Topics

I've decided to make a little post regarding the upcoming plots that we can expect in the upcoming expansion. The actual discussion can be found on the DefiasRP forums (found on this link), but since not every one of us might have an account there, I figured I might as well throw it up in here as well.

So in the following post, you will have to expect some spoilers from both the upcoming MoP expansion as well as the upcoming book, Tides of War. Some of the excerpts here may not be from an official source, but nonetheless from a source that has read throughout the book and given brief summaries of what's happening (for those lazy ones among us or just lacking the time to actually read it ourselves). So without further ado: Spoilers!


It's no secret by now that Garrosh has been on a bit of a Dark Horde-esque tour for a while now. This is all the more confirmed in the upcoming book, where he not only seems to have recruited Blackrock orcs into his ranks, but is openly making use of so-called Dark Shaman (according to some sources, Twilight cultists) as well. Heck, he even uses a Blackrock lieutenant whose orders are purely to keep a close eye on fellow Hordies and even seems to have killed or beaten up the opposition to Garrosh on the middle of the street. Moreover, Garrosh goes on about "submitting the elements to their will", which is as close to the Old Horde as it gets.

So what does this mean for Horde RP? It seems the tables are almost turned now. Whereas the "traditionalists" (loyal to Thrall, you could say) were once the ruling mob, it now appears to be the Garrosh-loyalists who rule the streets now, in a matter of speaking. These loyalists could in fact easily play along in this whole iron fisted rule thing, whereas the traditionalists will have to suppress their objections to Garrosh' Horde and be careful as to who they trust.

It's especially this latter point that interests me. This could be a great opportunity to get some real life back into inter-guild RP on Horde side. On one side, you have the loyalists moping around, and on of the other side you have the traditionalists trying to keep a low profile. In the latter case, there could even be a resistance of some sort put up, keeping into account the rumoured events to take place at the end of the MoP expansion (raid on Orgrimmar, so I've been told anyway). You could think of an "underground resistance group" so to speak, meeting in secret and scheming to bring balance back to the Horde, whilst the loyalists attempt to root them out and have them trialed for betrayal.

Of course, there's far more that comes into account in this situation, but this is but a brief take on what we could very well realize, should there be enough interest in it. If so, it should make for an interesting setting on the Horde side indeed.

[For starters, keep in mind that there will be no need for any bickering unto one another in this thread. After a brief... "survey" in-game, it became rather clear that barely anyone would immediately consider the following an option right now. Anyway, on to the important stuff.]

For starters, keep in mind that there will be no need for any bickering unto one another in this thread. After a brief... "survey" in-game, it became rather clear that barely anyone would immediately consider the following an option right now. Anyway, on to the important stuff.


For some time now, some people have grown bothered by the increase of PvP-griefing and ganking in regards to OOCing twits, bent on ruining either Horde or Alliance RP. Now, I won't say we have ever been bullied to the extend that we fled from them or that they succeeded in any of their intentions, but sometimes it would have simply been nice to get to blueshield for the sake of RP instead. Therefore, the discussion of transferring to a normal RP server was raised. As mentioned above, it is not something we honestly consider at the moment, but it is something that we're open to discussion for.

Along comes the issue of PvP-related events in this case, however. After all, some people have no doubt joined this server and/or guild with the intent of doing RP-PvP related events. Well, one may want to keep in mind that we haven't had one for quite some time now. In fact, I've seen an increase of /roll or /emote-related events within the guild itself, a concept quite popular on normal RP servers as well. Besides, one is still able to enable PvP on the normal RP server. This could even go as far as to organize large-scale PvP events where every attending member is reminded to enable their PvP. These kind of events have been done successfully so on normal RP servers in the past already. On the downside however, we wouldn't be able to kill any OOCing Alliance (or even Horde) that would attempt to disrupt our events by standing around on giant mounts or the like, due to the ever-lasting blueshield.

Aside from this, there's the matter of Defias Brotherhood itself. I have been a happy member of the server in itself since it was first launched, but even I have to admit that its RP and community in itself has been in a downward spiral since way before the current expansion. There's not a lot of cohesion between most of the (Horde) RP guilds, and in terms of overall activity, there have certainly been better days as well. In fact, I'm not ashamed to admit that OotRB is the only thing that's been keeping me on DB, as the lacking amount of (random) RP would have certainly made me change servers quite some time ago.

Nonetheless, a new start on a more active and normal RP server would no doubt have its downsides as well. We'd likely have to make a new IC name for ourselves again, and leave the guilds and friends behind that we do still have back on DB. Not to mention transfer costs for each orc, and no doubt not all of us have a steady income. One transfer could be doable, but if someone were to have multiple alts in the guild, I can see it becoming a problem.


As you can see, a bumload of discussion can be raised here, and that's all just coming from senile, old me! Feel free to use this topic for the discussion, but make sure to keep it clean. Thoughts or brainfarts, dump them here!

[D]

"The end will be in sight with the first step made. Do not let desperation erode your will, boy. The first steps taken are a sure sign of better times to come. There will be better times, one day, for us orcs."
- Galth, elder shaman of the Warsong Clan in the Dark Times.

