Invasion of Gilneas

The Invasion of Gilneas is a battle between the Forsaken and the Worgen for control of Gilneas. It is an important part of the Alliance-Horde war and resulted in Gilneas remaining contested between the Alliance and the Horde.

The Invasion of Gilneas has two phases. The first was the Forsaken invasion into Gilneas that resulted in most of Gilneas civilians fleeing to Darnassus. And the second was the fighting between the joined forces of the Gilneas Liberation Front, the Bloodfang pack and the 7th Legion from one side, and the Forsaken from the other.

Causes of the invasion
Due to the events at the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate, the Forsaken are "in the dog house" with the rest of the Horde and the Horde leadership, now controlled by Garrosh Hellscream, has ordered Sylvanas Windrunner to claim Gilneas so the Horde can have a port in southern Lordaeron.

The Invasion and the Exodus
The Forsaken started a frontal assault on the Greymane Wall, however, the Gilnean troops defending it coupled with the walls mighty defenses were easily driving the Forsaken back despite all their efforts and darting attacks. This situation continued for a time, until the Cataclysm started and shattered the Greymane Wall, destroying it's gates and allowing the Forsaken to invade Gilneas on the land, while also destroying the reefs that were defending Gilneas from a naval invasion, allowing the Forsaken fleet to attack Gilneas from the shore.

Meanwhile, Some time before the events of the Cataclysm, the Kingdom of Gilneas was ravaged by the Worgen Curse, which transformed any human into a worgen, a half-beast half-men, loosing their minds to bloodlust and desire to tear flesh. The Curse was rapidly spreading through Gilneas and eventually reached Gilneas City, turning half of it's citizens into feral worgen. While the Gilneans did try to fight off the worgen, they however discovered that the numbers of the worgen were too great, and an evacuation was decided. Meanwhile, King Genn Greymane makes a desperate decision, and orders the release of the political prisoner Lord Darius Crowley, a dissenter that led the Northgate rebellion against him. After Crowley is released, he is convinced that he and Greymane must unite their efforts for the sake of their people. Crowley, understanding that the only shot for the surviving Gilneans to reach the safety of Duskhaven is that the worgen attention must be kept on Gilneas City, decides to to remain behind with a group of his followers, and is eventually surrounded and overrun at Light's Dawn Cathedral, and, as was later revealed, became a worgen himself. However, his sacrifice allowed the Gilnean refugees to successfully reach Duskhaven. Krennan Aranas, the royal alchemist of King Genn Graymane, created a special portion that, when drank by a worgen, helped him regain balance between human and beast, in other words, return him his mind. Thus a group of captured worgen returned their minds and joined the Gilneans just before the Invasion started.

The Attack on Duskhaven
Soon two ships of the Forsaken Navy arrived to Duskhaven and commenced a bombardment. At the same time the ships started landing Forsaken footsoldiers and abominations. However, Duskhaven troops and newly-cured worgen met their enemy head-on, and, acting under the command of Prince Liam Greymane, showed heavy resistance to the Forsaken invaders. Lord Vincent Godfrey, a Gilnean nobleman, led the counter-assault and decided to use the worgen to neutralize the Forsaken ships, and commanded them to capture the catapults that were bombarding Duskhaven and use them to catapult themselves into the ships and slay their captains - Morris and Anson. Lord Godfrey also commanded them to slay the Forsaken commander, Dark Ranger Thyala, by using the Mastiff Whistle to call forth a pack of attack Mastiffs. But even with this victory, there came a price. The earth, already weakened from the bombardment, began to fragment and collapse as the Cataclysm continued, and an evacuation of Duskhaven was put together before the town was completely consumed. The survivors fled to Greymane Manor, and then further inland - into the Blackwald.

While moving into the Blackwald, two Gilnean stagecoachs were ambushed by ogres, servants of the ettin Koroth the Hillbreaker and crashed, including one of Prince Liam Greymane himself. Meanwhile, a squadron of Forsaken also arrived under the command of Captain Asther. Liam Greymane decided to make the two forces fight each other by ordering the worgen to steal Koroth's Banner and plant it before the Forsaken. Soon Koroth himself arrived and, thinking that the Forsaken stole his favorite banner, enraged and attacked them, giving enough time for Liam and the other survivors to escape.

