The guild I joined was no help.  Someone offered to help me find him one day, but they wound up forgetting about me (life as a low level player) and then they logged off.  I asked a question on guild chat a few times during different periods when I was in the game and the one person that responded said they didn’t know anything about him.  Oddly enough a couple of hours later as I watched guild chat go flying by, I noticed a level 12 player talking about how thankful they were these other people in the guild let them tag along so they could learn.  Even though I’ve only been playing since Sunday (six days ago) I still have many, many questions.  No one in the guild ever asked me if I’d like to tag along.  Including the very nice person who recruited me.  This was a bad sign of things to come.

A couple of days ago I posted a question in the guild forum about deciding how to choose a guild.  I was told the reason people randomly ask players to join their guilds is because everything you do generates money for their guild and if they are not maxed out for quest experience points you contribute to that balance as well if you are doing quests.  In my case, not knowing anyone else who plays WoW I had to make a decision whether it was worth staying in a guild that was unhelpful as this one was beginning to seem or leave and wait until I was of more use to someone as a high level character.  I opted on the latter and left the guild I had just joined.

Had I known guild requests were all about what you could give the guild, I would never have joined one to begin with.  Sure, there are some benefits (extra spells, movement of character, discounts at stores), but they pretty much are offset by what your playing gives to the guild.  If you are new to the game, I recommend waiting until you are level 85 or higher to consider joining a guild unless it’s a group of friends from real life.  The WoW forums have one area specific to discussion about guilds – who’s looking for guild members, who’s looking for a guild.  You can look through the ads of people who are looking to add players to their guild and ask questions.  Some of the guilds are very competitive so if you’re not going to be playing WoW every hour of the day that you’re not at work, you might want to shy away from them (I read one notice that said if you weren’t producing up to quota, they’d kick you out). Also, be sure the guild you are interested in is on your server.  If not, you wind up having to pay $25 to get your character switched over.

Back to Morbent Fel. Since I’m a new graphic RPG player, I was very focused on following directions.  No matter how many times I stood on top of the quest indicator, Morbent Fel would not appear.  I kept reading the quest again and again.  It spoke of catacombs, but I had been in the catacombs (the part that wouldn’t end my life endlessly) and he was not there. Don’t get me wrong.  I’m really not afraid of dying. I do it with some regularity in places with a lot of aggressive NPCs (such as Raven Hill Cemetery in Duskwood where the Morbent Fel quest takes place). I had my special Morbent Fel buster (some object received in the quest line to take away his special mage powers) to use as soon as I found him.

[SPOILERS] The reason I couldn’t find Morbent Fel is because he’s located in a connecting catacomb that will kick your rear end!  At least at Level 27 being a human priest.  How did I finally find him, even though I had been in that catacomb in spirit form (after being killed, having not picked up my corpse yet) and not seen him there?  I started at the catacomb I could survive, went all the way to the end where the little tunnel is, went to the end of the tunnel and peered very carefully into the larger catacomb area.  Someone had gone through there already and killed the aggressive NPCs.  The bigger guys at their tables were staying still. Don’t get me wrong, there was still one aggressive big guy standing next to Morbent Fel who dispensed with my living body very quickly (with one hit – I must not have had my power shield on), but someone must have killed him while I was running back to get my corpse from the area.  All that was left standing once the body was retrieved and I was alive again was Morbent Fel.  I shielded up, used the Morbent Fel quest thingy that took away his power and went to town on him.  He wasn’t very hard to kill once there weren’t a bunch of other NPCs trying to kill me at the same time. He has about the same number of hit points the jerk who walks around Raven Hill Cemetery with a big sword ( Mor’Ladim) does.   Mor’Ladim loves to be part of a gang banger.  If two or three NPCs from Raven Hill gang up on you, Mor’Ladim senses it and comes running! [END SPOILERS]

I have to laugh about the whole armor thing in this game.  I’m not a big clothes person.  I buy my stuff from the Walmart and after wearing it a couple of years it falls apart and I have to go back to the Walmart and get new clothes.  I don’t care whether they’re stylish.  All I care about is whether I want to run screaming when I see myself in the mirror (not a ruffles person).

I think about that when I log into WoW every day.  I’m not the kind of person who believes in shoulder pads, but they are VERY good armor so I’ll keep these funky squares shooting off of my shoulders for now.  I waited a long time to find something to put on my shoulder area.  I still have head, neck and trinket spots to equip now.

I’m going to see if there are any WoW meetings in my area so I can find people that might be able to give me tips on the interface and controls and the like.  There’s so much about graphic RPGs I don’t know about, so I’ve got a lot of area to catch up on.  I haven’t done anything but quests this week and it seems like there are a lot of other things to do.

For now, I’m going to bask in the glow of completing the Morbent Fel quest.  It was bugging me for a LONG time and I couldn’t find ANY web sites through the search engines that actually had information about how to find the little brat.  I don’t know if I couldn’t find him while I was in spirit because he WAS a quest NPC or whether someone had just killed him before I died.  I just know I had looked at that exact location when I was in spirit, but he wasn’t there.  It was great finally completing that quest. Now if I could only complete the one where the prisoners of war are without dying a million times. LOL!

A long time ago in a lifetime far, far away . . . yeah, I know. It’s cheesy George Lucas, but that’s where I am today. When my son was nine years old, he introduced me to a text game on our local BBS (Bulletin Board System for those of you who weren’t even a sparkle in your father’s eye at the time). The only people using the internet back then were college students and government workers and the recreation on the server was MUD (Multi-User Dungeon for those not of the geek persuasion). It came in lots of different shapes, sizes and types.

The best thing about MUDs were they were easy to program and easy to make new worlds for. After all, the only requirements were imagination and being able to type. If you had any intelligence at all, you could tell how each of the world, item, MOB, etc. files were coded – it was all ASCII text.

In this time before the internet, you called up your local BBS for social recreation when it was either too late to be out or you had kids in bed and work the next day. So it was my nine year old son who taught me how to play CircleMUD, mainly so I could be a Cleric and heal him as he tore up the towns.

Unlike my son, however, I stayed with the game for several years. I was a God in some versions, created new zones for others – there were always a large amount of different MUDs to choose from. As my health became more stable, however, I didn’t have as much time to devote to the game. About the same time my son started playing first person shooter Nintendo games and the rest is history; the internet we see today.

I never made the transition from text to graphic games. When my son started playing Golden Eye 007, just watching him made me nauseous. The screen went by so fast I couldn’t get my bearings and had to turn away. I decided I would simply be one of those people who couldn’t switch over to graphic games.

Later, when Facebook started putting graphic games online, I started playing Restaurant City – a likable little cooking game. At least until EA got it’s greedy hands on it. Soon after it was sold by Playfish, things went downhill and the game was removed by EA. Having noticed a trend in professional gaming companies to try and suck people dry until they no longer wanted to play their games, I swore off Facebook games.

Having been a “Eureka“ fan for a while, I became a fan of Felicia Day when she started doing guest shots on the series. This led to the Geek & Sundry channel on YouTube and many other pleasure entertainment pursuits. Her YouTube series “The Guild“ was funny and while I could appreciate some of the jokes from being a MUD player, I still had no idea what World of Warcraft was like. With my health being in the state it’s in, I figured now would be the best time as any to learn. I finally had tech that would meet the minimum requirements to play the game and an operating system that didn’t make my life a living hell trying to connect to the server. (BTW, if anyone would like to buy me a nice, new gaming computer, please feel free to do so.)

I don’t actually personally know anyone who plays World of Warcraft. I’m 53 years old. Most of the people my age are playing with their grandchildren. Lucky for me, I didn’t give birth to my son straight out of high school, I waited until the ripe old age of 26. He graduated with his Engineering/Physics degree a couple years ago and just like I did he works 18 hours a day trying to make ends meet. He’s not much gaming help to me.

For those of you who don’t play WoW, the part that allows you to play with other people costs $15 per month on the Blizzard server. Since I have to budget my money wisely, I figured I should just jump right into the trial they offer (20 levels for free!) and see if it was a pursuit worth picking up.

I created my character, leveled it up to seven and upon realizing I wasn’t getting nauseous decided to take advantage of the $9.99 digital download they offer when you play the trial version. That’s pretty cheap for a video game considering I’d probably never look at the books that came with the software anyhow.

