Story Arc

As you probably know right now, the story arc is about The Undead Scourge, after the Lich King's defeat, almost everyone in his employment (minor and major characters) have either been slain or are no longer in active duty.

A lot has changed in the world of Azeroth since Ner'zhul's destruction, Bolvar taking up the reins, The Cataclysm, Deathwing's defeat, the appearance of Pandaria and the Horde/Alliance presence in the Pandaren continent.

During that time, both the Black Mantle and the Grip of Damnation have worked to restore what had been lost, one in Eastern Kingdoms and the other in Northrend, respectively. They had been unaware of the other's existance, but eventually the opportunity to create pact between these two factions presented itself.

## Chapter 1

### *Prologue:*

The first chapter of this story begins with the Black Mantle hidden in Raven Hill Cemetery, inside Duskwood. They would not leave the walls of the cemetery, in order to avoid the nearby human town of Darkshire, and occasionally, the Alliance patrols and even adventurers from both the Horde and the Alliance. Their secrecy and discretion was made possible due to Sakarr Darkraven, who alone managed to hide the Mantle for nearly 3 years, until an unexpected Alliance strikeforce marched into Duskwood while Sakarr's ability was inactive.

Fortunately, Lord Malleus' timely arrival allowed Lorthermur's forces to survive to fight another day. With their position compromised, they had to relocate to Scholomance which was done by the use of a portal in Duskwood. The portal exit could not be correctly determined, but fateful as it sounds, the gateway allowed the Scourge survivors to hide in Scholomance, where they would undergo repairs and tending to their wounds. Malleus did not say, but he promised that an alliance had been made that day, and that his forces would soon join Lorthermur's in an attempt to retake Duskwood and later on Azeroth.

### *The Bolstering:*

While the Mantle picked up the shards of their organization, Malleus travelled back to Northrend where he would do arrangements of his own. He oversaw the preparation of his army so that when the time came, he could meet Lorthermur Pendragon in the Eastern Kingdoms, however in order for that to happen, he would have to solidify his hold in Northrend. Zul'drak, being a place isolated and with no access to the sea, proved to be insufficient, so the Grip of Damnation built tunnels beneath the ground, one of those would lead them to Grizzly Hills, which would allow for the construction of a harbor.

And so it was that Malleus personally oversaw its construction and had it built to his specific instructions. On the other side of the ocean, the Mantle Warlord began the production of plague, abomination and other "horrors". This would be achieved using the knowledge contained in the vast libraries of Scholomance. It was not long after, that the Mantle decided to come out of hiding and rebuilt Caer Darrow, the city where Scholomance was built on.

Even though the organization had fully established itself in the area, they could not expand further, without having a backup plan or, in other words, a place to fall back to. It was precisely when Lorthermur was about to contact Malleus about his plans to retake Duskwood, that Sulak Bonecall made his presence known. The later had been dispatched at Malleus' orders to assist the Mantle in anything they might require assistance with. Sulak had established a camp in the Fungal Vale, a remote yet undisturbed place in the Eastern Plaguelands, there he had been preparing for Malleus' eventual arrival on the continent.

With Sulak's support, especially through supplies, Lorthermur's plans of taking back Duskwood were accelerated...

### *A Return Home:*

It was a few weeks later, that everything was in order and the Warlord himself decided to begin the Battle for Duskwood. Since Malleus' harbor was not yet finished, he flew from across the sea on his personal skeletal gryphon.

The battle occurred on two fronts: Darkshire and the Cemetery. The Alliance's attempts at fortifying the region did not do them any good. While Sakarr Darkraven and Sulak Bonecall charged into the cemetery and began resurrecting the bodies of the fallen, to later join Lorthermur and Malleus, the later duo stroke Darkshire, thus beheading the Alliance's main base in the area.

The combined might of the two Scourge Champions proved to be an X-Factor the Alliance had not foreseen, which allowed the new Scourge to emerge triumphant, even without Sakarr's reinforcements.

Shortly after the humans had been routed out of Duskwood, Malleus left, expressing no desire for celebrations, making it clear that the Coalition still had a long way to go before any real results could be obtained. Lorthermur Pendragon recognized that Malleus was right, and he quickly saw to it that the region would be reshaped into a bastion of the Scourge, eradicating any human traces in the land.

