Episode 4: Ironclad Cove

Sister Lynette gaped in horror at the splattered remains of our friend Kaylee. She had been torn apart by the spinning blades of machines made by the lead Goblin engineer and smelter, Gilnid, who had also caused his constructs to overload and detonate.

In her attempts to find Kaylee, I pointed out a mass of bone, sinew, and tattered cloth saying "I think she's there…"

While Lynette lamented the loss of our friend, Tiernan didn't seem to share the same sense of grief.

"And there." Tiernan added, pointing at other bloody smears and patches of the dead Gnome's torn robe scattered throughout the room. "And there, and there! And I've a wee bit o' her on me boots."

"Heartless Dwarf!" Tethyros spat, a rare moment of lost-temper through the Night Elf's usual stoic demeanor. "Have some respect for the dead."

Tiernan sighed heavily, realizing that now was not the time for humor. "There's nothin' ye can do, Sister. She's gone."

Danivun's stern voice broke a little as he remarked "I knew we should've stopped by the mage tower before coming here. A mage shouldn't venture out into such dangers without at least knowing Ice Block."

"Do not speak ill of the dead, Lieutenant." Remarked Sister Lynette. "The Light can only heal so much..." She wiped her still-crying eyes on her sleeve, and then she led us in a prayer for Kaylee while we hung our heads in silence. Her golden eyes remained tearful, but she managed to keep her voice from breaking as she concluded the short, yet somber ceremony.

Tethyros knelt beside the bloody mass of what was left of Kaylee's corpse as he did with Shadowclaw, this time speaking in the Common language. "May your troubles be diminished."

Putting a halt to our impromptu memorial service, Danivun rapped his axe's handle against his shield. "We need to keep moving. We can properly mourn for her later." He turned to Tethyros. "I need you to stay in the back and protect Lynette. We've lost too many and she will need your help if any manage to get past me."

The Night Elf nodded, his long hair swaying like the branch of a willow tree. We took our positions near the next cogwheel door and prepared to move out. A group of four Defias stood waiting for us just outside of the room. Awaiting us in an attack formation, they had clearly heard the explosions from our fight with the Goblins.

These Defias were different. Definitely more organized and more disciplined than the previous ones we had encountered thus far. The two in front with daggers and swords wore all black, except for their silky red bandanas. Behind them were a pair in red and black robes holding staves topped with a red crystal.

Danivun charged in and I was right at his heels. The casters pelted Sister Lynette with blasts of flame and incinerated any arrows that Tethyros fired their way. Fortunately, our High Elven Priestess managed to ward herself against the flames with her prayers. The sword and dagger wielding Defias kept us at bay, deflecting each of my attacks with ease while Danivun managed to trade a few minor blows and keep their focus on him. I was grateful that he was making such efforts to defend me, but felt strangely insulted at how little my enemies had paid me any attention.

Finding the opportune moment to strike, Tiernan turned the tide by ambushing one the Defias wizards and sticking his daggers deep into his back. He dropped to a knee and the Dwarf raked the blades down the length of the wizard's spine. The remaining wizard turned to face him and began to cast a fire spell, but was quickly interrupted when an arrow struck the side of his head.

We overwhelmed the remaining pair and finished them off just as another band of six Defias sprang from the shadows. They swarmed around Sister Lynette, who closed her eyes and focused her mind. The air became charged with a strange dark power and the Defias ambushers ran in a magic-induced panic, covering their ears to block out some sort of sound that only they could hear. Without hesitation, Danivun rush at a pair and smashed them both to the ground with his axe and shield. I quickly followed his lead, striking another down with my axe as she ran by me in her psychic hysteria. Tethyros and Tiernan managed to pick off another before the remaining two, a male and a female, regained their senses. The male dropped his daggers and fled through the passage behind us, but the female charged in with wrathful conviction only to be quickly dispatched by our greater numbers.

Another massive iron door stood in the way, this one was fixed with an enormous lock in the center which blocked the path ahead. Danivun pushed against it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Perhaps it would be wise if the rogue picked the lock." Tethyros's stoic tone made it difficult to tell if he meant to be condescending or not, but the statement drew a fresh scowl across our leader's face.

"Oh sure. O' course I can pick it since me arms be long enough to scratch Odyn's arse from here." The dwarf looked around the tunnel and took note of anything that he thought could be useful. There was a large cannon nearby at just about the right level for someone of his stature to reach into the lock. "If we can push that a wee bit closer, I can open her up."

