[Alliance] Chapter Five: Session Thirty-Six
Appearing Characters: Garrosh Hellscream, Gilveradin Windrunner, Go'el, Hedanis Poisonbloom, Jaina Proudmoore-Menethil, Nazgrim, Remnii, Samia Inkling, Seria, Taelan Fordring, Uther Menethil, Velameestra Windrunner, Victor Prestor
October 14th
Seria and Vel had returned with Nazgrim to the manor, and upon his entry he looked at Remnii and squinted, but he was otherwise put in a side room until Uther returned.
Uther had left the edge of the ruined guard tower and made his way to Hearthglen, which was a fortress of a city. As he walked amongst the walls, it was clear why the city had never fallen to an enemy force. At the heart of the city, at the edge of the western mountains, he could see the massive structure that was Mardenholde Keep.
There was evidence of battle, as there were orcish siege weapons that were ruined on the borders. It was also heavily fortified with both the banners of House Fordring and the Scarlet Crusade.
Nearly a year ago exactly, he had been in Hearthglen before and had witnessed the burning of the wickerman celebration.
A few guards were patrolling the streets and they gave Uther a nod as they passed, but paid him little mind. Uther headed toward the innermost gate where a half dozen soldiers were standing. One of the captains came to meet Uther, and asked how he could be helped. Uther said that he was bringing a missive from Baroness Lansing to Taelan Fordring. The captain asked to see it, and he recognized the legitimate seal.
The guard said that Uther did well to bring it, and they would ensure it arrived in the hands of Taelan Fordring. Uther insisted that he had been informed to hand deliver it. The captain furrowed his brow, then sighed, and admitted Lansing had always been particular. They agreed to allow him in, and the gates were opened to allow Uther in. Two of the guards moved to escort Uther to the keep. He made some small talk about the siege weapons, and the guards explained some orcs had arrived looking desperate after the bridge over the river had been destroyed following the siege on Andorhal. The orcs had been stuck between a rock and a hard place. It wasn’t long before they fled into the mountains.
The guards said that, come springtime when the push was renewed, they’d be taking back the rest of the Eastweald, especially with the dwarvish war machine High King Daval Prestor had gotten from the dwarves. They said some of them were siege towers that could belch fire, and devices that could burrow underground and bring a strike force beneath fortifications. One of the guards said he had the chance to cross blades with one of the orcs, and he said that an orc stood a good several heads taller than an average man, and their women were similarly fierce. Uther shivered and said they were much braver than he was, and the guards assured him that they were there to look out for folk like him.
Mardenholde Keep was well lit, both magically and non magically. Uther was handed off to one of the senior guards, who offered to escort Uther to Baron Fordring in his private study. Uther introduced himself as Burg of Andorhal when he was asked how he should be announced.
The guard made some small talk about the structure of Keep, which he referred to as labyrinthine. Uther asked what that word was, and the guard asked if he was familiar with a maze. Uther asked if that was like the type of corn.
The guard blinked, then nodded, unsure how to respond to it other than a small word of condolence. They arrived at the study and the guard announced Uther as Burg of Andorhal with a priority message from Baroness Lansing. Taelan Fordring told them to send him in, and Uther entered. Taelan had strawberry blonde hair and was similar in age to Uther’s father. There was a sword in a sheath on the table, and there were a few missives and a book sitting on a desk beneath the light of a candle. Taelan turned to regard Uther, and Uther offered the letter to the general.
Taelan came over and took the letter and then looked Uther up and down.
Taelan gestured to a seat and then opened the letter to read it. Uther took a seat and he could see Taelan’s eyes widen, then narrow. He set the letter down and stroked his beard.
He fully turned to Uther, who nodded.
Taelan furrowed his brow.
Taelan’s eyes widened.
Taelan shook his head.
Taelan furrowed his brow.
Taelan nodded.
Uther agreed.
Uther smirked.
Taelan smiled.
Taelan wrote something down and handed it to Uther. He said to give it to the guards, and it would ensure that Uther was appropriately compensated for expediting the missive. Uther thanked him, and they bid their farewells. Uther once again took on his commoner persona, and Taelan Fordring laughed quietly behind the door.
The pay Uther received was quite substantial for a courier.
Not too long after Seria and Vel returned with Nazgrim, Uther returned back to the mansion. Uther was allowed access once more. Remnii had taken a more thorough look at Nazgrim in the meanwhile. It seemed that Nazgrim had been recovering from injuries, received more, and were now recovering from those, but he was actively naturally recovering in addition to the magical healing Seria had offered when he was found.
