User:Joshmaul/Sekhesmet of Stratholme

"'You have once again mistaken your place in this arrangement. You thought you could use me as a weapon to smite your enemies. Now that I am flesh again, it is time to reassert my authority. Starting with you, my dear Professor.'"
 * - Sekhesmet of Stratholme, to Professor Rakeri Sputterspark

Sekhesmet of Stratholme, also known as Sekhesmet the Eternal, was a High Priest of the Cult of Forgotten Shadow and a devoted servant of Sylvanas Windrunner. Normally operating out of his "diocese" of Tarren Mill, Sekhesmet began wandering the world after the death of the Lich King and the destruction of Deathwing. Formerly an ally of the warlock Urgan the Corruptor and of the blood elf House of Whitehair, Sekhesmet focused solely on his allegiance to Sylvanas and his efforts to gain more power in her service.

Sekhesmet was the mentor-turned-archenemy of Saavedro of Stratholme, a human paladin who had once trained for the priesthood under Sekhesmet's tutelage when the elder priest was living. Seeking to drive his former apprentice to madness, the High Priest has begun a shadow war against Saavedro that makes the Corruptor's past efforts pale in comparison. Having discovered the powerful negative energies of the Sha in Pandaria, Sekhesmet hoped to use these powers to achieve his victory over Saavedro; however, events culminated in a duel between master and student at the summit of Pandaria's highest mountain where Saavedro triumphed against all odds, fulfilling the prophecy of Sekhesmet's downfall. However, with the aid of the demented gnome warlock Rakeri Sputterspark, Sekhesmet returned to the world of the living, and his old foes waited with bated breath at the darkness that is to come. The cycle would begin again, only to be broken in the depths of Nazjatar...

Early Life
A descendant of the Ralmanni wanderers of southern Azeroth, Sekhesmet was born in 532 (Stormwind calendar), in the town of Borealis in northern Lordaeron. When he reached his Age of Ascension, he joined Lordaeron's priesthood, and was trained by none other than Alonsus Faol himself.

Like Saavedro, Sekhesmet adopted Stratholme as his hometown and became known as "Sekhesmet of Stratholme" for the rest of his life (and undeath). He was ambitious and headstrong, but none could doubt the strength of the Light that coursed through him. He became a priest of Lordaeron in his thirties, and founded the Order of the Scarlet Raven - "Scarlet Raven" is the Ralmanni term for the sun - in 574, when he became the High Priest of Stratholme. Three years later, his daughter Euphrati was born, the product of a relationship with one of King Terenas' ladies-in-waiting.

Sekhesmet, despite his brash, often cynical demeanor, was an altruistic and compassionate man, and the people of Stratholme grew to respect him over the years. Two young men, a magistrate's son from a nearby township to the south and a noble heir from Quel'Thalas, had also heard of the kindly High Priest, and were taken to him. The young man from the south would later become one of the High Priest's greatest foes, when they found themselves on opposite sides in the war between the Alliance and the Horde...

Training Apprentices
In 577, Sekhesmet took Ordevaas Whitehair, the son of a Quel'Thalassian nobleman, as his first apprentice. Eight years later, a young human from Corin's Crossing named Saavedro joined him. Sekhesmet trained Saavedro and Ordevaas not only in the ways of the priesthood, but how to fight. He believed that they had to learn to defend themselves from attackers - not that they would need to if they remained in the city, but Sekhesmet believed in taking precautions with the Horde running rampant in the human lands. Saavedro, he noted, was a formidable healer, and a kind-hearted soul who could not harm a fly (though later, he became a renowned warrior of Light in battle against the Scourge) - but he also possessed a keen wit and sharp tongue that would make him a perfect emissary. Ordevaas, by contrast, preferred the mental disciplines and - to an extent - dabbled in the school of Shadow magic. Sekhesmet also trained them in the ways of the diplomat, how to use their minds and their mouths to advance the cause of the people they were to represent.

