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

[Sinerathin]

"Amazing."

Sharon gazed at Rithrynn in the doorway, looking thoroughly impressed. The High Elf was relieved to see that Rithrynn had returned, even after her sisters had abandoned her. And she didn't even have as much as a scratch!
The Night Elf never ceased to amaze him through her combat performance, or speed for that matter. Being able to hunt down an assassin in the sewer below Stormwind, especially when said assassin probably already knew every tunnel and route unlike her, was really impressive.

But as much as he was happy to see Rithrynn, his mind returned to the gnome the elves had brought back earlier.

Sharon turned around and walked over to Mitonk, who was still recovering from his abuse at the hands of the Night Elves earlier, looking both confused while simultaneously fuming over the personal insult he had suffered.

"Are you alright, gnome?" Sharon asked, the High Elf walking up next to Mitonk and knelt next to him.

Regardless of the Night Elves' story, Sharon had a hard time believing Mitonk to be one of the assassins. Not to mention that what threat could the gnome possibly represent after what he had gone through, stripped of all dignity, pride and least of all his equipment and tools?

"Your name is Mitonk, correct?" Sharon asked, unhinging his own cloak to offer it to Mitonk who at that point was half naked.

"I am Sharon Daerin'lei of the Silver Covenant. I apologize for your treatment at the hands of my... protectors. To say that they are a little paranoid would be a grave understatement on my part." Sharon explained, slightly tilting his head to the side as he looked down at Mitonk with a sympathetic expression.
"Can... can I offer you a meal? I live in the Mage district. To provide you with some food and shelter after what happened today is the least I can do."

[Rithy]

"Ehem, I may have gotten a little carried away... " Rithrynn smirked at Liaena's insinuation towards her in the light of Donald's battered condition.

Serphia accepted the now miniature assassin from Liaena's hand, the big Captain holding the tiny figure up in front of her face to study him.

"Well done, human. But I think I will keep this one with me. You have already lost us one assassin in the past." Serphia said with a slightly condescending tone as she turned to look down at Liaena, the memory of how the human had managed to 'lose' them their last prisoner, Esmeralda, still clear in her head. Yet despite that, the Captain moved one hand to ruffle Liaena endearingly in the hair, forming a small smile with her lips.
"But in light of recent actions, I will forget that failure."

Serphia looked content as she stared at her new prisoner. The fact that Donald hadn't panicked yet could suggest that the assassin was still shifting back and forth between dreamland, unable to perceive or realize what kind of predicament he currently was in.

While Serphia turned and walked away from Liaena, stowing her little captive away in her armor, Rithrynn approached Liaena from behind to stand next to her.

"There you are!" Rithrynn exclaimed, throwing one arm around Liaena to give her a small hug, but then suddenly lowered her head down to Liaena.
"Aren't you worried she'll interrogate him?" Rithrynn whispered cautiously to Liaena as she looked after Serphia.

[Feychild]

Initially, Liaena was quite happy to accept the hug from Rithrynn. The elf had admittedly been incredibly aggravating within the last twelve or so hours, but the recent fears for her safety still fresh in her mind made Liaena far more forgiving than she might otherwise have been. But she suddenly tensed up stiff as a board as Rithrynn’s words reminded her of something, which should, in all honesty, have been transparently obvious from the start if she had ever stopped to think about it. “Ohhh….SHIT!”

Eyes immediately leaping to Serphia, the Captain walking casually away, Donald having completely disappeared into her armour, it was mostly Rithrynn’s firm grip that stopped Liaena rushing after her. As the immediate surge of panic abated, her mind set itself to coming up excuses and extenuating circumstances, to try and talk herself out of the worst case scenario it had initially landed it.

Donald wouldn’t necessarily know. Mipsy probably hadn’t. And after all, this particular assassin might not even have met Sherpa! If Donald was only a two-bit hired merc, it stood to reason that he would never have encountered the death knight in person, would never have been told, and would in fact know nothing at all about anything! Exactly as she had told Serphia he wouldn’t earlier.

….

Unless he did, and he told, and her life was ruined. Again.

“I can’t….let Serphia talk to him, or any other Night Elf talk to him”

No longer trying to escape Rithrynn, Liaena was instead focused exclusively on Serphia and completely zoning out anything her friend tried to say to her. Donald was comatose, and likely to remain that way for at least the immediate future. That meant that at some point, most likely when they were back at the mansion, the entire interrogation procedure that Esmeralda had undergone was due to repeat and Liaena somehow doubted that she would be called in as interrogation chief no1 this time.

“….I need to think of something before that”

[Sinerathin]

"We have what we came for." Sharon said as he stood up again, peering at Lord Greymoon who was busy lowering a satchel of pillaged goods from the small arcaneum up above on the balcony.
But as Greymoon lowered himself from the balcony, dropping down a meter or so of the remaining height, the older man approached Sharon with a concerned look on his face. The High Elf eventually noticed the expression on the noble's face, and turned to face Lord Greymoon as he walked up to him.

" ... what did you find?"

"I recognized the dead cultist." Greymoon said, with a pale look on his face. Sharon quirked his eyebrow at the revelation, peering more closely at Greymoon.

"You did? Was it a friend of yours?"

"No, he was a farmer under my protectorate. I remember him because he was one of the men-at-arms I sent with you on your journey. He was a crew of the Waverunner. He never returned, and I thought him for dead like the others."

"He was one of your men?"

Sharon looked surprised for a moment. Could this mean that some of Greymoon's own men had turned against him? Possibly driven by Sherpa's influence? It was not as much the cultist's own betrayal as the overall ramifications this could have for the rest of the Lord's men. If some of his men secretly worked for Sherpa, it could explain why the assassins had seemingly always been ahead of Greymoon's own guard.

"We will talk more of this more once we get back." Sharon concluded, his mind moving over to how they were going to get back. He doubted it would be smart to use the path through the Inn, as considering the mess they had made in the district, the city guard was probably swarming the place. And the last thing he needed was to be stuck in a long questioning by the guard.

Attempting to find their way through the sewers was a dangerous enough idea, not only because of the assassins, but because hardly anyone of the group even knew their way. Not to mention Sharon was tired, his group was injured. A portal seemed like a good idea. He didn't care if the assassins picked up and learnt where they went. They already knew that he lived in the Mage district, so it wouldn't make much of a difference.

"Vashi, I am setting up a portal to the mage district. Will you give me a hand? I have a predetermined location already set up and ready to go." Sharon explained as he turned to Vashi, motioning for the Night Elf to come and help him.

Assisted by Vashi, Sharon began to conjure on a portal spell.
Chanting in a low voice, Sharon closed his eyes and extended his silver staff. As he progressed through the spell, the air around him became still and immobile: Any wind in the room immediately died out, and a small humming sound emanated from the High Elf's staff as he focused.

