My heart thirsts for bloodshed against the enemies of the Horde, but I know in my heart that war is only just when the purpose is ultimately peace. So I will make war against these 'Scarlet Crusaders' and the Undead until all enemies are gone and the Humans of Lordareon can return to Stratholme, and so the Light and the Ancestors can bring reconcilliation between our peoples; the Horde and Alliance.

My axe is ready and my head is clear. The Adventurers have reached Light's Hope Chapel, and are resting to make ready for the assault. All that remains now is choice of targets. Shall we attack the Scarlet Crusade in the Scarlet Bastion, or shall we go after the Scourge and their greater numbers first? Either way, both my warrior's heart and priest's mind will be satisfied.

Lok'tar'ogar, Victory or Death!

Rogrelg closed his diary before walking out of the chapel, in order to see the gathered party that had accepted the Argent Dawn Commission. Prominent among them was a former Dalaran Mage, one of average power. The others, well, they were a bit generic and nondescript, but still good warriors anyway. A mix of Alliance and Horde races, along with Night Elves and some Forsaken and Blood Elves, these were the flower of what Azeroth had to offer. Also...was that a Makura? What a curiosity! Either way, armed with average gear, some enchanted, some mundane, and one or two of magical materials, the raid was prepared for their first, highly-paying, job.

"All right," Rogrelg spoke, "my name is Rogrelg Shining-Hand, and yes, I am a Priest of the Holy Light; a Bishop under the Archbishop of Orgrimmar. That means that I outrank any Priests among you, even though I am a 'bloodthirsty Orc'. But, then again, most of us do have a tolerance for bloodthirst; otherwise, we wouldn't be at the Warfront." He then looked at Hallam Ramsey.

"You, you've experience with the undead, right? Not to mention that for now, you're the only one who stands out among this gang. So, I am appointing you my second-in-command." Rogrelg was blunt. "And, as for your first duty, I am going to ask you what option to take in the coming raid. The Argent Dawn has already created two seperate strategies for the Scarlet-held side and the districts held by the Scourge."

"Basically, Stratholme has two entrances, the Main Gate, and the Service Entrance, and two sides, centred around the two structures of the Scarlet Bastion, held by the Scarlet Crusade and the Slaugtherhouse, the centre of the Scourge's operations. The Service Entrance can be picked by this key," Rogrelg then produced a small key in his hand, "but leads almost exclusively to the Undead side."

"The Undead side has the disadvantage that the enemy is more numerous, but more easily destroyed by fire and Light magic. The Scarlet side meanwhile, is held by soldiers of high quality and fanaticism, but number much less. However, both choices are risky, as there are only 15 of us, including me, which begs the question: How can we win? Well, that's where the plans come in."

"Long ago, before the Scourge, Warchief Thrall once attacked the city in order to rescue an Orc about to be executed, Eitrigg. He did so without killing any civilians, and furthermore, it was a stealth attack, which took advantage of various alleyways, tunnels, and of course, the various forces of nature that the Warchief commanded. I was a personal witness - and participant - to that."

"Look at me rambling. My point is, I know the alleyways and tunnels that can lead us to either the Scarlet Bastion and The Slaugtherhouse. And you guys provide the powers of nature and arcane magic that can get us past any changes made in the city by the various calamities that befell it. Finally, I am a channel for the Holy Light." Rogrelg then looked at them.

"Which is why I believe should we make the choice to attack either enemy now, then we might just win."

It had been a long time since Hallam had donned his Dalaran robes and wielded his stolen staff- well, stolen was not quite the right word, looted would be a more accurate term - but he felt it was only right that for his return to the continent of his birth he would wear the garments of his home city. They were in good shape, mended by a kind Gnome woman in Theramore, otherwise no matter the sentiment he wouldn't have brought them. Of course he now had an Argent Dawn tabard pulled over the fine cloth, but that couldn't be helped even if he'd wanted it gone, the other Argents would need a way to recognize him, besides; it was nice to feel as if he was a part of something greater.

