High Inquisitor Fairbanks

High Inquisitor Fairbanks is an undead priest hidden in a secret chamber of the Cathedral in the Scarlet Monastery. Once the closest adviser of Alexandros Mograine, he saw the Highlord murdered by his own son and paid with his life for telling the story. Few players found him by accident: no quest sent groups to him in Classic, and his room opens only from a hidden switch. He is a level 40 elite, and he also plays a part in the story of the Ashbringer.

Background

Before the Third War, Fairbanks was a priest of the Knights of the Silver Hand and Highlord Mograine's most trusted adviser. In the Ashbringer comics, he is one of the companions who helped purify the crystal at the heart of Mograine's sword, alongside the mage who became Arcanist Doan.

Later, Mograine's elder son Renault lured his father and Fairbanks into a Scourge ambush near Stratholme. Fairbanks fell early but survived, trapped under the bodies of the dead, and heard Renault run his father through with the Ashbringer. He escaped and told anyone who would listen. Those who believed him broke away to found the Argent Dawn. The rest of the Crusade, now led in the monastery by Renault, executed Fairbanks for blasphemy and threw his body into a hidden room of the Cathedral. There it rose as one of the undead.

The original game called him the Crusade's former High Inquisitor, which suggests that High Inquisitor Whitemane took over the title after him. Later comics place his death before the Crusade was truly founded, a contradiction the game has never resolved.

Abilities

• Fear: sends one player fleeing in terror for a few seconds.
• Sleep: puts nearby players to sleep until they take damage.
• Curse of Blood: a curse that makes a player take more physical damage.
• Power Word: Shield: shields him against damage.
• Heal: heals himself.
• Dispel Magic: removes a beneficial spell from a player or a harmful one from himself.

Strategy

To reach Fairbanks, go behind the altar in the Crusader's Chapel to the prayer room on the right and use the torch on its wall. A hidden door opens to his chamber.

• He is a priest, so interrupts matter. Stop his Heal with Kick, Pummel, Shield Bash or Counterspell, and dispel or burn through his shield.
• Fear and Sleep scatter the group. Dwarf priests can use Fear Ward on the tank, and a shaman's Tremor Totem breaks the fear.
• His health is modest for an elite at his level, so a group that has just beaten Scarlet Commander Mograine and Whitemane rarely has trouble.

Loot

All three are uncommon (green) items: a cloth mantle with spell power, leather bracers with attack power and mail boots. When patch 1.10 raised most dungeon boss loot to rare quality, Fairbanks kept his green drops, and he still had them until patch 3.3.

The Corrupted Ashbringer event

Players who entered the monastery carrying the [[forever:item:22691]] from Naxxramas triggered a scripted event. The Crusaders in the Cathedral knelt before the bearer, and the ghost of Alexandros Mograine appeared to confront Renault. Fairbanks, his spirit freed, spoke at length about the history of the sword. Later comics replaced this story, so the event is no longer canon.

Later history

Mists of Pandaria (patch 5.0.4) rebuilt the monastery; Fairbanks's body still lies in his secret room. A living Fairbanks attends the Southshore meeting of the Silver Hand in the Old Hillsbrad Foothills of the Caverns of Time. Legion added his final testimony about Mograine's death to the Libram of Ancient Kings. The original encounter returned with World of Warcraft Classic in 2019.

Sources

• High Inquisitor Fairbanks, Warcraft Wiki
• Corrupted Ashbringer/Scarlet Monastery Event, Warcraft Wiki
• WoWDB NPC and loot data for patch 1.12