User:Joshmaul/Artimus Devaneaux
The contents herein are entirely player made and in no way represent official Warcraft lore or history. The characters and events listed are of an independent nature and are applied for roleplaying purposes only.
"You can't carry massive amounts of guilt on your shoulders and then just sit around and mope...the weight will eventually crush you. You must eventually shed it - as you shed the blood of those who wrong you to atone for your crimes."
- - Baron Artimus Devaneaux, to Archmage Caro'thel Vendross
 Artimus Devaneaux | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title | The Scarlet Baron, the Kingslayer |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Human (Undead) |
| Class | Death Knight, formerly Rogue |
| Affiliation(s) |
Alliance of Lordaeron Kingdom of Stormwind The Argent Crusade Saavedro's Coalition Lordaeron Deathsworn |
| Former affiliation(s) |
Knights of the Ebon Blade The Scourge The Scarlet Crusade Kingdom of Lordaeron |
| Occupation | Champion of the Argent Crusade and Emissary of Saavedro of Stratholme |
| Location | Burned on a funeral pyre in Redpine Dell, Western Plaguelands; scattered to the winds |
| Status | Deceased |
| Relative(s) | Anastasia (wife, deceased), Kieran (son) |
| Mentor(s) |
Instructor Razuvious Highlord Darion Mograine Lady Alistra |
| Student(s) |
Anastasia Devaneaux Koschei Settra of Borealis |
| Alignment | Lawful evil |
Baron Artimus Devaneaux is among the many death knights who sought a new beginning after the fall of the Lich King, and his place in the Alliance is largely due to his association with his friend and occasional rival, Saavedro of Stratholme. A former nobleman of Lordaeron, Artimus served as a royal magistrate for King Terenas, and participated in gladiatorial contests to hone his skills. After Lordaeron fell, Artimus embraced the Scarlet Crusade, but was ambushed and captured by his former sponsors, the corrupted House Barov, who had pledged loyalty to the Scourge. In time, Artimus became corrupted, and in death became one of the death knights of Acherus.
After being freed from the Lich King's dominance, Artimus fought in the war against the Scourge as a Knight of the Ebon Blade and participated in the Battle for the Undercity, the siege of Naxxramas, and the fall of Icecrown Citadel, witnessing the death of the Lich King himself at the hands of Tirion Fordring. With the war over and the purpose of the Ebon Blade fulfilled, Artimus was inducted into the Argent Crusade proper by Fordring himself, and operated out of Hearthglen in the slowly-healing Western Plaguelands. He also entered into an alliance with Blood Knight Master Taeril'hane Ketiron in upholding Saavedro's legacy following his supposed death in Northrend. To that end, Artimus enlisted in the Holy Guard (Pia Presidium in an ancient human tongue), and served as a knight of the Argent Rose, one of the warrior orders of the Guard, until banished for insubordination after an inexplicable display of disrespect and insanity.
After earning several warrants for his arrest, including a military warrant for treason, Artimus was finally arrested during a raid into Hillsbrad. After an examination that revealed he was being controlled by the evil Forsaken priest Sekhesmet of Stratholme, the mentor of Saavedro (who had returned during Artimus' possession), he was released on conditional parole by the First Stormwind Regiment, until captured again by Sekhesmet's troops while trying to get back on the trail. Brought to Sekhesmet at the entrance to Skywall, Artimus sacrificed himself in an attempt to destroy Sekhesmet; he instead took with him the priest's puppet Deathguard general, Varan Metheius, and fell from the tower back towards Uldum below, beheading his enemy before impacting with the ground.
Biography
Born in the Capital City of Lordaeron to a noble family with traditional loyalty to the House of Barov, Artimus Devaneaux was destined early on for power. His father, Lucian, had been magistrate of Brill. Lucian was mysteriously found dead, poisoned when Artimus was fifteen, and it is widely believed that Artimus himself was his murderer - acting to save his family from his father's ineptitude. Artimus himself denied this charge, believing that he was assassinated by agents of the King, but admits that he had blown the whistle on his father wasting the money of both the town of Brill and the Devaneaux family. At any rate, once solidified as Baron of House Devaneaux, Artimus became one of King Terenas' staunchest supporters, both before and after the foundation of the Alliance. Shortly before the First War, he too was appointed magistrate of Brill.
