Know Your Enemy: The Defias Brotherhood

KNOW YOUR ENEMY: THE DEFIAS BROTHERHOOD.

Introduction.
In the pristine forestlands of Elywynn, and the fertile plains of Westfall, an organized band of thieves have made themselves known. They are the Defias Brotherhood, one of many virtually unchecked threats we now have to deal with. They have a vast underground network which streaches all the way from Booty Bay, right up to Stormwind keep. Although Stormwind has all but ignored the threat to it's sanctity, it is important to know who the Defias are, and what is the best method of taking them out.

History.
After the first war, Stormwind was in ruins, and needed to be built. After a breif labor shortage, the Stormwind nobility managed to enlist the aid of the Stonemason's guild, and incredibly talented collection of architects and masons, who constructed Stormwind as we know it today. However, when the city was built, the Nobles could not pay, due to the costs of expansion into Lakeridge, and Duskwood. Although the government tried to compensate the higher ranking members of the Stonemasons with exectutive positions, most of the lower level members were left out of this bargain. Edwin Van Cleef, the leader of the Stonemasons wouldn't stand for it. He immediately plotted revenge. He wasted no time in establishing his network, having some of his sympathizers take high level positions, while keeping others as his own personal officers, and his black guard. He also began to recruit vast numbers of downtrodden citizens of Lordaeron, notably, the criminals and miscreants of society, from murderers and rapists, to petty thieves and hooligans. He taught them to kill for enjoyment, and as we've seen outside the deadmines, that's precisely what they have done.

Van Cleef's Goal.
Van Cleef wants to bring Stormwind to it's knees, through tactics of attrition, and the denial of resources. Van Cleef has been very quick to seize the farms and mines of Elwynn Forest and Westfall, through his own members, and his allies. Currently, every mine and all but four farms in Westfall and Elwynn have been taken. His plan to take the rest is already in motion, as his men have already assaulted two of them, and the other two, which constantly fued with each other, are gradually falling into the vicegrip. Westfall, the breadbasket of the Alliance, is in Van Cleef's iron grip, and Elwynn isn't too far off. He does this to cut off Stormwind's resources to render them useless without thier allies. Without food production or weapon production, how else is Stormwind going to fight the Horde? Many generals have failed to take this into account, and the Stormwind government has done nothing, because Van Cleef's man in Stormwind, Lord Gregor Lescovar, currently commands a legion of nobles, through bribery and coersion, to block all legislation to stop the defias. Van Cleef's latest goal is to cut the flow of resources stemming from Booty Bay, to give the Horde the advantage in the pivital region of Stranglethorn, because once Booty Bay falls, the Alliance will no longer have a contact in southern Stranglethorn vale, leaving the Horde with complete influence over the area. With this, he will distract troops there, while denying Stormwind of further resources from the Steamwheedle Cartel.

Hierarchy.
Van Cleef commands absolute authority over his minions from the Deadmines, but after him, things get a bit foggy in terms of Hierarchy. After Van Cleef himself, power goes down to his chief officers, Captain Greenskin, First Mate Smite, and others in high positions in the deadmines. Only they have control of the Blackguard, a viscious band of Van Cleef's bodygaurds and assistants. So far, these positions have only gone to former Stonemasons. After his top chiefs, the rest of the Stonemasons became the commanders and important couriers of the Defias outside the Deadmines, everyone else is a lesser, and is usually not a former stonemason.

Why we must fight them.
The Defias Brotherhood has one goal, to bring the Kingdom of Stormwind to its knees. Despite the obvious fact that many citizens will die in the process, our enemies around the world are waiting for an opportunity to strike at either the Alliance or the Horde, once they see a major sign of weakness, or a war, they will come with everything they've got, to destroy us. When that happens, we will need our resources, which are currently in the hands of the Defias Brotherhood. Aside from that, compared to our other enemies, the Defias have little influence, and should be easy to destroy.