[IC] "Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

[Feisty-Pants]

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 too 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? They 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 not ask you for an apology, but 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 in ill-prepared surprise 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, forcing the remaining Night Elves to duck and move quickly to the side to avoid it as it burned through the air. More importantly, this created a gap for her to punch through directly at the Captain, even as the skilled massive Night Elf 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 its 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 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 or our struggle. Ever. Again."

[Rithy]

Having been slammed into the wall, it took some seconds before the large Night Elven captain managed to unplaster herself from it, falling down into a kneeling stance. The wall behind her now bore a permanent Night Elf figure shaped mark in it, as a testimony to the force she had hit it with.

There was a brief moment of confusion in the Captain's eyes as she simply stared down at the ground, but that confusion was abolished as quickly as it had appeared. Standing up on her feet with renewed energy, she brushed off some of the dust from her cloak as her eyes, now burning like two twin stars of fury; zoomined in on the defiant Blood Elf!

Most of the other Night Elves had kept their position, surrounding Serphia and Rae'liel. But Rae'liel was soon treated to a surprise when a pair of arms suddenly appeared around her torso from nowhere, as one of the sentinels had snuck up behind her without as much as a whisper! It could be said it was ironic how Night Elves, who were so big compared to most humanoid races, could also be so stealthy and be renowned for their sneakiness!

As the two hands clasped together in front of Rae'liel's chest, it took no less than a split second before the Blood Elf's feet were pulled off the floor beneath her, and she was raised into the air!
To Rae'liel's eyes, the world was seemingly rolling all around her, the floor and Serphia disappearing below her, as the floor behind her suddenly appearing and closing very fast at the top of her vision!

*BAM!*

Rae'liel and the Sentinel slammed into the floor with a heavy crash, the Blood Elf landing first with the bigger Night Elf landing on top of her! The Sentinel had performed a backwards throw which was enough to leave Rae'liel temporarily stunned as she was smashed into the carpet, fortunately not the naked floor itself! Fumes of dust were pumped up from the planks around them following the heavy force, and the Sentinel quickly began to move to more dominant position atop of her victim!

"Wait!" Suddenly sounded the commanding voice of Serphia, and the sentinel immediately halted her assault on Rae'liel.

Swinging both of her swords through the air around her, Serphia launched them both simultaneously down into the floor beneath her; burying her swords into it, and leaving them standing there.

Reaching for a razor sharp, crescent shaped dagger by her waist as she walked towards Rae'liel and the sentinel, Serphia unsheathed the dagger - before throwing it to her side, launching it straight into a painting on the wall!

"That bitch is mine... " Serphia growled with a deep voice while crackling her knuckles, and the sentinel atop of Rae'liel immediately moved to the side, as far out of her Captain's way as possible!

Rae'liel barely had time to sit up on her knees, before the plated fist of Serphia had appeared out of nowhere to hit the Blood Elf straight in her face; launching her backwards! The two sentinels behind her immediately stepped to each their side to avoid the rolling Sin'Dorei that flew in between them, and down a short flight of stairs!

Serphia followed closely behind, charging after the Blood Elf as she jumped down the stairs; and launching herself in another attack against her much smaller opponent who was still recovering!

[WardenCelestine]

“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

The most unsettling aspect of the modern day assassin is his or her ability to carry out such an action as murder without even the slightest remorse for the victim or anyone else of relation. They are weapons and tools of stealth, used to cleanly and swiftly eliminate either targets selected from an outside party, or high value targets during war times. When their times comes to attack, they move in fluent motions with deadly precision and accuracy. Some even say that the way the attacks are carried out, could be called a dance, a beautifully lethal dance of death. With every solider though, there comes a time when they question if they are laying down their lives for a truly worthy cause. Beneath the solider, beneath all of the armor and military physique, is still a living creature that has its own hopes, dreams, family, and friends that are waiting for them at home. Every target that is killed has a repercussion that can hunt them down ruthlessly to the ends of the earth, for the whole integrity of their lives. So, each rogue must very cautiously choose which assignment they wish to carry out. There was certain battle etiquette that had been lost to both factions, as well as chivalry. This was at least what one rogue thought, and she kept her personal beliefs to herself, most of the time.

"What did I just instruct you to do? The dagger is to be tossed from the middle of the hilt. Take into account the wight of the dagger, the direction of the wind, the distance and altitude of the target. You only have one chance to hit your target, and if you miss there is a high chance you will be dead or captured in the next minute or less. Breath slowly, stay calm and release the dagger at the dummy in the back of the room." A young male Sin'Dorei rogue tossed the dagger, following her instructors orders to the letter. It hit its target square in the middle of the head, hitting the instant kill marker. A smile quickly spread across his face, "Good, now do it again, but try it with a dagger of a different size, or improvise using something else in the room." The instructor felt a tap on her left shoulder, she spun around on her left heel to regard who was trying to get her attention. "Pardon my intrusion instructor Solares, but I have two letters for you. I was told to deliver them immediately to you, one is from the Dark Lady, and another is from someone named Daud." The courier handed the letters over then quickly left the training arena. "A letter from the Dark Lady herself..." Solares admired the forsaken wax seal that held the first letter shut for a couple of seconds before very carefully opening the letter with one of her daggers. The parchment inside had a beautifully written cursive that flowed across the page.

“Solares Morgenstern, I appreciate and admire your willingness to help protect not only the Sin'Dorei but also the Forsaken. I unfortunately do not require any assistance as of now among my ranks. Should the need arise, I will personally summon you to my side to discuss how you can help rid the enemies of the Horde. I was also informed you had a sister among my ranks, a Dark Ranger, I have given her permission to visit you after two more weeks of training. I have enclosed a Dark Ranger badge inside of the envelope, after your sister personally asked me to do so. May your arrow always fly true. /Sylvanas Windrunner."

There was a short pause as Solares thought about everything that the Dark Lady had said to her, and about the fact that she was able to see her sister after many years. The badge was carefully taken out of the envelope and held delicately. It was made out of very high quality fabrics that were enchanted by some unknown force. "I wish I knew how they enchanted these, could help me a lot in combat." Flipping the badge over, she noticed that a note had been attached to it with the short message of "I had this enchanted for you, it will help me find you if anything goes wrong, as well as help with stability of your rifle. /Love Orion." Solares chuckled to herself and removed her chest armor before attaching it to her shirt. The armor was placed back onto her chest and tightened. The strange thing about enchantments, is that they start working immediately, and you can not feel a them giving off magic at all. "Oh, my other letter." she used the same dagger as before and opened it, reading its contents, with a smile that looked suspiciously like a smirk. "Well, no more teaching for me students, Colistis will be taking over for now. I will be back in...I am not sure, be safe and follow the rules and guidelines of the creed." Solares saluted her students and then said, "I know you will all make me proud, I wish you all the best of luck." With that, she turned and left.

Around an hour later, Solares had all of her gear packed up and was ready to move out, letter sealed safely inside of the envelope, just in case plans well to fel quickly. "Let us hope this venture to Stormwind ends better than last time, being shot with arrows then having to removing them yourself is something I rather avoid this time around." She thought to herself as she mounted her Gyrocopter. The machine started to hum before quickly climbing to a high altitude where its jet engines kicked in. The G-Force pushed Solares back into her seat and the aircraft quickly picked up speed, Silvermoon vanishing in the distance behind her. Around an hour and a half would pass before the main capital of the Alliance came into view. "I hope this trick still works." Focusing upon her fel magic as well as the light, she turned her emerald green eyes to a sapphire blue, that matched that of a Highelfs perfectly. Leaning to the left, she peered into a miror on the side of her aircraft and smiled, the spell had indeed worked. Since the restoration of the Sunwell, the Sin'Dorei had been able to do many more things, one of them being the spell Solares just casted.

