The Fenris Isle Project

The Fenris Isle Project
By Edward Chang

I.

The band of cloaked figures mounted on skeletal warhorses appeared on the hill overlooking the Alliance mining camp. The horsemen held their massive two handed swords, great axes, and battle maces at the ready and spurred the skeletal warhorses to charge down the hill toward the human miners.

The camp was fortified with two watchtowers and a barracks but only a few Alliance troops rushed forward from the barracks to meet the undead raiders. A heavily armored paladin wielding a massive mace rallied the small Alliance force, commanding his troops to form a line to break the undead charge.

A few arrows rained down on the horsemen from the two watch towers defending the camp but the fearless skeletal warhorses charged straight at the line and broke through, their bony hooves trampling and scattering the Alliance footmen.

The Alliance paladin rallied his troops and the footmen regrouped quickly. They were armored in plate mail and each carried a sword and shield so they formed a protective ring around the robed mage and the paladin commander. The mage raised his arms to the sky and the cloaked horsemen were buffeted by a wall of ice formed inside a torrential blizzard. The massive icy shards dismounted a few of the cloaked horsemen. One rider leaped off his skeletal mount to join in the melee on foot. The cloaked figure focused his will on the mage guarded by the shielded footmen and closed his fist in a tight grip. A purple tendril extending from his gauntleted fist to the mage's torso materialized in the air. The death grip pulled the mage toward the death knight raiders who quickly and brutally cut the mage down before he could blink back into the protective phalanx of footmen.

The paladin tried to heal the mage but found himself unable to speak because his throat was magically strangulated. He raised his massive mace to the sky, surrounding himself in a luminescent bubble granting temporary divine protection. The paladin tried to keep the footmen alive with magical healing as the death knights hacked them to pieces with swords and shadow magic. The luminescent bubble quickly faded and the paladin now faced the band of death knights with only a handful of demoralized footmen. I wish I had used my hearthstone, Edward Cravath mused to himself.

The paladin turned toward the mining camp to shout his final order, "Flee for your lives, retreat to Redridge Mountains!" and he was relieved to see most of the miners had already abandoned the camp. Edward Cravath turned to face the band of cloaked death knights, raised his hammer in defiance, and prepared himself to die.

A lone figure wearing a hooded cloak was hiding no more than fifty yards away. He silently watched the melee turn into a savage butchery. He grimaced, knowing there was nothing he could do to help and that even if he could have helped, he would have jeopardized his mission by trying. No death knight or alliance took notice of the invisible man.

II.

King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind pounded his fist on the table in a fury, "ANOTHER thorium mining camp raid?! Who is responsible for this treachery?!"

"M," Mathias Shaw, head of SI:7, the Chief of Stormwind Intelligence, looked calm, "Sire, this is the fourth attack on an Alliance thorium mining camp by a band of cloaked death knights. The initial attacks targeted thorium mines further from Alliance controlled areas. Eastern Plagueland, Winterspring, and Silithus. But this last attack in the Burning Steppes is close to Redridge mountains, Elwynn Forest, and Stormwind. It seems that whoever is behind these attacks is getting more desperate for thorium ore."

The King looked perplexed, "But why thorium?! We make Imperial Armor from it but now our blacksmiths are becoming more adept with the cobalt and saronite shipped in from Northrend. The weapons and armor made from cobalt and saronite are superior to thorium arms. I can't let these raids go unanswered but I can't afford to deploy soldiers from Northrend where they are fighting The Horde and The Scourge until I know who is behind these raids and why. Do your job and get me some answers, M."

M pointed at the map on the table, "Sire, I suspected the Horde was behind these raids after the first thorium mine attack in Winterspring. Since you and Thrall have suspended diplomatic relations after The Battle for the Undercity, I sent a SI:7 agent to Orgrimmar. My agent discovered that cloaked death knights have raided Orc thorium mining camps in Azshara, Un'Goro, and Felwood. Unfortunately, Thrall doesn't know any more than we do. His intelligence is the same as what we already have, that cloaked death knights are raiding thorium mining camps and then acolytes are mining the thorium. We don't know the reason the party behind the raids wants the thorium or where they're sending it. The SI:7 agent reported that Thrall accused the Forsaken because of the acolytes but Sylvanas claims she knows nothing about the raids. Thrall's theory is that there is a new Scourge presence in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor collecting thorium for some unknown purpose.”

The exasperated King sighed, "So that lying dog Thrall isn't behind these treacherous raids? Do you have an actionable plan?"

M looked more confident, "Sire, I suspected the cloaked death knights would raid the Burning Steppes mining camp so I dispatched my best agent to that location with the mission to uncover the who, where, and why. SI:7 agent James Born. You know him. He uncovered the Defias Plot. Born is a very experienced operative.”

King Varian Wrynn smiled for the first time, "Ah, yes. Born is a good man. He's smart and resourceful and he's not squeamish about doing what needs to be done. Keep me informed of any developments M. We can't win Northrend if we lose the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor."

III.

Born gulped down his ninth and last bottle of the Crimson Steer Energy Drink from Zangarmarsh. The undead acolytes didn't need to sleep but Born was exhausted. He had been watching the acolytes mine thorium with their incantations for an entire week. They collected the raw thorium ore in an ominous floating black citadel. Born spied on the acolytes performing their ghoulish task and he waited for something to happen....

