Warcraft Timewarping: Lies of the Highfather

Backstory: Lies of the Highfather

The Legion is upon us, our last bastions under siege. The invasion has lasted only three years, but already our defeat is unavoidable. Hundreds have fallen under the Legion's sway, but thousands more have fallen to their armies. The atmosphere has thinned, the landscape corrupted, and the seas evaporate before our eyes; the Twisting Nether is closer than ever before, because of it's close proximity everyone suffers from severe arcane exposure. The world is lost, even if every demon on the planet went back through their portals it would not save Azeroth from her fate.

A plan was hatched in secret, known as Operation: Highfather. Magi colluded with the Bronze and the Blue, under the unified orders of the faction leaders, to work on a spell to bend time to their will. At first the hope was to reverse the corruption, return the world to a previous state, but as the Legion closed in a new objective was decided. To truly defeat their enemies, they would need to go back into the past to gain the time they needed to prepare.

Many objected, not the least of which was the former Aspect of Time himself, Nozdormu. In the end, logic won. Time was not so fragile as he'd been told, the one true timeline was a false promise, as revealed by the existence of the alternate Draenor. The Highfather, the Titan who'd charged Nozdormu with the task of keeping time safe, had lied. Another objection came from the Prophet Velen, he argued the task was impossible, not with the Legion already on the planet in such force as they were. The Draenei's leader instead proposed to repair the Exodar, and recreate it's technology to ferry as many people as possible to safety. The Prophet's idea was squashed when the Legion's own machine's took to the skies and cut off the Great Dark from their reach.

With the plan going forward, a place was secured for the Operation's use. Not even those who went to this place knew where it was, only that it was dark and underground. It was referred to as the Hub, swarming with activity at all hours of the day as the best and brightest Azeroth had to offer rushed to do their part. New arrivals came in hourly, mostly refugees with just enough skill to be useful and nowhere else to go, but occasionally a renowned champion was pulled from the front lines and put to work.

It was these; the specialist, the heroes, the refugees, it was them who would go through the first and final success. A great golden portal, large enough to fit a Pit Lord comfortably, swirled to life in the Hub's cavern-esque halls. The tunnels housing the Operation's agents were filled with cheers when the charismatic Gnome called Chromie, really the bronze dragon Chronormu, deemed the great magical construct a success. She proclaimed the need for only a few more minor tweaks when the cry went out:

"Sargeras has destroyed Dalaran!" It was not long before the message was confirmed. Sargeras, the leader of the Burning Legion, the fallen Titan himself, was on Azeroth. Maybe in their prime they would have stood a slim chance, but as they were; their walls fractured and their greatest slain... The evacuation began immediately, the entire operation vanishing through the portal with nothing but whatever they could snatch as they fled. The leaders of the Operation made the call to abandon those on the surface, it was too late to save them without drawing Sargeras’ eye and revealing the portal to him, at which point it would have all been for nothing. They unanimously voted to stay behind and cover up the Operation's activities.

Factions: Blood In Arms

Horde: The Horde has suffered greatly from the war, the invasion was heavy in Kalimdor, which much of the Horde called home. The ties between the Horde races have always been tenuous, but recent events have stressed that to the breaking point. The only thing holding the Horde together now is the war and the cooperation needed to survive it.

Orcs (Durotar, Mag'har, Draenor)
Trolls (Jungle, Forest)
Tauren (Tauren, Taunka)
Goblins (Bilgewater)
Forsaken (Undead Human, Elven Banshee/Spectres [possibly possessing a corpse])
Sin'dorei (Blood Elf)
Pandaren (Huojin)
Hozen (Forest)

Alliance: Only fairing slightly better, the Alliance has failed as well. Much of their most tolerant members resided in Kalimdor, and of those only a few reached the relative safety of the Eastern Kingdoms. Blame was cast everywhere, and bigotry took a sharp rise. Most traitors, those who submitted to the Legion, came from this faction, and no one- not even themselves, has forgotten it. They regard each other with suspicion and distrust, and outsiders with even more of both.

