This December, the Ardent Circle wrapped up its BFA Launch campaign, which ran a full nine months from April until early December!
Included below the fantastic art depicting the final battle, I’ve added a brief synopsis for each of the parts! We’re thankful and happy to have had allies from a wide selection of guilds, as well as close friends, joining us on and off throughout the campaign!
To check out the guild, feel free to visit tinyurl.com/theACWRA - or check out the recruitment post here - Ignore this thread; it's full of scary things.
Thankful for all those who took part and contributed!
(tinyurl.com/battleforstranglethorn)
(The final battle for Stranglethorn)
Phase One: Rising Tides of Vengeance
Summary
The campaign began with the arrival of a raised warship called the Indomitable, under the command of one Forsaken named Shattlekess. Through his direction, the Circle, stationed in Stranglethorn, saw a proxy war evolve throughout the jungles, with the Forsaken trying to organize and strong-arm the support of pirates, ogres, and even the Cartel through Booty Bay.
The Circle fired back with its own efforts, waging espionage and covert operations throughout nearby settlements and camps, using both diplomacy, sabotage, assassination, bribery, and even brute force to wrest the allegiances of the freewheeling pirates in the south from the Horde’s grasp.
With the proxy war keeping the Circle’s top agents distracted, those closer to the home-front dealt with a different kind of problem; goblins. A wealthy merchant trader and entrepreneur by the name of Chetz Greksworth sought to reclaim the territory upon which the Alliance had built a southern stronghold, bringing into light the original sale contract dating back to the years of the Gurubashi War.
With no choice except to relent, the Circle had to endure a renegotiation, which siphoned essential war funds from the mining operations nearby, and saw a new mineshaft opened by the goblin on the far side of the mountain. The Horde would later strong-arm the goblin in an effort to use the newly dug mineshafts to infiltrate the Alliance Keep, Seastone, from within.
Aside from the proxy war, and now the territorial threats closer to home, the Circle also began to engage the Horde in the jungles - ambushing caravans and encampments, and pinning the blame on the Gurubashi raiders in the region who were growing more and more agitated by the escalating conflict, and were lashing out at both sides.
Within weeks, the proxy war had finally spiraled out of control, and devolved into full on skirmishes, and the Forsaken brought to bear their caches of Blight, and also the powers of a lesser Val’kyr, to raise the recently slain Alliance forces. The Circle embarked on a two pronged effort to eliminate both problems.
Dealing with the Blight involved staging a massive assault on one of the Horde’s war camps using a hijacked supply caravan, which was modified into a WoW-styled trojan horse.
Dealing with the Val’kyr involved eliminating five different Forsaken shadow-binders, who each carried part of a set of runekeys which maintained a barrier around the being. The last of these Forsaken, when confronted, was found to be trying to enslave a spirit healer from a nearby graveyard, but was stopped before the ritual could be completed.
The Alliance then staged an all out assault on the Val’kyr’s holding place, and the Forsaken and Circle squared off in one of the largest battles of the campaign, leading to the deaths of a larger portion of the Alliance forces, and the ultimate defeat of the lesser Val’kyr after a clash between the dark entity, and the liberated spirit healer.
With victory on both fronts, the Circle struck out for an all out, final assault on the Horde’s forces, out at sea, with the aims fo taking out the Indomitable, the Forsaken’s command ship.
Recruiting merchant ships, pirate vessels, and Alliance ships, the Circle struck against Commander Shattlekess at sea, and managed to cripple the Horde’s fleet, but only to realize they’d sailed out into a trap. The Commander had dispatched his own units on the ground, and assaulted the Alliance’s stronghold along the coast while the Circle struck out at sea.
Furthermore, Horde reinforcements arrived early, under the command of Warmaster Grok’rash, aboard the Horde gunship called Stormbreaker. Eliminating her own rivalry with the Forsaken commander, the newly arrived Warmaster obliterated what remained of both fleets from the air, declaring that a new kind of war would be waged; she proceeded to chase the fleeing Alliance forces into the jungle with superior firepower from the skies.
(tinyurl.com/WarmasterGrok)
(Warmaster Grok’rash)
Phase Two: On the Defense
Summary
Struggling to recover following the massive losses in the two grueling battles they’d endured, the Circle and other Alliance forces scrambled to rebound, and fortify their defenses. The Horde pushed with brutal haste under the command of the Warmaster, and struck at Fort Livingston, and other establishments raised throughout the jungle, driving the Alliance back to the valley pass into Duskwood, Stormwind’s backyard.
Knowing that time was essential, to rally the reserves in the region and cobble together a stronger army, the Circle decided to set an ambush in the valley pass, and trigger a landslide with explosives to hold back the Horde, and buy time.
The costly bloodbath that led up to the successful operation worked as intended, but contained the Horde in the south, which meant that the whole of the Horde’s wrath would be directed towards the Alliance forces trapped there as well.
Seastone Keep, the Alliance fort down in the jungles, saw the full brunt of the Horde’s might, and endured an all out siege which took the lives of some of the Circle’s greatest champions, and scores of its defenders.
Surviving long enough for the Alliance to rally its reserves in Duskwood, reinforcements were finally dispatched to relieve the beleaguered defenders, and the Circle prepared to strike back with everything they could muster.
Phase Three: The Battle for the South
Summary
One thing held back the defenders from striking out immediately at the Horde’s forces trying to dig through the landslide; with the Alliance’s reserves amassing in Duskwood, and the Circle pinned down in the jungles, the settlements along the coast of Westfall had been left without any trained force to defend them, and Horde raiders struck out at the countryside.
Managing to get a small wing of gryphon riders past the Horde’s forces along the mountains, the Circle staged a daring rescue mission to liberate the captured villagers, though many of the prisoners were killed in the process, and even more taken by the Horde who retreated south.
Returning in time to rejoin their companions, the Circle pushed into the valley leading into Duskwood from the west, while the Alliance pushed south, and the two forces pinched the Horde from both sides, breaking their advance, and forcing them to retreat south.
The stage had been set for a final battle in the south, with the Horde and Alliance staging to square off for a final, all out engagement in the jungle where it would be any man’s game.
Just after sunrise on the final day, the Alliance struck out pushing south, and engaged the Horde by both air, sea, and land - in a battle that both ravaged the armies, and cut a blazing swathe of destruction through the jungles. The costly battle ultimately took the life of the Warmaster, brought down the Stormbreaker, crushed the Horde’s advance, and heralded a close to bloody conflict in the south.
For more details or about the Ardent Circle’s WRA BFA Launch Campaign, feel free to reach out in game, or through discord (Silvertongue#5400.)