So there we were. For months the Argent Crusade has been "training" us in and around their colosseum by having us joust, kill, retrieve and capture...just like common squires.

No more! We decided to enter the ring of stone for ourselves to see what they had in store for us, and why we had to be trained for it. Horb, a Forsaken priest who has far too much tactical knowledge to have been a priest in his life before the plague, filled us all in on the details of what were were to face. Jaxhan and Snikks would be at the front, taking the blows like only their plate-clad bodies could endure. Behind them stood a force of Zenithian might not many enemies had faced before: Stelutza, the treacherous rogue, Tuskanrai, the hunter with her trusted pet GIMP (I really should ask her how that came to be the beast's name), Angora, the moonkin that has been absent for so long along with his companion (though probably more like his master) Lyras, Moomooshaman and Cathartic took care of keeping everyone this side of death alongside Horb. Rounding out the group was me, the almighty Volnar! Scourge of the Scourge! Burner of the Burning Legion! Slaye.............Excuse the imp, he has been sent on a "holiday" somewhere in the Twisting Nether.

Argent Crusade Highlord Tirion Fordring announced our challengers. They had traveled all over Northrend in order to find the most fearsome beasts on the continent....and they may well have succeeded. Gormok the Impaler was the name of our first target, the magnataur had brought along a number of snobolds who not only threw fire bombs at us, but also jumped on our faces, beating on our heads to make it impossible for our spellcasters to focus. They weren't more than a simple nuisance though, and once they were incinerated, Gormok didn't last for long. Our next challenge were two giant Jormungar named Acidmaw and Dreadscale. The touch of Acidmaw's poison can paralyze any man within seconds but luckily we had known the one thing that removed it: the burning bile from Dreadscale's glands. After taking care of Acidmaw, Dreadscale suddenly became very angry almost as if he cared for the worm. Unable to keep them apart, we did the humane thing and reunited him with his fallen comrade.

Of course this wasn't enough for the Argent Crusade, because soon after the worms had been sent to their grave, the Highlord announced our next fight, the yeti Icehowl. Armed with breath so cold it can freeze us in our tracks and given to knocking us into a wall before charging at us, this fight could have been over quickly...provided that the beast knew to use both these abilities at the same time. But even though he didn't, the sight of a yeti several times your own size charging at you will give even the slowest beings on Azeroth enough reason to move out of the way. Icehowl provided even less challenge than the others for us though, and we moved on to our next challenge.

We all wondered what the Crusade would throw at us now, Had they captured Scourge to fight us? Would we face a horde of demons, warriors? Our questions were soon answered when the Colosseum doors opened and through them stepped....a gnome. Already working out how to season him after the kill, we stood by as he announced himself as Wilfred Fizzlebang and that he would summon a doomguard to fight us. Now I knew that a doomguard was a fearful demon (I had to take great pains to bind one to me, after all) but I wasn't prepared for what happened next. Of course the gnome screwed up and summoned an Eredar lord named Jaraxxus instead. Jaraxxus, as expected, was not pleased and robbed us of our kill! Naturally we could not stand for this and took on the demon. Fire, and lots of it, came at us from all sides and in all forms, and even though he found help in the form of various Infernals and Shivarra, we came out victorious in the end. Two down, two to go.

The next fight should have been against the Crusade's most formidable knights, but the Alliance felt shamed by the gnome's mistake and took their place. We faced six allies, a shaman, druid, warlock, priest, warrior and a paladin. Taking down both healers was the first priority, so I banished the druid while we took down the shaman. He would die next and just as I started to feel an itch, I noticed that the warrior was trying to kill me. a Death Coil made sure he was off my case and fleeing in terror as we killed him. I spotted the warlock going for me next, but laughed off his Corruption with a Shadow Ward and attacked back. As she was nearly dead, Horb yelled to take down the paladin first, but when it takes only seconds to kill someone, I don't switch before they fall. After the paladin fell, I was ready to announce victory, only to realize I had completely forgotten about the priest. In Varian Wrynn's words, they proved "hardly a challenge."

Our last fight would pit us against two Val'kyr that led a failed assault on the Tournament grounds. Fjola Lightbane and Eydis Darkbane seemed protected by forces beyond our comprehention. One was vulnerable only to damage from sources attuned to the light, and the other had that weakness to dark attacks. Luckily for us, attuning to either the light or dark allowed us to not only absorb damage from that particular Val'kyr, but to empower ourselves through it. Once we figured that out, neither of the two could stand in our way. We had bested the tournament, divided the spoils, and won.