Uther informed the group that the meeting went well, and Vel said that was good. She also informed him that they were busy while he was gone, as they had found an orc. Uther blinked, taken aback, and Vel explained his name was Nazgrim, and he had been found on the other side of the tower. However, they had refrained from speaking to him overmuch until Uther returned.
Remnii informed Uther that she wanted to be present when Nazgrim was being questioned, and she gave him a quick overview of the Ironmarch, which was the organization that Nazgrim was a part of. Uther welcomed her to join him, after all, they were friends and she could always just ask to come. Remnii nodded and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she gave Uther a sheepish look.
Uther suggested they stop at the kitchens to get Nazgrim some food first, and Vel said that the servants could just bring some to him. Uther said he wanted to bring the food to him himself, and a servant simply brought a large serving so that Uther could carry it in. It was a large platter of various meats and potatoes.
They headed in to speak with Nazgrim, whose eyes immediately went to the group. His brow furrowed as he looked at the platter of food. Uther merrily greeted him in orcish, and he asked how Nazgrim was faring.
Nazgrim’s eyes had gone to every person that had entered, and then to the food.
Uther nodded and insisted Nazgrim eat, as he was probably hungry. Remnii and Uther had been eating from the same plate, and Nazgrim finally asked what was going on.
Nazgrim looked over at Remnii.
Remnii acknowledged that was correct.
Remnii said she was lucky to have good friends, including Arthak. Nazgrim shrugged and then looked at the food. He reached out and grabbed something that he bit a chunk out of. He acknowledged it was good.
Nazgrim took a few more bites.
Nazgrim offered a small grin as he took another bite.
Nazgrim nodded.
Nazgrim laughed.
Remnii grew quiet and then looked at Uther. There was a lot of open thought on her face.
Nazgrim sneered.
Gil looked at Remnii with a question, and Remnii nodded but held up a hand. Remnii explained she wasn’t sure what happened, but Blackhand was no longer the warchief. Nazgrim started to laugh, and Nazgrim mused that the crazy bastard did it, but then Remnii said it was Arthak who was warchief.
Nazgrim’s face dropped. He wondered what Garrosh had to say about that, as he had been away for a while. Remnii looked at Uther and she said that if she could speak to Garrosh tonight, and she could speak of Nazgrim’s fate, as she was more than curious about the fate of the Horde. Uther said he saw no reason not to, and Remnii additionally said Garrosh had not stood with the former warchief.
Uther said that, concerning the conflict with the orcs, he had woefully little information, but if Remnii believed information could be gained by doing so, then Uther trusted her. Remnii asked Nazgrim if he would stay the night, as there was more food. Nazgrim said that was up to all the group, and if he said no he doubted he had a choice.
Uther said he could attempt it, but Vel spoke up that he would be unable to escape. Nazgrim said that it was bad enough he failed his mission, but now small-teeth had spared his life not once, but twice. It wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to.
Remnii asked Nazgrim if he could tell her about his mission, and Nazgrim said they were supposed to kill Grom, but that obviously didn’t work. However, now it was the small-teeth’s problem. Uther asked what Grom had done to earn such ire, and Nazgrim said he was one of the first orcs to sell their people to Gul’dan, and Garrosh had his own misgivings about his old man.
Gil said it was Uther’s call on how to move things forward, and Remnii said she was interested in seeing what Garrosh had to say if he was still alive. Gil asked if he was someone they could parley with, and Remnii said that was debatable, and that depended on the state of the Horde. If Arthak was warchief, that meant a lot had happened.
Once the conversation had ended, Remnii pulled Uther aside and told him that he wanted to tell Nazgrim the plan for the evening. She also thanked Uther and asked him if he remembered the Ati-kaso, and Uther confirmed. She explained Arthak took a chance on them and gave them hospitality when they needed, and she understood that some orcs had to go, but she hoped those that could be reasoned with they continued to do so, as that was a debt she was happy to pay back.
Remnii agreed they were of the same mind. She said she did not believe she remembered much how to be simply a friend, but she was glad she had Uther as a good example. Remnii smiled at him, and Uther said he was glad for it as well, and he wished her good luck. Remnii gave Uther a hug, and he squeezed her back and lifted her slightly off the ground, which earned a soft giggle.
Remnii returned to Nazgrim to inform him that she was going to contact Garrosh. She asked him if there was anything Nazgrim wished her to tell Garrosh, and Nazgrim said he just needed to know what Garrosh’s orders were. Nazgrim asked Remnii why the people she was traveling with were helping him, and Remnii said she couldn’t speak for everyone, but she said there were some that would see the end to warfare and move on from the conflict inflicted by the Legion. She admitted that not all of them felt the same, but at least in Lordaeron, there were like minds that hoped for a better future. Not all of them did, but enough did to make a difference.
