#Belloc Brightblade

[sekhisadventures]

Sibling Rivalry

Silvermoon City

Alalestria Wintersky was a noblewoman. The last surviving heir of the House Wintersky, a line of magisters stretching back to the founding of Quel’thalas… or so she had believed. She had been informed that her estranged brother, Sam’ael, may have survived the Scourge’s invasion years ago and fled to parts unknown, and now her agent had returned to Silvermoon with the news of what fate had befallen her brother.

I may have a lead on your brother, but the story is a very strange one and I fear you would need to see the evidence I have found in person.

Pray, meet me in Silvermoon City at the turning of the month so that I may gather what I have found and travel there myself.

That is what their letter had said, and now that she was seated across the table from them reading the report… she could see why.

Lady Alalestria was a tall elven woman with hair like spun gold, wearing an armored robe proclaiming her status as a Magister, and she was looking at the report of her agent with a look of incredulity. Seated across from her was Sinranir Downstrider, her personal agent and spy. In contrast to Alalestria his hair was as black as raven’s feathers, and he wore armor of deep purple and black to better blend in with shadows.

“So you see, m’lady, why I felt it was prudent to return to Silvermoon to present my findings in person.” he nodded to her from across the table, taking a drink from his wineglass.

She re-read a line several times, her brow furrowed, “… had this come from anyone else, I would have called them insane. You are certain of your findings Sinranir?” she asked, her luminous blue eyes focusing on his face.

“I swear upon the Sunwell what I have found is true.” he nodded solemnly, “Your brother lives… but he is no longer your brother at all, nor is he one of the sin’dorei.”

“A… void elf… and a woman.” she muttered, “But… why?” she asked, shaking her head.

“I could not say. Sam’ael disappeared into the Shadowlands during that whole unpleasantness with Windrunner, then two years later his allies emerged with ‘Samanatha’ in their little band. Male void elf goes in, female comes out. It stretches credulity, but it is easy enough to put the pieces together when you realize that everything else about them matches perfectly. Both thieves, both ren’dorei, both with the same pale skin and violet hair… just… different in the pants as it were.”

“Bah, it matters not. Sam’ael has my pendant, whatever he calls himself and whatever he is now, and that’s all I care about. He can swan about in Goldshire whoring himself out to the locals for all I care so long as I get what I want!” she threw up her arms, quite shocked by the revelation of her sibling’s fate. “And your sources say that my brother and his allies have traveled to the Dragon Isles?” she asked.

Sinranir nodded, “Indeed Lady Wintersky, though that is hardly needing confirmation. It’s a veritable gold rush right now. Everyone wants to see the dragons’ long-lost homeland.” he replied.

She nodded, pursing her lips, “Yes, they do indeed. Belloc was practically dancing when he got the news about the Isles being rediscovered… quite the sight, that man can not dance.” she nodded, smirking a bit. Belloc Brightblade was the leader of the Reliquary and while his devotion to knowledge and antiquities was dubious at best, his tendency to find artifacts and powerful magical items was second to only Harrison Jones of the Explorer’s League.

“So… Sam’ael is a woman now. I have a sister… hmph, don’t know how they managed that without magic, I can only assume gold changed hands, but as far as I’m concerned man or woman they’re still the black sheep of House Wintersky.” she grumbled, standing up, “And a void elf…” she shuddered, “I don’t care about anything else, but becoming one of Umbric’s little abberations ontop of what they already were… yes, I need to see to this as soon as possible. Stay ready Sinranir, I may need your other talents soon.”

Sinranir smiled at her, “My skills and my daggers await but your command Lady Wintersky.” he said pleasantly enough, but the smile did not reach his eyes. They both knew what she meant by that. He had entered House Wintersky’s employ during a botched assassination attempt, her late father giving him an option of service or execution. He had chosen the former and was bound by geas to never turn his daggers against the current Magister or their chosen heir… but Sam wasn’t either of those.

Alalestria strode out of the Silvermoon City Inn and headed north through the city to the portal room. She had heard that Orgrimmar already had an established portal to the island, some dragon city named Valdrakken apparently… a good enough place to start as any.

Winter was coming for Samantha Montebank, cold and merciless as a blizzard.

Wingrest Embassy, the following day

Samantha Montebank awoke as she often did, a bit hung over. The group had been celebrating their arrival and Savage United’s defeat of the Primalists, and Sekhi had made sure to drag Jeemjazo over to introduce them all to her long-lost friend and his… pet? Companion? Cabin boy? Sam had already been a few mugs in at this point and that bit was a bit of a blur. She did remember that this Jeemjazo person wanted to get away from Sekhi, though Annulus said that he seemed more embarrassed than annoyed by her.

She understood, Sekhi was especially in tune with the elements of Azeroth but when it came to people she couldn’t read a face to save her life.

She went to the postmaster for the Embassy, but there were no letters for her. No updates from Hulfdan or her old crew telling her if Dissonantia had been spotted. “Well, no news is good news I suppose…” she murmured under her breath. Hulfdan would have told her if any of his lads turned up dead from injuries that came from demons or fel magic, but either he hadn’t had any turn up that way or, quite possibly, Dissonantia just wasn’t in the Eastern Kingdoms right now.

