Seekers of the Epitaph: World of Azeroth

by Xarmar13

The Wolves of Silverpine, Part 1

With the last of the cultists cleared out of Ragefire Chasm, Thanatas returned to the warchief to present him the spoils of her victory. While she knew that traveling through the shadow realm from the chasm was going to frighten a few Horde civilians wherever she popped out from, she knew the layout of Orgrimmar enough to know a few places where no citizens would go. It just so happened that one of those places was an alley between a cliff face and the throne room.

As she hoped, she emerged into the material world and no citizens were nearby to see that. Once the cage of bone that surrounded her had released her and receded into the ground, she proceeded into the throne room where Thrall and Vol’jin were waiting. There also appeared to be an undead diplomat from the Forsaken speaking to him. The death knight decided to be polite and wait off to the side for the meeting to conclude.

Vol’jin decided to not keep Thanatas waiting and approached her, his wary look the same as ever. “I take it you return with news from Ragefire?”

Thanatas nodded, “The cult has been purged from the caverns. I brought trophies of my conquest. There were also three adventurers who I provided some aid, though I mainly made sure they didn’t end up dead while they faced their own challenges. Neeru only asked them to kill the felguard and they did. By then though they were pretty battered and exhausted so I couldn’t have them pursue Jergosh and Bazzalan. I took care of them myself.”

Thanatas kept mostly honest with her report but omitted parts that the leaders didn’t need to know about, such as the reanimation of the cultist corpses.

Vol’jin remained silent throughout the report. When she finished, he continued his stare for a moment longer before speaking, “Very well, I know you be hidin’ someting, but I’ll let it lie for now. Your secrets had best not bring harm to da Horde…” The shadow hunter had more to say but he left the threat open for her imagination.

Once Thrall had finished his meeting with the Forsaken delegate, he motioned for Thanatas to approach. “You bring proof of the demise of the leaders of the Searing Blade?” he asked.

Thanatas presented the three trophies: Taragaman’s heart, Jergosh’s head and Bazzalan’s head. The warchief’s lips rose slightly to show his pleasure for her deed. “Good, that’s one less threat to worry about. Perhaps you may help me with another matter.” He then gestured for the Forsaken diplomat next to him to explain.

“Err-yes, I am an emissary for the Dark Lady, Sylvanas if you have not heard of her,” the diplomat began. “She wishes to reclaim the lands of Lordaeron for its risen citizens, starting with Silverpine Forest. We have secured a foothold in the forest but claiming the land has proven problematic. Our patrols have been beset upon by wild beasts who attack with relentless ferocity. They appear like wolves but they walk upright like people.”

Thanatas remembered the creatures. She knew that Silverpine Forest was infested with the feral variant of a race of wolf people called worgen.

Unlike werewolves from other universes who transform into their wolf form at night, often on a full moon, worgen were not normally bound to the rules of werewolves unless it was through a spell. Those who could control the curse could shift between the forms at will like a partial druid. They were not subject to the weaknesses of werewolves either, but they could be dealt with the same way as any other person.

A worgen was a living representation of blind, unrestrained fury. They could also spread the curse to others by biting them, the subject drinking the blood of one or through a night elf artifact called the Scythe of Elune. However, the curse had never been transmitted beyond humans or night elves through those means. However, those who knew the spell could pass the curse to anyone.

“So what would you have me do?” Thanatas asked.

“Lady Sylvanas requests aid to investigate the source of the creatures and eliminate it,” the diplomat explained.

“I can handle that. Can you wait a day though? I have a trio of adventurers who just finished an adventure that I’d like to drag along but they’re exhausted from fighting cultists today. In the meantime, would it be possible to arrange a meeting with Sylvanas? Since I’m providing my assistance to the Horde, I need to introduce myself to the leaders.”

Thrall and Vol’jin couldn’t fault that logic, though Sylvanas was still the least trusted member of the Horde. They had heard the reports about their new “ally” and the depraved acts of the apothecaries she pooled much of her resources toward. The fact that she kept a demon as her second in command didn’t help either.

