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=Eoghan Yrth Caerwyn ap Medraut=


 * The pact is sealed.

Eoghan Yrth Caerwyn ap Medraut, lord of Gwymorn, is a Death knight in service of the Scourge.

Second War (6-8 ADP)
Eoghan was born in 10 BDP, a second son to a wealthy Alterac noble, Medraut Gwyar Caerwyn ap Llewdwn. When the Alliance of Lordaeron was formed in response to the orcish aggression, Eoghan joined the army at an early age of 16 as a squire to a company commander. He distinguished himself on a field of battle and was promptly knighted. Soon sir Eoghan was given a command of his own, whereupon he proved himself to be a reasonably competent tactician.

During the war, Eoghan met and befriended Nimredhel, a member of Quel'Thalas ranger corps. The elf's guerrilla expertise netted invaluable reconnaissance for his unit, and her habit of collecting ears of her victims — or, if one used her insistent terminology, interesting prey — soon became a tale to tell at campfires. Nimredhel went above and beyond her designated duty, enjoying nothing more than sowing chaos and dissension behind the enemy lines; due to the reckless nature of her endeavors, she often found herself in a situation where only the cavalry charge could deliver her — something that Eoghan was glad to take part in. The human and the elf parted on good terms, having exchanged invitations and determined to maintain correspondence.

He was stationed in Khaz Modan when king Aiden's betrayal — backed, among others, by his own family — became known. His ancestral fief was ravaged in retaliation, the wealth that should by rights have been his − confiscated, and Eoghan himself escaped prosecution only due to his spotless record, as well as due to the fact he had been half a world away when the disaster struck. He concealed his enmity at this mistreatment by diligent servitude and focused himself on climbing the army hierarchy, nursing his grudge against the kingdom of Lordaeron in private.

Interbellum (8-20 ADP)
After the war, sir Eoghan settled in Hearthglen and served as a peacekeeper in Lordaeron, eagerly seizing every chance to ride into battle against outlaws and demi-humans. He amassed a sizable fortune, though it did not come close to the wealth of his ancestors. His political influence, likewise, was limited due to the growing popularity of the Order of the Silver Hand — an Order Eoghan himself was loathe to join, having never found true faith in the Holy Light and generally disliking the Light-thumpers. When Tirion Fordring, the lord of Mardenholde, was taken to Stratholme to stand trial for his association with an orc, Eoghan was among those to travel to the jewel of the north to observe, privately gleeful at this schism among the founding members of the Silver Hand.

In Stratholme, a wealthy landowner by the name of Janus Leudegast sought Eoghan out, the latter having acquired a certain amount of renown over the years — including a degree of notoriety stemming from his refusal to associate himself with the Order of the Silver Hand, as polite as it was cold. Lord Janus himself was similarly distant from the affairs of paladins, and in him Eoghan found a kindred spirit, swayed by the man's dark humor and charisma. The two nobles kept up a steady correspondence that lasted all the way into the Third War, occasionally doing each other a small favor as fit the men of their stature. Little did Eoghan know that these 'favors' furthered the agenda of the nascent Cult of the Damned.

After the trial, Eoghan rode to Quel'Thalas to pay a visit to Nimredhel, as he was wont to do during the Interbellum. During his stay there, he met and befriended a distant relative of hers, a talented magister by the name of Gilgonor. The mage was headed to Dalaran, intending to discuss his bloodstone studies with the Kirin Tor. Since he was in no particular hurry, he agreed to Eoghan's proposal of traveling together, and the knight saw to Gilgonor safely arriving into the mage city-state.

The Scourge of Lordaeron
Years later, the Plague of Undeath came to Lordaeron. After scout reports arrived about the undead armies massing in the principality, sir Eoghan began preparing for the assault alongside his fellow citizens. He was present when Crown Prince Arthas arrived from Andorhal and, instead of finding a much-needed respite, assumed command of the garrison in the face of the imminent siege. Eoghan was greatly inspired by the prince and volunteered to participate in the sortie that saw the Undead Caravan destroyed and the neighboring villages saved.

