The Sunfire Vanguard

"We are the exiles, the shamed, and in some cases, merely the unlucky.
But we are here because someone must be here, and we fight this war because it must be fought. Mark my words, all of you. We are judged in this life not by the good we do, but the evil we destroy. We shed blood now to ensure that will not be the truth forever.
Until then, let it be enough that the sun will rise tomorrow over an unbroken Horde."
-- 
Thracen Valantir, former Bloodwarder of the Sunfire Vanguard
For the Sun Throne and the Warrior City
As the blood elves of Quel'thalas rebuild and the Blood Knight Order grows, regiments earn their own reputations from their actions in the various wars prosecuted by the New Horde of Warchief Thrall.
The Sunfire Vanguard is primarily a blood elf unit, largely composed around the assignments of the Blood Knight contingent and their allies that travel with them as scouts, advisors and fellow warriors. These are the knights and adventurers that have been brought together in recent months to form the foundations of a new regiment, a small group called the Sunfire Vanguard, tasked with engaging the Scourge alongside the Argent Crusade and the Warsong Offensive, as well as defending the borders of Quel'thalas when the regiment is recalled to the Eversong.
On the surface, they seem no more than another quintessential group of blood elven soldiers, scholars, warriors and wanderers.
Is there some curious stigma being assigned into the Sunfire Vanguard? There’s nothing official on record – nothing accessible to the public eye, at least.
Just rumours. 
Only a rumour that one of Silvermoon’s newest regiments is formed of those with black marks on their military records, corruption and scandal in their political careers, or some social flaw that has seen them half-exiled from the halls of power.
Whether this is true or not, the Sunfire Vanguard attracts its fair share of minor controversy. According to courtly talk and battlefield murmurings, the Vanguard has been brought to heel by the Regent of Silvermoon on several occasions, for both excessive brutality in keeping the peace within the city limits, and failure to comply with superior officers when on campaign in Northrend.
Just rumours, of course.
The Sunfire Vanguard is led by a council of elven commanders and Horde mercenaries who are ultimately answerable to the dictates of their own racial leaders and the Warchief of the Horde himself. It could be argued that the Vanguard is a progressive gesture - reaching out to the other races of the Horde, as the elves offer their own regiments in service to Orgrimmar. That suggestion would hold more weight if the Vanguard wasn't so plagued by ill-repute and dark rumour.
Occasionally, noble elven houses out of favour with the current political climate may find their sons and daughters entered into the ranks of the Sunfire Vanguard rather than a more prestigious regiment, lending credence to the rumours that the Vanguard is a dumping ground for troublemakers and Horde mercenaries that cannot be trusted elsewhere.
With their combined achievements, the regiment should have covered itself in glory by now. Instead, it thrives away from the city, maintaining a perfectly admirable display of obedience and valiant action... and yet the rumours don’t cease.
Campaigns
====Northrend====
The Sunfire Vanguard has served in a campaign across the continent of Northrend, alongside the Warsong Offensive and the Argent Crusade. In-game, while members were free to spend their time as they wish, weekly meetings form planned events where the regiment strikes out in two teams at various locations within their current zone, forever advancing towards Icecrown.
After these weekly events, the regiment gathered in Cantrips & Crows, in the Underbelly of Dalaran. This was the guild's usual hangout, where many spend their off-duty hours while not engaged in tasks for the Horde, or on patrol. The guild's public face is often the nameless little gambler who can be found there, peering out from beneath her hood and ready to roll some dice to play for a handful of gold coins. She appeared to be one of the Vanguard's agents, though even the regiment itself is largely in the dark as to just what she does - except beat them out of their weekly wages in games of chance.
====The Outland====
The Vanguard is currently engaged in a campaign that ranges across the Outland, chasing down a rogue Scryer, Sarath Valantir who has sworn allegiance to the Burning Legion and seeks the destruction of Silvermoon. Much like the Northrend campaign, members are free to spend their time as they wish, with weekly events taking place in various locations as the regiment hunts down Sarath Valantir.
Regiment Organisation
===Officers===
The regiment’s leaders are known as Captains, while the rank Centurion is reserved for the regiment's commanding officer. The captains are divided by areas of command (although these ranks are not separated on the guild's list). Particularly skilled or experienced individuals are granted the rank of Legionnaire.