Through Ordevaas and Euphrati, Sekhesmet gained a beneficial ally in the House of Whitehair. Ordevaas' father, Lord Kel'theris, was the family patriarch, and he gave the priest and his daughter shelter in Silvermoon when they were forced to flee Stratholme on the eve of an orcish attack during the Second War. This was despite the reluctance of King Anasterian Sunstrider to allow non-elves entry into their capital; Kel'theris' family had served the House of Sunstrider for generations, and was able to allow this one concession. Euphrati was trained in blade-work by the Silvermoon Ranger Corps, and often sparred with them. After the war ended, Sekhesmet and his apprentices often attended tournaments held by Aedelas Blackmoore at Durnholde Keep - both Ordevaas and Euphrati had participated. Shortly after winning one such tournament, Euphrati was ambushed and murdered by a jealous Lordaeron nobleman named Artimus Devaneaux, whom she had defeated in that tournament. Sekhesmet did not find out about this until nearly two decades later.

In 601, at age 69, Sekhesmet was appointed to the high council of Lordaeron's priesthood, where he served in an advisory position to the King of Lordaeron, Terenas Menethil II. In 604, he and his fellow high priests agreed to send an emissary of the Lordaeron priesthood to the court of King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind, and - not surprisingly - they selected Saavedro, now a full-fledged priest of Stratholme, to fill that capacity. Ordevaas joined him as a representative of the priests of Quel'Thalas who had remained in Alliance service when Anasterian Sunstrider cut ties with the Alliance. For many years, Saavedro served as a junior ambassador to the aged Archbishop Alonsus Faol, and then to his successor Benedictus after Faol's death, sending back favorable reports of the situation in Stormwind. Then, in 614, disaster struck.

The Scourge of Lordaeron
Thirteen years following the end of the Second War, the Burning Legion had set into motion the creation of a plague that would wipe all humanity off the face of Azeroth. Their powerful instrument of death, the spirit of the orc shaman Ner'zhul (now known as the Lich King), had created a virulent plague that caused its victims to arise as undead soldiers for him to control. This army became known as the Scourge. At the behest of the council of the Church of Light in Lordaeron, Sekhesmet dispatched Saavedro - now High Priest of Stratholme - to the northern regions to investigate before he returned to Stormwind.

By now contemplating retirement, Sekhesmet had returned to Stratholme for a brief period when Prince Arthas - driven mad by the inability to defeat the Scourge - ordered the execution of many of the city's citizens, believing them to be infected by the plague. Receiving the news from one of Uther's paladins, Sekhesmet realized what had happened. Escaping out the service entrance in Elder's Square and making his way to the capital, Sekhesmet informed the high council of priests that Arthas had fallen into madness, and that he would commit some other terrible crime against the Kingdom of Lordaeron. The council brought their concerns before King Terenas, but the King dismissed their concerns; Terenas honestly did not believe that his son could commit such evil (though he nonetheless attempted to recall Arthas' expedition to Northrend). The paladin lord Uther the Lightbringer, who had observed Arthas' order of execution, was also disbelieving, but he saw the truth: Arthas' youthful brashness had turned into pure hatred. Sekhesmet predicted that wherever Arthas was going, it would change him - and not for the better.

Weeks later, Sekhesmet was proven right.

Having tracked down the source of the undead plague to the icy continent of Northrend, Arthas encountered his old comrade and mentor Muradin Bronzebeard, brother of King Magni of Ironforge. Muradin informed Arthas of the existence of a runeblade known as Frostmourne, said to have powers beyond mortal reckoning - and it was also said to be cursed. Muradin was proven correct - Frostmourne was a trap set by the Lich King to find someone skirting the line between darkness and light, to become his physical host. After killing Muradin and claiming Frostmourne for himself - in the process, losing both his soul and what little sanity he had left - Arthas returned to his father's throne room in Lordaeron and, before shocked observers, ran Terenas through with the icy blade. Within weeks of Terenas' death, the citizens of Lordaeron's capital city - including Sekhesmet and the council of priests - began to succumb to the virulent plague of undeath that completely devastated Lordaeron. Sekhesmet resisted with his Light-given strength right until the end. At the age of 82, the elderly Sekhesmet died in agony, choking out his last breaths on the elaborate mural on the floor of Terenas' throne room.

Arising as a Forsaken
Sekhesmet was buried in a great mausoleum in the cemetery outside of Brill. But because the plague that had killed him caused its victims to arise as the undead, it would only be a matter of time before Sekhesmet did likewise. Six years later, he did.

