Velldune Blightmantle

"By the will of the Lich King and might of the Deathlord do the dead surpass the living."

Instructor Richard Velldune is a Second Generation Death Knight of the Scourge and instructor for the new undead being risen into the ranks of the Ebon Blade under the watch of Lich King Bolvar Fordragon.

A knight of Stormwind in life, he fought a dozen conflicts for his kingdom and trained generations of soldiers to make them ready for battle. In death, he accomplishes much the same, serving his king and raising new generations of knights to do battle with the evils that plague the realms of Azeroth.

As one of the relatively few remaining Death Knights of the Scourge, Velldune works with the Ebon Blade as they grow ever closer to the Scourge and the Lich King. By command of his lord does he train new students for the growing ranks of the Ebon Blade.

Description
Richard Velldune would have been the picture of a Stormwind knight in anouther life, for at one time he was. He carries himself with knightly dignity, and as such his stride is measured and rigid. His face is gaunter then in life, and his eyes glow the icy blue of any Death Knight. His body is strengthened with unholy power, and his bulk and power belay the appearance of his age. He is filled with the vitality of youth and many times over. His skin is pale, even translucent in some places, revealing black varicose veins beneath.

His gaze is narrow and his eyes are not wide, he very infrequently displays human emotion. His movement is unnatural when still, possessing none of the small movements of the living. If not in motion he is statue still, he does not shift weight or adjust his posture and doesn't even breath. The instructor regards all with an even stare, assessing all he lays eyes on. His frozen stare flicks about people as they speak.

Early Life
The life of Richard Velldune is one of struggle and warfare. Born into the period of long peace after the Gnoll wars, he would know a life of relative ease in his younger years and would follow his father into the Stormwind Guard. His father, a captain in the guard, drilled discipline into his son but gave him no special favors.

His youth and early career would see Richard engaged in minor skirmishes with the Gnolls at the edges of the city and out into the local realms, ensuring that war-bands would not rise up and harass trade caravans. As he aged the conflicts he saw increased in scale and in scope, moving from Gnolls to Trolls as the need for experienced soldiers continued to grow. As time went on, the bulk of the guard began to dedicate almost all their time to the encroaching Gurubashi trolls. The trolls, incensed to violence as human settlers continued to creep south from Stormwind, had began raiding and incurring into human lands. Over and over Richard would beat back the trolls and over and over would more marshal together to break upon the ranks of the Stormwind Guard.

Conflicts would continue to escalate as the two species clashed, Richard and his unit would gradually be whittled down by conflict and raiding parties and turnover was high. It would come to boil when the prince and his friend Medihv brought ruin to Stranglethorn Vale and send the united troll clans Storming into Stormwind lands in all out war. The outer defenses of the land crumbled instantly and the armed forces were forced into constant retreat back to the cities gates. The weeks long grueling conflict would see Richard elevating to command of his unit and promotion to Sergeant, and the deaths of uncounted civilians and soldiers, including his own father. It would have gone on longer if not for the intervention of Medihv to end the war in one fell swoop.

In the wake of the relatively brief but intense war the Stormwind military saw itself greatly depleted and in need of building up again. Taking after his father, he would take to instructing the next generation of knights and passing on the lessons learned in the Gurubashi Wars. Throughout the next 17 years, he would serve his king as a sergeant and then captain, training new generations of knights and engaging in numerous conflicts with Gnolls, Trolls, and other foes throughout the realms. In time as he aged he would begin taking squires as well, eventually taking in the son of a lesser noble house by name of Vanidicus Alexander to begin his martial training.

First War and Second War
The long peace would come to and at year 0, when human society was shattered. The Orcs poured through the Dark Portal and into the Black Morass. Marshaling his trainees and recruits to serve as a reserve force. A reserve force that was quickly brought to the front. Weeks of fierce fighting took their toll however, and eventually Richard would fall in battle, his left arm severed in the middle of the forearm in battle against an Orc Chieftan, the price for slaying the leader and breaking the spirit of the warband in that minor battle in the overall war.

Unable to fight, he began to make his way back to Stormwind with the wounded, eventually though, the Horde caught up, and reached the city proper. As caravans broke down, Richard fled into the city, rushing to find his ward as the city burned, searching the stables for the boy, a group of Stormwind knights and magi escorted several civilians to safety, Van among them. Thankful for their aid, the two fled on horseback and headed north, eventually reaching dwarven land and from there ships to Lordaeron.

