The story begins on a week-long journey along the coast of the continent of the Eastern Kingdoms. The overstuffed ship from the settlement of Southshore in Lordaeron carries refugees from the Third War: a devastating plague of undead that swept through the once-greatest human kingdom of Lordaeron, the high elven kingdom of Quel'thalas, and the human-elven city-state of Dalaran. A squad of seven elves are the most notable sight among the ship's passengers. Six of them, including [Seth], are knights clad in red and black armor, with glowing golden eyes watching the other passengers suspiciously. The last is a green-eyed elf dressed in fancy clothes, some kind of high-profile aristocrat or diplomat, perhaps. The rest of the crew and passengers are almost entirely human. Many eye the elves with disgust or suspicion, unfairly blaming them for the war.

Nikolai is a high elf with blue glowing eyes donning new Blood Knight armor, a shield, and a sword. The armor is black and red, and identical to that of the other Blood Knights. Nikolai stands tall for a high elf at six feet, and thin. He has a certain weariness in his eyes, and seems to struggle to assert himself among his fellow knights. He has pale skin and long, ash blonde hair streaked with silver, with braids over his ears and tied back. A scar blemishes his bottom lip, and some gold rings adorn his long, pointed ears.

Meeka is another odd sight among the passengers. A very young Dalaranian human mage dressed in well-styled academy clothes, he is lean and above average in height with grey-blue eyes peering through circular glasses, and a mop of honey blonde hair messily braided into a small bun. He is pale white-skinned with a sharp jawline. He wears gloves as often as he can, being very discreet any time he takes them off. A white ferret familiar often wraps itself around his shoulders, comfortably perching without causing much fuss.

And finally, barely-noticed by anyone, is Draleer. He keeps to himself, barely speaking nor moving from his spot in the shadows at the edge of the ship's cabins. He almost seems not to eat, and he's covered by a dark cloak that conceals almost all of his features, save small pointed ears. He dons white armor emblazoned with a symbol of a red flame. He has an average height and weight for a human or elf, and carries a simple mace.

The journey is long and difficult, and there is very little food and water aboard. It is made faster by a Kul Tiran Tidesage who conjures winds and waves to push the ship swiftly along. A number of refugees are injured, though none very seriously else they would have been abandoned in Southshore. Still, you hear of at least two refugees dying during the travel due to infection and lack of nutrition. 

Those deaths were just the start, though. A mere half day from Stormwind City, capitol of the Kingdom of Stormwind, some otherwise healthy people begin to sicken suddenly, and the telltale signs of a plague outbreak begin: vomiting up green bile, flesh rotting rapidly, and transformation into undead ghouls. The first few are slaughtered and thrown overboard easily, but when it becomes clear that a portion of the rations aboard were blighted, the captain mournfully declares that he cannot allow the plague to spread to one of the only remaining safe havens for the living in the Eastern Kingdoms. He then orders the Tidesage to sink the ship. The passengers panic and begin to riot as a storm kicks up and lightning strikes the sails. The sea begins to rage and tosses the ship violently off course, the Tidesage is murdered with a kitchen knife, the captain beaten to death, and more and more refugees begin to turn, including most of the Blood Knights. The chaos is cut short by the ship striking rocks and shattering, throwing the remaining living passengers to the mercy of the Tyric Ocean.

Woodstock is a night elf dressed in light armor. She stands taller than most high elves or humans but short for a night elf: six and a half feet. Her hair is dark green and kept in a short pixie cut. Her skin is light purple and her eyes glow a bright gold color. She wears very revealing Warden clothing.

Woodstock met up with another night elf in the cursed section of Elwynn Forest known as Duskwood. Her name is Elara, a priestess of the moon and daughter of Maiev Shadowsong. Elara doesn't explain why she found herself exiled from the Wardens, just as Woodstock found herself no longer welcome among them, but Elara is disheveled and her clothing torn violently. They encounter an alien being in Duskwood they know to be a draenei. They, having been through the Dark Portal an on the world known as the Outlands, know draenei to be a native of those lands. It is unthinkably unlikely to find a draenei on Azeroth. Elara deduces that this draenei is aligned with the Illidari, a loose alliance of blood elves, night elves, krokul, naga, and demons who the Wardens are sworn to fight against. The krokul are draenei who have been drained of their vitality and connection with the Light, so Elara determines the only reason for a draenei to be in Duskwood would be if he were part of the same band of Illidari the Wardens have been hunting on this side of the Dark Portal.

