Assault on da Arathi Highlands (Resized))

[Leyujin]

edit by Mortica: resized the screenshots to something bearable for those of us without huge screen resolutions. Click on the images to see the original size.

http://tn.yzeens.com/images/leyujin1.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j26/Genhe/Drag.jpg)

Leyujin chuckled to himself as he walked down the drag, arms swinging to a beat only he could hear. Things hadn't gone as planned, but the attack was a success, at the least. He'd envisioned an occupation, he'd received a blitzkrieg. "Like ah could control da Horde, yah?", he thinks, then smiles. Roughly sixty to seventy Horde, from thirteen different guilds. The Grim. The Amangur Empire. Confusion. The Darkspear Tribe. Death Before Dishonor. Decimate. The Hand of Oblivion. Infection. The Legion of the New Order. The Crimson Watch. The Immortalis. The Stormhammer Clan. And of course, his few brothers in the Hooligans.

http://tn.yzeens.com/images/leyujin2.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j26/Genhe/ScreenShot_040806_181403.jpg)

Both Stromgarde cleared, and Refuge Pointe leveled.

http://tn.yzeens.com/images/leyujin3.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j26/Genhe/ScreenShot_040806_180754.jpg)

He'd known that even had the original plan been carried out, with the Alliance surviving and their political bonds with Stromgarde, the Highlands could never be fully controlled... not at this juncture, anyway. However, with Infamous' trouncing of Stromgarde a few weeks ago, and the failed diversionary attack carried out by the Alliance recently, the Horde presence had been strongly bolstered. And there was something else that had been achieved... which would have far greater impact, at a much smaller cost. "Aye... even wit all da changes, one part o' da plan still came togetha", he mused as he strolled down the hallway.

http://tn.yzeens.com/images/leyujin4.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j26/Genhe/ScreenShot_040806_201605.jpg)

Leyujin stopped abruptly as he arrived at his destination, and glanced around the room. His eyes sharpened, and his demeanour changed from smug to breathless, perhaps as if he was a paladin stepping into Uther's shrine, mirroring the reaction he'd had as he'd strolled out of those crypts in Stromgarde, not an hour or so before.

http://tn.yzeens.com/images/leyujin5.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j26/Genhe/ScreenShot_040806_201707.jpg)

A savage grin graced his lips momentarily. The time was now.

"Greetings, Troll. How kin ol' Vol'jin help ya?"

http://tn.yzeens.com/images/leyujin6.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j26/Genhe/ScreenShot_040806_203209.jpg)

"Taday ah need no help, Boss. Taday, Leyujin Zeysoga brings someting ta 'elp jou... an' da rest o' da Horde."

"Hrmm... der be many things beneficial to da Horde, Troll, small and large. Usually one only comes ta ol' Vol'jin when it be da latter."
"An' so it be, Boss. Ah present'cha wit someting dat'll defeat an ancient evil dat enslaves our people even taday, an' someting whose absence shall be an everlastin' insult ta dose dat hounded our race fa' back inta antiquity.
Boss, ah present ta ya, Trol'Kalar."

http://tn.yzeens.com/images/leyujin7.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j26/Genhe/TrolKalar.jpg)

Hours later, Vol'jin pondered over the situation he now found himself in. On the one hand, he was overjoyed. The taking of Trol'Kalar from the people of Arathor would be a severe blow to morale. Stromgarde, an already decayed and crumbling city-state, would move even closer to collapse. However, this Troll, Leyujin, had dropped Vol'jin into a storm of possibilities, not all of which were necessarily positive, and of course had flounced off, beaming with the knowledge that he'd gained prestige in the eyes of his masters. Of course, the whelp wasn't going to take any of the responsibility!

Still, Vol'jin eyed the sheathed sword in his grasp. "Dat be marvelous... da sword dat cut down so many of our people, is now in da hands of da Darkspear Tribe." He edged the sword out of its scabbard, peering at the raw steel now exposed to the bright light for the first time in decades. He slid the sword back into its sheath with finality. He'd made his decision. Trol'Kalar would stay in his hands for safekeeping for four weeks. After that, an honor guard would take it to the Zandalar Tribe. That way, it would go towards serving the best interests of the Horde, without causing even further Alliance animosity, if such was possible. Of course... the fact it would remain in Troll hands would certainly gall the survivors of Stromgarde, which was... a bonus.