The city of Stormwind was an impressive sight, much larger than Orgrimmar was, and much more advanced. She envied the Deep Run Tram that they had built that would transfer from Stormwind to Iron Forge, then back again. "Wish the goblins would come up with something like this, then again it would most likely explode and kill a large amount of people." Solares thought to herself with a chuckle as she approached the landing pad. The Gyrocopter touched down and a rough looking man ran over to Solares, quickly helping her turn off the machine with a smile across her rugged features. "Solares? is that you? how long has it been? I have not seen you in years it seems like!" The human pulled Solares into a hug with out any hesitation. "Hey There Nick, I am sorry I have not been around Stormwind for a while. Ashenvale takes up a good chunk of my time, I enjoy having a home out there to visit when I am not busy." Nick wrapped an around her shoulder and let forth a hearty laugh, "If I was a fool, I would invite myself over for a drink! I am a gentlemen though, so the drinks will be on me this time. I mean, if you have the time to catch up with me?" Solares gave off a soft glow of happiness, even if he was Allaince, she still liked him and thought of him as a friend. What if he knew she was a Bloodelf? what would he do? would he attack her or tell a guard or maybe something worse? The time would come when he would find out, but for now the two of them walked through the snow to the Pig and Whistle. The doors swung open to reveal a warm and happy atmosphere that was filled with holiday cheer due to the fact that Winters Veil was currently going on.

"Over there, a empty table for us, quickly!" Solares laughed as Nick grabbed onto her left hand and pulled her gently over the table. Two mean looking mercenary type men quickly ran over to the table and sat down, laughing at them like they were idiots of some sort. "Hey! those were our seats, you saw us heading over there, get on out of here and find your own." One of the men stood up and glared at Nick, "Oh? Just let me..." He pretended to grab something from the bag on his belt before throwing a punch at Nick. Unfortunaitly, the swing made contact with Nicks face and knocked him back a couple of feet. Solares, quickly moved in front of him and narrowed her eyes, "One..." The large man that had hit Nick raised an eyebrow at Solares, "What do you want, upset we hit your boyfriend here?" Solares responded with a stern, and cold sounding "Two..." The large mans friend started to laugh at Solares, "She can count! I did not know those whore elves could count." Solares felt her body tense for what was about to happen next. "Three..." With a blur of movement, she subdued the large man in front of her by using a pressure point to cause the large mans legs to give out. While he fell to the ground, she brought her knee up to his face with a powerful thrust and knocked him out cold, right there on the spot.

The large mans friend started to loose himself in panic before Solares hit the man on the neck then slammed his head onto the table, also knocking him out cold. "Pathetic worthless pieces of meat. Not even worthy to reside in this city." Two guards came in behind Solares and quickly started to question her. "They attacked my friend and threatened me, I removed the threat." One of the guards let out sigh, "Well I am glad someone put them in their place, we will take care of them." The guards picked up two two men and dragged them out of the Tavern. A cheer came from the taverns occupants at the show that had now come to an end. Solares bowed while Nick laughed in the background. As soon as they took a seat, a meal was set down for each of them. "No charge, thank you for getting rid of those two, they have been causing trouble here for some time." Solares nodded her head, "I am glad I could help." An hour would pass before the Nick and Solares had finished their food and the two of them were outside, looking at the colorful lights that festivities that had been set up in the park for the holiday.

"I had fun with you tonight, and I am glad you put those two in their place." Nick took a seat on a stone bench, and Solares quickly joined him. "I did as well, thank you for letting me join you tonight." Before she could finish her sentence, Nick leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. For only one second, her eyes flickered from the sapphire blue to her regular emerald green. "Whoa, what was that?" asked Nicked, while Solares was still caught off guard, which was saying a lot, due to the fact that she was a rogue. "What do you mean?" asked Solares, who raised an eyebrow. Nick pointed at his eyes and said, "They went green there for a second, are you alright?" Solares's smile quickly faded to one of concern. "My eyes turned from blue to green? What do you mean? how is that possible?" Solares did her best to play it off. "Riiiiiight." Nick smirked, "I always knew there was something different about you Solares. Do not worry my friend, you secret is safe with me, I have known you for over ten years and I have come to know, trust, and like you quite a bit. You are a good person, even if you may be a spy."

Solares coughed slightly to try and break the tense feeling she had, "I..." there was a awkward pause before she spoke once more, "Fine, you caught me, but if you tell anyone I am sure I will be excited tonight, in the middle of Winters Veil." Nick laughed heavily before wrapping an arm around Solares's left shoulder. "I already said, you have nothing to worry about, and I hear there is already another one of your kind in the city, freely walking around with out any trouble. Come on, lets go get some hot chocolate, you will feel better after it." Solares nodded her head lightly, standing up and walking with Nick over to a vendor that was selling treats. The concerned look upon Solares's face had now turned into a smile as the all the joy and festivity around her seemed to only grow as night finely fell upon the city. The lights glowed brighter it seemed, and the snow flakes that fell from the sky no longer seemed a bother when they fell upon her face and armor. They in fact, now glistened beautifully when when caught in the festive lights all around them.

"Are you ok Solares?" He looked at her with a smile but something in his eyes spelled out concern. "I am fine, in fact I am doing much better." The vendor offered her a cup of hot chocolate with out even asking for pay, the only thing he did was wink lightly at her. Once they had their drinks, they took a seat back at the bench and started to once again converse about anything and everything. The clock struck midnight, and the festivities were still going strong, even children were out and about. "I have enjoyed our time together tonight Solares, I hope to see you again soon. Please take care of yourself tonight, you do have a place to sleep, right?" Solares nodded her head, "I do indeed, a friend lives in the city and I tend to stay there when visiting. I will see you tomorrow I hope, and..." she paused stood up, walking over to his side and pulling him into a tight hug. "I want to thank you for everything, for your company, for the friendship, the food, the drinks, and for not loosing it when you found out..." Nick laughed and hugged back. "I should be the one thanking you, and I am willing to take some risks to spend time with you, my friend." The two gave their final farewells for the night then parted ways for the night.

Not long after leaving the park, Solares found herself at the home of her very close friend, Kyndariana. A female Nightelf Druid came to the door and opened it with a yawn, rubbing her eyes. "Why are you visiting me at this hour, I need my sleep and am in no mood for visitors." There was a pause before she realized who was standing in front of her. "SOLARES, I am so sorry please come in, your room is ready and I have everything set up for you. I am so happy to see you again." as soon as Solares stepped inside and the door was shut behind her, Kyndariana pulled Solares into a hug and did not let go for quite some time. The two of them talked for a while, before Solares fell asleep leaning against Kyndarianas left shoulder. The next morning when she awoke a full breakfast had been made for her with a note that said that Kyndariana had to report to Ashenvale for the day and would be back later evening and that she wished her best of luck on her mission.

Hours would pass before Solares was fulled geared and was ready to move out to her objective, which was not far from Kyndarianas house, fortunately. The door to Kyndarianas house shut behind her with a loud clank, kicking up some snow that had formed outside of it. The rogue was standing out on the snow covered walkway, snow slowly falling from the sky. The city was busy for this time of morning, but Solares did not care, in fact she enjoyed seeing something different for a change. Pulling out her map, she looked over her plan of attack, then quickly but carefully started walking down the street to the house she was going to scale. "Well this should be quite the adventure." she thought to herself, as the house came into view as she walked around a corner that had an armor shop on one side of it. It did not take long for her to scale to the top of the empty house, and when she reached the top of it, there were two chair conveniently placed pointing at the large mansion not far from her, but far enough for the job.

After brushing the snow off of her chair, she heard a strange sound coming from the other side of the houses balcony she was standing on. The figure of a Quel’Dorei appeared before her, and took the chair she had just cleaned off. "Hello Arinis, it was not expecting you to get here so soon, oh I brought you something.” Solares bent down and started to look through one of her bags before pulling out a thermos full of hot chocolate, a bag with some gingerbread cookies and two candy canes. Solares took a cookie a candy cane for herself and took a quick sip of the hot chocolate before handing it over to Arinis. "Now, let us see what is going on over at the house of said target." She stuck the end of the candy cane into her mouth then raised her sniper rifle and peered through the high powered scope just in time to see the NightElf Sentinel take a dominate position on top of Rae'liel. "I can see some kinky shit going on over there, we are missing all the fun Arinis." Solares laughed quite a bit at her own joke before following the scene that unfolded before her. "No more happy fun time over there, look's like one of my own is in a bit of a spot and may need some assistance. Shooting the Nightelf in the head will cause this whole mission to fail and put both of our lives in peril. A shot to draw her attetion of her to move away from the Bloodelf would a better option. What do you think Arinis? also, how is that hot chocolate? I picked it up last night with the cookies and other goodies."