Inspecting his reflection in the bowl of water one last time, Hallam made sure he didn't look as if he hadn't slept in days. This place brought back old memories, giving life to nightmares he'd had ever since the Fall. As of now he was running on a variety of potions and what he could scrape away from his few fitful power naps. He couldn't bring himself to sleep at night, so he'd taken shifts on the night watch as often as he could so he could have an excuse to nap in the day. Deciding that his latest attempt at sleep had been enough - and it had to be, because he ertainly wasn't sleeping anymore today - Hallam washed his face and left his tent to prepare for their assault on the city.

He remembered Stratholme, faintly at least, his aunt had moved there and occasionally his mother would take him to visit her family in the city. It looked nothing like he remembered though, everything here was rotted and dead. Even the stone was crumbling and weak. the trees were the worst though, they looked like they were screaming, or they did when there were trees at all, a large mushroom forest had sprung up looking for all the world as if it'd been there since the dawn of time. That was how entrenched the Scourge was, not just the Undead themselves, but their taint and corruption had long since gripped the very land itself and laughed in the face of the living as it twisted their beautiful homeland into an unrecognizable ruin.

Hallam fell into step with the others as the group began to gather around the Orc who led them. He was forced to hide his distaste, having never been fond of Orcs he found it especially frustrating to follow one's lead. Still, it wouldn't be in charge if it wasn't worthy of the position. He supposed he could trust it for now, so deep in enemy territory it was unlikely the Horde would turn on them, or at least not until they were safe again and out of the Scourge's reach. He kept a wary eye on it though, he'd heard stories of wild Orcs raiding villages back before the Scourge. They were trying only to free their brethren Hallam knew, but they certainly hadn't skipped any chance to take a Human life while doing so. He would do his best to make sure this Orc didn't get him killed in this campaign.

"All right," Rogrelg spoke, "my name is Rogrelg Shining-Hand, and yes, I am a Priest of the Holy Light; a Bishop under the Archbishop of Orgrimmar. That means that I outrank any Priests among you, even though I am a 'bloodthirsty Orc'. But, then again, most of us do have a tolerance for bloodthirst; otherwise, we wouldn't be at the Warfront." He then looked at Hallam Ramsey.

A Priest? Hallam thought, eyebrows shooting upwards in surprise. As if I needed more proof of the Light's fallibility, here I have it. Hallam had never been the most devout follower of the Light, but he'd respected it nonetheless, had done so all the way up until the Fall. The Priests in Dalaran had been cut down like so much stumbling newborn calves, powerless against a Death Knight's blade, it seemed at every turn there was the Light, failing to help them, to save them. He'd traveled with a Priest in that year stranded in the Foothills, every day the man's faith had withered just a bit more until the Light no longer answered him. Now look at it, the Light was bestowing it's gifts to savage, bloodthirsty invaders? How ironic.

"You, you've experience with the undead, right? Not to mention that for now, you're the only one who stands out among this gang. So, I am appointing you my second-in-command." Rogrelg was blunt. "And, as for your first duty, I am going to ask you what option to take in the coming raid. The Argent Dawn has already created two seperate strategies for the Scarlet-held side and the districts held by the Scourge."

Hallam flushed his suspicious thoughts, pulling his best professional persona to the fore. No matter that it was an Orc, there was a job to do and he was going to do it. Today they were united, and the Scourge would burn before them.

He listened attentively as Rogrelg outlined the Dawn's options here, explaining how it's own knowledge would aid them in their mission.

"The Scarlet's are our best option I think." Hallam said after a moment of though. "Our only option I believe. They are well fortified, which will allow us to swoop in and take over their fortifications. It will give us time to regroup before moving on the Scourge. Otherwise they would leap at the opportunity to fight us once we've cleared the Scourge, and out in the open we'd have no advantage against their defensive positions should they push at us from behind. Perhaps we could take them anyway, but I think it best we aim for every advantage we can get, needed or not."

