reviews:

Guest 1: The Empire's ability to sustain and just hold on is quite impressive. And the absurd power of the VC and even their unnamed characters is why 1) i sometimes over value WHFB, and 2) Think that Arthas and the Scourge were a worthless joke in WoTLK. My personal favorite VC story is when a nameless Necromancer gets Imperial ambitions and makes self resurrecting, self replicating Zombies but then forgot to include safeties in the spell to prevent them from killing him. Took the Empire about half of what they used to put down Manfred to just put down the one Zombie Horde. Certainly if a "Trench Warfare" (aka pure attrition war) situation were to break out between the two worlds Azeroth would be fucked, sadly the conditions for such a war are very specific and were more likely to see such a war play out IRL for WW3 than we are in any fantasy setting.

Guest 2: No...suffer...muhahahahahahaha! But seriously this is the Opening arc for a much, much larger war.

Guest 3: Eitrigg, Rogers, marty stu... i mean Jarod Shadowsong, Darius Crowley, actually Sylvanas herself (they killed most the others for the Horde leaving behind unfulfilled husks of characters otherwise), and mr Light Obsessed golden boy himself as he's the oy fucking guy on all of Azeroth to actually use the style of warfare Blizzard forces everyone to abide by. Basically the majority of people who actually did shit that wasn't "I allow my men to die while someone else completes a fetch quest for me because them doing a quest is vital and i can't trust my men whom im throwing to their deaths to complete this level 5 mission, despite my men including guards who could solo one or more level sixty characters wielding God's own sword."...yet the dipshits who use their men's lives as currency to stall for time while waiting for a adventurer to maybe happen to walk by...their treated as the epitome of good strategy.

On the WHFB side, lets start with the most infamous "bad commander", Wolfram Hertwig whose known percentages of men lost in his first ever battle, one he commanded as a teen whose estranged daddy just died, exceed but are still close to what the Canon Saurfang losses are estimated as. and he's considered among the worst the Empire has because a mistake he made as a child. Now as a Old man he's got probably more battles under his belt than some of the Draenei. And he thus serves as a Good Example of a Empire Commander, a man who methodologically picks appart his enemies and if he ever sees a moment where someone else might do a better job than him for a particular mission, he makes sure the right man is in the right place at the right time. And while her field command isn't the best Elspeth von Draken, and Emmanuelle von Liebwitz who both are rather famous for their successful defenses against foes who should have been Borderline impossible for either to stop without the aid of a full imperial army...also one rides a red fucking Dragon. Then there's of course Manfred who no matter how much I dislike him personally is a highly capable Vampire, and basically name a Elf and there'll be a marty sue moment where they bested the world's greatest...and more recently added Dragon-babe who WILL be Imrik's new mount...and he'll ride her for a looong time.

And as for your other half. Well just ask Europe wtf is with their armies from 800AD to 1600AD...they have as wild of number variance in the same years with similar "oh we cant afford more than a couple hundred, never mind lets throw thousands" type attitude. It's all in the preparation though for them where WHFB and WoW it's "Well i wanted this story" logic. and as for the Norscans I'm pretty sure they just took a few cues from the Mongols (who conquered Russia in the middle of Winter as if they were a pathetic joke BTW), and the early Mamluk, like everyone gets on the Christians about the Crusades but ignore the first Jihad both for how impressive it was, taking thousands of troops through various desserts, and the amount of cultural destruction it entailed.

Guest 4: "Wait-wait you say if i throw a tantrum in panda-thing land it makes a demon show up?"

Outland and AU Dreanor would be nice places for the war to visit.

Guest 5: All of that is incredibly true and stuff I've been playing around with for the next arc. Sadly i actually HAD to lighting cannon the tree because nothing the Horde has outside cannons which they didn't bring to darkshore (in my story because use elsewhere, ik Canon IDK apparently Blizzard forgot they were a thing? despite trying to dick slap critics of WoW with em at one point) I know somehow in the cutscenes the catapults which have maybe a fee hundred meters range magically had the near what five miles of range needed to hit, but I didn't want to be that lazy.

Guest 6: Crazier Than A Road Lizard.

Guest 7: I'm still considering what to do with the Orks. But even before AoS it was pretty obvious the Hobgoblins were pretty good at making business deals, they after all despite being a race hated by dwarves have contracts with the most spiteful of the dwarves. AoS just put it front and center, but I'm only just willing to read AoS stuff after 0.1, 1.0 and 2.0 AoS were just so bad both in gameplay and sheer number of rapid fire retcons of itself.

Guest 8: Both settings certainly complement each other better than they contrast...though both seem to have companies equally allergic to intellect and decent writing in ownership of them these days.

Guest 9: Sounds nasty, but that would just be Skaven and Royal Apothecary Society, if you want Necromancy from Mallus involved the skin will instead rip itself off from the user mass together with other skins and form a (in warhammer TT terms) swarm of skins maul and consume any survivors adding their corpse-flesh to the mass until some abominable flesh puppet is formed, as the big stand out metaphysics of the Warhammer Necromancy is that dead flesh can be animated independently of the soul or sentience. sometimes the opposite being more true in regards to half the Vampire Count Roster being creatures that were once human but devolved, or once Vampire but left starving until they degraded into mindless beasts.

