7 Magnificent Warriors

Apart from some small conflicts, two native sentient races—the green-skinned Trolork and the two-headed Ogrur—seemed to be too busy fighting each other to make closer contact with their new neighbors. But now things are about to change. On a small island, in the middle of an atoll, lies the Temple of the Ancient, known in the past as Temple of the Damned, whose immense destructive secrets are guarded by Krytak, an individual of the third native people, the spiritualistic Taikran. Having found and raised a Trolork war orphan, he also trains him to be his successor as guardian of the temple: the so-called Death Knight. But the orphan, Gul'dan, betrays his mentor and attempts to kill him. Krytak wins and Gul'dan runs away, returning to his people. Taken by guilty and remorse, Krytak finds himself unworthy of his title, seals the temple and leaves. Gul'dan, with the powers he had learned, quickly gains status and eventually deposes his king, Zuljin, who is banished to exile. However, while Gul'dan is obsessed by the idea of building a replica of the Temple of the Ancient, the Ogrur seem to near victory. Their chief, Cho'gall, is said to be divine, for his amazing mental powers, which, among other things, allow him to control the feared winged beasts known by men as dragons. He dreams of the time when all of his people will be like him. Promising to use the new temple to help him with his aim, Gul'dan proposes and achieves peace. But the barbarian nature of their races claimed for war, and they soon would have to find a new enemy...

Their ships cross the narrow sea to the east and, at sunrise, Gul'dan leads the united armies against the peaceful city of Azeroth, raised by men and their allies, the Elvorian, slender humanoids with pointed ears. At the fall of night, the city is taken and the survivors are imprisoned. But they don't accept defeat so easily. Kurt Weiss, a skilled hunter, plans to escape and look for help. He intends to contact Lothar, a half-human who fought at his side in a conflict with the Trolork and now lives alone in a cottage by the road to the northeast. Hopefully, he will help to find other warriors.

Late at night, the prisoners try to escape, but are soon recaptured or killed, except for Weiss and a young man, Maximillian MacMillan. Hidden in shadowy streets, they try to reach the gates of Azeroth, but a drunk Ogrur spots them and alerts the guards. Weiss tells the lad to run, while he will try to withhold the enemy. "Someone has to escape to go for help!", he emphasizes. Reluctantly, Max runs to the gates. Looking back, he sees his friend being attacked by a bunch of fierce warriors... But he must go on.

Your fight begins here!

On his way, Max will find some individuals who will join his cause:

Lothar: He will say that he is retired as a soldier, but will change his mind when Max tell him about his old friend. His healing powers are famous, and he knows of a mercenary who lives among the rocky plains to the west.

Hadorx: The mercenary, member of an insect-like race whose bodies are covered with a heavy exoskeleton. He would prefer to receive part of his payment in advance, but will reluctantly agree to be paid only after the job is done.

Makarak: Was captured by the Trolork and fastened to a rock to be sacrificed at dawn. In his cell, Max could hear his distant tortured cries coming from southeast. His race is considered to be treacherous, and their demoniac aspect does not help, but he will be very grateful to those who will save his life. He will not be useful to contact others, though.

Kaasheg: A scientist of the Mayj, the same race of Lothar's mother. Due to the dangerous nature of his experiments to control fire, he lives isolated in his laboratory near the west coast, being disturbed only by the occasional appearance of dragons, which come for his cattle. It's rumored that he has created a light deflector which can be used to make creatures and objects invisible. Recently, he helped a wounded Trolork girl, a survivor from a wreck. She told him about the recent history and reported that she and some fellows, loyal to Zuljin, were trying to escape to the Northern Lands. She expected some had managed to. Kaasheg believes that a long war may be about to begin, and he will not be left alone by the Trolork. He thinks that taking the old king back to the throne may put a quick end to the war and assure peace in the future. He may be willing to share his scientific knowledge and will also suggest to contact Krytak.

Zuljin: Exiled on one of the northwestern islands, he will be happy to fight against the traitors, but a boat will be necessary to get to him. Maybe the enemy will lend one... Zuljin will also be eager to lead those devoted soldiers who have escaped, if he can find them. However, no-one knows that an avalanche blocked the passage in the middle of the rocky coast of the Northern Lands, just after they have passed. There might be an alternative way along the Great River, but that used to be a strategic site in past wars, and the towers along the strands must be garrisoned again.

Krytak: According to Lothar, he lives just across the Great River. Most of his powers are lost, for the mysterious energies of the Temple of the Ancient are necessary to feed them, and he has been far away for too long. But he may recover them if he gets to the temple again, using a remotely controlled boat left near the atoll. He will fight for only one prize: the head of Gul'dan.

Assulah: His race met strange winged creatures little after they settled on the planet. They soon realized that those docile animals, called gryphons by the humans, could take them much farther and more efficiently than their short legs, and a relationship of friendship and dependency was created. But that species was on the way to extinction, victim of its predators, the dragons. Soon there were few gryphons left, and Assulah saw the suffering of his people. Yet they have constructed small flying machines, that was just not the same. Some even developed suicidal tendencies. He will be found by chance, near the Temple of the Ancient, for he has heard that the race who had built it, the Taikran, used to breed gryphons in a remote past and he expects to find some useful information. Although there is nothing about it in the temple, Krytak knows of an abandoned aviary in the middle of the forest, probably still containing gryphon eggs ready to be hatched. With the promise of being helped to find and reactivate the aviary, Assulah will be the seventh warrior to join the group.