The Great Thief

”When I first left home, my son Tyran had already began to understand his surroundings. My wife told him that I was already dead. He grew up without the love of a father,” old Fordring sighed as he rose his head. His gaze passed through the mist of the Plaguelands, as if he was witnessing the upbringing of his son right before his very eyes.

”You didn’t fulfill your responsibilities,” Lu Li accused, not holding back.

”You’re right, but my Tyran has still grown up and joined the Silver Hand as a Paladin. I’m proud of his achievements,” old Fordring said proudly.

What happened after did not result in a happy ending at all.

Arthas took down Andorhal and killed one of the five Paladins, Gavinrad the Dire, who protected the grave of Kel’Thuzad. In order to obtain the ash of his father – a key item to revive Kel’Thuzad – he mercilessly directed his Undead army towards Uther.

Uther was the teacher of Arthas!

Uther, who was alone by himself, fought bravely, but still died in combat to Arthas. Arthas, a prince known as the hope of Lodaeron, became the one who brought the empire to its doom.

He had killed his own father and his teacher.

His father, Terenas Menethil, couldn’t rest in peace. His ash was melted down into the bones of a cult leader.The fall of Andorhal was the final signal of the fall of Lodaeron’s last shred of pride.

From that point onwards, the Silver Hand became no more.

Tyran Fordring tried all that he could to persist, when he was forced to retreat into the north valley that had been at war for a long time, he met his final resistance. One by one, Scourge monsters died to his sword, but he saw no hope.

Was there a point if anyone else survived amongst the knights?

With this thought, Tyran let go of his flag and turned his back against all that he knew. His glory was left abandoned on the blood-drenched soil, and he became a puppet of the Crusade. The Scarlet Crusade believed that as the son of the creator of the Silver Hand, he would be able to help them gather the remaining members.

Tyran Fordring camped in the castle of Mardenholde.

”Mardenholde castle…” Lu Li muttered as he repeated the name in his head, then said, ”He has already fallen – those are just a bunch of evil, fallen knights.”

”No, Tyran is a good man,” old Fordring disagreed, shaking his head in certainty as he continued, ”My son, he needs guidance – he needs to remember the definition of honor and glory. I know that the belief still lies deep within him; he knows that what he is doing is wrong. If only someone can help him remember again…”

”What should I do?” Lu Li wanted to ask why Fordring had not tried to do anything himself, but held this question.

”Help Tyran find the things that he has lost; you must help him collect items of his past,” old Fording began, as he described the details of the quest.

”The first item was a toy that I gave him when he was seven. It’s a small war hammer – a copy of mine. When he was informed of my death, he buried it along with my memories at my grave. You must make a trip to my tomb and bring back Tyran’s Hammer!”

”I understand – just tell me where your tomb is located,” Lu Li said.

Old Fordring gave a location and Lu Li took note of it. Anyone would be able to obtain the little hammer, so this wasn’t enough to earn Tyran’s trust.

”You should go bring the hammer back first. Let me think of some other memorable items,” old Fordring said, lost in his thoughts.

Lu Li waved old Fordring goodbye and transformed into a Panther. He ran quickly, aggroing many monsters, but they couldn’t catch up.

Fordring’s old land had already became a paradise for the Scourge; there were no more living in the village that used to exist here.

Lu Li killed a few more monsters around the area and began to search for a tool to dig.

After a few minutes, he found the hammer. As expected from an item made by old Fordring, it was still perfectly stored, despite being underground and contaminated by the Scourge.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t useable – it was a quest item.

Old Fordring took the hammer from Lu Li with a sad expression. He seemed to have realized how much that he had missed.

It was a young child that heard from his mother about the death of his father.

He may have snuck out in the middle of the night to cry in silence in front of his father’s grave. He could no longer see the father who would lift him high into the air and play with him.

”Anything else that you want me to do?” Lu Li asked.

”Tyran’s glory has already been forsaken on the blood-drenched lands of the north valley. I want you to go to north valley and find the flag that represents the lost glory,” old Fordring instructed.

”As you wish,” Lu Li said as he turned to leave.

For anyone else, finding the lost flag would be a difficult task. After all, the battle had occurred a long time ago. However, Lu Li was different. He quickly found the item in the lake and returned to Fordring.

”Alright, you’ve challenged my knowledge again,” old Fordring said, visibly impressed. ”Now, you must head to Caer Darrow Island to find the hint to a painting. Do you know of this island?”

Lu Li nodded as he answered, ”In the center of a lake located south to Plaguelands. I’ve been there.”

”That’s right.” Old Fordring had a soft expression on his face as he continued to recall, ”When Tyran was still a child, our whole family used to go to Caer Darrow Island for holidays. The last time we went there, an artist named Renfray drew a portrait of us all walking along the lake. This is the item that can bring back the most memories of the good times our family spent together. Back then, I held the hands of my wife and my son. My heart was filled with love…”

”So you want me to find an artist named Renfray? I understand.”

Fortunately, Caer Darrow Island was located at the edge of the Plaguelands. It seemed as though Lu Li was being directed to many different places, but he had actually never left the Plaguelands.

Caer Darrow island had not been taken over by the Scourge army. The lake was teeming with Water Elementals; there was no need for the Scourge to make enemies with them.

However, it seemed that Renfray was no longer there. The remaining survivors told Lu Li that she may have been lost in Stratholme.

Then, Lu Li received the next step for the quest – he was to head over to Stratholme and find the portrait ”Love and Family” in the Scarlet Crusade Castle. This portrait had been hidden behind another portrait of two moons.