In my time amongst the living, I was a famed alchemist. I was quite successful. My wife, daughter and I lived extravagantly in Gilneas. We were, back then, a happy family.
My wife and I met nineteen years prior to the invasion of Lorderon, I was a small-time potion brewer. Iliana came to my shop one day, requesting a love potion.
I chuckled. "Got your eye on a lucky man?" I inquired, looking through my shelves pulling a vial full of sky-blue liquid. With it was a scroll with the instructions.
"Actually," she flipped her auburn hair over her shoulder. Her voice had a twang to it. Perhaps she was from Stratholme. "There is a married man who has been flirting with me. I hope he'll leave me if he sees me with a love potion," she said shyly. This made my grin bigger.
"Well, if you're not using it, then you can't pay for my services, can you?" I said. After a moment she understood.
"No, I couldn't-" she began to take out her coin purse, but I stopped her.
"I think you could," I said gently. We locked eyes for a moment, and a seed was planted in our minds-a seed that would grow and grow, sprouting a tree of love.
And that tree bore the fruit that is Danielle, our daughter.
Ten years after that, my dear Iliana fell sick with an unknown illness. I ceased my business temporarily, devoting all my willpower to creating a cure.
My work was ...unsuccessful.
At the tender age of ten, Danielle grew to hate me, for not being able to save her mother. She never forgave me.
Eight more years passed. I restarted my alchemy. On her eighteenth birthday, Danielle moved away. Still in Gilneas, but far from me; I was heartbroken.
I decided to start my life anew. I moved, alone, to the human capital of Lorderon. My work there was fantastic, but I was never happy. Never content, my life seemed a streak of gray.
Then, a year later, the Forsaken attacked. Under the command of Lady Sylvanas, the undead ravaged the city, releasing barrels of their plague, killing millions...Lorderon had fallen, and I with it.
It amuses me how I came to Lorderon to find a new life...and new life, I had indeed found!
Sylvanas' army revived me as one of them. They reveled in my alchemy prowess. I found and corrected errors in their plagues with ease. I became Lady Sylvanas' right-hand man. And eventually, she began to see me as something more. I could see it in the way she looked at me, spoke to me. She had fallen for me, and it confused her.
And perhaps I, too, felt something stirring in my cold, unbeating heart.
The Forsaken were unstoppable. But, we required a port city to expand our plague. We turned to the City of Gilneas, which had built the Graymane Wall, an enormous barricade to protect them from the undead. It would do nicely.
We laid siege to the Wall. Months passed. We met resistance, but as with everything, the Graymane Wall fell.
Forsaken forces stormed in. Once the Gilnean military fell, I entered, carrying with me vials containing the perfected plague. I went house to house, shattering the vials at the feet of the cowering Gilneans. Some begged. Some cried. I felt nothing.
On the third day of pillaging, I entered the last house on the block. It seemed empty. I patrolled the rooms, checking. A framed picture caught my eye. It showed a family of three: the parents and a young boy no older than five. But the mother...that face...?
"No...," I whispered. I heard an uncomfortable 'ahem' from behind me. I turned to Sylvanas.
"What is the delay, High Alchemist Burgess?" she asked, giving me her red-eyed look.
"Nothing, Dark Lady. This house seems-" I was interrupted by an infant cry from the basement, but it was quickly hushed. Lady Sylvanas nodded her head to the basement door.
I trotted down the steps, now hearing the whimpers of a small boy.
I reached the bottom of the stairs. Huddling in the corner, staring at me, was the family from the photograph. But it now included a very young child, less than a year old.
I pulled a plague vial from my belt, and moved to throw it. But the mother locked eyes with me, and I froze.
That face again. It had to be.
"Danielle," I murmured, and she froze.
"H-how do you know my name, monster?" she asked, drawing her kids into a tighter hug. I remained silent. I could not do this.
In an instant, my mind cleared. I reached revelation. Yes, I could do this. I am Forsaken. I feel nothing.
I raised the vial.
I feel nothing for the living.
It shattered on the floor as I went up the stairs.
The basement below became silent. I should feel remorse, but I don't.
And I.
Don't.
Care.
I left the building slowly, with no emotion. Sylvanas put a hand on my shoulder.
"Congratulations...You passed your final test," she said softly, "you are Forsaken."
