Emperor Dagran Thaurissian: You can bluster all you want, Envoy, but the Shadowforge Empire is under no obligation to open it's doors to you just because you demand it.
Gnomegeran Special Envoy1 Bannydill Finewrench: I wasn't aware that I was blustering. Gnomegeran is the only nation apart from your orcish allies to be willing to even entertain the concept of diplomatic relations with the Shadowforge, I merely advised that you bear that in mind.
Dagran Thaurissian: Please. We both know that when Magni the Magnificently Stupid finishes lathering up his people to support him in his war of aggression, Gnomegeran will march right alongside Ironforge.
Bannydill Finewrench: And we both know that the reason you're not willing to let us look for Moira Bronzebeard is because you have her and want to keep preteding you don't. Unfortunately for you, I'm the only gnome in Gnomegeran who hates playing word games.
Dagran Thaurissian: Good. Then get out. Bring your war - it will be your people, and Bronzebeard dwarves that die by the score. The Dark Iron will make you pay rivers of blood for every inch of land. Even Ironforge does not have that many people to spare. And your people certainly don't.
Bannydill Finewrench: Bold words, Dagran. I recall reading that one your ancestors said much the same thing. I don't recall his ambitions working out for him either.
The War of the Three Hammers left no one satisfied. The Bronzebeards who had nominally won the war found the victory a bit hollow. Yes, they'd taken control of the core areas of the Kingdom, and won the allegiance of the most clans, with more population and wealth than those who had fled with the Wildhammer and Dark Iron, but they'd lost half the territory of the Kingdom in the bargain, and the Dark Iron and Wildhammer both still claimed that the Bronzebeards had no right to the throne.
Of course, if the Bronzebeards found their victory hollow, both the Wildhammer and the Dark iron found their defeat infuriating. Neither clan nor their allies liked the new reality, and both wanted to resume the war as soon as they were ready, to take what was rightfully theirs. Unfortunately, though both sides tried to resume their old alliance, recriminations, mistrust and accusations back and forth quickly destroyed such efforts - less than a year after signing the Treaty of Three Hammers, the Dark Iron and Wildhammer severed relations with one another. Ultimately, it was pride - neither side was willing to let the other one be king, once the war was over. They'd managed to set it aside during the first war... not so now, it seemed.
Still, even as Arkador Thaurissian and his wife Modgud plotted to achieve victory over the Bronzebeard, the original plan was to save the Wildhammer for last. The Wildhammer and the Bronzebeard hated each other too much for the Wildhammer to leap to their aid. Not until it was too late.
And that plan might have worked. But in their search for greater arcane power so they might win against the Bronzebeards, the arcane-wielding clans delved too deep.
Literally.
In Azeroth's past and on countless worlds beside, those who delved too far into the arcane invariably found the Fel. They moved from the orderly magic, the blues and purples of the Arcane, to the far more powerful, destructive and unstable green fire of the Fel.
But not the Dark Iron. Instead, they found, in the deepest parts of Blackrock Mountain, an area where the walls between the Firelands and Azeroth were thinnest - where conjuring elementals of flame was barely any expenditure of energy at all. Keeping them, and commanding them remained a drain of mana, but the calling was always the easiest part.
But as the Dark Iron quickly tried to make up their numbers with masses of fire elementals, they drew the eye of Ragnaros. Showing an almost uncharacteristic subtlty, Ragnaros tricked the Dark Iron into what he called an Alliance, but what he most certainly did not see as one. He helped them on conjuring and in commanding their bound elementals, but the real danger he created lay in the second thing he told them.
The Dark Iron had found scraps and inklings of their Titanic origins, but there was so much they didn't know. Ragnaros, being a being as old as Azeroth itself, fed them an elaborate series of lies about the birth of the Dwarves. Even Arkador Thaurissian assumed that Ragnaros's claims that the Dark Iron clan were the 'purest' form of the original dwarves was nonsense, but it perhaps tricked him into thinking he'd found the flattery and he believed much of the rest. The Dark Iron did not summon Ragnaros to Azeroth yet, but their efforts only thinned the walls more, and let Ragnaros's influence slip into the world more and more.