Humans (Azerothian, Lordaeronian)
Dwarves (Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, Dark Iron, Frostborn)
Gnomes (Gnomish)
Worgen (Greymane, Bloodfang)
Quel'dorei (High Elves)
Kaldorei (Night Elves, Shen'dralar)
Draenei (Exodar, Broken, Draenor)
Pandaren (Tushui)
Jinyu (Pearlfin)

Argent Crusade: This group of Light-wielding Paladins and Priests has grown in strength, their abilities highly effective against the fel-cursed demons. Their successes only led to their defeat, the will of the Legion was focused on these members' deaths. Their leaders and most charismatic champions met with assassins and ambushes. Still, the lower ranks have been unwavering in their defense of the survivors, their efforts invaluable.

Ebon Blade: The order of renegade Death Knights has dwindled to near nothing. Their numbers are irreplaceable, and fighting on the front lines has done them no favors. Death is a welcome end to them, but it was the Legion who first crafted undead slaves to begin with. If they are lucky, the Knights are simply killed, if unlucky... once again their will is not their own.

Cenarion Circle: Druids scrambled to find a cure for the fel-taint, fighting the corruption with everything they had. It was not enough, as the world corrupted, the Circle became disorganized and weak, it's members soon falling to the Legion.

Steamwheedle Cartel: BANG! Anything ugly and sneering gets a BANG BOMB to the face! Sneaking around? BANG! Chanting in a strange language? BANG! Doing anything suspicious? BANG! Doing it in suspicious places? DOUBLE BANG! The Goblins of Steamwheedle have become very twitchy and highly militarized. The promise of profit is the only thing keeping them from blowing up their allies (on purpose anyway, "accidents" are a common theme in Steamwheedle territory), and their own self-preservation is the only thing keeping them from blowing up the world. That said, the Goblin's bombs have been one of the few things effective enough to quickly take out a Legion gate.

Earthen Ring: Much like the Druids, the Shamans of the Ring are struggling to protect their charges, in this case the elementals. Many are killed by their own enraged allies, twisted by the Legion's corruption, others have done feats more powerful than ever before as they are empowered by the elementals' fury. The elementals have become unpredictable, torn by their own simple emotions, and the Shamans benefit and suffer for it in equal measure.

Displaced Refugees: From all races and professions, refugees have poured into any bastion of safety they can find. Fleeing Humans and Orcs are matched in equal measure by Wildkin and Nerubians. None are safe from the Legions path, and a surprising amount of prejudice can be pushed aside when an able body offers to join a besieged city. The weak and injured are not often met with the same treatment. Stormwind would happily allow a Naga to stand guard in their dried-out harbor, but a Centaur child would be turned away at Northwatch.

Highfather Agents: Recruited for a wide variety of reasons, from all races, classes, and factions, the Agents of Operation: Highfather seek to buy time by traveling to the past and changing the future. Led by champions old and new, aided by specialists across two (three… four) worlds, and sheltering an overflow of grateful refugees, the Operation is the most unified and most supported force fielded by Azeroth. Their allies have committed to their cause in an all or nothing mindset.

Time Nodes:

We'll put it to a vote to see which we go to! We aren't going to both of them!

Pre-Sundering: The great portal crafted by Operation: Highfather's agents deposits the time travelers thousands of years in the past. Ancient Kalimdor is still around to greet them, whole and unbroken, the Maelstrom not yet born, and the Kaldorei Empire at it's peak. The Trollish empires are preparing for war, getting ready to launch yet another attack on one of their many enemies. The Aqir Kingdoms plot and grow, learning and strengthening for unknown purposes. The Kaldorei grow their magic and listen to whispers from the void. Beings long dead still stride the earth, gods since defeated still fester in their prisons, ancient constructs work still unbroken.

Note: The below map is of Azeroth as it is now and is an inaccurate source for some Pre-First War zones.

Pre-First War: The great portal opens to lazy fields of prosperous kingdoms, a world healed from the sins of the past and marching into a bright future. But deeds long forgotten align with plots from afar, a door is being built, and soon it shall open. The Legion wants this world, as it always has and as it always will. The demon-crazed orcs from Draenor are coming, and a long string of Legion-manipulated warfare is to follow. The Rise of the Lich King and slaughter of thousands sits on the horizon, and yet all to be seen is lazy fields and fat cities.

