As the morning dawned on the harbor, throwing a strong, yellow light past the mighty reef holding the fortress of Honor's Watch and onto the sea of lesser houses and storages across the city coastline; five new ships would arrive into port.
There were three broad, lightly armed merchant ships, guided by two long and sleek frigates.
The two frigates leading the convoy were Joan and Justine, built for speed, equipped with both steam engine and the white sails and flags of the White Hand. At each side, they had a series of twenty long cannon barrels, specially designed for long range and precision fire, all meant to accommodate their impressive speed to make them into frighteningly effective skirmish ships.
As the convoy sailed into the harbor, the three merchant ships would break off and sail towards the common port, while the twin frigates of Justine and Joan would sail towards the fortress of Honor's Watch. As they approached the bottom of the reef, the heavy gates blocking the water entrance to the cove would be raised, the sound of the heavy machinery at work being audible all the way out into the harbor.
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Waiting inside the cove would be Sherpa, standing at the docks with his hands behind his back. At his side would be a Lieutenant of the White Hand, adorned in his white and silver chevalier armor.
He would watch as Justine and Joan sailed into the cove, noting the occasional scar and hole that the frigates had suffered, apparently from what looked like cannon fire. Though some of the docks had been damaged, Justine and Joan nonetheless found their moorings, with the frigate Joan docking next to where Sherpa stood. As the ships docked with the port inside the reef, loading ramps would be lowered as crewmen and chevaliers began to disembark, and assisted in unloading the ship's cargo.
Most of them paid little heed to the High Elf standing at the pier, simply noting the silver trimmed metal badge that hung on his black silk vestments, carrying the insignia of the White Hand. They were more interested in saluting or greeting the Lieutenant standing next to Sherpa.
Yet Sherpa's eyes would be looking for something else, scanning the railings on the frigate Justine, until he spotted a peculiar individual just embarking down alongside the loading ramp.
Walking down the loading ramp after the rest of the chevaliers would be a tall Draenei woman, standing at over seven feet in height and easily towering over the rest of the otherwise human crew.
She would be donned in much the same armor as that of the chevaliers of the White Hand, consisting of partial plate and a polished breastplate over a set of satin white, thin garments that formed a tunic running down into an open skirt and loincloth. A white, gold threaded sash was spun around her waist, whilst a thin, white cape hung from the back of her right shoulder and went down by her side, trimmed with silver thread and carrying a pattern consisting of five lines pierced by a V figure to indicate that she held a rank of Captain. And hanging on her back would be two sheathed sabers, their white leather sheats-criss crossing one another to form an x.
On her head, she wore a silver polished helmet with the figure of that of a swooping hawk, moving into a set of tall wings over her horns. In front of her face she wore a jeweled silver polished faceguard, leaving merely two deep, crystal turquoise eyes visible.
A pair of eyes that were quick to note Sherpa whom stood at the pier, watching her...
The Draenei would suddenly hurry her step. While most of the rest of rest of the crew took right and headed towards the nearby barrack, she would instead walk up to the High Elf whom stood at the pier, where she would tower over the shorter elf. Looking down at him from through her mask, she would nod.
"It is good to see you again, Master." She would speak, before turning to look around in the cove, her eyes falling upon the broken part of the dock.
"What happened here?"
Sherpa didn't speak say anything at first, merely eyeing the Draenei before smirking.
"We were attacked. It's a family matter." He would answer, tilting his head slightly.
"I'm glad to see you back, Malizia Shadow. Right on schedule, as usual."
"I'm sorry I could not have come sooner." The Draenei, named Malizia, would say with a disappointed tone. Moving a hand up to her faceguard, she would remove it, revealing a begrudged face where her crystaline eyes looked down onto the pier below them. The Draenei's skin was dark blue, almost a little purple, and at the bottom of her face were a series of small tendrils that ran down onto her upper chest.
"If I wanted you here any earlier, I would have said so." Sherpa would be quick to answer, before turning around and motioning for Malizia to follow him.
"You have been gone for two months, and much have happened in the meantime."
Sherpa, accompanied by Malizia, would walk alongside the pier.
"Where is the Grandmaster? I had thought he would be the first to greet us and inspect the ships himself." Malizia would ask, tossing a quizzical look towards the silent High Elf walking next to her.
"He's right with us." Sherpa would answer, only to receive a slightly confused stare from Malizia as the Draenei furrowed her eyebrows.
"In spirit only, I'm afraid."
The Draenei would suddenly turn around, only to see a faint, almost invisible figure behind her. What had at first seemed like an amorphous cloud of gas soon came to resemble that of Darkmaster Sevarian Hoster, returned to the world of the living as a shade.
"Grandmaster!" Malizia would exclaim, only to receive confused looks from the occasional nearby chevalier, for whom it looked as if Malizia was addressing thin air!
"I knew I would become like this for a long time." Sevarian would answer, his voice ragged and hollow as it echoed in Sherpa and Malizia's mind.
"I have left the role of Grandmaster of the White Hand behind. Mine will be a greater destiny than so. My ascension has been a long time in the making, and this change is merely one step on a long road that will soon be completed."
Malizia looked at the ghost of Sevarian, before quickly looking back at Sherpa.
"Did he... when did this happen?!"
"Today actually." Sherpa calmly remarked, moving a hand towards his chest to motion at a small, black obsidian stone medallion hanging around his neck to indicate the item he used as an anchor for Sevarian's spirit.
"The invaders even managed to defeat the Butcher."
Malizia simply stared at Sherpa for a moment, before gazing forward and muttering.
"He always was reckless."
"He was a wild beast that had to constantly be kept shackled." Sherpa replied with his usual, disaffected tone.
"His destruction was always a question of when, not if. He served his purpose, though I am slightly disappointed in how easily he was defeated."
"And these invaders? Who are... what happened to them?" Malizia would ask, her eyes returning to Sherpa.
"Night Elves, bribed by my dear old brother to attack this keep. His girlfriend has befriended a sentinel, which is probably how he got a hold of them."
"I have not heard of Night Elven mercenaries." Malizia would note, raising an eyebrow.
"They might not be mercenaries. Few mercenaries would willingly attack a fortress like this, especially in a high risk infiltration mission. We were even attacked by Blood Knights, a highly unusual combination. I do not know how my brother managed to get them to work together, assuming they did, but it seems he is finally starting to take our little rivarly seriously by gathering his contacts, both old and new."
"How do you intend to deal with them?" Malizia would ask, as Sherpa turned around to look up at her with a slight smirk. Reaching into his vest, he would grab the obsidian medallion and place it into the Draenei's palm.
"That is where you come in, my apprentice."
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"I need to get out of here."
Sharon thought to himself as he sat in his dark, damp prison; trapped as he was deep up Serphia's big butt! He had seen no sign of Falere during his stay in the Captain's rear, despite the fact that he had heard from Liaena that she was supposed to be up there as well! Something that could only mean that she was probably notably deeper than what he was.
Indeed, it would be best to find an exit before he could potentially end up meeting her! Being the boyfriend of the girl who put her there, Sharon doubted Falere would show any kindness to him!
"Apprentice Rune!"
That was when, however, the moment he heard the muffled voice of Thea from the outside. Although he did not recognize the voice, he did remember the name!
"Is Liaena here? This might be my chance! I need her to notice me. I need to give her... a sign!"
Sharon remained still for a moment, contemplating his choices, before the idea fell upon him! Suddenly, Sharon would begin to wriggle frantically around in the depths of Serphia's butt, performing a wide array of acrobatic movements in hopes of distracting Serphia enough for Liaena to notice!
... hopefully before Serphia herself got too excited.