Origins of the Worgen Curse
Upon arriving to Stormglen Village, the Gilnean refugees discover that the village is completely deserted, and part of it is even overrun by giant spiders. After fighting off the spiders and slaying the broodmother Rygna, the worgen decide to enter Blackwald itself in search for any survivors.

Within this dark forest, the Gilneans met the night elves led by Belrysa Starbreeze, who told them of the origins of the Worgen Curse - that long ago, there was a group of druids known Druids of the Pack, who were practicing the ability to shape-shift into a wolf form and worshiped the wolf Ancient Goldrinn. However, during the battle against demonic forces, they abandoned the balance and allowed the beast within to consume them, becoming the first worgen. Eventually, the night elves, led by Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, were forced to banish them to the Emerald Dream to sleep for eternity under a tree identical to Tal'doren, the wild tree in Blackwald... But not before their curse had started spreading. They also met Lord Darius Crowley, who had also been transformed into a worgen and, with the aid of the night elves, had managed to regain the balance between man and beast, and was curing other feral worgen. Crowley then revealed that the Forsaken were trying to find a special artifact that would bring the worgen to their control - the Scythe of Elune. A group of worgen was sent by Crowley to attack Sylvanas's dark rangers that held the Scythe at Woods' End Cabin, led by Tobias Mistmantle, a former follower of Lord Crowley who also became a worgen. While Tobias and his trackers were keeping the dark rangers occupied, another worgen sneaked by and stole the Scythe before it could reach Sylvanas.

The worgen, knowing that the alchemy that had returned their minds to them would not last long, drank of the waters of Tal'doren, and restored the balance between human and beast. Lord Godfrey soon arrived and ordered Crowley and his worgen to submit and join the king's army against the Forsaken, to which Crowley refused. However, when Genn Greymane arrived and revealed that he himself has been affected by the worgen curse, Crowley agreed that he and his worgen will join the Gilnean resistance, and Greymane stated that now he will unite all of his people to end the Forsaken invasion.

Godfrey's Treason
Lord Godfrey was shocked when he discovered that his own king was a worgen, one of the very creatures he had fought against so fiercely. Godfrey, who had always condemned the transformed Gilneans as monsters, created a plan that he believed would save Gilneas. After gaining support from two eastern lords, Lord Walden and Baron Ashbury, Godfrey captured King Greymane, and held him prisoner at Tempest's Reach, planning to use him to strike a deal with the Forsaken by turning his king over to them.

The worgen, however, planning to free their king with as little bloodshed as possible, use Krennan's Potion of Stealth to track down and assassinate both of the traitorous eastern lords, leaving Godfrey without his support from them. Godfrey, with his support gone and his plan ruined, however, refused to surrender, stating that he would rather die than serve a worgen as his king, and jumped off a cliff, committing suicide.

Battle for Gilneas City
With the dissent from within crushed, Genn Greymane sent his loyal supporters to aid in liberating the mining town of Emberstone from Forsaken control. Prince Liam and Lorna Crowley, the daughter of Lord Darius Crowley, led the troop, making headquarters in the livery stables. After freeing the enslaved Gilneans, they aimed at the Forsaken leader, Executor Cornell, known for his unbound ruthlessness, and Valnov the Mad, the so-called scientist who carried out inhuman experiments on the villagers too old to work the mines.

Having assembled an army composed of every available Gilnean, the army was split around Gilneas City, Liam heading the assault on the Merchant Square, while King Greymane and Lord Crowley handled the assault on the other districts. Before entering Gilneas City and starting the battle for it, Liam made an inspiring speech:

''The Forsaken think we're weak, a broken people. They think we'll roll over like a scared dog... how wrong they are. We will fight them in the fields until the last trench collapses and the last cannon is silenced. We will fight them on the streets until the last shot is fired, and when there is no more ammunition, we'll crush their skulls with the stones that pave our city. We will fight them in the alleys until our knuckles are skinned and bloodied, and our rapiers lay on the ground, shattered. And if we find ourselves surrounded and disarmed, wounded and without hope; we will lift our heads in defiance and spit in their faces. But we will never surrender! FOR GILNEAS!''