He turned steely eyes on the other members of their party, sizing up their crew seriously. "I expect each of you to fight your greatest, pull out all your tricks and utilize your best abilities, because the slightest mistake here will see you a fate worse than death. The Crusaders will take you in for interrogation, but don't mistake the pretty wording, it's just an excuse to torture. Afterwards they'll burn your corpse- if you're lucky, they believe you're tainted anyway, they might just dump your body in the alleys for the necromancers to find. The Scourge though, that's the real threat. Their weapons are infested with the worst sorts of curses and diseases, their claws and teeth are especially painful when they rend flesh - do not give them a chance to try it! And should you fall, do not doubt you're fate; you will serve the Lich King. You cannot hope for another lucky break as Sylvanus and the Forsaken got, and even then would that be any luck at all? They certainly don't think so. Be smart, be fast, be relentless. You carry the hopes of Azeroth in your charge, and you deliver the vengeance of the fallen in your assault." Not his most inspirational speech, but it got his point across. Anything less than everything they have would not be enough. He'd even pointed out two perfectly usable sources to draw further strength from; hope and revenge.

It's been a long while since Kalania, had left her home forests and started traveling the world. At first she traveled around Kalimdor after the war and that proved interesting enough actually. Her appearance always caused more than a few people to turn around at her direction and look at her with curious eyes. Especially around Theramore where the humans resided. They especially were quite curious about her and the reverse was also true. She spend a few weeks at Theramore, studying humans, the same was with the orcs at Ogrimmar. It could be easily said that she traveled a lot... nearly died a few times, but she enjoyed the unexpected. Eventually she met members of the Argent Dawn and that meeting proved quite fruitful for Kalania. She learned that there were still people who struggled against a conflict that was going out of the eyes of the general public. She knew deep inside her heart that the danger for this world had not ended with the battle for Hyjal. The scourge still existed and demonic worshipers still roamed the world. She even learned of a danger from some beings called 'Old Ones' or something like that. Since that day she met those people, she proceeded with joining the Argent Dawn.

She proved to be a very useful member of the organization, especially her immunity towards magic and her ability to abolish it. That's why she traveled even to the eastern continents and now she was heading towards that place known as the Chapel of Light or Light's Hope chapel … or something like that it was! That at least she was sure of. She was rushing towards her destination for she is late... again! Who would have thought that taking that turn right at the crossroad to check those ruins, was going to take so much time! The fact that it was a day did not help much... She was used to napping during the day and she's been on the move for about 12 hours now.

Finally she was at the Chapel!!! She could hear people talking so she must have been at the right place! She smiled as she hurried even more, failing to notice a big stone slab on the ground.” I'm sorry, I'm laaaaaaaaaaaaate!!!!!!!!!!” She began saying as she tripped on the slab with her front legs and fell to the ground with a loud thud and screamed in both surprise and pain.” Ouch... that harts...”She muttered as by now most certainly everyone noticed her... after all it was quite hard to not notice the big dryad who tripped and fell.” So embarrassing...” She muttered to herself as she quickly stood up, dusting herself.

"Hello, Kalania," said Rogrelg in a slightly happy tone; he knew of her, though he didn't know if she knew of him. Nevertheless, he'd heard of her; the Dryad adventurer who had joined the Dawn. "Anyway, better late than never, I should say. Nevetheless...we're about to go to Stratholme, and Hallam - the Human Mage in Dalaran Robes, and also the newly-appointed second-in-command - has suggested that we go after the Scarlet Crusade positions there first."

"I agree with him, and we're going to need your skills in poison to accomplish our mission." In his mind, Rogrelg was already assessing his plan of entrance; a Dryad was almost as big as a Tauren, but also much daintier - no offense intended. A different set of tunnels and entryways would be needed in his plan of entry, then.

"Either way, we depart at..." this was still the early morning, "Noonday; that is when we can see best. Eat, hone your weapons, and otherwise prepare." He then looked to the Makura. "It'zik, we need to talk privately as well, it's about Hydromancy." It'zik had a special form of shamanic magic that allowed him to call upon water better, changing its properties, moving it around, and healing with it, though not as well as a Priest.