Until on the eighth night the darkness of a moonless sky was pierced by the searchlight emanating from a goblin zeppelin. Born watched the acolytes load the thorium ore from the black citadel onto the goblin zeppelin. He was nearly invisible in the darkness as he crept silently toward the zeppelin. He tossed a grappling hook over the side of the zeppelin and climbed up and over the edge to board. Born quickly scanned his surroundings, sizing up the two cloaked figures supervising the acolytes. One carried a huge claymore and the other had an enormous battle axe strapped to a harness worn on his back, two death knights. Born would be outmatched if he had to engage them in combat. He would have to evade the death knights.

Born snuck down the stairs into the zeppelin's cargo hold where the crates of thorium were stored. He hid behind the crates and waited for the zeppelin to take off.

"Very sneaky, like a rat..." a voice taunted. “You can't hide from a Deathstalker. Did you foolishly think that no one would notice the marks your grappling hook left in the wood?"

Born's senses jolted alert. He was being challenged. Born knew it would be useless to follow the voice. Deathstalkers and SI:7 agents were both elite rogues trained to throw their voices. Born knew he had the advantage if he was patient. He could detect the Deathstalker first because of his superior perception and find an opening for the first strike. Born crouched down to crawl stealthily on the floor. He scanned the room quickly then rolled onto his back to look at the ceiling. I've got you! Born thought triumphantly. He saw the corner of the Deathstalker's cloak, the rest of the form blending into the ceiling beam from which the Deathstalker was hanging.

Born pounced like a leopard and backhanded the Deathstalker with a cheap shot, stunning him. He thrust and sliced at the Deathstalker with his two knives, trying to pierce thick leather armor. The Deathstalker recovered quickly and parried the incoming blows by blocking Born's forearms with his own forearms, shielding his head and torso from Born's precise, deliberate thrusts. The two expertly trained assassins knife dueled, their movements quick and efficient because of the short melee range of their weapons. Born was exhausted and his opponent was experienced. I would pay a thousand gold for one bottle of Crimson Steer, Born thought ruefully. The Deathstalker dodged and lunged, performing a dance with knives. The onslaught pressured Born, putting him on the defensive and forcing him to step backwards toward the aft of the zeppelin.

Born saw that the Deathstalker's knives were coated in a green ooze and he knew that even the slightest nick from the poisoned blades could be fatal. The Deathstalker lunged and Born parried the mighty thrust, throwing the Deathstalker off balance. Born knocked aside the Deathstalker's right arm with his left forearm, saw an opening on the Deathstalker's torso and thrust the knife in his right hand under the Deathstalker's left arm to eviscerate the Deathstalker.

Born's knife pierced a cloud of smoke as the Deathstalker vanished and he felt a hard kick to his kidneys, stunning him. The Deathstalker smirked, gloating, "Since you don't have a ticket, this is where you get off." He heaved the stunned Born over the railing into the night sky.

The Deathstalker had a moment of triumph before he was lifted into the air by the rope tied to his ankle. He looked up to see that the rope was attached to a grappling hook, which was hooked onto the zeppelin's the propeller shaft. As the propeller spun, it wound the rope, pulling the Deathstalker toward the whirling propeller blades. The Deathstalker desperately reached up to cut the rope with his knife but the zeppelin's propeller sliced him cleanly in two before his knife touched the rope.

Born's parachute saved his life. But more importantly, it slowed his fall so that he could fire six shots from his Pierce's Pistol into the balloon keeping the goblin zeppelin afloat.

It was too dark for Born to scan the ground and find a soft patch of grass to land on so he braced for impact and hoped for the best. Born landed on the dry earth with a thud. “I'll feel that in the morning,” he muttered. But he felt elated as he saw the goblin zeppelin descend to make an emergency landing.

Born realized that he had no idea where he was as he ran towards the falling zeppelin. He recognized the ruins of Dalaran as he ran past them toward the Misty Shore in the Alterac Mountains. Born slowed down to make a stealthy approach when he saw the outline of the downed goblin zeppelin. As he approached the damaged zeppelin, Born saw the two cloaked death knights, Claymore and Battleaxe, supervising a team of acolytes load the crates of thorium ore from the zeppelin onto rowboats waiting on the shores of Lordamere Lake.

"I have no idea, maybe it was the wind. That's why I prefer to travel on Frost Wryms." Claymore shrugged.

Battleaxe looked annoyed, "Where did that Deathstalker go?"

"I don‘t know. He didn‘t report. Let’s just get this thorium ore loaded onto the boats and on to the Keep. The master will be displeased by any delay."

Born took a swig from a bottle of water breathing potion and walked silently into Lordamere Lake. He followed the rowboats carrying the thorium ore to Fenris Isle where the crates were transferred onto wagons heading north toward Fenris Keep. Born silently leaped into the back of one of the wagons.

IV.

Born waited until the acolytes had finished unloading the crates of thorium ore then he jumped out the back of the wagon to have a look around. Fenris Keep, once the dominion of Rothide Gnolls, was now filled with undead. Born needed to investigate this development. He entered the main keep and saw a goblin wearing a white tabard walking down the hall. Born decided to follow the goblin into the basement of the keep where he saw five goblins doing....something. What the heck are they doing? he wondered, baffled. He saw a goblin deliberately scribbling numbers and sketching diagrams on a slate board while the other four goblins were arguing.

