User:Toran Wildpaw of the Frenzyheart/Zaelan Bloodhammer

"That fool, Theron, isn't fit to lead our people...what has he done, in all his time as Regent Lord? Absolutely nothing! The Kingdom of Silvermoon needs a strong leader! Someone who won't just sit there and do nothing...the Knights of the Blood Ruby MUST do something about this! We can not just stand idle as the Kingdom of Silvermoon is led astray!"
 * - Bloodlord Zaelan Bloodhammer, giving a rallying speach to the Order of the Blood Ruby

Zael'thas "Zaelan" Bloodhammer is the Hammer of Joshmaul, the Crimson Juggernaut, and an all-around insane maniac who often gets on the nerves of one Linavil Shadowsun.

Questionable Origins and the Fall to Insanity
Zaelan's life as a young lad is a little sketchy, due to his constant blabbering about many different origins, but a (somewhat) sensible story can be made from various pieces of his mess of origins.

He was born about a hundred to a hundred fifty years before the First War, in either Tranquillien, or Silvermoon City. He was (possibly) a member of the Guard of the House of Shadowsun, and served for a great number of years. Eventually however, the Scourge came...

Zaelan had fought against the undead a number of times, even coming face-to-face with the fallen prince of Lordaeron, Arthas Menethil. The two battled for a short while, before Arthas slashed Zaelan across the chest with his runeblade, Frostmourne. It wasn't a very deep wound, but it was serious nonetheless. The elf, seeing that continuing to fight was suicide, escaped south of Silvermoon, into the land now known as the Ghostlands.

There, he met a priest who was able to heal his wounds. However, the knowledge of the imminent doom of his kingdom, along with his wound from Frostmourne, slowly drove Zaelan insane. After killing the priest with his bare hands, he stayed hidden within the Ghostlands for the six years in which a large amount of rubble blocked all contact between Quel'Thalas and the rest of the world.

Isolated no Longer
After the long six years he had suffered with no contact from anyone else and his bond to the Sunwell painfully severed, the rubble that had blocked Quel'Thalas from Lordaeron had finally been cleared. Zaelan, curious about this, wandered over to Silvermoon City, to see that his kingdom was not as doomed as he had originally thought. Walking on accident into the Blood Knight Headquarters, Zaelan saw the Blood Knights draining M'uru of his holy energy. The insane elf, intrigued by this for some twisted idea, decided to join them, and he then partook in the draining of the naaru's energies.

After becoming a Blood Knight, Zaelan decided to help the Horde, in which the blood elves had apparently joined, and went down to Hillsbrad Foothills, the only part of Lordaeron that had not been totally corrupted by the vile Scourge. Laying waste to many enemies all around, from the Syndicate thieves in Durnholde to the pesky human farmers of Hillsbrad, the paladin (if he could truly be called that) satisfied his insanity by slashing through all those who stood in his way.

The Corruptor...
After the destruction he caused in the lands of Lordaeron, Zaelan had decided to travel to Dalaran (for his own, sick reasons). The paladin knock-off took a portal to the magical city, and wandered into the Underbelly. There, he met Joshmaul the Corruptor, along with his apprentice Linavil Shadowsun. After speaking with the two for a bit (and annoying Linavil to no end with his demented comments), he was invited by Joshmaul (despite Linavil's protests) to join as his Hammer. Zaelan (once more for his own sick reasons, or perhaps none at all, for that matter) accepted the offer, and now he serves as the weapon of the Corruptor, and Joshmaul's outlet for Light-dominating power once more...

Land of Former Ancient Allies: The Highlands
After his encounter with the Corruptor and a little last-moment slaughtering in the Foothills, the Blood Knight traveled to the Arathi Highlands, the home of the ancient Arathor kingdom. Though Arathor had ceased to exist a long time ago, the fortress-city of Stromgarde had been built over Arathor's former capitol, Strom. Zaelan cared little for any of this history, however. He had come to cause bloodshed...

After visiting the Horde outpost of Hammerfall briefly, Zaelan immediately headed for Stromgarde. The mockery-of-a-paladin had been tasked to eliminate Boulderfist lords and shamans, as well as the Boulderfist's leader, Or'Kalar. Zaelan entered the ogre-infested section of the ruined fortress, and charged in, slaying all those who stood before him. Eventually, he found the ogre leader, and lopped off his head to bring back to Hammerfall. However, he was not done yet.

Another Blood Knight, Ordevaas Portalseeker, who was the Patriarch of the House of Whitehair before eventually coming to his demise at the hands of both wounds from the Battle of the Court of Bones and a mysterious lung ailment, had entered Stromgarde earlier and had charged into the only section of Stromgarde still controlled by the rightful rulers of the city. He had thought that he had killed the Prince, Galen Trollbane, but it seemed this was false, as Galen had apparently arisen once more to try and take back his city. Zaelan, thinking this unacceptable, journied into the Stromgardian section and slew all those who stood in his way, before coming before the prince and slaying him once and for all, succeeding where Ordevaas had failed. The Blood Knight took pride in the fact that he had managed to out-do one of his master's enemies. He then returned to Hammerfall, collected his reward for killing the ogres and their leader, and then returned to the Undercity. The survivors of this tragedy named him the "Crimson Juggernaut", for by the time he was done, his armor had been stained red for all those who he had slain...

