A General(s)' Log

[The logs for the first 14 events of the Rebellion, out of its current 50. More to be added!]

Generals Log:

1. The Horde gathers.

Zoram’gar Outpost surrendered peacefully to the Rebellion. Krogon Devilstep held a speech for those he had gathered who had come to join the proud ranks of the rebels. While the rest of the newly formed Northern Rebellion celebrated, the leaders of the assorted guilds and regiments present have to a secure location where a meeting was held.

During the proceedings it was decided that Rargnasha Bloodmark would lead the Rebellion as its General, with several other figureheads of the gathered guilds and freelancers acting as his advisors.


2: Clearing the Way.

It wasn’t long after the Northern Rebellion had been formed that its General decided to bloody the blades of his troops. Those fighting for the Rebellion were ordered to split up into packs and move out into the area close to Zoram Strand in Ashenvale. Upon reaching their destination, they began taking out Kor’kron scouts, units and patrols in the area, to prepare for the invasion of Hellscream's Watch.

The Rebellion forces chanced upon an Ancient of War and a Son of Cenarius. Both had been held captive by Kor’kron forces and the false Warchief's warlocks attempted to subdue them through fel corruption. After the warlocks were dispatched, the Ancient was cleansed through a shamanistic ritual, and gave its promise of aid in return.

The Son of Cenarius, however, was less grateful towards his saviors and told them off. Despite his harsh language and a lack of gratitude, the rebels decided against teaching the keeper a lesson and returned to base.


3: The Horde Tournament.

Within the same week of the Rebellion being gathered, a grand tournament was held to decide who would be the champion of the Rebellion and carry the the rebels' banner upon the battlefield. The victor of the melee would turn out to be Gorthrak Frosthowl of the Shatterskull Marauders.

However, the champion's dedication to the cause was put into question once it became apparent he is not as eager to show up on the actual field of battle, or fight the Kor’kron or any other of the Rebellion's enemies of his own accord. Therefore, his title of champion and right to carry the banner was withdrawn and given to the tournament's other finalist, Grogona Marshfang of the Red Blades.


4: The Invasion of Hellscream's Watch.

The first major military operation of the Northern Rebellion involved the takeover of Hellscream's Watch. In accordance with the war plan for Operation: Blinding Hellscream, the Rebellion split up into multiple packs to take out the war camp. Said camp's position made it easily defensible but the rebels were prepared. The plan was sound and was executed efficiently and without major casualties.

Although many were wounded, the Rebels managed to not only take Hellscream's watch, but also rout its defenders, making them flee haphazardly for their lives. Doubtlessly, this has been a harsh blow to the pride of Hellscream's Kor’kron, who have otherwise prided themselves on never fleeing battle.

This may not have been possible without the indispensable assistance of Sylvalynn of Sin Belore, who performed a ritual together with the shadowpriests and religious leader of the Cult of Shadow. The spell aimed at Hellscream's watch was meant to induce fear into the hearts and minds of the Kor’kron, causing them to break formation when the tide of battle turned against them.

Sunwalker Jarilo Stronghoof distinguished himself by performing great feats of strength and bravery during the storm of Hellscream's Watch, leading the charge and breaking the last line of the Kor’kron fortifications in person.


5: Meeting in Moonglade.

The Alliance contacted the Rebellion in regards to the pact made between the supreme leader of the rebellion, Vol’jin and the human king. In extension of this pact, the Alliance representative Areyah Connover suggested a ceasefire between the Alliance and Rebellion forces, as well as assistance in form of providing Alliance supplies to the Rebellion. General Bloodmark agreed to these terms and an Alliance shipment of food was due within the fortnight. His opinion of the food's quality, however, is best left unmentioned.


6: Scouting the Way.

After their victory at Hellscream's Watch, the rebels' spirits were high. Scouts were sent out to take a closer look at the next target of opportunity, Silverwind Refuge. However, they returned bearing grim news: The Rebellion's recent successes in wresting territory from Hellscream's control have called down the wrath of the Warchief upon them. A large siege army had been mobilized and was ready to put an end to the Rebellion. Realizing that the natural defences of Hellscream's Watch would prove inadequate against the proto-drakes and siege engines brought by the Kor’kron, General Bloodmark decided to evacuate the camp. He ordered all of his forces to fall back to Zoram’gar Outpost and prepare for the siege.