The night elves attack the draenei, but before any of them can land a blow, the three of them are set upon by a pack of worgen, who attack without thought or mercy. The three manage to survive by fighting together, and agree on a temporary truce while they figure out how to escape Duskwood together.

The draenei introduces himself as Torinn. He is a huge at over seven feet, dark blue-skinned, with a tight ponytail of dark blue hair tied above a large bony crest and a pair of horns tipped with bronze spikes. A pair of tentacles sprout from the sides of his hairless jaw, and his eyes are abnormally dim for a draenei, with even the pupils visible amid his light blue irises. He wields a simple shield and hammer, and his only article of clothing is a pair of loose-fitting light trousers ending in great hooves. A large, powerful whip-like tail flicks behind him.

The odd trio make it through Duskwood after several days of dangerous travel, fighting off worgen together as they go. Woodstock's knowledge of nature allows them to survive off the cursed land, while Torinn protects the group, supported by Woodstock and Elara's magic. Woodstock and Elara are no strangers to combat themselves, brandishing their moonglaives to slice at worgen attackers. Woodstock and Torinn form a bond, to the chagrin of Elara. When the three reach safety, Elara demands that Woodstock abandon Torinn and that the two of them continue alone, claiming she is already allowing the creature to live, which should be thanks enough for his help. Woodstock, however, chooses to travel with Torinn, leaving Elara to storm off on her own.

Torinn and Woodstock spend several more days wandering toward the west, searching for civilization, anywhere they can rest and find a way to either make a living or get Woodstock to Kalimdor, where she is originally from. They continue to travel through Elwynn Forest and then further across the plains of the desolate lands of Westfall, searching for Stormwind City, which they know to be on the coast. They finally reach the ocean, exhausted from their journey. A wrecked ship's stern is beached on the shore, where a goblin rummages among the rubble.

The goblin greets the pair cheerfully and introduces itself as Gus Greasebomb. [Gus Description]

Woodstock asks Gus what they are doing, and Gus responds that they have just arrived, and asks what Woodstock and Torinn are doing. They discuss the shipwreck, which confuses Torinn. He doesn't know what a boat is, or what an ocean is. Woodstock manages to explain to him that a boat is like a spaceship, but for water. They all agree to search for survivors, as the wreck looks fresh, and they begin to dig through the wreck until they find Meeka, wet and coughing up water. He immediately panics that his bag is missing and begs the others to help him find it, and he grunts in pain as his hand glows, seemingly burning him. Draleer, looking no worse for wear, then appears from under another pile of rubble, and in the distance, the group spots a breathing almost naked body on the beach. Nikolai is lying on the sand, looking forlorn and pathetic.

The group scavenges for supplies in the wreck, finding some damaged armor to equip Nikolai with, when they spot a band of murlocs congregating on the beach by some huts. One murloc holds Meeka's bag and Nikolai's Blood Knight Sabatons. The party is perceptive enough to see some bubbles and shapes moving about in the water, so cautiously creeps up to a hill overlooking the huts. They attack the murlocs and target the murloc holding the bag and boots. Though they defeat the murlocs and recover Meeka's bag, the sabatons have disappeared, one murloc having gotten away.

Meeka opens his bag and begins to panic that there is something missing, and begs the others to help him find it.

There is some small drama with Draleer berating Torinn for running into combat without thinking or consulting the party. 

The party makes its way to the road connecting Stormwind City and the nearby tower. A single tree becomes clearer and clearer to their eyes in the waning light. And so do the three dead travelers beneath it. They have been bludgeoned to death with heavy weapons, and looted. By the looks of their clothes, they were no more than simple peasants, a man, a woman, and a child no older than twelve.

There is a town a distance to the east with a ruined tower. They walk inland toward it and encounter a brutally murdered peasant family. Gnoll tracks head east, and one set of murloc tracks follows them. Horses and a wagon also seem to have been taken from the family. The tracks go toward an encampment of gnolls, far too many for the party to handle alone. To the far north is Stormwind City, nestled in the foothills of the Redridge Mountains. It is much too far to reach on foot easily.

Meeka and Gus speak privately, away from the other members of the party. Nikolai asks Meeka what is missing from his backpack, noticing him being very thoughtful about his belongings, and Meeka replies that it is just a valuable family heirloom. Woodstock and Torinn declare that the party does not have enough rations to make it longer than a day in the wilderness, and Draleer declares he cannot be alone ever, and thus decides to stick closely with the group.

