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War in the Highlands - Operation Homefront
#1
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MT1Qy-v5eM[/youtube]

The Backstory

A Stromgardian man well into his early sixties walked the streets of Stormwind at the late hours of the night. His hands were placed quietly in his pockets, and his head and eyes aimed upward in reveling of the beautiful night sky of Stormwind City. Azeroth's two moons cast a solemn light over the streets as the old Stromgardian man, with a body built for a former soldier, tread through the streets. As he passed through, he saw guards on patrol, whom he offered polite nods, as well as night-owl citizens to which he also greeted briefly. The Stromgardian was Aldis Tannen, a former soldier from the great wars and troll hunter in the Arathi Highlands. He had had enough of war in his life, and so he had settled down within Stormwind City, in a house full of war relics, and lived a peaceful life.

All of it, despite whatever he might have thought on this beautiful Stormwind night, was about to change.

Aldis strode through the various reaches of the canals until he reached the ruins of the Park. Guards still stood on duty near some of the entrances, forever at vigil. Aldis offered each of them a nod as they recognized him. He frequented across all parts of Stormwind at night, enjoying the great and peaceful views of the capital city. He approached the edge of the ruins, for a moment looking down at the carnage. Barely months ago, Deathwing the Destroyer, the greatest Black Dragon to ever live, attacked Stormwind City. Stormwind attempted to defend itself, but a price was paid. The Park was devoured by the fury of the great black, in fire and ash and dust. After the attack on Stormwind, some people throughout the City had a new conversation changer. 'Where were you when Deathwing attacked?'.

The elder Stromgardian removed his hands from his pockets and stared down off the edge of the ruined district of Stormwind. The flames from the attack seemed to forever burn, as even months after the attack they still hadn't been extinguished. The flames licked at the air defiantly, and Aldis heard down in the distance yet another wooden beam of the old district's supports cracking and breaking. A crash from the sea's waters, and yet another piece of Stormwind joined the flotsam of the open waters. But, there was a different noise following it. Aldis leaned forward, his old ears opening more noise to his hearing.

The sound came up again. The sound of rough boots on cobblestone, but neither plate nor simple walking. Aldis swiftly jutted behind part of the ruined wall, staring out around the corner in search of the source of the sound. He waited a few moments, and then removed himself from the corner with a sigh. He may have simply been hearing things again. That did happen often nowa- There it was again! Aldis's attention flicked to the now-obvious source. A shadowed figure on the other edge of the district's ruins darted between beams and ruined wall stones as if with some purpose.

Aldis looked around quickly to look for where the figure might have come from, then returning his attention to a now gone figure. He looked around, swearing to himself that his one eye left wasn't playing a trick on him. Then, a glint came from where the shadowed figure once stood. There could be no mistake, that was a glint of light. Aldis cautiously moved around the edge of the ruined district, approaching the area where the glint came from. He arrived at the area, and found a sigil crafted of metal. But the metal that made it and the symbol that the sigil represented were both foreign to the war veteran and well-done blacksmith. He leaned down and picked it up, looking at it closely. The sigil was in the shape of a thick hammer atop a small metal plate.

Aldis took one last look around, his one eye narrowing, before standing and slipping the sigil into his pocket, wandering back to what safety his home would be. The walk through Stormwind was fresh of breeze, and Aldis leaned his head back and took in a deep breath. He hoped to the Light that whatever the shadowed figure was doing and whatever the sigil was was not a large matter. However, as curious as a soldier can be, he had to be sure. He reached the alley that led to his humble two-story house, setting a few copper coins in front of a beggar boy near his house's door. "I need you to contact some people for me, and tell them to come to this house." He pointed at his door, his voice heavily accented from Stromgarde.

"Tha'll be two more copper a person, 'en, ol' chap." The beggar boy retorted right back, and Aldis could at least forgive his cleverness. Ten copper coins found their way then to the boy's hand.