Dust is wafting up from the steppes as the scorching sun burns the lands that the orcs have now called home. A wolf flashes by, his furry coat glued with thick dust as he disappears into a small bush nearby. A triumphant bark is heard, and the magnificent beast soon comes hopping out of the little piece of foliage with a small beast in between his broad maws. Greeting him is a gloved, orcish hand, motioning for the worg to drop the prey to which it complies. The prey, a sizeable possum, has an arrow stuck into it, which the wolf-masked orc takes out with a firm yank.

“This be now yours, Kraag. What do we do with it?” The bigger orc turns around, showing the dead animal to a smaller orcling who appears to be following in his wake. The child by the name of Kraag takes it, looking down its dead state before he looks back up to the bigger orc.

“Make… sure it’s dead?”

A little smile can be seen from underneath the wolf mask, and a dusty hand is lifted to ruffle the orcling’s gathering of black hair, a part of it tugged back into a little braid, as he gets up to motion both child and worg to follow him.

“That too,” the wolf masked orc known as Kozgugore responds. “But Shrewd be pretty thorough with his prey as soon as he caught but a glimpse of it. That be a good shot you delivered, friend. Next up, you thank its spirit for delivering you the means to survive for another day. For granting you food and warmth in colder days to come. And whatever more aid its resources will give us. After all…” the orc looks back to his son, granting him a subtle nod to finish the sentence.

“We… don’t let anything go to waste?” Kraag looks back up to his father uncertainly, hoping to guess for the right response after all the things he has been taught about the hunt in the safety of a hut so far.

The bigger orc nods, sending the boy an approving smile as he waves his hand forward. “That be right. Very good, pup. Come on. We’ll find a suitable place to take care of just that.”

Less than an hour later, the two are sat on a cliff overlooking the dusty steppes by a makeshift camp, Kozgugore having instructed Kraag on how to skin the animal by example. Making sure to keep an eye on the little orc still, as he goes about his first practise on how to handle a knife like that, he occasionally glances out over the red and yellow panorama, his thoughts trailing off.

Back when he was the child’s age, he wouldn’t even be allowed to go on any hunts with his father. Those were different times, after all. Hunters were still plentiful, as was prey, and the clan would tend to any other remaining needs. These are more independent times, more so now that his mate has disappeared, leaving him to tend to three children on his own. Ever since Morgeth left, he has barely had any time to take care of his own matters, constantly having to keep a wary eye on the three mischievous orclings. Thankfully enough, the eldest, Kraag, has become old enough to finally learn the basics of the tricks of the trade. It’s about time too, as the little orc has been hounding his father to take him on a hunt more than enough times now. Just like the chieftain did when he was still young. Perhaps one day, Kraag will be skilled enough to tend to himself, or even to tend for his younger brothers and sisters. For now, Kozgugore will have to take care of all that himself. After all, if he wouldn’t, so he argues, these children will be doomed for the rest of their lives. It was he himself that always said that parentless children would be almost guaranteed to end up as peons, not having any example to look to or anyone to teach them how to fight, hunt, or any other kind of trade. He’s not about to let that happen to his very own children after all that trouble.

And then there’s his mate. She who left after a volatile argument between the two. His hopes are still set on recovery, hoping Morgeth will come around and realise the errors of her more recent ways. What little run-ins he’s had with her ever since did not exactly offer any kind of hope for any such recovery so far. In fact, he could see the sanity fading away from her, the darkness that he so scorned her for taking her in even more. He would offer her back home just for that, just to make sure she wouldn’t decline any further, but this is her burden to bear and fight to win. It’s a heavy burden for him, knowing there’s little he can do until she realises this herself, but he will have to remain strong. For her, for the little ones, and for the tribe. It would be foolish to show off his weakness in front of the tribe now, as he realises full-well the importance of having to maintain a strong exterior for the sake of it all. Show any kind of weakness, and they will all the more easily see an opening to usurp him or to hit him in a weak spot. After all, it was Sadok who raised part of the issue only recently, questioning the line of chieftains in the tribe. Kozgugore would not blindly bestow that title upon his son, should that time one day come, but he knows all too well that there may be others that may prey upon leadership of the tribe as well. It has happened in the past, and it may still happen again. In spite of it all, he still knows that one day, Morgeth will be strong enough to find her way back to him, with the same strength, confidence and devotion she once carried. Then, the pretending out in public can come to an end.

His eyes finally dart back to Kraag, realising he had all but forgotten about the orcling and his handiwork, before he grunts alarmingly and leans forward to grasp Kraag’s hands for guidance. “Watch it, pup. Don’t hold it like that or you’ll cut yourself. It may just be a skinning knife, but that don’t mean it won’t cut you up if you don’t watch it.”

He guides the boy’s hands accordingly, making sure he’s skinning into the right direction in the right position as Kraag follows the movements with wide, open eyes, somewhat hesitant to take matters into his own hands still.

“My hands are getting sticky,” he complains. “I can’t hold it well.”

“Then watch what I do. Here. If you keep your hand on this end, it be a lot smoother already. See? Let me show you.”

