Sinerathin

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

"The creature choose an old chunk of meat over you." Sharon would comment from the safety of Sentinel Ashira's shoulder, gazing down towards Aleena who sat on the ground, somehow covered in even more sludge now with the addition of some newly added saliva.
"I do not know whether you should feel lucky or offended. Or maybe both."

The High Elf said jokingly, before turning around to look towards the water in the deeper lake of sludge in the middle of it.

"I have heard stories of a giant crocodile roaming the Stormwind sewer, but a giant squid is a new one. I ought to question Li and her friends about this. Having a giant carnivorous cephalopod roaming freely around the sewer could hardly be defined as safe for the public!"

For some mysterious reason, Sharon had an inkling of doubt with regards to Kathlin's story. As did obviously a lot of the elves too when he quickly glanced across the rest of the group.

----------------------------------------------------

A simple and shoddy windowless wooden carriage was riding through the streets of Stormwind's Mage District, pulled by two muscular and large black horses directed by a bearded middle aged man shrouded in a heavy trench oat and large tophat.

The chariot would eventually stop behind one of the houses, having parked in a small alleyway outside the main road.

Throwing a rather suspicious look around, checking to see if the coast was clear, the driver would then lean backwards and knocking against the surface of the carriage.

Inside of the carriage would be a small team of nearly a dozen people, cramped together. All of them were humans and were wearing simple commoner's clothes, with the exception of two of the passengers. The first was the towering presence of a large and dark blue Draenei woman who was sitting in the back of the carriage, wearing a full White Hand uniform of polished platemail armor and satin white cloaks and tabard, and easily taking up more than two seats, leaving her fellow passengers rather cramped for space. The second one was a lone, hooded High Elf, sitting in the corner closest to the door, and apparently having done a good job at pushing away the nearest human passengers.

"Why are we stopping so early?" One of the passengers would ask, who was a young human woman by the name of Silje. The girl stood easily out from the rest of the humans, all of whom were more rugged, strong and fit fighting aged men and women.

"We have reports that the Night Elves had posted sentries on the rooftops. We cannot risk going any closer." The driver would speak through a small window in the front of the carriage.

"Ohh, okay." Silje then said, before realizing that every other occupant of the carriage was giving her a dark stare!
"Nevermind me, I'll just... sit here, doing nothing, ahem, I mean LISTENING! ... I'll be quiet!"

Silje was quick to forfeit, quickly throwing a pleading look over at the large Draenei, Malizia, who was sitting in the carriage along with her, gesturing and begging for her to say anything to take the attention off her!

"Right, we're here... " Malizia would finally speak, looking out across the rest in the wagon.
"I'll make a quick recap of our mission: our goal is to infiltrate a mr. Sharon Dal'Dieb's mansion, a rich High Elf living in the district. With the aid of our polymorph potions and the genetic material left behind by the Night Elves during their terrorist attack on Honor's Watch, we will fool the elven guards, assume command over the garrison in the absence of their real warlord, and make them vacate the mansion. I will pose as a prisoner, and Specialist Valion will shrink down and shadow us, dealing with any potential complications that might arise. Once we have successfully cleared the mansion, Bravo team will move in, set up the ambush, and kill the criminal Sharon Dal'dieb when he returns. Understood?"

All of the other occupants in the carriage gave a firm nod, with the exception of one man who cautiously raised his hand. Malizia turned to him and nodded.

"Yes, Leroy?"

"I don't speak Darnassi or whatever the hell language the purple elves used. What do we do if they address us in their language?"

"Fortunately for all of us, you won't have to speak a single word during the mission." Malizia replied, before turning to Silje.
"Silje Vanderan is a grade-A Cultural student, versed in both Orcish, Dwarven, Gnomish as well as Darnassian, including their cultures and lore. She will take the role of the elven warlord and do the talking. The rest of you will only follow her around, supporting her every decision."

"Uh, hi guys... I'm Silje." Silje carefully said, meekly raising a hand and attempting to smile towards the rest of the rugged looking chevaliers in the carriage.

