Balmedar

Balmedar is a lich of the House of Rituals who plays a major role in the later chapters of the Necrolords Campaign. He resents Kel'Thuzad for taking his place as one of Margrave Sin'dane's two barons and works with the Necrolords to bring him down. After this goal is achieved, he moves into the library of the Seat of the Primus, now once again known as Baron Balmedar.

Biography
Balmedar served as one of Margrave Sin'dane's two barons (the other being Baroness Ninadar) until Kel'Thuzad arrived at the House of Rituals, pilfered Balmedar's (in his own words) "rightfully earned title", and shut him out of the house's dealings. After being unable to find any evidence that would mar Sin'dane's adoration for Kel'Thuzad, Balmedar sought out Baroness Draka's forces at the Seat of the Primus to offer an "arrangement": he would give them access to the House of Rituals in return for help in bringing down his replacement. Draka disapproved of the plan and told Necrolord Maw Walkers not to trust the lich, but conceded that his offer might be the only way to uncover the Ritualists' schemes. Balmedar instructed the Maw Walkers to seek out a supply package at the Scaplian Ridge containing a floating oculus he would use to communicate with them, since he did not want to risk meeting them outside the house in person. Through the oculus, he then instructed the heroes to kill one of Kel'Thuzad's favorite acolytes, Nelesis, and perform a ritual on her corpse to take on her appearance, allowing them to infiltrate Kel'Thuzad's inner circle and uncover his intentions. Balmedar himself remained in the Hall of Blades while the now disguised Maw Walkers reported to Kel'Thuzad in the Vault of Souls, though Balmedar's invisible oculus continued to accompany them so he could provide further guidance.

Kel'Thuzad revealed to his "acolyte" that he was planning for a ritual that would "open the way to victory" and sent them to collect a set of tomes from Baroness Ninadar. Balmedar inspected the books' titles through the oculus but could not ascertain what Kel'Thuzad was planning with them. The baron then told his "acolyte" to help Jor'dan the Powerful gather a set of ritual reagents. Balmedar had the Maw Walkers bring the ingredients to him in the Hall of Blades instead, but not before the heroes learned from Jor'dan that Kel'Thuzad was awaiting a broker shipment from Oribos. Concluding that this shipment could contain the key to figuring out Kel'Thuzad's plan, Balmedar sent the Maw Walkers to ambush the broker caravan on the Scaplian Ridge using an alchemical bomb. When they searched through the exploded debris, the Maw Walkers discovered the mystery reagent—a dagger adorned with runes of Domination—and brought it to Balmedar, who realized that Kel'Thuzad's plan was to open the way into the Maw itself. Since the baron was too powerful to confront directly, Balmedar told the Maw Walkers to return to the Vault of Souls with the reagents, which he had now modified so that they would cause the ritual to fail. Unexpectedly, Kel'Thuzad asked his "acolyte" to assist him in the ritual, and although the sabotaged reagents did cause the spell to fail, they also caused a burst of feedback that shed the heroes' disguise as well as revealing and killing Balmedar's oculus. Realizing that he had been deceived, Kel'Thuzad had both Balmedar and the heroes captured and imprisoned in the Vault of Souls. The lich and the Maw Walkers managed to escape by opening the cell doors with an animated skeletal hand and hurried to the Hall of Sorcery to warn Margrave Sin'dane. They arrived just in time to see Kel'Thuzad overthrow the margrave with the aid of Baroness Ninadar. After gloating at Balmedar and the heroes, Kel'Thuzad summoned the dragon Sapphiron to fight them while he departed with the captive Sin'dane to the necropolis Exoramas. Though the heroes managed to defeat the dragon, Kel'Thuzad's fortified position in Exoramas meant they had no choice but to retreat to the Seat of the Primus via portal and regroup.

After mustering their forces, the Necrolords launched an attack on the House of Rituals to remove Kel'Thuzad's influence. Balmedar accompanied the Necrolords in battle and warned that attacking through the house's main entrance would allow the liches to rain down sorcery on them. However, the Maw Walkers managed to push through the defenses with the help of Emeni's constructs, allowing the attackers to enter the Grimoirium, where Ninadar was channeling an immense amount of anima. Balmedar stated that they had to stop her before she destroyed them all. The attackers began fighting the baroness and nearly defeated her, prompting her to start draining even more anima despite Balmedar's protests that it was too much for her to control. The excessive power caused Ninadar to explode and leave behind the Staff of the Primus, which she had seized from Sin'dane during Kel'Thuzad's coup. Balmedar picked up the staff, stating that the attackers might still stand a chance against Kel'Thuzad if they returned the weapon to Sin'dane. The attackers continued to the Prime Arcanum, where they were unable to stop Kel'Thuzad from summoning a Maw Infernous but received sudden reinforcements from the Venthyr Covenant that allowed the Maw Walkers to deal with the creature. The attackers pressed on to Exoramas, where Kel'Thuzad was waiting with Sin'dane trapped in an ice block. Most of the attackers spread out to hold off Kel'Thuzad's skeletal minions while the Maw Walkers focused on weakening the traitorous baron himself so that Balmedar could free Sin'dane. When he placed the Staff of the Primus in the margrave's hand, it allowed her to shatter her icy prison. However, before the attackers could detain Kel'Thuzad, he escaped to his master—the Jailer—with the help of a group of Mawsworn.

Afterward, Sin'dane agreed to join the Necrolords' cause against the Jailer and gifted them the Staff of the Primus. The Necrolord and venthyr forces went their separate ways from Exoramas, but Balmedar remained by his margrave's side. She pointed out that he had colluded with outsiders to defy her, which he replied had only been to expose Kel'Thuzad and restore her rightful rule. Sin'dane declared that Balmedar would atone for his indiscretions by once again serving as her baron and her liaison to Baroness Draka, a mission that he accepted. With his title restored, Balmedar subsequently moved into the Seat of the Primus.

Quests

 * The House of Rituals

Introductory portion:
 * 1) The Wayward Baron
 * 2) Burying Suspicion, Playing Favorites, Pilfered Power
 * 3) A Fitting Guise
 * 4) The Pupil Returns

Ending portion:
 * 1) The Final Reagent
 * 2) Explosive Schemes
 * 3) Blinding the Brokers and No Crate Unturned
 * 4) Designed to Fail
 * 5) Caught in the Act
 * 6) Improvised Implements
 * 7) A Helpful Hand
 * 8) The Traitor Unmasked
 * 9) The Better Part of Valor

On-click

 * Greeting
 * What do you have to offer?
 * We meet again! Unfortunately.
 * You have not yet been slain! Impressive.


 * Farewell
 * Until next time! Assuming you survive.
 * Remember, this is an alliance of convenience.
 * I am done with you.... for now.

Gossip

 * Hall of Blades
 * You are the baron's acolyte, not mine,.
 * Remember that, and keep our interactions sparing.


 * Hall of Blades after The Final Reagent
 * Remember to be discreet,.
 * No one must know of our... arrangement.


 * During The Third Fall of Kel'Thuzad
 * The time has come. The events we have set in motion cannot be stopped.


 * Seat of the Primus after Staff of the Primus (quest)
 * You have proven yourself useful,.
 * Should you ever return to Maldraxxus by conventional means, you would be a welcome addition to the House of Rituals.