Players usually associate the name Prestor with Lady Katrana Prestor, the Stormwind adviser who was revealed to be Onyxia.
Long before her, Deathwing attempted a similar deception.
After the Second War, he appeared at King Terenas's court as Lord Daval Prestor: a young northern noble who had lost his lands in a dragon attack.
It was a very convenient backstory for a dragon.
More convenient still was the fact that no one had ever heard of this nobleman before.
Key Events
The Problem of Alterac
After the war, the Alliance had to decide what to do with Alterac.
Its king, Aiden Perenolde, had betrayed his allies and allowed the Horde to pass through his lands. Terenas placed the kingdom under martial law, but annexing Alterac outright would have been politically dangerous for Lordaeron.
The other rulers proposed solutions of their own.
Genn Greymane supported one of Perenolde's relatives. Thoras Trollbane wanted to divide the territory. Kul Tiras also watched closely to see who would gain a new sphere of influence.
Prestor quickly joined the field of candidates.
He was intelligent, charming, and somehow astonishingly persuasive.
That persuasiveness was not merely a matter of good manners. Deathwing used magic to influence the human rulers and push them toward the decisions he wanted.
A Crown and Calia Menethil
Before long, Terenas considered Prestor a suitable candidate for the throne of Alterac.
The plan went further: Daval was to be betrothed to Calia Menethil.
It would have given Deathwing an almost perfect position—a human kingdom of his own, an official title, kinship with House Menethil, and a place at the heart of Alliance politics.
He needed no army of black dragons circling the capital.
He could simply sit on the council and continue turning the allies against one another.
Calia was deeply unhappy with the proposed marriage. At the time, Terenas largely ignored her objections.
Dalaran Spoiled the Plan
The Kirin Tor regarded the new favorite with far more suspicion than the other rulers did.
Prestor's origins were murky, and Dalaran somehow remained excluded from important negotiations over Alterac.
Krasus—himself the red dragon Korialstrasz—investigated Prestor and eventually discovered who he truly was.
The political scheme began to crack.
Events at Grim Batol finally destroyed it. Deathwing was defeated and forced into hiding.
Once his influence over the human kings weakened, their former unanimity vanished. Prestor's background was investigated again, the questions multiplied, and the marriage to Calia was canceled.
The would-be king of Alterac simply disappeared.
Why Players Remember It
Daval Prestor is fascinating because he bears little resemblance to the Deathwing players know from Cataclysm.
There is no shattered armor, no lava, and no colossal dragon breaking continents. He works through court councils, other people's ambitions, and magical influence.
The plan came remarkably close to succeeding.
Terenas was prepared to make an unknown nobleman both a king and his son-in-law. Several of the most powerful rulers in the Eastern Kingdoms had grown comfortable with a man who, only a short time earlier, had played no part in their politics at all.
Much later, players would encounter the Prestor name again in Stormwind.
After Daval's story, they had every reason to treat it with suspicion.