Greatly weakened from the sleep of death, Sekhesmet realized that he would have to completely relearn the powers of the priesthood that he had wielded so masterfully in life. He was disturbed and disgusted at the horrific changes that had come over him - his hunger for human flesh, and the exposed bones where his own flesh had rotted away - but gradually, under the guidance of others, began to accept his changes, for it was unlikely he would be restored to being human again. While he adjusted to his new, unusual state, Sekhesmet was delighted to discover that there were others like him, and that they had claimed a new capital dredged out of the royal catacombs deep beneath the ruins of Lordaeron. This Undercity was ruled by the former Ranger General of Quel'Thalas, Sylvanas Windrunner. Sekhesmet immediately swore fealty to the Dark Lady of the Forsaken, and joined the Royal Apothecary Society as a junior alchemist. The Royal Apothecary Society was dedicated to creating a new plague that would not only destroy the human race, but also the Scourge as well. While he briefly lamented that his former pupil, Saavedro - now a powerful paladin - would probably be a victim of this vile plague, Sekhesmet dismissed such notions as beneath him. He was immortal now, and could not be disturbed by the needs of mere humans.

Driven by a desire to regain his power, Sekhesmet struck a bargain with the orc warlock Urgan the Corruptor, in which the orc would provide him with powerful artifacts to regain his strength in exchange for the priest's loyalty. Greedily, Urgan agreed to Sekhesmet's bargain - but knowing the formidable powers Sekhesmet had wielded in life, the Corruptor kept a close eye on his new "friend".

Sekhesmet's other apprentice, Ordevaas (now known as Portalseeker), had become one of the blood elves that now controlled Quel'Thalas, and wished to join forces with the Horde. Sekhesmet realized that in order to not only gain greater power in the path of shadow he had taken, but also solidify Silvermoon's position at the table with Orgrimmar and the Undercity - which would please his Queen greatly - he had to aid Ordevaas and the sin'dorei in their quest to regain their kingdom. Travelling along with a blood elf guide, Sekhesmet and Ordevaas entered Deatholme, the fortress of the Scourge in Quel'Thalas, and battled the legions of walking dead that wandered through the plagued citadel. A group of heroes stormed the Tower of the Damned in the fortress' center and killed the Scourge leader, the traitor magister Dar'Khan Drathir. Sekhesmet was gifted with a Staff of the Sun for his efforts in the service of Quel'Thalas. After this, Sekhesmet ventured to Kalimdor, learning more about the "new continent" beyond the Great Sea - and of the Scourge minions, led by Amnennar the Coldbringer, who had set up shop in the Razorfen.

Escape from the Scarlet Monastery!
While returning to Tirisfal from his sojourns in Kalimdor, Sekhesmet was ambushed outside of Brill by agents of the Scarlet Crusade, and taken to the Monastery northeast of the town. Despite the fact that the Scarlet Crusade was practically destroyed - between Saavedro leading assaults against Hearthglen and Stratholme, the Blood Knight Order's constant lightning strikes in Tyr's Hand, and travellers from both continents laying waste to the defenders of the Monastery - they maintained a small but determined presence in Lordaeron. For weeks, Sekhesmet was stretched out on a rack in the torture chamber, bearing unspeakable agony at the hands of the Scarlet torturers. He waited for some response from Urgan - perhaps the Corruptor himself coming in for a rescue. But he never came.

Travelling through the area on his way back home to Quel'Thalas, Lord Kel'theris - now called Decibelius - discovered what had happened to his old friend. Realizing that the Corruptor had become so engrossed in gaining more power and prestige in Outland that he abandoned all of his erstwhile "allies" (with the exception of his death knights and his power-maddened apprentice, Linavil Shadowsun), Kel'theris called on a tauren druid that had aided him in the past to enter the Monastery Graveyard, find Sekhesmet, and clear the way for the shadow priest's escape. Thus it was to Sekhesmet's surprise that this agent of the House of Whitehair, not of the Corruptor, came to rescue him. Enraged at Urgan's abandonment of him, Sekhesmet renounced his allegiance to the warlock and allied himself with Kel'theris. Killing his way through the Scarlets come to stop him, Sekhesmet made good his escape from the depths of the Scarlet Monastery and returned to the Undercity.

