Forsaken

In the wake of Illidan's failed attempt to melt the icy continent of Northrend, the powerful energies possessed by the Lich King inside his frozen throne slowly began to decay. Inexorably this resulted in a partial loss of control of the more distant Scourge forces. The result was that many undead were released from the Lich King's mental domination, regaining their free will in the process. Even the Lich King’s champion, Arthas, began to weaken as the Lich King's power waned. Arthas the Deathknight and Kel'Thuzad the Lich were still fanatically loyal to the Lich King, but as Illidan launched his second attempt to destroy the Lich King directly, Arthas heeded the call of his master and returned to Northrend.

With Arthas's departure from Lordaeron, the three Dreadlords, Balnazar, Varimathras and Detheroc, attempted to regain control over the undead forces in Lordaeron using their formidable mental powers. The former High Elf Sylvanas Windrunner rallied many of the newly freed undead to counter the Dreadlords' efforts. Sylvanas was amazingly successful and not only crushed the Dreadlords' forces, but also utterly destroyed the last major contingent of human forces in Lordaeron. She forced Varimathras into her service in exchange for sparing his life and took control of the ruined capital of Lordaeron as her own. Within the sewer system of the ruined city Arthas had constructed his throne room; but with Arthas now gone, Sylvanas claimed this Undercity as her capital and set out to expand her ranks by freeing even more undead.

Dubbing her band of free-willed undead the Forsaken, Sylvanas worked to ensure that the damned such as herself would have a home free from threats by the living. Whether she plans a cure for undeath or to bring suffering to all the world is a question whose answer only Sylvanas knows. What is known is that the Horde sympathizes with the Forsaken. The Orcs, having been enthralled to demon masters for a generation, felt an obligation to help similarly liberated people. While the Horde does not fully trust the Forsaken and vice versa, it is a start.

Capital City: The Undercity

Classes
Undead characters may play as a Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock or Warrior.

Additional Background
For the Forsaken to be part of the Horde is not a terrible stretch of the imagination. It is really just a matter of fully understanding both the motivations for both sides to ally, and the reality of their current alliance. Therefore, in an attempt to shed some light onto this, and hopefully cure naysayers of their doubts, I will cover the major points which lend what in my eyes is a very solid sense of versimilitude to Blizzard's decision:

First of all, the Horde is clearly aware of the difference between the Forsaken and the Scourge. The Horde has battled the Scourge in the past, and understands that the Forsaken are not mindless killers, but rather tortured souls afflicted with a debilitating condition not at all unlike the Orcs’ former demonic curse. Playing upon this knowledge, the Forsaken have used the premise of desperately seeking a cure for their affliction to mask their true purposes. So, although they are plotting evil, the Horde is not at all aware of it. They do not fully trust the Forsaken, but many – such as The Earthen Ring, the advisory council within the Horde – believe the Forsaken to be seeking redemption.

Furthermore, the Forsaken and the Horde share an enemy in the Alliance, while not being enemies themselves. As such, the Horde has gained an ally against its enemies by accepting the Forsaken into its ranks. And in war, an new, powerful ally is nothing to discard lightly. After all, did not the two most polar ideologies of the 20th century – the National Socialists and the Soviet Union – sign a non-aggression pact at the opening of World War 2 to stand up against the Western democracies of France and England? Although they later went to war, it is not so unusual for peoples which may normally never consider alliances to become allies in times of desperation.

As well, the Forsaken do not live on Kalimdor with the rest of the Horde races. Instead, they live in Lordaeron. So, it isn’t like the Horde races are living together with the Forsaken. While they will get Forsaken visitors frequently, there are few if any Forsaken settlements on Kalimdor, and as such, the races likely do not have very frequent contact with each other outside the battlefield. This is a very important factor to consider when analyzing the political situation within the Horde; with the Forsaken being across the ocean, on a wholly separate continent, the rest of the Horde likely feels much more secure about allying with them, as they are at no risk of any military betrayal from the Forsaken. The Forsaken can't launch a surprise attack against them, and yet are right next door to the core of the Alliance's forces – all in all, the other Horde races have gained, if nothing else, something to relieve some Alliance pressure off of themselves.

To reiterate, the Horde on the whole does not trust the Forsaken. They know they’re undead, and probably can tell they’re not the most benevolent individuals, but because of their situation, and because the Earthen Ring put in their blessings, both Thrall and Cairn agreed to accept the Forsaken as a part of the Horde. So while they are allied, it is an uneasy alliance to be sure. They had everything to gain by making the agreement with Sylvanas, and nothing to lose by accepting it.

The Forsaken in World of Warcraft
In World of Warcraft, players have the option of playing as a former human of Lordaeron transformed into an undead entity, best described as a vile mockery of what they were once in life. The Forsaken maintain virtually all of their memories and experiences from their life, but the experience of becoming a servant to Ner’zhul typically makes even the most noble of humans into a much darker character. Although no Paladins ever became Forsaken due to their immunity to the Blight Plague, even the Priests who fell to it became twisted by their experiences, using their dedication to the Holy Light to further their dark purposes.

Although the success of the Forsaken's plan to create a new, more potent Blight Plague remains uncertain, the fate of the Forsaken, and indeed of the entire world, will be revealed in more depth as the story of Warcraft progresses.

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