The thing I liked most about it was Blizzard keeps all your gaming information on their servers – what you’ve purchased, all your characters. If my tech decides to take a nose dive (and if you knew how old it was, you’d understand) all I have to do is download the program again on the replacement computer (or something like that – I’m sure a call to tech support will ensue).  BTW, you will wind up having to call Blizzard if you start with the trial so your character can be consolidated into the one digital purchase account.  My experience with their customer service was incredibly happy.  In my book, good customer service is usually the hallmark of a good product.

So I’m good for a month. While everyone else is playing the new add-on “Mysts of Pandaria“ I’m running around some world that comes with the “Battle Chest Starter Edition“ (Dalaran). The sad thing is if I decide to switch to the Mysts (which I’m sure will be offered to me at a discount at some point along with the other add-ons I don’t own), I have to start a new character. It doesn’t look that hard. I’ve only played a couple of hours and my priest is up to level 9 and that’s without knowing anything about the game other than point and kill all by myself. I just figured out how to reply to a message today. Grouping with someone is going to require reading the directions though. LOL!

Yes, there are a hundred other things I need to learn about World of Warcraft, but I’ve got plenty of time to learn them with my current physical challenges. The funniest thing I got stuck on yesterday was figuring out that once you get up to level three, you have to click on the name of the quest you are completing in order to get your goods. That’s what happens when you first switch over from a text based game to a graphic game. You don’t know where the heck anything is or how to use it. I hope it doesn’t take forever to learn all the little things.

Dear Journal,

I am sitting here in Dalaran, alone again, with a very heavy heart.  All of my Sindorie’s feelings of what might come to pass have happened.  He kept apologizing to me for the things that the Horde has done.   I could see the pain, anguish and sorrow in his eyes each time he looked at me.   I kept telling him that I knew that it wasn’t his fault, that I knew that he took no glory for the damages that have befallen the Alliance, still, that sorrow was still there as I bid him farewell.

Yes, he was recalled to fight.  His age didn’t matter, his family didn’t matter, and however, his affiliation to his countrymen was something that he had to uphold.  His honor forced him back into a battle that he doesn’t believe in.  I could see it in his face that his heart was breaking, that he didn’t want to go.

It was hard enough to see my husband go off to battle for something that he didn’t believe in, however, it almost killed me to see my eldest child following in his Father’s footsteps.  Kal didn’t want to go, however, like his Father, he felt honor bound.  He’s young, he’s never seen the horrors of war, and he has no idea of what it is like to see his friends killed one by one.  I never wanted this for my children to go through as their parents have already seen it.  When he comes back, if he comes back, he will be changed – he will be a grown man, a bit more cynical when his innocence has been hacked away by some horrid green monster.    There is no joy in war, my son; there is only bloodshed, death and tears.

This new country, why do they have to go to foreign soil when there is so much strife in our own lands?  I can see the Horde going for the resources, the greedy bastards that they are.  I can see them destroy a country that appears to be filled with these new furry races that are a peace loving race, however, they will fight to uphold their beliefs, just as we will. 

My parents have moved to Dalaran to be safe.  They have both decided that they are too old to go into a battle again.  They are both world weary and only wish to live out their last remaining days in a place where they can have the illusion of harmony.  My Mother has started making her life here already, getting her pots out, and changing a few things in the guest house for her and my Father.

Vashlan has moved back to Dalaran to train, which is one more person that I won’t have to worry about. I thank Elune daily that he has his mind and his nose pressed into a book at every opportunity.  Maybe this is his way of denying what horrors may be going on in the world.   

I’m sitting here in the sitting room, tears slowly streaming down my face.  I didn’t even tell my Sindorei that I might be with child…another child to add to our damnation of daring to be in love even though our races are at war.

Yes, even if I am pregnant and I get called back to active duty, I will go, I don’t believe in this war other than the fact that the idiot leading the Horde at this point needs to die.  The poor people in Theramore didn’t stand a chance against the weapon that was used against them.  Yes, civilians were given the option to leave, however, how many died because they chose to stay behind with their loved ones.  I know that a woman will stand with her man to the bitter end; I’ve seen it many times in the past.  How many more orphans have they added to so many other homeless waifs? 

We had our brief time of a somewhat awkward peace in some parts of Azeroth.  Now, it has all been swept away by one foolish act. 

I just want my husband and my son to come home in one piece, that’s what I pray to Elune all of the time.  Yes, I understand that we’re traitors because we dared to love one another, however, my son never asked for this.  Oh, I beg of you, Elune…keep them safe.

Amyn

It was late when we arrived in Dalaran.  After the bunch of us got off the Windrunner, Dranosh ordered Drok to take his crew and report to Bolvar and the Argent Vanguard to help however much he could.  As the ship made its departure, we got going to the Violet Citadel.

On the way, we passed through the center of the city.  It was an eerie sight for me.  In the middle of town, on the spot where there should have been the monument to the defeat of the Lich King, there’s a memorial honoring Tirion and the heroes who were lost with him in Icecrown Citadel.  Liadrin stopped for a minute and offered a prayer for the fallen.  Jaina.  Dontrag and Utvoch.  Saurfang.

A gnome was making his way around the city lighting all the lampposts when we arrived at the Violet Citadel.  Rhonin was waiting for our arrival and was pacing around in the main hall like a restless animal.  Liadrin started to break the news to him about Jaina, but Rhonin cut her off.  I think he already knew, as soon as he saw us walk in without her.

He took us upstairs, where he summoned a portal for us to the Caverns of Time.

People get so used to taking mage portals that before long they forget how disorienting they are at first.  You’re in one place, then there’s a flash of light, and for half a second you’re nowhere.  You feel this dizzying whoosh run through your whole body and you feel like you’re falling, and then all of a sudden you’re somewhere different.  New sights, new sounds, new everything.  After you’ve done it a few times, you learn to roll with it and regain your sense of direction quickly, but every so often, when you first arrive in a new place, something happens to throw you out of your routine and reminds you just how unsettling it can be.

The ground shook violently under our feet as we arrived at the Caverns of Time.  Not even just the ground – the walls, the ceiling, somehow even the air seemed to shudder around us.  Bronze dragons were racing around, and bunches of drakonids ran up the ramp toward the surface.  Anachronos was rumbling around, barking orders, rallying the cavern’s defenders.  I don’t think I’d ever seen him so animated.  After a minute, he spread his enormous wings and flew up the winding passageway with a handful of bronze drakes close behind.

In the middle of the chaos, Chromie teleported in right on top of us, talking a million miles an hour, and finally ushered us back to Soridormi, near the Hillsbrad portal, before teleporting away again.

SORIDORMI:  Thank the Titans you’ve made it.  We don’t have much time.

GARROSH:  Do I even want to ask?

SORIDORMI:  The Legion must have pieced together what we might try to do, as I’d feared.  They started their attack some hours ago.  We’ve been holding them back, but the battle has been a costly one.

The entire cavern quakes as shouts echo from the surface passageway.

DRANOSH:  Well, we brought you a present.

Dranosh steps back and gestures to Faranell, who is holding the Focusing Iris.

FARANELL:  <handing the Iris to Soridormi>  Will you be able to do it?

SORIDORMI:  <nods>  It will take me a few minutes to open the portal and stabilize it, but I can get you back to Southshore, yes.

DRANOSH:  Wait, Southshore?  What’s in Southshore?

LIADRIN:  A very long story…

GARROSH:  Well now for the 50,000 gold question – what do we do when we’re back there?

MOKVAR:  Please don’t tell me we have to go in and kidnap old-Edwin and switch him with young-Edwin but also do something with original-young-Edwin while we’re at it to make sure old-us don’t still grab original-young-Edwin by mistake, because, I mean, not enough aspirin in the world.

LIADRIN:  Not to mention we would have to do something about the chameleon shard attunement in that case, if this Edwin doesn’t end up tending to it…

DRANOSH:  Is there a reason why everyone but me seems to know what’s going on wherever it is we’re going?

LIADRIN:  Honestly?  Because everyone but you was there the first time.

GARROSH:  We were all there before, Dranosh – the four of us, in old Southshore, about ten years ago.  That’s how all of this started.  That’s why the Legion and the Scourge are winning now.

