THE REALM OF THE BANSHEE - WESTERN LORDAERON
A Geographic Study by Nekkr Shadowlust
Chapter I - Changes through history
Unlike the lushy forests that harbour the southern human kingdom of Stormwind, the area compromising Lordaeron ( north of the Eastern Kingdoms between Khaz Modan and Quel'Thalas ) is a coastal area with many rocky formations, small hills, woods and moist vegetation resulting form the proximity to the sea and the numerous inland lakes and isles.
Throughout history, Lordaeron has been under the control of Humans, starting with the State of Arathor to the latter House Menethil days. Such dominance made the landscape somewhat friendly, dotted small towns and villages, farmyards and great crop fields. Military human presence was always a certainty, first caused by the Amani wars and after it the Hordish invasions.
This panoram changed when the plague hit Lordaeron, however. Despite the many mountains slowing the process of spreading the plague and the decay of the Land, pretty much all the regions of Lordaeron were affected by this calamity, though maybe the southern Regions of Hillsbrad and Arathi keeping some of their original splendor and soil land.
Lordaeron Before the Plague
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]The northern regions however, were severely affected, specially Tirisfal, Silverpine and Stratholme, the city-state today known only as the Plaguelands.
The geographic changes were obvious, it would seem as if the land itself withered away from his natural splendor, devoured by a tainted darkness wich rotted the oldest of the vegetation and casted a thick mist wich blocked out the sun, creating a sense of night eternal in these areas, specially noticed around the damp lake areas. The Forsaken of the Banshee Queen took great advantage of this climateric conditions.
The villages, mannors, orchards and remaining human properties were abandoned and left to decay during the years of the Scourge and have been recently occupied once again by Forsaken Lords, making them even less appealing to visit.
A fine example of this sucession of takeovers is the village of Brill, located in Tirisfal, once a prosperous trade point due to it's proximity to the Capital Ciy, the village became haunted long before the plague effectively arrived it. Argent and Scarlet agents weaved their hatred and conspired against each other, making the Scourge advance even easier. Ultimately the Argent forces withdrew further into Eastern Lordaeron and the town was torn asunder by the war between Scarlet Zealots and the Scourge.
However the final masters of Brill would be none other then the Banshee's Forsaken, who in a swift coup took over the Capital City and consequently the Tirisfal area, wich became haunted by these free-willed undead, banishing the scarlets to the North and conducting skirmishes on them to this very day. Some of the reasons of interest in this village is the extended library present in the Town Hall wich portraits the rich history of the region and of course Brill's Graveyard, the main graveyard in western Lordaeron.
Chapter II - Territory and Resources ordainment
Many of Lordaeron's natural resources were left to abandon when the humans fled south or were vanquished by the plague. Bare in mind that these areas were heavily populated by humans who fell to the scourge and consequently turned into the mindless undead, making it impossible for civilization to prosper once again. All of this changed when the Banshee Queen took over the undead empire in western Lordaeron. Let us see how.
Crypts and Natural ResourcesIn a land torn asunder by the walking dead, control over the graveyards, crypts and mausoleums is critical. A dead body lying on the field is a potential weapon for the enemy, and the Banshee Queen was aware of such issue. Hence, she swiftly took over the critical funeral spots of her new domain. First it came Brill's Graveyard, which is supposed to be where the first and main Deathguard force came from. After this, the Deathknell crypt, whose importance is relevant due to the proximity to the a rich gold mine to the northwest, obviously an important source of resources. Deathknell is also home to the main church of the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow.
Not less important is the Sepulcher, located in center Silverpine Forest. Once again, control over the dead is critical, and it's proximity to several mines, including the mineral rich Deep Elem Mine, make this spot ideal for Forsaken dominance over the area.
However, the Banshee Queen has not yet secured all the resource and death-spots in her Realm. Concentrations of Scourge forces, particulary in the Agamand Mills still block the access to the Agamand Crypt, and both Scarlet and Kirin Tor presence in Forsaken lands cause feuds for resources.
