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Seated in his magical library near the courtyard of Shadowgarde Keep on Draenor, Rakeri Sputterspark smiled to himself as he read the latest in the war with the meddling elf; his seer kept his agents plied with news from Stormwind, including - much to his surprise - what sounded very much like a rejection of this idiot Warden's efforts to "rehabilitate" warlocks from no less a person than Genevra Stoneheardt. But this Warden...

The woman's a hypocrite, he thought. Anyone who's ever heard her rail against allowing the Highborne back into Darnassus will know that. Our friend Vendross would have some insights, no doubt... He suddenly had an idea. Vendross is listed as missing, not confirmed dead. What if...yes, it might just work! He stood from his armchair.

Nessa Steelspanner, his guard captain, entered and saluted. She was one of his most loyal acolytes, a warrior who defended Gnomeregan without any help from the Alliance, and had accepted that there would never be. She held up her own copy of the Stormwind paper. "Another web of lies from our friend in Darnassus?"

"Another web of lies, Captain. And she has the audacity to think she can send people into my fortress? Well, then, I suppose we will just need some more 'casualties' to write home about. Any night elves who attempt to enter this fortress' walls, kill them on the spot. We'll write back and say we lost them in another attack. She'll probably suspect, but let her. She tries to tangle with me, she'll learn the hard way what that means."

"Understood, Professor."

"And next time our goblin slaves decide to get any ideas that involve damn near destroying my workshop, tie them up and hold them in the barracks dungeons, and use them as sappers when we get a real Horde attack - Iron or otherwise."

Nessa grinned sadistically. "With pleasure."

Leaving the library, Rakeri went to the scribe's office and began to write...

The following article appeared later that day...written in a far finer hand than those sent by Rakeri. It was sent from the Tower of Estulan, the sanctuary of a Highborne mage south of Dire Maul in Feralas; the sender was a tall elf in a frayed, hooded red robe.

THE STORMWIND DAILY HERALD

OPINION: If You Cannot Say What You Mean, You Cannot Mean What You Say
Lord Caro'thel Vendross

After a long period of self-imposed isolation, I have come to see this debate has arisen again, only with a different target and in a different place...instead of Highborne in Darnassus, it is warlocks in Stormwind.

Let it be said for the record that I have no great love for either of the individuals involved in this ongoing war of written words. The so-called Professor Sputterspark is a known criminal, having been arrested and charged on several occasions by the Watch. Warden Raintree, as well, has been openly condescending towards me, to the point where it reached hostility. Yet the plight of my people has been mentioned by both parties, used as an example or an explanation for the points they have attempted to make; as such, I feel it necessary to speak up, as a Highborne and as a mage to boot.

Every generation of Highborne, descended from those who refused to flee with Sunstrider to the East has been punished for the actions of our forebears during the War of the Ancients. I will not excuse the actions taken by my ancestors, even though my House was among the few who opposed the corruption that Azshara and her inner circle embraced. And yet, the Warden speaks as if those of her supposedly "pure" calling are beyond reproach. Do we forget the recent actions of Maiev Shadowsong, the former jailor of the Betrayer, how she assassinated Highborne within Darnassus itself? The Wardens by their very nature are driven to hatred and vengeance, and I feel that this one, just as others have, will fall to the same obsession as Maiev. The Watchers may claim to be "reformed", but how many like Maiev - or like Raintree - are in their ranks?

I feel that Raintree's motivation is partly due to the task that she is no longer able to conduct. The Watchers (which essentially fulfill the same role that the Stormwind City Watch does) were duty-bound - as were the Sentinels, the military forces - to kill Highborne and any "rogues" who saw fit to practice the ancient ways of the arcane. Raintree is just one of the silent majority who uphold the ancient hatred of my kind, even when we were allowed back into the fold with our kaldorei brethren after millennia of exile; she uses such hatred to justify introducing similar oppressive measures into the remainder of the Alliance. That is not to say I agree with the practice of warlock magic; I most certainly do not. I remember well the lessons of the past, as all Highborne worth the name do. But she resorts to pseudo-scientific means of justifying her hate and bigotry towards all magic users, starting with the most obvious target. She knows nothing of magic, nor does she wish to, and so she invents facts to disguise her ignorance.

