Reviews:
Guest 1: Certainly would make them a lot more interesting and impactful than they are now. But it would depend on a number of factors, ultimately i doubt the Void Lords could be corrupted by chaos, now that doesn't mean they can't be tempted and side with Chaos, case and Point the Horned Rat who is a "Chaos God" despite the fact Skaven were a entirely seperate faction from Chaos and fit more in the same category as Orks and Ogres.
Guest 2: Yeah but she's well she's Alliance, their Dwarves are basically another flavor of human by this point. Blizzard screwed up and you can kinda see their less than half hearted attempts to give the Dwarves something that's truly stand out about them at least that isn't then entirely overshadowed by the mere existence of Gnomes and Draenei. So yeah, she's sort of blind to the whole reality of the Mallus Dwarves. Still thinking of them like Azeroth Dwarves complete with the logic of if "humans then dwarf".
Though i remember my friend rarely spent the points to give his miners heavier armor instead wanting to ensure they arrived where he wanted them, complete with blasting charges. Because nothing is more annoying than having your ratling guns/ungors/Black Knights suddenly hit by a bunch of bombs from freaking nowhere.
Guest 3: Well Tzeentch has, best way to put em is 'friends' fellow schemers and trolls from the order pantheon who he occasionally works with, typically against his fellow chaos gods or just to dick over a particular person/people. He'd certainly LOVE to make friends with N'zoth even if in truth they are enemies but still why not be friends with your enemies if just to troll the world.
Meanwhile the Gods who envy or want Chaos power typically tend to be incompetent little shits. *dodges a smite thrown at me by my beloved Great Horned Rat* So we can expect N'zoth to intentionally or unintentionally make things far far worse, before even adding himself to the equation.
Guest 4: Oh they'll be important...at this rate of asking they'll be about as vital to this story as they were to the end times.
Guest 5: Fret not friend, Guild 'Slayer Gotrek Gunnisson a" is currently contacting Blizzard about Guild Complexity Limit's false claim to being the first to defeat N'Zoth. Apparently they have witness and paper documentation to show that they defeated the Ny'alotha, the Waking City raid weeks before hand. However Blizzard's legal team is currently questioning claims that Gotrek rejected Xal'atath, and instead "beat the shit out of some prissy Arabayan before using N'zoth to beat the shit out of some player named 'Belakor'." They also doubt the claims that a man in full military camo and weilding a massive machete burst in screaming and used the "AAAAAA" on the text scroll from his screaming to beat N'zoth to death. They also then doubt that the man used a void portal to return to a realm full of laser guns. However for fear of the Axe weilding dwarf currently glaring at them the Blizzard legal team and mods are currently still looking into the matter though they doubt they can find anything since these claims are from before the release of patch 8.3.0 and whose date bases off the odd accents of those making it may have been dates to before the release of patch 8.2.5.
JiggyliFAP: There be some major reasons i chose to break the story up into seperate parts. There be a lot of players, and as a certain song would say, "everybody wants to rule the world" so lets let them find us acting on our best behavior (looks at my next response...quietly looks away) and turn our backs on mother nature.
Morbidly-A-Beast: Crikey ...look out he's angry.
Let me reiterate. RPG's perform a common mental trick on players to make faux bigger settlements than they actually have in game, you can even see this all the way back on the super nintendo, and you can see this in WC3, and WoW, yet not in Theramor. Whats more Theramor is located in a spot where "just make it bigger" doesn't work, and Blizzard's own offical Bullcrap all present the Island as being a comparable size to what's in game. Even lone Alliance Guard Towers, a single lone building that's supposed to represent a whole military encampment has "cleverly" placed clutter to pull off this mental suspension of disbelief mind trick that has been around since Super Mario. But not Theramor and most it's "clutter" clearly wasn't placed with creating the mental illusion of more life and activity than what is present but instead it's clutter instead presents us with the mental illusion of a mostly empty military encampment. ironically post Bombing, Theramor looks like it could have more happening than before it got bombed.
And sorry if this irks, I'm a every weekend for multiple decades straight mutli-game multi-system Game Master. you gave me a chance to be an ass, ingrained instincts take control. but to give a little perspective here, i rejected Blozzards pick and choose "thats the story we wanted to tell" BS because well then fine, i choose That the Alliance's shown manufacturing capabilities, possession of tank production, and rifle production has existed for far longer than the Horde's so all Footmen and melee idiots are now dead, and the Horde has been crushed by an endless wave of tanks that Ironforge had years to produce unhindered. The biggest foe WoW as a setting has, is Blizzard's writing staff with the sheer number of plot holes they deliberately make even at the expense of pre existing stories and characters and all the disregard of what's present. So while the RPG book says 10k population, and WC3 showed a whole Venice type situation, the most recent out of game content shows...a single small lonely island with seven ruined buildings and a wall all with moderate structural damage.
Dragon King of the West: It was fun to write, i was getting worried wondering if all the hints were too subtle or too blatant. But i guess i was right to go with "can't see the forest for all the trees". And a lot of people are going to start dying soon, and for those wondering we may will finally get our insights into what happened in my other as of yet to be written story of what happened on Azeroth during all this time.
