User:Joshmaul/Sekhesmet of Stratholme

"'Wielding the Light again is a painful experience to my rotted flesh, but it is used in Sylvanas' name - and so I will bear the pain as long as necessary, to mend those who cannot mend themselves.'"
 * - Sekhesmet of Stratholme

Sekhesmet of Stratholme, also known as Sekhesmet the Eternal, is a travelling shadow priest of the Forsaken, spreading the word of his Dark Lady to the four corners of her realm and all points beyond. Once a High Priest of Lordaeron and mentor to two powerful paladins - Saavedro of Stratholme and Ordevaas Portalseeker, both slain in the final days of the war against the Lich King - Sekhesmet now serves the Dark Lady in his capacity as a priest of the Forgotten Shadow. Prior to the Shattering, he also served as something of a "spiritual advisor" to the House of Whitehair.

Sekhesmet is also an apothecary, and has contributed heavily to the development of the New Plague - a fact that makes him suspect in the eyes of the current Whitehair patiarch, Master Taeril'hane Ketiron. With his old apprentice Ordevaas dead, however, Sekhesmet's loyalty to the House of Whitehair has begun to waver, and he has begun to distance himself from the blood elves and dedicate himself solely to his Dark Lady - culminating with Ketiron issuing an ultimatum to renounce his allegiance to Sylvanas or be cast out of the House of Whitehair. With no real reason to stay, Sekhesmet chose the latter. He currently serves as an advisor to General Varan Metheius, who commands a portion of the Deathguard involved in the invasion of Gilneas.

Early Life
A descendant of the Ralmanni wanderers of southern Azeroth, Sekhesmet was born in 532 (Stormwind calendar), in the town of Borealis in northern Lordaeron. When he reached his Age of Ascension, he joined Lordaeron's priesthood, and was trained by none other than Alonsus Faol himself.

Like Saavedro, Sekhesmet adopted Stratholme as his hometown and became known as "Sekhesmet of Stratholme" for the rest of his life (and undeath). He was ambitious and headstrong, but none could doubt the strength of the Light that coursed through him. He became a priest of Lordaeron in his thirties, and founded the Order of the Scarlet Raven - "Scarlet Raven" is the Ralmanni term for the sun - in 574, when he became the High Priest of Stratholme. Three years later, his daughter Euphrati was born, the product of a relationship with one of King Terenas' ladies-in-waiting.

Sekhesmet, despite his brash, often cynical demeanor, was an altruistic and compassionate man, and the people of Stratholme grew to respect him over the years. Two young men, a magistrate's son from a nearby township to the south and a noble heir from Quel'Thalas, had also heard of the kindly High Priest, and were taken to him. The young man from the south would later become one of the High Priest's greatest foes, when they found themselves on opposite sides in the war between the Alliance and the Horde...

Training Apprentices
In 577, Sekhesmet took Ordevaas Whitehair, the son of a Quel'Thalassian nobleman, as his first apprentice. Eight years later, a young human from Corin's Crossing named Saavedro joined him. Sekhesmet trained Saavedro and Ordevaas not only in the ways of the priesthood, but how to fight. He believed that they had to learn to defend themselves from attackers - not that they would need to if they remained in the city, but Sekhesmet believed in taking precautions with the Horde running rampant in the human lands. Saavedro, he noted, was a formidable healer, and a kind-hearted soul who could not harm a fly (though later, he became a renowned warrior of Light in battle against the Scourge) - but he also possessed a keen wit and sharp tongue that would make him a perfect emissary. Ordevaas, by contrast, preferred the mental disciplines and - to an extent - dabbled in the school of Shadow magic. Sekhesmet also trained them in the ways of the diplomat, how to use their minds and their mouths to advance the cause of the people they were to represent.

