[Alliance] Chapter Five: Session Twenty-Seven

Appearing Characters: Arator Windrunner, Duvall, Efrina Travard, Elissa Cross, Galford Travard, Gilveradin Windrunner, Jaina Proudmoore-Menethil, Kala, Kel'Thuzad, Krasus/Korialstrasz, Liiraluma, Motah Tallhorn, Rhonin Windrunner, Riff, Robert Travard, Samia Inkling, Seria, Teemo Manabrake, Thal'ena Dawnseeker, Uther Menethil, Velameestra Windrunner, Victor Prestor, Zagarra

September 28th

Jaina pulled away from Uther, the tattoos on her face having faded. She held Uther’s shoulders, though he was much taller than her in his armor. There were tears in her eyes.

Uther dropped down to his knees to be of a closer height and he hugged Jaina again.

Jaina pulled away again, a dire look on her face.

Jaina was gauging if Uther knew.

Vel hastily reached up to her sending stone, realizing they had no idea what day they had successfully returned. She directed the spell toward her uncle.

Vel blinked, slowly lowering her hand from her sending stone.

Jaina then looked over the group.

Everyone went around and introduced themselves. Luma’s eyes were flicking around to Teemo, Zagarra, Krasus, and other people as they were quite distracted.

Jaina also went over to hug Vel and Elissa. She picked up a strand of Elissa’s hair, which was also dyed.

She looked at Gil.

As they started to head back to the village, Uther hastily explained everything that had happened, including the fact that Arthas had been with them despite him also being at Lordaeron.

Jaina blinked.

Krasus raised an eyebrow at Jaina, incredulous that she would even think she wouldn’t be permitted.

Krasus looked genuinely shocked and impressed.

Uther then mentioned Arthas was also a worgen.

Jaina was in no small amount of shock as Uther explained.

Jaina beamed, genuinely proud.

Jaina and Krasus also explained that they were investigating leads that would bring about a means to destroy the Demon Soul. They traveled to the Broken Isles, and eventually they entreated with a powerful blue dragon named Senegos and made their way to one of Deathwing’s lairs in ancient times. While they were there, they stumbled upon a device that ripped them from time. They arrived on the Time-Lost Isles, and were able to break out, but were unable to control when they went.

Jaina chuckled.

Jaina shared some more stories about everything she had experienced, and by the time they arrived in Tirisvar, the sun was fully down. Together, as they emerged from the depths of the Whispering Woods, they arrived in the quiet little town at the edge of Lordaeron near the lake.

Krasus smiled and sighed.

Jaina looked at Zagarra.

Zagarra grunted and nodded.

Jaina nodded, then smiled. Zagarra pulled up a hood, but otherwise didn’t seem bothered. As they further entered the village, they saw Efrina and another man. Efrina furrowed her brow, but then smiled and approached the group.

Zagarra scoffed.

Vel sighed.

The deeper meaning of the joke was lost on Efrina.

The man she was with smiled broadly.

He flashed a bright white smile. He was fit, but not overly muscular, and he looked to be a snapshot of a handsome country man. He gleefully gave Uther a handshake, and then looked Uther’s armor up and down.

Uther looked around.

Efrina furrowed her brow.

Efrina smiled.

She looked over to Jaina.

Jaina smiled.

The group was welcomed into Tirisvar for the evening and were provided with rooms. They had the opportunity to get baths and enjoy some hometown hospitality. But then the group gathered together to have a bit of a debriefing of everything that happened.

Elissa nodded and smiled.

Uther, Gil, and Vel explained it was more-or-less the point where they had all come together during Uther’s knighting ceremony, which was also the first time that Gil had actually met Uther at all. However, it was like they had memories of their life before that moment in the alternate timeline, which was very similar to their actual lives, but there were subtle differences that were slightly off.

Elissa put a hand on Uther’s shoulder.

Vel glanced over at Luma and Zagarra. Zagarra was sitting cross-legged in the corner and had been completely silent with her eyes closed. Luma was nursing a flagon of hard cider.

Thal’ena looked at Uther, Vel, and Gil.

