I've had a crazy idea floating around in my head for years , and it's about an extremely rare case of "what if this had happened?".
I remember thinking about how Ner'zhul worked with Kel'Thuzad while he was still alive (even though he promised him eternal life) and it made me think... it's tolerable to work with living beings even if they are only a means to one's ends.
So... it would be interesting if we imagined that, for some reason, Arthas had a relationship with a woman or even a man (which is possible in fiction these days, haha) before everything that happened, and let's consider the hypothetical case that this child was conceived around the time Arthas went to Northrend for Malganis.
Once this child was born—"relatively little time"—the Scourge besieged Lordaeron, and the lover was killed and resurrected by Arthas (in his utter indifference, solely to further the Scourge's influence). This child finished gestating and was born grotesquely, but was carefully preserved by Ner'zhul as a small experiment... a curious fact that it had occurred within his ranks. Ultimately, they didn't kill him, but rather kept him to observe how he grew up among the dead, to see if the fact that he was indirectly exposed to necromantic magic would affect him in any way.
Arthas, on the other hand, knew of this child but not of his origin; he was only following his master's orders at that time, and the order was to leave the child alive... the events we all know in Warcraft 3 and its expansion would occur... It wouldn't be until Arthas merged with Ner'zhul's soul that he learned that this child, whom they were keeping in the citadel for some reason, was his son... And although he seemed indifferent to him, he did feel as something of his own.
Although I would like to make changes within the timeframes of Warcraft: The Frozen Throne and WoW: WOTLK so that this child can grow up, even if only to become a young adult (20). During that period, being someone cold from growing up surrounded by the dead, while at the same time having a greater tolerance for extreme cold, he uses Death Knight runes on a sword that was engraved and carved by the Lich King himself, who, although cold and indifferent to his blood, was ultimately still a member of his vast army.
The idea of being a human so cold that to the living you're dead, and to the dead you're too alive to be one of them, being part of two worlds and yet not being either... I know this was seen recently with Arator from the latest expansion, and it completely messed me up because it was the same thing I'd thought about this character, only I never dared to illustrate him before, much less talk about his story outside of something that wasn't in my head... More than anything because I refuse to believe that there's no more legacy of the Menethil out there (I'm not taking Calía's daughter into account for now until we hear something about this family's legacy)
For now, I'm focusing more on developing his backstory, as it's an ambiguous concept I've recently revisited, and I'm exploring how a character like this could affect Jaina, Sylvanas, and factions like the Scarlet Crusade. His design is temporary; I'm unsure whether to make him more like Arthas or give him a more distinct identity, separate from his father.
I find it difficult to draw armor—
romaincrisis
2087
dailybridgerton
tangentwithtanner
discoholicmusic
kianamaiart
