User:Joshmaul/Taeril'hane Ketiron

"'It saddens me that you are unable to continue the fight, but I am comforted by the fact that some of the new Blood Knights who go out and fight for Quel'Thalas will be your pupils. You have given much in your service to Quel'Thalas, Taeril'hane - no one will begrudge you for taking a much-needed rest. Go now, and continue to bring honor to your House and your people.'"
 * - Lor'themar Theron, Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas, to Master Taeril'hane Ketiron

Master Taeril'hane Ketiron, Patriarch of the Joint Houses of Ketiron and Whitehair, has inherited the legacies of both his former mentor, Master Ordevaas Portalseeker - the last Whitehair patriarch - and of Ordevaas' honor brother, Saavedro of Stratholme. Like his mentor, Ketiron follows the teachings of Lady Liadrin and despises the heavy-handed approach to Light-wielding favored by her successor in Silvermoon, Lord Solanar Bloodwrath.

During the war for Northrend, Ketiron was hand-picked by Tirion Fordring to join the Argent Crusade. Following the death of Ordevaas Portalseeker and the incapacitation of Saavedro, the House's staunchest ally, at the hands of Lady Deathwhisper in Icecrown Citadel, Ketiron took up Saavedro's bloodstained shield and united the Houses of Ketiron and Whitehair under the joint leadership of himself and his wife, Areinnye Scourgebane. After the fall of the Lich King, Ketiron retired to Silvermoon to teach new Blood Knights of the Liadrinist sect how to use their Light powers, until he was called back into Horde service by newly-installed Warchief Garrosh Hellscream three years later.

After fighting the elemental unrest and surviving the great Shattering, Ketiron once again donned his armor and took up his sword and shield to carry the Light to a darkening world. After suffering a physical breakdown, Ketiron retired from active service in the Horde to take up teaching and cataloguing history.

Biography
Ketiron was born at the Whitehair estate on Feth's Way in western Silvermoon nearly three centuries before the First War. His father, Melonar, was the head of a minor noble family with a history of service to the House of Whitehair that dated back to the Troll Wars. Melonar was killed during the Second War when the Horde invaded Quel'Thalas, leaving Taeril'hane as the head of his family. Being roughly equal in age to the future patriarch, Lord Kel'theris, Ketiron aided in the tutelage of the young lord, becoming a trusted advisor and friend; he would later aid the teaching of Kel'theris' son and heir, Ordevaas (ironic that the teacher would become the student when Ketiron became a Blood Knight). Named head of Kel'theris' personal guard detachment, Ketiron accompanied Kel'theris on his journey to Dalaran shortly before the fall of Silvermoon. When Dalaran was besieged, Ketiron was instructed by Kel'theris to flee to Stormwind and meet up with Ordevaas, a priest at the Cathedral of Light. After the death of Kaleris Skyfire during the Third War, Ketiron became captain of the entire Whitehair House Guard.

When Ordevaas became a Blood Knight, Ketiron was disgusted by the cruelty and the manner of which a Blood Knight received his power; a particularly pious man, Ketiron believed that the Light should come naturally to those who deserved it. Thus, when Ordevaas - and the majority of Masters trained by Liadrin - were liberated from their own cruel tenets by the treachery of Prince Kael'thas, Ketiron accepted his old friend's offer of training. While training under Ordevaas, Ketiron grew to understand the nature of the Light, and his piety instilled the antipathy that both men would feel for Solanar Bloodwrath, who trained the new Masters while Liadrin was away. While Ordevaas' opinions about him were more open and blunt (he had suggested to Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron that Bloodwrath be the first projectile launched at Icecrown Citadel, among other things), Ketiron tended to be more tactful, especially while in Bloodwrath's presence. This odd dichotomy of bluntness and subtlety proved to be an effective combination; Ordevaas was the voice, Ketiron the piercing stare.

The War Against the Corruptor and the Traitor
During the war in Northrend, Ketiron became particularly concerned over the events surrounding Ordevaas' master-turned-bitter enemy, the orc warlock Joshmaul the Corruptor, who had become a notorious murderer and pirate who spread plague alongside the Forsaken. Ketiron, in fact, had had a chance encounter with the warlock and his foulest creation - the necromantic avatar of himself he had created with the aid of other death knights. Ketiron was so seriously wounded that both Ordevaas and his ally, the human paladin Saavedro of Stratholme (whom Ketiron knew from his visits to the Whitehair house), had to combine their skills and the Blood Knight's unshakeable will to save him. Ketiron eventually got his revenge when he confronted the Avatar in Howling Fjord and destroyed him.