As Kozgugore takes matters, and the bloodied beast, into his own hands, he shows Kraag step by step on how to treat the prey and its harvest. At least this serves as a suitable distraction from all the concerns and all the troubles he’s facing elsewhere. It would be all too easy to just run and to forget about it all, leaving the tribe and the Horde behind to tend to these kind of personal matters that have gone unattended for far too long. He knows that such thoughts are a blasphemy however, and that his duties lie with the tribe as much as they lie with his family. That is why moments like these are important to have. To focus on the little things, and to make them count. Even small animals like these require the respect  they deserve if they’re to be killed by a future line of his blood. A line that shouldn’t forget the ways of old in this ever-changing world.

To all of you orcses out there,

On a recent W-PvP event, there have been some misunderstandings with the dwarven guild the Three Hammers. As such, some of our members felt somewhat uncomfortable about our position in regards to them. After some negotiations in the wake of the event, we have settled any bad blood between the two, and have made sure that any future complaints will be addressed to us personally instead of any misunderstandings reoccurring.

As such, I would like to ask you orcs to do the same. I don't want to see any more antagonism or animosity between the two guilds. If you have any complaints about the guild or its members, either let one of their officers know, or let one of our own officers know so they can address their leaders about the complaints. With that, there will be no more need to speak ill about this guild or any other Alliance RP guilds in a public channel, so I want to avoid seeing any such talk in the future.

There has been some bad blood between the two guilds, but this has gone on long enough. There's no need to base our vision of another guild based on events that happened in the past by previous members. Instead, there's plenty of incentive to rekindle any old bonds with these kind of guilds instead, as now more than ever, we're seeing OOCers out here on our server with the intention of trying to break these kind of bonds instead.

I hope you orcs can see the point in all of this, and will work and help along in creating a more pleasant atmosphere for RPers on both Horde as well as Alliance side. For that, I'm thanking you all in advance.

- Koz

[The essence]

The essence

Kozgugore lifted his chin, inhaling the scent of the forest around him. As opposed to the more open fjords he and his tribe found himself in only a week ago, these hills are a different world entirely. The trees here in Grizzly Hills smelled different; rich, crisp and clean. He put a hand to one of them, the bark strong and thick to protect it from the cold climate. Here, winter never ends.

He looked down to his left. There, his companion and brother Shrewd returned its fierce, yellow gaze to him. Though the worg hails from a warmer climate back in Outlands, his thick coat, though wet from snow, has prepared him for the cold that awaits them.

“A-hunting we go, my friend. Today’s the day we get our chance.”

The worg gave him an understanding look; one that radiated confidence and warmth. They’re traits not spoken, but Kozgugore could definitely feel them. That’s the advantage with animals, after all. They have no need for complicated  terms or descriptions. You can simply read their intentions and their very hearts if you just know what to search for. No hidden intentions or thoughts that you may have to worry about later. With that one look, the orc pushed himself off the tree, venturing forward into the mists that lay ahead in the great pine forest in front of him.

The vast wilds spread out in front of him, but there was one spot that instinctively attracted the orc and his companion. It was a sole clearing in the middle of the forest, with a rock that seemed to be there with almost an intent purpose. The orc sat himself in front of it, while the worg simply laid himself down next to him, patiently awaiting the orc’s next move. A carved, wooden figurine appeared from the orc’s satchel, shaped in a resting wolf, which was placed on that one stone. Then, the orc’s eyes snapped shut, and in the darkness that followed, the sounds of the forest around him would soon take on a world of their own.

Birds sung even clearer, and the sun even brighter. It was then, when he realised he heard something completely out of place in these Grizzly Hills, that he was now in a different place entirely. The sound he heard was that of the familiar razorwinds back in the valleys of Durotar. They grew increasingly louder, until finally, he could heard the faint sound of a rider approaching. It was then that he could see, and feel, and even smell. The winds were harsh, but they did barely more but annoy the skin. The smell was thick and prominent, almost familiar, and  what he saw was a worg with barely any gear save for a simple straddle, mounted by an orc. This particular orc was the kind one wouldn’t soon forget; clad in the finest of orc armours, carrying the colours of a dark red pattern and, finally, clad with a dark and ragged wolf mask. Though he certainly didn’t recognize the orc, there was something undeniably familiar and reassuring about the orc. It was almost as if their gazes met, when the orc seemed to reach out, and spoke with a clear voice.

“The hunt is good. The wolves still howl from afar. Conflicts arise and pass on. But we â€" we march forward. Never resting. Never letting up. I’m waiting for you.”

It was as if the orc was about to rein in his wolf, when suddenly something pulled the chieftain back into the present again. His eyes opened, and in front of him, the finely carved figurine was glowing with a most prominent hue. He smiled to himself, realising the essence he was looking for had been found and captured. When the right day comes to pass, this small, simple statuette might just end up a lifesaver.


OOC: I realised this has turned out vaguer and less informative than I had first planned. Either way, it's just a little something I personally wanted to write down, for future reference!