---

In a snow filled alleyway in the mage's district, a slight blue glimmer began to appear from beneath the layer of snow covering the ground. Above it, in the space above, the air began to become uneasy and disturbed, shifting around and blowing erratically, pushing away the snow on the ground beneath it to reveal a small, blue summoning circle etched into the cobblestone road.

---

As he progressed into the spell, the fabric of space was suddenly warped in front of the High Elf, creating a shimmering portal to an alleyway in the mage's district. Cold winter air suddenly flowed out from the portal and into the room, alongside a handful of snowflakes that drifted through the portal and melted on the moist surface of the sewer on their feet.

It seemed to be late day from the looks of it through the portal.
The cloudy sky had turned slightly darker, and a low haze filled the streets. The snow fall had increased, and it seemed to be brewing up to a small snow storm on the surface.

Sharon picked up a pig femur from the ground, before tossing through the portal. The animal bone flew straight through the portal, landing and burying itself halfway into the snow on the other side in the alleyway for all to see.

"Come, it will only stay open for two minutes." Sharon explained, before he motioned towards the portal and stepped through it, appearing on the other side in the alleyway.

As his boot landed in the snow and he walked out of the portal, out of the humid and foul sewer and into the open, clear and cold air of day, the High Elf looked around him. The fact that no crossbow bolts had come for him was a relief. Walking forward and out of the alleyway, he looked to his right, and could see the garden of his own house a few rows away from where he currently stood.

"It's good to be home... "

[Rithy]

"Come on, I'm sure we will find a way to deal with it once we get back." Ritrynn said to Liaena, the human girl now staring at Serphia as if she was in some sort of trance, never even taking her eyes off the Captain for a moment. Although she didn't say anything, Rithrynn knew all too well that Liaena's brain had just entered overdrive, racing for a solution to the problem presented by Donald.

Rithrynn could only make guesses about what kind of schemes or plots that were being spawned in Liaena's head at the moment.

As Sharon opened the portal to the Mage District, Serphia stared at it suspiciously, the Captain's natural skepticism towards magic kicking in. But after Sharon had successfully traversed the portal without being shredded to pieces or disintegrated down to a molecular level, the Captain eventually stepped through it herself after urgings from Vashi.
Rithrynn followed closely behind, leading Liaena with her while the human girl's eyes were still dead set on the Captain's ass through the portal.

"Com'n, I'm sure we'll think of something once we get there." Rithrynn said to Liaena as she tried to sound encouraging, but any attempt to dispel the doom and gloom that surrounded Liaena was about successful as waves against rocks.

As they walked through the the snowy street of the wealthier part of the mage district; or just another part of it, as the whole district seemed rather wealthy by comparison to the rest of the city; they eventually reached the gates of Sharon's mansion where a green haired Night Elf stood guard on the other side. She was wearing a silk lined woolen hood over her black helmet, with her pointy ears making two large mounds on top of her hood. She looked like she was halfway to becoming a living snowman, her arms tucked away under her cloak as much of her surface was covered in snow from top to toe.

Looking up from her snowy misery, Falaani suddenly noticed the group, and Serphia, approaching.

"Captain, welcome back!" She said, quickly unlocking the iron gate to pull it open for her Captain and the rest of the group that followed after.

"Thank you. How has my warband been in my absence?"

"Ohh, they haven't even left the house. I don't blame them... I've been standing here for hours!" Falaani answered, brushing a large flake of snow off her hood as she jumped up and down, trying to keep warm.

"If it is too cold for you, I'm sure Naliyah would be happy to keep you warm inside... "

"Uhh, that's not necessary. I'm okay out here!"

"Good. I'll send someone to relieve you in two hours. Anan du Falar, warrior."

"Than,- oh, yes, mistress! Of course, mistress!" Falaani immediately saluted her Captain, her frozen face filled with hope at the thought of being relieved!

Continuing on ahead, Serphia marched towards the front entrance of the house next to Sharon.

"After being in that human sewer, I need a wash. And I fear not even acid will be enough!"

[Feychild]

“If you want acid, I could fix that for you…”

Liaena walked closely behind Serphia and Sharon, taking two steps for every one of the Night Elf’s and watching Serphia like a hawk. Rithrynn’s presence, she hardly paid attention to, so intent was she upon the captain.

Approaching the building, the curtains that were in use as a makeshift door were pinned firmly together across the threshold. Raised, angry voices could quite clearly be heard behind them. As they walked towards the curtains, Liaena suddenly went pale and stopped, knocking into Rithrynn. “Oh no”

“HOW DARE YOU INSULT ELUNE THE MIGHTY, PITIFUL HUMAN SCUM!”

“I DON’T TAKE ORDERS FROM LOWLY CREATURES LIKE YOU!”

“YOU DISGRACE THE LIGHT AND EVERYTHING IT STANDS FOR, YOU FALLEN, HEATHEN, WRETCHES!”

Pushing the curtain aside, Sharon and Serphia walked straight into the main hall, and into bedlam. The structure of the hall was in fact entirely intact, with the only damage to the permanent fittings being the cracks in the plaster where Serphia had hammered Liaena into the wall two days ago. The floor however, was completely coated in items of discarded clothing and armour, empty bottles, and snoring Night Elves. There were only two of the latter, one slumped in the corner and one in an armchair that had since been tipped over onto its side, the only thing holding her into it was that her bum was so crammed into the small chair that it had stuck fast and held her there, as she snored and drooled peacefully.

The pair were sleeping peacefully, despite the raging battle that was taking place in the middle of the room. A table, looking to have once held a light lunch was overturned onto its side, crockery, plates and food having been spilt all over the floor. Two more Night Elves were standing over it, screaming furiously down at one Father Marshall, as he brandished his old knobbled staff and roared back at the top of his lungs. One of the Night Elves was wearing absolutely nothing except a thong, and a cropped human-sized shirt that was tied around her chest and threatening to burst off any second. The other one was wearing exactly the same thing, except without the shirt.

“COVER YOURSELF, YOU SINNER, AND REPENT! OR BE REJECTED FROM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD FOR ETERNITY!!”
“DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE WHAT YOUR FAKE GOD THINKS!?!”

“Ohhh, good afternoon and welcome back Master Sharon!” Frederick said cheerfully as he appeared out of nowhere. ‘Frayed’ was the best word that could be used to describe the butler, as despite the ever present smile and perfect decorum, the man was looking noticeably careworn as he smiled and bowed, first to Sharon, then to Serphia. “It is good to have you back, Master Sharon, Lady Dei. And I do apologise for the mess, Master Sharon. I gather Father Marshall asked your guests to put some clothes on”

“….Mistress!?”

“Mistress!!”

Heads whipping around at Fredericks words, the two Night Elves turned immediately away from Marshall, to step forward and salute the Captain. One of the two tried to subtly drag the snoring Night Elf up from the chair at she did so, but rapidly abandoned the attempt to let her slump back down again. “Wel…welcome back! We were expecting you!”

