Branding

I got a letter from Ysabelle.  She wrote that she had spoken with her lord, and that he would like to meet with me regarding my joining the Silverguard.  So, arrangements were made.  I was to meet with Alkaiser, the Silverlord, outside of Orgrimmar’s Talon Gate that very night. 

There were a few other people there, the Silverlord’s Bloodguards Arathael and Karlei, and a younger girl who’s name I didn’t catch.  There was also a priest there looking to join up, a guy named Nefarirr.  The whole process went by in a bit of a blur, we had to vow our loyalty or somesuch – I don’t even remember what I said, I think I was more concerned about not tripping and falling into the river that we were all standing next to.

Well, after I said whatever I said, I had this mark burned into the top of my hand.  The brand apparently allows me to speak with other members of the Silverguard over great distances, on top of serving to remind me not to blurt out anything stupid in front of one of my would-be superiors.  That’s mainly why I wanted it placed on a highly visible part of my body – so I won’t forget that it’s there.

I wonder if my room in the Keep will be near Ysabelle’s? 

Everything old is new again

I was really excited to go to Kalimdor, and the warm sun of Durotar was welcome change from the gloominess of the Forsaken forest I had just left.  There was something in the orcs’ story (the whole going west for a new start in a new land) that appealed to me.  I was hoping that coming here would mean a fresh start for me, too. 

And no, the irony of a ‘fresh start’ in the lands where we originally came from is not lost on  me. 

Orgrimmar was itself was great, dirty and hot and swarming with all kinds of people – I’ve never seen anything like it. I felt short, but that’s okay.

 The best part was when Thrall actually acted impressed when he heard about what I did.  He even had a mission for me: Go down into a cave and kill a couple demons.  Conveniently, this was the same cave that I had already planned to go to, but I didn’t tell him that. 

 I didn’t waste any time, I dove right down in the cave, a place called Ragefire Chasm (and I thought Orgrimmar was hot).  The place was a steamy, lava-filled hive of troggs, giant worms, and demon-worshipping orcs.  I made it pretty far on my own, but when I saw a pack of about twelve rather nasty-looking orcs in front of me (several of them with demon minions at their side) I decided I had better turn around and either get a bigger sword or get some help.

Luck was with me, it seemed - as I returned to the entrance to the cave I was met by a troll shaman (one of the Darkspears, not the other sort), a Forsaken rogue, and another Blood Knight.  The Knight seemed awfully young to have travelled this far on his own, but when I questioned him I learned that he had, in fact, survived his First Trial.  He was not yet on his Second, but I decided not to tell him that he would need to return here again later for that.  If he knew, he might decide to postpone his trip to the Chasm altogether, and I needed all the help I could get. 

I learned that the shaman and the rogue were both on the same mission from Thrall that I was.  Thrall, evidently, did not have a whole lot of faith in my abilities to get the job done.  I probably wouldn’t have either, though, so I wasn’t about to hold it against him.

So together our ragtag band made our way through the tunnels of the Chasm – I was physically strongest and best equipped, so my role was to hold the attention of all the beasts, orcs, and demons that came across.  The shaman used his magic to heal my wounds during each fight.  The rogue would sneak behind our enemies while they were busy pounding away on my shield and cut them to bits.  The other Blood Knight did his best at whatever he could, attacking our enemies or healing one of us in a pinch.

The demons were sent in to dispatch were no trouble at all for us, and glowing in the corner of a chamber at the deepest reach of the cave was an orb on a pedestal.  Now, I had been told that I needed to collect the Blood of the Wrathful from this place.  That orb was definitely not blood, but it was exactly where I was told to look for it.  So, I grab it and toss it in my pack anyway.  I thought, Maybe it is blood, what do I know about this stuff.

Well, the pounding footsteps that echoed through the cave and sent bits of rock crumbling from the ceiling told me that someone didn’t want me to take the Blood of the Wrathful.  Actually, it wasn’t the footsteps that told me this, it was the booming voice of an enormous winged demon charging at me, yelling something like, “YOU WILL NOT TAKE THE BLOOD OF THE WRATHFUL” that told me this. 

His bark was bigger than his bite, though, and the three of us (the young Blood Knight high-tailed it out of there once he saw this guy) were able to take him down without any problems.  Once he had fallen, the orb in my hands turned a dark crimson and let off a dim light.  This, I thought, must be the Blood of the Wrathful. 