As the House of Whitehair's most senior representative outside of Quel'Thalas, Ordevaas Portalseeker - by now a Blood Knight Master - went before Lady Sylvanas Windrunner and requested that a small detachment of Deathstalkers follow Sekhesmet at all times while in Lordaeron, to prevent another kidnapping attempt by what little remained of the Scarlet Crusade. Varimathas also doubled the guard around the Scarlet Monastery and tasked General Settra - a Forsaken death knight who acted as one of Urgan's "lackeys" - to command the defense of Tirisfal until the preparations for the war in Northrend were completed.

Sekhesmet's defection did not go entirely unnoticed by the Corruptor, who ordered General Settra to kill the erstwhile shadow priest. However, Urgan's command was countermanded by Lady Sylvanas, whose word was law among the Forsaken - and Settra, as a result, was bound to obey.

A New Beginning
In time, as he fought throughout Lordaeron to secure it for the Forsaken, Sekhesmet at last returned to the level of strength he had held in life. But in the new path he had taken, the path of shadow, he had further to go and much more to learn - and the first thing he did was return to Undercity to continue his training with the Apothecarium. In time, he became a full-fledged apothecary for the RAS, and helped develop the New Plague that would later be used to catastrophic effect at the Wrathgate.

As the war in Northrend continued, Sekhesmet's mastery of the Light - the healing powers he had wielded in life - would return, and be used in conjunction with his powers over the Shadow. In time, he would achieve a balance between the two powers. When asked if it was painful to wield the Light again, he replied that indeed it was, but it was a pain he bore for his Dark Lady, mending those who could not mend themselves. After the death of the Lich King, Sekhesmet began to use his Light powers more regularly.

Prophecy Fulfilled...Or Was It?
The final battle that would fulfill the prediction of Sekhesmet's fall by the goblin shaman Smeet Spiritgrinder took place during the war for Pandaria, "the land of mists" mentioned in the prophecy. Having become embroiled in battle with Saavedro's various allies and severed ties with those "minions" within the Horde, Sekhesmet's desire to "correct his mistake" and end Saavedro's life would become his prevailing obsession, and his increasing corruption by the Sha energies - particularly those of Anger and Hatred that had left their blackened marks on the plains of Kun-Lai - only fuelled his madness further. The trail took him into Kun-Lai, where he had heard Saavedro had gone into the mountains. He climbed up the treacherous paths leading to the summit of Mount Neverest, at the roof of Pandaria itself, and waited for Saavedro to arrive.

It was said that the mountain flashed with bursts of light and was shrouded by dark shadows as master and student duelled one last time, Saavedro's blessed draenic warhammer against Sekhesmet's defiled staff, each giving as good as they got. Sensing the conflict himself, Taeril'hane Ketiron flew across the Kun-Lai plains and arrived at the site of the duel, but was knocked unconscious by Sekhesmet's black magic and sent rolling down the path. That was all the opening Saavedro needed, as his hammer smashed into Sekhesmet's skull, shattering it. The gelatinous Sha filth mingled with embalming fluid and other substances as the "Eternal One" fell dead in the snow, his vile brain crushed by the force of the blow. Wounded and exhausted, Saavedro nonetheless took his slain master's body down the mountain, where Ketiron had regained consciousness; together, the two paladins took him to the "base camp" below Neverest's summit. Deciding to pay tribute to the man he had been, Saavedro prepared a pyre of honor for his former master, scattering his body and his essence to the winds.

Sekhesmet's accumulated years of knowledge of both holy and shadow magics, however, could not be as easily dispersed as the man himself. Saavedro set aside his paladin's weapon and armor, and took Sekhesmet's powers within himself so that they would never be used for evil again. He knew the consequences of that decision, but was willing to sacrifice everything, even his very identity, to see it done. However, despite his best intentions, the man who became "Father Shankolin" took in something else besides Sekhesmet's powers...which he discovered to his dismay soon enough.

The Dark Father Reborn
Father Shankolin soon had to contend with an old foe who had sworn vengeance since the war against the Lich King - Professor Rakeri Sputterspark, a gnome engineer who had been "decursed" by Gearmaster Mechazod at the Fizzcrank Airstrip, discovered and rebuilt as a menial laborer by Saavedro's engineering skill. Given a "Recursive" laced with demon's blood, Rakeri became a powerful warlock going into the Cataclysm, and vengeance against Saavedro became his mission in life. He had even briefly allied with Sekhesmet in that cause, an alliance that ended shortly before the High Priest fell at Neverest. While incarcerated in the Stockade for attempting to assassinate him, Rakeri learned that Shankolin carried an unexpected "guest" in his mind, and decided to offer his services to the Stormwind City Watch to contain Sekhesmet's spirit within a soul shard. However, he also took the shadow priest's powers, negating the sacrifice Saavedro had made to contain Sekhesmet's evil forever.

