HISTORY

<Kingdom of Gilneas> has a long, storied history and has grown and evolved over the years. We were originally founded on January 16, 2011 as <The Grey Templars> on Wyrmrest Accord right after Cataclysm launched and introduced the Worgen race to World of Warcraft. From the beginning, our guild has been focused on Gilnean/Worgen culture. We moved from Wyrmrest Accord to Moon Guard in May 2022 and changed our name to <The Gilnean Concord>, and we changed our name to <Kingdom of Gilneas> in November 2023.

Though our story and theme have shifted somewhat over the years, we remain focused on these original ideas. Zydrik, the original founder of the guild, remains the GM today. Most of our officers have been with the guild for at least 2 years, and some of our members and officers have been with us from the original founding. We feel we have thrived over many years because of our focus on creating a mature, friendly, welcoming community of roleplayers and gamers.

FOUNDING (Cataclysm)

The day Gilneas fell was a heartbreaking day for its people. The loss of our home and the loss of our beloved Prince Liam Greymane were difficult things for all of the Gilnean people to bear. And through all that time, we still were adjusting to our new state of being. The curse, or blessing as some see it, that so many of us were still adjusting to made those days all the more difficult for us all. But we were not alone. So many others had suffered from the crimes of the Horde. Our new friends gave us a place to rest, a place to catch our breath, and a place to plan our vengeance.

This was the period of time that gave birthto the Grey Templars. Founded by Sir Zydrik Anteran, a knight of Gilneas, the Templars were created to directly serve the Kingdom of Gilneas while upholding the teachings and ideals of the Holy Light during a time when theKingdom of Gilneas had almost no organized military forces to speak of. Membership in the order was not restricted to Gilneans. From it's inception, the Grey Templars welcomed any who would serve Gilneas, King Greymane, and the Alliance.

For years, the Templars acted as an independent military order in service to King Greymane, operating primarily in the Eastern Kingdoms and Northrend. During these early years, the order grew steadily and helped the Alliance maintain stability on the home front during the Deathwing crisis.

THE INDEPENDENT ORDER (Mists of Pandaria & Warlords of Draenor)

In the years following, the Grey Templars continued to be a force for good and stability on the Alliance homefront in the Eastern Kingdoms, providing much needed assistance to local forces while the Alliance military contended with the problems in Pandria and Draenor. During this time, Sir Zydrik Anteran stepped away for the order for a time to assist in Alliance military efforts and the rebuilding of the Gilnean military. In these years, the Grey Templars continued operating as an independent military order under the leadership of Commander Finriro Ragnarson.

THE LEGION INVASION (Legion)

When the Burning Legion invaded Azeroth, Gilneas and the Alliance had to mobilize all available forces. By this time, the Grey Templars had grown into an influential and recognized force. The order was absorbed into the Gilnean military as a new special forces regiment, bearing the same name, continuing their long tradition of military service to Gilneas. It was during this transition that the order's founder, Sir Zydrik Anteran, was ennobled by the Gilnean royal court and made a lord and military commander of Gilneas.

During the Legion crisis, the Templars worked closely with King Greymane's other soldiers, operating primarily in Stormheim to advance the King's mission there. The Templars remained deployed in Stormheim until the crisis began to wind down, at which point many Templars were recalled to Stormwind and Teldrassil for much-needed rest and recovery time.

TELDRASSIL & LORDAERON (Legion & Battle for Azeroth)

The burning of Teldrassil caught everyone off guard. When Alliance forces discovered the incoming invasion, there was no time to mobilize. The Templars in Teldrassil, commanded by Captain Rose Donaghan rapidly came to the aid of the defending Kaldorei to mount a desperate defense.

When it became clear the invasion forces could not be stopped before reinforcements could arrive, the Templars worked as rapidly as they could to evacuate the Kaldorei and Gilnean civilians in Teldrassil. Even as the tree burned, brave Templars joined the local Sentinels sacrificing their lives to ensure as many people as possible could escape to safety. Many of Gilneas' finest perished in the flames and smoke.

