'Living' Death Knights

[Mortiphobia]

I've heard this term thrown around and I think we have one on CotH. It's not so much the concept that confuses me as what sets them apart from their unliving comrades. Some of my questions may sound silly, but it's simply because I'm a curious fellow and like to have a complete (or as complete as can be) knowledge on things. My questions about living death knights are as follows:

Do they need to eat?
Do they need to sleep?
Can they reproduce?
Given the above question, do they even have sexual desire?
Are they immortal like their undead brethren?
Are their fives senses intact (though perhaps a bit numb)?
Just what bodily functions, if any, do they have (breathing, using the bathroom, etc.)?
Possible to become inebriated?

I'm sure there are many more things I'd be curious about, but these are what I came up with of the top of my head. Perhaps I'm just confused and such a death knight doesn't exist, but I'd think there might be a difference between a 3rd generation DK (ones that actually died) and something like Arthas (never having died, but became corrupted).

So, CotH, care to teach me something? Any kind of feedback is appreciated.

[Harmonic]

I honestly think this is up to the person's interpritation. Most of these are unanswerable... seeing as how we don't even have a true clue whether their -are- living Death Knights. If these sorts of questions had answers, I doubt there would have even been a debate on the whole "dead or living?!" thing.

[Mortiphobia]

I suppose you are right. With my death knight, however, I feel like I'm fumbling blindly in the dark. I definitely try to keep my RP with him as tasteful as possible, but I can't help but feel confused at times when I get him into certain situations.

The reason why I love roleplaying in a Warcraft setting is because it already (for the most part) has clearly defined rules. I'm allowed to be creative, but I have a plethora of rules I can refer back to to guide me. I don't have that kind of guidance in this situation, and it bugs me. Still, I appreciate the feedback.

[Avitz]

As far as I am aware, you can have a death knight on this server, as living or as dead as you want, due to someone not needing to be dead to become a death knight.

To answer the answerable.

Depending on there livingness...they can Eat/Sleep, etc. Goes with bodily functions to.
They are immortal.
If they have what they need to sense with, they still sense.
No to drunkness...thats unlikely to happen thanks to runic energys flowing through them.

My two cents...again, a living death knight is each individual case.

[Mortiphobia]

Thanks for your input, Avitz. That's given me a bit of insight. With other unmentioned things, I suppose all I can do is trust my instincts and do what feels right.

[Wolohoo]

Then again, if I haven't misunderstood this, Death Knights can be sort of turned from the living.
And that sounds silly. "Corrupted" is a better word for it.
So they never basically die, they just get corrupted by the Lich King. Henceforth, they are still living.

But if they die and get raised by the Kich Ling, then they are undead. At least in my opinion.

[Ben]

Yeah, it's possible for Paladins and the like to be corrupted. Arthas became the first death knight, and unless I'm wrong, wasn't originally undead. I speculate that living death knights do not NEED to eat, sleep, and the like because of the unholy Runic energy flowing through them. But I reckon it'd be nicer for them if they did, for them. Starving for eternity is not a nice thing, is it? That implies they can feel, and yeah they will be able to. All living organisms can sense, and that'd be true of the living Death Knights. But that also means they will attempt to avoid battle, if possible because they are more 'human'. They can feel more accutely when a blade slices into them, rather than a dulled to no sensation when that happens with an undead Death Knight. They would live forever if not affected by battle or other outside factors, but I reckon would be more likely to die in battle because there's a greater possibility of things killing them, unlike undead. Blood loss for example.

Death Knights in general don't get drunk from alcohol due to the runic energies, so yeah, i dont believe living Death Knights would be any different. It'd be possible to reproduce if they saw a need for it. Like undead Death Knights they will be driven by their duty. There's no reason to see otherwise, I don't think. But it's circumstancial. OH, and they'd need to use the toilet. Their bodies are still functioning so waste is produced. It's gotta' go somewhere!

Something I thought of while writing this, is that they'd be at a disadvantage against other Death Knights. Having blood, the blood boil and other related spells cast by Death Knights would be usable to a devastating effect upon the living Death Knights, and so they would be lower ranked and fearful of other Death Knights.

Entirely speculation!

