Feychild

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

“Nope. Thea has her” Kathlin uttered from somewhere below Rithrynn’s head, the girl wedged tightly into Rithrynn’s cleavage. At least the curve of her body offered some space for the human to shelter in, to save her from being crushed completely. “Don’t worry. This part isn’t so far…”

At her words there was an audible ‘pop’ from in front of them as Serphia finally burst out of the crevice. A wave of pungent fumes washed over those still struggling, as new air was finally allowed to enter the crevice…although one could hardly call it ‘fresh’. A few moments later, the struggling of the latter Night Elves was enough to propel Rithrynn and Kathlin out into one of the subterranean canals that ran through Stormwind, aka the sewers. Fortunately, there was an extremely narrow ledge that was elevated out of the murky water, presumably to allow maintenance. Unfortunately, there was impatient Night Elves right behind the pair.

-SPLASH-

“Careful, there isn’t much space” Kathlin remarked both helpfully and belatedly as Naliyah sat in her ass in the filthy water, coughing and making expressions of disgust. Rithrynn and her captive/companion human on the other hand, were floating an inch above the surface of the murky liquid. The former edged back towards the ledge, to step back on it and beat a hasty retreat down the tunnel after her Captain before Naliyah regained her senses enough to try and even the score.

“So, which way to Li?”

“…Er, back the way we came, actually” Kathlin explained meekly. The girl shifted in order to give a slight shrug to acknowledge her receipt of the stare she was getting from Rithrynn. “This is the way to the Trade District. I was going to go and find her. But you wanted me to come along, so…”

“…..”

“…she’ll probably come join us when she’s ready, anyway” Kathlin added belatedly, after apparently considering the matter internally for a moment. “You should tell your Captain that it’s going to be the second manhole from here. Oh and er….that might be a bit tight as well”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

That sounds entirely plausible.

I still have no internet. I was supposed to get it set up yesterday, but the Engineer never showed up. One angry phonecall and an inordinate amount of time being left on hold got me a rescheduled appointment for the 19th, and promises of much compensation in terms of coupons, free months, etcetera. Fun, fun times.

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

I have no Internet. I do not know when I will have Internet. I will update when I do know. Until then, I won't be able to post.

Sorry

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

"Lead the way then, human. I have already infiltrated a high security fort tonight, and so highly doubt you could ever come up with any challenge I can't overcome."

“Hmm? Oh, I probably could” Kathlin responded absently as they wandered down the corridor together. The girl appeared to have taken the incident between Sharon, Serphia and Rithrynn entirely in her stride, as though miniature High Elves got lodged in the bust of Night Elves every day where she came from.

Apparently oblivious to any ire she may have sparked in the Captain with her remark, Kathlin turned to Rithrynn with the distinct air of a tour guide. “It’s really quite, uh, impressive the architecture down here. The crypts below the cathedral are quite extensive….records show that consecutive arch-bishops all decided to expand them, until the Cathedral underwent subsidence and they had to stop”

As the girl talked the corridor seemed to open out in front of them, as the group walked through an archway into a high roofed vault. It was unlit, with the only light cast being from the lantern that Kathlin carried. From the light it cast, the place appeared to be being used as a little-used store-room of some sort, with extremely dusty crates stacked up the walls on both sides. “There’s lots of stories about secret passages down here going to different parts of the city. You know, in case the Cathedral was attacked. It never was of course” Kathlin added in a confidential tone as she turned a corner to walk into a side room. “It’s terribly easy to get lost down here though, so it’s out of bounds to apprentices. So, Li and I came down here once, and uh….got lost”

The room she had led them appeared to be for all intents and purposes a dead end, again lined with crates and boxes. There was however a distinctly musky smell in the air of this room, almost of damp.

Kathlin walked forward to grab onto one of the larger crates, a vast wooden one sitting against the wall on the far side. Large it might have been, but it could not have been fully filled as the girl managed to drag it away from the wall with only some expenditure of effort on her part.

