The Quest Begins
The news of Stormwind's fall didn't travel to Ironforge for a very long time, Ironforge only found out when a small group of fellow adventurers walked to Stormwind on business, the Deeprun Tram had been out of service for many weeks now, and it was widely believed that the Gnomes were merely tinkering with it, but when asked, none of the Gnomes would explicitly say what was going on, in truth in the wrath and power of Onyxia, the entrance in the Dwarven district, was in fact blocked, and all the way to the underwater tunnel was debris from the once great city, naturally the Gnomes were trying to move it, but doing a very bad job, the group of adventurers were a strange group, there were two Nightelves, a Dwarf and a Gnome, the Nightelves were tall like the rest of their race, and both female, one was called Sarielle and the other Miteelia, they both looked more or less the same, apart from Sarielle had green hair and Miteelia's was purple.
The Dwarf of the group was a typical Dwarf, long thick beard, broad shoulders and a bald head, finally there was the Gnome, a typical Gnome, very small, and with a pointed wizards hat that belied her height. She was called Sasperela, and the Dwarf went by the name of Gambourne. These particular people, all belonged to the Guild The Psychotic Warriors, they had just walked through the Searing Gorge, the Burning Steppes and then through Redridge, they were now happily walking along the road that leads to Stormwind in Elwynn Forest, happily talking amongst themselves, gazing at the countless wild animals who were eyeing them with distrust, the Dwarf was the one speaking at that particular time.
"I don't know why those bloody Gnomes wont tell us anything," he looked at Sasperela as he said this, "I mean bloody things wont even say what's wrong with the tram." There was no answer, Sasperela was happily examining her new wand, it was only a short one at eight inches long, but it looked very strong, and had a slightly sinister red glow about it. "I dunno why you like that blasted thing so much, doesn't look like anything my Axe couldn't handle" he patted his Axe with a smirk, Sasperela still didn't answer, instead as they walked past a wolf which was chasing a deer, and with a wave of her wand Sasperela killed the wolf on the spot. Gambourne looked a little out of phase, but quickly regained himself, "yes but still, my Axe could stop you pretty quickly, and my Armour and Paladin protections would stop that fire." He finished seeming rather pleased with himself.
They were walking past the Eastvale Logging Camp, there was a slight stream of smoke in the direction of Goldshire, taking it for a house or the Blacksmith's they weren't suspicious, they carried on walking and suddenly realised that Gambourne was behind them, quite a distance behind, they stopped and looked around he was rummaging in his bag for something.
"What are you doing?" asked Sarielle, her voice was deeper than human women's and it was a lot sleeker, with a frown on her face.
"I'm looking for something" Said the Dwarf evasively "just something I wanted….to drink." Muttering the last bit, they all turned round again and waited for Gambourne to catch up, he seemed a little put out. "I hope we get to Goldshire soon, what say you lot to a nice cold pint in the pub?" he asked hopefully, they all looked at him.
"'A nice cold pint in the pub?'" asked Sasperela, her voice was quite high pitched and squeaky "is that what you were looking for in your bag, some Ale to drink?"
"So what if I was, I'm allowed a drink every now and then aren't I." He said, his eyes narrowed while looking at Sasperela
"Hm" She sighed, and after a long pause said "Dwarves", both the Night Elves giggled and turned to walk away, closely followed by the Gnome and then Gambourne. The Night Elves pets were both running around the group chasing each other and growling in a playful way, every now and then, one would pounce on the other and pin it down, only to let the other up again and continue with their game. The two pets were both tigers, one was White (Sarielle's) and the other was orange.
Then the two pets stopped suddenly, staring at something in front of them, the group stopped as abruptly gazing almost transfixed at what was in front of them, an old man, with a large cloak and large wide brimmed hat stood in the road. He was dressed entirely in dark red, and as he moved it looked like his robes were made from silk, the brim of his hat covered the entire top of his face, all they could see was his mouth, that was curled in a sort of grin.
A thrill of anticipation surged through their bodies, they could all feel (the hunters more so) that behind this old man's frail exterior was power beyond any of theirs, they waited for what seemed like hours, although in truth it was barely seconds, when in the blink of an eye the old man vanished, there was no visible trace left and even as the hunters went to investigate there was no trace of a footprint.
"Gone" whispered Miteelia "not a trace left, not even a footprint"
"Well what was he then" Asked Gambourne
"He was a Mage of the Order Of Sirias" whispered Sasperela. Ignoring the others dumbfounded looks she carried on "It's an ancient order that was first brought about when Azeroth was created, no one really knows who or what they were when it was first conceived, all anyone knows now is that it is a very small collection of extremely powerful Mages and Warlocks, it's even rumoured that some can bend and shape the course of time." There was silence; the wind could be heard rustling through the leaves on trees and bushes, they could hear a rabbit scurry across the road in front of them, and the sound of a wolf's howl, echoed through the trees.
