Your Majesty,
Per your directive regarding the absorption of the Scourge Knights into our ranks, I have researched the origins of the knight calling himself Eschenbach. While tracing the origins of any of these Scourge knights can be difficult, sufficient clues exist from his name and from brief conversations with him regarding the dispositions of a package found in the Plaguelands (see attached memo re:origins of "Ol' Emma") for me to identify this individual with a reasonable degree of confidence.
The knight Eschenbach was born Artan von Eschenbach, the younger son of a minor noble family displaced by the Third War from their ancestral lands within the kingdom of Lordaeron. Following their displacement, the family was taken into your court as temporary ambassadors of that kingdom (cf. Royal Memo VW-1922-Q, "Regarding the disposition of certain noble families of the Kingdom of Lordaeron") and assigned management duties within the city of Ironforge, per our personnel exchange agreements with the dwarves (q.v.). Raised largely at Ironforge, Artan learned warcraft as a human among dwarven comrades, and upon reaching his majority, was signed to the service of the Light as a Paladin, an event celebrated by family and friends as a high honor, as well as the successful disposition of a younger son.
Artan was listed within the combat rolls of the Army of the Light as squire, then as a full knighted Paladin, for several years, his education noted for skills in combat (his instructors indicated he tended to favor the axe over the more-common sword or mace choices) and herbal craft. Per standard, his graduation from squirehood with honors granted him status as a Knight of the Silver Hand, recorded in the logbooks of that order upon his entry.
From that point forward, his history becomes less certain: the records of the Silver Hand are still in considerable disarray following the betrayal of Arthas and the near-destruction of the order; too, much of the combat work of the order remains classified to me per Royal Memo VW-1704-S, an issue about which I have raised complaints previously (viz. "Letters to King Varian Wrynne," vol. 12, chapter 4 for a particularly well-worded example). What records I do have access to indicate that his superiors assigned him to combat duty within the ruined kingdom of Lordaeron (now referred to as the Plaguelands), responsible for assisting with the elimination of the Scourge from that area. It further appears that young Artan was briefly betrothed to a young noblewoman, Nimuette, of a noble family of the Stormwind courts, a betrothal that appears to have raised the ire of several suitors, among them the Earl di Rejjan, who sought her as his own bride.
Following the announcement of the betrothal, little more is heard of young Artan for some months, until his name appears on the list of the dead from a minor skirmish near the tomb of Uther Lightbringer in the Western Plaguelands. The commander in charge of that battle, the aforementioned Earl di Rejjan, was chastised for not recovering Artan's body following the combat (he filed a defense indicating the bodies were no longer present once the area was secured), but little more became of the matter. The young man's family sword and badges of service were interred in lieu of a body in the family's temporary mausoleum, and his fiancee appears to have subsumed herself in mourning rather than accept the attentions of another suitor.
Regarding the remainder of the family, there is little more to tell, and none of it cheerful. Artan's mother, the Lady Eschenbach, died in childbirth some years ago, birthing his younger sister, who, it would appear, is the sole remaining heir to whatever remains of their estate. The father has been ailing for some time, and the older brother died last year in an abortive duel with the Earl di Rejjan, claiming grievous offense for the death of Artan. Once my Lord Eschenbach passes, we will likely have a difficult matter: the inheritance of whatever family estate remains should devolve upon the daughter, Leana, but the sudden reappearance of her brother in some...undetermined state of existence presents complications that may require legal sorting out.
There the matter stands, as near as I can determine. I shall put my resources into further research of the other Scourge Knights unless I hear from you that this matter requires further insight.
Your humble servant,
H. Bathrilor
by Order and Grace of His Majesty Varian Wrynne,
Royal Factor to the Kingdom Stormwind