"Darik, Lanis, Pol, and Errin of the Stormwind Guard. The fifth is Calrin Lordsblade of SI:7. Make haste, I want them here tonight." Aldis shooed the beggar boy off, the young boy gleefully darting out of the alley and on with a purpose. He removed his house key from his shirt pocket and unlocked his door, shutting it behind him and then placing the sigil on the table, seating himself at the six-seat table. He sat back and waited patiently for the next two hours until there came knocks all in sequence on his front door. He stood, opened the door, and brought his five old comrades into his home.

"You'll need to forgive me, friends, if my usual hospitality is null and void tonight. There are more pressing matters to attend than seeing that you're all fed and given drinks." Aldis locked his door, moving and sitting down once more to all five quizzical expressions of his companions. He had served alongside each of them in a war. Darik and Pol had fought alongside him in the defense of his homeland during the Second War. Lanis and Errin had joined Aldis in troll hunts in the Arathi Highlands after the Third. Calrin, on the other hand, had actually saved and been saved by Aldis during the Second War, during the Push to Stormwind. All five of them were retirees from the army, but still used their skills to aid society as guards and one covert agent in the King's service.

Aldis regaled the tale of his finding of the shadowed figure and the strange sigil to the five, and all of them but Calrin stared at him with very strange looks. "Not a lot of people know about that group." Calrin butted in. "Most we've ever seen of them was a disturbance in Kalimdor some six or seven years back as well as some trouble in Silithus during the 7th Legion's campaign there."

Pol made a noise of recognition. "Right, now I remember. Twilight's Hammer, right? Some sort of cult worshiping the elements."

"Anything but peaceful shamans it sounds like." Darik added in.

"Hold on now, so what does that mean then? A shadowed figure, then a sigil of the Twilight's Hammer?" Errin said, hands raising as he leaned forward in his chair. "Did you bring me for a conspiracy, Tannen?"

"Not a conspiracy, Errin. Well, not as much as I'd like it to be. Now that I actually know what that sigil is, well... I don't know, my friends." Aldis said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, tapping a finger on his arm.

"I don't think that could be a coincidence." Lanis spoke up before anyone else could. "Deathwing, 'aspect of the earth' as those elves call him, attacks Stormwind, decimates the Park, and then flies off. A few months later, a symbol of a cult that fanatically worships the elements - mind you, just like the Blacks have been doing lately - turns up."

"What exactly are you suggesting, Lanis?" Darik asked.

Lanis was about to speak when Pol cut him off. "He's trying to say that we might have a connection, or that some elemental cult is taking some interest in the ruins of the Park."

"Why would they take interest in a broiling hunk of rock and wood?" Errin asked, looking between them all.

"That's exactly what needs to be answered." Calrin said, quieting the entire room. "And that's exactly why we're here, I guess." He looks at Aldis.

Aldis sighed softly, unlocking his arms and cracking his knuckles briefly. "We either have two outcomes from me finding that sigil. One is that it's a coincidence. A cultist may have passed through and that shadowed figure was them, and they accidentally dropped this. The other is that we have a serious problem. A cult that's possibly worshiping the Destroyer, and even that's just a guess, that is hiding out in Stormwind. And we all know what happens when cultists hide in capitals." He looked at each of them as they nodded in unison recognition of a fallen kingdom.

"Since we know the Hammer has some sort of a presence here, let's see if it's serious, and if it is, let's put a stop to it before Stormwind City pays the price for us putting this off. I'll gather a group of heroes to help this in case it gets rough. In the meantime, I want you four - " He gestured to the guards. " - to keep an eye out for possible informants within the guard. As horrid as it sounds, we all know there's going to be at least one." The four guards all nodded in grim confirmation. "As for you, Calrin." He looked at Calrin. "I'm definitely no ringleader, nor am I in any way your superior, but I need you to drop a few words off to your superior to see if they can keep an eye out for Twilight's Hammer." Calrin nodded in silent confirmation. "If this is all just a pretty coincidence, then you'll not hear word from me that this is undergoing. If my and the heroes I gather find anything, we'll commence... Ehh... Operation Homefront. Seems an appropriate name."

"Defending Stormwind City from threats beyond the normal street thug." Errin jokingly commented. "Oh, what it would be to tell the story of a day in the life of a Stormwind Guard."