But the rewards... the soldiers, the fires of the forges burning hotter than ever as their soldiers were armored in armor of the strongest steel, as they blacked their weapons with flame to bind the heat of Blackrock Mountain's depths into their hammers and axes and swords...
They listened to Ragnaros. He had an ulterior motive, he wanted to spread the power of his fire, True Fire throughout Azeroth once more. And the Dark Iron were more than happy to oblige.
And so when Ragnaros told Arkador and Modgud, and their inner circle, that a weapon created by the powerful beings that had shaped the dwarves from rock and dirt and given them life lay within their reach, sealed away in an ancient trollish tomb by Gurubashi many thousands of years ago...
Well, Xal'atath wasn't a particularly
dwarvish name for a weapon, but it rightfully belonged to a dwarf, not sealed away by trolls that couldn't use it and had been scared of its power.
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It was, of course, all lies. Xal'atath quickly got it's hooks into Modgud, and through her, into Arkador. Arkador's son and heir, Caladon was less enticed, but he found himself more and more shut out of discussions the more he voiced that opinion.
What exactly Xal'atath whispered in Modgud's mind is unknown, but it was those whispers, and the assurances Modgud gave that made the Dark Iron decide to rework their plans.
They would not launch all their forces against the Bronzebeard first. For had not the Wildhammer starved the Dark Iron, during the war? Had they not pulled their forces away from critical positions, at critical moments? The Wildhammer were just as much to blame for their loss in the war as the Bronzebeard, weren't they?
It took three years for the Dark Iron to be ready - even the most generous timetables had assumed it would take ten for them to be even slightly ready to launch a new war, before they 'found' Ragnaros, and Xal'atath. But greed, and pride, and ambition and the power they believed they had at their hands...
The Wildhammer and Bronzebeard had of course not been still or silent in those three years, but they too had planned for a longer time to get ready. Even the more populous and wealthy Bronzebeards and their allies had expected to take at least ten years - they had planned from the start to attack both the Wildhammer and Dark Iron together.
The Wildhammer's plans extended to little more than blockading Ironforge and the rest of the underground cities into submission. They saw no need to go back into the tunnels. They would claim the surface, and spend a generation or two starving the Brozebeard into submission.
But they too knew that such a plan required preparation. And the Dark Iron would need a different solution, as their command of the arcane would make blockade less effective.
Instead, of course, without formal declaration of the resumption of hostilities, Arkador and Modgud Thaurissian attacked the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer simultaneously - quite literally, they used magic to ensure that they communicated right up until the last moment. Soldiers, mages and elementals swarmed over the outer defenses of both their rivals - the Wildhammer were quickly overrun, and soon Grim Batol was already under siege. The Wildhammer ace in the hole, their griffons, proved to be useless against flying fire elementals, and massed mages ready to burn or blast anything with feathers from the skies.
The Bronzebeard proved to be a harder nut to crack. Though unprepared for the Dark Iron attack, and without shamanistic magic to at least provide some counter to the fire elementals swarming against their lines, the Bronzebeard had numbers, they had money, and they had the key defensive positions. Time and time again, the Dark Iron forces threw themselves at the Bronzebeard defenders. Time and again, they would succeed, pushing the enemy back - but only at great cost. They could always summon more fire elementals, but it took time, moving them from the depths of Blackrock to the front, and of course, they could hardly replace soldiers so fast.
Things seemed poised to be a failure - the Dark Iron strategy had assumed quick victories with overwhelming force. But then, calling on the magic of Xal'atath, Modgud was able to make the very shadows themselves attack the defenders of Grim Batol from within - this allowed her to break open the gates and lead her forces into the battle. The ensuing fight was bloodier than even the battles of the First Three Hammers War, but what little first hand records we have make it clear the balance of the atrocities were committed by the Dark Iron forces - the Wildhammer did massacre some captured prisoners, or the like, but either out of lack of opportunity, or lack of prediction, they committed far fewer sins.
