General

The Scarlet Crusade is a religious organization dedicated to the eradication of the undead. They are a major adversary of the Forsaken, and several quests in Tirisfal Glades involve attacks on Scarlet Crusade troops, leaders, and strongholds (including the Scarlet Monastery). The Scarlet Crusade maintains several bastions throughout the former lands of Lordaeron, namely the Scarlet Monastery, Hearthglen, Tyr's Hand and a large temple within Stratholme, wherein it is headquartered.

The Scarlet Crusade is one of Azeroth's most controversial organizations due to the appeal of its mission to many individuals within the Alliance. While the Alliance is generally in agreement that the Scourge and the Forsaken need to be eradicated from Lordaeron so they can return home, few would agree with the methods commonly used by the Scarlet Crusade. The Crusade’s members are mostly soldiers — many are former Knights of the Silver Hand — who saw such devastation wrought by the Scourge that they resort to extreme measures to destroy the undead. This includes killing any mortal they assume to be carrying the plague, killing any mortal they believe may soon be undead, killing mortals who stand between the Crusade and undead, or killing mortals who may sympathize with undead. “Sympathizing with the undead�? is how Crusaders interpret any argument that their methods are severe. As such, they are the natural enemies of the Scourge and the Forsaken, but they are also the enemy of anyone who cannot prove that he is alive — usually within ten or so seconds. As such, members of both the Horde and Alliance will often meet on the way in or out of the Monastery and roleplayers of each faction will finally find themselves with something to agree upon. The Crusade has already destroyed several undead encampments on Lordaeron. At this rate, it is likely that the Crusade will continue its battle until either it is destroyed or the undead annihilated. It should be noted, however, that due to the fact that quests within World of Warcraft involve the deaths of most of the leaders of the Scarlet Crusade, it can be considered canonical that the Crusade is essentially crippled following these events.

Scarlet Crusade mobs are usually humanoids, and they often have warrior or priest abilities. Some Crusaders also possess the powers of the paladin class.

History of the Crusade

After Sir Uther Lightbringer was betrayed and killed by his former apprentice Arthas, the Order of the Knights of the Silver Hand was decimated by the Scourge's undead armies and ceased to exist. The few surviving Knights of the Silver Hand remained in Lordaeron, destroying what undead they could.

Isillien and Abbendis, both formerly high-ranking officials of the Silver Hand, were amongst the survivors. Despite the fact that both were quite insane, they managed to attract warriors to their holy cause of eradicating the undead. They were soon joined by the paladin Taelan Fordring, one of Isillien's protégés, who offered his family's keep and lands as a base of operations for the Crusade.

After a one month quarantine of the Crusade's warriors and priests to ensure that there were no Scourge infiltrators amongst the crusaders, the Scarlet Crusade began hunting the undead in earnest. Abbendis took most of the Crusaders with him to Tyr's Hand in the Eastern Plaguelands, from which the Crusade struck at the undead controlling the city of Stratholme, once the headquarters of the Knights of the Silver Hand.

In the course of fighting the undead, the Crusade killed countless refugees fleeing the horrors of the Scourge. The madness and zealotry of the Crusaders causes them to regard any non-Crusader as undead, carriers of the Scourge's plague of undeath, or even undead sympathizers, and thus deserving of death. As a result of these indiscriminate killings, travelers are advised to stay clear of Crusaders, while the Alliance and the Church of Holy Light, despite being considered allies by the Scarlet Crusade, distance themselves from the Crusade's activities.

Organization

The Crusade has approximately 12000 members, most of them based in Tyr's Hand, as Isillien has declared the Eastern Plaguelands to be the focus of the Crusade's attacks. Many of the Crusaders have seen loved ones struck down, only to rise up again as mindless undead. The Crusade is organized along military lines, with Highlord Abbendis commanding the military operations, while Grand Inquisitor Isillien leads the priests in the questioning and torture of suspected undead.

Those that have battled undead rise quickly through the ranks. Dissent is not tolerated, for the Crusaders cannot understand how any reasonable human might be opposed to the Crusade's actions against the undead. As a result, while the Crusaders may not be in complete agreement over how they accomplish their goals, they are kept in line by fear of their superiors' wrath.

The leader of the Scarlet Crusade, the Grand Crusader, is commonly known to be the Paladin Saiden Dathrohan, but is in actuality the Dreadlord Balnazzar. So the Scarlet Crusade is actually being led by a major agent of the Burning Legion, fighting against their former puppet the Lich King, the Forsaken and the Human forces. So he weakens all major forces and brings chaos into the world of Azeroth once more.

Bases of Operation

• Tyr's Hand
• Hearthglen
• The Scarlet Monastery
• The Scarlet Bastion in Stratholme

Notable Members of the Scarlet Crusade

• The Grand Crusader Saiden Dathrohan
• The Scarlet Oracle Demetria
• High General Abbendis
• Grand Inquisitor Isillien
• Highlord Taelan Fordring
• Lord Valdelmar