QElwynD

Scourge - 11.1 A/A/U/G

Aderic stood calmly, holding his mask to his chest, as the sailors scurried about the ship moving supplies and sails to make room for the gryphon bearing down on them. The gryphon's plumage was distinct from that of those who had joined them alongside the ships from Quel'Thalas, but faintly reminiscent of Donovan – different still in colouring, but the cut of the beak was alike the kindly lion bird which the Lady Crowley bonded to.

"I suppose this will be Lady Jaina, then." William sa...

Scourge - 11

The camps were a shambles of disorganised soldiers trying to find officers, or anyone, in the chaos who knew what was happening. Some shepherded terrified camp followers and civilians, others banded together in a battle for survival with the skeletons that crawled out of every possible crack and crevice within the camp. I didn't want to even think about how many people Detheroc must have subverted to set up this attack.

Nor did I want to think how many people I had left behind ...

Notice of Break

At the end of the Scourge arc, currently set to be the 1st/2nd of July, I will be taking a one week break from posting.

I need that time to properly plan out the chaotic mess that will be Rebellion/Resistence, where Gilneas goes to war with itself and the Battle for Mount Hyjal plays out with its changes.

This is also something of an opportunity for *you* to say what you want to see for that arc, what events or people. Does the breaking of ground in Theramore interest you? Jaina...

Scourge - 10

While Vivi and I hadn't done much more than cuddle and kiss hesitantly underneath the blankets – Tricks could only keep Trix away for so long, and unlike some we had senses of shame – I still had a spring in my step as I headed towards the bathhouse in camp under the pre-dawn light enhanced by the Blue Child. Things had finally been resolved and we were... if not back to normal, on our way to finding a new one.

Everything seemed brighter, more peaceful, the cannons...

Scourge - 9.1 C,D,M

"Want Dad." Lianne whined, not for the first time, as she angrily threw their bedding across the uncomfortably unfamiliar room. "Want Dad! Where is Dad?!" Tiny fists struck Calia's leg as Lianne ran out of ammunition with which to vent her frustrations. "Mom bring Dad back! Want home! Dad home!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't." Calia whispered, falling to the floor and embracing her daughter. "I can't. He's gone."

"Not gone! Want Dad!" Lianne wailed, her darling little princess screaming...

Scourge - 9

"Fiend!" A soldier yelled, and the undead monstrosity was struck with immediate gunfire, blasting it back over the wall before it could cross the battlements. More clambered up after it and were engaged quickly.

The Thornwall, as it had quickly come to be called, was working, but it couldn't stop the crypt fiends climbing. It slowed them significantly, but the bastards were nimble and could dodge around the thorns even if a witch was animating them to strike b...

Scourge - 8

There was a tense moment of silence following Archmage Arugal's proclamation, the realisation that the battle was coming here at last and that the monsters we had been preparing for, trying to save innocents from for weeks, would soon be upon us.

"Close the gate." Genn ordered, his resonant voice cutting through the air like a knife and my head, along with so many others, turned towards him. "Arugal, get your people inside. I will not renege on my word." He tilted his head back...

Scourge - 7

Rodger knocked loudly on the door to Darius' office, waiting a moment for an answering grunt before opening it. "I apologise for the interruption, sir," he said tightly, "but the daughter of the house, Lady Vivianne, and Witch Arevin insisted upon seeing you immediately. They have brought guests."

We were all still in our travelling clothes, scarcely off the gryphons for ten minutes, and all somewhat damp. In most circumstances we would have stopped to refresh ourselves, given him time ...

Scourge - 6

"Gilneas. I will return with you to Gilneas." Calia said as she was presented with her options. She had hardly touched her food, largely pushing it around her plate despite the effort that had gone into making it. Mostly mine. "While I appreciate the offer, Thane Kindfeather, Aerie Peak is hardly a suitable home for my daughter."

"Me brother has a human lass nae much older than her." Caedan grumbled between bites. "She'd nae have any problems."

"Gi'neas?" Lianne Menethil said, loo...

Scourge - 6.1 - NSFW Scene Expansion

My hands against the bark of the now decidedly unnatural tree, I kept its shape steady as I expanded it. Bit by bit I smoothed out the bark of the inner bowl as I went, leaving a finish that wouldn't grate against our skin. Lorna was already pouring buckets of water into the makeshift bathtub, the same as the last time, and her heat stone sat on a raised platform in the centre.

