[Alliance] Chapter Two: Session Three
Appearing Characters: Aiden Blackmoore, Anduin Wrynn, Arator Windrunner, Arthas Menethil, Caleron Morningwhisper, Calia Prestor, Danath Trollbane, Dorian Wrynn, Elanora Proudmoore, Falstad Wildhammer, Galadin Windrunner, Gilveradin Windrunner, Giramar Windrunner, Jaina Menethil, Kel'Thuzad, Lianne Menethil, Lirath Windrunner, Muradin Bronzebeard, Nathanos Marris, Othmar Garithos, Syeori Sunwalker, Tandred Proudmoore, Taria Wrynn, Tiffin Wrynn, Turalyon Windrunner, Urman Swiftquill, Uther Menethil, Varian Wrynn, Velameestra Windrunner, Vereesa Windrunner, Vittoria Trollbane, Zaeneas Emberlight
July 13th
0:00
Gil got to watch all the drama at the ball. Afterwards, he hit the town. Where he saw the shock of orange-red hair that belonged to Syeori.
He asks her if she’s going to bolt away again. She says it wouldn’t be the same when he expects it. Besides. She saw his performance at the ring joust, and they were near the stables. Gil asks her how long she’ll be around, and she doesn’t know. She had a few potential ideas, but she isn’t supposed to talk about it.
Though, that wouldn’t be the first time they haven’t done something they weren’t supposed to do, she points out.
Gil smirks, and agrees.
Syeori admits she doesn’t know where they are headed, but they were looking into some ancient scripts the “boss” found. They didn’t know what they were going to find, but maybe “a shipwrecked old admirable.”
She also said they weren’t running off in the middle of the night, but the humans seem to be running out of steam. A shame. She walks past Gil, runs a hand over Gil’s collarbone, and asks Gil to see if there was anything “interesting to do.”
Gil follows after her.
They end up finding the cathedral of the Church of the Holy Light. Syeori mentions the tower probably has the best tower in the entire city. They end up scaling the outside of the tower, and inside is a large bell.
They look out over the scenery. Syeori mentioned it wasn’t too late to come back with her, but Gil has his responsibilities still.
She also mentioned she wanted to show him something, and suddenly she trips him up with her whip. She then tosses the whip aside, and pushes Gil down.
July 14th 0:20 The next morning, Gil wakes up. He had made his way under the bell at some point, and he was alone atop the cathedral. Gil stretches out, grabs his clothes, and heads back to wherever he was supposed to be. He goes out the normal way instead of scaling the side.
He passes a young alter servant, who double-takes, but doesn’t say anything. He also passes two tired-looking priests who look a bit hungover.
As he heads toward the palace grounds, he runs into Caleron. He seems a bit tired, but is already wearing his Farstrider uniform and armor. He has the business face on.
He asks where Gil was, but then interrupts himself because he doesn’t want to know. He then tells him they were summoned by Ranger-Captain Marris. Gil snaps to attention and goes.
Caleron also informs him Nathanos is in the city currently.
They make their way to the archery yard. Vereesa and Lirath are also already present, and Zaeneas also appears. Nathanos is sitting over a grindstone.
He informs them there were some developments back in Silvermoon, and everyone was needed back in the home front. He was sent by Sylvanas personally to escort them back to Silvermoon.
Vereesa asks what had happened, and he says he doesn’t have all the details. That’s why they were heading back. But the warlocks had made a power play. Another magister was assassinated, but this time in the seat of the Thalassian capitol.
Lirath asks who it was.
Nathanos said to was Dar’khan Drathir, the personal advisor to King Kael’thas.
Lirath and Vereesa exhale in relief given that it wasn’t their old brother, Sylvos. Lirath more noticeable than Vereesa.
Vereesa said she needed to tend to her sons. Nathanos gives them an hour.
Gil says they probably need someone with experience with warlocks. He suggests Vel, given she understands magic well.
Nathanos refuses it. Her was told to bring Gil, not her. And he can’t guarantee that she would even be permitted to touch the case.
Gil counters that it would be a boon that she wasn’t involved in their politics given she isn’t a magister, and Nathanos said it wasn’t for him to decide. Gil relents.
Vereesa goes to speak with Rhonin.
Gil goes to drop off a note and brief his sister.