### *A Dream of Death:*

Only about a month later would the harbor in Northrend be finally ready to be used, and the first ships began to be built. It was during this time that the Prophet Lorthermur had become aware of a "situation" in the Eastern Plaguelands via a dream, thanks to his ability, which originated in Stratholme. He departed from Scholomance in the middle of the night and travelled to the old Lordaeron city, where he uncovered a new threat.

On his way back to Scholomance, he stopped at the Fungal Vale to warn Sulak Deathbringer of their new enemy, while skeptical at first, Sulak agreed to travel with the Prophet to Scholomance. Once the duo arrived, a meeting was held, with Anya Eversong, Sakarr Darkraven and Lorthermur Pendragon.

The former Scarlet Crusade had been brought back in undeath, a twist of irony, by an old foe of the Scourge. The Burning Legion's Nathrezim, Balnazzar, also known as the Cheater of Death, who had posed as a High Scarlet Member and taken leadership of the Scarlet faction in the Eastern Kingdoms, they were now known as "The Risen".

A week later, scouts sent by Sakarr reported that the Risen had already taken control of the Fungal Vale and practically every region in the Eastern Plaguelands. The Argent Crusade was barely able to keep the Risen from taking over the land, so they barricaded themselves in Light's Hope Chapel, where they would be able hold for months. It was not long until the Ebon Blade became aware of the new danger, and created a subfaction called: "The Ebon Vanguard", with orders to restore order into the Plaguelands and help the Paladins trapped in Light's Hope Chapel. The leadership of the new subfaction fell to Drezhul, a former Scourge Champion who had worked as an Agent for the Lich King, posing as a member of the Ebon Blade, which allowed him to evade the Scourge's defeat in Northrend.

### *"Welcome Home, General Drezhul":*

It was not long until the Risen practically owned every single corner of the Eastern Plaguelands, the only territories it didn't obtain were the Light's Hope Chapel and the Noxious Glade along with the Ruins of the Scarlet Enclave. The Ebon Vanguard had engaged the Risen in Tyr's Hand where they manged to block the Death Knights' advances for quite awhile. Unfortunately for the Undead Scarlet, Baron Drezhul had launched an assault at Corin's Crossing, hoping to lure the Risen and opening a way for the rest of his forces to take Tyr's Hand. While the town burned to the ground, Drezhul was surprised by the presence of the main leader of the new Scarlet Army, Balnazzar himself.

The two exchanged insults and eventually battled, but Drezhul was ultimately overpowered, and for Balnazzar's amusement Drezhul was left alive and taken prisoner, where he would be humiliated by serving as a servant. In the end, the Ebon Baron was forced to help the Risen with rebuilding the Corin's Crossing and helping a promising recruit named Torian, who would later rise to become a Risen General.

An ultimatum was made to Drezhul: either he proved himself as a worthy slave and he would be allowed to live and therefore join the Risen, or he would die. Drezhul was ready to die for the Ebon Blade, the only home he had now, but he still had hope of being rescued, which made him cooperate in a way.

While in the service of Torian, Drezhul was tasked with helping his slaver complete his training. That was until, an urgent event had presented itself. Torian and Drezhul were dispatched, along with other Risen troops, to help escorting a "package" that was to be delivered to Stratholme, to the Dreadlord Balnazzar.

It was later revealed that this package was wanted not only by the Risen, but by the Ebon Blade aswell, and the reason was that this package was in fact a person: the Warlord Lorthermur Pendragon, who had infiltrated himself in Risen lands in an attempt to find their leader and assassinate him. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so and while he was making his escape, he was forced to follow the road leading to the Ghostlands, which happened to be monitored by the Risen aswell, resulting in his capture.

The Warlord eventually broke free from his chains, during an attack by the Ebon Blade on the Risen convoy. With all the carnage, his escape was almost ensured, until he was halted by Torian and Drezhul. Almost immediately, the Mantle Leader recognized Drezhul, whilst the later did not recognize him at the time, but they had met before on an assignment during the Scourge's war with the Alliance and Horde. Torian was no match for Lorthermur, and when the recruit decided to turn Drezhul on the Mantle Warlord, the Ebon Baron refused and instead attempted to kill the recruit, but was stopped by his former Scourge comrade, who told him that it would be wiser to let Torian live, since he wanted Balnazzar to know what had happened and that his time would come.