Or so we thought.

As Highlord Fordring congratulated us on our victory, he commented that there was no challenge we could not face when united. This prompted the Lich King himself to enter the arena and boast that he had a challenge for us. He destroyed the floor underneath us and brought us to see a face we had conquered quite a while ago: that of Anub'arak!

Being dead does not mean the end of one's service to the Scourge apparently, but we had killed him before, we could do it again. He had learned a few new tricks since the last time we faced him, but he was still a coward who let others do most of the fighting for him. The smaller Nerubians he summoned to fight us were also very fond of burrowing into the ground to heal after nearly being beaten, but luckily Horb noticed a number of frozen orbs overhead. Bringing those down froze the ground to such an extent that it made burrowing impossible, allowing us to take the Nerubians down one by one, as well as providing safe ground whenever Anub'arak himself started chasing us in an attempt to impale us. Taxing as the battle was, we finally got to a point where the Nerubian King had seemingly run out of "normal" underlings to fight for him, so he ordered a swarm of insects to leech health from us to him, making him harder to kill.

It didn't work out as well as he'd hoped.

If anything, this last fight prepared us for what we would have to face inside the walls of Icecrown Citadel when the time comes to assault it. It shows us just to which lengths the Lich King is willing to go to fight us and in so doing tells us to be prepared for anything.

Bring it on, Arthas, Zenith will be there to meet whatever you choose to send at us.

-from the journal of Edhunt, Warlord of Zenith

Yogg-Saron downed on 4th Oct... gratz guys :)

Our first Ulduar Hard Mode - XT downed on Thursday 17 Sept. GJ all :)

I forgot to take a screenie so here is one of our first Vezax kill instead!

A bold advance
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Ulduar! I'm beginning to curse that place. We launched another assault, deep into the heart of the iron dwarf palace this night. The floor was still littered with the bones and corpses of those slain on the nights before. The great siege engines were still burning, giving the castle an eerie glow as we passed through its halls.

As we ran through deserted corridors a great shadow came over us. But before anyone could react it had allready passed. The feeling that we were being hunted sent cold shivers down my spine.
At a crossing of two hallways we ran into a group of Stone Defenders. It was from them that we learned what had been stalking us all this time: the great Protodrake Razorscale. It was a fierce and proud beast, and as we entered the open space where she resided, we knew we would need help to bring her down. This is where our dwarven friends came in. They had brougth great harpoons with them, knowing what would challenge them here.
There was only one problem: a giant army of Iron Dwarves had been sent to assist the dragon in the battle that was to come. Cyanide, Grig and myself charged in to meet the coming hordes. With our friends behind us we tore through them like a storm. Blades and magic flashed in the open air as we bought the Stone Dwarves enough time to set up their ballistas. But the Iron attackers were not the only threat. From the sky, Razorscale rained down on us like a plague. His attacks were vicious and constant. Only the fast reaction of our healers stood between us and certain demise.
Just as our lines were about to break, the Stone engineers cried out that the siege weapons were ready. Foresthunter grabbed hold of the spears and was able to force the dragon to the ground; within reach of our swords and spells. The dragon fought hard to regain her freedom and broke the shackles twice. But always were we able to bring her down again.

It took six harpoons to finally wingclip the great beast. But when she was on the ground, she was not less deadly. With tremendous force the dragon clashed onto our shields. Biting, sweeping and blazing she came at us. When I drew her attention to give my brothers in arms a chance to recuperate, I felt my shield almost being torn apart. The dragon's breath destroyed my armor and I received a blow to the chest. I could no longer fend her off and I fell to my knees. It would surely have been my end if Cyanide had not thrown himself in front of me to block the killerblow. The dragon was drawn away and Elothar quickly tended my nearly fatal wound. I rejoined the fray and it was not long before yet another great dragon lay lifeless at our feet.

This fight will long remain a terrifying memory to me, for I felt death all around me. But I learned that if I fight for my brothers, they will also fight and die for me.

