With the careful effort of a sweep-and-ward operation, aided by the local Witch Doctor ZinâJaago, the murloc allies of the Bloodscalp tribes were scattered and sent packing. Breaking the Bloodscalpâs control of the murlocs proved unnecessary, when in their frightful retreat, their turned on the trolls on their own.
The wildlands north of Gromâgol had finally stilled, and no longer did the changing guards of the camp have to listen for gurgling sounds in the night.
In addition, it seemed as if the Alliance resettlement effort was sending out feelers; tent-camps dotting the northernmost parts of Stranglethorn, scouting out locations for new villages and homes for war refugees.
Thanks also to Zelujin and the Shadow of the Empire for making an appearance earlier today - and presenting the opportunity for a tired veteran of war to have a very valuable chat with a young revolutionary. Tomorrow brings us an event hosted by the lovely Watrus!
What started out as pretending to join the Venture Company became a valuable espionage effort that - though the hiccups along the way were great - revealed quite a few vulnerabilities in the companyâs defences.
The party revealed a facility that kept their overworked labourers quiet and content, and some kind of magic used to suppress the panthers of the region and keep Bethekk the Loa from finding out.
In the end, they set a fire that would spread to much of the Venture Company logging camp; Bethekkâs children took care of the rest. What remained of the Venture Company withdrew to their colonial settlement further north, content to work on excavating the mine up there instead.
With the road cleared to Bambala, a representative from the troll village had also taken the time to stop by Gromâgol, adding more tasks to the noticeboard.
The group were successful in ending the ogreâs plans with a pre-emptive strike against their mound. Working their way across the eastern ridge, they removed the sentries in their path, before spotting the entrance to the mound had rather eroded rock formations at its peak. Whilst the shaman of the group worked on toppling them down, the others got together in force and readied a charge.
Unfortunately, their combined might wasnât quite enough to topple it over, but a little help from voodoo finished the job. One of the tougher guards was crushed in the rockfall and the reinforcements - along with the leader - were buried in their own home. The rest were quickly routed by the combined efforts of Paw and ally alike.
No more drums will be keeping the guards awake at night, leaving them to focus on the native troll threat in earnest.
Follow-up reports note that ogres of the region, rather than scatter completely, eventually abandoned their outposts and returned to the mound, their focus turning instead on restoring their tribe to some strength.
Big up for Erithur for trying their event-hosting chops with this as their first event! Good work.
Though the original force of pirates near the northwestern dockyard had at one point proven numerous enough to coerce the Bloodscalp trolls into leaving, it seemed many of them had since taken off on other vessels and ships. In the end, all that remained in Stranglethorn was a small group of numerous - if rowdy - drunken louts. With their defeat, the privateering threat in the waters outside Gromâgol was ended.
Worse, however, was that investigating their camp unearthed several items linking the sailors not to simple brigandry - but to the Alliance. A warning sign perhaps, that with the shrinking navies on either side of the faction barrier, coffers were now being opened to hire any and all capable naval forces left.
In the end, the gunboat was destroyed during a scuffle on board with the remaining crew. In the end, neither pirates, Horde nor Alliance would any longer stand to benefit from this ship.
Ominous dreams had haunted the residents of Gromâgol recently, with the increase in ritualist activity along the northern coast.
But now, with Watrus and her partyâs combined efforts, the altars lay still and the sacrifices to a strange, shapeless god had ended. Thought the locals still had to endure the rain and mist, it at least no longer whispered their names.
Something resembling stability was at long last to be found in this far-flung settlement.
This is also probably our last map from Stranglethorn. Next stop, Swamp of Sorrows!
Urgent letters are sent by any means necessary, in many cases by a mage popping into existance, only to teleport elsewhere once their message is delivered.
"Horde,
I bring word to you from the Swamp of Sorrows that this ancient stronghold of yours, Stonard, is under risk of complete collapse.
