User:Joshmaul/Saavedro of Stratholme
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| This article is a player character biography page for Saavedro of Eonar US The contents herein are entirely player made and in no way represent official World of Warcraft history or occurrences which are accurate for all realms. The characters and events listed are of an independent nature and applied for roleplaying, fictional, speculative, or opinions from a limited playerbase only. |
"Our destinies take us to the land of the dead, my friend. Whether we leave it...that's up for debate."
"I don't know about you, Tirion, but I certainly intend to leave it. With Arthas' head in my grip, if possible."
- - Highlord Tirion Fordring and Saavedro of Stratholme
 Saavedro of Stratholme
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| Title | Saavedro of the Shattered Sun, the Loremaster
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| Gender | Male
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| Race | Human |
| Level | 70
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| Character class | Paladin, formerly Priest |
| Affiliation | |
| Occupation | Regent Lord of Lordaeron, Lord of the Shattered Sun, Hero of the Netherwing |
| Location | |
| Status | Alive |
| Relative(s) | Ezekyle (father), Verity (mother), Ordevaas Portalseeker (fellow apprentice), Joshmaul the Warlock (nemesis), Velenkayn (student), Nyssha Swiftblade (adopted daughter) |
| Mentor(s) | Sekhesmet of Stratholme, Duthorian Rall, Grayson Shadowbreaker |
| Student(s) | Velenkayn |
Saavedro of Stratholme, also known as Saavedro of the Shattered Sun, is a prominent member of the Knights of the Silver Hand. A native of Lordaeron, Saavedro was a long-time member of the priesthood and pupil of Stratholme's High Priest, eventually rising to that position himself. He managed to get out of Stratholme before its destruction at the hands of Prince Arthas and made his way to Stormwind, where he lived for several years before taking his oath as a paladin.
Since becoming one of the Silver Hand, Saavedro has fought many foes on countless battlefields - the Alliance's perennial enemy, the Horde; the mad zealots of the Scarlet Crusade, an antithesis of all the Light stands for; the Undead Scourge that despoiled his homeland and killed his family and friends; the Gurubashi Blood God Hakkar the Soulflayer, along with countless numbers of his loyal troll servants; the Black Dragonflight, which has infiltrated the highest echelons of the Alliance; the Illidari, the forces of the power-mad Betrayer; and of course, the Legion of the Lower Planes, largely responsible for the present conflict. Since the foundation of the Shattered Sun Offensive, Saavedro has spent the majority of his time on the Isle of Quel'Danas in northern Quel'Thalas, a sacred place where even ordinary elves did not set foot. However, events back in Outland will call his attention, as the lost children of Deathwing seek his aid...
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Origins
Born in 572 (Stormwind reckoning) in the town of Corin's Crossing, southeast of Stratholme, Saavedro was the only child of the town magistrate Ezekyle and his wife Verity. Living with his parents for much of his childhood, Saavedro - or Saav to his friends - grew tired of living within the magistrate's estate; for all of his good intentions, his father was the typical ineffectual politician. When he reached his Age of Ascension in 585, at age 13, Saavedro encountered a messenger from the King of Lordaeron, headed for Stratholme, and accompanied the messenger to the High Priest Sekhesmet. The young man took his oath as a priest in the service of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, and trained for much of his life under the venerable High Priest.
In 594, word reached Stratholme of the fall of Lordaeron's sister kingdom of Azeroth, at the hands of the orcish Horde. Not long after that news reached Lordaeron, the refugees from Stormwind - led by Lord Anduin Lothar, the Knight Champion of Stormwind, and the Dalaran mage Khadgar, apprentice to Medivh - arrived in the court of King Terenas Menethil II, the reigning monarch of Lordaeron. Saavedro, as an emissary of the Conclave of the Priesthood in Stratholme, was present as Lothar informed the King of the opening of the Dark Portal, the atrocities committed by the orcs and their allies, and the assassination of King Llane. Saavedro was particularly disturbed by the word of the destruction of the holy order of the Clerics of Northshire, but aided the aged Archbishop Alonsus Faol - who taught his master, Sekhesmet - and his apprentice, Uther the Lightbringer, in the creation of the Order of the Silver Hand - the paladins. At the tender age of twenty-three, Saavedro was inducted into Stratholme's Conclave of the Priesthood.
Sending the Expedition Off
As it prepared to depart, the Alliance Expedition to Draenor assembled on the flatlands outside of Nethergarde Keep to be sent off by the priesthood of the Alliance. Archbishop Faol and his student, the future Archbishop Benedictus, were joined by Sekhesmet, Saavedro and several members of the priesthood of Quel'Thalas to give the blessing of the Light to the expedition, led by Khadgar and General Turalyon, before they ventured across the Dark Portal. Saavedro remained in Nethergarde for the entire period the Portal was open, until he received word that the Dark Portal had been sealed, Draenor all but destroyed, and the Expedition cut off from their homeland. For twenty years after that fateful day, Saavedro waited and wondered...what had happened to them?
