The fellow many knew as Jon Chess sprinted from the cover of the field tents of the Dark Iron surface camp and leaped into space.
The space was not impressively wide nor deep, but Jon dropped through the crane opening in the ground like a stone; but unlike stone, this plummeting body reached out the black metal chains of the crane payload, which was slowly being lowered into the slave mine the Dark Iron Dwarves called the Slag Pit. He caught himself and spun around the strong links, wrapping himself around it like a python on a tree branch. He dropped down the chain like a ferret on the prowl down to the cargo - crates of fresh food and beer - and before the platform descended too much further leaped again to an outcropping ledge.
After the latest encounter with Dark Iron agents in Stormwind with the Blackbird Circle, Jon had asked permission from the Blackbird kingpin Aubey to take the battle to the Dark Iron forces. Again and again, Jon had encountered Dark Iron operatives engaged in nefarious activities, from trying to destroy the Stonewrought Dam at to their assaults on the Ironforge airfield. They were rumored to have been the driving force behind the Trogg invasion of Gnomeregan.
Dark Iron dwarves loyal to Emperor Dagran Thaurissan were renowned for their manipulative, underhanded ways, and were behind many of the evils that beset Ironforge in particular and the Alliance in general. Emperor Thaurissan was the direct descendant of Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan, who had summoned the elemental lord Ragnaros to Azeroth. Under their dark Emperor, the Dark Iron dwarves of Shadowforge City had become mired in greed and cruelty
Jon followed the trail of the Dark Iron dwarves who had created such trouble for the Blackbirds in Stormwind to the region known as the Searing Gorge. The Searing Gorge was a land dominated by fire and sulfur. During the War of the Three Hammers, Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan had sought to summon a supernatural minion that would turn the tide of the war back to his favor. He and seven of his most trusted and powerful dwarves called upon the ancient powers sleeping beneath the world. To their surprise, the creature that emerged was more terrible than any nightmare they could have imagined: The ancient Firelord Ragnaros. A new volcano had erupted out of the mountains, blackening the surrounding lands and reducing the Dark Iron capital of Thaurissan to rubble. The steppes to the south came to be known as the Burning Steppes, and the ravaged valley to the north the Searing Gorge.
The Dark Iron dwarves built their new capital, Shadowforge City, inside the volcano, now called Blackrock Mountain. The Dark Iron army soon invaded the Searing Gorge, overrunning the Ironforge garrison and forcing them to retreat to Loch Modan, sealing the Stonewrought Pass behind them. The Dark Iron turned their focus to a very large scale digging operation at the bottom of the blackened valley they called the Cauldron. The Cauldron was dominated by the Slag Pit, an underground mining site rich in mineral resources. The labor is mainly done by enemies captured and enslaved by Dark Iron slavers.
In the northern mountain ridge, Jon found the village of Thorium Point, inhabited by the Dark Iron splinter called the Thorium Brotherhood, Dark Iron dwarves who are not members of the Dark Iron clan. On the cliffs overlooking the Cauldron, they conducted operations against the Dark Iron dwarves of Shadowforge City and their corrupt, evil Emperor.
Jon was determined to investigate himself. He spent a few days observing the operations in the Cauldron and gaining information from the Thorium Brotherhood, who encouraged any actions against the Ragneros-worshipping Dark Iron dwarves. The massive slave mining operation in the Slag Pit was supplied by a crane, which lowered victuals and removed loads of ore for smelting topside.
Late at night, Jon had snuck down the mountains from Thorium Point, and had begun removing Dark iron slavers and taskmasters from his path, sneaking up behind them and slipping his mithril wire garotte around their necks.
Aubey had told Jon that Jon could do whatever Jon liked, so long as it could not be traced back to the Blackbird Ring. Jon had remembered the training at Ravenholdt about how sometimes covert agents adopted "working names" - aliases under which they conducted the activities. Jon had devised such an alias. Before he had left Stormwind he had crafted a new set of leather armor with a deep charcoal-gray appearance. He had visited woodcarvers in Eastvale, and commissioned a number of wooden castle chess pieces, stained deep black. These became his calling card, and the Rook was borne, a nod to both his surname and synonymous with the bird fitting the Blackbird Circle. As he murdered the Dark Iron sentries and slavers. he left behind the black chess piece on the corpse.
Jon dropped from ledge to ledge until he found himself on the ground level. The Thorium Brotherhood had provided him with a rough map of the Slag Pit, and Jon continued his murdering spree in badly-lit darkness of the mine. Wherever possible, he used his lockpicks to open the shackles of mining slaves, arming them with weapons taken from the Dark Iron dwarves he had killed, and worked his way towards the ramps which led to the surface and thence to freedom, killing guards and slavers.
He led the escaped slaves up into the dark of the early morning, and to Thorium Point. Some of the freed slaves asked who he was, and he had handed them the black Rook chess pieces. "You may call me the Rook," he had said. "I plan to checkmate Thaurissan for his crimes against Gnomergan." After all, nothing sold a cover story like motivation - let the Rook become known for bringing the vengeance of the gnomes to the Shadowforge clan and it's Emperor.
