User:Toran Wildpaw of the Frenzyheart/Seekthreed

"I wonder now...if Kor had never happened...would I have been able to act? Would Saavedro still be alive? Would there have been anything I could've done, to make sure Saavedro was not mercilessly destroyed by that wicked fiend, Joshmaul? I cannot help but want to say yes, even as minor and insignificant a person I am...Deathlord of Orgrimmar, what worth did that title ever truely have?"
 * -Seekthreed of the Thousand Wounds, to Ambassador Jaeden'laek

Seekthreed of the Thousand Wounds was a hunter of the Horde who had served under Warchiefs Orgrim Doomhammer in the Second War and Thrall in the Third War. He was slain by the Scourge after the return of Naxxramas, and raised in undeath as a minion of the Lich King until his liberation at the Battle for Light's Hope Chapel. Serving as Deathlord of Orgrimmar in the Council of Deathlords, Seekthreed went mad with a need for vengeance for the murder of his wife, and went on a rampage all throughout Kalimdor in order to find the one who had killed her. Finally coming to his senses after the death of Saavedro, Seekthreed saw the destruction he had caused, and swore to repent; he reconciled with Artimus Devaneaux, the former leader of the Council, as well as Taeril'hane Ketiron, and became the unofficial emissary between the Grand Army of Kezan and the Coalition.

Biography
Seekthreed was born sometime during the orcish Horde's slaughter of the draenei on Draenor. He was incredibly lucky, as he had managed to escape the fate of some orcish children- while they had their childhood ripped away from them by warlocks who altered them, Seekthreed was able to live his childhood naturally. He had been spared the horrors of the draenei's erradication, and would not begin to fight until sometime later.

By the time the Second War was brewing, Seekthreed was forced to fight at a quite young age of 22. He decided to take up the bow and become an archer of sorts. He had met Rexxar a few years prior, and the Half-ogre taught him a bit about animals, and the wild. Seekthreed managed to tame a polar bear, during his brief time in Dun Morogh, aiding the Dragonmaw clan against the dwarves. Orgrim Doomhammer, the current Warchief of the Horde, had ordered that Seekthreed be brought to the North however, and the hunter started fighting his first few humans.

Eventually however, the war ended, and Seekthreed was brought to an internemnt camp. But then, a young orc by the name of Thrall had acquired the aid of the Warsong clan, Frostwolf clan, and the Warchief of the now shattered Horde, Orgrim Doomhammer, and had begun destroying the internment camps and freeing the orcs that were being held in the camps. Seekthreed was in the camp that would later become known as Hammerfall. He had seen Orgrim's fall to a cowardly assault to the back, but unlike other orcs, such as Gor'mul, he did not lose hope.

He then sailed with Thrall to Kalimdor, and partook in the Third War. His bow was responsible for the death of the dreadlord Anetheron, as it had struck the demon right in the throat. He had also met Saavedro of Stratholme, a soon to be renowned Paladin, who had gone through the Caverns of Time to participate in the Battle for Mount Hyjal, though Seekthreed did not know this. Together, along with many other orcs, humans, night elves, and other races, they fought Archimonde, until he was destroyed by the trap Malfurion Stormrage had set.

Life/Undeath after the Wars
The hunter had not been able to partake in the many battles against Daelin Proudmoore's forces, due to an injury he had suffered during the Battle of Mount Hyjal, and after he recovered, he served mainly as a hunter.

However, the Scourge had decided to make it's move. During the first Scourge Invasion, Seekthreed had decided to take arms against the undead, and fought off the hordes of rotting corpses in Orgrimmar. However, he was killed by a wight, who had then taken his corpse to Naxxramas. He was raised as a Death knight, and held in reserve, as had another Death knight, Ublaz Deathspear. The two were then transfered to Acherus: The Ebon Hold. Along with other Death knights, such as Arrhae Leafrunner and Artimus Devaneaux, he carved a path of destruction through Havenshire and New Avalon, destroying all Scarlet Crusaders who stood in his way.