0:30
Vel gets a person at her door. It’s a man, who appears to be a man servant and runner. He seems to be a runner from Alterac.
It seemed a missive arrived for Vel. She holds out her hand, and he gives it to her.
The letter is addressed to her from Victor.
Simply put, the letter was summoning her to Durnholde. Camrus Bloodstar, one of the people involved in the prison break, the elf, had requested her by name and refused to cooperate unless she was present.
For some reason.
At that moment, Gil appears to brief her, and they say goodbye, before Gil goes off to regroup.
0:40
Gil heads off towards the east with the rest of the Farstriders.
Vel goes to find Rhonin. Vereesa and Lirath are also present. They all say goodbye, and then Vel gives Rhonin the letter once they are alone.
He says they need to get to Durnholde as quickly as possible.
Vel then drops off a letter for Uther, and gives Tess’s chains to Jaina, who bids her farewell. She also says goodbye to Arator, who gives her a new woven bracelet to replace the one she gave him as he had lost his when he lost his hand. It was a thank you for helping to save him, and also making it possible for him to have his hand back. There was jade woven into the bracelet, which was the same color as Arator’s eyes.
Vel hugs him, then goes to regroup with her uncle at Lake Lordamere.
Rhonin is arguing with the shipwright about the fact ship fare is 10 gold a person. He doesn’t have the money for all of them. He looks at his sons and says they must have won something during the festivities to help. Galadin tries to get one thing of his request to be delivered in the future in exchange for letting his father borrow money from him.
Vel just gives Rhonin money instead, much to Galadin’s despair as she had “ruined” the fun.
Giramar, however, also coughs up 5 gold pieces, which was all he had.
There is some banter, and it’s mentioned that Giramar had been left behind on the trip to Lordaeron because he had gotten “distracted” (see: talking to the dockmaster’s daughter), and they board the ship.
1:00
Back in the palace, Uther received the missive from Velameestra, and then went to see off some of the others. Namely Anduin and the Wrynn family. Anduin and him share a hug, and Tiffin gives a curtsy. The younger kids also see off Uther. Dorian said Uther did awesome, and next time, Dorian was gonna participate. And he was gonna win. And he was gonna use his earnings to marry his sister (Lianne) and they would be brothers. Uther agrees.
Lianne glares daggers.
Dorian said that Uther was way stronger than Anduin, and Anduin just rubs the back of his neck. Uther counters Anduin is much smarter than him, and Tiffin said Anduin was also a great deal more polite than Dorian.
Princess Taria also sees him off, and reminds him of what they talked about. She’s only a letter away. Uther barely manages to hide a wince, and she places a sympathetic hand on his arm and bids him farewell. Varian also says goodbye.
Turalyon gives Uther a nod, and they all begin to depart.
Jaina is sharing a few words with her brother, Tandred, and he mentions that their mother isn’t getting younger. She agrees, and notes she will try to visit soon. Tandred says bye to Uther, as does the rest of the Proudmoore family.
His eldest cousin, Ella, asks him for pointers next time they see each other, and Uther said that she would outstrip him in sailing. She says she knows, but she mentions she was specifically asking about something else. She then shows that she can channel the Light, but she doesn’t want to become a knight or anything.
He says he will.
Vittoria gives Uther a sad smile, and said that they will have to postpone the sparring match for next time. They agree it’s been too long, and Vittoria gives him a hug. Uther returns it. A bit harder than probably appropriate. She returns it, blushing slightly.
She and her uncle, Danath, leave.
Muradin sees Arthas, and punches him in the gut before seeing him off. He also says goodbye to Uther.
Falstad thanks Uther for the help, as he says that he and his friends helped more than they realized, and they have powerful friends in high places now. He gives Uther a seed, and tells him to plant it in the royal gardens and he will thank him later.
Uther said he would, and asked how much room it would need.
Falstad said it was just a flower, but not a regular one.
Uther’s aunt Calia also says goodbye, and she thanks him for taking care of Uther, and is happy he has someone that her son can trust, as he will need him in the future. Uther promises he will be there for him. She thanks him again, and Uther gives her a hug. She seems a bit surprised, but returns it.
Aiden approaches to say goodbye as Calia waves.
Once everyone is gone, Arthas breathes a sigh of relief, happy it’s over. Greetings and farewells take far too long, and you never get used to them.