LIADRIN:  None of this was ever supposed to happen.  It’s only happened this way because events in the past were altered, and have snowballed into what’s happening now.

DRANOSH:  <blinking>  Okay, I think I need a second here…

GARROSH:  While you’re doing that… Sori?  What’s the plan here?

SORIDORMI:  I can get you to Hillsbrad the morning of the last day you were there.  That’s when the disruption began.  And ultimately, this rests on Edwin.

FARANELL:  Oh great…

SORIDORMI:  You’re right, Mokvar; trying to switch off versions of Edwin would be far too complicated and leave too much room for something else to go wrong…

The cavern shudders again, more violently.

GARROSH:  Okay, this is sounding like we’re going for the simple approach.  I’m a big fan of the simple approach.

SORIDORMI:  Ordinarily, the one thing one must never do when traveling in time is to interact with oneself.  In this case, though, that’s exactly what Edwin will need to do: force a crossing of timelines between both – or rather, all – versions of himself present in that time.  If Edwin can make physical contact with both iterations of himself at once, it should short out the crossed lines and snap each version back to where he’s supposed to be.

LIADRIN:  That last morning – that was when future-Edwin broke past-Edwin out of Mokvar’s hex.

MOKVAR:  There’s our window.  They’ll both be within a few feet of each other.

SORIDORMI:  If he can do it, the shorting out should trigger both realities into resetting themselves and separating.

GARROSH:  You get all that, Doc?  Today’s your turn to save the world…

The ground shakes once again, and the cavern walls around the surface passage buckle.  A handful of bronze dragons rush down into the cavern, with a swarm of demons close behind.  Behind the initial wave of demon shock troops, Varimathras and Prince Malchezaar descend into the cavern.

CHROMIE:  <calling out while circling around the cavern in dragon form>  They’ve breached the cavern!  Fall back and regroup!  We have to hold them!

LIADRIN:  Soridormi, do you need all of us to go back?

SORIDORMI:  Edwin is the only one who has to go.

DRANOSH:  <to Liadrin>  I think that’s our cue for one last battle of the line.

Liadrin nods, draws the Ashbringer, and runs into a pack of terrorfiends, tearing through then with one spinning swipe of the blade.

<to Garrosh>  This was your mission from the get-go, Overlord.  Go see it through, and I’ll talk to you when it’s over.

Dranosh starts to turn to join the battle.

GARROSH:  Dranosh!

Dranosh looks back.  Garrosh looks at him in silence for a moment.

…Give them hell.

DRANOSH:  <smirks>  I don’t really think they’re running short.  <starts running toward the demons>  Now go be a hero – that’s an order!

Dranosh leaps into a group of felguards and bursts into a Bladestorm.

GARROSH:  You’re the boss.  Lok’tar, Warchief…

FARANELL:  Soridormi… I’ll try my best at this, but even if it works…

Soridormi nods to Faranell and starts to channel a spell through the Focusing Iris into the time portal.

Well…Garrosh said that…the other me may have thrown off the timeline without even meaning to, just because of what he knew.  But now me…I’ve seen so much, how do we know I won’t disrupt history all over again?

Soridormi reaches into a belt pouch and tosses a small tuber to Faranell.

SORIDORMI:  This is a Nepenthe Root.  Is grows only here in the Caverns of Time.  Eat it once you’re through the time portal; it will take an hour or two to take effect.  The root is a powerful purifier on the mind – its effects will ripple through your entire timeline, purging any memories out of synch with their natural timeframe.

GARROSH:  It’s not going to oops-mindwipe him completely, is it?

SORIDORMI:  No…the worst side effect he might experience would manifest itself as sporadic and random lapses of memory.

The demons continued flooding into the cavern while Dranosh, Liadrin, and the dragons fought to hold them at bay.  A group of doomguards managed to get all the way back to the Hillsbrad portal with us.  Mokvar, Edwin, and I managed to fight them off while Soridormi continued channeling her spell.  Once they were dead, Mokvar pushed his notes into my hands and said to take care of Edwin while he helped the rest with the demons, and ran off into the fight.

I looked past Mokvar as he ran into the fray and saw Dranosh going toe-to-toe with Varimathras, then leaping up and sending a Mortal Strike tearing straight into the dreadlord’s throat.  One more swing and he had Varimathras’ head off altogether.  He caught it, spun around, and sent it flying at Malchezaar — pointed so that the dreadlord’s horns pierced straight through Malchezaar’s eyes.

The portal glowed brighter as Soridormi poured more magic into it.  Then the ground shuddered again, and large chunks of the stone around the surface passage broke away.  With a demonic laugh announcing his arrival, Kil’jaeden, Lord of the Burning Legion, stepped down into the Caverns of Time and started walking directly toward us.

Liadrin tore through at least twenty demons with one of her Divine Storms, and ran between Kil’jaeden and us.  The demon lord extended his hand toward her, palm extended, and released a torrent of shadow magic.  Liadrin held the Ashbringer over her head and projected a shimmering shield of holy magic around herself.  The two stood there, facing each other down – Kil’jaeden kept pouring more power into his shadow torrent, Liadrin kept drawing on the Light and the power of the Ashbringer to hold it back.  As she exerted herself more and more, a gleaming white light shone out of the Ashbringer and around her whole body – and after a moment, just as Soridormi called out to us that the time portal was ready, the glowing, pulsing light surrounding Liadrin sharpened into the shape of a naaru.

Liadrin looked back at us.  Her eyes were white and glowing.  For all the fighting and screaming and magic eruptions, I should never have been able to make out an individual voice, but just for a moment I could hear hers – in my head.  It was accompanied by a musical chiming, and echoed by a second voice, one I’d heard but not quite heard once before…the voice of A’dal.

We can’t hold him forever.  GO!

I grabbed Edwin’s arm and pulled him through the portal as the ground shook and the walls quaked.  The Caverns of Time disappeared in a dizzying rush of light, and the sounds of battle ringing in my ears faded into a memory of the future as I felt myself sliding back into the past.

I’ll see you on the other side.

Show time.

The group assembled today on the Windrunner: me, both Saurfangs, Liadrin, Edwin, Jaina, Mokvar, Dontrag, and Utvoch.  I figured the way the Scourge have swarmed through practically all of Northrend, I’d just as soon not leave anything to chance, which is why we brought so much heavy-artillery personnel.  Drok and his crew had the ship ready to go, and we set off for the Nexus in Coldarra.  Once we had the Focusing Iris, we’d head straight for Dalaran, where Jaina’s Kirin Tor friends would be ready to port us straight to the Caverns of Time.

We arrived at the Nexus and docked the ship on one of the upper ring platforms that was equipped with a teleportation orb.  One problem: the platform was swarming with Scourge – all the platforms were.  Vargul and skeletons mostly, with a couple necromancer types lurking around the back.

I’ll tell you, Mokvar was right the other day.  This really wasn’t fair.

Between me whirlwinding through skeletons by the bushel, Liadrin Diving Storming her way right through the heart of them, Jaina flame-roasting undead in bunches, and – yup – Saurfangs Young and Old cleaving down everything in sight, it didn’t take us long to clear a path to the teleportation orb.  The only down side was that those necromancers kept summoning more undead, and every so often a proto-drake would fly by and drop another damn vrykul to help keep the influx coming.

GARROSH:  They’re not getting anywhere, but neither are we if we just stay up here all day killing these fuckers…

The necromancers cast another summoning spell, and some hundred new skeletons appear on the platform.

LIADRIN:  <slashing by one of the vargul>  We don’t all need to be up here – you go, I’ll stay and protect the ship.

GARROSH:  You sure?  There’s still an awful lot of them.

Liadrin rushes into a cluster of vargul, dropping them all with another spinning Divine Storm.  As she finishes her follow-through, she lands on one knee, slamming the Ashbringer down onto the platform floor; a shimmering flash of yellow-white light bursts from the Ashbringer and shoots out in a horizontal shockwave in all directions.  The light rips through the skeletons and sends them spilling onto the floor, burning with holy fire.  Still on one knee, Liadrin tilts her head up at Garrosh.

LIADRIN:  I’m not worried.

Jaina runs to a clear area near the gunship and starts channeling a spell.  A glowing blue runic circle begins to appear on the floor beneath her.