"Enough. Time to dismount. Potions and sentinel uniforms are in the bags. Let's not delay any further!" Malizia spoke with a clear voice, moving to stand up and inadvertently forcing the rest of the occupants to begin barreling out of the back of the carriage lest they be squeezed by Malizia!

After being disgorged out the back of the wagon, the chevaliers had dragged their bags with them and were already beginning to consume their own polymorph potions. After numerous complaints about the taste and stripping out of their old clothes, half of the chevaliers had already completed their transformations, now mimicking the exact looks of the elves Serphia had brought with her to Honor's Watch!

Silje, peeking out of the carriage, immediately blushed when she saw some of the chevaliers strip down before taking their potions, eyeing her own worriedly before looking towards Malizia.

"Uhhh, Miss Malizia... do I need to strip down too?" She asked with a worried tone.

Malizia looked at her and shook her head.
"No, it is only recommended that you do. It's your call though."

"Thanks!" Silje exclaimed, and snuck around the carriage.

Moments later, the girl would have found a profound change! Silje, having originally been a girl of little more than 5.4ft tall, was looking thoroughly amazed when she was now towering at 8ft as Captain Serphia's exact lookalike.

"Light, this is amazing! I'm as tall as you now!" Silje exclaimed, sounding excited as she looked towards Malizia. Malizia merely nodded in return.

"Yes, though I hope you were not too attached to your old clothes.

"What?" Silje asked, gaining a confused look on her face when she eventually gazed down, only to let out an audible 'eeep!' when she saw her clothes, now turned into torn strips hanging loosely around her much larger body. The originally tiny girl, now standing at 8ft, leaped into hiding in the carriage. Malizia merely let out a sigh, turning the other way and offhandly tossing the bag with the elven uniform after Silje.

"Seriously? I thought we were getting uniforms, not this!" Chevalier-Ashira, originally known as Lisa, would exclaim furiously when the chevalier-nelf held up a metal thong towards Malizia!

"It IS their uniform. Don't ask me why. It's a cultural thing." Malizia responded, simply letting out a sigh.

Lisa simply murmured something under her breath while reluctantly pulling it on. Yet Malizia wouldn't manage to as much as turn around before she again heard the voice of Lisa-Ashira calling out!

"LEROY! Stop doing that!"

"What? This is cool!"

When Malizia turned to look around, she could see Chevalier-Night Elf Leroy-Aleena, currently deeply interested in examining his, or her, new body; with particular emphasis on enhanced upper front assets. Next to him was Lisa-Ashira, giving him a big stink eye.

"Both of you, shut up and get dressed! We're doing this mission TODAY!" Malizia would bark out, causing the both of them to almost jump off the ground when the Draenei called them!

"I will... go ahead and cover you from up high." The High Elven specialist named Valion who had been quiet up to that point eventually added, walking next to Malizia. He was wearing some simple, darkened leather armor and cloak, with some red strands of hair running out from his cowl. Producing a small vial, he would drink it, suddenly shrinking down to the point he was small enough to fit in a person's palm. Yet before Malizia could say anything to him, the now shrunk elf would disappear in a magical blink, vanishing into thin air!

------------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, the chevalier-Night Elves dressed in their copied elven armor would finally be making their way down the main street and heading towards the front gate of the mansion.

Malizia was in the middle of the group, her hands bound on her back and the chevalier-elf next to her holding her sheated swords. Silje-Serphia would be walking in the front, having to occasionally be pushed forward by the chevalier-elf behind her as she secretly tried to be anywhere but in the front of the troop!

As they approached the front gate and the elf standing watch there, Silje-Serphia would raise a hand while bringing on a big smile.

"Hiiii there! Can you let us in?" She would ask, looking down at the watcher. Malizia, overhearing the conversation, would take the oppertuniy to give Silje-Serphia a swift kick in the back of her greave, causing her to quickly change her tone.

"OFH! Uh, I mean... I demand that you let me in right now, Sentinel!" Silje-Serphia then said, changing the tone of her voice into something that a timid person would believe a bossy voice would sound like!