Finally however, she couldn’t put it off any longer. She walked back into the main embassy building, which was more a courtyard as part of the roof had collapsed centuries ago, and found the rest of her allies standing near a table with a map of the islands on it.

“Ah Sam, there you are.” said Nelen, nodding to her. “We're just looking over this map here and determining where we'll focus our efforts while we're here. Jaie wants to check out the Azure Span, apparently the Tuskaar have a village there.” he said.

Jaie nodded at that, “Tuskaar are expert fishermen, I’m sure I can learn some new recipes from them!” she grinned, and several of the others grinned back. Nobody was going to complain about Jaie learning new tricks for cooking.

Shalandrae pointed to the region next to that one. “I’ll be heading to the Ohn’arhan Plains with Sekhi and Galdia. The Centaur tribes there are long-standing allies of the Green Dragonflight so I’m sure I can do something and Sekhi…” she glanced at the vulpera.

“Yeah! I can hear somethin' comin' from there! It’s a song! A really really powerful song! Its like it wants me to come to it, but its not a bad song!” she yipped excitedly.

“Yeah, Sekhi can hear something, so odds are it's worth looking into.” said the night elf.

Galdia grinned, “I'll back up Sekhi. Centaur are apparently good hunters and warriors, sounds a lot like my people back when we lived on Draenor. Besides, an orc stands by their shaman.” she nodded. Her reforged sword and new shield were at the ready, and it was clear she was eager to test them out.

Grimo pointed to the Waking Shores, where they already were. “Yeah, I’m stayin’ here with Zhan-min and Dareley. Dragonscale boys are needin’ some boots on the ground and Dareley has buddies in the Explorer’s League.” said the goblin.

Zhan-min nodded, “I’m here to find beer brewin’ ingredients of course, seems as good a place ta start as any. ‘sides, the explorers might know which plants are good fer eatin’ and which are good fer… well, not-eatin’.” he chuckled.

Nitika smirked, “That leaves me heading to Thaldraszus to see what I can do for the Dragonflights directly. We're all going to head to Valdrakken first to get ourselves established there and bind our hearthstones, but after that we'll spread out across the isles. Care to join me Sam?” she asked.

Samantha thought on that for a moment, but she did feel a kinship with Nitika. If nothing else her tauren ally was tied to the Void much like she was… though in a spiritual sense alone. “Hmm… I suppose the city might know where I can find something fun…” she grinned, “Alright Nitika, I’m with you.” she nodded.

Nelen smiled, “Right, that settles it. Remember everyone, keep an eye out for those Primalist people, and if you see anything like what I described, spread word to the others immediately. We can’t risk this thing getting out and causing chaos, whatever it is.” he said, rolling up the map. “I’m pretty sure the Horde Council and Turalyon have at least an idea, but they’re clearly keeping it well under wraps…” he frowned, “Which just shows how big a problem it could be. Still, if its another threat on the scale of Deathwing or something, it won’t stay that way for long. The last thing we need is panic spreading back home. If you see it, call the others and lets see if we can’t stop this one before it gets worse.”

The others nodded to him, then they headed to the flight master and soon enough they were headed northwards towards the dragon city in the heart of the isles.

As Sam flew to Valdrakken however, another elf was coming through the portal from Orgrimmar.

Alalestria Wintersky stepped out of the main tower in the heart of Valdrakken and looked around. “Hm… I suppose this shall do… now…” she reached into her bag and unstoppered a bottle, and out of it flew a string of arcane energy that swirled and twisted around her hand until it became a mana wyrm. “Find Sam’ael, and then find me when you do. Stay unseen, do not attack, seek and return.” she commanded.

The wyrm hissed at her, then darted off with a flick of it’s tail, swimming through the air like an eel swimming through water, as Alalestria set off into the city to see what Valdrakken had to offer a noble of Quel’thalas.

Next Story

Previous Story

[redandpointy]

because it amuses me

here is like half the next chapter of the Alexstrasza fic

Alexstrasza's flight took her over the rest of the continent. She could see evidence of the Sha infestation in the land and plants as she flew. It could be tasted in the very air in some places. Finally she came to the edge of the continent and flew northwards over choppy seas and growing rain. She considered flying above the clouds but there was something cleansing about the rain hitting her scales and the storms indicated her target was close by.

The island appeared as the mists and rain cleared for a moment, the winds allowing her to see. Dark and ominous, the trees and rocks loomed out of the choppy sea, ugly and unwelcoming. She flew lower and saw the glowing sigil of an eye with three marks under it; the sigil of the Kirin Tor. The beacon appeared harsh rather than welcoming in the stark surroundings. She'd come upon the alliance side of the island it seemed. Flying lower, the sea crashing on the rocks was loud enough to rival the occasional claps of thunder. Alexstrasza alighted on land, paws squishing unpleasantly on the soggy ground. She could head to the Kirin Tor settlement or she could press further inland. The spires of a massive palace rose through the trees and shrouding rain, now imposing from this perspective. Highkeeper Ra had been imprisoned under the palace. She lifted into the rain and winds again, flying low over the trees.