It took a moment for Hallam to determine just what he was looking at. It looked Night Elven, even had the Kaldorei accent as far as he could tell, but the body was all wrong. He at first thought it was a Night Elf riding a mount he had yet to see before, but then he noticed the melding of the two forms. He came to the conclusion the shape was shifting, he'd seen a Druid on one of his few journeys to Feralas, but the shape didn't shift at all, it just... was. How peculiar. He scrambled for an explanation, frowning deeply at the woman as he considered her. It was then he remembered about the Night Elves allies. She must be one of those. His attempts at conversing with Kaldorei had been stilted and uncomfortable altercations, so he didn't know much of them or their allies. Maybe he would try again with this Dryad, she seemed... friendly? Awkward was a better word, but he didn't want to be too rude.

Hallam nodded uncertainly as Rogrelg agreed to his plan, he wasn't sure why the Orc was so... reasonable, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth as the saying goes. He turned his attention back on the fawn-girl, considering what the Orc had said of her. Poisons? That was good, he could work with that. Hallam stepped away from the group to approach her. "Kalania? That is your name, yes?" He was pretty sure that's what Rogrelg had called her. "Come see me when you get a moment, I have some tasks I could use your help with."

Speaking of tasks, Hallam thought he'd better get started. He went back to his tent, outside was a small table that had been salvaged from a nearby rotted farmhouse. On the table was a scattering of empty vials, potions, herbs, and other tools he needed for his alchemy. A small brown leather bound journal laid open to the side, within were written as many recipes as he could find. Some worked as buffs, others as restoratives, and a few were cures. He didn't know how to make any poisons, but he was sure he could scrounge something together with the Dryad's help. They may or may not work well against the Scourge, but against the living members of the Scarlet Crusade certainly.

Stratholme was once a former stronghold of humankind, but now it is a place of despair and death after its destruction by Arthas in a campaign against Mal'Ganis. The fires that were started so long ago that were used to purge all undead and the plague itself from the city failed, leaving a burning husk full of scourge in its destructive wake, seemingly forever lost to the evil that has now taken hold of the once beautiful city.

Among the hordes of Scourge that wander freely, the Scarlet Crusade has taken up habitation and cleaned out one area of the city, but at the same time purging all they consider impure with fire and torture.

Two hostile factions, evil and corrupt in their own way reign over the city, to enter would most certainly be death or something much worse. One may ask themselves, after all those who have been inside of Stratholme, after so many have been killed inside of that city, where are all the undead coming from? The truth is that somewhere inside of the city lays the portal to Naxxramas, The Dread Citadel itself. To stop the flow, one would have to destroy the connection between the two, and to this day none have found that connection, the portal that remains open.

“Ahmmm hello, nice to meet you...” She began saying with calm polite voice as she realized she couldn't remember the orc's name! She had heard it when she was informed to come here by some people from the Dawn, but she forgot it! 'how does this happens every god damned time!?' She asked herself and started to quickly rock her memory. 'Roleg...Releg... Rogrelg!' She managed to remember his name.” ...Rogrelg.” She said and gave a slight bow with her head in respect. After all he did give her the courtesy of remembering her name even if they hadn't met before, so she felt obligated to at least reply with the same.

“I see, in that case I will do everything in my abilities to assist.” The dryad said when the orc stated that they needed her help with this. It made her feel good to be of help and the cause was good. She had heard about this place of dread... and it needed to be dealt with! As a dryad Kalania had the innate ability that coated her weapons with poison due her magical nature. What's more that poison worked on everything organic, no wonder they needed her skills in that area.

Kalania slightly flinched when she heard they were going to get going at noon, cause well she spend a lot of hours in the night rushing to this place. As someone who left the kaldorei lands to explore, she learned that most races operate during the day so she had to change her cycle. She slept during the night and went out during the day, but it still felt strange to a point. Well it was still early morning, so she was going to get enough time for a short nap... maybe? While pondering that question, she saw the strange looks many of the people present were giving her. Especially the few night elves. They were totally surprised to see a dryad here, while many of the others were simply wondering what she was it seemed.