Through Ordevaas and Euphrati, Sekhesmet gained a beneficial ally in the House of Whitehair. Ordevaas' father, Lord Kel'theris, was the family patriarch, and he gave the priest and his daughter shelter in Silvermoon when they were forced to flee Stratholme on the eve of an orcish attack during the Second War. This was despite the reluctance of King Anasterian Sunstrider to allow non-elves entry into their capital; Kel'theris' family had served the House of Sunstrider for generations, and was able to allow this one concession. Euphrati was trained in blade-work by the Silvermoon Ranger Corps, and often sparred with them. After the war ended, Sekhesmet and his apprentices often attended tournaments held by Aedelas Blackmoore at Durnholde Keep - both Ordevaas and Euphrati had participated. Shortly after winning one such tournament, Euphrati was ambushed and murdered by a jealous Lordaeron nobleman named Artimus Devaneaux, whom she had defeated in that tournament. Sekhesmet did not find out about this until nearly two decades later.

In 601, at age 69, Sekhesmet was appointed to the high council of Lordaeron's priesthood, where he served in an advisory position to the King of Lordaeron, Terenas Menethil II. In 604, he and his fellow high priests agreed to send an emissary of the Lordaeron priesthood to the court of King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind, and - not surprisingly - they selected Saavedro, now a full-fledged priest of Stratholme, to fill that capacity. Ordevaas joined him as a representative of the priests of Quel'Thalas who had remained in Alliance service when Anasterian Sunstrider cut ties with the Alliance. For many years, Saavedro served as a junior ambassador to the aged Archbishop Alonsus Faol, and then to his successor Benedictus after Faol's death, sending back favorable reports of the situation in Stormwind. Then, in 614, disaster struck.

The Scourge of Lordaeron
Thirteen years following the end of the Second War, the Burning Legion had set into motion the creation of a plague that would wipe all humanity off the face of Azeroth. Their powerful instrument of death, the spirit of the orc shaman Ner'zhul (now known as the Lich King), had created a virulent plague that caused its victims to arise as undead soldiers for him to control. This army became known as the Scourge. At the behest of the council of the Church of Light in Lordaeron, Sekhesmet dispatched Saavedro - now High Priest of Stratholme - to the northern regions to investigate before he returned to Stormwind.

By now contemplating retirement, Sekhesmet had returned to Stratholme for a brief period when Prince Arthas - driven mad by the inability to defeat the Scourge - ordered the execution of many of the city's citizens, believing them to be infected by the plague. Receiving the news from one of Uther's paladins, Sekhesmet realized what had happened. Escaping out the service entrance in Elder's Square and making his way to the capital, Sekhesmet informed the high council of priests that Arthas had fallen into madness, and that he would commit some other terrible crime against the Kingdom of Lordaeron. The council brought their concerns before King Terenas, but the King dismissed their concerns; Terenas honestly did not believe that his son could commit such evil (though he nonetheless attempted to recall Arthas' expedition to Northrend). The paladin lord Uther the Lightbringer, who had observed Arthas' order of execution, was also disbelieving, but he saw the truth: Arthas' youthful brashness had turned into pure hatred. Sekhesmet predicted that wherever Arthas was going, it would change him - and not for the better.

Weeks later, Sekhesmet was proven right.

Having tracked down the source of the undead plague to the icy continent of Northrend, Arthas encountered his old comrade and mentor Muradin Bronzebeard, brother of King Magni of Ironforge. Muradin informed Arthas of the existence of a runeblade known as Frostmourne, said to have powers beyond mortal reckoning - and it was also said to be cursed. Muradin was proven correct - Frostmourne was a trap set by the Lich King to find someone skirting the line between darkness and light, to become his physical host. After killing Muradin and claiming Frostmourne for himself - in the process, losing both his soul and what little sanity he had left - Arthas returned to his father's throne room in Lordaeron and, before shocked observers, ran Terenas through with the icy blade. Within weeks of Terenas' death, the citizens of Lordaeron's capital city - including Sekhesmet and the council of priests - began to succumb to the virulent plague of undeath that completely devastated Lordaeron. Sekhesmet resisted with his Light-given strength right until the end. At the age of 82, the elderly Sekhesmet died in agony, choking out his last breaths on the elaborate mural on the floor of Terenas' throne room.

