The Curator

"The Legion claws at our world. An eternal army, spanning across a thousand molten planets, pours through into our own with the intent of tearing Azeroth to pieces. We cannot hope to win against them by the sword. We must instead attempt a more pragmatic solution".

―The Curator

Cassius Revel, known primarily as The Curator, was a Human male Mage a founding Circle Member of The Lamplighters and the main villain of The Curator Campaign. After a disastrous adventure facing an unknown power on the Broken Isles, he returned a changed man who had grown despondent and morose with everything in his life. A few months after his return, he abandoned everyone and everything he loved to return to the Isles and disappeared, presumed dead by the guild.

He miraculously returned hundreds of years later, bearing the title of "The Curator". He attempted to manipulate The Lamplighters into abandoning The Directives and help him usurp control and command over the Burning Legion, for the safety of Azeroth. This coup, known as The Schism, did untold damage to the guild, but was ultimately unsuccessful, leading to The Curator going underground.

When the Lamplighters began to rebuild under a new Circle, The Curator became their main adversary, and he attempted to turn them to his side; firstly with coercion and when this failed, with violence. His efforts destroyed Lamplighter HQ, killed The Powers That Be and almost killed Control themselves.

In retaliation, The Lamplighter Agents turned their own resources against The Curator. They thwarted his overarching plans in Northrend and destroyed both his facilities and killed, turned or incarcerated his top Agents. Eventually, they discovered his past as Cassius Revel, the location of his hidden base of operations, and the Ephemeral Knife; a weapon that could be used to kill him.

After infiltrating his base on the Broken Isles, a prolonged fire-fight broke out between the remaining Department Four members and Revel himself, which ended with The Curator's death and the surrender of the survivors.

Early Life and Lamplighter Career
Born in Stromgarde during the reign of King Charles Wrynn of Stormwind, Cassius Revel was an Apprentice and later Mage of Dalaran City. After completing his studies in -241 BDP/377 K.C, he, his wife Euphadora and his dear friend and bodyguard (later his lover) Kastor Strongarm, departed to the south to find wealth and adventure in the conquests and wars occurring in the south.

At an unknown point in time, the two Revels and Strongarm encountered The Lamplighters and after a few adventures together and a chance meeting with Control, eagerly joined their cause. They were integral to some of the early Lamplighters' greatest victories and achievements, and made fast friends among their fellow Agents. Even then, Cassius had a passion for archaeology and discovering lost magical artefacts and secrets.

Revel's final mission took him and a group of Agents out to the Broken Isles where a strange and dangerous magical signature warranted investigation. The specifics of what happened there are unknown, but Revel was the only Agent who survived the ordeal. A broken man, he lost interest in every former passion he had and even his own family and friends became insignificant to him.

The following year, at the age of 42, Cassius Revel was seen alone boarding a boat off the shores of Hillsbrad. He proclaimed that he felt 'called' back to the Isles and that he had something important to do there. After he set sail, both he and his boat disappeared, no sighting of him was recorded around the Isles and the guild presumed he had perished. His family erected a small commemorative Tomb in his homeland of Arathi to honour his memory.

Re-emergence
Shortly after the conclusion of the Third War, Revel's boat ran aground in Faldir's Cove and Cassius returned to the Eastern Kingdoms, appearing as a much older but still living man. He returned to Lamplighter HQ to meet with Control and explained that he had since adopted the moniker of "The Curator". He claimed he had found a means to ensure his longevity on the Broken Isles, but had not been able to leave that place until this moment. Unknown to Control and his fellow Agents however, Revel had fallen into using dark magics during his long absence and had ensured his extended life through the use of a demonic ritual.

Despite his reluctance to explain the circumstances of his long absence, Control accepted him warmly and he was able to quickly resume his position as a Lamplighter. Over his second tenure, The Curator proved himself as more studious and determined than he had been even in his youth. He helped Control to found both the Departments and The Circle, of which he was appointed as a founding Circle Member. He was assigned responsibility of the newly created Department Four along with the Agents and facilities that encompassed it. He was also responsible for his major contributions in the creation of the three Lamplighter facilities: The Vault of Miracles, The Asylum, and The Black Vault.