Vel and Uther exchanged a look, given how many of the events were very centralized around Arthas’s downfall.

Uther and Vel explained most of the visions they had seen, and the rest of the group listened with sober expressions until they were done.

Samia nodded.

She looked over to Zagarra.

Zagarra exhaled quietly.

Teemo put a hand on Zagarra’s knee.

Uther smiled.

Gil grit his teeth.

Luma scanned the other dragonsworn.

Luma waved it off with a wink.

Motah nodded.

Zagarra chose to not answer.

Luma shrugged.

Samia covered her face with her hand for a moment.

Luma rubbed their chest.

The group started to disperse, but Vel gently touched her brother’s shoulder.

They remained in the room as everyone else left.

Vel gave a hesitant nod.

She sighed as she folded her arms behind her.

Gil blinked slowly.

Vel looked at Gil keenly, trying to read his expression as her brother had a history of deflecting to distract away from how he was actually feeling. It became apparent that he wasn’t exactly deflecting, but more he was ultimately trying to pick and choose what to immediately focus on as a lot of things were happening at once that he had to internalize.

Gil nodded.

Vel sighed.

They embraced tightly.

Meanwhile, Luma had to go and drink and try their new gun. Teemo materialized.

Luma motions Teemo over.

There were some awkward quips as they walked around.

Luma had started to stack up a few rocks to set up a shooting range.

Luma started to line up Titanstrike.

Luma aimed down the sight, and the core of the gun started to resonate with Luma’s own technology. It was is if their reflexes were even more on point. They fired, and a bolt of lightning leaped out and knocked several of the rocks to the ground. Teemo whistled.

Luma started to laugh.

It also became apparent that there was no reload time. They could just fire.

Teemo pulled out a small graph that had a bar graph with two columns that had pros and cons listed on them as well as a venn diagram of interests and other traits they had in common. She stood it up on an easel. Luma whistled.

Luma did not stop Teemo as she started to point at things.

Luma’s mouth had opened a few times to talk, but they continued to listen. Finally, Luma’s nails drummed against Titanstrike, and they sat for a few beats as they thought.

Teemo rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.

Luma smirked.

Teemo blushed. Luma didn’t.

Luma shrugged.

Teemo smiled.

Luma had come to sit, and Teemo hurried over and gave Luma a kiss. Luma’s heart was beating very quickly. Later that night, Teemo was staring up at the ceiling.

They both laughed.

As Vel was preparing to climb into her resting place and cast the [Dream] spell to connect her and Uther to Victor, she gave Kel’Thuzad a gentle mental prod.

Kel’Thuzad was quiet for a moment.

Vel sat down on the cot she used as a bed in her portable hole.

Kel’Thuzad chuckled quietly.

Vel chuffed quietly and what seemed to be a degree of deflection.

Vel tilted her head as she considered for a moment, mulling words over her tongue.

Kel’Thuzad chuckled again, but the sound fell into a contemplative silence.

Vel slid onto the cot and began to work the magic for the spell.

There was a long bead of silence, as the statement clearly took the archmage aback and he was unsure how to respond for a moment.

Vel used [Dream] to pull herself and Uther into a dreamscape targeting Victor, and the scene unfolded into the warm mansion study that Vel had taken to utilizing for the dreams in the past. Victor looked surprised that they had appeared again so soon.

He approached and gave both of them tight hugs.

Victor nodded.

Victor nodded.

Victor stopped his boasting halfway through, as he was clearly quite drained.

Uther gave Victor another big hug and pressed their foreheads together.

Victor smiled incredulously.

Uther smirked.

Victor furrowed his brow.

As the dream started to fade, Victor shouted after them.

The spell ended before his could finish, and back in Alterac, Victor woke up laughing for the first time in a while. The dragons that were sharing his bed with him asked him what he was laughing about, and he assured them it was simply a good dream, but in his mind he mused that he’d be killing both of them soon enough.

The dream opened up into the familiar night-wreathed Tirisfal glade. As Arator materialized in the dreamscape, it was obvious he was looking for the spirit that had thus far visited him every time. Vel, in her raven form, gave a caw of greeting, and he looked over to her.