Ketiron travelled to Warsong Hold after defeating the Avatar, and was informed by High Overlord Saurfang of the events at the Wrath Gate. Recalled to Orgrimmar by Warchief Thrall, Ketiron rallied the Whitehair House Guard to accompany the Warchief to Lordaeron, where it would serve as part of the Horde army that laid siege to the Undercity. Ketiron fought with distinction during the battle, slaying many of Varimathras' minions during the efforts to reach the dreadlord himself. Ketiron was wounded in the shoulder by an Alliance soldier when they charged into the Warchief and his entourage in Sylvanas' throne room. He received an official commendation from Thrall and Sylvanas for his courage in the battle against Varimathras.

The Argent Crusade
It was said after the Battle of Light's Hope Chapel, where a stalwart band of 300 defenders of the Light held firm against ten thousand Scourge, that Tirion Fordring, Highlord of the Knights of the Silver Hand, came to the fore and called for a union of the Silver Hand and the Argent Dawn, the army that had stood against the Scourge and the blind zealotry of the Scarlet Crusade. It was also said that in order to prevent infiltration by the Cult of the Damned - preventing the Inigo Montoy incident from ever happening again - Tirion had hand-picked every single soldier in the Argent Crusade. Ketiron was chosen after surviving the attack by, then defeating, the Avatar of Joshmaul - the foul creation of a genocidal madman on the same level as the Lich King. It helped that Ketiron harbored a hatred for Arthas that bordered on the fanatical, like most blood elves. Endorsed by Saavedro, the Regent of Lordaeron, Ketiron met Fordring at the Argent Vanguard in Icecrown itself, and was inducted into the Argent Crusade.

Ketiron was then transported to the flying battleship Orgrim's Hammer, the Horde's mobile base in Icecrown. Shortly thereafter, Ordevaas himself arrived onboard the Hammer from Dalaran, and Ketiron endorsed his mentor in his own membership in the Argent Crusade. Ordevaas was also one of Saavedro's oldest comrades, and Saavedro's friendship with Fordring opened the way for Ordevaas to be granted the colors of the Argent Crusade in its battle against the Scourge.

House Guard Captain
As commander of the House Guard, Ketiron was incredibly meticulous about who he allows into the ranks. Like Tirion Fordring, Ketiron learned from prior experiences that letting just anyone in would result in some kind of cultist infiltrator undermining the House Guard (one of the necromancers serving Dar'Khan Drathir attempted to subvert the House Guard during his tenure), so he conducts a thorough background check to determine their feasibility.

At the behest of his mentor, Master Ordevaas Portalseeker, Ketiron investigated a hunter named Lu'Gosh. A former gladiator of the Crimson Ring, Lu'Gosh had been so named by the orcs who had found him, and Ordevaas had seen him in action in the ring. During one of his sojourns into Lordaeron, Ordevaas met the angry hunter after he had begun decimating the plagued animals of the Western Plaguelands, and referred him to Ketiron. Despite an incident involving an insane mage and an ally - due to the corruption of Sul'thraze the Lasher, an ancient desert troll weapon found in Zul'Farrak and held by one of their Blood Knight comrades - Ketiron accepted the hunter into the ranks of the House Guard.

After his confirmation as patriarch of the House, Ordevaas named Ketiron his Warmaster, commander of all of the armed forces that swore allegiance to the House of Whitehair. The Whitehairs' standing army was substantial, rivalled only by the Farstriders themselves and other Horde forces such as the Kor'kron. From his "forward command post" onboard the Orgrim's Hammer, Ketiron awaited the order to unleash them in battle against the Scourge and any other enemy of Quel'Thalas.

At some point during the war for Northrend, Ketiron became betrothed to Ordevaas' daughter, Areinnye Scourgebane.

Inside the Halls of Ulduar
Despite his already being committed to the Argent Tournament in the name of Quel'Thalas, Ketiron was approached by Brann Bronzebeard to join his expedition into Ulduar to discover the secrets of the Titans' city and to do battle against the malevolent presence of Yogg-Saron. Intrigued by the stories he had heard of Ulduar and urged by Saavedro - himself joining that expedition - to consider it, Ketiron agreed and accompanied Saavedro into the city to do battle against the evil forces that permeated its halls. While Saavedro continued on to battle the Keepers of Ulduar, Ketiron remained in the Archivum as a bodyguard to the dwarf explorer, seeking to defend him from anything that may get past the war party. This was also partly for a selfish reason - having felt that evil presence inside Vordrassil's remains in the Grizzly Hills, Ketiron was understandably hesitant to go any further into Ulduar. However, he arrived along with Saavedro once General Vezax was defeated - and saw for himself the enemy that the Regent contended with...