“Hmmmm!?” She made a surprised sound as someone tore her away from her thoughts. It was the mage looking guy that was second in command.” Ahh yes, that's my name.” She confirmed, listening to his request for her to go meet him later.” Sure... I will just do some quick maintenance of my spears and I will come.” She said as the man went away and entered what she presumed was his tent. She looked around, people were doing their things, minding their business, preparing for the upcoming operation.

Slowly walking around, she found herself a small empty place where she could take some rest and take care of her weapons. After quickly pulling out the spears from the big quiver she used to keep them in, she pulled some whetstone from her backpack. It didn't take long for her to sharpen all of them so she decided to go check what that Hallam guy wanted her help with. “ Excuse me, you said you needed help with something?” She asked the mage.

Hallam looked up at her approach, head tilting back even further at her height over him. "Yes," he agreed readily and moved to explain, gesturing to his worktable. "I'm an alchemist you see, and I've heard of the Kaldorei and their allies. You are long lived and make your home in the large forest in the west, protecting and respecting as I've heard it described, I'm sure you know your way around herbs better than I do. I was wondering if perhaps your apparent skills with poisons might lend some aid here. Do you require more poison yourself? Or do you have enough?" He was not privy to the details about where the Dryads got their poison, he expected they made it themselves.

Kalania looked at the shorter person in front of her. She was taller than many kaldorei and humans were shorter than all kaldorei so it was ahmm strange to say the least. She felt so big among the other races. As the man began talking, Kalania tilted her head at his view of the kaldorei and their allies. Once again it was strange to hear it described like that, sure they were allies with the kaldorei, but the way Hallam put it, made it sound almost funny. Even his description of where they resided was funny, so she let a smile appear on her face.

“Well I do know my way around herbs and can make mixtures of many kinds, kind of comes with the birth.” The dryad said with happy melodic voice and a giggle.” Thing is that I don't use poisons I make though.” She stated and pulled one of her spears from the quiver. The she brought the edge forward so Hallam can see it clearly. The blade was now coated with a very distinctive sheen.” We dryads are magical in nature. We descend from Cenarius. Because of our nature, poison coats each of our weapons naturally the moment we take grip of it. It's a special poison too, it affects almost everything organic, even some demons and undead.” She said with a smile, putting the spear away.” I tested it at Hyjal...” She said with a grim face, remembering the horrors that she saw back then.

“Anyway... I got sidetracked by memories...” She said, slightly bending over the table to check what the man had at his disposal.” So what exactly are you looking to make with those herbs?”

Hallam nodded, it was disappointing to learn it was a skill he was unlikely to be able to learn, but it was useful nonetheless. "I intended to use your knowledge of poisons to aid our melee troops, but I suppose restoratives and enhancements will have to do. I've been using Bruiseweed and Swiftthistle to prepare for the oncoming fight with the zealots. Their conviction makes them powerful wielders of the Light, holy protection potions will negate that. Alternatively Wild Steelblooms and Stranglekelp make a good aid for our shields. That about does it for the special potions though, I've got health and mana potions as well, but I'm hard pressed to find many growing things in this land. It'd be better if I could get my hands on some venom sacs, I could make a curing potion with those and some of the Bruiseweed. We'll need them against the Scourge no doubt." He frowned, "Nothing for it though. Any ideas yourself? I'm not sure what else we could make to aid in the battle." He did have some ideas of course, but things like shadow protection, firepower, and lesser invisibility were out of his reach given the materials he had to work with, so he didn't bother mentioning them.