JiggyliFAP: I laid the hints earlier, after all your question should be how are they still alive, seeing as how WHFB vampires aren't "a race" like how WoW does...well everything.

Dragon King of the West: What? nooo, Bombing Pearl Harbor while the American fleet is away, rather than attacking the Russian East whom you have recently beaten in past wars easily and fought to a stand still despite your forces being hilariously out gunned...that's a brilliant idea. FYI for the dorks out there, they still would have lost the War, but we might have been saved decades of Cold War if Japan had just done that.

Hakuryuu: The next arc depends on the voice of the people. However I will not allow the people to sing, and definitely not the song of angry men, who will not be slaves again. But we shall see what you all cry for so I can cut down the focus on the next stories to particular theaters or plot arcs.

and SI:7 mostly getting neutered as a threat committing warcrimes in Orgrimmar. They'll likely recover but the loss of field agents like that will hurt.

BadOrk11: Yup. And as for Blizzard It's hopeful honestly, except for one small detail. Like it's obvious Blizzard scrapped Shadowlands and is trying to brush all they can under the rug and pull a reset...except the overall company has now put their Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer in a spot to have say over gameplay and story. Which having such a, in my opinion, pointless person on payroll by itself isn't bad and can help with the office if they use their position right. But now making them yet another executive, another boss who can interfere with story and gameplay will have a compound negative impact. Because too much of the power to interfere in development in the hands of a higher up already is terrible thing, you want your higher ups to only have enough power to keep the team on schedule and on budget, and of course focused rather than chasing tangents, and then a contrasting executive to encourage quality and who gets the team what they need for quality and encouraging innovation... Blizzard already lacks that dynamic...now they have to meet the standards of person whose job is to ensure that the company, and now the product, meets what they think are the cultural priorities of a ever shifting political landscape. A job that could debatably benefit the office atmosphere, but never has benefited the actual product, driving up development costs, removing recognizable icons (land o lakes, they removed the native, but kept the land...because they're progressive), and over emphasis on political hot topics that during dev might have looked like they'd be around for years, but like always with politics is outdated by release making the game seem dated and old on release day...and then there's the politically vocal fans who will raise a fuss and they'll look bad and they might even come from the same political group the diversity executive comes from which is all the more embarrassing. If this company position's expansion of authority impacts Dragonflight development, or its early updates...that might be the WoW killer.

Ironwall: "Curse your Sudden yet inevitable betrayal!" -The Stegosaurus plastic toy of Wash

micelzod: Unknowingly? I'm hurt...I know exactly of what evils i unleash. Now to escalate the fourth war well truly beyond "player character do everything for us unless it's a cutscene. or a background in some folded space alleyway you'll never see., thus allowing to make your contributions pointless despite the gameplay and cutscenes up to the point of 'loss' all suggesting overwhelming advantage (hey Blizzard whatever happened to good gameplay...i guess your company must have never done a fighting retreat scenario in any of your games before...oh wait)." and into the realm of real war where these are plenty of fighting retreats as most humans and animals, who still have their wits about them, don't enjoy getting stabbed in the back...as well as a multitude of other scenarios that most games barely touch on.

OscuroSignore-51: Well yay I'm glad you enjoyed it.

and

1) Read and find out, though i thought i laid it out, but i guess i did go a little too long not readdressing it.

2)Night Elves... they in terms of writing annoy me like Warhammer 40k Eldar do. I far from hate them, that's reserved for Tau fanbois, AoS (eventually that hate will fade, but not before GW is done pulling a Disney and shoots themselves in the foot doubling down on politically motivated retardation, at this rate), and Blizzard (makes me smile thinking that the CnC remake was just infinitely so much better with just the music tracks alone worth the asking price of the game). But Eldar and Night Elves keep getting passes for mistakes other races would have their whole plotline built around and hyper focused on, and they keep having massive wars and genocides that in no way negatively impact their population despite all the fluff saying they reproduce slowly.

But your right Sylvanas trial was shit, there wasn't a guillotine at the end just a "now you must do the thing that the player character already did for you anyways and they did it for a pat on the back." seriously your average goblin funeral is worth more than you ever got for rescuing souls or even the covenant bonuses. They seriously need to kill Sylvanas to save her and us from any more of Blizzard's terrible, corporate committee style writing, because it's obvious the company adopted the most authoritarian and product damaging environment where all cross department communications is going to involve the department heads, and you have not just your department head but you also need everything you do approved by multiple other executives such as Blizzard's recently announced Diversity Officer being in charge of approving plot...

and PS: The magic conch shell says try asking again.

After the End

Alyzz Kneecord walked into the encampment of Overtyrant Greasus Goldtooth. The Ogre encampment was massive and certainly showed wealth in the hands of a nomadic people. jewelry covered tents, gem encrusted tusks as support pilers and of course Goblin like creatures, each wit nose nearly as big as their head, running about carrying bags of wealth or pillaged items of wealth. Kogkradd Kegeater even looked awed and intimidated by the massive tribe whose territory they were passing through.