The only real difference from that trip home last winter was... well, Vivi. And Calia, Lianne, and Tr...

Scourge - 5.1

"The Convocation has refused to hear your petition, my prince." Grand Magister Belo'vir said, the apologetic tone in his voice little more than an affectation. "It is the belief of the Convocation of Silvermoon that they have already acceded to your demands as of your last visit, and the support sent to aid the Farstriders will be sufficient to ward off this incursion."

Kael'thas stared silently at the grand magister, a man he had once respected for his acceptance and involvement in the...

Scourge - 5

By the time the fighting subsided, the last of the undead picked off by the still able soldiers, Vivi, and Caedan, I was feeling the strain from all the magic I had been using. It had been easy enough to stabilise all of the wounded soldiers, patch them up so they wouldn't die before the day was out, but... Donovan was another matter. I couldn't spare the energy to restore the lost limbs and appendages – a leg lost to the abomination's cleaver before Ralph managed to disengage, Ser...

Scourge - 4

Donovan circled overhead three times, slowly descending and giving people time to get out of the way before landing as close as he could to me and Sergeant Fallan's men. On his back was Lorna, as could be easily expected, but...

Vivi was there too, nimbly leaping off his back and keeping a hand on her sword as she watched the mob of angry townsfolk. She'd come after me. Or maybe just followed Lorna as her friend.

The reason didn't matter so much to my surprise at seeing her, relie...

Scourge - 3.1 - F,C,A,A,K

"Got to speak to the Farstriders aboot ‘at lodge o' theirs," Falstad muttered to himself, "if that fancy building disturbs the gryphons there'll be problems..." He made note on the sheaf of parchment containing the details he'd been given aboot the elves' activities to draft orders to that effect.

Kardan would be good for it, a solid dwarf an' a good rider. That human girl of his was even showing promise with the gryphons, iffin things went right she'd be a proper rider one day. He kn...

Scourge - 3

People came and went, a few soldiers, one of the alchemists, and even Trix all looking for me and failing to find me while I hid as a fox in my room. Trix had tried to coax Tricks to come out and play and had done the same with me, but while there was a sliver of amusement to be found there, I just didn't find myself interested. Hours rolled by as I snuggled up with Tricks with my tail over my muzzle to make the world a blanket of warm fluffiness.

But even bundled up in a den of comfort...

Scourge - 2

The Royal Alchemical Society had kept a presence at the wall ever since Darius established quarantine measures, as it turned out. Something I hadn't been aware of, even if it made plenty of sense in hindsight; they weren't healers, exactly, nor were they what I thought of when I heard the word 'alchemist' in relation to Azeroth, being closer to chemists and scientists than magical potion brewers.

With the lack of cases of sickness, and the 'defeat' of the Plague of Undeath in Lordaeron,...

Scourge - 1

It took longer than I liked to admit to recover from the bombshell that Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider had dropped on me, staring at my door with a growing sense of dread and a lead weight in my stomach. The real Third War had begun, and there was little time until it came to a head.

What followed was a frantic flurry of packing, grabbing everything I had brought with me and the few trinkets I had picked up in the city for friends and family – my last chance, maybe anyone's last...

Bonus Preview: Order of Amber Informational

To explain what this is quickly, as I've managed to regain a buffer (two chapters ahead again!) I'm looking at my informationals, which are in dire need of updating.

This one is an organisation post detailing the Order of Amber, it's not exactly formatted here but I am giving it to you guys first because I should. Also, you get to offer suggestions on additional subjects/information that you think might be appropriate for the informational.

Part of the purpose of this is to be a...

Scourge - Beginnings

Even within the confines of the Palace of Lordaeron, looking out over the capital city from the royal balcony, Harris could hear the cheers that filled the air. All down the grand avenue men, women, and children waited; every last one rejoicing over the return of their prince. The one who had ended the undead menace and defeated the Scourge, returning the bodies of loved ones to their deserved rest.

"It is time." King Terenas said as bells began to toll, signalling the prince's passage ...

Harvest - 12

The questioning I underwent wasn't over with on the first day, nor the second, and it didn't seem likely to stop anytime soon. Sometimes it was the Chamber of Air with a variable number of the council in attendance, from as few as two but never as many as six, and other times it was individuals summoning me to check something specific. Modera had tried to reconnect, pulling me into private tutoring on Astral magic, seeing where I had progressed and giving me demonstrations and pointers.