BloodRedRoses11: Thankyou for reviewing. always good to hear from someone who seldom reviews, gives me a opening to Troll or simply enjoy the moment. And in this case it's just nice to know that a long planned plot twist was well recieved, because I decided on this all the way back when I decided to not have her get taken by Aleksandr.
OscuroSignore-51: I think your undervaluing N'zoth, especially since Blizzard attributed basically all the smart shit the Old Gods have done, and, rounding up, a quarter of the Legion's smarts to him (and he's not even on their side)...they just unfortunately felt the need to dumb him down "because the audience isn't nearly as smartererer den wez are" as the Blizzard writing staff are blown away by such brilliant lines such as "Don't believe in yourself, Believe in the me who believes in you!" and "people die when they are killed." and had to stop and ponder at what the line "I'll be back" could have possibly meant.
in other words any Good character can be reduced to such levels of mental deficiency that those with mental issues would be insulted, by writers who drastically over estimate their own intelligence and assume their audiences mental inferiority. And Blizzard suffers both from that and what i'll call Boss Rush Syndrome. As games that tend to focus on events, dungeons, levels etc that are more focused on getting players from one boss to the next cutting out the level(s) and story in-between tend to strip any and all nuance from their characters and it just becomes "player beat boss, boss dies, player can't kill boss, boss is God, Mcguffin lets player kill boss." and of course the story reward for killing a boss is sidelined for well getting a better boss to fight or a cool reward for winning, fuck the story.
Now N'zoth is a God, and there are plenty of Gods in Warhammer who can use the powers of the warp and Chaos and be fine, like the Horned Rat who is NOT a chaos God...dumbest decision GW ever made was to strip the Horned Rat of his duel position like that. The Horned Rat is actually from what AoS calls the "destruction" "Grand Alliance" but he envys and steals from the Chaos Gods. Sure this makes Clan Pestilence and many other elements of his children sus, but in WHFB he amd the Skaven are a distinctive seperate force and the Horned rat is actually kinda weak...like him vs Sargeras id actually give it to Sargeras since Sargeras might actually win before the auto defeat cutscene makes it so he auto loses. Hell if the entirety of the Wild Gods teamed up they MIGHT beat the Horned Rat...but sugger the Obligitory mass deaths and require that mortals do their job for them. But a freed Old God could completely punk the Horned Rat, much like Urson, a stupid Dog, and a nude man with impeccably well oiled pecks do on the daily.
That said, by acting through mortals N'zoth doesn't have a very good hand to play. But on the schemer bit, at least on the judgement of outcomes from the schemes I'd put him prettt close since Tzeentch's plans are developed to be self defeating due to the fragile nature of Tzeentch's future existence until he can ascend past God hood.
Hakuryuu: Ah good with findinf that first part, and neat to see someone took interest in the numbers.
Sadly Khornes Strategic Genius (because the guy isn't god of morons he's a fucking wargod, every time you play a Strategy wargame on a PC you're worshipping him...every time you hack a game to cheat you're worshipping Tzeentch) Predicted the Azerotheans tactics and he prepared a proper ambush. And what better ambush than a summoning ritual for a deep strike army planted alllll around the victims.
But fret Not Hakuryuu a true Chaos invasion is not yet underway, Khonre's just the first God to try his hand at it solo. Of course this is barring the assumption that Tzeentch has already had his hand in a number of other events.
As for Kyn'ra well she's still in a frozen lake in the Norscan mountains. As for the "He not Good at manipulation" He played Azshara like a fiddle, like everyone watches her Warbringers video, and either through Blizzards typical subpar understanding of mental manipulation, or someone actually being smart. They hit on the exact way you play a egocentric, magnanimous, ball of ambition. Azshara was granted her own survival and allowed to keep the title of Queen...so she stayed in the exact same spot she already was at but now wasn't dying, while N'zoth gained the Naga, a powerful Queen and all as servants who while under his influence are also capable of taking independent actions that will ultimately still benefit him. And he would later gain the Satyr. Basically dude had armies made of hapless idiots he collected...now the problem for him was...well Blizzard's writing, after all "United badguys, competence from the badguys and those vile evil...i mean from the Horde Goodguys? Badguys with a plan that works that doesn't involve getting beat by a new boss rush...I mean dungeon raid? NEVER!"
But you strip out the boss rushes and look for tactics and politics...well he's sadly by far the most brilliant individual on Azeroth...I mean it's not saying much when they consider Varok a competent commander worthy of anything other than summery execution after his performance during the Ahn'Qiraj War, like even the wiki very deliberately skips the portions of the war that happened when the gates opened and go straight to invading the temple city. And if I have to give leeway to that walking definition of a tactical moron, a individual whose face should be plastered right next to Grigory Ivanovich Kulik, George McClellan, and Douglas Haig under the catagory of "too dumb to know what war is and incapable of learning even from first hand experience." Then i certainly have to give leeway to what should have been one of the most brilliant foes Azeroth ever had to offer, emphasis on Brilliant, not dastardly or underhanded. Being intelligent and being dastardly are seperate things.
But as for Kyn'ra's new form...muahahahaha.
DragonANGL: Ah the Good ol new character skin/design/actor mystery wondering how they'll look afterwards.
micelzod: Gods can be fooled, or can make fools of themselves.
