Chapter 1: King Gunthar Perenolde

(Alterac City, Alterac Duchy, Kingdom of Alterac, Eastern Kingdoms, Azeroth)

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Walking amidst the ruins of the Once Great Kingdoms Capital City, Gunthar Perenolde knew his task would be a long and difficult road, and would require him to make Alliances, but the Alliance wanted nothing to do with him, not that he could blame them.

His Grandfather being the man and ruler that he was has ensured the difficulty of his task. That was actually worth discussing, because when it happened, no one cared why he did what he did, something that Gunthar had argued prominently when he got an audience with King Varian.

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{FLASHBACK}

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_''Why should I help the kin of a traitor?'' Varian asked.

''Did you ever actually stop and wonder why my grandfather did what he did? No, you didn't. See my Grandfather was a cowardly traitor, I won't dispute this, but he was also a pragmatist and lived our people. He preferred diplomacy over war... a lesson you seem to have never taken.'' Gunthar counters.

''Careful boy, you may be a King's own blood and indeed a hero of the Alliance, but this is still my Kingdom and your in my castle.'' Says Varian sternly.

''My grandfather betrayed the Alliance when he did for two reasons. One if you actually took a tactical appraisal of the Hunan Kingsoms you'd recognize that Alterac's biggest advantage and disadvantages was its vast ore and mineral deposits, but it was hamstrung by it's size. We were the smallest. Furthermore both my grandfather and my father were prejudiced men, and not just against Orc's. But Reason number two hits this home, we had the Book of Medivh, and the Hordd wanted it. My grandfather gave it to them because he didn't believe that the Alliance was strong enough to beat the Horde at that time, and thus sought a way to protect his citizens.'' Says Gunthar.

''By betraying his allies.'' Says Varian.

''What would you do? Say the Horde had your Kingdom in a stranglehold or near-abouts at least, and the only way to ensure the survival of your family and people was to betray an Ally who up to that point had been on a loosing streak against that very same enemy? What would you be willing to do?'' Asks Gunthar.

''What I would be willing to do is not the point here, so I suggest you get to it.'' Says Varian.

''I'll be rebuilding Alterac. I could use some help.'' Says Gunthar.

''No. I respect your need to see some honor restored to your family and can understand your desire to bring your people back from the brink. But my answer and the Alliance's answer is no.'' Says Varian.

''Shame, but not unexpected. Just remember, I won't forget this when you come to me, and believe me, you will.'' Says Gunthar.

''And why pray tell would that be?'' Asks Varian with a scoff.

''Lady Katrana is much more than she seems, and when her her disguise is broken, and you reveal her for what she is, come find me, and see if I'm as nice then as I am now.'' Says Gunthar.

With his piece said, Gunthar turns his back on King Varian, striding out of the Chamber as he did. There was still one person within Stormwind that might be willing to help him...

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{End of FLASHBACK}

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Suffice to say no one was willing to help him within Stormwind, mind you that one other guy wasn't a dick about it.

Right now as things were he had two, no actually three things going for him. His father had amassed a fairly large sum of money from his criminal activities, giving him greater options for development. Additionally, one of his nobles had a vast source of lumber which could be used to rebuild

''My King.'' Says Count Willichar.

''It rings hollow sadly. However I hope you're here with good news.'' Says Gunthar as Count Willichar hands him a number of documents.

''Give me the rundown.'' Says Gunthar.

''Alterac proper is uninhabitable, the structures are barely habitable and the Castle is even worse. Following the ordered survey we determined suitability for various quarries, pastoral lands, points of defense. But as you know my lands are the only place currently under our dominion which. Headland is suitable for some Hill Farms and maybe some pastures but if we want to survive the next few years we will eventually need to look at expansion.'' Says Willichar.

''Not unexpected. Alright I'll take a look at the list and get back to you, but get me an update on our troops, we can't forget that we have three very big problems in our lands.'' Says Gunthar.

''King Gunthar! Prince Arthas Menethil requests a meeting with you.'' Says a steward, bursting into his tent.

''What the hell is he doing here?'' Wilichar spits.

''Hehe, send the princeling in.'' Says Gunthar.

''My King? You remember what his father did to us? To your grandfather?!'' Says Wilichar.