JAINA:  I’m placing a portal marker here.  Once we have the Focusing Iris, I’ll be able to teleport us directly back.

Several more vargul drop onto the platform.  While Liadrin engages them, several val’kyr and gargoyles descend down over the Windrunner.

SAURFANG:  <rushing back to the gunship and cleaving through gargoyles>  I’ll stay back as well to help guard the ship.

MOKVAR:  Well now you’re just running up the score on them.

SAURFANG:  The rest of you – go!

DRANOSH:  You all heard the man.  Let’s get moving.

We took the teleportation orb into the Nexus.  The sight that greeted us froze us all in our tracks.  Around the circular room and down every hall, the ground was littered with the lifeless bodies of blue dragons.  We all just stared for a minute while the sight sunk in.  I think it hit Jaina the hardest, what with her probably having had some dealings with the blues over the years.  She knelt down over one of the dead dragons and put a hand over its face.

JAINA:  This… I know her.  This is… Her name is…was Kirygosa.  She was a daughter of Malygos…

UTVOCH:  Wait, when you said there were going to be a lot of dragons here, I thought you meant they were going to be alive.

GARROSH:  …Seriously?

FARANELL:  That’s got to be an act, right?  I mean he can’t possibly really be that stupid.

MOKVAR:  Dontrag and Utvoch: raising the bar on lowering the bar, since the dawn of time.

DONTRAG:  Hey, I didn’t say anything!

GARROSH:  Yet.

DRANOSH:  <surveying the halls>  Most of the…  <glances back at Jaina, then lowers his voice slightly>  …most of the blood seems fresh.  Whoever did this did it fairly recently.

GARROSH:  Probably still nearby.

Jaina stands slowly, still looking down at the bodies.

JAINA:  Kalecgos considered her one of his dearest friends…

DRANOSH:  The next time you see him, you can tell him all about the world of pain we brought down on the ones who did this to her.

GARROSH:  It has to be the Scourge, based on upstairs.  Not sure why they’d be coming after the blue dragons, though.

JAINA:  At this point, they’re one of the only major powers left between them and all of Northrend…  It was only a matter of time before they struck here.

GARROSH:  That’s the thing, though – yeah, they have the Horde and Alliance on the ropes, but why wouldn’t they finish them off first, THEN take on the dragons?  The Lich King has to know he’s got the upper hand.  Why divide his efforts?

DRANOSH:  Maybe he wants to finish both off quickly?

GARROSH:  All the time we were up here fighting him, did you ever know Arthas to be impatient?

JAINA:  He’s not.  Anymore.

DRANOSH:  <shrugs>  Either way.  I am the impatient type – let’s go find that Focusing Iris and let it be finished.

We made our way deeper into the Nexus, finding more slain dragons all the way.  As we worked our way down a long, descending passageway, we could hear sounds of combat, and reptilian cries of pain.  I ordered Dontrag and Utvoch to make sure they kept Edwin safe under pain of so-much-worse-than-death-your-admittedly-limited-brains-would-melt-just-trying-to-imagine-it.  The bottom of the passage was dark and filled with shadows.  As the floor leveled out from the end of our descent, we turned a corner and came to a doorway.

The room was large and circular, with crystalline patterns in the walls and floor, like so many of the other rooms here.  In the center of the room, hovering in the air of its own accord, was the Focusing Iris – an enormous blue orb, glowing with arcane power.  On the far side of the room, four humanoids – a human, a tauren, and a pair of dwarves – all wearing armor like that of a death knight, stood over bodies of blue dragons.  More bodies filled the room, and the air reeked with the smell of draconic blood.  Two more death knights, a draenei and a troll, flanked the doorway on either side, and as we came around the corner they called out a warning.

And as the sentries cried out, in the center of the room, out from behind the Focusing Iris stepped Tirion Fordring.  Covered in spiked black armor, wielding a runeblade, eyes glowing a deathly pale blue.  I’ll tell you, I was never crazy about Tirion, but this was still horrible to see.  Even Tirion deserved better than this.

TIRION:  <grinning broadly>  Ah, how serendipitous!  It appears fate has set us all upon a parallel venture, and I find myself reunited with personages of no small familiarity.  I greet you all, good orcs and humans, and welcome you to the curtain’s rise on the final act of this grand endeavor!

GARROSH:  By the spirits…

Tirion gestures to his minions.

DRANOSH:  What?

Tirion’s Deathbringers rush at the group, blades poised.

GARROSH:  He still loves to talk.

Jaina casts a Cone of Cold that slows the death knights’ approach.

DRANOSH:  <shrugs>  Time to do what we do.  Lok’tar!

GARROSH:  For the Horde!

DONTRAG and UTVOCH:  For the Horde!

MOKVAR:  For the Horde!

JAINA:  Um, actually…

Jaina exchanges a shrug with Faranell.

Okay.  Whatever.

Garrosh, Dranosh, Dontrag, and Utvoch rush forward to engage the Deathbringers, and the two groups battle back and forth, with Tirion lurking by the Focusing Iris, watching and taunting.

TIRION:  Good, my glorious vassals, unleash your fury and show these intruders the fate that awaits those who would interfere with the work of our dread lord the Lich King!  Woe be to any who stand against us!  Their ruined bodies shall be the latest paving the way to our inevitable dominion over this world!

GARROSH:  <exchanging blows with the tauren>  The hell are you even HERE for, Tirion?  What do you fuckers even want with the Focusing Iris?

TIRION:  Well could I ask you the same, young Hellscream!  But as it will profit you naught, I will tell you, so that you might meet your end knowing the full scope of your failure, and indeed the hand you and your ilk have had in bringing forth this very hour!

DRANOSH:  <aside>  That’s it, get him monologuing…

GARROSH:  <aside>  He’s going to be monologuing anyway, might as well get him going on something useful maybe…

Dranosh and Garrosh continue pushing back the tauren and human.  Dontrag and Utvoch spar with the two dwarves, aided by chain lightning from Mokvar, while Jaina launches a seething fireball that incinerates the troll.

TIRION:  Did you truly believe your ill-fated ploy to deny the Lich King your precious Sunwell would go unanswered?  That the master of the Scourge would be halted by your sad, trifling magician’s tricks?  You merely delayed the inevitable; and now, with the Focusing Iris in hand, the Lich King’s mightiest seers will shatter the meddlesome bubble conjured by that poor, doomed, suddenly so very solitary dragon Kalecgos—

Jaina lets loose another pair of fireballs, finishing the dwarven death knights fighting Dontrag and Utvoch.

JAINA:  Kalcgos’ flight had no part in this war, Tirion!  The old you – the real you – he would be sickened to see what you’ve done to these innocents!

TIRION:  Oh, Lady Proudmoore, do not be so naïve as to think the blues innocent – or yourself.  It was Kalecgos who chose to throw in his lot with your kind and aid in your foolish charade at the Sunwell, and all of you who interfered in the Scourge’s march.  The Lich King was content to leave these pitiable lizards be – for now.  It was you who forced his hand, you who altered his plans, you who made the Focusing Iris a necessary implement—

DRANOSH:  Spirits, he likes to talk…

GARROSH:  Dude, you have NO IDEA.

TIRION:  —and you, all of you, who helped bring this fate upon the Blue Dragonflight today!  From their blood shall flow the coming of a new age for this world!  From their deaths shall be forged a new future, bathed in carnage!

JAINA:  <gathering a fiery glow in her hands>  You want carnage?  Arthas will have more blood than he ever bargained for!

Jaina unleashes a massive fireball that tears through the draenei death knight and badly burns the tauren and human – whom Dranosh and Garrosh quickly finish off – and hurls Tirion back against the far wall.

DRANOSH:  Remind me not to piss her off.

GARROSH:  No shit, right?

Tirion pulls himself up and faces the group.

TIRION:  You all shall pay dearly for—

DRANOSH:  <charging in and knocking Tirion a few steps back>  Pro tip, Tirion – when your boys are taking it on the chin, might be a good idea to stop running your mouth for a minute and help them out.

Garrosh joins in, and Tirion begins scrambling to deflect both orcs’ blows.