“Dal’Dieb! WHAT, is the meaning of this!?” Marshall stormed forward, up to Sharon to glower at him from under his eyebrows as Liaena hesitantly stepped through the curtains behind them. Glancing around, she caught sight of Marshall’s assistant, wisely lurking well out of the line of the fire in one of the doorways. The two girls exchanged a brief look, before Kathlin retreated down the corridor away from the scene of the crime. “How am I supposed to give you guidance in whatever it is you are doing, if you keep these wretched creatures in your mansion as your own personal Harem? If you truly seek the Lights blessing, you should….YOU!”

There followed a long pause, wherein Marshall gave Liaena the most black, scorching glare one could expect from the old, white haired man. The girl eyed him back with a gaze that was perfectly schooled to be expressionless. “….You are an insolent brat, with little right to scrub the steps of the cathedral, much less kneel before its holy altar. If I had my way you’d be packing your bags this evening, never to return”

“So you have mentioned” Liaena remarked flatly. “Once. Or twice.”

“Hrrmmmph. Anyway, Dal’dieb” Marshall switched rapidly back to Sharon to scowl at him grumpily. “Where have you been all afternoon? You never mentioned you were leaving”

[Sinerathin]

As he entered through the front door, the first thing Sharon noticed was how the doors seemed brand new. No doubt it was part of the ever so efficient Frederick who had managed to get the old, broken ones replaced since they had left in the morning. The new doors looked significantly more sturdy, and Sharon noticed the delicate metallic patterns on the door might just as well serve as extra barricade as they were decorations.

"Master Daerin'Lei has been away on private errands. Discretion is the,-"

"I can handle it from here."

Sharon interrupted Frederick, and the human butler looked over to the High Elf before nodding in acknowledge. The High Elf turned to Marshall, before motioning towards the group behind him.

"We have been out chasing evils in the City. Greymoon, would you come over here?" Sharon said, motioning for Lord Greymoon to step over to him. The noble approached, holding up the satchel that he had carried from the sewer. Pulling it open, Sharon reached his arm down into it to retrieve the shaft of a dark wood, twisted staff. It was part of what had once been the black mage, Sevarian's staff. Sharon held it up so that Marshall could see it clearly.

"Taken from a dark mage we encountered in our search. We found it alongside an assortment of unholy books, scripts and relics." Sharon explained, motioning towards the satchel that Lord Greymoon was holding.

"Our problems extend far beyond simple licentious behavior, holy father." Greymoon stated, throwing a glance over the half naked Night Elves that stood in salutation to their Captain. The noble quirked his brow a little, before peering over to Sharon.
"I can see the place has not undergone much change since I last visited you, heh."

[Rithy]

Serphia threw a look over Sharon and Marshall. The High Elf seemed to have taken the elderly human's attention, and finally seemed to be able to put an end to Marshall's excessive ramblings.
Turning to the two sentinels in front of her, Serphia motioned for them to leave.

"Go join the others. If the human becomes a problem again, barricade him inside one of the rooms."

"Yes, mistress!"

As the two sentinels scurried away out of the room to head for the party that was happening in the other side of the house, Serphia turned around and looked at her sentinels, including Vashi, Rithrynn and Liaena.

"You have done well today, warriors. Elune would be proud. Dismissed." Serphia announced, and almost immediately the sentinels around Rithrynn and Liaena dispersed in every direction, throwing away their weapons and armor at the stashes along the wall as most of them ran for the baths downstairs, laughing and pushing as they raced among themselves to get first.

"Except you!"

Serphia's voice suddenly sounded, clearly and distinctively as she raised her hand and pointed at Shani. The sentinel had barely managed to take but a few steps away before she was suddenly met by the Captain's piercing look.
Stopping, Shani turned around and looked meekly up at her towering Captain.

"Yes, mistress... ?"

Serphia reached into her armor, to retrieve the disheveled figure of Donald the tiny assassin. Reaching her hand forward, she dropped him into Shani's palm, throwing Shani a stern look in the process.

"You are now a watcher. I will take a bath. Guard him until I get back."

"Of course, mistress!"

As Shani saluted, Serphia picked up a black watcher cloak lying on the nearby equipment stash and threw it at Shani, before turning around and marching down the same corridor that her sentinels had charged through earlier on their way to the baths. Tearing the cloak off her head, Shani let out an annoyed sigh before putting it over her normal cloak, and walked away into the living room while muttering on something sarcastic in her Darnassian tongue.

"I guess that means I'm off duty." Rithrynn announced with a large smile on her face, looking down at Liaena who's eyes just had shifted from Serphia over to Shani.

" ... so, what's the plan?"

*

As Shani walked into the large living room of Sharon's mansion, she found it to be full of life and spectacle. It was filled with almost two dozen of Night Elves. Some were conscious, others were not; lying randomly around the room, halfway on top of furniture or on the carpet. The elves were wearing everything from silly dresses obviously not meant for their kin, to virtually nothing at all.

Goblets and plates were strewn around across the room, alongside a hefty amount of empty wine bottles that had been neatly stacked into a small castle in the corner.
Along the walls sat elves in a small wall of pillows and scavenged chairs and sofas, either laughing hysterically from each others' jokes, caught up in heated arguments, or intertwined in an intimate love session.

On the other end, a crowd of Night Elves gathered around a small table, wildly cheering and making bets on two tiny, shrunken elves who were caught in a wrestling match on the table. The match was fierce to say the least, but in their reduced size, they didn't cause much damage to their surroundings.

Janessa and Anastia sat next to the table, eagerly talking to each other; with Naliyah sitting next to them, wearing just a small, tied shirt and belt; all the while scanning the rest of the room with great attention.

Shani traversed the room, finding the cushiest chair that had still not been taken and sat down in it, holding the tiny assassin close to her chest while throwing an annoyed, envious look out across the rest of the room.

"Shani, do this! Shani, do that! Gah, why do I get the worst jobs? That's what we have Rithrynn for, hmmpfh!"

[Feychild]

“What’s that you’ve got there!?”

Marshall snapped out the moment he saw the old, knobbled staff that Sharon was holding. Immediately losing all interest in the Night Elves the man grabbed the staff from the High Elf, studying it closely all over before holding it gingerly at arms length as though the plain wood contained some form of contagious disease. “Yes. A relic of the damned, their work is clear on this. And you say you have more? …”

Staring at the satchel that Lord Graymoon held up for inspection for a moment, the old man shook his head before turning to march towards the staircase, carrying the staff with him as he stabbed his own ferociously into the marble floor and motioning for Sharon to follow. “You must tell me everything that happened Dal’dieb, where it was you found this and the nature of your encounter. If there is wickedness of this sort occurring in my city, I will not allow it to continue!”

---

“…plan?”

Liaena finally dragged her eyes away from Shani’s departing backside to look up at Rithrynn. A moments pause followed, before she switched her gaze over sharply to look at the butler. “Hey Frederick. Where are they all going, do you think?”