Certainly these Goldtooth dramatically outnumbered Kogkradd's own tribe. The sheer number of the Goldtooth tribe's Goblin wannabes that Alyzz had seen probably exceeded the entire weight of Kegeater's tribe, including the tribe's possessions. But then finally Alyzz and Kogkradd reached the outskirts of a great gathering of Ogres, they were collected around massive bonfires and scattered about singing and eating, all while Kogkradd paled.

"We arrived in da middle of a feast...ohhh dis isn't a good moment to be stomping in, 'peciouly without any good meat." The Tyrant groaned, looking at the many Ogres who still hadn't noticed their presence.

"Oy, out of the way, got new dishes to serve 'ere!" A cry came from behind Kogkradd's tribe, all of whome swiftly got out of the way as a massive Ogre with just shy of hundreds of Gnoblars started to pass with plates full of various exotic meats.

Alyzz could even hear bellies grumble as the plates passed, something that typically informed her that now would be a good time to stay far away from the mouths and food of her companions. As the plates passed and even some of the tribe tried, but were stopped, to snatch food away the Ogres in the feast turned to fave the direction of the newcomers. Eventually some of the Bulls strutted up to Kogkradd's tribe, still shoveling their food and talking through mouthfuls, sometimes spitting their food inadvertently.

"Wha'chu wan'?" The lead Ogre asked through what appeared to be a Beastman leg.

"We came to give tithe to the Overtyrant...and brought a friend who had a deal fer em." Kogkradd answered pressing his gut out as much as possible.

"Heh, first dem hum'ms being us 'n feast and wan' 'alk tah da Tyrant...uuuuurrrrpppp...then you all want to talk and give tithe. Today is a good day, more feasting all around!" It took but moments but suddenly Kegeater's tribe were mingling with the feasting Ogres as cruelly shouted and off tune songs were sung, and the sound of belching and crunching bones rose in tempo.

Only Kogkradd and Alyzz refrained from, joining, one out of self control, the other a mixture of disgust and fear. Still both waded through the feast until they reached the other side where they encountered a oddity, a dense line of human soldiers wearing thick scale armor separated the feast from where Greasus' throne was as human women carried plates past. This oddity commanded Alyzz's attention, Alyzz knew some human merchants were with Kogkradd's tribe, but this was certainly different.

Still as Kogkradd approached the humans had one of their own in odd robes approach from behind speaking to them in a strange language which caused the soldiers to part allowing the two to pass. Each soldier stood at near perfect attention with a Halberd at their side, and each soldier looked outwards with unerring focus. Thus Alyzz passed the armored soldiers and into sight of a open Canopy tent where what was certainly the fattest Ogre Alyzz had ever seen was eating a cut of rip nearly as big as big as a full grown Dragon's, or so she assumed.

Across from what could only be Overtyrant Greasus, his crown making his self importance blatant, Alyzz could see another oddly dressed human speaking to the Tyrant with a confident smile. Both Kogkradd and Alyzz approached the pair cautiously, even Alyzz sensing that more than the Ogres about her an innate sense of danger and power surrounded the white eye'd human speaking with the Tyrant.

"Uggh, Overtyrant Greasus Goldtooth, I, Tyrant Kogkradd Kegeater bring both tribute and news of possible offers and opportunities from the west." Kogkradd stated while trying to imitate a bow to the Great Tyrant who grinned toothily at him.

"Oh, now this is a interesting morsel, first the Iron Brother shows up offering food and tribute for passage, and now this." The Greasus replied with amusement and a dark gleam in his eyes.

"Oh really?" Alyzz stated loudly trying to get in on the conversation, only to be stopped as the human stood suddenly before walking over to look down at the much shorter Goblin woman.

"I see that my sibling and Father were correct in their predictions. And you even appeared like they told me to expect." The human stated still looking down at Alyzz, speaking in Orcish alarmingly enough.

"You were expecting me?" Alyzz demanded in Orcish, her guard swiftly raising.

"You? No. But I have been expecting a visit from the rift worlders for some months now. And you have arrived exactly as expected." The odd and increasingly intimidating human stated, his form unmoving and his all white eyes ever focused on Alyzz.

"What is that supposed to mean human?" Alyzz growled slowly drawing her dagger as Kogkradd looked on nervously and Greasus burst into laughter. The human just smirked while his attendants all burst into action drawing their own weapons before he calmed them with a gesture.

"Ignorance will not spare you little one. I am Zhao Ming, the Iron Dragon of Grand Cathay, Son of the Dragon Emperor, dare to draw your blade against me and my fist will tear through your metal plate, your steel and your flesh with equal ease. I will allow you pardon this one time and I will even reward you for your courage." The self identified Iron Dragon stated before turning to Greasus switching to the Ogre tongue. "Your Obesity, trade with this creature. If you do I will make sure to include my own offers to fatten your deals."