Realizing that the unfurling conflict was much grander than a series of isolated incidents, Eoghan rode after Arthas into Stratholme. After witnessing first-hand the devastating effects of the infected grain, he thought that the prince's decision to purge the city was perfectly logical. His opinion on the matter was, naturally, swayed by Arthas' disbandment of the Silver Hand — with the paladins clearly falling into disfavor with the crown, things were looking up for the knight. This was the chance for glory and power he had been looking for for the past twelve years, and he was not about to miss it. Eoghan took a special pleasure seeing the sniveling disgrace of a paladin, Barthilas, a one-time lord of Mardenholde Keep after Tirion's exile, fall to the blades of Arthas' retinue.

The prince hastily assembled an expedition fleet and set out for Northrend. Eoghan sailed on a ship of his own, and, after the fleet was caught in a vicious storm, veered off-course. After weeks of arduous journey, the ship crashed upon the south-western shores of the Great Dragonblight, miles and miles away from Arthas' landing site. With most of the crew and the better half of the company having perished in the wreck, the morale was low. However, Eoghan himself emerged mostly unscathed, and for the time being his resolution was enough to inspire the troops. Rather than make camp, Eoghan led his men deep into the continent in search of the prince. Though they had little and less knowledge of the strange land they found themselves in, many — the knight himself included — felt a dark presence somewhere in the North. Odds were good this was the dreadlord Mal'Ganis' seat of power, hence, the destination of prince Arthas. Eoghan himself thought he could hear a ghostly voice, beckoning him forward and upward, to meet his future king — and his destiny.

The small party dwindled by the day, beset upon from all sides by vicious ice trolls, horrid nerubians, savage wendigos and Light alone knows what else. Some fell in combat, others deserted, others still collapsed where they stood to freeze in the biting blizzard, until at some point, to his subdued surprise, Eoghan found himself alone in the frigid darkness. His burning determination kept him going ever more, dismissing the deaths of his entire company as negligible, especially compared to the prize that lay ahead. Beyond the need for food, sleep or rest, driven by the whispers inside his skull, the knight mechanically put one foot in front of the other. He would not die alone, he swore to himself, he would not perish and be forgotten, but he would claim his victory, and then all of Eastern Kingdoms would see his splendor.

It was then that he found himself in a vast chamber, marveling at a colossal crystal emanating an eerie blue gleam, a single crevice marring its otherwise pristine surface. And it was then that the voice inside his head, heretofore whispering sweet promises, thundered now with regal authority. The Lich King spoke, and he was offering everything Eoghan could have asked for, demanding in return everything the knight had to give. He spoke of his first and greatest death knight, lord Arthas, who even now was preparing to sail home, and who would need staunch lieutenants at his side. He spoke of the Scourge that was finally prepared to raise Lordaeron to the ground and from its ashes establish a new world order.

Eoghan, tears of joy and gratitude in his eyes, prostrated himself eagerly before the Frozen Throne and rose a death knight of the Scourge.

The Path of the Damned
Wielding a vampiric runeblade, Conviction, and accompanied by a cadre of undead warriors obeying his every command, Eoghan set out to rejoin prince Arthas. A necromancer by the name of Agloth was assigned by the Lich King to be Eoghan's advisor, as well as a tutor in dark arts, that he might swiftly adapt to his new unholy powers. Eoghan fell in rank with the rest of the newly-christened death knights: Falric, Marwyn, Thassarian, Morlen Coldgrip and the others. He participated in the destruction of Lordaeron's Capital City, reveling in the bloodshed and immensely satisfied that, just like Alterac, Lordaeron lay now in ruins. Though he progressed nowhere near as swiftly as the prince, soon he found he could raise minions of his own — and with each soul claimed by Conviction, his power grew.

With the Cult of the Damned reassembled under prince Arthas, news came that they were to retrieve the remnants of Kel'Thuzad. Eoghan had never met the man in person, but all the cultists, Agloth included, spoke highly of the old necromancer. Moreover, his old friend lord Janus Leudegast had been wont to praising Kel'Thuzad during the Interbellum (though, of course, only now did Eoghan understand the full extent of Janus' relation to the mage), and now the death knight was eager to meet him.

During the invasion of Quel'Thalas, the undead supply lines came under attack by a particularly daring saboteur. After finding the corpse of a fellow death knight, Symund Wancey, with his ears cut off, Eoghan knew his old friend Nimredhel to be the one behind the diversion. He reanimated his luckless comrade and used him as bait to draw Nimredhel out, knowing her tactics well enough to predict where she would appear. Though Wancey, along with several supply wagons, ultimately perished in flames, Eoghan cornered Nimredhel and, after a short yet heated duel, run Conviction through her heart.

