User:Joshmaul/Saavedro of Stratholme/Invasion of Northrend/Vengeance for Lordaeron

Saavedro of Stratholme's all-prevailing goal was seeking revenge against the Scourge for destroying his homeland of Lordaeron. The first step, during the war for Northrend, came in the dread necropolis Naxxramas, which had laid siege to the fortress of Wintergarde. Saavedro, aided by Baron Artimus Devaneaux, had broken the siege of Wintergarde months earlier and now prepared to bring the fight to Kel'Thuzad himself...a fight that he believes he should have fought when the necropolis was back in Lordaeron...

The Return to Naxxramas


Saavedro had been in Zul'Drak when the call came from Wintergarde. Calling his trusty gryphon, Intrepid, Saavedro flew from the region around Zim'Torga across Zul'Drak into Crystalsong Forest, then south to Wintergarde. After stopping for a moment in Wintergarde, Intrepid dropped him off inside the entry chamber to Naxxramas, and it was there that the battle began. Artimus Devaneaux had informed him upon arrival in Wintergarde that several notable individuals now in Naxxramas - Instructor Razuvious, Gothik the Harvester, Noth the Plaguebringer, the abomination Patchwerk and Baron Rivendare - had been in Acherus when it was held by the Scourge, and all but Patchwerk had been involved in the assault on the Scarlet Enclave.

The Arachnid Quarter: Retracing His Steps
The party started in the Arachnid Quarter of Naxxramas. In addition to containing legions of spiders and undead nerubians (as its name implies), the area was the main gathering of the Cult of the Damned in Naxxramas. In addition, it was the last quarter that Saavedro had entered in Naxxramas prior to its departure from Lordaeron, and he was dismayed to see the creatures he had defeated returned to life. Their first opponent was the crypt lord Anub'Rekhan, and Saavedro was eager to ensure that he stayed dead this time. Enduring the locust swarms, the crypt guards and the corpse scarabs, Anub'Rekhan was put down (again), hopefully for good.

Deeper inside the quarter were the quarters of the Cult of the Damned in Naxxramas, led by the Grand Widow Faerlina - "a botanist in life, breeder of caretaker of arachnids in death" as Eligor Dawnbringer's briefing (which Saavedro took the time to listen to) described her. She was one of Kel'Thuzad's lieutenants in the Cult and maintained a small army of cultists in the halls where she bred huge spiders for the Scourge. Distressed to see her here yet again, Saavedro and his comrades made short work of her and her followers before continuing on to a chamber beyond, containing a creature he had not been able to defeat in Lordaeron: The arachnid broodmother, Maexxna, who fed on the corpses of those who ventured too deeply into Naxxramas. Her feeding days were over...

Just as Maexxna was near death, she splattered Saavedro with powerful webbing that adhered him to a nearby wall. The creature fell dead shortly thereafter. With both caretaker and broodmother dead, Naxxramas' spider breeding programs crashed to a halt.

The Plague Quarter: Origin of Stratholme's Fall


Using the teleporter in Maexxna's lair to return to the heart of Naxxramas, the party continued into the Plague Quarter. It was here that the vile disease that infected Stratholme, the stepping stone to the destruction of Lordaeron itself, was nurtured, condensed, and finally released. And it was here that the vile servants of Kel'Thuzad responsible for that plague resided, including Noth the Plaguebringer, the necromancer who had aided in the creation of the legions of Acherus - the precursor to the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Particularly enraged by the fact that the misguided innocents who relied on the protection of the Scarlet Crusade had been slain by Noth's vile concoctions and experiments with undeath, Saavedro resolved to destroy him - and fittingly, he was the first that the party encountered. Fighting through legions of his skeletal warriors and magi as he unleashed them upon his comrades, Saavedro - empowered by the Light and the desire for retribution - destroyed the Plaguebringer and avenged the thousands who had died because of his work.