“….I imagine they will join their companions in the drawing room, Lady Rune. The majority of Master Sharons guests have settled there”

“Huh.” Liaena mumbled quietly to herself, before she seemed to remember that Rithrynn was still staring at her impatiently. Liaena gave her a blank look in return. “My plan is to clean off, and get into some fresh clothes sooner rather than later. I’ll be going up to my room as insofar as I can tell, your friends have taken over the bathroom…”

“If you desire it Lady Rune, I can arrange for some hot water and towels to be sent up to your room –“

“…that would be great, thanks” Liaena smiled wanly at the butler. Looking up at Rithrynn, she chewed on her lip as though she was thinking about saying something else, before thinking better of it. Patting the elf on the arm, she gave Rithrynn a light push towards the corridor. “Just…just go and join the others, would you Rithrynn? I’ll be down in a bit. And Rithrynn…”

Backing away from the Night Elf to head towards the stairs, Liaena turned back to give Rithrynn one final pointed stare before running up them. “…don’t question too much”

*

Running up the stairs and taking several sharp turnings down corridors, Liaena paused when she judged she had made sufficient distance between herself and the atrium. Listening keenly for any noise of pursuit, she looked carefully around the empty corridor to assure herself of the absence of any Night Elves, Sharon, or Marshal before she pushed a tapestry hanging on a wall back and eased open the door behind. Closing it carefully behind her, she let the tapestry fall back to where it had been as she disappeared into the hidden passage.

[Sinerathin]

"I will. But first, let us return to my study. It is a long story." Sharon explained as he walked after Marshall. Though the human was old and seemingly looking very frail, the holy man marched up the stair with a zeal and determination like he was a soldier. Greymoon followed shortly behind, carrying the satchel with him across his shoulder. But the old nobleman had not managed to go far before Frederick had swooped in from the side, masterfully sweeping the satchel off Greymoon's back with a "Let me carry that", before walking side by side with the rest of the group.

Sharon guided the group through the many corridors of the mansion until they reached his own office.

Upon arriving at the white wooden door, Sharon stepped forward and retrieved a key from his robe that he used to unlock the door. Although he did not think that any assassin would be foolish enough to attempt to enter his work space with an entire Night Elven warband guarding his house, Sharon did not want the elves' relentless party to spread to his office either.

"Frederick, the arcaneum, is it,-"

"It is locked, Master Sharon. It was the first thing I did when the girls downstairs began their festivities."

Frederick answered in his usual professionally calm manner, and Sharon let out a mental sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was the Night Elves to trash around with the magical artifacts in his arcaneum. Assuming they did not react to the fact that it was a room full of magical stuff and promptly tried to set it on fire for its blasphemous, having them play around in it while intoxicated would have been disastrous nonetheless.

The arcaneum was dark and empty. The candles were unlit, and the small fireplace by the wall was cold. In the majestic window behind Sharon's desk, the snow was gently falling against the glass, while the sky outside seemed to grow darker by the minute with the coming of the night.

The room was much colder than the rest of the building, but Frederick had already set off to remedy that, picking up a small box of matches as he left the satchel by the desk to go to light the candles and fireplace.

"Let me ask you something, Marshall. What do you know of the Scourge?" Sharon asked as the three remaining men walked towards his empty desk.
"Or more specifically, the Cult of the Damned?"

---

"Fuck me... it feels like I've been driven over by a Dwarven Steam Tank, which then reversed, and then drove over me again. Gaaaahhh... "

Donald was slowly coming back to conscience, the assassin raising a hand up to his aching forehead to touch his sensitive skin. Every bone and muscle in his body ached, and he had a searing pain coming from his joints. With his eyes closed, he took a deep breath whole holding his hand up to his forehead.

"I seriously need to stop drinking that heavily... this is what happens everytime! Dear light, please tell me that I've not done something stupid this time!"

But as Donald slowly opened his eyes, he suddenly saw two giant, purple buttocks in front of him that took up almost his entire view. Every mental process in the assassin's head immediately grinded to a halt at the sight, before he looked up and saw a massive inebriated Night Elf tramping about as she walked past him, all the while leaning dangerously to either side and carrying a goblet full of wine in her hand.
However, the giant Night Elf's attempt to traverse the room quickly turned into a disaster when her foot accidentally hit a sleeping Night Elf, and the giant elf fell headfirst into the carpet with a loud bang, spilling her own wine all over herself.

Donald merely stared dumbfounded down at the massive elf currently lying on its belly on the floor, before he looked around himself and noticed that the entire world was huge in comparison to him. Or, was it he who had shrunk?!

The room was full of noise and voices, filled to the brim with Night Elves all around him. Donald quickly realized that one of said Night Elves was holding him, constricting him and preventing him from moving his lower body.

"Oh Donald, Donald, Donald... you've really done it this time! Light save me, Astrid is gonna be so PISSED!"

"Uh... ahem! Listen... sweetheart." Donald turned around, peering up at the Night Elf who was currently holding him, Shani.
"I am afraid I have made a grave mistake. And, I don't mean to be here... actually, I already have a girl, and she will be really angry if I don't return to her. I'm sorry if I told you anything else, I've been a real idiot, heh... eh-heh... ehhm, which way to the exit?"

[Rithy]

“…don’t question too much”

"Dear goddess, here we go again!"

Rithrynn simply stared at Liaena as the little girl disappeared up the stairs like she was on a mission, which she most likely was. She had known Liaena for long enough to tell her that whatever the girl was up to did not primarily revolve around getting new clothes.

"Countdown to disaster. 560... 559... 558... "

It was a good thing she was not involved at least.
Any further collaboration with Liaena would surely not help her relationship with the Captain. Her hands were clean this time!

...

Speaking of clean hands, Rithrynn suddenly realized that she was still oozing with the essence of sewer, its rancid touch obviously not having left her as she went to sniff her own hand. Grimacing upon the discovery, she quickly decided that before anything she'd find some water to wash herself with. Personal hygiene came before the party after all. Trailing off, the Night Elf set course for her room.

*

A quick wash and a few minutes later, a fresh and clean Rithrynn appeared in the living room where the festivities were well underway. Pretty much just the way they had been, for the last days. Rithrynn was now wearing a thin, purple silk elven morning robe with golden sash, an outfit she had saved for a moment like this. And also because she had pretty much used up all of Sharon's bathrobes earlier, and even leaving one with so much blood on it that she doubted even Miss Collins could clean it.

"Hey girls!" Rithrynn called out as she walked into the room, waving at her fellow sentinel. Most of them were too preoccupied or unconscious to notice her, but a few did and they called back at her.

"Haaai Rithy!"
"Where have you been?!"
"Someone's been on a special mission for the Captain, heh... "
"Wanna join our fight club? Big prizes!"