In the end, with Torian gone, running back to Stratholme, Drezhul was offered the choice of joining the new Scourge Order. Drezhul accepted without hesitation, claiming he had no real love for the Ebon Blade, that they had always been a means to an end.

### *The War's End:*

As a new addition to the Black Mantle, Drezhul was brought up to speed and rehabilitated (since he had been an agent for a long time) in Duskwood. After weeks of catching up, he reached his full potential and took up the role of High General and Protector of Duskwood. He would become the Warlord's Enforcer and recruit new death knights into the Scourge.

Meanwhile, Malleus' ships had already been finished, and his army marched day and night, all the way from Zul'drak to the harbor in Grizzly Hills. Back in Eastern Plaguelands, it was time to strike, Lorthermur summoned a War Council and decided to split his forces into several groups and strike surgically in several Risen held territories: First, the Marris Stead, then The Undercroft, followed by Darrowshire. These three places were conquered in less than a week, The Risen were caught off-guard, since their attention was focused on the Ebon Vanguard and Light's Hope Chapel.

Eventually, Corin's Crossing was also taken by the Black Mantle at the hands of Anya Eversong and General Drezhul while Sakarr and Sulak led a strike on the Fungal Vale, in order to cut off any possible Risen strikes, and securing the territories they had already conquered. This led the Risen to concentrate the bulk of their forces in the Plaguewoods and Stratholme itself, where they would make their last stand.

With the sudden change in the Risen's tactics, the undead scarlet in Tyr's Hand were ultimately cut off and destroyed by the Ebon Vanguard. Soon after, the Mantle had control over most the Eastern Plaguelands. They now faced two enemies: The Vanguard and Balnazzar's Forces. Their only chance was to hold those territories together, until Malleus' fleet could arrive and attack the Vanguard in their own turf.

### *Last Battle for the Plaguelands:*

With only the Ruins of the Scarlet Enclave and Stratholme (the city and its outer defenses) left to conquer, The Mantle took the time reorganize its army, readying for the siege.

It was a week later, that a mist had settled over the Great Sea, in line of sight from the former Scarlet Enclave, the Deathknights quickly became aware that the mist was not there by chance, by a climatoric change. No, it was the work of magic. The Vanguard's lieutenants were hesitant on whether or not to investigate this matter though, with the war and all, they couldn't afford to be distracted.
It was their hesitance that led them to ruin. Finally, their hour had come, from the mysterious mist came a dozen ships, each loaded with troops and each with its own aerial escort comprised of gargoyles.

Before the Ebon Vanguard could sound the alarm, the ships had already landed. Malleus disembarked from his personal ship and stared at the enemies without showing any sort of emotion, while his forces gathered behind him, not engaging the enemy.
The Ebon Troops began to march against the Grip of Damnation, until Lord Malleus raised his weapon and let it come down as if striking an invisible foe, then the screams of a medium sized frostbrood were heard.

It soared through the skies and quickly scattered the Grip's enemies, creating massive chaos.
The Vanguard was eliminated in a matter of hours. Upon their defeat, Acolytes came down from the naval fleet and began to establish a main base in the area.

Now only one enemy remained, the Undead Scarlet. Malleus and his forces went on to join the siege, with the Frostbrood opening a path through the fortification that had been erected around Plaguewood. It could have ended fast, but the Dreadlord Balnazzar quickly focused his powers on the Frostbrood, successfully negating the reanimation effects used on it, causing the bones of the fiend to collapse on the ground. This forced the armies of the Grip and the Mantle to lay siege without air support.

Sakarr Darkraven, Sulak Bonecall and Baron Drezhul led the charge through one section of the city, while Anya Eversong, Malleus and Lorthermur Pendragon led the charge through the other. The later trio faced the Dreadlord themselves. While Balnazzar used everything at his disposal and fought with a savagery rarely seen among demons, he fell to the might of Malleus, whom he had not expected to see and had not studied before. The leader of the Grip was instrumental in pushing the Cheater of Death back to the Twisting Nether and freeing the Plaguelands from the claws of the Nathrezim.