Seekthreed had gained his title, "Of the Thousand Wounds", during the Battle for Light's Hope Chapel. He had leapt into an entire group of Defenders of the Light, and had been nearly beaten to death. However, he clung to life through nothing more then sheer will and determination, and continued slashing his way through the various defenders. However, when Tirion Fordring, the new Highlord of the Silver Hand, came and defeated the Lich King with the newly purified Ashbringer, his bond to the Lich King was cut. Swearing vengeance upon the Lich King, he journeyed back to Orgrimmar, along with Ublaz, and spoke to Thrall about their predicement, all the while giving him a letter from Tirion to prove they were free men.

Deathlord: Always Argueing
After being welcomed back to the Horde, Seekthreed was approached by Artimus Devaneaux with a proposition. The head of the Council of Deathlords said that the Council would be glad to take Seekthreed as a Deathlord of Orgrimmar. Seekthreed accepted readily.

The former hunter argues with the Council often, however. Being the hot-head he is, he is quick to yell out, and does not get along very well with the other, more orderly members. He often objects to Ublaz's suggestions, finding them non-conclusive. And, though she is not a member, he despises Arrhae Leafrunner, thinking her cowardly for blaming Velenkayn, the Deathlord of Azuremyst Isle, for her death, even when he could not control his own body.

Concerning Artimus' recent descision, Seekthreed is at a crossroads. One one hand, he agreed with Artimus, as Death Knights needed to stick with Death Knights, and not bother with others unless it means one step closer to the Lich King's downfall.

On the other hand, however, as he would've thought back when he was still alive, The Head of the Council should not have turned upon his ally as he had, for no particular reason, save that he wanted to show that he would now fight only for the Ebon Blade, and any other Death Knight standing against the Lich King (though Seekthreed thinks this could have been accomplished in a less overly violent and more honorable way).

Jaeden'laek
Seekthreed has been to many places, and has met many people, but one of the most recent would be Jaeden'laek. Despite the many common hatreds between orcs and draenei, and Seekthreed's hotheadedness, the two were able to get along.

The Death knight, having heard that Jaeden'laek made a prophecy about Artimus, had asked the seer to make one for him, as he was curious as to his own future. The draenei agreed, and after a few day's meditation, gave the orc his prophecy:

Once warrior of bow,

Now monster of axe,

His grief will grow.

Watching the cracks,

With blade in toe,

His axe right, his hand light.

Conflicted he'll be,

With the splitting of thee,

The second split of the Council.

Seekthreed was (somewhat) shocked by this prophecy. He had known his past, and he had known that it was very likely many other horrible things would happen. However, he had not anticipated a split in the Council of Deathlords. While he did know of Artimus' recent treachery - Settra had told him and the other Horde Deathlords - he had never thought that it could cause yet another splintering.

Troubled with this information, he thanked Jaeden'laek and left to think over this shocking possibility. On one hand, Artimus was both the Head of the Council and a fellow Ebon Blade Death Knight. As the Deathlord of Orgrimmar, he simply couldn't abandon him. But, on the other hand, he was mostly loyal to the Horde and his Warchief. Though, his pleasant view of Thrall had dimmed a bit; not only did he let himself be trapped by the evil warlock Joshmaul into turning a blind eye to the warlock guilds, but he also seemed unable to keep the insubordinate Garrosh Hellscream in line.

Jaeden'laek was right; Seekthreed WAS conflicted. However, the orc then decided to simply not think about it until the time came when such a split occured. However, not long after he decided to do this had yet another thing to consider came into play...

As it would happen, the warlock guilds had been appaled by Joshmaul's alliance with Artimus, and had since fallen more in line with the Warchief, while the House of Shadowsun which had backed Joshmaul for so long was exiled from the Horde, there was no one to come to Joshmaul's aid, and the warlock had been imprisoned and forced to swear loyalty to Thrall. And then, suddenly, it appeared to Seekthreed: it had not been a true alliance at all. Rather, it was a plan to pick apart the Corruptor's defenses, until at last he could be leashed by the Horde.