A regular figure both at Lordaeron's court and (after the Second War) at Aedelas Blackmoore's contests at Durnholde, Artimus was a skilled fighter, having trained in the arts of war at an early age in the event that Lordaeron was ever attacked. He had also trained in the art of blade combat and stealth. These qualities served him well after Lordaeron fell, in order to avoid being detected or killed by the Scourge that had arisen in the Kingdom. One day, while staying over in Southshore, he received a message from a former paladin named Brigitte Abbendis, who invited him to join a new organization against the undead. This group was known as the Scarlet Crusade...
The Scarlet Crusade and the Barovs' Revenge
Intrigued by Abbendis' offer, Artimus travelled - in stealth to avoid detection by the Scourge - to Tyr's Hand, where the fledgling Crusade was based. There he met Alexandros Mograine - the legendary Ashbringer - as well as Grand Inquisitor Isillien, and Mograine's son Renault. Artimus disliked Renault from the start, and always remained suspicious of the younger man. After a time, Artimus sent word to his son Kieran to join him there. After Mograine was led into Stratholme and murdered by his son, Artimus briefly thought of leaving the Crusade along with others who had heard the words of the late High Inquisitor Fairbanks; however, a sense of loyalty to Abbendis, who had invited him into the Crusade, made him stay. However, he became increasingly suspicious about the circumstances surrounding the death of Highlord Mograine, and the sudden choice of one Saiden Dathrohan to become "Grand Crusader". Artimus was careful to keep his thoughts to himself, as he watched the Crusade become twisted.
Sometime afterwards, Artimus became a Scarlet Commander. Several months before the reopening of the Dark Portal, he was sent back to Tirisfal to oversee reclamation efforts from both the Scourge and the Horde-aligned undead called the Forsaken, operating out of the Scarlet Monastery. However, upon their return to Tirisfal from the Western Plaguelands, Artimus and his troops were ambushed by necromancers from the Scholomance, sent by the House of Barov to deal with their former vassal. Artimus was left for dead; when the Crusaders investigated why Artimus had gone AWOL, they found his blood-spattered armor and tabard lying on the ground. Of Artimus himself, there was no sign...
Saavedro's Revelation
Beaten bloody and senseless by the Scholomance adepts, Artimus wandered across Tirisfal and through the plagued woods of Silverpine, eventually coming to the town of Ambermill - where he immediately collapsed due to exhaustion from both his travels and his severe wounds. The Dalaran wizards residing in Ambermill took him to Southshore, where he was delivered into the hands of a paladin travelling from the Plaguelands. The paladin was none other than Saavedro of Stratholme - travelling from the ruins of his once-beloved city on his way to Stormwind. The Scarlet Commander's wounds were so horrific that not even the master paladin could heal them himself. Thus, Saavedro took the dying Artimus to Northshire Abbey, where his wounds were treated with great care by the clerics.
The severe head trauma from the Barov ambush left Artimus with amnesia, forgetting who he was, and worst of all losing the fighting skills he had wielded so expertly in life. However, Saavedro - with help from the Abbey clerics, as well as stolen records from within the library of the Scarlet Monastery - managed to help him rediscover who he was, and where he had been. When Artimus asked what had happened to the Crusade since he was ambushed, Saavedro told him the truth: The Scarlet Crusade was now considered the enemy of just about everyone, though they had attempted to send their ambassadors to Stormwind and even to the Argent Dawn (the organization began by those who heeded Fairbanks' warnings) in their continuing battle against the Scourge. Renault Mograine was now a Scarlet Commander himself, and resided in the Monastery in Tirisfal; General Abbendis still lived, and resided at the Abbey in Tyr's Hand, where she had become increasingly paranoid and attacked anyone who did not subscribe to her insanity. The worst was the revelation of the identity of Grand Crusader Dathrohan, who wa in fact the Dreadlord known as Balnazzar...
Artimus was outraged and horrified at Saavedro's revelation of Dathrohan/Balnazzar, for it vindicated his long-time suspicions that the Crusade had become the very evil it had sworn to destroy.
Consumption by Darkness
Over time, despite Saavedro's counsel and the constant intensive sessions with the healers, Artimus became brooding and depressed. While he sat in Northshire Abbey, great things happened without him - the war against Illidan and the Burning Legion in Outland raged on.
