Eastern Plaguelands

The Eastern Plaguelands is the more heavily devastated half of the Plaguelands, the remnants of the Kingdom of Lordaeron. They are located east of the Western Plaguelands, north of the Hinterlands, and south of the Ghostlands.

This region once was a main bastion of Undead Scourge's rule in Lordaeron. They still retain at least half control over southern capital of Stratholme, under the rule of malevolent Lord Aurius Rivendare. The ground is brown, ugly, and sick, the trees corrupted into giant mushrooms and the air polluted with orange mist. Undead, necromancers, and Damned cultists still prowl the land. The Argent Crusade attempts to rid the land of the undead infestation one day and trains their faithful soldiers in renovated Light's Hope Chapel, and watch over the land from their towers scattered across it. Amani forest trolls strike from the north, attempting to reclaim their ancestral empire.

The former Scarlet Crusade has fallen into disarray shortly after the fall of Scarlet Enclave and departure of the leadership to Northrend. The remnants were slain and risen into undeath by Balnazzar, who has returned from Twisting Nether after his defeat in Scarlet Bastion years ago.



History
Like the Western Plaguelands, the Eastern Plaguelands were once beautiful and brimming with farms and small villages. The regional government was centered around the city of Stratholme, the largest city in Lordaeron. Also nearby were the towns of Darrowshire, Corin's Crossing, and Tyr's Hand, and to the east of Stratholme was the pass leading into the southern boundaries of Quel'Thalas. At this time, it was known as the Darrowmere Forest after the lake with the same name to the south.

In the opening hours of the Third War, the investigations into the origins of the Scourge led Prince Arthas Menethil and Jaina Proudmoore through the Tirisfal Glades and what is now the Western Plaguelands (more specifically, the towns of Andorhal and Hearthglen), where they confronted the necromancer Kel'Thuzad and his Cult of the Damned. Kel'Thuzad told Arthas to seek out the leader of the Undead Scourge in Lordaeron, the Dreadlord Mal'Ganis, at Stratholme. While en route via Hearthglen, Arthas and Jaina were joined by Lord Uther, Master of the Silver Hand. When they arrived at Stratholme, Arthas realized that the villagers had been infected with the Plague of Undeath. When Uther refused to obey Arthas' command to purge the city, Arthas relieved Uther of command and disbanded the Silver Hand, then slaughtered the townsfolk himself. After hunting down Mal'ganis in Northrend, Arthas returned as one of the Lich King's death knights and toppled the Kingdom of Lordaeron by murdering his own father, King Terenas Menethil. After the fall of Lordaeron's capital, the plague spread throughout the northern regions of Lordaeron, turning them into the blighted lands they are today.

The resistance against the Scourge was particularly bloody at Darrowshire, where the ghoul Horgus the Ravager and the death knight Marduk Blackpool (alias Marduk the Black) led an army of Scourge against the town. Only surviving paladins under Davil Crokford and the Darrowshire militia under Captain Joseph Redpath were able to stand in their way. Though they put up a valiant fight, the defenders of Darrowshire were not enough to stave off the endless legions of Scourge. Davil managed to defeat Horgus in combat, but he succumbed to the horrific wounds the ghoul had inflicted. Captain Redpath fell to Marduk's necromancy, his soul taken from his body and corrupted into the service of the Scourge, where he proceeded to turn on his fellows and tear Darrowshire apart, killing everyone who hid in their homes.



