User:Joshmaul/Shadowgarde Keep

Shadowgarde Keep is the fortress-sanctuary of Battlelord Velenkayn, located in the deep woods of Shadowmoon Valley on Draenor. After months of run-ins with the authorities in Stormwind, the mad gnome warlock Rakeri Sputterspark sought a place to call his own that was both outside the jurisdiction of Stormwind and well-protected to prevent any potential capture, as was the case when he was captured by the Stormwind City Watch while attempting to hide in Outland. Though considered an Alliance base (and decorated as such with the lion's head of Stormwind on the banners), Shadowgarde served as a sanctuary for all those who have flocked to Rakeri's banner, especially those who wished to free themselves from the perceived apathy of the authorities back on Azeroth. Velenkayn took control of the fortress from him in a brief battle, and garrisoned it with a detachment of Knights of the Ebon Blade.

The Professor in Power


Rakeri Sputterspark's service to the Alliance dates back to its foundation just before the Second War, when he served as a combat engineer liaising with the Royal Army of Ironforge during the siege of that city, in the defense of the dwarven and gnomish homelands following the fall of Lordaeron to the Scourge, and later the fall of Gnomeregan to the mad Mekgineer Thermaplugg. Upon being "decursed" into a mechagnome by Gearmaster Mechazod in Northrend and "recursed" with demon's blood, allowing him to use immensely powerful fel magics, Rakeri continued to serve the Alliance outwardly as a means of hiding his true agenda: His own advancement. This brought him into conflict with Alliance authorities, particularly his hated enemy, the paladin Saavedro of Stratholme. His conflicts with Saavedro, combined with his increasing racism towards non-gnomes and hostile action against any perceived threats, landed him several times within the damp, dark halls of the Stormwind Stockade. Finally, after slaying Saavedro in a ritual of blood magic that resurrected the demented Forsaken priest Sekhesmet, Rakeri was exiled for a time from Stormwind, and returned under a cloud of suspicion.

That changed when the Iron Horde arrived through the time-altered Dark Portal, forcing the Alliance to recall its force (and the Horde to deploy its own) to combat the invaders. Rakeri was granted amnesty by the authority of King Varian himself, even given the heinous nature of the crimes he had committed, because of one act of altruism on the gnome's part: The curing of a fel plague in Westfall, despite whispers that the cure was set up to elevate Rakeri's (and subsequently, all warlocks') standing among the Alliance, particularly the common people of Stormwind. Thus it was, when Rakeri joined the expedition to Draenor and was granted leave to build his own fortress in the new world, that many impoverished and embittered citizens from Westfall were among the first to rally to the professor's banner, though many of other races - even draenei and pandaren, to his surprise - would answer his call eventually. While the labor involved in building a keep was immense, they were motivated out of their loyalty to the one who had saved them, a bargaining chip that Rakeri intended to use to his advantage in the war to come.

As a powerful warlock, Rakeri began making alliances with similarly-minded folk - particularly the Council of the Black Harvest, the grand coven of Azeroth's most powerful warlocks. The Council was believed to have fallen into disarray following the banishment of the demon that had once been Kanrethad Ebonlocke, the Council leader, but as the power of the green flame began to spread among others, the Black Harvest grew in size and power. Rakeri was among that number, having studied the incident at the Black Temple and learned from Kanrethad's mistakes, harnessing only the power he knew he needed. This move had been triggered largely by desperation with the growing power of Saavedro (then called "Father Shankolin"), and maintained with the rise of new enemies in the period that followed Saavedro's death. Rumors persist that Rakeri has also taken an interest in a group called the Sargerei, a hidden order of draenei dissatisfied with their Prophet's "betrayal" in not seeing the rise of the Iron Horde and seeking to join with the powers that had made them "exiled ones" in the first place: the Burning Legion...

