The Turning Tables

I am Khaadgrim Roark, a Kor’kron of the Warchief and ambassador of the Horde. A week ago, I was worried about the amount of paperwork and travels I would have to endure in order to accomplish my duties. Now, however, I am kept busy watching my back to make sure I am not captured, killed, or worse.
	My side of this convoluted story begins long ago, so I will try to explain as best I can in order to remedy any misconceptions. I will also try to explain as a last resort to clear my name from what has and will occur in the future, for I am labeled as a terrorist, fugitive, and criminal by my own allies. I’m convinced that these words may reach deaf ears, but if I am to die sometime soon then I hope this will reach some just soul out there to give me solace in the Netherworld.
	Long ago, when the Third War ended, there was an underground organization called the Vorisswa. This group was led by a man named Danath Granjer who had a falling out, similar to what the human’s beloved prince Arthas endured. Granjer went from esteemed officer of Stormwind to crazed, maniacal dictator of his own organization; because of his brutal ethics and excessive actions he was banned and exiled from Stormwind, and anyone loyal enough to follow that fool went along with him.
	It began as the Alliance’s problem, starting with a dwarven mountaineer named Berlshenk Riflemot. The problem then poured into Horde territory when the Vorisswa tried to manipulate the orcish law system and bend it to their ways, but this fell short because of Berlshenk and his careful meddling. He wouldn’t have succeeded in warning the Horde was it not for the incident that occurred, which was me being executed – or so the Vorisswa thought.
	The problem began there, however. Because of what happened I was forced into hiding and stayed in a secretive den with a companion of mine, Khuldrak Khazgalan. While I hid, Berlshenk and his companions on the Alliance journeyed through Azeroth, thwarting any of the Vorisswa’s plans and finally finding Granjer and killing him. It was with hope that such a problem wouldn’t come to haunt any of them – any of us, because we were all convinced that the head of this beast was cut off; the truth is that the organization was still alive and well, but by another controller: The Scourge.
	Supposedly, the Scourge found out about the Vorisswa through their spies and informants. The Vorisswa is known as a terrible group of assassins on the Alliance and many do not speak about them unless they want a dagger jammed behind their head. Since the tales of the group were dead and forgotten when Berlshenk killed Granjer, the Scourge decided to resurrect the terror by dressing their own minions in Vorisswa garments and stalking around Azeroth, killing random people and marking their bodies with their insignia. During this second coming Berlshenk was thought to have been killed by them, but in truth he went undercover to seek out the reason behind the Vorisswa’s reappearance.
	While he was busy doing that, I came out of hiding and did my own part in securing the welfare of the Horde. When Berlshenk finally resurfaced, he verified that the Scourge was the one controlling the Vorisswa and that this was going to be a much more fierce battle because of the amount of resources the Scourge had at their disposal. I came into the group bearing my own armaments, and we have been battling the Vorisswa ever since, uncaring of who came from where and instead focusing on an enemy that was obviously out to destroy us all.
	No matter how much we tried, the Vorisswa always managed to recover from whatever losses they took. However, when we acquired aid from third-party adventurers, we created a task force and stormed a base filled with Vorisswa constructs, destroying key components that fueled their minions with weapons and other armaments. Their operations quickly slowed, and the final blow was given when one of their leaders was killed. We hoped their operations would cease after all these critical losses, but instead they returned underground and began plotting their next move.
	When the Horde and Alliance opted to assault Northrend the Vorisswa disclosed their existence again and showed that they would be returning to settle the score with us. They had an interesting way of showing it as well, which was by nailing a grunt’s corpse on my door with their insignia tattooed on his back. While I was prepared to face whatever they had to throw at us, I wasn’t prepared to realize that they could take one of our own and use him against us. One of my companions, Cham, was killed and then resurrected into a death knight.
	However, through the sacrifice of his wife, he was freed until the events of Ebon Hold took place and he was able to regain his soul. He may have returned to us, but he will never be the same because of what the Lich King has turned him into. Even though his personality is intact, and even though he doesn’t wish for revenge like the other death knights, he has to live with the fact that he’s immortal and that he can no longer fit into the scheme of his workplace, which is being a mail carrier. Our group found more resolve to head to Northrend and see what we could do in order to utterly and completely annihilate the Vorisswa.
	As luck would have it, Northrend proved to kill two birds with one stone. Each Scourge mission we completed, the Vorisswa also suffered setbacks, and this cycle of setbacks slowed them down until most of their operations caved and they finally vanished. It was comforting to know that their operations stopped, but this also alarmed us because of what happened before. The last time they stopped acting they were plotting, and we expected nothing less from this moment of peace that we were able to acquire. However, what they did shocked all of us.
	The Vorisswa planned to infiltrate ranks of high esteem within the Horde and Alliance. By doing this, they would acquire enough power to place accusations against us and hold us in prison with execution following quickly afterwards. However, the way they perfected this plan is what’s important. By accusing us in public they would show that we were either innocent or guilty. But, were we to hand ourselves in we would quickly be sent to execution, and if we were to run we would be hunted down and executed anyways.
	My situation is similar to my comrades in that we are all now fugitives from our respective forces. By making our accusations a public spectacle we would be boxed into a trap where either options would prove fatal for our reputation. If we were to go along with our accusers, we would be tried and killed. If we were to run, we would simply be killed. The Vorisswa certainly ensured that all their bases were covered by also adding appointed witnesses to strengthen their cause!
	The plan was terribly perfected. It was in Grommash Hold, among many peers, where I was told I was being accused of aligning myself with the Vorisswa despite what I had done. They considered my successes against them as tactful meddling, of all the damn things, and if I had not gone with them to be interrogated that I would automatically be guilty. Unfortunately, I imagined it better to be considered a traitor than to have myself killed by the enemy I so longed to destroy, and instead of allowing myself to their disposal I decided to break through the hold and escape.
	It was done abrasively, I admit. There is no doubt among my peers that I had been fooling them all along, and now I am surely guilty even if it is untrue. This will be a difficult road for all of us, and as I write this I am still searching for the rest of my comrades to find a solution to this predicament. It is such terrible irony to see what has befallen us, but we have all faced worse in our lives, I’m sure. I only hope we can find a resolve before anything worse happens to us. This battle began one-sided, and our odds are looking grim already. Not only are we on the run from the Vorisswa but we are also fugitives of the Alliance or Horde.
	Because of this, I can no longer don the armor I crafted for myself. My Kor’kron equipment must now be pushed aside for more inconspicuous gear lest I want to be an obvious target for my past comrades. This is a tricky battle, even for those who I deemed as friends, for now I find myself having to fend them off. Even so, there are some who pledged complete friendship to me, and those are the battles that require more tact for all they stand for. I have been betrayed before, and this is the battle that will decide who truly is a friend and not a deceptive scumbag. These are my own problems, but I know that many other of my dedicated comrades are facing the same problem, too.
	A tactless belief, even in spite of what I wrote. I can still trust them out of everyone else I know, even those in the Horde. We have been through so much, however, and this belief stems from those endeavors. Even so, I will see. This will truly be a battle which requires a tactful mind.
Category:User:Berlshenk
Category:User:Berlshenk:Stories
Category:Khaadgrim
Category:The Turning Tables
Category:Stories