Arising as a Forsaken
Sekhesmet was buried in a great mausoleum in the cemetery outside of Brill. But because the plague that had killed him caused its victims to arise as the undead, it would only be a matter of time before Sekhesmet did likewise. Six years later, he did.

Greatly weakened from the sleep of death, Sekhesmet realized that he would have to completely relearn the powers of the priesthood that he had wielded so masterfully in life. He was disturbed and disgusted at the horrific changes that had come over him - his hunger for human flesh, and the exposed bones where his own flesh had rotted away - but gradually, under the guidance of others, began to accept his changes, for it was unlikely he would be restored to being human again. While he adjusted to his new, unusual state, Sekhesmet was delighted to discover that there were others like him, and that they had claimed a new capital dredged out of the royal catacombs deep beneath the ruins of Lordaeron. This Undercity was ruled by the former Ranger General of Quel'Thalas, Sylvanas Windrunner. Sekhesmet immediately swore fealty to the Dark Lady of the Forsaken, and joined the Royal Apothecary Society as a junior alchemist. The Royal Apothecary Society was dedicated to creating a new plague that would not only destroy the human race, but also the Scourge as well. While he briefly lamented that his former pupil, Saavedro - now a powerful paladin - would probably be a victim of this vile plague, Sekhesmet dismissed such notions as beneath him. He was immortal now, and could not be disturbed by the needs of mere humans.

Driven by a desire to regain his power, Sekhesmet struck a bargain with Joshmaul the Warlock, in which the orc would provide him with powerful artifacts to regain his strength in exchange for the priest's loyalty. Greedily, Joshmaul agreed to Sekhesmet's bargain - but knowing the formidable powers Sekhesmet had wielded in life, Joshmaul kept a close eye on his new "friend".

Coming to the Blood Elves' Aid
Sekhesmet's other apprentice, Ordevaas (now known as Portalseeker), had become one of the blood elves that now controlled Quel'Thalas, and wished to join forces with the Horde. Sekhesmet realized that in order to not only gain greater power in the path of shadow he had taken, but also solidify Silvermoon's position at the table with Orgrimmar and the Undercity - which would please his Queen greatly - he had to aid Ordevaas and the sin'dorei in their quest to regain their kingdom. Travelling along with a blood elf guide, Sekhesmet and Ordevaas entered Deatholme, the fortress of the Scourge in Quel'Thalas, and proceeded to annihilate the legions of walking dead that wandered through the plagued citadel. Striding into Deatholme's Tower of the Damned, the duo encountered the evil Dar'Khan Drathir, and defeated him. Sekhesmet was gifted with a Staff of the Sun for his efforts in the service of Quel'Thalas.

Invasion of Silverpine
Slowly regaining his depleted power and being granted more powerful spells, Sekhesmet was joined by a troll rogue, and began to retake Silverpine Forest from the forces of the Scourge. Two powerful mages, Thule Ravenclaw and Arugal of Dalaran, and gained power using their own legions of servants - Ravenclaw's ghouls and undead gnolls, and Arugal's worgen, which were known as the Sons of Arugal. Swimming across Lordamere Lake to Fenris Isle, Sekhesmet and his ally laid siege to Fenris Keep and began annihilating the legions of gnolls that manned it, eventually making their way into the inner keep and doing battle with Ravenclaw himself. Lying in wait while the rogue weakened the mage, Sekhesmet unleashed a devouring plague to replenish more of his energies...and deplete what remained of Ravenclaw's.

Sekhesmet travelled next to Shadowfang Keep, where he and the rogue proceeded to annihilate Arugal's legions of worgen. Entering Arugal's inner sanctum, Sekhesmet unleashed the Devouring Plague once more against the Archmage, whose energy was leeched from his body, strengthening the fallen priest. The Shadow Priest gained in strength and power, as the rogue proceeded to decapitate the delusional Arugal. Sekhesmet took the Archmage's robe and belt for himself, and travelled to the Sepulcher to deliver Arugal's head.

