World of Warcraft®

[A trip through the Nether]
[post 1-22]

Matron Genevra, Steward of the Conclave, stood in a small nook somewhere within the twisting halls and vaulted rooms of the Northshire Abbey. The table beside her a towering landscape of book stacks and scroll piles. Each book on the table in turn patiently taken into her loving hands, carefully cleaned, repaired, and dutifully restored. The book was then returned to its proper place on the shelf somewhere within the Abbey's vast library.

She turned from the table, a refreshed tome in hand, and moved across the room to return that particular volume to its home. A faint and nearly indistinguishable void of space suddenly appeared aside the table behind her. As quickly as it appeared however the void was then filled. Dust that had settled atop the piles of books shifted a little at the spatial disturbance. Matron Genevra calmly pushed the volume home on the shelf just above her head with two fingers.

"Back so soon Ceidy?" She spoke over her shoulder.

In the very spot of the anomaly stood the cause, leaning casually against the table. Nearly just as tall as the Steward of the Conclave, the robed woman pulled back her hood and down her cloth mask which revealed a head of long vibrant auburn hair and exceedingly fair skin. The only possibly blemish to her being a simple silver ring which pierced her left nostril and appeared strangely out of place.

The woman smiled. "I remember the days when that would startle the devil out of you."

"Yes, and as I remember you were very fond of scaring me half to death." Genevra turned to face the woman. "I've found by simply expecting you to blink into the room at any moment I can avoid being startled by the unexpected."

Ceidy removed the small pack slung over her shoulders and plopped it onto the floor. Lifting the flap she pulled from it a large book, appearing larger than the pack from which it was pulled, which had a simple binding of leather. She held it aloft. "Those papers you requested."

Genevra took up the tome. "Why are they leather bound?" She inspected the binding adding, "...and why is the work so sloppy?" She clicked her tongue with disapproval. "So unlike you Ceidy. You're usually more meticulous than this."

"Yes," the woman nodded. "Well, I had so little time to do a proper binding, what with a pair of satyrs hunting me from the moment I entered Eldre'Thalas, not to mention those blood thirsty elves with which I had to constantly contend. I had no idea there would be so many of them."

Genevra unwrapped the bundle and began perusing its pages, nodding absently as Ceidy recounted her tale.

"You know me, in and out like a ghost. Well," she paused for a thought. "At least as far as those ogres were concerned. They were easy enough to slip past." Seeing that she wasn't paying much attention, Ceidy began to embellish.

"Those dogs of course, they were a different story. Nearly ate me alive." Genevra nodded, turning a page.

"Thankfully I was able to turn invisible and make my escape. That was until the pair of Demons spotted me. They chased me through the gardens of walking trees, setting little dancing flowers on fire as they went. I couldn't blink away fast enough!" Genevra flipped another page with a nod, running her finger along its text.

"That was of course after I single handedly let loose a crazed inter-dimensional creature which then started to lay waste to what ruins were left standing."

"Good, good." Genevra clapped the book shut and smiled up at the woman. "No real incident to report then."

Ceidy rolled her eyes but shook her head a No.

"Glad to see you so concerned for my welfare, Gen."

"Always!" she exclaimed, feigning insult. "I constantly worry for your safety child. Not a moment passes that I don't languish in worry, wondering if I've finally sent you on a task far beyond even your magical capabilities!"

The mage leaned back against the table, picking at a nail. "Oh, sure. Sure." She muttered, disingenuous. Genevra placed the book atop the landscape of book stacks, adding to the dust gathering clutter.

Ceidy turned to her, "I was hoping you would have another assignment for me."

"So quick to meet your end?"

"You know me, why put off death till tomorrow when I can meet it today."

Genevra pulled loose a short sheet of parchment and handed to the mage. "In that case, I could use some help with this." Ceidy glanced over the sheet, reading aloud as she did.

"Travel to the Nether... Un-huh. Gather information about... Can do. Research effects of... Not a problem. Compile a report on Time Dilation!"

"That going to be a problem?"

"Please! I'll have the reports on your desk, cataloged, indexed, cross referenced and bound in the finest gilded skins by next week." She uttered confidently with well rehearsed false bravado.

Ceidy lifted her pack, slinging her arms through the straps. "Is there anything else you would like me to do while I'm away? Put an end to world hunger perhaps? Maybe get a quote from Garrosh about the ongoing conflict?" She was dismissed with a wave of the matron's hand.

Matron Genevra returned to her work, undoing the sloppily bound papers brought to her and fitting them with a proper binding. The mage pulled up the cloth face mask and pulled the hood over her head.