Sputterspark, though a stain on the honor of his people and to the profession of education, raised an important point. Say we do decide to subject warlocks to rehabilitation, to cleanse the fel corruption that takes hold in the dark corners of the Alliance. Once that is done, what then? Do we hunt for wielders of the arcane because of a ten-thousand-year-old grudge upheld by one whose solemn duty to protect her society from the "evil Highborne" has been superceded by the High Priestess' mercy? The General of the Sentinels has said that the actions taken by Lady Tyrande are the only reason she does not do so. Perhaps after mages, it will be shadow priests, because of the examples set by men (and I use this term loosely) like Sekhesmet, who - despite the best efforts of my former colleagues in the Watch - remains free and unharassed.

You attempt to hide your true nature through your flowery phrases and "sympathy", Warden. But I know what you are, and I know what your kind does. You condemn my kind in the same breath that you condemn men like Sputterspark. Either use the words you really mean to use, or cease this rambling.

Reading the latest edition of the Stormwind Daily Herald, Sekhesmet of Stratholme stared for a long moment at the author of the latest in the war of words between Kyalin Raintree and Rakeri Sputterspark. Now, he decided, it was time to come clean - and possibly eliminate his greatest rival. Yet could the Watch get into his defenses? Rakeri commanded a fortress, not some pioneer laboratory in a dusty, abandoned wreck of a manaforge...

Nonetheless, it was time for the truth to come out. In the tavern of Stormshield on the island of Ashran, off the coast of Tanaan Jungle, he wrote a letter to be sent through the mage portal to Stormwind.

THE STORMWIND DAILY HERALD

OPINION: A Call for Truth, A Plea for Reason
Sekhesmet of Stratholme

I have become aware of an ongoing war of words between Warden Kyalin Raintree and Professor Rakeri Sputterspark, and the increasing opinion shifting in favor of the professor against the Warden's well-constructed arguments against the current spread of fel magics in the Alliance. I feel that if one needs to see an example, one need only look at Professor Sputterspark himself. You know this, but perhaps you do not know why I believe so.

You may have seen a letter written by the hand of one Caro'thel Vendross, a Highborne nobleman and mage who returned to kaldorei society after the Cataclysm and - for brief periods - trained with the Kirin Tor of Dalaran and became a junior officer in the ranks of the Stormwind City Watch. While it does not outright favor Professor Sputterspark's argument, it condemns Warden Raintree for a perception of bigotry, echoing the words of the professor. With good reason. The words were written by the hand of Professor Sputterspark himself. He is proud to point out his doctorates from gnomish institutes of learning - one of them is for inscription.

Brothers and sisters of the Alliance, I will reveal to you the terrible truth: Caro'thel Vendross is dead, slain by the hand of the very warlock who uses him as a soundbox. I witnessed the event myself, nearly three months ago, in the great arena of the ruined city of Eldre'Thalas, known as "Dire Maul".

Rakeri Sputterspark is a murderer, a hypocrite, and a fraud. I was able to see into his mind, when he made the effort to resurrect me, believing me to be his puppet. He did not discover the cure for the fel plague in Westfall. It was given to him by the efforts of another warlock, the one who unleashed it in the first place. They are allies in chaos, seeking to upset the established order, as Warden Raintree rightfully points out - to destroy all that we hold dear.

I was intended to be another such instrument. Some of you may have heard of me: The Forsaken priest and war criminal slain in Pandaria by Saavedro of Stratholme, restored to full humanity by Saavedro's death - a death brought about by foul magics, performed by the hand of Professor Sputterspark! If one needs to see the perfidy brought on by warlock magic, look no further than he! I did not wish to be used for the whims of such a madman, and I have made great pains to show my sincere atonement for the crimes I committed as a Forsaken and for my part in the death of a man I loved as a son...crimes that I know only the Light will be able to forgive me for.

Professor Sputterspark attempts to distract you all from the truth of what he and his kind do. Whether they serve willingly or not, they are the fifth column for the dark masters of the Burning Legion, using the very powers that the demons will wield to bring an end to our entire world, to all worlds scattered throughout the Nether. I urge you all, support the efforts of the honorable Warden from Darnassus, and take the necessary steps to put an end to the insidious influence of fel magic in our society, once and for all.

