"We got wiped."
"We got wiped too."
"That Alliance group is insane. We had no chance against them, especially that level 34 Human Mage, Ogabs. His mechanics are ridiculous. Watching him play gave me chills."
Several Hall of Fame parties had been wiped by Gabryell's group, and now they were calling for backup in guild chat.
"This is bullshit."
"They're way too arrogant."
"You can kill us, but you don't get to humiliate us."
"Goddamn it, Leader! Since when has Hall of Fame ever taken this kind of crap? Since closed beta, we've always been the ones stomping the Alliance. Since when do they get to kill us?"
Voidshade, an Undead Rogue and officer of Hall of Fame, had just been picked off by one of Gabryell's Frostbolts and was burning with anger.
"These Alliance trash are walking all over us. If we just swallow this, the other Horde guilds are going to laugh at us and call us cowards."
Windwalker, the Tauren Warrior and guild leader of Hall of Fame, understood that they could no longer stay silent and let the Alliance run wild through Hillsbrad Foothills, hunting Horde players unchecked.
"Everyone online in the guild, listen up. Anyone level 20 and up, head to The Sepulcher in Silverpine Forest and gather there. Void, take a Rogue squad and stealth around Southshore. Keep tabs on every move the Alliance makes. Be careful and don't get spotted."
Windwalker continued giving orders.
"All guild members currently in Hillsbrad Foothills, aside from BrokeMage and I'mNotPikachu's squad, fall back to Tarren Mill for now and wait for the guild's main force. I'll contact the other Horde guilds. Together, we'll drive the Alliance out of Hillsbrad Foothills and take Southshore."
When the Alliance's main force gathered at Menethil, Windwalker had already received the news. The squad Gabryell's group had killed earlier at the entrance of the Yeti Cave had been sent there on his orders, and their deaths were within his expectations.
If PleasureWorld players were being corpse-camped, what did that have to do with Hall of Fame?
But once Hall of Fame members were killed, that became a grudge between Hall of Fame and the Alliance. Windwalker now had every justification to represent the Horde, rally a large force, and march into Hillsbrad Foothills to punish the arrogant Alliance.
Windwalker was smart. If Hall of Fame acted alone, they would definitely take losses, so he intended to bring several other guilds in with them. He was sure those guilds had also lost people to the Alliance.
If Hall of Fame led the Horde to victory, drove the Alliance out of Hillsbrad Foothills, and took control of the zone, then their prestige would soar. They would become the undisputed number one Horde guild on the server.
"One battle decides everything."
Windwalker knew very well that tonight's battle would decide whether the server became Horde-dominated or Alliance-dominated.
…
"Haha, the Horde are way too weak. Not a single one of them can fight."
Gabryell and his group had spent half an hour roaming the field and killing dozens of Horde players. As expected of a leveling area for Undead players above level 20, Hillsbrad had no shortage of Horde. If Southshore did not exist, Hillsbrad Foothills could practically be considered Horde territory.
"We've killed so many of them. Think they'll call for backup?" Hugo asked.
Igor said, "Beat up the small fry, and the big shots are bound to show up. We've killed people from at least five or six guilds. They'll definitely ask their guilds for help. A huge Horde group might come after us soon."
Igor was not afraid. If anything, he was excited. Fearless's main force was waiting at Refuge Pointe in Arathi Highlands and could come over to reinforce them at any time.
"Twin, any movement in Tarren Mill?" Gabryell asked TwinBleeds, who was keeping watch outside Tarren Mill.
TwinBleeds said, "A lot of Horde players have returned to Tarren Mill. They're probably gathering. Leader, be careful. If they group up, they'll outnumber us several times over."
"Keep watching Tarren Mill. Don't miss anything, but be careful not to get spotted."
This was within Gabryell's expectations. He had already noticed that there were fewer and fewer Horde players out in the wild. They had likely been scared off and retreated to Tarren Mill to hide.
He did not believe the Horde would back down and give up control of Hillsbrad Foothills. Sooner or later, they would join forces and come out for revenge.
In the earliest versions of World of Warcraft, players could not queue for battlegrounds from capital cities. To queue for Alterac Valley, they had to go to the battleground camp in Hillsbrad Foothills. Once battlegrounds opened, Hillsbrad would still become a contested zone for Alliance and Horde, with conflicts even more frequent than they were now.