TIRION:  You think I fear you, boy?  Through the Lich King I have seen power the likes of which you cannot comprehend!  By his will I have cast off death itself, and risen anew, ascended, greater than I might ever have dreamed in my former, paltry, limited existence!  You do not know what you trifle with, you—

As Dranosh and Garrosh unleash a flurry of blows from both sides, Jaina singes Tirion with a surge of flame, then freezes him in place with a frost nova, throwing off his footing.

GARROSH:  Tirion…

Garrosh locks one of his axes in a parry with Tirion, then drops his second axe from his free hand and swings his fist under the runeblade and into Tirion’s gut.

Shut.

Garrosh breaks the parry, forcing Tirion’s blade hand to swing to one side, where Dranosh hacks it away at the wrist.

The fuck.

Garrosh and Dranosh bring their axes down from either side, slamming vicious into the base of Tirion’s neck.

UP!

Tirion slumps lifeless to the floor.

JAINA:  <looking down sadly at the body>  You have been missed, old friend.  May your spirit finally find its rest now.

MOKVAR:  Okay, let’s get what we came for and go.

JAINA:  Let me get it into a more manageable form…

Jaina holds her hands out to the Focusing Iris and begins channeling beams of arcane magic into it.  Slowly, the Focusing Iris shrinks until it has been reduced to a shimmering blue sphere about a foot in diameter, hovering in the air.

There…now we just need to—

Jaina is interrupted by a shadowy, purple tendril of magic that lashes out at her from the doorway and yanks her back toward it.  Her body flies backward through the air and – with a hideous slicing sound – into a blade held out from the dark hallway:

Frostmourne.

As Dranosh steps in to catch the falling Focusing Iris, the Lich King strides into the room, Jaina’s body still impaled on the runebalde.

LICH KING:  Impressive…

The Lich King shakes Frostmourne, dropping Jaina’s body to the ground.

Most impressive.

UTVOCH:  Okay, this isn’t so bad, there’s just one of him against all of us…

The Lich King drives Frostmourne’s blade into the floor, releasing a shockwave that knocks the group back against the far wall of the room.  As they recover, the Lich King hold Frostmourne aloft and begins channeling a spell.

LICH KING:  Now then…a further test…

Crackling purple energy shoots out of Frostmourne in all directions.  Slowly, the dozens of dragon corpses around the room begin to rise, eyes glowing a dull blue, bodies withered and gaunt.

GARROSH:  Oh…shit…

DONTRAG:  You really have to keep your mouth shut, Ut.

The nearest few reanimated dragons rush at them.  Garrosh, Dontrag, and Utvoch step in to intercept them and start to fight them back, with Mokvar and Faranell casting spells at them from behind.

The Lich King continues channeling.  After a few seconds, Jaina’s body rises from the floor; her hair has turned white save for a single blonde streak, and her eyes shimmer with a lifeless blue glow.  She looks around the room, then faces the Lich King.

JAINA:  A-Arthas…?

LICH KING:  I have missed you…my Queen.

Jaina grins hideously, turns, and unleashes an enormous fireball that incinerates two of the dragons on its way toward Faranell.

DONTRAG:  Doc!

UTVOCH:  Look out!

Dontrag lunges at Faranell while Utvoch rushes in from the opposite side.  Dontrag shoves Faranell out of the fireball’s path, just before the flames reduce both him and Utvoch to smoldering heaps of ash.

DRANOSH:  Edwin!  Jaina was our ride out.  That’s your job now – port us out of here, and fast!

FARANELL:  But— I’m not that powerful a mage!

Dranosh shoves the Focusing Iris into Faranell’s hands; a bluish white glow shimmers over his body.

DRANOSH:  You are now.  Fire it up!

Garrosh and Mokvar – both fighting dragons – back up toward Dranosh and Faranell.  Faranell closes his eyes, mutters an incantation, and teleports the group away in a blinding flash.

We reappeared up on the ring platform where we’d docked – a few yards off from Jaina’s targeting rune, but hey, I’m not going to nitpick over a clutch save from Edwin.  When we appeared, we were greeted by the sight of an enormous pile of Scourge corpses that formed a hill leading up to the Windrunner.  Dozens of vargul, hundreds of ghouls and skeletons, val’kyr, geists, a couple frost wyrms…and sitting on top of the pile were Liadrin and Saurfang, taking turns drinking from a waterskin.

LIADRIN:  <looks up at them>  What kept you?

DRANOSH:  We had guests.

GARROSH:  Come on, everyone get on the ship.

SAURFANG:  Where are the others?  Lady Proudmoore, and the…cerebrally inexpansive duo?

GARROSH:  They didn’t make it.

SAURFANG:  What happened?

DRANOSH:  Arthas is here.

LIADRIN:  By the Light… Get on board, and quickly!

GARROSH:  What happened to you not being worried?

LIADRIN:  I wasn’t.

DRANOSH:  Fire it up, Captain!  Top speed to Dalaran!

The group boards the Windrunner, which disembarks from the platform.  After a moment, the ship shakes and creaks, then begins to slide slowly backwards.

DRANOSH:  Um, Drok?  I don’t think I said anything about reverse.

DROK:  We’re still on full ahead, sir, I don’t—

GARROSH:  Uh, I think you guys might want to have a look at this…

They turn to look back at the ring platform, where the Lich King now stands, channeling a dark purple band of energy from his hand that grips the gunship, and using it to slowly tug the ship back toward the Nexus.

MOKVAR:  He’s— he’s death-gripping the ship!  How is he death-gripping the whole ship?!

DRANOSH:  Drok, this would be a good time to give the engines a little extra – we’ve got to get out of here!

DROK:  I’m giving them everything she’s got, sir!  I can’t change the laws of physics!

Saurfang stands at the railing, watching as the Lich King slowly drags the gunship back toward him.  Saurfang looks back at Dranosh, then to Garrosh.

SAURFANG:  He’s looked out for you since you were children.

Garrosh gives a quizzical look, then nods.

Look out for him now.

Saurfang turns and launches himself off the deck, toward the platform below.

FOR THE HORDE!

Saurfang barrels into the Lich King and they both crash onto the floor.  With the Lich King’s death grip broken, the gunship lurches forward again and starts to pull away from the Nexus.

DRANOSH:  Father!  No!

Garrosh intercepts Dranosh as he rushes to the edge of the ship and pulls him back.

GARROSH:  Get us OUT of here, Captain!

DRANOSH:  <spinning back toward Drok, still in Garrosh’s grip>  No!  Turn us around, Drok, we have to—

Garrosh spins Dranosh back to face him.

GARROSH:  You know what he’s doing!  DON’T LET IT BE FOR NOTHING!

Dranosh stops struggling.  Garrosh releases him, and as the gunship continues its escape, he walks to the railing and looks down at the platform, where the Lich King knocks Saurfang away from him.

LICH KING:  Foolish old orc!  You dare stand against me?  Do you know how many of your kind I’ve slain?

SAURFANG:  You…murdered…children.  <draws his axe>  You answer to Saurfang now!

Saurfang charges the Lich King furiously, cleaving and slashing with his axe.  The Lich King parries with Frostmourne, and the two grapple back and forth as the platform shrinks from view.

I’m writing from the Windrunner now.  We should reach Dalaran soon.  I’ll update again when I can, if the news is good.  If it isn’t, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be here to keep updating.

In the meantime, we continue on our way to Dalaran.

In silence.

[Header image of the Nexus provided by regular reader and commenter ZugZug.  Gunship image provided by Rioriel from Postcards From Azeroth; click here to see the souped-up Postcard version!  Both images used with permission and many thanks.]

It’s been one of those days.

I returned from gathering skins last night to find Berwick at the door.  I had just posted the skins I had collected to my father in Silvermoon, so at least I wasn’t still toting them around, but I’m sure I looked a mess.  Which is fine, he can see me like that, but he didn’t want to live here so I thought he might not want to see me unless my hair was perfect or something.  He didn’t say anything about it.  In fact, he completely turned around from what he said the other night.  He wants to live here.  He wants to help pay the rent.  He did say it was weird because he thought it was Sanimir’s room.  As I understood, they had just moved in here when I came to Dalaran.  So I guess it was his room for what, a week?  I’ve redecorated and everything.  Berwick can add whatever he wants to it as well.