Seekthreed was even moreso disturbed by this; while his respect for Artimus had went up a bit for the master plan, the Head of the Council was apparently no less an insane schemer then his own enemy, Joshmaul. Seekthreed was almost ready to go mad from all the stress and thoughts...

Odd Paradoxes: TWO Deathchargers?!
After his tedious thoughts about the most likely inevitable splintering of the Council between those loyal to the Ebon Blade and those loyal to Artimus, Seekthreed had decided to stroll through Tirisfal Glades to keep his mind off the dire prophecy. However, much to his chagrin, the Death Knight was encountered by one Shankolin Blightpath.

While Seekthreed did not immediately recognize him, Shankolin had recognized Seekthreed, and immediately leapt off his horse and charged at the orc. Seekthreed defended himself, and after a lengthy battle, Shankolin retreated, leaving his horse behind. Seekthreed noticed something odd about the horse though; it was exactly the same as Rivendare's Deathcharger, which was nowadays being ridden by Artimus.

Though Seekthreed did not know this, the horse had actually been Shankolin's in the alternate timeline he originally came from, rather then falling into the hands of Rivendare. Though the orc was somewhat perplexed by the odd resemblance, he took the horse for himself all the same, taking pride in the fact that Artimus wasn't the only one with a horse that was often searched for by members of both the Horde and the Alliance.

Icing the Icelord: The Midsummer Fire Festival
Not long after defeating Shankolin and obtaining his horse, Seekthreed began to participate in the Midsummer Fire Festival that had recently come to all of the major cities of the Horde and Alliance, as well as many different towns for both factions. Despite his position as a Death Knight, which made him generally dark and cold, he lightened up some as he threw and juggled torches.

Soon enough, however, an Earthen Ring Elder requested that Seekthreed check out a Twilight's Hammer meeting at the Zoram Strand. After he arrived there, he threw down a totem that called an Earthen Ring Guide, who then instructed Seekthreed to find information about what the Twilight's Hammer was up to. After Seekthreed obtained the information and allowed the Guide to read it, the Guide gave a magical item to the orc that would disguise him as a crab. After using this item, he eavedropped on a meeting between Ice Caller Briatha, a member of the Twilight's Hammer, and a Heretic Emissary. Apparently, the Twilight's Hammer wanted to summon an ice elemental by the name of Ahune, who would then do battle with Ragnaros, and tear the world of Azeroth apart.

Neither Seekthreed nor the Earthen Ring could allow this. After returning to the Elder and speaking with her of these events, she ordered that Seekthreed gather a party and charge into the Slave Pens and destroy Ahune. The orc called upon a mage who was a friend, as well as some others, and charged into the Slave Pens, slaying some of the naga there and freeing their Broken slaves. After that, they summoned Ahune, using a nearby ice crystal. The Elemental Lord of ice appeared, and they fought with him. It was a difficult fight, though they were eventually able to defeat the ice elemental, since he was not at his full strength yet. Returning to the Elder and showing her a fallen shard from Ahune, she granted him a small amount of money and the Tabard of Summer Flames.

Engulfed by Hatred: Kor
With Ahune's threat come and gone, Seekthreed began to relax during the Summer Festival. He talked with what few friends he had, and drank and laughed to his heart's content. However, sooner then he would've expected, catastrophy struck.

A mysterious man, by the name of Kor, asked the Deathlord to come off to the side with him and "chat" for a bit. This chat proved to be much more then what the man had called it though; he revealed that Seekthreed's wife, Tarkona, who he had forced out of his life in order to protect, was trapped within the halls of Gundrak, where she was going to be eaten by the giant gorloc Eck the Ferocious soon, and that she could still be saved. Startled by this, Seekthreed immediately called together other adventurers, went to Zul'Drak, and entered the ice troll city.

After defeating the trolls who had stolen their own gods' powers, and the Drakkari Colossus, the group entered the gorloc lair. They slaughtered the gorloc minions, and rushed to where he saw the silhoutte of a person tied up. However, when he went to free the person, he found it was not his wife. Rather, it was another ice troll.

