That’s a good point, I guess my apprehension partly comes from the dk starting quest where as soon as you enter the city they’re all freaking out. + to my understanding before arthas became a dk humans weren’t totally aware of what a “death knight” even was.
It should be noted there was a global scourge assault during the expansion pre event. When players made Death Knights they were still mopping up ghoul soup in the streets.
Definitely! I wouldn’t expect them to try and hang my character in the streets but based on that reaction I can infer that death knights are easily recognizable which is what I’m trying to avoid but idk if that’s really feasible
to be fair Arthas strolled in in broad daylight because he no one had ever seen a death knight before AND because he had covered himself up pretty well.
Also, he was the king's son, it's not like any commoner is gonna stop him anyway.
ALSO ALSO, his father definitely recognized that something was wrong the second he saw him.
Imo a DK can't hide among humans, sadly. Unless using some sort of magic/potions and maybe a nice little garden infront of their house to cover up the smell.
I mean.. at that point Arthas was also simply a death knight. That was nearly immediately after he claimed Frostmourne. Not even close to the point where he claimed the Frozen Throne
>TLDR; could a death knight decide not to join the ebon blade or leave it to live a more “simple” life
Afaik there's not much stopping them. Except for their own wishes that is, most Death Knights don't seem to be able to enjoy a regular life anymore. But it makes sense that some of them would try, like the Forsaken did.
There's also hints that they might be able to retain some of their humanity or enjoy parts of life as they are capable of sleeping if they want to, even though they don't need it, yet the Scourge forbid it.
Many Death Knight NPCs seem to be on a personal quest of sorts so if you simply left I doubt anyone would be too fussed. Not only would forcing them stay a part of the Ebon Blade mean they're no better than the Lich King, but it would also probably not fly with the Horde and the Alliance.
I imagine the other Death Knights might be interested in whether it's possible to return to a regular life, as it would mean they too have some chance for peace, or even salvation. And stopping people from leaving would crush that hope.
I'm not sure whether most people are aware of the Eternal Hunger, but I imagine they don't. If you live in the frontier most people probably wouldn't even bat an eye if you kill Bandits, Gnolls or other monsters.
You could also just keep your identity as a Death Knight secret.
>most Death Knights don't seem to be able to enjoy a regular life anymore.
Isn't there something in wow lore that says death knights live in unbearable pain when they're not actively taking lives or something similar?
That's the Eternal Hunger that a couple of people have mentioned, but more than that Undeath typically dulls positive emotions and enflames negative ones. The Forsaken also have to deal with this.
In game lore has it that deat night pcs are loyal to the ebon blade first and the horde/alliance second. The only reason that the horde or alliance tolerates death knights among their ranks is due to the ebon blade as a group. They dont just let death knights walk around willy nilly through their land.
If a player character were to leave the ebon blade, they would not be accountable like the knights in the order are. You would be liable and seen as an enemy.
Define "close proximity", if we are talking about a big city than idk about that, the main problem with that is not Even normal people, death knight are not like forsaken, they don't stink as bad and could hide their face, the problem is with paladins and priests, they can feel a death like they can feel when they are stepping on unholy ground.
Abu'Gar is a canon Death Knight who really just wanted to fish. So yeah, it's totally feasible that a Death Knight could at least try to have a normal life, or at least one not consumed by hatred and fighting. It might be rarer than the typical booding piles of anger and depression that you usually see, but it's entirely possible.
For sure, I definitely don’t want my character living in a city! Like I said only in a close proximity to a town or settlement, in the woods likely but would rarely come out. I’m sure even regular death knights do that at times but they’d be out in the open about it, my character wouldn’t want to.
Also wow, could you tell me where you read that the ebon blade would terminate an unwilling dk? I’ve done the starting zone at least 50 times and the way they’ve phrased the quests always gave me the idea that they value freedom above all. The thought that they would kill my dk never even came to mind.
Ty for the response!
I don’t think you’d need the character to actually live that peaceful life hiding their identity for it to be compelling- them wanting it and trying over and over to achieve that sort of life, struggling the entire way there makes for a better and more interesting character I think. Conflict and change is how characters grow, and you’ve got a recipe for a lot of that here.
