"I was doing my normal evening rounds in the house, putting out all the lights." Eddick answered nonchalantly while he cast Kathlin a gaze. He was leading both her and Ragnar down a large set of hanging stairs going through a large library the interior size of a small cathedral.

"Alfidious had retreated to his private studies at eight'o clock, while lady Rosamery went to her bedchambers a little past midnight. Normally, I would not enter or disrupt Master Alfidious when he was in sanctuary, as he is a reclusive man with a strong desire for personal privacy and solitude. He usually locks the door behind him, and doesn't come out until early the next morning to travel to the Royal Keep."

Murphy continued to talk as he walked. As they reached the bottom floor, he lead them to the left, through a small maze of lesser corridors lined with windows out across the courtyard.

"But that night, it was different. While I did my ordinary rounds outside his chamber, I noticed that the door to his room was unlocked, which was highly unusual. When I opened the doors to check on Master Alfidious, I found him dead in his studies, alone, with no one else. The windows to his room were perfectly intact, and they are designed to never be opened. Now, what did interest me was that the fact that there was no key in the lock itself."

As they passed by the large oak doors to the room in which Alfidiou's corpse still lay in, Murphy motioned towards the locks on the door. They were very different from the ordinary brass locks in the house, the lock to the chamber in particular made out of heavy duty titanium and with some mystical magical runes shining ever so faintly around the keyhole.
The heavy twin doors were, although a little old, still in a pristine condition, seemingly untouched and undamaged, as if they were straight out of production.

"As you can see, he was a man with a... very great desire, for privacy. The lock to his chamber surpasses even the lock of the main door to the house by many leagues. It was made by an intricate dwarven design, and then enchanted by some of the top enchanters of Stormwind's High School of Magic. It would be easier to break down the doors themselves ten times than attempt to pick or break the lock itself. But there are only two keys to the room. One resides with Master Alfidious himself, and it was still on him when I checked this morning. The other one lies in the possession of Lady Rosamery."

As they began their journey down the final flight of stairs towards the atrium, Murphy turned to look towards Kathlin.

"And no, before you get any ideas; Lady Rosamery did not leave her bedchamber when Alfidious was killed. She spent her night before going to bed in the library reading, and I saw her multiple times between. It was I who had to wake her up in fact after discovering the fate of her husband."

" ... Joe, Mason; go to the private study, the book of events last month should be there somewhere. Go... " Sounded the voice of a man, but it immediately stopped as Ragnar, Murphy and Kathlin came walking down the stairs into the atrium.

At the main floor of the atrium were more than a dozen white cloaked men walking around, and another dozen appearing from the back a heavy carriage that just pulled up on the outside of the mansion.
The man who had been speaking, the Captain of the White Hand members, was a man with slick, black hair and mustache, and currently in the progress of briefing some of his men. But when he noticed the group that came walking down, he had already turned around to look at them.

"Captain Adolph, I presume? Lady Rosamery is extremely happy that you could come on such short notice." Murphy began as he walked down the stairs, and up to the Captain. Adolph's eyes were originally on Murphy, but they switched over to Kathlin and Ragnar who were behind him. Ragnar in particular returned his curiosity with a rather dark gaze, the dwarf none too happy with the new arrivals.

"Surprised tha see ye here, Adolfie. City Guard was too hard fer ye?" Ragnar brummed in a slightly mocking tone, which generated a particular cold stare from Adolph. Adolph gave a short glance to the two men he had been briefing. They nodded, before they turned and walked away, passing by Kathlin and Ragnar as they journeyed up the stairs towards Alfidious chambers.

"Yes, we are happy that we have the opportunity to work for your lady." Adolph said as his gaze returned to Murphy.
"Her wisdom seems to only increase over the years, as shown by choosing the service of the White Hand. We understand she is in mourning, and we will keep quiet as we set up her new defenses."

"She will much appreciate your sensitivity, Captain." Murphy replied, the servant still as motionless as ever.

As there came a brief lull in the conversation between the servant and the Captain, Adolph turned his attention over to Ragnar who was standing next to Kathlin.

"And Ragnar, I'm surprised to see you sober. It seems so very out of character for you."

---

Letting out a sigh, Sharon was about to walk towards the stairs again when he suddenly heard a pair of faint yet fast footsteps outside the door.

The High Elf barely had time to turn around before the doors to the mansion flew to either side and smashed against the walls, as a frantic little black haired girl came storming into the house like a tornado.

Sharon quickly recognized said girl as Liaena, whom at that point looked like she had been through a war judging by her expression!

"Liaena?" Sharon exclaimed, while Friedrick passed through the room in the background. Upon seeing the girl however, Friedrick paused, and gave Liaena a rather generous smile.

"Ahh, Lady Rune. I am happy to see you back. I have prepared some new clothes for you, they are waiting for you in your private chambers. I have also filled the bathtub with warmwater, as I know you would like to avoid the Night Elves down in the pool. Just remember to remove the fire rune from the water before stepping into it."

After having given his message, Friedrick was off as quickly as he had came.

Sharon, on the other hand, had mostly ignored the words of his butler, too focused on Liaena herself.

"Are you alright, Liaena?!"

Liaena merely stared blankly at the Sharon for a moment, the human having paid as little attention to Fredericks words as the high elf. Upon seeing Sharon alive, well and decidedly un-shanked, the girl allowed the hand holding the dart-gun to fall back to her side.

“Liaena!?”

“…We need to talk” Liaena got out finally as she strode forward, grabbing a fistful of Sharons dressing gown sleeve as she dragged him forcefully towards the staircase. The elf hurried after her rather than be pulled or have the expensive material ripped; trying to slow down Liaena was akin to attempting to reason with a particularly pig-headed steam locomotive with all the brakes ripped off. “Why? What’s happened?”