[My squad:]

Imagine yourself being put in a Bioware-made game, and your NPC companions would all be members of OotRB (or any other other well-known/related Warcraft character if failing that). This is your chance to set up your ultimate squad of pwnage! Who would you bring on your three- to four-orc squad? Who would be the romantic interest? Who would be the sucker to get left behind to protect the exploding plague bomb? Or would get left behind to begin with? Name whatever jumps to mind: - this is your chance to shine!

My squad:
Morgeth - Romantic interests always need to be brought with - and for that sadistic humour sauce to provide on the missions.
Groshnakk - For further sadism and a class that's moooost likely overpowered in this game as well anyway.
Orgash - To have my own personal Oghren and bully with me.
Alternatively, Mazguul - She probably wouldn't do a lot of good fighting (sorry!), but probably a good backup and support!

Romantic interest: Morgeth - Because... well, she's got experience in that.

Sadok would probably be stuck at the base/ship/camp making witty remarks whenever I bother to return for a change.

The one to be left to guard the exploding bomb would, without a doubt, be Karak.

I'll no doubt come up with more revelations later. For now, spout your own ideas!

Got any feedback or tips regarding the tribe, be it its structure, ranks, events, members, website, even the realm and its community itself, anything? This is the place to come clean! We always appreciate some feedback to see if there's anything out there that we can improve upon. Don't be shy and let us know what you think of the guild and its environment, be it good or bad!

[Pros:]

A random idea came up again yesterday that had been subject of some (minor) discussion in the past already: The option of opening up the guild to other races.

First off, I'd like to state that these ideas have by no means been seriously considered yet, so don't go about worrying that the guild will forever be changed as it is already. The guild will, so far, remain orc-only, but I thought it would be interesting to see the views of all our other members on the subject at hand.

The discussion was about opening up the guild to other races, in particular to the races closest to the orcs so that the tribal environment will still be maintained without having to overhaul the guild altogether: Trolls and tauren. This way, the current (rank) structure can still be maintained and even expanded a bit (some ranks have been somewhat inactive so far still) without us having to dismiss the entire guild's past or identity.

So far, I've managed to piece together the following pros and cons.

Pros:

- The guild will be more active again.
Considering the hard-pressed times, OotRB is still rather active for an orc-only RP guild. With more members though, we will, logically, be able to expand our activities and network. This way, we wouldn't have to rely upon any outside guild to create for a true Kalimdoric atmosphere (there have been several tauren guilds that have gone inactive throughout the course of time, and the Darkspears have always been under-represented due to either too little activity or interested) and are reassured of our lasting position of a major Kalimdor guild.

- A more permanent and reliable home for tauren and troll RPers.
As stated above, the tauren and troll RPers have seen the rise and fall of quite a few smaller guilds. By opening up OotRB, we would offer a more permanent and stable guild for them to be in, and still be able to enjoy a fair bit of racial/tribal RP. The races are quite alike, so events, ranks and more can be integrated rather nicely.

- A wider variety of classes.
With above mentioned advantages, we could keep in mind that the new races will bring new classes with them as well. This could come in useful not only in RP situations, but more OOC-related matters too, like setting up dungeon/raid group, battleground/arena teams, being a reliable asset in world PvP, that sort of things.

- More achievements.
Not that it's very important to us as an RP guild to be honest, but I suppose there may be some that could be interested in such a thing. Heathens.

Cons:

- No more guild exclusivity.
The guild has always been known for its home to orc RPers. While it will still be as such, it will still lose some kind of exclusive label of being an orc-exclusive guild if other races will be accepted. While it's merely a matter of prestige, it's still something that ought to weigh heavily with some, keeping in mind the server tradition. "The Red Blades" (or whatever) would simply not be the same as "Orcs of the Red Blade".

- Smaller RP guilds will have lesser chance of succeeding.
While we have seen many smaller guilds of orc, tauren or troll races rise and fall, it was always nice to see them come to realisation and work out, even if only for just a little while. If we are to make OotRB a home for all of these races, these newer guilds will have even less chance of succeeding, thus saturating the (Kalimdor) RP guilds on Horde side.

Of course, feel free to add your own pros and cons as well. Perhaps I can make a concise post here to sum them all up.


There are alternatives as well of course, like the suggestion of creating a sister-guild that would accept tauren and trolls. A sort of "Allies of the Red Blade" (though we'd have a name not as overly cheesy as that, of course). The downside here is that it would require us to maintain and control two guilds at the same time, and that seem like a bit of a hassle. Moreover, people might not be all that interested if it's just a side-project, possibly resulting in it becoming and alt guild instead (which has been attempted by Groshnakk and others before, I believe). On the other hand, it would of course maintain the mother guild's independence and exclusivity.


I reckon I've been giving you all quite a wall of text by now, so the TL;DR version is as follows: Open up the guild to new races, or not? Any alternatives, pros and cons, special thoughts or cheese on the matter? Let your voice be heard, because this is a decision that the community of an entire guild should be willing to take - not just one person!

Hello orcses o/

I’m writing this post to give you all a notice on my identity. Yesterday night, something rather surreal happened to me. I was doing a random Google and all of a sudden stumbled upon a person who claimed to be me (Kozgugore Feraleye, to be precise) on a certain private roleplaying server.