As quickly and mysteriously as she had appeared, Genevra blinked and Ceidy disappeared leaving behind a faint spatial void. Air rushed in to fill where she once stood, slightly disturbing the thin layer of dust gathering atop the landscape of books piled on the table.

[ I'm always so impressed by your thoughtful portrayal of other people's characters. Have plugged this to Hordie Librarians! ]

((Many thanks! :D ))

Nixim glanced across the room at his work bench. It overflowed with overdue projects. He mentally sighed. The good dwarves of Thelsamar would just have to wait a little longer. Nixim had more pressing matters to deal with on his drafting table. He swiveled on his stilted chair back to the drafting table and leaned over the pages of designs. After a long while of turning page after page, reworking calculations, checking double-checking and triple-checking measurements he finally gave a mental sigh and sat back in his high swivel chair.

"It's crazy enough that it just might work..." he mused.

A large shadow leaned over his right shoulder and spoke with a soft sweet voice. "Yes, I beleive that will do nicely."

Nixim screamed with a start and rocked forward, tipping his high swivel chair. He fell grasping at his drafting table as he went, pulling down the stack of pages, penciles, rulers and assorted drafting tools. The gnome grasped for his metal compass, grasping it in one hand wielding the pointed end like the tip of a knife.

"Whose there! Who said that! Who....!" Nixim screamed in a panic. His eyes focused on a familuar feminine figure. She stood straight and proud, fully robed. Head hooded and face still masked with a band of cloth. Girted with a wide belt lined with small pouches on one side, a row of leather loops holding small flaskes and vial snuggly in place around the other side. Wide padded shoulder straps held what the gnome could surmise was a small back pack.

"Ceidy!" The panic swiftly faded from his voice. "What in the devil... Why would you... Where did you... How, "

"I blinked into the room only a few moments ago."

Nixim threw the metal compass at the mage. "Would you stop doing that! I swear woman! You'll be the death of me one of these days!"

The compass bounced off the mage's robes as she pulled down her hood and mask revealing a smirk. "Such a thing would never happen master gnome. You are far too young, spry and in good health."

Nixim scowled up at the tall woman. "Flattery will get you every where." He extended his arm. "Give a gnome a hand now."

Ceidy bent low, grapsed Nixim's hand and pulled him to his feet. "I'm sorry I startled you..."

"No you're not."

"You were just so focused that I didn't want to disturb you."

"Of course." Nixim dusted himself off. "One of these days I'm going to tie a tiny bell around your belt so I can hear where you enter." Ceidy peered back over at the mess of papers.

"Is that it?"

Nixim followed her gazed and nodded. "It is. Give me a hand and I'll tell you all about it."

As the pair bent to gather the loose pages Nixim explained how the device he had finished designing would function, illustrating in grand gestures each intended effect. Ceidy enjoyed paying visits to her several gnomish friends and aquaintances. They were usually such an expressive people. So imaginative, the mage always marveled at how their minds could bend and flex around any problem to create a solution. It was as if the word "impossible" wasn't in their vocabulary.

Ceidy held aloft a page, glancing over it as the small engineer finished his explanations.

"Well?" Nixim crossed his arm confidently. "What do you think?"

"For once master gnome I was actually able to follow you. I can honestly say that I understand, it's just..." Her voice trailed off.

"Just..." Nixim rolled his hands in a circle as if he were pulling in a rope. "...what?"

"How is this device going to function?"

The gnome scowled up at her. The mild contempt in his eyes not lost on her. She waved him off.

"No no...I mean, how is this device powered?"

"Oh! Power source! Well, that's the ingenius part!" The gnome giggled as he gathered another page and held it up pointing.

"You insert your portal rune into this slot here, " he paused. "You still use those don't you?" She nodded and he returned to the page. "Jam this end into the ground and these legs will extend for support. When you're ready twist the dial here and begin casting as normal. When you finish your teleportation ritual the device will have gathered a sufficient charge, enough to essencially distort the energies surrounding you, which in turn should grant you the disired affect." Nixim paused, rubbing his hands together. "There is just one thing. You must be in Outland, preforably on the fringes."

The mage glanced at the engineer. "How about a floating portion of land?"

"As long as its suspended near the nether, should be fine. Also, you'll need to locate an area with some sort of electro-magnetic disturbance. Something like a temporal storm. Also near the nether."

The mage nodded slowly. "I know just the place."

"When will this be ready?"

"I'll get started right away since I have nearly everything I need. The rest of it will be manufactured in Tinkertown and New Tinkertown. I have already sent out orders so when I am finished with the major assembly here, which will be tomorrow afternoon, I can then gather the rest and have it finished by say..." Nixim rubbed his cleanly shaved chin. "Evening of the day after next. That is if, of course, you've brought payment."

