The Blackforge Clan
- Cid Blackforge, Captain of the Ironforge Guard.
The clan has roots to around the time for High King Anvilmar's tragic death, when the tensions between the three biggest
clans of the Ironforge Dwarves steadily increased. Fights and brawls were not uncommon in the streets and taverns,
despite the King's order and his guardsmen.
However, true love was also found despite the hostilities between the clans. A Dwarf from the Bronzebeard clan did something
that was thought impossible for others in his clan, and fell in love with a Dark Iron lass. She had the same feelings for him, and
the couple was under constant harrasment from their own clanmembers. Due to the paths of history the names of those clans
they came from has been forgotten, but they are not a part of this story anyway.
Thandol of the Bronzebeard clan and Eygwynn of the Dark Iron clan stuck together despite the tensions, and were preparing
to leave their respective clans behind them. They took only what little possesions they owned, and managed to hire a wagon
to fill with necessary supplies for their journey to a safe haven. Some Dwarves saw this, and thought: "Good riddance!"
while others thought that they made a wise decision to leave, and decided to tag along.
The group of Dwarves passed through the North Gate Pass, travelled north through Dun Algaz and headed into the Wetlands.
They cut through the bushes and made temporary roads to continue their journey to safety. Finally, they reached the
northernmost border of the Dwarven Kingdom Khaz'Modan and began to search for their spot of heaven on Azeroth.
They found the spot on a green hill, between sturdy cliffs that could serve as defense should the need arise.
There, they began to build their homes. There, they named their new home to Dun Modr.
There, they made the Blackforge clan.
The Dwarves in Dun Modr cheered, and decided to have a nice, traditional Dwarven wedding. Finally, Thandol and Eygwynn
got united through an official ceremony, that were them refused in Ironforge due to the tensions. Finally, their love was official.
The villagers cheered for the happy couple, and celebrated for three days.
They were mourning on the fourth day, because a adventurous gnome were passing by Dun Modr and brought news from Ironforge.
High King Anvilmar had died, and fullscale civil war broke out. Despite the tensions within Ironforge, the Blackforges still held
some love for their fellow Dwarves and mourned the loss of every Dwarven life during these times.
The Bronzebeards emerged victorious in the Civil War after several years, and drove out the Wildhammers and Dark Irons out of Ironforge.
Thandol and Eygwynn got a son, which they named Greippner Blackforge.
A dwarven lass became mother to Cid Blackforge during these times as well.
Dark Irons moved into Redridge Mountains, and the Wildhammers ventured north into Wetlands. They founded their city, Grim Batol,
and started to rebuild their society. The Blackforge clan welcomed the company of fellow Dwarves in the Wetlands, and decided to
open up traderoutes for the benefit of the Dwarves.
The Wildhammers got surprised that there were other Dwarves in the Wetlands, but were welcoming the trade proposition since
they needed the extra supplies to start things up. This was a prosperous time, and the Dwarves were happy.
The Blackforge Dwarves discovered some land bridges that were connecting the Wetlands with the northern, more unexplored regions.
These landbridges were used very limited times, on the account for the seatides rendering them worthless for hours at times.
Many plans for a better connection to the north were made. but they hadn't explored enough to decide if it was worth the effort to
build it if there was nothing but enemies up north. The Blackforge clan then began to develop some strong curiosity to explore what
was beyond Khaz'Modans northern borders. In these Highlands, they started to head east until they encountered some savage Trolls.
The Dwarves observed them for a day or so, in case some friendly contact could be made. But the Trolls were a cannibalistic sort, and such
behaviour was frowned upon by the Dwarves, who then followed the mountainrange around the Highlands to the city of Stromgarde.
Here, the Dwarves gave the Humans some information about the Trolls activities, and then continued to explore.
Not all Blackforge Dwarves had such luck with meeting other races. Some were killed by ravaging troll-bands in the forest areas to
the north, some were trespassing on holy grounds for the taurens in Kalimdor and got killed for that. They didn't earn the trust of
elves, and felt that the elves were not a sort that could be easily trusted upon.
Back to Wetlands.
Under Thane Thandol Blackforge, the Blackforge clan was growing steadily, and they fortified their positions in case those
savage Trolls they heard about from the north were to come down. They maintained a small militia of the strongest Dwarves
and the best marksmen the Wetlands had seen, but they were friendly to travellers who were passing by...
as long as they did not break the laws of Dun Modr.