"This heavy thing?" Sister Lynette exclaimed, her eyes widening. "What if it's loaded?"

Tiernan chuckled. "Its either we use that or ye can give me a boost, but I'd hate to get me footprints on yer pretty dress."

"I could just levitate you." She proposed.

Tiernan gave the idea discerning thought, but eventually answered "I'd rather stand on somethin' solid than risk floatin' about on yer Holy hocus-pocus."

Together, we all got behind the massive cannon and began to push. The old wheels slowly turned, grinding across the dirt floor and we halted just in front of the giant door. Tiernan quickly climbed on top of the gun and walked heel to toe with catlike grace across the length of the barrel.

I was curious to see how lock picking was done, and hoisted myself up onto the back of the cannon's breech. I heard the scrape of sliding wood beneath my feet followed by an odd hissing sound. Everyone froze and looked directly at me. "Aw come on, lass." Tiernan's shoulders slumped from atop the barrel of the cannon as he looked back at me with disappointment. "Ye can't be serious." A shattering explosion knocked the door clean off of the wall. The backblast put most of us down onto our backs, but Tiernan was thrown clear and crashed into a pile of old crates. My ears rang for just a few moments as I called out to him, but couldn't even hear my own voice. Tiernan calmly lifted a hand to indicate that he was alright, but glowered at me with an expression that clearly conveyed some degree of annoyance.

No sooner had my hearing returned did a deep voice thunder from inside the now absent doorway. "You there! Check out that noise!"

We entered through the wreckage of the door and stood in awe at the sight within. The caves opened up to an immense underground cove, complete with a dockyard and a gigantic ship. The vessel was more than twice as large as the old schoolhouse in Moonbrook.

"By me own beard…" Tiernan said, "It's an ogre Juggernaut."

"From the First War?" Asked Danivun. "Where could they have found such a thing? I thought we sank them all."

Tiernan answered, but was unable to pry his gaze from the behemoth of a ship. "The Bloodsail Buccaneers, I wager. The pirates must'o captured one long ago and sold it to the Defias."

Lieutenant Danivun adjusted the shield fastened to his arm. "Not that it matters. Our goal should stop it from being put to use. Let's find the crew and wipe them out."

"It would appear that we have a few coming to greet us." Tethyros interrupted our pondering to bring us back to the harshness of reality. A handful of them men and women wearing red bandanas were running at us across the dock with their weapons raised.

"Ye dinnae say we'd be fightin' bloody pirates." the dwarf grumbled.

As we crossed blades, I noted that they were far more tenacious than the Defias that we had encountered before, but they were also far less disciplined. They swung their swords recklessly, thrashing against Danivun’s shield who countered by stepping into their blows and replied with a slash of his own. Tiernan snuck behind them and drove his blades into the Defias pirates’ backs while hacked at them with my axe. We pushed through a few small waves of pirates along the dock until we reached an islet where the dock ended. The small island had a gangway ramp leading up to the deck of the Juggernaught, but it was currently guarded by a massive beast-man. He was covered in thick black fur from the hooves at the bottom of his legs up to his bovine face, complete with bull-like horns. He stood as tall as a man and a half, wearing little more than black leather pants and a few leather straps around his wrists and chest. Behind him was an iron-bound trunk with the inscription: “Mr. Smite, First Mate.”

“A Tauren…” Tethyros said, answering the question forming in my mind. “Grimtotem by the looks of you.”

Danivun eyed the brute up and down before shouting his warning. “Stand aside, bull. We need not come to blows.”

The bull I assumed was Mr. Smite scoffed and drew a long sword with a hooked barb on the end. He then raised it high and cried out, “We’re under attack! Avast ye swabs. Repel the invaders!”

Two of the Defias Blackguards stepped from the shadows and darted after Sister Lynette. The High Elf hastily threw a magical shield up around herself just in time to deflect a downward slash from one of the Defias, and Tethyros quickly intercepted the off-balance enemy with a strike from the end of his bow. The other Defias paired his attack with Mr. Smite’s and attacked Danivun from his side as oud leader crossed blades with the black bull.