But we will have to see what sort of heroes, monsters and new creations start showing their faces as everything goes on.
AReader: While I've been talking up N'zoth there's no way in hell his plan will go how he wants. Even beyond his self defeating nature, Tzeentch can't even hope to manipulate magic, Chaos, and everything the way he wants to and the fucker possesses the Well of Eternity and isn't in a setting with time traveling douchebags. N'zoth has maybe months of experience in that field on Mallus at best.
As for the Maw idk, there seems to be less intrinsic power to souls in Warcraft. Like Wisps are only capable of being made from Elves, and even then that's being generous, and a wisp is about as capable as a spirit in a spirit host. Meanwhile any farmer or farmer's wife can be killed and made into a spirit in a spirit host. Now there's a lot of splitting of hairs and minutia to go over, but Demons and all those other post life beings seem rather unconcerned about souls and the power there-in they can gain. Instead the focus in on living/unliving mortal puppets, even the Mournblades didn't consume souls so much as steal a portion of the soul (suck it all mighty mournblades Bloodletter Hellblades do more than you) to use to control the rest of the spirit. So i think on Azeroth the souls of species who aren't prone to magic addiction probably don't retain much of the essence which Demons, Gods, the afterlife realm itself can feed upon. Another way to think of it, Souls on Azeroth are AI programs without a computer and power they are worthless. Comparatively in WHFB the living consciousness attached to a soul is something that's either used to increase the power output of a soul, or is to cast aside or just allowed to fade while drawing out the power or recycling the essence.
Even the anima of souls in WoW isn't the product of the soul itself but rather the lingering power of the soul's living actions, which in WHFB and WH40K isn't shown to have as much value in the warp as a sacrified soul. Otherwise the Chaos Gods wouldn't demand sacrifice and rather demand actions. But this creates another interesting question for writing or at least theory crafting, if the souls of mortal beings on Azeroth likely don't carry that much power, but the power of magic is still significant, and as N'zoth seems to think convertible from one sittings type to a comparable type on the other world. Then what might the Chaos Gods then want to take from Azeroth to feast upon?
Agreement
The mid-day sun hammered down on the camp and all of Mordheim. All across the army men worked, waited, and gossiped among themselves. And while this happened two Bright Wizards focused their talents on melting the frozen barrier that had placed itself on the border between the worlds. Natural heat had already done much of the work, but it was still impossible for armies let aline individuals to cross through the disturbingly large portal. With the two Bright Wizards work though the portal should still be mostly open by the end of the day.
On but watching the portal opening wasn't of concern to Shandris at the moment instead she had gathered most of the leaders of the arrayed Imperial forces together and now she needed to help determine their chain of command. And then from there they would march on Azeroth.
So Shandris stepped into the large Imperial tent that had been prepared for the various Captains, Battle Wizards, Warrior Priests, Inner Circle Knights, and Master Engineers of the Empire. The atmosphere seemed to be infused with a muted tension. Everyone there eyed the others with a mixture of suspicion and suspected rivalry. And Shandris had make these people agree to a single leader among them to lead alongside her.
"Alright, as I'm sure many of you suspect this army that's been gathered doesn't have a general who has been assigned to it by the Empire. As such we will need to determine who among you will serve alongside me as the commander of your army and the rest of your chain of command." Shandris began placing herself in front of the assembly of over fifty of the top ranked Imperials and Mercenaries.
With Uydron and Aethalas both at her side already evaluating, Shandris continued. "As Azeroth is a very diffrent world from the one we are in now, we will need to evaluate many factors in determining who would best..."
Shandris' speech about the need for a Commander of the army to be flexible and capable of coordinating forces over a wide area was cut short as new voices interrupted. "Before that, what is the objective for our army? Which enemy force, fortress, or city do you plan to put us against?" The voice was that of the Dark Lady of Nuln, Elspeth von Draken who stood to the back, the bags under her eyes doing nothing to dimish the intensity of her stare.
Shandris took only half a second to collect herself and prepare to respond but before she could speak another voice, that of Hans Leitdorf, Grand Master of the Knights of Sigmar's blood, joined Von Draken's in dissent. "I agree. Depending on what you intend to use this army for would make a significant difference on which individuals would be better suited to lead."
At this Shandris scowled. "It's uncertain what the exact situation on the other side of the portal is. The worst case I can imagine being probable is that the Horde is possibly contesting the portal now and is sieging Teldrassil if not occupying part of it. But it's just as probable that we've counter attacked and pushed deep into Horde territory. Either way the war on Kalimdor would have highly diverse terrain depending on which way the war is going, and will focus more on small unit tactics and small raids." Many of the Captain's seemed to look among eachother as Shandris shared this.
However Hans Leitdorf seemed undeterred. "Yes, so what will our objectives be? Destoying enemy supply camps? Taking crucial forts along their roads? Counter Siege? Releif forces? Pitched battle? If we know which of these we were doing, we could probably know who to turn to so as to put in command."
After a moment of silence from the Night Elves more of the Imperials started to speak up. Somw of them were dissenters with a clear disdain of the mission, others however were trying to force certain decisions or perhaps attempting to provide helpful advice.