Timeskip

The group, now made up of 16 people, walked through an old tunnel, a dried-up brick sewer large enough to hold even a Dryad or a Tauren. While there were giant rats, there were few to no actual undead, and those few were quickly dispatched at speed. Suddenly, Rogrelg would halt the group, sensing something, before he pointed at a seemingly empty spot and sent a pillar of light that way. A scream sounded out, and the ephermeral form of a Shade was briefly glipmpsed as it dissapated into wisps - small w - of black smoke.

"And that's one spy gone," the Orc Priest said before the group walked onwards to a large pile of rubble underneath a large hole in the ground, a gap lit by the afternoon light.

"Light protect us," Rogrelg intoned as he cast a protection spell on the group, before he climbed the pile of rubble, gesturing to the others to do the same. Once they did so, they would emerge in an empty cobblestone street, surrounded by houses with torn roofs and exposed wooden frames, blackened with ash and rot. A residential district of Stratholme, close to the Scarlet side of the city; the sounds of fighting can be heard nearby.

"Here," the Orc then led the group to an alleyway, which led to a twisting maze that led to a maintenance passage, which then led to Crusader's Square itself, where a pitched battle between Undead and Scarlet Crusade was undergoing!

"It seems we are lucky," Rogrelg was clearly looking for a way to sneak into the Bastion now...

Hallam sneered in disgust, but this was a front to hide his sorrow. This is what his people had been reduced to, scummy corpses rotting away in the sewers of a once great city. Where commerce and culture had once flourished among Humanity now there was only the rickety war machine of the Undead and the Scourge's corruption seeping like tendrils into formerly sturdy homes to turn them into weak rotted shells with no purpose. If he did not sneer he would cry, anger and hatred were easier to deal with than grief and desolation. Besides, he did not trust the others to understand, much less trust them with the true emotions he held in his heart.

He felt the Light's blessing settle around him at the Orc's behest, but it was little comfort, only another reminder of how far they had fallen. At least the Orc's practical knowledge was of use, he'd half expected the old entrances would be collapsed and on fire. To think, Prince Arthas had done this. He scoffed. Defeated on all sides Lordaeron hadn't stood a chance, the betrayal of the Prince only hastened their defeat.

Then the sounds of battle reached him, it seemed their enemies were distracted with each other. Lucky indeed. "Let us hurry then, their skirmish will only last so long." He advised quietly, it wouldn't do to speak so loudly as to draw attention after all.

Kalania's face betrayed her emotions at seeing the ruins of this once great city. The rotting corpses, the ruined buildings, the undead crawling everywhere... it all reminded her at the horrors she saw in the war with the legion. She herself had to march through lands that suffered the legion's wake and to fight the very remains of the dead that the scourge raised to aid their demonic masters. This was almost like she was reliving those event... without the demons at least. When their leader used his holy powers to cast protection over them, Kalania stood quiet as the protection failed at her. Part of being immune to magic...

At least things turned slightly better once they returned above ground and they could see the skies once again. As a dryad, undergrounds weren't her favorite things, especially considering her height. Sure enough the tunnels they used were big enough, but it still had her feel like she was in a tight spot. It made her feel uncomfortable enough, that she had to ignore the look on Hallam's face. She had an idea of how he felt, though probably no one really knew except other survivors from this place. She had not the chance to try to comfort him though. As they were led through the maze of back alleys till they heard the sound of battle.

“Well... this sight is... kind of familiar.” She said grimly at the sight of undead and knights clashing. Sure enough they were preoccupied one with the other so if they were to sneak somewhere, now was the time.” If we are to sneak attack the Crusade people, we should do it so the scourge also doesn't have time to react to it... Cause the undead are relentless, if they get wind of a weakness, they will attack it with everything they have.” The dryad stated, she was keeping her legs slightly bend so she doesn't stick above the rest as much. Being a dryad in a city... during the day stealth wasn't exactly an easy thing to pull out." Can we block the streats or something to buy us time from the scourge while we deal with the knightly guys?"