The march of the Scourge was unstoppable; with the prodigal prince commanding them, there was no foe the undead host could not destroy, be it the remnants of the Silver Hand, the haughty elves of Quel'Thalas, or the savage demon-worshipping orcs of Blackrock. After the Sunwell was desecrated and Kel'Thuzad was reborn more powerful than ever, Eoghan frequently sought an audience with the lich in times of leisure to learn more of the Scourge and the powers it commanded. Eoghan was taken in by Kel'Thuzad's charisma, which served to affirm his loyalty to the Lich King first, the Burning Legion second.

Whereas Arthas now led his army to Dalaran, Eoghan found himself called back to Northrend. Drak'Tharon Keep, once used as a base by the ostensibly late Mal'Ganis, had been captured by Drakkari ice trolls. Ironically, it was the efforts of the chosen champion of the Lich King that saw this important bulwark delivered, however briefly, into the hands of the living. Eoghan, along with several other death knights was to accompany the lich, Novos, in a campaign to retake the Keep and secure the Scourge's borders. With the lich coordinating the war effort from a secure position and the death knights leading the charge, the days of Drakkari were numbered.

During the campaign, Eoghan met and worked with a dwarven runesmith, Khainan Grimanvil. The dwarf took the transition into undeath surprisingly well — if anything, he was much more chagrined by toiling as a rank-and-file smith with little window to improve his skills. Impressed by his talents, Eoghan decided to keep an eye on the dwarf.

Novos spent several months rebuilding the Scourge forces alongside the Zul'Drak border, before storming the Keep in one decisive strike. Eoghan seized the opportunity and personally spearheaded the assault. For the time being at least, Drak'Tharon belonged to the Scourge. Novos was stationed as an overseer of Scourge forces in the Keep, Khainan was promoted to Master Siegesmith, and Eoghan was rewarded for valor in battle with a personal frost wyrm mount — a newly raised blue dragon Thanagos.

The Lich King Ascendant
The triumph was short-lived, however: the entire command structure of the Scourge was thrown into disarray when a series of incredibly potent and violent earthquakes shook the continent, threatening to tear the Icecrown glacier itself apart. Though here, in the immediate vicinity of the Frozen Throne, the majority of the undead remained firmly under Ner'zhul's control, several clusters of mindless ones appeared all the same. Along with the other Scourge commanders stationed in Northrend, Eoghan was tasked with preparing for the coming attack, whencever it came.

For all their efforts, the undead forces were not nearly strong enough to repel the Illidari. All they could do was attempt to slow the invasion down and hope that the time they won would be enough for the champion of the Lich King to arrive and deliver them from annihilation. Eoghan spearheaded several sorties into the rearguard of Kael'thas' forces, seeking out smaller, isolated regiments lagging behind the main body and obliterating them before they could rejoin their leader; during one such raid he came across his erstwhile friend, Gilgonor, now a powerful blood mage. For all his arcane prowess, Gilgonor was unable to overcome the death knight and was slain, his remains carefully preserved to be reanimated at a later point.

The timely arrival of king Arthas saved the day after all. The invaders were soundly defeated and driven out of Northrend, while the bodies of their slain comrades bolstered the ranks of the victorious Scourge.

The Gathering Storm (22 - 27 ADP)
With the new Lich King slumbering, the Scourge's onslaught grounded down to a halt. The earthquakes wrought by the power of the Eye of Sargeras, the final showdown between Arthas and Illidan, and finally the king's apotheosis ravaged the land itself and set the task of fortifying the Scourge holdings a decade backwards. The very heart of the Scourge, the Icecrown Citadel, required extensive repairs and enhancement. To that end, a steady influx of saronite was required, the dark metal chosen by the Lich King himself to serve as the basis of the new fortifications.

Eoghan located a cavern rich with saronite deposits nested in the mountain range separating the Icecrown glacier from the Sholazar Basin, and claimed it as his fief, dubbing it Gwymorn. The death knight spent the following several months fortifying his new hold and reinforcing the mine, finding out that so long as the shipments of saronite came on schedule, he was largely left to his own devices.

Eoghan invited Khainan to oversee the construction and manage the mining process. With the death knight's considerable resources at his disposal, and given an ample number of skeletal and ghoul assistants, the undead dwarf would finally have ample opportunity to master his craft and learn to bend saronite to his will. When a sufficent amount of surplus saronite was stockpiled in Gwymorn vaults, Khainan forged a set of runic armor for his benefactor, fitting Eoghan's place in the Scourge pecking order.