Allthough death had almost taken me, I was urged by my comrades to fight on. Because my heavy armor was severly damaged, I switched to my magic.
Without much trouble we carried on deeper into the keep. what we found there was beyond me. I had seen gnomish engineering before but here stood a giant robot - like creature. And the strange thing about is was that it acted just like a child! Later we learned that this was not just a piece of engineering, but that an actual heart had been inserted into this monstrosity.
When we came nearer to it the creature attacked us. It said something about new toys but when its giant, metal fists came down, we had no choice but to stand and fight. We went all out to protect ourselves, our lives hung in the balance as waves of scrapbots descendend upon us. Verminaard the Mage and Grig took them on, while me, Elothar and Horb cast out heals to keep everyone alive. The monster attacked us with a child's passion and ignorance, going into a tantrum of extreme rage. The fight continued untill finally the armor around the heart was so scorched that the organ itself became vulnerable. Our strongest warriors unleashed on this weakness. The battle was soon over. Another strong guardian has been laid to rest.

But though this attack has come to an end, many more will follow. And many more enemies will meet their end within these walls. Zenith will return, and with it will come the end of the Iron Dwarves!

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Many thanks to the Scribe Asathor

AGAIN! Those blasted Dwarves have a nasty habit of unwittingly unleashing the greatest of evils upon this world. First their civil war leads to them summoning Ragnaros into their stronghold, forever altering the face of the Redridge mountains. And now this.

Their latest "discovery" may well be the worst one yet. Hushed whispers say that Brann Bronzebeard has awakened Yogg-Saron himself! Ulduar was not a fortress or treasure hoard as was always expected, but rather a prison for one of the greatest evils that ever existed.

Vulture was the first of us with the presence of mind to realize that once again it would be up to us to stop Yogg-Saron from being free. Gathering our deadliest arsenal of spells and weaponry we set off to the far north.

Nine brave souls appeared at Ulduar's doorstep and found something we had not expected: There was an armada between us and the Titan Prison! Row upon row of Iron Dwarf, Mechagnome and Rune Giant regarded us from behind the protective barrier the Kirin Tor had put up.

The siege engineers brought our attention to a number of vehicles they had managed to salvage for us. I approached these metallic monstrosities with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. I had been an engineer and knew well the destructive power of this machinery, but with the gnomes working on them this destructive power was often as destructive to the user as to the target.

I was wrong.

Stepping into a demolisher piloted by Elothar I was amazed with just how much power this machine had, the army would not stand a chance against us! And they did not. The Titans, however, had foreseen this and constructed Storm Beacons to manufacture more and more of the iron soldiers. Focusing on destroying these towers, we came across four much larger towers. Seeing these as a potential future threat, Vulture ordered them destroyed. Cutting a swath of destruction across the grounds we finally came to a gate that could only mar our way forward. Brann contacted us about movement coming from behind it...

From the gate came the mother of all siege engines. The metal leviathan could easily fit most of Zenith inside it. It decided that our leader Jumble was the most threatening of us and set off after him. Our fearless leader managed to run and stay away from the leviathan's attacks and during the chase Vulture noticed something on top of the construct that could be used to our advantage. The leviathan seemed to speed up considerably over time, and every time it did so, two turrets on top seemed to spark up. The only problem was that we had no way of reaching them until Vulture came up with the most ridiculous way of destroying these turrets: Allowing myself, one of the finest warlocks under the Dark Lady's command, to be shot up on top of the machine by use of the catapult I was operating! Nothing good could come of it, I decided to show him the folly of his suggestion by allowing Elothar to launch me toward the leviathan,sure I would overshoot it.

I was wrong.

Elothar successfully launched me on top of the construct and I was free to let loose on the two turrets, as both were destroyed, the tank short-circuited and could do nothing but stand still as we wailed on it with our various weapons. It managed to repair both turrets and resume moving shortly afterward, but doing so seemed to weaken its defenses considerably. Safely falling to the ground once again I was picked up by my fellow Forsaken Schrodinger and brought back to Elothar's demolisher. Launching myself up again I brought down the newly-repaired turrets again and the time spent repairing this time was enough for us to force the leviathan to succumb to our firepower.

The fight drained us, all nine of us felt the adrenaline rush fade, forcing us to take a moment and reflect. As I regarded the Titan prison I could only wonder what other challenges it had in store for us.

Let them come, Zenith will be here to meet them.

Written by Edhunt