Project Lore

This post may contain spoilers for anyone who hasn't played through the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. With the beginnings of Icecrown Citadel now on the PTR, it seems that the death of Arthas is on a lot of peoples' minds. If you've been playing Wrath of the Lich King, you're certainly at least vaguely familiar with the, well, wrath that the Lich King has brought to Azeroth. You've seen the destruction of waves of scourge under his command and the legions of indigenous peoples of Northrend enslaved under his control. But what of Arthas Menethil, the fallen paladin prince who ultimately unleashed the full power of the Lich King by merging with him? Arthas' story is, indeed, a tragic one. The only son of King Terenas Menethil II, Prince Arthas was a promising swordsman as a youth and a member of the purest paladin group, the Knights of the Silver Hand. He may have been perhaps a bit too quick to action, but the prince became a well-known, renowned warrior who, among other exploits, defended Quel'Thalas from an attack by a group of forest trolls. Perhaps the turning point in Arthas' life came with the rise of the plague of undeath. While investigating the plague, Arthas and his group, including Jaina Proudmoore, fight an undead army and encounter Kel'Thuzad, the plague-bringing necromancer. During this attack, Kel'Thuzad mentions Mal'Ganis. On their way to Stratholme and Mal'Ganis, Arthas learns that the plague is not just killing innocent people; but turning them into an undead army. Every soldier who had fallen while defending Lordaeron would become an undead puppet. Arthas, who wanted to be the one in control of the situation, was perhaps driven a little crazy knowing that even in his death, Kel'Thuzad had triumphed. As it turns out, this was the Lich King's intention all along. Although the prophet Medivh and Jaina both suggest that Arthas should head to Kalimdor and not to Stratholme, Athas' headstrong manner guides him against that advice. He drives onward to another spot of his unraveling. Arthas pledged to do anything to protect his people - even if it meant the extreme step of killing those who were on the brink of becoming undead in the Culling of Stratholme. Some viewed it as murder; But I see it as the tragic fall of a hero - Arthas sacrificed his own humanity in the hopes that it would prevent the spread of the plague. Perhaps haunted by what he had done, Arthas grows ever-obsessed with the intention of eradicating the plague. He tracks the source to Northrend and, once again in the hopes that it will help protect his people, takes up the cursed runeblade Frostmourne. As we know, it has quite the opposite effect. From there, the downfall becomes rapid. Arthas begins losing his soul and his sanity. He finally destroys Mal'Ganis, but only to help free the Lich King and take control of the Scourge. Eventually, the Lich King and Arthas become one... or do they? Perhaps with the approaching climactic battles of Icecrown Citadel in Patch 3.3, we shall see. Could Arthas' true consciousness still be buried deep within the Lich King? Or has he been so completely tainted that he never could be found again? I would draw a comparison to Star Wars' Anakin Skywalker, so consumed by the Dark Side that he lost his true self until just before his death. Take that a step further - what if, by chance, Arthas knew that taking up the Frostmourne would eventually kill the Lich King by giving him a human form, and he was willing to lose himself in the process? Would the end justify the means? Personally, I'd like to see the former Arthas come out once again (and it seems some of you would, too), somehow, in Icecrown Citadel. But even if he did somehow live and separate himself from the Lich King, could he redeem himself after all the horror he inflicted upon his people? If given the choice, would you allow Arthas to have a second chance?

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Fresh on the heels of my post about cool things to explore in the old world, I thought I would take a moment to highlight one of the more interesting ones: Stratholme. I will say this now, I am extremely lucky. I received the Baron mount on my 4th attempt. For those of you who don’t know what that means (I was surprised to learn how many are unfamiliar), let me explain what I am talking about. The Baron mount, or The Deathcharger's Reins, is an epic ground mount that drops from the final boss of Stratholme’s dead side: Baron Rivendare. It has a 1 in 100 drop rate. This has been greatly increase recently as it used to be 1 in 1,000 and 1 in 5,000 before that. Now that it exists in the world of attainability, lots of people spend time farming for this unique mount. Doing the “Baron Run” is not only a great way to get Argent Dawn rep for those of you going for Argent Champion (be sure you have your Argent Dawn Commission equipped!), but there is that great carrot of a mount at the end to keep you grinding away. Stratholme is a level 60 instance, and can be easily soloed by level 80 characters, and with a little more work if you are 70+. If done correctly the Baron run can be completed very quickly, with some able to do it in under 10 minutes. The easiest place to start is at the service entrance, far to the east of the main entrance in Eastern Plaguelands. To do this you must have The Key to the City. If you do not have the key, simply go in the front. You can also have somebody else open the gate for you, or even pick the lock if you have the ability. Once inside, make sure you kill Magistrate Barthilas as this will make future runs much simpler! Trash is packed tight in Stratholme, so you best policy is to kill things as soon as you aggro them so they don’t pull other mobs. That being said, a vast majority of the trash is completely skippable due to a very small aggro radius, especially for level 80s. In order to get access to Baron Rivendare, there are 3 bosses that must first be killed: Baroness Anastari, Maleki the Pallid, and Nerub'enkan. None of these bosses should present a challenge at high level, just make sure you enter their temples after the boss dies and kill all of the acolytes. You can find a great map of where to find these guys at Wowhead. Once the acolytes are dead you will gain access to a new area full of abominations. These must all be killed in order for the door to Rivendare’s room to be opened. It is good practice to save one for last, and kill him in front of the door to the Baron's chamber. That way, you can run in before the door shuts. Once this happens you have one more boss to kill: Ramstein The Gorger. Get him down and go kill the Baron! The run is quick, and I wish you luck on the drop! If you aren't lucky enough to get the mount, be sure and pick up all the loot, as it can be sold for a suprising amount of gold.

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