The musky damp smell intensified in the room as the crate was pushed to one side. Where it had been, a jagged break in the stone wall could now be seen, large enough to comfortably fit a little girl….or extremely uncomfortably, maybe a Night Elf.

The hole led only to a dark void, from which the unpleasant smell was coming. Kathlin walked confidently over to it, to stick her head out and glance around before looking back at the Night Elves. “I don’t think anyone else knows about this, but it’s twenty minutes maybe tops to the trade district if you follow the route of the Canal. Oh and there is a giant squid around here……”

Kathlin paused as she appeared to rethink her next comment, as her eyes settled on the large sword Serphia had at her side. “You need to promise me not to hurt him. He’s terribly tame, really”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

“It should be around here somewhere….”

“It’s on the other side of the Cathedral actually” Kathlin piped up helpfully from underneath Serphia’s elbow.

The girl, absolutely dwarfed in comparison to the big Serphia, was bobbing along to keep pace with the group as she smiled at Rithrynn. “It used to be down here, but somebody flooded the crypt with swamp gas. So it got moved. Can I help you at all?”

“Er…yes. Where is it then?”

Serphia cast a look downward with a snort, before ploughing resolutely onward. “It’s almost like you attract them, Syn’dial. Mark my words, I’m only letting you keep one”

“In one of the outbuildings. I can take a message if you’re leaving? You are leaving, aren’t you?” Kathlin asked curiously as they walked onward. “Because, uh, I’m sure you know….you’re going the wrong way if you’re leaving”

Serphia paused in the stone corridor at that, to give the passages and doors around them a nasty glare, before looking down to give Kathlin an even nastier looming glare. The girl bore it with considerable fortitude, only shrinking slightly under her gaze as she smiled back. “I do understand. It is a maze down here”

“…..”

“Soooo…I could show you the way out if you wanted?” Kathlin suggested weakly, after the silence stretched a bit too long. The girl jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “There’s uh, the main entrance but you’ll probably be stopped for questioning if you go that way. Paladin Damon looked very angry. Or I guess I could show you the back door but it might be a bit, uh….”

The girl’s eyes very obviously strayed over Serphia’s rear end at this, with a very thoughtful pause before she spoke again. “Tight”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

“An investigation may not be sufficient, but it’s a necessary first step” Thea noted, looking over at the Runeblade abandoned in the corner of the room. “This ‘White Hand’ will find great difficulty maintaining clients in this city if they are under suspicion for harbouring cultists. Those photographs will be invaluable, and Apprentice Lennox will need to give evidence of course…”

The priestess’ eyes strayed back to Sharon. “…meaning hiding the Night Elves involvement will be almost impossible, I’m afraid”

Observing the look of dismay on the High Elfs face, the priestess raised a finger to interrupt as he opened his mouth to complain. “I am sorry Mr. Dal’dieb, but a full investigation was inevitable the moment your retinue brought an unbound rune blade into this Cathedral. This is not something we can overlook, and the church is not in the habit of concealing evidence. Once the matter is taken to the city guard I rather doubt anything can be concealed from the papers, and so your retinue will in all likelihood have the choice of: leaving the city, or becoming its celebrities”

“….”

“Of course if they do stay, their behaviour will have a substantial impact on the reputation of the case”

Thea let out a small sigh, before finally looking at the last Night Elf, Rithrynn, who remained in the room. “Don’t misunderstand me Miss Syndial, I am extremely grateful for your assistance in returning my apprentice. If it were up to me, you would be heroes of the city”

*

“Don’t worry, I’ve studied anatomy. I won’t damage anything” Kathlin reassured Aleena as she continued to root around in Lithrielles loincloth. Thankfully, her efforts were soon rewarded as her hand came out with a very, very dishevelled and sweaty Bella. “Are you alright, Bella”

Gasping for breath, Bella stared into the near distance with a distinctly vacant expression on her face. “….I’ve seen things.”