Ceidy pulled a small pouch of coin from the back of her belt and dropped it into the engineer's hand. "Payment in full. I have need of this device sooner, so I will save you the traveling and visit those sites myself."

The gnome engineer nodded. "As you will. The sooner you get back then the sooner it will be finished."

The tall mage nodded. Nixim fingered open the pouch and quickly glanced at the contents, hefting the pouch in his hand. "I'm afraid you have over paid my dear. This pouch feels a few coins too hea..." The gnome glanced up to an empty room. "..vy. Well how about that. Not so much as a hello or fairwell. Just come and go as you please."

Nixim drew the pouch shut and tossed it onto a small table of personal affects. After a long mental sigh he grinned, bounded down the stairs to his supply room of miscellaneous parts and began carting up boxes. He had to have this primary stage of assembly finished quickly for he knew from past experience that she would soon return.

He dropped the final box of parts on the floor and pushed up his sleeves. "Looks like no sleep for me."

The next few days passed swiftly. Ceidy, utilizing her exceptional talents, gathered the necessary components allowing Nixim to finish the device earlier than anticipated. It was smaller than she had envisioned, but then she could never really tell from just reading schematics. Some capabilities, it seemed, would remain beyond her despite her vast arcane talents.

The device folded together rather neatly and could slide easily into her small back pack. If needed should could also sling it from her belt.

The mage slid the device into her pack and was off. A few well placed quick jumps across the Kaz mountains and she was soon in Ironforge. Dinner. A drink. A casual smoke to let it all settle. Ceidy then took the effort to open up a personal portal to the Mage Tower in Stormwind. She stepped through with the fatigue of the days' exertions catching up to her. She made her way through the district to a small room she kept rented near the tower.

After a fair night's rest she was up at dawn standing before the portal to the Badlands which remained open within the Mage Tower. A small exertion of will, an outstretched hand, and she quickly opened her eyes to the grandeur of the Dark Portal. Some negotiation with the Draenei Security team keeping watch over the monstrosity and she was soon making her way up the ramp. She seldom had cause to travel to the Outlands. It was an experience which she never relished.

The world around her disappeared and for a moment it felt as if time also ceased. Just about the moment her mind fixed on these notions, hot dry air incited her scenes from all angles. She opened her eyes to witness once again the Hellfire Peninsula. It was only one in a handful of times in her life that she had ever stood on the other side of the Dark Portal. To witness the continuing onslaught of the demonic hordes being kept at bay near the foot of the portal. In spite of appearances, things were relatively kept in check but not without great effort. It was a thankless task, the kind she knew all too well. A part of her was grateful she was not called to the duty.

Her mind shifted back to the task at hand. She acquired a griffon and flew to Honor Hold. From there she pulled a precious medallion, crystalline in appearance. He held suspended within what appeared to be a bright but nevertheless cool start of a blue hued light. With it she summoned a rare and cherished companion, a celestial steed.

The magical creature materialized from a pouring out of several points of light from this medallion. Tiny stars swirled and aligned like a small constellation into the form of a powerful horse. It carried her swiftly and in relative safety across the Peninsula to the southeast, edging past the dangerous settlement of Zeth'Gor and across the Spinebreaker Mountains. On the other side the area grew dark and foreboding. Mysterious energy storms stirred from within the mass of darkness that loomed overhead. The celestial steed left her to venture deeper on her own. There were place where even it dared not tread.

Ceidy was a brave soul. She had seen much in her time as well as done much. There were few thing out in the world that would now startle her, surprise her, or make her pause in fear quite like this. It was the uncertainty of it all. There was much that she understood, but mostly it was just theory on her end. Conclusions drawn from texts she had read about the Twisting Nether and the Nether Storms that gather on the edges of Outland. This is the first she had really seen of them. Moreover, it was one thing to behold from a relative safe distance. Another to willingly venture into such a storm.

It was times like these that she was grateful for the company of at least one faithful companion. The flap of her small pack flipped open. Out from the pack crawled a curious little Sprite Darter, its tender hands gripping Ceidy's shoulder, the long tail curling across the back of her neck. It was like a familiar embrace from an old friend.

"Shall we Wyrd?" She glanced to the creature on her shoulder. It's funny eye articulated in a circle as if examining her entire face. It cooed at Ceidy, then puffed at the ominous darkness ahead as if to say: Let's go. We've got this.

The mage bravely adjusted her pack, shifted her belt and along with the curious little Sprite Darter, strode into the dark unknown.