Up two flights of stairs, Liaena did not pause or slow down until they reached Sharons study, whereupon she pushed the confused high elf inside, checked behind her for pursuers and entered herself before slamming the door and locking it. Turning to give Sharon another blank look, she fell to pacing around the room. “I know where Sherpa is”

“What?”

“I know where Sherpa is staying” Liaena repeated. She had still not let go of, or put down the dart gun. “I got his address from a housing estate agent, I went over to his house and saw him come out of it. It’s 32 Eternal Sun Street, over in the Cathedral District”

“….”

“Isn’t…that….good?”

Liaena was silent for a long moment. The girl was still wandering around the room aimlessly, in a manner that suggested that she was still too wired up to sit down. “I saw Rithrynn there too”

“…”

“She was there too!” Liaena whirled on Sharon even though the high elf had raised no voice of doubt or objection, her face displaying mingled desperation, confusion and fury all at once. “Just a few minutes after Sherpa left, she ran out with that big cat of hers and rode off down the street. He must be controlling her somehow, with spells or that thing that attacked us down in the sewer…..I-I-don’t don’t know what to do”

Sharon was taken by surprise by the sudden news.

Rithrynn, in league with Sherpa, possibly mind controlled by the same curse or spirit that had affected Liaena earlier?
Liaena definitely seemed rattled by whatever it was that she had seen out in the city, and if she had seen Rithrynn, at the very homebase of Sherpa in any other character than murdering his crew, it was clear why she was worried!

Moving one arm behind Liaena, Sharon tried to calm the frantic girl as he thought about the recent news.

"I could probably have made a mind control joke about there not being anything to control in the first place in the case of Rithrynn, but that would be highly inappropriate considering the circumstances."

"Rithrynn hasn't said anything or mentioned Sherpa since she came back. She has acted quite normal, or as normal as she can be." Sharon said as he looked at Liaena. Rithrynn, in a peaceful meeting with Sherpa could mean two things.

First of all, Liaena's fears could be right, and she could in fact be possessed by a similar spirit as the one that had possessed Liaena back in Dalaran. In which case, they had a powerful evil force on their hands to deal with, right in their very base.
On the other hand, Rithrynn could have been playing a secret second game that none of them knew about. It seemed unlikely that she would support Sherpa, but then again, Sharon would never have expected Rithrynn to be the one to be toying with hidden plots and secrets. Those were games more in the domain of Liaena than the straightforward Night Elven Sentinel.

"If she really is possessed, we are going to have to be extremely careful... " Sharon concluded, his mind entering a brief contemplation.
"We should consult Marshall. If whatever's possessing her becomes suspicious that we could be onto it, Light only knows what it could do before we managed to contain it!"

Liaena nodded distractedly, running through Sharons proposal in her head. “Right. Marshall. Of course. I’ll talk to him”

The girl was still clearly thinking about a million fragmented things at once. Liaena took several hurried steps forward, pulling out of Sharons arms before swinging around to look back at him. “If Sherpa dies, it might break whatever control he’s got over her. He’s got his own mercenary guild, a gang called the White Hand. I saw men from their group outside his house. There was a death of a noble last night I think they were involved in, so I sent Kitty to go and investigate –“

“Who?”

“—but they’re building their own castle, practically! Down at their docks, they’ve got a fortress that looks out over the harbour” Liaena ploughed on, completely oblivious of Sharons attempts to contribute to the conversation. “If this goes on much longer, he’ll have too much of a foothold to get rid of. I think we should infiltrate the house he’s staying at, and take him out there as soon as possible. I can go in disguised as a servant and the Night Elves can –“

“…”

“Oh Light. Serphia.”

Liaena had, if possible, gone even paler as she paused to think through all the possible ramifications of the situation in her head. “There’s no way to involve her without her blabbing it all to Rithrynn. But we can’t tell her about Rithrynn. I don’t know what she might do to her”

Okay. Time for plan B, possibly.

Falling silent again, Liaena paused to consider all of the possible alternatives for Sherpa Murder, all while under the suspicious eyes of Sharon. “I could just go in there by myself”

"Private armies, secret agents and now even his own castle. My brother has been very busy it seems!"

Although the idea of Sherpa building his own castle in Stormwind seemed out of whack at first, Sharon did remember hearing about the harbor defense project down by the docks. What better way to build your strategic, evil castle of doom without drawing suspicion than making it a joint effort seemingly for the benefit of the city?

"White Hand... those were a mercenary group, weren't they?" Sharon said, thinking back. He had heard about the White Hand, they were among the city's newer security groups, whom had received quite a lot of praise from their clients.
In fact, the last time he had been reading about them was the mercenary catalog given to him by Friedrick when he had been looking for a mercenary group to help defend him after the assassination attack.

It was probably best not to tell Liaena that before the Night Elves had come, the White Hand had been one of the groups Sharon had considered hiring.

"It would probably have not been the best idea to hire mercenaries to protect me from my brother-who-wants-to-kill-me's private army."

"Going against my brother alone would be suicide. He is a powerful foe. He might be even stronger than the last time we faced him. And that is even without considering the fact that he now has an entire private army on his side. Whatever happens, we will certainly need allies if we are ever going to hope to have a chance of taking him. Anything less would result in little more than a futile and overly dramatic suicide."

Sharon spoke while thinking. Sherpa was a former Death Knight of the Scourge, a man who almost solely brought great devastation to Dalaran. And now he had his own army. If they were going to take him out, they would need any assistance that they could get!