These actions all held a secret secondary purpose however. The Curator viewed Azeroth's martial fight against The Burning Legion as a futile waste of resources and manpower and instead plotted to gain total control over the Legion by usurping or containing Sargeras and turn the demonic armies limitless forces in defence of Azeroth and other similar worlds. To that end, he intended to transform The Lamplighters into an organisation that could progress his overarching goal forwards by years, perhaps even decades.

He put great effort into subtly moulding the other Circle Members to value his ideas above Control's Directives so that they would back his objectives above the Director's own. He manipulated all of the Department Four Agents under his care into committing total loyalty to himself alone, and built backdoors into all of the facilities he helped produce, so that he or his Agents could activate and take control of the complex at a moments notice. Closer to the culmination of his plans, The Curator also began to prepare and practise rituals to summon further demonic reinforcements to add to his growing army. The preparations were slow and purposefully quiet, and took The Curator many years to prepare.

The Schism
In 28 ADP/621 K.C, during the aftermath of The Great Cataclysm, The Curator masterminded the scheme which would later be known as The Schism. In it, he sought to finally depose Control and seat himself as leader supreme over The Lamplighters. He arrived at Lamplighter HQ with the bulk of all his arrayed forces and loyal Agents and delivered Control his ultimatum.

Yet, despite the powerful force he had amassed, Control still refused him. At that moment, an intervention by a group of individuals called "The Powers That Be", called in to help by the other Circle Members, thwarted his power grab and a battle commenced, but despite suffering heavy losses. The Curator himself was able to escape amidst the chaos.

The victory was bittersweet for The Lamplighters, as the struggle had done considerable internal damage to the guild's infrastructure. Several Agents died during the conflict, and a significant amount of the Lamplighters' facilities and resources were lost or defected. The Circle Members who had saved Lamplighter HQ were assassinated by Department Four Agents as they attempted to escape through Theramore, and Department Four was henceforth considered to have almost completely under The Curator's command. Only The Asylum and the remaining Department Four Agents entrusted to its care, still remained in Control's authority. The Seeker's Library and Lamplighter HQ itself remained intact, however a proportion of surviving Agents turned in their Lanterns and left.

By the end of The Schism, less than a dozen Lamplighter Agents remained.

Operation: Lights Out!
In the years following The Schism, The Curator expanded his own forces and completed construction of a new facility originally meant to be a mobile R&D laboratory. His Agents flourished but as they embarked upon their own missions, they became aware that Control had found four new Circle Members and were recruiting active Agents again with the intention of continuing the Lamplighters organisation anew. After they inadvertently disrupted one of his ongoing plans in the Westfall region, he knew that these new Lamplighters would inevitably stand against his objectives if allowed to prosper. He attempted to sway them to his side as he had with the previous Agents; firstly by persuasion, then by threats and infiltration, then finally by sabotage and violence.

At each turn, his attempts were unsuccessful and the new Lamplighters, (led by Circle Members Gladnar Brightfist; the two Swiftshade sisters; Vyrona "Robes" and Elera; and Yradriel Wyrdmoon) were gaining resources and traction quickly thanks to the backing of Control and "The Powers That Be". With their current rate of expansion, they would match The Curator's forces in a little under a year, and direct confrontation proved to be an inevitability.

During the Burning Legion's Invasion of Azeroth, The Curator gathered his full strength and launched Operation: Lights Out! In his second attempt to imprison Control and destroy the guild they headed, he attacked Lamplighter HQ with a battalion of Department Four Agents, Infernals and other demonic entities including a newly acquired Legion ship he had wrest control of.

Operation: Lights Out! was almost a complete success for The Curator, resulting in the complete destruction of Lamplighter HQ and the deaths of The Powers That Be. However the intervention of the Lamplighter Agents rescued Control from the destruction of HQ, meaning they were able to survive and rally their strength in The Seeker's Library.

The Northrend Campaign
With the Lamplighters thought defeated, The Curator emerged fully from the shadows and his efforts became more brazen. He embarked upon the most ambitious project yet which became known as The Northrend Campaign. His Legion ship was dispatched to the frozen continent, crewed by Department Four Agents and consisting of a veritable army of technologically enhanced soldiers and scores of demons. Their mission was to find the artefacts known as the "Vincit Stones". Gathered after the War of the Ancients by the Blue Dragonflight, these Stones had been lost in the aftermath of the Nexus War, and were key components The Curator needed to enhance an enormously complex ritual which he would use to usurp the Legion from Sargeras entirely.