[simianthief]

My understanding of Death Knights is that they are a corrupt and twisted use of a Rune Master / Paladin hybrid. They are imbued with unholy energies through runes. Magic older than what Paladins use, empowering their bodies. Thus, until they die they are alive. If they are undead then that's a separate condition.

Do they need to eat?
Do they need to sleep?
Can they reproduce?
Given the above question, do they even have sexual desire?
Are they immortal like their undead brethren?
Are their fives senses intact (though perhaps a bit numb)?
Just what bodily functions, if any, do they have (breathing, using the bathroom, etc.)?
Possible to become inebriated?

It really is up to the player on most of this. Important stuff is
Can they reproduce? sure, if the Lich King makes more of them. Unless I am mistaken (and this happens ALL the time) the secrets to making more may lie someplace or even with the Ebon Blade, but I seriously doubt they would subject anyone else to such a hell.

Sex? I would say not, the process seems to eradicate all but the most powerful emotions, and twisting any of them into more of a rage. So if, for instance, the Death Knight ran into his sister he would not react to her, but deep down he'd just want to go destroy stuff out of this twisted sense of indignation and such...for example.

Immortal? I would say yes. The unholy energies that bind them and give them power would ultimately mean their souls couldn't move on out of the shell I would think

Senses? Does someone imbued with unholy power and the ability to raise ghouls from the bodies of corpses really...need them? (that was humor) I would agree they are probably a bit dulled or perhaps even more attuned to other levels (smell holy energy like we smell ozone, see things with auras maybe of intense good or evil, that sort of deal). But that's a personal thing, so far as I can see there is not much in the lore related to it.

Body Functions? You mean do they fart. I know, you're going for that whole choking gas joke from D&D. Again this is more related to their being undead or not, which is a seperate condition altogether.

Inebriation? Doubtful. At the very least you may simply want to avoid the situation to save on worrying. They have too much on their minds to stop and have a pint. We know, at least mechanics-wise, they can be poisoned and that's essentially what being drunk is. So if they were slipped something, I would say why not. Again, more pertaining to the undead/alive equation and less to do with the unholy-warrior-seeking-revenge-being-emo deal.

[Azheron]

My Deathknight is a living one. Her mind's just... so twisted after all the killing and all that.

[Azheron]

I'm going to double-post now, because I've been thinking.

If death knights did not have blood in them, that would make them unable to

A) Have sexual intercourse.
B) Be poisoned, if we don't count nerve-affecting poisons. (Which I doubt too, since, how would the poison go to the nerve...?)
C) They wouldn't have to breathe, which'd make them being actually moved by unholy energies, since, you need -something- to move your muscles, right?

Well. Then again, they do have a spell called "Blood Tap", which gives them health, but I don't really know. If I were the lich king and wanted to make an über army, I wouldn't give them blood, really. Though, I'd guess the 'living' deathknights still have blood in them, and others don't. It's up the the player, as it's been said, many times.

[Mortiphobia]

Thanks for the posts everyone! Your info has been very insightful. I'm definitely planning on roleplaying my death knight in a state somewhere between life and death, keeping it as tasteful as possible.

One thing I'd like to point out from Simianthief's post:

So if, for instance, the Death Knight ran into his sister he would not react to her ...

I very much like the rest of your post, but this part isn't exactly right. Thassarian, the first death knight to join the Alliance, found his sister in Borean Tundra. She was captured by a San'layn, and that noble death knight, bless his heart, risked his 'life' to save her. He very much still has love for his family, which is a large reason why his is fighting up in the frozen wastes.

[simianthief]

Sorry I was unclear then. That's precisely what would happen. They still have feelings, and emotions, but any attempt to act on them would be twisted. Whereas a Paladin would make a detailed plan and get some help and so forth a Death Knight is more to just...destroy everything in their path. Ala - Anakin v Sand People (God I hate myself for even bringing THAT up.) or as Conan once said when his buddy was in trouble "Stay there, I will carve a path to you!". They could still feel the love (maybe even more accutely) but their reactions to it would be different, more...violent than what a reasonable person would be.

But if there is precedent otherwise, go with that. Fo' Sho'.

[Miah]

It all depends on the deathknight in question. Kinda comes in 3 main steps though.