"We need Serphia and her elves." Sharon commented, chewing on his next words carefully.
"But Rithrynn represents an unstable element that would compromise the entire operation... "

"Telling Serphia would probably be a bad idea... "

"We need a way to neutralize her... what about her 'close friend', Naliyah?" Sharon asked, looking back at Liaena.

“How about her close friend, Naliyah?”

“No…” Liaena muttered after a moments pause where she considered Sharons proposal. “…I don’t want to do that to her. None of this is her fault”

The girl did not respond to Sharons remarks initially about a lone attack on the mansion and the likely futility thereof, still rapidly running through the options for the Rithrynn Situation in her head.
“I can deal with her. I’ll can sort it so Serphia doesn’t realise where she’s gone, and then I can….go and get Marshall. I might even have someone who’d be able to tell me what he did to her – if she’s feeling more cooperative this time, anyway”

“…”

“Oh. Yes. I’ve got an assassin” Liaena added out of nowhere. In response to the weird look Sharon gave her, she felt around in her satchel until she pulled out the sock containing Astrid and plopped it on the desk, the sock jumping around angrily again after the little human tried to fight her way out of the material. “I made a deal that I’d release her after all of this was over, so now I’m stuck with her. I’m not sure what to do with her now though…she’s annoying to have to carry around the whole time”

“…Would that be the assassin that the elves were searching for all night?”

“No. I don’t have that one anymore” the girl said absently. As far as Liaena was concerned, her mind had clearly already moved on to more important matters than simply the whereabouts of tiny, angry mercenaries she might potentially be carrying in her hand luggage. “The White Hand have a rivalry with the Red Vanguard. I think we could get the Red Vanguard on side easily if they got to take out the guy bank-rolling the lot that are taking over their jobs. Although there’s more people than Sherpa involved in this. There’s a guy called Jamie Lasher that he’s staying with. I’d not heard of him”

"Very well, I trust your judgement on this matter." Sharon concluded after Liaena rejected his proposal. It was safe to say that Liaena knew Rithrynn better than he did himself, even though it oftentimes could seem like they spent most of their time fighting and arguing, and that Sharon had his fair share of intimate encounters with the latter where potions had been involved.

(( I think the name was Jamie Lasher, Liaena, Jamia & Savage sounds like the guys from Mythbusters :P ))

"Jamie... " Sharon muttered as he stared absentmindedly past Liaena for a moment, as he raced through his memories to try to find any references to the name.

"No, I don't think I... wait, I think I do. Jamie... Jamie Lasher." A light briefly appeared in Sharon's eyes as he remembered, and he looked back at the girl.
"He is a merchant from the maritime trade business. The man was a former marine of the Lordaeron navy, if I remember correctly. I have met him a couple of times in the past, once in a banquet down by the docks. He owned a couple of transport ships and was looking for clients."

Sharon chewed his lips.

"But that was months ago... "

What was Sherpa doing with him however? What kind of dealings had they set up between them? Sharon remembered enough to know that Jamie was a rather stern man, not someone who'd spent his time with needless chit-chat or frivolous parties. He was usually a man of few words who preferred to spend his time at sea with his merchant crew.

"Perhaps we can use the conflict between the White Hand and Red Vanguard to our advantage. If you deal with RIthrynn and whatever might be affecting her, I will go and dig deeper into this matter. There's most likely gold involved, and no man knows gold better than Alfidious Barthelhowe, the royal treasury advisor. I won't call him a friend, but I knew him from some previous run-ins that I had with him. I will send him a letter, and with any luck, he'll find the courtesy to reply."

Looking down at Liaena, Sharon placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.

"And, do be careful with our Captain Serphia. Her magic phobia might be bad, but it's nothing like how she'll react if she ever gets a whiff of that there might be dark magic involved."

Rae'liel

It is quite strange how some of the most peculiar adventures begin with the smallest of feet. Such tiny toes were tapping with hasty impatience upon the short elevator ride to the Scryer's Tier whilst minuscule fingertips clutched onto a crumpled letter. Once the rising platform rose into place and clicked into place with a resounding hum, toes then frantically ran across the hardened and cold stone work that decorated the floor of the tier.

Quickly, the little girl passed through translucent curtains of violet and a heavy wooden door to arrive at her objective. A lazily sleeping Blood Elven woman at rest during her only day of freedom.

"Rae!" The little girl cried out, only to duck with a timid yelp as the blade of a sword whistled through the air and dug into the wood where her head had once been. "Wake up! You have a summons!" Grumbling and rubbing the throbbing ache that was her forehead after a few too many glasses of wine, luminous eyes of emerald warily set their eyes on the little girl.

Moaning in dismay, the Paladin's head flopped back onto the pillow unceremoniously as she finally muttered her first words. "You must be in jest, pass me the letter." Holding out her slender hand, the crushed ball of paper would at first receive a disgusted look as the Sin'Dorei shot the little one an insidious glare. "Such poor caution in handling the letters and properties of others, were you in a hurry?" The Blood Knight inquired with a slight tilt of her head.

A frantic nod and then the fleeing away of the girl before the Paladin could chastise her any further simply confirmed such a thought as with one hand cradling her aching crown, Rae unfurled the letter and read it carefully. Wariness gave way to an amused grin as she stood and stretched after studying the letter a second time.

Digging her sword out of where she had embedded it within the wooden door frame, wry words echoed past her lips as she sheathed it back upon her waist smoothly as ever.