I would like to let you all know that this person claiming to be me is in fact not who he’s claiming to be. Apparently, he has been claiming that the “official” Orcs of the Red Blade guild is no longer active on the Defias Brotherhood server, and that I have moved from DB to this particular private server to relive the guild there. As a result, this person has basically been stealing my name, identity, reputation and even entire texts and pictures I have written and created (and have been created for me) throughout the course of OotRB’s history.

I have now posted a topic about this on their forums, hoping to clarify the matter, though I would very much appreciate if, should anyone happen to ask, people could spread the word that this person has been stealing someone else’s work and that I'm still safely playing on DB all along. It personally feels rather distasteful that someone would go through so much effort to steal all of these things, while it’s a lot more fun to create your own characters and lore (and a lot more satisfying to see it successfully work out too).

Thanks for reading through this bucket of drama. TL;DR, I'm still active on DB and I've no intentions whatsoever to move to any private servers. Oh, and OotRB -certainly- isn't dead either.

Regards,

The real Koz

For centuries, the Om'riggor has been a means used by orcs to measure the vigour and strength of their orcs. This traditional ritual has been forgotten in time after the many wars, but is now back so all orcs of the tribe can prove their strength in the hunt!

In the tribe, only members of Oathbound rank and higher are allowed to take part. Make sure you come prepared! For any additional information, you can consult the wiki page here.

The time of our expedition to the Eastern Kingdoms is upon is! Make sure you're at the place of the gathering in time, so we can continue on as a pack! Additional info can be found in-game.

With an increase of New Bloods, all of them will need training. As many tutors as there may be out there, even they may not always be able to cover every aspect of the tribe.

Therefore, there will be a good, old New Blood Training taking place. Even those of you who are no longer New Blood are welcome to come and listen about the tribe's ways!

[Thursday, 9 June, 20:30Bilgewater Harbour, Azshara]

We begin to make our preparations for the upcoming expedition!

Thursday, 9 June, 20:30
Bilgewater Harbour, Azshara

[Friday, 3 June, 20:30Razor Hill, Durotar]

It's time for the tribe to move to a new temporary home, in preparation for the upcoming campaign that takes us to the eastern lands! Gather around to make sure you know in what grand location you, too, will be expected to be at throughout the coming week!

Friday, 3 June, 20:30
Razor Hill, Durotar

A short funeral will be held to mark the death of Rrosh-tul Rargnasha Bloodmark.

Meeting up at the Crossroads at 20:30 before heading elsewhere.

(Event is organized by Mazguul)

[Note: This is a direct copy/pasta from the Defias RP forums, posted by Girloy from The Three Hammers. A bit of a late notice, but unfortunately, I wasn't told any sooner than I am now.]

Note: This is a direct copy/pasta from the Defias RP forums, posted by Girloy from The Three Hammers. A bit of a late notice, but unfortunately, I wasn't told any sooner than I am now.

The Barrens Campaign

Greetings everyone!
As promised, here is the general information and rule set for the Barrens Campaign. The following text concerns both parts of the conflict, but it's obviously more centred around the Alliance that I'll be more directly commanding and interacting with.
The Horde of course are free to act as they wish, but nevertheless I'll provide some guidelines for them as well... This is just a sketch of what I had in mind and the all the mentioned guilds have been contacted, but many are waiting for this post in order to confirm their participation!
There will be a public channel for event discussion. This channel will still be open during the campaign. /join BarrensOOC



Like I said, the idea is for this event to have a W2/W3 feeling, that's why I'm keeping just 4 races each side:

-Humans
-Worgen (Gilneans)
-Dwarves
-Gnomes

vs

-Orcs
-Trolls
-Tauren
-Goblins

Basically, the barbaric and tribal Horde against the righteous royal Alliance. Like it should be



Participating Guilds:


Alliance
-The Three Hammers
-The Greymane Resolve
-Kingdom of Stromgarde
-Stormwind Regiment
-Chapter of Holy Anethion
-Possible Gnome Guild
-The Lady Proudmoore (Not partaking in W-PvP)
-The Disciples of Light

Horde
-Darkspear Tribe
-Orcs of the Red Blade
-Rite of the Earth Mother
-Blackpowder Company
-Warsong Blades


Mercenary
-Blades for Hire (Alliance)
-Possible Merc Guild (Horde)


Not-guilded players, or players from other guilds can visit the camps and Roleplay there. Although they won't be able to participate on the World PvP.
People that are not part of this guilds but still want to come and join the RP -need to be aware of this-. In order to not create a greater imbalance we are just keeping the listed guilds on the confront.



In-Character info:


Alliance Goals
-Offer protection to the building settlements like Fort Triumph
-Increase the Alliance pressure on the Horde camps and strongholds
-Lower the ammount of Horde troops on the Barrens
-Reinforce the roads between the Alliance camps and settlements
-Attempt to supply the recently bombarded Bael'Modan with materials and troops, in order to rebuild the city/stronghold
-The ultimate goal would be after the rebuilding of Bael'Modan and Fort Triumph to start launching attacks to upper Barrens in direction to Durotar and maybe Orgrimmar



Horde Goals
-Not allowing the Alliance to act as they plan
-Kill
-Destroy
-Burn



I expect that guilds from both sides start to prepare already ICly for the long journey on the sea and the campaign...