THE STORMWIND DAILY HERALD

OPINION: A Reply to the Anonymous Citizen

I would be remiss not to address the present accusations surrounding Professor Sputterspark. Given that he has not requested aid thus far, the limited support that would have been rendered is hereby withdrawn pending my investigation of this matter. I will say no more concerning the Professor.

Regarding the content of the letter allegedly penned by Caro'thel Vendross - this exercise in diatribe casually ignores my record concerning interactions with the Highborne, my commitment to exercising the will of the goddess in permitting their return, my public defenses of the Highborne against the will of crazed mobs, and the four highborne watchers under my command. I maintain that the Highborne should exercise restraint and mind their addictions, but the accusations made demonstrate only the problems with tribalism, and its insistence on the blind assignment of malice to the opposition.

With these matters sufficiently considered, I may turn my attention to the Anonymous citizen, who I expected to once again provide the strongest arguments. I shall address them in order - apart from the facetious final paragraph which advances the absurd contention that a society may exist without policing its laws.

The anonymous citizen claims that druidism itself is designed to self-perpetuate. Even a novice druidic acolyte would swiftly correct the citizen, pointing out instead that druidism preserves the existing balance of the world. Where this balance is ignored, we see the horrors present in Gorgrond, the Evergrove, or in the Overgrowth where druids still attempt to pare back the influence of their work gone awry. Druids are singlehandedly focused on this task, and typically (and sometimes tragically) tend to ignore other considerations - including the maintenance of the state. (Hence why simply asking everyone to be a druid would be disastrous)

With respect to arcane addiction, I reiterate the call for restraint, but remind the citizen that fel magic replaced arcane magic as an expression of that excess. This is in fact a natural progression observed as well in the society of the Sin'dorei during the Shattered Sun crisis.

With respect to the question of unknown threats which may be realized in the future, the question of could if applied evenly would require any number of outlandish public works to counter the imagination. "What if a monster appeared tomorrow which could only be defeated by bread"!? The imagination might say? The gears of industry would leave us each day with piles of rotting bread - and no actual weapons to combat an invading army - which is a far more likely concern. It is true that we cannot predict the future, leaving us limited beings with no choice but to form predictions with observations from the past. It is with the observations referenced that I retain my assertion that a small core of researchers would be useful - as threats requiring the understanding of a fel practitioner have in the past needed only such a small group - as opposed to the widespread number of practitioners that general acceptance would bring.

With respect to a solution, imprisonment is an option, but it should be regarded as a last resort. Clinics and retraining are both instruments I would favor.

Kyalin Raintree is a Warden of Darnassus, specializing in matters of trade and of parties foreign to Darnassus.

As the opinion piece was to be drafted for the mail, another - far better protected area of the barrows similarly was surging with activity.

The chamber hidden behind the vault had the trappings of a human office - a four story tall circular room, every square inch of its walls covered by a bookshelf. Thirty-two scrying bowls, lined up in a half-circle around the rim swirled furiously as thousands of runically animated quills, books, stamps, and bottles of ink swirled about the air, waiting to meet one other for the recording of information: descriptions of people, places, conversations, and most pertinently, the exchange of gold - for what, where, and why. Animated blue dust formed momentary displays for the one occupant at her desk, runes similarly carved on nearly every inch of bare skin glowing as brightly as those on the supplies. She wrote a brief note on a slip of paper regarding falling thorium prices, next to the letter prepared by the Warden, assuming that her efforts could find its recipient.

To the Honorable Sekhesmet of Stratholme,

I hope this letter finds you well.

With regard to accusations you have made in the pages of the "Daily Herald", I would like to speak with you at your convenience regarding the evidence you have collected supporting the events and nature of Mr. Vendross's death. My watchers can assure you safe passage to Darnassus - where my hand and seal shall assure you asylum.

Best Regards,

- Warden Kyalin Raintree

A letter arrives in Darnassus, bearing the "L" sigil of Lordaeron.

Warden:

I await your convenience.

S.