Pyrewood Village

**Location**
 **Affiliation**
 **Status**

**Pyrewood Village** was an Alliance-friendly Gilnean village within the Silverpine Forest. The village was a settlement inhabited by a group of humans who had survived the coming of the Scourge, though not without paying a large price in the form of the Worgen Curse.

## History

### Origins

The village, along with Ambermill, was originally a part of the Kingdom of Gilneas before the Greymane Wall was erected. Lord Darius Crowley, who was the landholder of both Pyrewood and Ambermill, was displeased by King Greymane's decision to cut off his holdings from the rest of Gilneas and disagreed with Greymane on the rationale of seceding Gilneas from the Alliance of Lordaeron.

Unable to persuade Greymane to change his mind and upset by being cut off from his holdings and his people, Crowley instigated the Northgate Rebellion. Cut off from any support from Gilneas, Pyrewood was left to its own means after the building of the Wall. Though they retained their Gilnean loyalties until the rise of Arugal; the village along with its denizens never witnessed the Northgate Rebellion as it occurred after the death of Baron Silverlaine.

### Aftermath of the Third War

Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider and his caravan, escorted by Tyrande Whisperwind, Maiev Shadowsong and their night elves, made it to Pyrewood Village during their trek through the area. The village was mostly intact, and was built right on the edge of the River Arevass. While holding the bridge that led out of the town and across the river against the undead, Tyrande fell into the river due to the bridge collapsing.

### The Worgen Curse

To the north, overlooking the village, there was a keep owned by Baron Silverlaine. Silverlaine and his servants were slain by Archmage Arugal's worgen, who then took residence in the keep renaming it Shadowfang Keep.

From there, Arugal cursed the inhabitants of Pyrewood, so that they underwent a nightly transformation into the bestial worgen, then returned to their human forms upon the arrival of dawn. It was during this time that they became hostile to all, including the Alliance. Despite all its hardships, however, the village continued to service Alliance travelers by selling various goods and offering their services whenever they could during the day time.

During the efforts to eradicate the worgen from Silverpine Forest, the Forsaken eventually disposed of Pyrewood Village, which was under the control of Arugal. Deathstalker agents brought down the Council of Pyrewood, hoping that without their guidance the others villagers would turn against Arugal.

At some point, Arugal himself was later killed by adventurers, and buried in an unmarked grave just south of the village, to be later resurrected and brought to the Grizzly Hills by the San'layn. The forces of the Lich King were also known to have sought out the capture of Arugal's worgen forces from Pyrewood and Shadowfang. These worgen were then slain and raised as Death Knights by the Lich King, namely just before the period where the Knights of the Ebon Blade were formed. Though these knights remained relatively covert of their affliction following the Ebon Blade's creation, they have become more open in modern times.

### Return of Gilneas

With the return of Gilneas into the forefront of the world, Pyrewood Village was one of the first areas to fall to the Forsaken. Tired of the constant worgen attacks, the Forsaken had purged Pyrewood and most of Silverpine and left the town intact. The remaining worgen banded together under the name of the Bloodfang Pack, and the town was left abandoned.

Following the border becoming a hotspot of contention between the Alliance and Horde forces, Seventh Legion occupied the town with hopes of rebuilding it as a sturdy base against the Forsaken. The Horde foiled this plot through the timely intervention of the newly risen Lord Vincent Godfrey and his cohorts who slaughtered the 7th in the area, and lit the town ablaze, with the hopes of stamping out any use for the town ever again.

For the rest of the initial campaign following, Pyrewood was left a smouldering wreck.

### Under the Blades

Following the defeat of the Gilneas Liberation Front in Silverpine, but the securing of Gilneas by their forces, a Gilnean paramilitary regiment under the name of The Blades of Greymane led by High Commander Berenal Grayblade arrived in the area. Seeking to take the fight back to the Forsaken, the Blades alongside such organizations as the Seventh Legion and the League of Lordaeron assaulted and reclaimed Pyrewood in the name of the Alliance.

The group held the ruined town bravely against the oncoming Forsaken, attempting to repel the Alliance forces. Ultimately, the town was reclaimed in the name of the Alliance and the Blades rebuilt it as a military base.

Though it laid in the Blades hands for quite sometime, the town would be the point of several reoccuring battles between the Gilnean and Forsaken forces, occasionally resulting in the town being once again taken by the Horde and destroyed, only to be rebuilt yet again.

A final assault from the Forsaken struck the town while the Blades were returning from a campaign in Pandaria, one which resulted in the final destruction of the town in the Blades eyes. Deeming it too dangerous to continue rebuilding, the town has once again been left abandoned in a ruined state.