The Wildhammer fought well, and they could hold in most places. But anywhere Modgud and her cursed blade arrived, the battle quickly turned, and though she could not be everywhere, she could be at just the right place...
But for some reason, at the last minute, as Khardros Wildhammer, in a desperate gamble, led his vanguard straight for Modgud, Xal'atath vanished, or failed Modgud, or even betrayed her. The details are disputed. What is known is that the shadows she had conjured fell upon the Dark Iron forces, and she fell to Khardros's strike. With her last breath, she conjured her considerable arcane might and laid a curse on Grim Batol - it took time for it to take effect, and be realized, but after the war, the Wildhamer found that Grim Batol was poison to any dwarf that tried to sleep within it's walls. And to this day, no dwarf has called Grim Batol home.
By the time word of his wife's death reached him, Arkador had managed to push all the way to the city of Ironforge itself. But by now, his forces were sapped. He could push no further. Where was Modgud? The Wildhammer were supposed to be beaten first, she should be here with her forces...
Word of her death broke Arkador, and word that the Wildhammer were coming with vengeance in their eyes, that all the forces sent to Grim Batol were dead...
He sounded the retreat. The Dark Iron fled, leaving their fire elementals behind to cover their retreat.
Khardros and Madoran met on the battlefield, destroying the last of this rearguard. In a famous moment immortalized in a dozen statues, poems, songs and even a famous painting (done by a High Elf artist) that hangs in the Ironforge Senate Chambers, the two leaders shook hands, surrounded by the disappointing husks of fire elementals.
There was bad blood, between the Bronzebeard, and the Wildhammer. But after the brutal surprise assault launched by the Dark Iron, there was a greater foe.
Arkador tried to make peace - he swore that if the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer tried to attack him in Blackrock Mountain, or his new capital of Thaurissian, they would pay a dear price for every inch. That his forces' magic would bleed them dry. He even offered to formally surrender any claim to the throne of Ironforge, and even the land that would become the Searing Forge, if he was left to independence and peace.
Of course, this was not taken. And despite his boasts, against the combined arms of the Wildhammer and the Bronzebeard, and all their allied clans, the Dark Iron were pushed back constantly.
And so, in a desperate gamble, Arkador gathered his greatest mages in Thaurissian, the heart of his power, the center of his magic. With a conduit to the Blackrock Depths at hand, Arkdador and his mages did the one thing they'd refrained from doing so far:
They conjured Ragnaros to this world to defeat their enemies.
To his credit, the Lord of Flame did indeed destroy the attacking Bronzebeard and Wildhammer forces. But first, he killed Arkador, and destroyed Thaurissian. Claiming Blackrock Mountain as his own, he completed the oath extracted from him when he was summoned (Arkador had not extracted an oath to
not kill him or his people), by the expedient of making Blackrock Mountain erupt.
Madoran and Khandros escaped with their lives, as did a small number of the attacking Bronzebeard and Wildhammer forces, but most died, buried under ash or burned by lava. The Burning Steppes and Searing Gorge were born.
A new peace was born. The Bronzebeard could not attack the Dark Iron - not over terrain so hostile, not for land so useless... not after all they'd lost. And the Wildhammer soon found that Grim Batol was lost to them. But showing a remarkable restraint, with both Arkador and Modgud dead, it was perhaps the case that revenge had been had. Khardros hated the Dark Iron, but he saw no need for vengeance. Not when it would cost his people even more.
Madoran did, but he could do nothing about it, and he failed to pass that burning,
personal hatred onto his successor. There was little love lost between the Bronzebeard and Dark Iron forever more, and to today, but revenge over old slights is a Dark Iron obsession more than an Ironforge one, at this point.
The years between the end of the Second War of Three Hammers - which wasn't formally ended until fifteen years later, when Madoran's barely adult grandson succeeded him - and the First War were... well, hardly uneventful, but not noteworthy. By now, the Wildhammer had ceded the Wetlands back to Ironforge, but maintained an independence, as many of them moved north, to Aerie Peak.