As time went on, and Shankolin became more and more distant from Genevra and his other allies (it was widely believed that exposure to Sekhesmet's spirit, as well as his powers, combined with the years of shell shock to drive him insane), Rakeri took the idea a step further: To bring back Sekhesmet himself, using Shankolin as the ritual vessel. To that end, he took his biggest gamble and brought his plan to Shankolin himself, but he framed it as a great ritual to give Sekhesmet "eternal peace" - to send his spirit to the void once and for all. Shankolin fell for the ploy, and agreed to assist him; using mind control, he was able to subvert the clerk in the Stormwind City Watch's headquarters in Cathedral Square, and gain Sekhesmet's soul shard from their vaults. With the shard in their posession, Rakeri and Shankolin set out for Northrend; upon spotting them leaving Ironforge for Menethil Harbor, Rakeri's younger sister Marennia gave chase, having heard Rakeri speak to Sekhesmet's spirit in the shard about his plan.

Rakeri had collected Scourge artifacts leftover from the war to assist in his spell, and set up a ritual "altar" at Grizzlemaw, the furbolg settlement in the midst of a destroyed World Tree in the Grizzly Hills. Marennia, joined by the goblin assassin Kitrik and the troll shaman Thek'la, allies of Ketiron who had heard of Rakeri's plan, reached Grizzlemaw at the height of Rakeri's incantation. It was at the last second that Shankolin realized his mistake in trusting the warlock...before his body was consumed in an explosion of shadowflame. Soon, a new form rose from the dark fire and the gore, a form both strong and healthy, with bronzed skin and a polished bald head, wreathed in shadow. Sekhesmet had returned, and laughed triumphantly at his restored existence. He thanked Rakeri sincerely for his assistance...before ripping his shadow powers out of the gnome by sheer force, leaving imprints of his hands seemingly burned into Rakeri's face.

Seeing the witnesses, he allowed them to live to return to their masters - Kitrik and Thek'la to Ketiron, and Marennia to Genevra - and spread the word.

Exile from Stormwind
In time, word of Sekhesmet's return reached Stormwind, where the mad priest arrived to announce his presence, and showing that he was a reformed man after his return. Genevra, horrified, filed a restraining order with the Stormwind City Watch, which also put out a warrant for Rakeri's arrest following the death of Saavedro. Meeting several times with Commander Orwyn, who led the Watch, Sekhesmet was informed of the legal conundrum that the Kingdom of Stormwind faced, given that in his past "life" he had been a Forsaken war criminal. Sekhesmet, for his part, did not deny his past, but also claimed he sought to atone for it. Privately, however, he knew that Orwyn was not convinced of his sincerity, nor was Sekhesmet convinced of the commander's sincerity regarding an "impartial" review of the case.

Thus it came as no surprise to him that Orwyn told him that the tribunal assembled to hear the case had chosen to exile him from Stormwind until a final decision could be made. Deciding to travel a little before returning "home" to Lordaeron, Sekhesmet travelled by ship to Kalimdor, studying the ancient lands of Uldum and other Titan relics, before making his way back to the East...

In-Game Info

 * Current Gear and Raid Completion

Quotations

 * "Death is only the beginning, my friend. A period of pain in exchange for virtual immortality - that is true transcendence, and a true test of a man's will." - to his old apprentice, Ordevaas Portalseeker
 * "There are those who said this day would never come. What are they to say now?" - upon the reopening of the Dark Portal, and again upon his return
 * "At lasssssst.....one....with the Shadow...." - upon gaining the power of Shadowform
 * "The whole lot of them have been maligned by both sides since the Wrathgate incident, and I have a feeling that things are about to get worse. Sekhesmet in particular concerns me, as he is a vassal of this House - he takes far too much glee in the workings of his mistress and her minions, and indeed has given his own support to their dastardly plans. I cannot bring myself to fully trust him, despite the fact that he was the mentor of both your father and of Saavedro. He will need to be watched." -Taeril'hane Ketiron, in a letter to his wife