The Journal of Mal’koreth Cinderstorm
Records from Northrend Deployment
Entry 1 – Tenth Moon, Early Winter
Arrived at Warsong Hold today. The posting is exactly as advertised – a garrison assignment maintaining Horde presence in a “pacified” territory. With the Lich King’s fall, Northrend has become a frozen wasteland of ruins and memories, watched over by bored soldiers counting days until rotation home.
Perfect for my purposes.
The commanding officer, a Tauren named Stormhoof, barely glanced at my orders before assigning me to “perimeter patrol and reconnaissance.” Translation: wander the frozen wastes and report if anything tries to eat the camp. Arthas’ minions now shamble almost harmlessly across the wastes, so this amounts to paid sightseeing.
The other soldiers spend their off-duty time gambling, drinking, and complaining about the cold. I’ve volunteered for extra patrols, citing my “desert background” making me eager to study different climates. They think I’m mad, but they’re happy to let someone else take their shifts.
What they don’t know is that my real interest lies in the ruins scattered across this continent. Particularly Icecrown Citadel – that monument to power and ambition that nearly consumed the world. If I’m to understand what I witnessed in Silverpine – the Val’kyr’s sacrifice, Sylvanas’s dominion over death itself – I need to study the source.
The elements here whisper differently than anywhere else I’ve been. There’s an… emptiness to their voices. As if something fundamental was torn away when the Lich King fell.
Entry 2 – Tenth Moon, Late Winter
First expedition to the Citadel’s outer ruins. The sheer scale of the structure defies comprehension – a fortress built not just to house an army, but to serve as a monument to absolute power. Even in ruin, it radiates an aura of dread that makes the hair on my arms stand on end.
Found the remains of what were once Val’kyr chambers deep in the Citadel’s lower levels. The room contains a lot of ancient writings that are beyond my comprehension – as is everything about the Val’kyr right now.
What did the Lich King do to obtain these creatures? What ARE they? Sylvanas seems to think they are… Finite. So are they something that is made outside our world and we lack the means to bring them here?
I realize now that her first thoughts being of the sacrifice of the Val’kyr has weight I hadn’t considered: they saved her, yes, but at the cost of less Val’kyr to raise new Forsaken…
Entry 3 – Eleventh Moon, Early Spring
Deeper exploration of the Citadel today. Found what appears to be the Lich King’s personal study – a chamber filled with artifacts from across the cosmos. Weapons, armor, and stranger things that hurt to look at directly.
But it was the books that truly interested me. Tomes written in languages I don’t recognize, filled with diagrams of beings that exist in forms of matter I can’t comprehend. The Val’kyr were sketched amongst the pages, but unfortunately the text is more akin to mystic runes than an alphabet.
what did I witness in Silverpine? What is the nature of this Bargain. What is the nature of their bond?
The more I learn, the less I understand. I think my time would be better spent looking into Sylvanas herself than the Val’kyr.
Entry 4 – Eleventh Moon, Late Spring
Strange encounter today. While exploring the Citadel’s eastern towers, I was approached by a figure I initially mistook for another scavenger. Closer inspection revealed a Darkspear troll – lean, scarred, moving with the predatory grace of a professional killer.
“You be Mal’koreth Cinderstorm, yes?” he asked, somehow knowing my name despite our never having met. “I be Vash’ta Shadowstep. Been watching you explore dis place for weeks now.”
My hand went to my weapon, but he raised his hands peacefully. “Easy, brothah. I not be here for trouble. Just… curious about what got an orc so interested in da Lich King’s old toys.”
Turns out he’s been operating in Northrend for months, “acquiring” artifacts and information for various clients. A broker of secrets and forbidden knowledge – exactly the sort of person I once would have either used or eliminated, depending on convenience.
But something about his manner intrigued me. Direct, pragmatic, but with an underlying code of conduct. When I asked why he’d approached me openly rather than simply monitoring from a distance, he grinned.
“Because you be asking da right questions, mon. Most people come here looking for treasure or power. You be looking for understanding. Dat make you either very wise or very dangerous. Either way, worth talking to.”
We ended up spending the evening sharing information. He’s learned much about the Citadel’s deeper secrets, while I could offer insights into shamanic interpretations of the necromantic processes. A surprisingly productive exchange.
Before parting, he mentioned something that caught my attention: “Word be spreading about new lands discovered across da sea. Pandaria, dey calling it. Whole continent dat been hidden for thousands of years. Could be opportunities there for someone with my… skills.”
Interesting. Change is coming to the world again.
Entry 5 – Twelfth Moon, Midsummer
A full year in Northrend, and I’ve learned more about the nature of power than in all my previous years combined. The Citadel has become a second home – I know its passages better than most of its original inhabitants ever did.
The Val’kyr mystery deepens with each discovery. Found evidence today that, as best as i can tell, suggests they weren’t created by the Lich King, but were beings from another realm entirely – captured and bound to serve through processes that required enormous expenditures of spiritual energy. Each one represented years of preparation and sacrifice.
If Sylvanas truly commands their loyalty rather than their enslavement, she’s accomplished something that Arthas himself struggled with. She’s earned the devotion of creatures that exist beyond normal rules of life and death.
More importantly, I think I understand now what drives her. It’s not just leadership or even protection of her people. It’s the knowledge that she stands at the intersection of life and death, bearing responsibility not just for the living but for the balance between worlds. The weight of that understanding would crush most minds.
But she carries it. Makes the hard choices. Pays the prices that others can’t even comprehend.