Alyzz stood shocked... this creature was a dragon? But she never heard of any Dragons that didn't first originate from Azeroth. Maybe he came from the Bronze Dragonflight, she heard they had time powers...yet everything about this creature seemed vastly different than what she knew and she innately felt the danger it emanated. Instead Alyzz changed her focus, she would deal with Greasus and get away from this 'Iron Dragon' as quickly as possible.

After clearing her throat Alyzz stepped forward towards Greasus. "Oh great Overtyrant, Tradelord Greasus Tribestealer Drakecrush Gatecrasher Hoardmaster Goldtooth the Shockingly Obese, I am Alyzz Kneecord, founder, proprietor of Kneecord P.I. *cough* subsidiary of Bilgewater Intelligence *cough, I was sent to represent the Horde, a faction of great power and wealth in my world, and to bring offers of tribute and opportunity for you to accept if it should so please you." The Goblin woman stated bowing low while the Gnoblars around Greasus seemes to only talk even more loudly among themselves.

"Oh? And what sort of tribute does a scrawny 'ittle one like you have for someone like me?" Greasus voice was a low rumble, full of intimidation and hunger. Alyzz could even feel herself shaking as she reached into her pocket.

Out came a fake gem encrusted Tossaway coin from the Goblins stockpile, holding it up so it shone and gleamed in the firelight. "This is from me personally." Greasus seemed to eye the coin critically Zhao Ming simply frowned at it. "And this is from our Nation's Warchief." Alyzz quickly added then pulling out two items from her satchel. First being one of the communication stones linked to one in Sylvanas' possession, the other a small statue carved from rare crystals.

Zhao Ming even eyed the Statue with interest before turning to Greasus. The Iron dragon tossed a bag of gold onto the Tossaway before speaking. "For these two Gems, I would offer magical weapons and six times their weight in diamonds to take them off your hands."

This got the Overtyrant laughing. "Already a decent offer and all from meeting one of yer kind. Ok Snack, you brought me tribute, but unless you want to be a new flavor for my tongue so what offers are you bringing?" As he spoke the Overtyrant's stomach seemed to rumble slightly adding a dark seriousness to his threat.

"Well as we are newcomers to your world through our portal, the Horde wishes to acquire new allies and open up trade routes. If you wish to deal with the Horde this would open up whole new conveys of merchants passing through and giving tribute to you. And should you wish we would be willing to allow any Ogres to pass through the portal into our world where new meats, new delicacies and new riches wait to be shared with you. New opportunities to serve as Mercenaries and prove your might to an entirely new world." Alyzz as she spoke making grand sweeping gestures always ending with her hands pointing Westward.

The fattest Ogre squinted his eyes contemplating the Goblin's words. "New meat fer the Maw. And now Gold fer my coffers. I'll run dat by me Tyrants and Bruisers, see who'll wanta go go eat ya morsels. Might take us a moment to gnaw on the idea." Greasus stated his grin never leaving his face.

"Well your, enormity..." Alyzz prayed to all her money and the great party in the after-life that wasn't a insult. "...If it would be alright where should I await your decision?" Alyzz asked, suspecting that Greasus had already made his decision but now just wanted to find people to go along with it.

"Meh, wait with the other servings." The Ogre stated pointing to where the Human servants most still stowing away their hidden blades glared at the Goblin. This evoked a gulp of nervousness from the Goblin as she eventually shuffled over to the humans while under the scrutiny of the Overtyrant. Alyzz just hoped that she wouldn't be roughed up by these humans just for standing by them.

As she walked suddenly she was stopped by Zhao Ming, the Iron Dragon dropping a Golden Dragon statue in front of her. "You have another task soon, Goblin. Follow me for a moment." The Dragon turned to Greasus. "I will be back to negotiate further in a moment Greasus please continue without us for a moment." Then suddenly Alyzz was lifted off the ground as the Iron Dragon grabbed her and carried her by the back of her corset towards a hill.

Several minutes later the pair reached lip of the hill overlooking a slight valley beyond, a valley filled with a miles long column of soldiers now all with pitched tents and camp fires. There must have been thousands of human soldiers camped out there and Alyzz could see hints of countless wagons and other equipment scattered throughout.

"My Father and Sisters would insist that I present you with a threatening ultimatum. Instead I present you with this offer, make way and negotiate favorably with us, allow us to take what Grand Cathay wants, and we will reward you and your Horde greatly. Otherwise we will simply offer our aid to the other powers of your world. The Gold Dragon is payment for that." And with that the Dragon dropped Alyzz allowing the Goblin to drop to her feet.

As Alyzz rightened herself, she glared back at the Dragon as he walked away. What power made this creature so arrogant as to think he could just carry her, let alone threaten the Horde like this? His name and title, he had to be a Bronze or Black Dragon. The Dragon looked over his shoulder to Alyzz as she dusted herself off. "I hope we can do further business in the future, without Ji being waived between us." As he spoke and before Alyzz could shout at the damned Dragon, two of his warriors wielding their strange Halberds took post next to Zhao Ming, holding their weapons at the ready.

With a huff she stormed around the Dragon's guards and down to where he had dropped the Golden dragon statue, back in Greasus' tent. But when Alyzz arived she discovered the Statue missing, and after quickly looking about spotted it tossed into Greasus' pile of gold. "Son of a bitch!"

