Seekers of the Epitaph: World of Azeroth

by Xarmar13

The Invasion of Outland

Azeroth had entered its twenty-sixth year since the infamous event that brought the Orcish Horde to Azeroth. The previous year was eventful with violence and uprisings in the City of Stormwind which were brought to an end along with a conspiracy by the Black Dragonflight to claim the city and its people for themselves.

The Horde, under Thrall’s leadership, had emerged as a political power that rivaled the Alliance. With allies in the Darkspear Troll Chieftain, Vol’jin, the Bloodhoof Tauren Chieftain, Cairne Bloodhoof, and the Banshee Queen, Sylvanas, the new Horde grew strong together.

Despite old hatreds, the two factions showed camaraderie in the face of threats that endangered both sides. One example of this was Ahn’Qiraj.

Near the end of the year, the Horde gained a new ally in the form of the magical Blood Elves and their leader, Lor’themar Theron. Once members of the Alliance, relations with them soured when it was discovered that Alliance spies were sent to undermine their power in the region.

While the Horde had gained a powerful ally in the Blood Elves, the Alliance soon found new friends as well. Bella Cartier, a devout paladin, joined a naval patrol to sail around western Kalimdor. However, when they lost their navigational instruments, they were forced to go ashore on a strange island. They established a small outpost near their landing while they figured out what to do next.

They soon came across a people who would become a significant factor in the paladin’s life. The people were blue-skinned and walked on hooves. The males were very muscular, more so than the other races of the Alliance, while the females were svelte, to the point where their bodies were the envy of females everywhere. Their horns matched the color of their skin and came in many different shapes. The males had tendrils dangling from their chins while some had beards.

These people introduced themselves as the Draenei, though the night elves initially viewed them as Eredar, a race that sold themselves out to the Burning Legion for power. They were quickly assured that these people were not like their corrupted brethren and were devout followers of the Light, even more so than the humans were.

After the Draenei helped the expedition find their missing navigational instruments, and uncovering a traitorous gnome who worked for Kael’thas and hinted as his connection to the Legion as well, Bella spent a couple of weeks learning about the Draenei and their leader, an ancient Draenei with eons of wisdom and a devoted follower of the Light named Velen. She also learned that they had just crash landed their interstellar ship on this island from Outland.

Bella learned much from Velen. When she told him about her ability to see visions when she looked into gems, Velen realized that the paladin had the Gift of Sight, though unrefined at this time. The old Draenei felt a desire to provide some guidance to the young paladin so he brought her to a blue naaru at the core of the Exodar, the ship that the Draenei had converted into a new home for themselves. The naaru was introduced as O’ros.

The naaru could sense something dormant within Bella, a great potential that slept within her. Unfortunately, he lacked the means to fully awaken it but he could allow her to draw on some of that potential.

O’ros floated down a tiny shard of itself and bade her to peer into it. As she did, she felt a warmth unlike any she had felt before. She could feel her connection to the Light more than ever.

After thanking the naaru for the gift, she spent some time with Velen to learn some pointers for controlling her Gift of Sight.

Once the isles were cleared of blood elf saboteurs, the Draenei began negotiations for joining the Alliance.

---

Back in the Blasted Lands, the vigilant mages garrisoned at Nethergarde Keep continued their observations of the Dark Portal. The stagnant years observing the same thing time in and time out did turn out to be grating on one’s nerves. The people there were thankful for the party provided by the gnome priest months ago.

It was when the last watchman of the evening was finishing up his shift when he noticed something happening at the Portal. Using his spyglass, the watchman observed a giant demon casting a spell on the structure that once contained the Dark Portal. The watcher’s eyes widened as a green rift opened within the structure and the demon passed through.

The watcher quickly sounded an alarm while the commander in charge of the keep called for a mage to report the incident to Dalaran.

The Kirin Tor received the message half an hour later and began sending representatives to Stormwind.

The organization recently learned about the blood elves emerging from their isolation to join the Horde which allowed them to use the blood elves already among them to send messages to Orgrimmar.