The regiment's commander, Lord Commander Zydrik Anteran, had just returned to Stormwind when word of the disaster at Teldrassil reached the rest of the Alliance. What Templars were available rapidly mobilized and joined the Alliance forces at the Battle of Lordaeron. Once again, though, Sylvanas had the last laugh as she blighted the entire city as Horde forces retreated.

KUL TIRAS (Battle for Azeroth)

After the Battle of Lordaeron, King Greymane was sent to aid Lady Proudmoore in her efforts to bring Kul Tiras back into the Alliance fold. The Templars who survived Teldrassil and Lordaeron quickly reorganized and joined their King in Kul Tiras to assist him to that end. While in Kul Tiras, the Templars participated in a raid on Zandalar where they were able to destroy a major Horde poison factory and capture several vital prisoners for interrogation. Additionally, Templar forces were able to help fend off several Horde incursions into Kul Tiras itself, maintaining the security of the new Alliance territories.

AIDING OUR ALLIES (Battle for Azeroth)

When the time came for the Kaldorei to launch a counter attack, King Greymane committed most of Gilneas' military forces to aid our closest friends and allies. Most of the Templars in Kul Tiras were redeployed to Kalimdor. The regiment's special forces capacity was utilized here. Instead of being deployed with the main attack force at Darkshore, the Templars were deployed behind Horde lines in the Stonetalon Mountains. There they conducted a variety of intelligence-gathering and clandestine operations to hinder Horde progress.

As time passed, it became clear that the Horde presence in the region was growing stronger and the regiment was no longer able to maintain their position with a small incursion force. The Templars conducted a final operation against a Horde blight facility before withdrawing from Kalimdor.

THE HOME FRONT (Battle for Azeroth)

As the Fourth War continued, most of the Alliance's military forces were deployed in Kul Tiras, Zandalar, and Kalimdor. The Templars, with significant experience in domestic policing and security, were assigned to Stormwind, where they continued to conduct intelligence and military operations to aid the Alliance war effort and care for the displaced Gilnean and Kaldorei refugees in the capital.

THE LONG ROAD HOME (Battle for Azeroth)

With the conclusion of the Fourth War, many Gilnean eyes turned back to their home. Returning to Gilneas would be a long and difficult process, but the Templars were at the tip of the spear. The first step of the process involved securing Gilnean territory in Silverpine Forest, past the Greymane Wall. The Templars assaulted and secured Fenris Keep. There they established a garrison from which they secured Ambermill and the surrounding farmlands and began the process of rebuilding, permitting some Gilnean refugees to resettle in the area.

Treacherous times followed, as old god agents wrecked havoc all throughout Azeroth. Fenris Keep and Ambermill were not spared these troubles, and the Templars spent several long, arduous months rooting out old god corruption before they were finally able to establish peace and security in the area.

OOC Note: These events were server cannot for Wyrmrest Accord, not Moon Guard.

MISTBRIAR ISLAND (Battle for Azeroth & Shadowlands)

As the ongoing truce after the Fourth War continued, the Gilnean Royal Court decided to conduct further operations to reclaim easily accessible Gilnean territory outside of the mainland. The sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Gilneas included several islands off the Gilnean coast. One of these islands, Misbriar Island, was identified as a potential territory for resettlement. The Grey Templars were deployed to the island to eliminate natural and supernatural threats in the area and provide ongoing security and assistance to resettled Gilnean refugees.

Once Mistbriar Island was mostly tamed and the resettling process had begun, Lord Zydrik Anteran, recently married to the Countess Deirdre Anteran, was granted governorship over the island and became its count.

THE NORTHERN SKYSHATTER (Shadowlands)

At the start of the unofficial interregnum of Stormwind and the Grand Alliance as a whole, the Grey Templars entered into a stage of flux. Uncontrolled Scourge, risen with the breaking of the Helm of Domination, savaged many lands and threatened many towns, and Mistbriar was no exception. While events at the roof of the world, and beyond if tales are to be believed, continued apace, the Templars' orders were to secure what they had just reclaimed. Assistance was given where it could be spared, but like so many in the eastern kingdoms at the time, they too were pressed thin by the needs of the moment. When the shatter in the north was finally mended and the Scourge once again fell inactive or less coordinated, the Templars had weathered the storm well enough. Resettlement continued and exploration resumed, however cautiously.