On another world, on a far away Continent, lay the city of Stormwind. Within Stormwind just apart from the city and inland of the famed Stormwind Harbor lay the just as famed and vastly important Stormwind Keep. Inside Stormwind Keep Anduin sat atop the Throne of Stormwind, about the chamber a multitude of Alliance leaders, commanders, and various interested parties, including a lone individual from the world of Mallus, all stood about each wishing to have their voice heard, some so much they couldn't wait their turn.

"The Horde is in disarray and are overextended, if we attack with everything we have in Ashenvale and Azshara we could take Orgrimmar in little over a month! That would certainly break their spirit!" One of the Human nobles argued a map of Azeroth on the floor showing tokens for the various armies or notable Battalions on Azeroth.

"Are ye daft? They struck Exodar, and BURNED Teldrassil! And you want us to waste the lives of our entire force halfway across the world leaving our homes exposed to the Forsaken?" A dwarven representative interrupted.

"What do we have allies for if not to stand in eachother's defense? We need to act now!" A Gnome cried back in protest.

"Easy for you to say, with no wife or child! I doubt you'd even be expected to stand a thousand leagues distant from the battlefield if it was on Kalimdor!" The Dwarf snapped back his fists balled.

"Enough. Anduin I'm leaving." The High King looked up from the map that he had been brooding over. Across the Chamber, Jaina Proudmoor looking gaunt and exhausted glared at him. "You know how to contact me once you decide."

"And where the blazes do you think you're going! This is War, you can't just abandon us!" The boisterous Dwarf shouted at Jaina's back causing the mage to stop.

"Home." And then she continued on. Anduin couldn't blame her, the Kirin Tor had chosen neutrality even when Teldrassil burned, Khadgar saying that there were far greater concerns, and even Kalec had argued against her making cryptic warnings about the portals. The Portals that now were another source of contention and concern for the Alliance in this war. The Hyjal portal's condition on the other side far from certain and a hill of ice, snow and wood blocking the portal from the Alliance, all while the Horde's remained fully opened, exposing the Eastern Kingdoms to whatever threats the Horde was able to draw from Mallus.

"Well good-..." The Dwarf was cut off by the smacking of a staff firmly against the back of his head.

"Silence, Dwarf! This is a war council not a Beer hall! You can continue your Rorkaz latter!" Volkmar stated glaring harshly down at the Dwarf.

"My what?"

"Silence all of you!" The voice of Genn Graymane shouted over the hall grabbing everyone's attention.

"Anduin. I think we need to think of the long term of the war, between Azerite, the threat to all our borders, and the potential threat of the portals. I think our best choice is to attack Lordaeron, secure their portal and deny the Forsaken their capital. From there, while my heart cries for Gilneas, retaking Darkshore and all of the land around Mount Hyjal should be our next priority." The Worgen king stated pointing helpfully to particular points of the map.

Across the hall a bitter scoff grabbed the attention of the various Alliance occupants. There the Night Elven women, Volkmar would later learn to be the legendary Maiev Shadowsong, held up by her brother Jarod Shadowsong glared across the chamber. "Leave it to humans to prioritize their own land first. Malfurion and Tyrande constantly opened up yo you all and all you can do is lip service, instead quaking in fear of the Dead."

The Night Elf Warden before she could speak was subtly stopped by her brother, as Anduin raised his hand. "Volkmar. Do you know where the second portal exists?"

"No, but if you know where it is on a map I might be able to provide some insights." The Grand Theologist answered simply and with a shrug.

"It might take a moment to get a map here. But the region is called the Wolf Lands, if you know that place." Anduin provided, hoping that Volkmar might provide positive insights.

"I know the place, though not well. If the Horde's portal is there, then you might be in for a struggle." Volkmar replied.

"Why?" One of the members of the crowd asked.

Volkmar in response shrugged before staring to the ceiling. "The Darklands are outside of the Empire or the territory of our allies, but the Wolf Lands in particular are not too distant from the Empire while laying on a crossroad of the world. Many dark forces who would eagerly sign on to fight for these Horde Foes of yours could easily march their armies to the portal, though thankfully the Vampires and the Skaven would suffer some since they would have to pass through land belonging to the Dwarves High King, or Clan Angrund. They would either have to defeat them or take longer, more secretive paths costing them time. So unless the Skaven had another army already prepared, I doubt any new foes will come from the West any time soon. This leaves us contemplating foes I've never fought before except for the Greenskins and Chaos."

Volkmar sighed before continuing. "But I know plenty of the rumors and claims. Chaos Dwarves who claim ownership of the Darklands and are horrific slavers. Chaos Warriors from the North might push south. Greenskin Tribes would willingly fight against or for the Horde depending on their mood at any given moment. Beastmen Herds might serve the Horde if their demented Gods command it. And Ogres from the Ogre Kingdoms supposedly have truly Gigantic Creatures never before seen outside the Mountains of Mourn that they supposedly had tamed."

