Minipost: The mysterious Dominic

Anyone who's gone through Scarlet Monastery post-Shattering has likely encountered the mysterious and slightly ominous Dominic, an undead NPC who is friendly (and offers quests) to both Horde and Alliance. He keeps showing up in the different Monastery wings with new tasks for you, but he never really explains why he's there or what exactly he's doing. He does, however, make it very clear that he's not working for Sylvanas. (Or so he says, anyway...)

Oh, and did I mention he's wearing a gas mask? You know the kind - the kind worn by none other than the Royal Apothecary Society. Maybe he just finds the sanctified Monastery air unpleasant. Or maybe it's something else.

All in all, Dominic asks you to do three specific things for him:
- Retrieve a book for him, the Compendium of the Fallen
- Kill a large number of the Scarlet Crusade's elite soldiers
- Execute High Inquisitor Fairbanks

Dominic is undead, so I can understand wanting to seek vengeance on the Crusade by killing their strongest soldiers. But the Compendium of the Fallen? Remember, that book is a detailed history of Kel'Thuzad's necromantic accomplishments, describing how he was responsible for the original outbreak of the Scourge through the use of plague cauldrons.

The fact that this mysterious Dominic wants the tome is...well, it's concerning, to say the least. This is dangerous information that should be destroyed forever, not archived for posterity (at best) or reused to create a new plague (at worst).

Adding to the weirdness is how Dominic insists "No questions" numerous times, and when you hand over the Compendium, he asks you not to tell anyone he was there. Talk about suspicious! His shady, secretive behavior and questionable motives are all quite alarming.

As for Fairbanks...poor, tragic Fairbanks, who years ago witnessed Renault Mograine's patricidal betrayal and tried to tell the rest of the Crusade, only to be silenced and locked away for his troubles by the corrupted Scarlet leaders. One gets the impression that most of the Crusade doesn't even know about the now-undead Fairbanks, secreted away in a hidden room in the Cathedral.

So why does Dominic want him dead?

This is what really confused me. If Dominic is an enemy of the Crusade (which he appears to be), wouldn't Fairbanks be on his side? What possible risk could Fairbanks represent, to necessitate his murder? And he also strongly wants the deed to go unnoticed by the rest of the Crusade - but why?

I've wracked my brain, and as far as I know the only card in Fairbanks' hand is that he is a witness. He is the only living (sort of) person who witnessed Renault Mograine murder his father Alexandros. And he may have also seen Kel'Thuzad take away Alexandros' body, or possibly even perform some kind of ritual to transform Ashbringer (Alexandros' legendary sword) into the Corrupted Ashbringer, which Alexandros wielded in the original Naxxramas.

Is this important information? It's hard to say; in fact, continuity is an utter disaster here. According to the current game timeline, Renault is still alive and is hanging out in the Cathedral, yet in the Ashbringer manga series we saw his brother Darion recover Ashbringer and bring it to the Monastery. When Darion brought the sword near Renault, Alexandros' ghost manifested and revealed Renault's treachery, and then cut his head off.

The RPG books might not be canon, but the novels and manga books are. So either Renalt got resurrected (something that, admittedly, is entirely possible in existing game lore) or Blizzard has just hand-waved the whole thing.

Further complicating this mess is the fact that these events actually originally took place in-game, in the Vanilla "Corrupted Ashbringer" in-game cutscene. However, at the end of this scene, Fairbanks is cured of undeath! Yet more continuity mayhem!

All this aside though, it doesn't answer why Dominic might want Fairbanks dead. Perhaps he saw Kel'Thuzad perform some evil rites on Alexandros' dead body that Dominic doesn't want ever shared or revealed to the rest of the world?

Or, given Dominic's seeming interest in the original plague and the transformation from living to undead, maybe it's Fairbanks' undead state that interests him. In fact, Fairbanks is one of - if not the ONLY - absolutely "original" Scourge zombies left. He was infected, locked away in this tiny, hidden chamber, and has remained there ever since. He's been untouched by weather, free of manipulation by the Lich King...he is essentially a pure specimen. Maybe that's why Fairbanks wants him dead - not because of a grudge or to silence him, but to study him.

Finally, there's just one more thing about Dominic that struck me as unusual. When you return to him after slaying the elite Scarlet soldiers, he greets you with "Let's not play games. Are they dead or not?" No games, Dominic? You sound a bit like a certain someone else...someone who likes to say "I've no time for games."

I speak, of course, of Sylvanas.

And what do you know, she's got this new habit of disguising herself as regular Forsaken foot soldiers to accomplish things that "the Banshee Queen" cannot. And she's also got quite the recent interest in the reanimation and revivification of the dead.

Is Dominic actually the Dark Lady in disguise? If so, why does she want the Compendium of the Fallen? And why does she want access to a man who was infected by original Scourge and has been "preserved" ever since?

Ah, wait. Never mind, I forgot our arrangement.

No questions.

15 Responses Subscribe to comments

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    I never considered that he might be a disguised Sylvanas. Perhaps he isn't Sylvanas, but one of her underlings, maybe? How about the Blood Elf Death Knight who I can't remember the name of?