"Oh hey, oh, somewhere... and it was just an ordinary mission. And, uhh... " Rithrynn paused at the last request to look down at at the table where two shrunk Night Elves, Thali and Averina, were duking it out to the entertainment of a crowd of Night Elves.
"Uhm, nooo... I need a rest."

Rithrynn smiled, but she had barely managed to turn her head back on track before she almost collided with Naliyah's pink haired skull, which had just appeared right in front of her out of nowhere!

"Riii!" Squealed Naliyah! Rithrynn did not have a chance to open her mouth before Naliyah had already launched herself forward, entrapping Rithrynn in a fierce hug. Naliyah giggled like a little girl as she spun around with Rithrynn, and in the process collided with her bum into another Night Elf, almost knocking her onto the table with the two small elves on, only to be intercepted in the last second by one of the spectators.

"Oh, hiiiii... eh, Nali." Rithrynn said with a slightly uncomfortable tone as she smiled meekly back at Naliyah, who stared back at her face from less than a few inches away with a lustful gaze.

"She has missed you so much, Syn'Dial. I'm glad for both of you!" Came the mocking laughter of Shani who sat in a cushy chair not far away, leaned back as she held Donald against her belly. Eventually becoming aware of Donald's attempts to communicate with her, Shani turned to look down at the tiny assassin with big eyes, eventually hoisting Donald up in front of her face to throw him a dark look.

"What did you say? ... " Shani asked with a low voice, throwing the assassin a seething glare.
"Call me 'Sweetheart' one more time, and I swear will eat you!"

Shani warned, licking her lips as she stared at the tiny man. But as Donald's face gained a slight pale tint, she suddenly broke out into a laugh once more!

[Feychild]

“The cult of the damned?” Marshall echoed Sharon, the old mans eyebrows contracting still further over his eyes as they gained a steely glint. “More than I care to, Dal’dieb. I fought them in the Third War”

The priest sat down in a large armchair without being asked and pulled it up to Sharons desk, placing the cultist staff atop it as he looked around at the other two men. “They were ordinary humans, following the path of the Light before they were corrupted by lies and false promises spread by demons and then that damned prince. They took over half of the northern kingdom that way; their corrupted ideals spread faster than the plague. And then, for any good man strong enough to resist them, came the real plague”

“…”

“…which, you should know if either of you pay even so much of a fleeting glance to the basics of modern history!” Marshalls voice had reverted to its usual abrasive bark as he glared at Graymoon in particular, looking as though he was one step away from whipping out a quill pen and setting the noble a pop-quiz. “So I’m going to ask you again Dal’dieb; where did you get this artefact from and how did it come to be in my city?”

Staring intently at Sharon, Marshall gave him a steely look as he dropped his tone. “Your people suffered as well in the Third War, Dal’dieb, so I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how serious this is. The cult hid and recruited in the northern cities until there were more of them than decent men. If they are here in Stormwind, they must not be allowed to remain”

[Sinerathin]

"Oh, I do not intend to sit idle... " Sharon answered nonchalantly as he opened one of his drawers, pulling out a preserved flask of Alterac wine and a glass.
"As you may know, I have every motivation and encouragement to chase them down, beyond merely the moral value of fighting for justice against evil. They have been painting targets on my back and sending all sorts of assassins and thugs at me."

Pouring himself a glass of wine with the bottle, he placed it on the desk. Motioning for Greymoon to ask if the noble wanted to have a taste, the man quickly nodded before Frederick suddenly appeared behind him, handing the human noble a drink.
Sitting down in his office chair, still wearing his armor and heavy wizard robes, Sharon raised his glass to Marshall before taking a small sip.

"You may have heard rumors that I am a man of adventure and patron of excitement, but; each man eventually reach a point where all the excitement in their life simply becomes too much." Sharon said jokingly, before leaning back in his large leather chair.
"I think I am at that point right now."

Sharon said, before tilting his head to stare out across his room. It was still rather gloomy in the office, as Frederick had only managed to light half of the candles. The High Elf moved his free hand up to his chin, rubbing his jaw with his glove as he gazed into the air with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I... don't think this is the official cult. I think they are ex members." The High Elf pondered, turning his head back to Marshall.
"My brother left the Scourge after the Lich King's fall. I doubt he's still serving his dead king's incorporeal spirit or something like that. I know he's definitely recruiting... "

"We killed one of the cultists." Richard said, sitting with one leg over the corner of Sharon's desk.
"He was one of my men. Or, he had been. I thought him dead for a long time, until he suddenly showed up in a heretical ritual chamber beneath the city."

"Ah, yes. The place." Sharon said, suddenly remembering Marshall's original question.
"In the sewer beneath the Old District. We found a room. Ritual markers and animal bones all over. It looked more like a place of teaching rather than to build an actual army. It seemed like class was already over when we had arrived."

"Smart of your brother to use animal bones." Greymoon stated, downing his glass of wine before moving a hand up to stroke his white beard.
"People would be asking questions if bodies started disappearing from the graveyard. Nobody would suspect anything if someone bought some of the remains from a butcher shop. It's the season after all, plenty of fresh animal carcasses around this time of the year."

[Feychild]

“Hrrrmph” Marshall grunted irritably, showing no interest in proclaiming his admiration for the tactics of cultists. The old man glared at Graymoon, giving him a sharp look. “How many of your men have you lost, man?”

“I confess myself to be unclear on the exact numbers….but upwards of fifty, at the last count” Graymoon responded darkly, already deep into the cup that Frederick had handed him. “The five that accompanied me today are definitely dead, but the others…I am not sure, although I always assumed…”

“—in any case, if this brother of yours is the recruiter, then the priority should be to hunt him down and destroy him” Marshall proclaimed to the room at large. The man scowled at Sharon, but a small spark of something that could possibly be fleeting approval showed in his eyes. “You did well to find their base of operations at least, Dal’dieb. I assume you purged the room of all vile traces? Destroyed their pentacles? Sanctified it to the Light?”

*

Downstairs, Marshalls assistant was making a hasty exit from the ugly scene at the atrium, down one of the many corridors in Sharons mansion when a door in the wall creaked open and a dark shadow lunged, grabbing the hapless girl by the wrist and pulling her into the servant passage as the door shut behind her with a quiet click.

“Shhhh!”

“Oh hi, Li”

The other said amicably, whereupon Liaena dropped her hand to frown up at her. Despite there not being the vast disparity there was between Liaena and the Night Elves, she was a good inch shorter than the other girl. “I need you to help me out with something. Come on”

“Oh. Okay”

*

Upstairs in the corridor outside Sharons room, a door flush with the wall creaked open and Liaena spilled out, dragging Kathlin along by the sleeve as she took a quick look around for Night Elves and then made a bee-line for Sharons room. Shutting the bedroom door behind both of them, she locked it before heading straight to the wardrobe. Bowls of warm water and towels were already set out, courtesy of Frederick.