"It will work, we just need more energy" the green one said.

"We need more thorium." The greener one suggested.

"The numbers are way off." The greenest one argued.

"There isn't anything from all of Azeroth that can produce the kind of energy we need." groaned the slightly blue one.

"Exactly right. What we need isn't from Azeroth" the green one said to the slightly blue one.

"We just need more energy to transmute the thorium 232 to goblinium 233. Phase two is starting. The Outland Project has a green light. The boss signed the contracts with the B.O.O.M. Company and the zeppelin is departing for Outland today." the slightly blue one answered.

Born hid, took out his notebook, and started copying the writing and schematics on the slate boards. He had finished copying about half the material when a crimson cloaked figure walked into the room. The goblins stiffened.

"The zeppelin to The Dark Portal is waiting. Is my device ready?" The crimson cloaked figure croaked.

The greenest goblin screeched, "Boss, we are close. VERY close. We just need a little more energy to power the transmutation. I have an idea but we will need some of your death knights."

The crimson cloaked figure glared at the goblins, "You are running out of excuses. If the Goblinium Project is a failure, the Outland Project is worthless. We have a contract. If you fail...."

"Boss, don’t worry man. We have it under control. We have a plan. The boys will explain it to you." the green one screeched.

The crimson cloaked figure turned his gaze to the greener one, "Get on the zeppelin. Report to me from Outland."

"Sure thing boss!!" the greener one screeched. He looked relieved to leave the room and he quickly waddled up the stairs. Born stealthily followed the greener one.

V.

King Varian Wrynn glared at his intelligence chief. His eyes showed exhaustion and irritation, "Any word from your man, M?"

M sighed, "No reports from Born, Sire. He's active, chasing leads. Intelligence gathering takes time. Intelligence analysis may take more time."

"Or Born could be dead or captured." muttered the King.

"Anything is possible, Sire, but he's my best agent. There’s a new development in the case. I have a report from Head of Station, Exodar."

The King looked surprised, "We have a SI:7 agent in the Exodar? Do the Draenei know?"

"Sire, they're our allies but they have intelligence that they don’t share with us. We have to gather Draenei intelligence through alternative means." M replied.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" the King demanded.

"I wanted you to have plausible deniability, in case the SI:7 agent was captured by the Draenei and charged with espionage. You needed to be able to disavow the SI:7 agent convincingly."

"Then why are you telling me about the agent's existence now?"

"Sire, I believe the agent's report is related to the thorium mine raids. Two nights ago The Horde mounted a raid on the Exodar to kill Valen."

The King interrupted, "Yes, the same raid came here to kill me right before they raided Exodar. The same raid probably tried to kill Magni and Tyrande too. It happens all the time. The Horde harasses us and we harass them back. It’s unbearable but that's how the game is played."

M cleared his throat, "Sire, my man saw cloaked death knights in the Exodar raid."

The King's ears perked up, "Oh? That IS interesting...."

"The SI:7 agent followed the band of cloaked death knights. They didn't attack Valen with the rest of the Horde raid. Instead they went to the Exodar's engine room while the Draenei guards were preoccupied with defending the city and protecting Valen. My agent saw the death knights steal something. They took a Draenei device with a huge pink crystal."

"What kind of device, M?"

"We have no idea. We can't ask the Draenei without alerting them to the SI:7 agent and they haven't asked for our help in recovering it. The SI:7 agent is trained in gnomish engineering. He thinks the device is a power source for the Exodar."

"Could it be used as some kind of weapon?" the King asked.

The Head of SI:7 thought for a moment and shook his head, "To my knowledge the Draenei have not deployed a pink crystal based weapon. I think the device is just an energy source."

The King looked puzzled. "So the sum of our intelligence gathering and analysis is that cloaked death knights are stealing thorium ore and Draenei pink crystal devices which might be an energy source."

"Born will report soon, Sire. He'll bring us the last pieces to this puzzle."

The King looked at M gravely. "Soon may be too late."

V.

The goblin zeppelin flew southeast from Fenris Keep to the Blasted Lands and into The Dark Portal to Outland. It then continued northwest from Hellfire Peninsula into the Twisting Nether until Netherstorm finally appeared on the horizon. The zeppelin landed just outside Area 52 in Netherstorm.

Three goblins from Area 52 came to meet the zeppelin. Born identified the two goblins dressed in black suits and wearing sunglasses as Netherstorm Agents. The other goblin wore a purple tabard with a silver rocket crest. Born recognized him from an SI:7 file as Chief Engineer Trep, the goblin B.O.O.M. engineer working on the X-52 Nether Rocket Project. The greener goblin from Fenris Keep asked, "Where is our package?"

Trep squeaked, "Show me the money."

The acolytes retrieved four large chests from the zeppelin and opened them. The chests were filled with gold and gems. Chief Engineer Trep inspected each chest, looked satisfied, then handed the greener goblin a piece of paper.

"What is this treachery?" roared one of the death knights standing next to the greener goblin.

Trep raised his hands in front of his chest, "We're cool, everything is cool. The Steamwheedle Cartel doesn't sell the X-series Nether Rockets to The Horde or Alliance. But that is a list of locations for four fully operational X-series Nether Rockets that I have reported as crashed and missing during testing. The rockets are salvageable and fully operational. The crash sites are well concealed on floating islands in the Twisting Nether between Netherstorm and Hellfire Peninsula."