Some of the crowd looked amused, almost like they were on the verge of laughter, while others seemed genuinely intrigued. The Gilnean King speaking first clearly intended to prevent any confusion or conflict. "And which do you think would be most likely and what details about them do you think we should be made aware of."

Volkmar spent many long moments thinking. In his own mind he discarded the Orcs, even the Great Necromancer Nagash and other mighty warlords struggled to keep them in line at the best of times and with foreknowledge of the Orkish nature. And all the forces of Chaos seemed unlikely based off the claims about Azeroth's recent History Anduin had provided him. "The Ogres, they routinely migrate through the region, and they are simple enough the Horde can motivate them to fight for them. A scholar once claiming that they are 'As thick as two short planks' meaning their smart enough to nail the wood together to use as a weapon. But in the Mountains of Mourn they have beasts like Mournfangs, monsters that will continue to bite and claw even after their brain has been knocked out of their heads, and a monsterous beast called a Thundertusk a massive ice breathing beast that they use as a warbeast carrying the Ogres to battle. Freezing entire ranks of men in a instant while the riders atop shatter the remains."

Anduin focused in on Volkmar. "And how much of a threat do you think this portal", as he spoke he pointed to the point on the map where the Crimson Monastery lay, "is going to be to us in the future?" Now around the room the various people focused in interested.

Volkmar looked at Anduin unflinching. "Independently the Skaven and the Undead forces you encountered based off what I've seen of your militaries wouldn't have been as successful as the Horde allowed them to be. However the Skaven have far more at their disposal than what you encountered already and the Undead lacked the presence of lesser Vampires and neceomancers so their power was severely limited. The portal, if their League with the Horde remains, will allow the Horde to start drawing on the Skaven's vast numbers, and the power of the Vampires of Sylvania. Against your current forces they will be indispensable in allowing the Horde to overwhelm your forces. If that portal allows another army through, the Horde will bog down your forces entirely isolating your units and destroying each, one after another."

Some scoffing errupted across the chamber. "Rubbish! As if something as meager as fielding more weaklings could threaten the Alliance. We should be focused on removing Durotar and the Horde's Kalimdor forces. Alone the Forsaken and Quel'Thalas stand no chance against the Eastern Kingdoms even with support from their Mallus Allies." One Human voice cried.

"I've seen the casualty reports, our soldiers vastly out preform these Mallus forces, we should statistically focus on targets which will limit the Horde's abilities Bilgewater Harbor, Suramar City, and Quel'Thalas. Without these locations the Horde's forces will be isolated and we should win." A Gnomish Woman's voice stated with a slightly nasal whine.

Then the room errupted in loud arguements yet again. As Gnomes, Dwarves, Humans, and even a few Night Elves started bickering and shouting Anduin glared across the chamber, but before Genn could shout for order again an new voice, soild and resolute, yet gentle and worn with age cut through the bickering. "The Man of Sigmar is correct. If the Horde is allowed to control the portals not just the Alliance but all of Azeroth is doomed."

The room turned with a mixture of shock, amazement, or simple interest to the speaker. A bearded Draenei which matched the description Volkmar had been given of the Draenei's theocratic leader, the Prophet Velen. Velen walked with the support of a staff, and another Draenei at his side caring for him, he seemed sickly and weak, yet still dominated the room as he walked. "The Man of Sigmar is correct. As I lay poisoned by the Naga the Light provided me Visions of what is to come should we fail. I always knew you would lead us all Anduin against the coming darkness, I fear it is closer than I ever expected." Velen began, speaking directly to the King of Stormwind.

Velen then turned to the entire chamber speaking with a powerful voice. "My first vision is that of the Horde's folly. They sall invite what they think is forces to add to their own power and to that of Azeroth, blinded either by hubris or by machination to the subversion each brings. They shall weaken Azeroth's defense against what is to come thinking that they are making it stronger." The Prophet announced earning a chorus of outraged voices condemning the Horde.

"The Second is the coming of new Dragonflights, the Celestial Dragonflight. However in their haste and in ignorance they shall unleash far greater evil upon our world attempting to gain the power to save their own." Velen continued ignoring the outcries, and this revelation seemed to give pause to the crowds.

Velen continued this time solemn. "Shandris Feathermoon will fail, and we will abandon her in our own hubris, dooming ourselves in the process." This instead earning cries of denouncement, as those in the room refused to think that they would abandon their allies, or do anything to threaten Azeroth. Still as the voices all clamored Velen turned to his former student.

Velen, still weakened by the Naga's poison slowly and grunting in discomfort bowed on his knees before the Young King. "You now bear the Light's warning Anduin, High King of the Alliance. It is your decisions which will save Azeroth from the coming darkness, the faces of which are slowly making themselves known to me. The Void has dark intent and access to dark forces with which to lay into Azeroth claiming Victory in the Celestial Conflict. But you are King Anduin, and here we have the means to sharpen your blade, and forge you into the greatest King."

As Volkmar watched he rolled his eyes ar the Old Draenei's melodrama. Anduin had potential, but he was no equal to Sigmar, he barely compared to Karl. Still perhaps the young ideolog was the best this world had seen in a long time, which would make sense then. Still slowly the clamoring crowd's tune slowly changed, clapping and cheering. Chanting the name of Anduin and the Alliance all while Volkmar watched silently.