"Actually," said Rogrelg, "there's a reason I talked with It'zik earlier." He then gestured to the Makura. "He told us...that the Spirit of Water has agreed to give us all possible aid, which extends to two options - one is to create fog that will obscure us from sight. Another is to create rain which will do the same, but inconvinence both us and them. Yet another is to make it snow or hail, which will end the skirmish, but also alert the enemies that something is up.."

"Which will you choose? Personally, I would prefer fog."

Not for the first time Hallam was forced to withhold a scoff. A glance around reminded him just why exactly he had joined a neutral faction. He did not trust this supposed Water Spirit, it was probably in league with the Horde Shaman or the Naga or some other, equally unsavorable type. Still, he needed to rely on his allies and if the Commander trusted the lobster's word then such an advantage could be useful. Maybe not indoors, but plenty of fighting was likely to be done outside as well.

If it were just Magi then he would suggest the rain, it would make the frost spells more effective, but as they had less magically inclined individuals it was best not to make things harder for them than it already would be. "Fog." He agreed reluctantly, he hoped this Spirit would at least be subtle about it. Fog didn't just spring up from no where in seconds, which he suspected it knew, but Hallam sometimes doubted the intelligence of non-humanoids, and even then he had called many Humans' intelligence into question as well, to say nothing of his one time trip to Gadgetzan. One Goblin had launched itself into the air on a rocket and didn't come down again during all of his week-long stay in the city, and that was one of the milder events to happen there. It was fair to say Goblins were both geniuses and idiots, all at the same time.

Kalania watched the clashing undead and knights still in almost a trance like state. It brought a lot of memories into her mind and all of them seemed as vivid as they had just happened. The grimace from her face did not disappear, but she did nod at Rogrelg's question.

“Rain can be nice...” She said with a frown and looked around.” … but most find it difficult to fight in it. Fog is better, but we'd better remember that the scourge likes to use it too... zombies are quite... hard to notice in thick fog before it's too late and they are already upon you.” She stated, following the clash between the enemy forces in the distance.” Also keep in mind that sound travels a lot further in fog than in clear weather.” The dryad stated and pointed at the undead side of town.” The moment we engage in battle, the sounds of it will be heard all the way there without any problems.”

“That's why depending on if we are expecting a lot of combat, I say we pick rain. Rain dampens sound unlike fog. If we battle in the middle of a rain, there is a lot better chance to not alert the scourge to our presence.” Kalania said with a smile and looked around at the other people with her. As someone who lived in nature... who grew in the forests and the wilds of Kalimdor, she knew her stuff when it came to weather.

A former ranger had been asked to assist the Argent Dawn soldiers in any way she could as they marched into the hellish undead nightmare that awaited them within Stratholme. Due to how extremely busy she was most of the time, requests had to be very important and somehow be beneficial towards her as well in the long run. This mission was different from the others though, she would be returning to a place that was once a thriving city for mankind, a city she had seen with her own eyes that ended up burning due to Arthas and his insanity. Closing the portal from within Stratholme had never been done, no one could find the portal, it was that simple. Until that portal is found and closed, the city poses a threat to all of the Eastern Kingdoms, waiting to spread its corruption through the lands and claim all life for the scourge.

From inside the large tunnel the soldiers of the Argent Dawn had taken to reach Crusader’s Square, this former ranger general appeared, bow in hand as she glanced around the area, merely observing as the battle between the scourge and scarlet crusade dragged on. After listening to everyone discuss what they would like the Water Spirit to do to the horde of hostiles nearby, Sylvanas Windrunner gave her own expert opinion.“Neither the fog nor rain or even hail will provide what you are hoping for Argent Dawn. Our two enemies here fight each other, if we attack now we will have both the Scourge and the Scarlet Crusade to fight against. My suggestion is to wait until the victor arises, and then we move to wipe them out. As for this spirit of water, it will prove to be an indispensable ally deeper within Stratholme where the fires are the most intense of all. Do not squander its power upon something as menial as this battle before us.” They did not call her a master of strategy for no reason, she knew what she was talking about.