Escape from the Scarlet Monastery!
While returning to Tirisfal from his sojourns in Kalimdor, Sekhesmet was ambushed outside of Brill by agents of the Scarlet Crusade, and taken to the Monastery northeast of the town. Despite the fact that the Scarlet Crusade was practically destroyed - between Saavedro leading assaults against Hearthglen and Stratholme, the Blood Knight Order's constant lightning strikes in Tyr's Hand, and travellers from both continents laying waste to the defenders of the Monastery - they maintained a small but determined presence in Lordaeron. For weeks, Sekhesmet was stretched out on a rack in the torture chamber, bearing unspeakable agony at the hands of the Scarlet torturers. He waited for some response from Joshmaul - perhaps the Corruptor himself coming in for a rescue. But he never came.

Travelling through the area on his way back home to Quel'Thalas, Lord Kel'theris - now called Decibelius - discovered what had happened to his old friend. Realizing that the Corruptor had become so engrossed in gaining more power and prestige in Outland that he abandoned all of his erstwhile "allies" (with the exception of his death knights and his power-maddened apprentice, Linavil Shadowsun), Kel'theris called on a tauren druid that had aided him in the past to enter the Monastery Graveyard, find Sekhesmet, and clear the way for the shadow priest's escape. Thus it was to Sekhesmet's surprise that this agent of the House of Whitehair, not of the Hands of Joshmaul, came to rescue him. Enraged at Joshmaul's abandonment of him, Sekhesmet renounced his allegiance to Joshmaul and allied himself with Kel'theris. Killing the seemingly inexhaustible skeleton of Bloodmage Thalnos and taking his mantle, Sekhesmet made good his escape from the depths of the Scarlet Monastery and returned to Undercity.

As the House of Whitehair's most senior representative outside of Quel'Thalas, Ordevaas Portalseeker - by now a Blood Knight Master - went before Lady Sylvanas Windrunner and requested that a small detachment of Deathstalkers follow Sekhesmet at all times while in Lordaeron, to prevent another kidnapping attempt by what little remained of the Scarlet Crusade. Varimathas also doubled the guard around the Scarlet Monastery and tasked General Settra - a Forsaken death knight who acted as one of Joshmaul's "lackeys" - to command the defense of Tirisfal until the preparations for the war in Northrend were completed.

Sekhesmet's defection did not go entirely unnoticed by Joshmaul, who ordered General Settra to kill the erstwhile shadow priest. However, Joshmaul's command was countermanded by Lady Sylvanas, whose word was law among the Forsaken - and Settra, as a result, was bound to obey.

Sekhesmet's Revenge
The Order of Netherstorm Knights - of which both Joshmaul and Sekhesmet were a part - began to slowly collapse, but it maintained enough manpower to continue its fight in the Horde. A group of Knights joined Sekhesmet first in travelling to Kalimdor, assaulting Razorfen Kraul and assassinating Charlga Razorflank, the crone of the Death's Head tribe (and in the process collecting Kraul bat guano for Master Apothecary Faranell back in the Undercity)...and finding that the Scourge had attempted to gain influence among the quillboar tribes, in order to gain a foothold in Kalimdor.

After defeating the quillboars, Sekhesmet returned to Lordaeron and - with Blood Knight Master Baultazar, leader of the Netherstorm Knights, at his side - led an attack on the Scarlet Monastery to avenge his torture at the hands of the Crusaders. The Knights traversed the halls of the once-hallowed Monastery and killed everyone they saw, stealing their valuables and despoiling their bodies. Sekhesmet unleashed vile devouring plagues against many Crusaders, cannibalized their bodies to regain strength, and tore out their hearts to bring back to Faranell. By the time he left, the Monastery's halls were spattered with blood and entrails, and some of the blood was used to write messages on the walls for surviving Crusaders to find.