To the Halls of Death


With the Tournament all but complete and the champions chosen for the final battle, Ketiron was chosen to accompany Sylvanas Windrunner, Queen of the Forsaken, into the halls of Icecrown Citadel. Arriving too late to join her in the Forge of Souls, Ketiron met with Sylvanas, along with the human mages Jaina Proudmoore and Inar of Borealis, to venture into the Pit of Saron. Ketiron flew into a Light-fueled rage upon seeing the immense suffering of those heroes of the Alliance and Horde put to back-breaking work and eventual death - and resurrection as a footsoldier for the Scourge. The Blood Knight Master and his companions, forced to fight through the ranks of Scourge overseers, cut a gore-spattered path of destruction through the Pit, destroying both the flesh giant Forgemaster Garfrost and the twinned terrors of Krick and Ick. Upon defeating the flesh eruptor that had borne Krick on its shoulders, the leper gnome broke down and revealed that the Lich King had left Frostmourne, the ultimate symbol of his power and cruelty, on an altar within his private chambers in the Halls of Reflection. At that moment, he was killed by Scourgelord Tyrannus, who unleashed his finest warriors to stall the adventurers.

Tearing through the legions of vargul and skeletons between them and Tyrannus, Ketiron and his companions fought through a skeleton-infested tunnel that was being bombarded from the outside by Tyrannus' frost wyrm Rimefang. Making it through the tunnels accompanied by an army of liberated slaves led by Martin Victus and Gorkun Ironskull, the party confronted the Scourgelord and defeated him, liberating the slaves of the Lich King...for a brief moment.

As the rescuers were being lauded by Victus and Ironskull, Ketiron found himself yanked back into the tunnel - just as a huge frost wyrm, the Frostbrood queen Sindragosa, flew up from below and slaughtered the two commanders and their followers in one fell swoop.

Death of Ordevaas Portalseeker
Seriously wounded during the Battle of the Court of Bones, where Ketiron and his friend Oren Tanis defeated Joshmaul the Corruptor and his grand army, Ordevaas Portalseeker was initially expected to recover from his injuries. However, the Whitehair patriarch suffered from a mysterious lung ailment that was complicated by the serious wounds he had taken from Shankolin Blightpath shortly before his destruction. On his deathbed, Ordevaas conducted the wedding of his daughter Areinnye to Ketiron, and passed over the leadership of the House to both of them. He died shortly thereafter.

Upon Saavedro's crippling injury in Icecrown Citadel, Ketiron took up Saavedro's shield and standards and decided to continue the fight for Icecrown Citadel in the Regent's place.

Life in the Crater: The Raising of a Venomhide Ravasaur


As he recovered from his battles in the Citadel, Ketiron heard of a jungle troll named Mor'vek who lived on the southeastern edge of Un'Goro Crater, who trained in the raising and riding of the native venomhide ravasaur. Intrigued and interested in cultivating life in the midst of the death he dealt with fighting against the Lich King, Ketiron journeyed aboard the Mighty Wind from Warsong Hold to the tower outside Orgrimmar, journeyed by wyvern to Gadgetzan, and rode down into the Crater. The venomhide ravasaur, he learned, was poisoned through and through - its claws, its bite, even its skin and blood contained a potent venom. In order to ride a venomhide, he had to build up a resistance to venomhide toxin by being splashed with their blood as he fought them. Careful to ensure that the venom didn't overwhelm him, Ketiron set out into Un'Goro and developed immunity to the venomhide toxin. Impressed by the Master's tenacity, Mor'vek agreed to instruct him in the raising of a venomhide hatchling; he searched through the ravasaur nests and found an egg suitable for his needs.

As Ketiron took over the raising of the hatchling, he journeyed through western Tanaris and from edge to edge of Un'Goro Crater, tending to the needs of the hatchling as it grew; feeding it fresh meat from silithids and the dinosaurs of Un'Goro, collecting silithid eggs from western Tanaris, and collecting feathers from fire rocs that nested around the huge skeletons in the desert. For several weeks, whenever he was not away in Northrend, Ketiron revelled in the warmer climates of the lower continents as he raised the hatchling to adulthood. Finally, the ravasaur - which Ketiron called Sin'belore, or "sun of blood" - grew to adulthood, and Ketiron brought the grown hatchling, its shed baby teeth, and the materials to make a saddle to Mor'vek. The ravasaur, despite being native to a tropical region, was able to adjust fairly quickly to the cold of Northrend as its rider travelled through the land of the Lich King.

