Brill

Upon encountering the town of Brill some time in the early days of WoW, I recall thinking “these are the same human buildings as in Goldshire, just broken and corrupted“. I found myself wondering what Brill looked like before it was overtaken by the Plague of Undeath, and realized it probably looked very much like Goldshire. As I explored the undead areas of Azeroth, I considered what it must’ve been like for the citizens there to live through the events that led to the destruction of their land and people. In particular, I imagined what it must’ve been like to first encounter the Plague as their friends and family mysteriously died and were then transformed into undead. Later as I was poring over lore about the Plague to write this song, I discovered that Brill was one of the first places where shipments of plague-infested grain was sent and that regional defenders failed to protect the villagers and were driven out. This helped me to choose Brill for the setting of the song about the day the Plague came, and it informed my understanding of what the citizens of Brill must have gone through: They had no idea what was happening until it was too late. I’d like to thank my lovely wife, Legs, and my son, Crowbadour, for the many hours spent putting this movie together. It wouldn’t have happened without them. Lyrics: I was drinking ale at a tavern in a town called Menethil Where we still remember the day the captain came over the hill He said, “We got big time trouble up north of here in Lordaeron I need 100 able bodies, so grab your boots and strap your weapons on“ I said, “Hey Cap, it’s great to see you. I fought with you at Tarren Mill“ He had a look of death in his eyes, that look remains with me still I said “Cap’n, what’s going on up north, what’re we getting ourselves into“ He said “Cranius I’m glad to see you, I’ve got something I may need you to do“ Cuz there are corpses standing up and walking around Piles of bones like marionettes are chasing us down Something evil’s gotten into the grain Everyone who’s eaten it is going insane So put your faith in the Light and let your horses fly Let’s get along boys, our people need you tonight Cuz today a plague came to Brill As we approached that fateful town, there was a smell of flesh in the air Etched upon my captain’s face were lines of pain and despair He said, “Don’t look into their hollow eyes, they’re not the people that you knew them to be So take a minute, say your prayers to the Light and say one more for my family“ Then it occurred to me, that after the Second Great War My captain moved his family to a little town way up north 50 acres with a view on a hill, plenty of room for settling down Now it all became so clear to me, he needed more than ever now Cuz there were corpses standing up and walking around Piles of bones like marionettes were chasing us down Something evil’d gotten into the grain and everyone who’d eaten it had gone insane So put your faith in the light and let your weapons fly Let’s get along boys these people need us tonight Cuz today a plague came to Brill As the blades and fire flew and the ice came shattering down I knew just what I had to do, there’d be no life in this undead town A filthy job, but it had to be done, my captain’s family would rest in peace He turned his head and he dropped to his knees, as I finished his dirty deed It didn’t go as anyone planned, we escaped by the skin of our teeth I turned my faithful stallion south, some headed off to the east No matter how many long years it’s been, this fire burns inside of me still So don’t forget - don’t you *ever* forget - the day the plague came to Brill