A Crusader's Contemplation

Crampleflap converses with Jereck Serethil...

GREETINGS, readers! As you probably have noticed Jereck Serethil has popped up in many of my reports to date, and finally I have managed to get an interview with the holy crusader himself!

You have had an illustrious career with the Silver Hand, Lordaeron Royal Guard and now the Argent Crusade. Tell me, how do you maintain the will to keep going?

"In my past I have seen much conflict. Be it Horde or Alliance, both are ripe with corruption, hate and prejudice. Upon joining the Crusade - a neutral faction - I made it my duty to end the petty racism between the old enemies."

A Horde sympathiser? Really? I would not expect that from you. Supporting the savage Orc beasts.

"That is exactly the type of narrow minded tntolerance I have come to despise, Gnome. As I stated I am neutral, perhaps I am more inclined to aid the Alliance more than the Horde but both are guilty of heinous acts against each other and neither are in the right."

I doubt the King would take those words very lightly.

"So you are suggesting that myself, the Crusade and Tirion Fording himself are all traitors to the King. If the Horde launched an attack on the King I would give my life to defend him, but both sides need to lay down their age-old hatreds over trivial wars. Both are of equal blame and I cannot stress the importance of us working together to combat not only the Scourge, but also any other threat that may compromise the safety of all people. Orc or Human."

How can you be so callous towards the Horde's pillaging of our lands?

"Callous, no. Educated, yes. I do not agree with the Orcs' actions in Ashenvale or any attacks on lands that are of the Alliance, but the Alliance have committed similar crimes in the past, Gnome. Yes I have heard the screams of the innocent dying at the hands of the Horde, but I have also heard the screams of their children being slain and the cries of their mothers watching them being butchered. It is a double-edged sword... no-one is in the right."

Your patience with the horde is astounding. How did that come to be?

"I have no patience for the bloodthirsty amongst them, nor the ones who seek to pillage Alliance land. The Warchief however I do have patience for, he realises even moreso than our King that we must join forces if we are ever to repair this broken world. It is understandable that King Varian feels the way he does, due to the events that transpired after his kidnapping, and I do not blame him. I would probably possess the same hatreds if I was in his shoes. Thrall however accepts conflict with us is somewhat foolish, he just has a hard time keeping his leash on his forces."

If you had to chose, what faction would you fight for?

"Now that is a ridiculous question. Of course I would fight for the Alliance. I have before and I would again, but with the current turn of events in the north people must realise that unity is the key to victory. Tirion has stressed this so many times. Yet no-one will listen, all are to blinded by their prejudices, don't get me wrong many people have a reason to hate the Horde, but how can you accept the Ebon Blade into your ranks who have committed similar crimes and not the Horde? The Horde killed your family? Chances are the Ebon Blade had slain just as many. The Horde destroyed your lands? The Scourge destroy anything that gets in their way. So tell me, is it really that different? I will leave you to ponder on that."

Now that's food for thought if not anything else, and you know what? I am starting to see where he is coming from, but at least we know if push came to shove he would be backing our ranks.

Jereck left me with a message for Crusader Gaebriel of Lightsworn, "My allegiance is with the Alliance and always will be, yet at this current state of Azeroth we must put aside our hatreds and join together to destroy the Scourge. I will always be faithful to the Alliance and would never abandon them though you must realize without unity failure, death and destruction will surely follow."

Hard hitting words from a wise man. More news on the Tournament theft and those Scarlet rumors coming soon.

Can We Trust The Scarlets?

Crampleflap Fizzlewrench writes with rumours of civil war...

LATE yesterday evening, rumours were sparked of civil war between many forces of the Alliance and the Scarlet Enclave. From with their disagreement with the Ebon Blade, through to disobeying the King's orders to accept them as Alliance, it appears that many other Alliance forces have been rubbed up the wrong way by the crimson-wearing zealots.

The Scarlet Crusade, were formed by the remnants of the Silver Hand, many went to the Crusade, while many decided to form the Argent Dawn. In the past the Scarlets have been ridiculed and slain for their extremist and over-zealous actions which saw many innocents die at their blades. It was thought that their corruption was confined to the north of the Eastern Kingdoms but new reports show forces cropping up in Northrend. The Enclave claim to be separate from their transgressing brothers but with the recent revelations about possible betrayal and sinister intent, how can anyone be sure?

Although at this stage nothing can be confirmed, John 'Reaver' has clarified the fact that war may be imminent. With fresh fears of the Scarlets reverting to their old extremist ways many people have lost their trust in the Enclave and are ready to bear arms against them.

Many have always feared that the Enclave have a sinister objective hidden under their new-found repentance but until we get confirmation from the King many authorities have warned the general public not to take any "mercenary" action against the Enclave.

Yesterday I chanced upon a meeting between Jereck 'The Golden Crusader', Reaver, Girem and two unnamed Draenei speaking of the betrayal of the Scarlets and the correct actions to be taken. This is almost a confirmation that conflict may be inevitable. We have been unable to get a formal statement from Dathran, Leader of the Enclave, as of yet but a request has been sent for him to inform the public of the situation. The House of Wrynn is yet to issue a public statement so we are waiting on both of these figures to fill us in on the situation.

"It is indeed a dire situation, but we must look to the light and stay our blades unless we have no choice. We must seek counsel with our superiors and allies," Jereck told me when asking him about the Enclave, however he yielded little more information about the situation and refused to speak up on the chance of war.

So all seems sinister on the home front. With rumours cropping up everywhere it seems it is only a matter of time before the situation explodes. We warn all civilians to be very careful when approaching the Scarlet Enclave as we do not yet know their intentions. They have not yet officially been branded as criminals so please, for your own welfare, do not provoke or aggravate them.

Deeprun Tram Engineer Discovers Body!

From our local reporter in Stormwind

WHAT would have been a routine inspection for the engineers of the Deeprun Tram yesterday ended in a horrific discovery of a half decomposed body. Lead investigator Lt. Frank Harlden said: “We cannot exclude an accident at this point but we suspect foul play.”

The body, which has been identified as that of Joalan Tarmikos, a cleric of the Cathedral of Light, was found with several stab wounds. Brother Sarno, spokesperson for the Cathedral of Light, has said that the Cathedral will be cooperating with the investigation and prays for a fast resolution of the case.

Chief of Operations Kinkle Fogtinker said to be surprised by the discovery. “Usually us find just corpses of rats or the occasional finger but this is completely new!”. Fogtinker expects that the body’s mangled state might be blamed on the state of the tram carts. “Us don’t have enough men to maintain those carts everyday, so at times some gears and bits stick out and you knows how fast these things go.”

Tarmikos was reported missing a month ago by his supervisor Brother Benjamin. “I had been guiding him through a difficult time, he had difficulty accepting the recent acceptance of the Ebon Hold order into the Alliance.” Tarmikos had been seen protesting against the Ebon Hold Death Knights on several occasions.

More on this as it develops.