“Wow…” Kathlin mumbled as she took slow backward steps into the room, the better to take everything in. “Li, your boyfriend has a really nice house. A really, really, really…”

“Would you please focus!?”
Liaena snapped as she pulled two identical sets of navy robes off hangers and threw them onto the bed, to which Kathlin turned around and smiled at her. “Oh sorry. How have you been?”

“What? Fine.” Liaena responded confusedly as she started to strip out of her filthy clothing, pulling the chainmail shirt off for it to land with a loud clank on the floor. “Now listen. I need you to be me for just a little while”

“…that sounds unhealthy”

“Shut up. I have a potion that’ll make you look just like me, so all you need to do is wear my clothes and sit in that room with the Night Elves until I get back” Liaena retorted as she produced a small vial out of her bag for inspection. “See? You’re going to be my alibi”

“….right” Kathlin mumbled as she took the vial and held it up to the light. The insides were pitch black and slightly translucent as shimmery bits floated around within the glass. “An alibi for what?”

“Gngh. There’s an elf with a black cloak in there, and she’s got something that I want back. It’s important” Liaena chewed on the inside of her cheek before responding finally. Washing herself down as rapidly as possibly from the basins that Frederick had left, she dunked her head in the water to claw out the dried on gunk before coming out again dripping. “So, will you do it?”

“Sure!” the girl responded cheerfully, before immediately throwing the vial a dubious look as though she was already regretting her rash decision. “Although Li….how long does this last?”

“Uh” Liaena was already rummaging in her wardrobe to produce a similar looking satchel, taking a few vials out of her own to populate it. Pulling one of the sets of blue robes over her head, she gave the other girl an isn’t-it-obvious-look as her head popped out of the collar. “…Till you take an antidote?”

“And you have an antidote?”

“Yes!”

“…..”

“I have an antidote, and it’s even been tested” Liaena said sniffily after a few seconds of being on the receiving end of a sceptical look. “And what would be so bad about being me forever anyway?”

“Your grades are terrible. When will you be back then?”

“Uhh….soon” Liaena said carefully, already edging away towards the door. “Ohhh, and…could I have some of your hair, too?”

“….”

“why?”

“nothing-major-I-won’t-commit-any-crimes-with-it-honest-thanks-so-much-kind-of-in-a-hurry-right-now!” Liaena gabbled as she leaned forward, plucked out a hair and set off rapidly towards the door. “I’ll-see-you-later-you’ll-do-great-lock-the-door-behind-me-byeeeeee!”

“but…”

*click*

[Sinerathin]

"Hmm... nooo, I'm afraid not..... " Sharon answered slowly, placing his glass back on the table as he leaned further behind in his chair and holding his fingers together over his chest.
"We lacked the personnel capable of performing such a rite of cleansing. After we took the unholy artifacts, we simply left it. The room is still cursed."

Sharon leaned his head back to gaze up at the glass window above him.

" ... unless the guard somehow found their way into the sewer from the street, and called in some priests... which, given the size of the sewer, is unlikely. Either way, I plan to write a letter of the Church of Light in hope that they might send someone to purge the place. Perhaps with your signature in the letter, it will be processed much quicker too?"

The High Elf said as his azure eyes returned to Marshall once more, throwing the old man a suggestive look as he motioned at some paper and an open envelope lying on his desk in between them.

"However, I do not think my brother will continue any operations in the area. He will know it to be compromised."

---

"Call me 'Sweetheart' one more time, and I swear will eat you!"

"By the light, woman; take it easy!" Donald called back, before pausing for a moment to think.
" ... unless, you meant it some other way... "

"Damn it, Donald! Your job is to get out of this mess, not roll yourself into another mess with this woman!"

"Alright, alright... I'm sorry. We must have come out on the wrong foot. Let us start over again!" Donald quickly explained, holding out his arms as he looked up at Shani.
"My name is Donald. I live in the Trade District. I help mister La Fraln keep his cheese shop. I am... also a sword enthusiast! I have a small collection back home."

...

Donald stared up at Shani's face, and the Night Elf stared back, clearly not impressed or moved by his little introduction. The assassin couldn't for the life of him understand why. She obviously didn't like him, so why not let him go? Or did she like him, but simply played hard to get? Or maybe the Night Elf was simply experiencing a strong sense of ambivalence, and she didn't like him but was not able to fully let go of him either? Nothing made sense anymore!

"Ahem, and... your name?" Donald requested, staring up at Shani's large face as he was unsure how to continue.

"This is why I should stick to women who aren't purple and aren't taller than me... "

[Rithy]

"My name?" Shani repeated as she stared down at the little man in her hand, before an evil smirk appeared on her face.
"How about... Your Worst Nightmare?"

"That's an alright nam,-"

"IT IS NOT A REAL ELVEN NAME!" Shani suddenly roared back at Donald, her grip around his tiny form tightening as she raised him up to her nose, almost pushing him up into it as she screamed at him.
"You are the pain in my butt, the reason I am still on duty. I have to watch you until my mistress returns so she can interrogate you, and she is taking her sweet time, assassin!"

Shani raised her head up again, staring down at Donald in a calm manner once more, before her right eyebrow suddenly winked.

" ... you said you were a fighter?"

However, on the other side of the living room, Kat-Liaena walked into the room through the entrance. She walked slowly with lips tight, throwing the occasional nervous glance around her at the room filled to the brim with partying Night Elves. Locating the nearest chair, Kat-Liaena quickly made a bee line for it, but tried to keep her movement to a slow walk to avoid drawing unwanted attention.
Her entry into the room had already turned a couple of heads, as at least four Night Elves were intently following the little human's journey into the room with both curiosity and suspicion. It was as if they could smell her fear...

"Lookie here!"

But as Kat-Liaena had just reached the nearest available chair, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder and spun the little girl around with enough force to almost throw her into the floor. Standing over her were two tall, towering Night Elves. The green, long haired Janessa and the white blue Anastia.

"Where is your little boyfriend, human. Did he get tired of you?" Janessa asked, leaning over Kat-Liaena with a wicked grin on her face.

"Why are you here? ... bored?" Anastia asked, peering down at Kat-Liaena from over Janessa's shoulder.

"Maybe she wants to play with us?" Janessa grinned, throwing a quick smile back at Anastia.

" .... uhh... " Kat-Liaena stared up at the two Night Elves, frozen in fear. They had been bad enough on a distance. To finally be their center of attention and standing in their shadow was a completely different experience! Her mind raced to find a suitable response that wouldn't get her eaten alive within the next ten seconds, and Kathlin bit her lips together. Liaena had told her to stay in the room after all. Maybe a game could ease the tension?
"S-s-sure... what games do you have in mind?"

For a split second, Janessa's jaw dropped in surprise; but she had just as quickly straightened herself up just in time to join Anastia in a burst of uncontrollable laughter! The two sentinels leaned against each other as tears ran down from their eyes, before their eyes suddenly zoomed straight back to Kat-Liaena.