"Ghosts of my past asking for a favor, hm? How peculiar....how desperate is he to summon me to Stormwind of all places?" Musing this thought aloud to herself, Rae tapped her chin in thought. This one had saved her life once in the exodus to the south from Silvermoon and Lordaeron; it was only fair that she repay such a steep debt. Sliding to the washroom and dropping her evening wear about her ankles, the smooth and cleansing caress of Elven skin beneath warm water soon filled her quarters with a humid cloud of steam.

A luxurious hour later drew her to the heavy plate armor that sat patiently upon a rack, and not a few moments later she was prepared for the long road ahead. Exiting and glancing to a few others in her command, the Blood Knight simply spoke to them in her collected tone: "I have a summons to Stormwind, mind to our Tier would you? We cannot have those Aldor bastards desecrating our home, yes?" A silent but stiff not would be all that she received before she strode her way down the elevator and into the central hall within Shattrath.

As the Na'aru hummed its constant beautiful chime, she strode to the magus providing portals to Stormwind. First met with a leering glare, a flash of papers displaying her neutrality and loyalty to only the Scryers brought only a begrudging nod to meet the roll of her eyes. In a flash of Aether, she was standing in the midst of the Mage Tower in the Magic District of Stormwind.

Ignoring the ominous glares she constantly received for having eyes of green, the Blood Knight casually strode down the winding stair and into the ope in front of Sharon's home. With only her armor equipped and a shield at her side without her sword drawn, she made it clear that no threat was intended. Even in spite of that, the Night Elven huntress at the front gate standing guard did not hesitate to draw back her bow and aim it at her.

"What business do you have, Horde?" She demanded, and without hesitating further, she loosed the arrow! With the snap of her wrist, the Paladin brought up the curve of her shield and promptly stopped the projectile with a dull thud that echoed across the silence. Again, the heavily armored woman rolled her eyes as she could see others shifting upon the roof of the snow-covered home, to which she replied with due sarcasm for the huntress.

"Scryer, actually. Here are my papers to display my faction neutrality, and my summons to see Sharon with this letter." Both pieces promptly were brought to see for all as she still tightly maintained a grip on her shield. "Now that you know I'm no threat, how about you get out of my way." Her last words were more of a threat than a question; after all, being shot at needlessly was a rather annoying offense.

Falaani, who had been in a rather passive and bored stance earlier; had immediately been amped up by the arrival of a Blood Elf of all things in front of the house!

Even though she was on the other side of the barred, frozen gate, she had not hesitated to already fire one arrow at the Blood Elf, but it had been a poorly placed shot that had been blocked.
When the Blood Elf held up the two letters, Falaani's eyes narrowed as she looked them; bow and arrow ready in hand.

"Scryers-who? ... " Falaani uttered, giving the much smaller elf an evil eye.
"Why by Elune's sacred ass should I care whatsoever of the opinions of a bunch of sin'dorei sub-elves... or whatever those Scryers are. You really are stupid to,-"

Falaani suddenly cancelled her arsenal of curse words and verbal attacks which she had prepared for Rae'liel when she heard another pair of steps. Now all of a sudden looking past Rae'liel, the Night Elves' silver eyes were tracking a pair of human guardsmen who patrolled the snowy streets, wearing some fur cloaks over their city armor.
Falaani, who was on the other side of the gate, was outside of their field of vision, but the two men nonetheless threw Rae'liel a curious stare as they walked by, but didn't seem to have any intention to intervene at the Blood Elf. Instead, they simply passed some words and chuckles between themselves before disappearing around the next corner.

Struck by a momentary disbelief, Falaani's eyes shot back at Rae'liel as she immediately raised her bow at her.

"What conspiracy is this?! Are you some ploy sent by the apes?!"

"What's going on, sister?" Sounded the voice of another sentinel, Sa'Thani, whom shortly thereafter appeared by Falaani on the other side of the gate. She too immediately aimed her bow at Rae'liel when she saw the Blood Elf.

"The humans let this green-eyed midget pass through the city - unscathed!" Falaani shouted back at her fellow sisters, as the two sentinels were both now aiming at Rae'liel. Falaani was now scanning Rae'liel's body, seemingly looking for an unprotected point where she could place an arrow.

"Curse those degenerated monkeys, I knew they were useless!"

"She also claims that she knows that High Elf we're protecting, Sharon." Falaani commented in the end ot Sa'Thani, who looked back at her.

"She's an honest assassin?"

"I don't know. Do assassins knock on the door?"

"It could be a second conspiracy, by the High Elf against us!"

"What? He wouldn't dare!"

"We should tell Mistress Serphia at once!"

"Yeah! But... what do we do about the Blood Elf." Falaani asked hesitantly.

"Shoot her, of course! Do you really want to tell Serphia that you let one of those sin'dorei scum leave?!"

"Shoot her, of course! Do you really want to tell Serphia that you let one of those sin'dorei scum leave?!"

"No, wait! Ahem - a moment of reason, my ladies!"

It was the voice of Friedrick, Sharon's human butler, who just came from the house behind the two Night Elves. To say he was running would have been a bit of a stretch, but the silver haired human moved as fast as he could across the snow covered roads of the garden on his wooden cane, supporting his injured leg.

He was an older man, well past his sixties which was revealed by the faded colors of his hair. But despite his age, the man still looked rather healthy, a firm but slim figure and with a pair of sharp eyes.

As he finally reached Falaani and Sa'Thina, Friedrick took a moment to regain his breath, before the old man looked towards the gate, and the Blood Elf standing on the other side.

"Ahh, you must be Lady Kindreth." Friedrick said with a friendly tone, before making a quick bow between the two Night Elves that towered around him.
"I bid you welcome to Sharon Daerin'Lei's mansion. We have been expecting you. Please ladies, if you will let Lady Kindreth in... "

" ... "

When there came nothing but silence from the two Night Elves, Friedrick casually rolled his eyes while throwing one hand up in the air.

