Topic
Scourge
The Scourge is an apocalyptic army of undead monsters, necromancers, and enslaved spirits bound to the will of the Lich King. Originally created by the Burning Legion to destabilize Azeroth ahead of the Third War, the legion of walking corpses broke free from demonic control and shattered the kingdoms of Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas. Today, they wage unending war from their arctic stronghold in Northrend and their corrupt dominion over the Plaguelands.
A Plague of Demonic Design
The Scourge was born as an instrument of destruction forged by the Burning Legion. The demon lords bound the spirit of the fallen orc shaman Ner'zhul to the Frozen Throne in distant Northrend, fashioning him into the Lich King. With terrifying telepathic power, he was commanded to prepare Azeroth for conquest. The Lich King unleashed the Plague of Undeath southward into the unsuspecting human realm of Lordaeron, relying on the mortal traitors of the Cult of the Damned to poison grain supplies. Those who perished arose not as restful dead, but as twisted thralls entirely subservient to the Lich King's iron mind.
The Fall of the North
The Scourge achieved total devastation when Prince Arthas Menethil fell to the Lich King's whispers. Seeking vengeance in Northrend, Arthas claimed the cursed blade Frostmourne and forfeited his soul, becoming the Scourge's paramount death knight. Returning home, Arthas slew his father King Terenas, butchered Capital City, and unleashed the undead horde across Lordaeron. The Scourge swept through towns like Darrowshire and Andorhal, butchered the Silver Hand paladins, destroyed Dalaran to summon Archimonde, and carved a dead scar through Quel'Thalas to resurrect Kel'Thuzad as a lich.
Betrayal and the Schism
The Lich King never intended to serve the Burning Legion permanently. Through Arthas, Ner'zhul secretly engineered the Legion's defeat by goading Illidan Stormrage into slaying the dreadlord Tichondrius in Felwood. Enraged, the demon lord Kil'jaeden later ordered Illidan to obliterate the Frozen Throne. Illidan's assault fractured the icy prison, causing the Lich King's mental grip over his minions to waver. Seizing on this weakened control, a faction of free-willed undead led by the resurrected banshee Sylvanas Windrunner broke away, christened themselves the Forsaken, and seized the ruins of Lordaeron.
The Present Threat
Though weakened by the fracturing of the Frozen Throne and the rebellion of the Forsaken, the Scourge remains the deadliest force in the northern world. Led in the field by the lich Kel'Thuzad, its abominations, crypt fiends, and necromancers dominate the corrupted Eastweald and Westweald, now known as the Plaguelands. From grim bastions and blighted fields, they continuously wage war against the Forsaken of the Undercity, the fanatic zealots of the Scarlet Crusade, and the remaining enclaves of the Alliance.
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- Wiki Adapted from the Warcraft Wiki article Scourge (CC BY-SA 4.0)