Velenkayn's Gamble


Following the murder of Areinnye Scourgebane and the capture of her husband, General Taeril'hane Ketiron, Battlelord Velenkayn resolved to end Rakeri's "violation" of draenei lands, and take control of the fortress himself. He predicted that, when confronted by a force they could not intimidate, the professor's guards would surrender in short order. To that end, he had Genevra Stoneheardt, an ally of Ketiron, send word to Acherus to have death knights come to Draenor under his command. Highlord Darion Mograine sent the troops requested, and Velenkayn led them straight into the fortress itself. Though the gnomish guards gave them a fight at first, it ended when Rakeri turned on his garrison captain, Nessa Steelspanner, when she caught him attempting to flee. Steelspanner set off explosives that destroyed the rudimentary mage tower where Rakeri kept his library; when the dust settled, there was no sign of the warlock, and Velenkayn believed that he had fled through the open waygate.

The gamble paid off; once he was in control, Velenkayn promised to spare the lives of the surviving gnomish garrison if they surrendered immediately. All of them did so, and Velenkayn oversaw their transfer to the garrison at Stormshield on Ashran to be sent back to Azeroth. He found Ketiron - body broken and mind crazed by torture - in the dungeon of Shadowgarde's barracks, and Velenkayn had healers come to nurse the sin'dorei general back to health. Once Ketiron was safe, Velenkayn asked his fellow death knights to remain and garrison the fortress with him, and they agreed. The Battlelord also turned to Rakeri's younger sister, Marennia, to act as his chief engineer, having produced her share of wonders at the forge for him. The gnomish captain agreed without hesitation, and set to work in maintaining the fortress while Velenkayn attended to matters of the battlefield.

Under velenkayn's direction, Shadowgarde flourished, with well-paid, well-treated workers instead of the slaves that Rakeri had used; the slave workers were treated for their injuries and illnesses, and sent to Stormshield in order to be returned home. However, many elected to return to work for Velenkayn, who kept his word that they would receive proper payment (and more importantly, proper food and medical care) for their work.

Shadowgarde's Layout
Though a veteran of various campaigns, Rakeri was the first to admit (though not to anyone other than himself, of course) that he was no military leader; however, his experiences and sense of practicality guided him in the design and construction of the buildings within Shadowgarde's thick stone walls. Though the buildings are largely of human design, they were set up to Rakeri's exact specifications.

Among the first buildings constructed were the engineering workshop and the scribe's offices, which the professor taught his skills in those areas to those in his employ with the aptitude for them. A barracks was built around the same time, to allow for the training and supply of Shadowgarde's troops, both in the keep's defense and in missions beyond the walls, as he hoped to build an army around himself to prevent a repeat of his "kidnapping" from Outland by the Stormwind City Watch, an event that continued to haunt him. His elite garrison guard was made up of gnomes, who placed their loyalty to Rakeri and his belief that the Alliance failed Gnomeregan and its people. In conjunction with the barracks was a mage library, containing most of Rakeri's writings, which also served as the terminus for portals opened from ogre waypoints throughout Draenor.

Another concern Rakeri faced was one of resources. The mines discovered near the fortress provide Shadowgarde with a steady supply of metal and stone, but the main concern was lumber; to that end, Rakeri ordered the construction of a lumber mill to increase the keep's stock. He also called for the construction of salvaging facilities to deal with the detritus collected from battles with the Iron Horde or any other threat that may arise as a result of their operations on Draenor. To grow the plants needed for creating inks for inscription, he also maintained a small herb garden near the eastern wall, which regularly grows the plants milled for the pigments they produce.

Velenkayn's Alterations
Upon assuming control of the fortress, the lumber mill and the mage library were destroyed by heavy fighting, and Velenkayn oversaw the reconstruction of facilities with hired workers, rather than the slave labor used by the professor. He constructed a massive dwarven armory on the site of the library, and a trader's office on the site of the lumber mill. The engineering and scribe's workshops were dismantled, replaced by a smithy and a storehouse for containing additional supplies. The salvage yard, however, remained to dispose of the excess material from the reconstruction. Velenkayn also replaced the gnomish guard, largely surrendered after Rakeri's flight and the death of its garrison captain, with the death knights who had followed him in taking control of the fortress. The herbal garden was also expanded to include a healthy fruit tree, adding to the fortress' food supplies.