"Ho, travelers!" A woman's voice calls from behind them. She is alone, dressed in a drab cloak, a spear in hand and a crossbow on her back. Her hair is medium length and black as night. She is on the young side, and her eyes appear hardened to the sight of three dead bodies. She kneels down to inspect them, but doesn't take long. "You lot didn't have anything to do with this here, now did you?" she asks.

The party denies any wrongdoing.

"Well, my name is Vanessa," she says. "You lot are an odd bunch, but we're pretty desperate in these parts. Are you looking for work?"

Vanessa tells the party that the town in the east is called Sentinel Hill, and it's where she was walking toward. In the town is a man named Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle, the leader of the local militia. He is offering a bounty on murloc, kobold, and gnoll eyes. They have few fighters in the town, and could use any help they can get to fight the barbaric gnolls raiding the countryside. She convinces the party to leave the encampment of gnolls alone, as she believes they will need a larger force to disperse it. Torinn, Nikolai, and Draleer return to the battlefield where the murlocs were slain and rip out as many eyeballs as they can. Gus and Vanessa tell the others in the party that Stormwind is not reachable right now, as the road is long and there are many gnoll raiding parties that will attack them along the way. Gus recognizes the banner of the gnoll tribe and says they shouldn't mess with them right now.

Vanessa and Draleer question Meeka, asking why he is so upset about his missing item. Meeka begins: "It's a plate--" but the moment he begins to speak, he cries out in pain as his hand burns again. He takes his glove off to reveal a tattoo of an eye surrounded by runes. It is glowing red hot, burning the flesh around it. Draleer seems to recognize the symbol, but says nothing. Meeka finishes by simply saying "I just need it. It's very important."

Nikolai asks Vanessa if she has seen his armor, and Vanessa replies that a goblin is at Sentinel Hill selling fancy looking red and black armor.

On the way to the settlement, the party encounters some gnolls and vultures in the road, and realizes the road is trapped and one gnolls is hiding in a bush with a crossbow. They intimidate the gnolls, then fight around the traps and dispatch the gnolls, causing one to flee. During the battle, Woodstock calls a vulture "bitchass".

Vanessa yells "Hey, big guy, duck!" and casts out a cone of fire which kills the vultures. Torinn fails to duck in time, and the fire badly burns him. Draleer and Nikolai heal Torinn, while Woodstock grabs Vanessa by the collar and shouts at her: "What is your fucking problem? Do they not have unit cohesion where you come from?" Vanessa threatens to cast another fire spell at Woodstock.

Woodstock responds, "Do you really want to see how that goes for you?" which intimidates Vanessa into submitting and apologizing. The party collects eyes from the gnolls, and Gus collects the hunter traps after Meeka uses magic to mend them.

Westfall is desolate, full of prickly dying plants and dust. The air is dry and hot, and the air does not smell fresh. There are hardly any trees. The party travels down the road, approaching the ruined tower in the distance.

Vanessa: We are approaching my village of Sentinel Hill. The tower you see there? A casualty of the First War. We were the last town to fall on the Horde's march toward the city, or so I am told. I was born the year after it all ended. Twenty years ago. 

A haggard-looking man travels toward the party, looking as though he just saw several ghosts. He does not acknowledge them, instead staring straight at the ground, unblinkingly, muttering to himself. "Fucking necromancer. Fucking necromancer...."

The party questions the old man, who tells them not to go to Sentinel Hill, claiming there is a necromancer there. He is very rude to Nikolai and Woodstock, calling them knife-ears. He also doesn't take well to Torinn, who is a complete alien to him.

Vanessa grows silent as she continues to walk. The village is small, no more than 60 people within its 15 or so buildings. The occupants are all peasants, with a few militiamen talking quietly among each other. The land is a mix of green and brown, as if it too is still struggling to recover from the First War. The tower is nearer now, and the hill that is the namesake of the town is both steep and tall. The tower itself might have been grand in its day, but now it is just a broken piece of masonry barely worthy to be called shelter, with only a makeshift wooden roof affixed to the sides in pieces. The homes themselves look destitute, not a single roof without large holes, not a single door swinging correctly on its hinges, if the building even has a door. It smells desperate here, the people moving about both languidly and anxiously at once. 

Vanessa points at a grey-haired man with a thick beard, and says: "Marshal Stoutmantle is over there." He looks tired like the others, but unlike them, he also has an air of determination--or defiance. He and two other men wear the barest of leather armor. The militiamen wield wood axes, and Stoutmantle himself carries a sword that is out of place in the poor town. It looks shiny and well cared-for. 

Gryan: Well hello, Miss VanCleef! What an odd group you bring with you today. To whom do I have the pleasure?