There were mogu as well as trolls here, she was surprised to see. The latter were mounted on great saurian beasts and walked patrols despite the rain. Not wishing to become a target, she sped onwards, hoping to avoid notice by passing through swiftly.

She found a spot in a courtyard and transformed into her human form, still wearing the clothing she'd worn as part of the archeological team in Uldum. The rain and mist began to immediately plaster her hair and clothing to her body. She picked at her shirt with an expression of distaste but remained as she was; something the size of a human would attract less notice. Hopefully she would be leaving the rain soon.

The evidence of battle was all over the courtyard in craters and divots in the ground, broken arrows and shell casings. The largest of which was the impressively sized carcass of some three-horned saurian beast. It showed signs of having been brought down by a combination of blade, arrow and spellfire. Parts of the body had been cut apart with cleaner slices so she guessed some sort of research team had come by to take samples. It wasn't decaying and closer inspection revealed that a preservation spell had been set some time ago and had yet to expire. The rain appeared to be keeping everyone away for the moment, but the spell had been maintained so someone was close.

She continued into the palace finding further evidence of battle in more recent scorch marks and blasted masonry in the halls and additional courtyards. How recent the battles had been was muddled; any clear indications had been washed away by the rains that covered the island. She paused at the edge of a broken bridge. The masonry shards were still quite sharp and a replacement bridge of great bamboo poles lashed together had been set up as a replacement crossing. Touching the makeshift bridge she judged they were recently felled trees. Alexstrasza looked across the expanse. While there was no one in sight on the far side she did see the a flicker of flame deeper in the palace. She crossed the bridge quickly.

On the other side were the remains of a small camp. The flames she'd seen were from a brazer which had been knocked over, spilling it's contents on the floor. Away from the constant rain, the flames continued to burn in a heap of fuel. The table and chairs had been knocked over, one of the seats broken. Every container had been opened and upended, the contents strewn about. Kneeling, Alexstrasza looked at the papers left. The writing was in Common. The second page made her double take - she knew this letter. She'd seen it before. Brann Bronzebeard had written to Dr. Harrison Jones informing him of Lady Vermillion's possible visit. She looked around, alarmed. This letter was only a few days old but given the fire this place had not been abandoned long. There were no bodies she was relieved to find. Sharp eyes spotted a dark patch against the fallen table. She crouched beside that and sniffed. Blood. Lifting the table she found more. Alexstrasza let the table down and continued to search.

The blood on the table had been human but there was another scent in the area. Creeping beyond the pool of light created by the brazier coals she found a much larger pool of blood and a long streak leading away and further into the palace. Mogu blood and mogu footprints dragging something heavy - possibly their fallen brethren or perhaps an unconscious human with a taste for flirting with danger and ladies alike.

Alexstrasza looked up abruptly as she thought she heard something in the distance. Thunder rumbled, concealing anything she might hear. Setting her jaw and rolling her shoulders back, she stalked further into the palace of the Thunder King, looking for her missing archaeologists

She decided to avoid patrols she came across. Parties of Mogu and Zandalari trolls, well armed and alert, were looking for someone; these weren't security patrols. She waited for a trio of mogu soldiers and their animated construct to pass before she slipped from her latest hiding place. There were more the further in she went and it was slowing her search considerably. At least she wasn't being rained on. Alexstrasza turned a corner and was grabbed from behind.

She cried out in surprise and a hand covered her mouth. Serious Tauren eyes bore into hers and a woman's voice said "shh" very quietly. Alexstrasza relaxed and was silent. The tauren, a female with snow-white fur looked over her shoulder then pulled Alex further into the shadows.

The ground shook and Alexstrasza caught the scent of devilsaur. The creature wasn't as large as some specimens she had seen but the halls of Lei Shen's palace we large enough the beast could walk through unhindered. It wore battle barding and light armor and on its back were a pair of Zandalari trolls. The group waited in silence as the patrol passed by and the massive footsteps no longer shook the ground. The tauren's hand left Alexstrasza's mouth.

"Thank you," she said to the woman. The tauren inclined her head slightly.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" asked an imperious voice.

Alexstrasza turned to the speaker. He was a tall blood elf with short dark hair and a suit which had once been fancy and white and which was now neither of those things. He stood beside a small group. One was a nervous looking blood elf many decades younger than the speaker with bright blonde hair so pale it was nearly white. Another was an orc with a bandaged arm stained red with blood. He held a mogu halberd in a way which indicated he knew how to use it. There was another blood elf man with dirty, mussed hair which might have been golden at one point. he wore robes as mussed and dirty as his hair. The final member of the party was a dark-haired blood elf female who looked enough like the obvious leader she was a relation of some sort. A quick sniff and their scents confirmed they were close blood relations.

"Belloc Brightblade I presume?" she asked.