The greener goblin looked at Chief Engineer Trep greedily, "Very clever, Boss!"

The death knights turned back toward the zeppelin, "Let’s go, goblin. The master wants these Nether Rockets."

Chief Engineer Trep looked relieved as he wiped his brow. He had gotten away with it....

Born watched the acolytes load the four intact X-series Nether Rockets onto the zeppelin. He had seen enough. It was time to report to SI:7. He clutched his hearthstone and focused his will on Stormwind.

VI.

The band of cloaked death knights marched in front, cutting down the murlocs. The death knights decapitated the murlocs so efficiently that nary a "GGGGuurrrrgggggggguuurrrrrrggg" was audible. Lordamere Lake darkened as the murloc blood flowed into the still water.

Two Forsaken wearing resplendent cloaks rode on skeletal bears behind the death knights. A large wagon pulled by two skeletal horses followed behind the mounted Forsaken. When the band of death knights finished their gruesome work, the crimson cloaked Forsaken rode ahead of the death knights, dismounted, and tapped his foot impatiently until the wagon pulled up to him.

The wagon's two drivers dismounted and then gingerly pulled out the wagon's only cargo, a single large and extremely heavy crate. The two acolytes opened the crate and gently lifted out a solid black metal sphere.

"CAREFUL you incompetent vermin!!" the crimson cloaked Forsaken screeched.

The two acolytes set the sphere on the soft earth then bowed to the crimson cloaked Forsaken and uttered, "I serve."

The brown cloaked Forsaken rode up to the crimson cloaked Forsaken standing in front of the black metal sphere and dismounted. He said, "The Dawning Isles are clear, Master. All is ready."

The crimson cloaked Forsaken turned and looked at the cloaked death knights and the band obeyed the silent command, mounting their death chargers and riding west toward Fenris Keep. The crimson cloaked Forsaken then opened a panel on the surface of the black metal sphere and pushed the big red button. He then nodded to the brown cloaked Forsaken. They both mounted and followed the death knights west.

The band of cloaked death knights, the two cloaked Forsaken, and the wagon all headed west into Fenris Keep where they dismounted on the eastern battlements. The undead formed a line on the battlements and looked east toward the Dawning Isles. Then they waited. The crimson cloaked Forsaken tapped his foot impatiently, turned to the brown cloaked Forsaken and muttered, "If that goblin device doesn't work, I will brew a plague that will melt their skins off before their entrails are fried by the sun."

"We could have kidnapped a gnome, but the goblins are better with explosives." the brown cloaked Forsaken said calmly.

At that moment, a flash of searing light swallowed the Dawning Isles. Some seconds later, a shockwave nearly knocked the undead spectators off the battlements. Then earth, water, and sky burned as the Dawning Isles were bathed in flame.

The brown cloaked Forsaken turned to the crimson cloaked Forsaken and bowed reverently, "Grand Apothecary Zilard, you have done it. You will avenge master Putress and wipe the human parasites from the face of Azeroth. Today the Forsaken have become the Chosen."

Grand Apothecary Zilard closed his eyes and saw Stormwind and King Varian Wrynn consume by hellfire. He cackled, "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

The brown cloaked Forsaken opened a barrel of ale and acolyte servants appeared with mugs to serve the band of cloaked death knight on the battlements. He addressed the death knights, "A toast to our inevitable victory."

The band of cloaked death knights raised their mugs and drank. The brown cloaked Forsaken cackled, "Do you like the ale? I brewed it myself. Our victory is inevitable but sadly you will not witness it. This weapon must be kept a secret from our enemies and from our allies. Drink up! Your final death will be quick and painful."

The band of cloaked death knights clutched their throats and fell to the ground. They died for the second, more permanent time. The crimson cloaked Forsaken smirked at the brown cloaked Forsaken, "That was very dramatic Apothecary Toxiss."

Grand Apothecary Zilard felt no emotion. He would have felt pleasure, if he could have any feelings at all. His moment of triumph was at hand. Stormwind and Ironforge would burn. Master Putress would be avenged. Thrall and The Horde would be at his mercy. Zilard would become the new Warchief. The years of alchemy experiments with thorium had finally produced the weapon. Oh how they will all tremble in fear! Zilard thought. His alchemy experiments with cobalt from Northrend were very promising. A cobalt bomb could be even more deadly than a goblinium one….

The goblins were useful creatures. They thrived on creating weapons for mass destruction. They were industrious and labored tirelessly to transmute the thorium 232 into goblinium 233 using the pink crystal device from the Draenei Exodar. Soon, Zilard would have enough goblinium 233 for his plan. He smiled.

VII.

Born materialized in The Gilded Rose Inn, Stormwind Trade District. He sprinted to SI:7 headquarters in the Old Town and found Mathias Shaw, "Sir, let’s go wake the King."

M took one look at his agent's grim expression and nodded. The two men galloped through the streets of Stormwind to the Keep, not even bothering to wait for the stable hand when they arrived at the gate.

The guards waved them inside and the two men went into the throne room where they found King Varian Wrynn hunched over a map of Northrend, brows furrowed in concentration. "How can I fight a two front war against The Horde and The Scourge without you, Bolvar?!" the King muttered to no one in particular.

M cleared his throat and the King turned to look at his two spies. He stared hard at Born, "I am not going to like what I am about to hear." The King nodded toward The Royal Library. The three men walked into the library and the King dismissed the guards, "Leave us."

