User:Joshmaul/Saavedro of Stratholme

"'One thing I learned about dragons - never question their motives. The ones who respect mortals will chide you for selfishness, ignorance or some other sin. Those who don't would incinerate you on the spot.'"
 * - Saavedro of Stratholme, to Artimus Devaneaux

Once a simple priest and scholar, Saavedro of Stratholme later rose from his humble origins to become much more - a guide for a landless people; a leader of men in the ongoing struggle for supremacy with the Horde; a teacher of the Light and its principles, and of the enemy they all face; an explorer with an appreciation for the world he lived on, and the worlds beyond his own. As a Knight of the Silver Hand, Saavedro has risen in the decade since the Battle of Mount Hyjal to be a rallying beacon for the survivors of his destroyed homeland of Lordaeron, and trained with some of the most powerful paladins on Azeroth to prepare himself for the final battle against the Lich King. Throughout his service to the Grand Alliance, he has faced the perils of Blackrock Mountain, destroyed the children of Deathwing, faced the servants of the Old Gods, confronted the servitors of the Burning Legion, done battle with the forces of Illidan, and ended Malygos' genocidal Nexus War. But it was the Scourge and its dark master, a creature who had once been the noble Prince Arthas Menethil, who was Saavedro's sworn enemy - the one he most wished to confront and finally defeat, avenging the loss of his homeland once and for all.

With his destiny written, Saavedro confronted his mortal enemy, Joshmaul the Corruptor, in the frozen mountains of Icecrown shortly after the defeat of the Lich King, coming to the aid of his comrade, General Oren Tanis. Though he slew the Corruptor and smote his ruin upon the mountainside, Saavedro succumbed to his wounds in Dalaran four days later, surrounded by his comrades-in-arms in the battle against the Lich King. Thanks to the skills of the red dragonflight, however, Saavedro survived his ordeal, and returned to service during the final battle against Deathwing. Wandering the new land of Pandaria, in search of knowledge, he disappeared after destroying his old master, Sekhesmet, on the summit of Mount Neverest in Kun-Lai. However, rumors have persisted that he somehow survived...

The Storm Returns
Rumors of Saavedro's return spanned nearly three months during the war against Deathwing. It began with the apparent exhumation of Saavedro's gravesite at Sorrow Hill in the Western Plaguelands, where he was buried at his request "when Lordaeron blossomed again" - as it did under the direction of the Cenarion Circle. But upon investigation by three men - Baron Artimus Devaneaux, Master Taeril'hane Ketiron and Packleader Eidan Zherron - they discovered the coffin was in fact empty. Meeting in Hearthglen thereafter, the three men theorized the possibility that Saavedro was in fact alive, as Artimus' investigation indicated that the coffin had never been used. Master Ketiron, who had been present when Saavedro apparently died, denied the possibility outright, while Artimus and Zherron seemed inclined to believe the "impossible possibility" that the paladin had survived. Discussing it with his comrades, Artimus questioned whether a paladin would knowingly deceive his comrades.

As it turned out, Saavedro was in fact party to a deception, but very reluctantly. The red dragon Zaranastrasz, who had been a guardian and companion for some time, had spirited the near-dead paladin away and nursed him back to health - stating only "not yet" when he asked why. Brought back in the service of the Wyrmrest Accord he had served in the Nexus War, Saavedro was kept "in reserve" for a "special purpose" - Zaran stated that he would know his purpose when the time came. As such, Saavedro remained at Wyrmrest Temple when Archbishop Benedictus' treason was revealed, during the great siege by Deathwing and his elemental and faceless minions, and participated in the final battle against Deathwing himself. All the while, Saavedro left messages of sorts and became the subject of prophecy, some of which believed he would return in his old duty as a priest.

The paladin at last revealed himself to Taeril'hane Ketiron and the goblin shaman Smeet Spiritgrinder shortly before Deathwing was defeated, and the paladin participated in the final battle against the corrupted Aspect. Afterwards, he tended to both the wounded Packleader Zherron and to the crippled tauren Sunwalker Telek Eaglespear, who died shortly after arriving in Silvermoon from the Northrend battlefield. It was then that he recruited Zherron and his former lieutenant/adopted daughter, Amendera Kynes, to stand at his side as he readjusted to being amongst the people of the Alliance again. With that settled, he reached out to the downtrodden priestess Genevra Stoneheardt, a former ward of the Archbishop Benedictus, and gave her his counsel.

The Shadow War
After the death of the Worldbreaker and the end of the Cataclysm, Saavedro returned to Stormwind, where he became embroiled in a shadow war that was seemingly intended to break apart the Alliance. Zherron had been placed under the compulsion of the Corruptor and saved by the efforts of Narnicka Stoneheardt, Genevra's husband and commander of Stormwind's First Regiment. Narnicka would also become embroiled in a battle against Artimus Devaneaux, who had begun acting strangely and attacking Genevra and others in Stormwind, as well as nearly killing the renegade undead priestess Nynra Lirann Lightheart. It was during this that Saavedro discovered the identity of his enemy - not the Corruptor, but rather the paladin's former mentor, Sekhesmet of Stratholme, now a powerful Forsaken shadow priest. Like Saavedro, Sekhesmet was a veteran of Icecrown Citadel, who had been alongside a Deathguard force in the Ashen Verdict when the Lich King was defeated.