Belloc frowned. "Did you escape?"

"No, I came looking for Dr. Jones."

"He's dead, come on," he said, gesturing for the group to follow. The blonde in robes did immediately. As he turned Alexstrasza saw the side of his head was matted with blood but he moved well and did not appear concussed.

Alexstrasza blinked and stared. Dead?

"Father you know he isn't!" the woman who would only be Cymre Brightblade, hissed as she scrambled after him. The Tauren tugged her and the nervous elf along. The huge orc fell into guard the rear, lips curled up in a sneer as his eyes searched for threats.

"What happened?" Alexstrasza asked as she followed. Belloc ignored her but Cymre answered.

"We were attacked. Mogu and Zandalari together. We heard them talking about taking a group of humans and dwarves. We managed to fight them off and escape."

"Why are they here?" Alexstrasza asked.

"Shh!" Belloc hissed.

The party fell silent for a moment but then Cymre scowled at her father and bent her head close to Alexstrasza. "They're doing something in one of the inner courtyards. Some sort of ritual. Jones and his people tried to get us to come help stop it but <i>someone</i> didn't want to help!" she hissed and jerked her chin at her father. Belloc reacted with a quick stiffening of his shoulders.

"Do you believe they are alive?"

"I do," Cymre said.

"Shh!" the orc hissed and this time everyone remained silent. They ducked into an alcove and the elf in robes murmured a small spell. They waited as many feet marched by with heavy steps.

Mogu constructs, each one moving with precision and a disturbing lack of life and liveliness. The constructs of stone were interspersed every so often with living mogu. In the center of the procession were captives. First Alexstrasza saw a limp dwarf woman slumped at the bottom of a tall cell meant for a pandaren. Next was a dwarf male who'd been gagged and bound. He still kicked at the bars of his prison and his muffled cursing was just audible over the marching. Next was Dr. Harrison Jones, also bound and gagged. He swayed on his feet as the cart carrying his prison rolled over the stone floor. The side of his head was covered in dried blood, his hat was missing and his hair stuck up at odd angles where it had dried. The last member of the procession was a gnome male and he was by far the worst of the group. Alexs could feel his life flickering as he lay on the bottom of his too-large cage.

"See!" Cymre hissed to her father when the procession had passed.

"Too late for him now. Let's get going. Edias, can you make a portal to the sunreaver encampment? Our guest can come and rot in whatever passes for a brig there," Belloc said.

"Father!" Cymre hissed.

"Fine, we can leave the human here."

<i>"Father!</i>

"We do not even know who this human is," the orc said from the rear, his voice was low and soft and surprising as he looked quite fierce. "While the situation in orgrimmar is in flux it might be best if we treated her well, Belloc. Best not to aggravate things until we know the end result and she is likely one of Bronzebeard's people. Brann's been fair with us."

Alexstrasza felt a stab of guilt for thinking him merely the muscle in this group when the orc was clearly well spoken as well. It was entirely likely he was also a member of the reliquary but even so she could not have made assumptions.

"Who are you?" Cymre asked.

"Lady Alexis Vermillion," she said, giving them the name Jones and his people knew.

Cymre reached out and fetched her father a blow against his side with the back of her hand. "She's one of Bronzebeard's. She's been working with Edneth."

Belloc's scowl deepened. "Another matter in which we will have words."

Pfffa!" Cymre scoffed. "Edneth wasn't safe in Orgrimmar and you know it."

"So you sent him to <i>Jones</i>"

"You and he don't like one another but Jones isn't a monster." Cymre turned her bright green eyes back to Alexstrasza. "He is okay isn't he?"

"Last I saw him, yes," Alexstrasza confirmed. "He's quite a brilliant archeologist. Just needs to remember to do simple things like eat and sleep sometimes. That was one of my duties. I rather liked him and I was glad he was able to find sanctuary where he could continue to learn." She gives Cymre a small smile.

The tauren woman huffed a laugh and Cymre snickerd.

"That is Edneth." She looked at her father. "See?"

Belloc scowled.

Cymre was undeterred. "Father, wouldn't it just rankle Jones more if you were the one to ride in an rescue him from certain doom?"

"And likely sacrifice," the nervous looking elf said. He'd tucked himself beside the massive orc and poke from over his shoulder.

Belloc's scowl deepened even further as thought. "Fine," he said. "We'll go free the Alliance. Suppose it's fair since Bronzebeard's treated one of our own well."

Cymre smiled and made a smug little noise then followed after the procession without further sound. Her father rolled his eyes and followed with the rest of the group.

Following the marching Mogu was a simple matter as the living ones were making a large ruckus ahead. Then orc looked around then gestured to the side, revealing stairs behind a false wall. They were narrow and likely intended for servants of the Mogu emperor to use and not be seen. They exited on a narrow walkway halfway up in a vast room. On the ground were assembled piles of treasure and artifacts. The archeologists muttered over the fortune of history and wealth being laid out by enslaved saurok. Alexstrasza was focused on the men and women being held in cages.

