Forsaken

Also see Forsaken (Lore)

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 under the Lich King's mental domination had their conscious will restored. Their spirits and memories were somehow returned to their undead bodies. Even the Lich King's champion, Arthas, began to weaken as the Lich King's power waned. Arthas the death knight and his lieutenant Kel'Thuzad the lich were suddenly thrust into an undead civil war. Still fanatically loyal to the Lich King, Arthas heeded the call of his master and returned to Northrend as Illidan launched his second attempt to destroy the Lich King directly. Arthas left Kel'Thuzad in command of his forces when he departed.

With Arthas' departure from Lordaeron, the three Dreadlords Balnazzar, 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.

All members of the Forsaken race are either humans or of elven descent (high elves and half-elves). However they also control a few abominations as well. The Royal Apothecary Society has independently accepted in a few undead dwarves, leper gnomes, even some orcs, and trolls have joined the society, as apothecaries, but these are not considered true Forsaken.

Background
Bound to the iron will of the tyrant Lich King, the vast undead armies of the Scourge seek to eradicate all life on Azeroth. Led by the banshee Sylvanas Windrunner, one group of undead broke away from the Scourge in a small period of time when the Lich King lost some of his power, and they freed themselves of the Lich King's domination. These renegades call themselves the Forsaken. They fight a constant battle not only to retain their freedom from the Scourge, but also to exterminate those who would hunt them as monsters.

With Sylvanas as their banshee queen, the Forsaken have built a dark stronghold beneath the ruins of Lordaeron’s former capital city. This hidden 'Undercity' forms a sprawling labyrinth that stretches beneath the haunted woods of the Tirisfal Glades. From this bastion, the Forsaken wage an unending battle against the Scourge as well as the remaining humans who still seek to reclaim their lands. For though the very land is cursed, the zealous humans of the Scarlet Crusade cling to their scattered holdings, obsessed with eradicating the undead and retaking their once-beautiful homeland.

Convinced that the primitive races of the Horde can help them achieve victory over their enemies, the Forsaken have entered an alliance of convenience with the savage orcs and the proud tauren. Harboring no true loyalty for their new allies, they will go to any lengths to ensure their dark plans come to fruition.

Appearance
Forsaken, unsurprisingly, look like dead people. Their skin is gray and rotting, showing bone and flesh in places. Their pupil-less eyes glow with dim, white ghostlight. Their muscles are withered, making them scrawny. Their movements are slow but jagged. Forsaken hardly ever smile (unless their lips have rotted away — in which case they can appear to be smiling all the time). Necromantic magic keeps them somewhat preserved, but natural decay still proceeds, just slower than normal.

Other Traits
Relations with the others of the Horde: 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. To ensure their survival, the Forsaken have forged an alliance of convenience with the Horde, which has some sympathy for the Forsaken's condition. The orcs, having been enthralled to demon masters for a generation, felt an obligation to help similarly liberated people. Among the tauren the Forsaken found a champion in Magatha Grimtotem, who argued in favor of the alliance between the two peoples and who continues to work closely with them. Magatha claims she merely wants to aid the Forsaken in their quest to redeem themselves, although there are many who believe her true motives to be something very different and much less innocent. The Darkspear trolls are not particularly fond of the Forsaken because of their shamanistic beliefs, but tolerate them and have learned to trust them in times of war. The blood elves trust them more than the other members of the Horde and the trust is seemingly mutual as Sylvanas was a major component of the elves joining the Horde. While the Horde does not fully trust the Forsaken and vice versa, it is a start.

Religion: Even as they believe they have been abandoned by their faith, so have the Forsaken abandoned the faiths of their living days. Some still adhere to their old faiths, such as the Holy Light. Many no longer cling to any religion, placing their faith in their queen and their dark science. Most, however, have embraced new philosophies of their own creation: the Forgotten Shadow, the Echo of Life, or the simple value of knowledge.[14] Some have even turned to the Burning Legion as a source of power, believing that only it is potent enough to defeat the Lich King.

The Cult of Forgotten Shadow is largely based out of Deathknell and the warrior quarter in Undercity. Priests of the Forgotten Shadow believe that the faiths they held in life have failed them, and so they instead rely on the power and teachings of the Shadow. The members of the Cult vary between lawful and chaotic, evil and neutral, and are taught to eradicate anything having to do with the Holy Light — and life in general. It is also a philosophy of divine humanism.

Priests of the Forgotten Shadow teach that there must be a balance between Light and Shadow, and while they should never forget that they are from the Shadow, members of the cult must learn the Light as well. Being intelligent undead, the Forsaken fully understand the limitations and vulnerabilities associated with unlife. One of these disadvantages is that they can be turned, rebuked or even commanded by powerful positive or negative energy forces. Naturally, the Forsaken are always on the lookout for ways to limit or negate this vulnerability.

Some Forsaken priests continue to wield the Holy Light. Recent information provided by the Blizzard Creative Development team says that, while it is possible for Forsaken with intensely strong willpower to use the Holy Light, it is very painful for them to do so. Holy Light spells can still heal the Forsaken but they must suffer nobly.

