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Boskov01 — Arthidain Rotgrave - The Highwayman of Tirisfal

Published: 2016-06-08 20:56:08 +0000 UTC; Views: 516; Favourites: 8; Downloads: 0
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Description This is one of my World of WarCraft characters. The image was acquired via WoW. This information only relates to the lore of my character and their place within the Lore of World of WarCraft. Naturally this is non-canon to WarCraft lore.

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Name: Arthidain Rotgrave, Artidain Fairhouse (Formerly)
Known Aliases: Vandread Rotgrave
Race: Forsaken, Human (formerly)
Born: 2 Years into the First War
Died and Risen: 20 Years after the First War (Aged 18 at time of death, aged 38 chronologically)
Hometown: Deathknell, Vandermar Village (formerly)
Occupation: Highwayman, assassin, murderer (Former and current)
Affiliations: Himself, The Undead Scourge (Formerly)

Before he was born, Arthidain Fairhouse's father, an alchemist, was saved by Royal Knight Arthidan Halberd. The Alchemist was so grateful that he used Arthidan's name as a basis for his son's name, adding an I to the name to make it distinguishable. The Alchemist Fairhouse also named Arthidan as Arthidain's godfather. Arthidain grew up as a friend and neighbor to the Halberd family and spent time learning his father's trade as an alchemist, creating potions an poisons. One of the poisons Arthidain learned about was Gloomweed Hemlock, a deadly poison that could kill almost anyone. Arthidain also grew to desire the affections of his friend and neighbor Dalaette Halberd, his godfather's daughter. Dalaette seemed to reciprocate and promised that they would one day runaway together and that she'd remain faithful too him until he could come up with the money so they could live on their own. Arthidain immediately set off from Vandermar to try and raise this money. Unfortunately Arthidain discovered he wasn't very good at most professions except for alchemy and even then he wasn't very good at making restorative potions and after a couple of accidental poisonings, was barred from practicing alchemy within Lordaeron. Arthidain, desperate to please Dalaette, turned to highway robbery and found a way to make use of his skill at making poisons to rob travelers at knifepoint and subtly poison them without their knowing so that they would die before reaching the authorities. A few managed to survive long enough to warn the Lordaeron guards of a highwayman on the road but would inevitably die from the rare and unknown poison. Arthidain became so obsessed with trying to keep his promise to Dalaette that he even poisoned his own father with a slow acting but subtle poison in his food to keep him from helping the guards in identifying the poison used in Arthidain's robberies.

Unfortunately all of this was for naught as Arthidain eventually learned that not only had Dalaette not waited for him but had been manipulating him all along. She had also been manipulating countless other men in Lordaeron and blackmailing them. Arthidain was infuriated and swore vengeance upon her. He tracked her down to a flat in Lordaeron City, snuck into her room in the early morning hours, and stabbed her with his poisoned blade. He then cursed her, saying...

"May your body please only the maggots, and may roaches make a home in your hips!"

He was then forced to flee as the innkeeper came running in response to Dalaette's cries of pain. A manhunt ensued for Arthidain who was forced to flee Tirisfal altogether to evade the law. Unfortunately he ran straight into the unholy arms of the approaching Undead Scourge as they lay in wait for Prince Arthas to kill his father. He was almost instantly struck down and raised again into the service of the Scourge. For over a year, Arthidain was a loyal servant of the Lich King until eventually the Lich King's hold over him and countless others of the Undead was broken. Upon realizing what he had become, Arthidain seemed morbidly pleased, believing his body now best represented his soul: rotten. Arthidain refused to join the Forsaken, abandoning them to their fate. He discovered that his Gloomweed Hemlock didn't work as well on the undead as it did the living so he was forced to adapt. He continued his life of crime only he didn't limit his victims to just the living. He attacked anyone who looked like they had something of value, Alliance and Horde, living and undead. He even pillaged an entire coffin hauler full of human and dwarf prisoners on their way to the Undercity for experimentation by the Royal Apothecary Society, killing all of them and stealing whatever valuables he could find.

He quickly became wanted by the Forsaken and the Horde as a thief and murderer, prompting a bounty to be placed upon his head. Fortunately he would always go to ground in his various hiding places scattered around the former territories of Lordaeron. As his crime spree across the Forsaken lands continued, he discovered that he had a pursuer, a lone hunter had been on and off his trail since he pillaged the coffin hauler around the time just prior to the Cataclysm. For years he had to dodge and evade this Hunter, a fellow Forsaken given that, like him, they didn't need to stop to eat or sleep. The chase took him all throughout the former Lordaeron territories, finally shaking his pursuer in the Eastern Plaguelands around the time of Garrosh Hellscream's death. He caught a glimpse of his pursuer, confirming they were a Forsaken woman but could not see her face enough from his hiding place. He remained underground for about a year before seizing the opportunity provided by the Legion invasion to finally reemerge unnoticed. During this time, he adopted the alias Vandread Rotgrave to allow him to slip back into Tirisfal undetected by his pursuer, returning to the Undercity for the first time since being freed of the Lich King's control.

