Over the weekend I collected a handful of the questions spawned from Friday's Want to Know More prompt regarding the Scourge. I've answered a few, but have slated the rest for answers in a later post. Now, without further ado, let's get to some answers!

Sindragosa Menethil emailed, asking:

Why do Scourge necromancers get powers over Frost?

I've seen several possible explanations. Maybe because the Scourge is based out of Northrend, so they learned to control the elements that's abundant there. The theory I liked the best was that corrupted Fire-mages become Warlocks and corrupted Frost-mages become necromancers.

I guess it's mostly a pop culture thing, undead and the undead have been associated with cold for a long time, but what I really want to know is: Is there any intrinsic link between Frost and necromancy in teh Warcraft universe metaphysics?

The short answer is: no. Aside from the idea that death and cold go together like chocolate and peanut butter, there's no intrinsic link between undead in Warcraft and the element of frost. In fact, current lore strongly suggests that necromancy actually originated on Azeroth with the Nathrezim. Yeah, it was our good friends in the Burning Legion who gave us the magics of undeath, as this was seen in the War of the Ancients trilogy. We also have necromancers in Outland, beneath the shattered tomb of Auchindoun. These necromancers, too, have no intrinsic connection to the element of frost.

The necromancy we know and love today, however, gains its frost connection from the Lich King himself, who was encased in a block of magical ice that eventually came to be known as the Frozen Throne. Most of the Lich King's earliest time on Azeroth was spent trapped beneath Icecrown Glacier, and so most of his earliest minions were borne of the ice and were given control of these elements. This has, as we can clearly see, heavily influenced the Lich King's special breed of necromancy.

Jay asks in comments:

Its said that if there is no Lich King, the scourge will destory all life, what exactly is it that keeps them in check as it is. Free will exists in the undead, ie Sylvanas, whats stopping another breaking free and being the "big bad"

The Scourge today are kept in check by the sheer will of the Lich King himself. His immense psychic powers hold an iron grasp over the will of those undead near him. Those outside of this control become "mindless," and a few of these can be encountered in the Forsaken starter zone. In addition to this, some sentient beings are able to break free from his will. This happens commonly when the Lich King is weakened, and is the very reason why Sylvanas broke free. The death knights of the Ebon Blade, too, are free of his will.

It should be noted that "free" undead can still be mentally dominated by another entity strong enough. The Nathrezim have done this a few times, resulting in the skirmishes between Arthas's Scourge and Sylvanas's undead seen in The Frozen Throne and Arthas: Rise of the Lich King.

Jedster asks in comments:

1: Are Death Knights immortal? Whilst I am aware that The Forsaken are subject to an eventual end (Slow decay), I was under the impression that Death Knights, being more of the Scourge's elite soldiers as opposed to your average Forsaken, was created using a much more powerful type of necromantic magic, thus explaining why they have such strength and power.

2: Is there anything in the Lore that puts Death Knights as a class that is indeed the anti-Spell caster? or is this best to be put down as game mechanics?

Firstly, death knights are as immortal as any other Scourge undead, meaning they do not die of "old age" but can be killed by more forceful means. What's important to note about death knights, however, is that not all of them are undead. Some of them are still living, having voluntarily given their lives to the Lich King.

Certainly, if you choose to follow the story of the Ebon Blade death knights, you were killed and resurrected. But not all of the Scourge death knights follow this rule. Indeed, Arthas himself was still "alive" until he cut out his heart. This means that a death knight's "phsyical integrity" is not always tied to the power of the necromantic magic, but the power of what the Lich King gifts to him or her.

Secondly, the "anti-spellcaster" role is something purely given over to game mechanics. The earliest death knights were generally fallen paladins, and their abilities were twisted or tortured versions of paladin spells. As the hero class became reimagined for World of Warcraft, it was given a flavor and playstyle that was relatively unique.