"Come with us!" Janessa said, lowering one hand behind Kat-Liaena's back to push the nervous human forward as the two Night Elves walked over to the crowd and the table where the two tiny elves were fighting in the middle. Eventually one of the elves managed to sweep the leg of the other, before grabbing her arm and throwing her over her shoulder to land face first down on the table with a heavy bang. The five spectating sentinels and ring leader erupted in laughter, cheer and applause at the outcome! Except the two that had just lost the bet.

"Girls, we have a new contestant!" Janessa proclaimed loudly to get their attention, before holding Kat-Liaena's hand up into the air.
"This human thinks she has what it takes to be a part of the games. Because this is a non discriminatory game, I think we should let her try!"

Laughter suddenly ensued from the surrounding sentinels, but none of them seemed to object to the idea, eagerly looking down at Kat-Liaena who was growing more and more pale by the second. Without a warning, Anastia had suddenly picked up the shrink potion from the table and forced it down into Kat-Liaena's mouth, and in the blink of an eye the human was no more than a few inches. Hanging from Janessa's hand, the Night Elf dropped her onto the table, before she herself accepted the shrink potion from Anastia and shrunk herself as well.

"Make your bets here! Who will win?! Our sister Janessa, my right, or the brave human, my left!" The Sentinel who was the ring leader announced, struggling to withhold her own laughter while holding out two empty bowls. The bowl in her right hand was quickly filled up with silver and even gold coins, whereas her left bowl remained inconspicuously empty, except for the last Night Elf who dropped a single gold coin into it. Whether she had actually done it on purpose or was too drunk to notice was uncertain.
The two shrunk Night Elves who had previously been on the table, giggled humorously at Kat-Liaena as they walked towards the edges. The one who had lost, still with a bleeding nose, gave Kat-Liaena a pat on her head as she said "Good luck, midget, hihi. You'll need it!" before walking towards the edge.

Anastia picked up her shrunk friend and dropped her down on to the table in front of Kat-Liaena. Landing gracefully on the wooden board, Janessa stared straight at Kat-Liaena with a cocky smile. Even though they were both shrunk, Janessa was still almost half Kat-Liaena's height again!

"Nothing like a good game to remedy old grudges, don't you agree, human?" Janessa said with a cute voice, as the Night Elf simultaneously cracked her knuckles and slowly walked towards Kat-Liaena with long, confident strides. The Night Elf gazed down at her prey with wicked intention, savoring every second before the fight started.
"You and I have some unsettled business."

*

"Nali... you can let me go now... "

"Mmmhmm... "

Naliyah merely mumbled as she rested on Rithrynn, holding her arms around her while gently kissing Rithrynn on the side of her cheek. Rithrynn frowned, trying to unlock Naliyah's iron hug until she suddenly looked past Naliyah's head and saw what looked like a black haired, short human female walk with Janessa and Anastia to the fight table behind Naliyah's back.

"Elune... was that Liaena? What is she doing here?!"

"Nali, I need to go, now!" Rithrynn insisted yet again, but Naliyah was deep within her own private thoughts as she clung to her. Looking past Naliyah again, Rithrynn couldn't see any sign of the human female anymore. Rithrynn tried to step backwards and away from Naliyah, but as she did, Naliyah simply leaned her own body back to pull Rithrynn back to her. Moving one foot behind a drunk, passed out Night Elf to use her as support, Rithrynn tried yet again to pull herself free from Naliyah's steely grip yet again with all her strength!

"Nooooow... !"

[Feychild]

Marshall glowered back, looking none too happy at Sharon’s answer in the negative. “You put a lot of faith in this ‘brother’ of yours’ caution. He was bold enough to walk right into the capital of this land to put some petty grudge to bed, I gather”

Pulling his chair forward to eye the parchment closely, Marshall scowled at it as he considered Sharons request. “It…is the Church’s responsibility, to purge evil, and protect the sancity of its citizens. Fine, Dal’dieb. I’ll write you your letter. The Cathedral should know of the scale of the danger, anyway”

Picking up the parchment, Marshall stood up from his chair in his way of signalling the audience was over. “I have a girl with me who can run back to the Cathedral. Or…you can send it in that new mailing system. Whichever”

*

"You and I have some unsettled business."

“…So I gather” Kathlin mumbled as she backed away from Janessa uneasily. The Night Elf didn’t appear to be in any hurry to follow her, with the one that seemed to be charge of the tournament still taking bets – all universally in favour of Janessa – from the excited crowd. A second organiser, one that seemed to have worked out the obvious financial implications of what was going on, was hurriedly scrawling up odds of the fight across the wall behind them. From that, Kathlin gathered that her percentage chance to win insofar as Night Elves were concerned was ‘Infinity + 1 to 1’. None of the elves actually betting seemed to have noticed that.

“So, I guess I’m Li. So what would Li do?...”

Kathlin glanced down at the satchel she was wearing slung across her body. “Potions are Cheating!” screamed out one of the elves clutching a betting slip immediately, and Kathlin turned to give her a dubious look.
“Hey. You could also say that the way she’s twice my size, is cheat—“

“BEGIN!”

“Oh crap”

Janessa jumped up in the air, blowing a few kisses to her ‘fans’ before starting to storm towards the small girl, fists raised. Kathlin reached out a hand, and suddenly the elf was a couple of inches raised off the table, floating in the air. Still sliding rapidly forward from her own momentum and having lost all friction and contact to arrest her movement or even turn, Kathlin backed hurriedly out of her line of trajectory as Janessa slid past her with a scream of rage and straight off the table, rapidly losing altitude to vanish from view and presumably crash into a Night Elf or a wall somewhere.

“……..”

The cheerful merriment and noise surrounding the table ended very abruptly as Kathlin looked around at her audience nervously. Many of the night elves, mostly those that had bet against her, looked annoyed. Others looked amused. One lone elf looked as though Christmas had come early for her as she inched slowly towards the ‘pro-Jannessa’ pot of gold.

“Uhhhh…so, does that mean I win, or something?”

[Rithy]

"Begin!"

"Destroyer mode engaged! Target acquired. Terminate petty humie!"

A light flashed across Janessa's eyes as the match was initiated, and she stormed forward like a hurricane towards the puny Kat-Liaena standing in her wake. But as the winds of destruction that was the green haired Janessa came closer to her defenseless prey, Janessa was confused to suddenly realize that her feet were no longer touching the ground beneath her.

"WHAT!?"

Flying past Kat-Liaena, Janessa flew like a bullet off the table.
One of the spectating elves wearing a bizarre blue dress quickly stepped to the side to avoid being hit by the tiny, flying torpedo.

"Thank Elu,- OH NOOO!"

However, what had looked like a stroke of luck, however small, soon took a turn for the worse as Janessa saw past the elf and realized that she was now heading straight for Naliyah's big, purple and round ass instead!
Janessa began to frantically frail her arms around in an attempt to brake, but it was all for naught as she continued to speed forward!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Aww, moi little Ridi-bidi... " Naliyah whispered playfully to Rithrynn as she clung to her like an anchor, unwittingly arching her ass outwards at the same time to welcome the flying Janessa.
"You are so funny when you are sh,- Oooohhh!"