The Fall of Stratholme
After the Alliance expedition into Draenor sealed the Dark Portal, Saavedro's mentor, High Priest Sekhesmet, was sent to the capital as a member of the high council of Lordaeron's priesthood. Now in his early thirties and a full-fledged priest of Lordaeron, Saavedro focused on his duties as a priest to the city of Stratholme, becoming High Priest in 602. Then, in 604, he received orders from the high council informing him that he was being sent to the court of King Varian Wrynn, the new King of Stormwind. He lived in a small house in the Canal District, not far from the Cathedral of Light, and also in a large townhouse outside of Goldshire. He lived in Stormwind for ten years, but occasionally ferried between Stratholme and Stormwind as his duties permitted. On his last return trip to his beloved city, he encountered Lord Uther, who was on his way to the outskirts of Stratholme to meet with the Crown Prince, Arthas Menethil. Saavedro watched breathlessly as Arthas commanded Uther to purge Stratholme. When the Lightbringer refused, Arthas accused him of treason and ordered that the Knights of the Silver Hand be disbanded. Stunned, Saavedro - who had heard of, and investigated, the death cults in northern Lordaeron, but had no idea how far the plague had spread - realized that something was wrong, but made his way back to the southern part of the continent. He did not realize, however, how bad it really was.
By the time Saavedro returned to Stormwind, he had heard that both the Kingdom of Lordaeron and the elven Kingdom of Quel'Thalas had been destroyed by the Scourge. The noble King Terenas and the leader of the Silver Hand, Lord Uther, had been brutally murdered by Prince Arthas, now a death knight in the Scourge's service. Lordaeron had crumbled into ruin, and Stratholme was left to burn, a fire that has lasted for many years after the end of the "Third War", as the battle with the Scourge and the Burning Legion was called. From his home in Stormwind, Saavedro refused to believe what he was hearing - Lordaeron had weathered the orcish Horde, how could it fall?
But it soon became inevitable to him - his homeland had fallen into ruin, the ghosts of hundreds of thousands roaming the blighted landscape. He travelled to Lordaeron himself, careful to avoid detection by the Scourge. As he stepped into the empty throne room of Terenas' palace, he was stricken by a horrifying sight. His master, Sekhesmet, was lying dead on the floor, where he had choked out his last breaths. Judging from the state his body was in, Saavedro deduced that he had been dead for several months. Saavedro aided the survivors of Tirisfal Glades in burying his master in the family mausoleum, located in the graveyard of the town of Brill, and then returned to Stormwind.
Saavedro fell into a state of melancholy after returning from Lordaeron; he shirked his duties and began drinking heavily. In this state, he brooded for four years after the war before he realized he had a greater part to play. On the advice of the Archbishop Benedictus, Saavedro removed the robes of the priesthood and took up sword and shield as a paladin. Swearing to defend the helpless and fight both the Scourge and the Horde, he was inducted into the Order of the Silver Hand at Northshire Abbey, in the year 618 on the Stormwind calendar. He was forty-six years old.
In-Game Information
- List of Current Information
- Earlier Accomplishments
- Continued Accomplishments
- The Exploration of Karazhan
- Beyond the Halls of Karazhan
- The Invasion of Zul'Aman
- The Battle of Quel'Danas
- Aiding the Netherwing
- Against the Scourge on the Front Line
The Hunt for the Ashbringer
When the lich overlord Kel'Thuzad returned to the Plaguelands in 620, he brought with him his floating nerubian fortress of Naxxramas, teeming with legions of undead and humans in the service of the Lich King. Floating over the city of Stratholme, Naxxramas seemed an unobtainable goal to Saavedro, who had only managed to enter once. The paladin knew that Kel'Thuzad had been responsible for bringing the Lich King's plague to his beloved Lordaeron, and the paladin swore to destroy the lich and end his reign of terror in the Plaguelands.
Saavedro discovered two very important things based on the reports of adventurers that had managed to penetrate Kel'Thuzad's defenses. The first was about Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian, the powerful stave that had belonged to Medivh - and the intention of Saavedro's nemesis, Joshmaul the Warlock, to reassemble it. The second was the truth behind the Scarlet Crusade, an organization of fanatical zealots that both the Alliance and the Horde had battled for some time. The Crusade's first leader, Highlord Mograine, wielded an enormous sword known as the Ashbringer, so named because its immense power turned the undead to ash before it was even drawn. The Ashbringer was forged from an unusual crystal believed to be of naaru origin, taken from an orc champion at the Battle of Blackrock Spire during the Second War.