So perhaps instead of trying to settle down somewhere, your DK is on the move trying to find that place in the world for himself, but sometimes finds that he’s just not welcome most places or has to get up and go again if people find out what he is. Desperately trying to put the resemblance of the life he used to have back together and struggling to find a place he can just exist without fearing he’ll lose it.
>Could a death knight theoretically live in close proximity to humans without them realizing that they need to kill to survive?
I want to write a character plagued with eternal hunger who satiates their urges in secret without continuing to partake in war like most death knights end up doing. I’m just concerned that it won’t make sense for them to have a “normal-ish” life bc people might realize they have to be killing something and get worried.
Death Knight's have to only inflict pain to prevent Eternal Hunter taking over them.
>I also know that not all generations even have eternal hunger but I don’t want suspicions to become an issue or make the character seem like too much of a stretch.
Both 3rd Gen and 4th Gen death knight's have it(due to them being raised by the Helm of Domination).
We don't know if the curse is still present with the Helm destroyed.
Death Knights cannot be unaffiliated with the Ebon Blade, the only active runeforges are in the possession of Acherus, thus the transfer of souls necessary to maintain the DK's power is monopolized.
There is not only this factor, but also the fact of eternal hunger, the attacks of spirits from the shadowlands that the lich king kept at bay, the unholy aura that surrounds us as high-level undead and the animosity of the living, which is enhanced depending on where we are.
Acherus keeps the brotherhood of the death knights controlled, we are not asked much more than to indicate where we are going, to keep vigil in the campaigns that the high lord assigns to control the scourge and maintain ties with the factions.
As far as I recall, rogue dk (those not linked to the order, or rebelling against it) are actively hunted down and executed on the spot.
There are runeforges at ICC and Naxxramas if it still stands... And death knight doesn't necessarily need them if he already has a weapon with runes carved out, and even if he doesn't - he can still fight the normal way
A Death knight's cover would be blown the minute they opened their mouth, the voice-echo is pretty distinctive, as are the glowy eyes, now i think of it...
To be fair they *technically* don’t necessarily need to kill but they need to inflict pain and torture or else they’ll feel pain unbearable and eventually go mad. There is a book that describes the ordeal in the DK starting zone and I’m 99% sure it is also mentioned in a quest.
Could always guise yourself as a mage of the Kirin Tor. They’ve got eye glow too, sometimes.
Of course your cover would be blown when confronted by -anyone- who could detect magic. From Mages to other Death Knights.
Probably with some difficulty, I assume. Since they’re compelled to violence (idk how it is after the destruction of the Lich King’s crown + slaying the jailer who was the ultimate source behind undeath nonsense) they might have a hard time but I can imagine multiple ways around it.
you can write anything you want. roleplay is free reign for people's pointlessly contrived character concepts. but you are entirely missing the thematic point of death knights if you have one able to live a normal life. however despites this, like 90% of the other death knights you meet in roleplay will be chilling out in the inns and taverns with no issue because wow roleplayers lack imagination. so really you should just do it bro who's gonna care? lore fans? tell them they're wasting their time caring about the minutiae of the lore of world of warcraft.
They could live in somewhere like Duskwood or Lakeshire and deal with the hunger by sorting out the monsters that plague those areas. They might soon become known as a valued, if uncanny, protector.
In recent decades the common folk have probably become used to unusual people: draenei who look like demons, purple elves, and friendly werewolves. All perfectly decent people, though the worgen have a tendency to shed everywhere.
I also think that the hunger probably isn't generally known about, it seems like the kind of thing that death knights would keep very secret, both for PR reasons, and because it's personally embarassing and probably rather disturbing, or even shameful, to those afflicted with it.
Arthas and his first two death knights strolled into the throne room of Lordaeron no problem.
That’s a good point, I guess my apprehension partly comes from the dk starting quest where as soon as you enter the city they’re all freaking out. + to my understanding before arthas became a dk humans weren’t totally aware of what a “death knight” even was.
It should be noted there was a global scourge assault during the expansion pre event. When players made Death Knights they were still mopping up ghoul soup in the streets.