While in Undercity, he happened a stop near the old burnt out inn where his former paramour Dalaette had lived in town and where he had murdered her years before. While there and stealthed, he saw the very same huntress that had been pursuing him return to the inn along with her warg. Now able to get a good look at her, his rotting eyes widened in shock upon recognizing her...

Dalaette Halberd, in the rotting flesh.

He quickly realized that she had been hunting him out of vengeance and for the first time since his being risen as an undead, he felt genuine fear strike him. He was still stealthed though and she hadn't noticed him so he turned and fled the Undercity, hopping aboard the Zeppelin to Kalimdor, to put as much distance between him and his former paramour as possible. He could not explain his fear of her but he knew that she was aware of his being an undead, and he wanted to avoid the True Death she would strive to deliver unto him.

Vandread would make a home for himself in Rachet, making an honest living of himself as an alchemist, having been almost literally scared straight by merely seeing her. The reason for this fear of her perplexed him though, gnawing at him. Why fear this one person out of all the countless others who have pursued him? He began seeking the council of various soothsayers from among the Horde races, each one unable to help, partly because he would not be honest of his past. His bounty back in Tirisfal was still live, after all.

One month near the end of the Legion Invasion, on a whim, he decided to venture to the Darkmoon Faire. While there, he met with Sayge, the Gnoll Fortune Teller. Sayge went on to tell Vandread his fortune, a bleak one that explained his fear in a single sentence.

"The woman scorned shall have her revenge."

At that moment, Vandread understood the reason he feared Dalaette. Destiny itself had preordained that she would achieve vengeance against her murderer. Vandread's reaction to this though was outwardly one of uncertainty. He quietly returned to Tirisfal, spending some time in reflection near Brightwater Lake. With the knowledge that he would die by Dalaette's hands now confirmed beyond all doubt in his mind, he was left at a new crisis point. He had grown tired of the blood and killing as a highwayman, and his identity as Vandread had given him a chance to start anew (he didn't count his death and rebirth as a Forsaken as he had just continued his murderous life from when he was alive). So he instead opted to put his talents to use and went to work for the Royal Apothecary Society and was part of the groups working on producing more of the plague as a weapon against the Alliance. Vandread would help to prepare the plague bombs that blighted Lordaeron City, but he himself had evacuated with the rest of the Apothecaries before the battle began. Afterwards he retreated to Orgrimmar where he'd continue his work and has continued to do so ever since, even assisting in the creation of the Plague Eaters that would ultimately cleanse the same Plague he had helped to create.

Personality and Traits
In life, Arthidain selfishly sought wealth and power, while also having a homicidal delight in taking the lives of other, particularly with poisons, with Gloomweed Hemlock being his signature poison. This personality persisted even into undeath for a long time as he grew to relish the infamy and fear he had become known for. He took his betrayal by Dalaette very hard and gained retribution by murdering her, partly blaming her for his being undead in the first place. However upon learning that Dalaette was also a Forsaken and had been his pursuer, he was filled with an inexplicable fear of her, a fear he could not understand until hearing his fortune from Sayge when he realized that it was fear of his destiny to meet his end by her vengeful hands. With this in mind, a strange sense of peace washed over Arthidain, an acceptance of this fate.

From that moment he abandoned his murderous life, choosing to use his alias of Vandread as a chance for a new "undeath" and chose to focus his efforts into more peaceful pursuits, joining the Royal Apothecary Society and contributing his knowledge of poisons and alchemy in general to their pursuits.

Arthidain carries two weapons at all times, a heavier weapon for stronger blows and his poisoned dagger. Arthidain selfishly sought to gain wealth and power. He was at first frustrated by the loss of some of the abilities he had while living such as his "manhood." It was believed that his ill gotten gains from his robberies and assassinations were helping to fund a group of Demon Worshiping Forsaken who believed that one of the demons will restore their living forms to them in exchange for their servitude, however this was just speculation without evidence. Most of his wealth was secretly stored in the Undercity Banks under his alias of Vandread, and he has since donated most of his stolen wealth to the Orgimmar Orphanage as a form of penance. His skill with poisons is probably his greatest strength.

Since learning of the Afterlives found in the Shadowlands, Arthidain quietly anticipates that he will be sent straight to the Maw upon his True Death for his past deeds, scoffing at the notion of being sent to Maldraxxus or Revendreth and actually burst our laughing at the notion of being sent to Bastion. He considers being sent to the Maw a just reward for his evil deeds and has recognized he has done a complete reversal from his old ways. For this much he somewhat anticipates his inevitable reunion with Dalaette, if only so that he can thank her for changing him for the better before she metes out her vengeance.
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