Royal Apothecary Society (Forsaken)

The Royal Apothecary Society is an alchemical society based in the Apothecarium in the Undercity. It was created by Lady Sylvanas Windrunner in order to create a new Forsaken Plague to wipe out the Undead Scourge and other forms of life - furthering the cause of the Forsaken. Its members are all Forsaken or other types of Undead beings who joined Sylvanas' cause. They are constantly brewing up new plagues to unleash upon Sylvanas' enemies. The other races of the New Horde believe they are working on a remedy to cure their "illness". Members of the Apothecary society are called Apothecaries. Due to repeated failures by the society to make a new plague of undeath, Sylvanas has recruited former servants of the Lich King, the Val'Kyr, to find other means of raising slain enemies to her cause.

Background
Originally based in the Apothecarium in Undercity, the Royal Apothecary Society is active in Tirisfal Glades, Silverpine Forest, and the Western Plaguelands. They can can also be found on Draenor (Outland), Northrend, and the newly discorvered Pandaria. Wherever there are Forsaken, there are Society members. Undead tinkers, rogues and wizards continued their studies of science to eradicate the the living and Scourge from the area. When Lady Sylvanas shrugged off the control of Arthas and the Scourge and began to free the Forsaken, they staked out an area of Lordaeron for their own and attempted to exist in the ruins of Lordaeron City. The Forsaken burned with a desire to eradicate the Scourge, seeing it as the reason behind their undeath and misery. Attacks from humans forced them to realize they truly had no friends in the aftermath of the Third War.

The Scarlet Crusade and the Scourge were their greatest enemies; both refused to let the Forsaken exist as they are. When the Scourge began attempting to control Lady Sylvanas' subjects after she had freed them, she knew drastic measures were needed to protect the Forsaken’s way of existence. The Scourge had a limitless supply of warriors: any mortal they killed could be raised as an undead to be controlled. The Forsaken do not have that level of necromantic power at their disposal, and the Lady realized she needed another way of dealing with the threats. Then she discovered that mortals, particularly the zealots of the Scarlet Crusade, did not believe that the Forsaken were not like the Scourge, and destroyed any undead they found regardless of affiliation. When her scouts didn’t return from their missions around human territory, Lady Sylvanas correctly assumed the worst and began making plans for defenses against humans as well.

The Forsaken queen initially chose two brilliant minds to lead her new Apothecary Society. Faranell, a human wizard who excelled in magical potion creation, and Oni'jus, a half-elf infiltrator who was a master of mundane poison concoction (and whose idea it was to add "Royal" in front of their fledgling group’s name). A dwarf tinker, Brightflame Masjenal, later rounded out her three leaders, with Faranell leading the three. They were set to build a society dedicated to researching ways to protect the Forsaken from both mortal and Scourge attacks using toxins and poisons. Lady Sylvanas has ordered her Master Apothecary to construct a plague to match the one Ner’zhul brought to Azeroth, only killing undead as well as mortals. This impressive feat had been accomplished at long last at the events of Angrathar, in large part because of the contributions of Grand Apothecary Putress and The Hand of Vengeance in Northrend. The Forsaken, and the Society, are alone in the world, liked by neither mortals nor their fellow undead, but they will fight to maintain their freedom from both.

The base of the Royal Apothecary Society is in Lady Sylvanas’ Throne Room in the Undercity, where the three leaders can meet with their queen and discuss plans of attack and reported Scarlet Crusade and Scourge movements. The laboratories and testing rooms of the Society are also located in the Undercity.

Organization
The Royal Apothecary Society is broken into three groups: Research and Development; Testing; and Implantation. R&D is staffed by individuals with a talent for mixing poisons and toxins. They make a variety of toxins from run-of-the-mill nerve gas, delayed poison and flesh dissolving sprays, to more magical potions such as fire potion (which burns the drinker from the inside), and even one that makes the drinker insane, assuming the mannerisms of another race. They are also in charge of roaming the countryside to look for ingredients for their foul  concoctions. This group resides solely in the Undercity and reports directly to Master Apothecary Faranell.

Testing is comprised of the more daring undead, many who were fighters and rangers in their lives. Their job is to scout the area of Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest for subjects on which to test what comes out of R&D. Mortals or Scourge, it doesn’t matter as long as they’re not Forsaken. They must take these beings alive, and preferably as unharmed as possible, and return them to the Undercity. Here the Testing department applies the various potions the R&D department has concocted, seeing if they have the desired effects. The desired effects are commonly horrific — the best mortals can hope for is that a potion merely kills them instead of having its intended effect. Quick death is rarely the goal of these vile brews. The Scourge have it a little easier, as potions may commonly have little to no effect, as there is no life to be taken away. However, if they survive a round of tests, they will be present for the next round. It is very unlikely these unwilling test subjects will return alive — or undead. Master Apothecary Oni-jus heads this area in addition to aiding the R&D department.

The third group, Implantation, is dedicated to getting the finished toxins to their target, which is primarily the job of tinkers, rogues and other crafty types. Some devise mechanisms to deliver toxins or design and forge weapons for the job; others have the more dangerous job of administering the toxins personally, wielding the weapons or sneaking into the dwellings of the targets. This group reports to Master Apothecary Brightflame Masjenal.

Membership
The Royal Apothecary Society originally was created from those Forsaken with poison-concocting skills: wizards and rogues. The Forsaken had no claim to necromancers — they were all closely guarded by the Scourge — so Sylvanas freed as many mages and rogues as she could, although they were few and far between. She was best at freeing fighters and barbarians to follow her. Later, the Society became large enough to find places for anyone who felt qualified to join, as the brawnier undead were needed to catch test subjects and the more intellectual were needed to develop the toxins and the delivery mechanisms. As Sylvanas must free every undead she can (being picky isn’t an option), the Society is not particular as to who joins. A willingness to work hard, a talent that can be utilized and a deep-seated hatred for the Scourge is all that is needed.

Lady Sylvanas does not prefer one race over another, despite her high elf roots. The Forsaken, and therefore the Society, are mostly human because the undead who existed around Lordaeron City were human. As it grows, dwarves, high elves, half-elves, and even some Sin'Dorei have joined the Society. An undead who wishes to join the Royal Apothecary Society only has to inform an existing member, usually identified by an armband with a flask and crown embroidered on it, of their interest. The Society member will inform the leader, one of the Master Apothecaries, who sets up an interview with the interested party.