"Well I don't see a good way of doing anything," Bello said, muttering.

"Saurok are disobedient, chaotic and greedy," the tauren woman mused, casting a cool blue gaze over the group.

"Ideas, Grimtotem?"

The tauren woman flicked an ear. "Possibly. Incite the slaves to riot. The masters will have to handle them. It leaves us free to act."

"How do we do that?"

"We do have a mage," she said, eyeing the bloodied Edias.

"I can teleport short distances and I can be invisible for brief periods but I am nearing the end of my resources," Edias said as he too scanned the ground.

"I know some nature magics," Alexstrasza offered. "I might be able to influence one or two. If they are as greedy, disobedient and chaotic you say that might be enough to incite the rest."  If it looked serious for Jones and his people she could transform and destroy everything in the room, but there was potential to harm her allies and even if the Saurok were opponents here, she was loathe to simple murder slaves.

"Can you take someone down there with you?" Cymre asked the mage.

"Yes," Edias said in the same moment Belloc said "No!"

"A few of us should go down," Alexstrasza said. One for each captive. I will need to be closer for my magic to work," she said. The latter wasn't necessarily true, but then she was just a human and most humans lacked in nature magics at all.

"Two dwarves, Jones and a gnome. The gnome doesn't look like he's doing well," the nervous blood elf said.

Alexstrasza focused on the final cage and reached out...

"Oh," she said, her heart breaking a little. "He is gone."

"He's not breathing," the tauren agreed. "One less to save."

Belloc growled. "Fine. The Lady will distract them. Edias, Ro'gahri and I will free the captives."

"But-"

"Cymre," Belloc said, fixing her with a hard stare, "You, Dagrha and Aefias are going to make sure we have an escape route clear once the chaos breaks out. Understood?"

Cymre scowled. "Fine."

The party went back down and Alexstrasza closed her eyes and focused. "I'll need a moment. When I say go, hurry."

"Just do whatever it is," Belloc said, his voice a growl.

She no longer had her mantle but Alexstrasza had learned much in her long lifetime. She was certain she could influence a few more primal creatures. They were all males and it was far from their usual breeding season but she could see it wouldn't take much to send them in a frenzy - acquire and conquer to impress the females elsewhere. Not perhaps the nicest thing but once she and her companions were gone a few might even have a pleasant evening with their mates. And while she was at it, perhaps she could influence the Mogu overseers to be elsewhere as well. Alexstrasza reached out to the lives in the room, each one a little flame which burned with vitality and-

"Wait!" she hissed.

"What?"

"There are more coming," she said. There was indeed a large party of Mogu coming in their direction from the opposite side, thankfully. "Opposite door," she informed the others.

They retreated back further out of sight and watched from the shadows as another, smaller, troupe of Mogu deposited additional bound and gagged members of the Explorer's league on the ground. In the end there were twelve, mostly dwarves and humans but Alexstrasza could see at least two night elves and one pandaren in dark colors with a red sash.

"Damn," Belloc said, echoed by Cymre.

"Well. New plan," Belloc said. "Lady Vermillion will incite the Saurok then we'll free one each and then the alliance is on their own. Go for the ones which look most lively."

Cymre grinned and pulled out her knives. Her father look far less pleased. "Jones is going to owe me so much," he muttered.

Alexstrasza began trying to reach the Mogu - wasn't it time to be away? To be outside? To feel the winds and rain in their manes? The Mogu began to shift restlessly. She pushed at them as hard as she could and they began to leave in twos and threes, speaking in loud, excited voices, full of cheer and confidence. Good. She couldn't get all of them but once most of them were gone she found the Saurok. Here she grinned mischievously and pushed at the Sarok hard. She used her magic stimulate their hormonal state and thus their sex drives. The change ripped across the room as Saurok males began to eye one another more as threats or rivals...and in a few cases potential mates. Correcting the lagging sex drives of injured, old or ailing dragons was something she had been doing for millenia and she had provided these same skills to other races on many occasions.

Cymre made a sputtering laugh as she watched two younger males, with already raging hormones, dropped what they were doing and begin to rut in the center of the room.

"What." Belloc said, his voice flat.

"Let her work," Dagrah Grimtotem said with amusement equal to Cymre's.

The Mogu overseers noticed and tried to pull the two youngsters off one another which started a brawl in the center of the room. And still Alexstrasza pushed her magic. A huge male displayed his frill and... other parts, and launched himself at a particularly shiny vase. He grabbed it and a handful of jewels and sprinted away warbling some sort of mating call. She tracked his progress for a moment and it seemed he was heading someplace with speed and determination - possibly where an existing or potential mate was. His theft set off the others who began to steal, bellow and warble. They flexed their frills and made loud hissing noises as they dropped to all fours and did pushup motions. Some strutted in circles their chests puffed, frills extended. A few fought over the same trinkets. The sound was immediate and cacophonous.

"Go!" Alexstrasza said as she maintained the spell.

