Lordaeron Turn 7
"Anderhol is but the beginning!" Dathrohan roared to the mass of cheering soldiers before him, "Soon, our armies, made ever stronger by our faith in the Light and by the fellowship of our allies, will sweep over this land like a bright flame! We will bright about our new world, a world of righteousness, a world of purity! Rise up my brothers! Rise up humanity!"
The army cheers again, their roars are heard across the valley, and you don't doubt even through the blight cloud around the ruins of the capital city, the Forsaken within might even be able to hear the roaring and clashing of weapon upon shield.
There are fewer and fewer of the blue coats among the warriors, you notice. Almost all the soldiers are wearing the red of the Scarlet Crusade, though perhaps some reds are more ochre or brown, rather than the glorious bloody coats of the Red Guards. There are a few Paladins in silver, a few Elves or Dwarves in other colours, but even the Crusades allies have begun to wear the same heraldry as the Crusaders do.
The army is preparing to march. Previously Dathrohan had been sending out patrols and small detachments to destroy Scourge holdouts across the Tirasfal Glades, unable to most his main host due to the unbreakable defences of the Undercity. Had he moved, the Grand Crusader risked his supply lines from the north, which might be assaulted by the Forsaken.
Now however, with your conquest of Anderhol, the situation is much changed. Supplies can instead be brought up through the passes to the south and Alterac, which though not necessarily friendly territory, is morso than Tirasfal, and Dathrohan now intends merely to leave a 'tripewire' force in place around the Undercity while the rest of his force moves on, pushing into the Plaguelands, as well as other locations.
Dathrohan continues speaking for a while as you stand there. You're a demonstration really, just like Prince Bran of Ironforge or a few elven emissaries, a show of solidarity against the Scourge. It's curious, you think, that Dathrohan calls upon his oldest supporters among the sceptics of the Alliance among his troops, those who followed Mograine and him at first, who upheld Lordaeron, rather than the policies of King Terenas Menethil who had advocated for an internationalist approach, setting Lordaeron not on it's own, but as the lynchpin of the Alliance.
But eventually the speech comes to an end, and you're summoned to Dathrohan's tent.
Alone, the Grand Crusader's manner is much different. You'd heard that he wasn't merely opposed to non-humans but actively hostile, yet speaking to him now you sense none of that. There's still the curious power behind his eyes, that same feeling you got from Tirion, presumably his abilities as a paladin, but otherwise he seems actually pleasant, affable even, the older man smiles, the sort of smile you'd expect from a tolerant patriarch.
"The Crusade has much to thank you for, Grok'mash Fireblade." Dathrohan begins, "Not only have you taken a powerful bastion, but you've demonstrated a previously unknown capacity. The Dwarves tend toward a slow sort of warfare, the Elves are faster yes but they fight lightly and retreat, and our own forces, save perhaps our cavalry, simply don't have the sheer individual power that you demonstrated at Anderhol. Taelan Fordring has reported much to me, and much more I've guessed, but again, I thank you, young Blademaster."
You bear your clan's banner proudly, and many of the paladins in the Crusade have approach you and even congratulated you, speaking of the honour and skill of the Old Horde's Blademasters, and how they'd welcome such an ally now. It brings you joy, a warmth deep in your heart, something to stir the soul, that your people, and your own skill, are so valued, even among your once-enemies.
"Tomorrow I intend to call a council." Dathrohan continues, "But I would first speak with you regarding several matters. Firstly, your value is clear, and I have ordered the quartermasters and arcanists to make themselves available to you, within reason. Equip yourselves as you see fit, you have used all that we've given you well."
"I thank you in turn," you reply cordially, "But what presses most on me is a lack of reinforcements, I have spoken previously on this matter with several people, but I would have orcs for my warband, not merely humans. There is value in the different skills, but our success comes also from our differences."
Dathrohan nods sagely, "That may be so, but let us speak of that another time. For now, I move to my second point: You have committed yourself to the Crusade, but your value may not necessarily lie in simple battle against the Scourge. Let me tell you what I plan, we must eventually seek entry to Naxxramas. From there Kel'Thuzad directs all the Scourge's forces in Lordaeron and beyond, and breaking that control is essential to our success. Whether we intend a full attack or merely a raid is something I've thought much on, but for our purposes now, we know that we'll need certain magical items and reagents to force a way inside the necropolis. The Kirin Tor have devised a way through the magical wards placed upon Naxxramas' rune portals, based on old tricks and study of Araj the Summoner's spellwork, another thing we have to thank you for."
"But the necessary reagents are unavailable?" you enquire.
Dathrohan nods again, "Indeed. Quite literally, a king's ransom in some cases. We require a large number of Arcane Crystals for example, which can only be found in the richest of Thorium veins south in Khaz Modan, and then only rarely. We don't have the resources to trade for such items, and even if we did, it serves us little to beggar ourselves and our allies when we could rather take such things from the Scourge. The Scholomance, the Scourge's school of necromancy, as well as the ziggurats of Stratholme are likely to have at least some of what we need, and I intend to assault these locations. You may be instrumental in this, you have proved at least that a smaller, more skilful and powerful force, might triumph where a legion cannot."