“Ah. Well. You’ve seen it before” Kathlin said, with a poor attempt at sounding consolidatory. It did very little to comfort the little human, who craned around to give her a death glare.
“This never happened. Never. Have you got that?”

Kathlin opened her mouth to stay something, before aborting it to stare up the corridor as the sound of thudding footsteps entered her awareness. Moments later, three Paladins rounded the corner with two Priests chasing along behind, Paladin Damon in the middle and leading. “Move aside! Go upstairs, Apprentice. This isn’t a good place for you”

*

In the room where Thea and Sharon sat, the quiet was abruptly ended as the door slammed open and Damon and his retinue stormed into the room. Two of the paladins and one priest immediately headed over into the corner to start examining the runeblade, Damon and the other priest approaching the table where Sharon stood and Thea sat. “Priestess Thea. You should come with us. The Bishop will need a report of what has happened”

“You should probably have a check-up too, Thea” the priest chipped in at this. He was a middle aged, kindly looking man that smiled down at the priestess, while giving Sharon a brief confused look. “Paladin Damon told us you were taken ill. And is there anything we can do for your…uh…friend?”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Liaena turned her head slightly to return his smile, before crinkling her forehead slightly in thought as she considered his statement. “When did I last eat something?”

Between all the fun of dodging assassins, stuffing assassins up Night Elf’s butts, stuffing Night Elves up Night Elves butts and assaulting heavily fortified forts, it was true that the girl had not consumed anything but potions since breakfast the previous day. “…Sure. I’ll see you later then”

The girl stepped forward to deposit Sharon on the small side-table beside Thea, after a quick check to satisfy herself that the Night Elf threat had apparently dwindled to Low Risk, with Aleena evacuating and dragging Lithrielle behind her. “I’ll see you later. Won’t I, Rithrynn?”

“Wut?”

The Night Elf gave her a confused and slightly offended look, with a ‘what in the world could you ever suspect of poor MOI!?’ expression spread over her face. Liaena shot back a ‘you know damn well what’ look back, and headed for the door. “Can I hang onto your tweezers, Kitty? Just in case?”

“Why? The laboratory has a tool kit”
Kathlin enquired in a tone of confusion as she hurried along beside Lithrielle and Aleena. Reaching down, the girl lifted the big Night Elf off the floor where she was being scraped along the ground to poke around in her belt for the lost Bella. Judging by the complaints of that priestess, she had been pushed slightly…lower. “Ewww! It’s like a jungle in here!”

“Good point” Liaena mused aloud, before shooting Sharon a last smile, giving Thea a wary nod and heading for the door. “Oh and Priestess Thea…don’t leave me out of the plotting. You know I’m good at it”

“Apprentice Rune”

-click-

Thea made a tsking noise as she watched the door, which had been very rapidly carefully shut behind Liaena as she made a hasty retreat. Shaking her head slightly, she turned back to Sharon in the now quiet room with only Rithrynn present in addition to the pair. “I would imagine that we have a minute or so at most to converse before Paladin Damon returns, Mr. Dal’dieb so I would prefer to get to the point. How were you intending to present your version of events to the city? This cult has got to the press first as you might expect”

The priestess held up the newspaper, placing it on the table so the miniature High Elf could step over and read the headline. While he was doing that, the woman turned to raise her eyebrows slightly at Rithrynn. “It does not help that your retinue is so strikingly unlikeable, I am afraid. Please excuse my bluntness Keldorei, but at this rate I will not be able to prevent your kins expulsion from the Cathedral. Given you decided to take shelter here, I assume that was not the original intent?”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

“Hey, put me down. PUT ME DOWN!” Bella demanded furiously as she swung gently from between Lithrielle’s finger. The miniature human pointed an imperious finger at the Night Elf, but could help but quail as she cast a glance at the floor far below her. “…On the table, or something!”