Harvest - 11

My notebook of seven and a half years was starting to get worn, the carefully scrawled English letters starting to fade as the ink I could afford as a child started to give out. Some parts of the book I could recall word for word, recite from memory, where others were a surprise to me even now, and then there were others that I'd only recently added. Princess Tess' sneaky streak was obvious in hindsight with her becoming a rogue in the future, but it wasn't something I had remembered before.<...

Harvest - 10.1 - J,T,D

"This is quite irregular." The herald said, his moustache quivering while he read over their invitations. Several other members of the palace's staff surreptitiously worked nearby, carefully cleaning portraits and wall hangings that needed no such attention; all seeking the latest gossip, most likely. "But this is indeed His Highness' signature, and there is no present conflict with the Admiralty of Kul Tiras." He stared stonily at Modera, who stared forward disinterestedly. Her gaze fixated ...

Harvest - 10

With the king's proclamation and the arrival of Celestine and Aderic, the ball started in earnest. While the dance had yet to start, musicians had begun to play a background tune to set the atmosphere and the entire north wing of the palace had been opened to guests. Many nobles had remained in the great hall, seeking the attention of the king, queen, prince, and guests of honour, but I, along with a number of others, had fanned out to quieter spaces

Which was where I had found myself s...

Harvest - 9

Aderic and Celestine only remained with us in the Crowley townhouse for a single night, the bare rundown of their discussion with Darius keeping me in the loop as to the Order of Amber’s plan for handling the offer of royal sponsorship before they were forced to leave; ignoring an invitation to the palace issued by the king and queen, ahead of a ball ostensibly in our honour, wasn't something that could be done at this stage.

Or any stage, really.

I knew the crown's hope of brin...

Harvest - 8

After bidding Heather and Richard goodbye and a safe trip back home, I trotted through the snow to the northern path that Celestine, Aderic, and I would be taking to head to the capital. Of all the routes away from Tal'Doren I'd taken my group along in the summer was the least used, most of us choosing to give the capital a wide berth. One day that might change, but it hadn't yet. It was still just the three of us heading this way, though Old Grims stood with my travel partners.

Standin...

Harvest - 7

I stood on the forest's edge atop a stony ridge, the wind ripping around me faster and faster; a gale of air and a wall of water mixing as a storm cloud roiled above me. The effect was localised, small, perhaps only a few dozen feet across as my magic fed and condensed the howling and roaring elementals. They were willing participants, friends who had been with me all along while I worked with Vivi across Gilneas, only now we were trying something a little more combative.

Raisi...

Harvest - 6

"Home sweet home," I said, stretching my arms high over my head. Staying in a bag as a fox wasn't the most comfortable of things, and had gotten old very quickly as the months swept on by during our travels. Once Lorna had finished her little rendezvous with the prince and we left the Duskmist Plains, we set out to catch all the minor settlements in isolated regions that needed help and that had meant a lot of flying.

I could've left sooner, gone with Frazzle when she teleporte...

Harvest - 5

Duskhaven was a quintessential Gilnean town, one of the larger ones like Crowford, built atop a small rise beside a river and beneath the luxurious retreat of the Greymane family. I was glad to see the revitalised golden and green fields surrounding the effective capital of Gilneas' breadbasket region, the Duskmist Plains, but couldn't help but be agitated at how long it took us to get here.

Even rushing as quickly as we could, pushing Donovan to his limits – and with me spending all ...

Harvest - 4.1 (V,L,A,T)

The moment Donovan touched down and relaxed his straining wings, a pair of foxes scrabbled their way out of the bags they had been carried in. One, the ethereally sky blue Tricks, hopped straight to the ground and stretched out with a great yawn. Gwen, on the other hand, nuzzled her leg softly before crawling out into Vivi's arms.

It had surprised both of them, herself and Lorna, the first time Gwen had turned into her fox form. In one moment Vivi had been holding onto Gwen, pinning her...

Harvest - 4

After escaping from Archbishop Tulvan, who proved incessant in his probing for information and leverage, and handling my responsibilities to the rest of the witches, I followed the guidance of the wind to find Vivi, Lorna, and Donovan sitting on a hill and chatting. Vivi noticed me first, smiling and waving, but looking a little tired.

I was a little surprised to see 'my' raven with Lorna, being fed scraps daintily, but it wasn't what I considered important.

No, the important thin...