Chapter 5-5

Arathi Basin

Spout, already comfy before the fire, was busily munching the berries and beer Garl had set out for him even before Garl himself had gotten his cloak off. Unstrapping and unbuckling his armor, he wondered what it would be like to so easily forget the day’s events as the white bear seemed to be able to do. He laid out his armor on the table and prepared to inspect it for any necessary cleaning and repairs.

This stitching, rendered by a mace….that buckle, forged into a lump by some mage…the blood stains alone would take hours to prep and clean. He sighed and went over to his chemicals and supplies, pausing at the cabinet to remove an ale. He brought his now well-worn tools back to the table, and cleared some room to work and spied the briefing packet. Sent to him by Aediwen, a druid who was fast becoming both a friend and an ally, it was still on the table where he had left it. He had been able to read it before the summons from Donal Osgood of The League of Arathor, and was glad of it. The chaos of his inital forays into Warsong, while tempered by the experience of Aediwen, was not to his liking. Donal, apparently, placed more value in preparing his fighters than Lylandris of the Silverwing Sentinels, having bid Aedi to prepare the briefing for him.

Picking up the packet, Garl reflected that comparing the briefing to his actual experience might have some benefit…not the least being to delay the drudgery of repair work. Grabbing his ale, he took the seat next to the fire, with Spout’s ruminations over his meal mingling with the fire’s pop and crackle.

“Prepared by Aediwen for Donal…”. Garl skipped over the intro and down to the first section which read:

“Background:

The many and varied resources of Arathi Basin are essential to Alliance operations in the Arathi Highlands, as they have always been to the powers of the area, beginning with the Kingdom of Stromgarde. From its origins at Stromgarde, humans spread out, founding Stormwind and Lordaeron, among others. This migration, combined with the losses to Stromgarde forces during the Second and Third Wars, now leaves Stromgarde Keep with a force of roughly 1200. From this meager remnant, the League of Arathor was founded in order to secure the Arathi Basin and keep the Forsaken Defilers at bay. Currently led in battle by Donal Osgood, the main adversary is the Forsaken, with their general hatred and wish to destroy humanity. They are occasionally assisted by Horde forces based at Hammerfall, though those forces are split between Arathi Basin and efforts to clear the local Boulderfist ogre and Winterbark troll tribes, and also their rebuilding efforts at Hammerfall. Hammerfall was originally an internment camp for the orcs, and was liberated by Thrall and the Horde, though at the cost of losing Ogrim Doomhammer…thus it’s name, Hammerfall. Split as they are, however, Hammerfall is still a force to be reckoned with in the fight with the Forsaken to control Arathi Basin. The orc internment at Hammerfall was done over the objections of Stromgarde, though not for humanitarian reasons … Stromgarde wished to simply execute the orcs, and this is likely a reason Hammerfall quite willingly and actively oppose the League of Arathor. The mutual antipathy between Stromgarde and the Forsaken and Hammerfall means little quarter is given or expected in the Basin.”

Garl took a draught of his ale and propped his feet up on Spout’s haunches, now slowly rising and falling as he slept by the fire. The small table by the chair had a simple wood box upon it; he removed his pipe and tobacco from it, lighting it by taking a long branch kept leaning between the table and the wall, kept there for that express purpose, and extending it to the fire. He had to lean forward slightly, and made a mental note that he would have to get a new branch soon to replace this one as it gradually shortened.

The brief continued:

“Objective:

Arathi Basin holds a Lumber Mill, a Blacksmith, a …. “

Garl knew the objectives in Arathi Basin, not from the dry statements of the brief, though. To him, the Lumber Yard did not mean resources for Alliance use. It meant arcane explosions mixed with slashing steel, flashing Light tempered with smoldering Dark….the giant saw of the mill spewing not sawdust but spatters of blood and other…things.

The crops at the Farm were trampled, but would recover with the new “fertilizer”….the carts at the Gold Mine carried rent bodies and organs, not boulders and ore…the metal at the Blacksmith was forged in fires fed by energies other than charcoal and was quenched in blood, not water…

Arathi no longer meant lumber and ore to Garl.

The battle had been a maelstorm of fluid chaos, a rushing whirlpool drawing the unlucky and ill-trained to Death at its depths…

“Strategy:

From the jump point at Trollbane Hall, equal forces will sortie to the closest objectives and assess opposing…..”

Garl grunted….that was about as far as the strategy was followed. He knew enough about battle to know that first contact pretty much threw any tactical plan to the winds. The basic plan of smaller, independent forces attacking targets of opportunity had worked, though costing heavy casualties. Perhaps Donal Osgood recognized that the training of his fighters had been geared towards individual and small group fighting, and that their training in larger formations was not yet sufficient.

Garl continued reading, finishing the brief and his ale together, thinking that the history books his mother had made him read had likely been written before the fact….

He sighed and carefully lifted his feet off of Spout so as not to wake him. His armor still waited, patiently, unperturbed at its disarray and damage. Garl picked up his tools and began to pick at a stitch, reflecting that he was getting too good at repairing it…

* * * * *

“I was tasked by the League of Arathor to help secure resources for the Alliance. Hopefully, our efforts are coming to fruition, and the shortages at home will lessen for you.”