### *The Aftermath:*

In the hours that followed next, Malleus ordered his lieutenant, Sulak to watch over his interests in the Eastern Kingdoms and appointed him responsible for the Grip's dominion in the continent.
As both leaders of the remaining Scourge factions were walking through the halls of Stratholme deciding on what would happen from that moment on, one of Lorthermur's agents claimed that Stratholme contained a treasury room. And so, he escorted them to the room, where Lorthermur contemplated golden objects, weapons of the rarest steel and shape, chests and more...
Malleus was unimpressed, gold had little value for undead beings, but something caught the Pendragon's eye. Among several chests, was a larger, ornamented chest with an unknown seal engraved on it.
The Pendragon moved closer to inspect the chest, he tried to open it, but it seemed impossible to do so, until he found a way to unlock its contents, by rotating several "key ornaments" in the chest, he cracked it and took a look inside. His expression was unintelligible, but those present in the room only heard: "Could it be?"

### *Rivalries:*

Since the beginning of the first chapter, the new Scourge found itself surrounded by enemies, who would see it destroyed... Initially their main concern was the close proximity to the Alliance (while in Duskwood), when they relocated to Scholomance, the Argent Crusade and the Forsaken became a concern aswell.

Though when some scouting was done in the Eastern Plaguelands, namely near Stratholme, remnants of the Scarlet Crusade (now known as the Risen), were now what they once hated most, undead. They quickly set out to conquer all the Eastern Plaguelands, it was only a matter of time before they became a threat to the Black Mantle.

To counteract the Risen presence, the Ebon Blade created a special subfaction called the "Ebon Vanguard" which sole purpose was the eliminate the Undead Scarlet forces and aid the Argent Crusade.

At the end of the day: Forsaken, Ebon Vanguard, Argent Crusade, The Risen are the most imminent threat to Lorthermur Pendragon's plans.

## Chapter 2

### *Prologue:*

With the Risen's defeat, the Mantle's hold upon the Eastern Plaguelands was assured. But Lorthermur's objectives had not been met yet, after his success on conquering Stratholme, he dispatched a fraction of his forces to the Ghostlands, Blood Elven lands that had been scarred since the Scourge's invasion of Quel'Thalas. The meager presence of the Elves and Forsaken there, allowed the Pendragon to secure the whole region for the Mantle.

The Prophet and Anya Eversong have worked together to see the first Necropolis, built by the Mantle, take flight. This Necropolis has been named "The Void Heart" which is commanded by Drezhul himself. A second necropolis is currently being built...

In the meantime, Drezhul travelled back to Duskwood and rallied some death knights and stealthy operatives to secure the Deadwind Pass road leading directly to the Swamp of Sorrows. Their intentions were to find a secret place where a covert base could exist, luckily such a place did exist in the swamp. They entered the Temple of Atal'Hakkar, an abandoned troll temple that had been laying dormant for some time. After exploring the dark halls of the temple, word was sent back to Duskwood to send over supplies and acolytes to start "colonizing" the structure.

On Malleus' part, with his return to Northrend a success, his docks were upgraded so that more ships could be built at a faster rate, with his forces gathering resources from the wilderness nearby. On a small remote island, Malleus allowed the Mantle to build a small port to serve as a base of operations in Northrend. Now that his forces have made their appearance in the Eastern continent, he prepares his domain for any possible attacks from the Horde and the Alliance.

The Mantle's main goal at this point was to conquer the Western Plaguelands from the Argent Crusade from Hearthglen, commanded by Highlord Tirion Fordring. Tirion Fordring had gone aware of his comrades' situation in Light's Hope Chapel, knowing that they are hostages of the Scourge and that negotiation is not an option. The Argent Crusade seeks to break their brothers from "chains" and end the Scourge rebellion before it grows any further.

Despite all that was happening, a most peculiar event took place near Caer Darrow, when a masked man was strolling around outside its walls. He was greeted by the Warlord who was rather angry to see someone evade his forces in the region and make its way so close to Scholomance. They talked and as the conversation progressed, Lorthermur Pendragon had a strange a feeling, he believed he should know the man, despite not knowing his name or face, the presence was identical to someone from his past, but he couldn't determine who. There was no conflict between them, and while the mysterious man, who revealed himself as "Tobi", never swore fealty, he claimed to have some sympathy for The Mantle and its leader, meaning he would be inclined to help them from time to time, should they need it...