Leading the mission in The Curator's name was his right hand woman; an Orcish woman named Warlord Izera. Trained and moulded for years with a mix of physical, mental, magical and technological processes and regimens, Izera was The Curator's idea of the "Perfect Lamplighter Agent"; an unstoppable, obedient force that had never failed a mission, and his greatest weapon.

Izera quickly discovered that The Lamplighters were active in Northrend, seeking to stop them from retrieving the Vincit Stones and led an initial assault on the Agents. The attack was vicious and effective; Izera tracked them through their use of teleportation spells before striking at them without remorse with bombs, physical arms and Fel magics. Despite this hard adversity however, the Agents were able to gather new allies among the inhabitants of Northrend, including making contact once more with The Vrykul Fleet. Using stealth and guile, they were also able to track down the Vincit Stones before Izera's Agents could secure them, crippling her mission and thwarting The Curator's efforts. Whenever they were discovered, the Agents had them either contained or destroyed, so that no others could ever make use of them.

When all the Stones were secured or destroyed, The Lamplighters, alongside the warriors of the Vrykul Fleet, made a final double-headed assault against both Izera and The Curator's Legion command ship. The ensuing battle resulted in The Curator's most powerful ship crashing into the side of one of Northrend's snowy mountain peaks, killing all demons and Department Four Agents on board. It also meant the end for Izera, his top operative, as the Agents ensured she was killed before the ship's downfall.

The Northrend Campaign ended in total disaster for The Curator and a complete victory for The Lamplighters.

Downfall and Death
After Northrend, any ideas of an effortless victory The Curator had were gone, and the catastrophic failure of the plan greatly affected his decision making skills. Over the following months, he suffered a string of humiliating defeats and setbacks courtesy of The Lamplighters and their allies. His facilities were compromised, his allies were defeated and neutralised and his artefacts were destroyed, confiscated or turned against him. In one momentous achievement, The Lamplighters managed to infiltrate The Curator's secure and destroy his Black Lantern Network, cutting off all communications for the Department Four Agents.

While this was happening, Emissary Ishraena Shadewhisper, under guidance from the defected Department Four Agent, Roxany Cogwhistle, was able to infiltrate his research vessel "The Erasmus" and sabotage the ship internally. She was able to steal many prized relics from the floating research facility and caused the engines to combust, leading to a cataclysmic level detonation. The debris from the ship was found as far away as Feralas, and much of his research and demonic personnel perished in the eruption.

In 32 ADP/624 K.C, The Curator's past as Cassius Revel was uncovered when the Lamplighter Agents infiltrated the Tomb built in his honour after his believed demise on the Broken Isles. As a final gambit, The Curator managed to steal Control's Blue Box, the source of their administrative and magical power, and attempted to use it in place of the Vincit Stones to assume dominion over the Burning Legion from the Dark Titan Sargeras.

With the help of a Sworn of the Bronze Dragonflight, a team of Agents travelled backwards in time to uncover a working Black Lantern in order to open the gateway into The Curator's hidden base of operations: a pocket dimension on the Broken Isles. They plotted to break through into this dimension, battle through his last remaining forces and end the mad Circle Member for good. There they met with Revel's former lover, Kastor Strongarm, and through him managed to uncover both the key they sought and an artefact known as the Ephemeral Knife. This Knife was a windfall for the guild, as it was one of the few weapons which could undo the ageless magic on the Warlock and kill him.

With these in hand, the Lamplighters infiltrated The Curator's pocket dimension within the Broken Isles. In a climactic final confrontation, The Curator was stabbed with the Knife several times and the magics that gave him such longevity unravelled with every blow. The damage proved too much and The Curator crumbled to Fel-soaked ashes. The Agents managed to escape with Control's Blue Box in hand as the dimension collapsed, finally destroying their most dangerous enemy for good.