Rumors abounded throughout Azeroth of an increase of activity in the continent of Northrend and Saavedro was almost certainly prepared to go there. Artimus, however, continued to brood in Northshire. Finally, overcome with despair, his sanity completely snapped, and he suddenly became overcome with a desire for power, no matter the cost. Much like Sargeras had with the Pantheon, Artimus believed that the mission of the Alliance - peace and serenity within the Light - was impossible, and that chaos and conflict were the way of things. It did not take long to attract the notice of the more...unsavory elements within the Alliance.
One day, Artimus simply disappeared from Northshire Abbey. In his madness, he travelled across Azeroth and Khaz Modan before entering Lordaeron, ventured into the Plaguelands and entered the Scholomance. At first, the Barovs were tempted to behead their former vassal on the spot for his treachery, but the Lich King saw potential in him, and commanded the Barovs to send Artimus to Naxxramas. They obeyed, and dispatched two necromancers - part of the group that had attempted to murder Artimus several months before - to escort the former Scarlet Commander into the Eastern Plaguelands.
Within Naxxramas' halls, his sanity gone, Artimus pledged his allegiance to the Scourge and to the Lich King. After that detail was settled, he travelled to Tirisfal and prepared to board a vessel that would take him to Northrend, to find the runeblade that would own his soul. On the way, he encountered the orcish warlock Urgan the Corruptor, and in a brief duel succeeded in slashing out Urgan's right eye - an eye over which he wore a crafted lens for the rest of that first life.
Though he found the runeblade, his weapons of choice remained the paired blades he received from Aedelas Blackmoore after a tournament, adorned with the black falcon that was Blackmoore's personal emblem. Upon officially becoming a death knight, Artimus was dispatched by the Lich King to a fortress called Utgarde Keep, in the Howling Fjord. He was tasked with raising the dead of the vrykul - the vampiric half-giants that resided there - to serve in the Scourge legions, and often coordinated with Prince Keleseth in the catacombs of the towering castle. He also participated in vrykul raids against the town of Valgarde, careful to keep his identity a secret to prevent Saavedro from locating him. The Alliance defenders of Valgarde called him the "Deathlord of Utgarde".
The Regent's Fury
However, Saavedro did figure out where Artimus had gone - he found and interrogated the necromancers who had been his ambushers-turned-escorts, who revealed everything before their deaths. Enraged by Artimus' betrayal, the paladin called upon an ally, General Korogh Madeyes of the Ironforge Army, to journey to Northrend in search of the rogue ex-Crusader. Saavedro himself travelled to the Exodar, where he sought the counsel of the draenei priest Po'gaenus the Exalted before he joined Korogh in Valgarde. Po'gaenus advised Saavedro to destroy Artimus' runeblade, explaining that this was how the Lich King controlled his death knights.
With the Exalted's counsel in mind, Saavedro travelled to Valgarde, where he met with Korogh at the inn. The dwarf General had located Artimus' hiding place - the catacombs of Utgarde Keep, a massive vrykul fortress on the shores of Lake Cauldros. Upon going around the lake to Utgarde's base and entering the village of Wyrmskull, the party was surrounded by vrykul enforcers. They seemed ready to attack until a barked command in their native tongue stopped them, as Artimus himself stepped out of the shadow of the fortress. The two combatants' eyes met, and - draenei warhammer in hand - Saavedro charged. Artimus raised his runeblade to counter it, and the paladin and the death knight became locked in combat.
Both gave as good as they got; Saavedro's hammer smashed into Artimus' breastplate, denting it and breaking several ribs, while Artimus slashed the paladin's Argent Dawn tabard to tatters and shattered a portion of the plate near his stomach. Just as Saavedro was gaining the upper hand, Artimus unexpectedly lunged, intending to ram his blade through the paladin's heart. But Saavedro saw it coming just in time and moved out of the way, making the wound painful, but not lethal, impaling him through his shoulder. His pain fueling his rage, Saavedro swung his hammer up, shattering Artimus' runeblade and knocking both men off their feet. As Artimus fell and Saavedro came shakily to his feet, the vrykul attacked, but were quickly put in their place by Ammenkayn's calling upon the elements and Korogh's speedy attacks with his paired axes. The vrykul who were not killed fled back into Utgarde Keep. Saavedro, wounded and shaking with rage, prepared to deliver the death blow when a shouted command by approaching observers stayed his hand. General Settra, a death knight serving the Forsaken (and Urgan), informed Saavedro that he could not allow Artimus to be killed, for he had his uses alive. Urgan apparently did not entirely agree with this sentiment - Artimus had taken his eye - but he did not object. Taking the nearly-dead former Magistrate with him, Settra nursed Artimus back to health and then took him to Stratholme for his "indoctrination".