The party introduces themselves and hands Gryan the eyeballs they have collected, earning a reasonable sum of gold for them.

Gryan: It's been a good long time since we've seen a fighting force anywhere near the likes of you folks. The city has abandoned us out here. We're fighting for our lives just to be able to sleep at night, let alone defend our fields and bring home food. Those blasted beastmen are a blight on this world, no better than the Scourge, I say. I'd be willing to promise you lodging in the tower and whatever rations we can spare if you'd stay a while and help us. 

The party learns that Gryan Stoutmantle is a veteran of the First War twenty years ago, and Gryan tells them that there is another survivor of the shipwreck in the inn. He wants the party to assault the gnolls with his militia. Draleer identifies himself as a member of the Scarlet Crusade, which Nikolai recognizes

In the settlement of Sentinel Hill, there is a blacksmith set up at the edge of the village. A group of merchant stalls is situated near the center, tended by several humans and one goblin, who is selling potions and other odds and ends. There is a shack that appears to be this town's excuse for an inn, though it lacks half a roof, and its doors and windows are all missing from the holes in the wall where they once were. Behind one of the buildings, there is a wagon holding something large and rectangular. Quiet voices seem to be coming from the cargo. Vanessa splits off. She lets her hood down and declares:

"It was nice...well. Not really. I have some things to take care of at home. Don't wait up."

At one of the stalls, there is a goblin named Gilnid Buzzblade who Gus knows as a "shady engineer who owns the Jasperlode Mine, and a member of the Steamwheedle Cartel". The party asks him to hand over the Blood Knight armor he has, and he says he doesn't have much of it anymore, but that he's willing to part with what he has for an outrageous amount of gold. Draleer and Gus attempt to intimidate him into handing over the armor, but he promptly throws down a smoke bomb and disappears, seemingly into thin air. Nikolai remarks that he's going to kill him next time he sees him.

The inside of the inn is just as depressing as it looks from the outside. There are no rooms, just a single space with straw mats on the floor for guests to sleep on. A goblin sits quietly at the bar, not even glancing at the party when they enter. There are three tables, one of which seems to be so precariously balanced against a wall while missing a leg that the elf sitting at it is simply holding his mug at his lap. He wears a hood to cover his face. Meeka, Draleer, and Nikolai all recognize the dress of the elf, not that it would be hard for any elf to stand out in a place like this. This is the magister that was being escorted by the Blood Knights on the ship that was wrecked on the beach! Nikolai knows this man to be named Magister Luthion, a mage and a diplomat who he was supposed to take to Stormwind City. Upon seeing Nikolai, Luthion jumps to his feet. 

Luthion stutters. "N--N-Nikolai! You're alive!"

Nikolai notices that the skin of the magister that is visible beneath his hood looks...paler than it should. The rest of him is covered. He pulls the magister aside to talk to him privately. He was surprised to see him alive, but he realizes after talking to him for a short amount of time that he is actually undead. Luthion is very jumpy and frightened. Nikolai doesn't know Luthion very well, but he convinces him to share the information about what important mission he was on that Nikolai was escorting him for, in case Luthion doesn't survive. Luthion shares some information with Nikolai, who keeps it to himself.

The wagon behind the tower contains a covered cage holding an orc and a troll, two members of the Horde. The wagon is covered when the party approaches, and when Gus investigates at first, the troll hisses at him. They are both in chains. The orc is male, and the troll is female. Both are green-skinned, and naked. The orc has long, black, braided hair, and the troll has bright green hair, untamed and long, covering much of her face. Her deep purple eyes glare at you contemptuously. They both have tusks protruding from their mouths, but the orc's are larger. His eyes are pale brown, and he seems oddly calm for someone naked and caged in an enemy town. He is large, with large muscles and a hefty weight to him. The Horde are enemies of the Alliance races--humans, elves, dwarves and gnomes. Stormwind itself was decimated, the capitol city razed to the ground twenty years ago. Many suffered greatly under their barbaric rampage through Stormwind, Khaz Modan, Strom, Lordaeron, and Quel'thalas. Now, the Horde is a shadow of its former self, the trolls driven back to their ancestral homelands and the orcs brought low, wasting away in internment camps in Lordaeron or contained to the Redridge Steppe. Orcs have been a rare sight since the Second War, but now that the Alliance is scattered, similarly crushed by the Scourge, many have feared the Horde once again rising to rival the Alliance nations.

This orc is a dull green, almost ashy. This matches the typical coloring of the Blackrock Clan, the dominant orcish clan in the Southlands who make their home in the Redridge Steppe.

