High General Abbendis

High General Abbendis was one of the founders of the original Scarlet Crusade. He was the father of High General Brigitte Abbendis.

Background
Abbendis was originally one of Alexandros Mograine's commanders during the Second War. Abbendis was serving at Alexandros' side during the final battle at Blackrock Mountain.

By the time of the Third War, a faction had started growing in the Knights of the Silver Hand, largely led by Abbendis. This faction was intolerant of what they deemed as the "lesser races".

During the war itself, Abbendis learned about the betrayal of Baron Rivendare from Thomas Thomson. He helped rally the remnants of the Silver Hand to try and retake Lordaeron from the Scourge, sealing an alliance with the human communities of Tyr's Hand and ultimately founding the Scarlet Crusade. During a Scourge assault on Hearthglen, however, Abbendis was mortally wounded by the undead while saving his daughter Brigitte and died in her arms. Brigitte eventually took his former rank of High General.

In the RPG
He was a tall man in his 40s, dark of skin with wild, white hair. His madness was evident in his face, but his followers merely saw it as utmost dedication to his cause.

Third War
High General Abbendis and his youthful charges were in the Capital City of Lordaeron, when it was attacked by the Scourge during the Third War. Priests and paladins fought as the Scourge attacked the city, but Abbendis fled with Isillien as Lordaeron fell around them. It is believed, that the wounds both men received in battle, or perhaps just the shock of seeing their whole purpose destroyed, turned them mad; since that day both Abbendis and Isillien have been quite insane.

Abbendis and Isillien wandered the area as the Scourge defiled the land, destroying what undead they could, gathering what warriors would join them. They had but one concern: eradication of all that had destroyed Lordaeron. They were joined by young Taelan Fordring, one of Isillien’s protégés, who adored his tutor and his general. He offered his family’s keep and land, untouched by the undead, for their base of operations. The elder Abbendis and Isillien felt that although they had a good base, they really needed to attack the Scourge where they were the thickest: in the Eastern Plaguelands. Isillien took on the title of Grand Inquisitor, while the elder Abbendis led the majority of the forces to Tyr's Hand in the east to strike at Stratholme. As they established their bases and took in many more warriors, they destroyed any undead they found.

Formation of the Scarlet Crusade
Together, the elder Abbendis and his daughter, Isillien, Saidan Dathrohan (Balnazzar), Renault Mograine, and Taelan Fordring founded the Scarlet Crusade to fight back against the undead they saw as having corrupted Arthas and destroyed their order.

Abbendis was the official head of the Scarlet Crusade. He considered himself the arm of the Crusade while Isillien was the heart. Abbendis guided the military attacks of the Crusade from Tyr’s Hand in the Eastern Plaguelands, communicating frequently with Isillien, who guides the priests in the Crusade in their new roles as inquisitors, based in the Western Plaguelands.

Abbendis acted as the leader of the warriors and guided the eradication of undead in the Eastern Plaguelands. Abbendis, like most of the Crusaders, was driven insane by the intense fighting. He believed that the Light has blessed him so that he could retake Stratholme and rout the Scourge. No one really knows what happened to the High General to make his hatred of the undead so virulent. Some (very quietly) speculate that he and the Grand Inquisitor were captured and tortured by the Scourge, but no stories have ever been verified. Asking the High General exactly why he hates the undead brands the inquirer as maddened by the plague. He is of the opinion that one must hate the undead and remove them from Lordaeron, else the humans will never regain their foothold on their homeland again. He feels his actions follow the Light, that he is doing good for his race and his home. He deeply admires his partner, the Grand Inquisitor, and is very proud of the organization they have built together.

High General Abbendis's daughter is the young Brigitte Abbendis, who is the current High General. As an older man, he sought to destroy all undead. He passed that goal onto his daughter before he died at undead hands.

Notes and trivia

 * There was originally a mismatch between RPG lore, which described Abbendis as a man, while World of Warcraft showed him as a female, both with the same rank of High General. The Ashbringer comic reconciled the issue by showing that there were two Abbendises characters, both High Generals at different times.