The Alliance and Horde were not the only ones who answered the call as the Argent Dawn sent a division to aid in the defense of Azeroth. Among the knights that came to Azeroth’s defense was one of their newest recruits, Jaqueline Pomerton.

Jaqueline had sworn to fight the Scourge after the undead menace had destroyed her home and murdered her parents and her brother. Right now, she was making sure the demons didn’t establish a foothold in the Blasted Lands.

Standing with her were Mena and Bella along with the champions of the Horde who she fought beside on several occasions.

The Horde, Alliance and the Argent Dawn fought wave after wave of a seemingly endless onslaught of felguards streaming from the portal. The brutish demons fought the defenders with large axes and superior size but the defenders were resilient and the Light supported them. Countless felguards fell before the defenders.

Eventually, the defenders were able to push them back through the portal and enter it to see what lay beyond.

What they saw was quite surreal. The rugged land appeared to have the same dead and red coloration as the Blasted Lands and the sky looked like a night sky with streams of cosmic energy drifting around aimlessly while other worlds were clearly visible. Flames erupted from small fissures in the ground.

Surprisingly, the defenders were expecting to fight a lot more demons on the other side of the portal but they were all slain before they got there, including the leader of the invasion. The defenders looked around to see who did this but nobody appeared.

“I don’t know how these things were killed, but I ain’t looking a gift horse in the mouth,” one of the Argent knights said.

“Doesn’t look like there are anymore demons in the area, let’s head back and report,” Lokosh said.

One by one the defenders retreated back through the portal to Azeroth, oblivious to what actually happened.

Jaqueline was the last to walk through, but before she did she looked back and spotted a cloaked figure who kept all of their features hidden. She had to wonder if the figure had anything to do with what happened. As she turned around to address the figure however, they vanished.

The warrior frowned, a growing sense of irritation at the feeling that someone was playing tricks on her. She grunted, then turned around and proceeded through the portal.

Back on the other side, Jaqueline noticed that a battalion of soldiers from both factions arrived with their respective builders and engineers for the purpose of establishing a forward position and ultimately bases of operations.

Despite their sense of unity during the second War of the Shifting Sands, the Horde and Alliance still held on to their old rivalries and old hatreds. There was no way those scars would heal anytime soon.

“So, you're gonna help us explore this strange new world?” Mena asked.

Jaqueline looked back at the portal then back at Mena before she sighed and shook her head. “‘Fraid not sugarcube, ah’m a member of the Argent Dawn now and we have our own concerns for the Scourge up north. We’d stretch ourselves too thin if we sent troops to Outland.”

“What about all that recruiting you guys did? Didn’t that help?”

“Not really, adventurers did most of the work dismantlin’ them necropoli. There were some new members like mahself, but there weren’t many willin’ to fight the Scourge.”

Jaqueline gently smiled as she knelt down and put a hand on the gnome’s shoulder, “Don’t you worry ‘bout me none, ah got mah duties and you got yours. Once the factions get set up, me and the knights are packin’ up and headin’ back.”

“Good luck darling, don’t get yourself killed over there,” Bella said.

“Same to you and the others, ah’m sure Stella and Flutashe wouldn’t miss out on this.”

---

After news of the Dark Portal reopening had spread and the Legion incursion failed, a certain organization took interest in exploring the decimated world to see if there was still an ecosystem there. The Cenarion Circle put together an expedition to study the flora and fauna of Outland.

The expedition was put together and led by a high-ranking member named Ysiel Windsinger who gathered the most knowledgeable of their order. Ysiel also extended an invitation to Flutashe due to her expertise in animal communication. The young druid accepted on the condition that she conduct her studies independently while reporting her findings to the expedition leader. The two came to an agreement.

A week had passed since the negotiations and Flutashe was prepared to follow her fellow druids through the portal and into the unexplored world.

---

Back in the magical city of Dalaran, Stellaglim, or Stella as she preferred to be called, was summoned to the Violet Citadel where the rulers of the city governed.

As she wandered the streets toward the building, her mind wandered as she thought about a few things. Ever since she got her memory back, she couldn’t help but feel concerned that the Blue Dragonflight never visited the city in any official fashion. This was a city where some of the most brilliant scholars and spellcrafters in the world gathered and Malygos didn’t bother sending representatives. “Perhaps Azuregos was right, perhaps Malygos has truly gone mad,” she thought.