At this moment the Alliance would already be sailing, so the Horde is informed already about 3 large ships sailing towards Barrens:
-The Lady Proudmoore (Ship of Human construct, Will be taking the majority of the Troops)

-4732349-AA  Model C v2.1 (Ship of Gnomish construct where the machinery will be taken, such as Steam Tanks, Gyrochopter, Choppers, communication devices and a team of Tinkers, Engineers and Bombardiers)

-Khaz'Goroth's Holy Anvil (Steam powered dwarven ship where the building material and the builders will be travelling)



The last ship will only be landing after the Alliance has secured Northwatch Hold.


During the campaign there won't be tolerated any kind of robbing allies, violence between allies, rebelion towards a superior, cultism, necromantic acts. Demonology, shadow and fel casting are also out of the picture. (During PvP fights in full PvP gear this can be ignored)
Anyone caught doing any of this will be either arrested or executed, depending on the scale of the crime.

The only religious practices admitted on the Alliance War Camps are:
-Church of Holy Light
-Anethionism
-Mystery of the Makers
-Ancestral Worship

Religious harassment towards another will be punished as well (Chapterians)




Calendar
I plan that at the day 13 all the guilds could meet on Stormwind Harbour and start preparing to sail. The idea is to have a very active harbour with troopers and preachers all over. There could be done some formations and small patrolling exercices around the area.
The following day we would embark and sail to Northwatch Hold. The idea is for people to RP inside the boat while it's (obviously) stationed at Stormwind, and imagine that we are indeed sailing. I advise to only RP inside the boat to not break the immersion.

During the night 14-15, there will pass 3 weeks of IC sailing. So we will arrive at May 15th on the Barrens. For that day we should unload all the cargo and troops. Hang around the Northwatch hold, set up tents and a tower vigil. Send out recognizance teams. Assign roles, patrols etc...
There will be a communication device planted (portable mailbox) at the top of the tower on Northwatch Hold. The IC channel for people to communicate with radio devices will be /BarrensIC. The plan is to have one of this devices planted at the top of each Alliance base on the Barrens.

16th is the planned day for the first encounter. From there on, a battle can occur any day (as long as it obeys the rule set).


The campaign will end the 30th, and the Alliance will sail home on the 31th.





Guild reasons to participate
-The Three Hammers: Help the Barrens War pushing towards Durotar. Re-establish Bael Modan that is a place of great spiritual and military value.
-The Greymane Era: Help their allies, tending Gilnean relations after the demise of the Alliance of Lordaeron and advance towards a more solid place within the Grand Alliance.
-Kingdom of Stromgrade: Supply the Alliance with their warriors helping on the Barrens War Effort.
-Stromwind Infantry: Doing what they are trained for.
-The Disciples of Light: Providing help to the Alliance efforts. Healing the wounded.
-Chapter of Holy Anethion: Generally exorcise the Orcish beast and other herectical creatures of the Horde. Another good chance to prove the might of the Anethionism in combat. Faith shall overcome, etc...
-Possible Gnome Guild: Supply the Alliance with their gadgets helping on the Barrens War Effort. They also benefit if Bael Modan is retaken, as there were many Gnomes living there with the Dwarves.
-The Lady Proudmoore: Operating them boatz.

-Darkspear Tribe: Kill, burn, destroy, eat.
-Orcs of the Red Blade: Kill, burn, destroy, destroy.
-Rite of the Earth Mother: Kill, burn, destroy, tell they are sorry.
-Blackpowder Company: Kill, burn, destroy, profit.
-Warsong Blades: Kill, burn, destroy, destroy, destroy.


-Blades for Hire: Getting paid.
-Horde Mercenaries: Getting paid.






Out of Character info:


The campaign will have two distinct parts: Random War Camp RP moments and W-PvP Confront moments.
From past experiences, I'm keeping this two moments separated and with well defined boundaries. I'll be giving specific guidelines for both of them.





--Random War Camp RP--

During the Random War Camp RP it's expected for everyone to be able to participate, including the Mercenaries. RP gear is to be wear during this moments as surprise attacks will not be part of this campaign.
Any member of any guild that is seen disrupting the Roleplaying of anyone else on the camp, either by meta-gaming, god-emoting or generally Lolling around will be removed from the event if this kind of behaviour pressists.



During this moments, neither Alliance or Horde should attack the enemie without notifying them OOCly. Small skirmishes can be done and arranged by any Officer of GM, as long as both sides agree.


Griefers may (will) appear during this moments, but I hope we are enough players on the area to be able to counter any SoN or Goon attack.
Some of this attacks can be considered random berzerking Horde attacks if everyone agrees.


I expect for the guilds to organize their own events on the Barrens to bring some life to the camps! Usual stuff that guilds used to do on their home lands like praying, trains to keep the troops in shape, rituals, etc...