The Kingdom of Ironforge prospered, renewing old relationships, though the title of 'greatest power in the Eastern Kingdoms' slipped from their grasp and into Lordaeron's. A succession of capable Bronzebeard kings ruled until Magni came to power a few years before the Dark Portal opened.
When word of the strange invasion reached Ironforge, Magni was the ruler who came the closest to offering Stormwind aid. And unlike Terenas Menethil, it was not an advisor with honeyed words that stilled him, but the Senate of Ironforge.
With Stormwind not outright
asking for help, with other matters closer to home seeming more relevant, the Senate was unwilling to simply throw men and money at the problem. Stormwind seemed to think they had it handled, and so if they needed help, they could ask. Magni didn't entirely agree with that logic, but in the end, he decided to save his political capital for other things.
Word of the Sack of Stormwind would, of course, leave him to regret that. He spat in the face - literally - of the orcish ambassadors that offered peace for submission, and fought on the front lines to prevent the orcs from breaking into the Kingdom's core areas - the Wetlands and Loch Modan may have fallen, but neither Ironforge itself, nor Dun Morogh was ever truly in danger, the orcs simply not prepared for what it took to break through dwarven defenses When the Second War turned, Magni joined the Alliance enthusiastically, and Ironforge forces fought all the way to the end, and the Kingdom contributed men to the expedition beyond the Dark Portal.
In the wake of the Second War, Magni, learning his lessons from the First, pushed through new laws through the Senate that allowed him far more freedom with the Kingdom's military and foreign policy - never again would be let 'the Senate would make it too much trouble' stop him from acting when he felt it necessary. He did have to make a number of concessions in domestic authority, but it was acceptable.
His daughter, Moira, did not agree, and their shouting match was the talk of the city for weeks afterwards - Moira actually moved out of the Royal Palace at that point, to a manor of the Bronzebeard royal line on the outskirts of the Capital, and quickly began gathering a faction around her - those who saw the Senate as a drag on Ironforge, or had any other issues with the cultural orthodoxy in power in Ironforge (including dwarves who had an interest in the arcane, which was slowly growing again among a counter-culture in Ironforge society).
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Muradin and Bann, brothers to Magni for their part, took advantage of the new peace, and the opened lines of trade and knowledge offered by the Alliance to form the
Explorer's League. A longtime ambition of both brothers had been to explore the furthest reaches of the world. Find the lost magics of ancient times, knowledge of the world before the modern races emerged. An endeavor like this would be most expensive, and so they set their sights smaller, to start. Something simple, but flashy, to attract attention, perhaps something they could sell.
This legendary runeblade, detailed in a book recently uncovered in the darkest parts of the Royal Library of Lordaeron seemed like a good place to start. Countless human noblemen would pay through the nose for an enchanted sword with the pedigree of this Frostmourne, right? It wasn't where they
really wanted to go, but it seemed a good start. With that money, they could convince the Senate and investors from all over the Eastern Kingdoms to fund them more.
While Bann remained behind to continue to gather more funds, potential targets and research, Muradin took as many men and supplies as he could afford north, to the frigid continent at the end of the world.
When word of undead in Lordaeron reached Magni, he used his new power to dispatch many soldiers and war machines north, to every cause he could. To the aid of first Arthas and his effort, then to Terenas in trying to restore order, then to Jaina to defend and evacuate her refugees, and then finally to Garithos. News of Muradin's death was a tragedy, and he would later use that grief to forge Ashbringer, during this time.
But the Senate, despite having given him the power to do this, kept jostling his elbow. Perhaps he was being a bit
too quick, to throw men and materiel at everything? Garithos was a racist and seemed to be fighting a losing battle, always going on the offensive and - did he just order the execution of Prince Kael'thas? And
all of his soldiers?