Notable Agents of Operation: Highfather

Sky Admiral Catherine Rogers: A Human of the destroyed town of Southshore, Rogers has a hatred of the Horde for their part in her home’s destruction. During the Legion’s invasion she was forced to put aside that hatred to combat the demons, but when the Skyfire was shot down, her strategic mind was put to use in the shelter of the Hub, much to her frustration.

Covert Operative Kelsey Steelspark: A Gnomish spy, Steelspark is prepared to do everything it takes for her people. To her, Gnomes are better than everyone else and they all deserve to know it, especially her rivals in the Horde. During the invasion a mission went awry and she was captured, after escaping she returned to report her intel to the Highfather Agents. She was the one to announce Dalaran’s fall and Sargeras’ appearance.

Archdruid Hamuul Runetotem: Using the Hub as a hidden base of operations, the remains of the Cenarion Circle were attempting to build a resistance among the wildlife against fel corruption with limited success. Runetotem has extensively studied the Druidic arts, being the first of his people to become one, but even he floundered in the face of the sheer resilience of fel magic.

Grand Magister Rommath: The Sin’dorei have many problems, Rommath was the cure for at least half of them, and the cause for the rest. During the invasion Rommath fell to the Legion, but only for a short time. The Legion wished to have him serve, being one of the more powerful Magi of Azeroth, and so they resurrected him with fel magics. The result was not unlike the Darkfallen that had served the Lich King, but soon after his resurrection he was rescued by the Horde, his mind cleansed from undead slavery, and then tasked with Operation: Highfather.

Chief Enforcer Druz: No one’s quite sure why the Trade Prince’s chief bodyguard was sent to the Hub, but in the end it doesn't really matter. Despite his misgivings about the Alliance, and most people in general, Druz has completely secured the Hub, protecting it’s inhabitants with everything he could get his hands on.

Chronormu: The Bronze are on a mission; when the Legion takes this world, there won't be any time magic to be found on it. The last thing they want is for all their hard work on the portal to give Sargeras even more power, so they’re making sure there’s nothing to learn from. Still, the time dragons needed to help the mortal's with their plan, so Chromie was sent to aid them.

Kalecgos: Brought to the Hub out of desperation, the Blue Flight is on it’s final breath, and Kalec was hunted by the Legion mercilessly in hopes of corrupting him.He now lends his knowledge to the service of the Highfather Agents.

Quartermaster Frai Mordsen: A former farmer’s daughter turned tailor, Frai was killed alongside her brother Grett. The two were then raised from the dead in the Legion’s experiments, their bodies returned to life as if they had never died. Frai now has her hands in all the supplies of the Hub, providing for the Agents as best she can.

Demonologist Grett Mordsen: Grett was killed and resurrected alongside his sister Frai in a Legion experiment, but after making a deal with a skittish demon he engineered their escape. Many thought Grett destined to become a Priest or a Paladin, he was too nice and compassionate to choose anything else, but instead Grett became fascinated by demons. He researched them for the Agents in hopes of understanding them and bringing about a solid victory. He hopes to mimic Illidan’s work with the Illidari, freeing the demons from the Legion and turning them against their masters.

Heart of Au’ral: The Naaru have not abandoned Azeroth- not entirely anyway. Many of the beings have gone missing, but Au’ral came to aid the endeavors of the Agents and provide support to his mortal allies, however something went wrong. Au’ral grew quiet and dimmed by the day, yet he didn’t stop healing or whispering encouragement to those who sought it. Without explanation for the being’s sudden sickness, Au’ral vanished, leaving behind a spark of energy thrumming with the Light.

Bizz-Nizz: A messily crafted robot built to... do stuff. The Gnome-Goblin partnership needed to build the thing ensured many as many errors as it did strokes of genius. It's best to give the thing what it wants and take it's gifts without protest.