On His Own
With the power at his disposal and being taught the basics by Settra, Artimus now grew anxious to return to the world and gain as much power as he could in order to secure a place for himself. Much had changed beyond Lordaeron since he had joined the Scarlet Crusade, and he wanted to be part of that world...before he dominated it himself. But he had made an enemy of both Saavedro and Urgan, and that realization did not escape his notice.
Given a map of Outland by General Settra, Artimus travelled beyond the Dark Portal and began to explore the ravaged world for himself. Upon entering Shadowmoon Valley, however, Artimus was spotted by Aldor sentries - tipped off by Saavedro, when Ordevaas Portalseeker (seeking to redeem himself in the eyes of both Saavedro and the naaru) informed him of Artimus' arrival - and immediately arrested. Brought in chains to Shattrath, the naaru A'dal and Saavedro both agreed that Artimus was too much of a danger to be allowed into the world, and held in the World's End Tavern under guard.
But one night the guard was lax, and Artimus murdered him with his bare hands before making his escape from Shattrath. With his armor badly dented and his runeblade shattered, Artimus wondered how he would accomplish his goal. He knew his trademark weapons - the matched Durnholde blades - were kept inside Saavedro's private vault in the Bank of Stormwind. Forging a permission slip to allow him access, Artimus saw something in the vault that got his attention - a beautifully-crafted suit of green plate armor and a huge two-handed sword with an unusually-patterned blade. Artimus saw a note looped around the hilt of the sword and realized that the armor and weapon had been crafted by Saavedro himself, and was intended for his old ally, the draenei vindicator Velenkayn. With Velenkayn corrupted and no other prospects readily available, Artimus realized he had a chance to take the items himself...and he did.
Escaping from Stormwind, Artimus stole money from the vault and used it to purchase a horse that would take him out of the southern portion of the continent. Riding through the fiery Burning Steppes and avoiding dwarven sentries in Khaz Modan, Artimus knew that he was being hunted by Saavedro, but managed to keep one step ahead of his nemesis. It was outside of Tarren Mill, however, that a fight was brewing. Sekhesmet of Stratholme, a powerful Forsaken shadow priest, had discovered that Artimus had been the one to kill his only daughter, Euphrati Velade, following a loss to her in Blackmoore's arena years before. Standing on a bluff overlooking the road, Sekhesmet attacked the death knight in a fury before Artimus - using Saavedro's sword, runes carved into it - sliced across his chest and severed his right arm, splattering both the priest and the death knight with embalming fluid. With his enemy weakened, Artimus continued on his way into the Plaguelands and back to Tirisfal, where he boarded a plagued transport.
Returning to Northrend, Artimus was tracked by Saavedro's hunters, led by Korogh, into the Dragonblight near Azjol-Nerub. Lashing out against Korogh's aide, Oren Tanis, Artimus made a break for it and ran into the entrance to Azjol-Nerub, and Korogh - beside himself with fury at Artimus' treachery - gave chase. Korogh has not been seen since...
Death and Resurrection
In the depths of Azjol-Nerub, Artimus was confronted by a massive crypt lord, one of the former kings of the nerubians' empire. Realizing that this was his executioner, Artimus' hands dropped to his sides and he allowed the spear-like claw of the fallen king to pierce his heart, killing him instantly. But the Lich King was loath to let such potential go to waste.
Raising Artimus from the dead as his servant, the Lich King sent him and several other death knights to Acherus: The Ebon Hold, under the command of Highlord Darion Mograine. With the war against Illidan and the Legion in both Outland and Quel'Thalas winding down, the Lich King prepared for the mortal races' coming invasion of Northrend. He was preparing to recall Naxxramas, Artimus' first training center, to Northrend with the reborn Kel'Thuzad, and in its place he would send the Ebon Hold to lay waste to the remnants of the Scarlet Crusade. It would be there, in the skies above New Avalon, that his destiny would be made.
Upon arriving in Eastern Plaguelands, Artimus immediately set to work...
