Crushridge-Syndicate War

The Crushridge-Syndicate War was the first conflict between the freed Crushridge Clan of Ogres and the Alterac Syndicate criminal empire for control of portions of the Kingdom of Alterac. The war served as a proxy conflict between two smaller groups, the free-willed undead Lords of the Tombstones and the Argus Wake, a Burning Legion-affiliated cult, which ended with the Lords' destruction & the Crushridge gaining unquestioned control over the former Capital of the Kingdom.

Prelude
As the Third War was winding down to its end, the malevolent Lich King had begun losing power & control over his more distant undead minions on the continent of Lordaeron. During this window, untold numbers of undead broke free from his influence, including a High Elven Death Knight named Anthrath. In Anthrath's possession was a magical item, known as the Crown of Will, a Highborne artifact crafted by one of his ancestors. With the strained efforts of the Lich King, Anthrath used the Crown to break free entirely & regain his free will. With his minimal resources, he was able to free several other Death Knights & Necromancers, bending the will of dozens of Cult of the Damned Acolytes to join their cause. The seven Death Knights and Necromancers bound themselves to one another & made a pledge of blood. The named themselves the Lords of the Tombstones, dedicated to the creation of a Kingdom where would rule.

With the collapse of order & multiple factions vying for control of former Lordaeron, the Lords turned their attention south, into the mountainous fallen Kingdom of Alterac. With several weaker forces controlling swathes of its territory, the Lords formulated a plan to turn these groups against one another & raise those who fell into their service, eventually overpowering the remaining forces & becoming the undisputed power in the nation.

Ogres: Pawns of the Banshee No Longer
As Lord Anthrath had done with himself and the other Lords, he was able to use the Crown of Will to end the mental control that the Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner had over Mug'thol, the chieftain of the Crushridge. Rumor of the Crown being in Alterac was spread by the Lords' minions through the Forsaken ranks & soon word reached the Banshee Queen herself. Ordering Mug'thol to capture the Crown was critical to their plan, as when the Ogre chieftain claimed the Crown he placed it on his head, breaking Sylvanas' control over him. The Crushridge then staked claim to the mountains, feuding initially with frost trolls in the region before being 'attacked' by Syndicate forces. In reality an attack initiated by the Lords' minions. The war between the Ogres & the Syndicate had begun.

The Lords established themselves in a Syndicate nobleman's estate on the far western edge of the nation, using undead frost trolls to slay its inhabitants as the Crushridge began moving further into the nation. Although they initially were able to raise those who fell, both human & ogre, soon the bodies of the dead began turning up charred. Another force had apparently become aware of the Lords' presence in the Kingdom, one who soon revealed themselves as the Argus Wake.

Aliden's Counterattack
Aliden Perenolde was the heir to Alterac's throne and had failed to assume control of it following failed attempts through political acknowledgements of other monarchs & nobility. With the collapse of the Kingdom of Lordaeron & the destruction of Dalaran, the political vacuum & societal chaos allowed Aliden to take the reins of the Syndicate by force of arms, becoming its undisputed Lord. With the advice & power of a group calling themselves the Argus Wake, whom he believed to be a faction of Dalarani who wished to restore their own Kingdom, Aliden moved the Syndicate to reclaiming their homeland after years of occupation by foreign powers. Victorious in their effort but exhausted, the Syndicate were unprepared for the initial Ogre incursions. The now furious Lord Aliden drew on the Wake once more for a counterattack. The Ogres grew bolder with each further push into Alterac, claiming more lives & to Aliden's & other Syndicate's beliefs were consuming the fallen, as no bodies were ever recovered. This fear spread through the ranks of the Syndicate and battle lines began to collapse in the western half of the Kingdom.

The Wake began entering the battlefield, showcasing their 'green arcane' might against the Ogre enemies and began burning the dead to show that even in death that those of the Syndicate will not become meals for the vile Ogres. This rallying call was shortlived and eventually the Capital fell once more to a foreign force. This time, however, the occupiers intended to stay. Expelled once again from his home, Aliden's counterattack failed and the Syndicate withdrew into the east & began moving further south. Under Lord Falconcrest, a nobleman's son & survivor of the first Ogre attack, Syndicate forces began raiding the Arathi Highlands for supplies to further the Syndicate's efforts in Alterac & Hillsbrad. This effort would eventually allow for the Syndicate to claim portions of the city of Stromgarde, further crippling the nation.

The Mountains Cast Their Shadows
With the Argus Wake burning the bodies, the Lords of the Tombstones began taking drastic measures, including emerging onto the battlefields personally to ensure the corpses could be collected. Skirmishes became chaotic massacres, with the Lords' & their minion's presence being described by each side with terror. The Crushridge believed they were dark warriors of the Syndicate and the Syndicate believed the Ogres had Scourge or other undead allies. This revelation put the Argus Wake forces to work harder in the west & find these undead warriors. As humans & Ogres fell, however, the Lords' power grew stronger. They began attempting to assassinate the leaders of both sides, though most attempts failed thanks to increased concern by both side's for their respective lives.

When a human Death Knight named Blightguard was captured by some of the Argus Wake's casters, the nobleman's castle in the far west was exposed. With only a handful of casters, the Argus Wake summoned hundreds of demons & assaulted the castle. Unable to raise demons, the Lords' attempts to hold their position faltered. Lord Anthrath was slain along with the three Necromancer lords & the whole of his small army. Two other Lords escaped the attack & disappeared. The demons then were forced to slay one another before the last of them were banished by the Argus Wake casters.

Aftermath
With the Lords of the Tombstones defeated, their plan to create an undead kingdom encompassing Alterac was ended as well. The two surviving Lords disappeared for a time, before reappearing far to the south in the Stormwind realm of Duskwood. Attempting to take command of the undead of the Raven Hill Cemetary, the two Death Knights were defeated by a local necromancer & consumed by hungry ghouls. It is unknown if they had gained any new followers since their defeat in Alterac.

The Crushridge Clan continued holding onto the Crown of Will, preventing other arcanists, including those of the Argus Wake, from attempting to assert control over the Ogres. They continued to occupy much of the Capital City until the War for Alterac forced the Ogres into small enclaves in remote mountain valleys.

The Syndicate, having suffered losses at the hands of the Ogres, nursed a grudge towards the Crushridge and along with harassing wandering travelers would attack unprepared Ogres when possible, leaving their heads on pikes near roadways. Their loss in this first conflict also forced them to expand elsewhere, primarily into the Arathi Highlands. This conflict also cemented an alliance between the Syndicate and the Argus Wake, a union which continues to the modern day despite the presumed death of Lord Aliden Perenolde.