(Part two) Stories over beers.
Stormwind. Old Town. 5 friends are sitting in a rustc tavern as is their custom every year to relive old adventures and catch up what they have been doing since they last met.
Gia Malin the gnome, a rogue infamous for stealing hearts.
Bors Basa, the hunter, famed throught Azeroth for his taming prowess, rivalling Rexxar himself.
Twill the ranger, esteemed throughtout azeroth for her skills with the bow.
Senna the draenei shaman, who healed countless injuries and finally
Punicilla the paladin, or as her friends called her, Puny the Elf. diminutive in stature, yet a stalwart in valour.
“Late again Gia. Another escaped romance?” as Gia sat down with a grunt.
“not entirely. At first anyway.”
“Oh this should be good” laughed Senna as she ran a finger through a bowl of corn, her fiery fingers making them pop.
“Well? Come on…” said Puny.
“I had a strange meeting with a fellow as I was evading a rather enraged husband.” The party rolled their eyes and Twill muttered “go on…”
“It’s true. I was ducking into an alley when i bumped into a man carrying a large sack. The sack burst open and what was inside fell out. I tried to run on but something… told me to stop. I turned and saw him look at me as if he was telling me to stop. Everything seemed to melt into shadow. After a few seconds i was alone with the man.”
Senna looked at Bors “Thoughts”
“Almost as bad as those stories Soulie used to tell us about her being so beautiful. At first I thought she was just messing but at times I think she actually believed it. I always told her her vanity and sense of entitlement would come back to haunt her.”
“Oh her!!” yelled Twill, seemingly in a deep sleep. “Anyone know what happened to her?”
Puny twisted slightly in her chair as if something had bitten her. “No one knows. She went off exploring with her two friends a few years ago. No one has seen them since.”
Gia laughed “hah. probably living together in sin eh Sen?”
Senna narrowed her eyes and flicked a burnt popcorn niblet at him “Shaddup and get on with it”
“Ok Ok… Anyway as i was saying this man then took me to his home. I have no idea what was going to happen, even less idea how I got there. We talked for hours. He said he was looking for some people to help him find his long lost sister. said he would pay well. I said I knew some folks so here we are. Lot of gold in it.”
With varying levels of acceptance they agreed to visit the strange man and hear his proposal.
A lonely house in the Woods of Darkshire
“Here we are. This is where he said to await him.” said Gia.
“I am cold!” whispered Puny, shivering visibly.
“Oh by the prophet” laughed Senna. “Need a fire?”
“No we need a snowstorm…” muttered Twill.
Fire burst from the ground and the group hurriedly found some branches. A bow twanged and a wolf yelped it’s last. Supper was ready when a figure made it’s way to the house.
“You shouldn’t make a fire so brazenly” said a voice. “You never know what it will bring” It was extinguished and a soft light filled the area.
“Are these the ones you said could help me gnome?” as the figure arrived and slowly drew back it’s hood.
“Yeah they are. This is Puny… Twilly. Senny and Borsy. I am Gi…”
“Their names are unimportant right now. This is all that matters right now.” Throwing down a heavy sack, it clinked as it hit the ground.
“Errm… how much is in there?” said Bors.
“Enough for all of you. Come inside. I have a tale to tell.”
Inside the 5 friends all sat round the table with a mug of Stormwind ale looking at each other wondering when the man would stop staring at the fire and explain himself.
“Well?” as Bors. “Any time now would be good.”
The man turned, his face now fully uncovered.
Senna gasped. “Prophet’s tentacles, it can’t be! You look like… our old friend!”
“Nah. Can’t be. She’s long dead. probably froze to death eh Puny?” as she dug an elbow into her friend’s side
“Done?” grunted Punicilla. “If you are I’d like to hear.”
They all relaxed and waited for the man to begin.
"I grew up in Elwynn. My parents and my sister. When we were of age to learn swordsmanship we would train for hours. In our play we would fight the orcs. We would save Elwynn from the worgs of Blackrock. We would save our farm from the murlocs.
He stopped and looked out the window.
“Then one day our mother died. A few years later, our father. We were of age to make our own way in the world, but we chose to stay in our family home until such time we found family of our own. I found mine first, and after many a long talk my sister gave me the blessing to start my own life. I kept in touch with her all the time until she enlisted in Stormwind’s army. I lost contact with her after she was deployed to Lordaeron. At least. What remained of it.”
His voice dropping to a hoarse whisper his face seemingly pained “No news came of her. I feared she was dead. Then the news came. She had fallen in an attempt to retake Stratholme from Rivendare. When I asked if it was possible to have her returned for a proper burial I was told that the Scourge have complete control of the area. All you can hope for, is that the Silver Hand mages, got to her with fire before the Scourge could.”
