It wasn't long before the 13th Legion's skirmishers ambushed them on the road outside Telredor. It seemed, at first, that Commander Fulstein's missive from Honour Hold had not yet reached Wildhammer Stronghold. Nonetheless, the Order and its followers were unwilling to spill blood, and their ambushes were swiftly beaten into submission, as Captain Irwine's men had been before them.
Their reception in Telredor was more welcoming, and it was Tarulaan - the very anchorite named in Brother Augustus' journal - which met them there. The Order's knights were quick to enquire about the fallen cleric, and it was just as quickly revealed to them that the Lightkeeper, whose mithril chassis once housed the Flame of Alonsus, had passed from the Draenei's hands and back to the Alliance Expedition many years ago. The 'village of sorcerers' was spoken of, upon the shores of what was once Farahlon, yet Tarulaan did not know whether or not the artefact would be found there nowadays.
Nevertheless, the Order continued onwards to Orebor Harbourage, arriving amidst a demonic assault upon the walled settlement. After a brief battle, they met with Anchorite Xardas, who had been named by the Vindicator in Halaa almost a fortnight earlier.
Much to his horror, the unholy tome that Sir Uriel presented to him was indeed the Codex of Blood, or at least some replica of it. Xardas recalled his adventures into the depths of the Shadow Labyrinth and his battle against the creature - if it could be called a creature - known as Murmur. The very primordial essence of sound, this 'elemental' (of sorts) was capable of laying wastes to entire worlds with just a whisper.
Had Kharduum itself suffered this fate? Was the shattered remains of the Hand's homeworld a result of Murmur's full potential? Were the ear-splitting shockwaves that they felt tearing at every fibre, every molecule of their being the echoes of this primordial creature?
The revelation that the Hand of Kharduum had, until their intervention, held the Codex of Blood raised a great many questions, but both the Order and the Anchorite Xardas agreed upon one thing: time was not on their side. Thus the Order rode upon the winds to the second invasion point, venturing into the fiery demon world that lay beyond. Therein, they tore down the Coven of Kharduum, a witchhood of four Shivarran priestesses overseeing the preparation of an Antaen goliath, submerged beneath the lava lake which stretched out before them.
What should have been a celebrated return to the Harbourage, however, was note. While they were away, it came to the attention of both themselves and their Draenic allies that the 13th Legion had settled in the Twin Spire ruins, at the heart of the swamp, and that they intended to march upon the Harbourage to claim the so-called 'deserters' two days hence. A distraction, perhaps, but one that many of the Order were willing to take; no longer could they afford to be chased and harassed across unfamiliar lands, to the peril of the common man and woman in the Alliance's forces which pursued them.
And while frustrations grew over the persistence of this 'Lord Athon' in Shadowmoon Valley, who by now the Order suspected to be compromised by the enemy, there was one name that had resurfaced in this dark hour. The letter detailing the charges laid upon the Order - for a second time - was not penned by the enigmatic Lord Athon, but by a more familiar, more distant, and more loathed name altogether:
Calistan Enright.
The plot thickens!
The Order is less than a fortnight away from the end of its Outland epic, and yet there’s still so much more to unearth in the far reaches of the shattered world. If you’ve been keeping up with the (progressively longer) stories so far, there’s still time to get involved as the Order ventures into the Blade’s Edge Mountains and beyond!