The giant gorloc came out of the waters, and he saw that it had bits and pieces of orc flesh stuck in it's teeth. Seekthreed immediately knew that the gorloc had eaten her. Flying into a rage, he charged straight at the gorloc, along with the rest of his group, and immediately ripped it to shreds.

Returning to Orgrimmar, he found Kor there, smiling evilly. He was about to kill him, but the deathlord was overpowered by the man, and dragged into the Cleft of Shadows. Kor revealed even more information; he was infact from the past, and had been unleashed by Saavedro of Stratholme, the regent lord of Lordaeron, when he went back in time with Artimus to Naxxramas. He then let out an evil laugh, before vanishing.

Then, all worry about the split of the Council of Deathlords left the orc's mind, and in it's place a raging fury and longing for vengeance settled. Seekthreed swore vengeance on both of them, and left. He began to track down Kor, so that he could kill him. And after Kor was dead...Saavedro would be next...

The Camp Taurajo Massacre
While hunting down Kor, Seekthreed began torturing and killing anyone who crossed his path, going mad with his quest to exact vengeance. Word of this caught the ear of both Thrall and Saavedro. Both were hesitant to establish wanted posters and declare him rogue; Thrall because of Seekthreed's ties with the Ebon Blade, as well as the Council of Deathlords; Saavedro because he did not want to shatter whatever type of cease-fire/alliance he had with Artimus. Both were shocked however, when they heard what happened next in the mad Death Knight's search.

Tearing a path of destruction through Ashenvale, he heard from a night elven messenger that Alliance warriors were on their way to destroy Camp Taurajo. After killing the elf, he fled as fast as he could towards the Camp. However, he and some Horde reinforcements that Seekthreed had joined along the way were too late. Bloodied and broken bodies littered Taurajo as it burned. Flying into a rage, Seekthreed and the reinforcements butchered the Alliance soldiers and burned the corpses. However; Seekthreed noticed something: the Alliance soldiers were adorned with tabards of the Ebon Blade, and their eyes glowed. He once more felt fury flow through his veins and take him over; now, even his fellow Death Knights betrayed him.

However, before he made another horrible mistake, Kor appeared out of seemingly nowhere, and informed Seekthreed that the Death Knights had been manipulated slightly; Kor had simply edged on the anger that burned deep within them. The mysterious man also egged on Seekthreed's, by lying that they had also been informed previously by Saavedro to destroy the Camp. Kor was aware that this did not make sense, but it didn't have to; Seekthreed's fury blinded him to all reason, and his lust for vengeance burned ever brighter. Kor disappeared once more, and Seekthreed continued his journey to end the mysterious being's life.

Once more, he encountered Jaeden'laek in the wilds of Kalimdor during his chase. Jaeden'laek attempted to convince Seekthreed that he was going down a dark path that would end in tragedy for him. Seekthreed didn't listen, and continued his tracking of Kor. In light of these recent events, Jaeden'laek made another prophecy;

The Baron's pride,

Taking advantage of him,

With paladin at side.

Challenging Death's rim,

With Time's dim,

A monster is born.

Now unrestrained,

Time's Thorn,

Will decieve Orgrimmar's champion.

With fury in heart,

And vengeance sworn,

The champion shall doom himself.

Making Amends
With Saavedro's death at the hands of Joshmaul and the fruitlessness of his hunt for Kor, Seekthreed felt grief for the crimes he had committed while under the haze of impassioned anger and want for vengeance. Wishing to atone for his sins, the former Deathlord of Orgrimmar met with both Taeril'hane Ketiron, Patriarch of the Joint Houses of Ketiron and Whitehair, and Artimus Devaneaux.

Surprisingly enough, both had forgiven him and allowed him to go free. While still somewhat suspicious of him, Ketiron found the apparent sincerity of Seekthreed's grief to be more than enough reason to allow him to leave. Artimus understood the orc, being in similar situations himself many times before.

With his atonement, Seekthreed became the unofficial ambassador between the Grand Army of Kezan and Saavedro's Coalition.