Thursday, August 12, 2010

Know Your Rogue Lore: Plunderbeard


Few people become famous for being little more than a cold corpse but the rogue we are going to discuss today managed to do just that. When the Alliance first set foot in Northrend the result was many of them ended up dead. Somehow they found enough time to dig a crypt and create a mausoleum. (Dwarves are industrious builders after all and FIRM believers that the dead belong encased in rock underground thank you very much.) Of course this was all before our favorite human prince picked up his new toy and decided to make a major career change. When the Alliance arrived for the SECOND time in Northrend, this time in pursuit of that same prince who had landed there before, they were unaware of the previous burial ground. So they happily build a large fortress only to have scourge start popping up in the basement. This of course caused issues for the new residents.

Plunderbeard was a member of the 7th Legion. Originally formed as the Alliance portion of the combined Might of Kalimdor forces during the Ahn'Qiraj War effort. They were made up of veterans who fought beside Lady Proudmoore and Warchief Thrall at Mount Hyjal.  The 7th Legion is believed to be one of the oldest and most elite fighting forces in the Alliance military. It's members are ALL veterans of numerous campaigns. As these men and women have worked together for YEARS, they know and trust each other. They have experience in numerous hostile environments in both Azeroth AND Outland fulfilling their duties. Now they have been called to the icy ridges of Northrend to take down the Lich King. So they don't scare easily, but having scourge over head as well as popping up out of the ground gets old quickly, even for them.

What else do we know about Plunderbeard? This particular dwarf rogue was sent to figure out exactly what is going on beneath Wintergarde Keep, the 7th's new home in Northrend. Specifically, how are the scourge maneuvering between the crypts and the mausoleum? In addition to this he finds out who is running things, what its weakness are and how to take him out. Unfortunately he while he managed to gather all this information he failed to survive long enough to report. His superior, a man by the name of Ambro Cash sends individuals looking for him pretty much anticipating the worst. Knowing what we do about the 7th Legion I can understand his attitude, but still I love Ambro's faith in Plunderbeard. He knows that even if the dwarf died while preforming his job he WILL have the information he needs SOMEWHERE on him or near by.

Plunderbeard's body is located in a deceptive tunnel connecting the mausoleum to the crypts located beneath Wintergarde Keep in Dragonsblight. If you push your way past all the hanging roots and you can easily traverse from one end to the other. His body faces in the direction of the mobs you need to find his missing journal pages on. Unlike other dwaven writers of note Pluderbeard's work manages to stay fairly close together with some individuals managing to locate all four of the missing pages of the journal on a single mob.

This is all part of the "Wrathgate" chain for the Alliance. It is shortly after you find Plunderbeard and use the information he gathered that you first meet up with Bolvar Fordragon, in Northrend. In fact Bolvar will come rushing in to save your butt at the end of this particular chain. If you happened to have done the Jail Break chain back in Vanilla, he will even express delight at seeing you still alive and kicking. Sadly the same can not be said for poor Plunderbeard, but his legacy lives on in those Alliance who carry on his mission, delivering his reconnaissance and fighting in his stead.  While for the Alliance he is but a small part of an epic chain but don't over look the large contribution he and his colleagues have made and will continue to make as the years pass.

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