It was then a powerful voice cut into the growing din of the tent. "If you are a man of Sigmar's Empire you will be silent and listen, if not then you will be silent or receive my hammer. I came here not for the discord of fools, I am here solely to serve Sigmar's will and Sigmar's will alone. And for now that means working with these Elves. Now knife ears, tell us did you have a plan for once we crossed this portal or did you not?" The bald stern faced man who silenced the room stood with a hammer in hand his intense eyes locking with Shandris' own.
The General locked her eyes with the human Warrior Priest's own for several intense seconds before Shandris spoke. "What is your name?"
"I am known as Luthor Huss, some refer to me as the Prophet of Sigmar." The man answered, his intensity never lessening.
"No, Luthor. I haven't devised a solid plan. There were too many variables and the Night Elven way of war is often reactionary. But I understand that is clearly not the way of the Empire. You need an objective and a plan, but since we don't know the exact situation we need something that we can agree that in most scenarios on Azeroth we can proceed with the plan." Shandris expalined, taking a seat of her own before those assembled.
The Kaldorei General thn proceeded. "And once we know what this plan is we will decide who will be the Imperial Commander. So to start I'm certain we can all agree, objective one will be to secure the portal. If the Horde are threatening it and Mount Hyjal then that will make security for the Empire, your return home, and any reinforcements or resupply difficult. From there we will need to secure a route to the ultimate goal and any possible support on Azeroth, this could mean liberating towns, or simply clearing ports for Alliance landings, whatever it takes to keep Alliance supplies and Alliance gold, to pay back the Empire and keep your soldiers paid, coming." Thus far it seemed everyone in the room, even the worst detractors were agreeing with Shandris' assessment.
As Shandris spoke Aethalas and Uydron moved a rather large table that had a map of Kalimdor laid out with tokens showing the various forts and other tokens marking out each of the cities of the continent. The more dominant personalities and those most likely to be the true candidates for leading the Imperial aemy under Shandris all either by force or maneuvering somehow found themselves towards the front of the room and in positions where they could gaze over the table.
"After that our ultimate target should be Orgrimmar City. If we siege then the entirety of the Horde's forces should..." Shandris began pointing to the famed capital of the Horde but found herself cut off by another voice.
"No." It was the wizened voice of Elspeth von Draken. "We'd have to siege all the fortresses and take three seperate city gates. And with the terrain we would have to pacify most of the regions around the city or risk counter attack while spread over a wide area and positioned so we cannot deploy forces to support one another."
One of the Knights, Hans Leitdorf, Shandris confirmed with a glance to the man's face, next spoke up. "We wouldn't be able to take Bilgewater harbor, and I'm sure that is where any major counter attack would be launched from. I do like the idea of the Barrens, after reading some of the materials you translated and provided, I'd argue that the Barrens would be the best place for the Empire to meet the Horde in a pitched battle."
"The Horde wouldn't playnto your game if you are suggesting that we take the Northern Barrens. They'd rather cut you all off and starve you before moving in for the kill." Shandris responded to the Knight with plain truth and a calm tone.
"So the Horde won't face us openly? We would have to force their hand even in order to fight these 'Honorable' warriors in a even fight. As I had feared, Volkmar is trapped in world of cowardly enemies who think of their sins as virtues, seeking to lure and trap others with their false virtues. This foe has proclaimed themselves honorable, yet they must be tricked into honor. Honor does not need to tempt aam to behave so, virtue is a lonely island it does not ensare. Well then how best can we force our enemy to meet us with proper virtue, honor, and force?" Luthor Huss practically preached to the tent about him earning the curious stares of many, including Aethalas.
There was a long poignant silence as everyone tried to consider Luthor's question. Elspeth was the first to break this silence with her suggestion. "Mulgore, we siege Thunder Bluff and force them to face us here." The woman proclaimed while pointing her finger to the region at the center of Kalimdor.
Shandris gaped for a second before turning her hard stare at the Magisterix. "You want to attack all of Mulgore? Why?" The General demanded.
The Death magic Wizard returned Shandris' gaze with a cold stare of her own. "You never provided us with anything showing us where the Horde gets their food from. But you've shown your world has plenty of Shaman and Druids. These Tauren seem to be the most druidic of the Horde's people, and Mulgore from what little you're papers have provided suggests to me that this region likely provides the most food for the Horde. If we endanger this food they would surely come to fight."
Shandris was about to bark out a retort but was stopped by Aethalas speaking up. "And so what sort of plan do you have for this?" The Captain's challenge was answered by silent contemplation from the Wizard but instead Hans answered for both women.
"We march through Stonetalon, we will cut through Ashenvale and force our way through avoiding a direct conflict which would delay us and then push into the Southern Barrens. From there establish contact or retake with the Alliance bases that exist down there. One part of the force then would hold the Southern Barrens and the gate into Mulgore, the rest will spread through the region raiding for supply and destroying the Horde's fields, herds, and crops. And we'll of course Siege Thunder Bluff. The Horde then will likely have to respond and we will be waiting for them on a battlefield we prepared for them."