Solares loaded a special type of round into her rifle that was mostly used to kill small animals. She had found a better use for them, either picking off small targets to cause distraction, or to set off explosives from a distance. Explosives where something she greatly enjoyed and the fact that she had not brought any explosive rounds with her made her depressed. Near the Nightelf Captains head was a metal vase, from the look of it, her special round could blow a whole through it and stop before going through the wall. Waiting no time, she went into a trance and focused only on the target in front of her. She had to take the distance, the drop of the bullet, the wind speed factor, and the rotation of the planet into mind before firing. With a deep, calming breath, she lined up the cross-hair to the correct area and lightly pulled the trigger, confident that the bullet would hit its target, dead on. The bullet left the rifle with tremendous speed and the rifle itself barely made any sound due to the silencer installed upon it. The world seemed to slow down around Solares before the bullet hit the target, dead on, going through the metal vase and stopping at the wall behind it. A loud and very annoying PING sound echoed through the area, and could easily be heard from where Solares and Arinis where sitting.

Solares congratulated herself mentally and watched what would happen next with great anticipation. "Well it hit the target, I am sure you know that already Arinis, but I think we should move or risk being seen." She paused, "Then again, I want to make sure this other Bloodelf is going to be alright, then we can head into the house and cause chaos."

[Sinerathin]

"Fret not, I will only repay what has been dealt to me. It is only fair in law, no? They did shoot first on both occasions for little reason other than poor judgement."

"I must argue, Kindreth, you can't be seriou... "

Yes, apparently she was serious.

Sharon was left standing in the room as Rae'liel had already left in her chase for retribution against the Night Elves. Sharon could do nothing but slowly raise a hand up to his head, before covering his face with his palm while emitting a deep, disappointed 'SIGH'.

"This is going to be absolutely great... " He muttered to himself in a slightly annoyed tone, silently mourning the devastation that was sure to follow Rae'liel's rashness!

Gathering himself, Sharon decided that it was best to follow, just to make sure no necks were broken, and that the collateral damage to his estate was kept to the minimum. Walking over to the bookshelf behind his desk, Sharon reached behind it to pull our a silver formed magical staff with a blue sapphire attached to the shaft by an intricate series of metallic whirls. Turning back to Liaena, he placed a hand on her shoulder; "I will be right back. I just have to sort out this mess."

And with that, Sharon followed in the footsteps of both Rae'liel and Serphia, quickly walking out of his trashed study in pursuit of the former two. On his side, Friedrick suddenly appeared around a corner, holding a plate of tea and wine; before pausing when he saw Sharon walking past him.

"Master Sharon, Lady Kindreth just went to challenge the Night Elves. Shall I bring the popped corn?" Friedrick asked, but Sharon merely shook his head; as he marched towards the noise and the chaos that was at the end of the hallway where the battle between Serphia and Rae'liel took place.

---

"An impressive shot, indeed." Sounded the voice of a man, not far from Solares.

The source; a dark haired human male standing on the roof not far away from them in the shadow of a pipe, wearing a brown cloak over a simple leather torso and cloth pants. There were some leather belts running across his chest and waist beneath his cloak, and hidden among them a sharp eye could barely catch the glimmer of a metal object. His face seemed rather young and firm, and his expression was neutral.

When the elves became aware of his presence, the younger man raised his hands into the air to signal peace.

"I do apologize the rude interruption, it was never my intention to alarm you, you must understand." Donald explained, while performing a graceful bow.
"My name is Donald Farwright, a humble man who merely seeks to return what was stolen from him in the past.

Donald spoke with a calm voice, his gray eyes switching between Arinis and Solares. Despite his inaction at large, the man's eyes seemed to be at full work, analyzing every inch of the two ladies with the greatest curiosity.

"I could not help but notice that we were looking at the same thing. Perhaps it is destiny that has brought us together, for I too seek entry to the house." Donald explained, while subtlety motioning towards the mansion with his head.
"I believe we can help each other out, for I have already been inside once."

[Feychild]

“I will be right back, I just need to sort out this mess”

“But what about Ri—“

Liaena’s immediate objection was stalled by virtue of Sharon leaving the room, stalking out with his mages staff like a man on a mission. Biting on her lip with frustration, the girl glowered at the door as if it itself had dealt her a grievous slight. “Oh no, don’t mind me and my important news. Let’s all go and fight”

Like she had done herself on many occasions with Serphia, but that wasn’t the point, dammit.

Picking up the socked Astrid and dumping her back into her bag, Liaena hitched up her oversized dress to chase after the High Elf. Catching up to the drama at the top of the stairs, the girl looked down at the chaos rapidly unfolding on the lower atrium. For once however, she had no interest in the fight as she rapidly scanned the crowd for one, very specific blue-haired Night Elf.

Rithrynn herself was simply standing to one side and giving the conflict a wide berth with the rest of her sisters, all of them having been instructed to not interfere and now simply enjoying the spectacle. The elf glanced up at the little human, having detected her presence about the same time Liaena spotted her. Smiled. And waved.

“…….”

“She must be possessed”

Missing a beat, Liaena slowly raised a hand to return the gesture. Eyes tracking down to where Sharon was attempting to insert himself into the conflict, she measured how far it was between him and Rithrynn, and Sharon and herself. She was somewhat distanced from the immediate fight, but there were still Night Elves rushing up and downstairs, and a strong risk of being hit by a flying Blood Elf at any moment. “I need to get over there now”

*

“And Ragnar, I’m surprised to see you sober. It seems very out of character for you”

“….”

Kathlin glanced down at Ragnar (who appeared to have turned several shades darker in the face at that comment), before swiftly turning back to the servant, Murphy. “Oh, okay. But couldn’t the second key, the one with Mister Alfidious –“

“Lord Alfidious”

“…Sorry, Lord Alfidious been planted on him after he was murdered by the culprit?” Kathlin amended her statement hastily after receiving a particularly cold glare from the servant. “When you discovered him, the door was unlocked wasn’t it? The culprit could have just walked off”

“...Not that I’m not saying that you wouldn’t have already considered that, of course…it was just a thought…” the girl muttered belatedly. Still resting on her shoulder, Hester opened one eye to fixate it on Adolph in a particuarly evil sort of way.

“Aren’t those men the same ones that threatened the dwarves last night? And am I supposed to be accusing someone at the end of this? This sucks”

“I’m, uh, Kathlin. Nice to meet you” Kathlin added after a pause, her words this time directed at Adolph. “I was asked to investigate Lord Alfidious’ death and Lady Rosemary kindly gave me permission to examine the corpse and his private chambers. I was just…wondering what you meant about a book in his private quarters. Is it something important?”

[Sinerathin]

"Book?" Murphy repeated, throwing Kathlin a slightly surprised look, before the servant moved an inquisitive glance over to Captain Adolph.

The Captain, in turn, made a confused expression back at Kathlin, forming a bewildered grimace as if he was completely ignorant of the question.

"What book?" He asked, and Murphy's gaze now too fell upon Kathlin. An awkward silence had erupted as the two men were simply staring at the source of the original question, Kathlin. Ragnar, who was standing next to the girl, was on the verge of opening his mouth; but was interrupted just in time as Adolph was the first to break the silence.

"I'm not sure, but you are the investigator I heard about, aren't you?" The White Hand Captain inquired as he looked back at Kathlin, his expression having grown more neutral.

"Yes... ?"

"Good. You did well helping the lady of the house in the murder investigation, but now the White Hand is taking over. You are you hand over any evidence you may have found in your investigation to White Hand personnel, and vacate these premises. We thank you for your cooperation, but your assistance will no longer be needed."

"What, ye can't just throw us out like this?! This is our case too, especially since it happened on tha Vanguard's watch! I ain't letting the slimy bastards get away!" Ragnar protested, the dwarf raising his voice and shaking his fist at the Captain! The loud protest also succeeded in attracting the attention of some of the other White Hand mercenaries in the room who looked over at them to see what the commotion was about, some of them moving their hands closer to the handle of their swords.