Even that was too much for Magni - he had no specific love for the newborn Blood Elves, though he certainly felt for their tragic loss, but Garithos's choice to execute Kael
and his men over what appeared to be nothing worth it was unconscionable and more importantly -
stupid. Unfortunately, by the time he could send orders to his men fighting alongside Garithos to withdraw unless Garithos was removed from leadership, Detheroc had already enslaved the entire force to his will... eventually, once they were freed, and the capital retaken, the dwarves largely returned home. Garithos was dead, and while Sylvanas didn't say their services were no longer welcome, it wasn't as if they were thrilled to fight alongside this undead elf, even if increasing numbers of surviving Lordaeronic humans were (though as noted before some of Garithos's men did flee east, eventually forming a key part of the Scarlet Crusade's forces).
Things stabilized, for now. Moira continued to gather the discontented around her, but she posed no real threat to Magni, and he remained certain that if he gave her time, she'd grow past this youthful rebellion.
The Alliance was reforged, and Ironforge renewed it's oaths and memberships - and with the Dark Horde and Shadowforge allies, it seemed all too likely that someday, war would come anew between the two cousin branches of dwarvenkind. Magni did not great the idea with much love - he even entertained hopes he could convince the Dark Iron to break from the Dark Horde. He did not love the Dark Iron, but they were dwarves. The Dark Horde deserved no such consideration - still proudly waving the bloody banner of the same Horde that had slaughtered Stormwind (even if they had no great love for the architect of that slaughter, Ogrim) - they didn't even deserve the cautious 'I'm fine with them as long as they stay far, far away' that Magni had for the Horde in Kalimdor.
But still. There was no urgency. There were skirmishes between Stormwind and the Dark Horde, but nothing truly serious, yet.
And then, when travelling near the Searing Gorge with her inner circle, likely looking for weaknesses she could use to try to score political points against Magni and the senate, Moira Bronzebeard was attacked. Their guards were slain, and her and her entourage taken captive. Investigation soon made it clear where she was, despite Dagran's repeated protestations of innocence:
She was in Shadowforge City, the heart of the Shadowforge Empire, and he would get her back.
The timetable for war had just moved up.
Perhaps Madoran had been right, to burn to one day bring justice to the Shadowforge.
Perhaps Magni could be the one to do just that.
1: Because of the current state of alliance between the Shadowforge Empire and the Dark Horde, no nation other than the Dark Horde has official relations (or embassies) with the Shadowforge. Unofficially all three goblin cartels have relations, and course they're happy to buy and sell from the Shadowforge and Dark Horde. Additionally, while Gnomegeran has never had *great* relations with the Dark Iron since the end of the Second War of the Three Hammers, relations always existed even during the Shadowforge's most isolationist periods. While Gnomegeran does not currently have any sort of embassy with the Shadowforge Empire or vice-versa, they do maintain certain backchannel communications, which is what this 'Special Envoy' is a part of.
2: Xal'atath being involved in this is seventeen different kinds of nonsense, but it is canon. I debated just removing it, but I can at least use this nonsense to explain another nonsense (namely, the Dark Iron dividing their forces to attack Ironforge and Grim Batol at the same time).
3: I'm borrowing a page from
ganonso 's book here, and squaring the circle of the shitty writing wrt to Moira and her 'abduction' by having her be an anti-Senate radical reformer, who basically wants to go the Absolute Monarchy route. There is a difference here in that in this 'verse, rather than being abducted five years ago and falling for Dagran in that time, she ended up falling for Dagran (and vice-versa) over the course of many years during a covert correspondence that began as a means to use Dagran against her father in some way. The 'abduction' was arranged for her to be taken along with her inner circle (all close allies that see things her way) so she and Dagran could finally marry. Dagran is counting on Ironforge and Stormwind to attack to rid him of the most Ragnaros-loyal soldiers and officers (who he is staffing the front lines with) and the Dark Horde, while he wraps up his plan to deal with Ragnaros once everyone is distracted by the war. He actually does have a good plan, and has already made contact with the Hydraxian Waterlords through Goblin Intermediaries. He just needs to get rid of more of the Ragnaros loyalists in a deniable way.
)
