Southern Barrens Conflict

Part of the Kalimdor Campaign.
The Southern Barrens Conflict was a series of events that took place between 11th and 15th of June 2012. It sprang off when the Thousand Eyes became convinced the Alliance encroachment in the Southern Sarrens must be stopped and Camp Taurajo avenged. For this goal, they bade help from two eastern guilds: the Spine and the Convocation of Elrendar.
==Event synopsis==
The landing was the first stage of their incursion, and it happened in three stages:
#Two infiltrators entered the Honor's Stand camp and detonated two explosives that were in themselves not violently big or damaging - they served the job of creating a distraction. While the Alliance forces pulled north to investigates, a pair of forsaken catapults bombarded Fort Triumph relentlessly.
#With this distraction diverting attention from Vendetta point, a single goblin zeppelin landed just outside of the outpost with the entire expeditionary force and some supplies.
#Thereafter, the group advanced swiftly south with the only carriage hidden. They managed to do so quickly, but not entirely in stealth - Alliance scouts managed to get a glimpse of them before they reached Desolation Hold.
Outside the Hold, they were confronted by the commander-in-charge, who initially refused to let the party in, though after extensive diplomacy and speculated mind magic, they were permitted. Controversally, no reports of the assisting force was sent to Orgrimmar for the entire duration, backing up the aforementioned speculation.
Within the hold, each party (The Spine, the Convocation of Elrendar, and The Thousand Eyes) were assigned a portion to uphold and retain. These became the command 'centrals'.
The following days were spent in skirmishing and otherwise mundane supportive roles, achieving a breakthrough in the battle on the Wednesday in the evening - the collective forces cleaved the frontline in half an penetrated into the bulwark of the Alliance, wherein they sundered the command chain and destroyed the outlying defences of said bulwark before retreating, thus shifting the battle further up towards the Fort.
On the Friday, the Forsaken supply zeppelin arrived with the catapults and reserve weaponry which made them more capable; combined with the summoning of a lesser val'kyr (which sparked off much controversy despite the preliminary agreement) which bolstered their ranks with semi-and-fully mindless undead troops. On the next day, they launched a joint assault on the Fort, using collected corpses, questionable toxins and regular explosives, followed closely by a relentless assault on the outskirting establishments. However, they soon were struck by a detachment of stormhammer-wielding gryphon riders which decimated their forces until a magister within the ranks of the Convocation summoned a large phoenix which in turn obliterated all air support and terrorised the keep. This prompted the reaction of the command squad of the keep, who had been in Dustwallow until they heard the reports of the assault; a group speaheaded by an unidentified paladin. After an extended battle which rendered much of the expeditionary force temporarily unable, the command group and their leader was destroyed; the paladin was symbolically cleaved in half with a fel-infused greatsword belonging to Sorlain Amaran.
After the siege, the forces returned to Desolation Hold to mend their wounds, as they were unable to occupy the burning Fort on their own.
==Major characters and forces==
===The Thousand Eyes===
The Thousand Eyes brought with them no amount of soldiers directly into the battle but instead the regiment was made up of the Orcs that were already stationed there. Overlord Bloodhilt granted The Eyes with these soldiers. These count:
*50 Orcish footsoldiers armed with various weapons.
**15 Wielding Warblade(s)
**12 Wielding Spear(s)
**22 Wielding Greataxe(s)
**1 Wielding a Banner
The Orcs could be easily seen as the most unorganized of all the assembled soldiers, they lacked any formation and often charged in in whatever way they felt comfortable, screaming their warcries. The soldiers were under the command of Kragh Grimtotem and joined the battle in both of the two major conflicts of the battle. In the beginning battle they worked with despair tactics, their attacks cutting off cut off enemy units to thin the flock, mostly assisting the elven advance. Not suffering real heavy losses until the Alliance Gryphon riders attacked and the Horde forces pulled back.
In the second conflict, all went well for the Orcs on the ground as they used a wedge formation with Kragh at the head to drive themselves into the Alliance soldiers and send them fleeing. Once again it wasn't until the aerial enemy troops joined the fight that the Orcs took incredible losses, less than a fifth of their number remaining.
In the hold The Eyes often found themselves lighting the mood, or trying to atleast. Kragh himself tended to weapons at the Forge. And the other races couldn't escape the insulting gaze of Throk Sourheart. Aswell as Felinne Wildmane always looking for ways to become a better fighter inbetween battles by testing her skills against others.
At the end of the campaign the original orcs now numbered:
*8 Orcish footsoldiers armed with various weapons.