Realizing that he was outnumbered, Ragnar managed to pause his rant, glaring up at Adolph who threw a rather unimpressed look back at the dwarf.

"It is not I, but Lady Rosamery's decision. The White Hand is to assume all the responsibilities of the Red Vanguard upon its arrival." Adolph explained in a slightly irritated tone.
"I realize that you have belongings in your quarters that you may not have packed yet. I give you ten minutes, but by that time, I want both of you outside the mansion gate. Understood? This is our operation now."

[Feisty-Pants]

Rae'liel - The Honored Guest

As Serphia struggled to free herself from the rubble, the Paladin stood guardedly in wait with her shield and sword at the ready. Assuming she understood the temperament of this captain well enough, she knew all too well that a counterattack was inevitable. What she did not expect however, was the attack from behind by one of her underlings! Affording little more than a gasp in surprise as she was flung over the warrior's shoulder and crashing into the ground, the moment of disorientation she experienced was all that her new opponent needed as her sword was sent skittering across the floor.

Raising her gauntlets instinctively, fists met steel until the woman suddenly departed from her assault entirely, giving way to the larger figure, obviously the Captain in another frontal assault. This in itself was successful, the first lunge feeling almost as it bisected Rae'liel as she tumbled and rolled away from the impact, granting just a moment to catch her breadth.

A moment was all that she needed.

The Blood Elf still held an advantage; she still had her shield. Regaining her equilibrium just in time, she dipped low as the Captain lunged at her akin to the savage animals they so held in reverence. The bottom edge of her shield soon slid beneath Serphia, and in an easy transfer of gracious momentum, she lifted the heavy defensive instrument from beneath the Night Elf, and she soon crashed headlong into the wall that had been right behind the Blood Knight.

Breaking into a run towards her weapon as the Captain once again struggled to free herself from the rubble, the Sin'Dorei deftly snapped her sword back into her grasp and whipped it violently towards Serphia. Twisting end over end as it whistled through the air, it did not strike the Night Elf, as she wasn't its intended target. Rather, it was her cloak. Sinking hilt deep into the wall and pinning Serphia's cloak with it, the Blood Elf had the fortune of pinning her in place for at least a moment. A moment that she needed to be afforded as she rushed towards her adversary once again.

Breaking into close range once again, the Sin'Dorei slipped beneath an oncoming fist thrown out of fury, and then rose akin to a fickle flame. From below, the hardened edge of her heavy shield would contact the Captain's chin in an absolutely vicious uppercut. Forcing her head to snap backwards and her body to stumble back in a dazed state, the Sin'Dorei did not hesitate in the least. Whipping about in beautiful footwork, the Shield came around in a second pirouette that took full advantage of her current stance and connected with devastating force to the stunned Captain's exposed ribcage.

With a second resounding clang, Serphia was forced to be sent flying through a wall again, this time likely with a broken rib or two, and the collected composure of the Paladin only offered one response. A small gob of blood was spit from between her lips and stained the carpet next to Serphia as she nursed a new traumatic injury.

"This fight is ov-"

THUNK!

A new sharp pain cut the Sin'Dorei's words short as she desperately looked to her back and instead found the shaft of an arrow jutting from her shoulder. First there was confusion as to who it had come from, and the culprit was found soon enough. Falaani, that accursed failure of a guard had found a hole in her armor and had taken advantage of it fully to protect her mistress. For all the pain that she had been dealt, she didn't notice however, the paralytic venom that seeped into her veins from the Night Elf's arrow.

Dropping to her knees as she suddenly found it insanely difficult to breathe, the calm resolution finally held a faint trace of despair. Only to see a Vase suddenly shatter out of nowhere as her shield fell clattering to the ground.

"P-Poison....you....ngh! Coward." Were her last defiant words as she collapsed unconscious from both the wounds she had sustained and the venomous arrow combined.

[Nallore]

Arinis sat quietly in one of the many libraries that were in Dalaran studying like she had always been, inside the room were decorations that were already set up for Winter's Veil. The young Blood Elf reached over taking a sip of her tea just as another mage came into the room holding a letter in her hands, the human girl set the letter down on the table looking at the Blood Elf. "This letter came in for you this morning, its from Sharon." She said and bowed towards her before heading off down towards the entrance to the library she was in.

Arinis smiled having not seen him in a very long time and opened up the letter to take a look at it quickly scanning over the letter asking her to come to Stormwind. "I guess i'll put my studies aside for now." Arinis said closing up the spell book she was reading, and quickly slipped on her cloak over herself, she walked out into the streets of Dalaran feeling the cold northern air on her skin. She closed her eyes and opened up a portal to Stormwind, she opened them again and found herself just outside the city snow covered the ground of Elwynn Forest.

She used the spell she was taught and quickly changed her eyes from fel green to blue once more, she then started to walk into the city where she was going to meet her friend Solares at one of the houses near where Sharon wanted her to meet him at. By the time Arinis finally made it she could see Solares waiting for her and smiled. "It's good to see you again." Arinis said accepting the bag of goodies her friend had brought for her she opened the thermas and took a sip of the hot chocolate enjoying the taste of it as they went to the top floor of the house.

Arinis looked down at the ground below and spotted a Blood Elf and a Night Elf going at it. "You know we are here to just meet a friend of mine right we are not here to kill anyone." Arinis stated just as the other elf took a shot at a nearby pot just to break up the scene, that's when she heard a man's voice seeing the brown cloaked figure behind them. "Yes i'm here to see Sharon an old teacher of mine, and brought my friend along with me." Arinis said and quickly bowed towards Donald and smiled softly. "I'm Arinis, and this Solares."

[Rithy]

Slowly staggering to her feet once more, supporting herself against the battered wall behind her, the towering Captain moved one hand up to hold beneath her jaw as she took a bite out of the air, just to affirm that her jaw was in fact still in place.

Although she looked noticeably more bruised and battered than before, the Captain's sheer hatred and fury did not seem to have been abated by the damage she had sustained. With eyes burning like fire, her gaze quickly found Rae'liel - who was now lying unconsciously on the ground with an arrow sticking out of the back of her right shoulder beneath her shoulder plate, a small trail of blood flowing from the wound down to the carpet.

Upon seeing her incapacitated foe, the Captain quickly rushed forward to check on the Blood Elf, grabbing her head and pulling it up to look at her face. But the sight of her foe lying wounded and unconscious did not bring any joy or satisfaction to the Captain's face. In fact, it did the complete opposite, as the Captain rose to her feet, more furious than ever before!

"Who shot that arrow?!" Sounded Serphia's booming voice throughout the house, as her eyes scanned frantically for the sinner!

At the top of the stairs, where her sentinels had been watching; a gap had formed between two groups, as everyone had taken at least three steps away from Falaani who was standing in the middle with her bow.
Upon realizing she now stood alone, sticking out like a sore thumb between her sisters, and having been subjected to the full, furious attention of her mistress, Falaani lowered her bow, as her heart skipped a beat.

"I, uhh.... I j-just.. " The sentinel stammered as Serphia marched up the flight of stairs towards her, while she was unable to form a single sentence.

It took the big Captain only a couple of long strides before she was already at the top, and towering over Falaani who almost seemed to shrink in the presence of her Captain! Serphia's gaze spared her minion no mercy, and nor did probably her thoughts either!

"The fight was MINE, and NO ONE were to intervene!" Serphia roared furiously down at Falaani, while picking the sentinel up and holding her against the wall.
"From this day onward, and I SWEAR BY ELUNE, EVERY SINGLE shift at the gate will be YOURS TO TAKE, Huntress! Minimal rest!"

"I-I-I, thank y-you for your mercy, Captain! ... please let me go!" Falaani stammered, having feared the worst; but was suddenly and promptly dropped to the ground with a heavy crash.

"Fail me again, and you will report directly to my quarters!" Serphia growled back down at Falaani who huddled against the wall, before turning back. Walking back down the stairs, the Night Elf's attention had turned back to Rae'liel, before she raised her arms and looked around at the rest of the people in the mansion.

"Are you just going to let her lie here and bleed out? Get this rat patched up! How am I to finish my fight against a corpse?!" Serphia called out, before turning to look back at her fallen foe.
"Next time, Sin'Dorei. Woe to you when your wounds are healed."