"You would attack the Tauren, just for that?" Shandris demanded, almost shocked at how crude and almost sensesless the plan was. They wanted tonstage this attack, simply to draw the Horde into battle, and why burn crops and slaughter animals?
As if thinking the same thoughts Uydron spoke up voicing his concerns. "Why would you dare suggest slaughtering herds and burning fields?"
Hans looked like he was about to answer but Luthor interjected first. "The spirit can carry a man well beyond his limits at the time, but one's body will always eventually fail. What then of the weak willed masses whose bodies may yet still prove stronger than their spirits? Minor hardships over time will cause the resolve of the masses to crumble, hunger will lead to far worse."
Shandris was about to retort fiercely. The Tauren were perhaps the most reasonable members of the Horde, long time friends of even the Kaldorei. Their pursuit of peace certainly bridged much of the divide between the Horde and the Alliance, and these Imperials would blindly attack them?
However Aethalas stunned the General into silence. "That sounds like a sound plan. However sieging Thunder Bluff may prove far more difficult than you think."
Now a diffrent Captain from among those gathered spoke up for the first time. "Not necessarily. If I'm reading this map here correctly the only gate into the region an army can use is this Great Gate. Once that is breached, the rest will be a matter of getting mortars into positions to shell the Bluff and cutt off reinforcement routes. Once the camps are established outside Thunder Bluff and that gate is ours we are already effectively laying siege. From there it's just a matter of chipping away at their manpower and supplies while protecting our own."
Shandris cast her gaze to the man who had spoken. her hard eyes locking on the man's playe armor, monocle, and seemingly out of place helmet. "Ummm, name is Jubal Falk ma'am. Castellen-Engineer of the Nuln Ironsides and Iron Companies. It's just laying siege to the city, won't be that hard under these conditions, and while the city is probably exceptionally hard to crack, it doesn't seem like taking the city is the purpose of the siege. Though I think we have what it takes to with the Iron Companies to cause a breach, maybe even take the whole city, though the whole siege would take time."
The three ranking Night Elves simply gave the man blank stares. One because they hadn't thought of the siege like that, another at the confidence of the man, and another at how it seemed the man was stating the obvious.
With a clearing of her throat Elspeth then interjected. "Under such conditions I think we can force the Horde to engage us in a series of pitched battles in the barrens. This should draw their forces away from other garrisons or war fronts. That should provide more assistance to your Alliance than simply adding our numbers to fields of battle that we may not be effective in. Of course this is assuming the war is somewhat equal or to your favor."
"I'm more worried about losses on the path to Mulgore. If we don't seperate and use our forces correctly we'll not have enough men to both supress Mulgore's population and wage the pitched battles we want." Hans stated his finger pointing from Ashenvale to the Stonetalon mountains.
Shandris silently smiled to herself and then more and more of the Imperials either stepped back allowing the plan to be determined for them, or stepped up to contribute. Already a crude chain of command was forming and Shandris could see her most likely leaders both for this army overall, and the leaders best for specific elements of the campaign.
Even as the discussions began to spiral into a full planning session and Shandris only needed to step in occasionally to control the focus of the Imperials, Uydron leaned into the General to speak. "It looks like despite their initial reluctance, these Imperials are certainly willing to go all in with this. If things go well you can maybe even resume your command and not have to concern yourself with direct leadership."
Shandris silently agreed with her head Druid, already plans to place Aethalas at the head of the Imperial Army taking root in her mind. Though this confidence was still harmed by the nagging fear of what would be through the portal in a couple hours once the Wizards had melted completely through the snow and Ice.
Alyzz Kneecord, and the Ogres closed swiftly on Crimson Post. Smoke had been the first thing the Goblin and her companions had seen. Then after a short time they then laid eyes on the fortress itself and Alyzz pushed the Ogres into a run as her fear mounted. It was the Crimson Post that had been burning and even from far away the buildings looked to be in ruins.
It was a few short hours later and the Goblin and her small army, just under four hundred Ogres and maybe eight hundred Gnoblars along with their effectively stolen Sky-Lantern were immediately outside the Crimson post. The walls were extensively damaged, smoke from smoldering fires pushed up into the sky and a number of scarred Tauren, Orcs, and Trolls all planted themselves at gaps in the walls an assortment of weapons angrily pointing outwards. But even these defenders were far too wounded and far too few for Alyzz's preference.
"Who are you?" One of the defenders shouted at the closing Ogres.
Embarrassingly before Alyzz could speak or stop him Kogkradd spoke up first. "I am Kogkradd Kegeater, an I'm 'Ungry!" The Ogre shouted pushing his gut out in a way that made his massive stomach wobble.
Many of the defenders seemed to look among eachother. Some clearly steeled themselves expecting battle, while some others ran back into the camp. Alyzz then took her chance to speak up announcing herself. "I am Alyzz Kneecord of Kneecord Private Investigations, *cough* Subsidiary of Bilgewater Intelligence *cough cough, I was assigned to investigate and make contact with the Eastern Kingdoms of Mallus. These are Ogres of the Ogre Kingdoms of the East seeking to move to Azeroth and contract themselves into the service of the Horde!"