Notes:

Everything is open, within reason. All races and classes, as well as many mixed races and mixed classes, but race-class combinations are still a thing, however it can be broken with enough explanation. Med’an, cheeky little Mary Sue that he is, proves that the whole class thing is a standard practice, but not a rule. There are exceptions among every race, the one that breaks the mold, no reason your character can't be that one, especially since Warcraft loves both stereotypes and canon Mary Sues.

Several mechanics have been added for the MMO's gameplay purposes, but we'll be trying to stick to lore and realism here for as much as is reasonable. Any questions ask me, and please do your research! The Warcraft Universe is massive, and not all that consistent in places, so mistakes are okay, I myself will probably make a few since I skipped a lot of the last few expansions’ endgames and haven't really touched on many of the comics or books or any of that. An example though, Draenei have been on Azeroth for six years at the start of this roleplay, a Human/Draenei hybrid is simply not in the cards. It's actually probably not very scientific to have so many hybrid species available, but when it's canon that a Draenei and an Orc can have a kid, and a Human and a Half Draenei/Half Orc can have a kid, bearing in mind all three are from different planets... There will be a lot of shoulder shrugging in the roleplay, but we'll try to maintain a serious air, yeah?

Magic is complicated (very complicated omg blizz the whole thing's a monster what have you done), but we’re going to roll with the assumption that Azeroth has mastered the use of pocket dimensions, they're even heavily referenced in canon so we’re rolling with that. Small bag that fits your entire life inside? Check. Place for your mount to live? Check. Respawn button on death? Ch- ah, no. Recently deceased may be revived, but only by powerful healers and it doesn't always work, sometimes they’re just dead and there’s no coming back. About the mounts though, try not to have like twenty summonable dragon mounts, most people don't need mounts, or if they do they only need one mount, maybe two if they travel a lot and a flyer works better for them, but really a dragon doesn't exactly work as a mount when they're sentient guardians of the planet do they? A griffin will do, or a proto-drake if you angle it right. It's all about the angle really. Are you a simple farm boy chased from his home astride the family horse? Or are you a brutal orcish warrioress riding a savage drake into battle? Keep in mind your character has to keep the beast, that means when you ride it you have to be prepared to smack it around and shout intimidatingly at it if it tries to eat you.

Another thing about magic; recent events have changed everything. The constant warring across Azeroth, Outland, and Draenor has warped spells and tactics beyond recognition in only a few short years. No matter which node we go to there are going to be glaring differences between what our peeps can do and what their peeps can do. More differences include the place of women, fashion, racism, the differing or evolving languages, past selves and/or relatives, unforeseen consequences, aliens, used-to-be-aliens-and-are-still-aliens-but-everyone-forgets-that, aliens-that-aren't-aliens-but-don't-exist-in-the-past-so-might-as-well-be-aliens, spellcraft, necromancy, demonology... everything be cray, okay? We gonna sit on these guys until they shape up in time to break some Legion face.

Character Creation: Agents of Highfather

YOU DON'T HAVE TO FILL IN EVERYTHING! You know what you need down, all the standard stuffs and whatever you feel your char needs said. You could just do everything if you want to!

Full Name: Middle name optional, surname also optional for species without them.
Nicknames: Chosen and received, loved and hated.

Bio: Relevant character history goes here!

Class: Even if you say none! Class hybrids are an option!

Race: Race is big in Warcraft, this affects everything.
Gender: Different genders, different places in society! Things are better now (kind of), but we won't be living in the now will we?
Date of Birth: Not super important, the calendar is going to be totally whack no matter what.
Age: Pay attention to your race's lifespans, some are pretty wild. A number or generalization is fine.
Hair: Hair is pretty important for a lot of reasons, especially to trolls.
Skin: Color, complexion, you know. Important for Orcs.
Eyes: Color, glowiness? Important for Elves of all kinds, as well as corrupted or undead races.
Height: Number or generalization, not exceedingly important. Look into your race's norms.
Weight: Same as above.

Place of Residence: You can say no where, but having a home (or lack of one) is kind of important when you're leaving it behind.
Place of Birth: The regions of Azeroth and Draenor are as war torn as ever, but which region you were born to says a lot about your history.