The Gilnean forces under the command of Liam Greymane were fighting their way through Gilneas City, destroying Forsaken forces positioned there. Soon they were attacked by a large number of abominations, however, the villagers of Emberstone brought powder cannons that helped in defeating them. After Liam's forces met and united with Lord Crowley's worgen forces around Stoneward Prison, the Forsaken unleashed upon the Gilneans one of their most powerful creations - the flesh beast known as Gorerot. However, the worgen take control of Forsaken catapults and use them to take down Gorerot quickly. Soon Liam and Crowley caught Sylvanas herself at the Greymane Court, while his father came and attacked from the other side. As the tide was turning against Sylvanas, she used her dark powers to stun every one in the immediate area and aimed a poisoned arrow at Genn Greymane. Liam jumped in front of the bowshot, saving his father from certain doom. As Sylvanas fled the scene, Liam died with the knowledge that the city had been freed from Forsaken control.

Escape from Gilneas: The Endgame
Later on, Sylvanas met with General Warhowl, envoy of Warchief Garrosh Hellscream, telling him that Gilneas was under control and agreeing not to use the Forsaken Blight, as its development had been banned after the incident at the Wrathgate. As the emissary left, Sylvanas told High Executor Crenshaw to deploy the new plague as planned, despite Garrosh's command.

At the dawn of the next day, despite the wishes of Garrosh Hellscream, the Forsaken used their Blight on Gilneas, what the Forsaken didn't know however is that the population was being evacuated through a secret passage to Aderic's Repose due to Tobias Mistmantle and an Adventurer discovering the plot. While worgens distracted the Forsaken using bombing bats they had recovered destroying some of their Blight deployers and thinned out the forsaken ranks, the rest of the city populace escaped. The night elves, led by the priestess of the moon Belrysa Starbreeze, made good on their promise and brought ships at Keel Harbor, as well as an offer of sanctuary in their lands. Unfortunately, the Forsaken's allies, the Horde, arrived as well. An orcish gunship, similar to Orgrim's Hammer, which had fought in Northrend, entered the field, preventing the transport ships from taking the Gilneans to safety. Meanwhile another force of orcish invaders attacked Keel Harbor. While the druids were holding the enemy back, the siege weapons carried by the elven ships were deployed and met their enemy head-on. As a result, the orcish attack was successfully repelled.

However, the gunship was still a threat to the ships. A hippogryph-mounted party boarded the gunship to place explosives in the engineering room below deck. As they proceeded, the gunship's captain, Korm Bonegrind, appeared and the party fled on wyverns roosting on the lower deck. With its engines destroyed, the explosives detonated, destroying the gunship at the Greymane Wall.

Aftermath
Gilneas was left in ruins, both by the Forsaken invasion and by the Cataclysm ripping the very land apart. Civilians were evacuated to Darnassus following the destruction of the Gunship, while a large amount of the soldiers and volunteers remained in Gilneas under the leadership of Darius Crowley they formed the Gilneas Liberation Front in hopes of ridding the Forsaken of their lands and retaking all of Gilneas for the Alliance.

Following the Civilians to Darnassus and with his homeland turning in to a war zone and his heir slain, Genn Greymane soon journeyed to Stormwind after landing in Darnassus, Stormwind being the political and military capital of the Alliance, he and his people rejoined the Alliance, Genn now stands near King Varian Wrynn, a sign of the newly reforged friendship and the hope that Gilneas will be reborn again.