Next came Heigan the Unclean, the monster behind the plague cauldrons seen all across northern Lordaeron. Artimus had mentioned Noth's distaste for Heigan while he was a servant of the Scourge; the Scarlet Baron mentioned that Noth often referred to Heigan's sanctum as his "slime and crap filled dance studio" where he would be "practicing ballet", and referred to the necromancer himself as a "no good kiss-up". Entering the sanctum himself and falling early to Heigan's traps, Saavedro could see why. His comrades referred to the efforts to circumvent those traps as the "Safety Dance", hence the references to dancing made by the now-dead Plaguebringer. Though Saavedro had been seriously wounded by a sheet of ooze that came up from the cracks in the floor, Heigan was destroyed. After being brought back to health, they continued into the plague-hazed quarter until they entered the lair of Loatheb - a gigantic fungal monster. Absorbing the power of his spores for themselves, the party destroyed the creature without incident, and Saavedro took a powerful trinket that empowered his attacks.

The Military Quarter: The Death Knight Factory


With half of Naxxramas in turmoil, the group went next into the Military Quarter. Saavedro remembered this as the death knight training center inside Naxxramas, and was the home of none other than the feared Instructor Razuvious, who had trained the death knights of Acherus for their war against the Scarlet Crusade. Artimus Devaneaux, Arrhae Leafrunner and Ublaz Deathspear - all Knights of the Ebon Blade - had been trained by the Instructor, and it seemed that the loss of Acherus had not slowed him down in the slightest.

After battling through several groups of Razuvious-trained death knights, they came into the Instructor's hall where he was working with two death knight understudies. In that room were two powerful crystals that could take control of their minds. Two came forward from Saavedro's party to manipulate those crystals and turn the understudies on Razuvious himself, maintaining his attention while the remainder of the party moved in. The Instructor held nothing back, but neither did his attackers. Commenting that his was an honorable death, Razuvious fell to his own students - who were then killed by Saavedro and his comrades.

In a hall just outside the outer ring of the quarter was Gothik the Harvester, another necromancer. Gothik had been Artimus' initial trainer in the use of his necromantic powers, while Razuvious taught him the finer arts of runeblade combat. The party was split in two - one group led by Eluulna remained in the entry room, while Saavedro joined the leader of the other group near the locked gate that led to the chamber of the Four Horsemen. The gate separating the two rooms closed and locked, leaving each side to deal with their own problems; Eluulna's group fought off living enemies, while their spirits were pushed into the room with Saavedro's group and raised from the piles of bones. Finally, after several minutes, Gothik himself entered the fray, teleporting between the two cells until the gate opened, and both parties converged on him and finally destroyed him.

When Naxxramas was in Lordaeron, the members of the Four Horsemen were Lady Blaumeux, who commanded the shadows; the dwarf Thane Korth'azz, who commanded flame; Sir Zeliek, a paladin whose faith was so strong that he maintained his connection to the Light even in death; and lastly, Alexandros Mograine, the former Highlord of the Scarlet Crusade. After he was defeated and his corrupted blade taken by his son Darion - who later became Highlord of the Ebon Blade - Mograine was replaced by an old adversary that Saavedro thought he had killed three years earlier: The Deathlord of Stratholme, Baron Rivendare...

Once the party charged in, Saavedro first faced Sir Zeliek in a duel to maintain his attention - otherwise, his incredible powers over the Light would be used to wipe out the remainder of the group, which was busy maintaining the attentions of both Rivendare and Korth'azz on the other end of the room. Trading off with a death knight who kept the attentions of Lady Blaumeux (in order to preserve his life and shake off the marks left on him by Zeliek), Saavedro played the back-and-forth game of keeping their attentions as the others died. Korth'azz fell first, followed by Rivendare, then Zeliek and Blaumeux to complete the set - and clean out the Military Quarter.

With the death knight legion of Naxxramas all but destroyed, Saavedro and his comrades left Naxxramas to recuperate, but not forgetting that there was still one more quarter to clear before facing Kel'Thuzad...

