The afternoon haze of the Plaguelands makes for exceptionally horrid visibility, especially for anything coming from the sky. The gray and brown that stain the sky just turn various shades of deep, bloody crimsons and ambers that do more to just make the entire range of cover an ominously glowing veil over the region’s sky than lend any assistance in discerning shapes on the horizon… which is why the arrival of a Dragonhawk and rider, descending down from the lurid veil into Light’s Hope was such a surprise. The rider quickly handed off a scroll-case to a Squire, who then rushed to the Chapel and down the stairs beneath it, to the command office.
The scroll case’s seal was broken by a receiving Knight who immediately took notice of the Farstrider wax seal on multiple missives, each addressed in turn to the Crusade, the Sunreavers, and the Dawnsmen.
Intelligence Activity Report by Captain Loreliel Dawnbearer of Silvermoon, written from Farstrider Enclave.
To be dispatched in copy to Farstider Commander, Silvermoon City; Argent Crusade & their allies, Light’s Hope Chapel.
For some background to our allies reading this report, I am the officer currently tasked with execution of our surveillance and abatement operations of the Amani Tribe. That puts me in a rather unique position to generally be in the know concerning most of their activity of note, and the response Quel’thalas has to their ongoing aggressions.
As such, this operation was quite shocking to me.
On receipt and execution of my orders, I embarked to Thalassian Pass, awaiting the arrival of the allies that were set to approach using the pass from the Plaguelands. It was there that I met with representatives of the Crusade, Lady Concordia Morningcrown, and a self-proclaimed specialist that I found not much more than a bard by the name of ‘Malek’. In addition, I met a representative from these Dawnsmen, a Kaldorei Priestess by name of Alinda Moonbrook. Finally, a Farstrider that had recently been partnering with the Sunreaver operations, by name of Jilandris.
We waited a time for an Argent that was lagging behind and proceeded to share what we knew of the situation at hand. I started, acknowledging a few facts regarding the Amani - notably, that the only recent activity we had seen coming from Zul’Aman was the departure of an Amani Emissary with their escort nearly a month back. The Emissary to the assurance of our operatives in Ghostlands was never seen to return. Beyond that, there had been no indication of any activity by the Amani that would put us on any kind of heightened state of alert, at least the kind that would give us cause to redeploy troops or anything.
After some initial travel, we made our approach to the first Amani encampment via the Thalassian Range. We kept at considerable distance initially and observed some unusual activity, namely the stockpiling of supplies and the manufacture of additional weapons. While this was, in itself, not singular cause for alarm, it did give us some pause and we pursued to examine the area further.
We had a near-encounter with an Amani Hunting party while traversing the terrain to our next location. This party’s sole catch were local spiders, the kind of which is typical in using their venom for production of poisons for their weapons. We noted this and continued forward when clear.
We proceeded north without incident until we were flown over by a group of Amani Bat Riders. While it is my belief one rider might have caught glimpse of us, I do believe we were able to dissuade any suspicion after remaining in hiding within the overgrown meadows. The arrival of bat riders from the deep reaches of the northeast is, in itself, the second suspicious event. It was around this time that two within our party, both priestesses, sensed disconcerting magics at work nearby. The audible sound of drums was also clear, illustrating a gathering, though nothing was visible from our position. We continued on.
Arrival at our final vantage point, one with elevation over the Zul’Aman approach, finally put us in a position to discern what activity there was. While we were witness to many roosting bats, already saddled along the ruins, we saw no evidence of their riders or enough Amani to make up their force. In addition, there was no evidence of other gathering, and no source of the still-echoing drums.
That was when we first noticed the strange visual distortion. It became somewhat clear that illusion magics we’ve never been witness to the Amani utilizing were at play. This was disturbing to learn for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, the Bard’s reaction was excessive, to say the least, and his boisterous exclamations garnered unwanted suspicion from below. It was by sheer luck that we avoided detection.
With two nearly avoided disastrous reveals, we took chance on a gambit to observe more, as quickly as possible, without pushing our near-exhausted luck any further, especially with the temperament of the Bard quickly waning.
Both Priestesses began utilizing different skills in line with their specialties. The Crusader seemed to transfix on a patrolling Amani and began to observe the scene below through the eyes of the Troll. Meanwhile, the Kaldorei seemed to call upon the grace of something beyond them to gain insight into the veil below.
Both, thankfully, worked.
The Crusader was able to confirm the usage of an illusion, one generated of some kind of shadow ritual. As their witless eyes continued their path, they confirmed that the Amani were in fact raising the corpses of the behemoth Dire Trolls. We estimate at minimum two dozen, though it is possible she saw as many as thirty. In addition, she confirmed that there were roughly a dozen bat riders.
The Kaldorei’s magic was something else entirely. I was witness to what seemed like a shaft of moonlight, gently beaming down onto the illusion. The Priestess then made claim that she could see plans on skins and leathers, and a path that would have the Amani utilize the Thalassian Pass for their transit into the Plaguelands. This gives reason to believe that they intend to march their entire host all at once - perhaps in a display of strength and intimidation, but that is just informed speculation based on their past behavior.
Despite the urgings by the Bard to do otherwise, we made a hasty exit with the information we secured, and made for the safety of Farstrider Enclave, where I record this information now.
Already, I have shared with our local lieutenants in the area that the Amani are using a new method of masking their activity from us. I am requesting that we bolster our forces along the Amani frontier in preparation of a new form of aggression. I do not, at this time, recommend any pre-emptive strike. This host of the Amani should be allowed to leave the Ghostlands unadulterated, not only to give them false belief of their superiority, but to ensure we do not need face this first, unchallenged in their creation force. I am certain our allies are more than capable of addressing the threat they have been made aware of, especially with the time to prepare.
Signed,
Captain Loreliel Dawnbearer
