A/N: Thanks to SilentMech, refferee, Quixotic Enigma, the alicorn huntard, and Borderline Valley for your comments last chapter!
This one is a bit of a deviation, but I was having trouble with the main chapter and I had the idea for this one, so here we are! A chapter focusing on our next arc-villains. For players of WoW, I bet you've fought at least one of them before!
I hope you enjoy, and please let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
“Welcome to our Monastery, Grand Crusader. It is rare honor to have the leader of our cause visit us here on the frontlines of battle.”
A pale white haired young woman, clothed only with red cloth on her torso leaving her arms and legs bare except for a loincloth, and a tanned man with balding red hair wearing white and red robes with a flame symbol on them were each waiting for Dathrohan along with an entire retinue of Scarlet Crusade soldiers. The elder man likely had as many years as the two who had come to personally greet him amongst the officers of the Monastery.
“High Inquisitor Whitemane, Arcanist Doan, I thank you for welcoming me to your Halls.”
The Scarlet Monastery was located to the north-east of the Undead hive known as Undercity, located near enough that it was their main stronghold against Sylvanas’s ilk while having enough distance that they were not in deadlocked warfare. To its east was the area known as the Plaguelands, where the Scarlet Crusade had even more forces such as at Tyr’s Hand, but here the Monastery was the primary stronghold.
Dathrohan looked between the man and woman who held so much power here. They were each capable in their own rights, with the powers of Whitemane to revive the dead without turning them Undead being nothing less than prodigious while Arcanist Doan was one of the most wise and lasting members of the Crusade.
Also stationed there was Interrogator Vishas, known for his proclivity for torture even when unnecessary, but he produced results. Then there was also Mograine…
Mograine…Dathrohan remembered how he brought the young man to his current station. Strong, but weak willed, Mograine had needed Dathrohan’s aid and guidance to come this far. He would be a perfect leader for the mission Dathrohan had come to give.
Along with a polite bow, Doan spoke to end the silence that had been standing for some moments, “Is there anything we can assist you with, Dathrohan?”
Dathrohan’s head nodded agreeably as the leader was drawn back into the conversation.
“Your forces are deeply encroached upon the territory of the Undead, and as such are well suited to bolster the very front of our conflict with their forces. Their Elven allies to the North may press us, and with the Undead to our North and West we cannot afford to allow them to press us back.”
Whitemane eagerly bowed as well, her eyes excited at the proposed plan, “I understand. I will ready our most powerful forces for your coming Crusade, my lord.”
Dathrohan smiled as he remembered a piece of useful information about the Inquisitor: she was quite fond of Mograine. Together, with his strength and her magical capabilities, they could carve their way through countless foes.
Love was powerful, and it should not be squandered as a resource.
“I am thinking that you and Mograine can lead the expedition, High Inquisitor. I will stay here and make sure that the Monastery keeps its vigil while its most veteran soldiers are on the frontline.”
If she was eager before, Whitemane was almost ready to leap to action at that very moment. She kept it from showing outwardly though, and she kept her head bowed as she responded to the Grand Crusader.
“As you will, my lord.”
Plans were being set according to Dathrohan’s specifications, and while it took the better part of a day the Grand Crusader turned away company and other officers who sought to help as he finished them in Doan’s study, which was repurposed as Dathrohan’s own while he stayed.
It was not that Dathrohan did not trust his associates: he knew the officers to be competent, or else he would never have allowed them to rise to their positions. No, instead it was that he knew everything he needed to for this planning already and did not need others meddling and questioning his planning. Instead he had all those who would help instead go and prepare for the campaign they were about to wage.
The top fifty percent of the Monastery’s forces were to leave, leaving the others, their families, and their servants behind in the area. The Alliance forces arranged to assault the Monastery would then be able to cause damage and lessen the seeming threat if the Crusade, making Sylvanas turn her attention to Outland and devote her forces abroad instead of at her gates.
A momentary sacrifice, but a necessary one. It would be seen as a tragedy worthy of revenge to the other Crusaders, but Dathrohan would be there to stem the tide of the damage so nothing permanent was inflicted upon the Crusade.
They had over ten thousand soldiers at their beck and call across Azeroth. A hundred could be sacrificed for a greater purpose…the eradication of the Undead. The defeat of Arthas.
“Your plans seem to be going along quite well.”