The diplomat thought about Thanatas’ request for a few moments, considering if she could be trusted to be near the Dark Lady. The undead diplomat shook his head and spoke, I will speak with her about this and get back to you tomorrow.” The diplomat channeled some arcane magic for a few seconds before he disappeared, revealing his skills as a mage.

With nothing else to do, she decided to pay the trio a visit. She knew they would be staying at the inn in the Valley of Strength near the city entrance. When she got there, she entered the building and looked around, spotting her targets on an upper level. The trio panicked when they saw her.

With a smirk and a tone that brought a shiver down their spines, Thanatas called out to the trio, “I need you three to follow me to somewhere private. We need to have a talk.”

Lokosh, Farra’jin and Groun obediently followed, knowing what the consequences would be otherwise. They followed the death knight to a secluded alley in The Drag. She then plunged her sword into the ground which produced a privacy bubble around them, intent on keeping out any spying or eavesdropping attempts from anyone nearby.

Once satisfied with her wards, she turned to the nervous trio. “So let’s cut to the chase, I know you three are members of the ELF. As you suspect, yes, I can see the discrepancy between your souls and your body.” She then added some lies to her next part. “I asked my cousin Sophia to hack into the Equestrian databases to find out more about you three and I found that you had a common association with Crystal Silicon. Right now, only me and Sophia know your true identities.”

Lokosh was the first to gather the nerve to reply to the undead. “Like we would believe that you hadn’t already told Twilight Sparkle about us.”

“If I had, you would have Sphere security hunting you three down by now.”

“I know what dis is,” Farra’jin realized. “You intend to blackmail us, aren’t you?”

Thanatas adopted a cheerful expression, declaring her pride for the troll. “Very good, I can see how one as smart as you was able to found a billion bit store chain with a drug trafficking job on the side.”

“What do you want from us, you witch?” Groun demanded.

“All I want you to do is follow my orders. As long as you do, you may just find what you came to find in this world. I honestly don’t know what you’re after but I don’t really care.”

The three looked at each other in confusion then shared it with Thanatas. “Just what is your angle here?” Lokosh asked.

“I’m not so naive to think that capturing a few lieutenants is going to have any real impact on your agenda. Your leader will only come out when they feel most comfortable and if that means helping you with your mission then so be it. I can either improve the success chances of your mission or I can sabotage you and possibly set you guys back another generation or two which may be more than enough time for Sphere to find your headquarters.”

There was no hiding their anxiety. Lokosh knew that she had them in the palm of her hand. The enemy death knight before them had forced her way into leading their secret mission.

Thanatas didn’t bother to wait for a response from the trio. She picked up her sword and undid the wards, returning her blade onto her back. “Get some rest, we head for the Undercity tomorrow before we investigate the worgen menace in Silverpine.”

With that, Thanatas left them be for the time being while the others returned to the inn. The three barely slept that night.

---

Lokosh, Farra’jin and Groun were summoned to Thrall’s chamber the next day. The three were not happy with their new arrangements but were still willing to endure it for the sake of their mission.

Once they entered the throne room, they saw Thanatas and a forsaken next to the warchief. Once everyone was in attendance, Thrall began. “Before I give the three of you your orders, I would like to thank you for your service to the Horde in cleansing Ragefire Chasm of the Searing Blade. You are a testament to the might of the Horde and it is my wish that you continue to act in service to the Horde.

“You have already been told where you will be going so I will give the details of your mission. The forsaken have requested aid in securing Silverpine Forest, a region to the southwest of Tirisfal Glades. The woods have run rampant of feral wolf men that Thanatas has informed me are called worgen. You are to investigate the worgen menace and eliminate it at the source so Sylvanas’ deathstalkers can claim the region. Is that clear?” The three nodded in acceptance. “Good, the forsaken diplomat will now open a portal to the undercity. Step through and do not fail me.”

Once Thrall was finished, the diplomat opened the portal and Thanatas and the trio stepped through.

The moment Lokosh, Farra’jin and Groun stepped through the portal, their nostrils were invaded by the most vile scents they had ever smelled. The stench of death was everywhere along with the stench of foul chemicals. Plugging their noses and looking around, the trio saw that the part of the Undercity they were in looked as grim as it was lively. Black stone composed the underground city decorated in the relief of skulls. Everywhere they looked was images of skulls and bones in the stone and in different sizes from small to giant. A nearby canal that ran around the circular city was filled with a glowing green fluid that aided the many hanging oil lanterns in lighting up the otherwise dark city.