**3 Wielding Warblade(s)
**2 Wielding Spear(s)
**3 Wielding Greataxe(s)
The members of The Thousand Eyes that took part in the excursion were:
*Kragh Grimtotem
*Felinne Wildmane
*Throk Sourheart
*Marg Swiftshot
*Hikamori Lunarhorn
*Thranden Stormhoof
*Rammun Thunderhoof
*Dag'jein
*Ja'malo
===The Spine===
The Forsaken Elite group, being the main proponents of the campaign, didn't bring that many troops themselves as the Queen's Delegation refused them any more than a single platoon of Deathguards. They reasoned this with the notion of aiding, not warring. Still so, they were hardpressed and a large part of them succumbed to the war between the Horde and the Alliance.
The operation of the Forsaken as a whole was largely overseen by the Royal Professor, with Sinquija Cidé and Nightdragon adding where they could.
In addition to the platoon, the Forsaken forces brought a few apothecaries stemming from the Royal Apothecary Society in the Undercity, as well as a small group of Shadow Clerics.
Overall, they brought the following:
*45 Deathguards from the Spine Detachment in Brill, spearheaded by High Executor Cidé
*5 Apothecaries from the R.A.S, lead by Royal Professor Black
*5 Shadow Clerics from the Brill Chapel, supervised by Professor Nightdragon
Additional to these were the main components of the Spine collective themselves, and out of these the following attended to the campaign:
*Galliard Mortime Crokford
*Defiler Rathen
*Donovan LaFleur
*Teorius Darkcast
*Avikk Derrington
*High Executor Anthraxius
*Zamarion Flamestrike
During the skirmishes and battle fought, the Forsaken sustained severe losses - even after the first fight, they were severely undermanned. This lead to the deployment of a fabled Lesser Val'kyr, which had been authorised beforehand by both the Sin'dorei and Orc commanders; Brynnhilda, the Royal Professor's guardian, was summoned and she assisted in raising the fallen Alliance troops - actions which brought hundreds of shambling corpses to life. Due to the 'status' of being a Lesser Val'kyr, the troops raised were not the most reliable, however they well served as the main fighting force and cannon fodder.
Due to the extreme effectiveness of the Val'kyr, masses of troops had been raised and accounted to nothing short of 254 by the end. Unfortunately not many of these were kept due to their inaptitude for undeath. Even so, fifty new soldiers were added to the Regiment.
===Convocation of Elrendar===
The Convocation fielded a platoon of mixed, versatile troops, for a total of 70 people in addition to their own ranks. These count:
*30 Farstrider archers
*8 Blood Knight adepts
*25 Swordsmen + Captain
*7 Magisters
The Infantry, including the Swordsmen and Blood Knights, were placed under the command of Sorlain Amaran, and served during both of the major skirmishes of the campaign. In the first encounter upon the Scar, they served as a flanking force, that struck the Alliance from behind, while the Spine's Deathguard and the native orcs led the frontal attack, whereas in the second, they were part of the main offensive. {C}Their total losses numbered three Adepts, and twelve conventional soldiers, including their Captain.
The Farstriders were initially under orders to follow Marg Swiftshot, who while familiar with the terrain of the Southern Barrens, and an experienced soldier, proved less than knowledgeable of the tactics the elves were used to. Leading them into a charge, the regiment suffered heavy losses, with eight dead, and another ten wounded.
During the second skirmish, command over the Farstriders was given to Sethran Mellow-wind, one of the Convocation. He led the remaining twelve into combat, and while lacking in numbers, managed to deal a heavy blow to the Alliance gryphon riders.
The platoon's spellcasters were led by Edanna Kal'es and accompanied by Khairan Sunshard. Taking no losses in either of the major battles, the magisters were key in strengthening their allies from afar, and before the second encounter on the 15th, they conjured a full-grown phoenix to combat the Alliance aerial superiority, which had forced the Horde to retreat two days before.
The members of the Convocation that took part in this excursion were:
*Sorlain Amaran
*Sethran Mellow-wind
*Edanna Kal'es
*Khairan Sunshard
*Aleck Forestfire
*Draevon
===Alliance===
The Alliance, out of all the forces present, was the most formidable. Wielding huge capacity for reinforcement through Dustwallow, they were locked in constant battle with the Orcs until the arrival of the Expeditionary Force.
Their capacity for air support is what initially decimated the sin'dorei and Forsaken forces, however that was cut short after the deployment of a Phoenix.
The keep and regiments were fielded and controlled by an unnamed paladin whose identity was not discovered, even posthumourously.
Category:Event
Category:One-off Event
Category:Horde