When the San'layn were formed from the fallen elves, Eoghan brought forth Gilgonor's candidacy. He installed the newly raised darkfallen as a steward of Gwymorn, providing Gilgonor with a supply of blood and bestowing upon him the trophies the death knight had collected during the campaign in Quel'Thalas: statues, tapestries, paintings. The elf became a valuable advisor to Eoghan, as well a tutor in the art of blood magic.

Some time after the founding of Gwymorn, Eoghan received information that a dark ranger left the traitor Sylvanas to let the Lich King into her mind once more and rejoin the Scourge. To his surprise and delight, the elf in question was no other than Nimredhel; after confirming this, the death knight personally vouched for her and was the first to greet her when she made her way to the Icecrown Citadel. More than anything, the dark ranger was impressed by his gall — that the same man to condemn her to undeath came to her as a friend they used to be pre-mortem — and agreed to work alongside Eoghan.

From time to time Eoghan ventured into Lordaeron. He spent some time in Scholomance to hone his skills and to commission copies of tomes his followers might find interest in, such as the works of Obrahiim, the Traveler, for Khainan. Eoghan also paid a visit to his ancestral lands in Alterac and found the place stirring no emotions inside him; for all intents and purposes, Gwymorn was his home now.

The Wrath of the Lich King (27 ADP)
When the Lich King woke from his torpor, Eoghan was sent to battle the Drakkari once more — and this time, the Scourge set a lofty goal of conquering the entirety of Zul'Drak, committing the strength of three necropoleis to the war effort. Despite Drakuru's failure and execution by the Lich King, the campaign continued to unfurl. With the presence of the Argent Crusaders, the Ebon Blade renegades and even the representatives of the Zandalari tribe, Eoghan had his work cut out for him.

To break through the troll fortifications, Agloth — who had by then ascended into lichdom — devised an unliving siege engine. A particularly large and brutal magnataur by the name of Graum was captured and twisted into a likeness of an Annihilan, with Agloth carving unholy runic designs into his skin and grafting numerous saronite armor plates onto his flesh. The lich dubbed his creation 'Hellhammer'; with his help, the defenses of Zul'Drak were felled, and most of her surviving inhabitants driven into exile.

Even before the fall of Zul'Drak, Kayemba, a young chieftain of the small Snowpine tribe, approached Eoghan and begged him to let his people join the Scourge and thus survive. The Snowpine had been conquered by the Drakkari a long time ago, and now the Loa they worshipped were slaughtered and their overlords were positioning them on the front lines as fodder for the Scourge war machine. Determined to preserve his tribe by any means necessary, Kayemba pledged himself and his people to the Lich King. The Snowpine ancestral lands were of little consequence to the Scourge, and thus the tribe was allowed to retain their holdings, in exchange for sharing their knowledge of the Drakkari tactics and plans, mystic practices and what little resources they had, as well as an influx of acolytes for the Cult of the Damned.

Interregnum (28 - 32 ADP)
While Bolvar Fordragon slumbered, getting accustomed to the mantle of the Lich King, Eoghan (accompanied by Thanagos in his elven guise) departed Azeroth through the Dark Portal, sealing Gwymorn in his absence. He traveled to Auchindoun to seek out groups such as the Auchenai death priests and the Sethekk arakkoa, and wrench their knowledge of shadow magic from them. Upon arrival, however, he discovered that Charybdion, a death knight of the old Horde, was launching a campaign to conquer the Bone Wastes and recapture Auchindoun for the Shadow Council from his seat of power in the Kil'sorrow fortress. After repelling an attack, Eoghan convinced the surviving Auchenai to rally behind him and began a full-scale war against the older death knight.

The war lasted for several months and ended in a duel between the two, with Eoghan emerging triumphant.

The Legion Invasion (32 ADP - ongoing)
With the Legion invading once more and the Lich King reawakening upon/within the Frozen Throne, Eoghan returned to Northrend to reaffirm his undying loyalty to the Scourge. He is privately reluctant to cooperate with the renegade order of the Ebon Blade, however, he does not question the wisdom of his sovereign, believing he lacks the required mental capacity to understand the Lich King's reason.