Sekhesmet had used mental dominance, along with Artimus' blind prejudices, in order to make him his pawn. Artimus openly associated with Forsaken patrols in Lordaeron, led by fellow death knight Varan Metheius, one of Sylvanas' generals - reviled by the Gilneans as the "Butcher of the Northgate". Saavedro feared the military would simply kill Artimus outright, and tried to prevent their efforts to capture him - earning him the ire of not only Narnicka, but also Saavedro's old comrade Oren Tanis, now a Field Marshal. Undaunted by the military's threatening gestures against him, Saavedro dispatched Zherron and his pack to attack Metheius' patrol outside Tarren Mill, knowing Artimus would be present. Zherron and ten of his best soldiers, including his personal assassin Liam Branscombe, ambushed Metheius' troops at the crossroads south of Tarren Mill, killing several of Metheius' men and injuring the general himself, taking Artimus into custody. Genevra managed to purge Sekhesmet's influence from Artimus' mind - with the aid of Saavedro, who had gone to the Exodar to meditate.

With Sekhesmet's influence broken for now, Narnicka released Artimus on a conditional parole, and Saavedro kept him as a guest at his home in Cathedral Square.

The Prophecy of the Blighted Father
Saavedro knew that Sekhesmet was now attempting to corrupt Genevra, and - with the aid of Archmage Caro'thel Vendross, a member of the Kirin Tor - had learned that the shadow priest had also corrupted one of Rhonin's advisors, the Archmage Inar of Borealis. It was around this time that Saavedro received a message from the draenei Farseer Jaeden'laek. Jaeden'laek had trained Smeet Spiritgrinder in his arts, and Smeet had made a prophecy relating to Sekhesmet's end:


 * At Destroyer’s end, the battle cries
 * Echo across the blasted plain.
 * In the healing north, a priest will rise
 * As mortals fight their war again.


 * Human, worgen, orc, Forsaken,
 * The peace is shattered, stained with blood.
 * The world too small, the war is taken
 * To a land of mists, far from the flood.


 * Blighted Father, mad with power,
 * Will stand behind as warriors fight
 * From Uldum’s sands to Ulduar’s towers.
 * He stands in Shadow, corrupts the Light.


 * The Storm will tremble before his power,
 * Priestess, Baron, lost their minds.
 * Warriors, hardened, left to cower
 * At the Blighted One they cannot find.


 * But in the mists, the priest will find,
 * A power beyond his skill to fight.
 * The stranger comes, he is the sign,
 * A warrior balanced in Shadow and Light.


 * The stranger, the Storm, combined as one.
 * The Blighted Father will have no aid.
 * In the land of mists, his plans undone,
 * In blood, the price of evil paid.

Appearance and Personality
Saavedro is a tall, well-built man with snow-white hair worn in braids on his shoulders, and a neatly trimmed goatee beard. His face shows his tiredness, but his eyes are warm and friendly. His demeanor is oft described as "contemplative", and displays the typical piety and willingness to serve that the fallen Order of the Silver Hand embodied. There are instances, however, where he will fly into a righteous fury - often at those who commit blasphemy, murder innocents, or betray the Alliance. (In some of his less-than-charitable moments, Artimus Devaneaux has compared Saavedro in his "holy rage" to a zealot of the Scarlet Crusade.)

Warhammer of the Dragonsworn
This enormous hammer was given to Saavedro by Zaranastrasz as a token of his service to the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza. It was forged in the eternal flame of the Firelands and charged in the storms of Skywall after the destruction of those realms' dread masters, Ragnaros and Al'Akir.

Lichsplitter
Using his smithing skills, Saavedro crafted this battle-axe as a gift for his friend Ordevaas Portalseeker after they joined forces against the Corruptor, and the Master wielded it alongside his sword and shield during the battles for Northrend. It earned its name after destroying the essence of the lich Selan'zad the Obliterator during a Scourge attack on Silvermoon prior to the departure of the expedition. It was delivered back to Saavedro by Lady Areinnye Ketiron, Ordevaas' daughter, and beaten back into shape by the young soldier-smith Amendera Kynes.

Hand of the Storm
This hammer was given to Saavedro by General Daril Zherron during Saavedro's brief sojourn into Gilneas as a priest of Lordaeron. Saavedro primarily used it to work in the forge, first in blacksmithing then later in engineering (he assembled the parts for his flying machine, the Legacy of Lordaeron, with this hammer). When Saavedro was believed dead, this hammer was carried by Taeril'hane Ketiron, who gave it as a gift to the young worgen warrior-smith Amendera Kynes shortly after the Cataclysm. Upon Saavedro's return, Amendera returned the hammer to Saavedro, who placed an enchantment of healing magics upon it for his use as a warrior-healer in the ongoing struggles after the Shattering.

Crest of the Deathsworn
During his service to the Deathsworn, Saavedro sometimes carried this massive heraldic shield into battle, bearing the crest of the fallen Kingdom of Lordaeron. It was kept over the mantle of Saavedro's home outside Goldshire by Artimus Devaneaux, after Saavedro's supposed death. He carries it in conjunction with his holy warhammer while healing on the battlefield.

Links

 * Current Raid Gear and Experience (restored as of December 2011)
 * All of Saavedro's information, pre-return