Roleplaying plot points for the death knights of the Ebon Blade
by Anne Stickney 
Nov 19th 2011 at 4:00PM
Death knights saw their introduction in Wrath of the Lich King, which was the only appropriate point for them to be introduced. Former servants of the Lich King, the death knight class as we see it in World of Warcraft has now broken free of his hold. The death knights that have broken free rejoined with their former comrades, either Alliance or Horde, but not without a struggle. As a class, the death knights are masters of undeath, using unholy, frost and blood powers against any who would stand against them.
But for roleplayers, the death knight offers a unique challenge. Here is a character who once had a life filled with hopes, dreams, aspirations and goals just like any other. But that character had his life taken from him abruptly and then found himself brutally ripped back to a mockery of his former self. It creates an interesting space in which one can play with the notion of what might have been, had you not been relegated to an unfortunate fate.
The playable death knights of WoW have their own organization, the Knights of the Ebon Blade. It was formed primarily to retaliate against the Lich King, which was taken care of in Wrath. So what are these knights up to today?
The Knights of the Ebon Blade
Originally servants of the Lich King, the Knights of the Ebon Blade were raised from death and trained in and around Acherus, the Ebon Hold. Roleplayers who wish to play an authentic death knight should pay close attention to the events in the starting areas, as they play out exactly how and why the Ebon Blade was formed. Though Archerus was primarily a training ground for new death knights, it was revealed over the course of the starting area that the Lich King was not raising a glorious army, as previously claimed.
Instead, the death knights were pretty much created to draw Tirion Fordring out of hiding at Light's Hope Chapel. They were nothing more than bait -- and that didn't sit well with Highlord Darion Mograine. Mograine handed over the Corrupted Ashbringer to Tirion, whose powers managed to purify the blade. Tirion attacked the Lich King, the Lich King fled, and Fordring vowed he would see the Lich King put down for good, calling for a union of the Argent Dawn and the Order of the Silver Hand into the Argent Crusade.
But Mograine and the remaining death knights had their free will back -- and they wanted their revenge against the Lich King as well. So Mograine pledged himself and his knights to the same cause as the Argent Crusade, calling his order the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Through the course of Wrath of the Lich King, Mograine and the rest of the death knights got their vengeance. But just because vengeance was met doesn't mean that the struggles of being a death knight are over -- far from it.
Reintegration
What happened The ultimate purpose of the Ebon Blade was to defeat the Lich King. This purpose was fulfilled, but the death knights are still around, and now they have to take a look at themselves and the rest of society and try to determine where they fit in -- or even if they fit in at all.
How this affects your character This is a really tricky situation that is rife with potential uncomfortable and dramatic moments, which makes for some really amazing roleplay. Your character had a presumably full and happy life before dying and coming back as a death knight. As a member of the Ebon Blade, he had a purpose and drive, something to dedicate himself to. Now that the Lich King has been defeated, he is left with nothing to do but to either rebuild or go back and try and rekindle some of what he lost upon his death.
What to consider What was your character's former life like? Did he have a family, children, loved ones? Do they know what happened to him? When the Lich King was defeated, was he happy that the purpose of the Ebon Blade had been fulfilled, or was he dreading the day in which he'd have to go back to "normal" life, whatever that meant? Does he think about the years before his death and resurrection, or does he prefer to keep those memories locked tight and away?
What happened There was an interesting tidbit in this year's Ask Creative Development Q&A.
This is, understandably, a really odd characteristic and one that wouldn't simply disappear upon the Lich King's death.Q: Are blood elf death knights still afflicted by their racial addiction to magic?
A: No, though their new addiction, the one all Ebon Blade death knights possess, is arguably worse: the need to inflict pain. If death knights do not regularly inflict agony upon another creature, they begin to suffer wracking pains that could drive them into a mindless, blood-seeking hysteria -- a far worse fate than that of those who suffer from arcane withdrawal.
How this affects your character This is an addiction, just like the blood elves' addiction to magic. You can choose to play with it as little or as much as you like -- but a death knight in the throes of withdrawal for something so frowned upon by polite society is a character ripe with potential. The same goes for death knights that carry out this addiction heedless of the reactions of others.