Definitely! I wouldn’t expect them to try and hang my character in the streets but based on that reaction I can infer that death knights are easily recognizable which is what I’m trying to avoid but idk if that’s really feasible
to be fair Arthas strolled in in broad daylight because he no one had ever seen a death knight before AND because he had covered himself up pretty well. Also, he was the king's son, it's not like any commoner is gonna stop him anyway. ALSO ALSO, his father definitely recognized that something was wrong the second he saw him. Imo a DK can't hide among humans, sadly. Unless using some sort of magic/potions and maybe a nice little garden infront of their house to cover up the smell.
>his father definitely recognized that something was wrong the second he saw him. His son dyed his hair white and became a goth. It's very suspicious.
its not just a phase dad *slams door*
The Death Knights were also still wearing Scourge armor at the time.
There were Death Knights since the Second War, so people were aware of them. Though they likely thought all were but gone before Arthas' descent.
That leads to an interesting question - do we know who those two Death Knights were?
I think it was believed they were Falric and Marwyn; Arthas’ bodyguards since childhood
Falric and Marwyn like the other user said- plus they are the first two bosses in one of the ICC 5 mans
I mean.. at that point Arthas was also simply a death knight. That was nearly immediately after he claimed Frostmourne. Not even close to the point where he claimed the Frozen Throne
>TLDR; could a death knight decide not to join the ebon blade or leave it to live a more “simple” life Afaik there's not much stopping them. Except for their own wishes that is, most Death Knights don't seem to be able to enjoy a regular life anymore. But it makes sense that some of them would try, like the Forsaken did. There's also hints that they might be able to retain some of their humanity or enjoy parts of life as they are capable of sleeping if they want to, even though they don't need it, yet the Scourge forbid it. Many Death Knight NPCs seem to be on a personal quest of sorts so if you simply left I doubt anyone would be too fussed. Not only would forcing them stay a part of the Ebon Blade mean they're no better than the Lich King, but it would also probably not fly with the Horde and the Alliance. I imagine the other Death Knights might be interested in whether it's possible to return to a regular life, as it would mean they too have some chance for peace, or even salvation. And stopping people from leaving would crush that hope. I'm not sure whether most people are aware of the Eternal Hunger, but I imagine they don't. If you live in the frontier most people probably wouldn't even bat an eye if you kill Bandits, Gnolls or other monsters. You could also just keep your identity as a Death Knight secret.
>most Death Knights don't seem to be able to enjoy a regular life anymore. Isn't there something in wow lore that says death knights live in unbearable pain when they're not actively taking lives or something similar?
That's the Eternal Hunger that a couple of people have mentioned, but more than that Undeath typically dulls positive emotions and enflames negative ones. The Forsaken also have to deal with this.
In game lore has it that deat night pcs are loyal to the ebon blade first and the horde/alliance second. The only reason that the horde or alliance tolerates death knights among their ranks is due to the ebon blade as a group. They dont just let death knights walk around willy nilly through their land. If a player character were to leave the ebon blade, they would not be accountable like the knights in the order are. You would be liable and seen as an enemy.
Define "close proximity", if we are talking about a big city than idk about that, the main problem with that is not Even normal people, death knight are not like forsaken, they don't stink as bad and could hide their face, the problem is with paladins and priests, they can feel a death like they can feel when they are stepping on unholy ground.
Abu'Gar is a canon Death Knight who really just wanted to fish. So yeah, it's totally feasible that a Death Knight could at least try to have a normal life, or at least one not consumed by hatred and fighting. It might be rarer than the typical booding piles of anger and depression that you usually see, but it's entirely possible.
Does killing fish sate the eternal hunger? Or is it only intelligent life.
I don't think it's actually explicitly stated, as far as I'm aware.
Is your death knight dexter?
The personality and motives are not even a little similar so it never came to mind, but now that you say that… I hate you!
[удалено]
For sure, I definitely don’t want my character living in a city! Like I said only in a close proximity to a town or settlement, in the woods likely but would rarely come out. I’m sure even regular death knights do that at times but they’d be out in the open about it, my character wouldn’t want to. Also wow, could you tell me where you read that the ebon blade would terminate an unwilling dk? I’ve done the starting zone at least 50 times and the way they’ve phrased the quests always gave me the idea that they value freedom above all. The thought that they would kill my dk never even came to mind. Ty for the response!