"True that." The others commented lowly, save Calrin, who was already lost in thought of the entire predicament.

"Light bless, friends. Hopefully if this is serious, we'll catch it before anything bad happens. Goodnight." Aldis said to them, motioning them out the door after he unlocked and opened it. He locked it once again after they all had left, sighing deeply and staring at the sigil that rested on his table. "If you're the bunch responsible for what happened at the Park, there'll be hell to pay."



Operation Homefront

The old Stromgardian by the name of Aldis Tannen has requested aid from adventurers of Stormwind and the Alliance in something involving Stormwind's security. Rumor has it that he's gathering the adventurers together to fight off a kobold infestation in the rural sections of the Stormwind City bounds. He'll be paying well for any aid that's given, but they must gather at the Gilded Rose at the suggested time and date.

OOC;

The official kick-off of the War in the Highlands storyline will not actually be in the Twilight Highlands as many might've guessed! Operation Homefront is a prequel-chain that ties loosely into the events of the War in the Highlands. ICly, the events of Operation Homefront take place three weeks after the Roaring Farewell Tournament, when Commander Dalikan Godford sailed for the Twilight Highlands with several battalions of men.

Operation Homefront consists of three events, and most of the events are actually not combat oriented. The events will be limited to five participants each. Since the events take place in Stormwind City, rightly only Alliance races can join in on the fun. However, there is absolutely no discrimination against characters that will participate. I would prefer that guilds oriented around events avoid signing five guildies into this, because as much fun as running a little guild-helps-Stormwind thing would be, I would prefer OOCly to have some variety in interests.

The first event of Operation Homefront will be taking place on Sunday, August 25th, at 1:00 PM Server Time. I'll toss out an LFG and the first five that whisper me get the shot. Sorry, the events are a bit small for large groups.
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#2
Your writing is excellent. I enjoyed the short story quite a bit.

Also, this:

Quote:"True that." The others commented lowly, save Calrin, who was already lost in thought of the entire predicament.

Made me laugh. Nice work.
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#3
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYeYold6Uys[/youtube]

The Backstory

After he dismissed the adventurers, watching each of them with his one eye carefully, the aged Stromgardian who was named Aldis Tannen left the scene. He headed immediately home, stopping at his door and looking down at the beggar boy near his home. "Same names as last. Do you remember them?"

The beggar boy grinned and nodded. "Maybe some shinies'd make me remember. Yep, I think I'd just need t'see myself grin."

Once again Aldis couldn't help but smirk and laugh briefly at the boy's cleverness. He withdrew several copper coins and handed them to him, then withdrew another two coins for each person he wished to address. "Tell them to meet here, and that Operation Homefront is underway." His tone took a serious note to it, to make sure that the boy did not forget.

"Fancy shmancy name for that one there, ol' chap." The beggar boy then stood up and pocketed the coins, bolting off and out of the alley. Aldis watched him go, and sighed.

"That's the point." He looked back to his door, hoping to the Light that the beggar boy was spared from the horrors of what was likely to happen. He wanted to involve as little of the common people as possible. The old Stromgardian withdrew his house key from his pocket, unlocking, entering, closing, and then locking the door. He looked again to his table, the sigil of the Twilight's Hammer cult still sitting on it from a week before. He walked towards the sigil, picking it up with one hand and looking at it closely. "Why the hell are you so important?"

He sat at his table, holding the sigil calmly on the table, thinking back on the events of the day. He had gathered five people under the guise of leading them to take care of a kobold infestation within the city's farm limits. He had led them to the pond behind the Dwarven District, where he had ensured himself they were not cultists themselves by having a group of guards led by Darik search them. A necessary deceit, but Aldis still felt guilty for leading the adventurers on like that.

After assuring himself that they weren't cultist plants, Aldis had led them to their true objective; the ruins of the Park. Amidst the smoldering ruins of the Park's foundations, they had looked for any sign of more evidence of a presence there. Seeing movement, they had investigated, and overheard two guards and a man that was robed and hooded speaking about truthbearers, false ones, and most of all someone called the Master. While it was enough spoken evidence for questioning, the situation had to be handled tenderly. If any word had slipped out about what they had caught onto, the Twilights could've pulled something drastic and possibly made another incident like the Park.

