Theradin

"Stand with me and we shall save this world. Oppose me and I shall rip you from your mortal coil and you shall join my ranks regardless. The choice is yours"

-Theradin

Theme Music
Theradin's Theme

Personality
Theradin is a powerful, confident, charismatic and cold-calculating leader who is fiercely loyal to his daughter and (some) of his family. He believes that all deserve a chance at redemption regardless of race or creed and prides himself in his values. He sees himself as a protector and a deliverer of a new, better age and fights so that the world can be safer. He views the Alliance and Horde as two factions that need to be saved from themselves and that the undead are the solution to the void. Although for a long time he was an acolyte of the Scourge he realized (after the Lich King was slain and his binding to the Ner'zhul was severed) that the living also have a place within the perfect, strong new world. He acts with a sense of moral superiority over the Cult of the Damned because of his views and can be seen as arrogant in some regards. However despite his 'arrogance' he is not the center of his own world, his daughter Sophia is his shining light and the reason he fights so strongly for a better world. If he was forced to choose between himself and his cult or his daughter's well-being he would pick the latter every time. Theradin practices chivalry towards the women in his life and to him his people come first and foremost. He is sympathetic in some regards, though he does not let his sympathy get in the way of his goals (hence his cold-calculating approach to leadership).

Childhood


Theradin (Born James Lightstrider) was brought into the world alongside his twin sister Amelina in year four after the dark portal. The two of them were quite a challenging birth for their Stromric mother, Sophia Lightstrider due to their astronomical size for newborns (especially James). The two twins growing up in the city of Stratholme were quite unaffected by the Second War and because of this the severity of the orchish Horde was never witnessed first hand by either of them. His childhood was quite sheltered from most people and he never got to meet his father, hence he grew far closer to his mother. As a young boy he was outgoing and generally quite silly, kind and shy - he adored unicorns, dragons, horses and dogs. He was four when his older brother Berwyn was sent to the Sons of Lothar and only got to see him once, where Berwyn gave him a small puppy plushie toy. By the age of seven he was revealed to have intense magical aptitude and because of it Dalaran sent a magical tutor to Stratholme to instruct James in pursuing a mage career.

Teenage Years
James had devoted himself to his magical study and from it he grew quite intelligent and logical, perhaps too logical. During his time as a teenager he started to form his own political opinions and world views, unlike his brothers and sister he thought that the orcs were redeemable and that they could be cured of their bloodlust by the internment camps. He supported the internment camps so much that when ever he had money to spare he would donate to the cause. By the age of fifteen he and Amelina were faced with their mother's death, while Amelina was hurt she had managed to move on while James could simply not. He grew private and distant from everyone around him including his lecturer and his anxiety increased immensely. He was fanatical with his study into arcane magic to both distract him from Sophia's passing and to try and find a way to revive her. He would pray to the light but when the light never answered, he lost faith. He would often have mood swings with his grief and only left his study for the bare essentials. Several months later and with no progress James became desperate and was approached by the Cult of the Damned. The Cult of the Damned promised him that if he submitted to their will and joined the Lich King he would be given the power to bring his mother back from the dead. James accepted the offer and drank the fluid that bound his will to Ner'zhul. Under Ner'zhul's influence he and the other cultists started to plague Lordaeron's grain. Despite being bound to Ner'zhul his love for his sister was strong enough that he requested the cult to spare her if they could, which the cult complied. During the Scourging of Lordaeron he led a small party of undead in hunting down and slaying any survivors of Stratholme and bringing them into the ranks of the Scourge. The Cult of the Damned gave him a purpose larger than himself. He started to believe that all life must be eradicated and transformed into undead for Azeroth to stand a chance against the void.

A New Lordaeron
With the Scourge's considerable victory, James continued his work in the Cult of the Damned and used his mother to help his campaign in the Lordaeron countryside against Scarlet Crusade patrols. He would often engage the Scarlet Crusade in combat and the vast majority of the time he won. However in one of the conflicts Sophia came to her second death but rather than obsessing over resurrecting her again, James let her go. This was a period of growth for him and saw a major personality change, he went to see the world in a broader perspective and was finally able to mature. He became far more confident in himself and started to articulate his feelings far better. He became a good leader and commanded his undead horde with far more efficiency. Now with nothing to lose he was not afraid to risk himself for greater victories. He practiced in military strategies and studied further into his necromantic craft, becoming a considerably powerful necromancer. He found comfort in his work.

