User:Joshmaul/Caedus Netherfist

"Slain by a warlock - along with several of your associates? Caedus was a powerful sorcerer himself, it would take an equally powerful individual to slay him. And the only one who was of his caliber is dead...but Ambassador Saavedro has expressed his doubts, and now so have I. Who else could it be but him?"
 * - The Archmage Rhonin, to Baron Artimus Devaneaux

Caedus Netherfist was a gnomish mage, explorer and engineer who travelled beyond the mountains of Dun Morogh as part of the venerated Explorer's Guild. As a member of the fully-restored Kirin Tor of Dalaran, he went to the front lines of the battle against the Scourge as an investigator. One such investigation, while seemingly routine, led to the discovery of a terrible secret that resulted in his death...

Biography
Born in 570 (Stormwind calendar) in Gnomeregan, Caedus was a student of Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg, who aspired to be High Tinker - and possibly even King - of Gnomeregan. When Gelbin Mekkatorque was elected High Tinker of Gnomeregan despite Thermaplugg's attempts to obtain the office himself, Thermaplugg became his advisor. This proved to be a death sentence for many in Gnomeregan; when Caedus learned that Thermaplugg had advised first the isolation, then the radiation bombing, of Gnomeregan, he flew into a rage and renounced all affiliation with Thermaplugg, fleeing with Mekkatorque and other survivors to Ironforge.

Caedus joined the Explorer's Guild of Ironforge in an effort to escape the drudgery of Dun Morogh, but ended up being confined to the Hall of Explorers in Ironforge itself. Chafing under the menial duties, Caedus joined up with General Korogh Madeyes, a renowned explorer himself, who took the gnome to Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas (careful to avoid Horde and Scourge patrols). Upon exploring the ruins of Dalaran, Caedus decided he wanted to become a mage, and took the name "Netherfist". It was then that Korogh told him about a powerful friend he had, a human paladin named Saavedro of Stratholme, and his ongoing war with the powerful orcish warlock Joshmaul the Corruptor. Korogh then returned Caedus to Ironforge, where High Tinker Mekkatorque then introduced him to Saavedro. At first Saavedro was reluctant to take on a mage as an ally, but Mekkatorque pointed out the alternative: it could have been a warlock instead. Mekkatorque knew Saavedro's stance on warlocks well, and his argument struck the right chord. Saavedro relented, and Caedus became Saavedro's personal representative to Mekkatorque.

Upon his return to Dun Morogh, Caedus trained to become a mage. He grew strong and powerful in his new path, a path that eventually led him (through the assistance of Saavedro) to Lord Kel'theris of the House of Whitehair, a blood elf mage with ties to Dalaran. When he reached the limits of what he could teach - as the Whitehair patriarch was still re-learning everything he had lost - Kel'theris referred him to Archmage Modera, one of the long-standing members of the Kirin Tor, in the rebuilt Violet Citadel in Dalaran. Modera took the determined gnome under her wing and taught him everything she could. In time, Caedus had become a powerful sorcerer and a shrewd investigator, and was employed in that capacity by Rhonin, who now led the Kirin Tor. He also participated in the Battle for the Undercity at the behest of Saavedro, who joined King Varian's forces in bringing justice to the Forsaken who had betrayed the armies of the living.

Rhonin, through Saavedro, had learned of a continuing problem in the region around Fizzcrank Airstrip. Saavedro himself, upon arriving in Northrend, had aided the gnomes of Fizzcrank against the menace of the mechagnomes and their leader, Gearmaster Mechazod, who sought to remove the "Curse of Flesh" supposedly placed on the mortal races by the Old Gods. Fizzcrank's new problem, according to the news, was the possibility of attack by undead nerubians tunnelling through the Geyser Fields. Using a flying machine known as the Violet Watcher, built jointly by himself and Saavedro, Caedus landed in the Geyser Fields when he was attacked by an unknown assailant who turned out to be a warlock, scorching the unfortunate mage with demon fire. He was found next to his abandoned flying machine by Blood Knight Master Taeril'hane Ketiron, who in turn informed Saavedro. Ketiron's nether drake, Sakkith, took the wounded Caedus to Dalaran, where he would be treated by Kel'theris' personal physicians, as a mark of respect to a former student of their master.

The physicians were able to mend his wounds, but Caedus had been rendered comatose by the psychic trauma of the powerful attack. He never regained consciousness, and died six days later. He was buried in a small ceremony - attended by Archmages Rhonin and Modera, High Tinker Mekkatorque, Saavedro, Lord Kel'theris and Master Ketiron - in the cemetery outside the Violet Citadel in Dalaran.

Investigations by the Council of Deathlords, a group of death knights from both the Alliance and the Horde, into attacks on their own number indicated that the attacker was the same in the cases of Deathlord Koschei and General Settra as it had been in Caedus'. After an attack against Council leader Artimus Devaneaux, the attacker was positively identified as Joshmaul the Corruptor, recently resurrected after being slain by Artimus during the Battle for the Undercity.