However, before Hellscream's Watch was completely abandoned, Commissioner Haluthious, a forsaken apothecary, and Commander Anthrios, a blood elf runemaster, were tasked with devising a surprise for the coming Kor’kron reclaimers. The two put their heads together and constructed a number of cunning traps.


7: The Siege of Zoram’gar: Fall of the Blademasters.

When Hellscream's forces have at last showed up upon the doorstep of Zoram’gar, they seemed to be fully intent to end the Rebellion with a single swift strike. Led by the former Red Blade Krez’urgesh (an understudy of Rargnasha Bloodmark himself), his right-hand orc Mraktosh Trollslayer, and his three Blademaster lieutenants, the assailants were fully determined to put the Rebellion to an end.

The first assault began at nightfall and went on deep into the night. The Kor’kron war machines ceaselessly battered the gates of Zoram’gar, while proto-drakes and their Dragonmaw riders had engaged the Rebellions aerial unit in a savage dogfight. The Blademasters led the initial attack upon the breach where the battlements of Zoram’gar met the seawater.

The battle for aerial dominance looked bleak, but, as was promised… Help was near. In the midst of the battle, the familiar Ancient of War appeared upon the hills behind Zoram’gar Fortress. Tossing massive boulders into the sky, it began hewing through the swarm of proto-drakes, while his blessing fortified and inspired the rebels' frontline troops. The Dragonmaw wing leader had a contingency plan and arrived with reinforcements, but the rebels received backup as well: a squadron of Darkspear Batriders arrived in time to turn the tide of battle (courtesy of the diplomatic efforts of a Darkspear troll Hikka Redeye), and air supremacy was secured for the Rebellion.

Chieftain Bloodmark, Chieftain Ironsong and Rrosh’tul Marshfang headed to the breach in person in order to meet the forces of the Kor’kron, and managed to beat them back. Meanwhile, Commander Anthrios had taken command of an improvised cannon bearing escort ship and brought the full weight of ship's artillery upon the beach, peppering the Kor’kron infantry and siege machines with cannon fire.

As the first assault seemed at its end, Krez’urgesh himself made an appearance before the rebels. The reason for his confidence became clear once it became apparent that he had been empowered with the taint of the Sha! Having giving in almost completely to his anger, hatred and the spirits know what else, he had proven to be a challenging fight for the rebel soldiers; even the General himself almost fell to his rampage, before a newblood of the Red Blade tribe managed to put an end to this threat by cutting off Krez'urgesh's sha tainted hand.
The first assault was over, but the siege had only just begun.


8: Stormbreaker.

As the siege went on, the commander of an Alliance warship known as the Stormbringer flew in to parlay with General Bloodmark and offer him assistance in breaking the siege. Seeing a chance to end the siege (that may otherwise have gone on for months) in one decisive strike, Bloodmark agreed and arrangements were made.

To the surprise of many, General Bloodmark had the shamans of the Rebellion summon a thick fog near the water of the beach. The Kor’kron, assuming foul play, assumed that Anthrios' ship, the cannons of which they have already weathered during the first battle, would be trying to take them unawares yet again. However, the challenge came instead from the gates of Zoram’gar: in a daring gambit, Bloodmark had sallied all of his troops outside of the keep to meet the overwhelming force of the Kor’kron head on.

The momentary confusion and re-arrangement of the Kor’kron troops were all that was needed. The fog parted to reveal not only the Rebellion ship, but also the Stormbreaker, pride of the Alliance navy. The two ships unleashed a full broadside upon the Kor’kron ranks, supported by the gyrocopters of the Stormbreaker continuously harassing those who were still standing after the initial barrage.

To the surprise of both Rebels, Alliance and Kor’kron, the battle was joined by yet another combatant. A Keeper of the Grove had been gathering treant allies for days, and as the Kor’kron attempted to re-group, they were flanked by the Keeper and his army. While the treants' ferocity proved to be no match for the hardened warriors of the kor’kron, the sudden onslaught left the loyalists in disarray long enough for Bloodmark and the Rebellion infantry to move in and finish them off, leaving the spine of Warchief's once proud battallion broken and its soldiers vanquished.