''The sins of a father are not the sins of the son. Restitution should be a topic aye, but in case, my grandfather got off easy. Now stow your rage and be as sarcastic as you like, but without stepping on anybody's toes. Send him in, and bring me the best bottle of Kul Tiras Red we have while you're at it.''

''Yes, my King!'' The Guardsman replied obediently.

''It's been a while Gunnar.'' Says Arthas.

''You speak to the King of Alterac, Menethil! Show respect!'' Wilichar demands.

''What the fuck did I just say? You know what, forget it. Guards! See Count Wilichar out, get him drunk and laid if nothing else.'' Says Gunthar.

''Yes, King Gunthar. Count?'' The Guardsmen escort the fuming chancellor out.

''I apologize, he's still bitter about your father and the other Kings shattering our ancestral lands.'' Says Gunthar.

''I can understand his rage I suppose, but first I trust you remember Lady Jaina?'' Says Arthas.

''Impossible to forget, my lady allow to apologize again for not being able to come to your aid sooner.'' Says Gunthar.

''Nothing to forgive, there were a lot of them.'' Says Jaina.

''Couple of my men got drunk off their asses, started acosting some priestesses. Jaina here, took offence. Of course they turned their "affections" onto her. Don't look so shocked Arth, if I wasn't aware of what you two have, well. Anyway, long story short boys got sober quick.'' Says Gunthar.

''That's a word for it.'' Says Jaina.

''I could have been a little bit nicer I suppose, but I had my reasons. In any event I can assume your here about the dead.'' Says Gunthar.

''What can you tell us? Your camp here is essentially the border.'' Says Arthas.

''It's bad. I've seen some fucked up shit in my time Arthas, but this is at the top. You know my style, lead by example. When we made the decision to not recover uplands when the reports first came in, I decided to personally investigate. Let's just say I've ceased all imports from here to Stratholme and Andorhal for the foreseeable future.'' Says Gunthar.

''Why? Stratholme and Andorhal are critical to supplying your Kingdom with grains.'' Jaina asks.

''We don't know if this Undead Scourge can spread its influence and corruption through the grain we typically receive from Stratholme and Andorhal. So until that is crystal clear, we'll be relying on receiving food from the lands we do control. Besides which, we have two Gnoll and Ogre Settlement's within both my lands that we had to forgo settling and lands rightfully belonging to Wilichar, we'll be dealing with them first, and then from there we'll see.'' Says Gunthar.

''Your people know the terrain and the situation better than my own, would you be willing to lend us some of your scouts?'' Asks Arthas.

"Esarus thar no'Darador—By Blood and Honor We Serve.'' Gunthar speaks up.

"Esarus thar no'Darador—By Blood and Honor We Serve.'' Arthas responds in kind.

''You and me Arthas, we shed blood together in the Silver Hand, perhaps it's time we did so again. This Scourge lacks a Champion, you and me will ensure that one does not rise up.'' Says Gunthar as his Gaze turns to the Paladin's Armor behind him.

''Guards!'' Gunthar Barks, as he watches his guards rush in, with their hands on their sword hits.

''Your Grace?'' Asks one.

''Prepare the army, and Convene the War Council, sober up Wilichar, and summon Captain's Harwin, Hoarthorn, Wilyder, and Commander Stengtor. We convene in one hour, and have someone help me with my armor.'' Says Gunthar as he begins to remove the armor from the display Stand.

As he removes it, he feels the familiar weight of the armor's blessing, as well as the presence of past warriors. This was a relic of a bygone era that was reforged into a new armor.

The Armor of Ancestral Light.

One of the Vambraces had been reforged from a Vambrace of Anduin Lothar. The Vambrace had been scavenged from Lothar's Mak'gora against Blackhand's General, and during the reforging was blessed by Lothar's spirit...or so it was said.

Sadly the men who forged said armor were in Stratholme and would be undoubtedly amongst the soon to be dead bodies.

Stratholme...

Sad as it was, it needed to happen. He'd try and stop Arthas a little bit more than Jaina did, but just enough to attain the distinction he needed and a modicum of gratitude from Jaina.

Gratitude for actually trying to stop Arthas.

Politically Jaina was his best option for a bride if he wanted to rebuild Alterac. The Kul Tiran Fleet would be a godsend to rebuilding the Kingdom's economy and infrastructure., ferrying supplies and whatnot.

