User:GoldenYak/World's Heart/Paladin Campaign

Related to The World's Heart Expansion Concept.

Paladin Class Campaign.

Class Hall - The Argent Fortress
The Argent Crusade was decimated during the battle of the Broken Shore and led to the rebirth of the Knights of the Silver Hand, but the order that held the line against the blackest evils the world has ever known has not been forgotten. The paladins return to Northrend bearing the powers of the Light to combat the rising darkness beneath the world, and the spirit of the Argent Crusade is resurrected. The paladins rally to the Argent Tournament grounds in Icecrown, which have become a shrine to Tirion Fordring and the heroes of the Ashen Verdict, a monument to those who fought to defeat the Lich King Arthas. The tournament grounds have become a sanctuary and a proving ground for heroes who wish to follow the example Tirion and the Ashen Verdict set.

The tournament grounds are refurbished into a mighty stronghold, the Argent Fortress, to serve as a staging ground to launch attacks into Azeroth's underworld against the rising evil there. No sooner do the paladins complete their fortress than they come under assault by the aqir, swarming up from the frozen depths of Naz'anak in vast numbers. Leading the horde is the monstrous c'thraxxi Lord Bolgoxus, a general in the army of the Old Gods. Bolgoxus has determined that creatures of the Void are vulnerable to the martial powers of the Light wielded by the paladins, and so he has dispatched Voidborn horrors throughout the world to assault regions strongly empowered with the Light. The dark, Void-born sorcery of the c'thraxx blights the land, threatening to swallow the world in darkness and condemn all souls to eternal torment. With the very Light on Azeroth under assault, the paladins plan a counter-crusade to drive back Bolgoxus' forces.

Class Hall Special Benefits
Throughout the underworld, paladins may find battlefields where the dead lie restlessly, having died in darkness far from the Light. Laying these tormented souls to rest and purging the lands of undead will allow the paladins to call upon the power of the Light, granting them special powers and enchantments that strengthen their ability to fight evil. If a paladin manages to purify every haunted battlefield in a region, they may acquire even greater powers. Attempting to purify an entire region may draw attention from the most insidious of evils, such as c'thraxxi and Void-spawned monsters, and so the paladin must be prepared to defend themselves to the death.

Paladins may also organize and lead strike-forces into Naz'anak, clearing out infestations of aqir and battling n'raqi creatures in ancient nerubian structures. Rewards and treasure can be acquired from these crusades.

Lu'Cen, Sword of the First Light (Holy - Greatsword)
The paladin leads a strike-force into the depths of Naz'anak to combat the aqir infestation. The strike-force discovers an ancient nerubian temple devoted to the Void, and while exploring the dread edifice a trap is sprung by Bolgoxus, tearing open a rift to the Void itself and plunging the paladins into the very heart of darkness. Trapped in the nightmarish landscape of the Void, beset by terrors beyond imagining, the knights are driven to the very edge of despair, when the paladin calls upon the Light and summons forth a shard of pure brilliance that appears from out of the darkness. Taking up the fragment, the paladin's will shapes it into Lu'Cen, Sword of the First Light, whose radiance mends the bodies and souls of the knights and enables them to fight back against the encroaching darkness. With Lu'Cen, the paladin cuts through the veil between realms and enables the knights to escape the Void and return to Azeroth. Bolgoxus escapes, but the paladin has secured a potent new weapon against the Void, a sword whose blade is made of pure Light and heals rather than cuts, while driving away the most profound darkness.


 * Passive Ability - Undying Light. Lu'Cen acts a light source, illuminating the area around the paladin.

Andromaal, Order of the Cosmos and Mjolnar, Arbiter of the Heavens (Protection - Shield and Hammer)
The paladin is summoned to Ulduar by Brann Bronzebeard and Keeper Mimiron, who have been studying the Observatory in the hopes of contacting Algalon and the other constellar and enlisting their aid in protecting Azeroth. Mimiron manages to locate Algalon and connect to his location using the Observatory, but some dark presence overtakes the controls and causes a malfunction, transporting the paladin across vast distances to where Algalon and his fellow constellar Andromaal battle a Void incursion. The paladin joins their powers with the constellar to banish the Void, though Andromaal is badly injured in the battle, her life saved only by the timely intervention of the paladin. Impressed by the mortals and beginning to see in them what Algalon saw, Andromaal transforms herself into the form of a shield of living starlight and places herself in the care of the paladin before Algalon transports them back to Azeroth. Holding the shield allows the paladin to manifest the one-handed hammer Mjolnar, Arbiter of the Heavens.
 * Passive Ability - Andromaal the Observer. Andromaal has converted herself into the form of a shield to recover from her conflict with the Void. As her powers recover, the paladin too is strengthened. Andromaal will convey her thoughts and observations about Azeroth and mortals as she and the paladin fight and defend.