They were all filled with a deep feeling of distrust and foreboding, they shifted nervously from foot to foot, then with a sigh Sarielle said
"Well, what was a Mage of the Order Of Sirias doing here?" she looked enquiringly at the Gnome, but no answer came, she seemed to be deep in thought, after a while she said very slowly
"Well, as great protectors, they only ever make themselves visible to who they want, if you were to look for a protector they are impossible to find"
"So this Mage" said Gambourne "wanted us to see him, maybe to find him? Why did they show themselves in the past."
"A Mage of the Order Of Sirias only shows himself to those he feels are worthy and powerful enough to perform the task that needs doing, which means something has happened up ahead, and he wants us to" Sasperela faltered "do something about it" they all looked around, they knew something like this was coming, they had already killed countless dragons and giants and other creatures, but they still weren't ready for this, they knew deep down that this quest would be perilous and very possible that some of them wouldn't be coming back.
They walked towards Stormwind, when they got near Goldshire they noticed that the little spiral of smoke they saw earlier wasn't from a house or the Blacksmiths, the buildings of Goldshire were now a smouldering wreck, cinders in fires glowed a menacing dark orange, a strong smell of burnt wood and flesh lingered in the air, as they entered they saw that the town of Goldshire had not only been ransacked and burned, but completely destroyed, they saw the outlines of dead figures on the ground, they saw blood stains upon the walls there were scorch marks on the floor, and holes randomly littering the floor, they began to inspect the now ruined town, as they looked around, they saw hundreds of dead bodies, the bodies of men, guards of Goldshire, their armour was bent and slashed open their swords notched and broken and their shields shattered, they saw women, slashed cruelly as they lay there dead, or as they were pleading for mercy, they saw children too, most face down upon the ground with arrows nearly as big as them lodged in their backs, but all of them had a cold unseeing stare, an accusatory stare.
As the group stood there taking in the horrific scene that was once Goldshire, an old man dressed in dark red robes and wearing a wide brimmed hat, walked up to them behind them, he coughed, clearly to get there attention, the group spun round, there weapons ready.
"Good day to you" said the old man, his voice was deep, but clear, "you will not need such weapons against me, for I am not here to challenge or attack you" at this they lowered their weapons and continued to stare at him, "as you can see, the town of Goldshire has been attacked," he was talking as if he was talking about the weather. But before he could speak, Gambourne had blurted out.
"Who are you?" he asked, the old man merely smiled, and let out a small chuckle,
"I am no one, and every one, but the question isn't who I am, it's who are you?" he said mysteriously, they all stopped for a moment, Sarielle opened her mouth to say her name but the old man, who had stepped forward and was now more visible, seemed to guess what she was going to say "Names are but labels, I for instance am nameless, I asked who you are not what your name is, but as it goes I know the names of all of your party, you my fair elves go by the names of Sarielle" he inclined his head to her "and Miteelia" he also inclined his head in turn to her as well, "this fellow mage is Sasperela and this fine Paladin is Gambourne" he inclined his head to both of them in turn as he said their names.
The group stood there, apparently unable to speak due to the fact that this man knew all of their names without ever having spoken to them.
"Seeing as I already know all of your names, I think, for the purpose of our discussions together and if you mention me again, you can call me Medion, 'tis but one of my names in the north." He smiled again and they saw his whole face this time, he had small white eyebrows, and beneath them cold brown eyes, but in them there wasn't any trace of malice or anger, but a look of deep satisfaction. "Yes" he muttered audibly, inspecting the group "I knew that you were the group that must do this task for me, I have been watching you from afar, and have defiantly chosen rightly."
"You've been spying on us?" asked Gambourne, apparently regaining his voice and raising his axe threateningly, how long had he been watching them? Since they got into the forest, or for much longer? This thought echoed through them, they looked worried, Medion look pleased.
"Do not worry" he said "I have not been watching you for a long time, just when you came out of the Burning Steppes." It was as if he had read their minds, there was no way that he could have known what they were all thinking. They began to become very wary, their weapons were slowly edging to the ready position, Medion simply waves his hand in dismissal, he strode past them, to where the road leads off to Stormwind, and stopped facing the city, the group followed him, and as they saw the ruined gates of Stormwind, felt horrified, the gates that were once magnificent and large, now lay as rubble in their path, and beyond the wreckage that was the gate, lay the now barely recognizable city, after the attack of Onyxia.
The bewildered group lost all animosity to Medion in a second.
"What happened here?" whispered Miteelia, horror-struck "who did this?"
"The Horde attacked this once fair city, they were led by a particularly ferocious and violent Orc called Ma'thill," he sighed, "there they summoned a Dragon that none have ever matched, and many have lost their lives to, the Dragon Queen-"
"Onyxia!" said Sasperela, her voice trembled, Onyxia was, in legend, the most evil and foul Dragon to ever have disgraced this earth, tales of her violence and evil had spread far and wide, most regarded it all as legend, and old wives tales, but at her height she and her dragon sons and daughters attacked at will, looting and plundering every city and town they attacked, until one day a band of very powerful Warlocks (believed to be members of the Order Of Sirias) had locked Onyxia away in a prison of immense magical power, in the hope that no one would learn their secrets on how to break the spell that keeps her locked in her prison, the Warlocks had made a Journal of their entire journey on their finding of their secrets and they had called it The Silent Chapter.