So anyway, I really had to figure out if I could keep the apartment or not.  Sanimir didn’t really answer the note I sent so I found a mage this morning to open a portal to Silvermoon to talk to him or his parents about it.  I thought it would be a good time to see my father and mention I’ve met someone too.

So I went to see the Lightmists first.  It turned out to be a really bad time to see them.  Sanimir has apparently run off again.  I wanted to ask if it was something he just did every few weeks but I didn’t.  Anyway, I don’t know where he went.  I haven’t seen him.  I said I’d let them know if he did show up.

Of course, I still had to ask for the apartment so I mentioned that I planned to stay in Dalaran and I asked if Sanimir was going to be allowed to return someday because I certainly don’t want to stay in the apartment it if he wants it.  The paperwork was done in his name, so technically it’s his.  His father said he won’t be returning to Dalaran for a long time, and he recommended speaking with the owner to get the rental agreement redone in my name.

So that worked out.  I assured them, again, before going, that if I saw Sanimir, I’d let them know.  As I was walking away from the house, one of his sisters jogged by.  She handed me a folded piece of paper as she passed me.  I kept walking, waiting until I was out of sight of the house before unfolding the paper to read it.  It was from Aranae.  She wants me to only inform her if he shows up in Dalaran.  She said it was important that their parents didn’t know.

He’s a kid.  Why shouldn’t his parents know where he is?  I think if he shows up, I’ll be telling them first.  His bratty sisters can find out from them.  Although I am curious as to why she wants to keep it from her parents.  I won’t tell them she gave me the note, but I do find it odd.

I went to see father after.  He’s doing well.  He was very happy with the furs I sent.  Yara is doing wonderful too.  I told them that I’ve met someone in Dalaran already and that I might be unreachable for a few days because we’re going on a small trip.  Father wants to meet him, naturally.  He wanted to know if he was a mage, and asked about his family.  I just went on about how wonderful he was.  I think he gave up on getting answers to his questions after a bit.  I’ll have to tell him eventually, but for now, he only needs to know how happy I am with Berwick.

Some toys are ridiculously fun with other people – Heavy Leather Balls and Paper Zeppelins are my personal favourites. A few items are meant for two:

A Romantic Picnic Basket is an item clearly meant to be shared.

Others, like trainset, are meant to be loud and obnoxious. I LOVE loud and obnoxious things! (Particularly because I play without sound.)

There are items that transform you:

I’m one of these plants. No, seriously.

Others are connected to in-game achievements:

Jonze, as it turns out, is a street performer on the side.

What’s your favourite in-game toy?

Canon refers to the actual events and characters that exist in a fictional world. Headcanon refers to any situations or characters that are imagined by fans of said fictional world. Sometimes they are silly, like the fact that Garrosh’s favorite treat is lemon squares. Sometimes they are serious, like positing that tauren store grief in the lungs. For my writing, I’ve come up with a lot of headcanon. Got a theory about a torrid romance between your favorite auctioneer and the patrolling guard? Given any thought to where mounts and pets go when they aren’t summoned? Do you know how your characters do their laundry, or what Baine Bloodhoof does in his free time? What are your headcanons, and where did you get the idea?

Suggested by Akabeko.

Long before I actually rolled a Gnome, the Longberry sisters fascinated me. I used to follow Bimble around Ironforge buying apples from her as an excuse to engage in conversion.

With time she and her sister Ginny morphed from being innocent fruit and reagent vendors into something slightly more sinister in my head. Instead of just helping the inhabitants of Ironforge get their vitamin D, something they clearly need large amounts of since they live underground, Bimble and Ginny are actually Gnomish spy-masters in the pay of SI:7. Shipments of fruit come in from all corners of Azeroth and hidden within the crates of sour green apples and heavy moon harvested pumpkins come reports of troop movements and blood stained battle plans. So if you happened upon the right code word next time you buy your juicy pomegranates straight from the Twilight Highlands, who knows what information might fall into your hands. Of course the consequences for messing with such things might be lethal, after all everyone who has ever read Christina Rossetti should know the perils of purchasing fruit from small creatures.

One thing has always bothered me about the Violet Hold. What crimes did these “dangerous” prisoners commit? Can they possibly have topped the terrible things that we the player base have done and if not, why are we swanning around in the Kirin Tor’s tabards whilst they languish in magical prison cells. Thus to sway my own guilty feelings, I started coming with possible offences for these monsters.

This chap above for example might not look particularly ferocious when trapped behind a forcefield but meet him face to face and you’d soon be singing a different tune. His line of “Free to–mm–fly now. Ra-aak… Not find us–ekh-ekh! Escape!” is purely diversion, he doesn’t want to escape, he wants to eat your face with a side order of salted eye chased down by a pickled egg.

Moragg might look like a typical demon, the sort of thing you warlocks can make friends with these days, but secretly it loves nothing better than watching people get down and dirty. This was going fine until the demon happened to come across this:

The tiny gnome peered over the railing into the secluded Dalaran courtyard.
“The view from the balcony is amazing.  You have to come see!”
Armor legplates creaked as Marcus walked over, taking in a deep breath as he absently scratched his scruffy chin.
“The Hero’s Welcome is no slouch.  And there’s something in the room that might interest you.”
Tavi bounded into the room, pausing only a moment before jumping onto the massive bed.

from A Steamy Romance Novel: Northern Exposure

What happened next had a profound and rather disturbing effect on the poor creature. We’ll never know what exactly caused the outburst but once the demon was distracted (you really don’t want to know how much blindweed that took), the body count was in the hundreds.

I actually spend far too much time coming up with stories both for my own characters and those they encounter. I suppose I feel that all of them, from the one line baddies we slaughter on a daily basis to the passing NPCs deserve a story of their own and without the words to sing it themselves, we need to tell for them.

]]> http://wowstorylines.com/2012/09/06/staying-neutral-whether-people-like-it-or-not/ Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:53:21 +0000 wowstorylines http://wowstorylines.com/2012/09/06/staying-neutral-whether-people-like-it-or-not/ Written in very cursive script denoting the maturity and education of the author 

September 6th

Dear Journal,

After sitting here and banging my head on the desk for the last few days in regard to the fact that I think that that idiot Garrosh is going to do something stupid that will affect Azeroth adversely.  I have come to the conclusion that there is no way that I can stop it, however, there are other means to get around when situations change dramatically, which I’m sure that whatever this is, is going to be extremely dramatic. 

I am an Ambassador for the Horde, I’ve worked on negotiations for years between parties that have chosen to disagree and have been fairly successful with my endeavors over the years.  I have averted a few things that could have brought on a small civil war between some of the groups and have walked away knowing that I was successful or at least knowing that I have done my best to remain neutral with them.  It took me a long time to get the title and for it to be recognized, which it is recognized in most cases, and I’m considered more than a meddling businessman when it comes to this work.

I’m happy to say that Kaldor is also an Ambassador for the Alliance.  He’s good at what he does and in time I think that he will develop into quite a good Ambassador, it just takes time and experience.  Fortunately or Unfortunately, he did inherit my gift for talking at least.  He’s like a diamond in the rough right now but I can see that his mind is definitely working when he is dealing with issues that require a mediator. 

Maybe between the two of us we can still keep things at a level of neutrality and avoid some of the conflicts that I am sure are going to be dumped into our laps in the near future.  I’m sure that some of the more hardcore military minded folks will think that we are both traitors to our factions, however, that will be their prerogative and we will have to deal with that on a case by case basis. 

At least Amyn has done her part in getting the boys back to Dalaran for the time being, although, Kaldor still makes the trek back to Stormwind to make sure that everything is going okay with the company at least.  He hasn’t mentioned his young lady very much since he’s been home, however, that’s something I won’t pry into because it’s none of my business as his Father. 

I know that he and I have never sat at opposite ends of a negotiation table yet, however, I think that this is going to happen very soon.  I know that he has a level head on his shoulders, thanks to his Mother keeping his head out of his backside most of his life.  She’s a remarkable woman and I have all of the respect in the world for her with the way that she does her own brand of being a negotiator, however, that Sentinel will take over every now and again which means the negotiations end rather abruptly.

Well, now that I know the children are safe and my wife is at home, I can relax a little bit more.  It is going to be a bit hard on the older boys, however, they can go about their business as long as they let us know where they are for a while.  I’m still uneasy and worried and I think I will be that way for a while. 