They waited for the guards, obviously the moles that Pol and the others would need to look out for, to depart before following the robed man to his home in Old Town. A short situation with the 'Rough Town Gang' that made its home in that part of the city outside of the robed man's house that ended quite easily, and then he had paid and dispersed them. Aldis gulped lightly, tapping a finger idly on the table. He had more than enough evidence now to believe it right to commence Operation Homefront.

There came successive knocks on the door as his five comrades arrived. Each time, Aldis rose and unlocked the door, letting them in, and then closing the door behind them. "Were any of you followed?" He asked once they had all gathered at the table.

"No." Each of them replied in turn. Calrin tapped his index fingers together, thinking hard on something, while the other four guards seemed to stare at the sigil and listen as Aldis regaled the tale of what the adventurers and he had found and done.

Pol leaned back in his seat, hands running through his hair. "Damn them all to hell." Lanis bowed his forehead to the table, sighing deeply. Darik slowly shook his head. "Traitors." Errin sighed, looking to Calrin.

Calrin shook his head. "Well, that does it. Can't say any of us are really surprised. There's always a mole, and we all know it, but then it's said to our face and we're still caught off guard."

"I'm still convinced someone needs to write about us." Errin said, a grim and rough laugh coming from him.

"There won't be anyone to write about us. This likely won't ever reach the public ear." Pol said, shaking his head again. "Nobody needs to know what's happening behind the scenes so long as it stays behind the scenes."

"And that's how it should be. No need to throw the Kingdom into more of a panic than it already is. But the boy you sent to us told us that Operation Homefront is underway. What now, Aldis?" Calrin asked, looking his elder friend up and down for advice.

"This is when Operation Homefront truly turns into a situation." Aldis sighed, looking to each as he said their names. "Lanis. Pol. Errin. Darik. I need you to round up those men and women in the guard you know for certain you can trust. Round them up, and tell them to be ready. Hopefully we can keep this closed down to at least small locations, but if this blows up, the whole of Stormwind may become another battlefield." The four nodded in unison.

"As for you, Calrin. You've got a few men of your own. We need to track every step and every glance that robed man does over the next few days. Find out where he goes, what he does, who he talks to. And make sure never to approach or confront him. We're not looking for a suspicious or arrested man." Aldis spoke to him, and the SI:7 member nodded.

"Once we've determined a base schedule from the man, we can track it to the hideout. I'll take on for that part, along with whatever heroes I can gather again." Aldis said, tapping his fingers together idly on the table. "Consider Operation Homefront at an official beginning. This will be all for now, my friends. Good luck, and Light bless you."

"No, Aldis." Lanis said, shaking his head. "Light bless you, old friend. Doesn't matter if this hits the public ear or not, it's because of your old arse that this city just might not see another dark day." The other four nodded in agreement.

"Aye, then. I didn't ask for any of this, and neither did you five. Now go on, before we have some of those bastards on our tails too." Aldis waved to the door, and his five comrades left his house one by one. Once they were all gone again, he looked long and hard at the sigil still sitting in his hand. He set it back where it was on the table, shaking his head. "Light knows, I didn't retire for this."



Operation Homefront

Operation Homefront is officially commenced. While Lanis, Pol, Errin, and Darik rile up those loyalists they have within the Stormwind Guard and Calrin has his agents watch over each and every movement the shadowed figure makes, Aldis prepares to take the operation to the next step. However, as far as the public knows, life in the Kingdom of Stormwind goes by as usual. Once again rumors spread amongst the Alliance of a call for adventurers, another quest to be taken. This time the call is to the Pig and Whistle Tavern, where Aldis Tannen is to direct the adventurers towards a possible murloc infestation in the sewers. While the work seems grim and grose, Tannen is rumored to pay well for aid.