Vash’ta stopped by today with news of his departure. “Time to be moving on, mon. Northrend got nothing left to teach, and Pandaria be calling. New continent mean new opportunities, new secrets to uncover.”
He’s offered to keep me informed about developments in the wider world through correspondence – apparently he values our exchanges enough to maintain contact. I find myself genuinely sorry to see him go. Another friend, in a life that once knew only allies of convenience.
“You ever get tired of da cold and want to see what mysteries da new lands be hiding, you let Vash’ta know,” he said with a grin. “Always room in my operations for someone who think like you do.”
An interesting offer. But my education here isn’t complete yet.
Entry 6 – Twelfth Moon, Late Summer
Breakthrough discovery today. Deep in the Citadel’s heart, behind warding that took weeks to unravel safely, I found what can only be described as a communication chamber. Crystals and mirrors arranged in patterns that suggest methods of speaking across vast distances – not just physical space, but dimensional barriers.
The setup is similar to what I’ve seen described in texts about summoning, but far more complex. This wasn’t just for calling servants – it was for negotiating with powers that exist outside normal reality entirely.
Experimentation with the device yielded… unsettling results. Brief glimpses of other realms, other forms of existence. Whispers in languages that bypass the ear and speak directly to the mind. And underlying it all, the sense of vast intelligences watching, evaluating, judging.
My time in Northrend has taught me much about power, about sacrifice, about the weight of command. But most importantly, it’s shown me what true strength looks like – not the ability to destroy, but the wisdom to build something worth preserving.
The Dark Lady isn’t just our commander. She’s our proof that even in a world of monsters and cosmic horrors, choice still matters. That we can be more than the sum of our darkest impulses.
Worth following. Worth serving. Worth protecting.
The elements whisper of changes coming to the world – conflicts that will test every bond of loyalty and brotherhood. When those trials come, I’ll be ready. Not as the predator I once was, but as someone who understands what’s truly worth fighting for.
Entry 7 – First Moon, Early Autumn
Received a letter from Vash’ta today – first correspondence since his departure for Pandaria. His words paint a troubling picture of the situation developing there.
“Greetings from da Jade Forest, mon. Dis place be beautiful beyond words, but underneath all dat serenity be something darker stirring. Da Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, he be making moves dat got many in da Horde questioning his judgment.”
“First ting – he be pushing out anyone who not be ‘true Horde’ in his eyes. Trolls, tauren, even some orcs who served honorably for years, suddenly finding themselves sidelined or worse. Only his inner circle of Kor’kron getting real authority now. Creating divisions where dere should be unity.”
“But dat not be da worst part, brother. Word spreading dat he be seeking power from… questionable sources. Ancient mogu artifacts, sha corruption, whispers of Old God influence. Da kind of power dat come with prices no sane leader should be willing to pay.”
“From tactical standpoint, I understand da pressure he be under. New continent, unknown enemies, need for quick results. But alienating your own people while chasing powers dat drove civilizations mad? Dat be strategic stupidity of da highest order.”
The letter has left me deeply troubled. Vash’ta’s assessment rings true in ways that make my stomach turn. I’ve spent two years in Northrend studying the consequences these very kinds of cosmic powers. The Lich King’s reign of terror should serve as warning enough.
But it’s the other element – the systematic exclusion of loyal Horde members – that truly disturbs me. Even if you don’t believe unity is the Horde’s strength, you’ve built a whole society around these races cohabitating. You’re asking for trouble trying to split them all up now.
Besides, during my time in Silverpine with Ariok and the Forsaken, I learned the value of diverse perspectives and skills. That campaign succeeded because we combined orcish strength, Forsaken cunning, and shamanic versatility. Garrosh seems determined to throw away that advantage in favor of… what? Racial purity? Personal loyalty over competence?
And the Old God influences… that’s where my blood runs cold. My research in Icecrown may not have born real fruit, but even being surrounded by all this Saronite, my blood runs cold if I ever stop to let myself think. The whispers start as offers of power, but they end with complete corruption of purpose. Every civilization that’s trafficked with such forces has paid the ultimate price.
If I were in Garrosh’s position, would I make the same choices? The pressure for results, the weight of leadership, the temptation of seemingly unlimited power… I can understand the appeal. But I’ve also seen what Sylvanas accomplished through wisdom rather than raw force. She built loyalty through competence and protection, not through purges and fear.
More importantly, she understands that some prices are too high to pay, no matter how attractive the offered power. That’s the difference between a leader and a tyrant.
The elements whisper uneasily tonight. Whatever comes next in Pandaria, I suspect the Horde itself hangs in the balance.
Entry 8 – First Moon, Late Autumn
Official orders arrived today. Transfer to Pandaria, effective immediately. Report to Forward Command Post Durotan for assignment to “special operations requiring shamanic expertise and unconventional tactics.”
Seems the Horde has need of my particular skills after all.
The timing can’t be coincidental – Vash’ta’s letters describing the escalating conflict, followed immediately by deployment orders. Someone in command has decided that the situation in Pandaria requires more than conventional military solutions.
I’ve spent the last two years wandering this godforsaken waste hoping to learn something, anything, of value. And all I learned is that there are forces In this world far beyond my understanding. It is… Infuriating.
Tomorrow I leave for Pandaria, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Too long I’ve been caught up in my own head.
The elements sing of conflict ahead – not just military engagement, but a war for the very soul of the Horde itself.
I intend to be ready.
[End of Northrend deployment. Next entries: “Pandaria Campaign – Into the Mists”]
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