The troll is a Gurubashi troll from the jungle nation of Zul'gurub to the south of Elwynn Forest. They are hostile to Stormwind, but have not invaded since the end of the Second War, seemingly content with the territory they reclaimed from Stormwind during the First War.

The orc's name is Dranosh Saurfang. He is a Blackrock clan member, but he came from Kalimdor to parley with Blackhand's Horde. Torinn shares with Draleer that the orcs, and in particular the Blackrock Clan, committed genocide against the Draenei (his people). The orc claims he was not part of that massacre. The troll's name is Mar'li. She is not friendly or interested in speaking. She was attempting to meet with Dranosh to discuss alliances since Blackhand's Horde has become unreliable. They have seemingly bonded, but Mar'li is still skeptical of Go'el's Durotar Horde. She wants to influence her people to break ties with Blackhand's Horde, but her people are afraid of an Alliance invasion without the Horde to protect them, considering the land they reclaimed from Stormwind during the First War. Dranosh insists that he must determine whether Blackhand's Horde is honorable or not, before making the determination to ally with Blackhand or the Gurubashi. Mar'li is trying to reach Hogger Spothide to convince him to align with the Gurubashi instead of the Horde as a whole.

The party decides to think on these developments and does not make a decision, choosing to rest and come back to the orc and troll the next day.

The party rests in the tower uncomfortably. In the morning, Gus is up and alert when the rest of the party is woken to the sounds of combat. A gnoll raiding party led by a gnoll by the name of Jango Spothide has reached Sentinel Hill and are attacking civilians. The party jumps into action.  Jango Spothide claims the humans are the only ones who need die, as the humans are on gnoll territory, but the party chooses to defend the humans anyway. 

The gnolls attempt to kill the civilians first, and some get locked into combat with militiamen. Vanessa and Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle immediately join the fight, while Magister Luthion will attempt to stay at a distance and cast frost spells, and will flee if damaged. When any human or gnoll dies, it becomes an undead the next turn, hostile to all. Luthion claims no knowledge of this, and fights the undead with the party to attempt to prove it.

The party mostly fights from its vantage point at the top of Sentinel Hill. Woodstock shouts at the prisoners in the wagon below to help, and the orc breaks out of the cage easily, as though he was always able to do so. The orc and troll join the battle...on the side of the gnolls! The orc brawls unarmed with the militia and the troll casts bolts of magic. The party attacks them in addition to the gnolls and undead. The troll, Mar'li, casts a spell that conjures giant ghostly spider legs on her back to attack the area around her.

Partway through the battle, a figure appears in a full suit of Blood Knight armor, and it is he that is raising the dead here. He is on top of a hill in the distance. After the party kills a number of gnolls and undead, including Jango Spothide, a black dragon drake (adolescent to young adult) swoops in and attacks the necromancer knight, lifting and carrying him up into the air. They both fall to the ground far in the distant east, in Elwynn Forest. Dranosh, the orc, escapes. Mar'li, the troll, is downed in the fighting. The party receives a treasure hoard.

A dry wind picks up, whether from the drake's wings or otherwise it is hard to say. The morning is already beginning to heat up, though the sun has only just started to rise over the mountains in the distance. Mar'li kneels in pain, at the mercy of Nikolai and Torinn. She meets their gaze defiantly. 

"Would that the Amani had finished off your kind when they had the chance," she spits, blood splotching the corner of her mouth. She grimaces. The Amani are a troll empire in the north of the continent. Her people, the Gurubashi, are in the south.

"I am a diplomat of the Gurubashi Empire, an emissary to the Durotar Horde and to the Southland Gnolls. Do what you will with me. Spill my blood here, and prepare to drive the Gurubashi further to Blackhand's secure and violent alliance. Prepare for a neverending conflict with the Horde--not just here in the Southlands, but across the sea, in Kalimdor. I hear my Darkspear brethren are constructing a navy for Warchief Go'el. I look forward to seeing it blockade Stormwind City from the spirit world!"

Mar'li's haughtiness and disdain for the party is apparent; her eyes are aflame with rage. But suddenly, she calms and her eyes soften. She looks askance toward the ground. A single spider, black as night, faces Mar'li, and stands statue-still. Mar'li stares at it pensively. Nikolai squishes the spider quickly, but Mar'li, although disturbed, doesn't otherwise react.

Mar'li appeared to be listening to the spider, and based on her reaction to whatever she heard, she seemed to be receiving a repudiation from the spider. Suddenly she is much more calm and even-tempered.