In-Game
- In-Game Accomplishments and Current Gear
- In the Scarlet Enclave
- Beyond the Ebon Hold
- The Battle in Northrend
- The Siege of Icecrown Citadel
- Serving the Alliance in the Time of Cataclysm
Prophecy of the Scarlet Betrayer
The draenei Farseer Jaeden'laek, a lieutenant of Saavedro who aided Korogh in the hunt for Artimus, is said to have received a vision and made the following prophecy shortly before returning from Northrend:
Scarlet noble, shaped by war,
Deluded to serve the Dreadlord's mask.
Felled by Death in the haunted glades,
Driven by terror to Death's embrace.
Forged in madness, tempered by pain,
The blade once broken is remade.
Crusade of Light, fallen dark,
The Scarlet Baron will choose his path.
Soul in the hands of the King of Death.
Spirit remains in the blackest heart.
In the Land of Spiders, his fate decided,
In the Hand of Tyr, his destiny shown.
Upon being told this, Saavedro interpreted it thus: Artimus was a former Lordaeron nobleman who joined the Scarlet Crusade after the Third War and had unwittingly served the Dreadlord Balnazzar, who had taken the form of Saidan Dathrohan ("Scarlet noble, shaped by war,/Deluded to serve the Dreadlord's mask"). Artimus was attacked and nearly left for dead by Barov necromancers in Tirisfal Glades ("Felled by Death in the haunted glades"), and gave himself to the Lich King in his seclusion in Northshire ("Driven by terror to Death's embrace").
Upon his escape from Shattrath, Artimus was able to reforge his shattered runeblade ("Forged in madness, tempered by pain,/The blade once broken is remade"). He realizes that the Scarlet Crusade - thanks to Saavedro's revelation of Balnazzar before Artimus' fall - was now evil ("Crusade of Light, fallen dark") and now must choose a side in the coming war ("The Scarlet Baron will choose his path"). Though he is now technically soulless due to his connection to the Lich King ("Soul in the hands of the King of Death"), he remains a free and independent spirit ("Spirit remains in the blackest heart"). He took up the banner of the Scourge once more in the tunnels of Azjol-Nerub ("In the Land of Spiders, his fate decided") and will return to Lordaeron and battle the Crusade in Tyr's Hand - and it will be after defeating them that he will begin his life anew ("In the Hand of Tyr, his destiny shown").
Upon his release from the Scourge, Jaeden'laek revealed the prophecy to Artimus, who scoffed in reply.
The Passion of the Scarlet Baron
After the fall of the Lich King and the beginning of the war against Deathwing, Artimus sought a greater purpose for himself and believed he had found it amidst a group called the Holy Guard, or Pia Presidium in a dialect of Common. His experience in battle made him an asset to its "Sepha" (leader), Gentyl D'Amond-Turncutt, who inducted him into the Presidium as a knight of the Argent Rose. Artimus became one of the prevailing voices of reason amidst the Presidium for many long months.
That would change in the spring following Deathwing's downfall. A slanderous manifesto (released anonymously by Saavedro, who had survived his ordeal with the Corruptor in Northrend nearly four years earlier), which condemned the Presidium as cowards and hypocrites, was spread all over the realms. Artimus called for the Presidium's intelligence service, the Silent Guard, to locate the people posting the manifestos, thinking that perhaps it would lead them to the author. This came at the heels of the revelation that the priestess Nynra Lightheart was in fact undead, and believed to have been associated with the Forsaken (a public tribunal ordered by the Stormwind City Watch absolved her of any charges of treason or spying for the enemy).
As he approached the home of Nynra's most public supporter, High Priestess Genevra Stoneheardt, Artimus inexplicably went into a rage, spitting insults and threatening her with his drawn sword. Saavedro himself had gone into self-imposed exile after an incident with Hearthglen, and had released the manifesto from the Exodar; Artimus erroneously believed Saavedro to be missing, and even suggested that he might be dead. This brought him into conflict with Gentyl in Stormwind two days later, where he spat in her face, insulted her, and ripped his tabard from his chest and threw it to the ground. Then he escaped to Acherus via death gate; he was dismissed from the Presidium as a result, and a warrant for assault (against both Genevra and Gentyl) was issued by the Stormwind City Watch after witnesses reported the incident.