The Goblin's self announcement seemed to shock many of the defenders who looked among themselves, and even sent yet another runner deeper into the fortress. As the Ogres closed eventually an far more important Orc with a retinue of Undead, Trolls and Goblins appeared at the gate. "I was briefed that you were sent to the East. Never expected this though."
"You weren't expecting, how do you think I feel what the hell happened?!" The Goblin P.I. demanded her eyes still looking over the extensive damages of the fort and now that she was closer seeing the wounded all being treated in the outer ring of the defense.
"Right, shortly after you had left the fort was assaulted by a local force. My predecessor was killed then. After that the Warchief sent some agents with a local race seeking membership in the Horde. Together they uncovered a Alliance plot to purge several local races using mana bombs to secure support from one of the local Empires. Of course the Alliance was playing the whole thing off as 'unaffiliated renegades' just like they did with the Scarlett Crucade, pretending some subgroup was out committing genocide, rather than SI:7. Either way we tried to launch of counter invasion to support the Ratmen as they rose in self defense against the Alliance. But the Alliance launch a terror campaign in Orgrimmar and next thing we know everything has escalated to a total war." The Orc spoke with a bitter conviction and it was clear that Alyzz must have missed some horrific events already, but that didn't quite explain why the Post looked like this.
"But what about..." Alyzz tried to press but was stopped as the Orc continued.
"Shortly after I was assigned here as commander the Alliance launched their invasion. Fanatic Black Knights from one of the local Empires, and an task force of the 7th Legion tried to press through the Scarlett Monastery to take the fortress. We were cut off from Azeroth as the Alliance laid siege to Lordaeron. The Alliance has caused significant damage to the city and the whole region has been Blighted devestatingly. Currently the Alliance and our own forces are fighting for control of the Monastery. We repelled our fourth Alliance push to claim this side of the Portal just yesterday and at the cost of the entire Eshin detachment who had come to support us. The constant Alliance attacks have worn down on us, and just keeping them on Azeroth has become a full time battle despite the failure of their siege." The Orc Commander added the exhaustion now creeping into his voice. Now as Alyzz looked on the Commander honestly looked as wounded or maybe more so than the Horde members guarding the outer walls, and much of the gaps in the outer walls seemed less like damage and more like deliberate deconstruction.
Alyzz drew in. breath about to warn them of the Orkish army, or Waaagh, just days or less away. That they would need to rebuild the walls and prepare. Then some of what she had been told recurred to her. "Wait the battle for the other side of the portal...it's still ongoing?"
"Yes, we only repelled an Alliance push yesterday. Both the Alliance and the Warchief have made the Scarlett Monastery a priority target and those Alliance bastards aren't letting up any time soon." The Commander complained while crossing his arms.
"Well maybe our Ogre friends here could break the stalemate there? Right Kogkradd?" Alyzz cheered patting her Ogre friend on the head.
"Yeah, new meat is on the menu everyone!" The Tyrant cheered causing the Ogres around him to start cheering or pulling out blades.
Noticing the Ogres about herself Alyzz leaned down to Kogkradd. "Not my allies here right?"
The Ogre under Alyzz tensed. "Oh y-yeah, yeah Mawrider. We are here to help these morsels we'd not eat them." Kogkradd then started chuckling which slowly spread through the other Ogres, many of which was putting away their blades and weapons as they chuckled.
"But listen, even with the Ogres here pushing in on the Alliance forces on Azeroth, we need to reinforce the outer defenses here tenfold. A Ork army, something called a Waaagh is on its way here. These enemies will have at least a thousand..." Kogkradd's chuckle stopped Alyzz as she spoke.
The Goblin again looked down on the Tyrant who had been giving her a ride. "What?"
"Ders going to be a lot more than 'A' when the Orks Waaagh they bring a nice big feast wherever they go. We'll be eating good on Ork meat for a very long time. At least a few weeks." The Tyrant explained laughing eagerly.
"Ok so thousands of hostile Orks are coming. We need to repair, heal up and reinforce quickly." Alyzz insisted to the Comamnder in front of her, his green face slowly turning a shade of red.
"Why didn't you open with that?! What were you waiting to confirm your damn paycheck!?" The Orc yelled at Alyzz, earning an annoyed wordless shout back from Kogkradd.
Alyzz nervously set back to trying to diffuse the tense situation. "No! Listen a lot is happening or about to happen and I don't know what the right plan is! First, we have the Ogres I brought for the Horde, they're a army in of themselves and I have them all here willingly wishing to come to Azeroth to fight for the Horde! I also have a wounded man-ser...Friend, She's hurt horribly and needs treatment. She's up in this Sky-Lantern up there. After that there is a whole other army that's she came from that's been following me. They aren't hostile but they aren't on our side...yet. I think we might be able to convince them to support us, but it might be difficult, and they represent a massive human Empire lead by this world's equivalent to one of the Dragonflights. AND THEN! The Orks are coming! So you tell me what's more important of all that after you just found out that the Alliance started a war while you were gone and the fort you had come from is a indefensible half ruined wreck with enemies coming out of the portal that is your only way back home! So you tell me what was the right order to tell you all of that? Now shut the hell up, start getting ready and heal my fucking friend!"