"I can personally vouch for this woman's noble intentions, she is of no threat! Now, stand back, and please do not shoot me again!" Friedrick stated, before he turned towards the gate and found a pair of extra keys which he used to unlock it.
As the gate opened for Rae'liel, Friedrick beckoned for her to enter, while secretly passing her a pair of shaded goggles.

"I know it's not an optimal solution, my lady, but use these until we've made your presence official. It should avoid any further difficulties with our... slightly paranoid guests." He spoke in a low tone to her while passing through the frozen garden.
"My name is Friedrick, I am the housemaster of this estate and will be responsible for providing you with a comfortable stay at Master Sharon's mansion."

Rae'liel

-The Honored Guest

Frowning as the Night Elf woman was quickly dismissive of the plain logic that was presented before her, Rae'liel tensed ever slightly as the bow was raised towards her once again. Under normal circumstance she like any other creature in this world had no intention in becoming a proverbial pin cushion for Huntresses; yet as the string visibly tensed, the Paladin prepared to defend herself. That, after likely being shot at again, was well within her right.

However, a momentary pause came in the former of two human guards walking upon the scene. Gritting her teeth for just a second, Rae could only hope that they weren't one of those who hadn't been informed of her. Yet was they simply strode past and made only a casual jest at the shapely ways of her armor, she let out a sigh of relief. Only to sharply let out a bout of laughter as the Night Elven woman stared at her in complete disbelief!

Such jovial tones did summon the attention of a second, which only made matters worse as a second bow was brought to bear. As the two debated among themselves about the incompetence of humans, her grip tightened further upon the shield she held in preparation. Finally, they came to their warmongering decision, and the strings tensed to let fly the projectiles into the air, only to pause as there was the sound of hasty and frantic footsteps echoing in the distance.

All three Elves looked to see none other than Sharon's Butler hurrying his way down to where the stood, pleading for a moment of logical thought. Elated by this, Rae smirked arrogantly as he explained who she was, and her situation alongside that. Begrudgingly, she would accept the goggles given to her and slide them on over her eyes. Arrogant and fierce as she was, the Paladin was still no fool.

As the gate swung wide, she finally returned the constant chastising of the Night Elves with a venomous bite of her own tongue. "Leave it to the direct children of Trolls to lack simple wit and common sense. Seems that you are all not so far removed from da voodoo as you would like to think you are. Imbeciles." Moving past them, the elderly human gave her a sharp look of disapproval to which she simply shrugged off. Racial tension was going to be something for those mongrels to enlighten themselves from. Perhaps of they had half the brain that Orcs did, this issue would have been less vicious.

However, at long last, kind words would escape her as she sauntered on past the two huntresses and fell into an easy step aside Frederick with an actually warm smile on her lips. "I remember you from when you were little, you've grown up and gone into old age so quickly, how is your family Frederick? Do you have any grandchildren yet?" The house was drawing nearer as they passed frozen gardens and fountains covered in wintry powdered white. "And why has Sharon summoned me here? The letter did not go into credible detail."

"One." Friedrick answered shortly.
"He became a lawyer of all things. Why I would never understand; the man had all the finer qualities to become a honored butler to the higher families of Stormwind, but woe behold; fate did not deem his future so."

Friedrick strategically positioned himself between Rae'liel and the Night Elves whom they walked away from, in case one of the former might be tempted to place an arrow in Rae'liel's neck for talking back to them.

"The reason you were summoned was due to a bad case of assassins, who are also supported by darker forces, which is so typical of Sharon. One thing is for the political world of Stormwind to try to kill you, but it takes a certain kind of character to attract the forces of evil on top of it all!" Friedrick explained as they reached the outer door, which outside of its carved wooden ornaments and decorative gold linings also carried its fair share of heavy steel plating with some magical runes etched into it that glowed dimly in the morning light.

"The door's quite new, actually. We had to replace it after the first night, and all signs indicate that it has so far been assassin... and Night Elf; proof."

The butler pulled the heavy iron handle down, and one of the doors swung open as they were met with a wave of warm air from the inside. Walking inside, he shut the door behind them after Rae'liel had entered.
The atrium was as messy as it had always been since the arrival of Serphia's warband, with pictures hanging sideways, goblets lying around on the floor, alongside two inebriated Night Elves who were fast asleep, one wearing an obviously undersized, human designed set of robes in a flurry of different colors, and the other little more than a thong as she slept upside down in an recliner. The brass bucket normally laid out for canes and staves by the entrance had been occupied by a plethora of spears, bows and other bizarre weapons from the Night Elves's vicious arsenal.

"Do not worry yourself, the vast majority of the elves are restricted to the first and basement level, and most in the living room." Friedrick explained as he lead Rae'liel through the battlefield that was the atrium. Loud noises, screams and laughter still emanated from the lower west flight of the mansion where the living room was located.
"They have been partying for days on end without any rest, and as a consequence of that, so haven't I had any either. How they do it, I have no idea. Before they came here, I had always assumed that dwarves were the uncontested champions of mindless frivolities."

Freidrick continued to talk as he took Rae'liel up through a flight of stairs. The upper levels of the mansion were considerably tidier than the lower ones, the hallways pristine and untouched almost as if no one had walked in them at all short of a crew of professional cleaners.