Born didn't waste time with pleasantries, "A group of Forsaken, operating out of Fenris Keep in Silverpine Forest have acquired four X-series Nether Rockets from the B.O.O.M. Company in Area 52, Netherstorm. Goblin engineers are working on site in Fenris Keep and have turned it into a factory powered by what looks like a machine from the Draenei City, Exodar. The goblins work around the clock to build something using raw thorium ore. The X-series Nether Rockets are on site and look to be operational or near operational. Fenris Keep's defenses number roughly a hundred death knights, an unknown number of Deathstalkers, and an army of abominations."

The King and M interrupted simultaneously, "What are the goblins building with the thorium?"

Born shrugged, "I copied as many schematics as I could but I don’t really understand them. We could ask for help from gnome engineers."

The King nodded and shouted for an Archmage to make a portal to Ironforge.

M interrupted, "Sire, are you certain you want to share this intelligence without knowing what it is that we're sharing?"

"I don’t see that we have any choice M. If those Nether Rockets are operational, we need to figure out what they're building."

The Archmage arrived and waved his staff to create a portal to Ironforge. The four humans walked into the portal and stepped out inside Ironforge. Varian nodded at a dwarven guard, "We need to see Magni and Mekkatorque."

Mekkatorque read Born's reports with audible commentary every few seconds, "Hmmmmmmmmm.....ahhhh......how interesting.....not bad.....IMPOSSIBLE!!!!"

King Varian Wrynn became impatient, "Tell us what they’re building!"

The High Tinker looked up at the Human King, "I'm not sure....but it’s a goblin machine so it probably won't work."

Varian looked as if he was about to punt the gnome. Magni Bronzebeard put a hand on his arm. "Steady, lad...."

The High Tinker added, "I know one gnome who might understand this goblin rubbish but he is unavailable."

"Unavailable? Why?" Magni asked.

"We've imprisoned him." Mekkatorque replied

"Why? Where?" Magni asked.

"He became a master engineer in both gnomish engineering and goblin engineering. That's against the rules. He's here in Tinker Town where we keep all our prisoners."

Varian's eyebrows narrowed and Magni tightened his grip on Varian's arm, "We need to see the lad, Mekkatorque."

"Very well, follow me." Mekkatorque lead the party into a room with several gnome statues.

"Is that arcanite?" Born asked.

Mekkatorque smiled, "Yes it is, the magical properties of arcanite keep the prisoners alive during their sentence. At least we think it does. Ah, here he is! Prisoner number 007, Gnomestein. Stand back."

Mekkatorque pulled a wrench from his tunic and gave the arcanite statue a hard smack. The statue cracked, then shattered, and a still form fell to the ground. A few seconds later, the gnome started shivering.

Magni sighed with relief, "We need your help lad."

The shivering gnome looked up, his eyes squinting, "Can I have some milk please?"

Gnomestein stared at Born's reports intently. "It’s a new goblin bomb."

"A big bomb?" the High Tinkerer asked.

"The biggest. Using a mixture of alchemy and goblin engineering, the goblins are converting thorium 232, mined naturally in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor into something they call goblinium 233 by charging the thorium with energy from the Draenei Reactor Power Core. When the bomb is detonated, the energy stored in the goblinium 233 is released, creating an explosion of fire, shockwaves, and radiation."

Varian looked pale, "Radiation? Like the stuff that destroyed Gnomeregan? How big of an explosion?"

Gnomestein nodded. "Yes, like in Gnomeregan. I don't know exactly how big of an explosion. These numbers from the goblins suggest a pretty big BOOM. Huge, really. Big enough for a single goblinium bomb to level Stormwind Keep and kill everyone inside or to destroy an entire town the size of Goldshire."

"How is such a thing possible, lad?" Magni asked.

"Well I think it works like this...We usually think of stuff, like this piece of chalk I’m holding, as being different from energy. But it isn’t. Stuff is just very focused energy because all stuff has energy inside it. Energy can be turned into stuff, and stuff and be turned into energy."

Gnomestein pointed at the Archmage and continued, "When a mage casts a spell, he isn't making something from nothing. He is creating a fireball, blizzard, or food and drink using magical energy. Like how the elves drew energy from the Well of Eternity. It takes a lot of energy to make stuff. Even making something simple like bread uses a lot of magical energy, that's why not everyone can create stuff using magic. Creating something more complicated than bread, like for example, a portal to Shattrath, takes a vast amount of magical energy which is why only the most talented mages can make portals.”

Gnomestein took a sip of milk and continued, “Some beings are more magical than others because they have more energy. The Naaru, who are beings of pure energy, are the most powerful magical beings in existence."

Gnomestein went on, "If it takes a lot of energy to create stuff, that means the stuff that already exists has a lot of energy inside it because the energy doesn’t just cease to exist when energy is converted to stuff. The trick is to release that stored energy in a controlled manner.”

“For example, think about something like the Lich King's sword, The Frostmourne. It’s not a very big object compared to a castle or a mountain. But the energy inside The Frostmourne is powerful beyond comprehension and has no relation to its physical size. If the energy in the Frostmourne was released all at once, it would probably destroy Azeroth."

The group looked confused. Gnomestein said succinctly, "The goblins have figured out a way to release the stored energy in thorium to make a really big explosion. The X-Series Nether Rockets are a delivery system for the new goblin bomb."