"We strike Lordaeron, and we will take thr Horde's portal. Shandris will not be abandoned, and I will not allow anyone to threaten Azeroth further. For peace, and for the Alliance!" Anduin then cried drawing his magic sword and holding it high. spuring new rounds of the room chanting and shouting their King's praises.

Sylvanas Windrunner exited her tent as one of the guards was announcing the arrival of an army. Swiftly the Warchief moved to the walls looking out onto the plains beyond. There spread out across the plain were thousands of Skaven and what appeared to be hundreds of green, or white with green, banners held high above the ranks of Skaven.

Sylvanas walked out from the Crimson post to meet with the Horde's newest allies in the growing great war. Here he was met with a line of of what appeared to be squalid priests and Warlords, some looking nearly dead on their feet. At their head a large bloated Skaven stood with a odd smile on his snout. "The Pestilent Brotherhood has arrived, Clan Pestilens brings six thousand Monks and Clanrats along with Catapults and Furnaces. Clan Morbidus brings another five thousand clanrats. Clan Septik brings another six thousand Monks and Clanrats. And clans Skrat, Griblobe, Fester, and Feesik bring between them another eleven thousand Clanrats and Monks."

Sylvanas kept her surprise well in check. It might have been just shy of a month since Teldrassil burned, but for so many Skaven to arrive so quickly. Nearly three full divisions worth in a single army, if they were Orcish Grunts, or her own Forsaken she could trust such numbers to crush Stormwind's inevitable counter attack. "The Skaven certainly move quickly I wasn't expecting you until much later and was only waiting for a response from your council to some messages i sent them." Sylvanas stated flatly.

"We are not the Council's response. The Great Horned Rat provided Nurglich the knowledge that you would be successful and we gathered as many troops as we could and rushed them here as quickly as we could. Unfortunately we lost more than half our number along the way. However, we hope these numbers should be sufficient. I am glad we arrived before anyone else though." The priest at the head spoke and Sylvanas only smirked back.

"Welcome to Azeroth, let us get your up to speed and mark your new territory within the Horde." Sylvanas welcomed the Skaven, noting the strange clawed catapults, the giant censers billowing a odd green smoke, and massive mobs of hooded, unarmored rats weilding maces, over sized bells, daggers, or even Censers that bellowed smoke.

With the Vampires Aleksandr and Tarei dragging nearly twenty captive Draenei towards Sylvania, uncertain if they'd ever even return, Sylvanas was running thin on Mallus allies to field against the Alliance, but with these numbers she might just be able to hold off the Alliance long enough for the Horde's plans to open up to new allies, like the Zandalari. But until then, the Skaven's numbers would certainly hold the line, and based off a messenger bird, more Mallus allies were likely to be on their way.

Shandris Feathermoon woke a harsh throb of pain from her left side. Looking about the Night Elf General found herself inside a drab tent laying on a uncomfortable cot. Shandris tried to lift herself up but soon discovered that where her left arm had been there was now nothing but empty space. After a moment the Night Elf finally sat up to look across the room.

The General slowly cast her gaze over the tent, icons such as griffins and various small idiols adorned the candle lit room. As she looked about the chamber Shandris saw a woman in white robes nodded off next to her bed, prayer beads and empty potion bottles around her. The woman slept softly, still muttering prayers in her language as she slept.

Quietly the Elf rose from the cot and walked about the chamber. As Shandris walked the flaps at the entrance of the tent opened allowing Irma Schoff to step into the tent. In one hand the woman held a wine bottle she drank deeply from, in her other the Guandao she was known for was being lain against a table. As the weapon was put aside Irma adjusted a large satchel at hef side finally lowering the wine bottle. "Ah, Good your awake." The woman stated in common, and entirely nonplussed at the naked Elf Woman before her, causing the sleeping priestess to startle awake.

"Oh, mein Gott! Es tut mir leid, Lady Irma, ich habe die Elfe die ganze Nacht beobachtet und muss gerade eingeschlafen sein, während ich zu Shallya gebetet habe! (Oh, Oh my! I am sorry Lady Irma, I was watching the Elf all night and i must have just dozed off while praying to Shallya!)" The Priestess rambled to the Imperial Woman, who simply raised her hand.

"Alles ist in Ordnung. Du bist jetzt entlassen. (Everything is fine. You are dismissed now.)" With the Lady's decree the priestess collected her things and rushed from the tent, leaving Shandris with the Kommission of the Imperial Archives Agent.

"I am up, so what is with my arm now? Did you fail to save it?" Shandris asked looking to her shoulder where her flesh then just ends. The Other woman just took another swig of her drink setting it down.

"Unfortunately the Empire can't restore arms in the field like that. At least not without a much higher ranked Priestess of Shallya or a competent Jade Wizard, which we refer to as druids, they seem to share similarities to your Restoration Druids...oh Sorry I'm rambling. No, we can't save your arm, yet, but we are preserving it in hopes of restoring it later." The Imperial Archive agent explained.