### *"It's Coming":*

Some time later as the New Scourge kept engaging in minor skirmishes with the Argent Crusade in the Eastern Plaguelands pushing the Crusaders back to a certain extent, Tirion Fordring attempted to parley with the leaders of the Undead threat.

The Pendragon found this to be an amusing move by the Paladin. While many things about him had changed over the years, a shred of honor still resided within the deathknight, so he accepted the call for a meeting. It would take place on neutral ground, each of them would be allowed to have a single individual as an escort. While Tirion opted to have Maxwell Tyrosus as his escort, the former Baron went all the way accompanied by Drezhul.

Despite all the courtesies and speeches, both men knew that neither would back down and it would all come down to a terrible war for the Eastern Plaguelands. Highlord Tirion vowed to give Baron Lorthermur the swift and clean death he had always deserved.

As Lorthermur and Drezhul returned to Scholomance, in Duskwood, the Prophet had a precognition. His worgen side reacted immediately, shapeshifting him into one and made him run rampant through Duskwood all the way to Darkshire like a maddened feral dog, the fateful arrival of Anya Eversong in the area allowed her to intervene before any possible damage could be caused. When the maddened worgen caught her scent and saw her, he started running away, but to no use as Anya detained him with 3 shots, meant to temporarily paralyze the wild prophet.

Hours later, the prophet regained conciousness and assumed his human form. When he was being interrogated, he mentioned that he had foreseen something terrible making its way to Azeroth, but what it was he could no longer remember. However, for it to have such an effect as to afflict him it could only have been something powerful enough to cause certain emotions (in this case: fear, paranoia,...). With little to no information to report to the Warlord himself, Anya decided it would be best keep this incident between them for the time being...

In a matter of days, Drezhul managed to bring his faction close to major victory as his forces prepare to enter and conquer Andorhal from the hands of the Forsaken.

### *"Sakarr's Bold Plan - Part 1":*

Anya Eversong was summoned to Gahrron's Withering, a recent farm taken by the Scourge in the Western Plaguelands, in one of the buildings there she met with Sakarr who had a plan in mind.

As an active commander in the assault of the Western Plaguelands, the Necrolord had come up with an idea to save resources and troops by pitting the Scourge's enemies against one another. With Andorhal being of vital strategic importance in the region, it was imperative that the Mantle took it from Forsaken hands, but that would be no easy task, unless they could find a way to turn the Argent Crusade against Sylvanas' forces.

Sakarr intended on feeding false information to the Crusade, forged documents containing false orders from Lady Sylvanas herself. The point was to goad the Crusade into taking these documents directly to Tirion Fordring, who would most certainly act in favor of the Mantle by putting pressure on all Forsaken personnel in the Plaguelands.

To this end, he had Anya Eversong and a group of Mantle volunteers to pose as a Forsaken Escort, with the dark ranger playing the part of a courier with the fake documents. Eventually as the group moved along the main road, a Crusade patrol stopped them and enquired about their presence, the group then acted as instructed and were very "uncooperative" socially which led to some tension for a few moments until a fight broke out. The papers were grabbed by the Patrol Commander which took them immediately to Lord Tirion in Hearthglen.

Upon receiving and opening these sealed letters, Highlord Tirion Fordring became very distressed and met with Korfax to discuss how they should proceed in dealing with Sylvanas.

On the Mantle's side of things, Sakarr congratulated Anya for her amusing performance and informed her that the next phase of the plan would not be as easy as this one was, as she would now have to play the role of Sylvanas Windrunner. The Necrolord knew very well that Highlord Tirion would not simply engage the Forsaken, he would question Sylvanas himself first and that is why he dispatched several Mantle strike groups to watch out for any messages sent to the Undercity by the Argent Crusade as to prevent the real Sylvanas from coming to the Plaguelands. Although Anya Eversong was very skeptical and unwilling to play the role of her former mistress, she came to terms with Sakarr's plan but she did say: "I could never hope to pose as Sylvanas Windrunner herself, not for long anyways..."