Varian looked at Magni, "We have to siege Fenris Keep."

"Our forces are in Northrend lad, it could take days for the armies to get here. Your SI:7 man says these rockets might be operational. They could be flying here as we speak."

Born spoke up, "The Forsaken don't know that we know about the Nether Rocket Bomb. A siege would force them to launch the rockets."

Gnomestein added, "If the rockets are launched, Stormwind must be evacuated. Ironforge is built inside a mountain and can probably withstand a Nether Rocket detonation but the entire population of Stormwind is in grave danger."

M suggested, "We could drop Born into Fenris Keep to sabotage the Nether Rockets. Once we know the Rockets are disabled, we can siege Fenris Keep when our forces arrive from Northrend. In the meantime, we should evacuate Stormwind civilians via the Deeprun Tram."

Varian looked at Magni, who nodded.

Gnomestein suggested "We can deploy squadrons of flying machines and gryphon riders intercept the Nether Rockets and try and shoot them down before they reach Stormwind or Ironforge."

Mekkatorque spoke up, "I'll send my best pilot to fly your SI:7 man into Fenris Isle."

Gnomestein interrupted, "I'll fly him in, I'll use Catseye Ultra Goggles to get a good look at these Nether Rockets and the thorium processing facility. I should be able to tell whether the rockets are ready to launch if I can get a good look."

Varian looked at Mekkatorque, "If your man is right, we have no time to waste."

M looked at Born, "Good luck. We're counting on you."

"Thank you, sir."

VIII.

Gnomestein could see that at least one of the Nether Rockets was already operational when he flew over Fenris Keep. Steam rose from the keep high into the air. He wanted to fly lower to get a better look at the facility but that might expose them to the Forsaken and jeopardize the mission. He turned around to look at Born and gave him a thumbs up.

Born saluted then jumped into the abyss. He had to open his parachute cloak at high altitude to prevent alerting the death knights with the loud noise of a parachute cloak opening at low altitude but the wind blew him off course away from Fenris Keep. He landed in Lordamere Lake. Born swam to shore and groaned when he discovered that the water had destroyed his detonators. Without the detonators, his Seaforium explosives would be useless. Not even a gunshot from his Pierce’s Pistol could detonate the Seaforium.

Born sprinted toward the Keep then stealthed to avoid detection. He threw a distraction at the wall and when the death knight guard turned his head Born threw his grappling hook over the wall and climbed up. Once inside Fenris Keep, he saw goblins scurrying about. Born distracted a goblin, sapped him, then picked his pockets. Goblins could always be relied upon to carry detonators in their pockets.

Detonators in hand, Born sprinted to the closest Nether Rocket, the X-56, and got to work. He had almost finished shaping the first Seaforium charge to disable the Nether Rocket when to his horror, the Nether Rocket on the launching pad, X-53 began the launch ignition sequence. Born jammed the detonator into the Seaforium, pushed the red button and sprinted towards the X-53.

Grand Apothecary Zilard's head jolted when he heard the explosion above the roar of the X-53's ignition sequence. He turned around to see his X-56 Nether Rocket topple over as one of its tail fins exploded. At first he thought it was an accident and he was ready to start executing goblins with plague. Then he saw a human rogue climb up the launching pad of the X-53 with two death knights and two Deathstalkers in pursuit. The X-53 lifted off from the earth as the human rogue reached the top of the launching pad.
The human insect leaped up, caught the door handle with his arms and he was launched into the sky with the X-53.

"Prepare the X-54 for launch immediately!" Zilard bellowed.

IX.

Born flew through the air, clinging onto the X-53 Nether Rocket. The wind screamed in his ears and tried to tear his grip from the X-53's door handle. Born hung on to the rocket with his right hand as he shaped the Seaforium charge with his left hand.

The rocket was moving very fast and the wind made this delicate work difficult but adrenaline pumping through his veins focused his ability. When he had placed enough Seaforium around the lock to blow the door open, he inserted a detonator, closed his eyes, and pushed the red button.

The door blew open with a loud boom but the Nether Rocket's durable titanium hull stayed intact. Born climbed into the X-53, shut the door, and tried to tie it closed with his belt. He sprinted toward the two goblin sappers piloting the rocket and dispatched them without difficulty.

He looked out the X-53's porthole and he saw the snowy mountains of Dun Morogh. His heart lifted when he saw a squadron of gnomish flying machines and gryphon riders flying toward him. Born grabbed the controls to turn the rocket around, pointing it northwest toward Menethil Harbor. He considered flying the X-53 back to Fenris Keep but he could see that there wasn't enough fuel to make the round trip.

Born looked at the Nether Rocket's control panel and found a big red button. If the button had to be pushed to detonate the bomb inside the X-53, he could crash the rocket into the sea without detonating the bomb. If the bomb detonated on impact....

He'd be a dead hero. Born piloted the X-53 until it was far west of Menethil Harbor and prepared to crash it. He pointed the X-53 down and jammed the controls with his boot. Born sprinted back to the door, opened it, and jumped into the sea.

Gnomestein was elated when he saw the X-53 Nether Rocket change course in mid flight. He called for the squadron of flying machines and gryphon riders to pursue the rocket. Gnomestein saw a human leap out of the X-53 before it nosedived into the ocean. The X-53 hit the water with a terrific splash but the goblinium bomb didn’t detonate. The Nether Rocket sank into the sea.