Uther mentions there are worse things than having too many friends, and Arthas agrees.
Jaina turns to Uther and says they were taking the rest of the day off, but they would resume their training first thing in the morning. She was taking over for Vel, as she needed to rest, though she said Vel probably already informed him.
Uther says she did. That morning. Jaina and Arthas are both onto the fact something is bothering him, but aren’t going to push. Uther just says he is going to miss Vel.
1:33-
June 14th
The Farstriders set off to the east. Nathanos notes they are gonna stop off at an old farmstead. The first day of travel, nothing of not really happens.
June 15th
The second day has them continuing to travel, passing farmsteads and the like as they go.
June 16th
Third day of travel, Gil asks Nathanos what they were gathering from his farmstead, and he said just some things. Given he was human, it wouldn’t do for him to be stationed in Quel’Thalas. He turned his old farm into a bit of a hideout, and had some friends actually watch the farm. No one comes looking for things there. No one. Not even the magistrate.
There’s a drift to be caught there.
June 17th
They get to the town of the farmstead. Lirath gives some urging to let them all rest, and Nathanos relents. Gil stays in town and gets some fresh food and a bed.
June 18th
The next day, as the group is departing, Gil sees some military people near the stables. One of them is the Baron Othmar Garithos. He is berating someone, who insists that “something” isn’t worth his attention. Context clues hints he is pursuing the fact that Uther knighted Elissa and gave land to her father. He does care his “half-blood pet” won the jousting tournament.
He then storms off.
Nathanos grins at the scene, and laughs softly. Garithos then recognizes Nathanos, and calls him out for “pretending to be an elf.”
Nathanos: “Still pretending to be a knight, are you?”
Garithos’s face contorts in anger, and he has one final retort before riding off.
Gil asks if he knows that they could all hear him, and Nathanos says yes, and that’s probably why he said it. However, he said he’s all bark and no bite.
Gil asks for how long. Nathanos shrugs, and says one of his ongoing responsibilities is to keep an eye on him.
Gil mentions it isn’t often he sees someone he intensely dislikes, and Nathanos says there are more, and he should get used to it. Alliances are great on paper, but prejudices still exist. On both sides.
Vereesa tell Gil not to put too much stock into people like Garithos. If he’s not careful, it’ll come back to bite, and an arrow would end up in his gullet. Gil points out it would just cause more of the same, and Vereesa said she hopes he gives her a reason then.
She also implies both she and Rhonin have received some hate for their union. The world is ugly, but it’s also beautiful. And they need to preserve that beauty.
They fortunately avoid encountering any of Garithos’s men.
June 19th
The next day, they see a small camp on the side of the road. As they approach, they see three individuals. A scrawny, middle aged priest of the Holy Light. A bear of a man, though with the softest eyes ever seen. And a dwarf.
Vereesa comments it isn’t often you see dwarves so far north, but Nathanos said it wasn’t their problem and they should go around.
Gil comments it’s a strange group to see at all anywhere.
Vereesa suggests they look in briefly.
Nathanos relents. Gil, Vereesa, and Lirath go to look into it.
The large man points in their direction and draws the attention of the dwarf, who has no beard. Strangely. He has a large mustache and mutton chops instead.
The dwarf identifies them as farstriders, and asks if they want some work because he needs some keen eyes.
Gil asks what kind of work.
The dwarf responds “the Maker’s work.” He then goes in to explain there may be something really important in the mountains that may prove the Maker’s touch, and if he can bring it back, the scholars back in Ironforge may let him into their archives.
Gil asks if he is looking for gnomes.
The dwarf responds he isn’t chasing after fairy tales. He explains the Makers are a bit of an enigma, but they found enough evidence indicating that there was a race of giants that may have formed the world up from nothing. There had to be something around that would prove it, and he believed there was something more in the archives he wanted to get in to read.
Gil asks why he thought there was evidence.
The dwarf says it was a bit of a gut feeling, and the priest steps in that he found some landmarks that seemed to triangulate in the area. But it was just clues. No real evidence. The priest said it could take weeks, and if they had other things to do, it may be best they continue on their way.
The dwarf says to not chase them away, and the big man says he was confident if they looked they will find something.
Vereesa said there wasn’t much to go on, and Lirath points out that the magistrate may be interested if they found something. Gil agrees making the magistrate happy may be a good idea, but he isn’t sure how much time they could dedicate.