Turning Back the Clock: The Fall of Zul'jin


A particular sticking point in the annals of the House of Whitehair after its break from Joshmaul was the fact that the warlock had beaten them to the finish in the battle for Zul'Aman. Chronormu - known to most as the gnome Chromie - provided Ketiron with an opportunity: an amulet that would take him back to when Joshmaul entered Zul'Aman, when the House of Whitehair was still in his service. No member of the House was present, and Ketiron decided to use his connections to the dragonflights to correct that deficiency - especially seeing Joshmaul's continued descent into insanity and disregard for maintaining the balance of time...or anything else, for that matter.

Ketiron teleported to the gates of Zul'Aman just as the warlock's party entered, and informed "Lord" Joshmaul (trying not to grind his teeth as he said it) that Lord Kel'theris had sent him, as captain of the House Guard, to ensure that the Amani would not terrorize his people again. Joshmaul accepted that at face value and allowed Ketiron into the party, where they proceeded to destroy everyone who stood in their path, leading right up to Zul'jin himself. He had also been tasked by Budd Nedreck (whom Ketiron had met in Northrend as a brain-damaged man who thought he was a troll) to slay Hex Lord Malacrass, Zul'jin's chief lieutenant and guardian to the Amani Warlord's inner sanctum. At first, Ketiron went with one other to slay the first three avatars of Amani Loas - Nalorakk, Jan'alai, and Halazzi - but eventually rejoined the larger group to destroy Akil'zon, the eagle loa, and right up to Malacrass himself, slaying him and his brainwashed minions.

Zul'jin had once been a servant of the Horde, but when the blood elves were brought into the Horde's ranks, the Amani chieftain turned on them and initiated campaigns against the blood elves' attempts to reclaim their lands from the Scourge. He and his predecessors as leaders of the Amani had been waging war against Quel'Thalas for seven thousand years, and Ketiron was eager to end his attempt to restore the Amani Empire for good. Though Zul'jin called on the spirits of the Loas whose avatars the attacking party had slain, he eventually fell before their assault, and Ketiron called upon the Light to ensure that end. Approaching the corpse of his enemy, Ketiron picked up a vial of Zul'jin's blood, and decided to strike a critical blow against Budd Nedreck's ego by bringing it to him.

Budd, of course, was less than pleased, believing he could have done it without Ketiron and his comrades, and took the vial from him and decided to take credit for the achievement. As he hurled it into the fire of a nearby burning hut, Budd was lifted into the air, tossed around, and then brought into the burning building by an unseen force; he then ran screaming from it, his clothes on fire, trying to blame Ketiron for the deed...and leaving the Master laughing at Budd's situation. The annals of the House now recognize Ketiron's efforts in the battle against Zul'jin, as do those of the Horde.

Retirement
While fighting for the Horde in the Twilight Highlands, Ketiron was nearly killed in an ambush by the Twilight's Hammer in the wildlands near Dunwald. Though he survived, the House physicians noted that the Master tired much more easily afterwards, and could not concentrate in his combat drills. His wife Areinnye, believing it was now time to set the House's affairs in order after the chaos of the war in Northrend and against the rampaging elements, suggested that it was time to consider retirement. Ketiron was aghast at the idea, as the war with the Twilight's Hammer was still ongoing and would be for some time. But he realized that his weakening health would be a liability to Horde forces in the field. After refusing for several days, Ketiron finally relented and sent a notice to Warchief Hellscream in Orgrimmar that he was returning to Silvermoon.

Upon his arrival, Ketiron immediately requested an audience with Regent Lor'themar and informed him that, due to his injuries and the wishes of his House to settle after the long war, he was retiring from active military service and would aid his old friend, Knight-Lord Bloodvalor, in teaching the new Blood Knight initiates, just as he had tried to do before Vol'jin called him to service to liberate the Echo Isles. Lor'themar thanked the Master for his and his House's service to Quel'Thalas throughout its myriad battles since they joined the Horde, and allowed him to return to his teaching.