Undead humans roamed the city with their rotten bodies and bones on display. Their eyes would either glow yellow or would be black and hollow.

Looking at the city, the trio knew one thing, the Undercity was overwhelmingly horrifying, even for Nightmare Night.

Once Thanatas had decided the trio had their moment of tourism, she directed them to follow her. From where they were, they were in the Magic Quarter in the northeast section of the city. Their destination was on the other side of the city to the southwest.

Reaching the green river, the four traveled counterclockwise along it until they reached the other side of the city, a section known as the Apothecarium. The trio did their best not to look at the massive worm-like creature that was held by bolts and pipes continuously spewing green goo in the eight o’ clock part of the city.

Right then, the trio had too much of the vile city and one by one, they each contributed their own previous meals to the river of green.

Having enough, Farra’jin called on an air spirit to give the three clean air to breathe which earned him a slap in the back of the head from Lokosh for not thinking of doing that sooner. Thanatas rolled her eyes and waited for the trio to finish their business. “Are you three done yet? You really should have trained your sensory endurance.”

The three followed Thanatas into a tunnel that was guarded by forsaken in red hoods carrying well-crafted swords and shields with the Forsaken emblem on them. As they progressed through the tunnel, the stench of death began to fade.

They soon reached the end and entered a circular room with a raised platform in the center that they had to go around and climb some stairs to reach the top of.

Standing on the platform were two individuals. One was a tall demonic fiend with bat-like wings as large as his body. His ears were pointed and he had two long black horns protruding from his forehead. His hands ended in sharp claws and his feet ended in cloven hooves. His segmented armor was ornate with shades of purple and black with dark brass. Thanatas recognized him as Sylvanas’ majordomo, Varimathras, of a race called the Nathrezim, also known as a Dreadlord.

The other figure was the Banshee Queen herself, Sylvanas. Her appearance was that of an elf with bluish-gray skin and glowing scarlet eyes. She had dull blonde hair that extended just past her neck with eyebrows that extend past her ears in length, a common characteristic of an elf. Her ornate leather armor was maroon with dull silver filigree. Her matching shoulder armor had skulls on it and she had a dull red cape that was tattered at the end.

Sylvanas scanned the group approaching her. She didn’t think much of anything of the orc, tauren or troll, but the pale human leading them, most likely undead by her figuring, was what caught her by surprise. As an elf, she was capable of sensing the magical power within others and she sensed enough to make her want to tread lightly around her, lest she crush her with that power.

“I take it that you are the ones sent by Thrall to help deal with the mongrels infesting Silverpine?” Sylvanas asked.

Thanatas nodded, “Indeed, I am Thanatas Craft and these three are the ones I am training to become agents of the Horde who will protect our interests and deal with major threats so that we can direct the armies to more important matters.” The three wanted to object to the death knight’s claims but a terrifying aura was directed at them that dared them to speak up at their own risk. “I figured the worgen threat would be a decent step forward for them so that’s why we’re here.”

The Banshee Queen narrowed her eyes at the death knight, “What do you hope to gain from training these weaklings?”

“Just as you have your secrets, I have mine,” Thanatas cheerfully said. “Just a fair warning, don’t try to dig into my secrets unless you want me to air yours out to the rest of the Horde.”

With that threat made, she started directing the others back toward the tunnel. “I’m glad we had this talk.”

“Should we send someone to keep an eye on her, my lady?” Varimathras asked.

The Dark Lady thought about that for a moment before growling. “I doubt they would be able to. As much as I hate to admit it, I am at a loss on what to do about her. I could feel her power and I could tell that if she and the Lich King fought, the victor would be unclear. For the time being, we shall have to wait and see where her loyalties truly lie.”

“As you wish, my lady.” Varimathras said.

About halfway through the tunnel, Lokosh complained, “Great, back into the rancid cesspool…”

“I could always take us to the edge of Silverpine my way, though I’ve been told that the experience is…traumatizing,” Thanatas offered.