As they reached the door to Sharon's chambers, Friedrick paused just outside; the voices of Liaena and Sharon could be heard from within. Turning to Rae'liel, Friedrick smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Lady Kindreth. You don't seem to have changed one bit since I last saw you... " Friedrick stated, before pausing and motioning towards the door.
"Sharon is inside, and so is his new lover. This one he has actually managed to keep for quite some time now, and I have to say I am impressed. He should be ready to speak to you, but... if you have any more questions, now is the time."

Rae'liel - The Honored Guest

"Only one?"

Almost sorrowfully, the Elven woman glanced upward to the human as he professed his lament when it came to the profession of his only grandson. Gently patting his shoulder reassuringly with the heavy weight of her armored hand, she would shake her head slowly.

"Fret not upon your Grandson's profession, dear Frederick." She spoke quietly as they stepped over the unconscious and obviously drunken Night Elves that lay sprawled haphazardly across the floor. "I'm sure in due time he will make you proud. After all, not every child follows in the footsteps of their parents! My mother was a Priest, and my father a Warrior. As you can see, I followed neither."

Pausing at the threshold that lead to Sharon and his apparently new loved one, Rae simply lofted herself to the tip of her toes and gently kissed the elderly man's cheek in gratitude. "Thank you for your hospitality, Frederick; but I'm afraid the inquiries I have remaining are for Sharon." Nodding with a flushed face from the thankfulness she displayed, the Butler then hurried away to the sound of shattering glass and cackling laughter from below; no doubt the workings of the troublesome guards that were on the lower floors.

Sighing at the very thought of having to work with these foolishly acting Elves, the Sin'Dorei inhaled a slow breadth deeply and regained her usual hardened composure as she slipped the goggles off her eyes. Glaring at them in disgust over the fact that she had to hide her appearance in the face of others even in spite of her neutrality, she simply left them hanging in her grasp with one hand before placing the heavy shield she bore to where it belonged on her back.

Then pressing her palms against the solid wooden doors, the first thing the high elf and his lover would see was an armored form with ominously luminous eyes of green. With the creak of the doors ceasing at long last, the heavy footfalls of her plated boots marked the cadence of her inexorable footsteps as she stepped forward into the dim flickering light. First, her eyes in all their high borne pride found Liaena with a judgemental loft of one brow higher than the other, and with it a long silence followed her obvious interruption.

"Long time no see, Sharon." The Sin'Dorei simply stated concisely to the Quel'Dorei without a hint of emotion. "The last I remember of you was the evacuation of the northern human settlements, though I understand you have a tendency to keep in trouble; judging by your letter anyway." The apathetic stare soon softened however, as she continued to speak. "And you found yourself love and....well....peculiar company. Even the Darkspear have more discipline than the harlots you keep in your basement. If they're your guards, I'm surprised that you haven't been killed already, are you certain you don't wish for me to call for some Blood Knights? They would teach your inebriated foolish company the meaning of duty and discipline."

Was she a bit too critical? Perhaps, but getting attacked for no reason tends to further stain an already venomous tongue.

A series of heavy footsteps could suddenly be heard from outside of Sharon's study.

Not long after, Falaani suddenly appeared outside the doorway, still covered in bits of frost and snow from the outside. She immediately spotted the trio inside the room, and raised her hand to point at them.

"There she is, mistress! That's the featherless harpy I spoke of!" Falaani called out, just as more than half a dozen of sentinels rounded the corner behind her. All of them were armed and armored, wearing their winter uniforms consisting of long wool robes with pitch black steel plates, pauldrons, helmets, tassets, greaves and handguards; their armor decorated with an elaborate silver lining depicting leaves and intricate patterns over the black painted surface. And on their back, most of them wore a dual set of cloaks, their traditional deep purple and blue elven cloaks, with some shorter, black capes on top of it.

And they were all armed to the teeth, holding bows, spears and dual blades, and more than a dozen angry, silver eyes were now zoomed in on Rae'liel.

In the middle of the group was their captain; Mistress Serphia, a towering elf with a long, flowing snow white hair who was very large even for a Night Elf, standing at almost eight feet tall and looming down over them. She was holding two thin, yet large and curved elven blades, and cast a cold and calculative look down at Rae'liel, similar to that of a predator eyeing its defenseless prey!

"Rath'falaani, safir!" Serphia suddenly called out with a commanding voice, and the seven sentinels in her company immediately surged forward with a burst of speed through the doorway to the study, forming a half circle around where Rae'liel and Sharon stood; pointing their weapons and arrows directly at the couple!
Rithrynn was standing at the furthest to the side, the blue haired sentinel watching them closely while secretly trying to fix the last couple of straps of her armor while she thought no one was watching, after she had been forced to rearm herself on record time on Serphia's command!

Walking forward in a calm yet threatening manner, Serphia approached the pair at the door. She held both of her swords with a firm grip as she approached them, the leather of her gloves cracking as her fingers squeezed around the handle of her blade.

Pausing, she took a moment to look down at Rae'liel and Sharon; before suddenly raising both of her light swords in the blink of an eye, pointing them at Sharon and Rae'liel and only stopping less than an inch away from their eyes!

"Is this a joke?" Serphia asked with an ice cold tone, her eyes passing Sharon to land at Rae'liel.

When the door to his study suddenly opened, Sharon turned away from Liaena to look at the new arrival.

He had thought it to be one of the Night Elves walking in the wrong door, maybe Rithrynn had spied and overheard their conversation, or maybe just Marshall who came to give them a half-an-hour loudmouthed lecture about the dangers of dark magic and possessions.

But surprisingly, it was none of them.

"Rae'liel Kindreth?"

