#eitrigg

So first things first, my AU has Arthas take over as Lich King in a 'good' manner and most of the fic takes over how people handle it and what steps people take to aid him but also what they do to prepare should he lose control. Essentially: things happen similarly but change to be shifted different with some instances of complete new things happening from the shift.

When Arthas at first is fighting Ner'zhul in the Helm of Domination, there are periods where he is in control and the undead are pacified, even the more sentient ones. When not, well, they return to their ravenous nature as Ner'zhul tries to ramp up the destruction in the time he has control. When Alexandros is killed by Renault with the Ashbringer, Kel'thuzad does take his body and torture him, but during these 'lax' periods when Arthas is in control, even KT himself is in a barely lucid state and Alexandros is given a slight 'reprieve' from the torture. Due to this, he doesn't break 100% by the time he is brought back into his body and made to serve as a Four Horsemen. So much so, that when Darion comes to save him, Alexandros is able to hold back slightly and at the end, decapitates himself with the blade so as not to hurt his son.

Darion runs with the blade, housing his father's soul, and heads back to Lordaeron. Except it's not the same anymore. Balnazzar and Reanult have taken over since Terenas ll fled with most of the city when Scillea and Arthas convinced them to pull back and head west to fight the Legion. Lordaeron is now known as 'The Scarlet Empire' with Renault as the Scarlet King. Balnazzar is still quite in charge since he can easily manipulate Renault, but it's easier for him to move about freely as the 'right hand of the scarlet king' in Saidan Dathrohan's body.

--Author's Note: Im still deciding if Dathrohan is dead went he gets possessed, or if in the hurry to claim some semblance of power Balnazzar took over his living body. Ya know, for angst later when he remeets Tirion.

Also for those wondering where the Forsaken end up, they take over Stratholme instead, using it as their Undercity. Slyvanas is a major trouble maker in my AU but this isn't about her role in stuff. Just, FYI. The Scarlet Empire and the Forsaken fight heavily for control up north and it gets brutal as time goes on.--

When Darion brings the Ashbringer to Renault in the Scarlet Monastery, Renault kills him and has the blade sealed away deep in the monastery to hide it from the world. Because of this, Alexandros is left stuck in the blade, as he was too weakened to manifest as a fully able ghost to protect Darion.

Darion's body ends up going missing along with the dual blades used to kill him within the next few days.

Roughly two years pass after this-

--Authors note: im still working on a timeline, so this may be subject to change. But its roughly 2-3 years.--

Arthas awakens in full control as the Lich King, where he is brought back to Stormwind once it is confirmed by many people, (Tirion, Uther, Scillea (my oc/his wife) and DK Falric/Marwyn who were accidentally raised in northrend when Arthas cried over their dead bodies as he was slowly dying from the surge of necromancy in his body from- stuff (its long and complicated) that he is fully in control.

--Author's note: This was for a two-fold reason, 1: this was before everyone knew he could only die on the Frozen Throne, and 2: they wanted him away from the heart of the undead in a place they believer they could help him foster/maintain sanity while the undead were dealt with since he was keeping them pacified--

Over about half a year things are, tense but going msotly well. Though there are a lot of fearful people, Arthas proves he is in control, though fighting for it. But there are moments where how much he's fighting comes through and the worry is heightened by Lady Katrana Prestor (Onyxia) using black dragon magic to increase fear in the people, especially the stormwind nobles.

During a heated argument late at night, Katrana convinces the nobles they need a weapon against Arthas for when he falls, and announces the information about the Ashbringer being held up in the Scarlet Monastery. While this comes off as logical, Katrana states that they cannot send everyone north as disturbing things are occuring there (with a soft and very withheld information drop on the Scarlet Empire and the zealots taking over Lordaeron) and that they need a discreet group to go and retrieve it. Tirion obviously obliges, realizing his friend Alexandros is most likely dead if the blade has fallen and that it was his first hand that agreed Arthas was in control enough to be safe in Stormwind. Uther agrees to go with him along with a handful of Paladins and some mages. Tirion talks to Arthas and lets him know whats going down, not in an attempt to make him concerned, but that he is aware that if this weapon falls into the wrong hands, they'd be personally signing his death warrant by not retrieving it themselves.

--Author's Note: Arthas is viewed as a hero in this timeline for taking the mantle of Lich King up, as he has saved thousands of lives by nullifying the Scourge as much as he did, though people are still nervous, they keep hope that he is strong enough to hold out till he can take the helmet off and destroy it with all the undead gone. Atleast, that is their hope--

Arthas isn't shocked to hear this, as Katrana has been against him since the day he arrived and actually agrees they need a proper weapon to end him should he fail in his duty. Scillea and Arthas bless the party in secret as they leave, giving them what aid they can aside from fully going with them. Arthas gives them a tool to sense undead and Scillea a blessing on their mounts to make them faster.

