Argent Dawn

Organization

The Argent Dawn is a lawful good organization and is divided into branches based on location, each of which has its own ranking and structure. Non-members are not permitted to know the ranking of members of the organization, since that would make obvious targets of leadership figures, and the leader is not known to the public. This has sometimes resulted in the Argent Dawn being called a secret society. However, it seems their ranking structure is surprisingly simple; specific regions have a "Commander", who directly leads day-to-day activities, a council of officers, a group of elite templars, and then the body of membership. Templars have no real authority over standard members, but they are highly respected. Branches include the Brotherhood of the Light.

The Argent Dawn has no official headquarters, but small branches exist in several major cities — including Stormwind and Darnassus. The majority of their members in the Plaguelands work out of the Light's Hope Chapel on the far east side of the Eastern Plaguelands, but a good number of them inhabit a camp at Chillwind Camp on the border of the Western Plaguelands and the Alterac Mountains as well. The templars at Chillwind have plenty of work to do. The courageous templars and knights have to contend with ogres to the south and an undead infested graveyard right on their borders.

Through its actions, the Argent Dawn has created several powerful enemies, notably the Burning Legion, the Scourge, and the Twilight's Hammer. Despite common interests (and an alliance at Light's Hope Chapel), there is also a great deal of mistrust, and even open ire, between the Argent Dawn and the Scarlet Crusade — particularly because the Scarlet Crusade views all non-members as potentially evil.

Military tactics

In the Plaguelands and other parts of the world that the Alliance and Horde alike have abandoned, the Argent Dawn stands as a last shining bastion of hope against the Scourge, the Burning Legion and other threats. Contrary to what one might expect, the Argent Dawn rarely defends any given location; rather it remains mobile, attempting to strike where it is least expected. This is clearly a strong contrast to the more straightforward Knights of the Silver Hand.

The knights and freedom fighters of the Argent Dawn rely on hit and run tactics, using their magic and knowledge of the terrain to compensate for the disadvantage of their small numbers. Each group is assigned an officer, who chooses when to engage enemies in combat or avoid them; if there is any major risk to the group, the officer avoids the conflict unless there is an impending threat that must be stopped. The Argent Dawn is unwilling to risk even a single member if it can be avoided, for every sword lost could be another to join the Scourge. The Argent Dawn is not a group of cowards; far from it. They willingly risk their lives each day.

If an Argent Dawn force is attacked while guarding a specific person or location, the members form a defensive circle around the target and attempt to repulse their enemies with ranged attacks. If any attackers make it to melee range, paladins and templar move to eliminate the target, then return to their positions in the circle if possible. If the Argent Dawn has multiple locations to defend, it prioritizes and potentially abandons one location completely, depending on the situation; if there are living people to defend in both locations, the Argent Dawn sends just enough people to the less important locations to evacuate anyone who may need help.

Before entering combat, Argent Dawn units prepare with as many beneficial spells as possible. Priests cast spell resistance, holy word shield, and bear's endurance on everyone they can to increase their chances of survival. Paladins and Argent Dawn templar enhance their weapons with holy sword if they can cast it; and if not, they focus on other spells to increase their damage-dealing abilities, such as bull's strength.

Once in combat, each spellcaster powerful enough to incapacitate a target with hooks of binding or another spell uses it to thin the enemy group's numbers. After that point, the group focuses its firepower on enemy spell casters (if applicable), moving from what appears to be the strongest target to the weakest. One priest maintains a healing rain if the group fights undead. When fighting intelligent enemies, Argent Dawn groups focus on enemy leadership first, expending their powerful abilities (holy strikes and high-level spells) to destroy that target swiftly, then retreat if necessary.

Membership

The Argent Dawn admits members of any race and profession, so long as they are dedicated to the opposition of evil in the world. The organization draws members from both Alliance and the Horde, but not equally. Though independent they favor the Alliance. The focus on the Holy Light makes the organization more appealing to the Alliance, especially to people with a background with the Church or Silver hand. Magi also support and sometimes join the Argent Dawn, since they have similar goals. The Horde has a healthy relationship with the Argent Dawn as well, but it does not actually serve as a sponsor for the faction's activities. Rather, the Horde (mainly the Forsaken) reinforces the Argent Dawn's troops, and works with them only when it seems beneficial (which is often the case).

They screen their members carefully, however, so this seemingly open-ended recruitment policy can be misleading. Most potential members are required to use minor magic items to gather “scourgestones” from defeated undead creatures to prove the combat ability of the applicant. Others have to fight demons in order to prove themselves. Members are also expected to uphold the virtues of the Light, even if they are not followers of Light themselves. They can be strict about what their members do or say, especially in public.

Members of the Argent Dawn often have differing strategies in furthering the group's aims: some make alliances against the undead; others fight directly; some study new forms of magic or alchemy to combat demons and undead with greater effectiveness. The Argent Dawn is noted for unusual ways of utilizing the Holy Light for new spells, but this draws ire from the most traditional members of the Church of the Holy Light.

Younger members of the Church and the Knights of the Silver Hand find the youthful Argent Dawn appealing, since the organization seems to be less burdened by older (and perhaps outdated) traditions. The Argent Dawn as a whole seems unusually youthful, some leaders appear much younger than they should be.

Apart from the Knights, Argent Dawn membership also numbers some former (and current) members of the Kirin Tor. Since their home city of Dalaran was hit by the Scourge, many of the Kirin Tor wish to strike back. Both groups also find common ground in their interest in magical research.

Presence

One could find the Argent Dawn in many places across Azeroth. They were primarily centered in the northern parts of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, addressing the specific threats of the Scourge and the Burning Legion, respectively. In the Eastern Kingdoms was their foremost stronghold: Light's Hope Chapel in the Eastern Plaguelands. Their influence in the southern part of the Western Plaguelands was also significant, as they attempted to rout the undead from near Uther's Tomb, Caer Darrow, and Andorhal. They also maintained a less active but more stable headquarters in Darnassus.