I guess this is all about how it is when you’re parenting and running businesses.  Something is constantly preying on your mind.

Fnor Morningstar

He had been stopping work earlier since Kit moved in.  He hadn’t meant to ask her to move in so soon, but he did despite not meaning to.  He hadn’t regretted it, not exactly.  It had merely caught him off-guard, even if it was his idea.  She was much younger than him.  He was certain the two of them together was already raising some eyebrows.  One of the neighbors had simply stared as she moved her stuff in.

They’re just jealous.  He told himself as he started cleaning his work area.  It made sense to him.  She shouldn’t stay at the inn while in Dalaran, and they could see each other more now.  He was worried that she would change, that she would hate him and become horrible after moving her stuff in.  Although it wasn’t marriage, she lived with him now, at least while she was in Dalaran.  That was his biggest cause for hesitation, not her age.

If she did change, he’d have to ask her to leave, and that wasn’t something he wanted to think about having to do.

He had spoken with her about what his brother said about not going to his brother’s wedding, and then getting an invitation anyway.  She thought he should go.  He wasn’t so sure.  Perhaps he could sit in the back and sneak out before the reception.  Of course, Isandri would likely interpret that as rude.

I don’t want to get punched at a wedding.  That’s not rude.  He frowned as he put the new earrings into the safe where he kept his more valuable supplies and unfinished products.  He could try to leave a note with his gift that he made for them, a set of hairpins for Isandri, and a gold chain necklace in one of the styles Teniron had recently learned for Theronil.  Both were, he thought, some of his best work.  If he included a note that stated he wished he could have stayed wouldn’t be a bad thing.

He’d have to think about it.  There were a few days yet.  Though he supposed he should decide soon so he could get something decent to wear to a wedding, if he did go.  As he locked his workshop for the evening, he wondered if Kit would go with him.

August 28th

Dear Journal,

I am sitting here in Dalaran this morning with the usual cup of coffee and my cigarettes because that’s what I intend to do for the next few days.   I returned home from Orgrimmar rather late last night after being stuck in the city for longer than I would like at times.

The place is rife with rumors and with all of the contracts that I have been getting in the last few weeks, the rumor mills grinding away, I am certain that something is definitely in the wind.   I know that I haven’t had contracts requesting a lot of items like this since the last war and I am almost afraid to speculate what is going to happen in Azeroth due to my past experience.  I know that I have such a sense of foreboding and my intuition is telling me to pull my family back to Dalaran.  I know that sounds stupid but it is just a strong feeling that I have that something is about to happen.

I know the last time that I felt this way and it was hitting me like a hammer for months prior to the rising of Deathwing and the feeling I have now is even stronger.  At least with Deathwing we had a bit of a warning, this is just a feeling that I have right now and I am going to listen to it.

Months before Deathwing rose, there were warning signs all over Azeroth.  The elementals were insane and would attack cities, villages and towns for no reason.  It was as if they were trying to drive out the humanity so that they could either cure their ills or they were filled with the murderous rage of a Nature that we couldn’t comprehend. It was indeed some harrowing times for everyone on the planet.  It seemed to be primarily hitting Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms.  We all know what happened in the end of that cycle, we were all introduced to an insane entity known as Deathwing and the destruction that he wrought on the planet will never be forgotten.

I know that I am seeing through my contracts and from what I’ve seen in Orgrimmar, a heavy troop buildup again.   This makes me almost heartsick because it can only mean one thing and that is that our Warchief is up to something.  No one seems to know exactly what it is or when it will happen, however, the feeling is that it is going to be soon.  I’m almost afraid to check my personal mail right now because I feel like I may be recalled to take over a command in the Rangers again, which means only one thing.  All out war with the Alliance. 

Here we’ve been sitting with our rose-colored glasses on and thinking that the world would change for the better.  I don’t think that I will ever truly know peace in my lifetime.  My main concern right now is with Amyn and the children.  If it comes to another war with our factions, how safe will I be able to keep them?  It’s not like I can hold them hostage in Dalaran to keep them safe.  I don’t know which way my children will go if war comes again.  Yes, I’m worried; I’m frightened and deeply concerned.  What if my sons decide that they have to join the services – would I ever have to face my son on the battlefield as I did my wife on a few occasions?

Here I was sitting in Dalaran a few days ago, content with my lot in life.  I actually felt happy and content with everything. Now, after spending a couple of days in Orgrimmar and hearing the rumors flying around the city, I am filled with dread and fear.  Yes, fear that my family will be torn asunder and put into harm’s way.   The only thing that I can do at this point is to get prepared for what may be a very bumpy ride in our future.

I will be pulling most of the employees in the company back closer to their homes and families and will try to keep them there with the contracts that we have available.  More contracts keep pouring in, it’s as if they have almost tripled in the last two days and that’s what has me worried.  I still have to go through them and approve them; however, I am going to be extremely cautious as to which ones I take.  I will have to talk with Dawnglory and see what news he has been able to garner from the city as well because he is much more in touch with the population in Orgrimmar than I am at this point.  Although, being friends with some of the people that are privy to some of Garrosh’s ideas that he has floating through that warmongering skull of his and they are being very quiet on the subject, not matter how much I tried to pry without being obvious.

I know that the things that I have heard have disturbed my inner peace greatly and I just hope that I am wrong with what my intuition is telling me is going to happen.  I sit here in Dalaran, looking at the family that I have under my protection and I am also thinking about some of our friends.  Some of them are just starting out in life with their dreams riding a high that only being that young can give you.  I look at Raleth and Lali, starting their family already, a baby on the way.  What will become of all of us if there is war on the horizon?  What will that do to our children that we all love more than life itself?

I’ve already spoken with Amyn and she has said that she hasn’t heard anything of any great importance other than the usual grumbles and rumors that one always hears in Stormwind.  I suppose any large city always has those types of rumors floating around.  However, I did ask her to make the trip to Stormwind and start sending our employees out on contracts that will have them closer to their homes rather than running them far afield.  I also asked her to make sure that Kaldor and Vashlan returned to Dalaran as quickly as possible.  She is also going to Dolonaar to speak with her parents and try to get them to come to Dalaran and stay for a while; I know she would feel more comfortable with them being up here rather than there.

I know that I am probably being an alarmist but I’d much rather be a fool for wanting to make sure that my family is safe than to just ignore the facts that I see in front of me and adding the rumors, it could only mean one thing. 

I am still worried about Sol, however, I am going to keep a weather eye out for the other things and continue my search for her.  If they have moved her out of Ice Crown, then, the next place that has the best areas for hiding is Storm Peaks.  I will take a run up there later today or even tomorrow to see if I can see any signs of a group traveling through there.  Of course, I have some friends up there that might have noticed a group of people acting covertly in the area.  If it is the same group that we have dealing with for the last few months, they are going to be extremely difficult to find because they can blend in so easily with the rest of the population, however, I can’t imagine that Sol would be blending in real well if I know her.  Damn the timing on this!!   I know she didn’t have this planned but I wish to all that is holy that she had left some word with someone before undertaking this kind of adventure on her own.  I know she likes to protect the company and the family from any harm that she can, however, I think that sometimes her heart overrules her intelligence.  She’s gusty, brave and one of the best fighters that I have ever had the privilege of knowing, however, I hope she hasn’t gotten into something that will cost her more than just that long braid of hers.  Damn it!!

I need to get my mind on some more pleasant things or I’ll start drinking brandy.  I know that I have these concerns but I can’t allow them to push everything else out of the way at this point.  I have things that are still keeping all of us happy with everything for the time being.

I really did enjoy meeting Kaldor’s young lady from Stormwind.  I was really rather pleasantly surprised with how she conducted herself while she was here.  I know my son is probably living in a pipedream that might end up breaking his heart; however, it’s something that I can only warn him about and hope that the damage isn’t all that severe.   He’s very close to the age that I was when I first encountered his Mother and that little minx stole my heart for life, little did I know it at the time.