"Hah, I'm sure they would. I am glad you could come on such a short notice, Rae'liel." Sharon said, the High Elf's mood having grown quite exponentially already as he had partly forgotten about the gloom and doom of his previous conversation with Liaena.
"I hope I didn't cause you any inconvienence. Oh, and Liaena, this is Rae'liel Kindreth, a friend of mine from the Third War. Rae'liel, this is... "

"There she is, mistress! That's the featherless harpy I spoke of!"

"Oh by the light, I knew this would happen! ... "

Sharon made a deep, mental sigh when he heard the loud voice of Falaani, and shortly thereafter the room was suddenly filled with Night Elven warriors all around them. Sharon inched his head a little away from the pointy end of Serphia's blade, which was a little too sharp for his own comfort, not to mention a little too close to his eyes.

"Ahem... Rae'liel... " Sharon started carefully, looking back at Rae'liel from the Night Elves.
"Meet Captain Serphia, my honored guest and... the one responsible for my protection... "

Sharon hesitated a little bit at the end of his sentence, throwing the sword pointed dangerously close to his eyes a long look; before motioning towards the large and towering Night Elf standing before them.

Rae'liel - The Honored Guest

The atmosphere in Sharon's study certainly bore a heavy weight, as if a grave burden had thrust upon his shoulders for him to bear. This impression still lingered on her mind as the Sin'Dorei met the Quel'Dorei eye to eye and his mood seemed to lighten. Perhaps the situation was more dire than she thought, and lives had already been taken or lost. Silently nodding with her perception of the current status of his well being at a passive darkened state noted, she quietly listened as introductions began, only to be interrupted before she could get a word in edgewise.

"There she is, mistress! That's the featherless Harpy I spoke of!"

Turning her head to look back past her shoulder, Rae'liel's expression sharply grew into a scowl on two parts. First, just who was she calling a Harpy; and second, did she just abandon her post to enlighten the Warband's leader of her offended and trivial nature? Sharply turning with a disgusted expression already crossing her features as twelve more Night Elves poured into the room, surrounding the three in a crescent's shape with their fangs bared accordingly.

Just as savage as always....they're not as far removed from the trolls as they would lead others to believe..

In a flare of dramatic theatrics, their towering leader stepped forward through the heavily armed masses and stared at the two Highborne for a long moment of silence before relinquishing her weapons from their sheaths and brought one blade to within millimeters from Rae and Sharon's pupils. Yet even with this action, the Paladin did not flinch, she did not move, other than returning the scathing glare to each pair of Night Elven eyes that glowered so furiously at her.

Sharon then awkwardly introduced the woman whose fang was so dangerously close to the Paladin, and without the least sign of fear or worry, she returned the ferocious glare of the Captain with a tenaciously righteous one of her own.

"Is this a joke? I'm not sure, but the discipline of your sisters most certainly is." Rae retorted sharply to Sherpa's scathing comment. "First, your front door guards possess the mantra of shoot first, ask later, even when there is a clear path of logic to follow. Second. That very same guard abandons her post to warn you of me, a person who is your ally in this moment, to which you set forth the drums of War against someone who isn't even affiliated with the Horde you so despise!" A judgemental glare met Falaani at that moment as Rae'liel finished her point. "Any Scryer who would do the same would have been dealt fifty lashes or death."

Quickly, her tone turned even to a mocking state as her arrogance further found words. "No wonder the Orcs, in all their stupidity and blood lusting savagery have been so successful in the deforestation of Ashenvale; they've been fighting another race that is just as equally idiotic and uncivilized. Green or violet skinned, it matters not; both are equally foolish." Shaking her head with another roll of her eyes, she took the thought of something far more grave.

"Did you ever think at all in all your zealotry against someone who is not even your enemy, Captain? With all of your huntresses here, just who is guarding the home of the Quel'Dorei you've been assigned to keep safe? I'm surprised that the house hasn't already been infiltrated and begun to burn."

"What!?"

The cool hatred of Serphia seemed to have been transformed into a burning core of vengeance as a glimmer of pure malice flashed across the Captain's silvery eyes, her focus having completely abandoned Sharon to focus entirely on the impudent little Blood Elf talking right back at her. Without any notice or warning, Serphia had lowered both her blades, only to raise her right foot.

Although the trained instincts of Rae'liel allowed her to raise her shield in time, it still did not stop the smaller Blood Elf from flying backwards through the room as the large Night Elf kicked her shield with the force that could only be generated by someone with a particular love for merciless leg workouts!
Rae'liel was thrown back into Sharon's large office desk, where she promptly was flipped on her back by the sheer kinetic energy and continued to slide over the desk; taking with her every single piece of parchment, wine glass, book and pen; before crashing down into the leather chair on the other side! Although her journey seemed to finally have reached its end in Sharon's chair, there was just enough energy left to tilt the chair slightly backwards, as it promptly tilted over and crashed into the floor alongside Rae'liel!

*CRASH!*

...

"Unlike your pathetic little race, our civilization was not defeated by a ragtag carneval band of zombies and crazed monkeys!" Serphia growled as she took a couple of steps towards what had once been Sharon's desk.

Sheathing her dual swords, the Captain finally returned to gaze down at Sharon.

"I will let her live, but you better find a mouthstrap for that disrespectful green eyed trogg you call your pet; for I can't promise I will be as tolerant in the future, High Elf!" Serphia exclaimed, taking a moment to look back at Rae'liel before motioning for her sentinels to leave the study.

As the sentinels left before her, Serphia followed closely behind her minions, and as she had exited the room, she grabbed the handle and pulled the door shut with enough force to make the entire frame of the room shake violently, causing a random painting to fall from the wall and some trails of dust to rain from the roof!

