Chapter Summaries

Aaron and his companions crossed the bridge to Caer Darrow and entered the Barov Family’s castle, where Illucia learned that her parents were safe. Aaron noticed that the guards and servants seemed unnatural and suspected the butler knew more than he was letting on.

• Aaron and Illucia found the bridgehead guard cabin empty, alarming Illucia because the Barov Family’s entrance had always been guarded.
• After crossing the long bridge, Aaron and his companions saw two guards at the castle gate, and Illucia learned that her parents were fine.
• Aaron sensed something strange about the guards, though his Truthguard shield and Wild God sight detected no undead taint or mental spells.
• Illucia hurried into the castle, while Aaron noticed the butler Lusen’s expressions shift with worry and suspected he knew something.
• Lusen led Aaron and the others through the wealthy castle, where Aaron observed pale, stiff servants before reaching the dining room and meeting the Barov family.

Aaron and Uther arrived at Barov Castle, where Illucia smoothed over the Barov family's hostility by claiming they had come to discuss a timber trade. After dinner, the butler Lusen asked to speak privately with Aaron, leaving him poised to hear what troubled him.

• Alex Barov greeted Aaron and Uther coldly, and Illucia claimed Aaron had come to seek the Barov family's support for a timber deal.
• Illucia explained to Aaron that the business proposal was only an excuse and that Covenant City had little need for outside timber funding.
• Alex invited the visitors to dinner and arranged to discuss business with Aaron the following day.
• Lusen approached Aaron after dinner, confirmed he was a Paladin, and asked to speak with him privately.
• Aaron took Lusen into his room and agreed to hear what he had to say.

Aaron listened as Lusen described the secretive figures and undead occupying the underground chambers of Barov Castle. Hoping to get help from Uther, Lusen agreed to guide Aaron below so he could investigate for himself.

• Lusen told Aaron that a mysterious mentor had gained the Barov couple’s trust and moved into the castle as tutor to their sons.
• Lusen explained that the mentor had brought other people, who occupied the underground chambers and barred the household staff from entering.
• Lusen recounted seeing moving corpses, skeletons, and ghosts, while the Barov couple dismissed his reports.
• Lusen asked Aaron to tell Uther about the danger, and Aaron agreed to investigate the underground chambers first.
• Lusen agreed to lead Aaron below and warned him not to let the mysterious residents discover him.

Aaron discovered a ghost hiding beneath Vereesa's bed and drove it out with Holy Light. He and Vereesa followed Lusen toward the basement to investigate, while Aaron wondered whether Lusen recognized the ghost.

• Lusen led Aaron through the corridors toward the basement, but Aaron's Truthguard shield began shining near Vereesa's room.
• Aaron found a ghost beneath Vereesa's bed and frightened it out with Holy Light.
• The ghost silently floated near the ceiling, then passed through the floor and vanished.
• Aaron explained the situation to Vereesa, and she took her bow and arrows and joined him and Lusen on the way to the basement.
• Aaron asked Lusen whether he recognized the ghost, then continued following him toward the basement entrance.

Aaron followed the disguised Lusen into the Barov Family basement, where the supposed butler revealed himself as Araj and lured him into a trap. Araj’s ghosts disrupted Aaron’s Holy Light, leaving him unable to use the power he had planned to rely on.

• Aaron entered the basement alone after telling Vereesa to wait and seek Uther’s help if anything went wrong.
• Lusen followed Aaron and guided him through the extensive underground passages.
• Aaron confronted Lusen in a bloodstained room after recognizing that his behavior was suspicious.
• Lusen revealed that he was Araj, and more than a dozen ghosts emerged from the walls.
• A piercing wail disrupted Aaron’s attempt to summon Holy Light, and Araj taunted him.

Aaron fought Araj’s undead after the banshees repeatedly disrupted his use of the Holy Light. He bound Araj with vines and revealed that he had only pretended to be unable to use the Holy Light, then began purifying the undead.

• Araj explained how he had prepared to counter Aaron and summoned four abominations and a horde of undead to attack him.
• Aaron charged into the undead with Bladestorm, but the banshees’ wails disrupted his movements and sent him toward an abomination.
• Aaron cut down the abomination and leaped toward Araj, enduring Araj’s Frostbolt as vines from the floor bound Araj in place.
• Aaron told Araj to watch as the vines tightly restrained him, then turned to face the disorganized undead.
• Aaron used the Holy Light to scatter and purify the skeletons, defeat the remaining abominations, and drive off the banshees, leaving Araj to realize Aaron had been pretending.

Aaron followed Araj to the Barov Family mausoleum and discovered that the Cult of the Damned had left, abandoning only undead and their empty facilities. After Araj died during a spell, Xal'atath found that his soul was gone, leaving Aaron without a way to learn where the cultists had fled.

• Aaron used a second spell to overcome the banshees' interruptions, subdued Araj, and dragged him through the basement.
• Aaron followed the undead's trail to the Barov Family mausoleum, where he found workshops and laboratories deserted except for wandering undead.
• Aaron taunted Araj with the lich Rage Winterchill's phylactery and claimed the cult's master was a fallen orc serving demons, making Araj waver.
• Araj refused to reveal where the other cultists had gone and began casting a spell, so Aaron cut him in two and protected himself with Divine Shield.
• Xal'atath examined Araj and told Aaron that his soul was completely gone.