Tethyros kept the Blackguard who ambushed our Priest occupied with a few hindering wounds and well-placed shots. The other Defias Blackguard stabbed repeatedly at Danivun, narrowly missing the vulnerable spots in his chain armor but still managed to cause him some minor bleeding. Sister Lynette was quick to reclose his cuts soon after each blow landed, but it was Danivun's focus and resolve that truly prevented him from flinching while Mr. Smite slashed into his shield. Tiernan managed to stick a knife in the side of the Defias harassing our Lieutenant, but it barely slowed his attacks down. However, it did cause him to refocus his attention on Tiernan. The pair slashed, stabbed, parried, and dodged with neither gaining an upper hand.

The Blackguards proved to be more resilient than the other Defias we had previously encountered, but we were able to overwhelm the one assaulting our priestess by attacking him from opposite sides.

Tethyros and I finished him off and turned to help our Dwarven friend with his opponent, but Mr. Smite saw the tide of battle turning in our favor. The Tauren jumped up and slammed his hooves hard into the ground, causing a shockwave that knocked us all off our feet. “You landlubbers are tougher than I thought!” He bellowed as he ran over to his ironbound chest. “I’ll have to improvise.” Mr. Smite kicked open the lid of the chest and withdrew a pair of particularly gruesome reavers, axe-like weapons with a jagged, rectangular blade. We rose to our feet and all but Danivun turned our focus to the remaining Defias Blackguard. The Defias continued her fight with Tiernan while her Tauren ally swung his reavers rapidly at Danivun. Danivun struggled to deflect such swift and powerful blows. But was determined to stand his ground. Tethyros drew his bow and launched an arrow at the Defias, but I was completely out of sync with my allies and blocked his shot. Instead, the arrow struck me in the arm as I swung my axe at the Blackguard, which caused both of our attacks to miss our enemy. Tethyros let out an exasperated sigh as he slung his bow over his shoulder and drew his dagger to aid the Dwarf. Lynette cast a prayer of mending that removed the arrow from my arm and closed the wound. The mental pain still pierced through my mind, robbing me of my senses. The ring of a steel collision cried out as Danivun’s strength faded. One of the Tauren’s brutal attacks finally threw his shield off line and our leader began taking undefended slashes to the chest. Although his mail absorbed the brunt of the attacks, blood still poured from beneath his armor. Seeing my friend suffering put the fight back into my bones, and I charged in to help Danivun. I swung my axe wildly at the Tauren who lazily parried me, but took a small slice across his chest that didn’t even phase him. He swung the flat side of one of his blades and barely missed, but he stepped in and followed up with a monstrous backhanded swing with the haft of his weapon that knocked me off balance. Dropped to a knee and struggling to catch his breath, it seemed as though this battle would be Danivun’s last until Sister Lynette spat a word of power to conjure a holy aegis around him. As if breathing new life into our ally, she channeled holy power into the Lieutenant who rose to his feet and rapped his axe against his shield, taunting the black bull into taking another swing. Behind us, the Blackguard fended off Tethyros with a series of acrobatic kicks that staggered the Night Elf and Tiernan seized the moment to rush her. The Dwarf wrestled the Defias to the ground and began stabbing her in the side and stomach. She fought desperately to push Tiernan off of her until blood gurgled in her throat and she succumbed to her wounds.

Together, we encircled the Tauren who slammed his hooves into the ground and knocked us all off our feet once again. “D’ah! Now you’re making me angry!” The Tauren growled as he returned to his chest for another weapon. As we clambered back to a battle stance, Mr. Smite lifted a monstrous hammer from his ironbound chest and charged at Danivun once more. Each heavy swing of the maul knocked Danivun back, who was now reinforcing his shield with both arms to keep from being pummeled into the ground. The rest of us hacked and slashed at the bull until he swung his hammer in a wide arc and threw a few of us back a distance away. The raw power from the bull’s swings even pushed Danivun back a few inches with each strike. A wild swing managed to graze Tiernan and I, which threw us backward but didn’t cause us serious harm. We quickly returned to our feet, charging at the black bull with all of the fervor and ferocity we could muster. With none of his allies to distract us, we managed to cut the Tauren down but continued to stab and slash at him for a while to ensure that he wouldn’t get back up. We took a moment to recover, pausing to eat or drink what little we had brought with us or had found on the way through the mines. Tiernan rummaged through Mr. Smite’s chest, tossing one of the Tauren’s reavers to Tethyros while divvying up some gold among the rest of us. The endeavor was exhausting and gruesome, but I knew it would all be worth it to make Westfall a safer place for the people once again.