Nazgrim shrugged and said it didn’t make sense to him, but he wasn’t going to disrespect or forget a kindness given to him. Remnii said she was glad to hear that, and Nazgrim said that he had no intention of causing more problems. At least not for now. He had no intention of pillaging the countryside, and Remnii acknowledged she had a feeling.
Samia had arrived after Gil contacted her so that she could grab the Demon Soul. Samia messaged Vel to let her in, as she had arrived for a trade off before they went to Venetia.
Samia informed the group they had found a few of the grain shipments, and they were working on tracking a few more. Samia also spoke to Gil in private and asked what happened. Gil explained he had a hallucination, and he explained what happened. Samia agreed that it was for the best that they passed it off, especially given they were heading to Venetia.
Samia asked Gil if he was already, given everything that happened in Andorhal. Gil admitted he felt terrible, and Samia asked if it was something he wished to talk about. He said it was an unpleasant combination of dealing with the new status quo even if the core of himself wanted to do something about it, and the associated guilt of feeling that way, on top of dealing with other people’s emotions that should have been dead and buried for years. He wasn’t sure if there was anything that could be done. Samia said that the Demon Soul was at least one thing he didn’t have to worry about for the moment. Gil also handed off Samia’s talisman, and Samia assured him that he didn’t need to worry about the other Scales, as there was plenty he needed to worry about as it was. Gil said he was going to worry anyway because he cared, even if he knew they’d be fine. Samia said he was exceptionally stubborn, and Gil said it was a Windrunner trait, but then paused and corrected it as an elven trait.
Samia thanked him for reaching out to her, and she was glad she could do something. She admitted she didn’t have advice for the change in the paradigm, but she didn’t think it was the last change they would see. Perhaps it was her human talking, but she believed the changes they had seen were for the best. That also meant the changes in the Bronze Dragonflight, as far as she was concerned. Plus, if they could bring down the fallen Aspect, there was a question of what that would mean for the Black Dragonflight and all the Dragonflights, as an Aspect had never been slain before. She just wanted Gil to be ready for that.
Gil sighed heavily and admitted life was always changing as well. Samia assured him they would make it through and figure it out.
Samia mused that she should see if Vel was willing to share what happened from her perspective, and she bid Gil goodnight.
That night, Remnii conjured a dreamscape of elegant, modular structures in the midst of a forest that resembled Terokkar. Light filtered through some openings in the building, but immediately outside it was a large clearing.
Garrosh Hellscream appeared in the midst of one of the structures. He sneered, realizing it was a dream. He moved outside, and he saw Remnii. He lumbered over to her.
Remnii said that she counted herself lucky. Garrosh wanted to know what she wanted, and Remnii explained she wished to speak, and she wouldn’t keep him long. She said she came across Nazgrim.
Garrosh’s eyes widened.
Remnii nodded.
Garrosh crossed his arms.
Garrosh scowled at her.
He gestured at Remnii.
She conjured a map to show him the mountain range.
Garrosh furrowed his brow.
Garrosh considered.
Garrosh grumbled.
Garrosh considered his words very carefully.
Garrosh rolled his eyes, and Remnii offered a courteous bow before releasing him to his own dreams. Remnii then immediately dreamt Go’el.
Go’el looked around as he appeared, and then he saw Remnii. He blinked, in complete disbelief. Remnii smiled at him, and Go’el was baffled that she was alive, as the last they had heard, she had been slain by a black dragon.
They embraced, and Remnii said they were letting the rumor persist, but she had returned to the Eastern Kingdoms. Go’el said he was beyond words with joy. They pressed their foreheads together and Remnii stepped back.
Remnii called him Farseer, and Go’el wanted to know how she knew that. Remnii said it was Garrosh, and that he was there right before him.
She explained the situation.
Go’el sighed.
Remnii explained, and Go’el’s brow furrowed more and more.
Remnii said she would present the ideas to the group, but it was good to see him. They spent some time catching up, and Go’el told her everything that had befallen him, Draenor, and everything at Garadar as well as things leading up to Arthak seizing the seat of the warchief.
Go’el admitted he was trying to be a better man for his children and the Horde, in Aggra’s memory, but he had realized he needed to be a better man for himself. Go’el also said that his children and Dornaa had come very close.