The others left under the cover of the mage's invisibility and crossed the room to the captives, only then revealing themselves. Belloc struck off the lock from Harrison Jones' cage ripped away his bindings, smirked and did the same to the dwarf in the next cage over. Then he sprinted back to where Alexstrasza, Cymre and escape awaited him. The others followed suit while the Alliance lost no time in breaking free the other captives.

"Go!" Belloc ordered as he ran past, the others on his heels.

Alexstrasza left her spell working but stopped the active cast - the effects would last for some time yet. She thought perhaps she might stay with Jones, but then she was already being pulled down the hall by Cymre. She would have to meet up with Jones and the rest later.

"Hey! Stop dem!" shouted a voice to their side.

There was a great deal of cursing as the party swerved to avoid the sudden appearance of Zandalari trolls. They had to adjust course a few times to avoid Mogue and trolls alike.

"We're being herded!" Cymre suddenly realized aloud.

"What?" Her father asked, angry and surprised.

"We're being-" her words were cut off into a surprised yelp as a devilsaur jumped in front of them. It roared and the trolls on the beast's back let out war cries of their own.

There was a flash of light and someone screamed. Alexstrasza felt a life end somewhere to her side, as brief as a candle being snuffed, their light winking out. She had a moment to think that it was good whoever had died hadn't suffered before her world went black.

<hr>

[alteredphoenix]

Untitled WoW/Jak and Daxter one-shot (WIP)(Belf!Jak/Nelf!Keira)

A/N: (Warning: very brief spoilers for the end of the Nya’lotha raid and 8.3 in the preview below, please be advised.)

I’ve never played Jak and Daxter. Growing up, at the height of the console wars, the only games I acquainted myself with were strictly from Nintendo and the PSX (my father was of the mindset that if you had to choose between the Gamecube, the PS2, and the Xbox, you were going stick with the one you got, no ifs, ands, or buts), so I never had the opportunity to try popular games such as Grand Theft Auto until I hit my early twenties.

But I love sci-fi mixed with my fantasy, and I love my elves that aren’t small and cute and are confined to shelves during the Christmas holiday season (and I refuse to believe the J&D cast are humans - not with ears like that) but are tall, lean, and ass-whooping killing machines. I also love WoW (if that isn’t plainly obvious), and J&D had been on my mind at work the past couple days, wondering if we will ever another game that clearly addresses what became of Gol and Maia Acheron 300 years later or a series reboot from Naughty Dog if they ever decide to get off their high horse regarding their stance on the inability to tell mature stories in an over-the-top cartoonish world.

So this is the first thing that came to mind, and I set about plunking away at this before my shift yesterday. There are other ideas I have in mind, but none as thorough as this: a one-shot in which the cast of J&D are reincarnated in Azeroth long after the events of The Lost Frontier. Here Jak is a blood elf and Keira a night elf with loose ties to the Horde and the Alliance, both of whom remember their past lives and meet again upon a chance encounter in Gadgetzan.

Obviously I don’t ship much if at all, but Jak/Keira is canon in-universe (although, from what I’ve seen of the occasional Jak II playthroughs I’ve watched on YouTube, I found Jak to have better chemistry with Ashelin over Keira) and, for this fic at least, I wasn’t about to reconsider given the context.

-

It feels like a thousand-thousand lifetimes before they realize where they are. What they are, after so much time spent together.

He’s the first to remember. For the man that had previously been Jak of House Mar, it happens long after the Scourge swept through Quel’Thalas, long after Lor’themar is made Regent-Lord and interregnum that is the Council of the Sun is hastily formed, right when the battles that’ll come to comprise the Blood War (“The Fourth War,” High Examiner Tae’thelan Bloodwatcher will remind him and everyone in a twenty yard radius with an indignant sniff) ends with N’Zoth’s demise in the realm of Nya’lotha.

He doesn’t call himself by the name his parents gave him at birth anymore. Even with the return of his memories, he still can’t recall if he ever learned he was truly the Mar of legend or a descendant meant to honor his namesake (for all the fat lot of good it did for him; the thought of Veger and Haven City burns bitter at the back of his throat). Perhaps it’s sheer coincidence, or a stroke of cosmic irony, to be called Marellius and his last name be Clearwater, bringing up memories of the tides that always broke over Sandover Village’s coasts, the ruins of the Precursor facility looming ominously on the horizon.

Marellius—Jak—takes a moment to appraise his coworkers as the morning crew punches out for the day and the second to third shifts are filing into the building, lunches and toolboxes in hand. There’s been a lot more talk than usual: word on the street has been making the rounds that Gallywix has been up to no good at Crapopolis and went on the run, presumably traipsing the world for wherever Sylvanas is currently holing up at. Gazlowe is gone, too, but for another reason: the leadership gathered at Orgrimmar have decided to make him Trade Prince, and they should like to have him present in Stormwind for when they will convene with King Anduin Wrynn and the Alliance to sign the peace treaty signaling the end of the war and the reparations the Horde must pay for the next several years. Steamwheedle and Marin Noggenfogger have the run of operations while he’s away, keeping security tight and inspecting everyone for signs of SI:7 saboteurs seeking to undermine them. Tae’thelan balks at them but doesn’t comment on it, focusing on overseeing that all their supplies are loaded onto the ship and the paperwork transactions have been double-checked for discrepancies and authenticity before handing them over to the quartermaster.