“I’ve never found a use for them myself. Then again, I’ve rarely engaged in Guerra warfare” Thea responded softly to Rithrynn’s comment. The priestess cast a glance at the door. “Is your leader not coming?”

“She’s….uh, busy” Liaena responded after a pause. The girl could not help but give a small smirk as she thought about exactly what the Captain was doing. “With other engagements”

“Good”

“….Priestess? Priestess Thea!?” Bella squeaked over from Lithrielle’s grasp. Having failed to cheer Aleena up with her words, Lithrielle was now trying more physical methods. As it would obviously not do at all to be wasting a hand in this venture, the human was now being rubbed around Aleena’s shoulders and upper back as Lithrielle stroked her consolingly. “Um, help!?”

“…Very well then. Keldorei, please stop molesting my apprentice. Apprentice Lennox, get me a chair, would you?” Thea pronounced as she clambered up from the floor. Kathlin immediately scooted off to right the one on the floor as she looked at Liaena. “Apprentice Rune, fix this shrinking problem”

“No antidote”

“…Just as well then we have a laboratory designed to create antidotes. As opposed to the poisons you usually indulge in” Thea responded acidly as she sat down. “Just so we are clear: If Apprentice Silva is mislaid as a result of this, I will expect you to do her chores for her”

“…..”

“Awww, common AllizzzzzZZZZzzzzz”

Lithrielles commiserating words turned into a snore right in the middle as she suddenly sunk to the floor. Bella gave a squeal of fear that immediately became muffled as the elf landed, with her continuing complaints continuing from under the Night Elf. “Aw cmon! Get me out of here! This elf smells of wet dog!”

Liaena meanwhile, gave the room a ‘what’? look before hastily stowing her dart gun away. “What? I said I ran out of antidote. And I was carrying it loaded”

The priestess caught sight of the look on Thea’s face, before assuming a much more contrite expression. “…I’ll just go, and get that antidote then”

“Yes. However….Mr. Dal’dieb, I would like to discuss the fallout of the raid as it were, at some point.” Thea said, giving that individual a slight nod of the head.
“It could wait until later of course if you want to accompany Rune, but time is of the essence”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

I've been on holiday for this week in a place with no computer and really bad wifi. Thus no post. I'll be back next week

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

“….What is a runeblade doing in the Cathedral?!”

“Because that stupid girl brought it in!!” Damon exploded, stabbing an accusing finger at Aleena. The elf looked obviously very uppity at that, in response to the obviously unwarranted and untrue accusations of stupidity. “What were you thinking, carrying it around like that!? You could have destroyed one of our own!”

“I’m fine…” Thea muttered belatedly, voice tight with pain where she sat in a heap in the floor. Notwithstanding recent events and the fact that her hand now had a deep gash under the thumb that Kathlin was now poking at, the priestess’ voice was weak but steady as she raised her eyes to meet Damon’s. “Go and get help for this, Damon. Tell them to bring gloves, and holy water. Lots of it”

“…..”

Nodding gravely after a pause where he gave Aleena one final dirty look, Damon bowed his head to the priestess before backing out of the room. A few brisk paces, followed by running feet could be heard as the paladin rapidly made his escape from the situation.

“……Soooo…..” Liaena remarked finally, after a silence that nobody else seemed willing to break. “what did I miss? Kitty?”

“The runeblade activated” Kathlin remarked matter-of-factly where she wound a bandage around Thea’s fingers. “I….uh, think”

That priestess shot her a look. “….Quite”

Drawing a shaky breath, Thea looked around the room slowly, before her gaze settled on Liaena. “Who is that, Rune?”

“Oh….uh. Sharon, this is Priestess Thea. General Hardass” Liaena whispered the last sentence under her breath, before raising her voice to the room together. “Priestess Thea, this is Sharon Del’dieb—“

“Your boyfriend. Obviously” Thea observed coldly to the room at large, before looking back at Sharon again. “Dare I ask – how are you involved in this? And why have you been shrunk?”