9: Meeting at Moonglade, 2

For the second meeting of the coalition, the Alliance had sent more representatives from various establishments: the night elves of Nature's Grasp, a few emissaries from Wild Tempest and a representative of the Stormwind Intelligence who was given the rather appropriate nickname ‘Masked Brat’. The discussion largely concerned the importance of Silverwind Refuge as a military target; realizing they may yet reclaim it, the night elves proved themselves surprisingly cooperatively minded. They also supported the proposition to expand the Rebellion's operations into the nearby Stonetalon Mountains. The SI agent had been rather skeptical of this possibility and voiced his opinion rudely and in no uncertain terms. Therefore, his arguments fell on deaf ears and eventually he was removed from the meeting to the amusement of everyone involved.

A few important strategic agreements were signed between the Alliance and the Rebellion. There would be stricter quotas placed on Rebellion's hunting of Ashenvale's indigenous creatures once the rebel troops could receive food supplies from Stormwind. Likewise, the Rebellion would not cut down more lumber than needed, and the rebels agreed to replenish the numbers of felled trees using saplings provided by the Cenarion Circle. In exchange, the Alliance would aid in the offensive against Splintertree post (Much to the dismay of certain ambassadors of both the Alliance and the Rebellion).

Eventually, the discussion went back to the topic of the Horde gaining entrance into Stonetalon Mountains. Ultimately, the humans ended up convincing their allies that the obnoxious spy may have had a point: this possibility is unacceptable to the strategic interests of the Alliance as a whole and thus the Rebellion needs to be kept out of Stonetalon, by force if need be. While this would cut off the Rebellion from much needed supplies of stone suitable for construction and metal ore, the Alliance representatives ensured that Stormwind would deliver the supplies by itself. General Bloodmark rightfully saw this for what it was; an attempt to put a leash on the Rebellion. Thus, he declined the offer and stated that the issue would be taken up at another point.


10: Demon Skirmish

While battle raged across Ashenvale, other local threats with no stake in the conflict have grown unchecked and began to pose a genuine potential threat. Therefore, the Rebellion's Blood Guard, Revax Hellbrew, along with his second in command Sergeant Jarilo Stronghoof, led an offensive against the nearby demonic infestation. They managed to put a dent in the demons' numbers and ensure that the roads upon which an attack upon Hellscream's Watch could be launched would be safe from any unforeseen contingencies.


11: Reclaiming the Watch

A few days prior to the second invasion of Hellscreams’ Watch, the Second Gurubashi Empire sent some of their warriors to request taking part in the battles against Hellscream, having declared him an enemy of the troll-kind as a whole and fully intent to make him pay for his crimes.

These trolls owed the Horde no allegiance and many members of the Horde bore scars left by their warriors; therefore, tensions and bad blood ran rampant as their request was discussed. Eventually, they were allowed to fight for the Rebellion under a very strict blood oath to General Bloodmark.

Regardless, tensions were high between the Gurubashi trolls and the ordinary troops of the Rebellion. Realizing it would be more efficient to keep the forces allied but separate, the Gurubashi Warlord had requested that he’d lead his own warband of trolls against the Kor’kron before the invasion of Hellscreams Watch would commence. General Bloodmark had agreed, but not before sending a Red Blade along with them, to keep an eye on the trolls and make sure they adhered to their blood oath.

The invasion of Hellscream's Watch was executed smoothly. Being keenly aware of the efficient logistics of Garrosh's war machine, General Bloodmark and Gurubashi Warlord Volek went out to intercept the inevitable Kor’kron reinforcements while the frontline troops slowly but surely chipped away at the keep's defenses.

However, the trolls were ill prepared for the Kor’kron warriors they faced - and those, in turn, had great expertise in dealing with trolls, likely acquired quelling the trolls within Orgrimmar. The entire unit of Gurubashi trolls would have been wiped out entirely, if it wasn't for the timely intervention of General Bloodmark and his soldiers. Seeing the trolls nearly defeated, with only a few standing. General Bloodmark left a mender and some of his warriors behind to provide cover for the Gurubashi while he went to direct the invasion on Hellscream's Watch personally.