OOC;

Operation Homefront is a small prequel chain to the overarching storyline of the War in the Highlands chain. The first event, as seen in the Backstory, involved tracking the shadowed figure to his home and officially beginning Operation Homefront. The second event will involve once again following the story of Aldis Tannen and the shadowed figure. Once again it will be limited to five participants, sadly.

The second event will be going down on Saturday, August 31st, at 1:00 PM Server Time. Hope to see some people show, these events are fun to run and hopefully fun to be in!
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#4
Since RL is kickin' me this morning and I forgot to check for other event times, I'll be postponing this event an hour. So now it's 2:00 PM ST, still today.

Since RL is kickin' me this morning and I forgot to check for other event times, I'll be postponing this event an hour. So now it's 2:00 PM ST, still today.

Since RL is kickin' me this morning and I forgot to check for other event times, I'll be postponing this event an hour. So now it's 2:00 PM ST, still today.
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#5
So as to not disturb the peaceful populations of the CotH today, I'll be postponing the event to tomorrow at 2:00 PM Server Time!
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#6
Recent getting school back into my schedule has kicked me hard in the groin, and this weekend is a special time for me -not- to be gaming. I know it's been a good week since the last event, and I apologize to all those that were eager to attend. I promise you all next weekend there'll be a splendorous post for the next upcoming Operation Homefront event. 'til next time, folks!
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#7
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKZZlR4Jx4E[/youtube]

The Backstory

Practically two weeks. Almost two whole weeks, and not a single word from Calrin Lordsblade had been heard. The elder Stromgardian had grown worried for his friend and ally, because in such a tender situation a missing comrade was a huge thing to worry about. Aldis Tannen wasn't the rowdiest of men, nor the greatest of men, but he knew when one of his comrades was in grave danger. The situation itself stank of danger.

Aldis Tannen, just returning from one of his common night walks, approached his house. He looked near the doorway, and the beggar boy that was also usually there was not there. Once again, Aldis wished that this conflict did not claim another innocent life. He growled lowly to himself, looking quickly over his shoulder and examining all shadows within his eye's notice. Nothing moved. There was no smell save the fresh night breeze of Old Town. He slowly nodded to himself, then turned and opened his house's door, closing it behind him and locking it with both bolt and gear.

He lit several candles in the otherwise dark house. Once he had made the main room's lighting a not-so-terrible thing, he sat at his long table. The sigil of the Twilight's Hammer cult still rested on the edge of the table, a small bit of dust marring its otherwise brilliant shine. Aldis took in a deep breath and stared at the sigil closely, only imagining its importance in this whole mess. He thought back to the events of the day when they'd discovered the hideout.

Aldis had gathered together the adventurers at the Pig and Whistle Tavern, where Reese Langston became one of the precious few outside of his own circle and the helpers from beforehand that knew of just how delicate a situation they now were a part of. He had explained to Langston the need for a place to confirm suspicions, and so Aldis had Darik and three of his comrades wait in the basement of the Pig and Whistle, to make sure nobody was actually working for the enemy.

Once the group of adventurers had been shown to not be of the Twilight's Hammer, they left the Pig and Whistle and revisited the mysterious robed man's home, as, according to Calrin's information, it was near time that the robed man leave his home again. The robed man left his home and made his way through several districts until the party lost his trail on the bridge between the Trade District and the Mages District. On that bridge the two guards, who insultingly bore the King's sigils but were actually servants of the Hammer, stopped them. It was obvious they were trying to stall for the robed man. Eventually, however, the nearby guard officer, ignorant of their true allegiances, called them off as guards and told them to return to their duties.

The party had picked up the trail of the robed man until they arrived at a solemn courtyard within the Mages District. With an overlook out into the harbor nearby, they came under the entrance to a tavern. The Violet Chalice. Aldis gruffly laughed a little at the coincidence between the Twilight's Hammer all-too purple colors and the name of the tavern. At the entrance to the tavern, two burly thugs stood at guard, impeding the entrance of the robed man.