As if itâs not enough that the Allianceâs grasp in the region is tightening, a new cult of troll zealots appear to have taken up residence in the Sunken Temple, naga have come ashore in the hundreds with murloc slaves, seeming eager to carve the land out for themselves.
As if all of that wasnât enough, the soft bog soil has been rumbling and exhaling Azerite every now and then, something the entire region appears to be competing to get to first.
Had a brief but lovely encounter with the clan, although specifically Rogmasha and Belok yesterday. First proper RP Iâve done in a year and they were very accommodating.
Recommend dropping by the hub if your character has reason to be there, and if they donât, then make one up!
What started as a simple scouting mission revealed far more about the Swamp of Sorrows landscape and the strange effigies than could have been originally imagined.
Strange mindless followers, shrieking spirits, and a cackling voice that seemed capable of animating the dead. An unnerving omen for the trolls among the group, whoâd almost immediately made the connection between the Blood God Hakkar and everything going on.
For the time being, at least, the Hordeâs scouts could once again venture out to the swamps north of Stonard in peace.
Though rumours had spread about what the cultists in the westernmost Swamp were up to, none had truly communicated just how ill an omen they had spotted.
The cult, it turned out, were monstrous kâthir in disguise, and their labour had been in enslaving the grellkin of the region to mine what few flecks of Azerite they could find out of the soil.
They were dispatched, though the death of the cult brought little comfort, as it appeared their leader - a naga Sea Witch of some considerable power - escaped, no doubt back towards her army out on the coast.
A small victory, all the same. And one that ensured Splintertree Post only had to watch the road and their southern flank, rather than spread themselves thin.
As people disappeared into a cavern to the South-east, it was only a matter of time before someone spotted what was going on. Today we went in and defeated the handmaidens of the vile witch, who had been enslaving people, and even used the vile creatures known as Merciless Ones on the Hakkari.
It appears this has only just begun however, as the Sea Witch returned, and made off with a Hammer of Akunda, stolen from the Hakkari, who likely stole it themselves. She used the Hakkari, minds bent by Merciless Ones to empower the weapon with Azerite, but the ritual was undone and the stones returned to Azerothâs heart.
However, all was not good. Two of the Witchâs underlings sacrificed themselves to two dark daggers, which brought forth a faceless monster, who tried to invade the minds of the Horde. The creature was defeated, but the daggers remained. They are for now frozen in time in the hands of the Kirin Tor, but who knows if thatâll fix it foreverâŚ
A strange discovery upon a strange discovery. Not only had the overseerâs burrow not been raided by naga, it appeared as if the occupants of the burrow had suffered some kind of void-infused mania, though no clear sign could be found as to why all of this had happened.
Upon their return, few if any of the grunts could remember even seeing this strange peon overseer, let alone knew where he went.
In the end, follow-up scouting reports also concluded that the remaining naga in the region had migrated north, as if their work in the region had concluded. He mentioned seeing them guide along peons in shackles.
With the final remnant of the naga presence scattered, it appeared as if what remained of inland threats, too, receded. Whatever had been agitating the swamps into upheaval, it had left with the naga.
Now all that remained was to clean up the aftermath, and to let the people of this earliest Horde settlement on Azeroth begin the process of rebuilding their existence.
For now, the Swamp of Sorrows was still. But a great deal of questions had been left in the wake of this adventure. What were the naga plotting to do in this region, and why did they, like in so many other places, come ashore in mass numbers, only to disappear just as quickly when confronted?
In the end, and eerie foretelling had come across the mouth of one of the nagaâs dying slaves, of a dark empire and of what would happen, should it not arrive.
And that concludes session 2 of the Roaming Hub! Thank you to everyone who came along for the ride, from Desolace to Feralas, and from Stranglethorn to the Swamp of Sorrows!
![:slight_smile:](https://d1bg94bbsh66ji.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/slight_smile.png?v=6" ":slight_smile:")