((This was a pretty awesome raid, even with some hiccups, that would not have been even close to possible without the cooperation of all the involved guilds. Unfortunately... we were so many, and had the advantage early (in a place like Arathi too, where less alliance might go), that we really didn't have too many people to fight. I wanted to have strategic, pragmatic and rp-story reasons for attacking this location, and so I did. However, the Horde we had was perhaps a bit wasted on the location. I guess next time I'll do a bit of meta-gaming, and let the Alliance know in advance... but that defeats a lot of the purpose in my opinion. Well, for my first organized raid, I thank everyone who came along, and put up with my fumbling around. I really appreciate it, but maybe I'll be a grunt on someone elses raid for the near future. And I thought four weeks of planning and 45 minutes of preparation time would be enough... hahaha.))

[Leyujin]

((I made this story for several reasons. Most was that I wanted to try and make an impact on the storyline of Twisting Nether. However, without "mutual consent" of other roleplayers, what I've concocted means nothing. That's why I built into it a way for the Alliance to return the favor.

As I've stated with Vol'jin's passage, he will be "holding" Trol'Kalar for four weeks. I propose that during this time, should a successful alliance raid kill Vol'jin, the sword is returned. It may also, as my attack did, come without warning. (Although, similarly, I'd like for the Alliance to give us a chance to get back our honor). After this, an honor guard will be organized, which I haven't quite formalized yet. Likely it will either be a walk from Booty Bay to Zandalar, or a party heading from Arathi all the way to Zandalar. This will most likely be declared, and will be an equal pvp challenge to our opponents. Should the Alliance fail here, then I'd like it to be accepted as reasonable that Trol'Kalar now lies with the Zandalar Tribe. If all of this is too forward, well, you're free to void my actions: as I said, mutual consent. However, this is both a way to promote a momentous pvp struggle, and I'd like to think I arranged an event worthy of seizing Trol'Kalar: Four weeks of preparation, more than a raid group of Horde, 12 guilds in attendence, and myself having actually performing the necessary questline to get the quest item (and no, I haven't turned it in). Thanks for your consideration ;) ))

[Malebrignon]

((Excellent work, Leyujin! Had a great time, just wish we could've made it last!

*mumbles something about carebears in dungeons*

Lookin' forward to the follow up in a few weeks. 'Til then, well, we've got somethin' brewin' on the Decimate front.))

[Garbhan]

(Oh dear! Looks like we might have some planning to do. I hope to see you on the field!)

[Xeran]

((

Nicely done!

Garbhan, give me a holler if you plan on counter-attacking.

))

[Tindary]

(( So, I'm doing my own thing on my computer when I hear behind me a loud "AHHHHHH" followed by laughter followed by "holy crap honey, look at what I just landed in the middle of!" My husband and a friend were questing, and on arrival at Refuge Point found themselves engulfed by Horde. When I turned around to see what he was yelling about, all I could see was red names covering his monitor. A minute later he tells me to look again. There is his ghost....and streaming past it is a huge sea of Horde, all heading downhill. I watched....and watched....and watched. It was truly an amazing sight.

Koenig had a blast...and I'm sure he's chomping at the bit for some revenge. This time I'll be along for the ride! ))

[NorthFace]

((Vol'Jin and Thrall are basically invulnerable, kinda like Sylvanas, Magni, and Bolvar... so any form of counter-attack is impossible against him. I'm not saying this to be negative or anything... I'm just letting you know that even if a raid force of sufficient size to deal with both Thrall, Vol'Jin, AND the horde was assembled... the server would come crashing to it's knees. You've effectively placed the item beyond any hope of recovery until it's moved. This didn't seem to be your intent, so I just wanted to let you know that.))

[Garbhan]

((he did say it'd be marched from one place for another. And Magni kicks arse, THAT's why he's invincible.))

[Lascivious]

Excellent work troll.

[NorthFace]

((he did say it'd be marched from one place for another. And Magni kicks arse, THAT's why he's invincible.))

((Heh, Magni does kick arse, I'm sure. ;D I've never gotten on his bad side. Personally though, I'd say the #1 deterrant for killing faction leaders, however, is that Magni, much like Thrall/Vol'Jin, sits in the middle of the center of alliance operations. The lag in ironforge and orgrimmar is bad enough without 100+ enemy players trying to get in and kill someone. If the AQ opening taught us anything, it's that these servers can't handle that kind of population in a single place. These bosses, however, are by NO means indestructable by themselves. We proved that by killing Cairne, and I believe it was Novus who killed Tyrande.