October 15th
The next morning, the group met to cover what Remnii had uncovered in the dream. Remnii walked them through the cursory changes to the Horde with an amount of quiet optimism. Remnii shared what Garrosh suggested, as well as a little bit about Go’el and his suggestions.
Vel was listening intently, but was waiting for Uther to speak first.
At that exact moment, everyone got a sending from Jaina.
Remnii laughed and told Uther to tell his mother to tell Garona she said hello.
Jaina said she would do so, and they could talk more when they made their way to Capital City. She said if they were looking into the Scarlet Crusade situation, she found something interesting.
Jaina wished them luck, and said she’d contact them again soon.
Vel suggested they focus on Hellscream and the plague for the time being, as they couldn’t handle Arthas until they returned to Capital City. Gil said they should probably do something, as other orcs would be sent down.
Remnii had a thought that sending Grom to the Isles was an option, as she would be willing to deliver Grom herself. Vel was not keen on the logistics of the entire matter, as it wasn’t just Grom, it was also his warband.
Remnii pointed out that Gul’dan was the one that had caused much of the damage to her people, and Arthak was actively trying to stop him. Vel acknowledged that, but there was a lot of trust that needed to be placed on a man that was a complete wild card that attempted to besiege Andorhal. She much preferred the idea of taking Grom prisoner so that they had leverage to get some of her own people back. She conceded she understood killing him was not the answer, but the extra steps needed to send him all the way to the Broken Isles were starting to veer on the limit of what she was willing to gamble.
Plus Venetia needed to be their immediate priority, as the plague needed to be resolved. They agreed to wait to come to a decision as they would be returning to the area to fill Taelan in on what they found, and they figured they could just leave Nazgrim there.
Victor asked Vel if she was capable of any enchantments to ensure Nazgrim could be tracked if he ran, and Vel confirmed she was, and that was a wise idea.
Nazgrim was informed that he was going to be left where he was found with ample supplies to tend to his wounds, and when they finished their urgent business, they would return and hunt down Grom together. Nazgrim laughed at the entire situation, but said if he was supposed to work with them to take care of Grom Hellscream, then that was what he would do. He’d stay there, heal, and when they came back, they’d hunt Grom.
Vel had placed a tracking spell on Nazgrim’s axe before it was given back to him. He seemed rather bewildered, and Remnii did him the service of explaining the structure of the new Horde.
Samia left early that morning as well to return to her group.
Seria used [Wind Walk] again and took off over the Hearthglen hills. As they crested over the mountains, there was some sparse snowfall, and they looked down and saw the coast of the northern sections of Lordaeron. The entire region was a bandit hotspot, which they now knew was because they were employed by a city of mages.
They flew over the Twisting Meadows, and they saw a thick layer of fog. There were also cyclones slowly spinning across the Twisting Meadows, like whirlpools of fog and mist. The winds were moving in circular patterns, and there was a farmstead that looked to have been completely wrecked by a tornado.
Gil noted the weather wasn’t really natural, but it seemed the ecosystem had adapted to it, as birds flew and used the strange wind patterns to survey wider terrain. Even some of the grasses had natural spiral patterns. Vel sensed it was absolutely crafted by wish magic.
They passed further north, and they started to soar over some low rolling hills. Vel got the sense that if they were not welcome in the area, it would have been much harder to travel through the area. She had to wonder if the badge was part of the measure that was allowing them to pass.
As they flew, Vel felt a magic in the air. They passed over strange, twisted trees, and a magic washed over the entire group. It was a powerful spell that passed over their minds and their very being, as if a spell was casting a spell on them. Everyone felt uneasy, but Vel gathered it was likely another layer of protective magics. There was enchantment, there was transmutation, there was abjuration, and honestly a little bit of everything that was mixed into the magic. It was almost as if the spell was judging them.
The heavy fog came in again, and she glanced behind her to make sure she was still with the group. Vel knew that if the magic wanted to enact itself, there was nothing she could do to resist it, but it was unclear what that would have been. But it chose not to activate.
All of them emerged from the mist suddenly, and when they looked back again, there was no mist, but as they looked forward, there was a sprawling city that was as wise as it was tall. There were architectural styles of many cultures. There were dome-like artistic buildings like Lordaeron, combined with the magic spires of the elves, the high and forbidding angular structures of Alterac, the warrior-like buildings of Stromgarde, a dark reflection of Dalaran, and traditionalist, medieval styles of Stormwind along with the gothic victorian style of Gilneas. There were many other styles melded into a baffling city that was completely bathed in magic. It was Venetia.
