Northgate rebels

For other uses, see Northgate.

Northgate rebels
Main leader	Darius Crowley
Race(s)	Human  Worgen
Theater of operations	Gilneas peninsula, Southern Silverpine Forest
Language(s)	Common
Affiliation	Kingdom of Gilneas, Independent
Status	Became worgen, formed the Liberation Front, and rejoined with King Greymane.

The Northgate rebels were a group of Gilnean rebels formed around the time of the end of the Third War. Led by Lord Darius Crowley, they fought the Greymane loyalists during the Northgate Rebellion, a civil war that occurred as a result of King Genn Greymane's decisions to leave the Alliance of Lordaeron, to isolate his kingdom from the world behind the Greymane Wall, and for abandoning his people and the refugees from Lordaeron to the undead Scourge. The rebellion eventually failed, with all of its leaders imprisoned for high treason, while the remaining rebels went into hiding.

Years later, the rebels were released from Stoneward Prison on the king's orders, and helped the Gilnean military against the Wolf Cult and its worgen attacking Gilneas City. When the evacuation began, the Northgate rebels devoted themselves to create a diversion at Light's Dawn Cathedral, where they were overwhelmed and infected by the worgen curse. Following the Cataclysm, and the beginning of the invasion of Gilneas, rebels and loyalists regrouped under the command of King Greymane to launch a counter-offensive against the Forsaken, which definitively put an end to their conflict.

After the invasion, Lord Crowley and his men formed the Gilneas Liberation Front, which became a key factor in reclaiming the mainland of Gilneas from the Forsaken and their Horde allies.

History

During the Third War, the refusal of King Genn Greymane to send aid to the beleaguered Alliance of Lordaeron against the Scourge, as well as the fact that Pyrewood and Ambermill had been caught in the crossfire of the undead and worgen behind the closed Greymane Wall, caused tensions in Gilneas to once more reach a boiling point.

As a known supporter of the Alliance, Lord Darius Crowley considered his king's decisions to be "tyranny", and sent the Gilneas Brigade to aid Lady Jaina Proudmoore's expedition to Kalimdor. When Greymane tried to reason with the nobleman, Crowley refused and insisted that he was doing what was best for the future of Gilneas. The king angrily accused Crowley of committing treason against Gilneas, while Crowley, unrepentant for his actions, formed a rebellion by gathering like-minded Gilneans such as Tobias Mistmantle and Vincent Hersham.

Northgate Rebellion

Main article: Northgate Rebellion

Darius Crowley, leader of the Northgate rebels.

When the Northgate Rebellion erupted in Gilneas, Crowley and his men immediately began to gain support among disgruntled Gilneans, and were labeled as terrorists and traitors by the loyalists. The fighting was particularly bitter because Crowley and Greymane had been good friends; despite Crowley's insurrection, Greymane laid no blame on Crowley for his actions, as his lands were separated from the rest of Gilneas and were vulnerable to the undead Scourge. Soon, the Northgate Rebels marched onto the city itself.

Ana Ramsey offered safe harbor to rebels in her house in the Blackwald. She later sent her sons off to war, only to see them returned to her in pine boxes, which led her to commit suicide out of grief.

As part of his bid to secure the capital, Crowley succeeded in getting cannons smuggled into the cellar of the house of Josiah Avery, hidden within Gilneas City under the loyalists' noses. The final, deciding moment of the conflict occurred when Crowley's army marched upon the capital city, setting it ablaze with artillery fire. Much street fighting likely followed, but the rebels were ultimately unable to overcome Greymane resistance. Having broken upon the city's defenses, the rebels were defeated, with the majority of its leaders, including Crowley, imprisoned for high treason within Stoneward Prison.

Following the coup's failure and Crowley's imprisonment, the remaining rebels went into hiding. Many rebel weapon stashes throughout the city of Gilneas remained largely undiscovered. Since Keel Harbor had its share of rebel symphatizers, many rebel weapon stashes with hefty amount of incendiary were hidden in the village after the end of the civil war. When eventually uncovered, the weapon stashes were said to have been powerful enough to take out half of the Military District. The failure to take Gilneas City and Crowley's imprisonment effectively ended the Northgate Rebellion, as Gilneas returned once more to the unchallenged rule of King Genn Greymane, but the kingdom was left in a weakened state.

In the years that followed, many gruesome murders were discovered across Gilneas, and the Starlight Slasher was the name given to the culprits. Their primary victims were "Greymane loyalists", leaving many to believe that these murders were done by remnants of the Northgate rebels. In truth, these murders were done by the Wolf Cult as an initiation right for Alpha Prime to turn them into worgen.

Invasion of Gilneas

The rebels fighting the feral worgen inside the Light's Dawn Cathedral.

Shortly before the attack on Gilneas City by feral worgen, King Greymane was thinking about granting Crowley amnesty, as together they would be able to beat the worgen and the Forsaken. However, he also feared that he and Darius wouldn't be able to put aside their differences.

The day of the attack, Lorna Crowley and a Gilnean adventurer worked together to find Crowley's hidden arsenal, and let it at the disposal of the king and his men.

During the evacuation of Gilneas City, Greymane ordered Gilnean adventurers to release the rebels to fight the beasts. After Crowley gave his men a speech of a union, and made use of their hidden artillery stash, the Northgate rebels rejoined their Gilnean brethren to stand united against the tide, the two old friends mend their differences, ending any hope of the rebellion returning. In order to divert the worgen's attention from the fleeing citizens, Crowley led a group of rebels to stand against them at Light's Dawn Cathedral. However, they were overwhelmed and became worgen themselves.

Following the death of Alpha Prime in the Blackwald, King Greymane decided to stop concealing his infection and let his people know that he too was afflicted by the curse. Now united, rebels and loyalists, humans and sane worgen, accepted him and rallied when he called for a counterattack against Sylvanas Windrunner and her armies.

Legacy

Following the invasion of Gilneas, Lord Crowley formed the Gilneas Liberation Front, mostly composed of worgen and human soldiers (both rebels and loyalists) who chose to remain behind after the evacuation of most of Gilneas's citizenry. They were a key factor in reclaiming the mainland of Gilneas from the Forsaken and their Horde allies.

Known members

Rebels fighting worgen in the Cathedral Quarter.

• Darius Crowley
• Tobias Mistmantle
• Sean Dempsey ^†
• Vincent Hersham ^†
• Josiah Avery ^†
• Ana Ramsey ^† (sympathizer)
  • Ana Ramsey's sons ^†
• Margaret (sympathizer)
• Northgate Rebels

Armaments

• Rebel Cannons

Notes

• In the alpha of Cataclysm, the quest  [5] Man on the Inside mentioned that one of the king's men was assigned to infiltrate Crowley's group in prison.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

• It was presumably named for the Northgate Woods or Northgate River, regions of Gilneas near the wall.
• Given that Packleader Ivar Bloodfang came from Silverpine Forest alongside the rest of his Bloodfang pack, and that he knew and blamed Crowley for abandoning him; it's likely that Ivar and his men were once part of, or supporters of, the Northgate rebels. This would make sense, as Crowley previously lorded over the lands north of the wall; meaning that they would have been working with him as their lord.

Gallery

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  A rebel weapon stash in Josiah Avery's cellar.