Ironic Specialization
Despite having an aptitude for chaos, destruction, and completely over-whelming power, Zaelan had decided to take the more defensive side of the paladin. Using his stolen Light powers, he strengthed his armor, increased his strength, and began training his ability with a sword and shield.

During yet another raid on the Scarlet Monastery, Zaelan volunteered to take the hits while three others did damage, and one healed him. It proved to be a success; the Crusade's most recent attempt to retake the Monastery had been in vain, as Zaelan and his allies ripped the Crusaders to shreds.

Recently, however, the insane elf tossed aside his sword and shield, opting for a Bloodied Arcanite Reaper, as well as two beautiful pieces of armor he pilfered off the body of an orc he killed in the Den of Shadows in Orgrimmar.

Aiding Joshmaul
Due to Joshmaul's lack of allies to turn to after the House of Shadowsun was exiled from the Horde and the warlock guilds fell more in line with the Warchief after word got out of the Corruptor's alliance with Artimus Devaneaux, the Head of the Council of Deathlords, the warlock was imprisoned and forced to swear loyalty to Thrall, as well as ending his blackmail. Zaelan immediately set to work in garnering more supporters for the warlock in both the Undercity and Silvermoon City, in an attempt to keep the Hands of Joshmaul alive. He was partly responsible for many of the Deathstalkers coming to Joshmaul's aid, to act as a countermeasure against the Horde's own spies. Shankolin Blightpath, another servant of the Corruptor who was also gathering more supporters, jokingly called Zaelan the "Shield of Joshmaul" for his efforts to defend Joshmaul.

Despite his pleading with the Banshee Queen (through messengers of course; he would likely be exiled as well if he were to come in person), Sylvanas was somewhat unwilling to aid Joshmaul. If she decided to aid the Corruptor, it would come at a heavy price...

Bloodlord of Utgarde
After rallying the Forsaken and anyone else who was immediately present in the Undercity and would listen to his mad cries, Zaelan decided that he needed to go farther then the borders of the Horde capitals. Boarding The Cloudkisser, the Blood Knight traveled to Vengeance Landing. Contacting Helbrand the Wanderer, a fellow agent of Joshmaul who was a vrykul, the two gathered up any allegiance-less vrykul, as well as searching the by now ruined villages for any survivors. After finding all the vrykul they could that would swear loyalty to Joshmaul, the two ventured into Utgarde Keep along with the lot and found more survivors waiting inside the ruined Keep.

While Helbrand taught some of the more promising vrykul the way of the warlock, Zaelan ventured deeper, into Utgarde Pinnacle. There he found many riches and treasures, as well as more survivors that swore themselves to his master. Setting himself upon King Ymiron's throne, the Blood Knight declared himself the "Bloodlord of Utgarde", in mocking fashion to Artimus Devaneaux, who had at one point been the "Deathlord of Utgarde" while he was still in Scourge service.

Zaelan cried out to the Howling Fjord that any who wish to challenge the Corruptor should venture into Utgarde, and most likely be killed, maimed, and dismembered if any were foolish enough to actually take up the challenge...

The Failed Coup
Some time after the failure of the Battle of the Court of Bones, Zaelan decided to take matters into his own hands; he would attempt to remove Lor'themar Theron from the Regency, and have himself crowned as King of Silvermoon. The insane blood elf despised the Regent Lord, seeing him as being too weak to lead the Kingdom.

Taking several vrykul warriors with him, the Bloodlord made his way to the Blood Ruby headquarters within Silvermoon City; there, he plotted the assault upon Sunfury Spire. After some deliberation, the plans were finished, and Zaelan's soldiers began the assault; Blood Knights and vrykul began to attack the other quarters of the city, in order to distract the defenders, whereas the insane elf and his personal bodguard assaulted the Spire; soon enough, the defenses were torn down, and Theron engaged Zaelan in battle.

The Bloodlord, however, would find himself out of luck; Taeril'hane Ketiron, the Patriarch of the Joint Houses of Ketiron and Whitehair, arrived to the Regent Lord's aid, and fought off the insane Blood Knight. Zaelan managed to escape, but not unscathed; not only had he been humiliated by his failure, Ketiron had also burned his shoulder with his holy power. The Bloodlord's wound would heal, but the scars on both his shoulder and his pride would not.

Zaelan would later masquerade as a noble in the Council of Silvermoon in order to back Kel'tanis Whitehair, a "long lost son" as it were of Kel'theris Decibelius, the former head of the House of Whitehair, in order to attain vengeance against Ketiron.