As she had spoke Alyzz finally snapped raging down at the Orc Commander standing beneath her perch. And after a moment of panting looking at the shocked face below her and the Goblin's outburst eventually settled on Alyzz's mind as she realized how much she had just yelled down to what was effectively her superior on Mallus.
Though...she was the one with not one, but a army of Ogres. Currently she was the top dog here, everyone should be looking to please her and her vast skill in acquiring an army of Ogres. And if this Orc cost her her bonus she'd murder him. She still had pounds to lose, entire pounds, before she had her sexy figure back in full. She wasn't some fat information broker money damn it!
"Commander! Someone is flying in fast, lots of fliers according to the Totems, looks like they're bringing something big with them too!" One of the Orcs reported running down from the top of the fort.
Alyzz feeling something off leaned down to Kogkradd. "Does this world's Orks have a lot of flying stuff?" She tried to ask subtlely but was noticed by the Commander who just frowned at her.
"Nah dem Greenskins don't usually have flying stuff for me to hunt. They just come running at you, then you bash em, mash em, and put em in a stew." The Tyrant answered loudly and honestly. Many of the nearby Grunts looked over to the Ogre with a look of muted horror.
Alyzz looked down on the Orc Commander. "Sir I think this might be the Cathayan army, the one I said was stalking me. We should let them in." Alyzz stated swiftly and after a few tense seconds the commanded nodded in agreement.
"Get the defenses ready just in case, but no one attack unless I give the order!" The Orc shouted out to the fortress defenders about them. Then as the Crimson Lost defenders prepared themselves Alyzz waited tensely until finally the first signs of the incoming fliers was spotted. It was a herd of flying horses with what appeared to be a massive Cloud Serpent in the center of their flock.
Then the flight closed in and the Herd descended landing on the grounds outside the fortress while the now visible riders of these serpent scaled horses glared up at the fortress and its inhabitants. Lastly they Sky Serpent flew directly into the ground, but rather than crash or punch right through the dirt the serpent seemed to slither into a beam of light until only Zhao Ming remained.
The Dragon then walked out from among his bodyguards their mounts unprompted taking a defensive, yet somehow deferential formation around the Dragon escorting him to the Fortress.
As the Dragon approached it was the Commander who was the first to speak. "Stop! Identify yourself immediately!"
The Dragon did stop, but never lookes to the commander, his white eyes instead inspecting every visible inch of the fortress. "You know, when they told me there was a fortress that was built so quickly out here I was intrigued by thoughts of what I would find. Somehow this disappointment feels suitable and well deserved."
The Commander scowled and shouted again. "I said stop! Identify yourself or we will crush you!"
The Dragon turned his white eyes to the Orc commander as if noticing him for the first time. "I'm sorry, I was just admiring how disappointing your fortress was. My name is Zhao Ming, the Iron Dragon, ruler of the western provinces." The Dragon introduced himself walking forward towards the commander blatantly ignoring the command to stop.
"As for crushing me. You simply can't. I probably wouldn't even need to change form to take this fortress, or rather...I wouldn't need to change from this form." As he spoke the Dragon clearly was boasting, then with a flash the Dragon changed, now rather than a human, a form that was not quite Orc dressed and with facial hair the same as Zhao Ming stood before them all.
Behind him the Dragons compatiots laughed and even the horses seemed to snicker. And the Dragon just smiled cockily at the Horde defenders assembled. All while the Commander's face turned several shades of red. "Why y..."
"Zhao Ming, I be you for your might and aid!" Alyzz threw herself into a bow immediately in front of the Dragon before her. This cut off the Horde Commander who was about to fly into a rage, and gave the insulting and mocking dragon pause.
Zhao Ming crouched down looking at Alyzz with his all white eyes as if analyzing a strange never before seen creature. "And why should I help you?" The Dragon asked, no mockery, disdain, or severity in his voice, only genuine curiosity.
"You seek the Portal to Azeroth here it is, you seek a guide for our world here I am. You seek treasures of Azeroth I can get them for you. But right now a massive Waaagh comes for us, and with our allies locked into battle with an Allaince that would see us all dead we have little way to defend ourselves." Alyzz begged offering anything she could think of to the Dragon.
For several moments Zhao Ming stared at Alyzz, his white eyes never blinking. Then the Dragon stood, "No", and walked away. However before Zhao Ming could take more than twenty paces away a soft strained voice floated down from above.
"Please. Have mercy great Zhao Ming." The soft, flesh-eating poison weakened voice of Zhang Genji stopped the Dragon as he walked back to his bodyguards.
"Shut up girl!"
"Are you trying to kill yourself, if you shout any more your lung will pop!"
"How dare you try to tell Zhao Ming what to do!"
The voices of three of the Cathayan healers all quipped at Zhang Genji from the basket of the overhead Sky-Lantern. This likely did the exact opposite of what the women hoped, drawing the Dragon's sight up to thr Sky-Lantern. It was then with a burst of unseen power that Zhang Genji Leapt up to the basket, a flash of light signaling his change back to his human-like form.
Alyzz looked up to the Sky-Lantern for several minutes while an upset and confused Commander behind her pondered if he should have his mages cast fireball spells into the basket. Only occasionally muffled voices crossing the distance down to Alyzz, the Ogres, and the Horde members letting them know of the conversation taking place above.