Deciding that in order to battle Joshmaul - and eliminate the Scourge - Saavedro himself had to somehow obtain the Ashbringer. But unless he was able to enter Naxxramas with a well-trained group, that would be very difficult indeed...
The Regency of Lordaeron
Shortly before the reopening of the Dark Portal, Saavedro - as one of few people in current Alliance service hailing from Lordaeron - met with a group of senior officials from both the priesthood and survivors from the court of King Terenas. They believed that there must be a Regent to lead the people of Lordaeron - what remained of them, anyway - until the Scourge and Forsaken are driven from the Plaguelands, and an uncorrupted member of the Menethil Dynasty could be found. At present, only Princess Calia, Arthas' sister, is believed to have been uncorrupted, but her current location is unknown. It has also become apparent - Saavedro himself mentioned this - that the former Kingdom of Lordaeron had to deal with not only Kel'Thuzad, but with the remaining leadership of the Scarlet Crusade, including High General Abbendis in Tyr's Hand. Plus, though Quel'Thalas was now in the hands of the Horde - via the machinations of Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron - Saavedro believed that a re-examination, and potential repair, of the Alliance's relations with them was in order.
Saavedro, along with former Tirisfal Magistrate Artimus Devaneaux, were chosen as potential candidates for the title of Regent Lord of Lordaeron until the Menethil Dynasty's fate could be confirmed - with its only known surviving member, Calia, missing or dead, this situation remains unclear. By a narrow margin, Saavedro - who had more experience in open warfare, having fought the Horde on various battlefields for several years - was chosen to take this post.
Various Residences
Saavedro was born in the residence of the Magistrate in Corin's Crossing, across the road from the town hall. When he became a priest of Lordaeron, he lived primarily in Cathedral Square (now Crusaders' Square) in western Stratholme, close to the church that is now the Scarlet Bastion. When he was sent to Stormwind, he lived in the house now inhabited by Adele Fielder and Helene Peltskinner (the leatherworking and skinning trainer, respectively) outside Goldshire. He still maintains this as a residence whenever he is in Elwynn Forest.
For the most part, however, Saavedro has made the Aldor Rise in Shattrath City his home. His decision to reside in Shattrath allows him to live in close proximity to Khadgar's portals connecting the City of Light to the Azerothian capital cities, as well as the Isle of Quel'Danas.
Political Beliefs
Warlocks and Necromancy
Saavedro is adamantly opposed to the use of warlock magic and necromancy, and has spoken against allowing the continued presence of the warlock guilds in Stormwind and Ironforge. He believes that warlock magic was the domain of the Horde, which he describes as "Light-forsaken and immoral", and had no place within the Alliance. He has attempted to use his influence as Regent Lord of Lordaeron to reverse the acceptance of warlocks in councils of the Alliance leadership, to no avail; despite their own opposition to it, the leaders of the Alliance - with the possible exception of the night elves and the draenei - reluctantly believe that warlock magic is a necessary evil, for the warlocks have proven their worth to the Alliance.
But he did have support: Tyrande Whisperwind, High Priestess of Elune and leader of the night elves, is of the belief that warlock magics are responsible for the corruption that has plagued Kalimdor, including the creation of the Felwood. The Prophet Velen, leader of the draenei and one of Saavedro's staunch supporters, believes as Saavedro does, that warlocks are an abomination to the Light - more so because a good number of his people took up this mantle eons in the past, when Sargeras called to them. With the coming of the death knights into both sides, Saavedro is further convinced that the Alliance and the Horde are becoming no better than the Burning Legion that spawned the Scourge.
The Horde
Saavedro is a staunch enemy of the Horde, knighted by King Anduin Wrynn of Stormwind (via his regent, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon) for his services in battle against them, particularly in Alterac Valley. Of the five main races of the Horde, the tauren are the least reviled - Saavedro has had many meaningful interactions with tauren over the years - and considered by him to be more loyal to the preservation of nature than even the night elves. However, Saavedro has a much lower opinion of their orcish allies (though he made a friend in the form of Noggra, a Frostwolf shaman, during a trip to Lordaeron). He believes that neither extermination nor internment has proven to work, so he believes that all orcs should be shipped across the Dark Portal and made to resettle in "their own world", or rather what remains of it.