Scourgewar
During the Scourgewar James travelled to Northrend to support the Vykrul against the Alliance and Horde. As a tragic defeat to the Scourge the Vykrul were slain and James' only option was to return to the main army. Eventually he made his way to the Icecrown glacier, where he battled against some of the Scarlet Onslaught remnants. He regretted not being in Dragonblight and noted that if he was there he would have assisted in slaughtering the 'Scarlet scum'. When the frozen throne was sieged James made his way and helped defend the walls but it was no use. As soon as the Lich King was slain, he left the battle and sailed back to the Eastern Kingdoms with several other cultists and undead. It was then onward that he was free from the Lich King's will, where he saw yet another change in his personality and beliefs.

Aftermath of the Scourgewar and the Founding of Thyrin
James soon abandoned the Cult of the Damned and began to feel empathy towards the living once again. This sudden return of emotion shocked him and when he found an orphaned blood elf baby, he saved her life and slew the Scourge about to kill her. Seeing as there was no going back now, he decided to take care of her. He gave her the temporary name 'Sophia' until he found her parents. He did eventually find them but both were deceased and hence, he adopted her and made Sophia her permanent name in honor of his lost mother. Deciding that the world was not safe enough for him or her, he resolved to form a new cult. The Thyrin Cult. He used his humble persona, confidence and charisma to persuade other like minded people into joining him. And with the true formation of its core membership, he abandoned the name James Lightstrider and renamed himself to simply 'Theradin' in declaration of his full devotion to the order. He declared that they would make the world safer by unifying it by force, offering all a chance to surrender to the Thyrin but if they declined the surrender they would be turned into undead slaves. He considered himself morally superior to the Cult of the Damned because he does not wish to wipe out all life (his Sin'dorei daughter made him realize lives are worth living when they can be spared). The grand goal of the Thyrin became to lead the world into true peace and save Azeroth from the void.

The Thyrin Cult's core membership was made up of mostly disgruntled Forsaken who disagreed with Sylvanas' current ways and fellow necromancers who had regained shreds of their humanity but still partially believed in the Scourge's overall goal. Soon enough they spread through the northlands and gathered in secret, forcefully recruiting both Horde and Alliance to grow their ranks. Though most at first had to be slain and risen into undeath to join, the cult's expanding influence made more Alliance and Horde members surrender and join willingly out of fear and/or growth in sympathy to the cause.

Sophia's Illness and Thyrin's Criminal Branding
When Sophia fell to a fatal illness Theradin sacrificed parts of his soul to save her from the fate of undeath. He gave her a strong immunity system, repaired her crippled legs and gave her eyesight, though it cost much of Theradin's life force and gave him several scars and disfigurements across his face. But it was from this experience he realized that he would do anything for her, even give himself to save her. He had somewhat regained his roots as a true family man and he ever since that experience became far more over-protective of Sophia. The Thyrin Cult were inspired by his sacrifice and saw him as an even better man than before - increasing his public popularity greatly among the displaced citizens of Lordaeron. The Thyrin Cult eventually became known by both the Horde and the Alliance. They were branded as criminals in the eyes of the two factions. However with Theradin's brilliant guerrilla tactics and knowledge of Lordaeron's country he was able to fight the Horde and Alliance back. The two factions were too focused on deathwing and fighting one another anyway.

Serana Dawnsinger
When Serana came to join the Thyrin Cult for company, Theradin took great empathy towards her and trained her in necromancy. The two became friends for a brief period, bonding over their loss and trauma though when Serana was asked if she would help him in his mission she declined. Rather than killing her on the spot, Theradin allowed her to leave because he felt empathy towards all she had been through. Serana out of gratitude for his mercy sewed Sophia a beautiful dress consisting of the colors: Red, blue and gold. He took the gift and thanked her, assuring that his daughter would love it when she was of age to fit into the clothing. His empathy towards all she had been through extended into him sending some of his soldiers to rescue Serana's torn away son and bring him from the Scarlet Crusade to Stormwind where he could live a normal life, but Serana had already left the cult at this point. Tragically the two were fated to be enemies one day.