Nobody could connect the Rook to the Blackbird Ring.
.
The space was not impressively wide nor deep, but Jon dropped through the crane opening in the ground like a stone; but unlike stone, this plummeting body reached out the black metal chains of the crane payload, which was slowly being lowered into the slave mine the Dark Iron Dwarves called the Slag Pit. He caught himself and spun around the strong links, wrapping himself around it like a python on a tree branch. He dropped down the chain like a ferret on the prowl down to the cargo - crates of fresh food and beer - and before the platform descended too much further leaped again to an outcropping ledge.
After the latest encounter with Dark Iron agents in Stormwind with the Blackbird Circle, Jon had asked permission from the Blackbird kingpin Aubey to take the battle to the Dark Iron forces. Again and again, Jon had encountered Dark Iron operatives engaged in nefarious activities, from trying to destroy the Stonewrought Dam at to their assaults on the Ironforge airfield. They were rumored to have been the driving force behind the Trogg invasion of Gnomeregan.
Dark Iron dwarves loyal to Emperor Dagran Thaurissan were renowned for their manipulative, underhanded ways, and were behind many of the evils that beset Ironforge in particular and the Alliance in general. Emperor Thaurissan was the direct descendant of Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan, who had summoned the elemental lord Ragnaros to Azeroth. Under their dark Emperor, the Dark Iron dwarves of Shadowforge City had become mired in greed and cruelty
Jon followed the trail of the Dark Iron dwarves who had created such trouble for the Blackbirds in Stormwind to the region known as the Searing Gorge. The Searing Gorge was a land dominated by fire and sulfur. During the War of the Three Hammers, Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan had sought to summon a supernatural minion that would turn the tide of the war back to his favor. He and seven of his most trusted and powerful dwarves called upon the ancient powers sleeping beneath the world. To their surprise, the creature that emerged was more terrible than any nightmare they could have imagined: The ancient Firelord Ragnaros. A new volcano had erupted out of the mountains, blackening the surrounding lands and reducing the Dark Iron capital of Thaurissan to rubble. The steppes to the south came to be known as the Burning Steppes, and the ravaged valley to the north the Searing Gorge.
The Dark Iron dwarves built their new capital, Shadowforge City, inside the volcano, now called Blackrock Mountain. The Dark Iron army soon invaded the Searing Gorge, overrunning the Ironforge garrison and forcing them to retreat to Loch Modan, sealing the Stonewrought Pass behind them. The Dark Iron turned their focus to a very large scale digging operation at the bottom of the blackened valley they called the Cauldron. The Cauldron was dominated by the Slag Pit, an underground mining site rich in mineral resources. The labor is mainly done by enemies captured and enslaved by Dark Iron slavers.
In the northern mountain ridge, Jon found the village of Thorium Point, inhabited by the Dark Iron splinter called the Thorium Brotherhood, Dark Iron dwarves who are not members of the Dark Iron clan. On the cliffs overlooking the Cauldron, they conducted operations against the Dark Iron dwarves of Shadowforge City and their corrupt, evil Emperor.
Jon was determined to investigate himself. He spent a few days observing the operations in the Cauldron and gaining information from the Thorium Brotherhood, who encouraged any actions against the Ragneros-worshipping Dark Iron dwarves. The massive slave mining operation in the Slag Pit was supplied by a crane, which lowered victuals and removed loads of ore for smelting topside.
Late at night, Jon had snuck down the mountains from Thorium Point, and had begun removing Dark iron slavers and taskmasters from his path, sneaking up behind them and slipping his mithril wire garotte around their necks.
Aubey had told Jon that Jon could do whatever Jon liked, so long as it could not be traced back to the Blackbird Ring. Jon had remembered the training at Ravenholdt about how sometimes covert agents adopted "working names" - aliases under which they conducted the activities. Jon had devised such an alias. Before he had left Stormwind he had crafted a new set of leather armor with a deep charcoal-gray appearance. He had visited woodcarvers in Eastvale, and commissioned a number of wooden castle chess pieces, stained deep black. These became his calling card, and the Rook was borne, a nod to both his surname and synonymous with the bird fitting the Blackbird Circle. As he murdered the Dark Iron sentries and slavers. he left behind the black chess piece on the corpse.
Jon dropped from ledge to ledge until he found himself on the ground level. The Thorium Brotherhood had provided him with a rough map of the Slag Pit, and Jon continued his murdering spree in badly-lit darkness of the mine. Wherever possible, he used his lockpicks to open the shackles of mining slaves, arming them with weapons taken from the Dark Iron dwarves he had killed, and worked his way towards the ramps which led to the surface and thence to freedom, killing guards and slavers.
He led the escaped slaves up into the dark of the early morning, and to Thorium Point. Some of the freed slaves asked who he was, and he had handed them the black Rook chess pieces. "You may call me the Rook," he had said. "I plan to checkmate Thaurissan for his crimes against Gnomergan." After all, nothing sold a cover story like motivation - let the Rook become known for bringing the vengeance of the gnomes to the Shadowforge clan and it's Emperor.
Nobody could connect the Rook to the Blackbird Ring.
.
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