OOC Note: It was during this period that the guild moved from Wyrmrest Accord to Moon Guard.

THE GILNEAN CONCORD (Shadowlands)

With the Alliance and the Horde finally at peace for a time, the Templars did not sit idle. More and more Gilnean refugees made their way to Mistbriar, and the first city of Ebonport expanded quickly. The needs of the moment dictated that structure was needed more than arms, and the Grey Templars were folded into a wider organization: the Gilnean Concord. No longer a purely military venture, the island of Mistbriar grew to prominance, Gilneans were resettling every scrap of Gilnean territory that could be reclaimed, and the Gilnean people needed a proper government with laws and bureaucracies, not just martial governance under battlefield conditions. The first government ministries were re-established, organization built up, and a civilian government formed to support King Greymane. With time on their side, for once, the Gilneans made good use of the time of peace, and while their growth was not without trouble, it was not significantly disturbed for five years.

AWAKENING THE DRAGON ISLES (Dragonflight)

When the Alliance and Horde were approached by the dragon flights with news of their ancient home, there were some in Gilneas who answered that call. From the reports of the newly arrived dracthyr, the warnings from the Dragonscale Expedition, and the reports from these scouts, it quickly became clear that there was more at stake than just the Dragon Isles themselves. As part of the efforts to defeat the new Primalist threat, the reformed 3rd Special Forces Regiment of Gilneas, reconsolidated and refreshed with new recruits, was deployed alongside both Horde and Alliance forces, and alongside the native dragons of the Isles themselves. Fighting Djaradin warlords deep in the Waking Shores, corrupted shadowflame drakes in the Azure Span, and darker powers still, Gilneas served with distinction in several engagements on the Isles. From a campaign led by Lord Marshal Tyrvarryn Shadowmist in the Ohn'ahran Plains against the Nokhud Centaur, to Lady Commander Salvina Ward defending Uktulut Pier from a Primalist raiding party, among many other battles throughout the Dragon Isles, earning for themselves a reputation of hearty endurance and bold action.

THE KINGDOM OF GILNEAS & THE RECLAMATION (Dragonflight)

After the threats posed in the Dragon Isles were at last laid to rest, and with a new peace once more forged with the six dragon flights and their Aspects, thoughts of Gilneans once more turned to ideas of home. King Greymane was not immune to this notion himself. With all obligations at last fulfilled, he turned his own eyes to their old homeland. A homeland mostly abandoned, though recently seized. The Scarlet Crusade, driven back by the Forsaken, had taken up residence throughout the peninsula. In a surprising move of solidarity, it was the Forsaken who came to Gilneas' aid this time. Lead by Calia Menethil and her chief agent Lilian Voss, the forces of the Forsaken attacked the Scarlet Remnants from the north, through Silverpine, allowing the Gilneans under command of Tess Greymane to land in the west and march swiftly to assault Gilneas City.

With the battle done, the forces of the Crusade utterly defeated, the Gilneans had finally returned home. And with the many prior years of reorganization efforts, the Kingdom of Gilneas once again had a fully formed and fully functional government. The interrim Gilnean Concord was dissolved and all of its personnel assumed roles with the official new government.

The Forsaken, true to their word in spite of all expectations, withdrew back into Silverpine, ceding the lands that the Banshee Queen had taken by force. The Forsaken are now uneasy neighbors to the rebuilding Gilneans. A peace, however tenuous, continued to hold between the two kingdoms. Genn Greymane, world-weary and finally able to reflect for the first time since the exile, did not find the strength to bear the weight of the crown anymore. Though he yet lives, his crown has passed to Tess Greymane, now Queen of Gilneas.

Long may she reign.