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

“Oh, hello Mr. Dal’dieb. Rithrynn will be glad that you’re safe”

"Greetings again, apprentice Lennox." Sharon would bow slightly with a smirk as he was noticed by Kathlin and the light she cast across the otherwise gloomy and murky sewer tunnel, the smaller High Elf stepping across the stone floor as he cast a look across the three Night Elves, including Rithrynn, Aleena and Ms. Unfortunate Collateral, 'enjoying' an involuntary group bath session in the disgusting river of sewage in the middle of the tunnel.
"Oh yes, I'm sure she would."

One might think that the journey through the cramped tunnel would have been easier for Sharon, given his current and very much diminished physical size. It might have been the case, had he not had to share the ride with more than half a dozen large Night Elves pushing into one another! If it hadn't been for some quick thinking at the start of the trip that involved blinking himself off Rithrynn's shoulder, Sharon might now have been back in the very, very safe and escape-proof confinements of Captain Serphia's big butt!

"Nope, I'm not letting Rithrynn hold me again until she's gotten a real bath. One that does not involve sewage... "

Sharon thought as he eyed Rithrynn, now covered from top to toe in foul-smelling sewage. Night Elves might normally be quite beautiful creatures, but it was perhaps more difficult to appreciate that when combined with a big dose of sewage.

Looking around, the High Elf would find himself on the narrow ledge, with the towering shapes of Night Elves on either side of him. The fact that some of them were standing no less than a few inches away from him, combined with their natural light clothing, left very little to the imagination whenever Sharon might have gazed upwards.

He did contemplate teleporting himself to Kathlin's shoulder, if it hadn't been for the fact that the now sewage-covered Rithrynn would've been able to easily snatch him off.

Therefore, Sharon would teleport to the non-sewage-covered Night Elf right next to Kathlin, appearing with a blink on her left shoulderplate. Receiving a surprised look in return, Sharon would simply nod and smile back to the elf.

"Don't worry, miss. I'll be like a shadow." He said, before turning to Rithrynn and the rest who finally seemed to be emerging from the esewage.

"I appreciate your concern, Rithrynn. I'm fine as I ever was! But if you don't mind, I'll take a ride with your sister back to the mansion." Sharon smiled as he motioned with his thumb towards the Night Elf on who's shoulder he was sitting.

With any luck, she had better balance than Rithrynn, and was hopefully without the personality of Serphia. With any luck, Sharon might have found a 'normal', non-crazy elf!

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Nice to see you finally back, Li ;)

I'll let you guys do a post first without me. I am currently working on the next Sherpa post atm.

Expect the plot to hit closer to home this time, very soon...

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

“You need to promise me not to hurt him. He’s terribly tame, really”

"Why do I get the itching suspicion that such was a very subjective interpretation of the use of 'tame' on behalf of Liaena and Kathlin?"

Sharon looked down at Kathlin from where the tiny High Elf sat atop from Rithrynn's shoulder, giving her a small, if almost sympathetic smile.

"Do not worry, apprentice Kathlin. We all know that Night Elves, and particularly Serphia and her great warband are excellent diplomats who are more than capable of solving disputes and conflicts through peaceful means without having to resort to crude or violent methods."

The High Elf spoke with a calm, almost sincere voice. But through the cracks of it, the sarcasm merely oozed. He might as well have said outright to Kathlin that she had just made a terrible mistake, and that her little squid pet was on its way to becoming squid filet!

Whether the Night Elves caught on however, that was a another story...

Sharon looked across the group of Night Elves standing behind them, noting the presence of Vashi. Maybe if he managed to somehow cooperate with her, there was a possibility that the two mages could use their powers to prevent the impending "War of Elves and Squids" that would certainly abound if Serphia "The Crusher" encountered McBig Squid "The Tame"!

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

"I apologize for appearing without a warning. I just think that our time in this room is becoming well overdue." Sharon replied to Rithrynn's comment.

Come to think of it, sneaking up on Rithrynn could be a bad policy of behavior, especially when he was in his current, much diminished volumetric state. The idea of being swatted across the room and into a wall like a fly crossed Sharon's mind, something that would have been a most unfortunate; not to mention discomfortable; turn of events for him indeed. And that was only one of the possible scenarios.

Teleporting below her arm height might reduce the off-chance of accidental swatting, though would probably increase the chance of being sat on, which tended to be even worse!