The Battles in Silverpine
Although most of the Gilneans were evacuated to Darnassus, the Gilneas Liberation Front, a rather large military organization with the goal of retaking Gilneas and driving the Forsaken out of their lands, remained to combat their foes under the leadership of Darius Crowley. The GLF forces started operating not only in Gilneas, but also in Silverpine Forest as well, and soon had a few minor victories. Despite their large number (as seen throughout the Silverpine Questline, especially in Gilneas), the GLF was still incredibly outnumbered by the Forsaken who continued to grow as Hillsbrad was decimated and most of it's inhabitants turned. As such, the GLF used unorthodox guerrilla warfare and ambush tactics against the Forsaken, which proved very affective. Soon after their initial pushes into Silverpine, Darius Crowley formed an alliance with the Bloodfang pack lead by Ivar Bloodfang. The pack seemed to be composed of not only Silverpine residents, but Gilneans as well, possibly from Pyrewood or ferals who refused to follow Crowley in Gilneas, who may have banded together in a single pack following the Forsaken's crusade against worgen during their invasion of Gilneas. Sylvanas discovered the alliance through her deathstalkers and agents led by Deathstalker Commander Belmont who were operating in Silverpine. The Bloodfang worgen started constantly ambushing and destroying Forsaken forces in Silverpine Forest. One of their most successful operation was the attack on three Orc ships, commanded by Admiral Hatchet, that arrived from Kalimdor to reinforce the Forsaken, full of supplies, weapons, and soldiers. A small band of Bloodfang worgen attacked it, while the Orc Sea Dogs, led by Warlord Torok, were too drunk to be able to show any resistance. The ships were destroyed, although many Sea Dogs managed to survive and retreated to the Forsaken Rear Guard. Soon the Orcs were brought to order by a Forsaken adventurer send by Sylvanas Windrunner, and later took part in the fight for Silverpine Forest.

The Forsaken, understanding that this new threat and unorthodox tactics must be dealt with accordingly, started bolstering their numbers by slaying the Hillsbrad human refugees that have settled in Fenris Isle and raising them as Forsaken using the new servants of Sylvanas - the val'kyr. However, Lord Crowley and Ivar Bloodfang used these attacks to win over the humans of Fenris Isle by offering their blood - by drinking it they would become worgen, thus becoming immune to the val'kyr magic while also gaining the means to enact their revenge. This single act bolstered the Worgen numbers greatly, and although a large number of them were slain by artillery fire from the shore when trying to cross Lordamere Lake, it barely made a scratch in their numbers. Warlord Torok sent his Sea Dogs to fight the Hillsbrad Worgen swimming to the Decrepit Fields however, without the adequate alcohol, the Sea Dogs were defeated and mostly slain, along with their Demolishers.

As the fighting for Silverpine continued, the Forsaken received word that Crowley and Bloodfang would be meeting in the abandoned Deep Elem Mine. Sylvanas took advantage of this opportunity, sending her best warriors under the command of one of her elite, Master Forteski, to trap and corner the worgen leaders in the mine, which had only one entrance. However, the meeting was in truth a trap, instead of finding Crowley and Bloodfang, the Forsaken found an entire shaft of rigged explosives, cornered the last thing the doomed Forsaken had seen was Ivar entering, taunting them for falling prey to his trap, followed by the detonation of the explosives as Ivar fled the shaft. An entire squadron of Veteran Forsaken Troopers as well as Forteski were slaughtered, A lone non-veteran agent survived the trap, having been saved by Forteski before his demise.

At the same time, another large group of Veteran troopers and Catapults had been crossing Olsen's Farthing, only to meet a brutal ambush by the Bloodfang pack, leaving no survivors.

The Liberation of Gilneas
By this time, the Gilneans had already arrived in Darnassus, King Genn Greymane had arrived in Stormwind, asking Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind, to send the GLF aid. With the power hungry Forsaken decimating the Alliance in the north, the potential of Gilneas for an Alliance foothold in the north, and understanding the plight of their new allies, the king's finest were sent to ensure victory, The 7th Legion.

