Cao Hao Plunderpaw
The dead demand justice, Executor! Those who are slain by the hand of villainy can never rest in peace!
Academy of Hard Knocks
Cao Hao Plunderpaw was born on Shen-Zin Su during a time when the world was still promising and wild, free of the Alliance, Horde or the machinations of their vassals. In the evenings he toiled on the Plunderpaw family farm, a rocky and unfavourable plot situated near the rim of Shen-Zin Su's mountainous shell whose soil scarcely produced enough harvest to provide for the family, let alone sell at market. During the day he trained at Master Shang Xi's Academy in the ways of the monk, like most young Pandaren, and he showed great promise as a student, but the sifu's spiritual guidance often fell on deaf ears. The land demanded much of the Plunderpaw clan. It was said their ancestors committed a grievious theft, long since forgotten, which lead to their departure onto the Wandering Isle from the Mainland and cursing their bloodline with labour and hardship. Cao Hao resented their neediness, and succumbed to the kleptomanic compulsions of his heritage. He grew accustomed to stealing from the Temple and nearby farmhouses in order to fill his belly beyond their normal means. Such roguish deeds did not go unnoticed on the island community, and it was not long before suspicions were levelled against the Plunderpaw clan. Beleagured, distraught, thin with shame, Cao Hao exiled himself from his birth place when he was sixteen years old, taking off on a raft with naught but a fishing rod and staff. He hasn't seen his family since.Youth's Crucible
The first encounter Cao Hao ever had with life off the Wandering Isle was a Venture Company ship on the high seas . He crossed them after four days on the water, and greeted them as fondly as siblings seperated from birth. He was taken aboard at gunpoint and subsequently duped, bound to them with a bogus contract as an indentured servant, and spent the next year-and-a-half as little more than a slave. Cao's charisma and sly nature, sharpened by the boonies and academy of the Isle, served him well during his imprisonment. Eventually he won a more trusted position as the captain's personal body-guard, thanks to his monk training, and clawed his way out from absolute zero. There, amongst the devilish masterminds of the ruthless Venture Company shipmates, he came to understand the goblin tongue, learned of the world and their ways, and how to decipher their mind-boggling schematics when they were asleep. In secret Cao studied the goblin's own craft, until he felt so confident as to one day, against his better judgement, suggest an improvement to his master's latest creation. What would've normally resulted in a beating instead inspired amazement in his gaoler. It solved his conundrum, and, delighted with this deception, he took to teaching Cao when time allowed. Cao Hao earned his freedom after risking his life to protect his Master during a vengeful raid on their ship from disgruntled competitors. His Master, suspecting any other slave would be all too glad to let their master bite fate's bullet, was supposedly so moved as to grant the young pandaren his freedom.Karmic Retribution
Over the next six decades he pursued the truest calling of all Wandering Isle pandaren: Taking after Liu Lang and exploring every land there was to see in an effort to sate his ravenous wanderlust. From Kalimdor, to Northrend, to Tel'Abim and the eastern country of 'Azeroth' – all the glory of the dwarven, elven, and human kingdoms, and all between and beyond were laid bare before his feet. Through a series of convoluted escapades, he found himself in the service of the secretive rogue organization known as Ravenholdt for the later end of those years. However, it wasn't until the Fourth War's shadow loomed over the shattered world that he truly took up the mantle of duty for something other than himself. He met Chyou'ka Cliffseeker in the city of Dazar'alor in 33 ADP. Now getting on in years, Cao was inspired by her youthful fervor. He joined the Ronin initiative to better protect the Horde and, by extension, his people within it, the Huojin, with whom he identified most. In the end he earned the ire of a terrible band of Horde turncoats for speaking out in the name of justice, and was slain after being captured in an espionage mission gone awry. With a twist of hateful mockery, the undead responsible raised Cao Hao from the grave before his body had grown cold and cursed him with the miserable existence of the unliving Death Knights. Karma struck hard and fast. After much struggle and contemplation, the pragmatic Cao Hao grew to accept his new position, seeing it as a divine punishment enacted by Heaven and the Celestials. It is a second chance for him to reset the Scales of Fate, for him to make good on all the benevolent wisdom that he neglected throughout his life. He continues to strive in order to right the wrongs exacted by the dishonorable, eke out vengeance on those who slew him, and to preserve all his people from the ever growing dangers of Azeroth.
Cao Hao Plunderpaw – Also known as: Yongzhong - 曹好 掠夺爪 - 永忠
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