Dathrohan turned around in the room and narrowed his eyes at the eight and a half meter tall Demon standing before him. Clad in large red armor and possessing lime green glowing eyes in his pale face, Varimathras would appear intimidating to many who randomly came across such a fearsome being, what with his massive height, large wings, unnatural eyes, formidable claws, and an aura that radiated to those nearby it a sense of dread.
After all, he was a Dreadlord.
“Varimathras, it is careless for you to visit this way.”
Dathrohan turned back to his work, though he did not sit down as he did not even seem to notice that he had stood up to confront the sudden intruder.
Varimathras took to leaning against a wall nearby Dathrohan, having stepped away from the door he did not even have to use to enter given his powers, “Sylvanas was infuriated by the Scarlet Crusade destroying a supply shipment and sent me out on a revenge campaign. I have a hundred heads to collect or she will pursue further action.”
Dathrohan sighed. His forces were being too competent for their own good…he would normally be pleased, but this was not the time to be diverting their opponent’s attention towards them. It was not as if he could outright say that to his forces though, for they would burn even their beloved Grand Crusader at the stake if he told them to leave the Undead alone.
“Weed out the fools we send to the frontlines against her, or exhibit some patience for our coming conflict here. Sylvanas is not our primary enemy, Arthas and his abominable Scourge are. After the Alliance comes, you can take as many heads as you please from the remainders. I do not want to squander additional forces.”
The sound of a key turning and a door opening came at the same time as some muttering from outside, the door swinging open as a figure sullenly trodded in.
“I wish she would notice—D-DEM—”
Arcanist Doan lashed out with his magic a moment too late, as a single swipe of the Dreadlord’s claw decapitated him and silenced his warning.
“There is one,” Dathrohan growled as he watched the veteran spill his blood lifelessly onto the ground, no doubt having returned to come receive one of his own materials from here, “Damnable fool. He must have left something in his office.”
Varimathras grabbed the severed head and looked at it with annoyance as it hung from red hair, “I shall take my leave. I have ninety nine more heads to collect, if the forces Sylvanas lent me from the Apothecary have not succeeded on their own in taking some.”
As the Dreadlord disappeared with the blue flash of a Hearthstone, Dathrohan growled as he sat down and began to think about how this changed things, if it even did at all, “Doan may have eventually been eliminated anyways to weaken our position here and maintain the balance of power against Sylvanas, but these circumstances are unfortunate. Now the Undead will rally around his death, and our call to arms will be more severe…”
Dathrohan blinked as he realized something pooling within his armor. He looked down to see that the deceased spellcaster’s magic had penetrated his armor and struck what to many would be a lethal blow. Varimathras had moved out of the way of the magic and struck on his own, so the attack had instead struck the Grand Crusader.
“The fool even struck this body of mine. I should have a healer take care of this…”
The commotion from moments ago had caused nearby guards to come to Dathrohan’s room, and when the first entered he barked an order at them.
“You! Bring a healer to me. An Undead agent came and has assassinated Arcanist Doan. I drove them off, but I have been wounded by their foul magic.”
It was not entirely a lie. Varimathras did work for the Undead.
“Yes sir!” the soldier shouted as they did an about face and ran off to find the nearest healer. Other soldiers set up a defensive position around the room to protect their leader, leaving Dathrohan to sigh to himself and roll up the scrolls he had been writing on.
The pain was distant, but feeling it reminded Dathrohan of once when he had been on the receiving end of the same claws Doan had…
“A temporary setback to assure victory down the road…I will take Undercity back from Sylvanas.”
“Dear admirer, I appreciate your kind words and the flowers you have sent me. I hope that you are dedicating as much time as you do writing to me as you do your duties, for the Undead will not rest.”
At Tyr’s Hand, Abbendis paused as she dictated her letter as she also wrote it. She was trying to think of something from one of her romance novels, but nothing was coming to mind.
She was a skilled warrior and was growing into her role as leader…but romance? Well, she only had her books for reference.
Brigitte had received another letter, with another rose and more flattery, but this time it had come from a particular mailing service and location. If she wished, she could send a letter back to it and the sender likely would come across it…whoever they were.
“If you would like to speak more about the matter, visit my quarters after hours this coming weekend. I do not think I need to tell you this, but I expect this matter to remain between us.”