He blinks. They are not Reliquary archaeologists and researchers, but Underground scouts and operatives preparing to slink back into the shadows of Haven’s streets and raise some hell while he and Daxter (sometimes with Sig tagging behind them) take advantage of the chaos and hit up the next point of interest that has Krew’s eyes tinkling or Torn’s barely restrained bloodlust needs to be slaked. Those aren’t crates full of telescopes, shovels, picks, and other utility; they are filled with rifles, pistols, energy cells, vibro blades, scrap metal jacked from Metal Heads and Krimzon Guard junkyards on the edge of South Town. Those are not Tae’thalan Bloodwatcher and Cyrme Brightblade standing out on the docks but Torn and Ashelin, discussing not how to get lost in Gadgetzan’s streets but hitting the bongs, reminiscing about the old days before the world went to shit, and what they would do once Praxis was overthrown and they could rebuild Haven City into an image that would do its name justice.

Why me? Why am I here?

Could it be...I’m the only one that was reborn?

“Hey,” a voice calls. Then, more loudly, “Hey.”

Jak jolts with a start. “What?”

Fingers snap, causing him to look down. Reena Cogscrap stands before him, peering up at him intensely. “I said, are you ready to go? Last call just sounded. Better get on board, ‘less you wanna get left behind and your ass chewed by Belloc.”

“Oh. Alright. Thanks for letting me know.” He bends down to grab the toolbox he had set at his feet and adjusts a strap of his backpack, filled with his coin purse and books to take notes and sketches, that’s slipped over one shoulder.

When he gets back up, Reena is still there. “Come on,” he says, gesturing at the boat.

“That’s not like you, Mar.”

“What isn’t?”

“Staring off into space like that. You don’t do that sorta thing. You’re always moving around.” She shrugs, hands raised with palms up. “Get what I’m saying?”

“Yeah.”

“You worried we won’t make our quota?”

‘Quota’ being ‘how many newly unearthed artifacts can they pawn off to the highest bidder at the auction block before Remy Starminder and his merry band of sticks in the mud kick up another fuss about the philosophical differences of historical value and financial value’. The Big Three Families—the Grimy Goons, the Jade Lotus, and the Kabal—are going to be there, and Jak will be damned if they won’t try to rig the bids against the Cartel to funnel their own operations against each other. That means little to the High Examiner so long as they procure the artifacts that can be salvaged and shipped off to Silvermoon for restoration and – if Rommath can keep Lor’themar and the others distracted long enough – off-plane experiments, in the worst case scenario that the Alliance will break the armistice and plunge Azeroth into a crusade of kaldorei vengeance and human retribution. It also means little to Jak himself; the closest he’s gotten to participating in the war is doing smuggling runs for the Bilgewater Cartel in Ratchet under cover of night, and rarely did he ever have to club an Alliance marine cold before word got out. The paychecks were decent, a helluva lot better than what Krew could bother to give away from the comfort of his greasy paws, and that put food on the table at the meager little cottage on the coast of the Great Sea west of Fairbreeze Village. He needn’t involve himself anymore than that.

Jak shakes his head. “No. It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

He starts walking, molding himself among the crowd of Steamwheedle excavators and Reliquary knights heading for the ramp. “I was just thinking about the past.”

[blackjackluka--archive]

Original group members

Ari

One of the original Tirisgarde council

One of the most powerful archmagi in the world

Loves to give and receive gifts (esp in 3s)

Doesn’t like to leave the hall of the guardian so the other hold their meetings there so she doesn’t feel excluded

Has a tiny icy familiar (Cyrme knit a sweater for him and Ari Loves It)

The sweater says ‘Frosty Boy’

High elf

Official mage member of the new council

Recommended Modera and Meryl to the council

Became a part of the group when Chromie and Tarcegosa were in the hall discussing the tidestone found in Aszuna and directed them to some reading material - they were really happy about her help and invited her to join them, after being told that she doesn’t ever leave they promised to take pictures of everything and tell her all about what they found

Tarecgosa (Tara)

Watcher of Coldarra

In a relationship with Chromie

A member of the blue dragonflight (Northrend)

Takes on the form of a Nightborne elf 

She has a high elf form in game but I wanted to give the group some variety

Talks very loudly

Is intrigued by magical artifacts and travels to the broken isles when she learns about the pillars of creation

Wants to go to Azsuna with Chromie to search for others

Meets the Azsunan branch of the blue dragonflight while there

Introduced to them by Stellagosa who was sent to investigate what ‘that night elf, gnome and blood elf are doing over there’

Official Dragon member of the new council

Chronormu (Chromie)

Ambassador of the bronze dragonflight

In a relationship with Tarecgosa

Takes on the form of a gnome

Helps fix timelines and searches through them for leads to magical artifacts for her lover