"Only for emergencies then, I guess."

"But we should probably get back... "

"My thoughts exactly, Rithrynn. Liaena is probably waiting for me already. I would not want to,- ... !"

As he turned his head around to look forward to see where Rithrynn was walking, Sharon was no less surprised than Rithrynn when he found himself staring right into Serphia's deep, purple cleavage moments before imminent disaster!

"Rith,-"

Sharon opened his mouth to yell, but before he could even utter Rithrynn's name; the Night Elf would already collide right into her Captain! The tiny High Elf found himself thrown from his position on Rithrynn's shoulder, and launched right down in between Serphia's cleavage! Buried well down between the two big pounds of flesh that was Serphia's bosom, and constrained by a ridiculously tight metal reinforced bra, Sharon would squirm around in an initial confusion before he realized where he actually was!

"Rithrynn!"

Poking around, Sharon was unsure whether Rithrynn even knew where he had landed. On the other hand, a mixed set of sensations ran through Sharon's mind about his current whereabouts. Ideally, it would be a place he wouldn't normally mind being in. But considering the person who owned his current set of whereabouts, he found himself unable to determine on which side of the luck coin he was on.

"I better get out of here before we reach Liaena!"

Sharon began to wriggle, trying to escape his new and tight quarters. Coming up with an excuse as to why he had been stuck in Serphia's butt was infinitely easier than coming up for one for being stuck between her breasts!

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

While listening to priestess Thea, Sharon bit the lower section of his lips when he heard her preach about the openness of the church.

Although it had been something he might have suspected, it was nonetheless regrettable. Still, if it was any kind of mental comfort, any problem Sharon might have with the Night Elves would probably pale in comparison to the damage control his brother was currently doing for the reputation of his organization.

"Blows were shared, yet I think we came on top this round."

Sharon's ears would suddenly twitch however as the sound of heavy, plated boots of the Paladin stomping along the solid rock floor echoed throughout the corridor outside the room, the elf quickly looking over to Thea.

"I appreciate your assistance in this matter, Priestess Thea." Sharon would perform a slight bow towards Thea.
"Rithrynn and her sisters may not be... as used to the norms of our city, yet they nonetheless possess ultimately noble intentions, even if it might not always seem that way."

As the door swung open and the Priests and the Paladins flooded into the room, Sharon would watch them. At the comment of one of the priests, the High Elf would shake his head.

"I thank you for your offer, but I am in the best of hands." Sharon would respectfully deny the middle aged priest's offer, shaking his head.
"Your apprentice Rune is already on her way to solve any of my volumetric concerns, I'll be fine; thank you."

Sharon spoke with a calm tone as the tiny High Elf casually walked alongside the bed table, noticing how the priest's eyes became noticeable wider at the mention of 'Apprentice Rune' and 'solving' anything. Yet his eyes would expand only further as the High Elf walked towards the edge, stepping off it; and before the priest could even reach a hand out to catch the High Elf from plummeting to the ground; Sharon would have disappeared in a puff of blue, mystical mist.

Reappearing shortly afterwards, Sharon would suddenly appear on Rithrynn's right shoulder, where he would be standing and looking out across the rest of the room from the tall Sentinel's point of view.

It may just be Rithrynn's shoulder, but even still; in terms of the view; it was a big improvement from the bed table!

"There may be boats, Rithrynn." Sharon would speak without warning, leaning towards Rithrynn's face as the Night Elf had just recently noticed his new whereabouts. The priest on the other hand was still bedazzled by the bed table where Sharon had once stood.

"The ocean is a big place, and we can't just go sailing off without having some sort of lead. Still, first things first, we should probably see to it that your sisters are reunited back at my house. I would hate for them to launch a raid ala V.2 on the castle, believing we were captured."

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

"Take care, Liaena." Sharon gave Liaena a nod as the girl let the room, the High Elf watching her until she had disappeared out into the hallway.

As the door was closed behind her, only Thea and Rithrynn would be left in the room together with him. Taking a quick glance over towards the towering Night Elf Sentinel to make sure she was not about to 'accidentally' use the side-table he was standing on as a makeshift chair for the meeting, Sharon's eyes would finally rest on Thea.