Cyrik Blackforge, son of Greippner Blackforge was born. Then Murmyr, a travelling dwarf ended up loving the town and its inhabitants,
so he stayed and became a servant.
As years pass by, Thane Thandol Blackforge spotted a massive amount of Humans travelling north through Khaz'Modan,
trying to reach the safety of Lordaeron.
They brought the news that some huge, greenskinned, savage men were invading the lands. None of the passing humans had any
information what those things were or where they came from, but they were hostile. They ruined the Human city called Stormwind
and plundered the southern part of the continent.
The Blackforge clan got startled by the news, since stories told that Stormwind was a strong city. However, they knew that the
borders and armies of Khaz'Modan were the strongest for ages, so they did not worry too much about the orcs. After some time
the steady stream of Humans ceased, and everything became calm again.
However, the Dark Iron clan did not hesitate to take out their revenge on the Bronzebeards and Wildhammers. They didn't know
about the greenskins, or thought them a minor irritation that their firearms could take care off. They planned and executed their
invasion of both the Dwarf cities!
The Dark Irons got beaten back at Ironforge, but the Wildhammers were less lucky.
Despite their efforts, the Dark Irons managed to break through the gates of their city and started to taint the place with their foul magics.
The Blackforge clan didn't interfere, since they had nothing to do with the war. But they still kept the supplies going to the Wildhammers,
which the Dark Irons noticed. They planned to wipe out Dun Modr for their aid to the Wildhammers, but got routed before they could get
that far in their plans.
After the war, the Wildhammers returned home only to find it uninhabitable because of the foul magics. They got an offer from Ironforge to live there,
but they declined that offer. Dun Modr also sent an offer for Wildhammers to live among them if they wanted, but they got the same answer.
The Blackforge clan mourned the loss of Grim Batol, but most of all that the Wildhammers seemed to get more and more withdrawn.
They did however agree to keep some connection with Ironforge.
The plans to build a bridge over the Thandol Valley started, and with much local support, since the bridge would help to increase trade,
the Blackforge clan whole-heartedly supported the founding and construction of the great Thandol Span, named after the first Thane of the Blackforge.
However, the Wildhammers got more shy for every year that passed, and finally ceased to have connection with their southern cousins at all.
But the peace wouldn't last for long...
Because now the hideous green savages, now known as Orcs, has began to push up through Khaz'Modan! The War of Three Hammers
had weakened the borders enough for the greenskins to invade the Burning Steppes of what was once Redridge Mountains, invade and
march through the Dark Iron city of Shadowforge, then up through the Searing Gorge, and through the Badlands.
The green menace seemed unstoppable! They took region after region, killing everything in its path. They even got as far as to besiege Ironforge!
They marched through Dun Algaz and took the tainted Grim Batol to have as fortress!
Now the Blackforge clan got reason to worry, because they did not stop there.
The Orcs were still heading north, so the Dwarves made a plan: Evacuate the women and children along with Greippner, that were next
to be thane, hand them an escort with some of the best dwarven militia and marksmen they could offer. Murmyr, Thandol's servant were
to take care of Greippner during these trying times and protect him.
The plan was to let the civilians travel up to Stromgarde or even Lordaeron, in case the Orcs did not stop their march at Dun Modr.
All went well with the evacuation, the last caravan had just left the town and headed over Thandol Span. Cid Blackforge, who was part
of the militia at that time, didn't want to miss the coming battle, but got ordered to go to Lordaeron to escort the civilians.
The remaining Thane Thandol Blackforge, militiamen and marksmen scurried to improve and reinforce what they could,
before the inevitable battle started.
The Orcs were making camp right below the hill. Hidden marksmen took out their scouts that the Orcs sent up the hill.
Then the greenskins got their preparations ready, and started the battle. Catapults started to throw rocks at the town, but the cliffs
surrounding the town held for the bombardment. When that failed, the Orcs marched up with a small force, thinking it would be as easy
battle as down south. Oh, they got pummeled!
The militia took out most of their warriors with little casualties. Marksmen picked off some of the fleeing Orcs, and in the end no Orcs returned to camp.
The Orcish commander got angered at this delay, and ordered that several warbands were to attack and harass the dwarves!
The fight went on for a whole day, before the orcs managed to get through the defences. The militia and Thane Thandol were at the
lowest part of Dun Modr, protecting the marksmen that were positioned higher up, who in turn picked off the strongest opponents
on the battlefield, making it easier for the militia.