As the silence returned to the room following Serphia's violent departure and show of force, Sharon turned his attention from the door to his ruined desk behind which Rae'liel lay.

"I have to say, that went better than I had expected." Sharon said as he approached the desk, to look down on Rae'liel lying on the other side.

Knowing Serphia's personality and violent background, the fact that Rae'liel's head was still attached to her body was a sign that the meeting had been a success, all things considered.

"Maybe I should have warned Serphia beforehand, so the reception might not have been as bad... but then again, then she might have barred the house and denied all entry if she heard it was a Blood Elf that was coming."

"I'm sorry about that, she may have some slight... anger management issues, to put it mildly." Sharon explained as he leaned forward and reached out a hand to Rae'liel who was lying on the ground.
"Are you alright?"

"Master Sharon, I saw our honored guest, Captain Serphia, leave this room in a rather foul mood. Did she finally kill somebody?" Suddenly sounded the voice of Friedrick, who had appeared in the door. The butler threw a quick look around the room, before nodding to himself, seemingly already having found the answer.

"No, we survived." Sharon answered politely.
"But we could use some refreshments. And maybe some ice."

Rae'liel - The Honored Guest

As the Captain drew nearer to the Sin'Dorei in all her bristling rage, Rae could not help but the slightest smirk in response as the unbearably tense moment seemed to cling desperately onto the air. The moment she shifted however, was when the Paladin reacted in kind. In a deft click of metal, her shield came to bear just in time for the foot to come upward in a brutally rash surprise attack. Unable to brace herself properly in time, the light-touched warrior was flung and across the table, landing hard against the chair before collapsing to the ground.

Uninjured thanks to both her armor and agility alike, she quickly stood just as the towering Night Elf bellowed yet another barbaric insult even in spite of her dishonorable surprise attack. Scowling only subtly, Rae still kept her shield in her grasp as the door shut with a thunderous rattle.

"I'm fine, Sharon. You know all to well that I've been dealt worse." She responded sharply to the first question to her condition. As Frederick came into the room in a clout of worry, she watched silently as he slumped in relief to see that the gathered and weathered party was in healthy condition. At the mention of ice however, the Paladin simply held her hand up in protest.

"I shan't need it, thank you though. Yet it will be wise to still retrieve some. The captain, Serphia, was it? She will need it direly so soon." Marching across the room and brushing past a newly panicked Butler and a likely dumbfounded Sharon and Line a as the sliding of steel could be heard as her sword was drawn from her scabbard. "Fret not, I will only repay what has been dealt to me. It is only fair in law, no? The did shoot first on both occasions for little reason other than poor judgement."

Then disappearing from the doorway as her fingertips brushed past the oaken lined doorway, she headed off in the direction where the Huntresses had gone with only one objective on her mind: Retribution.

Catching up to the group was an easy enough task, as was garnering their attention. "Oh captain! My captain!" The Sin'Dorei called out in a mocking tone, bringing the gaze of the entire troupe to focus upon her in the hallway. "Silvermoon fell to the Lich King, surely it did. That does not mean, however, that we are weak. The blood of family still stains the Dread Scar. So, speaking ill of their sacrifice tends to....bother me a little I suppose."

Her voice was chipper, almost too chipper as she was continued to be glared at in an odd mix of confusion and poorly suited anger. Digging her plated toes into the ground as her sword was held at her side, her whimsical expression turned to one that was far more grave than before; as if she carried a burden of her own. This time as she spoke, her voice was deadly quiet, yet her tone carried so well across the distance.

"I would remind you of something."

Upon the final syllable, the Paladin launched herself towards the Troupe, of which naturally reacted with the draw of their own weapons. As she drew closer, light blessed her with speed never seen before as she left a streak of dazzling Holy Magic through the air as she sprinted forward with blinding procession. The majority of the other Night Elves quickly brought their weapons to bear and the second her heel impacted the ground, a consecration of white holy fire spread across the ground to force their retreat.

Brilliant golden magic then coursed through her shield as she took another step in these split second moments, and she launched the shield forward directly at Sherpia and forcing the remaining Night Elves to duck and move quickly to the side to avoid it. More importantly, this created a gap for her to punch through directly at the Captain, even as the skilled massive night else deflected the Shield directly back towards her. Guided by the magic she controlled, the Sin'Dorei felt the Shield click into place and in less than a handful of chaotic seconds, she was now just a few feet away from the Captain; now she was in melee range; the place where a dance like hers was at it's best.

With hasty procession, and Sherpia's weapon came screwing for her blood, but this time, when the Blood Elf could see the attack coming, she was ready. Twisting her own sword about, Rae created a transfer motion as she parried the sword from an outside angle. Simultaneously she stepped in perpendicular with the strike, moving swiftly to the Captain's newly formed blind on the outside and to her flank. The initial parry had set new things in motion as the momentum brought about Rae in a pirouette, bringing the wall of her shield to strike with remarkable force that was unbelievable for her size.

CLANG!!!

This time, the Captain was given a flight of her own with a remarkble feat of incredible and unexpected strength from the Sin'Dorei. Enough to send her crashing into the wall she was shield slammed towards, if not through it entirely. The damage itself would only be minor to her, but more than enough to prove a point as the dust sprung into the air, leaving the newly intimidating figure of glistening plate armor standing with her Shield still facing the direction the Captain had been flung.

"I would remind you of this, Captain. We Blood Knights function on one key rule." She spoke as the main troupe of Night Elves stood in complete shock. "Eye for an eye. Your dishonored surprise assault for the one that you could clearly see coming. Do not underestimate my people and our strife. Ever. Again."

(Double Post)