“Anything would be better than smelling that foulness again.” Farra’jin and Groun nodded as they shared Lokosh’s sentiment.

Shrugging, Thanatas enclosed herself and the trio in a cage of bone which sank into the ground and into the shadow realm. The three were subjected to what felt like an eternity of having their senses deactivated. They couldn’t see, hear or feel anything. They had no idea how long they had experienced that since they also lost their sense of time.

At long last, their senses returned and the cage of bone receded, allowing the trio to find themselves outside the city on a road at the edge of a dead-looking forest. The pine trees were an unhealthy dull green. A layer of mist obscured the forest floor.

The trio were on the ground taking deep gulps of air with their minds in full panic mode. “I was wrong!” Lokosh yelled, “I’d rather be smelling the cesspool than take that trip again!”

Thanatas laughed at their plight, “I warned you. And that was only two seconds.” She took a deep breath and took in the gloomy landscape around her. Once she let it out, she looked at the group again with a smile on her face. “Now, let’s recruit our next teammate. Call them here.”

The three’s eyes widened in surprise but tried to quickly school their expression to avoid the death knight’s notice. Lokosh sweated a little but did his best to look confused. “What are you talking about? Only the three of us were assigned to this mission.”

Thanatas frowned at that statement and gave Lokosh a look akin to a mother being disappointed in their child. “Do you really think I’m stupid? I know how important this mission is to you and your organization. Something like this will likely have fielded all of the lieutenants, especially Crystal Silicon. If you think you can hide the identities of the others, then let me let you in on the mistake you made: All three of you met Crystal Silicon before you disappeared. All I have to do is have Sophia look through the Equestrian databases and look for people who associated with Crystal and disappeared. It’ll give me a rough idea about how many are participating in your mission.”

Lokosh and Farra’jin were sweating while Groun’s anxiety was starting to show and the nearby trees were starting to sway. Of course, the trees were also sickly or dying and were unable to behave normally to Groun’s will. Lokosh noticed this and placed a hand on the tauren’s shoulder. A defeated sigh from the orc told Groun all he needed to know and he took a calming breath to relax himself.

Using their telepathic link, Lokosh contacted Crystal. “Crystal, you there?”

A few moments passed before Crystal responded, “What is it, Steel? I just finished setting fire to the watchtowers held by some fanatical idiots in red.”

“The mission’s hit a snag, we underestimated the sensory abilities of the undead from your report.”

“You’ve been compromised?! Do we need to fall back to the hideout and regroup?”

“Wouldn’t do us much good. She can sense the identities of our very souls. And if the rabbit’s psychic powers are as strong as you said in your report, stealth was never an option, especially since they seem to be gaining the favor of the Horde leadership. The rabbit may be doing the same with the Alliance. The only reason we have a chance to avoid total mission failure is because the undead is blackmailing us.”

“Can we avoid all of us being found out…oh who am I fooling, all it would take would be my traitorous program finding out who I associated with and Sphere will have identified all of the lieutenants. Sphere probably already knows about us and is likely using us to lure out our leader.” Crystal paused for a minute to consider her options before clicking her tongue. “Damn, they’ve trapped us. If we abandon the mission now, Sphere will place this world under heavy security. Without a way to sneak in, obtaining the fragments will be nearly impossible. The entire plan is in jeopardy and our only way out if this mess is cooperating with her.”

“She’s requesting your presence at the border to Silverpine Forest,” Groun said.

“Tch, doesn’t look like I have a choice. If the others have listened in then that at least saves me from explaining again.”

“Huh? Sorry, I wasn’t listening. What were you idiots talking about?” Gemini joked. Everyone simply ignored her.

A few hours passed since Crystal, also known as the forsaken warlock Talia Conilis, was contacted. She had to trek from the northeast corner of Tirisfal to the southwest and that was a small journey given that Tirisfal Glades was a particularly large region. But at last, she found her associates sitting on the road playing cards with one of the figures she particularly loathed after their previous encounter.

Thanatas looked at the warlock coming toward them and smiled as she sensed the familiar soul within the undead. “Well, well, looks like you really did die when you blew up.”