In the meantime, at the top of the stairs; when the Captain had called for a healer for the Blood Elf, Rithrynn was the first to turn her head to gaze over at Liaena, and not long after, so too had almost every one of her sisters done too, as their attention, and then expectations; were now firmly focused on the little black haired girl.

Upon realizing that Liaena had been unofficially appointed as the healer, some of the Night Elves' began to snicker among themselves, with whispers of 'The Blood Elf's sooo dead' and 'She's going to wish the mistress finished her' escaping from between the sentinels.

[Sinerathin]

When he finally arrived at the scene of the fighting between Rae'liel and Serphia, Sharon came to realize that the fighting had already ceased.

Walking to the top of the stairs where most of the sentinels were looking down, he first heard Serphia, crying out for a healer, before he finally saw the Night Elven Captain, and at her feet, Rae'liel. The Blood Elf lay unconscious on the floor, unmoving, and with a nasty arrow sticking out of her right shoulder; the projectile in question decorated with elven marks and letters, and adorned with a great owl plume exclusive to Ashenvale.

"By the light, now she's gone and done it!"

Casting a quick spell, Sharon's very being suddenly dissipated into a thin, blue mist between the Night Elves, only to manifest itself out of nothing next to Rae'liel as he teleported to her location.
Kneeling down to her, Sharon quickly moved a finger to the side of Rae'liel's neck to check her pulse. Luckily, the Blood Elf's heart was still beating, although at a slower rate.

Turning his attention over to the arrow currently sitting in her shoulder, Sharon inspected the entry wound closer. He was by no means a medical expert, merely having been tutored in some simple steps of first aid, and his experience with wounds from the Third War. His experience with archery related injuries did not necessarily have something to do with his prolonged friendship with Rithrynn, whom although favoring the bow and having inflicted her fair share of friendly fire accidents, was by no means the sole reason why Sharon was so familiar with arrows.

The arrow had somehow managed to sneak its way past some of the metallic plates meant to protect the Blood Elf's shoulder, and cut through the chainmail on the inside.
Some might have called it a lucky shot, but with the Night Elves, Sharon knew that it had most likely been intentional, as the Kaldorei were notorious for their merciless precision. The fact that Rae'liel had not been shot in the back of the head or neck was at least a sign the Night Elves hadn't intended to kill her.

... yet.

Looking at the wound closer, Sharon summoned a small splash of water to brush away the blood that was creating a bloodied mess around the entry point. For a moment, the blood was washed away, allowing Sharon to get a clearer look at the wound, and he could see that the arrow had left a wider, horizontal wound in the Rae'liel's skin, and even pulled some of the chainmail rings inside of her flesh with it. His view, however, was quickly obscured as a new surge of blood was flushed out from the wound, covering her shoulder yet again.
Although he could not see the tip, which had stopped somewhere in the middle of her shoulder, Sharon could only assume that it had been a barbed tip, perhaps even a serrated arrowhead.

"When it comes to finding cruel ways to cripple and take down their preys, the Night Elves lack no creativity whatsoever."

The fact that Rae'liel was unconscious could suggest trauma or poisons and venom at work, and Sharon's suspicion leaned towards the latter.

Casting a spell at Rae'liel, the Blood Elf suddenly became light as a feather, allowing Sharon to pull her up from the ground alongside her armor almost effortlessly. Rae'liel seemed more to simply float in the air above the ground, although descending slightly, she was kept up by a series of small nudges from Sharon.

"Liaena, we need to take care of this wound immediately!" Sharon called out as he returned to the top of the stairs, quickly finding Liaena with his eyes.
"Where do you keep your medical supplies?"

[Feychild]

Stirring herself after one final glance at Rithrynn, Liaena ran down the stairs to join Sharon as the High Elf was effortlessly levitating Rae’llil into the air. The human’s hands also ran over the blood elfs face, also testing her heartbeat, breathing and pulling back an eyelid gently. “Downstairs, in my lab. Irregular heartbeat, dilated eyes, she’s been poisoned – YOU! GET OVER HERE!” The girl screamed in a voice that was impressively loud for such a small creature as she stabbed a finger at the shaken Falaani, still sitting slumped against the wall after her recent ‘spat’ with Serphia. “I need a sample of whatever you used right NOW, or if she dies it’s all your fault. And Serphia’s going to be pissed!”

Not looking back to check that Falaani was following, Liaena whirled around to stalk towards the lower levels of the house, Sharon trailing along in her wake and Rae’llil bobbing along gently. Many conflicting thoughts and strategies were whirling around in the girls head, along with worry about Sherpa and Rithrynn and it was all condensing into extreme irritation at her latest patient as she stomped through the building. “Why in the Light did she try and pick a fight with Serphia!? That was stupid, wasn’t it? Hi, nice to meet you, I’m a blood elf in Stormwind. …Why is a blood elf even here, Sharon?”

Having stalked through the kitchen and past Miz Collins (“Would Milady kitty-kat like some more fishy deliousness with her munchies, hm?” *ROAR*), Liaena climbed the stairs behind to enter the small room Sharon had appropriated as a laboratory and Liaena had long since claimed as her own.
Grabbing an armful of bottles off the main, long workbench that stretched the whole room, Liaena swept any rubbish that remained on the surface onto the floor as Rae’llil floated onto it, before moving around to her shoulder and producing a scalpel as she started to fiddle with the straps that held her armoured shoulder-pad to her chainmail. “Poison on the table”

“….”

“NOW”

A small jar containing some paste was plonked on the table by the disgruntled Falaani, who was nonetheless watching the proceedings as if her life and future career depended on it (it probably did). Picking it up to unscrew the lid and take a quick sniff, the girl wrinkled her nose before glancing back at the Night Elf. “Is that deadwood? That’s deadwood, isn’t it. Neurotoxin – do you have an antidote – of course you don’t. I have something that’d probably do…”

Diving over to the sideboard that housed multiple bottles, jars and assorted paraphernalia, Liaena picked up one, uncorked to sniff it, tested another with her tongue, before pouring one into the other and coming back to the table with a nod. “Close enough”

“Are you sure –“

Having loaded the contents of the two jars into a syringe, Liaena had already slid the needle into the blood elfs neck and pressed the plunger, hard. The effect was sudden, and immediate. Rae’llils eyes flicked for a moment, before shooting open and blazing a brilliant glow. “GAH!”

“Hrm, well, that worked” Liaena remarked to nobody in particular as she continued to pull off the remains of the elfs epaulets to study the entry point of the arrow carefully. The amount of blood wasn’t making things any easier for her, and the location of the wound made the use of a torniquete impossible. “Someone make sure she lies still. I still need to cut this out of her shoulder”

--

“Oh. Okay” Kathlin said noncommittally in response, after a pause in which she digested Adolph’s immediate order. “Of course, if Lady Rosemary wants you to take over the Vanguards duties, that’s fair enough. I’m sorry, but I think you might have misunderstood though….I’m not the Vanguard”

Upon receiving an immediate ‘what’ stare from Adolph, Kathlin shrugged her shoulders in the universal ‘I don’t know either’ gesture. “I’m a friend – of a friend – of the vanguard, and they just asked me to assist. I’m not a member, and I’m not here under their responsibilities. I’m just here to help”

Quailing a little under the increasingly unfriendly look she was receiving from Adolph, the girl continued to plunge on. The man did not strike her as someone she would ever want to have on her personal staff as a bodyguard. ‘Slimy’ wasn’t a bad word to use, although she felt ‘creepy’ was slightly closer to the mark. “Soooo – if Lady Rosemary would prefer me to remain, I would like to stay and assist the investigation. Call it a – a civic duty of the church, I guess. It’s my responsibility”

Having said her piece, Kathlin gave Adolf a quick nod and a smile, before turning back to Murphy very quickly. “If that is all alright – would it be possible to have a closer look at those doors? I do know a bit about the arcane. It might be helpful”

[Sinerathin]

"Oh, don't worry about her, she's just an old associate of mine. She was kind enough to reply to my letter when I,-"

“Someone make sure she lies still! I still need to cut this out of her shoulder”

"Alright, alright... " Sharon replied, having accompanied Liaena to her personal little laboratory. It had actually been quite a while since the High Elf had last been to the room, even though it was he who had set it up, anticipating some further use for it, which had never come. The arrangements that Liaena had made to it made it more reminiscent of a goblin workshop than a Dalaran academic research laboratory, and far from the latter's regulations for safety!