Aaron investigated Araj’s corpse but found that his soul was gone, leaving him without a lead on the Cult of the Damned. After Xal'atath pointed him toward a hidden lower level beneath the Barov Family crypt, Aaron gathered Vereesa, Illucia, and Uther to search it.

• Xal'atath suggested that the cultists might be on a level below the crypt and returned to Aaron’s mind.
• Aaron found no way to locate the hidden level and went to bring Vereesa and the others to help.
• Uther vowed to report the Cult of the Damned’s atrocities to Terenas, while Illucia reacted to the damage in her family’s crypt.
• Vereesa searched the basement and found a concealed entrance to a passage dug by Nerubians.
• Aaron’s Truthguard sensed undead below, and Vereesa, Illucia, and Uther prepared to descend with him.

Aaron and his companions followed the undead’s trail into the Nerubian tunnels, where Varimathras revealed himself and escaped. As a rumbling grew louder beneath Lake Darrowmere, they realized the tunnels might soon flood.

• Aaron, Uther, Vereesa, and Illucia entered the second underground level to pursue the undead and cultists.
• Vereesa sensed someone watching them, and Uther recognized that an unseen enemy was luring them deeper into the caves.
• Aaron identified the bats as a sign of a Dreadlord and confronted Varimathras, who vanished after threatening him.
• The companions heard a growing rumble that sounded like waves, and Aaron and Illucia suspected Lake Darrowmere was about to flood the tunnels.
• Uther urged the group to flee as the flooding appeared imminent.

Varimathras escaped the flooded tunnels and met Balnazzar and Tichondrius as they coordinated the Burning Legion’s plans. Varimathras departed to oversee preparations in Alterac, while Tichondrius set out to make the orcs serve the Legion again.

• Varimathras teleported from the tunnels to a mountain near Caer Darrow, where Balnazzar and the Cult of the Damned were gathered.
• Varimathras and Balnazzar discussed their plan to summon Archimonde and complained about managing the cultists and undead.
• Tichondrius arrived and warned the two Dreadlords that their work served Archimonde’s plan.
• Tichondrius asked one of them to watch over his arrangements in Alterac, and Varimathras volunteered before teleporting away.
• Tichondrius ordered Balnazzar to lead the next stage of the plan and revealed he would use Mannoroth’s blood to make the orcs serve the Burning Legion again.

Aaron and his companions fought through the Undead and searched for an exit as lake water flooded the underground caverns. After Aaron stayed behind to stop the Abominations from dragging the others back, a torrent swept over him and the creatures.

• Aaron realized the unlit caverns had been designed as a trap, while the rising water drew closer.
• Truthguard began glowing brightly, revealing groups of Undead surrounding the party.
• Vereesa found the exit, and Uther and Illucia helped clear the Undead blocking their way.
• Aaron stayed behind to intercept the Abominations’ chains while the others escaped.
• A massive wave swept Aaron and the Abominations away before he could flee.

Aaron escaped the flooded basement with Vereesa’s help and sealed the passage where undead were climbing toward them. He and Illucia left at dawn to explain the events to her family, while the Cult of the Damned’s leaders remained at large and the Barov family faced an uncertain future.

• Aaron freed himself from an Abomination’s chain underwater, destroyed the undead pursuing him, and swam toward the exit.
• Vereesa pulled Aaron out of the water, and Aaron covered the opening with a stone slab prepared as gravestone material.
• Illucia explained that the Barov family’s remaining cemetery stone had been prepared by her ancestors and worried that her family might lose its last holding.
• Aaron urged Illucia to leave the basement and explain what had happened to her family, and she agreed.
• Aaron and Illucia emerged at dawn, and Aaron reflected that the Barov family had avoided destruction even though the Cult of the Damned’s leaders had escaped.

Aaron learned that the Barov family might have been affected by hidden mental suggestions, while Uther prepared to report the Cult of the Damned to Terenas. Xal'atath warned that Ner'zhul's forces had vanished and that the Scourge might strike early, leaving Aaron concerned for Arthas as Uther invited him to Lordaeron.

• Aaron and Vereesa questioned whether the Barov family truly knew nothing about the Cult of the Damned, and Xal'atath suggested they might have been affected by mental suggestion.
• Xal'atath told Aaron that the Nerubians had reclaimed their kingdom after their undead enemies vanished, and warned Ner'zhul might move to the Eastern Kingdoms.
• Xal'atath cautioned that the Scourge could arrive early and become more destructive if Ner'zhul found a body, prompting Aaron to worry about Arthas.
• Uther told Aaron he would return to Lordaeron to report the Cult of the Damned to Terenas and asked whether Aaron would accompany him.

Aaron warned Uther that the Cult of the Damned might target Andorhal’s grain, then discovered that servants in the Barov castle were turning undead. The Scourge began breaking out among the castle’s servants.