Sakarr Darkraven grined and reassured her that she would not have to speak much, but she would have to use her skills with a bow and that, he knew very well she would have no trouble with.

### *"Sakarr's Bold Plan - Part 2":*

The second phase of the plan was to have Sylvanas and Tirion meet on neutral ground, somewhere near Felstone Field. While Tirion Fordring would most likely expect a peaceful meeting to occur, Sakarr had an assassination attempt in mind. Anya was not very optimistic about the plan, but an order was an order.

Through some vile sorcery, the Necrolord managed to turn the dark ranger into the Banshee Queen, however her disguise would not be able to fool others on close inspection, so she would have to keep a reasonable distance from the Paladin at their meeting.

This phase had to be executed perfectly, there was no room for mistakes. The Dark Ranger would have to attempt to murder Fordring at some point, injure him if possible but not fatally. The death of Tirion Fordring would be of no use to the Mantle at this time as the Highlord would be the best person to inspire the crusaders and rally them against Andorhal's defenders.

The arrival of Sylvanas at the designated place, all by herself, made Fordring dismiss his fellow comrades, who were instructed to stay close to the area but give them some room to speak freely. Upon several attempts at a peaceful conversation on Tirion's part being received with unsympathetic responses, he confronted her in anger, until he noticed something wasn't right. As he tried to approach Anya Eversong (in disguise), she quickly pulled out her bow and shot a special arrow made for the occasion, very similar to the Dark Arrows fired by the true Sylvanas.

Tirion Fordring was able to shield himself from this attack and warned Sylvanas that he would see all Forsaken forces in the Plaguelands removed by force and that the Horde and the Alliance would know of her actions. He quickly mounted on his steed and departed before the person he thought was leader of the Forsaken could strike at him again.

As all crusaders vacated the area, Sakarr came out of the shadows and escorted Eversong back to a safe location before ridding her of Sylvanas' form.

### Retaking Andorhal:

The success of the plan would only be known weeks later. It wasn't as successful as the Necromancer intended, for he had hoped that the Argent Crusade would lay siege to Andorhal and crush all Forsaken opposition in retaliation. In truth, the Crusade was more on the defensive than on the offensive, which led to the Mantle duo (Anya and Sakarr) turning to Drezhul for assistance.

Whilst Forsaken numbers were dropping day after day, it was not occurring as fast as desired, which presented a single problem. Word of the events in Plaguelands would certainly reach the Undercity and draw reinforcements to the region. The whole point of the plan was for Andorhal to be weakened enough for the the Mantle to occupy the city and if possible entrench themselves there before the Sylvanas knew what hit her forces there.

When Drezhul was brought up to speed, the Forsaken were cornered by the Crusade in Andorhal. Half a dozen lesser val'kyr flew above Andorhal standing watch for any possible corpses to raise into undeath, that and the concentrated number of deathguards inside the city made it nearly impossible for Tirion's bannermen to breach it, so it made clear that the Mantle would indeed have to sacrifice a portion of its forces in order to take Andorhal.

Conveniently enough, Drezhul received word of Sulak's return to Eastern Plaguelands with a horde of undead minions loyal to the Grip of Damnation (Malleus' forces), these would be perfect for a diversion. Sulak had been instructed to act as Malleus' representative in the Eastern continent while Malleus would tend to matters in Northrend. He consented his forces to take part in retaking Andorhal, under the leadership of Drezhul for the duration of the siege.

The Grip's forces attacked Andorhal from the East, which immediately drew a significant portion of troops to the Eastern gate, while the Crusaders focused on the Western front. At the present time, the paladins were unaware of the Scourge attackers, they simply saw an opportunity and they took it.

The Val'kyr split into two groups, in order to cover both gates. Their powers weren't enough though as the Forsaken were falling faster than they were being resurrected, one of the Val'kyr managed to escape, the others fell victim to either the might of the Scourge or the might of the Crusade.

When both groups met inside the city, Drezhul ordered the elimination of all the living in the area. That was when the Mantle's Warlord arrived on the scene with his Dark Riders serving as vanguard for a larger host of undead minions drawn from Duskwood, Scholomance and Stratholme to take not just Andorhal but the final part of the Plaguelands.

At midnight, Andorhal had fallen into the hands of the Scourge once again!