Living relatives: People die all the time in this universe, especially now. Whether they're coming with or they're left behind, family (or lack of one) will have an affect.

Spouse: Love comes and goes, no need for past sweethearts here, but if it was true love put 'em down! If the sweetheart/lover still breaths (or, you know, blinks or talks or whatever) then definitely put 'em down! Be mindful not all races do the marriage thing- or the monogamy thing.

Occupation: Unemployed or otherwise! Feel free to tack on a 'Former' if the Legion blew up your place of work.
Agent Service: What do you do for Operation: Highfather or the Hub? Commanders are a give away, specialists are very specialized experts of their craft, and refugees do the odds and ends left over.
Crafting: Not everybody got time for that, but if you do, then do the thing!

Appearance: Words will suffice- in fact, throw a few descriptors in even if you have image ready to go! You can do both! Include things important to your race!

Fashion: How do you dress in your downtime? Color scheme is vital in Azeroth!
Armor: What armor do you wear into battle? Standard issue? Scraps? Got a set picked out? Link it!
Weapons: Be logical here, maybe you helped kill the Lich King, it's very possible Frostmourne lay at your feet, but did your character pick it up? I would've spit on the thing and sent it down the fires of Mount Doom to be sure. Also, probably didn't kill the Lich King. Just sayin'.
Tattoos/markings: Everyone knows how tattoos work. Great. Markings are a little different, more race or clan specific. Kaldorei, Trolls, Wildhammer, those kinds of guys and gals.

Personality: I know. I do. I know. Just put a little somethin' somethin' here and move on with your life. Just a little. (Or a lot, I don't mind.)

Alignment: Do the Lawful Evil Chaotic Good thing if you think you're feelin' it.
Motivations: Why ya doin' what ya do? Why ya not doin' what ya not doin'?
Disposition: Grumpy-pants? Happy-pants? Evil stare into offending souls?
Outlook: How's life? How ya feel about where life is goin'? (Hah, we know where it's goin'! Right up yours)

Religion/Philosophy: Bit finicky this. Tauren Paladins supposedly have a thing goin' on with the sun goddess, so imma say that's not the Holy Light. Same for Priestesses of Elune. Keep in mind the Loa and others. Knowing a god is real and worshiping it is two very different things.

Sexuality: Canon Warcraft has no LGBs (pretty sure Chromie is totes trans, dragon magic for the win). Sorry, just is. Except that one time on the motorcycle with Deathwing- that might have been a tad bisexual... Anyway! That's not the case here! If there's nothing in canon saying they lean one way or the other then it's up in the air, and as for your character; they can fancy whoever they want!

Positive Personality Traits: Goody goody?
Negative Personality Traits: Baddy baddy?
Misc. Quirks: Rainbow popsicles up yours. Or mine. I don't care.

Affiliations: Factions everywhere! Pick one! Or two! Or seven!

Interests: This made me think of a middle-aged blood elf woman curled up on a sofa reading steamy romance novels... I mean sure. Whatever.

Likes: Chocolate. Duh.
Dislikes: Moldy chocolate. Double duh.

Favorite Foods: That Kaldorei Crunchy Spider Legs recipe?
Favorite Drinks: Elvish wine or Dwarvish brew... Pandaren brew? Or maybe fancy sparkling water, for the non-alcoholics like me...
Favorite Colors: Is it stereotypical to pick your factions color? Yes. Yes it is, but I wont judge.

Hobbies: I was going to sarcastically suggest murder, but that's probably legit on Azeroth...

Details: Whatever. Just whatever you want.

Military/Deployment History: Not in the military? Fantastic! I think they've been pulling armies out of their asses, everyone's far too busy adventuring to sign up for king and country. Then again, very viscous patriotic people those Azerothians...
Warcraft Timewarping: Lies of the Highfather

Ceta de Cloyes Roziphontes

Ceta de Cloyes Roziphontes

Ceta de Cloyes Roziphontes

Ceta de Cloyes Roziphontes
