory of the humans he had killed in cold blood would ebb at him for a long time to come.

From Quel'Thalas, Athamar witnessed the passing of the first and second wars without much incident. On occasion he would venture to the border of the Eversong forest and would bless and heal those keeping the runestones of Quel'Thalas safe.

Rising Tensions
In the beginning of the year 20, Athamar witnessed first hand the necromatic power of the Lich King, though he did not know yet who was responsible - the same as the rest of the population of Azeroth, nor that he would one day briefly serve this Dark Master.

When travelling through Northern Lordaeron in order to Sanctify a newly created chapel, Athamar came across a most peculiar sight. He witnessed glowing purple rays shooting from the Earth itself (He would later realise it was Necromatic Energy). Shortly after they started, the rays abruptly stopped, only for a High Elven hand to burst from the earth in their place. In a brief moment of stark terror, Athamar stood petrified whilst his long-dead father erupted from the soil, followed by his mother. Both were emaciated and rotten beyond recognition, but he knew it was they deep in his soul. Still stood deadly still, he witnessed yet more corpses rise from the ground and begin their aimless wandering through the lands that would one day become the Eastern Plaguelands.

Rising from his terror induced trance, Athamar realised that there was a distinct threat to the security of both Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas, and rode with all due haste to the Human city Stratholme. Upon reaching the city, he found a brigade of Paladins arguing amongst themselves, and a young human sorceress. Two of the Paladins he immediately recognised: One was Uther Lightbringer, founder of the Knights of the Silver Hand, the other was his brash pupil, the young Prince Arthas.

"Damn it Uther! As your future King I order you to purge that city" cried the young prince. "You are not my king yet, BOY. Nor would I obey that order even if you were" retorted the wisened elder paladin. "Then I must consider this an act of treason" "Treason?! Have you lost your MIND Arthas?" "Have I? Lord Uther, by my right of succession and the sovereignty of my crown, I hereby relieve you of your command, and suspend your paladins from service. Those of you who have the will to save this land, follow me. The rest of you... get out of my sight."

Athamar watched as the elder Paladin walked away, sorrowful.

"You've just crossed a terrible threshold, Arthas".

The young prince brazenly turned away, and Athamar could have sworn he saw a tear fall from his eye as the sorceress declared she couldn't watch him do what he was planning. Athamar ran to the Prince and told him what he has seen just a few hours before.

"Are you saying that Mal'ganis is raising the corpses of those who have been dead for centuries? Then it's worse than I feared. We shall deal with him here first, and then prepare to counter whatever foul magics he has at play amongst the dead. We could use your help, Priest." The High Elf nodded in agreement, and sanctified the land surrounding the troops. For the first time in his life, he served the future Lich King, but it was not to be the last.

Fall from Grace
It was within the burning bastion of Stratholme that Athamar began to appreciate just how large the threat was from the Undead Scourge. Seeing the townspeople rise up as ghouls shortly before Arthas smote them gave him a new appreciation for what needed to be done. There was to be no discrimination between alive, or dead. Man, woman and child were culled before they could rise up, pawns in on the Lich Kings foul board of chess.

Joining the Blood Knights was a selfless act on behalf of Athamar, he originally assumed they would be as close a parallel to the Order of the Silver Hand as possible - that they would fight the Undead Scourge and drive back the abomination from their ancestral lands. Unfortunately, he was driven from the Order after discovering that the Light he had served for over two hundred years was now being bullied from a celestial being known as M'uru. Unable to cope with the guilt, he attempted to set the shackled