Lordaeron would be a time of recuperation. As other refugees from the south sought out northern aid, they brought with them tales of the Horde. Richard, unable to soldier in his current state, settled with Vanidicus in Eastweald, in Cinderholme and participate how they could in the military buildup, working the farms and smithies. Richard would spend his time ingratiating himself with the town leadership trying to impart a sense of urgency into the townsfolk of the need to be ready, with mixed results.

Eventually the Orcs reached the north some 6 years later and the people of Lordaeron were as prepared as possible. The Horde marched from the south and the hastily assembled town militias stood ready. While the greater battles took place at sea to the north, when the horde moved to sabotage Stratholme's oil platforms, the defenses in the Eastweald were tested. Goblin sapper groups on land moved to harry Lordaeron defenders and splinter groups from the warbands crashed into the defenses of the outlying villages around Stratholme. With some luck and an organized defense in part organized by Richard, Cinderholme survived. In time the village would be rebuilt as Stratholme was.

Death
The purging of Stratholme had left the peoples of Lordaeron troubled. Paranoia gripped the land as plague continued to spread slowly throughout the land. As towns became isolated in quarantine became the norm. As trade broke broke gradually throughout the region, the remaining trade dealt with weapons and defensive stockpiles, with the greatest buildup at Darrowshire to the south, itself a target during the second war. The undead began to shamble about the land and wander into the towns; the Scourge had arrived.

The period of silence came to an abrupt end as the Scourge took control of Lordaeron. Pouring out from the capital, the scourge washed across the land. The Cult of the Damned rose up simultaneously as the agents of the Lich King claimed vast swathes of land. The greatest servants of the Scourge, the Liches, servants of Ner'zhul, marched at the head of the armies. It would be the Lich, Zhekkan Gravecaller, who would be Richard's undoing.

As the undead began to encroach upon Cinderholme in greater and greater numbers, Richard and the town elders made an effort to evacuate the town. The town's militia rallied to a valiant defense to hold the line and Vanidicus, now a capable knight and soldier, fought with him. As the assault reached its peak and the defenders began to wear down, Richard sent Van away with who was left.

Once the battle was assured to be a scourge victory, the Lich himself appeared to taunt the remaining defenders briefly. He laughed at their suffering and ordered the remaining militia subdued. Richard remained as leader, and he was identified. Congratulated for his efforts, he was slain by the lich and raised into undeath as one of the Death Knights of the Scourge.

The Scourge
In death, he was reinvigorated, his arm mended with grafted flesh, and his body clad in rune inscribed armor. Richard's eye for talent was put to use in death as the key and most skilled militiamen were raised into undeath amidst the ghouls and zombies. Zhekkan Gravecaller would move on to Stratholme, now filled with the corpses of the dead. Under Richard's careful eye were the finest bodies raised to death knight status and by Richard's vampiric blade blade did any remaining stragglers fall in the name of the scourge and raised into the service of the Gravecaller.

Personality and traits
Richard is distant, somewhat haughty, and confident in his service to the Lich King and acts as a knight would in service to his lord. In death his emotions are deadened but he maintains several habits he possessed in life in some form, even if most of his former life is fragmented in his memory. He thus possesses a twisted semblance of honor, seeking to separate the weak from the strong and elevating them to new levels. He has an intense hatred for traitors and utter contempt for the cowardly, he is willing to work together with former enemies to accomplish a greater goal, and will not turn on them once the task at hand is complete. In addition, while in Icecrown he feels compelled to attend the Cathedral of Darkness on Sundays for reasons he cannot place.

He expects much of his students but gives much to those under his guide. Commanding extensive prowess in the unholy, his skill in raising the dead is equaled only by his martial skill. He drills his students to incorporate magic into their techniques, for simple fighting is for mortals, true greatness comes from an agile mind and a talent for exploiting the weaknesses opened up by the magic of decay.

Equipment
Knightly Tools: Instructor Velldune carries various items about his person. A vicious looking dagger dipped in the blight of Putricide's labs, pouches containing bone power and pieces of slain favored students, and rune scrolls for necromantic rituals for the raising of powerful undead.

Bane: Most prominent is the runeblade carried upon his person at all times. Given to him by the Lich Zhekkan Gravecaller, It glows with the same witchlight contained in his armor. As a weapon of a second generation knight, it contains his soul, and glows with dim green light when held in his hand. Reworked and inscribed with powerful necromantic runes, this blade wails with each swing, it's constant motion in combat producing a ghostly chorus as trapped souls cry out.

Armor of Screaming Souls: This artificer set of runic battleplate glows dimly from within with a pale green witchlight. When moving, the sound of distant wailing can be heard rather then clanking of metal. And when struck in combat releases ear piercing shrieks.