The Scourge-brought Darkness
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Chapter III - The Undercity and Fenris Keep
The Realm of the Banshee has two main operation centers in Lordaeron: The Capital city where the Queen Herself resides, and the Fortress Isle of Fenris, home to the main sect of Fosaken zealots.
The Undercity.The Capital City of Lordaeron, built by the House of Menethil, was a splendorous human bastion of might and prosperity. However, when Prince Arthas killed his father the King and allowed his soul to be corrupted by the Lich King, he began the endeavour of digging deep under the city's surface and uncovering it's many crypts and secret tunnels, raising his ancestors as Scourge minions. Thus the city was labelled The Undercity, a haunted monument of the Scourge's might. When history took a turn and Arthas was forced to abandon the defiling of Lordaeron, the Banshee took over the city and made it the capital of her own people, the Forsaken, using the subterranean architechture as advantage to herself. The city itself is composed of five main quarters connected through tunnels. Each of this Quarters serves a purpose, and one of them serves the main purpose of chemical warfare: The Apothecarium, where the Royal Apothecary Society, a complex group of scientists, chemists and researchers develops countless experiments to improve the Undead's greatest weapon: The Forsaken Blight. Some say that there are many other crypts and Quarters not open to the "Horde" visitors and to wich only the highest ranked Forsaken have access. Some even say the Forsaken have begun excavating the upper floors and will bring their empire to the surface.
The Undercity's commercial center
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Fenris Keep.Lit up by the pale Silverpine moon stands Fenris Keep. Once a military human bastion, bare of any architectural finesse, it was the strategic location that made this blunt building so important, for it is located on an isle in Lordamere Lake and therefore hard to attack or even siege. It's composed by some residential buildings, a blackmisth, an Inn and the Stone Keep itself.
However, the keep did change owners along the years. Lordaeron first lost control over it when Thule Ravenclaw, a human wizard in league with the scourge, betrayed his human allegiances and took the Keep for himself, surrounding himself by gnolls, a primitive human form that still inhabits the isle to this very day, however staying cautiously away from the main building. The reason for such behaviour is also the cause of Ravenclaw's demise and the ultimate takeover of the Keep: The Forsaken.
The keep is typical human architecture on the outside: high stone walls , two side ramparts and four guard towers on the corners of the square building. Once inside the picture changes, for the original military nature of the building was altered by Thule's excentric taste a great deal. The ground level is composed of four corner rooms and a main access room in the middle, containing the access stairs to the other levels. These four rooms were originally barracks, then servant's quarters during the human wizard's occupation. Nowadays, and as much rest of the Keep, they serve a much darker purpose, wich is to harbour the secret nature of the Royal House of the Banshee Queen, and specially as residence to the Governor of the Unded, the Lord Doctor Archnazg Magnark, who dug countless tunnels under the keep's basement in order to conduct his scientific research. Some even speculate there is a tunnel that leads either to the capital city or to some other unknown location. Veracity of this tunnel was, of course, never confirmed.
The first floor houses the main Hall of the Keep, where said Royal House meetings take place. This great Hall, much like any other medieval meeting room, has a grand wooden table surrounded by chairs and crowned by a throne, one of Ravenclaw's heirlooms. The top floors serve as Forsaken military quarters and are visited only be the Keep's guards. However, a spectral Lady in white garments is said to the appear on the window of the top floor, her macabre beauty only unveiled when the moon lits her silhouette in a proper fashion...
On the latter years of Forsaken dominance, it would appear as if the air itself around the Keep is growing darker and fouler, and often whails and terrifying screeches come from the inside of the building, cutting the night air and keeping the bravest of adventurers at bay.
Fenris, Nowadays
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Author's note: This concludes my first three tomes of the study of the Banshee Realm. As a sin'dorei, i find myself terrified when conducting such studies, but the Forsaken have embraced me as one of their own and the shadow magic wich they blessed... or should i say cursed me with, provides me with the strenght required to remain among their society and document it as best as i can.
Nekkr Shadowlust, Priest of Sodom.
(( boring geographic study done by my priest, Nekkr. This had been on my mind for a long time and by no means it's complete, feel free to add your own stuff or pertinent info ))