Stella nearly tripped on the stairs to the Violet Citadel from being lost in thought but managed to avoid completely embarrassing herself, despite the chuckles from nearby mages. She ascended the stairs and entered the building where she spotted the leaders of the Kirin Tor, the Council of Six.

Her master, Rhonin, was the leader of the Council while standing in a line near him were Modera, one of the oldest members of the Council, as well as Ansirem, Karlain, and two others whom Stella forgot their names.

She also noticed one other person standing next to Rhonin, a middle aged man wearing the standard robes of a Kirin Tor agent.

Seeing his apprentice approach, Rhonin called for the others to cease their discussions and turn to the dracthyr in her elf form. “Thank you for coming on short notice, Stella. We have need of your skills once again.”

“So this is about my next assignment?” Stella asked. “What do you need?”

“Allow me to introduce you to my associate here. This is Archmage Cedric, leader of a special sect of Kirin Tor agents who are investigating Medivh’s tower.”

“Karazhan? I thought the place sealed itself after Medivh and Khadgar disappeared.”

“I will let Cedric here explain.” The archmage in question moved in front of the Council and stepped closer to Stella.

Cedric began, “You are correct that the tower has sealed itself, preventing any further attempts at investigating the abrupt changes that have afflicted the tower as of late. But if it were only that, I would not be here right now. Ghosts haunting the tower doesn’t concern me. I recently received a report from one of my apprentices about a small demonic presence detected in the tower.

“Something is drawing upon the ley line that the tower was built upon and I want to know what. If the Legion is involved then I want them stopped.”

“So where do I come in for all of this?” Stella asked. “I can’t open the tower.”

Cedric smirked, “Indeed girl, but we might know of a way. It is true that only two people can open the portal and while we hope one of them is dead, the other we hope is still alive in Outland. I want you to go there and search for Archmage Khadgar. If he survived the destruction of Draenor, then we may have our way into the tower.”

Stella looked at the archmage in disbelief, “You’re asking me to find one man on an entire landmass floating in the Twisting Nether?! Do we even have an idea where he might be?”

“That’s for you to find out,” Rhonin ordered. “I’m sorry we can’t give you any better info, but we haven’t had time to fully scout Outland. And with the army of The Betrayer holding the continent under his rule, I am reluctant to send agents to map out the land.”

Stella had read the reports that were disclosed to SI:7 and Dalaran from the Night Elf Sentinels. She read about The Betayer, Illidan Stormrage, and how he sided with the Legion during the War of the Ancients ten thousand years ago for the purpose of undermining their invasion. After the war and the Sundering of the Well of Eternity, the night elves banned the use of magic but Illidan used the waters from the Well to create a new one atop Mount Hyjal which earned him an eternal imprisonment.

During the Third War, Tyrande Whisperwind released him from his prison and his contributions to the effort to stopping the Legion made victory in the Battle of Mount Hyjal possible with the death of the dreadlord Tichondrius. However, he did so by infusing his body with fel magic and became a half demon. He was then banished from the night elven territory.

The reports showed that he formed an alliance with a force of naga under the command of a sea witch named Lady Vashj before he fled to Outland. She remembered an incident years ago when a former Council of Six member named Kael’thas Sunstrider was arrested and tried for treason by the leader of the last pocket of resistance in Lordaeron named Othmar Garithos. Apparently, he accepted the assistance of Vashj’s naga who also helped him break his people out of prison and fled with her to Outland.

If Kael’thas had allied with Illidan, then The Betrayer was even more dangerous than ever. It was never clear where The Betrayer’s loyalties lie since he helped the Legion and betrayed them for reasons unknown. It was common speculation that he was not part of the Legion but was just as much of a threat as they were.

Perhaps she might be able to obtain some solid facts about him during this mission.

“Alright, I’ll do my best to find Khadgar,” Stella said.