Aldis and the adventurers had come under just in time to hear the strange entrance rites that the robed man used to enter the tavern. The door itself seemed to be magically locked, so Aldis had determined that careful planning would be required for a proper assault of the bar. He attempted first, at least, to try to enter the tavern himself. The thugs were initially somewhat friendly, speaking of the owner of the establishment, a mysterious man known only as 'The Master'. However, they eventually grew tiresome as Aldis had had nothing to allow himself to be identified to the 'private' establishment.

So, he had traveled to the harbor overlook and paid the adventurers for their services. Pol and Errin were posted on the overlook, a sweet luck and irony that Aldis didn't dare look over. He had informed them of the continuing situation, and to gather what men and women within the guard they could. Aldis had then stood at that overlook for near an hour, staring out at the sea for no other reason than just to stare.

That was a week and a half ago. Calrin hadn't sent word of any movements or people or, frankly, anything. Aldis had asked Lanis to check around, but he had said that Calrin was supposedly off in a foreign mission. Aldis grew suspicious, and looking again at the Hammer's sigil did not ease those suspicions. Nor did the sudden disappearance of the beggar boy who had made his temporary home outside of his door. The Hammer had clearly taken notice of their operation, and now it was a silent war.

Aldis grabbed several pieces of parchment and wrote swiftly on each of them, 'Four days. The Violet Chalice.' and then folded them up and placed them in envelopes. He rose from his table, stopping in his stride for the door to stare once more at the Hammer sigil on his table. He grunted and shook his head, walking to his bookcase and removing three volumes of a series that never was written. 'What Would You Say to a Bird of Gold?'. The books were actually hollowed out, a space for a dagger within. Aldis removed the dagger, sheath and all, from the space and then grabbed the harness for it from behind that space, putting the harness on and sheathing the dagger.

He patted down his vest as he straightened his back. The dagger was well concealed, even in such tight cloth. It conformed with the man's body. Albeit uncomfortable, the aged soldier had been through worse. He left his home and made his way to several areas of the city, several residences. He placed one envelope at each residence's doorstep, and then made his way away as quickly as he could. Aldis was not one for stealth, but tonight was a delicate night. Things had to go as planned.

When Aldis returned home, he sighed in relief that he was not followed. Pol, Lanis, Darik, Errin, and a few others he trusted with his life were now informed. Now all was left to the careful plans of time. He suspected that the Hammer had already claimed Calrin and the beggar boy, and Aldis had no doubt he was likely next on their list. Time was not on his side in that regard. He would likely not sleep much in the next four days.



Operation Homefront

Operation Homefront has taken a great turn for the worse. Aldis Tannen still remains mostly unharmed, and as do his four contacts within the guard, Pol, Darik, Lanis, and Errin. But word has not reached any of these five of Calrin Lordsblade's actual location, and now another innocent is added to the list of those possibly consumed in the Twilight's plans. The silent war against the Twilight's Hammer within Stormwind City ensues once more, this time about to reach its climax with the confirmed assault on the Hammer's hideout in the Violet Chalice. In the public eye, Stormwind City is still ever the bright city of humanity. Its streets have not seen much violence in years, save for the events of the Shattering. Once again, rumors spread of Aldis Tannen's quests and need for adventurers. These new rumors speak of gnolls that have occupied a hidden den within the Wollerton Stead's property. Nobody truly questions the rumored problems, but they are rumors nonetheless.

OOC;

Operation Homefront is a short prequel event chain to the overarching storyline 'War in the Highlands'. Based within the mysteries of a conspiracy against the Twilight's Hammer in the bounds of Stormwind City, the first event involved following a mysterious robed man from the ruins of the Park to his home in Old Town. The second event involved following this robed man once again to the Twilight's hideout in the Mages District. The third, and final, event will involve the storming of the Twilight's hideout, and so it will be somewhat combat heavy but still have elements of intrigue! Once again, this event is limited to five participants!

Once again I apologize for the delay on timing for this one, school's kicked me right in the knockers. -But-, I am fresh and ready for a fight. This Saturday, September 21st, at 2:00 PM Server Time, the concluding event of Operation Homefront will take a final stand against the evil of the Twilight's Hammer Cult. Hope to see some people there!
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