Here is a small list of things you can do if no events are up and you're bored on the Camp:
-Patrolling the camps
-Patrolling the roads between camps (in case of owning more than one secured camps)
-Moving supplies, troops and mounts/animals from a camp to another
-Using the radio to communicate (/join BarrensIC) (Alliance only)
-Hunting
-Fishing
-Exploring
-Patrolling the skies

Pretty much any player can put any of this up! Just use the channel BarrensOOC and ask if anyone would be up for some random RP!

IMPORTANT:While doing this events -do not- approach the enemy camp. The chances of you coming back alive ICly would be almost null.




If you're an Alliance player, do mind that the Alliance are an organized bunch with strict military organizations. If you move in a group try to go on a formation (a column will do it).






--W PvP Confront--



This are the moments when the massive Alliance vs Horde battles will take place (not referring to the small skirmishes that might be organized by players in small parties)



This PvP confronts will be done in PvP gear. I repeat: Peeveepee gear. I'm choosing it for a simple reason: It's much more easier to balance the fights and a lot of PvP drama can be eliminated.
If you prefer you can use an RP head, cape or weapon to provide more flavour to the gear, but this is just a personal trait and not a rule!

Pick the PvP gear OOCly and just ignore your character look, or make an excuse to wear the over-shiny armor IC. This choice will be up to the player.


No flying mounts are allowed!
And unless we would agree on making a mounted charge, would be better that only the Leaders of the guilds (the GM or the person in charge for it at the moment) could be on a Mount.
That is a small detail that we  can discuss later on though


Combat and non-combat ressing, corpse run -are- allowed! Due to the nature of this confront (lots of players), it's extremely hard to control who is battle ressing so we will pretty much allow everything that Blizzard gives us.
The combat will end when one of the sides is not able to fight back due to having the 2 minute ressing timer.


All the spells are allowed! Including Shadow, Necromancy and other forsaken practices. Some can be considered OOC (like the summoning of ghouls or demons), and some can go "unseen" during the heat of the battle.
I'd ask for people to not be picky on this because some Classes can't PvP properly without certain spells that would obviously raise suspicion around the caster  (if not immediate arrest or execution).
All buffs, flasks and items are allowed (as long as it doesn't implies a bug exploitation of the sorts)

As I said before only the members of the listed guilds will be able to participate on this confronts!



Mercenary Balance:
In an attempt to balance the numbers, the Mercenary Guilds will be providing some men power to the fight. Use them only if there is one side outnumbering the other!
It's not expected for all the mercenaries from both sides to participate on the W PvP, and they should be aware of it.

All Mercenaries should be offered a contract to stay on the camp and help on minor jobs (escorting, patrolling, guarding) during the all campaign. Although, they can be called to take arms and step into the front line.

On a practical example, if the Horde has 28 players and the Alliance 26, we would ask for the Blades for Hire to get us two fighters (that would be ICly paid extra for this services).

In order to keep an uniformity, try to give priority to mercenaries that are part of the 8 races mainly represented on the Campaign.






I usually like to give a RTS feeling to the W PvP events and this won't be an exception.

Here is the Conquering Rule Set for the Barrens Campaign:





There are three different territories that can be conquered. Each territory has 2 Base camps, a Horde one, and an Alliance one.
1 -> Northwatch Hold / Rageroar Camp
2 -> Forward Command / Vendetta Point
3 -> Fort Triumph / Desolation Hold




The territories can have three different states: Horde Controlled, Alliance Controlled and Contested.

Horde Controlled: The Horde has just won a battle on that territory.
Alliance Controlled: The Alliance has just won a battle on that territory.
Contested: The Alliance has arrived with troops to that location but it isn't secured yet. Awaiting battle.


It will be turn based attacks, starting with the Alliance attacking.

When the campaign starts the territories 2 and 3 will be Horde Controlled while the territory 1 will be Contested.





In order to control a place, a faction must win a battle on the site. (Doesn't matter if attacking or defending)

The main Alliance goal is to conquer the three territories, creating a link of safe outposts that will make the supplying of materials, builders and troops to Bael Modan possible.



The most time the Alliance manages to hold the three camps secured, the biggest amount of materials, builders and soldiers can arrive to Bael Modan. (This is just IC though, so we can decide if the Alliance has succeeded as intended, or if the material's deliver was barely possible, or even if they failed terribly and couldn't make the chain of camps secure.

For the Alliance to move troops to the next territory, they first need to secure the camp where they are stationed. For example, if they want to move to Camp Command, they have to make Northwatch Hold as Alliance Controlled.



The territory becomes contested, and it's awaiting a battle:




Only by having Northwatch Hold and Forward Command secured, is that they can move to Fort Triumph and attempt to make the link!
If the link gets broken the Alliance needs attempt an attack to that territory in order to remake the chain.

Important Notes:
-The Horde will always be able to attack any territory they wish! So if the Alliance has Northwatch Hold and Camp Command under their territory and are preparing to attack Fort Triumph (When their turn arrives), the Horde are able to attempt to siege Northwatch Hold!
By doing that the Alliance is always forced to come back and try to secure that place before they can move on!