When the party crosses over into the Burning Steppes, Tirion is greeted by an old friend, Eitrigg, and his own small army of orcs. They are there to kill Dal'Rend Blackhand and to end the false horde. The two parties parley for a bit and come to an agreement. Tirion and Uther need to go north, but as the blizzards around Dun Morogh have grown out of hand due to Arthas being in Stormwind, the only safe passage would be through Blackrock Mountain. The defeat of Dal'rend would be a boon on both horde and alliance, so an agreement is struck to conjoin forces.

Two birds, one stone.

The journey up and into the mountain goes well and the army manages to kill Dal'rend, but not before Nefarian comes down and kills a portion of the party with Shadowflame.

Fleeing from the flames, once to safety, the bedraggled army comes to a halt and hides while they wait for Nefarian and the black dragons to subside. There they converse about the shadowflame and possible solutions to withstand it. Once out from under the prying dragon eyes, Tirion and Uther set off again, but this time with Eitrigg and a handful of rogues and warlocks as they wanted to pay the party back for aiding them (much to Uther's disdain and Tirion's delight) while the rest of the orc party leaves to report to Thrall about the situation.

Once they finally cross over into the north part of the Eastern Kingdoms, do Tirion and Uther come face to face with the Scarlet Empire and its totalitarian government. Citizens and soldiers alike are being branded on their faces with the 'scarlet flame' to show their allegiance. They are heavily at war with the Forsaken and some of the stronger Scourge units that have evaded Arthas's control.

With the aid of the warlocks and the rogues, they get past each territory and finally into the scarlet monastery where the blade is being kept. There, much to Tirion and Uther's horror, they find the blade not only corrupted from Kel'thuzad, but Alexandros's soul has been fused to the weapon.

There is a small conversation where they asked what happened as the mages, warlocks, and rogues work on disarming the magic seals, only for the door to close behind him and the party to turn around and see Dathrohan standing there.

Since Tirion was brought under the fold of the light god known as The Benevolence, he can immediately tell his friend is possessed. Balnazzar quips that: "They don't make them like they used to," and laments how poor the Scarlet Crusaders are with wielding the light, but armies of idiots can overwhelm the trained elite. It becomes obvious that since the Scourge fell out of Legion hands, Balnazzar is working to make a legion of light-wielding zealots to purge their failed experiment and move on.

It turns into a brawl, with the Dreadlord managing to hold his ground --Author's Note: If i keep Dathrohan alive, this fight could be the dreadlord wielding both light and fel magic, as Balnazzar can twist Dathrohan's mind and make him feel/believe he's fighting demons, not allies.--

but mid combat, they are joined by a third party.

Death Knights lead by Darion arrive, all heavily under control from an unknown entity that raised them. They want the blade too.

In the end, the warlocks and mages end up sacrificing themselves to portal and blow up the entire monastery, sending Tirion, Uther, Eitrigg, and those they can reach as far as they can with the Ashbringer.

Those that survive wake up on the beach slightly north of Booty-Bay, blade in hand. There they regroup as best as they can, nurse wounds, and pay for separate ships to take them home, Eitrigg and the Orcs heading back to Orgimmar while Tirion and Uther go back to Stormwind. Eitrigg plans to tell Thrall about whats going on, and if they can send aid somehow with everything thats going on (Arthas, the Scarlet Empire, the rogue Death Knights) and Tirion agrees that they should stay in touch.

In stormwind, Tirion and Uther are welcomed back, but before Katrana can catch wind that they survived, they hurry to Scillea with the Ashbringer and with the help of Arthas (who pulls the necrotic energies out) and the top 3 paladins, they purify it.

but not before a long conversation with depressed Alexandros. A lot is said, and they hope that by purifying the blade, he can leave and move on as a spirit. Instead, Alexandros stays, letting himself be fully binded to the Ashbringer so that he can stay and help keep the blade pure and out of evil hands but also to save his kids from the demons controlling them.

Tirion is given the blade to wield and Alexandros becomes his ghostly aid, alerting him to enemies from behind or helping strengthen any spells he casts by imbuing his own merged holy essence in them.

I wanna get a commission later down the road of Tirion wielding Ashbringer on his shoulder (like resting it there) with Alexandros sitting on the edge of the blade in his ghostly visage, all see through and aura farming- LOL. Thanks for reading my ideas, i got more to go on, but i REALLLY need to head to bed.