Our slight reprieve came to an abrupt end when the Defias pirates began to charge down the gangway. Barely wide enough for 2 people, their numbers counted for very little while we fought them on the ramp. I stood shoulder to shoulder with Danivun as we fought them head-on. Danivun did well to shove the pirates into each other, which prevented any of them from landing any effective attacks in such a narrow space. Arrows and arcs of golden light struck our foes as Tethyros and sister Lynette used the angle of the ramp to their advantage. Some of their squallshaper magi conjured blasts of water at us, but Tiernan made quick work of them. The Dwarf stepped through the shadows, masterfully appearing behind one and then another to slit their throats or choke them with a garrote to prevent their spell casting. Above us on the promenade deck was a small green Goblin in a red shirt calling out orders to his men, brandishing a harpoon as he directed the pirates into battle. More and more of the pirates came rushing into the fray, but we pushed our way through one villain at a time. One of the men turned and looked up at the Goblin, shouting “Captain Greenskin, we cannot hold them for much longer!” “Damn it all” The Goblin cried. “Cookie, make yourself useful and get your fishy behind in there!” A Murloc in a chef’s hat came running over toward the battle and began throwing rotten food at us. Hardly effective, but an annoyance nonetheless. We plowed through the pirates and the Murloc began to run away in fear, diving into the waters below the ship and fleeing for his life. The ship would soon be ours. Captain Greenskin and a small band of Defias pirates scurried down the planks in order to join in the fight. Poison glistened from the tip of his harpoon as the Goblin attempted to skewer Danivun and I. Tethyros shot one of the captain’s squallshapers in the neck, but sword-wielding pirates closed in fast. We crossed blades with the Defias, and Sister Lynette managed to mind-control one of them. She forced the pirate to drive his sword into his compatriot’s chest and then bade him to draw a knife that he stuck into his own stomach. Afraid and alone, Captain Greenskin swung wide and cleaved through Danivun, Tiernan, and I with a heavy swipe of his harpoon. The cut barely did anything to Danivun’s armor, but the poisoned blade cut through my shirt and Tiernan’s leather chestguard. The wound wasn’t too deep but there was an instant sizzling sensation that burned my wounded abdomen. Danivun slammed his shield into the Goblin’s face, who staggered and then realigned his spear to make another jab at him. Greenskin lunged forward, attempting to plunge his weapon into Danivun’s eye, but the Lieutenant knocked the harpoon off line and drove his shield into the Goblin’s face once again. This time, the Goblin fell and Danivun quickly kneeled on top of the little green man and continued to drive the edge of his shield into the side of his head. We heard a sickening crack, and the Goblin’s body remained still. Teirnan quickly produced a salve from his satchel and applied it to his chest and my stomach in order to counteract the poison. It was cold, yet soothing. The burning sting from the poisoned wound quickly abated, and we continued onto the main deck of the ship after Lynette mended our cuts.

The ship’s bridge was it’s command center, the most likely place for us to find the Defias leader. It still sent shivers down my spine when a shadowy figure stood in the doorway, waiting for us just out of the light’s reach. We moved in somewhat of a formation, Danivun at the front with Tiernan and myself to right and his left. Danivun looked behind us to Tethyros and Sister Lynette, who stood ready to support us at range. Lynette gave our fearless leader a decisive nod, and Danivun stepped forward. "Edwin VanCleef." Danivun's voice broke the silence as he read from a rolled up sheet of parchment. The dark figure stepped from the shadows. His footsteps were eerily silent, as though he had spent a lifetime perfecting the art of stealth. Unlike the other Defias we had encountered within the stronghold, this man wore a finely tailored dark blue suit with yellow fringe and a high collar as if in mockery of the Stormwind colors. His long and thick black hair draped down to the sturdy epaulets protecting his shoulders. Two barbed swords were tucked into his sash, gleaming in the light and freshly sharpened for combat. His menacing eyes seemed to pierce through me from over an immaculately clean silk bandana that masked his face. The tension in the air caused me to feel as though I were suddenly standing atop a frozen lake. "You stand accused of treason, mass murder, the death of Queen Tiffin Wrynn, the kidnapping and ransom of King Varian Wrynn, conspiracy, piracy, robbery, and destruction of property. Come quietly and face justice, or draw your steel." The masked man reached for his blades. His hands paused as he gripped the hilts and a chill shot through my spine. His eyes narrowed, and his deep voice spoke in a deadly calm from behind the mask. "None may challenge the Brotherhood."