A few seconds later the man who jumped out, his fall slowed by a parachute cloak, hit the water. Gnomestein landed his flying machine on the water a few yards from where he saw the man go under and threw a rope.

Born gasped for air as he broke the surface of the water. He saw the flying machine, then Gnomestein, then the rope. He grinned. Then he remembered the other rockets. "They're launching more rockets!!!!" Born grabbed the rope and hauled himself into the backseat of the flying machine. "GO GO GO!"

Gnomestein took off then turned his head to look at a battered Born, "We won't make it Born, that rocket is too fast. King Bronzebeard sent a squadron of flying machines and gryphon riders to intercept any Nether Rockets targeting Stormwind but after seeing the X-53 in flight, I don’t think the Alliance squadron will be able to shoot down a X-series Nether Rocket. Most of the Stormwind civilians have already been evacuated via the Deeprun Tram and they’re safe in Ironforge."

"What about the King?!" Born shouted, the wind in his ears.

"I don’t know!!" Gnomestein shouted back.

X.

The Alliance squadron intercepted the X-54 Nether Rocket flying over Elwynn Forest, five miles from Stormwind. The gryphon riders unloaded a barrage of stormhammers and the flying machines fired hundreds of rounds of munitions at the X-54.

The Nether Rocket was too fast and sustained only a few hits. The titanium hull remained unscathed. The squadron of gryphon riders and flying machines turned around to pursue the X-54. They watched in horror as the X-54 Nether Rocket and its Goblinium 233 payload detonated two thousand feet above Stormwind Keep.

The Alliance squadron saw the blinding light and felt the searing heat emanating from the tremendous fireball. Then the shock wave from the explosion buffeted the squadron in midair. Gryphon riders and flying machines fell from the sky. Only a few pilots were able to jump and open their parachute cloaks.

Stormwind Keep crumbled and the stone burst into flame. Wooden buildings in the Dwarven District and Old Town exploded from the shockwave and ignited from the heat, creating fuel for a firestorm.

The pilots who didn't crash during the explosion landed in Elwynn Forest to rescue the survivors who had parachuted. Then the few remaining operational flying machines and gryphon riders flew northeast toward Ironforge to report.

XI.
Two dragons, a Bronze and a Red, flew over the ruins of Stormwind Keep.

"The mortals will destroy themselves." said the Red.

"Perhaps we should let them." said the Bronze.

"They may destroy us too." Red replied.

"Then what was done must be undone." mused the Bronze.

The two dragons circled around Stormwind one last time then turned northeast toward Ironforge.

XII.

Born and Gnomestein flew into Ironforge where a search and rescue operation was already underway. A team of gnomes was putting on diving suits and huge helmets.

Mekkatorque looked at King Varian and said, “I have been waiting to test these radiation suits in Gnomeregan but the suits don’t protect gnomes against mutated Troggs. Now we can test the radiation suits in Stormwind without any Trogg interference!”

King Varian had grateful tears in his eyes. “I pledge the might of Stormwind in your fight to reclaim Gnomeregan.”

Mekkatorque said simply, “We’ll need to make human sized suits.”

An army of dwarven miners with pickaxes to dig survivors from the rubble and gnome engineers wearing the radiation suits entered the Deeprun Tram, led by King Varian, King Magni, and High Tinker Mekkatorque. Born and Gnomestein were about to join them when two beautiful, willowy maidens, a tanned blonde and a pale redhead called out, “James Born, we need you.”

Born turned around and looked at the two women, “I must be dreaming.” He looked at Gnomestein and shrugged. “Duty calls. I‘ll catch up with you.” and walked toward the two maidens.

Born grinned, “So you two damsels in distress heard about how I turned the X-53 around and saved Ironforge from total annihil……….”

The pale redhead silenced Born with a wave of her hand and a hard stare, “James Born, you are to report to the Caverns of Time in Tanaris immediately. We will escort you.”

Born looked at the two very well disguised dragons and nodded.
XIII.

The dwarven miners had to dig through the rubble to create a path from the Deeprun Tram into Stormwind. The stone was still hot to the touch.

Once inside Stormwind, the rescue party from Ironforge saw human mages summoning water elementals to combat the flames and Stormwind footmen carrying survivors to the priests in the Cathedral of Light for healing.

The gnomish engineers began working to build a machine to pump water from Stormwind Harbor to The Dwarven District and Old Town to help the mages smother the flames. The dwarven miners dug through the debris, looking for any survivors.

XIV.

Born and the two maidens stepped out of the portal and onto desert sand. The two maidens assumed their true forms and the Bronze lowered her neck for Born to climb on.

The dragons took him deep inside the Caverns of Time.

“You had a chance to prevent this.” said the Bronze.

“But you didn’t.” said the Red.

“This time you must.” said the Bronze.

Born sighed, “Tell me how?”

“We will send you to the proper time.” answered the Bronze.

“Where you must do what you should have done.” said the Red.

The dragons landed in front of one of the infinite portals in the Caverns of Time and the Bronze lowered her neck for Born to climb down. Born peeked into the portal and saw Fenris Keep. He looked back at the immense dragons and they nodded at him to proceed.

Born stepped into the portal and stepped out into the basement of Fenris Keep. He watched himself watching the goblins argue and then watched the crimson cloaked Forsaken yell at the goblins. He then saw himself follow the greener goblin up the stairs to board the zeppelin for Outland.

