World Of Warcraft - Wrath Of The Lich King WOTLK-US SKIDROW
Kenneth Larson
Kael'thas "Kael" Sunstrider was the Prince of Quel'Thalas, the last of the House of Sunstrider, as well as a senior member of the Kirin Tor. After the fall of Quel'Thalas, Kael'thas led what remained of his people, the sin'dorei, in the service of the Alliance. Striving to placate his people's addiction to magic, he later covertly allied with Illidan Stormrage, but betrayed him to the Burning Legion when its master, the demon lord Kil'jaeden, enticed Kael with the promise of salvation for the blood elves.[6]
He was branded a traitor after his allegiance to the Legion was revealed, losing the support of Quel'Thalas. Defeated in the Tempest Keep, he would be brought back by his demon masters and return to Azeroth a shadow of his former self. Kael'thas' purpose was to summon Kil'jaeden through the Sunwell, but his plans were foiled by the Shattered Sun Offensive agents and the sacrifice of Anveena Teague. He was defeated by their forces in Magisters' Terrace.
His soul was confined to the plane of Revendreth within the Shadowlands for his many sins, such as his massive pride and how his pact with the Legion corrupted his people who he was meant to protect.[7] However, his sins became a tool for Sire Denathrius, who brutally tortured Kael to create more anima for himself. After being rescued, he was taken to Sinfall where his true repentance could begin under the tutelage of The Accuser. Since then, he has become a valuable ally of the Venthyr Covenant in the war against the Jailer. He found and worked with his old ally, Lady Vashj, (now a member of the Undying Army) to hunt down the Jailer's nathrezim infiltrators.
The only son of Anasterian Sunstrider, king of Quel'Thalas,[8] Prince Kael'thas was also a powerful mage and member of the Six, the shadowy high council of the Kirin Tor.[9] Though he spent much of his time in Dalaran, he occasionally returned to Silvermoon. On one such visit, he was invited to hear the musician Lirath Windrunner perform at one of Lord Saltheril's parties at Saltheril's Haven; the prince was so impressed with Lirath's music that he became Lirath's patron, moving the musician into Silvermoon's Artists' Quarter and finding him an apprenticeship. Lirath would later be appointed Royal Musician. At one point Kael'thas briefly considered courting Lirath's older sister, Sylvanas, but she made it clear she wasn't interested after inadvertently embarrassing Kael'thas at a Remembrance ball.[10]
Sometime before the Second War, Kael'thas took an issue with the human Nathanos Marris being admitted to the Farstriders, and sent a letter to Quel'Thalas demanding that Sylvanas dismiss Nathanos from the ranger corps. Despite this opposition, however, Sylvanas persisted, and her response was simply that Nathanos would be a loyal ally.[11]
Shortly before the Second War, he and the other members of the high council questioned Khadgar about the orcs and the events in Karazhan that led to the death of Medivh.[12] Two years later, Kael'thas alongside Krasus and Antonidas battled against death knights who came to steal the Eye of Dalaran. However, the death knights escaped with the help of the black dragonflight. The elven prince failed to save his colleague and friend Sathera from the undead knights.[13]
Despite his status as both Quel'Thalas' royal prince and his place on the Council of Six, Kael'thas proved himself an approachable individual and quickly took to Lady Jaina Proudmoore. His charm and "perfectly" handsome features impressed the young sorceress, though his regality and her longing for Prince Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron had her rebuke his advances - such as traveling to visit the beautiful elven homeland, Quel'Thalas, where magic was even more commonplace than Dalaran. Arthas, in turn, came to view the older Kael with jealousy. Later, Arthas himself was to visit Dalaran to study, and Jaina began a relationship with him. Kael'thas did not take kindly to this, and upon discovering it simply feigned mild surprise that Arthas would be so secretive about having a woman such as Jaina.
Kael'thas was opposed to the notion of upkeeping the internment camps, viewing the orcs' inability to control their dependency on demon blood as a testament to their lack of formidability as a people. This brought him into conflict with Antonidas, Jaina, and Arthas, who had come to believe that sentient individuals - lethargic or not - should be shown mercy and that the orcs were not beyond salvation.[14]
After a dramatic turn of events, the treacherous Prince Arthas ravaged his own homeland and led an attack on Quel'Thalas. His brutal conquest of the elven kingdom resulted in the utter destruction of Silvermoon City, the defiling of much of the high elven forests, the tainting of the legendary Sunwell (thus forcing a withdrawal-based lethargy on the elves), the total slaughter of around 90% of the high elven race,[16] and the killing of Kael's father, King Anasterian Sunstrider.