    Were that the case, though, I don't see why the Forsaken wuoldn't launch their own assault on the Scarlet Crusade. There's bodies up there; why not use them?

    No, I find it more likely that this guy is from a seperate faction. It not only makes more sense, to me, but it's much, much more interesting. What if he is a third party? What if he is working for the remnants of the old Apothecarium?

    Could they be making a comeback? Let's not forget that these Apothecarium guys have some friends in both the Venture Co. and, as revealed at the Wrathgate, The Burning Legion. What happens if they make another move?

    Interested to see where this goes.

    August 22, 2011 at 10:31 AM

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    I haven't encountered this guy. However I was still intrigued to read on.

    Whether or not any of the speculation is true, there is always the suspicious and mystery.

    I really enjoy these 'detective' style posts. Gives the game we love so much more depth!

    - Jamin

    August 22, 2011 at 11:23 AM

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    As always, *awesome* stuff here! I'm taking an alt to SM as soon as I get home tonigh, lol.

    August 22, 2011 at 11:50 AM

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    She wouldn't even be lying when she says "I serve no master", because in her case that is true. If it's her in disguise the whole thing makes some sort of sense actually, I think I'm going to cling to that theory.

    August 22, 2011 at 12:29 PM

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    Fairbanks strikes me as a political target. He has been scourged, cured and then demonstrably re-infected/raised for a second time (only the second time?) since we encounter him as undead in SM. Sylvannas has a strong interest in people remaining undead in perpetuity -- or at least in representing undeath as irreversible. If Fairbanks escaped the monestary, he would be a powerful spokesman against this pillar of undead identity.

    Why doesn't Dominic want the crusaders to see you kill Fairbanks? He "strongly prefers" that you kill Fairbanks out of sight so it's not necessary but the implication is that it would not be ideal if the killing were witnessed. If the crusade knew that he had died, he might be eulogized. His personal history would be told. It would stir up the dust and recall a history that would be inconvenient for Sylvannas.

    It seems inconclusive to say whether Dominic is Sylvannas but this quest seems like it certainly serves the Dark Lady's interests -- much as plague research and weakening the Crusade do. Dominic might not serve a master directly but his objectives are not those of an individual undead acting on his own.

    August 22, 2011 at 1:14 PM

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    I literally just found this the other day. As a lore-hound I love stuff like this and I think you have a VERY valid point. Odd that she'd pick a male character to mimic but hey, she can do what she wants.

    I think ultimately we're all going to have to deal with this story line in a way unpleasant for her.

    Fill us in if you come up with anything new.

    August 22, 2011 at 1:37 PM

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    I always considered him the replacement for the old Horde/Alliance questgivers for the Compendium of the Fallen. Hmmm, you've got something there, Rades...

    August 22, 2011 at 4:37 PM

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    I've been leveling and ran across Dominic and your post has totally got me thinking...cant wait to get back to The monastery!!!

    August 22, 2011 at 7:02 PM

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    Talk about hiding in plain sight. What a great piece of lore that also leaves a whole bunch to speculation and deduction.

    Viva la Dominic!

    August 23, 2011 at 3:50 AM

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    What part of "No questions asked" did you not understand?


    Oh, and don't tell a soul I was here. No questions.

    August 23, 2011 at 11:07 AM

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    Dammit Rades. You raise all these questions and possibilites and now the suspense is killing me. I always read the last page of a book first(yes I'm one of those), and here I just have to wait and see.

    August 23, 2011 at 9:53 PM

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    When first reading this, I got the impression that Dominic is actually a member of the Scourge. Kel'thuzad's musings and rituals would be a potent weapon for recreating the Scourge. Not only that, he's not affiliated with the Forsaken at all during the Monastery's quests.

    Regarding the gas mask, I'm sure that by now that the majority of the Scourge know of the plague used during the Wrathgate. Perhaps Dominic is afraid the Forsaken will plague the Monastery and he'll get caught up in it? That would certainly throw a wrench in his plans.

    Fairbanks is another issue. Perhaps his cure from undeath and then re-undeadification made him immune to Sylvanas' and the Royal Apothecary Society's plague? Or maybe that's just an uncertainty in Dominic's mind that justifies taking care of him. So he just wants to make sure nothing's left of the Crusade, which has persecuted the Scourge just as much as the Forsaken.

    Just my take on this.

    August 26, 2011 at 2:30 PM

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    F this shi. The MTF rogue trainer at the Sepulchre deserves your attention.

    August 26, 2011 at 6:42 PM

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    Dominic might be working for Balnazzar. All of the now undead members of the Scarlet Crusade are under his control in Stratholme, and Dominic could be one.

    The book would be his property and he wants it back. Killing the still-living remnants of the Scarlet Crusade would fit his current plan. Getting rid of Fairbanks could just be cleaning things up since Fairbanks is not under his control.

    August 30, 2011 at 6:22 AM

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    Lues Jenkins

    Quit hating on Sylvanas!! LOL!

    August 30, 2011 at 9:40 AM