I licked the blood of the Ogre chieftan of Deadwind pass from my claws, taking in the bowing forms of his clansmen and feeling as their souls connected to my own.
There had been little fanfare in the conquest, the Ogres were quick to bow after I slaughtered their leader, and with the offer of strength their loyalty was confirmed.
With the two tribes united I had little over a thousand ogres under my command. Considering Ogres size and relative strength it was a force to be reckond with.
A human force of ten times the size would falter at their approach if they chose to meet them in close combat.
With demons it would be considerably more closely matched even on even terms. However without human eyes on me I would be free to fight without holding myself back in most situations.
I would need it if I wanted to make the kind of headway I was looking for.
I sent several Ogres away in search of other tribes, as a means of spreading my own influence. Many Ogres would take the bait, offering their souls out to me in return for the strength I offer.
Without me to personally apply the blood runes around they would be relying on my patronage alone, but as my followers increased in number so too would the power I could bring to bear.
It was unlikely any would be joining my fold before we set to march, but that wasnt why I was expanding my influence as a wild god.
I spread my wings as the Ogres began to stand and began making their way to Vul'gul to await my command.
Jarg would command them well enough in my short absence, and perhaps take the time to learn a little more on how he would lead.
With the Ogres allegiance secured and my army all but ready to march into Outland there was only one last piece of preparation that needed to be settled before I left this world.
In the cover of night I flew the skies of Westfall, taking in the territory that belonged to me for the first time from the sky.
Rolling hills of green as far as the eye could see, human settlements rising up to take advantage of new opportunity.
Soon my eyes fell on my target. I had all but wiped it from the map when I first made landfall here, but the small village off the coast stood rebuilt and repopulated as if nothing had happend.
If I didn't now better I would say nothing had changed since a wraith laid waste to their small piece of land.
However my sharp eyes picked up on the more regimented patrols, and the stronger weaponry they wielded.
A dragon landed with a boom just outside the smattering of small huts, eliciting gurgled screams of terror from its inhabitants.
I laughed as the murlocs attempted to escape into the sea, tossing their weapons into the air as they did.
Corrupted roots tore themselves from the ground, wrapping around the legs and bodies of the fleeing creatures.
A murloc was a barely humanoid individual with a body resembling a fish without a tail, and arms and legs to replace it.
They infested the beaches of Azeroth, inhabiting small villages in every corner of the world.
They were well adapted creatures capable of surviving under water or on the surface, and they could live by the ocean or by lakes and rivers.
They were only on average as strong as gnomes or human children, however they made up for it in cunning and sheer capacity to breed.
Murlocs bred in incredible number, and quickly too. It would only take a few weeks for a murloc to grow from an egg to physical maturity.
They also tended to lay eggs in large quantities, and if not for their relative weakness they would be a considerable threat to Azeroths safety.
As it was people considered them a nuisance and a danger to passing merchants and local villages.
However they were surprisingly intellegent, and had souls just like most humanoids.
I let the roots rot away from the legs of a nearby murloc, snatching him in my claws carefully as he attempted to escape.
Unlike Ogres murlocs had no common languages with humanoid races, and they often spoke in dialects of their own langauge. Mrglish or something.
That made things somewhat harder for me, but as my runes began to form around his skin, etching into his flesh I found myself doubting that would be a problem.
Murlocs were of a special interest to me, their adaptable nature making them easy targets for bloodmagic.
The murloc I held squirmed as more and more runes burned themselves into his flesh, but he did not die.
I had little time to mess with his biology, but it was easy to increase his strength and aggression, forcing the magic to corrupt him into a larger size.
When I finally allowed him onto the ground he had grown from four feet tall to around six and a half and his already jagged teeth thinned to needle-like points.
His flesh had paled from a bright green to white, clashing strongly against the blackened tatoos now covering his form.
His eyes had whitened to the point I would have been certain he was blind if his head wasnt tracking my movement with interest, looking right at me.
I kept my eyes on him as he silently observed the changes to his body.
When he looked back at me I could tell he was confused, but after a few moments of eye contact he fell to his knees, before groveling at my feet.
His strange soul quickly merged with my own.
When I was certain the Murlocs were getting the message I began to let them free, and as one they approached my form, falling to their knees just as their compatriot had.
They gurgled amongst themselves as I bestowed my blessing, speaking in hushed tones of me.
With them connected to me I had something of an understanding of their thoughts and ideas.
When all had been converted to my cause I left them with the message of spreading my faith to others of thier kind, starting with those within Elwynn forest. They were to crusade against thier kind, bringing all they could into my servitude.
They were to avoid contact with humans, attacking them onsight but not seeking them out, building their strength from attacking and preying on other tribes.
Considering their new size I doubted it would be a problem.
With my message established I took to the air again, taking a few hours to enjoy my land.
I had little intention of keeping this place as my primary base of operations any longer, and It could be over a year before I lay eyes on it again.
Soon I would have a new place to study, and to grow.
Outland was an icon of terror for many, but its valuable in so many ways.
It was a place to gather power and knowledge, and it was a place to retreat.
It would be difficult to manage, even for me, but If I succeeded in conquering Outland, perhaps under the guise of a different party, I would be in a position of power few could truly realize.
Outland was a barren waste in most places, but it had much to offer in mineral and magical wealth.
The territory was filled to the brim with portals to other worlds, most of which were under legion control, but a few were unknown and unafiliated.
It was practically a galactic level superhighway for any number of beings to traverse the cosmos, and it was a high value target.
Most importantly it was not Azeroth.
As time went on and my changes to the course of events began to affect the world more and more, I would find myself in ever increasing danger.
If someone aside from myself succeeded in conquering, destroying or consuming the world I would have a bastion of safety to fall back into.
The Dark Portal connected Azeroth to Outland, but it could be shut off or fortified. If the worst came to pass and my efforts failed I would be alive and well.
My first efforts on this world were for self preservation, and while my ambitions have expanded my priorities remain unchanged.
Even if everyone and everything falls, I will survive.
