User:Joshmaul/Poquelin the Accursed

"'So many lives to ruin, and so little time...'"
 * - Poquelin the Accursed

Poquelin the Accursed, born Teren Skyfire, is a demon hunter who served Illidan Stormrage during his rule over Outland. A student of Varedis, the first blood elf to be trained by Illidan himself, Poquelin was imprisoned with his fellows since Illidan's downfall at the Black Temple, only to be released a decade later into a world that had changed in his slumber...

Biography
Born three centuries before the First War, Teren Skyfire was a member of the chief vassal family to the House of Whitehair, an ancient family of Quel'Thalas and member of the Council of Silvermoon; his sister, Kaleris, was the captain of the guard. House Skyfire had been the chosen lieutenants of House Whitehair since the War of the Ancients and the exodus from Kalimdor. Teren rose in the ranks alongside his sister and Taeril'hane Ketiron, a member of another vassal house, fighting against the Amani forest trolls along the eastern hills of Eversong Forest. Their first real taste of a "world war" came when the Horde arrived in Quel'Thalas. It was during this period that Teren's naked ambitions and imperious snobbery came to the fore; he considered Ketiron, who became captain of the Phalanx (the personal bodyguard detachment of Lord Kel'theris, the head of house), to be unworthy of his role, believing that it allowed House Ketiron to challenge House Skyfire's place as the chosen lieutenants of their lords. He believed himself to be Kaleris' natural successor as head of the House Guard should she fall in battle, as the siblings were the last of their family.

That fall came during the invasion of the Scourge, more than a decade later. Kaleris instructed Ketiron, her second-in-command, to lead Lord Kel'theris and his household - including Kel'theris' granddaughter (and Ketiron's future wife), Areinnye - to safety while she joined the forces assembled to defend Silvermoon. She was cut down by Arthas himself, her soul joining the multitudes claimed by Frostmourne in the despoiling of Quel'Thalas. The remaining Whitehair forces camped in the hills southeast of Silvermoon, near an abandoned Amani troll village, while Kel'theris thought on who would succeed Kaleris. Teren assumed it would automatically be him, believing that as the last of House Skyfire, he was the only logical choice. But Kaleris, unbeknownst to him, had privately denounced Teren's selfish desires in her final meeting with Kel'theris, and suggested that if she should fall, Ketiron would be the ideal choice to command the House Guard in her place. Both noble lord and guard captain realized this would not sit well with Teren, but it would be best for House Whitehair if a man without ambition and selfish pride led House Whitehair's forces during Quel'Thalas' darkest hour.

So it was that Kel'theris made his decision, informing Ketiron that he would succeed Kaleris as commander of the Whitehair House Guard. Teren was outraged, declaring that Kaleris would never have passed her own brother over. Kel'theris attempted to assuage his feelings by naming him captain of the Phalanx, but the suggestion infuriated Teren even further; he declared he would never be second in command to a man he believed was not fit for latrine duty, let alone commanding the guard of a noble lord of Silvermoon. He openly challenged Kel'theris, declaring that it was just as well that he named a fool to command the guard, for Kel'theris was just as much a fool as Ketiron. Angered, Kel'theris banished Teren, swearing to kill him if he ever came near the Whitehair camp again. Teren replied that if he ever saw Kel'theris again, he would kill him.

The words spoken, Teren turned away, wandering the ruins of Quel'Thalas alone. He eventually left Quel'Thalas altogether, linking up with Prince Kael'thas' forces in the Plaguelands of Lordaeron; the heir to the throne of Silvermoon and member of Dalaran's Council of Six had led a group of his people to rejoin the Alliance under the command of Grand Marshal Othmar Garithos, an arrogant racist who blamed the former high elves (now blood elves) for the destruction of his hometown of Blackwood during the Second War, believing that the elves had distracted the Alliance from the defense of humanity. When Kael'thas had been forced to ally with Lady Vashj and her naga to survive, Garithos arrested the prince and his followers and held them in the Violet Hold in the ruins of Dalaran, awaiting execution, until Vashj rescued them. The naga brought them to Outland in order to rescue her master, Illidan Stormrage, from the vengeful night elf Warden Maiev Shadowsong.

The Rise of Poquelin
Teren was equal parts repulsed and fascinated by Illidan, who had taken on demonic characteristics after consuming the power of the skull of Gul'dan sometime before the Battle of Mount Hyjal which had brought an end to the Burning Legion's invasion. The blood elves swore allegiance to Illidan, and Kael'thas was made the Betrayer's second-in-command as they began their campaign to claim Outland from Magtheridon, the demon lord who ruled from the Black Temple. Imprisoning Magtheridon beneath Hellfire Citadel, Illidan consolidated his forces before returning to Azeroth to lay siege to Icecrown Citadel, bastion of the Lich King of the Scourge. Yet their efforts were in vain: Arthas critically wounded Illidan, and melded with the Lich King to rule over the Scourge himself. Illidan was brought back to Outland, where he and his forces gathered their strength again.

While still allegiant to Illidan, Kael'thas offered five of his best warriors to be trained by Illidan in the art of the demon hunter. Three of the trainees died, and a fourth, Leotheras, went mad with the dark powers he was corrupted with. The fifth, Varedis, survived; he had proven to be stronger and more powerful than even most veteran demon hunters. Illidan placed Varedis in charge of training new demon hunters in demon lore.

