Koremath

Koremath is an orc blademaster hailing from Draenor. He came to Azeroth and joined the Horde following the Iron Horde's corruption.

Early History
Koremath was born into the Burning Blade Clan as the son of the shaman Makkal and the blademaster Gharakh. He began training with a blade at a fairly young age within the village of Hallvalor. After some time, Makkal took Koremath to visit the Throne of the Elements, where the young orc would proceed to form a bond with the Fury of Fire, Incineratus. From there, Koremath began practicing the manipulation of fire, as well as applying the potency to his weapon.

At the age of nine, Koremath bore witness to an ogre raid on Hallvalor. While Makkal and Gharakh both defended the village, it was the former whose life was taken in the ensuing conflict. This sent Koremath into a depression for some time, the young blademaster coming to believe that this would be the inevitable fate of both himself and his mother. Gharakh assured her child that no matter when death came to take them, they would carve a solid path through history up until that point.

When Koremath turned twelve, he was instructed by his clan to perform the sacred rite of Om'riggor, that which was the next step in adulthood for the orc. Koremath set out to locate a talbuk and claim its blood to present before the clan's shaman. However, when he looked over the talbuk's ways of living, he came to the conclusion that they were a relatively peaceful species, and did not deserve a violent death at his hands. Koremath then noticed a pack of garn that charged into the fray of talbuk, tearing them to shreds. The blademaster looked on in horror, expecting the wolves to at least make a meal of their prey. Alas, they did no such thing. The venomous garn merely left the beasts' corpses to rot without even making use of their flesh. This enraged Koremath to no end, and the young orc avenged the fallen beasts by driving his sword through the mane of one of the garn and ending its life. The rest of the garn attempted to intimidate the blademaster, but to no avail, as Koremath merely returned their nature in kind. After some time, the garn left to find new victims, to which Koremath spat in the dirt. The young blademaster collected the blood of a fallen talbuk, presenting it to his respective shaman and completing the rite with a bad taste left in his mouth.

The blademaster continued his training even after his father's death, philosophizing with Incineratus on weekly occasions. When Koremath was seventeen years of age, a mysterious prophet arrived in Nagrand and coerced the Warsong chieftain, Grommash Hellscream, into uniting the orcish clans under a single banner: The Iron Horde. Much of Koremath's kin were thrilled at the idea of annihilating the draenei in retribution for drawing the Burning Legion to their world. Koremath, however, saw that the Iron Horde openly employed mercenaries and enslaved the elements through the use of dark shaman. The blademaster would end up being roped into joining the Iron Horde's ranks, but refused to participate in the siege of Talador, remaining in Hallvalor to defend his people for the time being.

War in Draenor
Two years passed. It was not long before the Azerothians came upon the Burning Blade village. Many innocents were slaughtered through association with the Iron Horde, including children. Koremath's mother, Gharakh, fought with the fury of the elements themselves, but it was not enough to save herself. Gharakh perished at the hands of nameless adventurers whom Koremath swiftly slew in retribution. The assault would end up claiming the lives of many Burning Blade orcs, including their warlord, Dharl of the Thrice-Bloodied Blade.

Once the invaders had left for Grommash'ar and Highmaul, Koremath began aiding in the restoration of Hallvalor to its former glory under the leadership of Azuka Bladefury. He took notice that Azuka constantly spent her time out in the fields of battle, rather than staying behind to ensure the survival of the clan. For this, he grew to revile her leadership up until her demise.

With no leader in sight, Koremath was prepared to take up such a mantle. However, the blademaster Jubei'thos challenged Koremath for the position of regent warlord, and the former party won the ensuing Mak'Rogahn. This caused Koremath to feel shameful towards his pitiful defeat, and the blademaster was sent into another depression.

It was not long before the Iron Horde's forces began to crumble quickly, and the warlock Gul'dan seized control of their ranks. One of his lieutenants, Naz'groth, made an exodus to Hallvalor in order to offer the Burning Blade Clan the gift of demon blood. Koremath immediately opposed the warlock's offer, primed to strike him down at that very moment. However, Jubei'thos thought otherwise, and accepted the gift without hesitation. Following in suit of their warlord, many other Burning Blade orcs drank as well, binding their will to the Burning Legion. Koremath saw the futility in opposing his own kin in their newfound state, and quickly fled the village.

Koremath was beginning to lose hope in his own life at this point, thinking that the only option left would be to consult Incineratus. However, en route to the Throne of the Elements, Koremath was captured by Horde forces and sent to Wor'var. Though he believed his apprehension to spell certain doom, word travelled of both his capture and his might. The orc was visited by another of his kind from beyond the Dark Portal: Rahkris Redfist.