"You would have me lead my folk against these bastions?" you ask. Considering it, you'd be willing to do so, but it would be a heavy burden, you'd put your people into harm for an uncertain reward. But that was war after all. "If they are as formidable as you say, I will need reinforcements even more urgently."
"Perhaps." replied Dathrohan, "But as I say, you may have greater value in other locations, and against other foes, performing actions which my army cannot, for various reasons. In this way, you would free my own forces, allowing me to deploy them to these missions instead. We receive resupply from the south now, and our columns are beset by a lose confederation of bandits, traitors, and elements of the Alteraci military. My troops cannot track them well enough, and lack the strength to defeat their strongholds. There are orcish clans in Alterac, and you might serve us well in tackling this problem."
You reflect immediately that visiting Alterac was one of your secondary objectives on this campaign. Jubei'thos' last known location had been in Alterac, and you'd intended to track down his resting place, or at least he had before his resurrection. Would you be able to investigate this matter while tracking the bandits Dathrohan referred to? Perhaps not, and certainly your honourbound commitment to the Crusade overruled any personal matters.
"Comparably, you might journey to Arathi, where again the Syndicate hold certain areas, but more importantly there are ogre tribes, the Boulderfist, a curious name…"
"They were the first to emerge on Draenor." you supply, "Their foes, the Stonemaul were the second, they innovated by tying rocks to sticks instead of just holding them."
Dathrohan's eyes shine as he smirks, "How quaint! In any case, they've established settlements. I care little for them and their affairs, but we need the land, and they, and certain Orcish settlements in the area, threaten our hegemony over Lordaeron. This is our land, and you might prevent bloodshed in the removal of these groups."
You don't fancy your chances in diplomacy with ogres, but you supposed you could certainly try.
"Lastly are two more investigatory missions. To our west, Silverpine and Gilneas represent untapped resources and land we could use in our fight against the Scourge, and the recolonisation of Lordaeron after it's Scourging. Similarly, the High Elves remain aloof, despite their devastation, and again we could use their power in our war. Both Gilneas and Silvermoon are beset with troubles, and a small, flexible force could do much there."
Dathrohan sits back. "I want to move on Naxxramas within a year, longer than that will allow the Scourge to retrench itself, and our spoiling actions will become less and less effective. Some time will be taken travelling to whichever location you choose, but I anticipate several months of essentially independent action. I don't require a decision from you now, but I would have your choice at the council tomorrow."
Choose 1:
[ ] Plaguelands
The Warband has proven itself in special operations unachievable by most Scarlet forces, continue these actions, assaulting and infiltrating highly defended Scourge targets across the Plaguelands, battling to bring the war to a successful conclusion, and taking part directly in operations in the Scarlet's preparation to take Naxxramas.
[ ] The Syndicate
Turn southward to Alterac and Hillsbrad, pitting yourself against the bandits of the Syndicate, using the Warband's mobility and strength to defeat the numerous groups of rebels and former Alteraci soldiery. While in Alterac you might also investigate the Old Horde's holdings there, but this will not be your primary purpose.
[ ] Remnants of Draenor
The Boulderfist ogres, as well as numerous remnants of Orcish clans which hadn't gone west to Kalimdor with Thrall, inhabit the Arathi Highlands. The Scarlet Crusade desires their removal or neutralisation, and you feel best placed to achieve this.
[ ] The Howling
Silverpine Forest presents a relatively uncorrupted territory for the Scarlet Crusade to expand into, yet from all reports the forest is cursed. Similarly, Gilneas could prove extremely valuable to the Crusade if it's resources are deployed appropriately. Seek out the source of Silverpine's corruption, and try and get yourself through the Gilnean Wall to beg the aid of the dour folk who shelter there.
[ ] Shattered Sun
Quel'thalas, the Eternal Realm, lies broken and bloodied after the Scourge's invasion. Subsequently, Trolls have swept in from the Amani lands, and Dathrohan seeks both more information, and the resources of either or both parties in his war. Journey to that land and see what might be done.
[ ] Write in
You propose a different deployment for the Warband.
So having reached a natural conclusion to the middle part of Arc 2, we're going to do a mini arc away on an extended mission, which will be a little bit more narrative rather than the usual action choices etc. After that it'll be back to the Scourge War, and then finally Alterac to wind up the Lordaeron Arc, and then off presumably to some other place.
If you're doing write ins discuss them with me first. Grok came to fight the Scourge, so anything written in has to be in support of that.
Keep in mind the different reasons for particular places. There's Grok's own development, the prosecution of the Scourge War, and finally the greater good of Azeroth and it's peoples more generally. Obviously in some places there'll be particular advantages which can't be found in other places.
For the moment just discuss things, then I'll open voting tomorrow, which will remain so for about a week I think.
Note, I'm doing to be reviving my guideline of 10% of thread participation. There are at least a hundred of you actively watching this quest, I expect to see more than 4 people voting, which is what we had in Lordaeron 6. One of the things that really kills quests is a lack of audience participation. Imagine you were the DM of a DnD game and of your players, just no one said anything and you spend 3 hours just talking to yourself. So far this quest is being carried by 3 or 4 people, you can do better. If you want to just discuss stuff rather than necessarily making plans or voting, that's ok, but I do expect to see participation.