"In truth, I allowed myself to be swept up yet again by the blood rage of an orc. I have no love for humans. The blood feud between our people runs deep, as it does with elves. I, however, am called not to make war with Stormwind, but to secure the future of Zul'gurub without allowing Blackhand's insanity to consume us. A war with the Alliance, no matter how broken, would be unwise for both sides right now. I was sent to discuss the possibility of aligning with the New Horde, when Dranosh and I met with Hogger of the Spothide Gnoll Tribe. Hearing of his people's suffering at the hands of the humans of Stormwind moved us both, and we immediately began considering a joining of tribes under the banner of the New Horde." She glances at the injured in town, including those that fell and turned into undead before being slain once more. "But neither the New Horde nor the Gurubashi are interested in discussing an alliance with a tribe as dishonorable as this. To target unarmed civilians...some Gurubashi might celebrate such violence. I do not."

The party continues to interrogate Mar'li, and believes it is in their best interest to execute her. But she interrupts them. "Wait. Before you decide anything for me, I wish to speak...to the Night Elf."

Mar'li, to Woodstock: "Why is there a battalion of Night Elf warriors stalking our borders?"

According to Mar'li, the Gurubashi are mobilizing for war. The loa are warning of an impending crisis brought about by the Night Elven presence. They claim several Night Elven gods have invaded their territory and driven many of their worshippers mad. She seems confused by Woodstock's lack of knowledge on the situation, and asks if the curse over Duskwood or the desolation of Westfall are also the Night Elves' doing. Duskwood has only been cursed for the last several years, and Mar'li seems genuinely frightened of the night elf presence, particularly the night elf gods. Mar'li begs Woodstock to try to persuade the Wardens to back off, but Woodstock is worried she has no sway with them anymore.

After learning that Mar'li's motivations are based in fear and that she prefers not to align herself with the gnolls should they attack civilians dishonorably, the party is now torn about whether to let her live or not. Mar'li also reveals that although she is a servant of the spider loa (troll god) Shadra, a god that the night elves know to be the loa of lies, Mar'li claims this is something the night elves believe about her people and that they cannot be trusted to label troll gods. Mar'li says that Shadra is indeed crafty and cunning, but teaches her followers to be diplomatic and thoughtful, never starting fights they can't win. Mar'li claims troll loa are not always easily categorized as good or evil.

Marshal Stoutmantle and Vanesssa approach the group, blood staining their hands and clothes. Vanessa glares at Mar'li menacingly, which Mar'li ignores. Stoutmantle announces: "It's time we put this monster down. She and the orc were never going to be anything other than trouble!"

Vanessa interjects. "We still don't know anything about why they were here in Westfall...though I do see the appeal of gutting her here and now."

The party convinces Gryan to allow Mar'li to leave, saying that killing her might spark a new war with Zul'gurub and wouldn't be worth it. Gryan agrees, and slaps the troll's ass. She leaves, still naked.

Nikolai pulls Torinn and Draleer aside. To Draleer, he says that his god contacted him last night and told him he should trust Draleer. He doesn't give details, but claims the party must bring Luthion to Stormwind in order to warn the royalty there about the Scourge launching an assault on the Southlands. Draleer is not disinterested, but seems distracted, and keeps muttering to himself. Nikolai tells Torinn that he is worried Draleer will rashly try to kill someone important, and to be ready to stop him. 

"Gather 'round, all, gather 'round!" A young militiaman shouts to all the residents of Sentinel Hill. "Marshal wants a word with the town!"

Gryan Stoutmantle stands at the foot of the tower your party slept in last night, looking down at the rag-wearing folks of the village. Four militia with axes are interspersed throughout the small crowd. Gryan speaks.

"Now I know the lot of you were spooked not just by the gnoll attack, but by what else you thought you might have seen. Facts are we have no idea what just happened here beyond a brutal, barbaric, unthinking attack on human life from the vile gnolls! The dead sleep once more, but the gnolls fester and multiply within our very homeland! I have requested aid from Stormwind City more times than I care to recount, and they are not coming to save us. It is up to us, red-blooded farmers and miners, men and women of Westfall! The very meat and bones of the kingdom, without which the aristocrats in Stormwind Keep could not survive the winter! It falls to us to wage war on these mutant mongrels, and start hitting them where it hurts! Bring the prisoner forward!"

The same boy who called for the meeting emerges from one of the houses with a gnoll in chains. The gnoll is muzzled with rope tied too tightly, and large cuts and sores are visible all over her body. She is dragged to the tower and shoved to the feet of the marshal, causing her to grunt. She says nothing, but snarls between hysterical tears.