Aftermath and Legacy
After the death of The Curator, Control called a conclave of all the Agents and staff of The Lamplighters, including those survivors of Department Four, to decide what was to become of the guild going forwards. From this conclave, Department Four was closed down as an entity with the remaining Agents were either deemed well enough to return to the fold as full Agents, or handed over to the Horde or the Alliance respectively to either serve their sentences in prisons, or to receive more specific treatments for their ailments.

A small number of Department Four Agents were able to escape, either during the final attack or due to the fact they were not present within Revel's pocket dimension at his fall. Some remained active for several years before being neutralised and captured by the Agents, while others forsook the organisation as a whole and fell in with other adventuring companies; their pasts with The Curator were entirely forgotten.

The escapees from The Black Vault were tracked and now all former inmates have been accounted for. The rest of the facilities created under The Curator's reign were either entirely decommissioned or, where relevant, reintegrated into The Lamplighters or built anew with a more benevolent purpose. Revel's remains were returned to his Tomb where they have been inhumed. The doors have been closed and are not open to the general public, fearing it may become a Shrine to graverobbers or warlock cabals.

Personality
Even when he identified as Cassius Revel, The Curator was a charismatic and charming individual with a great respect for the skills and abilities of his peers and superiors. He held a strong conviction that The Lamplighters could make a positive change for good for Azeroth. He also had an extremely strong work ethic, though this was briefly broken by his malaise after he returned from the Broken Isles. This trait reappeared in him, and was further exemplified, after his return as The Curator.

In his new persona, his newfound pragmatism and ruthless came to the fore. The Curator was a firm believer that the ends would always justify the means used to attain them. He was an expert manipulator and able to lie even to Control and the other members of The Circle for many years prior to the execution of his plans. He was also a man with significant ego, dogmatic in his convictions and never once considered that the methods he used to achieve his goals were incorrect. He was endlessly frustrated with the Lamplighters for not only refusing to take his side but with their "ceaseless naivete" at the idea of defeating the Legion through conventional warfare.

Despite this egotism however, The Curator took great pains to not underestimate his opponents, particularly Control. He was all too aware of the power that the Agents had within them, and though he lamented it as a senseless waste of resources, he ensured to hit them with the full force of his available powers to leave them crippled and nonthreatening.

Towards the end of his final few months however, The Curator's personality began to change drastically, particularly after his history as Cassius Revel was unearthed. He frequently lost his composure and his ego often fell into outright arrogance, and began to overrule his good judgement. Whether this was caused by the compounded stress at his situation, the deep-rooted fear that he would be unable to "save Azeroth" or the amplifying Fel powers of his rituals he was constantly exposed to is unknown.

Powers
Magic - The Curator was a talented Mage and Warlock, specializing in rituals and complex spell-work intended to last long periods of time.

Longevity - Cassius was able to make himself near-ageless in a Lichlike binding of his essence to an artefact called the Ephemeral Knife.

Master Manipulator - Charming, affable with a compelling presence, The Curator was able to convince even the careful and wary of the righteousness of his cause.

Retcons
Due to the release of Chronicles and the changes to The Lamplighters initial lore, The Curator is the character who has received the most changes to their backstory, barring the changes to Control and The Lamplighters organisation itself.


 * The Curator was initially intended to be thousands of years old during a period when The Lamplighters were an ancient adventurer's guild revived. During the event, "Seeking History", the Lamplighter Agents travelled back to the Troll Wars to meet Kastor Strongarm. However, this was later changed to be nearly two hundred years ago with the conflict now framed to be one of the many skirmishes against the Forest Trolls as the Arathi Empire fractured into smaller independent city-states.
 * Initially it was planned for The Curator's son, Crucius, to have a larger role in his storyline. The initial plans for either Crucius himself (or a still-living heir in modern times) helping the Lamplighters take down his father (or their wayward ancestor) was planned. However, due to time constraints with the ending of the initial story, these threads were cut entirely in favour of a more streamlined conclusion.
 * The quests undertaken to recover the Black Lantern and the Ephemeral Knife were condensed in the interest of time. Initially however, these were intended to be undertaken as part of two entirely separated questlines. The Knife was originally intended to be held by a cabal of Warlocks who kept the Knife safely on The Curator's behalf.