The Argent Vanguard

The Argent Vanguard is a lawful good organization formed from the former elite of the Argent Dawn, they are a specialised group primarily focused on protecting the world of Azeroth from the Burning Legion. Base camps of the Argent Vanguard can be found in Nagrand and also there is one in Stormwind, the old Argent Dawn building in the Cathedral Square aswell as a third located in the Eastern Plaguelands.

Organization
The Argent Vanguard is divided into four branches, each of which has its own ranking and structure. Very few non-members are permitted to know the ranking of members of the organization, since that would make obvious targets of leadership figures, and the leader is only known to be seen in public on occasion. This has sometimes resulted in the Argent Vanguard being called a secret society. However, it seems their ranking structure is surprisingly simple; The four branches shown above have a "Lord", who directly leads day-to-day activities, a council of four captains, a group of veterans, and then the body of membership. Veterans have no real authority over standard members, but they are highly respected. Branches include the The Argent Air Force, The Argent Navy, The Argent Vanguard Army, and The Inquisition.

The Argent Vanguard has no official headquarters known to the public, but it's "home" is known to the members of the Vanguard as Light's Eye, where the majority of the Vanguard's Vrykul reside. The majority of their members in Outland work out of the Air base, Clan Watch on the mid east side of Nagrand, but a good number of them inhabit a camp In the Blasted lands at the mouth of the Dark Portal as well. The soldiers at the Dark Portal have plenty of work to do, as they have to contend with both the demons in the Blasted lands, and those that continually surge through the Dark portal.

Through its actions, the Argent Vanguard has created several powerful enemies, notably the Burning Legion, the Kil'sorrow orcs, and alough accidentally, The Horde aswell, that all hold Land in Nagrand.

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.

History
After the death of the Scarlet Highlord Alexandros Mograine, the corruption of the Scarlet Crusade became apparent to some of its members through High Inquisitor Fairbanks, who spoke of the corruption (for which he was later murdered). Those who paid him heed left the ranks of the Scarlet Crusade and established the Argent Dawn, to protect Azeroth from the threat of the Scourge without subscribing to the blind zealotry of the older faction.

While they share the same goals as the Crusade, the Argent Dawn opened its ranks to not only other Alliance races besides Humans, but also members of the Horde and even some of the Forsaken (but only if they proved themselves to be good, and were no longer members of the previous organization). They caution discretion and introspection, and put a lot of emphasis on researching the Scourge and how to combat them.

With time, the Argent Dawn has grown diversified. A subfaction of the Argent Dawn, the Brotherhood of the Light, works to keep relations between Argent Dawn and Scarlet Crusade from growing violent.

Despite their influence, the Argent Dawn do not have the manpower of the Scarlet Crusade, and might not be able to stand alone against the Scourge. Currently, the Argent Dawn and the Scarlet Crusade have formed an uneasy alliance in order to focus their combined strength against Kel'Thuzad's forces in the Plaguelands.

However, corruption looms within the ranks of the Brotherhood: when a player has looted The Phylactery of Kel'Thuzad from Naxxramas, he is able to turn it in to Father Inigo Montoy, a member of the Brotherhood, in Light's Hope Chapel, who then promises to deliver it to the Argent Dawn in order to ensure the final death of the Lich Lord. As it later turns out, the phylactery has never reached its destination &mdash; so either Father Montoy or a powerful individual within the Argent Dawn is following a darker scheme ... or even secretly working for the Scourge.

Presence in Azeroth
One can find most of the Argent Dawn 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, they are present mainly in the Eastern Plaguelands. Their influence in the southern part of the Western Plaguelands is also significant, as they attempt to rout the undead from near Uther’s Tomb, Caer Darrow, and Andorhal. Their main headquarters (or at least their most stable) is located in Darnassus.

In Wrath of the Lich King
Following the Battle for Light's Hope Chapel, Caim Dragonblade was Freed from atop Acherus, and returned to the Argent Vanguard, taking up position as Highlord. Soon after he fought his way back onto azeroth, taking up residence in Caer Darrow, The old human city atop Scholomance, a Scourge Fortress. Soon enough he and his loyal soldiers met the Northern Legion and the Arathi Vanguard, who had recently formed under the leadership of Cerlain Trollbane.