“What say you Rogrelg, I gave you my advice and now you must make a choice as to either use the Water Spirits abilities, or wait for a side’s victory and then wipe out what remains. Take heed to what I said Orc, if we fight both at once, some of your men will most likely die.” Taking an arrow from her quiver, she quickly strung it and positioned her hands upon the bow and arrow, waiting for a response.

"Ah...Sylvanas," said Rogrelg in clear distaste. "Stealthy as always. I hope you don't resent me for speaking up against your latest attempts to dupe the Warchief into allowing you into the Horde." Something that might bring me and Hallam together, a deep, binding resentment of her.. "But enough of this; we might be forced to fall upon your strategy anyway - the Scarlet Crusade's lines are holding."

The Undead Scourge were withdrawing, leaving the Scarlet lines bloodied and battered. Before the latter can recover, Rogrelg looked at Hallam and Kalania, saying:

"We have a window of opportunity and we'd best not squander it. Let us charge." And with that, he shouted:

"Lok'tar Orgar!" before he, enveloped in a protective shell and his axe out, streamed out of the alleyway, followed by the fellowship's Warriors...

Hallam was surprised to say the least, the leader of the renegade Undead had joined them in person for this quest. Granted, eliminating the Scourge strongholds in Lordaeron was of the utmost importance to her people, so he shouldn't be surprised the former Ranger-General had an interest in their success. He still didn't like her, she had been no help to the survivors still on the continent, though with as bad as things had been he would give her the benefit of the doubt just this once, she probably had been unable to help in the chaos of regaining her freedom. Her advice was sound at least, though he'd rather sneak in before announcing themselves so blatantly. It was out of his hands now though, the Orc was leading a charge, bloodthirsty creature that it was. He grimaced uncomfortably, perhaps he should rethink this neutral faction nonsense, but no time for that now.

He waited for the warriors to reach the meat of the forces before attacking, he wanted to keep whatever element of surprise he could. Then, picking targets at the edges in an attempt to pick off those with the best chance of escaping and warning those within of the attack, Hallam began flinging spells. The harsh sting of arcane damage flew across the cobblestone streets, streaking into the faces of unsuspecting Scarlet Zealots and the chilled blasts of his frost spells whittled away at the strength of his enemies who still had need of things like warmth, breath, and blood flow. He alternated often, straying into a wide variety of spells rather than just keeping up with the same ones. It made his moves more unpredictable and less likely to be avoided.

“!!!” Kalania suddenly jolted when she finally sensed the undead that appeared behind them. She pulled her spear with speed that a master swordsman would pull his sword and took a combat stance towards Sylvanas. It was her instincts, engraved into her during the war, but once the surprise factor ended, with reluctance she pulled her spear away. Sylvanas Windrunner, the leader of the Forsaken. How could Kalania not know about her, the one who leads those who split away from the scourge...

The dryad threw Rogrelg an slightly unhappy glance at his mentioning of known Sylvanas... What's more they almost seemed like buddies. Kalania usually wanted to be open minded and give people the benefit of the doubt, but something in the undead just rubbed her off the wrong way. Maybe because she was an undead or maybe it was the fact that for the best of her, she couldn't really think of a reason why the leader of the Forsaken herself was here... Didn't she have a group of undead to keep order upon? Kalania still preferred to have rain go on while they battle to dampen the noise and not alert the scourge about it, but hey... it's the leader's choice.

When the attack on the remaining Crusaders began, Kalania was among the first one to engage. Her innate speed allowed her to quickly close in the distance from the side as she threw her first spear at one of the knights. Extremely accurate, she hit the weakest point of the armor, under the helmet, instantly bringing down the knight, before with a few quickly jumps to him, she pulled her spear and attacked another one. Sure enough dryads appeared kind of weak at first for most people, but those same people usually quickly found that was not exactly the case. While the mage was using his magic to take care of stragglers and the main fighting force of their group was fighting the core of the knights, Kalania jumped around the battlefield, dealing quick strikes for even a simply scratch from her spears caused the poison to turn enemies quite... easy to finish off.