They arrived near Uther's Tomb in the Western Plaguelands and found Myranda the Hag standing on a tree stump.
This was the same old hag involved in the Horde's Onyxia attunement chain—the one who asked players to collect twenty Black Dragonspawn Eyes.
Actual eyeballs, not some kind of fruit.
After collecting them, Horde players could obtain the Amulet of Draconic Subversion, disguising themselves as Black Dragonkin so they could fool Emberstrife and infiltrate the Black Dragonflight.
For this stage of the Of Love and Family chain, Myranda could give them a different disguise, turning them into members of the Scarlet Crusade so they could enter Hearthglen safely.
"I'm what you might call an illusionist. I can create an illusion that will allow you to enter Hearthglen safely, but you should know that my power has limits."
"If you travel too far from this region, the illusion will fade. Maintaining it takes a tremendous amount of concentration and power, and even then, I can only keep it active for a short time."
The Scarlet Illusion couldn't be taken outside the Western Plaguelands, and it only lasted thirty minutes. Once the duration expired, they would return to their normal appearances.
They spoke to Myranda again and received the Scarlet Illusion. In an instant, all five of them looked like members of the Scarlet Crusade.
"Whoa. We actually transformed," DeathScum said, staring at his character.
Smooch was much less impressed. "We look awful."
Carlos took off his headset and leaned toward Gabryell. "You and Snowy match now. Cute little Scarlet couple."
Gabryell ignored him completely. "The disguise has a time limit. We're going straight to Hearthglen."
Myranda had already told them that Hearthglen was to the north and that Taelan should be inside Mardenholde Keep.
They only had thirty minutes, so there wasn't a second to waste. The group immediately headed north.
There were practically no players farming around Hearthglen yet. Gabryell's group was among the first to have progressed this far through the Of Love and Family chain, so they didn't have to worry about another group already escorting Taelan and forcing them to wait for him to respawn.
With Scarlet Illusion active, the Scarlet Crusaders along the way treated them as allies. The five of them walked straight through Hearthglen and entered Mardenholde Keep without a fight.
"A lot of new players forget the disguise and come here normally," Gabryell said. "Then they walk straight into a town full of elites and get slaughtered."
He remembered making exactly that mistake the first time he had done the chain in his previous life. On his first attempt, he had forgotten the disguise and died in the middle of Hearthglen. On the second, he somehow managed to sneak all the way into the keep—only to discover that Taelan wouldn't even speak to him without Scarlet Illusion.
That one had hurt.
"Shame there aren't any Horde players doing the quest right now."
Not because Gabryell wanted to fight them.
That would be boring.
What he really wanted was for Danielly to cast Dispel Magic on some poor Horde player's Scarlet Illusion.
The instant the disguise disappeared, every Scarlet elite in Hearthglen would realize an enemy had walked straight into the middle of town. At that point, the victim wouldn't even have time to fight Danielly. They'd be too busy running for their life while an entire town chased them down.
That was PvP with style.
They reached the second floor of Mardenholde Keep and found Taelan, now a Highlord within the Scarlet Crusade.
They handed him Tirion's Gift.
"What is this, soldier?"
Taelan opened the box.
Inside were keepsakes filled with memories of his childhood.
"This... this can't be..."
He dropped to one knee. Years of anger and doubt seemed ready to erupt all at once.
"For all these years, I've been nothing more than a puppet of the Grand Crusader. But no matter what the Scarlet Crusade became, I never forgot my father. Those memories... those were what kept me going."
Taelan slowly regained his composure.
"I still dream about him. In those dreams, my father stands beside me as I join the Order. We fight the Scourge together and bring honor to the Alliance and to Lordaeron."
He looked up.
"I don't want to dream anymore. Take me to him."
Taelan was done with the Scarlet Crusade.
He was leaving Hearthglen.
"Follow him," Gabryell said.
Taelan left the hall on the second floor and headed out of the keep. The party immediately followed.
Once they stepped outside, the scripted event began. Several Scarlet Crusaders tried to convince Taelan to reconsider, but his mind was already made up.
When persuasion failed, they attacked.
"Holy shit, they surrounded him!" DeathScum immediately moved forward. "Should we help?"
They were still wearing Scarlet Illusion. Jumping into the fight now would blow their cover and turn the surrounding Crusaders hostile.
"I'll cancel mine," Carlos said.
Gabryell stopped him. "Not yet."
"Why?"
Gabryell pointed ahead. "Does he look like he needs us?"
Taelan was a Highlord of the Scarlet Crusade. He wasn't exactly helpless.
Sure enough, once the fighting began, he tore through the Crusaders around him with ease.
Carlos stared. "Damn. He's that strong?"
"He's Tirion Fordring's son," Gabryell said. "What did you expect?"
Escorting Taelan through Hearthglen was less about protecting him and more about watching him demonstrate why he held the rank of Highlord. He cut down one Scarlet Crusader after another, carving a path through the town almost entirely on his own.
By the time they reached the road out of Hearthglen, the enemies waiting ahead were noticeably stronger.
"Drop the disguises. We help from here."
Gabryell canceled Scarlet Illusion first.
