How to roleplay a Forsaken

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See you in the Undercity.

Naming conventions
Many of the newly raised tend to change their name, referencing some new aspect of their role in undead society, abilities, or motivation. Some may choose to keep the names they had in life, like the Dark Lady has. Notice the NPCs in Deathknell and Brill: a common pattern is to keep their given names and change their surnames; Ranger Lord Nathanos Blightcaller, champion and bodyguard to the Banshee Queen, was formerly Nathanos Marris.

Culture
The Forsaken lifestyle (for lack of a better term) reflects their collective fixation with death. A Forsaken inn may be set in a sepulcher, offer stone coffins for rest, and be dimly lit and poorly maintained. They have less in common with other mortal races, and so may not gravitate to non-Forsaken company, particularly in leisure time. Given they don't actually need sleep or food in their new forms, they may decide they don't need leisure either and devote themselves wholeheartedly to furthering the will of their Lady.

Appearance and dress
Physically, an undead can range from uncannily lifelike to absolutely ghoulish. More are being raised on a regular basis and all with differing levels of decay. Arcane magic can preserve flesh, as can proper embalming and careful maintenance. Like the stitched abominations that guard the labyrinthine Undercity, Forsaken can patch up their bodies with a little swift needlework as necessary.

Some may choose to keep the clothes they were buried in, their only tie to the life they once had, while others may shed it to embrace their new existence. Dark muted colors, skull and bone motifs, sharp spikes, and viciously bright green all tend to feature in Forsaken armor.

Cuisine
In the wide variety of Forsaken forms raised, some will retain sharp senses and some may not. Thus, their food and drink can be rotted into slop, or merely be tweaked variations on what they enjoyed while alive. Many newer food sources (when not fallen enemies...or friends) are local flora and fauna that eke out their existences in Tirisfal Glades or the nearby Silverpine Forest - bear flesh, spider legs, stag meat, lots and lots of mushrooms. This can play into the biological features of your character; if jawless, tough meat can be a challenge; if desiccated and emptied of internal organs, alcohol may have no noticeable effects; if actively rotting and swarming with maggots, a decaying tauren eyeball or three may be the most wonderful sensation. This may put living dinner guests off. This may or may not be the point.

Classes
Warrior: Forsaken never tire and have immense undead strength, making for terrifying implacable warriors. Archetypes can include raiders, foot soldiers, wandering mercenaries, but they could also be Deathguards or the Lady's personal Royal Dreadguard.

Priest: Despite the rise of the Cult of Forgotten Shadows following the fall of Lordaeron, not all Forsaken priests turned to it, nor did all Shadow Priests fade with it after the events of Legion. Shadow Priest Sarvis still serves in some spiritual capacity, preaching the doctrine of the Void. Archbishop Alonsus Faol of Northshire Abbey was raised full of Light and retains his selfhood and faith. Archetypes include the zealous Shadow Priests, the Holy Priests devoted to easing the suffering of undead and the living alike, the penitent former criminals, or even the experimental mages.

Rogue: The Forsaken, like all functional nations, need rogues. Whether assassinating threats to the Dark Lady's power or scouting for the next military strike, a rogue has plenty of niches to fill. Archetypes include Deathstalkers, 7 double agents, saboteurs, and the like.

Hunter: After the death of Lich King, his forcibly-raised Dark Rangers willingly pledged their service to their former Ranger-General Sylvanas; they were prominent in command positions throughout other conflicts. To aid in the Legion campaign and swell their ranks, Nathanos trained more undead as archers and rangers, giving the entire contingent surprising diversity. Archetypes include the aforementioned Dark Ranger, the newer, "younger" archers, former Alliance riflemen, and cadaverous beastmasters.

Mage: Animated by complex magical forces, mages can be a "natural" path for Forsaken to take. Some were mages in life, and may attempt to retain their social and political networks from then; some may actually succeed. Archetypes: the "Reborn" mage (maintaining status among the Kirin Tor or Stormwind), the fallen priest, the driven commoner, the scholar, the Apothecary, etc.

Warlock: Forsaken are no strangers to dark magics, and have nearly no qualms about expanding their uses. Warlocks form the backbone of military planning, providing both massive destructive power and research into the forbidden. Archetypes: the fallen mage, the fallen priest, the scholar, the Apothecary, the vengeful victim, the scheming chessmaster, etc.

Starting off
You just pulled yourself out of the grave with nothing but an Undertaker to help you cope. And he was less than helpful. You are dead, know nothing of your new condition. What do you do next? Well, that's up to you. Some ideas include going to Undercity to try to learn more about this "Dark Lady" everyone is talking about. Or seeking out older Forsaken to try to make sense of just what you are now. If your server is full of roleplayers, you could even start wandering around undead mobs and start trying to "wake them up" keep in mind that this is just a starting point. After a while, it is your duty to "flesh out" your character and create their own personality.

Relations with other races

 * Orcs: The Forsaken use the orcs as a source of aid mainly. They treat the orcs, along with the living, as either a target or temporary convenience. Since the events of the Wrath Gate, the Forsaken are now distrusted by the orcs and the rest of the Horde.


 * Trolls: They have a similar attitude to the trolls, if narrower. They have not really interacted much with the trolls. trolls don't think much of them either. The trolls are viewed as primitive in the eyes of the Forsaken. The precise feelings of the trolls are unknown.


 * Tauren: The tauren appear to be peaceful and nature loving which clashes with Forsaken society. However, the tauren see the Forsaken as suffering an illness that must someday be cured, even allowing them to live in a part of Thunder Bluff so they can conduct their research.


 * Blood Elves: They seem to hold the blood elves in slightly higher esteem than other Horde races. Likely because of shared lust for power and the fact that the blood elves were previously high elves who are a part of the Alliance just as the Forsaken were one humans. It is unknown if the blood elves return these feelings.

Regardless of whether they are Scourge or not, they are members of the Horde with whom relations are becoming very tense.
 * The Alliance: humans despise the Forsaken, seeing them as nothing more than vile minions of the Lich King. Humans will not hesitate to vanquish any undead they come across (so long as they are able).

The Scourge is hated by the Forsaken and destroying it is the primary objective of the Forsaken's dark conquest.
 * The Scourge: Ruled by the Lich King, the Forsaken were raised into his undead minions but broke free from his influence to join Sylvanas Windrunner who also defected.