Marshal Stoutmantle waits for the gasps of the crowd to die down and he speaks again, "You have allowed this filth to vendor its slime and carcasses beside our food, near our children, despite my warnings that these beasts are not to be trusted! This creature does not just trade with the people of Sentinel Hill, but with the kobolds and the other gnoll tribes! It has traded the gold given to it back to the very gnolls that murdered your brother in cold blood in his own hometown! It has been sharing information all along! Worse, its tribe have been hoarding the fruits of the land, poisoning our farms with their dark rituals. I say we slay them all and take back the food that they have stolen from us!"

Gasps of indignant rage now trickle about the audience. "Kill it! No mercy!" one villager shouts. "For Stormwind!" shouts another.

"The punishment for your crimes, gnoll, is execution!" he says. But he does not raise his sword. "Fortunately for you, we need you to lead us to your tribe's current location, so we can take back what is ours, and bring justice to Westfall!"

"Please!" the gnoll cries out. "The Whitefang Tribe has nothing to do with Hogger's ridiculous war! We want nothing but to trade with our neighbors in peace! We are farmers and merchants, no more!"

"Farmers and merchants who feed Hogger's raiders," Gryan retorts.

Vanessa, when asked, expresses that she is more concerned with the safety of her people above all, but does not think the Whitefang Tribe are a threat, and blames Stormwind for not sending help more than she blames the Whitefangs for supplying the Spothides. However, she is also willing to help the party support Gryan as well.

The party convinces Gryan to give them the gnoll captive, claiming they will use her to find the gnoll caravans while Marshal Stoutmantle gathers the rest of the militia forces from Moonbrook. He leaves, and the party is happy that they were able to defuse the situation before the gnoll was killed. The gnoll introduces herself as Olshi Whitefang and is grateful to the party, offering to introduce them to the Darkmane Tribe which she claims will help defeat the Spothides and improve relations with the humans. She will also tell the party that if they want to get anywhere in Westfall, horses will be important to them, and the Spothides have been hoarding all the horses in the area. She claims she can find the caravans because she is a shaman and the wheels of the caravans are enchanted for gnoll shamans to be able to feel them from miles away.

Torinn attempts to distract Draleer from the conversation others are having with Luthion, because Nikolai expresses concern that Draleer might have issues with Luthion. He pulls him to the blacksmith shop to look at armor. Torinn mentions that Draleer has been using shadow magic in combat, something Draleer seemed surprised by at the time. Draleer just says that he was called to the Light and the Light answered. Torinn says that what he saw certainly wasn't light magic, but Draleer continues to deny that. Torinn asks about Draleer's relationship to the Light, and Draleer attempts to evangelize the tenets of the Scarlet Crusade, which follows the Sacred Flame, the source of their magic and their god. Torinn is confused, disbelieving that anyone could wield light magic without the blessing of a naaru, but Draleer holds firm.

Draleer reveals that while he and his group of fellow crusaders were stationed in a city, an outbreak of Plague struck suddenly, and he was the only one of his troop who made it out alive. Torinn says that he knows the pain of losing a comrade, but while he's doing so, he catches a peek under Draleer's hood -- his skin is deathly pale. Torinn doesn't totally put the pieces together, but does point out that there's probably a connection between the outbreak and Draleer's new Shadow magic. Draleer fanatically, dogmatically denies this, even going so far as to accuse Torinn of disrespecting his comrades. Torinn drops the subject.

During the time the rally is happening in the center of town, Nikolai, Woodstock, and Meeka talk to Magister Luthion. He asks about Nikolai's missing armor, expressing that it is important to combat mages. He says Stormwind lacks magical ability and is particularly vulnerable to magical warfare, and the armor is designed to combat magic users specifically. Nikolai explains the situation with Gilnid Buzzblade. Luthion offers to inspect the area where Gilnid disappeared, where he finds a goblin device he calls a samophlange, which is capable of opening short ranged portals once before breaking. He says he can track where the portal went, and does so. When he is able to sense the direction and distance (north, nearby), the party is able to ask Vanessa what lies there, and she replies that that's where the Jasperlode Mine is. It's an old gold mine that was abandoned.

Magister Luthion also shares that the death knight they saw was probably the Blood Knight who on the ship was very aloof and withdrawn, a man by the name of Koltira Dawnweaver. He suspects Koltira was the one that caused the plague outbreak on the ship in the first place, and declares that death knights are powerful enough that he doubts he died when he was attacked by the dragon.