“Stow it, you unclean fiend!” Talia snapped. “What do you want?”

“Is that any way to talk to the leader of your new adventuring party?” Thanatas teased. She then got up off the road while the other three followed. “I’m sure Lokosh gave you the details on the way here through some psychic network you all most likely possess since you would be more foolish than I thought to possess all these different races and not have a means of getting in contact with each other so I don’t need to repeat what the mission is for this forest. Let’s get going.”

The group of five finally entered the misty forest. As they traveled, they took in the sights. Among them, a small orchard full of sickly trees bearing over ripened fruit with a number of regular wolves wandering around it, a pumpkin patch full of over ripened pumpkins and undead gnolls with a few ghouls, mindless rotting corpses, wandering around, and a farm where the wheat was harvested just before it was abandoned and the harvest let to rot and had a number of the white-furred wolf men called worgen roamed. To their left was a huge lake with a keep large enough to be a small town in the middle of the lake.

After crossing a bridge over a small creek, Thanatas led the group on a path to the right of the main road which led to the forsaken outpost of The Sepulcher which was mostly a cemetery with a crypt guarded by deathstalkers and a post with a number of hanging rings to serve as roosting points for the giant bats tamed by the forsaken to serve as flying transports.

The group was approached by two individuals. One was a deathstalker who seemed better armed than the others which made them guess he was the leader of the outpost. The other was a forsaken mage wearing purple robes and a purple pointed hat.

“You must be the ones Lady Sylvanas said would be coming. I am High Executor Hadrec and this is Dalar Dawnweaver. He has the info on who you are to kill so we can bring an end to these mongrels.”

“The one you are after is a former Dalaran archmage named Arugal,” Dalar began. “The charlatan is the one responsible for unleashing the worgen curse all over the region. Thankfully the curse cannot be naturally transferred to a forsaken and Arugal usually stays in his keep or we would be dealing with another epidemic like the plague. The remaining humans in this region, outside of the Greymane Wall, have been transformed into worgen and mindlessly serve that miserable excuse for a mage.”

“It sounds like you have a personal history with him,” Talia inquired.

“If I were still alive I’d be laughing my head off at that joke. No, he wishes that he was worthy of my attention. The fact is that he is lackluster as a mage and relies on magical artifacts to bolster his power. He tried to save the kingdom of Gilneas by using Ur’s research into the worgen. That backfired spectacularly and ended up with some of the soldiers transforming.

“Arugal went mad with guilt and sequestered himself in what is now known as Shadowfang Keep which overlooks Pyrewood Village to the south. Don’t be fooled by the humans wandering there, they are still his servants. Somehow he made the curse such that those humans transform into worgen at night and back in the day.”

“Now you know where to go,” Hadrec said. “With any luck the worgen will disperse once their master is dead and we can focus on other threats like Thule Ravenclaw and his undead gnolls and the Dalaran mages in Ambermill. Those can be handled by other adventurous fools. Right now, Arugal is the main threat to our taking of this forest in the name of the Forsaken.

“One last thing, be wary of any dark-furred worgen wandering the woods. They are much stronger than the pups outside the keep. Most of them are protecting their master but every now and then one of them ends up ambushing and mangling witless travelers.”

With that information received, the group stocked up on what they could get from what the outpost offered as they prepared to face their future ferocious, furry foes.

Author's Note:

Like I said before, I split this chapter into two parts because I never liked writing 10k+ word chapters and I wasn't too fond of reading them either, even though I do. The dungeon in the next chapter is a long one.

For those who might question the point of Thanatas' lie, she wanted to give them a little hope that their real enemies hadn't found them and she was just using them for her own purposes so as not to scare them off (Your average pony still frightens so easily). Crystal is smarter than that but hearing their situation from her drove the point home that they needed to cooperate with their enemies to salvage the mission.

Up next: A keep full of ghosts, wolves and werewolves...err, worgen.

Anyway, here's a picture of a worgen.

Comments

[herobrins mom]

YES!!!

New chapter!!!

[Black--Soul]

Very entertaining dilemma the Rebellion is facing.
I wonder what the leader will think about it.
After sll, he is everyone's target...