But...

There was also matches that would rebuild political ties and friendships, Calia Menethil and Tess Greymane. These two Princesses had benefits but also risks. Tess Greymane would eventually become the undisputed heir to Gilneas, marrying her would make his children by her legal heirs to Gilneas, and if he willingly became a Worgen then that would be a powerful asset down the line.

Calia Menethil was Arthas's older sister and already had a husband and daughter. If he chose to rescue Calia and after a few years married her, he would have a strong claim to the Kingdom of Lordareon.

But of course, both had issues.

Marrying Calia would incite the wrath of Sylvannas Windrunner and the Forsaken.

In the case of Tess Greymane, the issue lay in marrying her. If he managed to gain the necessary prestige and political recognition he could marry her now without having to concede a matrilineal marriage caveat.

Sadly that was a big issue right now. Or he could marry her after her brothers death, and that was a worse option.

Ultimately Jaina - politically and personally - was the best option in regards to a bride, the challenge was getting into her good graces during, before and after Arthas.

After Arthas does his killing, He will flee to Lordareon and take Calia into custody for her protection and safety. Hopefully with Jaina and Uther as Witnesses they could prevent Terenas Death or at least vilify Arthas more than that shit job Uther did initially.

Though Terenas believed Uther, the man was blinded by his paternal love for Arthas, how else could you justify embracing a son you'd previously agreed was mentally unhinged. Granted, Terenas could not have fathomed the manner of his death, but that was a cheap and flimsy excuse.

And besides...

Parents were oft blinded to their children's faults in the face of their grand accomplishments.

So you couldn't realistically blame Terenas completely.

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(POV Shift: Jaina Proudmoore)

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Like the others, she had been skeptical of Arthas decision to delay their investigation in order to travel to Alterac.

It was well-known that Gunthar Perenolde was a Paladin of the Silver Hand. He and Arthas had been a strong duo within their order. Hunting warlocks and fighting monsters for seven years, but Gunthar had left the order in order to rebuild his homeland and restore it's honor.

Noble as it was, it was still an uphill battle on unstable terrain.

Gunthar, for all his accomplishments was never fully respected or trusted by the Alliance or Knights of the Silver Hand. Arthas had never really gotten over his friends treatment, and Uther for his part seemed embarrassed for what happened.

Gunthar was incredibly pious, and an extremely dedicated warrior. But his heritage stunted his advancement.

Watching the man who would reclaim his status and kingdom, Jaina remembered the argument between King Varian and Gunthar.

Gossip and official statements aside, Varian had confided in her master that Gunthar Perenolde had a way with words and could be enemy or friend.

To be fair though, if Gunthar became an enemy it would largely be there fault.

When the Alliance first debuted, her father told her that many of them were unsympathetic to King Perenolde's position, and in hindsight should have settled the internal conflicts between Perenolde and Trollbane before going to war.

Now both Stromgarde and Alterac we're no more, but members of the royal lines survived to this day, so the possibility of a peace or a unified Kingdom was not out of the question. But to do that Stromgarde and Alterac would both have to rebuild and be recognised as Kingdoms once more.

And right now Gunthar was the only one showing any interest in rebuilding his Kingdom and reunifying his people.

But Jaina, she needed to know where King Gunthar's loyalties stood.

With the Alliance or with the Orcish Horde...

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(Author's Note:)

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So this story will mirror my GoT fics in style, but the other two Warcraft fics in the works won't. What I can tell you is that one of the other ktwo will be a play by play of the actual game for each race.

I will be and have been producing videos for each character, so far three videos are up my YouTube Channel and the first two were done with a broke wrist so that's something.

These vid is are not a small thing neither, they average two hours, and I have to do it one at a time, because before this I recorded multiple parts for a Swtor vid and ended up deleting a mission in between, so eventually I'm gonna have to delete that character and redo his storyline.

Now then my plan now is to do two GoT Fics, and Two Warcraft Fics withmy DxD and Pokemon fics in between.

I will also be attempting to get a chapter or to for those of Lucion Lannister, but for now Warcraft and GoT are holding my primary focus, with Pokemon and DxD being my secondary focus to avoid burning on GoT or Warcraft.

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