Silence filled the room except for the soft crackling of burning wood
“Yes. Evil times” said Gia. I remember doing things in that time and place I do not wish to relive ever again"
Senna as silent.
Twill now having lost her sense of mischief, asked the old man if he had ever thought of finding his sister
“No. Not for a few years” he replied. “Even if I did not have my own family to watch over, I am but one man. My sister was always the better warrior. If she fell to the Scourge, so would I. And she would not have wanted it.”
“But I sense you went some time later anyway” said Senna peering over her mug as she brought it to her lips.
“In a way. In a way…” he muttered. “I knew my own strength alone would not be enough. the Silver Hand would not help, they were too thin and their numbers were dropping every day. now there are few left, and what remains are now known collectively as Argent Dawn.”
So what DID you do?" asked Bors.
"I joined the Scarlet Crusade. While I never fully fell into their zealotry, their influence over me was strong, and their leaders like Abbendis had intoxicating charisma. But I never lost sight of the real reason, and that was to find my sister. So I went with them to the Eastern Plaguelands and with them I built, and lived in the Scarlet Enclave.
Then Acherus appeared in the sky. we thought it was just another of the Scourge’s flying necropolis’, but this was different. We could feel his presence above us, always watching us. We prepared as best we could, but soon the Death Knights of Acherus came. They slaughtered us, they slaughtered the civilians. they butchered countless beasts to make their undead chargers. With cunning they destroyed our vanguard at the ships. They rampaged through our stronghold, releasing a great champion of theirs. And when they again used cunning to fool us into revealing our plans for Northrend, I saw something.
Everyone was now listening intently. Even Twill was enraptured.
“I saw a Death knight who outshone all the others. It was a maelstrom of death and destruction, it’s power seemed limitless. The Lich King himself was seen to give it orders directly, such was it’s prowess. I truly thought this one knight would utterly destroy us all.
Indeed before they came to finally destroy us, I was one of the guards who watched “The Messenger” come to Abbendis. As he rode past I felt a strange chill of recognition. I knew that messenger from somewhere, but not as a messenger of the crusade.
Then it hit me. Finally it dawned on me, who the invincible knight was, who the seemingly favored champion of the Scourge this was. And I said and did nothing to my fellow crusaders, as I knew they were now doomed and they would likely kill me, as is their wont.”
A long pause followed as old memories of battles against Arthas and his Death knights filled everyone’s thoughts.
“At one point this one seemed invincible, as if Ner’Zhul himself would finally achieve his purpose.” the man continued.
You know a lot of what happened "said Senna “I now see what the others probably can’t. This Death knight. was your sister.”
The old man slowly regarded her. “Yes. It was. My sister, who I had come to find, was now a champion of The Scourge.”
He paused and turned to the fire again, not looking at anything in particular.
"She completely decimated us atop her wyrm. All I could do to save myself was pile fellow soldiers who were now dead on top of me to protect me from the savage blasts. Ballistas all around me shattering as if they were made of twigs. Believe me when I tell you that it was a mercy to be hit an ice bomb, rather than be shredded by shattered ballista.
I still hear her voice now, changed forever but still recognizable as she yelled in triumph as she broke us. Then she flew off, seemingly sated with our blood. I clambered out from the wreckage, and with great peril made my way to safety amongst flame and blood. I fell unconscious and was saved by the newly formed Argent Dawn. I asked them what had happened to the Death Knights, and they told me Arthas had betrayed them and they were eager for revenge.
I asked about the champion knight and gave a description, and they confirmed that she was alive and had taken the name Souldefiler given to her by Arthas as a token of defiance… I had assumed she had died in the battle prior to the Betrayal, and accepted joyously their news that far from it, Souldefiler had braved Acherus and retook it for her new order.
They asked me if I wanted to help their new order but I said no, my purpose was fulfilled and I went home. Soon tales began to reach us of Souldefiler and her battles. We heard of how she defeated the Lich King. We heard of how she defeated the harbinger of the very end of the world itself. We learned how she travelled to a distant long hidden land and saved it from itself. We learned how she travelled through time, we learned how she and others stood in defiance of the Burning Legion and ended it. And we learned of how she stood against the Old gods once more, and overcame madness.
All 5 now nodded their heads in agreement.
“Yeah we were all there, we all shouldered a heavy burden. In fact we all knew your sister, it was our good friend Souldefiler.” said Gia.
“Wait a minute!” cried Puny. “Is that why we are here? You want… Us… To find her… Don’t you…?”
The old man turned to face them.
“Yes. Yes I do.”