====Commanding Officer of the Sunfire Vanguard====
*Centurion Sithren Strifeheart
====Captains of the Sunfire Vanguard====
*Bloodwarder Soraya Skydancer: Leads the Blood Knights
*Warleader Junka Blackscar: Leads the Horde mercenaries
*Ranger-Captain Kerelan Sal'ar: Leads the Sentinels
*High Spellweaver Sariatha Caln'ath: Leads the spellweavers
====Legionnaires of the Sunfire Vanguard====
*Nenthran Vor'calar
*Vilah Sungraced
*Talavar Nightstrider
===Rank and File===
The regiment has a broad stretch of characters, with no shortage of variety. Some of them are easier to get hold of than others, and some certainly friendlier than their allies, but few are openly hostile to each other. It is worth noting that many players of the Blood Knights in the guild have chosen to keep their characters as Adepts and Knights, rather than Masters, even at level 60+. This is to reflect a more realistic look at the Blood Knights of Silvermoon, and avoid the common lore clash on the realm of every single blood elf paladin character being one of the rare, chosen elite of the Order.
The most obvious division in the regiment is between the blood elven and orcish members. Most of the blood elves are assigned to the regiment by their own societal leaders, while the orcs and their kin ally with the guild out of more mercenary concerns. The orcs, under Junka Blackscar, are collectively known as “the Reavers”.
Members of the regiment do not need to be in active military service, though many are. Due to the treaty with the Knights of the Ebon Blade, death knights are occasionally found serving in the Vanguard’s ranks – especially if they were Blood Knights in life.
Once an Initiate has completed their trial period and proved their use to the Vanguard, they are promoted to one of the following ranks: Sunsworn (for the assigned blood elves) or Bladesworn (for the Horde mercenaries).
Communications
===Scrying Gems===
The guild’s IC channel is /o, used by members to communicate with each other over great distances, and call tactics and orders to each other when engaged in battle. Speech like this is conducted over scrying gems, enchanted by the Magisters of Silvermoon. These ‘gems’ are little more than ensorcelled shards of cheap glass, smoothed into small orbs, which regiment members wear on necklaces or bind to their armour.
In rare cases, these gems can translate feelings of strong emotion to the others, as well as the more usual speech and background noise.
===Languages===
For the sake of other characters, it is tradition to speak in Orcish most of the time, and if another language is spoken, [Thalassian] or [Gutterspeak] is written ahead of the relevant text, rather than switching to the language. This serves a couple of purposes: People can still enjoy what is being said and don’t feel left out, as well as the fact that some characters might legitimately be able to speak those languages, despite the limitations of the game’s interface.
===Slang===
The regiment has several terms and phrases that have evolved over the time its members have served together.
*The Warrior City: Orgrimmar, capital of the Horde.
*Kingdom of the Sun: The elven woodland realm of Quel’thalas.
*The Sky Citadel: Dalaran, capital of the Kirin Tor.
*The Wench: Narisa Redgold, barmaid at Cantrips & Crows, in the Underbelly of Dalaran.
*"Grom’s balls": An orcish curse, usually used to voice disgust. The elven equivalent, "Anasterian's balls" is less common, being something of a peasant's curse.
*"Throne" or "Sun Throne": Common blood elven curse, uttered when irritated or surprised.
*"Belore", or "Sun": Common blood elven curse, usually used when annoyed.
*"Fel": Common curse, with a variety of applications.
Recruitment
The guild forum is located here, for anyone wishing to apply.
Regarding recruitment, the officers and members are keen to keep the guild relatively small and close-knit – as well as filled with characters of appropriate personality and disposition. Because of this, recruitment can be a tough process and the officers take a while to deliberate over applicants.
The guild is open to any race/class combo, and despite the restrictive entrance policy, people are always free to apply. The guild is never short on applicants, and there is a wealth of IC reasons a character could be assigned to the regiment, whether in a military or civilian capacity. Current characters run the gamut from soldiers and scouts, to researchers, overseers and advisors. Military service is often a secondary concern for many characters, generating a lot of variety in the regiment’s ranks.
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Category:Guild
Category:Horde Guild
Category:RP Guild
Category:Disbanded Guild