Kael'thas learned of this while in Dalaran, and a remorseful Jaina attempted to console him. Kael'thas lashed out at her, berating her for her relationship with such a butcher, and made one final allusion to the fact that she had chosen such a monster over him. Cursing humanity, viewing himself as a fool for ever assuming that humans could aid him, Kael'thas stated that his people had thus been reborn, by the blood of those who are forced to serve her "beloved" in death. With his father gone, Kael'thas knew that leading his people was now his duty alone.[17]
Kael'thas abandoned Dalaran to its fate and rushed to the aid of his people. Once he entered the forests, Kael sent Rommath to Lor'themar Theron, to inform the elves about the coming of their prince.[18]
Kael'thas arrived in Silvermoon to an icy reception. His prolonged absence had been noted, and the populace was downtrodden, fearing the prince would abandon them. Kael first met with Lor'themar, who had rallied the elves in his absence, and was shown to the body of his father. Kael performed a Thalassian blessing and told his father that he was lost without him; that Anasterian was the king, not him. He asked his father for the strength to lead their people forward and watched that night as Anasterian was cremated on a funeral pyre.[18]
Kael'thas made no excuses for being absent in Quel'Thalas' darkest hour. He resolved to prove himself to the elves and do whatever he could to rebuild their kingdom. It was hard as he had always felt distant from his people. They were largely insular and isolationist and he was quite the opposite. He wanted to see the world, interact with other races and learn new ideas. Despite this, he loved his people and kingdom.[19]
Kael'thas then left to observe the defiled Sunwell and witnessed the dark, twisted energies pulsating from it. Fearing a further catastrophe upon the elves and the land, and an attack of the Amani trolls, Kael'thas rallied a group of volunteers to destroy the corrupted Sunwell. He took three mooncrystals with him to this end, all three of which survived the sealing of the Sunwell, albeit altered. Kael took them into his possession thereafter.[18] Though he had saved his people from continued exposure to the dark energy, the destruction of the Sunwell resulted in a withdrawal-based lethargy for the elven race.[16]
Though King Anasterian had removed Quel'Thalas from the Alliance prior to the undead onslaught, Kael rejoined what was known as the "remnants of the Alliance" battling the Scourge in Lordaeron. Though this alliance was Kael's best bet for vengeance upon the Scourge, he came under the bigoted scrutiny of its prejudiced leader, Grand Marshal Garithos, who had long despised the elves.
Kael'thas took a number of his most powerful followers to join the Alliance resistance, though the majority of his people remained behind in Quel'Thalas. Kael'thas commanded the great ranger, Lor'themar Theron, to safeguard the shattered elven kingdom, to protect their exhausted people, and to keep what remains of Quel'Thalas untainted from the Scourge. As such, Kael appointed Lor'themar as regent lord. Before leaving, he took his family's shattered runeblade [Felo'melorn] into his possession, planning to one day reforge it into a symbol of hope and power his people could again be proud of - a reminder that even in the face of overwhelming hardship, the blood elves would not be broken. In time, Kael'thas succeeded, and the mighty royal blade was reforged.[20]
Following the destruction of Silvermoon, Kael began to notice an emptiness within himself and his brethren, an insatiable hunger and disharmony. However, there was no time to deal with that, as Kael had other duties.Kael and his soldiers were stationed in the Silverpine Forest when a disturbance began to rile up the undead in and around Dalaran. They had begun to raid the outposts Kael had established, so he gathered up his forces to seek refuge in the relative safety on the other side of the River Arevass.
As he was loading the supply wagons, he was met by two unexpected strangers, Maiev Shadowsong and Tyrande Whisperwind. These night elves had pursued Illidan Stormrage for three days across the sea. Kael guessed that perhaps Illidan was behind the disturbances at Dalaran, and when he told them his tale, Tyrande immediately offered her assistance, thinking that he could help them track down Illidan. Maiev believed it to be a waste of time but reluctantly agreed. With the protection of the night elves and their mountain giant allies, Kael quickly made his way to Pyrewood Village to retrieve his buried supply caches. As they gathered more reinforcements, Maiev asked Kael where the rest of his brethren were, and he told them of the destruction of Quel'Thalas. Tyrande empathized but warned that vengeance and rage were not a pleasant road to walk.
As they arrived in Pyrewood, the undead were lying in wait and ambushed the caravan. Kael, Maiev, Tyrande, and their forces battled off the first attackers, but as the second wave advanced, they realized that the caravan would never survive another assault. Maiev and Kael rushed the caravan across the bridge, while Tyrande stayed to fend off the undead alone. As she called upon the powers of Elune to protect her, the bridge fell away, and Tyrande was swept down the river. Kael wanted to pursue her, but Maiev stopped him, saying that she was a warrior and knew the risks. Maiev then demanded that Kael honor their bargain, and help her capture Illidan.
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