So! This was his task. Born sighed. He took a closer look at the four goblins. They were wearing name tags on their white tabards, Goblinhimur, Hisinburg, Furme, and Telur. These goblins had to die. They understood what they were building and knew how it would be used so they deserved what he was about to do, Born thought. He sighed and began his wetwork.

When he finished his gruesome task, he stepped through the portal back into the Caverns of Time where the two dragons were waiting for him.

“This one is not very bright, is he? The Bronze said to the Red.

“Yes, I forget that we need to be very specific with humans.” the Red replied.

The Bronze lowered her neck. Born hesitated then climbed on. The dragons flew into a portal and exited into Durotar in Kalimdor. It was covered in Blight and a massive Black Citadel flew over the ruins Orgrimmar.

Born blinked, “When are we? What happened?”

“You stopped the goblins from building the goblinium bomb.” said the Red.

“But you reported back to Stormwind with the schematics you copied from the goblins in Fenris Keep.” said the Bronze.

“Using those schematics, the gnomes built a gnomium bomb.” said the Red.

“King Wrynn used the new gnomium bomb on Orgrimmar to kill Warchief Thrall because of The Battle for the Undercity.” said the Bronze.

“Without Thrall, The Horde is no more.” said the Red.

“Without The Horde, the Alliance faces the Scourge alone. The Lich King, Arthas controls Northrend and Kalimdor.” said the Bronze.

Born sighed, “I’ve seen enough. I’m ready to finish the job.”

Back inside Fenris Keep basement, Born followed himself following the greener goblin up the stairs to the zeppelin. He picked his own pocket to steal the notebook with the goblin bomb schematics. Born then sprinted back down the stairs in time to see himself murder the four goblin engineers. He waited until he saw himself step into the time portal then burned his notebook. Then he stepped into a final portal and out into a vast nothingness.

XV.

King Varian Wrynn listened to the report intently. When Born had finished, the King looked at M and Born and said, “Well it doesn’t matter what they’re building with the thorium, we have evidence they are behind the mine raids and we must retaliate. I’ve sent for the Stormwind army and when they arrive from Northrend, I’ll siege Fenris Keep. Good work, Born.”

XVI.

Born stealthed into the gnomish arcanite statue prison. He found the statue of Gnomestein encased in arcanite, pulled out a hammer, and gave the statue a hard smack. Nothing happened. He smacked the statue again, harder. This time the statue shattered. Gnomestein fell to the ground and started shivering. He looked up at Born and asked, “Do you have any…?”

Born handed the shivering gnome a bottle of warm milk and said, “I have a job offer for you. How would you like to be the new head of Gadgets and Gizmos at SI:7?”

FIN

First Post

Why have players lost interest in WoW PVE?

The answer isnt that players have run out of content. There is plenty of content, old and new, untouched by the vast majority of WoW players. What percent of subscribers have finished AQ? Naxxramas? Hyjal? Black Temple? There is a vast amount of untouched premium content and more on the way with a second expansion pack.

So why have players lost interest in WoW PVE? Its all Tigole's fault. Perhaps Furor shares some of the blame. These two retards decided that the very best PVE content should only been accessible to 5% of WoW subscribers. They decided to select this fortunate five percent based on a single criteria. This 5% consists of the players with no lives outside the world of warcraft.

The devs use pseudo psychological terms like risk vs. reward and other BS to justify the vast amount of game design resources catering exclusively to the players with no lives. However, anyone who has ever played everquest knows the simple fact that Tigole and Furor are wasting blizzard's resources to design a game for their own enjoyment and to share with a few players like themselves. players with no lives. I call these players Tigole's special kids.

Most companies wouldn't need to hire McKinsey or the Boston Consulting Group to tell them that a young professional with a job and pays rent, and spends his time and money on a variety of interests and hobbies is a more desirable customer demographic than the college dropout with no income who lives at home with his parents and spends his allowance on warcraft and hotpockets.

However, this intuition evidently escapes Tigole completely. He continues to design content solely for the consumption of the three cheese pizza hotpocket eating demographic. If a game designer EVER uses the term "pacing mechanic" as a euphemism for "separating our desirable customers with no lives from our undesirable customers with lives" its time to FIRE him.

Tigole's raid design influence is a detriment to blizzard, which could easily be charging people with jobs 30 dollars a month for WoW instead of chasing unemployed customers for their 15 dollars a month.

If you are in the 5% who has seen everything in the world of warcraft and wields the twin blades of azzinoth and you believe that you are somehow more skilled than the other 95% skillless nubs who cant understand tigole's brilliant mob artificial intelligence programming, ask yourself this simple question, "why hasnt my skill based success in wow translated in any way into real life success be it academic, professional, romantic, etc.?"

In conclusion, Blizzard, your lead game designer's idea of fun e.g. fighting trash mobs for six hours a night, seven days a week, shouting orders on voice chat to society's unemployed sociopath miscreants, qualifies him for a mental institution, not the lead designer job at the most prestigious game design studio in the world.

Yes, tigole might be doing society a favor, keeping these losers off the streets. But that's just an unintended collateral effect of his horrible game design decisions.

95% of the playerbase should be angry. Those computer programmers, artists, etc who created the black temple cost money.

You are subsidizing the fun Tigole's special kids are having.