The Legion's Third Invasion


During the Third Invasion of the Burning Legion Theradin traveled to the Broken Isles personally to combat the Legion and resurrect any of the spare fresh corpses. He was met with several challenges including Alliance, Horde and demons but with his personal might and his most zealous following he survived and slew a great many demons to play his part in Azeroth's safety. It was there that he befriended several Nightborne and persuaded some to join the Thyrin rather than remain in Surumar. He convinced them with the fact that undeath and each nightborne that joined him decided that undeath was their salvation. His popularity had grown and he had proven himself a capable leader. Along with the allegiance of some Nightborne his agents in Northrend had came across a nerubian artifact named the Black Lexion which held many secrets against the void - including its weaknesses. He had his finest researchers try and unlock the mysterious cube, but the effort was slow going and unsuccessful. Eventually a Quel'dorei mage-priest broke into the chamber where it was held, slew the researchers and stole the artifact for herself. Little did Theradin know that this Quel'dorei was his niece. Finding the Quel'dorei's whereabouts and identity he found she was none other than Velenara Dawnsinger, Berwyn Lightstrider's daughter and Serana's cousin. With this information and her location he sent an ambassador to Velanara's keep to offer her a place within the Thyrin Cult, though she declined. Because of this Theradin had to regrettably result in violent action. He traveled to Valamore and made contact with the local orcs of the area (Skullhiders) and the house Blackwall loyalists (House Blackwall was destroyed by Berwyn and Velanara) and secured a pact with them. Eventually the two groups saw value in Theradin's ideals and eventually joined the banner officially, together they worked on slowly and carefully chipping away at Valamore's defenses with causing as little casualties on their part as they could. Theradin returned to Quel'thalas with his daughter where he went to recruit as many Sin'dorei as he could, however he came across Berwyn in the distance. His brother was working on slaughtering the Sin'dorei for their betrayal to the Alliance and Theradin saw it as disturbing the potential for peace on Azeroth. In the middle of the night he slipped into

a shadow form and snuck into Berwyn's encampment, where he poisoned the Lightstrider army's drinking water with an incurable plague. Though he questioned his morality in this action at first he later assured himself that he had to break his code because his brother was 'beyond redemption and harming the greater good'. This act of coldness paid off as a temporary military success for Theradin as when he proclaimed his part in the army and Berwyn's downfall it won the favor of several Sin'dorei whose families had been murdered by the Highlord.

The Blood War
With the beginning of the Blood War Theradin increased his efforts in Valamore. Lorna Blackwall and Gorlog Skullhidder had proven themselves as formidable allies and with a loss of patience the Thyrin Cult laid siege to Valamore. With the use of several corpse wagons and three master necromancers, the Thyrin Cult summoned armies of undead to swarm the gates and wear down Valamore's defenders. Once the undead were slain Theradin manipulated their souls and sent them within the city where they opened the gates from the inside. He was regretful at the loss of so many soldiers but knew it to be a necessary sacrifice. Lorna and Gorlog's soldiers breached the gates and slaughtered their way through with Lorna putting Geralt Blackwall to the executioner's block for betraying their house. Theradin intervened however and offered Geralt a chance at joining the Thryin Cult but Lorna intercepted and stated bluntly that if Geralt joined she would remove her forces. The two debated and eventually came to an agreement that if Geralt was willing to join then they would torture him to death and then raise him into undeath - as a compromise between Thyrin's core ideal and Lorna's thirst for revenge. However Geralt simply wished death, which Lorna gladly delivered and crushed his corpse into a pulp. At Theradin's dismay Velanara escaped Valamore with the Black Lexion. Although as a victory for the Thyrin Cult many of the surviving defenders laid down arms and wished to join them, making up for the many casualties the cult had suffered.

This attack on Valamore led Velanara's wife, Zanthi Silverpride to declare war on the Thyrin Cult. However Theradin was soon to have far larger issues to deal with. Annia Lionstead and Serana Dawnsinger had uncovered many of their acolytes in Hillsbrad Hillsbrad and slew one of the cult's senior members. They had formed the Order of Dawnshire in dedication to Berwyn Lightstrider's memory. The Order of Dawnshire was dedicated to crushing the Thyrin Cult out of both revenge for Berwyn and to secure further safety for the Alliance in the northern kingdoms. Annia secured a pact with Zanthi and together both Dawnshire and Thelenar started a war effort against Theradin's armies. Theradin has since been dealing with the Order of Dawnshire, cutting off their trade routes and interrupting their supplies. As of now Dawnshire is scrambling for allies and attempting to free themselves from the tight lock the cult has placed upon them, as for Thelenar it has recently been struck with the loss of Velanara to a fatal illness. Theradin when hearing the news sent his condolences to Zanthi and promised that despite their conflict he would not defile Velanara's tomb by stealing the Black Lexion. Theradin has been able to secure his strength and bring more members into his cult piece by piece. He is confident that he will win the war against Dawnshire and Thelenar due to his superior forces, it would only take time and he has been carefully planning a major assault on Dawnshire. Theradin's bond with Chieftain Gorlog Skullhidder has increased intensely because of Theradin's help in curing Gorlog's sick son, akin to how he cured his own daughter. But rather than giving parts of himself again he gave parts of Gorlog's life force. As for Lorna Blackwall the Thyrin Cult had delivered her all the vengeance she desired and when Theradin questioned if she would remain loyal, she stated that she believes in his ideals of bringing a better world. He was quite flattered by this and has noticed Lorna's mother-like nurturing of his daughter Sophia. Theradin has also been training Sophia in necromancy, but her talents are quite limited due to her age (five years old).