Conviction
Upon pledging himself to the Lich King, Eoghan was granted a vampiric runeblade Conviction. It has the form of a massive two-handed sword with a leather-bound hilt and a straight double-edged blade. Against the handle a skull with two pairs of long horns is affixed, the skull taking place of a ricasso and the horns forming a cross-guard. Two rubies are embedded into the skull's sockets. A fuller runs down two-thirds of the blade's length, with unholy runes of power inscribed onto it.

Thanagos
Thanagos, Eoghan's personal mount, is a mighty frost wyrm reanimated during the Third War. His body has undergone less stages of decomposition due to being frozen solid beneath a glacier. As such, though indubitably insane, the wyrm retains much of his pre-mortem persona, as well as some of abilities, including a humanoid form.

Eoghan took part in the ritual to raise Thanagos, so as to better bind the wyrm to himself. The death knight has grown quite attached to the dragon and considers him a partner rather than a mindless beast of burden. Whether Thanagos in turn is truly loyal to Eoghan, or feigns his allegiance for some sinister purpose of his own and/or for humor's sake, remains to be seen.

Gilgonor
Gilgonor, majordomo to Eoghan, is the darkfallen steward of Gwymorn keep. Eoghan killed him during the Illidari invasion and preserved his corpse, so that it could be properly reanimated after the conflict was over. A blood mage in life, Gilgonor continues to study the art of manipulating the essence of life, his scholarly pursuit spurred on by his suffering from a need to consume living blood lest he be wracked by a mindless hysteria. A testament to his skill is a network of bloodstone teleporters running both within Gwymorn and without, securing the hold from unauthorized access.

Gilgonor is an avid art connoisseur, and his quarters in Gwymorn are tastefully decorated with Thalassian luxury items, many of which Eoghan had acquired back when he rode alongside prince Arthas to ravage Quel'Thalas.

Khainan Grimanvil
Khainan Grimanvil is a master runesmith and an overseer of the saronite mines within Gwymorn. He traveled to Northrend as a member of Muradin Bronzebeard's expedition and was subsequently slain and raised into undeath.

As befits a Scourge runesmith, Khainan has extensive knowledge of saronite forging and has personally crafted a set of engraved plate armor not only for his benefactor, but for Thanagos the frost wyrm as well. Khainan and Eoghan also work on improving the vampiric runeblade Conviction, and keeping the weapon ever battle-ready.

Nimredhel
Nimredhel, a saboteur extraordinaire, is a dark ranger who decided to rejoin the Scourge. Killed and turned by Eoghan, she followed the example of her former superior, Sylvanas Windrunner, and merged her ranger skills with her new-found aptitude for dark magic, becoming a twisted mockery of the Quel'Thalas officer she had been. She quickly grew accustomed to her new state, finding more joy than ever in hunting the most dangerous game — her former fellow rangers.

After the Lich King's hold faltered, for a time Nimredhel fought alongside Sylvanas, out of habit rather than loyalty. The Forsaken and the Dreadlord Insurgents weakened each other considerably, with Sylvanas' faction coming ahead only by a narrow margin, and then the King's loyalists under Kel'Thuzad swooped in to claim the Plaguelands, leaving the Forsaken more or less confined to Tirisfal and Silverpine. Nimredhel saw this as a sign of weakness, which was only affirmed when Sylvanas chose to ally herself with the Horde, its mongrel races considered inferior by Nimredhel. Between the two unsavory choices of the Forsaken and the Scourge, she decided she despised the latter slightly less, and departed to Northrend, where she promptly met her friend and murderer, Eoghan.

Tybalt Brock
Tybalt, a one-time member of Blackthorn's gang, had his will dominated by Nimredhel — at least, that was the dark ranger's intention. The result was somewhat unexpected: though still autonomous, by and large, Brock fell hopelessly in love with the undead elf. He did now serve her, and was happy about it, but chose himself the best way to go about it. Not once did Nimredhel had an urge to strangle him with her cold dead hands, each time coming to the same conclusion: the rogue was far too useful alive. Fencer, gambler, tippler, Brock is all these things and more, seemingly having useful contacts all around the globe.

Though he is nominally on payroll of the Cult of the Damned, and has several dangerous infiltration missions in his portfolio that had benefited the Scourge, his ultimate loyalty is to Nimredhel alone; should she choose to leave the Scourge like she left the Forsaken, he will follow her to the end of the world.