Whatever the case, interesting premise. I hope when it gets moved, we'll be notified and allowed chance to retrieve. Perhaps we can use this as kind of a DAOC Relic, constantly changing hands, etc. ))

[Leyujin]

(( Sorry for continuing the OOC banter, but I was actually worried you'd get one of our resident same-faction griefers (aka SYNTH) to keep us off our guard or something, heh. That said, even though I stayed in a roughly normal time period for the Arathi raid, I'd encourage the Alliance to come up with any fiendish (or I guess in your eyes, heroically clever ;P) plans, at any time of the day or night, to launch a counterattack. 4 weeks should give you the time to attempt at least one coordinated assault. In any event, after the 4 weeks have passed, there will be an honor guard whose location, route and rough timing will *somehow* be leaked to the Alliance ;). Unlike my raid, and your possible counterattack, this will have rules in order to make it more a test of skill (or gear, whichever you believe >< )), to determine a more final outcome. I do wish you could declare war on the Zandalar though, I do like the idea of a relic changing hands.))

[EnheilRas]

Many lives lost so you could rob a crypt? Hmm..

I do hope you feel Nimboya's brother's hunch--Zengu I believe his name was--was right about this blade.

Then again, perhaps he was wrong, and the true blade is still held in Danath's Hands?

[Jerone]

((The following events took place hours after the massive horde assault on the highlands.))

Walking I found myself through pools of blood and none of my steps were safe from meeting either metal or the rests of a fellow soldier of this humble pointe, but I dared not to look down and be forced into pitty. North or south, east or west, the dead populated the horizon. Our deads. A tragedy it was, a complete carnage! The few ones spared by such wave of destruction now griefed and wept for their dear ones while gathering their unliving rests into piles, readying them for their funeral pyre. I couldn't bring myself to watch these preparations, it was indeed too much of a sight to bear. The good people of this refugee campment would never forget this barbaric assault.

While trying to understand the nature of such massive attack, I climbed on Eleanor's saddle to patrol the rest of our lands. I was told by a member of the royal calvary who managed to survive that our Keep was also ravaged by these savages just after they were done with the civilians of the Refugee Pointe. While making my way to the Keep with some mounted soldiers I realized that regardless how ferocious was the attack on the people of the Pointe. It was quite possible that it was indeed a diversion. In fact, it seemed the Keep was their main target on this bloody operation.

Arriving at Stromgarde I realized some of my fellow Keepers were already standing post, making sure order was restored and no more tragedies took place. At least not while we were there to defend our city. I rode further inside our domain just to meet more fallen soldiers, it seemed they were all killed, none were spared in this occasion. I feared for our Prince although I would not rush myself to acknowledge such disgrace. It is when an defender reached me bearing both good and bad news.

"My liege! We're glad you finally arrived..." he bursted with relief.

"Where's Galen?" I interrupted his seemly winded greeting.

"Ah! Our Prince was badly hurt during the Horde raid. We managed to evacuate him before the worse happened..." he explained although not quite finished.

"Yes, the worse... Where is he now?" I inquired looking down at him for the first time.

"He is being treated in his secret royal chamber... Milord, I must inform you that Horde stole the sharded sword from our Magesty's thomb." fearfully he reported.

"What?! They took the Trol'Kalar?" I roared down on the defender.

"Aye milord, but we have sent a couple of trollhunters to track the thief down. Reports should arrive during the next days." he explained hoping to ease my anger.

"Keep me informed about this troll hunt and also about my cousin's condition soldier. And I better receive these reports you so gallantly ensure to be receiving promptly." I demanded while turning Eleanor around readying my leave.

There was lots think about that I couldn't bring myself to do so while riding so I got off Eleanor and sat on a boulder, which was part of the Keep walls once, to reflect on what just happened some hours ago. I fully understood the reason of such brutal attack on the Keep, they wanted the Sword. But why the Pointe? How would they benefit from attacking an innocent camp? Divertion alone didn't justify killing innocent people.

Columns of smoke could been seen rising from the camp, the pyres were lit. I brought my head down when I heard footsteps approaching me. It was two of my loyalists. I rose my head to face them and ordered:

"Find the responsible of this masacre, bring me its head and the sword!".

((I apologize for taking so damned long to post a reply about such coordinated event. RL has been hetic for me and as some as you have noticed I am not as active as I used to, both in-game and RLing. I will try to come up with something to keep this storyline walking, but this I can assure. There's no way we might even consider to face Vol'jin. At least not at this point.))