Forsaken Adventurers:  While most of the race exhibits uncallousness and a disregard for the freedom or life of other individuals, there are some Forsaken that have taken upon themselves the mantle of the adventurer. Surprisingly, some of these are good and actively seek to present the goodness inherent in the race. The few paladins among the Forsaken, for instance, have formed their own order that operates in secret, incollusion with the Argent Dawn. Other members of the order were sent to Tranquillen to aid the Blood Elves in reclaiming the Ghostlands.

There are those that practice Wizardry and Witchcraft, as is expected. However, some Forsaken Wizards practice wizardry out of knowledge for it's own pure sake. While others practice for power to defeat the Scourge. Many Forsaken wizards that turned to the power of the Burning Legion have since become known as warlocks. There are very few Forsaken shamans, although many were hunters and rangers as humans and elves, so they have retained the profession upon regaining their consciousness. There are Forsaken that practice Alchemy beyond the common practice. In fact, many dedicated Chymists among the Forsaken specialize in reanimation (as in the result of their creating Abominations) or bio-science. Many of the dedicated Chymists belong to the Apothecary Society, while some are like the Forsaken wizard -- studying knowledge for it's own sake.

The last are Forsaken Death Knights. Raised during the Third War by the Lich King to serve as his protectors and his personal army, a Forsaken Death Knight is a living contradiction in terms.

Languages: Forsaken speak Gutterspeak and Orcish, the common language of the Horde. Forsaken learn the languages of their enemies and their allies (who may become their enemies). According to lore found in the Horde Player's Guide, Forsaken have not lost the ability to understand Common, the language spoken when they were alive. However, they never speak it under normal circumstances. They take fierce pride in speaking Gutterspeak instead. Some have forgotten how to understand Common.

Names:Like their Dark Lady, Forsaken keep the names they had when they were alive. As most Forsaken are human, these tend to be human names. If a Forsaken cannot remember their name, they may make up a suitable name or read one from a headstone. Some invent surnames that imply their desire to eradicate the Scourge.


 * Male names: Roberick, Magan, Danforth, Lansire.
 * Female names: Yellen, Limmy, Sarias, Mierelle.
 * Family names: Dartfall, Blacksling, Ghoulhunter, Blastlich.

Ressurection, True Resurrection, and Restore Life "spells"
Many of the other races (mainly the tauren) pity the Forsaken and a number of Horde healers all over Azeroth, such as Mani Winterhoof, work tirelessly in the hopes of creating a cure for undeath. Some of the Forsaken feel that their undeath is an illness or curse and long for a cure, but many think it is impossible. There is one case of a sentient undead (High Inquisitor Fairbanks) being restored to life, albeit by unrelated reasons.

Forsaken with an undead soul can be brought back with raise dead and reincarnate. The spells work normally on them. Resurrection, true resurrection and similar effects restore them to their undead life rather than to the being they were before they became undead. A Forsaken's body of this type is undead… and so is its soul, corrupted and changed to such a degree that it belongs to its new body now, rather than its old one. Forsaken priests have the power to restore those foolishly slain in battle, though only to unlife. Nothing short of a miracle or wish can return true life.

Racial Traits (13 RP)
Note: The Forsaken count as Undead, which is a race quality that costs 16 RP in the Advanced Race Guide. However they are a player race and steps are taken to make them less powerful (i.e. having no Level Adjustment).


 * +4 Strength, -2 Charisma, -2 Dexterity (-2 RP): The Forsaken are undead, and those that are raised to a state of undeath have great strength, but lack dexterity and force of personality.


 * Medium (0 RP): The Forsaken are medium creatures, and have no penalties or bonuses due to size.


 * Undead (16 RP):  The Forsaken are undead. As such they have the following features:
 * Undead have no Constitution score. Undead use their Charisma score in place of their Constitution score when calculating hit points, Fortitude saves, and any special ability that relies on Constitution (such as when calculating a breath weapon's DC).
 * Undead have the darkvision 60 feet racial trait.
 * Undead are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms).


 * Undead are immune to bleed damage, death effects, disease, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning.
 * Most Undead are not subject to nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain, and are immune to damage to physical ability scores (Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength), as well as to exhaustion and fatigue effects.  However, it is seen in the WoW MMO that the Forsaken are affected by nonleathal damage. (-1 RP).
 * Undead are harmed by positive energy and healed by negative energy. An undead creature with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.


 * Undead are immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless).
 * Undead do not risk death from massive damage, but are immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points or fewer.  Except in the case of the Forsaken, which will die when reduced to -10 hit points.
 * The Forsaken are affected by "spells" that restore them to life, they return to life as Forsaken (see above), as their spirits have become used their new state of undeath.
 * Undead do not breathe, eat, or sleep, unless they want to gain some beneficial effect from one of these activities. This means that an undead creature can drink potions to benefit from their effects and can sleep in order to regain spells, but neither of these activities is required to survive or stay in good health.


 * Languages (-1 RP): The Forsaken start with Gutterspeak.  Those that have the ability to learn new languages often learn the languages of their erstwhile allies -- Orcish, Taur-ahe, Zandali, Thallassian, and Goblinspeech.  Those with a high wisdom score retain their command of Common.

OGL Section 15 Copyright Notice
Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game © t 2003, Blizzard Entertainment

World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game ©  2005, Blizzard Entertainment

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Race Guide. © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Jim Groves, Tim Hitchcock, Hal MacLean, Jason Nelson, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Owen K.C. Stephens, Todd Stewart, and Russ Taylor.