Teren, still burning with anger at his "betrayal" by House Whitehair and desiring to take vengeance on them should he ever return to Azeroth, decided to take the risk, and went before Varedis as one of his students. When he was deemed worthy of joining the ranks of the Illidari demon hunters, Teren ritually gouged out his own eyes and was granted the spectral sight to better detect demons and other unholy creatures. Declaring that the man he had been was now dead, he forsook his birth name, and now called himself Poquelin, meaning "avenger" in a demonic dialect. He also underwent training by the night elf hunter Netharel in the use of warglaives, the chosen weapon of the hunt.

When it became clear that Kael'thas had sworn himself to the Burning Legion and betrayed Illidan, Poquelin took pleasure in hunting down and slaying any of the blood elves who followed him, occasionally sneaking into their encampments in Netherstorm and Terokkar and slaughtering those who had not been killed by the invaders from Azeroth fighting for the Sha'tar. It was the survivors of those attacks who took to calling him "the Accursed One", and Poquelin - appreciating the irony - adopted it as his own title.

Darkness and Light on a Collision Course


Illidan rallied his demon hunters and sent them to assault the demon world of Mardum to claim the Sargerite Keystone, a powerful artifact that would allow them to open portals to all of the Legion's worlds - possibly even Argus itself. Poquelin was among those who fought in the first wave, even though he knew (as, most likely, did Illidan) that the Sha'tar would rally an army to besiege the Black Temple back in Outland. Nonetheless, he obeyed Illidan's command and went with the others, slaying any demons who prevented the commanders from carrying out the task the Betrayer had given them. The commanders rallied and took the Keystone, slaying the demoness who ruled Mardum, and prepared to return to Outland to slaughter the Sha'tari invaders.

Just as Poquelin had feared, however, the Illidari forces did not return to the Black Temple in time. Illidan was slain, and Warden Maiev Shadowsong - once prisoner, now jailer - took his body and his surviving followers into custody. Poquelin was imprisoned along with his fellows in the great Vault of the Wardens in Azsuna, where he rotted away for the next decade. But chance would soon turn in his favor; events on Azeroth since then (and later on a time-altered Draenor) had resulted in the Legion returning in far more vast numbers than they had in the War of the Ancients ten millennia before, and Maiev and her Wardens were forced to release Illidan's former followers, who had great experience with dealing with demons, in order to save those still in the Vault...and possibly fight for the other mortal races. The night elf hunters rejoined their people (reluctantly) in the Alliance, while Poquelin and his fellows were tied by their race's allegiance to the Horde.

Once he was free and the Illidari had returned to Mardum to claim the Fel Hammer - the fortress where the Keystone had been kept - as a base, Poquelin's inquiries were not on the growing war with the Legion, but of what had become of his former masters in House Whitehair. What he learned infuriated him: Ketiron, his hated rival, had married Areinnye and taken control of the House following the retirement of Kel'theris (who remained as one of Ketiron's advisors) and the death of his son Ordevaas, Areinnye's father. Though Areinnye was also dead, slain on Draenor by a mad gnome warlock, she and Ketiron had borne one son, Ord'taeril, who was the rightful heir to both House Ketiron and House Whitehair. Poquelin saw this as the ultimate insult, something else that should have been his, which had been denied him by Kel'theris.

The Cost of Hubris, and Second Chances
Even with the world on the brink of annihilation, the war with the Legion was almost a sideshow for Poquelin, for revenge against Ketiron was very much at the front of his mind. Yet events would lead to far more gruesome fates for his erstwhile foes; both Kel'theris and Ketiron would fall to the Modas il Toralar, a group of shadowcasters and other self-centered individuals gathered in a "cult" in the Horde's underworld for years. But an opportunity would arise for him to take his revenge, as Ketiron was raised by the Knights of the Ebon Blade, becoming a fearsome death knight known as the Crimson King. Just prior to the invasion of Argus, Poquelin faced Ketiron in combat on the Broken Shore near the Tomb of Sargeras. To his horrified rage, Ketiron slew him easily, attempting to use his Scourge-granted magics to ensure he would not return from the Nether. It very nearly succeeded... but for Illidan opening the way to Argus. It was there that Poquelin found himself, watching with fascination as the draenei led the final charge against their former brethren...

Poquelin's demonic spirit was found in Krokuun by a band of Illidari hunters led by Nemiya Shadowsun, contained in a soulkeeper, and brought back to the Fel Hammer on Mardum. Nemiya hoped to prevent another incident like that with Varedis, who had been killed in Outland and raised as a Legion champion by Kil'jaeden. Unlike Loramus Thalipedes, whose body persisted after his demise, Poquelin's had been burned on a pyre by Ketiron and his allies as a final insult. Nemiya, however, had been able to return to the Broken Shore and bag the ashes, which were (surprisingly) still there, and still contained residual power. Nemiya then left to return to Argus, leaving Poquelin to replenish his lost power. More than a year later, she returned, declaring she had "had enough". A painstaking ritual took place, with Nemiya sacrificing herself to remake Poquelin's body and restore his soul to it.

Nemiya's sacrifice granted him far greater power than he had had before; it also allowed him access to her memories, and the cause for her discontent. After the victory on Argus, the Alliance and the Horde had fought in a "Fourth War". A number of their night elf brethren had fallen to Sylvanas during the burning of Teldrassil, and Ketiron had died for good during the siege of the Undercity that followed. His only son, Ord'taeril - aged to manhood by a "wrong way" trip into the Nether - had been corrupted by the Void and now lived in the Alliance, never to return to Silvermoon. Far from being angered at his vengeance being denied him (having hoped for a rematch), Poquelin expressed satisfaction; the "hated usurper" was dead, his son banished, and his House destroyed. Yet he sensed that Nemiya's effort to restore him was not simply her dissatisfaction at what she had witnessed, but to bring him back for a new conflict, one that she was unwilling to deal with herself...