"The White Hand has the initiative in this matter. Anything we say and do will inevitable clash with their own claims." Sharon began, walking over to the newspaper, which was absolutely massive compared to the little High Elf.

"At least I won't be missing the small print from this angle!"

"There are pictures in this print, yet they feature only Blood Elves." Sharon would note, pointing at the images of some of the deceased Blood Knights.

"While the White Hand may prove the involvement of the Blood Elves, seeing as they have their bodies in their possession, none of Serphia's own Night Elven band of warriors died or were captured in the attack. Most of footprints they left behind were arrowheads or broken weapon pieces at best, most of which is available in market stalls around Stormwind anyway. The White Hand may know that we attacked, but they lack strong evidence beyond eyewitnesses; all of whom are with the White Hand and thus biased. I do not believe any civilians nor members of the Stormwind's Royal Guard saw the Night Elves, either when they entered or fled the keep."

Rubbing his cheek with the back of his finger as he studied the text, Sharon nodded to himself as he was seemingly deep within his own thoughts.

"They can prove the Blood Elves involvement, but not the involvement of the Night Elves. I doubt the White Hand will seek to turn this into a racial conflict, as Captain Serphia and her warband are not the only Night Elves in Stormwind either. We have an embassy, and at least couple of hundred Night Elves who live in Stormwind, even though their presence was somewhat reduced with the destruction of the garden district. Many of the citizens have seen Serphia and her warband, and she has caused the city a fair bit of distraught, yet I doubt there's more than a few who actually know about her character. If the White Hand wants to use public opinion against Serphia and her elves, they will first have to introduce her to the public. A process which will take time. It may be best that she leaves the Cathedral. The sanctuary of the church may offer protection, but it will also draw attention to them."

The High Elf reasoned, before looking up at Thea and Rithrynn.

"We have some evidence in the form of pictures taken by Apprentice Kathlin and the Runeblade, but that will most likely only be enough to gain an investigation, which alone is not enough to fell the White Hand. To do so, we must dig deeper; down to that which truly makes the White Hand, their assets. Honor's Watch is their headquarters, but most of their operations are run far out in the sea. I am starting to suspect that the answers we seek may not be in Stormwind at all."

Sharon knew that the White Hand was a maritime protection service with strong ties to other maritime trading and production companies that operated far from the borders of the Kingdom of Stormwind. The White Hand's massive rise could never be explained by simply investigating them at home, what with most of their business being far away from the watchful eyes of the Throne.

Part of Sharon shuddered to think what kind of sorts of secrets might lie behind the White Hand, knowing what he did of his brother's dark past, but he knew that they would eventually have to face them if they ever wished to understand the White Hand.

Warhammer 40K: Task Squad

Waiting through the silence, Sherpa would finally slam his palm down onto the table with a satisfied smile.

"Excellent, no more questions it seems." He said, quickly raising his left arm to look at a small, golden watch hanging at his wrist.
"And it's still 40 minutes until the next group shows up. We're ahead of schedule, and I like that!"

Turning off the monitor with one press of a button, Sherpa would reach down behind the table to pick up a dark, pitch black onyx rod carved with silver runes and inscriptions all around it. Using it like a walking cane, Sherpa would begin to walk around the long table with it, motioning for the rest of the group to get on their feet.

"Ladies, gentlemen and... " Sherpa paused, glancing at Homn for a moment.
" ... and mutants... please follow me!"

Those familiar with the technology would recognize the pitch black rod Sherpa was using as a cane to be in fact an unactivated null-rod, a powerful and rare device said to be capable of completely nullifying the power of the warp around it.

"Our ship... or "ride" as they like to call it in the underhive, heh." Sherpa muttered, chuckling softly at his own joke."
" ... is located in the eastern hangar. Not far from here. Nonetheless, let's not tarry."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Leading the party through the many corridors of the palace, it would turn out to be a surprisingly empty place. Aside from the grandiose art and massive pillars.

Perhaps the most frequent sight in the palace would be the odd, brainless servitor marching around in the grand hallways, constantly looking for any speck of dust or dirt which they cleaned up with mechanical efficiency. Even the servitors of the palace were dressed in elaborate, golden robes over their vat grown muscles and cyborg augmentations, making the brainless creations look more alike their baroque surroundings.

