III. The Dark Times. The Herald and the Dead Rose.

While the Knights enjoyed their rise, new enemies begun to make their appearance. From the numerous troublemakers that were easily dealt with, two forces immerged that would play a huge role on the Order’s existence as well as internal structure: the Herald of the Legion and the cult of Legion followers known as “The Dead Rose”.

The creature known as the Herald of the Legion, presented itself as a female night elf. Disguised under the alias of Ishsah Winterspear and resembling a Huntress with excellent arching skills and a lured beast as a follower, she was at first disregarded as a fake. The number of Alliance heroes falling by her hand though, soon made her point clear and her true nature obvious. Followed usually by a bodyguard by the name of Erad, who was suspected of being not only a follower of the Legion but also possessed by one of the Legion’s minions, she brought chaos and mayhem as she went, unchallenged and unchecked, all the while announcing her Master’s coming and the fall of Azeroth. The Knights learned to respect her power, loosing allies like Lady Roja by her blade and arrows and almost losing their veteran High Guardian as well. It is said that De Lerac’s survival was only due to her twisted desire to torment him more by defeat and failure than by death, while others claimed that his survival was due to his devotion to Light. Though this historian cannot dare to claim he understands the way of a demon's thinking or the Will of Light, it is not unlikely that a demon would willingly inflict more pain to a Paladin by burdening him with failure instead of glorifying him by falling on duty. In an effort to control or at least keep close the enemy instead of letting her roam unchecked, Dalian recruited the Herald, despite several voices of warning, a bald decision that bore great risk and later proved both fatal and saving.

To add to the Herald’s menace, a group of Legion cultists appeared at the same time. Led by a man known as Iskaroth the Dark, this group that was named “The Dead Rose” sought to promote the Legion’s interests in Azeroth and prepare it’s arrival, weakening the world’s defenses and spreading chaos, death and despair. It is highly rumored that Iskaroth was possessed by Sargeras the Destroyer himself. Whether that was true or not cannot be verified. Two things are certain: a. Iskaroth was a warlock of immense power, possessing the ability to unite demon spirits with mortals. b. He possessed a powerful artifact, a book with only a few pages missing that granted him absolute power over others as well as over demons and had followers that were willing to die instead of failing their Master.

The cooperation of the Dead Rose and the Herald and it’s extent is unknown. There was some form of cooperation, that is clear, but there are also rumors of confrontations. It is hard to track such dealings as they were always covered with shadows. The only certain thing is that a lot of the Rose’s rituals were held in the interrogation pits of Stormwind and the sealed tower of Karazhan.

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Unable to witness such evil roaming free, the Knights decided to move against the cult. The Order and the Rose were engaged in a war, more open than the one with Leviticus. Cultists were arrested on sight, only to be freed later with political help or escape, Knights were abducted and many skirmishes and confrontations occurred both in the country side and within the walls of Stormwind. In the meantime, a secret war of spies and infiltrators was waged and the desperate attempt to control the Herald continued, which led to the rise of two new, key figures, in this war.

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Halera Dawndreamer was the first of those. With the duty of guarding one of the missing pages of Iskaroth’s book and the will and duty to defend it with her life, the Priestess of Elune with the gift of foresight was soon recruited by the Knights that guarded her at all costs. Several abduction efforts by the cult were ruined by the constant guard appointed to Dawndreamer until one day, with the help of the Herald, she fell to the Rose’s hands. Whether the missing page followed her it is unclear but the priestess was retrieved, badly tortured to the point of blindness, largely help to the man known as Roike DuLay, a member of the Rose.

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Roike DuLay has been secretly helping the Knights since almost the beginning of their war against the Rose. Offering information at fist, then open assistance in confrontations, despite the fact of him being a chosen of Iskaroth himself, he was later recruited to the Knights, though his connection to the Rose never ceased, until Iskaroth’s demise. With an unclear connection to Knight Nienninque Dellente and the protection of Alfos de Lerac, DuLay remained in the Order despite many complaints for his fiery and bitter character and his relationship with the Enemy.

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It would be interesting to the reader to study “The Priestess and the Herald” and “The Mark of the Rose”, two novels based on those events, that describe with vivid clarity many of the unrecorded events of that time.

What is of historical interest here are two facts. Firstly, the continuous confrontation with both the Herald and the Dead Rose begun to slowly tire and weaken the Order. The cost in both gold and personnel increased largely as the war continued to wage with no clear winner and the Order slowly started losing power. Secondly, the hunt for the Herald, her being charged with crimes against the Order and the Alliance, by the Knights, led to a terrible loss. Captain Benedict Dalian, Master of the Knights of Lordaeron and a figure that managed with his natural leadership to hold together the multi-cultural ranks of the Order, fell by the hand of the Herald. While his death was directly avenged by Squire Kryptman who was immediately appointed as Dalian’s successor, his loss led to a time of confusion and low morale. The Herald was put under a loose form of control due to Dawndreamer’s efforts and the Rose slowly start deteriorating, mostly from within, but it would take some time for Kate Mollrye, the newly appointed Master Kryptman and High Guardians Yamikalo and De Lerac to manage and give the Order it’s old strength back.