The Last Warlock
Of course we've heard the myth of The Last Warlock. As far as we know, it's just a myth.
The last warlock of the Lich King died before the gods withdrew and I couldn't be happier. The orcs have no desire to return to the old ways.
The Last Warlock of the Lich-King is a common boogie man that mothers use to threaten their children. He represents a return to the worst parts of the old days, he tyranny of kings, the marauding ways of the "humanoids", and total subservience to capricious gods.
Among the hobgoblins of Safara and intelligent undead, he is the hope of a return to greatness for a people who have lost their place on the world's stage.
If you don't eat your vegetables, the Last Warlock will come back and we'll be eating our neighbors again!
No one knows how the concept of the Last Warlock even came about. The idea appeared to enter the public consciousness sometime after the Gods Withdrew.
Some say a swamp witch prophesized his return. Others theorize that a cabal of undead started the idea, hoping for the return of their master.
Regardless, most agree that the threat of the Lich King has long passed. The Lich King last walked the world more than 200 years in the past, and his power is long gone.
Link to the Divine
The laws of reality don't work quite how people think. Worship powers the gods. Worship can turn a powerful being into a god.
Pacts are like concentrated worship. Entering into a warlock pact generates power both ways between the mortal and the entity. Over centuries the feedback loop from generations of warlock pacts can create a god.
The Lich King tried to jump start the process with his wars and sacrifices. His miscalculations resulted in the twin Kirinal Catastrophes.
Here's a secret they don't teach you in Heaven School. Warlocks and clerics? They're basically the same thing. The gods and elder powers need them to exist, not the other way around
Summary
The Last Warlock
A nursery rhyme
One day a Shatter,
Comes with a clatter.
The Shadowfell pops,
The Last Warlock drops.
The Lich King will cheer,
The children will fear.
All we know will stop.
Historical Basis
The Lichwars
The The Lichwars were the Lich King's attempt to jump start the leap to godhood for himself. Lacking the typical patience of the undead, he had no desire to go through centuries or millenia of gathering worshippers and empowering warlocks.
He seized control of the hobgoblin tribes, taking over the nation of Safara. He declared all out war on every nation around him, intending to sacrifice their entire populations to fuel his own godhood.
In the end, his armies perished in the Disintegration of Kirinal. His soul was trapped in The Kirinal Pit along with 500,000 others.
The Lich King Now
The Lich King still exists. He rails outside the crystal sphere with no sight and no influence into the world he almost claimed as his own. Should he successfully make a pact with a new warlock, he could begin his schemes anew.
The Lich King has been sundered; all his relics have been destroyed, and his followers eradicated from the world, in an effort to stop a Third Catastrophe.
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