The Wickerman

Ah, Hallow's End! The festival during which the Forsaken celebrate their freedom from the Lich King's grasp. Finally, a holiday created to honor one of the many in-game lore landmarks of this setting!

Or was it? 

The truth, seemingly forgotten by the citizens of post-Third War Azeroth, is that Hallow's End was originally a peasant ritual, according to the novel: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King. There is a scene in that novel where an uncorrupted Prince Arthas Menethil allows a young Jaina Proudmoore to light the wickerman itself.

Towards the end of the harvest season, before winter embraced the landscape, a large wicker effigy was erected just outside the palace of Lordaeron's Capital City. As the sun set upon the night of the ceremony, the wicker man would be lit afire to symbolize the burning away of past burdens and troubles. It was a time when the peasants, citizens, and royalty alike could toss a branch into the fire in hopes of cleansing themselves and their pasts before the long reflection that followed the onset of winter.

During this time, it was also believed that the veil between the living and the dead was weakened, and that those who had passed on could hear those still living today. Thus, Hallow's End also became a time to remember lost loved ones as well.

Ironic, isn't it? A ceremony once used to remember the dead now, in the era that grew out of the ashes of the Third War, taken over by the dead. Or rather, the undead.

Indeed, the wickerman ceremony of today is somewhat different, but also somewhat the same, from the ceremony once known. Today Hallow's End, and thus the wickerman ritual that accompanies it, is used by the Forsaken to celebrate their freedom from the Lich King's will. It is during this time that they honor Sylvanas for freeing them from Arthas's mental grasp and renew their pursuits in their unlife.

The Headless Horseman

So where does our flying, rhyming friend, the Headless Horseman fit into all this? Why does he terrorize the countryside? And where do his allegiances lie? Is he Scourge? Or is he something else? And why do his helm and horse burn with the sickly green of felfire?

Sir Thomas Thomson, Knight of the Silver Hand, was a devout follower of the Light during life. He sacrificed much to defend Lordaeron against the encroaching undead plague, to the point that his wife and children rarely knew the fate of their husband and father while he was away in service to the kingdom. He had seen Arthas's culling of the ill-fated city of Stratholme, and had been disgusted. Vowing to never fall to such a depth, Sir Thomas valiantly defended the citizenry of Lordaeron with strength and honor.

Unfortunately, not everyone acted as he did, and the corrupt Baron Rivendare's delivery of plagued grain to various villages within his barony allowed Sir Thomas to witness the effects of such evil.  The grain spread the undead plague throughout a town Thomas had nearly exhausted himself defending.

Already stricken by the experience, the further news of Prince Arthas's return and subsequent murder of his father, King Terenas, and the final news about the death of Alexandros Mograine pushed poor Thomas to the edge of sanity. He pleaded to his family to leave Lordaeron, to follow Jaina Proudmoore and the others across the sea to Kalimdor. At first his wife protested, but Sir Thomas eventually convinced her to take their children and leave. Believing them safe, Sir Thomas was free to pursue his fight against the undead. It was then that he joined the Scarlet Crusade, and fell into the deeper zealotry for which the Scarlets were known--and feared.

During a particularly harsh purge, Sir Thomas helped the Scarlets kill citizens believed to be in league with Scourge allies. It was then that Thomas saw the faces of one of the families he had cut down, and recognized them to be ... his own. Apparently his wife and children were unable to secure passage across the sea, and they took refuge within this village of innocents.

Sir Thomas had unknowingly cut down his own family.

Returning to the Scarlet Monastery, Sir Thomas fell fully into madness, chanting eerie rhymes from within his chambers. His Scarlet brothers became worried, but Saidan Dathrohan, Grand Crusader of the Scarlet Crusade, assured them of their safety.

Then, one evening, during the season of Hallow's End, the undead approached the Monastery. Claiming it was a chance for Sir Thomas to prove his worth, Dathrohan unleashed the mad knight upon the Scourge. Singing his insanity in rhyme, Thomas cut through the undead... and then turned on his fellow Scarlet Crusaders, thinking them to be undead as well.

In his madness, Sir Thomas began to believe that he was the only one left uncorrupted, the only one left alive. He was quickly put down and beheaded.

Publically, Dathrohan gave Sir Thomas an honorable burial in the Monastery's graveyard. But privately, Dathrohan, who was really the dreadlord Balnazzar, cursed Thomas's body and spirit, forcing the knight to rise from the grave.

Sir Thomas, now known only as the Headless Horseman, rides every Hallow's End to terrorize the countryside while still chanting his rhymes of madness. Contrary to the beliefs of some, the Headless Horseman is not an agent of the Scourge. To the contrary, the Headless Horseman is actually an agent of the Burning Legion.

Sir Thomas Thomson's story can be found in Volume 5 of the World of Warcraft: Legends manga anthology.