They decide to go back and speak with Nathanos.
They manage to convince Nathanos to let them look for a few hours, as if they can find something it may be a good gift to the Magistrate.
They return to the dwarf and start looking.
Gil goes off with Vereesa, and they manage to find what appears to be an inconsistency in the natural rock formations. As Gil looks closer and runs his hand along the stone, he notices something different. Some of the stone almost seems to be weathered, and it seems like it’s a stone that shouldn’t be here. It seems like it has water damage. Not from rain, but something more like a river.
Gil points it out to Vereesa and asks if there was a river there before. She doesn’t recall one, and there are no signs of one.
They summon everyone, and the dwarf is amazed at the find.
He explains the stone isn’t stone from anywhere close to there. It was eroded by sea water. And the closest coast was 400 miles away to the north.
Someone had dragged it from the ocean. Somehow.
Nathanos is a bit stunned.
The dwarf goes on that this may be the find of a lifetime, and Gil asks Vereesa if she had a way to speed things up. She says no.
But they decide to dig into the rock, and there is a trickle of water as they go deeper. It starts to sound hollow.
June 20th
They break through the stone. Nathanos’s eyes widen, and he looks inside. There are pictographs of men. They seem to be warring with primitive weapons against what appears to be strange creatures that are squid or octopus-like. It seems the leader of the warriors was struck down later on in the painting.
Gil doesn’t recognize it, but the site seems to be some sort of burial site.
At the very end there is a woman with long wings and similar armaments reaching down and cradling the warrior in her arms and ascending again.
The cleric uses detect magic, but he doesn’t detect anything strange. It all seems to be mundane.
Further inside are the remains of a large ship in a large puddle.
The priest says they shouldn’t disturb this place any further, but Nathanos says further inside is probably where more things were.
Gil carefully boards the vessel. Fortunately, it doesn’t collapse. Inside, there is a glint of gold. There are solid bars of gold, and jewelry, and other valuable belongings. There is a small statue carved out of bone in the vague figure of a woman.
It’s a LOT of treasure.
It’s suggested to tell the Holy Church about the site, as it is technically within Lordaeron lands. The dwarf mentions maybe he can get a writ of permission.
Gil mentions he wishes his sister was there, and Vereesa agrees she would have probably been able to help more.
They all get a reward of 25 gold each, and the dwarf introduces himself as Urman Swiftquill. The priest was named Father Iven Fisc.
2:45/0:15
The Farstriders get back on the road, and camp just north of Andorhal, which Vereesa said is where Rhonin grew up. Rhonin had left when he was 16. His father was a drunk, and he sought out his own way. He eventually made it to Dalaran. But he still sees Andorhal as his home.
Vereesa mentions if Rhonin had stayed he probably would have been a farmer his entire life. They’re a trading hub. Even Quel’Thalas trades with them.
Veressa expresses she always wondered if he had living family there, and Gil mentions they probably wouldn’t appreciate their daughter-in-law dropping in suddenly.
June 21st
There is a light rain the next morning.
2:48/0:18
June 14th
Vel, Rhonin, and the twins set off on the vessel across Lake Lordamere. As Vel is reading, the twins are gallivanting around. Rhonin is nearby.
Vel has seen some fishing boats around, and she hears one again. However there is a voice humming. Vel looks up. The tune is a dirge of sorts. And it’s midday.
Then there’s a wolf howl. Everyone stops and looks. It seems to be coming far from the west.
As Vel looks about, she sees a thick forest. The largest of the Dawning Isles looms nearby, and it is known as Fenris Isle. There is a large keep a top it.
She recalls hearing about Fenris Keep. it’s been abandoned for a long time. It used to be the keep of the family that ruled over Silver Pine forest. Silver Pine was technically land that belonged to Gilneas. At some point during the second troll wars, Fenris Keep was abandoned. Likely when the Gilneans pulled back behind the gate.
As she looks about, there are a couple of bright eyes in the shrubs. Wolves. She can’t shake the feeling that they are watching her.
And there’s a chill that runs up her spine as the man continues to sing his dirge.
However, nothing else happens that day. At some point Vel taught Galadin the basics of how to count cards in exchange for him not touching her spellbook.
June 15th
In the late afternoon, they land on the shore of Dalaran. Barely a mile down the way are the tall spires of the city.