### "The Die is Cast":

Even though Andorhal's allegiance had shifted to the New Scourge, it would be only a matter of time before the crusaders regrouped and eventually took back the town. For that reason, Lorthermur Pendragon deemed that the only way to end this was to go on the offensive as quickly as possible in an attempt to take advantage of the demoralized enemy troops. Their tactical retreat would not save them for long.

The group of Lorthermur, Malleus, Anya Eversong and Drezhul met within the sacked town and formulated a plan of attack. They would rally part of their forces inside Andorhal and lead them in pursuit of the fleeing crusader knights. Their meeting was cut short by a "mysterious ally", Tobi was his name. This new arrival came bearing ill news of an impending betrayal at the hands of two vermin, each eating the foundations of the two Scourge factions.

Malleus would not be intimidated, but he certainly would remain vigilant in the near future for these "vermin", while Anya and Drezhul quickly dismissed Tobi's warnings as nonsense. As for Lorthermur, his desire to fully unite the Plaguelands under his rule ultimately led him to disregard Tobi's words aswell, even if only temporarily. Their "ally" left the scene when it became clear that this battle would bear tragic consequences.

At Lorthermur and Malleus' command, they lead the charge against the enemy pushing further north towards Hearthglen, encountering stronger resistance as they drew closer to the Tirion's town. Once the way seemed clear of any obstacles, Anya returned to Andorhal leaving Drezhul to lead the undead army in their assault of Hearthglen.

To the High General's surprise, he and his troops were met with heavy Crusader resistance, a battlegroup of nearly sixty champions, clearly the best of the best and they were not alone. Highlord Tirion Fordring was also there, holding his ground against the undead minions. Emboldened by his spirit and strength, they would crush any lesser minions with ease. As Drezhul gazed upon the Highlord, he began to unsheath his runeblade only to be ordered to stop by the Pendragon, who happened on the scene along with Malleus.

"He is mine!" - the Warlord shouted and Drezhul complied. The trio of Scourge "heroes" picked their targets and engaged them in combat, which would feel like an eternity.

Malleus would be prove to be far more resilient than a mere death knight, his constant comebacks during his fight would eventually demoralize and unbalance his opponents, as for Drezhul he feasted on his foes' fear to increase his physical strength, crushing and ripping some of them apart with such a brutality rarely seen before. Tirion Fordring's strength alone would avail him nothing against Lorthermur, the later was a skilled swordsman in life, his sword skills made it difficult for the Paladin to triumph without the use of Holy magic.

Lorthermur's knowledge of Unholy allowed him to withstand Tirion's advances for quite some time during the fighting, but eventually the Holy Light began to pierce Lorthermur's magic eventually weakening him significantly. Despite injuries suffered, Tirion called out to Ashbringer to grant him the power to destroy the Warlord once and for all. It was at this moment that Lorthermur was disarmed and cried out in pain as he got critically hit by Ashbringer's clash against his runeblade which was sent hurling through the air.

Drezhul instinctively blew a horn to signal for aid (a warning that they were in danger) and rushed towards Tirion in a frenzy in an attempt to assist his leader, while Malleus picked up the Warlord's runeblade. The High General's ability granted him unrivaled strength which allowed him to pushback and injure Tirion Fordring as penance for what he had just done to the Mantle Leader.

Moments later, a scream of terror was heard from the distance, announcing the arrival of something dreadful to the Crusade: Caliph the Dire. The Obsidian Fiend flew across the battlefield attacking from the air causing diversionary explosions as it landed shortly to quickly grab its injured master and take off once again, carrying him away from the battlefield.

Malleus took control of what little remained of the Scourge's army and ordered for the retreat. However, Tirion Fordring's blade shined like the sun itself and pierced Drezhul's armor instantly killing him. At this very moment, Malleus understood that Drezhul could never be raised back into undeath, Tirion had seen to that. "This fate was meant for your friend, monster! But his time will come and so will yours." - Tirion shouted as he stared fearlessly at Malleus.

Malleus called out to his Deathcharger and rode out back to Andorhal where he told Anya what had transpired. The battle was over, we lost countless minions and a valuable asset. Andorhal would soon follow along with most of our conquered Western Plagueland territories.