That being done, we decided to head back to the surface to claim our prizes.  I didn’t stay in the city long after that, from what I understood I had a long walk ahead of me to the shore west of Ashenvale Forest for the next leg of my mission.  I said my goodbyes, adjusted my pack, and started walking down the long dusty road through the desert.

Leaving Home

My first stop was to be the orcish city of Orgrimmar, a place I was eager to see.  I would not be returning to Silvermoon until my job was complete, so I decided to pack the few things I could say were mine and check out of Wayfarer’s Rest.  I had been able to sell some simple pieces of armor that I crafted from ore I had come across in my travels, but it still left me with barely enough to settle the bill at the inn.  Perhaps I should have paid more attention to dad when he tried to teach me about his work, maybe then I could have made something worth more than a few coppers. 

As I left the inn I saw a crier running through the Walk of Elders, yelling something about an Alliance attack on Fairbreeze Village and other points in the wood.  A company of soldiers ran past me and through the gate, followed by all manner of person willing and able to defend what little lands we had left.  I tighted the strap on my pack so it wouldn’t bounce around and joined the crowd rushing into the battle. 

When I reached Fairbreeze, where the bulk of the fighting was happening, I thought I had made a huge mistake.  This was not the kind of skirmish that has become so ordinary in the wood since we declared our allegiance to the Horde.  This was a well-coordinated attack being made by well-seasoned fighters with swords bigger than I was.  Blood Knight or no, I was out of my league here and stood no chance at combat with this army.  Rather than throw my life away, I looked for others I could help. 

I saw a man whose legs had been trapped underneath some tumbled rocks – the effect of a small gnomish bomb, it seemed.  I was able to move the rocks and saw him to the relative safety of Falconwing Square.  As I ran back towards Fairbreeze I spotted a dark-haired girl dressed in a fine gown, tattered though it was, walking straight into the fighting.  She was unarmed and appeared to be in a bit of daze, judging by the slow, drifting steps she was taking.  There was even a baby dragon – the likes of which I had never seen before - tugging at her dress with it’s teeth, apparently in a futile attempt to direct the woman away from the melee.

I rushed over to her and asked what she was doing.  She didn’t respond, but her face was flush as if she had been crying.   A bullet sent from a dwarven rifleman rang past my ear and I knew we had to get out of there.  I placed my hands on the woman’s shoulders, intending to turn her in the direction of the city and lead her back, but she tensed at my touch and met my eyes with a look of fear I couldn’t place.  Another bullet buried itself in the dirt in front of my feet as I told her that I’m not the one she should be afraid of right now. 

I heard a growl and looked up to see a kal’dorei druid barrelling towards us in direbear form, but a volley of Farstriders’ arrows slowed him down enough for me to grab the girl’s hand - a bit more roughly than she probably cared for - and get out of there.  I practically dragged her through the wood and across the Dead Scar, pausing only once to throw a little blast of exorcism at the face of a mindless Scourge minion in our path.

We eventually made it to the gate of the city - no thanks to the girl’s lead feet.  I had planned on taking her to the Wayfarer’s Rest to get her to sit down, relax, and come to her senses.  When I started moving in that direction, though, the dragon sceeched and dove down, grabbing my cloak in its teeth and pulling me a different direction.  Don’t ask me why, but I followed the little guy’s lead and, after a time, was brought right to the door of Silverguard Keep! 

There was a person sitting behind a large desk at the end of the entry hall who, unphased by the state of the girl, informed me that she did indeed live there and directed me to her quarters.  Once we reached her room I didn’t linger, I didn’t really have any idea what I was still doing there in the first place – I probably should have just left the girl with the person at the desk.  She walked straight over to her bed and nearly collapsed – whatever ordeal she had been put through must have taken a lot out of her.  She seemed okay, though, or at least unharmed from what I could tell.  I placed my last healing potion on a shelf where I thought she would see it - I figured she might want something when she wakes up – and left her.

The dragon gave me a happy chirp on my way out, and I asked the guy at the desk to look in on the girl in a bit.  He gave me a look that said, “Unlikely.”

As I exited Silverguard Keep I saw some soldiers walking back into the city, their wounded in tow.  The battle was over, it seemed.

With nothing left for me to do there, I adjusted my pack and set off for the Undercity.