Vel fluttered down and landed on his shoulder. Arator smiled and gave her a few scritches on the chin.

Vel cocked her head and then fluttered onto a branch. She indicated for him to follow her, and like she had during the prior visit, she had the dream shift to show various locales that Arator would find to be beautiful. However, this time she focused on places in the Eastern Kingdoms that he had never been before, but she had.

Arator offered a sad smile.

Vel shook her head and parroted the same croak she said last time.

Arator chuckled sadly.

Vel shook her head.

Vel ruffled her feathers in acknowledgement. Her eyes had periodically been drawn to the red markings on his wrists, and when Arator settled down next to a tree near the lake in the Red Ridge Mountains, she landed next to him and brushed her beak against his arm as if to ask “what are these?”

Vel recognized the words to be prayers of contrition, penance, and reminders of the tenants of the Light. However, they were not common, and they were very old. The Church of the Light had evolved over the years, and the modern church kept three major tenets which were compassion, respect, and tenacity but the prayers emblazoned on his arm broke those tenets up into more traditions. Most commonly, it was the five represented by the five librams, but there were upwards to seven virtues in some beliefs. These prayers made reference to all seven of them.

One of them she recognized as the prayer Arator had been repeating. The tattoos were also surrounded by scar tissue, but not typical tattoo scars. It was almost like burning.

He got a solemn and distant look.

Arator’s breath hitched and he clenched his fist in focus.

Vel inched her way up onto Arator’s shoulder and fluffed up her feathers right by the side of his face and nuzzled into him.

He offered a sad, nervous laugh.

He leaned his head against her side, and she shifted her wing slightly so that it loosely cupped his head.

Some tears had come to his eyes, but in time he ended up falling asleep. However, Vel got the sense that the real reason that Arator didn’t want to talk was that there was an unspoken notion of “I’m afraid you won’t want to stay here if I tell you.” He was afraid a creature as kind, gentle, and beautiful as she was would not want to stay with the guilt he had on his heart.

September 29th

The following morning, Robert Travard greeted those that mozied down into the main dining room. He explained there were last minute preparations, but the celebrations would be full tilt once the sun started to set. He also explained that the dance was what was called a Sadie Hawkins dance where the women asked the men instead of the men asking the women.

The group decided to help prepare some of the festivities, and Vel and Jaina both offered their magics to aid as none of the villagers were actual mages. A lot of the preparations seemed to be focused around a strange ship that didn’t look to be Lordane, but Gil recalled that the ship resembled one that he had seen in an ancient tomb a while ago.

Vel was nearby and was listening.

Duvall looked around.

Vel was regarding Duvall curiously, and it was clear that he wasn’t telling the entire story.

Vel and Gil opted to go and find Uther and informed him of the breadcrumb that they had discovered. They decided to go speak with Robert more about the story.

Rober: Ah! Friends! I hope everything is going well! No one is giving you trouble, right?

Uther got some cider.

He glanced at Gil.

Robert considered as he looked over the group, as they were clearly curious and looking for a degree of understanding.

Galford gave a thumbs up, and Robert indicated for the group to follow after him. They were led to the back of the kitchen. One of the chefs, a heavyset man, gave a wave and they exchanged some looks. The chef shrugged and looked the other way.

Robert walked over to a spice rack and pushed a pan out of the way. Behind a tapestry was an imprint of a gauntleted hand. Bob put his hand on it, and the wall moved in with a quiet rumble as the floor beneath it moved to reveal a set of stone stairs that led to the cellar.

Robert grinned.

They went down the stairs. It was very dark, and Robert clenched a fist and a gentle silver light coated his hand to illuminate the staircase.

After a short while, they emerged into a cave that looked partially unnatural in how it was made. Robert opened his hand, and the light flew up from his hand and shot out to several sconces that were then magically lit. Vel immediately sensed it was a sanctified place. It looked to be a meeting chamber that was not exactly of worship, but it was of prayer. On hand-created banners, there were several symbols that resembled that of the Silver Hand. However, instead of an open hand on a blue background, the fist was closed. Uther was staring, his mouth wide open.