One last task remained, however: Someone to take his place. In the months since the Shattering, Ketiron and his chief apprentice, Nor'taeron Sunblade, had aided an aspiring Sunwalker named Telek Eaglespear to understand the powers he wielded, powers very similar to their own. Upon announcing his retirement, Ketiron sent for Telek to meet him in Silvermoon, where he informed the young tauren of his decision to retire. Ketiron held out his great sword hilt-first to his student, saying that he would be his successor in the field. Nor'taeron would continue to serve the Horde as the House's principal agent in Orgrimmar, working with Ketiron's colleague, Master Pyreanor - but someone had to be out in the thick of it, to continue to fight the war. Telek, realizing the honor being accorded him but uncertain of whether he was worthy of it, had no choice but to accept his mentor's wishes, and took up Ketiron's sword.

The Master's Appearance, Personality and Skills
Master Ketiron, like most blood elves, is tall and slim, but well muscled, owing to his intensive physical training while serving in the Whitehair House Guard. Prior to the war with the Lich King, Ketiron had raven-black hair, tied back in a foxtail, strands resting on his powerful shoulders; after the fall of Icecrown Citadel, his hair became snow-white, indicating the stresses of battle, though his physical and - most importantly - mental strength remained robust. Beneath his armor, Ketiron has criss-crossed scars from the many severe wounds he suffered during the war in Northrend.

As a warrior rather than a politician, Ketiron dislikes bureaucracy and interference from afar in military matters; he admits that he prefers serving the Horde for this reason. He observed that most decisions in the Alliance had to be made through the council of Alliance leaders and commanders were forced to wait for word from them, whereas in the Horde - despite being subservient to the will of the Warchief - the commanders are given free rein over their forces in the field, provided they conducted themselves honorably. Ketiron does acknowledge, however, that this approach has led to problems, such as the Forsaken plague testing leading up to the Battle of the Wrathgate.

Ketiron is also an extremely pious individual; as a warrior in the House Guard, prior to taking up the Blood Knight training under Ordevaas Portalseeker, Ketiron learned the rudimentary blessings of the Light that would naturally come to those of the paladins' calling. Under the tutelage of Ordevaas and - to a lesser extent - Saavedro of Stratholme, Ketiron took up the healing arts, and proved especially proficient with them. In the three-year period between the death of the Lich King and the Shattering, Ketiron had retired to Silvermoon to teach new Blood Knights. As a Master of the Liadrinist sect, opposed to the supporters of Solanar Bloodwrath and their brute-force teachings when it came to the Light, Ketiron teaches his charges both self-defense and the healing arts, as well as philosophy, history and cartography - interests Ketiron himself took up during his explorations of Northrend.

The Master also took up engineering while exploring Ulduar with Saavedro during the Yogg-Saron crisis; he has jokingly said that he agrees with the goblins in one case - that any problem can be solved with the careful application of high explosives. In addition to the bomb-making generally involved in goblin engineering, Ketiron also creates other intricate devices, including weapons, pulse generators to disable mechanized constructs, speed boosters for his boots, and a parachute for his cloak. Like Saavedro, Ketiron also built his own flying machine, which he called the Victory of Quel'Thalas (to go along with Saavedro's Legacy of Loraderon). Ketiron is also an archaeologist, and has found many strange and interesting artifacts during his travels in Azeroth, and has even returned to Outland to study the draenei and orc ruins.

In-Game Accomplishments

 * Current Gear, Reputations and Raid Experience (converted from Saavedro, December 2009; converted to Eaglespear, April 2011)
 * The Continued Battle for Icecrown Citadel
 * Return to Service: Prelude to the Shattering
 * The Master's Ultimate Test: War in the Age of Cataclysm

SI:7 Dossier
''Taeril'hane Ketiron is probably one of the most feared Blood Knight Masters, and certainly one of the most venerated. The Ketiron family has probably been one of the most loyal supporters of the House of Whitehair, besides the now-defunct House of Sunstrider. Taeril'hane is no exception - he has been Kel'theris' trusted right arm for nearly two hundred years, and has the scars to prove it. After Liadrin recognized the folly of Kael'thas' actions, she renounced the House of Sunstrider, and Ketiron - a pious man who had both publicly and privately condemned the Blood Knight Order - became a member himself, under the tutelage of Kel'theris' son, Master Ordevaas Portalseeker.''

''Ketiron, along with Ordevaas, resembles something of a radical element in blood elf society as people who still associate with members of the Alliance - in particular the Regent of Lordaeron, Saavedro of Stratholme. His ability to see beyond the lines drawn between Alliance and Horde and his devotion to both his people and to all who live in fighting the Scourge have endeared him to Tirion Fordring, who personally selected him to join his Argent Crusade. The only thing more frightening than an angry death knight is an angry paladin, and he proves it time and again on the field in Icecrown.''