Hillsbrad Foothills was exactly the kind of strategic ground both sides had to fight over.
The rain still showed no sign of stopping. According to intel from the Horde TeamSpeak, the Horde's main force should already be gathering in Undercity and at The Sepulcher in Silverpine Forest.
"DeathScum, go to the pass from Silverpine Forest into Hillsbrad Foothills. As soon as the Horde army enters Hillsbrad from Silverpine, report to me immediately."
The Horde would not be dumb enough to corpse-run from Western Plaguelands through Alterac Mountains just to reach Tarren Mill. If they actually did that, they would be exhausted before they even reached Hillsbrad Foothills and would not be much of a threat.
Gabryell never fought unprepared. He needed to know the movements of the Horde's main force as soon as possible so he could make the next arrangements.
Unfortunately, there were not enough Rogues in Southshore. Otherwise, he would have sent two more scouts: one to The Sepulcher and one to the gates of Undercity.
"Let's head back to Southshore and regroup with Madhouse."
There were only two or three Horde squads still skirmishing outside, so continuing to hunt them had little value. Gabryell decided to bring everyone back to Southshore first and conserve their strength for the larger battle ahead.
"I request permission to keep hunting out here."
David had no intention of returning to Southshore. He had not killed enough yet.
Susie said, "You guys go back first. David and I will keep harassing them so they don't get a chance to rest."
Gabryell would not leave the two of them in danger. If two Warriors ran into a few ranged players, they would die horribly.
"In that case, we'll leave one squad behind. Anyone willing to stay, type '1.' We only need three people."
OneShotCrit: "1."
Intriguing: "1."
OldSeven: "1."
Afraid the others would keep spamming "1," Gabryell said, "Only David, Susie, OneShotCrit, Intriguing, and OldSeven stay outside to keep harassing the Horde. Everyone else, come back to Southshore with me and rest up."
No one objected. They split into two groups. David's squad stayed outside to keep hunting and harassing the Horde, while Gabryell's group returned to Southshore.
…
"Windwalker, they've returned to Southshore."
Gabryell's group had just returned to Southshore when Voidshade, who had been lying in wait outside, reported in.
Windwalker said, "Several other guilds have lost plenty of people too. They're very willing to join forces with us and drive the Alliance out of Hillsbrad Foothills. Once our main force finishes gathering, Southshore won't be able to protect them."
Windwalker had already decided to lead the Horde army, flatten Southshore, and declare Horde dominance over Hillsbrad Foothills.
Back in Southshore, before entering the inn to meet Dreamshade, Gabryell turned to Carlos and asked, "Hey, can your Azeroth National Geographic Forum go live early? Is it stable enough to run?"
Carlos said, "There shouldn't be any major problems. The forum is more than eighty percent done. Only a few features and sections aren't finished yet. I registered the domain a while ago, so it can go live anytime."
Gabryell said, "Launch it early. We can finish the rest slowly afterward."
Carlos said, "Got it. I'll put it online right away and send you the domain through TeamSpeak."
Gabryell then turned to Igor and Hugo.
"Can the voice chat software be used?"
Igor said, "It works, but it's rough. There aren't many extra features yet. It can basically only handle voice calls."
With TeamSpeak and Ventrilo as references, plus Gabryell's experience from his previous life, development of the voice chat software had gone very smoothly.
Gabryell said, "That's enough. Package the voice chat software into a zip file and upload it to the guild TeamSpeak so guild members can download it. I'll also give Dreamshade a copy so Madhouse players can use our voice software too. Put it on the front page of the Azeroth National Geographic Forum as well, and try to get the other Alliance players joining tonight to download it."
Gabryell wanted unified command. Having voice comms and not having them were two completely different things. The gap was enormous. As long as even half the Alliance players logged into voice and listened to his calls, he was completely confident they could win tonight's war against the Horde.
The first major Hillsbrad Foothills battle on the server was bound to draw the attention of every player and become tonight's main event. If they won this battle, the Azeroth National Geographic Forum and their voice chat software would ride the wave straight into the spotlight of the entire server.
That would be more effective than running a hundred ads.