1. The Mortal deathknight

These are deathknights who, for whatever means (power, fear or death), chose to enter the lich king's service, choosing a cursed yet immortal life over death.

Now, for the most part, they are like regular people, albeit a little withered and corrupted by the evil magic, they most likely don't look all that attractive. Yet they can, and have to, eat and drink (unless they sustain themself by some other magical means, but for the most part, they would preferr just eating/drinking).

They will not age thanks to their magic, but they are still prone to the things that affect mortal beings, such as death by suffocation, or bleeding when struck.

2. The half-way point.

These are the deathknights, mostly inportant general's or other figures the lich king would prize when raising. They likely have been risen very soon after their death, so they retain much of their humanity when raised. However, since they truly died, they would no longer need to eat, they would bleed, but it would not hinder them at all, as they would carry on living even if they suffered injuries that would kill a mortal being. They -could- Eat or drink, but they have likely lost all the will to do so. Same with reproducing. Tecnically its possible, but they would likely have absolutely no desire to do so. They would not feel sexual desire, virtually no physicall attraction, and their senses would likely be quite dulled.

3. True undead.

These are the ghoullish deathknights, such as the ones using the pale, rotting looking game models. These are expectedly the most common deathknight's accepted into the alliance and horde, as they are those that were raised en masse, and became knights of the ebon blade. They likely feel nothing, food would rot away in their stomachs, and their bodies would besically be corpses puppeteered by their, or the lich king's will. They would not decompose, and are for the most part immortal. They would not eat, likely never sleep, would be incapable of reproducing, as all the cell's in their body's are essentially dead, and they would have no desire to do so anyway, even if they found someone with a thing for rotten guy's/gals. Their senses would likely be very dull, but replaced with alternate senses, that the others suggested.

As I understand it, thats basically how it works, but feel free to correct me people, im not totally with it with deathknights. ^^

[BountyHunter]

It all depends on the deathknight in question. Kinda comes in 3 main steps though.

1. The Mortal deathknight

These are deathknights who, for whatever means (power, fear or death), chose to enter the lich king's service, choosing a cursed yet immortal life over death.

Now, for the most part, they are like regular people, albeit a little withered and corrupted by the evil magic, they most likely don't look all that attractive. Yet they can, and have to, eat and drink (unless they sustain themself by some other magical means, but for the most part, they would preferr just eating/drinking).

They will not age thanks to their magic, but they are still prone to the things that affect mortal beings, such as death by suffocation, or bleeding when struck.

2. The half-way point.

These are the deathknights, mostly inportant general's or other figures the lich king would prize when raising. They likely have been risen very soon after their death, so they retain much of their humanity when raised. However, since they truly died, they would no longer need to eat, they would bleed, but it would not hinder them at all, as they would carry on living even if they suffered injuries that would kill a mortal being. They -could- Eat or drink, but they have likely lost all the will to do so. Same with reproducing. Tecnically its possible, but they would likely have absolutely no desire to do so. They would not feel sexual desire, virtually no physicall attraction, and their senses would likely be quite dulled.

3. True undead.

These are the ghoullish deathknights, such as the ones using the pale, rotting looking game models. These are expectedly the most common deathknight's accepted into the alliance and horde, as they are those that were raised en masse, and became knights of the ebon blade. They likely feel nothing, food would rot away in their stomachs, and their bodies would besically be corpses puppeteered by their, or the lich king's will. They would not decompose, and are for the most part immortal. They would not eat, likely never sleep, would be incapable of reproducing, as all the cell's in their body's are essentially dead, and they would have no desire to do so anyway, even if they found someone with a thing for rotten guy's/gals. Their senses would likely be very dull, but replaced with alternate senses, that the others suggested.

As I understand it, thats basically how it works, but feel free to correct me people, im not totally with it with deathknights. ^^

I really wish for this to become the standard guideline for Death Knights, this is really awesome. I would also believe this would change a lot for the profiles as the Mortal Death Knights would be more inclined to involve their history as they willing gave themselves to the Scourge and then broke free as their minds changed from all the slaughter. Which. . . However unlikely. . . Can happen.

[Miah]

^^ Well if a High rank was willing to make that little snippet an official part of the deathknight tutorial stuff that would be fine by me ^^