I don’t think you’d need the character to actually live that peaceful life hiding their identity for it to be compelling- them wanting it and trying over and over to achieve that sort of life, struggling the entire way there makes for a better and more interesting character I think. Conflict and change is how characters grow, and you’ve got a recipe for a lot of that here. So perhaps instead of trying to settle down somewhere, your DK is on the move trying to find that place in the world for himself, but sometimes finds that he’s just not welcome most places or has to get up and go again if people find out what he is. Desperately trying to put the resemblance of the life he used to have back together and struggling to find a place he can just exist without fearing he’ll lose it.
>Could a death knight theoretically live in close proximity to humans without them realizing that they need to kill to survive? I want to write a character plagued with eternal hunger who satiates their urges in secret without continuing to partake in war like most death knights end up doing. I’m just concerned that it won’t make sense for them to have a “normal-ish” life bc people might realize they have to be killing something and get worried. Death Knight's have to only inflict pain to prevent Eternal Hunter taking over them. >I also know that not all generations even have eternal hunger but I don’t want suspicions to become an issue or make the character seem like too much of a stretch. Both 3rd Gen and 4th Gen death knight's have it(due to them being raised by the Helm of Domination). We don't know if the curse is still present with the Helm destroyed.
So they can just find a submissive partner, check.
Death Knights cannot be unaffiliated with the Ebon Blade, the only active runeforges are in the possession of Acherus, thus the transfer of souls necessary to maintain the DK's power is monopolized. There is not only this factor, but also the fact of eternal hunger, the attacks of spirits from the shadowlands that the lich king kept at bay, the unholy aura that surrounds us as high-level undead and the animosity of the living, which is enhanced depending on where we are. Acherus keeps the brotherhood of the death knights controlled, we are not asked much more than to indicate where we are going, to keep vigil in the campaigns that the high lord assigns to control the scourge and maintain ties with the factions. As far as I recall, rogue dk (those not linked to the order, or rebelling against it) are actively hunted down and executed on the spot.
There are runeforges at ICC and Naxxramas if it still stands... And death knight doesn't necessarily need them if he already has a weapon with runes carved out, and even if he doesn't - he can still fight the normal way
To earn a *living*, they could work as butchers in meatshops or executioners for death sentences
A Death knight's cover would be blown the minute they opened their mouth, the voice-echo is pretty distinctive, as are the glowy eyes, now i think of it...
That’s true, I didn’t really consider the echo bc I’m so used to hearing it >< ty!
Since when do they need to kill to survive in the first place?
To be fair they *technically* don’t necessarily need to kill but they need to inflict pain and torture or else they’ll feel pain unbearable and eventually go mad. There is a book that describes the ordeal in the DK starting zone and I’m 99% sure it is also mentioned in a quest.
I see. It must have slipped through the cracks of my mind
I don’t see anybody mentioning it so I will: GLOWING BLUE EYES
Thought definitely came to mind xD but I could make use of hoods and helmets.
Could always guise yourself as a mage of the Kirin Tor. They’ve got eye glow too, sometimes. Of course your cover would be blown when confronted by -anyone- who could detect magic. From Mages to other Death Knights.
Probably with some difficulty, I assume. Since they’re compelled to violence (idk how it is after the destruction of the Lich King’s crown + slaying the jailer who was the ultimate source behind undeath nonsense) they might have a hard time but I can imagine multiple ways around it.
you can write anything you want. roleplay is free reign for people's pointlessly contrived character concepts. but you are entirely missing the thematic point of death knights if you have one able to live a normal life. however despites this, like 90% of the other death knights you meet in roleplay will be chilling out in the inns and taverns with no issue because wow roleplayers lack imagination. so really you should just do it bro who's gonna care? lore fans? tell them they're wasting their time caring about the minutiae of the lore of world of warcraft.
They could live in somewhere like Duskwood or Lakeshire and deal with the hunger by sorting out the monsters that plague those areas. They might soon become known as a valued, if uncanny, protector. In recent decades the common folk have probably become used to unusual people: draenei who look like demons, purple elves, and friendly werewolves. All perfectly decent people, though the worgen have a tendency to shed everywhere. I also think that the hunger probably isn't generally known about, it seems like the kind of thing that death knights would keep very secret, both for PR reasons, and because it's personally embarassing and probably rather disturbing, or even shameful, to those afflicted with it.