What to consider How heavily is your character affected by this condition? Is it something he resists out of concern for others? Or is it something he embraces wholeheartedly as key to his nature? Does he seek out animals or other creatures to indulge this addiction on? Does he look for criminals? Or does he simply lash out at whoever or whatever happens to be handy? Is this something that deeply affects him on a profound emotional level or something that he simply does out of mechanical instinct?
The Forsaken
What happened For the Alliance, the Knights of the Ebon Blade are simply returning to their homes or making new homes for themselves. But for the Horde, the story is a little different. Death knights fall under the category of undead, and the Banshee Queen Sylvanas seems to think all Horde death knights should fall under her jurisdiction -- to the point of controlling them in a manner that is eerily reminiscent of the Lich King.
How this affects your character As an Alliance death knight, your character may be keenly interested in the actions of the other side, particularly in regards to Sylvanas' movements in Andorhal, Silverpine and Hillsbrad. Though your character is Alliance, he did at one point stand side by side with the Horde members of the Ebon Blade as well. If you are Horde, the actions of Sylvanas are a deeper interest, particularly since she seems to think that death knights are her territory.
What to consider If your character is Alliance, what does he think of Sylvanas? Does he wonder what she's up to? Does he try to keep a close eye on her actions? Did your character have allies who were Horde, and what did he think of those allies? Does he worry about what's happening on the other side of the faction divide, or is he oblivious to it?
If your character is Horde, again, what does he think of Sylvanas and the Forsaken? Does he view them as equals, since they are undead and have broken free of the Lich King's will much in the same manner as the death knights? Or does he consider them somehow different? In what way? How does he handle having to deal with Sylvanas and the Forsaken as allies? Does he agree with Sylvanas' actions, or does he think perhaps he should be feeding this information to the Ebon Blade, regardless of his affiliation with the Horde?
Even though the Ebon Blade itself no longer has a defined purpose as it did in the days of Wrath, it doesn't mean the organization or its members have gone away. They're still present, lurking in the shadow or trying to retake their place in the sun. And though the Ebon Blade no longer has the limelight, it may still be working quietly on its own tasks -- tasks that you can define as a roleplayer and play around with. Just make sure that if you are giving the Ebon Blade a purpose and that the purpose isn't a game-breaking one, in order to avoid potential god-modding.
Death knights are honestly one of the more intriguing classes to roleplay. Keep in mind when you're playing a death knight that you've got years of living backstory to consider as well as the time they've spent undead. Much like the Forsaken, death knights have to struggle with reconciling their old lives to their new un-lives. Fortunately for death knights, they've already been partially accepted back into society, unlike the Forsaken of the Horde. Distrust, angst, grief, anger ... It's a gritty, grim pile of emotion to handle, but when done correctly, can make playing this class ultimately satisfying.
All the World's a Stage is your source for roleplaying ideas, innovations and ironies. Let us help you imagine what it's like to sacrifice spells for the story, totally immerse yourself in your roleplaying or even RP on a non-RP realm!
Filed under: All the World's a Stage (Roleplaying)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Iirdan Nov 19th 2011 4:05PM
My death knight capitalizes on the pain addiction. He's a rather pacifistic character otherwise, preferring to stay well outside of factional and racial conflicts, and instead devoting his life to research and the pursuit of knowledge.
He tries to cover his withdrawal symptoms with alcohol - with amusing results - and more successfully with an alchemical potion of his own devising. Unfortunately his guild leader thinks he's a drug addict because he is always sneaking sips of potions.
I really loved how Death Knights played mechanically, but roleplaying one has been incredibly fun and rewarding.
FishSkeleton Nov 19th 2011 8:15PM
That sounds fine enough to me, but I do want to remind people of a slightly obscure bit of lore. If you've never seen it, look up the ingame book 'Guide to the Side Effects of Reanimation.' It's a fun read, and you can find it laying around Acherus if you would prefer to find it rather than look it up online. But, more to the point, it includes this line, "Alcohol is simply not the same. My apologies." What I took away from this is that death knights cannot feel the effects of alcohol. Death knights do of course eat and drink, as proven in Corpulous' Mess Hall Rules, so I normally just have mine order a mug of water, as a joke more than anything.