Brigitte brought her quill to her chin as she tried to come up with something to say back. While flattery of course improved her mood, it was truly the feeling of a forbidden romance that made her latch onto this. A commanding officer and some rank and file member consorting together? Brigitte could only imagine the thrill that would give…
Rapid knocking on her door made her drop her quill onto the desk and also managed to drop her mood severely.
She rose from the chair and rushed to the door, swinging it open to stare down the messenger cowering before it, “What is it? It’s the middle of the damn night!”
“My lady…”
It took a minute, but Brigitte was informed of the passing of Doan. Doan, one of the oldest and most loyal members of the Crusade, even if he personally crept Brigitte out.
Needless to say, she was not pleased.
“Go. Get out of my sight. I need to think.”
The messenger departed and Brigitte slammed the door. The whiplash of her moods left her in a haze, as she had been blushing one moment and infuriated the next. How could something like this happen? Were the troops truly so lax as to allow this sort of travesty to occur?
“We can use him as a martyr…” she paused as disgust rose within her again, “To think that those cretins could infiltrate us and eliminate one of our highest ranking officers…”
The Undead had taken so many from them, had destroyed so much…and now they had yet another leader of the Scarlet Crusade to claim as their trophy. It sickened Brigitte to think that right now they could be reviving Doan’s head with some sick magic to further taunt the Crusade. The mere thought of being transformed like that, twisted into a sick creature tortured with eternal life as an abomination, had Abbendis’s gut twisting.
To move her mind off of the depravity of her foes, she decided to focus on what mattered immediately: her own forces and their reaction to this.
“First, execute the guards who ought to have stopped this. They were either incompetent or heretics, and in either case our cause does not need them.”
This would instill greater discipline in others, who would learn from the mistakes of the fools who dared allow their superior officer to die. If they knew any better they would have committed suicide by now to pay for their sins.
“Second…”
But what then? Brigitte’s mind trailed off as she tried to come up with a follow up to her planned execution of the incompetent soldiers, but beyond rage and fury she could not think of anything. Perhaps fortifying their holds? Increasing their guard retinues? What?
Looking across her desk to a photo, Abbendis moved to a comfortable sitting position and ran a hand across the picture frame.
In it there was a dark haired man and a teenage red head standing in the white and red armor of the Scarlet Crusade. Brigitte cringed as she looked at the smile upon the man’s face, the man seeming sure of himself as he stood there for eternity in the photo.
“Father, what would you do?”
There was no response, leaving Brigitte to sigh and lay her head down on her desk, ignoring the paper she soon began to drench with tears.
“Right…you’re dead, and these same bastards are to blame. That’s why…that’s why I can never forgive them…”
The Undead came to be when the Burning Legion came to Azeroth and sought to utilize a mindless slave army for their purposes. The Demons created this blight, and their creation now ran rampant on the world even after their creators were all defeated and driven away.
Over ten thousand soldiers would fight them…but against a never-ending horde, could they win? If things continued, they would stagnate under the stalemate they were engaged in.
“Light help us all…”
?
The name drops really itched me in this so I went to the Wiki... And guess what I found. Holy crap. I'm almost starting to regret not being able to play WoW in its entirety but alas, time is not on my side for this. The lore is rich and I so want to delve into it even if my only source of lore was mainly from the games and less so from the books. I do wonder what's going to happen when Sylvannys finds out hmm?
Well, that is cause for concern. The best laid plans just got usurped by competence and miscommunication. This is probably why I like strategy games so much. If your plan is good enough you can account for the enemy using their own plan in retaliation to you beginning your plan.
6496289 ?
6498289
6496895 Hahaha, oh the name drops...everyone named in the chapter is a boss at some point or another. I'm curious just what you found though There is quite a lot you could have discovered...
I also regret not being able to play all of WoW, as its lore is large and expansive, but also hard to get in any good amount as to learn it wholly you have to go and pay attention to each detail of a quest chain. It's taken me a lot of research to get info on the Scarlet Crusade given their diminished presence and their state of degradation in the game currently, post Cata/WoTLK.
What will Sylvanas do? Well, she didn't find out Varimathras was a traitor until WoTLK, some years later...and Varimathras here is having a better opportunity to subvert her, so we'll have to see. Dathrohan certainly taking a more active role will change a lot, since he's not just sitting in Strathholme.