Once the Netherstorm Knights crumbled, Joshmaul rejoined the Order of Vestige and Sekhesmet - eager for revenge on Joshmaul himself - followed him, as did the House of Whitehair. The Order of Vestige seemed more in line with Sekhesmet's needs than they were with Joshmaul's. The blood elf mage Vhan, an officer of the Order, accompanied Sekhesmet back to the Scarlet Monastery when word reached the priest in the Undercity that it had been repopulated by the Scarlet Crusade operating in the Plaguelands - those not killed by Saavedro over the years. Killing Arcanist Doan's replacement as keeper of the Monastery library and stealing his robes and weapons, then assassinating the new High Inquisitor and the Scarlet Commander and stealing precious artifacts from them, Sekhesmet left a trail of destruction throughout the entire Scarlet Monastery, so much so that the Crusade began to reel from the losses incurred in Tirisfal - adding these new officers' deaths to those of Whitemane, Mograine, Loksey, Doan and Herod, as well as Captains Vachon, Melrache and Perrine, the Tirisfal regional commanders that Sekhesmet had killed years earlier, and Meven Korgal, the emissary to the Crusaders in Deathknell, also killed by Sekhesmet himself when he had begun his path as a Forsaken.

Sekhesmet also travelled deep into the Alterac Mountains to do battle with the remnants of the Kirin Tor of Dalaran (those who still served the Alliance, anyway) and with elements of the Syndicate. At Strahnbrad, he and a blood elf magister assaulted the abandoned village - whose defense, several years earlier, had been Arthas' first step on the path to corruption - and killed all of the Syndicate members they could find, releasing an imprisoned orc with information given to him by Warchief Thrall himself - something pertaining to a trinket the Warchief found important. At the ruins of Dalaran, the magics of the Kirin Tor mages were no match for the powers of the shadow that Sekhesmet commanded, and many of its members were devoured by the horrific plague that he had used to kill Thule Ravenclaw.

The Downs and the Up(land)s
Sekhesmet grew in strength and power as he did battle against various enemies in Dustwallow Marsh - the Black Dragonflight, in particular, in addition to the Grimtotem tauren, who were mysteriously accompanied by a Forsaken apothecary that Sekhesmet was forced to kill - and discovered the mysteries of the Shady Rest Inn's destruction. Eventually, Sekhesmet grew strong enough for a great task: Destroying a powerful Scourge leader in the largest accessable stronghold outside of Lordaeron.

Weeks earlier, Sekhesmet had discovered that Charlga Razorflank, elder crone of the Death's Head quillboars, had entered into an alliance with the Scourge. On orders from Varimathras, the shadow priest had assassinated the Scourge ambassadors, Malcin and Bloodrage, outside of Razorfen Downs - the central fortress of the quillboar tribes. Now, Sekhesmet's expertise with the situation had him sent back to Razorfen Downs to deal with the infestation there. Coming to the aid of the red dragon Belnistrasz and confronting the legions of Scourge that infested the halls, Sekhesmet came face to face with Amnennar the Coldbringer, the lich overlord of Razorfen Downs. He was telepathically connected to the Lich King and his continued presence would lead to the potential overrunning of Kalimdor. Aided by a powerful hunter ally, Sekhesmet broke through the ranks of Scourge and destroyed the Coldbringer, taking from him a set of robes and the resonating skull of the lich.