Ashbringer, Sword of Evil's Bane (Retribution - Greatsword)
The paladins learn that Bolgoxus has sent a force of aqir and n'raqi to attack the Sunwell of Quel'Thalas, a potent source of arcane energy that has been blessed by the Light. As the paladins venture to Sunwell Plateau and are greeted by the blood knights battling the assault, monstrous tentacles and other horrors erupt from deep beneath the earth. The paladins venture beneath the foundations of the Sunwell to find a massive kr'kaxx, a forgotten one, burrowing through the earth to the Sunwell, attempting to drag the entire font of the Light's power down into the darkness. The paladins fight their way through the hideous beast and the aqir and n'raqi that accompany it. At the height of the battle, the power of the Void manifests and attempts to snuff out the Sunwell, but the paladin thrusts the blade Ashbringer into the Light of the well and draws on all of its power to banish the darkness. The kr'kaxx is destroyed and the forces of the Old Gods retreat. The Ashbringer is tempered and further enhanced by the Sunwell, transforming it into an even more powerful incarnation of itself - Ashbinger, Sword of Evil's Bane.
 * Passive Ability - Ashes to Ashes. Ashbringer will periodically reduce lesser enemies to ashes.

Silver Hand | Fist of the Titans
Outland fragmented region, where a powerful naaru is attempting to reignite itself. The paladins will battle shadowy manifestations of the Void, allowing the naaru to be reborn and empower their hammer, the Silver Hand, to become the Fist of the Titans

Truthguard and Oathkeeper | Nightshatter and Rising Dawn
Tauren holy site honoring the sun in Kalimdor, mountain region, titan artifacts. Paladins must prove their valor against an ancient titan keeper to acquire the light of the sun and empower the Truthguard shield and Oathkeeper blade. The unexpected appearance of a powerful Faceless One allows the paladins to put their new powers to the test. Becomes Nightshatter and the sword Rising Dawn

Ashbringer
Sunwell Plateau, where the newly re-ignited Lightwell is a vast source of Light energies. The diabolical tendrils of the Old Gods erupt from below, seeking to drag the entire Lightwell into oblivion, and must be fought off by the paladins. Tempering the Ashbringer within the Lightwell further enhances its power.

Campaign Storyline
The paladins carry out their campaign to drive back the forces unleashed by Bolgoxus. Venturing the holy sites around the world, the paladins defend sacred ground from the Voidspawned horrors of the Old Gods, slaughtering aqir and n'raqi and banishing Void manifestations.

With Bolgoxus' dark crusade thwarted, the paladins determine that now is the time to slay the c'thraxx himself, and venture down into the depths of Naz'anak to bring Bolgoxus the judgment of the Light. In the depths of Naz'anak, the paladins battle nerubian monstrosities, horrors of the Void, and even the reanimated husk of Anub'arak the Spider King before venturing into ancient n'raqi temples and confronting Bolgoxus himself. The c'thraxx fiend calls upon all the darkness of the Void, but just as it threatens to consume the paladin, a voice from deep below them calls for them to fight on, and new strength flows into them. For a brief moment the Worldsoul of Azeroth grants a splinter of her power to the paladin, making them one with all things, all creation, turning them into a living incarnation of the Light of Creation and allowing them to fight back against the darkness of the Void and match the fiendish might of Bolgoxus.

After a horrific battle, the c'thraxx is slain. With Bolgoxus destroyed, the power of the Light surges back into regions across the world. The paladins harness the power to strengthen their weapons further.

Beyond X.1
Though Bolgoxus was destroyed, the paladins have only drawn the attention of a greater darkness. The paladins must now go to war against the terrible new army of the Void - the Dark Paladins.