Interlude ("The Die is Cast"):

When Anya Eversong and Malleus arrived at Scholomance, they immediately went to find Sakarr and warn him of Lorthermur's condition, but he was nowhere to be found. One of the more seasoned acolytes told them that Sakarr had received a Skeletal Raven sent by Lukas Vasburg, a Worgen Death Knight trained directly under Drezhul who had been recently serving as a warden in the Mantle Capital of Stratholme.

The raven prompted Sakarr to teleport to Stratholme as soon as possible. Anya and Malleus soon followed Sakarr's trail, eventually coming face to face with him in the capital. The Necrolord told them that Lukas had been tasked with overseeing the Prophet, in other words with keeping him safe and protected in slaughterhouse within the city. He claimed the Prophet had foreseen the entire battle and more.

He had also foreseen Menelaus' betrayal. The former General of the Old Scourge had turned against the Mantle and conscripted part of the Mantle and Grip's forces in Ghostlands to his side. He led the assault on several key locations throughout the Eastern Plaguelands, leaving Sakarr to tend to the damage wrought by the traitor. The Mantle Prophet also warned Malleus of a betrayal taking place in Northrend, but the conspirator's identity had not been revealed during the precognition.

Malleus decided to leave for Northrend immediately and deal with the traitor before any serious damage could be inflicted in Zul'Drak.

Anya Eversong and Sakarr Darkraven decided to hunt down the traitor Menelaus, while their leader recovers in Stratholme.

### "Nevaralis, the Infiltrator":

With Malleus soon to embark on a quest to expose the traitor amongst his forces in Northrend and hopefully prevent some serious damage from occurring, and with only a third of the Mantle's forces available to march alongside them, the Dark Ranger Anya and the Necrolord Sakarr went to track down Menelaus with as little troops as possible, in order to maintain stability and control over the Plaguelands.

As they made their way to Ghostlands where the uprising first took place, they encountered groups of minions hostile to them, the battle was terribly confusing as there was no way to distinguish which minions were loyal to Lorthermur or Menelaus. Eventually, a few groups of undead who "apparently" were fighting off Menelaus' forces in the Ghostlands were willing follow Anya and Sakarr's lead, but they could not take any chances and thus murdered those who would fight for them. "Take no chances", Sakarr said as Anya aimed her bow at any Undead minions that did not belong to the strike force the two had brought from the Plaguelands.

After purging a portion of the region a single death knight approached from the horizon on his deathcharger. Anya and Sakarr almost immediately identified the death knight as the traitor Menelaus. At a certain point, Menelaus dismounted and proceeded on foot until he was deemed himself close enough to the duo. As Anya struggled to comprehend his motives, Sakarr filled himself with utter disgust for his former companion, even cursing and taunting him, with little to no effect however...

It was then that Menelaus would draw his weapon and put the duo to an end as he claimed the old days of the Scourge were long gone and that Lorthermur's efforts would avail him nothing and that the world of Azeroth was already "doomed". During the fighting both Anya and Sakarr would become weaker and weaker somehow, drained of their endurance and resistance, becoming slower by the minute. At some point, the Necrolord began to wonder to himself whether there was something unnatural causing this. The duo was ultimately defeated, but before a blow could be dealt to put them to rest, a new arrival entered the battle: Lukas Vasburg, the most promising of a few select hopefuls chosen by the now deceased Drezhul for Death Knight training.

Lukas Vasburg was mocked by the old General, who failed to see the new death knight as a threat. But Vasburg knew something the General could never imagine, and so he revealed that Menelaus had long been possessed by the Burning Legion, a Dreadlord by the name of Nevaralis. His ultimate goal was to assist in the destruction of the Lich King and the Scourge itself a few years ago, and had returned to finish the job when news of a new Scourge Order surfaced...

Nevaralis then revealed himself leaving Menelaus' corpse on the ground and claiming that possessing the former Scourge Veteran was as easy as possessing a mere critter and that he had a lot of fun posing as him. Lukas charged at the Dreadlord with great vigor and was soon joined by Eversong and Darkraven, as soon as they recuperated some of their strength. In the end, Nevaralis was defeated by Vasburg, who struck the killing blow, but as the Dreadlord returned to the Twisting Nether, he stated: "I'll be seeing you, soon..."