Led by High Commander Halford Wyrmbane, the 7th Legion fleet arrived to the shores of Gilneas, where they discovered a large Horde fleet, likely the fleet that was coming with the Gunship during the first phase of the invasion. To clear a way for landing troops, the 7th Legion used Gnomish submarines to blow up the enemy ships. Meanwhile Forward Commander Onslaught, commander of the Forsaken forces in Gilneas, sent an Horde agent to restore communications between the outposts in the land.

It was soon discovered that not only had the Gilneans been assaulting the Forsaken Forward Command, but all of the Forsaken outposts in Gilneas had been lost to the Alliance, Including Gilneas City. This major loss was a signal that things were going to be turning in the war for Gilneas. The Agent was sent to see if any of the closest Forsaken outposts, namely Dreadwatch Outpost and Rutsak's Guard, were still controlled. It was soon found that Dreadwatch was hopelessly overrun, while Captain Rutsak was the lone survivor of his outpost.

The Forsaken, having confirmed the loss of Gilneas City to the Alliance, had discovered that the forces that obliterated Dreadwatch and Rutsak's Guard were infact the 7th Legion. It was revealed that a vanguard force of the 7th Legion was landed by the submarines, and the 7th Legion submariners, acting under the command of Master Sergeant Pietro Zaren, attacked Rutsak's Guard and Dreadwatch Outpost, slaughtering all the Forsaken troops, leaving alive only Captain Rutsak so he may witness their strength. They then turned to Gilneas City, liberating it from Forsaken control for the Alliance, the 7th legion making the Cathedral Quarter courtyard as their base of operations. The lone agent was sent to assassinate the Master Sergeant, many of his submariners, then inspect the true bulk of the forces they would soon face. It was revealed that a large alliance naval force was en route to Gilneas, while at the same time the Forsaken Forward Command was assaulted by the combined forces of the GLF, Bloodfang pack, and the 7th legion, crushing the last true foothold the Forsaken had in Gilneas.

Thus the Forsaken were driven back into Silverpine Forest and Gilneas was at last liberated. However, the Forsaken adventurers, with the aid of the val'kyr, Arthura, and Deathstalker Commander Belmont, managed to recover the corpse of Lord Vincent Godfrey, despite all the efforts of the Gilneas Liberation Front to destroy them, and brought it to Sylvanas, while Belmont's deathstalkers recovered the corpses of two of Godfrey's lieutenants - Lord Walden and Baron Ashbury, so that Sylvanas could resurrect them as powerful allies against the worgen.

The Fall of Ambermill
Now that Gilneas was secure the the GLF and the Bloodfang pack started concentrating their forces at the Greymane Wall for the grand offensive into Silverpine. Meanwhile Sylvanas Windrunner had Arthura bring back Godfrey, Walden and Ashbury in service to the Forsaken. After the ritual was complete, Sylvanas, with the aid of Godfrey, started preparing her own forces for battle. She ordered the agent who had continued to serve successfully throughout Silverpine to lead an important assault upon Ambermill, one of the last Dalaran settlements in the lands which (despite the Kirin Tor's stance of neutrality) had made a pact with the Alliance forces.

Out of the need to survive, the Kirin Tor mages of Ambermill and Dalaran Crater (left behind to protect the land for the day when Dalaran would return), made a pact with the Alliance to protect themselves from the Forsaken who in the past years had attacked the mages. They agreed to summon in the Stormwind army when the time was right to repel the Forsaken. To protect themselves till then, they phased the entirety of Ambermill's population in a pocket dimension, to prepare for the up coming siege. They left behind numerous Elemental Servitors to maintain the grounds of Ambermill while they were gone.

However, the adventurer, wible for the phasing.ith the aid of Dalar Dawnweaver, a former archmage of the Kirin Tor who had been a long time member of the Forsaken (dating back to their freedom from the scourge), found the portal into that dimension in Beren's Peril. The adventurer entered it using a Dalaran Archmage's Signet Ring and brought the town back into the original state by overloading the arcane powers of Archmage Ataeric, who was responsible for maintaining the barrier. At this point the Forsaken army, already amassed at the border ready to strike, invaded Ambermill and slew the Kirin Tor mages, while the val'kyr Daschla immediately raised them as New Forsaken.

