Underhanded

As the Azerite War became inevitable, the Alliance and the Horde began to draw lines, and attempted to bring new factions and forces to their own sides. But in any time of war, there are always self-interested factions desirous to make a profit from unrest...

And so this story begins.

## Background

Sylvanas Windrunner, Warchief of the Horde, was in a precarious position at the end of the Legion War. Her duties took her away from the Undercity--as did her quest to enslave the val'kyr of Stormheim--and in her absence, the Desolate Council formed to pursue what they believed was the best interest of the Forsaken.

Alarmed at her loss of control, Sylvanas began to impose more and more draconian laws upon the people she once claimed followed her freely, and could leave her if they desired. Among those acts taken in her name was a show trial on July 5, in which certain high-ranked members of the Horde were accused of treason and executed.

However, prior to this trial, Jeremaias Auromere was apprised by SI:7 that the prisoners had been located in Arachmore, a village in Silverpine Forest, where they were being held for security reasons. The village had allegedly been emptied of its normal occupants. Auromere was tasked with rescuing the prisoners, as they might have valuable tactical information on the Horde and be willing to defect.

Auromere called upon the Greyshields and the Phantom Legion to assist in this mission, and they arrived off the coast near Arachmore on the night of July 1.

Meanwhile, Lady Larrendias of the Argent order First Light received word that a group of Alliance soldiers had been dispatched to slay the prisoners. The contact suggested that the Alliance was afraid that some of the prisoners might share compromising information on the Alliance and its activities. A detachment was dispatched to Arachmore in haste.

## Arachmore (July 1)

Auromere's team landed on the shore near Arachmore, and after Jiroki Glaivefall and a Phantom Legion sniper humorously known as "Mr. Standard" used their sharpshooting skills to slay the perimeter guards, they moved into the village. Sir Tolath Barthalomew took a small detachment to the nearby lighthouse to create a large, explosive diversion to cover the team's and the prisoners' intended escape; Auromere took the bulk of the force deeper into the village.

But as they moved, they discovered that the village was but lightly guarded. Arriving at the location where the prisoners were supposed to be held, they found only empty pits, and signs that the prisoners had been dragged away. The trail went into the nearby chapel, and thence out to a field.

In the field, the team discovered the bodies of a dozen Forsaken civilians, brutally slaughtered. Auromere inspected the bodies to identify them--but discovered that none of them answered the descriptions of the prisoners. He immediately alerted the team to the possibility of traps.

First Light arrived at this point, and deployed scouts. Those scouts swiftly found the team, and lingered, watching. Lord Tragan Monroe of the Phantom Legion began helping himself to what he could find of value while Auromere was busy, and happened upon the scouts. Auromere immediately called a retreat to the chapel, a defensible location.

First Light determined to send a delegation of members whose races belonged to the Alliance, holding back the half of their force who were members of the Horde. They arrived and requested to parley, and Auromere (as is his wont) went forward alone to speak with them. This did not, however, stop Monroe from trying to interject a number of insults to the Argents, which occasioned a quarrel among the Alliance team.

After an exchange of what information could be lawfully shared, both sides determined that neither was the enemy. They agreed to withdraw peacefully, pursue what information they could discover separately, and then share their findings at a summit meeting on the 11th.

The encounter at Arachmore earned the Order of Ashfall the wary friendship of First Light, but cost them an alliance with the Phantom Legion. Auromere, Glaivefall, Thayle Robinson, Alexander Soltum, and Barthalomew all rebuked the Legion's tactics and discourteous behavior, but Monroe proved impervious to reason, declaring himself in the right and insulting others for not sharing in his hatred of the Argent Crusade.