They enter the city of Dalaran. Rhonin asks her how much time she needed to spend in Dalaran, and she mentioned she just needed to check up at her new quarters. He follows up as he didn’t know Vel was living somewhere new, and she explains the circumstances of inheriting Kel’Thuzad’s mansion.
Kel chuckles in the back of her mind when Rhonin comments he knew Kel’Thuzad was strange, but didn’t realize he was batty enough to leave his estate to his cat.
Vel also mentions seeing the Council chasing after said cat, including Modera, and Rhonin loses it at the image, wishing he could have seen it himself. He asks Vel if he and the twins can see her new place, and she relents.
The three of them are amazed. Vel comments on the fact that at least she won’t have to fight the twins for “her” couch at Rhonin’s place. Giramar promptly takes to the “master” of the house, Mr. Bigglesworth, and Galadin teases him for being the more sensitive one. However, Giramar asks Vel if she needed someone to look after the cat while she was gone, and she mentions she had someone arranged, but she did need someone until they arrived.
She said Giramar could do so on the condition he didn’t touch anything. He agrees happily.
Galadin called that he expected lessons “free of charge” from Vel, and she commented that she had a house to pay for now. He pauses for a second, and then just repeats the expectation as he leaves.
June 16th
3:11
The next morning, there’s a knock. It’s Rhonin. And two other guys. They seem to be laborers.
Rhonin brought “her” couch. Vel is grateful, though expresses, fondly, she won’t have a place to sleep when she visits, and Rhonin says he will just have to get another couch that’s the same type and color.
Vel drops the key off with Giramar, and Rhonin and she leave for Durnholde. Part of the first day into their travel, they hear “baa”ing and the tinkling bell of a group of 19 goats. As they get closer, they run from Vel.
The shepherd calls to them, but they are all scattering. Rhonin laughs, recalling that he had similar experiences when he was younger. He wishes the shepherd luck, as it’s hard to deal with that once the animals start going, and they continue on. Unfortunately there wasn’t much to be done given the animals were intrinsically scared of Vel.
June 17th
They continue toward Hillsbrad, and Vel tells stories about different things she and her friends had done when they followed the same path. Like fighting the dragons. Rhonin is amazed. Neither of them are particularly good as survival, or camping, but they make do.
It’s nice to just travel together.
June 18th
They head into Hillsbrad itself, and it seems the road has been disturbed and torn apart. Vel takes a closer look, and it appears as if it was disturbed by something fairly recently. The disturbance was definitely not there before. She scrapes the ground, and she feels the ground begins to give. The dirt collapses below her, though she is able to scramble away before she falls, revealing a crudely dug tunnel.
Vel suggests they see where it goes, and Rhonin is shocked for a moment, thinking she is implying they should go down themselves, but then Vel mentions she has a familiar. She sends Arkha’din down, using their bond to see through his eyes as she becomes temporarily blind through her own.
As he floats down, there is a rumbling sound not far from where he’s at. Arkha’din dims himself and hides around a stalactite. The ground starts to shift a bit. Through Arkha’din, Vel sees ridges. Arkha’din hovers closer, and Vel sees what looks like some sort of long creature unlike anything she has seen before. There seems to be minerals hidden underneath the plates, and it is heavily scaled, kind of like a dragon, but not exactly.
The creature’s head seems to be an elongated, stone-like carapace.
Vel describes it to Rhonin, he says that they probably shouldn’t get involved with it, but Vel mentions it may end up causing structural damage to the city as it’s rather close. There was a chance that it might turn away, but it also might burrow beneath Hillsbrad.
People could get hurt.
Arkha’din gets recalled.
Rhonin comments that she had been hanging around a paladin too much, and Vel counters that it might not be wise to simply stand aside and let people possibly get hurt--especially in a country she may be condemned in.
Rhonin sighs and says they could probably draw it out. Vel asks if he knew any spells that could collapse the tunnel, and he mentions that they were not prepared. Vel then asks if he had any fire spells.
Those he definitely had.
They prepared themselves, and Rhonin uses a flaming sphere. He drops it down the hole. For a moment, there’s nothing. Then there’s a rumbling as the scorched creature burrows back up toward the surface and explodes from the earth directly under Vel as Rhonin shouts for her to get back.