Hurrying over to the sideboards and shelves, Sharon began to dive and root through the many different drawers and shelves in search of something to keep the Blood Elf still. It did not take long before eventually, he found a bundle of leather straps and buckles. A moment of confusion passed as the High Elf merely stared at the leather.

"What are they doing here?"

Sharon returned to the makeshift operator table, fumbling with the intricate coil of leather which was all bungled and jungled together. However, the High Elf soon decided that the leather was too much work for what it was worth, and simply dropped it to the ground.

"I just got a better idea." Sharon said, before holding up his staff and pointing it at Rae'liel's limbs. Muttering on a light chant, the air around the Blood Elf's limbs began to vibrate slightly, forming what seemed like singularities around her arms and legs as solid masses of ice began to appear. In less than a few seconds, the Blood Elf was bound to the table by a couple of solid blocks of ice, keeping her in place.

"Don't worry, it takes a while for hypothermia to set in." Sharon answered reassuringly to Liaena who threw him a slightly dark stare, the High Elf shrugging his shoulders while throwing his lazyman's solution a small, satisfied smile.
Moving across the table, Sharon approached Rae'liel's head, getting as close as he could without disturbing Liaena's work.

"Hey... Kindreth, can you hear me? Do not worry yourself, you are in good hands. Now, this might sting a little, but I am sure it will be nothing for a sturdy warrior like yourself!"

It might have been a lie, but it had been a white lie! After all, it was the thought that mattered, wasn't it?

---

"We already have two battlemages in the scene - anything related to the arcane, we already have covered." Adolph answered nonchalantly in a dry tone, the Captain seemingly becoming more and more unimpressed with Kathlin as the time went by.

"Any Red Vanguard, including any outsourced personnel by the Red Vanguard, are to leave the premise. And that would include you, girl."

"Ehh, well... yer probably right... " Suddenly sounded Ragnar, the Dwarf brumming in a rather theatrical way as he moved his shoulders and looked back up at Adolph.
"I got quite some stuff stashed up in me chambers. I should probably get them cleaned out, sorry fer botherin' ye, yer highness."

As Ragnar turned around, he bumped into Kathlin, pulling her with him as the dwarf marched for the stairs.

"Don't worry, I shan't leave too much of a mess in the guest quarters fer ye!" Ragnar called out back at Adolph as he continued to walk up the stairs with Kathlin in tow, before the dwarf's head immediately turned back from the White Hands to look up at Kathlin.

"I'm tired of these lily bastards. I say we go get whatever's in that study they want and bust anyone that gets in our way!" Ragnar whispered to Kathlin while banging his steel gloves together.

Behind them, Adolph seemed to be motioning to some of fellow White Hands. Getting the attention of one of the men, Adolph pointed towards Kathlin and Ragnar as they were traveling away from them and up the stairs. The masked White Hand cavalier who had gained Adolph's attention returned with a brief salute, banging his fist against his chestplate, before resting his hand against the handle of the hilt of his sword as he traveled up the stairs after Ragnar and Kathlin, keeping a distance but seemingly following them.

Looking up at Kathlin as they walked, Ragnar threw the human a smile.

"Ye up fer gettin' some of that evidence of yours, lass?"

[WardenCelestine]

Trust is earned, and not given to someone with out a second thought. If the newcomer thought Solares was going to trust him right off the bat, then he was sadly mistaken. Unfortunately, he had something that she needed, and for now the rogue would cooperate with him. Still in her combat stance, Solares raised her left arm, index finger pointing upward at the sky, this signaled for everyone to keep quite until otherwise told to do so. She needed full concentration in a situation such as this, if one bullet was fired at the wrong target, missed, or even left the barrel at the wrong time, it would spell out catastrophic disaster.

"One of the other Nightelf Sentinels shot an arrow at the Bloodelf from behind her back. The Bloodelf then collapsed onto the ground and I have lost view of her for now. I really wish I had a better vantage point." Solares spoke in a soft tone so that only Arinis could hear her for the time being. There was silence for around twenty seconds while Solares just watched through her sniper scope as the scene unfolded. "I have good news, I can see your friend Sharon in the room. The bad news is that they seem to be moving the bloodelf." The crosshair moved from the Bloodelf and came to rest upon the Nightelf Captains head. "It would be so easy, a very clean and precise kill, but taking down the Nightelf would cause serious backlash, and could jeopardize the assignment. Then again, I have a feeling that she may cause complications if I were not to eliminate her."

Her hand gripped the handle of the rifle tightly as she deeply considered taking out the Captain, but finely lowered it. The rogue had decided that is was not worth it. Now facing the newcomer, she also took a couple of seconds to look the man over closely. "As my friend here told you, I am Solares and we are..." Solares quickly turned her head in surprise to look at Arinis. "Wait, you know Sharon? I was told to find him first, because that is where I would find the Bloodelf." The once emotionless look upon her face now had a smirk across it, "This actually makes things much better. I can enter by your side without drawing any suspicion, though I feel we should at least hear what Donald has to say as well." Motioning for Donald to join them, Solares moved away from anywhere the occupants of the house could see them and leaned against the stone wall behind her. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked Donald in the eyes, before speaking.

"First off I would like to inquire about what was stolen from you, I need to know what I should look for while inside the mansion. Secondly, if shit should hit the fan and we end up being attacked, please do not cause any harm to the Bloodelf. Thirdly, if this possession is so important to you, why have you not retrieved it yourself? You appear to be more than capable of doing such a thing. I mean no offense by that Donald, merely a question. Last but not least, is there anything else I should know about the occupants of the house and the such?" Solares would watch the man closely, waiting for a reply and keeping herself on high alert.

[Feisty-Pants]

Rae'liel - The Guest of Honor

Dreams were truly a funny place to be after falling unconscious, rather, it may have simply been her life flashing before her eyes as the toxins invaded her veins. She was walking along the thin wisps of grass that covered the floor of Eversong Woods. Armor no longer weighed down her figure, and instead she was covered in the gold and silks that were once so commonplace in her home. Standing as the wind unwound the long braid that held her hair taut, the Elven girl simply looked distantly towards the docks which hosted a long, elegant looking ship.

Autumn was here, and it looked as if the wood's canopy was simply ablaze in a flourish of magnificent color. Hues ranging from the deepest greens to the most fiery of reds decorated this small little quiet paradise, and she dared partook in a long deep breadth which caught the scent of nighttime bonfires still smoldering in their pits. This was her home, her paradise, her little slice of heaven. And there was little else that she could ever want more. Proudly in the distance, the ivory colored ramparts of Silvermoon still stood strongly against the howling winds. Here, there was no fire, no chaos, no screams or howls of the undead; there was no Dead Scar marring the beauty of her home.

It was the sound of hooves pounding against the cobblestone road that she stood upon that marked an interruption to the sacred silence she had enjoyed. It gave her room to think, to sit, and to read a good book while snuggled up cozily against a white tree. Now however, as a Thalassian Charger covered in crimsons and decorative bronze made its way to her with due haste, the Elven Girl simply looked on and her eyes widened as she recognized just who was arriving. It was [i]him[i]! Such a wondrous dreamed turned swiftly to sorrow as his boots impacted the road, and plated footfalls marked his approach. Her head had long bowed, knowing all too well that the one who was drawing closer had died years ago, but she could not help the enamored stare as his fingertip gently hooked beneath her chin, and and an arm snaked about her waist, and pulled her close.

For the first time in years, in the midst of a sweet dream, she felt the touch of a lover's embrace.

"Come now dear, don't be so woeful." He whispered, running a fingertip through her hair and brushing it lightly above her ear. "There is still much to be done before you can join me here, hurry now. Arthas still sits upon his throne, and Kael'thas upon his. Be the hammer of justice that they both deserve." He leaned in, so that his lips would brush against her ear, causing her fingertips to dig desperately into his cloak. "Do you understand?" Tears streamed down her cheeks even in the realm outside the dream as he stepped away, and she shuddered as she tried to draw breath. Yet all he did was smile and nod as his auburn hair seemed to be alight in the midday sun.

