User:Joshmaul/Suzl Grimblade

"'Remind me never to get into a duel with that one.'"
 * - Kitrik the Assassin, to his friend Sassy Hardwrench

Suzl Grimblade is a goblin death knight. She had formerly been a member of the Assassin's Shield - the personal bodyguard of Kitrik the Assassin when he ran the grandiosely-named Grand Army of Kezan.

Biography
Born on Kezan to a family of privateers, Suzl worked as a bruiser for a time in Bilgewater Port before her disgust with the decadence of Trade Prince Maldy - and his eventual successor, Jastor Gallywix - led her to leave her homeland to seek opportunities elsewhere. Despite the fact the Steamwheedle Cartel was the Bilgewater's chief rival, Suzl started working in Booty Bay just before the Second War.

During the war against the Lich King, she signed up with the twin brothers Kitrik and Kellik, who were working as mercenary engineers for House Whitehair of Silvermoon; late in the conflict, she was killed by a vrykul ambush in the Howling Fjord while en route to Icecrown. She was raised in death and placed under the control of Lady Deathwhisper, the supreme leader of the Cult of the Damned. While patrolling Icecrown, Suzl was ambushed again, this time by the Knights of the Ebon Blade; Kellik, who had remained in Northrend while Kitrik returned to Kezan, had been working with these free death knights, and recognized Suzl instantly. He was able to convince the Ebon Blade to somehow free her from the Scourge rather than kill her outright, and they were able to recruit her into their ranks - just in time for the final push into the Citadel.

During the Cataclysm, Suzl considered the Ebon Blade to have been a mere "phase", a group without purpose after the fall of the Lich King, and so elected to take up mercenary work at Kellik's suggestion. She ultimately reunited with Kitrik when the Bilgewater Cartel was brought into the Horde, and joined his "Grand Army of Kezan", which did not last for very long. In Pandaria, Suzl offered her blade to the pandaren of Kun-Lai, fending off yaungol attacks, and later fought in the siege of Orgrimmar. When ex-Warchief Garrosh Hellscream escaped to Draenor, Suzl again worked with Kitrik and Kellik as part of the guards of House Ketiron (which had replaced House Whitehair) at their fortress of Saavedar in Frostfire Ridge.

To her surprise, the Ebon Blade issued a call to arms not long after the events on Draenor, as the Burning Legion had returned in force. She learned that there was still a Lich King - the former Alliance commander Bolvar Fordragon - and that he had conscripted the Ebon Blade to act in his name to battle the Legion. Despite her reservations, Suzl returned to Acherus and rejoined the Ebon Blade, fighting throughout the campaign in the Broken Isles and on Argus. Much to her surprise, among the new knights raised from fallen heroes during that war was her former employer, Taeril'hane Ketiron, who became known as the "Crimson King".

Sickened by the bloodbaths at Teldrassil and Tirisfal, Suzl sided with the rebellion that toppled Sylvanas, and was also glad to see the hated Gallywix go as well - replaced by Gazlowe, the boss of Ratchet and a sensible engineer respected not only by the Horde, but by some in the Alliance as well. Yet as the threat of N'Zoth began to rise, Suzl began hearing the call of the Lich King again - not in command, but in warning...