-Northwatch Hold can't become Horde Controlled. The IC reason is that there are several boats stationed there with cannons, ready to blow up any Horde force that tries to enter through the narrow passages.
The OOC reason is that if Northwatch Hold become Horde Controlled the Alliance as no-where to go and the event would pretty much end there.

-The battles will always be done outside the Settlements so the NPCs don't interfere (specially the epic Flight-Masters).




Special Perks

This special powers can be used in order to equilibrate things. If one side is loosing too many times in a row, they become active and the Leaders can use them.


Horde Perks

Wrath of Shrivallah
If the Horde loses 3 battles in a row, they are able to play as attackers during an extra turn.
To unlock this, the Darkspear Trolls must preform a ritual to Shrivallah and He shall grant you the strengh you need to keep on attacking!

Kro'Kon Assault
If the Horde loses 5 times in a row (after using the Wrath of Shrivallah) this power becomes available. The leader can pick his 5 best fighters and attack by surprise (it would be known OOCly) one of the Alliance territories.
As it was a surprise OOCly only 5 random players would be guarding each territory. The others would stay on the camp (resting IC or something) while the 5 random ones fought the Horde's best. If they are succeeded the territory becomes Contested!



Alliance Perks

Wrath of Aggramar
If the Alliance loses 3 battles in a row, they are able to play as attackers during an extra turn.
To unlock this, the Dwarves of Ironforge must pray to the Titan Aggramar. Should they prove faithfull enough a renew strengh will embrace all the soldiers of the Alliance!

SI:7 Assault
If the Alliance loses 5 times in a row (after using the Wrath of Aggramar) this power becomes available. The leader can pick his 5 best fighters and attack by surprise (it would be known OOCly) one of the Hordee territories.
As it was a surprise OOCly only 5 random players would be guarding each territory. The others would stay on the camp (resting IC or something) while the 5 random ones fought the Alliance's best. If they are succeeded the territory becomes Contested!





The plan is to make at least 7 W PvP events in which one or two turns can be made. (Preferably with some pauses between them).


aaaand that's pretty much it!
If you have any doubt regarding the event be sure to post here your question, or contact me in game. If you don't see me online you can ask any other Officer of TTH and they will surely be able to point you towards me!

If you think that 15 days is not enough for all this and all the guilds agree to stay on the Barrens for 3 or 4 days more, I'll be up to extend the Campaign!!
Hope you enjoy it



Girloy / Fugnir

[Sunday, 8 May, 20:00The Crossroads, The Barrens]

A new plot is about to unveil itself on this event! If you want to witness the beginning of a potentially new era, make sure you're there!

Sunday, 8 May, 20:00
The Crossroads, The Barrens

As a necessary precaution, I would like to request anyone who creates a new account on these forums to use their IC (or preferably in-game) character's name as an account name. ALL accounts with names that involve totally irrelevant terms or names that clearly have nothing to do with the WoW universe will be deleted.

Also, if you have registered with this name but still haven't received approval from an admin, feel free to contact any of our officers in-game or otherwise, and please give us the account name you have registered with. It will be sorted out as soon as possible!

Thank you for your cooperation!

[First letter:]

Because the in-game instructions will be a bit lengthy, I have posted them here so you can look them up, should you all forget them. Remember that you're only looking for the first letter of the words that are described here, and they will form a word that will give you your final instruction!

First letter:
I am that which the Horde lives by, but can mean its downfall all the same. I am used in greetings and blessings alike.

Second letter:
Hear me as I travel over the lands, reaching far and wide to clans and orcs alike. Use my first letter, which is the same as one of the tribe's lower ranks as well.

Third letter:
I have made your race a long battle for survival and hardships. I have torn clans apart and ripped cities asunder. If you're having trouble knowing me, find me on the cover of a book in a Mulgorian digsite.

Fourth letter:
The fourth letter is an L, because Koz never went to school and doesn't know how to spell words.

Fifthletter:
I am that which signifies our race, resolute and defensive. Find me on the walls of the Wyvern's Tail.

Sixth letter:
I am the day on which orcs are given their first identity.

Seventh letter:
Find me in the place of my final demise. I am the first name of he who rests in Demon Fall Canyon.

Eighth letter:
Find me and my name in Splintertree Post. I tame the fierce and the loyal, and treat them with the respect they deserve as they carry people to places they cannot go by foot.

Ninth letter:
I am the name of which you stand on each day. You are my guests, and I your host, and something which you should treat with respect. I am a cousin to the world from whence you came.

Tenth letter:
I am known as one of the darkest times of your race, when all hope had faded and your only saviour would be your spiritual heritage. If you don't know me, come find me on a book in Northwatch Hold.

Eleventh letter:
I am a circle which has close ties to your race's heritage, but am open to any race for a greater good. You can find my envoys along the Gold Road in the Southern Barrens.

A challenge of both wisdom and strength, the Challenge of the Wyvern is a reoccurring event for orcs to prove themselves by, even if they may not be among the strongest of orcs. The winners, or those who manage to finish the challenge first, will be awarded with a Wyvern's Fang, a token of honour and skill among the tribe.