x 3
May 19
“Away and off” is the pass phrase at the Gnomes’ toll road for free passage.
We travel to the site where we saw the battle between the Scourge and ruby dragonflight. We arrive at a time when there is a lull in the fight. We go to the Alliance camp first, which seems better stocked than the Horde camp.
The Scourge are coming from the North. The high commander at the Alliance camp is Alford Wyrmbane. The Alliance and the Horde have had small skirmishes on the borders. The Scourge are trying to take over this location, which is the birthplace of ruby dragons. The Horde want to cut the tree down. The Alliance want to protect the tree. Their numbers are spread thin. The dragonflight seem split on which strategy is best. They are at Wyrmcrest Temple, about a days journey east of here. The Scourge here are mostly zombies, and occasionally amalgamations of flesh golem things. They are weak to healing magic and dragon fire. They usually attack at dusk. There are Ember Wyverns who attack sometimes. They try to take acorns from the tree.
Horde side takes us the leader, a large ogre. If they cut the tree down, it can regrow. The tree is the source of dragons. This ogre’s name is Overlord Agmar. The dragonflight leader is named Salun. Their
Far north of here is where the Scourge come from, through a gate in a giant wall. They come through the Wrath Gate. It is made of steel, ice, and bones. It is 1200 feet tall. It probably leads to the Lich King’s settlement. It stretches from both sides of the cliffs. 40 miles across maybe. On the map, it’s called the Ice Crown Citadel. The obsidian dragon shrine lies up north. They would need thousands of troops to keep the Scourge out. There are ice crystal giants east of here. The Scourge are also attacking the Dragonflight Temple from the east as well. There are big scavenger birds attacking people, and the mammoths are very upset. A giant one named Tookmooth comes to help other mammoths east of here.
We see ancient dragon bones, and Dozier takes a sample for Aura. During the night, we see several reanimated dragon skeletons originating from AB25-AC25.
We go to Wyrmcrest Temple. It is guarded by a blood elf (seeming) in draconic armor. He says that this temple is the birthplace of all dragons. Here, dragons confer with the bones of their ancestors. This elf spoke with Malfurion and knew about us already. The queen will only see us if we pass a test. We have to successfully keep the Scourge away for 24 hours and allow the acorns to blossom. The elf’s name is Teriolstra. Taro for short. He is a dragon. He has been here for millenia. The Scourge has been here for at least a century, but they got worse since the Necropolis showed up. There are two floating skull cities. The one to the east is bigger. This place was once called Maxoramus.
Years ago, there was a crypt lord named Crypt Narack who was a Nerubian who led an army of warriors into another Nerubian ziggurat that is a floating city. It used to be in the eastern kingdoms, in the Alliance, but it moved here about a year. Scourge are pouring out of it as stitched flesh. There is an Alliance settlement at Winterguard’s Keep trying to keep an eye on Noxoramus’s doings. Taro is a red dragon. He is the steward of the temple. He is willing to tell us more about the temple once this current crisis is over. The tree seems healthy, despite the current trial. It has been growing for 2-3000 years. If it is cut down, there can be no new dragonflight until the tree regrows. They want us to the be the ones to take credit and blame for the choice we make now.
There is a reputation system at play between the Alliance, the Horde, the dragonflight allied with the Alliance, and the dragonflight allied with the Horde.
The tree is called the Ruby Dragonshrine. The tree is 400 feet tall and 30-40 feet wide. It has seen better days - it is charred and burnt in places. There are some sections where it has been hacked into. There are vines with thorns. There is swamp-ish area nearby, but it has been drained and the whole area is a burned, charred battlefield. There were once many dragon bones, but they have been turned into undead liches. The tree seems fire resistant. There is fierce fighting at night. There are 4-500 Scourge coming down the Ravine path and jumping off the cliffs, unfazed by the height. The Alliance and Horde are in the northwest and northeast (?). There is a fresh wave of Scourge every 15 minutes until morning.
We learn that there are caverns under the field. They are sacred. The ruby dragonflight won’t let us enter.
The Wolvar live here, and they may be willing to offer aid. Bronze dragon shrine is being attacked by the crystal ice giants and the Scourge.
If we were to deal with Naxoramus in the East, that would slow down the Scourge.
There is a human kingdom from the Alliance near here, and if it’s close to the Naxoramus, they’re probably having a bad time.
We go north through the open fields. There are more dragon bones and some rocky areas. Overnight, I roll a nat 20 and sense that there is something deeply wrong nearby. We encounter a reanimated frost wyvern sitting on the cliffs above us. There were actually 3. There is a valley nearby full of mining tools, and a giant dragon skeleton that is being dug up. It is the largest dragon we’ve ever seen. It’s seemingly the Scourge digging it up. There are many other skeletons, including frost wyverns. We see living human mages who have joined the Undead! They seem to be a cult. There is one carrying a giant lightning rod over in the east. There is also a destroyed Horde camp.