Once the battle was won, the Gurubashi warlord, though bruised and beaten, approached the General with the remainder of his forces and accused him of intentionally putting his troops in a vulnerable position as cannon fodder. He got close enough to lay hand on and threaten Bloodmark – albeit he backed down as quickly as he had stirred, when surrounded by rebels and their drawn blades.

Showing mercy to the offending trolls, General Bloodmark allowed those who had cast down their weapons to leave unscathed and return to their vale. Wisely, every single one of them to the last troll decided to swallow their pride and take up the offer before the General reconsidered.


12: Meeting at Moonglade: 3

The supplies that the Alliance had agreed to provide for the rebels have arrived later than agreed upon, and by different means. Needless to say, this did not inspire any confidence among the ranks of the Rebellion, and whatever supplies that did arrive were checked for any kind of foul play. It turned out the suspicions have not been baseless: some of the foodstocks delivered by the Alliance turned out to be poisoned! While infuriated, the General and his officers did not take an immediate action, and instead contacted the night elves behind the humans' backs. The night elves, too, were angered by such treachery.

As the representatives conversed, they came to the conclusion that Stormwind could not be trusted to deliver on its word. Therefore, in order to satisfy the Rebellion's need for supplies, a secret treaty was made between the night elves and the Rebellion: the rebels would be granted freedom of passage into Stonetalon Mountains without Stormwinds knowledge. In addition, to ensure their success, the elves had even offered military aid against the Kor’kron in order to secure Krom’gar fortress for the Rebellion.

When confronted at the meeting by both elves and Rebellion, the Stormwind representative denied all responsibility. Mistrust was evident between all parts present, and yet the treaty was not broken: those of the Alliance members that had no apparent connection to the poisoning attempt were eager to ensure the agreement stands and went ahead as planned with providing military support during the assault on Silverwind Refuge.


13: Rush of the Wind

Before the attack upon Silverwind Refuge itself could begin, the Rebellion had some matters to take care of first. In addition to other defenses of Silverwind that needed to be taken out prior to the attack, the place was used as nesting grounds for the Kor'kron proto-drakes.

The attack was delayed further by another unforeseen mishap: the High Shaman of the Rebellion, Rhonya Steelheart, had fallen victim to a vicious curse of unknown origin. The curse caused her to wander mindlessly into Ashenvale where she had been captured by the resident remnant of the Burning Legion's forces who seem to have recovered from the recent purge and decided to retaliate.

A ritual of shamanistic divination held by the Rebellions Seer, Shargla Thunderfang, had revealed that the Legion's presence in Ashenvale was stronger than anticipated and is not to be dismissed. They have replenished their ranks and had a sizeable force led by two Dreadlords and a fel-orc Blademaster. As it turned out, they even had a Pit Lord under their command.

Fortunately, this feat of scrying allowed the Rebellion to assault the demons' positions with superior intelligence on their side and show the enemy no quarter. The Rebellion confronted the two Dreadlords; however, living up fully to their reputation as crafty fiends, the Nathrezim managed to deceive and escape the rebels.

Regardless, the day was won: the rebels have managed to rescue their High Shaman and still have time to sabotage the defenses of Silverwind Refuge.


14: Breaking Wind

After having dealt with these distractions, it was time to strike. The Rebellion gathered their forces and after a quick detour due to General Bloodmark's sense of direction (or rumored; lack of), launched a fierce attack upon Silverwind Refuge. As the Rebellion struck from the east, the Alliance forces made hit and run attacks from the west, causing panic and disruption amongst the Kor’kron ranks while the Rebellion applied straightforward pressure.

Eventually, the Alliance forces have retreated to avoid friendly fire from the Rebellion, leaving the rebels to handle the rest of the Kor’kron. On that day, Silverwind Refuge bore the banner of the Rebellion. Dispute regarding the ownership of the territory was postponed until the Warchief was deposed and a new one would be chosen in his stead; only by him would the settlement's ultimate fate be decided.