Cobalt Nov 19th 2011 4:12PM
"No, though their new addiction, the one all Ebon Blade death knights possess, is arguably worse: the need to inflict pain. If death knights do not regularly inflict agony upon another creature, they begin to suffer wracking pains that could drive them into a mindless, blood-seeking hysteria -- a far worse fate than that of those who suffer from arcane withdrawal."
Well that's not so bad. All DKs wanting to integrate into regular society would need to do is just hang out in Orgrimmar/Stormwind and troll trade chat every day. And if that doesn't work, maybe they could take up a profession like alchemy/inscription and repeatedly undercut potential sellers on the AH by 1c. If these DKs get called out on it, they can just say "Hey man, I'm a recovering addict! I need to do this!"
DKs: The Ultimate Bureaucrats.
Angus Nov 19th 2011 6:33PM
THIS explains trade chat so much...
Jere Hunter Nov 20th 2011 11:48AM
you forgot Acheology, but other than that, spot on :D
Luke Nov 21st 2011 5:31AM
Far better than wallowing around in self pity like a certain reformed vampire of the Buffyverse.
Gawd how I loathed Angel...
MikeLive Nov 19th 2011 4:30PM
On a quasi-related point, is there a class that doesn't have some associated faction? Shaman have Earthen Ring, Paladins have Argent Crusade, Warlocks have Burning Legion, Mages have Kirin Tor, Druids have Cenarion Circle... I guess Warriors don't have one specific, but each race Warrior is basically a soldier in their race's army.
squig_masta Nov 19th 2011 4:59PM
Hunter's also don't have a dedicated faction, unless you count Nessingwary and co as a 'faction.' And it's kind of a stretch to say all warriors are soldiers. In fact it's hard to imagine how a fury warrior who uses abilities like reckless would even fit in a disciplined rank-and-file military unit.
paul.morales91 Nov 19th 2011 5:00PM
No offense, but some of your associations are just flat out wrong. While all shaman are part of the Earthen Ring, and all druids are part of the Cenarion Circle, not all paladins are part of the argent crusade. In fact, not everyone in the argent crusade is a paladin/priest. All paladins have a core set of beliefs they follow (except maybe Belfs in Burning Crusade) but other than that, they pretty much associate with whomever they choose. As for warlocks, they are actually similar to mages from a lore standpoint, except that they choose to dominate demons for their power, while mages rely on their own expertise with the arcane. What its important to know is that, even though the burning legion has warlocks in it, NONE of the playable warlocks are in any way associated with the demonic faction. There is a HUGE difference between one who manipulates demons and an actual demon.
MikeLive Nov 19th 2011 5:03PM
@paul.morales91 Actually your interpretation of what I said is wrong. All I said was some class-associated faction, as in not necessarily player characters are part of, but the faction (not necessarily a in-game mechanic faction neither) is associated with a class.
paul.morales91 Nov 19th 2011 5:47PM
Sorry, my bad, but I still maintain that the Argent Crusade has more than just paladins and priests in it (I'm sure I saw darion fighting a tauren shaman at some point). To actually answer your question, warriors, hunters, and rogues do not have any sort of neutral faction HOWEVER some races (like night elves and tauren) seem to choose hunters over warriors in their armies, and alliance rogues do have a specific faction (SI:7). I cant say the same about horde rogues, then again I mostly play alliance.
MikeLive Nov 19th 2011 5:49PM
The Argent Crusade certainly does have many classes - just my first thought when I hear "Argent Crusade" is Paladins, primarily due to Tirion Fordring.
Lou Gagliardi Nov 20th 2011 12:19AM
Hunters, and warriors as a whole do not have an organization but blood elf hunters and warriors could, in terms of play, be apart of the Farstriders. Orcs could be apart of the Kor'kon. Forsaken could be deathguards. That just leaves the Tauren and goblins--though goblins could be mercenaries.