Not very easily angered but is a force to be reckoned with when she is

The mortal races can recognize her quite easily (especially if they have met one of her incarnations previously) but since she is in and out of different times its not always certain she’ll recognize them

Prefers her gnome form to her dragon form

Her dragon form has ram horns that resemble her characteristic buns

Very charismatic and helpful to everyone

Quips that she foresaw everyone meeting each other one day and hopes it will end well (a reference of how the bronze dragons can no longer clearly see the future/timelines anymore)

Advisor to the new council

Stellagosa (Stella)

Granddaughter of Senegos (leaer of the Azsunan branch and oldest non aspect dragon alive)

Member of the blue dragonflight (the Azsunan branch)

Takes on the form of a high elf (blue hair and blue eyes with a blue robe)

Has a crush on Kor’vas and Valtrois and everyone teases her about them mercilessly because shes terrible with flirting

Very playful personality

Likes to play tag

Worries a lot about her grandfather

Has said she is grateful for her new friends helping her to take her mind off of it for short whiles

Knows the leylines and has some knowledge of magical items around Azsuna so shes the group’s go to person for information

Official dragon member of the new council

Cymre Brightblade

Daughter of Belloc Brightblade but doesn’t think highly of him

Okay but who does think highly of him

Seriously who banged belloc and had a child with him

I want to know the answers to these questions @blizzard

Has a bunch of pets she trains

Knits sweaters for everyone (there aren’t a lot of things to do sometimes while traveling so she picked it up)

Is in Azsuna doing ACTUAL archaeology and stumbles across Chromie and Tara. Of course shes suspicious about what they’re doing and initially confronts them because they look like Alliance

In the course of them trying to explain to her who they are and what they’re doing there, thats when Stella shows up and thus the fateful meeting begins

They all meet Ari when Tara takes them to the hall

Advisor to the new council

Biased toward the blood elves and horde but honestly, at least one magical council trying to band together to save Azeroth needs that

(Coughs)

Non group members that are a part of the council

Meryl Felstorm

Undead and former member of the council of Tirisfal

An incredibly powerful magic user

Has kept himself “alive” for three thousand years by the strength of his own magic

If your magic was equivalent to muscles he could knock a motherfucker out cold

Had a dreadlord trapped inside him (Kathra’Nathir) until it escaped and then a mage champion helps him to defeat it

Reforms the Tirisgarde to help combat the legion

Recommended to the new council by Ari

The new council is not part of any organization and forms when the original 5 realize that Azeroth needs magical users that aren’t too busy picking at each other to actually help band people together and fight the legion

Also a council that isn’t a complete sausage fest filled with people with a bias towards one side (no matter what they try to say everyone knows its true)

Am I bitter? Yes

Official member of the new council

Modera

Long standing member of The Six

Archmage

Believes in the neutrality of Dalaran and the Kirin Tor and helps Aethas back in

Shes a good friend

(Rommath rolling his eyes in the background)

Member of the newly formed Tirisgarde

Honestly a total badass

Once said she could wipe an entire village of Sargerei if she wanted to

Also helped shield Dalaran with Aethas once

Was asked to join their council and agrees to be an honorary member since her true ties lie with The Six

Recommended by Ari

Aethas Sunreaver

Former member of The Six and leader of the Sunreavers

Archmage

Baby face

Arrogant and needs a good socking lets be honest here

Another believer in the neutrality of the Kirin Tor

(Rommath cannot stop rolling his eyes)

Gives the mage champion information on how to obtain Felo’Melorn as a way back into Dalaran

(Rommath about to combust in the background)

Could also do with a good group of magical user friends that help keep his ego in check and teach him how to be a better leader

Yes, thats where these people come in

Once Modera says she cannot completely join them, she recommends Aethas

He agrees to join but really just wants to be back on The Six

No you don’t, Aethas, they don’t care about you

The council

Made up of: 4 official members, 2 temporary/honorary members and 2 advisors

Wants to form magic users from all races (mortals and dragons alike) to help fight against the Legion

Rotate leaders every couple of years so nobody has any power going to their heads or abuses it

This rule is broken if there is an ongoing crisis

In Legion, their leader is Stellagosa

Started out as a group of geeks who love ancient junk and now they’re helping save the world

This is a completely self indulgent AU of what started as some of my underappreciated WoW faves (the first five) and turned into this

Lots of information taken from wowpedia and lots i just made up

[arakkoachronicles]

Game Design Exercise: Dream of Creation, pre-expansion patch

#OOC Game Design Exercise: Dream of Creation, pre-expansion patch #Warcraft

Welcome back to next part of my game design exercise about the Emerald Dream expansion, which I dubbed Dream of Creation. For a while, I was struggling with the idea of how exactly should I divide up all the potential material into posts. Since designing an expansion takes up a lot of space and time, and many internal elements are very intertwined, I can’t really design everything in one,…

[nighthaunting]

maltrake, this must be some kind of karma or something.

Also how the heck did Belloc get someone to agree to have his kid?