Sekhesmet then returned to Lordaeron, where he confronted the leadership of the Syndicate, a group of assassins and bandits led by former nobles of Alterac. Entering deep into the Alterac Mountains, Sekhesmet traversed across the Uplands and located Baron Vardus, wanted for crimes against the Forsaken, at an encampment just north of the ruins of Alterac City. Realizing an opportunity, Sekhesmet ambushed the Baron and killed him with a powerful display of shadow magic, taking his head as demanded by High Executor Darthalia back in Tarren Mill. Proceeding through the Uplands towards the shores of Lordamere Lake, Sekhesmet came upon a large manor-house called Dandred's Fold - the headquarters of the Syndicate. Quietly killing any sentries that could spread the alarm, Sekhesmet went upstairs and confronted the master of the Syndicate himself - Lord Aliden Perenolde, son of the king who had betrayed the Alliance. Surprisingly, the heir to Alterac wielded powers very similar to Sekhesmet himself, but Sekhesmet's mastery of his powers gave him the upper hand. In the end, Perenolde lay dead on the floor, as Sekhesmet turned to confront his mistress, Elysa - the true reason he had come all this way.

Terrified, Elysa handed over a small pendant, a crescent moon on a silver chain, and was allowed to go free. Calling upon his levitation powers, Sekhesmet ran across Lordamere Lake back into Tirisfal, where he returned to Undercity and flew at once to Tarren Mill. It was his victory over both Baron Vardus and Lord Perenolde that brought his powers of the shadow to the fore - taking a shadowform known only to powerful priests.

The Crown of Will
Sekhesmet was sent on a quest on behalf of his Dark Lady, given by the banshee Sharlindra - to find the ogre Mug'thol, who had once served Sylvanas but had placed the Crown of Will on his head, breaking her domination. His duty was to destroy the Crushridge ogre clan and eventually take the warlord's head - and the Crown along with it. The first task was to soften up the ogre forces by killing brutes, maulers and mages. Next Melisara - a lieutenant of Sharlindra - tasked him with taking the heads of the ogre lieutenants Targ, Muckrake and Glommus. Lastly, he received the order to terminate Mug'thol himself, and take both his head (which would join those of his lieutenants in a public display of Forsaken power) and the Crown of Will.

Entering the ruined fortress in Alterac, Sekhesmet made his way to the top until he finally came face to face with the ogre warlord. Though it nearly killed him, Sekhesmet killed the traitor and took both his head and the Crown of Will back to Melisara, who sent him to deliver the Crown to Sharlindra in the Hall of the Dark Lady.

A New Beginning
In time, as he fought throughout Lordaeron to secure it for the Forsaken, Sekhesmet at last returned to the level of strength he had held in life. But in the new path he had taken, the path of shadow, he had further to go and much more to learn - and the first thing he did was return to Undercity to continue his training with the Apothecarium. In time, he became a full-fledged apothecary for the RAS, and helped develop the New Plague that would later be used to catastrophic effect at the Wrathgate.

As the war in Northrend continued, Sekhesmet's mastery of the Light - the healing powers he had wielded in life - would return, and be used in conjunction with his powers over the Shadow. In time, he would achieve a balance between the two powers. When asked if it was painful to wield the Light again, he replied that indeed it was, but it was a pain he bore for his Dark Lady, mending those who could not mend themselves. After the death of the Lich King, Sekhesmet began to use his Light powers more regularly.

Current Location
Sekhesmet is currently located on Mount Hyjal.

Quotations

 * "Death is only the beginning, my friend. A period of pain in exchange for virtual immortality - that is true transcendence, and a true test of a man's will." - to his old apprentice, Ordevaas Portalseeker
 * "There are those who said this day would never come. What are they to say now?" - upon the reopening of the Dark Portal (Note: This line is taken from the High Prophet of Truth from Halo 2)
 * "At lasssssst.....one....with the Shadow...." - upon gaining the power of Shadowform
 * "The whole lot of them have been maligned by both sides since the Wrathgate incident, and I have a feeling that things are about to get worse. Sekhesmet in particular concerns me, as he is a vassal of this House - he takes far too much glee in the workings of his mistress and her minions, and indeed has given his own support to their dastardly plans. I cannot bring myself to fully trust him, despite the fact that he was the mentor of both your father and of Saavedro. He will need to be watched." -Taeril'hane Ketiron, in a letter to his wife