As for the trolls of the Darkspear, Saavedro feels only hatred; having fought against the legions of Hakkar the Soulflayer across the world, Saavedro sees all trolls, particularly the jungle ones, as evil abominations who must be destroyed by the power of the Light. He also remembers - from his days as a young man in Stratholme, under Sekhesmet's tutelage - the time that the Amani forest trolls allied with the Horde as they burned their way through Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas; with Zul'Aman preparing to reopen itself to the world, Saavedro believes that, like Zul'Gurub and the sunken Temple of Atal'Hakkar, the Amani capital must be purged. Critics of his adamant hatred of trolls point out the services he did to the Zandalar clan of trolls who battled the Soulflayer, but Saavedro points out that they seem to place the preservation of the world above their own selfish interests, unlike their Gurubashi and Amani cousins.
The Forsaken remain something of a grey area. Like most paladins, Saavedro loathes any form of undeath, and at first lumped the Forsaken into the same grouping as the Scourge - abominations requiring destruction. However, like with the tauren and the blood elves, he has had some meaningful relations with them in his service to the Alliance. Despite early unsettled feelings - which sometimes boiled down to outright hatred - Saavedro has reconnected with his former master, Sekhesmet of Stratholme. He also became acquainted with Leonid Barthalomew the Revered, a Forsaken who had joined the Argent Dawn feeling his undeath a malady that simply required treatment - and that treatment was destroying the Scourge responsible for his undeath. Though Saavedro has reunited with Sekhesmet and Ordevaas in a common cause - despite their being part of the Horde - he has made an enemy of the death knight General Settra. Though the General cannot kill Ordevaas or Sekhesmet (as both fall under the protection of Settra's true master, Sylvanas Windrunner), it is believed that he has been tasked with assassinating Saavedro when he arrives in Northrend alongside the Alliance expedition to Valgarde.
The Blood Elves
Saavedro's opinion of the blood elves is slightly mixed. On the one hand, he considers them kindred spirits, having lost their land, family, friends and King to the treachery of Prince Arthas. On the other, the methods that some blood elves use - particularly the Blood Knights - are reprehensible. He was especially horrified to learn of the capture and apparent torture of the naaru M'uru, his powers harvested by the blood elves to give power to their Blood Knights. When Kael'thas' treachery became clear and M'uru was kidnapped by the felblood elves, Lady Liadrin - the leader of the Blood Knight order - travelled to Shattrath along with Ordevaas Portalseeker and two Blood Knight Honor Guards to beseech A'dal for forgiveness and was granted a natural source of power for her knights - the power that Saavedro himself wielded without effort. The fact that the naaru were inclined to redeem Liadrin despite her crimes - and that the events were in fact prophesied by Velen, whom Saavedro considered a mentor - made Saavedro rethink his opinion of their practices.
Saavedro was particularly appalled to learn what had driven them to this course in the first place after the Scourge invasion - the racist policies of "Grand Marshal" Garithos, the self-declared leader of the Alliance remnant following the fall of Lordaeron. Garithos was an ethnocentric snob who did not seem to care anything about his non-human troops; even if they were superior to humans in their efforts, they were still considered nothing more than cannon fodder to Garithos. While Saavedro could sympathize somewhat with how they were treated in the Alliance, he continues to point out the fact that Kael'thas gave himself freely first to Illidan (who was nothing more than a pawn) and then to Kil'jaeden, and a good deal of his people followed him.
Restoration of Lordaeron
Saavedro, as Regent Lord of Lordaeron, is a staunch supporter of reconstructing the Kingdom, or at least retaking as much of it that remains intact. The major obstacle is the infestation of undead - Scourge and Forsaken - that controls northern Lordaeron. Though publicly claiming to hold the throne until an uncorrupted (and still living) member of the Menethil Dynasty can be found, Saavedro privately believes that Princess Calia - the last known member of the dynasty - is likely dead and gone, which would precipitate the crowning of a new King of Lordaeron. When that is done, Saavedro says, he will stand aside.
Because of the blood elves' connection to the Forsaken, however, Saavedro is aware that taking Lordaeron from Sylvanas may result in a war with Quel'Thalas, one that the blood elves are more prepared for than the humans are. While Saavedro himself would welcome the blood elves (despite their less-than-ideal methods) back to the Alliance, others - particularly the draenei - would not be so willing. The blood elves tortured a naaru for their dark powers, which they claimed to be true mastery of the Light, but which the draenei saw as an abomination to all who call themselves paladins.
Nemesis
Of all of Saavedro's many enemies, his greatest without a doubt is Joshmaul the Warlock, a megalomaniacal human who possessed the body of an orcish shaman and warped it to his own purposes. Wielding immense power over demons and shadow magic, Joshmaul's one goal is to dominate the world, and he seeks to do so by conquering the Scourge.
The final conflict between the two would probably be decided on the battlefields of Northrend, fighting one another in addition to the legions of Arthas.
Quotes
| Preceded by: Sekhesmet | Position: High Priest of Stratholme | Succeeded by: Stratholme destroyed |