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Maledictus
01-28-2006, 11:39 PM
The days before the burial of the priest known as Maledictus were filled with despair. His cataract-addled sight saw sin and corruption growing at every turn: unbridled Lust among Horde members, Intoxication at the taverns, and Disrespect shown to fellow Horde members.

A Dwarven ambassador was openly allowed sanctuary within the Orcish capitol of Orgrimmar, with the purpose of cooperation with the Alliance to fight the new enemy in Silithus. The nature-loving Tauren druids of Moonglade consorted openly with sinful Night Elves. Traveling pagan gypsies, calling themselves the Lunar Festival, lured Forsaken away from the teachings of Sylvanas with promises of idle trinkets.

To make matters worse, his daily petitions of the Forsaken Queen Sylvanas Windrunner for instructions on how to deal with sinners went unanswered. She remained as maddeningly aloof as ever.

With slavish devotion, the dead priest scrutinized her every movement for a sign of recognition. Sylvanas stared ahead, unresponsive to Maledictus' praise, only shifting her posture every so often, as if mocking his vigilance.

No longer able to bear these developments, the tormented mind of Maledictus sank deeper into paranoid dementia. He viewed recent events as a conspiracy by the living races bent on weakening the Forsaken, softening Horde resistance to the Alliance, and diminishing the role of Queen Sylvanas.

Unwilling to compromise his principles, yet unable to free himself from duty to Sylvanas, the dead priest instructed a Brill guard to bury him in an unmarked solitary grave, for interment.

For long days, the undead priest lay in the crude pine box, six feet below the cemetery of Brill. As an Undead he did not sleep or even blink, but passed the time in meditation on the declining state of Horde affairs.

The black solitude did not help Maledictus' state of mind. Gradually he became aware of the movement of maggots in the soil around him. Centipedes and beetles crept in and out of the dark wooden coffin, and over time the priest grew attuned to the increasingly loud tap-tap-tapping of insect legs, the constant clicking of tiny mandibles. His decayed brain became convinced that the insects were messengers, sent by Sylvanas herself. She was checking on him, receiving daily reports from tiny agents, with loving concern for her most ardent follower.

The conviction gripped him in the inky blackness, and Maledictus' remaining upper lip curled into a macabre semblance of a smile as he imagined the expression of concern on Sylvanas' porcelain face, as she received the news from her insect spies. The dead priest entertained himself with the belief that Sylvanas was worried for his welfare. Over time, it grew increasingly apparent that the maggots and beetles were instructing him to return to the surface, to seek out Sylvanas. Their leg-tapping and mandible-clicking was a simple code, and they were confiding to Maledictus that -upon his return to her chambers- Sylvanas would greet him warmly, and receive him to her numbing embrace.

As the delusion seized him, the priest began to claw relentlessly at his wooden coffin. In his feverish haste, the pine removed all of his jagged fingernails, and he continued to strike at the coffin door with bony fingertips. Eventually the wood splintered, and the dead priest began to tunnel upward, through the packed grave dirt, until he finally emerged from the womb of the earth, covered in filth and decay, to bask again in the pale moonlight of Tirisfal Glade.

A few townsfolk took notice of the dirt-caked, shambling form as he made his way to the gates of Lordaeron. Maledictus paid no notice to the guards of Undercity, or even to his old friend Jeremiah Payson, the cockroach vendor, as he passed by.

The dead priest entered the royal chamber of Sylvanas, oblivious to his own ghastly appearance, lost in the fantasy of his Queen's relief at seeing him at her side, as her champion. With reverence, Maledictus slowly ascended the stone steps and stood once again before the Dark Lady Sylvanas Windrunner. He had savored the anticipation of her first words to him, and as he stood before her, he imagined she was stunned into silence.

For long minutes the pathetic, broken corpse stood before his majestic, beautiful queen. She remained silent and aloof, not bothering to look in his direction.

The dead priest cleared his throat of grave dirt and spoke his first words in over 3 weeks, "My Queen, I have heard your request for my return, and I obey as your faithful servant."

Time passed. As Maledictus stared longingly at his goddess, he imagined that she was trying to tell him something with a silent language. She did not trust her guards, or the emissary Varimathras, and did not wish for them to hear her instructions to Maledictus.

As she shifted her posture, the priest understood that she wanted him to interpret and enforce her will. Maledictus followed her gaze to the wall ahead of her, and noticed that she was focused on a certain stone. The shape of the stone resembled a building, perhaps a tavern. Was she telling him that his duty now was to weed out sin and corruption from the Horde?

Certainly Intemperance and Lust were indulged in such taverns. It made perfect sense to the demented priest. Sylvanas was instructing him to enforce her will among the Forsaken, while she remained occupied with lofty affairs of state.

Maledictus nodded silently, and his remaining upper lip curled into a knowing smile. His mission was clear; to rid the Horde of sin and corruption, unite the Forsaken under the iron will of Queen Sylvanas, and ultimately to destroy the source of such corruption, as it spread from the Alliance.