• Aaron stayed behind to search for the cultists while Uther headed back toward Lordaeron and agreed to have the Silver Hand investigate Andorhal.
• Aaron told Uther the cultists might target Andorhal because they had researched ways to contaminate grain.
• Illucia asked Aaron to examine the Barov family’s servants, and he found one with blue-gray skin and the stench of decay.
• Aaron struck the servant with Holy Light, revealing that the man was undead and provoking him to attack.
• Aaron warned the servants to move away, but other undead servants had already begun lunging at nearby people.

After undead servants appeared at the Barov estate, Aaron and Vereesa investigated whether the plague had reached the household. They found contaminated wheat but no further cases, and Aaron left a day later to search for the Cult of the Damned.

• Aaron used the Holy Light to destroy the servants who had turned into zombies.
• Aaron worried that the remaining servants, the Barov family, and his companions might also have been infected by the plague.
• Vereesa checked the food with spells and found no contamination in the meal, then searched the kitchen.
• Vereesa returned with a sack containing a small amount of contaminated wheat, which Aaron suspected had been used to infect the servants.
• Aaron watched the household for a day, confirmed that no one else turned undead, and left to search for the cultists.

Illucia dealt with the aftermath of the undead attack on the Barov Family, while Aaron and Vereesa traveled to Aerie Peak to ask Falstad for help tracking the undead. Falstad agreed to send Wildhammer Gryphon Riders after them.

• Illucia moved her mentally unstable family out of the unsafe Barov castle and remained to care for them.
• Illucia blamed her parents for their dealings with the Cult of the Damned and hoped Aaron would be safe.
• Wildhammer Gryphon Riders surrounded Aaron and Vereesa in the air until Aaron asked them to contact Falstad.
• Falstad arrived, welcomed Aaron and Vereesa, and asked why they had come to Aerie Peak.
• Aaron explained that undead had come from the north, and Falstad promised to send his people to track them down.

Aaron explained how the undead damaged the land and asked Falstad for help tracking them near Aerie Peak. Falstad summoned Wildhammer shamans, who agreed they could sense the earth’s pain despite their stronger connection to air elementals.

• Falstad dismissed Aaron’s warning about the undead, then sent Wildhammer Dwarves to search for them.
• Aaron explained that he had tracked the undead through traces of death magic near Lake Caer Darrow and an unnamed hill.
• Falstad grew angry that the undead damaged the land and suggested using Wildhammer shamans to find them.
• Falstad summoned the shamans, who told Aaron and Vereesa that they could sense the earth’s pain but had a weaker bond with earth elementals.
• Aaron agreed to try the shamans’ methods and kept Archaedas as a possible source of help.

Aaron, Falstad, Vereesa, and the dwarf shamans traced the undead’s damage to a path through the woods west of Wildhammer Keep. The trail stretched north and west, and Falstad suspected the undead were heading after the Syndicate, leaving the group to face the Scourge’s arrival as terrible news.

• Aaron spoke with Falstad while the dwarf shamans performed a ritual to investigate the earth.
• The old shaman sensed the earth’s pain and led the shamans into the western woods to find its source.
• A Gryphon Rider arrived and took Falstad into the air, prompting Aaron and Vereesa to follow on a gryphon.
• Aaron spotted a darkened path through the woods, which he recognized as a Road of Death left by the undead.
• Vereesa asked if the undead were heading toward Lordaeron, and Falstad suggested they might be pursuing the Syndicate.

Aaron discussed the Syndicate’s raids on the Wildhammer Dwarves with Falstad and learned that the group had stolen gryphon eggs. As Aaron, Falstad, and Vereesa tracked the undead, gargoyles approached, leaving them preparing for an aerial battle.

• Aaron recalled that Aliden Perenolde had founded the Syndicate after losing support for his claim to Alterac’s throne.
• Falstad told Aaron that Syndicate members had infiltrated Wildhammer territory, stolen gryphon eggs, and learned to tame gryphons.
• Aaron learned that a captured Syndicate member had mentioned waiting for reinforcements, though he later escaped after falling down a mountain.
• Vereesa spotted flying creatures approaching, and Falstad summoned the Gryphon Riders.
• Aaron identified the approaching creatures as gargoyles, and the gathered Gryphon Riders prepared for battle.

Aaron, Falstad, Vereesa, and the Gryphon Riders fought a swarm of Gargoyles in the air. Aaron discovered that hidden banshees had been disrupting the riders, but by then the battle had already turned decisively in their favor.

• Falstad ordered the Gryphon Riders to strike the approaching Gargoyles with Storm Bolt, while Aaron found that Holy Light broke them apart more effectively.
• Falstad led the riders into close combat, and Aaron supported them with Holy Light and Divine Shields while Vereesa attacked with lightning-charged arrows.
• Aaron noticed the riders repeatedly falling into danger despite their strength and asked Vereesa to watch for anything hidden near the Gargoyles.
• Aaron attacked several Gargoyles and heard eerie screams, leading him to realize that banshees were hiding among them and possessing the Gryphon Riders.
• Aaron tried to warn the riders, but his attacks had already shifted the battle, and the Gryphon Riders gained the upper hand over the remaining enemies.