The Plan
A necromancer, an acolyte, a mad scientist and a valkyrie walk into a bar. But instead of turning into a lame joke, they actually had important matters to discuss at one of Brill's few taverns that night.
Barghash, the necromancer and the only living human member of the Forsaken, leaned forward on his chair. "This place is too...public for a discussion like this," he said in a low voice. On the table in between all of them was a letter bearing the royal seal, though he moved to surreptitiously cover it with his hand whenever a stranger passed by their corner.
The mad scientist, an undead human who still had the ability to drink and exercised that ability to its fullest extent, waved his colleague's concerns away. "Nonsense; we've been granted an opportunity by the Dark Lady herself," Dr. Bunsenburger said as he scribbled illegible notes in his doctor's handwriting. "To be tasked with the raising of an entire battalion is a great honor."
The acolyte, an orc woman named Zulgha, appeared as relaxed as the good doctor. "Come on, there's nothing to worry about; we're doing this for the Forsaken army. Nobody will cause any problems..." From the corner of her eye, the orc shot the valkyrie a brief expression that was half mischievous and half mocking. "Not unless, you know, they're spying on us or something."
The lesser val'kyr frowned, but then quickly wiped the expression away. "I don't know why you're looking at me when you say that," Runa replied.
The orc put on an 'innocent' face that she knew would bother her winged colleague. "I wasn't looking at you."
For a few seconds, Barghash gave Zulgha a rather serious look, but then decided against saying anything. Whether the look had been enough to curb her antagonism or she'd chosen to ease up on Runa was anyone's guess. Bunsenburger was, as usual, oblivious to all of the world outside of his immediate interests.
"So let's see, here...Queen Sylvanas is requesting a contingent at least two-hundred personnel strong, but with full cover for both grounded and aerial combat...we are to land at Stormheim and sweep the entire continent westward before moving along to Suramar. She basically needs a cleanup crew."
Knowing that the good doctor knew little of military strategy, Barghash turned to face Zulgha. "I can handle the raising of fresh minions, but we'll need educated support as well..."
"I'll be on it," she replied, already anticipating what he'd wanted. "We have plenty of refugees here in Tirisfal who escaped the Cult of the Damned. I'm sure that within the generality of the Horde, we'll be able to find volunteers with...similar interest to ours."
Cautious and wary of the orc next to her, Runa tried to speak carefully to avoid any more verbal barbs. "I can help as well."
Zulgha opened her mouth to most likely make another cruel joke, but Barghash tactfully cut her off. "I'll be traveling to find the best fallen heroes we can raise; your talents would be useful."
Wary again, Runa paused as she tried to find the most delicate way to share her idea. "Well, actually...I had something else in mind. You see, the Queen had quite a few more of my fellows raised at the Battle of Andorhol. If I could bring more of my kind..." She paused again, this time for effect, and thankfully Zulgha actually looked intrigued rather than incredulous.
"That's...that would actually be much, much better," Barghash replied.
"If she can pull it off," Zulgha said. The fact that she'd said it so nonchalantly, without her usual higher tone when she was making fun of someone, bothered the valkyrie to no end. Fortunately for all of them, the good doctor's lack of situational awareness prevented an argument from starting.
"Good, good, we all know what we're doing then. We have three weeks before a heavy transport ship will arrive at the coast to take us to Stormheim. Let's get to work and make these three weeks count."
Barghash smiled grimly, infecting Zulgha as it spread and even helping Runa to relax a bit. "The restless dead await..." he said as he rose from the table.