"Yes. I do understand....I'll see you soon. I promise."

"Go now dear, they're going to wake you soon."

---

A sharp pain and her eyes flaring open was what first brought her back to consciousness. The agony of her lungs trying to partake in air far overriding the pain of an arrow in her shoulder as soon she realized the situation. She was pinned upon a table, her arms, and legs frozen as she were face down, with her armor mostly removed by those who were trying to save her.

“Someone make sure she lies still. I still need to cut this out of her shoulder”

"Hold now, wait a minute!" She cried out in protest, but with the ice binding her in place, there was truly only very little that she could accomplish. Quickly, sorting through her mind and respective abilities, she realized that there was one simple cure. Soon, an orange light glimmered about her pinned form that circled and spun about her in a wondrous fashion. Even the Night Elves' eyes in the distance trying to see through the door widened in awe and Falaani stepped back in caution. With such light, the ice about her legs and arms suddenly disintegrated as she had used a Hand of Freedom upon herself.

Sitting up abruptly, she only extended out a hand to the shocked pair of Sharon and Liaena and made only one softened demand: "Can I have a rag, please." With one of them quickly handing her one, she dabbed not away the partially coagulated blood about her shoulder, but rather she drew it taught and tied it into a knot. Then, she shot Sharon an uneasy stare for a few moments, as he was the only man in the room. "And can you please step outside?" Once the Magus did, she gingerly removed the remaining portions of her armor awkwardly with one hand, and soon before long, the slender beauty of her upper torso was completely bare. Though, as Falaani and Liaena could easily see through many scars that stained her skin, she had been in many a conflict of her own.

Taking in a pained breadth, she then glanced at the supposed medic of the troupe. "Please have the bandages ready, just in case I faint again like some mewling Gnome."

Placing the knotted rag into her mouth and placing it between her teeth, the Sin'Dorei suddenly surprised the two by reaching over her wounded shoulder with her opposing arm and completely ripping out the arrow entirely! A muffled cry of pain echoed past her lips as refreshed blood poured from the gash the barbed arrow left, but she was not done. Mustering as much concentration as she could, Rae'liel's opposing hand glowered with a holy light. Moving her hand over the wound, the bleeding slowed quickly before coming to a complete stop entirely. Flesh renewed, and a horrific looking scab took it's place before the light abated entirely. Capable of healing minor wounds easily, this major one was quite the task, and it drew her breadth away.

As the healing stopped, she settled her hands upon the edge of the bed. One of them covered in blood as sweat slipped past her brow and landed on the softness of her cheek.

"Bandages...please. I can do no more in this moment."

[Feisty-Pants]

(Double Post again....why does this keep happening.)

[Rithy]

In the meantime, after Rae'liel had been carried away from the stairs; Serphia was marching down through the house, arriving at the first floor and entering the living room. Even though some had left it to follow the fighting upstairs, most of them had already returned, making the living room as frantic and chaotic as ever.

A short silence immediately fell upon the room as Serphia entered it. However, when the Captain motioned for her sisters that she was there for neither training nor punishment, the short and tense moment quickly faded as the off duty sentinels returned to their frivolous activities, the sound of laughter, screams and crashes resuming.

"Naliyah," Serphia called out for a pink haired Night Elf sitting along the sidelines of the room. The Night Elf, Naliyah, had been watching the room from the moment she had first entered, but even so, returned the Captain with a surprised look in return, moving her hand to her chest in a 'me?' motion.
Quickly looking around her and realizing that it was, as expected, no other sister sitting by her, Naliyah got off her pillow to walk gingerly over to her waiting Captain.

"Get your supplies. I got some wounds I need you to look at."

"How did you get those?" Naliyah asked curiously, only to receive a cold glare in return from her Captain. Realizing that it was not a question to ask, Naliyah quickly ran over to her personal stash in the room.

Turning around to find an empty chair, Serphia began to strip out of her armor and winter uniform. It was noticably more stuff to remove than with her summer uniform, but even then, the seasoned Captain had removed her entire set of armor and clothes by the time Naliyah had even managed to return with her satchel, having systematically gone through every button, belt and buckle like she had done a million times in the past.
Stripping down, Serphia turned around and slumped down into the chair with her butt, the worn leather chair creaking as she sat down.

"Alright, so bruisers, scratches... this should be easy." Naliyah quickly explained while salvaging a poultice from her satchel, leaning down next to her Captain as she began to apply the thin blue substance to the various marks and bruisers that her Captain had received in her fight with the Blood Elf.
"It won't even leave a mark!"

Naliyah stated cheerfully to her Captain, who nodded in return, seemingly focused on watching her underlings scurry around in the room.

"Uh, Captain... " Rithrynn's voice suddenly sounded, as the Night Elf approached Serphia and Naliyah carefully. Rithrynn normally preferred to keep her distance to either of them as far as possible, and especially if they were together.

"Hii, Rithrynn! Do you have any injuries I need to take care of?!" Naliyah suddenly stated in an overly cheerful tone when she saw Rithrynn approach, her enthusiasm enough to send a cold shiver up through Rithrynn's spine as she slowly shook her head from side to side in a 'no'.

"There was a shot through the window during the fight upstairs... someone hit a vase. No one was the roof so we didn't see the shooter, but... it might also have been a stray shot, perhaps from the dwarven district. Those hairy midgets could be at the fault of it. So we,"

Serphia had already turned her full attention up at Rithrynn, giving her a sharp look.

"And? Close all the curtains in the house, and make sure the Watchers return to their posts. If you believe there's a threat to this house, I want you to take action against it before you come to me. Elune knows, If there was a shooter, it could have taken a lot more shots at us in the time it took you to deliver this message! Tell the Watchers that they have my permission to shoot anyone suspicious crawling around on the surrounding buildings."

"Uh, okay!" Rithrynn replied, turning to another Watcher who had followed her into the room. Taking a quick chat with her, the two suddenly split up as they ran back out into the mansion, closing the curtains and notifying the rest of the watchers.

"Owh!" Serphia suddenly bit her lips, her head snapping back at Naliyah who looked back up at her while she was applying the salve.

"Don't worry, mistress! It only takes a few seconds. It's the price of efficiency!" Naliyah smiled in return to the stoic look of her Captain, raising one leg and placing her butt down on the arms of the chair before she moved her attention to the Captain's jaw to look for any injuries.

[Feychild]

“Bandages…please. I can do no more in this moment”

Liaena mutely held out a roll of bandages to her. A moment passed before she seemed to realise the obvious problem. “Oh! Right.”

Edging closer, the girl started to gingerly wind the length of bandage around the elf’s bare shoulder and upper body in a practiced motion. This particular human was noticeably short, lacked curves and appeared young even for the standards of her kin, with black hair and pale, northern skin. She also had more than a few fading bruisers and scrape marks littering her face in a manner that suggested she had recently been in the wars herself.

Having finished the bandage and tying the ends in a neat knot, Liaena set about trying to get the blood elf into the rooms solitary armchair as Rae’liel swung her legs off the table and tried to stand. This was reasonably difficult, as the elf was sluggish and the girl seemed reluctant to touch her. “You shouldn’t be using that arm for at least a couple of days – careful, watch the sideboard! That poison attacked your neural system, so there might be some loss of muscle control till you recover. You should probably get some bed rest – Sharon has lots of spare rooms you could have…unless the Night Elfs got them. They probably got them”

Having successfully negotiated Rae’liel into the chair, Liaena took the opportunity to dart away and start rattling bottles around in one of the cupboards. The constant flow of nervous chatter continued unabated. “I don’t know why you thought picking a fight with Serphia would be a good idea though. Granted, she is a bitch. But given you’re in a house full of fifty Night Elfs and only three quarters of them are blackout drunk, you must have guessed what was going to happen at the end of that. There are better ways to go about…Oh”

Having finally lit upon something towards the back of the cupboard, Liaena withdrew with one of her old cloaks which had apparently been stuffed away at some point. Shaking the heavy cloth out, she paused for a moment before holding it out to the half naked blood elf. “Here.”