Yes, a Ministry to work along side the Royal Apothecary Society, to help spread their plague and affliction to the Alliance, to better weaken them and bring about their annihilation. A Ministry of Affliction shall bring final darkness to the hated Enemy.

http://www.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=64146&TabID=556778

Danyxandra
01-29-2006, 01:18 AM
((cheers!!! Father Maledictus has risen.))

Karkarov
01-29-2006, 07:16 AM
*watching from the windows of the Inn in Brill Karkarov cant help but notice a strange sight as he sees a corpse fight and tear it's way out of the ground in the graveyard*

Hmmm not every day a plauge victim arrises here... I thought all afflicted had been moved to Deathknell so they could be instructed by the gathered trainers and lore masters....

*Suddenly as the dirt and blood covered forsaken passed in front of the tavern heading clearly to the Undercity Karkarov realized who it was*

Well... hehehe... This should make things entertaining.

Lovely
01-29-2006, 08:24 AM
((Beautiful! Bonkers, but Beautiful! Glad you are back, Mal.))

Prudynce
01-29-2006, 11:17 AM
Scurrying about the Brill graveyard looking for spiders to eat, Prudynce heard the earth being moved behind her. Turning, she saw an addled, putrid hand sprout from the earth like a twisted death bloom.

"Heya? What is this now?" she clicked her teeth with excitement and bent down low to examine the appendange. A ring on the forefinger immediately caught her eye. A thick, golden cirlce with an onyx cross embedded within a ruby glistened in the moonlight and flickered with every movement of the twitching finger. Hypnotized, Prudynce glared and absentmindedly nibbled on her bottom lip.

The arm shot up stirring her back into her demented state of mind and she dove behind a half-toppled gravemarker, trying hard to brush her erect hair down so as not to be seen. Looking down for a moment, she saw a small black widow trying to make her way away from the Forsaken, but her life was soon gone as the mage grinded her up in her lipless maw. Peeking around the marker, Prudynce saw the owner of the ring emerge from his hole and dust himself off, quite proper, then make his way out of the graveyard towards the Undercity.

Whispering "Where he going?" Prudynce followed from a good distance, taking note of this newly arisen's posture and gait. Admiring his noble stance and finding the reaction of the townsfolk - some even kneeling as he strode by - awe-inspiring.

It took her some time to find him again in the Undercity. The elevators were something she did not enjoy, losing a few toes to the door the first time and the second falling to near death. Clinging to the wall of the hallway she spied him kneeling before the Dark Queen. Were those tears she saw running down his face?

All she heard, "My Queen, I have heard your request for my return, and I obey as your faithful servant." With that, she knew she would follow this man to the ends of the earth if she could taste, even for a moment, the power he had.

"The Queen speaks to him!?" Prudynce coughed out in shock. She felt a tickle on her foot and looking down spied another creepy arachnid dancing on the top of her foot. She swooped down on it with lightning reflexes and began pulling the legs off one by one savoring each little crunch in her mouth. As she finished off the juiciest bit and turned her attention back to the priest and the Queen, he was gone.

"He is crafty that one.. " She sighed out and started off on her second hunt for the man. She found him in the Trade Quarter. A pristine white tabard with an ebony cross emblazoned on both sides was drapped over his meager chassis. Prudynce would not loose him again. She scurried up the stairs, much like her favorite meal, and kneeled before the man grabbing his hand in hers. She bowed her head low, trying hard to keep her hair from toppling him over.

"My Liege! Until these bones turn to dust, I will follow you! I am Prudynce, Mage in service to the Queen, and I am yours to command!" She sputtered out as graceful as a toad on a hotpan.

"All loyal Forsaken are equal in the eyes of Sylvanas. I am only the messenger of her will. My name is Maledictus, sister. Welcome to the flock." His words rolled off his torn tongue like an angel singing. He handed her the white tabard of the Ministry and walked away as if driven by a purpose she was not privy to.

Prudynce clicked her teeth and struggled to wear the tabard. Once over her stiff beehive, she smoothed it out and admired it's fit to her decrepid frame.

"ooo! A spider!" and she was off again searching for her next snack...

Keraph
01-31-2006, 10:39 AM
"Hmm, so the rumors are true..."

Keraph had spent much time contemplating the news that had been brought to him. The Necromancer Maledictus, once and ally and friend, had risen from his grave to continue the work of the Lady.

"And they say his mind may be slightly addled. A shame."

He strokes the archaic runes of the evil sword that had been given to him by Sylvanas as a gift for his loyalty. Every time he looked at his weapon, he was reminded of his loyal servitude to the Dark Lady, above all else. It helped him to think.

"I wonder...can he still be the ally he once was? His agenda seems similar to Infection's, though he no doubt still holds some affection for the filthy Horde he once served. Or is his mind too addled to be trusted.....This must be carefully considered...."