They saw camps all over outside the city limits, which they speculated was the Freemen that Lance had mentioned.
They saw the city was not constrained to the ground. Pieces of earth had been rent from the ground and floated in different areas. They didn’t seem to be mobile, but they were premium real estate. People traversed the streets on a variety of means, from magic discs to winged chariots or magicked entities.
There were mana wyrms everywhere, but they were unlike normal ones. They were washed out gray, but they had rings of pops of color with a spiral-like color as if the same magic that influenced the region also influenced the mana wyrms. On the side of a nearby building, there were at least five dozen mana wyrms coiled on it, with a few of them fighting over a wand.
There were founds that shot streams of glowing, mystical water that was jumping around to various floating parts of the fountain.
Remnii noticed at least one building that looked to be a church of the Light. There was also stained glass everywhere, including entire domes of it, and there was a strange sound in the air as if you ran your finger around the rim of a water glass. Something flew directly through them, and they saw an entire flock of geese that seemed to be made completely of stained glass.
Uther’s eyes were drawn to an arena where it appeared two warriors in heavy armor were fighting with impossibly heavy weapons. There was a coach on either end of the ring with a crowd watching. One warrior managed to strike its opponent, and armor went scattering across the arena. There wasn’t anyone inside, but one of the supposed coaches snapped back, revealing it was actually two mages battling animated armor.
There were also areas where people were playing Hearthstone, and the tables projected large magical illusions of the cards being played.
Instead of farm plots, there seemed to be large golems made of soil that smashed pests that came by to take the crops that were growing literally out of them. The plants were spiraled and glowing and seemed to be very much not normal crops.
There were pleasure houses. Bars. Restaurants. Any and all varieties were present lining the streets, and there was what appeared to be a corridor with two magic walls with runes on them. There was a sign that said “Madame Wayfair’s Door to Sleep” on it, and there seemed to be a not insignificant number of people that were going in and out of magnificent mansions. It appeared they could rent the mansions that existed, or rent spaces to place one’s own mansion.
There was another building that appeared to have flying creatures of various shapes of sizes, some of which were completely unknown. It was some sort of roost stable for flying creatures. There was at least one hippogriff, and draconic creatures that appeared to be related to dragons in some capacity.
There was also a zoo, and none of the creatures appeared to be natural. All of them were magically bred. One creature looked very familiar in a grassland, but a lot of the grass was made of stone. It was one of the creatures that had priorly attacked her and Rhonin on their way to Alterac a lifetime ago.
They saw a landing pad, and another cloud landed and materialized into a small fox-like humanoid. They then headed off, and the group angled themselves to land on the landing pad. As Vel materialized into her humanoid form on the edge of the balcony, there was a rare expression of wonder on her face. She looked down into the canals, and she realized it wasn’t water in the canal: It was a bared leyline that wove through the city.
Hedanis strolled over and looked down.
Vel informed the group that as a general rule, they should travel in at least pairs, and keep their collective belongings very close as Lance had warned them of pick-pockets and the like.
There also seemed to be heavily armed and armored guards scattered around in a discrete fashion. They all had badges that appeared to have a stylized, silver V, H, and M layered on each other that glowed with magic. They were armed to the absolute teeth with magic weapons, and all the armaments were incredible for taking down a mage.
Vel suggested they perhaps set up a rendezvous point at a magnificent mansion. They doubled back to one of the magic walls, and there were people of many different species there. The majority of them were human or elf, but there were also trolls of various types, night elves, dwarves, and others. Vel’s undead sensing tattoo periodically registered undead as they passed by, and Uther was sensing demons at various places.
Vel saw what appeared to be a powerful programmed illusion of a beautiful human woman with a small amount of elf heritage. She had what looked like traveling gear. She greeted Vel and welcomed her to Madame Wayfair’s esteemed locations.
It was an automated system, and Vel went through the prompts, selecting that she wanted a lot for her own magnificent mansion. The illusion congratulated her on such magics, and offered an upgrade where she could use their mana resonators so that her most powerful magics were still accessible to her.
There was also a selection of other upgrades, but Vel opted for just the rent fee and the resonator usage for the time being. The illusion thanked her, and a mote of magic materialized, which took the form of a tiny draconic whelp and encouraged her to follow him.
The tiny illusory dragon led them to the proper plot, which was accessed via stairs or platforms that were elevated magically. The whelp disappeared to outline the plot, and Vel cast the spell and connected with the mana resonator. The doorway opened, and they quickly made their way to ensure everything was good. Satisfied, they looked out across Venetia to make their next plans.