For the Alliance, you could just be apart of the larger Alliance Army. For dwarves, specifically, there's probably a lodge or sub-clan for ya, lad. Worgen could be apart of the GIlnean Liberation Front, or the Gilnean Royal Army.
Otherwise, you're on your own.
Killik Nov 20th 2011 11:47AM
@paul The tauren shaman you saw fighting Darion would have been Rimblat Earthshatter, the Earthen Ring ambassador to Light's Hope Chapel.
That said, the faction associated with player paladins is surely the Silver Hand, on the Alliance side of things?
Amaxe Nov 19th 2011 4:39PM
The pain addiction thing is interesting, and not something I realized earlier. I'd conceived of my human death knight as already a borderline war criminal when fighting the original Horde. I imagine this would probably be brought out more now.
I'd guess DK seeking to repent of their path, yet struggling with their pain addiction might very much be in the front lines of the Alliance or Horde armies seeking to at least channel their addiction to serve their faction.
Perhaps others could be bandits and mercenary leaders.
Of course, it could open up an interesting moral issue of the military leaders who make use of the pain addicted DKs.
Micte Nov 19th 2011 5:07PM
My Draenei DK takes out her sadistic streak in battle. She rationalizes that, when someone sends her off to slaughter people and/or creatures, she's being given permission to cause them as much pain as possible in the process. It actually causes quite a few arguments with her younger sister - who is the only member of her family who knows what's happened to her - who believes that, if she must kill, it must be done fast as to minimize the time the target is in pain.
My Blood Elf DK has basically fallen into a vat of bourbon due to the very few memories she does have of her time under the Lich King's control (Which are, in her books, incredibly horrifying and disgusting and shameful). It's a lucky moment to find her coherent enough to talk about her time before her death. She has no idea where her family is or if they have any idea that she's still walking.
Blagaah Nov 20th 2011 9:49AM
I don't really think too much about it. I run with the mindset of a Forsaken anyway. The husk is Highelf, the soul was dead. That to me says that maybe some of us follow her willingly.
Karadur Nov 19th 2011 5:11PM
My DK is an integral part of my little draenei RP cluster. He's the son of an old, respected holy paladin and a priestess of Ishanah, brother to a protection paladin in training, eldest scion of a line devoted to the Light. As such, he's filled with nothing but deep, deep shame over what he _let_ happen to himself. A true paladin would have thrown himself on his sword the minute he awoke in undeath, but he's too weak and cowardly for that, he's too afraid of the _true_ death, which no self-respecting paladin ought to feel, which just reminds him that he's no longer a paladin, which in turn further fuels his shame, etc., etc. He's so ashamed, in fact, that even after Arthas' death, he has yet to return to the Exodar and reconnect with his family, though he did glimpse his mother from afar while questing in Shattrath. He denies the addiction to inflicting pain with every fiber of his being, and he thinks he's got it reasonably under control, but what he doesn't realize is that by isolating himself, he's delivering agony unto his family, who want nothing more than to bring him _home_. But if he can no longer kneel before A'dal without feeling shame and hideous, flaying guilt, then the very least he can do is consecrate his unlife to the Naaru. When he summons his gargoyle, he hears not the flapping of tattered batwings, but the slow, proud sweep of royal wings. There's a reason my DK's going to be rocking the crystalforge off-color, come 4.3. Light, must remember the Light.
Derleth Nov 20th 2011 12:55PM
interesting! I'd love to see a Naruu's responce to that little problem of 'I see only darkness.' upon death.
monotype Nov 20th 2011 4:17PM
Thanks! My wee ickle DK is near and dear to my heart, wangsty as he can sometimes get. (But hey, DKs, it comes with the territory, right?) He's not the brightest space goat in the pen, though, because if he were...well, he'd realize that the fact that he can still use Gift of the Naaru means that he's not quite as lost in the darkness as he might believe. :D My DK sat in the World's End Tavern for a long, long time after the Crusader Bridenbrad quest chain, because...yeah. The Light does not forget its champions, even if they can't wrap their frakking stubborn heads around the concept.