Arthas and the Argent Tournament

So, the Argent Tournament and their new Coliseum, being built in the frigid north of Icecrown Glacier. A land once believed to be too cold for anything except the dead, but now it seems that is not the case. The Scourge no longer have total control over it, in fact I think they have severely been pushed back onto their heals, into Icecrown Citadel itself.

But they will be back. Oh yes, they will be back.

Arthas is proud if nothing else, and the Lich King is not going to take this lying down. For the time being, very little is being done by the Scourge to counter the Argent Crusade and their precious tourney, which has its purpose of being built on the Scourge's back yard as a sign of defiance against the Lich King and his minions. This is Tirion Fordring pulling down his shorts and mooning the entire Scourge.

Honestly, I can't say I appreciate it too much, to be honest. I know that Arthas needs to die very, very, very badly, but this whole thing just seems disrespectful to me. Seeing this from Arthas's perspective, this is a lot like how we would feel if Alliance came into Mulgore or Durator and built an outhouse in the middle of a burial ground. That shit just doesn't fly, dammit! A man's home is a man's home, no matter how evil he is!

But, for the time being, there really isn't much being done to counter it. The only counters the Scourge have put out are some Death Knight Commanders and Lieutenants in the Court of Bones, along with a bunch of skellies and gargoyles. These are signs that the Scourge is totally on the defensive right now, because all these guys are really fodder for players doing dailies, and are constantly being pwned. There's also the frostwyrm with a number of Cultist Bombers riding along, also fodder for a daily quest, and lastly there is the Black Knight, who really is a total bitch.

So what's left? Not much. The Scourge does not seem to be the world threatening powerhouse it used to be, and as much as he might want to, I don't think the Lich King really is in a position to do anything about it right now.

Chronilogically, the tournament started after the quest Tirion's Gambit, where the player, Tirion, and a number of Argent Crusader's go into the Cathedral of Darkness to try and get Arthas' Heart, and end up stabbing it instead. This really fucks up the Lich King, and right now I think he is in Icecrown Citadel, brooding about what happened, and biding his time.

Patch 3.2 is scheduled to unveil the completion of the Argent Tournament and opening the Coliseum for players, and we'll enjoy a few months of that before Patch 3.3 rolls around the corner, or Patch 3.4, or whichever one it is that finally opens Icecrown Citadel.

When that happens, the very worst of the Scourge is going to come pouring out with the Lich King most likely leading them. They are going to take Icecrown and possibly most of Northrend back from the Alliance and the Horde, and the Argent Crusade is going to be turned into the Argent Let's-get-the-fuck-out-of-here-before-we-get-eaten. When it's all over, there won't be enough left of the tourney grounds to sustain a campfire for one night. Basically we'll learn why this expansion was named "Wrath of the Lich King" because that's what he's going to be bringing.

And then we'll go from there, storming Icecrown Citadel itself, and taking on the Lich King.

I think we've got fun times in store for us. :)

The Highlord and the Watcher

*From the writings of Dakore, Shaman of the Horde*

My first port of call in Icecrown is the now besieged Argent Crusade Outpost, the Argent Vanguard. There, for the first time, I met Tirion Fordring, Highlord of the Argent Crusade. He has been a friend to the Horde in the past, heard much of him from Eitrigg, and I know of him to be the few honorable humans to have lived.

Also there was a person known as the Ebon Watcher, and seeing him stand beside Tirion Fordring is like seeing ablolute darkness and complete light standing next to one another. I have seen a few death knights in my time, fought beside them even as many have rejoined the ranks of the Horde, and I can tell that this must be the mast of the Ebon Blade ranks. I hear Fordring call him by the name of Darion.

In that conversation was a debate. The Argent Crusade's advance through Icecrown has been halted at the doorstep by swift, powerful counterstrikes from the Scourge, aided by the nerubian spiders. I overheard this Darion urge the Highlord to set aside his sense of honor and fight the Scourge on their own terms. Ha! Allies they may be, but death knights all the same. I agree with Fordring. We cannot abandon who we are in this battle or any other.

But as I look out on the field of battle, the crusaders who fight and die against the scourge, I begin to have doubts, abut a lot of things.