"You know, we fought together, but no one told me what exactly you are." Shandris stated eying the woman critically.

"Hmm, I guess we were never formally introduced. Drink?" The Irma mused offering the Sentinel General her wine. Shandris accepting the bottle, and sniffing before sipping the wine. Meanwhile her Imperial counterpart tapped her finger on her chin. " I guess you could call me a spy, or at least that would be what you could best identify me as."

"Hmm, humans and their spies, you lot put too much emphasis on them if you ask me." Shandris stated then gulped her drink before spitting it out. "Cenarius' Ass! That tastes terrible, like piss and copper!" The General complained holding out the bottle.

"Please, it is rather late and I do suspect others are trying to sleep. But I'll admit I did spike the drink with a little something." The woman stated before her smile turned cold. "Want me to show you with what?"

Shandris stared at her counterpart in confusion, and then shock as the woman undid the rope on her package, then reached in slowly pulling out a severed head from bag. "I'm sorry, is he anyone you recognize?" Irma's voice now deeper and filled with a dark amusement.

"I found this little morsel pretending to be a State Trooper in Altdorf. He probably thought his disguise was well made, and honestly he probably would have gone unnoticed...by any humans in the city that is. However there were plenty around with... other senses, and we don't take too keenly to spies operating outside our control." The woman darkly stated dropping the head at Shandris' feet. "So lets have a conversation about spies shall we? I wanted to ask your little friends, but with the poison and your injury, I'm glad I waited."

Moving quickly Shandris swung the bottle at Irma, but before she could complete her swing a strong hand clasped the Elf's arm stopping her. Before anything else Shandris then felt the cold press of steel against her neck, Irma's Guandao somehow back in the woman's hand despite Shandris never seeing her grab the weapon or even move. Shandris breathed in, ready to scream for aid, staring defiantly into the eyes of this attacker.

"Let me do us both a favor and rephrase. You will tell me everything you know about the Kingdom of Stormwind and its SI:7 organization. I will then share with you an antidote to the poison I included with that wine. And then we'll forget about this part of our conversation and go back to when I was being a rambling, knowledge obsessed bookworm." Shandris listened to the woman, her gaze locked on the powerful green eyes of her attacker, missing the strange red gleam on the woman's spectacles.

Sealed away he could only watch, helpless, but not powerless. He might not be able to take direct action or exert his authority over the mind and wills of others like he could once do. But as always he had the power to influence the actions and thoughts of others, and when the rare moments those others finally came to him, he was able to flex his power setting forth chains of events that would otherwise be impossible.

With but the slightest exertion of his will armies a hundred years later would march in his name. With effort entire Kingdoms, and so called Empire's would rise to glory and fall in folly. He had known long, long before any others had known what would be coming now and he had silently prepared, sacrificing his servants, and empowering his enemies. All for when the portals opened, and now they were already trying to push through, to lay claim to what was his. But they were far too foolish to recognize his plans. His freedom was but a short distance away, and they would motivate the blind haste needed for those over inflated mortals to make their mistake. It might take time after, but he would allow the Daemons to threaten the mortals for a time, but then Azeroth would belong to him once again.

Until then all he needed was his servants to encourage the escalation of the Mortals war. Even if it served another's plan, more death and destruction was exactly what his own schemes required so he'd go along with these other would be puppet master's schemes for now, after all it is the tool that serves its purpose without action from the master, which is most ignored. And for now he and his kin needed to remain forgotten.

Gate of the Elder Gods Book One End

And thus our first story arc comes to it's close. Meanwhile as with book series and simply wisdom to prevent burnout there are now other books on the way. However as the amount of insanity ramps up we will be focusing in on particular stories. So we have a few stories now to consider as to where you the readers would like to visit next. It will take me a short while to prepare the next book in our series so i'll allow everyone to take a vote or make suggestions and lay out my current ideas for review.

Gate of the Elder Gods: War for Lordearon

King Anduin forewarned by Velen knows that the future of the Alliance hangs upon a thread and so to save the Alliance launches an invasion of Lordearon. However the Horde have already steeled themselves for war, and reinforced their defenses. Worse yet the Horde's new allies have brought new powers and weapons to Azeroth and other darkness dwells beyond the conflict.

Gate of the Elder Gods: Drum of War

Trapped on another world Shandris Feathermoon must lead her army to their survival. But more with gradually confirmed suspicions that her world is now at war, she must both make new allies and motivate them to join a war that the Empire and the human kingdoms are reluctant to join. Can Shandris return home alive with dark forces looming behind her and with mounting obstacles before her?

Gate of the Elder Gods: Dragon Lord

They march from the east, an army of a hundred thousand men lead by Dragons. Alyzz Kneecord P.I. had hoped to return home rich and famous but now can the Horde deal with this coming force, let alone the enraged masters of the Darklands and other unforeseen consequences of their actions. And what is the rumors of a new portal and names of evil carried upon the winds?

I'll be adding one last chapter just to announce what is to come, maybe give you all a list of characters with a "current status" if you all would like, respond to reviews and title drop the next arc of our story.