Robert gave a small nod.

Vel tilted her head, as the name had a similar phonetic root to the creatures that Locus-Walker had spoken to her about when he explained what the creatures they fought in the Wailing Caverns were. Vel and Gil glanced at each other.

Robert nodded.

Vel glanced over some of the tomes and such that were present, and she recognized some of the languages. One of them was vrykul.

Vel and Gil exchanged glances as Robert led them back up the stairs, as several pieces about things they had found were starting to slide into place.

Vel had sought out Krasus and Jaina to speak with them, and she found them in a secluded section of the town quietly chatting as they took a break from helping to prepare for the festivities.

She approached them with her hands folded neatly behind her back, and Jaina greeted her warmly.

Vel sighed, a mirthless smile on her lips as she gestured towards the buildings of Tirisvar.

Jaina smiled.

Vel’s eyes flickered over to Krasus, whose brow was furrowed in contemplation.

Vel held up a hand.

Jaina chuffed quietly.

Vel offered a small smile that was equal parts grateful and exasperated, and Jaina promptly understood it for the meaning of “I tried to get him to slow down, but you and I both know how Uther is.”

Jaina looked over at Krasus.

Krasus considered the statement for a moment.

Krasus smiled warmly, quite endeared.

Vel did give them a brief rundown of what had been discovered, including the research into anima manipulation, which was being used as a substitute for needing to prey upon the living. Neither Jaina nor Krasus had ever heard of such magics before, which was notable in and of itself.

Vel also showed Jaina the beginnings of the sin’dorei policy ideas she had worked on in the Timeless Isle, and Jaina was quite impressed and also offered some pointers of her own.

That evening, the massive ship was rolled into the water. Robert stepped forward.

As the ship continued into the lake, he brought his fist before him and in vrykul he spoke the next part.

There was a spark of light, and the longboat ignited with a holy, silver fire. As Gil watched, he saw figures watching as the ritual took place. As he glanced around, there were shades of figures bathed in a silver light that were standing in the crowd. Some were human sized, others were not. Some of them lifted off the ground and flew forward to accept the feast.

Gil uttered a remembrance for those that died during the opening of the Dark Portal. A web of fire sprung across the lake and helped to further ignite the boat. Krasus put a hand on Gil’s shoulder and joined his magic to Gil’s, transforming it into the visage of a great dragon over the scene in remembrance to the Scholarly One as well.

Luma had set up some undulating projections moving across the sand and water, creating something of a bridge in some sense.

Vel watched the scene and spoke quietly as she reached out with her magic.

She cast a powerful spell, and her magic washed over the water as the color almost seemed to fade slightly. The magic illuminated the lake as it mingled with the life magic of Gil and Krasus. And in that moment, they saw humans and vrykul, but also elves dancing across the water, and draenei walking across the bridge that Luma had made. Vel could have sworn she saw her mother dancing across the water, who looked upon her as if saying she was still there before flickering away.

Elissa looked up in awe at everything, and Thal’ena began a solemn song that echoed across the water.

It was as if the ritual had reached more than just those who had given their lives for Tirisfal.

In a sheltered section of the crowd, Seria had set up her own offering along with Riff, asking for protection for those she cared about.

Seria looked up and around. Brightly lit in the mists of the nearby glade was a bear wreathed in silver moonlight. She was transparent and flickering. Seria looked at her in complete shock as the spirit stepped closer.

The form of the spiritual bear began to transform into her troll form, wreathed in radiant and keen lights. She smiled.

She opened her arms for a hug, and Seria ran forward and hugged her. It was an intangible closeness.

Kala looked at the celebration.

She chuckled quietly, and Seria had started to cry. Kala held her daughter for a little longer, but eventually she pulled away.

She kissed Seria’s forehead and pressed their foreheads together.

Kala stepped back and beautiful motes of light started to lift from her form.

She held up Seria’s necklace.

The necklace fell back to Seria’s chest as the apparition vanished. The last thing Seria heard was a hum-like laughter and the closing of a door.

This page was last edited on April 24, 2024, at 04:33 PM

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