Vanessa walks over to Luthion, yanks off his hood, and says "I knew it!!". Luthion's state of undeath is made clear for all in the village to see (though Torinn barely manages to keep Draleer in the shop). Vanessa goes to cast Burning Hands on Luthion, but the party intervenes. Vanessa loudly yells "But why?? He’s undead!" Upon hearing this, Draleer bolts to the door of the blacksmith and casts a spell on Luthion, who avoids taking damage, but is spooked and flees.

Luthion is then chased by Nikolai, Woodstock, Meeka, Vanessa, and Draleer. Torinn is chasing after Draleer in an attempt to fulfill his promise to Nikolai. Draleer hurls a Toll the Dead at Luthion; in a panic, Luthion casts Thunder Wave backwards and hits the closest three pursuers. In an attempt to be helpful, Olshi casts a spell that ensnares Luthion in tangled roots, and he is immobilized. Thinking quickly, Woodstock stops dead in their tracks and trips Vanessa with their moon sickle. Vanessa eats dirt and passes out. Meanwhile, Meeka turns around and readies Burning Hands to stop Draleer from going further, but before he can even cast it, Nikolai casts Sacred Flame and does double radiant damage, nearly killing Draleer, who screams in agonized pain. The party realizes what this must mean: Draleer is also undead.

Draleer is paralyzed by the cognitive dissonance of this new evidence, and stops running. Torinn and Woodstock approach, and now they can hear what he's been muttering to himself since the battle this morning: "the light has betrayed me", over and over.

Torinn goes to use Healing Hands on Draleer, palms aglow, and in a panic Woodstock yells "No, he’s undead! You'll hurt him!". The entire village hears this, but whether they realize she's talking about Draleer or whether they think she's talking about Luthion is not established.

Lutheon is removed from the vines, and the party regroups. Draleer is satisfied that Luthion is not in fact a mindless, blighted undead, and believes him not to be immediately contagious. The attack stops. Luthion gets everyone up to speed about the Scourge in Duskwood, saying that there is a portal from Quel'thalas to Duskwood that the Scourge is using to try to invade and infect the Southlands, but they are trapped in Duskwood in the meantime. The party makes the connection to the curse Mar'li was talking about. Luthion hands Nikolai a pair of scrolls. Even if he dies, these scrolls absolutely must make it to Stormwind. The party agrees that they should try their best to bring Luthion to Stormwind alive...or, at least, less dead than he is. This is met with protest from Draleer. Luthion decides that his best bet at survival is to stick with the party.

Vanessa wakes up having missed the revelation about Draleer. She still doesn't understand why the party would aid an undead, and says that on the mission it's either her or Lutheon. The party unanimously and enthusiastically chooses the latter over the former, and she leaves to join up with Marshal Stoutmantle.

With Olshi leading the way, the party sets out for the Whitefang caravan. On the trip, in response to Draleer repeating "The Light has betrayed me", Torinn pats his back and says "Me too, buddy", just loud enough for Draleer to hear.

Olshi is grateful to the party, and eager to repay them. She explains that she is the leader and shaman of the Whitefang Tribe. She can sense the locations of the different tribes' caravans because of their enchanted wheels. She and the rest of her tribe used to trade regularly with Sentinel Hill. According to her there is indeed a curse on the land. The Whitefang crops have survived via a combination of shamanic magic and traditional semi-nomadic agriculture, which is how they have food while the humans don't. However, the curse is worsening, and it won't be long before it starves the gnolls too. They're not sure what's causing it, but it has something to do with the kobolds in the area.

The Whitefangs have no soldiers, and are made up purely of farmers, merchants, and artisans. Until recently they coexisted peacefully with humans, but under Hogger's leadership the Spothides have been antagonizing them and Sentinel Hill. Hogger has upset the fragile peace between the humans and gnolls. He takes tribute from the Whitefang by force, and leaves them hungry.

The plan is to talk to the Darkmane Tribe, and enlist their military help against Hogger. Hopefully, this will be enough to convince the humans that the other tribes do not approve of his doings, and peace will return. Draleer suggests an alternative or possibly supplemental plan: if Hogger takes the Whitefang food, why not poison a batch? Olshi is just barely not persuaded to try this, as it would be dishonorable and might harm innocent civilian Spothides. The Whitefang won't sell poison to try it, but there is an alchemist in Jasperlode Mine.

The party is able to take a brief respite during the travel, and then they reach the Darkmane Caravan. The Whitefang Caravan leaves them with Olshi, and as they approach, they see Mar'li among the Darkmanes. Woodstock waves at her enthusiastically.