After the fall of Lordaeron, Alexandros Mograine formed a Crusade from the remnants of Lordaeron's Knights of the Silver Hand and attempted to retake the shattered kingdom from both the Scourge and the undead renegades known as the Forsaken. In the Eastern Plaguelands, they took control of both the town of Tyr's Hand and the western districts of Stratholme, where they battle the forces of Baron Rivendare to gain control of the destroyed city. After the death of Alexandros Mograine, the Crusade went through a schism; forming factions such as the Brotherhood of the Light and the Argent Dawn which established themselves in Light's Hope Chapel, and with those who remained in the original Crusade renaming themselves the Scarlet Crusade. Meanwhile, the Grand Alliance and Horde continued to fight over the abandoned Lordaeron towers scattered around the Eastern Plaguelands. Eventually, the master of the Scourge in Lordaeron made his return to the blighted lands. From his citadel of Naxxramas, floating over the Plaguewood near Stratholme, he prepared to continue the work he began in the name of his master, the Lich King. Recently, Naxxramas floated away from the Plaguelands and reappeared over Dragonblight in Northrend, though it was replaced by Acherus: The Ebon Hold over the far eastern portion of the region. From there, Arthas sent his death knights to exterminate both the Scarlet Crusade and the Argent Dawn and leave his grip over the Plaguelands unchallenged.

War against the Lich King
The Eastern Plaguelands have been expanded somewhat to include a small area for death knights, including their home base of Acherus: The Ebon Hold, a massive Scourge necropolis floating above the hills behind Light's Hope Chapel. It is here that the death knight trainers, as well as their leader Highlord Darion Mograine, can be found.

Death knights start out in Scourge service in a special instanced area east of Tyr's Hand known as the Scarlet Enclave. As they progress in their training, death knights are tasked with laying waste to the towns of New Avalon and Havenshire, which lay below the fortress. The towns were left in ruins as the death knights sweep through them with the Scarlet Crusade inhabiting them all but destroyed. After sacking both towns, death knight participate in a, massive Battle for Light's Hope Chapel. After the battle is concluded, the death knights of the newly formed Order of the Ebon Blade left to join forth with either the Horde or Alliance as all eyes of the world turned north to the Frozen Wastes of Northrend. The once beautiful lands of New Avalon and Havenshire are discovered to be left in ruin from the reign of chaos the Death Knights of the Ebon Blade brought down upon the Scarlet Crusaders.

The ruins of the towns of New Avalon and Havenshire, collectively referred to as the Ruins of the Scarlet Enclave, are reachable from two directions. First, through the main roads Tyr's Hand, and take the final fork in the road to the north. Alternately, one may travel through Browman Mill into the Noxious Glade and follow the south wall to a cave which leads to Death's Breach, at the northern end of the Ruins, though that area is still under Scourge control.

Cataclysm
Since the Cataclysm, the Argent Crusade has strengthened its presence in the Plaguelands, claiming not only outposts formerly held by the now-defunct Argent Dawn, such as Light's Hope Chapel, but also the former Scarlet Crusade town of Hearthglen, and the four towers through the Eastern Plaguelands; around which the plague has receded. They have also joined forces with the Cenarion Circle to help heal the Plaguelands from its plagued state.

Despite Montoy's treachery, the Brotherhood of Light eventually triumphed over the Scourge in Northrend and have returned to the Eastern Plaguelands. They have begun their own campaign against the remaining Scourge and Risen forces in Lordaeron; attempting to reclaim the cities of Stratholme and Tyr's Hand for the Argent Crusade. Though the Brotherhood and the Argent Crusade are still allied with one another, they seem to be growing apart. The Argent Crusade is concerned with the Brotherhood's recklessness and the Brotherhood dislike the Argent Crusade's rigid code of ethics.

The amount of corruption in the land itself seems to have diminished somewhat, roughly to levels displayed by the Western Plaguelands before the Cataclysm. The plague has been cleansed from Argent Crusade controlled territory, such as Light's Hope Chapel and the five towers, and water flows again in formerly drained riverbeds.



Current Day
Following the recapture of Tyr's Hand from the forces of the Risen, the Argent Crusade, Brotherhood of the Light and Cenarion Circle still work day and night to reclaim the lands of the Eastern Plaguelands and clean them of their Plague. It is rumored that to truly clean out the area known as The Plaguewood the entire area must be burnt to the ground, to make way for new life to grow and for the heavy presence of the Plague to be removed.