6497530 Dathrohan is one of the most notable manipulators of all of Warcraft lore, up there with Mal'ganis and Kil'Jaeden, so these setbacks won't ruin him...but even the best mind can't account for everything, and setbacks out of your control can influence what is under your control. He's got the one-up on Sylvanas though, so if she makes the mistake of committing her forces (along with the Horde) to Outland, Undercity will find itself overrun. He's a god of playing RTS's and strategy games I'd bet, given how even the death of a major aide is nothing he is incapable of spinning to better his cause (revenge campaign, martyr, etc). It's what I like about strategy games as well.
6498309 What was your question?
6498340 What is lyfe?
So that's who's been buying all those Steamy Romance's in Azeroth.
On another note, I wonder how they are dealing with the annual arrival of Sir Thomas this month...
6499223 She actually keeps one with her, specifically the Undead/Human romance novel. Yeah. Leader of the campaign against the Undead is into some kinky stuff that shows that her obsession goes a little deeper than one might normally suspect...
Sir Thomas will be appearing at some point as I plan to do all the holiday stuff at some point (in fact Brewfest is the one I intend to do first, with a fun twist), but they're at the beginning of a year rather than at the end of one, so Thomas will have to wait for his turn...unless they do something to summon him by accident. Given Trixie is involved, that is possible too.
6498321 The one thing that shocked me the most was finding the existance of a certain purple being named Varimathras. You remember what happened in Frozen Throne right? Now imagine the disconnect I had there...
6499697 Did you mean Balnazzar instead of Varimathras? They're brothers so I can understand the confusion, but one is much taller than the other and stronger.
And yes, I remember Frozen Throne. Not sure what the disconnect was though because there's a lot to that game and the people involved.
6499798 ... Fudge, I really messed up there too many names and it didn't help I was mumbling about him being my most favourite mission in Frozen Throne. The curb stomp is real.
Edit: Oh and by disconnect, I meant the events after since I thought it ended there at Frozen Throne.
6499816 No, Balnazzar was not actually killed in your favorite mission, and so here we are.
Balnazzar is one of the greatest magnificent bastards of Warcraft specifically because basically no-one knows he is while also pulling the strings of so many different people that it's astounding...makes Mal'Ganis doing it to the same people during WoTLK kind of pathetic because he resorted to copying wholesale the plan of Balnazzar.
Balnazzar is my favorite Dreadlord, and so expect him to play a role. The reason? He had the purple armor and was dutiful/loyal, versus his cowardly, red brother Varimathras who is more of a Starscream. It's reminiscent of Thundercracker versus Starscream in some regards, only replacing blue with purple, but that's fine.
6503708 Hahaha, how did you know I was going to make her cross class as DK?
This being said, there will be cross classing, as no-one is arbitrarily forcing the characters to only learn or do one thing. Outside of me, that is. Right now we've got Mage-Warrior Kael, Dual spec Trixie, and a Warrior-Monk to tank for them since Kael's only an off-tank and only specced in Leather right now.
6525914 Ehhh, all water under the bridge That was half the story ago
6526443 I've already said somewhere else that in-universe things have shifted because of certain differences, such as Sunwell Plateau happening earlier in Burning Crusade (current time: beginning of BC), but we're not in post-Cata Deadmines...the events of Cata Deadmines got both accelerated (with outside help to the weakened Defias since it is post-classic), and subsequently defeated.
Pandaria has always existed, just nobody knew where it was Well, except Chen, who is about two chapters from making his first appearance. As for Wrynn, Chromie and the Infinite Dragonflight are also going to be having some words in the nearby future And here I was thinking nobody was going to bring up Wrynn and I was going to have fun with that...somebody got halfway there by saying one half of him isn't there, but I thought I could still have fun later showing zero halves should be there...fun ruination-er Just joking, but seriously I was contemplating just yesterday how exactly I am going to implement level 60-70 characters like the Bronze Dragonflight and the Infinite Dragonflight without breaking our poor main characters. Came up with a solution, but now I just need to work it in to my overall plans since it'll be a bit earlier than originally intended.