“Thank you for your service,” Modera said. “If you do find him, try to convince him to part with his key if possible so we won’t have to bother him every time we need that gate opened.”

Stella gave a polite bow, “I shall make preparations at once.” Without an incantation, Stella teleported back to her room to begin gathering what she needed for the trip.

---

Raida frowned as she saw soldiers and builders from the Alliance and the Horde build fortifications around the Dark Portal. She noticed that the demons were sending another wave of felguard who were easily disposed of. The leader of this wave was some incompetent pit lord who was overconfident in his power. She also noticed that the two factions were bringing in gryphons and wyverns to fly around the attacks and establish bases further in the region or reinforcing pre-existing ones.

“Hey Rairai, what are you lookin’ at? Some chickens that got crossed with cats? Or maybe those lion things that got crossed with a bat and a scorpion?”

Raida chuckled as she heard the imp next to her; they did look like how he described them. “Sorta Loki, looks like the two factions are setting up near Hellfire Citadel. Makes sense that their first obstacle would be those fel-crazed orcs.”

“Isn’t that where we stashed that sourpuss who keeps whining about them stealing his blood?”

“Yeah, I know Lord Illidan wants to keep him around to keep the orcs pumped up with felblood, but those guys don’t seem all that reliable and keeping them organized is a pain.”

“Regardless, those orcs are going to make us look bad to our new visitors,” came another voice. “It might be best to be rid of them entirely.” This one came from a purple-skinned demon with minimal blue armor to keep him decent along with shoulder armor and a helm. He wielded two long swords.

“I agree Truth, but Lord Illidan seems to think these bloodthirsty savages might have some use for the invasion. Personally, I think they’re a liability.” Raida didn’t bother looking at her demon friends near her as she needed to stay vigilant.

Standing next to Loki and Truth were three other demons. One was a blue-skinned shivarra with six arms and wore a flaming headdress. Another was a felhound and the last was a black robed demon with thick horns and a mouth with crooked teeth. He had no eyes. He was known as an inquisitor demon.

“Anything you want to add, Lady Heartswell? Leech? Seeker?” Raida asked. The other three shook their heads. “We’re going to continue our observations. Seeker, I’m counting on you to relay any updates to Lord Illidan.”

“It will be done, Lady Raida.”

Ever since she became Illidan’s second in command, many of the Illidari had taken to calling her “Lady Raida” and for a while it made her uncomfortable. The demons she was surrounded by also called her “Lady” even if they didn’t have to. Loki was the exception who called her “Rairai” because he thought it was funny, but often called her “Boss” when she was in the company of others. She admittedly thought the nickname was a little funny. She had eventually grown used to her title and nickname over the years she spent in Outland.

Raida sighed as she observed the Azerothians establish their foothold. She was bored out of her mind and Loki’s jokes were falling flat. She knew that these visitors had the potential to dismantle Illidan’s invasion plans, especially once they joined forces with the Sha’tari forces in Shattrath City.

She may have taken down those ered’ruin demons, Kazzak and Kruul, before they became a real menace, but that may have screwed the Illidari over since Azeroth was still a force to be reckoned with and many of the Illidari demon hunters will be hesitant to fight their own kin, even if they would anyway out of self defense.

Illidan had told Raida to befriend some of the invaders in preparation should the contingency plan become a necessity, whatever that was. If things really did go south, he needed the plan ready to be put into action.

In her boredom, Raida’s thoughts drifted to happier times, back when she and her sister joined the academy together. She often had to protect her sister from those who heckled her because she was barely keeping up with the class. She did improve to be an acceptable fighter in time for the Battle of Mount Hyjal and Raida was so proud of her then. The last thing Raida remembered before she left for Outland was that her sister was learning the art of druidism. She could see her sister leaping around like a cat because Raida knew she was a better fighter than she gave herself credit for and also her love of all animal.

Raida snapped out of her daydream and continued her observations.

Author's Note:

Now we officially begin Season 2. Sadly, our favorite terminally ill, apple-farming warrior will not be taking part in the fighting this season. Fear not though, she will be replaced by someone who is at least just as good as her very soon.

Next time: A double dungeon run (not something I plan to do very often).