Of Murlocs and Men

The Snowborn River, thawing

In late February, the activities of a group of naga and their murloc minions came to the attention of the Knights of Ashfall. Thus began a short campaign to drive them back to the sea and seize the city of Bel Lonn.

## AWOL (event)

An emergency dispatch from Cinderwatch arrived on 25 February; a mounted patrol, led by Corporal Alten, had failed to report in, and further scouting had turned up nothing. Search parties were dispatched to the area. As Lord Auromere led a second party north from the bridge, Baelthane Anvilmar was placed in command of the party traveling south, which was composed of Neapolitan Q. Butterchurn, Daevanne Giltcastle, and Nellea Lennon.

Along the river, Lennon discovered a dagger in the water that had apparently belonged to a Stormwind soldier. Further downstream, Butterchurn discovered a javelin of a size to be used comfortably by a human, though it was clearly of murloc making.

The party discovered a new murloc village, and through careful observation, discovered that the murlocs--eight in number--were led by a larger specimen, the size of a human man. They also discovered signs that the murlocs had been in conflict with Stormwind soldiers, and had come into the possession of a horse corpse.

The party resorted to stealth, and made their way along the outer edge of the camp. Once across the tributary stream, they discovered Corporal Alten had survived, and was being held prisoner. According to Cpl. Alten, the rest of his patrol, and all of its horses, had been killed and consumed by the murlocs.

Butterchurn created a raft of ice to transport Alten back to safety, which worked until the ice melted enough to send a chunk of it downstream. This alerted the murlocs, and the party made haste to escape rather than engaging. They succeeded, taking only minor injuries; Butterchurn used ice magic to freeze the murlocs in place so that they could not pursue.

The party reported back, and after discussion, it was determined that the murlocs had made their way upriver from Bel Lonn, the seemingly abandoned port city. Scouting missions would begin after the murloc threat was neutralized.

## Eviction Notice (event)

On the evening of 28 February, a war party was dispatched to destroy a murloc outpost discovered in the operation on the 26th.

The party was divided into three groups. Archers with fire arrows made up the initial assault, setting the murloc huts on fire and causing confusion. Meantime, a group of footmen circled around the camp on the inland side, while cavalry charged along the riverbank and cut off the murlocs from their native element, forcing them to fight on land. The murlocs were caught between the two units and crushed.

The murlocs had received reinforcements; their numbers had increased from eight to two dozen. The chieftain remained, with a necklace of shark and horse teeth and a fine-looking gemstone.

The attack was a success, though there were significant injuries among the Ashfall forces. As the chieftain realized that he was outmatched, he attempted to channel some sort of spell. Though he was killed, an image of a naga appeared. She indicated confusion, referred to the force as "trespassers", and vanished.

The party returned to Cinderwatch and sought medical treatment.

## Now Streaming Live (event)

Murloc activity increased on the Snowborn River over the intervening days. For every murloc outpost that was razed, another sprang up farther upriver. In an effort to slow or stop the northward migration, deep-sea seines were affixed to the southern face of the bridge near Cinderwatch, and guards were posted to repel any intruders. Explosives were made available to the guards.

On the evening of March 2, a party of murlocs and naga assaulted the bridge. Nellea Lennon raised the alarm when the murlocs began their assault. Murlocs climbed the netting and struck against the emplaced guards. As they did so, a pair of naga advanced from a distance downstream and attempted to cast a spell. By the end of the attack, six naga were sighted.

The murlocs began to overwhelm the defenders of the bridge until Tayluur Welch used an explosive to kill the murlocs. Miss Lennon, noting the destructive force, threw a stick of dynamite into the river water--killing all of the murlocs concealed below and stemming the tide.

The defenders successfully pushed back the naga as well, and the surviving one called a retreat.

## Battle of Bel Lonn (event)

The forces of Ashfall gathered to carry out an assault against the naga and murlocs entrenched at Bel Lonn.

The naga, with their murlocs serving to insulate them from direct assault, created box formations at each of the two gates, in an attempt to catch the charge of the troops and attack them on three sides. However, this was anticipated, and the troops were preceded by arrow and mortar fire.

The arrows and mortars thoroughly broke the nerve of the murlocs, which began to rebel and lash out at anything within range. Naga atop the battlements on either side of the gates attempted to fire upon the Ashfall troops, but marksmen on rooftops outside of the walls neutralized them swiftly.

During the battle, the naga in the keep attempted to summon and bind a water elemental, and corrupt it with Void energies. The uneven joining of the two magics resulted in madness, and the elemental destroyed the keep before making its way out. The enemy combatants at the gates broke
 and fled to the ocean.

A strike team undertook to defeat the elemental. Upon discovery that the elemental's bracers were damaged and would soon break, attacks were focused on the ornaments.

The elemental fell apart, the water part returning to Neptulon, but the Void fragment remained. Butterchurn, however, took advantage of the shift in magic to, improbably, turn the fragment into a rabbit, which Welch punted, causing it to disintegrate entirely.

## Outcome

Bel Lonn was secured by house-to-house search and clear methods, and the naga and murloc survivors permitted to flee to the Bay of Lonn. Bel Lonn now lay in the hands of the Order of Ashfall, and was refitted to serve as a port and supply depot for the upcoming operation.

## The Heroes of Bel Lonn

* Baelthane Anvilmar
* Ragnar Blackburn
* Neapolitan Butterchurn
* Daevanne Giltcastle
* Nellea Lennon
* Tayluur Welch