The Construct Quarter: Unfinished Business
The Construct Quarter had been the first place Saavedro had seen over a year earlier, his party defeating the abomination Patchwerk and the flesh giant Grobbulus. When Naxxramas returned to Northrend, Patchwerk had been sent by the Lich King to Acherus after the Battle of Light's Hope Chapel to fight off the infant Order of the Ebon Blade, which wanted to claim it for its base, but was once again defeated. Now, they had returned to Naxxramas for more, reanimated by the foul will of their master, Kel'Thuzad. Saavedro resolved to destroy them both again...and then some. After destroying the two again, Saavedro and his allies continued on deeper into the Construct Quarter, walking into a toxic waste pipe until they entered the lair of Gluth, the flesh beast who feasted on zombies unworthy of service in the Lich King's legions. Keeping Gluth away from his meal in order to keep him from regenerating, the group endured his rage until they finally destroyed him.

Throughout Naxxramas, Saavedro had heard the echoing screams in every hall. Finally, he came face to face with their source: Thaddius, said to have been stitched together with the bodies of women and children, their souls bound into this electrically charged prison. He was kept inanimate by two wights, Feugen and Stalagg, who also fed the zombies to Gluth. Splitting into two groups, the raiding party attacked both in unison, making sure they both died in unison. Their deaths overloaded the Tesla coils keeping Thaddius immobile, and the creature came to life. The polarity shifts proved to be the most difficult part for Saavedro - seriously wounded by a positive and negative charge intersecting - but in the end, Thaddius was destroyed, the souls within him freed.

The last quarter had been claimed. Taking in their victory, their attention was called back to the task at hand by the taunting, chilling voice of Kel'Thuzad - who called on them to come to the frozen heart of Naxxramas...if they dared. And dare they did. Saavedro in particular was itching for this chance to finally gain some degree of vengeance for his homeland, for it was Kel'Thuzad who had been responsible for the Cult of the Damned and the plague that they had spread.

The Heart of Naxxramas: Revenge Served Cold


Naxxramas was now ripe for the taking. Its defenders had been completely annihilated, its commanders laid low by the rage of the warriors who faced them. With the four corners of the necropolis now in their hands, Saavedro and his comrades returned to the entrance hall and took the upper teleporter...leading into the heart of Naxxramas, the inner sanctum of Kel'Thuzad himself.

Guarding the entrance was a special "gift" that Arthas had given to Kel'Thuzad: The frost wyrm Sapphiron, raised by the dark Prince himself when he journeyed to Northrend in an effort to save the Lich King from Illidan Stormrage. Assembling as if out of thin air, Sapphiron proved to be the greatest obstacle to the conquest of Naxxramas - and he guarded the way to Kel'Thuzad. Weapons and spells ready, Saavedro and his allies charged in, facing the power of the blue dragonflight combined with the might of the Scourge all in one package. After a long, bloody battle, he was defeated, and the icy barrier that blocked the entrance to Kel'Thuzad's throne room shattered, opening the way for the final battle.

Kel'Thuzad proved to be the most powerful and dangerous opponent Saavedro had ever faced. Calling upon reinforcements from Icecrown, the Archlich attempted to delay their progress; when that failed, he was forced to enter the fray himself, unleashing the powers at his disposal, freezing them solid, detonating the mana of the spellcasters, and launching icy bolts. With the raiding party having the upper hand, Kel'Thuzad desperately called on the Lich King himself to provide aid, and in response the lord of the Scourge sent two "guardians of Icecrown" - huge nerubian crypt lords. Their attention kept from the others by a brother paladin, Saavedro focused entirely on Kel'Thuzad, the images of the necromancer's atrocities in Lordaeron still fresh even years later. Finally, with a triumphant roar, Saavedro avenged the dead of Andorhal, of Borealis, of Stratholme...of all who fell to the vile plague spread by the monster. The attacks were so brutal, Kel'Thuzad would likely never assume physical form again.

Naxxramas had finally fallen.