Finally however, they would arrive in the hangar, the same one they had arrived in just hours earlier.

This time though, they would pass down through the lower levels, passing groups of adepts of the mechanicum who were clustered together. But rather than wearing the traditional red robes common to their order, these wore sickly green robes instead, with various medical tubes and tanks fitted across their bodies, and elaborate mechadendrites fitted with syringes and scalpels.

As they passed them, the adepts turned to look at the group their cold, iron masks. Sherpa looked at them in return, his smile gone, but said nothing.

Arriving in the lower level of the hangar, they would enter a large, metal reinforced hangar. Lined along the walls were numerous valkyries, some being transported around on smaller threaded vehicles. Hanging from the roof, being lifted by heavy metal cranes were numerous lightning fighters hanging dormant. Lined in the middle of the hangar were a series of black, gold trimmed medium sized spaceships, custom built for the Governor's own personnel and named "Equinox Shuttles". Spanning sixty feet in length, thirty feet in height and forty feet in width, they were mounted on massive iron legs and with a loading ramp at the bottom. The head of the shuttles were extra armored with heavy sheaths of gold painted plates formed like wings protruding on either side, and on each side of the ship, a slogan was written in large, brass letters: "For our lord and his Emperor".

Most of the other humanoids in the hangar were servitors, though there were a few adepts of the mechanicum, these ones wearing the traditional red robes as opposed to the green ones of the ones seen earlier.

"There is our ride." Sherpa would announce, motioning towards the nearest Equinox Shuttle labeled 62 with giant golden letters at the side.
"Magnificent isn't she? There are few vessels in the galaxy that could ever outrun her. Coupled with top-notch shielding and stealth systems, she is state of the art in VIP escort and protection."

Sherpa added, his smile having returned to his face.

" ... and comfort, of course! You'll each be afforded your very own room. Though... " Sherpa paused, looking at the creature Homn.
"He might have to be relegated to the cargo area."

Warhammer 40K: Task Squad

I can get up a post in a bit then.

Don't worry yourselves. In character dialogues, or Q&A such as this introduction was, I do not mind shorter posts. I feel they help give the conversation more fluidity.

I don't expect anyone to write a long essay of a post just to explain the thought process behind your character's decision to say "No, no more questions" coupled with a long internal monologue :P

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

As Liaena stowed away her dart gun, Sharon let out a low groan at the strange looks they were receiving from the rest of the room.

Fortunately, the slumbering Lithrielle did a good job in attracting a fair bit of viewers herself. The tiny Bella she had been holding earlier was nowhere to be seen, lost as she was somewhere under the large, purple Night Elf now laid out across the floor.

"I am still not sure which woman Liaena holds the least affection for... Thea or Bella?"

“It could wait until later of course if you want to accompany Rune, but time is of the essence”

"I do believe I'll be quite available." Sharon would be quick to reply, bowing in return to Thea. Turning to look at Liaena, he gave her a smile and a small nod.
"Long have I admired the hospitality of the church, Priestess Thea, and your welcome only honors that tradition of generosity. Sharing my side of the story is the least I can do in return."

From the time he had known Liaena, he knew that her laboratory sessions tended to be mostly a one-woman venture. Though he carefully respected her skills as an alchemist, and despite his own record of dangerous adventures, Sharon had found it difficult to muster the courage to be in any laboratory of Liaena's for any length of time. Bandits and beasts were somewhat predictable. As was his Death Knight brother to some degree. But Liaena's potions... light only knew when they might blow up!

"Go ahead with the alchemy, Liaena. I will ensure to have a proper meal ready for when you return." Sharon said as he looked over at Liaena, before the smaller High Elf would lean over, giving her a gentle kiss before whispering.
"A proper meal, not church rations."

The church might be many things. A place of worship. A sanctity of safety. A temple of tranquility. A rescuer of the soul... but was there one thing Sharon had learned, then rescuing a proper steak from being overcooked or from high-quality meat being wasted in a cheap soup was not among their many virtues!