But in the end, Dun Modr got sacked. The militia, marksmen and Thane Thandol Blackforge got killed in battle. The orcs made the
dwarven fortified village their own, and then marched further north to invade the continent of Lordaeron.
The surviving Blackforge dwarves and now Thane Greippner Blackforge were in relative safety in the capital of Lordaeron.
The war however went bad for the Alliance, and eventually the capital got besieged!
The Blackforge dwarves could just watch, as those green monstrosities were camping right outside the city gates, waiting for the
slightest mistake from the defenders. However, due to some unknown reason for the Blackforge clan, the orc general decided to
head after some renegade orc that deserted with several needed troops.
This made the coming battle easier for their Human allies, who now fought back the Horde.
This turned the tide of the war, and after several months the Horde were beaten back from Lordaeron and into Khaz'Modan,
from Thandol Span and Dun Modr, down into Loch Modan and later into Shadowforge City, or Blackrock Mountain as the savages called it.
Eventually, the war was won. Alliance stood as victors and Dun Modr was freed from the orcs. The Blackforge clan decided it was time to head home.
The clan built up their partly ruined town, and began life anew in Wetlands. Years passed, and for Thane Greippner Blackforge and the
dwarves everything went well in their town. Increased trade with the Humans to the north and west, opened up trade with their southern cousins
of Ironforge and sent their best militia and marksmen to train there, and the Dwarves were generally happy.
But lets talk about Cid and Cyrik a bit. Almost as tall as a human, Cid Blackforge was strong as two Wildhammer-dwarves combined and had a certain knack
for the art of blacksmithing.
He was a fierce fighter in the militia since before the Second War, and got sent to Ironforge regularly for the infantry training every three months.
He had a wife and a son, and worked hard at the forge and anvil when he didn't fight.
Young Cyrik Blackforge was gifted as well, but he was more a engineer than a blacksmith. He could study schematics for hours a day,
and look dreamingly up in the sky. No, Cyrik Blackforge did not want to do as all dwarves had before him. He wanted to see the world,
and that from an airplane. He then he went to Ironforge to learn how to fly, got his permission and took off in his airplane, to seemingly never be heard off again.
After a few years of peace, Cyrik was finally heard off! He had made it to a mysterious land called Kalimdor with his airplane,
and crashlanded there. With no spare parts to repair it, he began to dig out a place to sleep with his Gnomish Army Knife, when he managed
to dig up some old things that looked older than Ironforge, yet had clear signs of connection through certain dwarven symbols.
He managed to get to the goblin town of Ratchet, where he gave the location of his broken airplane in trade for a ticket over to Eastern Kingdoms.
He got to Ironforge and showed his items with certain pride for the Explorers League. They got very excited, and went as far as to fund Cyrik's
next expedition there if he was to return. Cyrik agreed to the proposition, and headed back to found Bael'Modan, and to carve out more mysterious artifacts.
To this day he's still over there, digging for clues to the Dwarves past.
Cid Blackforge however got an offer to join the army full-time, which he was hesitating to accept since he wanted to spend more time with
his family than what the army would allow. However, that was about to change. A messenger arrived to Ironforge bearing ill news.
The Dark Iron Dwarves had sneaked past the borders and sacked Dun Modr, and had made attempts on blowing up the bridge connecting to the northern lands.
The messenger was Murmyr, Thandol Blackforge's old servant. Old, yet agile he managed to escape the attack by hiding in the shadows, biding his time.
He couldn't do anything to protect Thane Greippner, but at least he could bring the news about the Dark Irons to Ironforge and hope they'd send some help.
Cid got devastated when he heard the news, and blamed himself for not being there and defend Dun Modr.
However, Cid Blackforge now enlisted into the army full-time, to get a chance at revenge on those that killed his family and clan. He has now achieved the
rank of Captain of the Ironforge Guard, trying to get a chance to strike at those Ragnaros-following Dark Iron scum whenever he can.
Whenever he spots a Dark Iron Dwarf, he looks it straight into its eyes to see if he's a Ragnaros-follower or a sane Dwarf.
If it is the former, it is slain. If the latter, it is spared.
And that is the story of the Blackforge clan, and what made it what it is today. A tale of romance, war, happiness and sorrow.
The ending is still to be made, hopefully not with the death of this noble clan.
I dedicate this book to the fallen of Dun Modr. May their memories live on in our hearts, and tales of the defenders bravery told
at the tavernfires.