The Alliance Counteroffensive
Following the success in Ambermill, Sylvanas sent Lord Godfrey, Lord Walden, Baron Ashbury and the adventurer to operate in Southern Silverpine, by crushing the counteroffensive and gaining key victories for the Forsaken.

The first move was to retake and destroy Pyrewood Village for the Forsaken, which was attacked and taken over by a large number 7th Legion troops that decimated almost all of the Forsaken forces occupying it. The group soon found all of the members used in the attack by the legion were non-human, as the Val'kyr were unable to raise non-human creatures; Soon after, the group crushed the Legion forces in the area. Following the destruction of the 7th Legion troops, and the rescue of the surviving Forsaken Troops (Although Godfrey slew several troops, claiming they were weak.), the Village was set ablaze.

Their next move was attacking the 7th Legion Base Camp, which was under the command of General Marstone, a Wildhammer 7th legion commander. The Base camp was maintained, similarly to that of the Pyrewood forces, by non-human 7th members, Mainly dwarven. The group assassinated General Marstone and uncovered the 7th Legion Battle Plan, a great advantage for the horde forces.

Meanwhile, the 7th Legion fleet reached the shores of Gilneas and started landing the bulk of their forces for the assault into Silverpine Forest, while the combined force of the Bloodfang pack and the Gilneas Liberation Front started the offensive and clashed with the main Forsaken army positioned at the Forsaken Front. As the battle went on, Godfrey and his entourage moved to the Gilneas Liberation Front Base Camp, having gained intel that it was led by no other than Lorna Crowley, Darius' own daughter. It was revealed that unlike most of the Gilnean forces, Lorna had not been turned into a worgen, making it possible to slay and raise her as a Forsaken. The group set out to capture Lorna, planning to use her as a bargaining chip to force Darius Crowley to retreat, before the Forsaken were overwhelmed by the forces of Stormwind.

Accompanied by High Warlord Cromush, her val'kyr trio and her most trusted soldier, Sylvanas Windrunner rode across The Battlefront, which was ablaze with Horde and Alliance forces combating fiercely at every turn. She then met with Darius Crowley and Ivar Bloodfang at the shattered gates of Greymane Wall, where she offered Crowley a choice, either he surrenders and sounds his forces immediate retreat into Gilneas, or his daughter would be slain and risen as Forsaken to serve the Banshee Queen forever. Godfrey, Walden, and Ashbury then arrived with the captured Lorna, showing Sylvanas was not bluffing. Unable to allow such a horrifying fate happen to his daughter, Crowley agreed to retreat back to Gilneas, to which Ivar reacted negatively (Calling him a Bastard), and made a howl before running away. Lorna was released, and Crowley departed with his daughter as well.

As the three fled back to the safety of Gilneas, the Alliance forces following suit, Godfrey did the unthinkable and assassinated Sylvanas Windrunner as she was proclaiming the victory, and preparing the troops for a march into Gilneas to destroy the remaining forces. In shock the Horde group had a short duel with Godfrey's trio until they were overpowered and forced to fall back to Shadowfang Keep. Cromush ordered the val'kyr to "fix" the Banshee Queen, and the val'kyr sacrificed their lives to bring her back. The Dark Lady rose again furious with rage at Godfrey's betrayal and stating that he will pay for this, while also losing any shadow of doubt that val'kyr are indeed the future of the Forsaken. After this the Banshee Queen returned to the Undercity to recover, at the same time The Gilneas Liberation Front fell back to Gilneas.

Aftermath
Though all bases or footholds the Forsaken had in Gilneas have been decimated, the area is still a hotspot between the Horde and Alliance forces. The Forsaken continue to launch naval assaults, the Gilnean Coastline now a fierce back and forth Battle for Gilneas, as the Alliance attempts to repulse Forsaken attempts to regain a foot hold on the land, while Forsaken troops continue to land along the coast, attempting to regain a hold for a larger assault to destroy the Alliance in the area.