Carlos looked at Taelan. "He still seems like he can handle them."
"Look at his health."
Unlike the fights inside Hearthglen, Taelan was actually taking damage now.
"These elites are stronger. I don't want to find out the hard way whether he can solo all of them."
Blizzard hadn't designed the entire escort as a cutscene. Taelan could handle most of the work himself, but the stronger elite packs outside Hearthglen could push him dangerously low. Depending on how the fights went, leaving everything to him was an unnecessary gamble.
The five of them dropped their disguises and joined in.
With the party helping, the next two waves went down much more smoothly.
They continued escorting Taelan along the mountain road until they reached the watchtower.
That was when Isillien appeared with his men.
"Boss!"
Smooch immediately perked up.
Another boss meant another corpse she might get to loot.
For now, however, Isillien and Taelan were still in the middle of the scripted confrontation, so there was nothing for the players to do except watch.
Then the scene reached its inevitable conclusion.
"Holy shit! Taelan died!"
Everyone except Gabryell was stunned when Isillien struck him down.
Carlos panicked immediately. "If Taelan dies, doesn't the quest fail? Kill the boss! Maybe we can still save him!"
He charged before Gabryell could stop him.
"Carlos—"
Too late.
"Don't heal him!" Gabryell immediately warned the others. "Nobody help. Stay out of combat."
This was the finale of a scripted group quest. Charging Isillien and the Crimson Elites before the event played out was suicide.
Carlos learned that almost immediately.
The moment he rushed in, the elite guards around Isillien collapsed on him.
Carlos disappeared under the attacks in seconds.
"Carlos, don't release," Gabryell said.
As long as he stayed on his corpse, he could wait for the event to finish. Once Tirion arrived and cleaned up the encounter, Danielly could resurrect him and he would still be there to complete the quest.
DeathScum stared at Carlos's corpse.
"Okay. That was terrifying."
Good thing he hadn't followed.
"What do we do now?" Danielly asked.
"Wait."
They didn't have to wait long.
A rider appeared on the road.
Tirion Fordring.
Then he saw his son lying dead.
Whatever restraint had kept Tirion buried in exile shattered at that moment. The Light answered him once more, blazing around the old Paladin as he confronted the men responsible for Taelan's death.
For the first time, Gabryell and the others saw just how powerful Tirion Fordring really was.
DeathScum stared as Tirion tore through Isillien and the remaining elites.
"Holy shit. The Oldman was a raid boss in disguise this whole time?"
Smooch nodded solemnly. "Definitely a skull-level NPC."
"Snowy, rez Carlos."
Gabryell hadn't forgotten the Warrior still decorating the road.
Danielly resurrected Carlos, and once he was back on his feet, the group approached Tirion together to complete the quest.
"My son's death at the hands of these monsters will not be forgotten. But take some comfort in knowing that the Order has been reborn."
The man who had spent years living quietly in exile now stood surrounded by the Light.
"I now take my place as Highlord of the new Order of the Silver Hand."
For Tirion Fordring, this was the beginning of the road back to greatness.
The Order of the Silver Hand would rise again under his leadership. Years later, he would unite it with the Argent Dawn to form the Argent Crusade, eventually becoming one of the central figures in the war against the Lich King.
Even after losing his son, Tirion did not forget to reward those who had helped bring them together one final time.
There were five rare rewards to choose from.
The physical DPS necklace was Mark of Fordring, with +1% Critical Strike and +26 Attack Power.
The plate chest was Ornate Adamantium Breastplate, with +22 Stamina and +10 Defense.
The weapon was Shimmering Platinum Warhammer, a two-handed mace with excellent raw damage. It was a solid weapon, but two-handed mace builds were less popular, and most Warriors had other sword or axe upgrades they were already chasing.
The cloak was Shroud of the Exile, with +15 Intellect, +7 Stamina, and +7 Spirit.
And then there was the real prize for healers.
Fordring's Seal (Rare)
Binds when picked up
Finger
+5 Intellect
+4 Stamina
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 37.
For a healer, this was one of the best rewards from the entire Of Love and Family chain.
Getting two Cauterizing Bands through a DKP raid was expensive and unrealistic for most healers. Fordring's Seal paired perfectly well with one Cauterizing Band and could last until a later upgrade such as Pure Elementium Band from Nefarian became available.
Gabryell chose Shroud of the Exile. Its large amount of Intellect and solid overall stats made it useful for solo farming.
Carlos chose Ornate Adamantium Breastplate. The high Stamina and Defense made it strong for tanking, while the raw durability was still useful in PvP.
Interestingly, the breastplate was arguably even more attractive to a Protection Paladin than to a Warrior. At this stage of the game, it was one of the strongest dungeon and quest chestpieces a Prot Paladin could get.
Smooch and DeathScum both chose Mark of Fordring. One percent crit plus 26 Attack Power made it excellent for physical DPS, and it could easily last until they eventually replaced it with something like Onyxia Tooth Pendant.
Danielly didn't need to think about her choice at all.
She took Fordring's Seal.
Countless healers worked through the entire Of Love and Family chain for exactly that ring.