Then Zhao Ming stepped off from the Lantern dropping down to just in front of Alyzz, who went back into the Cathayan style bow before the Dragon. "My Father sensed the opening of your portal, and after consulting my mother and our dreaming sister we determined there are shrouded lands in your world. Ones with power meant only for us to claim. You will guide me on your world as we search for this power. In exchange, I will protect this pitiful excuse of a fortress. I have five thousand warriors who can be here before the Orks arrive. Obey my command, and your defenders here and my warriors will see this Waaagh break upon your defenses."
Behind Alyzz an outraged voice began to rise. "By the spirits who the damned hell do you think you are to..."
"We accept your offer and agree to each of your terms Great Dragon." Alyzz loudly cut the raging Orc commander off.
Zhao Ming nodded down at Alyzz with a smile. "Well then lady Kneecord stand, we have preperations to make. And you have an agreement to uphold and honor. I welcome you to my service." Immediately the Dragon-Horses, what Alyzz would later learn are Longma, and their riders set upon the Fortress each both man and beast putting themselves to the task of cheerfully working to assess and reinforce the Fortress walls and preseting a friendly front to the Horde defenders within.
Eekizz Switchpickle shivered in nervousness. Lady Kyn'ra had left him in charge of the pitifully few Pioneers left behind to hold the fortress while she had gone to purge the Marauders. But that had been days ago, and now days later none of the other Pioneers had returned and the weather was becoming increasingly ominous as storms filled with freezing rain began to rack the region. Also as these storms began to rage about them the shadows of the fortress became more ominous. Meanwhile sounds that were too alive, yet not any creature Eekizz knew, began to come up from the depths of the mines under the fortress.
"We should go out and find Kyn'ra! She maybe needs us to rescue her, or something." One of the humans left behind tried to bravely claim while trembling in the cold of thr Fortress.
"And abandon our only fortress, and our supplies? And what if we miss her?" Another of the defenders, an Night Elven Sentinel retorted.
Of course Eekizz had to be surrounded still by fanatics even after Kyn'ra left him with such a small group to command. The truth of the matter was that the fortress was entirely untenable. The underground had something waking up down there, there was almost no chance that Kyn'ra and the Pioneers hadn't suffered defeat considering none of them had come back after so many days of waiting. These idiots could die here waiting on a false hope, but if Eekizz was fast enough he could possibly sneak back to Azeroth without anyone there realizing he was a deserter.
Still Eekizz was only just starting to decide on which of his experiments and what equipment he would abandon when the shouts started coming from the gate. "They're back, They're back! Someone is coming up the path!" The halfwit Worgen the Gnome had assigned to the gate was practically howling much to Eekizz' frustration. Still he and everyone else at the post rushed to the gate to look out the view slits and into the stormy pass beyond.
After several moments standing on a stool looking out Eekizz rounded on the Worgen he had assigned to the gate. "You damned idiot there isn't anyone out there!"
"But I wasn't the one shouting." The fur covered man complained back.
"Didn't I assign you to the gate!?" Why, why were these people so slow?
"Y, You did, but then you shouted for me from inside so I went to go help you with your experiments." The Wolf man replied, looking genuinely lost and confused.
"I never called you to my lab! Why would I ever need your help with my experiments, especially when you are supposed to be watching the gate!"
"It's Lady Kyn'ra, she needs me! It's Lady Kyn'ra why are you not opening the gate, can't you hear her calling us to her side?!" A new Voice, the voice of the Elf who had demanded they all stay in the fortress cried out in outrage rushing past the pair.
"What by the motive force are you on about you deranged zealot!?" Eekizz demanded, looking to the lunatic, only then realizing she was legitimately throwing open the gate.
"Someone stop her!" Eekizz ordered, but none of the other Pioneers moved, each looking shocked and frozen in place.
The Elf then cast open the gate unleashing a wave of darkness that washed over her causing her to let loose a blood curdling scream. The darkness then spread consuming all the rest of the fortress around Eekizz, sweeping away the very existence of the Worgen who stood only a couple feet away from Eekizz.
Then faint light was cast over the gateway where the Night Elf stood. There a twisted parody of a Naga now twitched with sporadic movements. Clear elven ears darted about on a long reptilian head, six arms flexed and stretched while two legs dangled uselessly next to the serpentine body of the naga mutant that had once been a Night Elf fanatic.
Eekizz could only look on in horror spotting all the minor details that gave away that this had once been one of the idiot zealots under Eekizz' command. It was this horror that blinded the Gnome to the set of hands that wrapped themselves around him until the Gnome was suddenly launched from his feet and made to face a pair of glowing orange eyes.
"So it's true, you never had any faith in me Eekizz? I take it you believed that old woman's bigotry? Noooo matter. Eekizz you were always of a diffrent sort of use to me anyways, so how about we make a sort of agreement shall we?" The Gnome was shocked into silence he tried to look away from the eyes but wherever he turned new horrors that had once been those around him revealed themselves. Some a monsterous parody of what they once were, others far more beastial and brutish.
"Y-yes...I-I would, I would like to maybe make a deal...M-m-my lady." The panic striken Gnome stammered.
"Oh a deal? I love deals."