Artimus officially remained at large, though he had appeared several times to battle against the Horde, wearing the colors of the Ebon Sanction led by worgen death knight Gondorin Ragefang. He has also been spotted wearing his ornate battle armor in the streets of Stormwind, a brazen "bring it on" gesture to the Watch. However, he has also been seen riding alongside Forsaken, hated enemies of the Ebon Sanction - in particular, guard forces under the command of General Varan Metheius.
Captured and Released
In time, Saavedro dispatched Packleader Eidan Zherron and his Shadowhowl pack to hunt down Artimus in Lordaeron and capture him alive. Zherron actually debated killing the death knight outright, but Saavedro bluntly stated that there would be no killing unless it was of Metheius' troops. Saavedro had also made efforts to keep him from Narnicka Stoneheardt, Genevra's husband and commander of the First Stormwind Regiment, believing the man to be mentally unstable; this brought him into conflict with his old comrade Oren Tanis, now a Field Marshal in Stormwind's army, who threatened to have Saavedro arrested for treason if he continued to circumvent the military.
Zherron - acting on his own volition - led the Shadowhowl in an ambush along the Hillsbrad road outside Tarren Mill. The attack resulted in the death of Metheius' "voicebox", Declan Malkus, and several Forsaken troops, and Artimus was delivered back to Stormwind, where he was hauled in chains to Stormwind Keep - to Narnicka's war room. Genevra was summoned from her home in Redridge and confirmed a suspicion Saavedro had come to - that Artimus was under the coercion of Sekhesmet. With her considerable but largely untrained powers, Genevra was able to lift Sekhesmet's spell, and began struggling with the foulness of his mind herself...in private. Artimus seemed like he had awakened from a fog at first, but remembered full well what had happened while he was under Sekhesmet's thrall.
Narnicka, taking the circumstances into account, released Artimus on a conditional parole, the condition being that he remain within the boundaries of the city of Stormwind until further notice. With no real choice in the matter, Artimus complied. Saavedro offered him shelter at his home in Cathedral Square, and the Baron accepted.
The Baron Falls
After a time and with aid from Genevra Stoneheardt, Artimus' parole was extended to remain within the Eastern Kingdoms and to report his movements on a regular basis. Free from being held in Stormwind, Artimus - using a storm dragon given to him by Jaeden'laek - flew back to Hillsbrad to return to the trail, but had to contend with the vengeful dwarf hunter Varsil Eagleshot, the son of Korogh. Though at first battling the dwarf, Artimus convinced him to stand at his side when the Dalaran archmage Inar of Borealis, another puppet of Sekhesmet, came with Forsaken troops led by General Metheius to capture Artimus. With the aid of some members of Zherron's pack and the timely arrival of Inar's former student, Archmage Caro'thel Vendross, Varsil was brought back to safety in Aerie Peak to the south, while Artimus was taken into custody. Before being killed by Vendross, Inar (being used by Sekhesmet as a voicebox) revealed that Artimus would be taken "to the entrance of the heavens". Varsil, wounded and weary, revealed this clue to Saavedro in Aerie Peak - and the paladin immediately deduced that Artimus was being taken to Skywall, the realm of Al'Akir, now floating serenely again in the skies above Uldum. Taking Zherron and Vendross, along with several Shadowhowl warriors, Saavedro quickly set out for Uldum, using Vendross' magic to return to Stormwind and then using the Earthen Ring's to travel to the desert lands.
Artimus was brought before Sekhesmet in one of the towers near the entrance to the Vortex Pinnacle, where the corrupted High Priest demanded that Artimus submit or die. Taking his own fate - as well as the blessing of the Light - into his own hands, Artimus chose the latter and charged towards Sekhesmet. He barrelled head-on into General Metheius, taking both death knights from the tower and plummeting downwards towards the Vir'naal River Delta far below. As they battled one another in free-fall, Artimus grasped the new jawbone that Sekhesmet had bolted into Metheius' face and ripped it clean off, mirroring the punishment Razuvious had inflicted on the general before he was taken into the Scourge. Metheius' sword flew from his hand and into Artimus'; with one last ounce of strength, the Baron beheaded the Deathguard general before finally impacting on the ground below.