Naliyah suddenly let out a deep gasp as Janessa flew straight in between her buttocks, and right up deep into her ass! Rithrynn quickly used the opportunity to escape Naliyah's iron embrace, just as Naliyah slumped right down on her butt in front of her with a thud and with a rather surprised yet delighted look on her face.

Back at the table, shocked looks were passed between Kat-Liaena, and Naliyah's butt, with no sign of Janessa anymore. A piercing silence had fallen over the table, as they eventually turned their attention back to the remaining Kat-Liaena who was standing on the table, looking up at her quiet audience. Dark looks fell down onto Kat-Liaena from every direction, except for a careful clap from the only Night Elf who had bet on her.

In an effort to retain her professionalism, the ringmaster finally broke the silence as she carefully spoke.

"Uhm... since Janessa was thrown out of the ring. The winner... is the human... "

Still throwing Kat-Liaena an astonished look, the ring master didn't even notice as the sentinel who had won the bets slowly walked over to her and emptied both of the bowls of money into her own purse.

"Li!" It suddenly sounded from outside the crowd, as a rather shocked and confused Rithrynn approached the table. Spotting 'Liaena', standing shrunk and alone on the table between all the Night Elves, Rithrynn seemed unable to formulate a single word. After gawking at Kat-Liaena for a good couple of seconds, Rithrynn's arm suddenly swooped down and grabbed Kat-Liaena, only to carry her away from the table in her hand as she looked down at her.

"What are you doing here?!"

In an attempt to cheer up her patrons again, the Ringmaster suddenly raised the bowls yet again, to loudly announce "Next match starts in two minutes. Thali against Vanesssa, make your bets, ladies!"

[Sinerathin]

"I do not think sending it with your assistant would be safe." Greymoon quickly commented as he threw a concerned look between Sharon and Marshall.
"The assassins could be watching our very gates without us knowing it."

Sharon gazed over to his friend, whom Frederick was already working on serving a second glass to. The High Elf agreed on Greymoon's concerns that it was too dangerous to send a lone girl to carry the message. She would be a too easy target for the assassins, and they would be needlessly jeopardizing her life.

"What do you suggest then, Richard?"

"I can take the letter myself." Greymoon stated, gently pulling on his white bird with a clever look on his face.
"If the assassins wanted me dead, I would have been dead already after all. I can deliver the letter to the Cathedral myself."

"There is no guarantee they won't change their mind, Mister Greymoon. You hope understand that, do you?." Frederick commented dryly, wrinkling his eyebrows at Greymoon who looked back at the butler.

"I doubt they'd change their mind that soon." Greymoon chuckled cheerily.
"I have yet to do anything to piss off that deranged brother of yours, Sharon. No offense."

"None taken." Sharon replied with a smirk, before turning to Marshall.
"Take your time with the letter, Marshall. I doubt Lord Greymoon will be leaving immediately."

"Indeed. I will wait until the morning, until it becomes brighter. Do you have a room that I could borrow in the meantime, Sharon?"

At the last question, Sharon became completely silent. Moving a hand up to his head, he rubbed his cheek as he turned to Frederick.

"Do we have an available guest room that our... exotic guests haven't already occupied?"

"The attic suite in the north eastern wing, top floor. Short of the roof patrols outside the windows, it is virtually free of our purple friends." Frederick answered almost immediately in his usual calm manner.
"Shall I prepare it for Lord Greymoon?"

"That'd be swell, buddy." Greymoon smiled, raising Frederick a toast before looking back at Sharon.
"I like a good view."

Sharon chuckled softly, but suddenly the men in the room became quiet as they realized the voices and shouts from below became dimmer. A moment of suspicion occurred in the room, as if they feared something had gone horribly wrong, before the voices and laughter once again resumed and the men went back to ease.

"What the hell are they doing?" Greymoon asked with a light chckle, and Sharon gently shook his head.

"Don't know. Don't care. Short of setting the room on fire, there's not anything they can destroy down there." Sharon said with a self confident smile as he raised his glass.

"Wouldn't it been easier to just hire ordinary mercs, don't you think?" Greymoon asked, throwing Sharon an odd look.

"Maybe... " The High Elf said thoughtfully as he sat in his chair, looking back up at Greymoon who sat on the edge of the desk.
"But the Night Elves are cheaper. All they need is free food and drink. I call it good business."

"What about little Miss Rune? Does she approve of the elves using your house as a club house? ... not that it hasn't been before?"

"Well... " Sharon paused, biting his lips as he spent a few seconds thinking about just how he was going to formulate his answer to Greymoon's question about Liaena. Eventually, Sharon tilted his head to the side in his chair as he gazed back at the elderly noble with a smirk.

"She has a few objections, but... ultimately, I think she will understand. After all, she is best friend with one of the Night Elves. What is the worst that could happen?"

[Feychild]

“Hi…” Kathlin said slowly as she stared up at the gigantic purple face of her rescuer. On a friendliness scale of 1 to Janessa, this one at least seemed a lot less malevolent than the last lot. On the other hand, if she changed her mind about that, the size difference would make the result a very quick battle.

“That's actually a very good question”

“…why….wouldn’t I be?”

A quick glance around the room revealed too many reasons to list and Kathlin grimaced as she looked up at the elf, whose eyebrows had only risen higher on their trip to the ceiling. “…it seemed like a good idea at the time, okay? Don’t question it.”

“I really hope you have a plan, Li…”

*

“I need a plan.”

Thought Liaena as she made her way carefully through the passage, keeping a sharp look out for any traps thoughtfully left for her by Falere and trying to make as little noise as possible. Taking a route that circumvented the room with the cheerful din seeping in through the walls, she paused by one of the dusty doors built into the wall to put her eye to the keyhole.

The view was partially obscured by the net curtain hiding the servant door, and also the large ass of a Night Elf just then passing though her line of sight. As the latter wandered out of the way, she could just about make out some of the room, with scantily clad Night Elves everywhere. Craning around she could just see Shani, flopped in a chair but looking over at a bunch of elves clustered around a table with interest.

“Rrggh….why can’t you just be a good target and just leave the room? I thought you were supposed to be on duty!”

Moving away from the door, Liaena propped herself against the wall of the corridor and thought as she considered her options.

With a bit of work, she could be the elf on the gate….but she couldn’t speak the language, and in a room surrounded by elves was exactly the wrong time to get busted.

She could be Serphia, but with her luck Serphia would pick exactly that moment to get out of her bath and it would all go to hell.

Besides, under the circumstances it was exactly the wrong time to put the idea that Li-could-be-anyone into a Night Elven head.

“Maybe I should bomb the room and be done with it…they have had it coming for a while”