Sure, Dawnglory is speculating very loudly that the girl might be a Worgen.  So, what of it?  If she happens to have gotten that Curse handed to her, I’m sure that it isn’t something that she asked for nor did Felaran ask to become a Death Knight.  If she has that particular thing, that’s strictly between Kaldor and her.  I have no great love for worgen in the wild, however, it’s my understanding that these poor devils have the ability to live as both the creature and as a human…most are capable of keeping the beast under control.  I do wish that I was more knowledgeable about them and it would probably behoove me to find out some things because after watching those two together, she might be visiting Dalaran a bit more often in the future.  I just hope that my son is aware of what he might be getting himself into. 

Oh, speaking of my son.  He really trounced me at the tournament last week and I’m demanding a rematch when he gets back to Dalaran.  We took his Mother with us and I couldn’t help but notice that she was more than a little bit thrilled to see her son dump the old man on his backside a couple of times.  Damn that kid is strong!  I guess that the Kaldorei build has a lot to do with it too, his reach is probably a good foot or longer than mine and he is damned near impossible to unseat from his mount due to his size and weight.  Of course, she and Kaldor got into a bit of an argument because she wants to give this tournament thing a “go” and thinks that she would be good at it – I think it would be fantastic for her.  Kal is of the opinion that women shouldn’t do this sort of thing.  He and I had a bit of a discussion about his sexiest ideas and I think that I put the kibosh on those thoughts or at least he will know better than to voice his opinions around his Mother and me.   I will have to admit that I do like competing with him whether I win or lose at this point.

Oh well, just got another large stack of contracts dumped on my desk and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow down anytime soon.  At least Faendra is here and she can start putting the things in order.  I hope Amyn doesn’t spend too much time in Stormwind today trying to do the same thing; I want her to get home.  Not to mention the little guys are here and they will make us all crazy if she’s not here to tie them down or something.  I know Agatha keeps giving them food and sending them back to their rooms to study some more.  Oh well, they will either put on 20 pounds or they will actually be in there working on the schoolwork they have been given to do today.  I’ll take them out for a walk here in a little while and hope that they don’t get into trouble, maybe a trip to the toy store, a new train set might be a good thing for them to put together and play with.

Fnor Morningstar

“I’m your son.  I can visit you in the morning sometimes, Maena.”

“But you don’t.  You shouldn’t be here.”  Maena replied, her eyes scanning the street below her window.

Aeramin frowned.  He had hoped she would be reasonable this morning.  It wasn’t looking good.  “Minn’da, I won’t be able to visit for a few days, so I’m coming to say goodbye this morning.  I’m going on a trip.”

Maena’s ears perked as she turned around to face him this time.  She remained seated.  “A trip?”

“Yes Minn’da.  To Outland.  I won’t be gone too long.”

“Outland?  Isn’t that the place where all the demons are from?”

“I’m going to a library there, Maena.”  Aeramin said, trying to dodge the question about the demons.  “I’ll be in a city most of the time.  It’s a wonderful opportunity to study.”

“How much will it cost?  Your father and I won’t have enough to send you.”

Aeramin blinked, “Minn’da, it’s already paid for.”

“Wonderful!  You have my permission to go.”

He nodded slowly.  She was obviously confused.  He hated days like this.  “Thanks Minn’da.”  He smiled.

He spoke with her a little longer before excusing himself to go finish packing.  He was further saddened upon arriving home.  There was still no sign of Sanimir.  Xyliah and her friend, Berwick, had also left.  She had mentioned that she wouldn’t be around for a few days earlier that morning, while Aeramin was making breakfast.  He had at least woke up in time to have breakfast.

He had spent the greater part of the night looking for Sanimir.  He hoped Kestrae and Xanaroth wouldn’t notice his lack of sleep.  The last thing he needed was to be told he couldn’t go because he wasn’t focused.  True, he had gotten home very late last night, but he could still focus.  He had to.  Perhaps he could fit a nap in before going to meet them.

He started packing his bag.  He’d be able to wear his robes, the ones Sanimir had bought for him.  He carefully folded them and put them in the bag.

He sighed as he took another robe from the closet.  All of Sanimir’s robes hung on the other side.  He had already counted them, and all except the one he wore to the wedding were accounted for.  Aeramin didn’t think he could go too long without his robes.  He recalled the dream he had the night before, after he had finally given up his search for the night.  In the dream, Sanimir had felt so cold.  Aeramin remembered holding him close, warming him against his body.  It had seemed so real at the time, but when he woke this morning, there was no sign that Sanimir had been there at all.

After folding the last robe, he carefully moved aside a hidden panel in the closet.  Three books were in the small area behind the panel.  He took one out and packed it in his bag between two of his robes.

Before leaving, he took out his paper and pen and began to write.

Dear Sanimir,

I have looked for you everywhere I thought you might be, and haven’t been able to find you.  If you’re reading this, you have arrived home safely, and I hope you will stay.  I want to see you when I get back.

I’ll be gone a few days to Shattrath.  Please, send me a note to let me know you’re okay?  I’ll admit the timing of this trip is awful now, but I can’t back out at this point.

I miss you, and I’m worried about you.  I love you.

- Aeramin

PS – I took Muffins with me because Xyliah won’t be here for a few days either, and he needs to eat.

Everything is going well here.  I picked up the dress from the shop this morning.  It’s absolutely beautiful.  I do worry that Sanimir’s robe will be nicer, but I guess that’s a common problem when a girl marries a mage!

He still doesn’t like me much, but like you said, that doesn’t matter as long as his parents like me.

Do you know yet if Yara will be able to make it to the wedding?  I hope she will.  I know it’s not easy for her to move right now, but I would like for her to be there.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Love,
Xy

**

Dear Vessen,

How are your wedding plans going with Nessna?  I’m sorry father snuck mine in before yours.  You know how he can be sometimes.  I guess our future spouses’ parents are partly to blame as well.

Things aren’t so great with Sanimir.  Has Nessna told you anything about him?  Maybe he’s different with family, but around me he’s a horrid spoiled brat.  I don’t think the marriage will last very long.  I do hope it lasts long enough for Yara’s surgery to be complete.  And considering there is a contract, hopefully it’ll last long enough for me to save up enough to cover the cost of her surgery.  That’s what I worry about most.  How long will that take?  I have a few thousand saved up now.  I would just call off the wedding and save up enough for her to pay for it if it weren’t urgent.  I know the longer she goes without it, the more chance she won’t ever walk again.  If I marry this brat tomorrow and you marry Nessna on Wednesday, then Yara goes for her surgery next Friday, and hopefully it hasn’t been too long already.  She deserves to walk again.  I just hope she stays out of Desolace this time!

See you tomorrow,

Love,
Xy

**

Dear Diary,

I’m a mess.  A day before my wedding and I’m a mess.  I wish there were more time.  I know Yara needs her surgery, but I’m seriously beginning to wonder if I can do this.

It’s really the last thing I want to do right now.

I met with Berwick last night.  He took me to supper, then we went up to a balcony.  The view was amazing.  The view on the balcony was quite fine too.  We kissed.  We went back to my place.  He stayed the night.

The brat I’m marrying was happy about that.  I guess his parents aren’t giving him much choice though, and he still relies on other people to support him, so it’s not his fault that he has to marry me.  It’s his stupid father with his stupid prices and stupid ways of discounting them for people who need urgent work done.

It’s just all… stupid.

Okay, I understand the man has a family to feed and a healing practice to run.  He can’t be giving out free healing.  He’s already the least expensive healer we could find.

I’ve tried to encourage the kid to tell his parents that he has a boyfriend, but neither of them were happy with that idea.  I guess they’re afraid the parents would try to split them up.  I’m not even sure it would work to get me out of getting married.  They might just tell him that it’s even more reason for him to marry a girl.

I could get the marriage annulled on that fact, as long as I have the money.  I just hope I can save enough soon.  Berwick said he would help, but if he ever changed his mind about me then I’d feel rotten.  Oh I hope he doesn’t.  He’s so sweet.  He says he’s not from a good family, but he’s a good person and anyone can see that.

I want things to work out.  I want to be with Berwick.  I don’t want to put on that fancy dress tomorrow and marry that spoiled mage.  Berwick is everything Sanimir isn’t.  Sensible, smart, sexy, just to name a few.  I don’t want to go and stand there and say my vows, knowing the whole time that Berwick is somewhere alone in Dalaran.

Yara better realize how much I love her.