Saavedro, Zherron and Vendross arrived too late. They found Artimus' broken body lying on its back, not far from the headless body of Metheius. Zherron managed to find the head and put it in a bag, declaring that his people would be relieved to know that their enemy, "the Butcher of the Northgate" as he was called, was dead. In concurrence with his allies, Saavedro had Artimus' body delivered to Lordaeron, to a glade outside Hearthglen. The body of Artimus' wife Anastasia was exhumed from its resting place in Tyr's Hand and brought to the site, where a pyre had been built by Jaeden'laek with the aid of some Argent Crusade laborers. Lying in peace together, Artimus and Anastasia were committed to the flames and their ashes scattered by the winds into the healing forests of their homeland, where Saavedro hoped their spirits would find peace.
The Weapons and Steeds of the Scarlet Baron
A master of blades, Artimus was often seen carrying two swords at his belt - one glowing blue-white, the other red. The style of blade may differ as Artimus grows stronger, but their glows and their names remain the same: The blue-white blade is Death's Heart, and the red blade is Scarlet Flame. The current weapons are a Scourge-forged sword and axe, claimed from within Icecrown Citadel itself.
When he first took up the runeblade of a death knight, Artimus named it Crimsonblight, another reference (much like Scarlet Flame) to his prior service in the Scarlet Crusade. The current incarnation of that weapon is a huge axe reminiscient of the weapon wielded by Lord Marrowgar, which he took from the bone wraith during the siege of Icecrown.
The most important weapons in the Baron's arsenal, in addition to his blades, are stealth and speed. He gains the latter with Lazarus, his deathcharger. Lazarus was the steed he purchased from the Eastvale Logging Camp during his escape from Stormwind - shortly before he was killed in Azjol-Nerub. When Lazarus died, he was raised specially for Artimus by Salanar the Horseman, who travelled to Lordaeron inside Acherus. Now bound to eternal undeath with his master, Lazarus is Artimus' most loyal companion. He also rides in some places on the back of a winged steed of the Ebon Blade, the skeletal gryphon used exclusively by death knights, which he has named Ciaphas.
Quotes by/about Artimus
- SI:7 Dossier:
Innocence died at Light's Hope. While they followed the Lich King, the death knights of Acherus committed acts that were nothing short of monstrous. Some grew to regret it afterwards, and seek redemption in service to the Alliance or the Horde. Some were so wracked with guilt that they committed suicide by jumping into the fiery pits of Blackrock Mountain after their "liberation", cremating themselves so that nothing of them would be left but ash. And then there are those who glory in the slaughter, no matter whose flag they fly under. One such example is Artimus Devaneaux...
A natural born killer, trained by the best. Not emotionless, but he lacks empathy; he kills without hesitation, restraint, or conscience. When fighting for his cursed brethren, he fights like a man possessed to protect them, believing the Ebon Blade to be a brotherhood akin to the Silver Hand. He believes strongly in redeeming himself by leaving legions of his enemy broken before him. Everywhere he has gone, destruction has followed. With vengeance over the masters of Naxxramas denied him by Saavedro of Stratholme, his eye is now firmly fixed on Icecrown.
Light have mercy on Arthas when the Scarlet Baron catches up with him - because he can expect none from his former servant...
"Paladins claim their power from Light, we from death. They give their service to the people; we give our service to ourselves. They abhor personal vengeance, condemning it as the path to darkness...as we already walk that path, we have no such qualms. You have seen and heard all that has happened at this so-called tournament that Fordring and his ilk run in Icecrown. They practice for war by beating up wooden dummies and jousting with unwieldy lances....we practice for war by slaughtering our foes. Death makes our priorities drastically different from our Argent 'brothers in arms'...while they focus on such hollow concepts like fighting with honor, we, and we alone, recognize the true nature of our enemy." - address to newly-minted Knights of the Ebon Blade
"This is it, Saavedro. This is what we've been waiting for - the final push to finish off that bastard Arthas once and for all. Part of me wonders what we'll do with ourselves after he's dead, but the other part of me is too excited to truly give a damn about the future."
"Benedictus' treason is merely one of the more extreme examples of the chaos that has gripped our world. Even the most beloved and holy figures of our nations are swearing allegiance to Deathwing and the Twilight's Hammer, and we are forced to kill them to ensure that they do not consign our world to the apocalypse envisioned by the Timeless One. Proof, I think, that Azeroth as a whole has lost its mind. It is perhaps fortunate that you have chosen to retire in solitude to your homeland, my old friend...the things I have seen in Northrend in recent days make the war with the Lich King look like a childish squabble." - letter to Taeril'hane Ketiron