[Feychild]

“You up for getting that evidence of yours, lass?”

“….”

“Yeeeess…?” Kathlin said hesitantly. The girl stole a glance behind them at the White Hand member that was clearly following them, before following after Ragnar who was striding up the stairs like a dwarf on a mission.

“Hey! Weren’t you two supposed to be going to your quarters?”

Kathlin grimaced, before turning to face the White Hand member. Ragnar continued to vanish down the corridor with great alacrity, leaving her abandoned with the guardsman. “This is the way to our quarters”

The man glowered down at her, unimpressed. “No it’s not”

“….We’re just going a different way”

“It’s in the opposite direction”

“Oh. Hm. Well” Kathlin smiled nervously, before jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the disappearing Ragnar. “He’s going that way”

The White Hand member cursed loudly, before shoving her to one side and taking off down the corridor after the dwarf. The girl turned, producing a crooked silver wand out of one pocket as she slapped it against the other hand until it shot out a couple of sparks. Pointing it at the White Hand member, a blast of freezing cold enveloped the man. Carried forward under his own momentum as the joints in his armour and clothing froze solid, he promptly landed on the floor with an almighty ‘CRASH’ that echoed through the corridor.

In the silence that followed, Kathlin surveyed her handiwork with a glum-looking expression. “Oh dear. I’m a criminal again”

“LASS!”

“Coming!” the girl called back immediately, jumping over the cussing white hand guardman as she ran down the manor corridor after the dwarf.

[Sinerathin]

"Let's hustle up!" Ragnar instructed Kathlin as the pair ran as quietly as they could through the numerous corridors and hallways of Lord Alfidious' mansion. It was a much easier job for the lightly dressed Kathlin than it was for the heavily armored dwarf, Ragnar. As they ran through the hallways, each step the dwarf took made the plates and chainmail rattle and clink against each other, not to mention his heavy metal boots making an audible thumping noise every time they hit the gentle wooden floor. The fact that the dwarf was carrying a huge metal hammer on his back didn't help his attempt at being sneaky either.

Upon receiving a worried look from Kathlin at the amount of noise he was making, Ragnar snarled a bit.

"I ain't no damned ballerina, girl! I'm a proud dwarven warrior. Sneaking is for cats, elves and other pansy things! ... normally." Ragnar stated in his defense, before pointing ahead.
"Argh, let's focus on the task at hand!"

Fortunately for the pair, the corridors and lesser halls and rooms were all empty. Despite its immense size, the advisor's house normally didn't house than four people; Ragnar, Rosamery, Murphy and Alfidious himself, although recently deceased.
It seemed that most of the White Hand members were still down in the first floor and just outside the main entrance, still busy with unpacking their stuff to carry it back into the house.

Finally, they arrived in the main hall outside of Aflidiou's private study. The door and the lock was still opened, with a partial view inside. Some low voices could be heard emanating from inside the study.

"Alright, this is it.... let's surprise the troggers!" Ragnar whispered to Kathlin as they slowly approached the door from the side, avoiding the open line of sight directly outside.

"Who's there?" Suddenly sounded another voice from inside, apparently having heard Ragnar's attempt at a whisper. Silently cursing himself, Ragnar sped up towards the doorway, just in time as a man from the White Hand placed his foot outside of it.

"It's uncle Smasher, ya dumb gits!" Ragnar called out, having already begun to swing his hammer. The White Hand chevalier barely had time to turn his mask around to look at the dwarf, just before the dwarf's mace made contact with his stomach. His chestplate took most of the damage, although with an audible 'bang!'. However, the orchestra of pain soon sounded another note, an audible 'cling' as Ragnar's mace came back up and hit the chevalier right in his steel mask, knocking him out completely as he flew back into the room.

"Mark!" Sounded a second, female voice from inside the study, and Ragnar charged inside.

On the inside, another White Hand member stood at the end of the room, behind the table with Alfidious' body. The chevalier immediately spotted Ragnar as he charged into the room, having had her original attention on the unconscious 'Mark' who was lying on the floor.
"Stop right there!"

She called out, unsheathing her sword and flipping a flintlock pistol out of her belt!

Ragnar quickly realized the predicament he was in. The woman in front of her was no less than ten feet away from him, with a table in between.

"I should really have thought this one through... "

Suddenly ducking down, Ragnar charged forward with a fierce battlecry!

"Stop!"

*PANG*

The loud bang of a pistol being fired could be heard from inside the study, as a bullet whipped past Ragnar, passing just over his left shoulder and instead burying itself in the wooden floor behind him, spitting up splinters and dust where it hit.

Ragnar continued his charge, but didn't seem like changing direction despite being a collision course with the table.
Instead, the dwarf simply braced his heavy shoulder as he came running in like a rolling rock, hitting the side of the desk with all his strength. The crash caused the desk to give away, before it slid backwards through the room and right into the second White Hand!

In the process, however, Alfidiou's corpse slid right off it and hit the floor with a thud.

"Sorry about that, pal. But it's fer future justice!" Ragnar mumbled as he looked down on the corpse, tipping an imaginary hat at his former employer.

Turning his attention back at the Chevalier who was now stuck between a table and a shelf, Ragnar lifted his mace with both his hands as he walked over to her. Although the chevalier tried to raise her sword to parry, the strike from the dwarf's heavy mace pushed her sword aside when it came, and knocked the woman out on the spot with a loud 'bang' against her helmet, causing her to slump back down onto the table.

"Alright, lass. It's clear!" Ragnar called back to Kathlin, inviting the girl to enter.
"But we should move fast. Someone's bound to have heard the mess!"

The dwarf explained, but his eagerness quickly found time to pause when he turned around to finally look at the room, only to remember...

"Muradin's balls, that's a lot of books... "

All around them, in the tall oval office, were shelves upon shelves of books, ledgers, registries, reports and scrolls, climbing the surrounding walls all the way up to the fortified glass roof!

"Uhh, right then... it was a ledger then, recent activites... maybe some reports or complaints?" Ragnar asked Kathlin, seemingly unsure himself.
" ... or should I just get a wheelbarrow and we'll hope to get lucky?"

[Feisty-Pants]

Rae'liel - The Guest of Honor

Ever warily, the Sin'Dorei tried to remain as still as possible while the human went to work about dressing her still healing wound. Every word this girl spoke held a hint of apprehension, of nervousness when it came to addressing the still groggy Paladin in front of her; yet, Rae could at least understand why. In most circumstances, a Blood Elf would be someone that the human would kill on sight, and vice versa. There were only ever a few Scryers that are allowed access to the Alliance cities, and such access is rather greatly limited even still.

In spite of all of that however, the pale-skinned girl held out a cloak for the Sin'Dorei to take. After all, her clothing that fit beneath the armor was caked in coagulated blood, and it direly needed to be washed and repaired before she could wear it again. A long sigh escaped her as her fingertips wrapped around the heavy garment and she draped it over her shoulders, covering most of her exposed flesh, less for the occasional bright white of bandages that were brought to light with the sway of her steps.

"I understand that it wasn't wise." She responded at first, looking up to the human as she gingerly rose to a stand and tested her balance. Everything seemed so much more light footed when she didn't wear her armor, and it always threw her off a little. "But that is not the point. Those who treat others like dirt will always continue to do so until the moment another stands up against them. The fact you call her such is only further evidence of her demeanor."

"Perhaps the communication could've been done better, but I am here under a pretense to repay a debt. Nothing else. I bear no ill will against your King or your Alliance, per-se." Shrugging slightly, the Elven girl simply kept her gaze affixed to the nervous human's eye to eye. "But the tone that struck me the hardest I suppose is when she insulted my people. In the wars against the Scourge, I lost my family, " reaching beneath the cloak then, a thin chain of silver dangled from it as two bands of simple golden rings could be seen upon it. "And I lost my future family. To speak cruelly of their sacrifices and demise is a grave insult that I cannot forgive. So I foolishly acted on impulse."

Letting the chain fall back onto the cold of her collarbone, she simply swept the subject itself beneath the rug as she switched the topic. "Also. You are Sharon's lover? He surprises me once again!" A wry smile crept up on her lips that seemed both teasing and warm all the same. "How did you two come to meet?"