Trixie's broken some things by being here, some directly (Sunwell), some by methods not yet revealed (Wrynn). I hope you don't mind me playing the long game that I so love doing, but glad you are entertained none-the-less
6526638 It's okay, glad to have you back
And yes, the Monastery is to the north east of Undercity, though the Crusade is scattered throughout that region as well as the Eastern Plaguelands. To their north is Undercity forces (Tranquillien), Scourge, and the Blood Elves, to their West is the Undead capital, in the Eastern Plaguelands there are even more Undead, and to their south is the Alliance who has mainly left them alone (explained in the WoW RPG books as being due to the sheer size of the Crusade making it untouchable by the Alliance alone). Just about in every direction though the Crusade has enemies, and they don't exactly have any friends.
6526879 What quest would that be? What are you referring to, and is there a link you could give me to look into the matter?
I did poke fun at something, but it was Blizzard's massive screwing up of the lore related to Abbendis and her family that caused them to create an adult Undead daughter for a character who is barely an adult herself. Because counting is hard I guess?
6527252 At no point was that said. Kargath's BLADEFIST and Illidan's GLAIVES.
KARGATH: BLADEFIST
ILLIDAN: GLAIVES (Of which there are two, as shown in the story's image)
Did I say the Bladefist is a glaive? No, I said he happened to have a blade instead of a hand. That isn't a glaive.
6526915
First quest chain mentioned.
6527694 Oh, you were talking about Voss. Voss isn't Abbendis. Voss does have an interesting story though, and will be appearing eventually.
6527708 YES!!!! Awesomesauce! Also did Kargath appear in the canon?
6527790 Kargath in-canon is confined to Hellfire Citadel in Burning Crusade, leading the Fel Orc army for the Illidari, but seeing as how Tempest Keep Kael, Illidan, and their forces are the primary villains of this story, I thought it would be better to have Kargath (a notable warrior) appear earlier on and establish himself, as unlike Illidan he is not as keen to just sit on the sidelines when he can be taking part in sadistic brutality. So, given that he is obsessive over arena battles and I have already made him more proactive, I had him drop by much like how he interrupts the arena battle at Highmaul: he sees a match he does not care for, he jumps in, and he tries to kill the people involved to show the crowd a REAL battle.
Why was he there? He has a reason, especially since his clan is known for assassination, but he doesn't explain himself as he's not a mustache twirling villain who reveals his whole villainous plan: just a sadist who will do anything to indulge in his obsession of gladiatorial styled combat.
So no to appearing in canon, but I think he is better served in this manner.
6527843 I think that's good. I mean look at the way they introduced and interacted with Arthas when you got to Icecrown Citadel. That was fucking cool! Meeting the Lich King, fighting his champions, learning about his past, THE HEART QUEST OMFG WAS AWESOME! I mean really! it was rad as hell! So yea... points to you for this.
6527881 That is precisely what I am going for, however I plan to scale down the number of encounters so that it's not the same as Arthas where people complained he was a terrible villain for continually being able to kill you and just not doing so. Here, I've given Kargath a reason (like Arthas's) to keep Trixie alive instead of outright kill her: he sees potential in her and wants a good fight in the end. Arthas wanted you to grow stronger so he could kill you and make you his new soldier, but he showed up a bit too much. Unlike Illidan before him, who barely appeared at all and had basically no build up before you fight him, causing his sympathetic Warcraft III character to suddenly become an asshole in Burning Crusade.
As for the heart quest, I actually remember that one It stood out quite well, and I enjoy that kind of story developing quest versus the standard near plotless "Kill X amount of enemies".
Glad you enjoy the choice. I am trying to not repeat some of the mistakes of WoW, such as villains and heroes just suddenly coming into being when the plot demands. Such as how I brought in two characters that will become raiders later on so that Kael and Trixie don't just get a sudden close knit group, while also doing something similar to the Follower system.
6528010 Yea though do remember that making a challenge out of your enemies is in the "DONT DO" evil overlords list. But I guess a villain gotta have a flaw right?
6528058 Fortunately I don't think anyone in Warcraft has read that list or the villains might actually win for once.
Actually, I take that back. Kil'Jaeden, Balnazzar, and Mal'ganis probably read or at least skimmed it. Of course they still haven't won, but they certainly at least know what they're doing.
6528089 Yea I guess. *shrug*
...yeah, I'm not sure I like these people, if they're so quick to kill their own.
7734685 What, you mean Doan? He just wasn't in on the top down conspiracy He got Maes Hughed.
But no, you're not supposed to really like the Scarlet Crusade...though I think you're going to end up liking at least a couple
... TO THE WIKI!