Some time later in Westfall...

Large sections of earth, clumps of soil, rocks and boulders; all floating, spinning, held aloft within the raging chasm. Unbound whirlwinds and cyclones danced across the once lush and fertile fields that have laid fallow and forgotten since the time of the Second War. Since the great cataclysm storms and winds have raged, pulling loose the soil and threatening any creature that dares venture near. At the heart of the chasm a glow has persisted.

A man, once a proud farmer now left homeless and destitute, reached the top of tall hill. He sat with his satchel and pulled out a hard won loaf of bread. With a fine view of the of the distant chaos of the chasm, the homeless man broke small bits of bread from the loaf and enjoyed memories of yesteryear.

Deep within the gaping maw a strange energy projected upward to the sky. The homeless man marveled at wonders he had never seen. He watched as dark clouds gathered in the sky. They appeared to be building above the chasm.

Thunder rolled in the distance. Rain began to fall over the chasm. Near his hill the skies were turning dark and the winds picked up. Sparks and pops of lightning danced within the clouds. The man tucked his bread safely away and made ready should that storm head turn his direction. Then in the distance a blinding flash of light. It left spots in his vision. The man rubbed his eyes and looked again into the distance, wondering if the lightning he'd seen came from the clouds... or perhaps from the raging chasm itself.

The air around him grew heavy. The hairs on the back of his arms and neck stood on end. The dread of something frightening and unknown about to happen gripped his chest. The homeless man began to stand, heeding his intuition which screamed RUN!

As he rose to his feet arcs of what appeared to be lightning stretched down from the dark clouds to the glow of the chasm. A long bolt like a glowing arm shot out of the chasm. It hopped from treetop to treetop toward the hill and the homeless man, arched up and connected with the dark clouds that had gathered over his head.

Another great flash of light accompanied by a loud crack of thunder overhead knocked the homeless man to the ground. It all happened so quickly the man hadn't the time to even think about curling up in a ball and covering his head. He instead lay on his back and peered up into the sky.

His vision blurred from the flash of light but then quickly cleared. He swore to himself, unable to fathom what he witnessed.

The mage pressed her way into the darkness and as planned dropped the curious gnomish device Nixim had created. She did as she was taught and activated the device then began her usual teleportation ritual. The device responded as advertised. It came alive, small arms and parts spinning and churning, gathering the ambient chaotic energies from the nether storms raging around her.

When she finished her casting the world muted all around her. Time faded. Reality seemed to be stripped away until the mage found herself floating. She couldn't tell how long. No possible way to determine where. She could still be standing in the middle of that storm near Hellfire. Perhaps she was still asleep in her room in the Mage District of Stormwind. She could be back at her ancestral home in Dalaran, but it had been years since she had seen the estate... or maybe she never left.

Time had no meaning. Space had no meaning. She was everywhere and nowhere, all at once... and at the same moment she wasn't.

A gnomish device working exactly as intended. Fascinating.
...was her first coherent thought.

Bit by bit she became more aware of her surroundings pulling as it were cognitive thought back to her. She was floating within the nether. All the preparations she had made, all the books she had read and little experiments she had conducted didn't prepare her for what it would really be. The preparation however did help her. In some small way she was expecting the confusion that came with an altered reality, and though it was with some effort she was able to bring herself back from the brink of insanity, and ultimately oblivion.

With ordered thought came the subconscious expression of her will. A chunk of earth drifted near her and turned the flat end to her. She stood upon its face and marveled. It was breathtaking. The swirling and churning of light and colors. Darkness drifted near and then passed like the night as brilliant dawn hues drove it away.

She dropped her pack and knelt down, reaching inside for her blank book and ink quill. She needed to begin her notes. So many experiments to conduct. So many theories to test. So much she had to learn. She had to know.

Wyrd, the curious sprite darter cried to her as it floated nearby. She smiled as she watched the creature twirl and dance. Her lips pursed with a thought. It was almost as if the Sprite Darter were at home here in the nether. She began to wonder what other creatures might exist, if any do exist, within this strange place.

If time had no meaning and reality was as a vague dream or faint memory, could one really say that the mage took a long while to compile her notes and conduct her experiments? That it took her any time to fill each page of her book with knowledge, wouldn't it be the same as saying that it was already filled with that knowledge. She hadn't learned everything there was to know of the nether. Such a notion felt impossible, but was it?

To recount everything that took place would take a lifetime, perhaps several. But it could also be conveyed in a thought.

When her book was filled the mage knew she was done. Finished. Her work was complete. She had gathered all the data needed, for now.

She had changed.

Nothing was the same for her and she knew that nothing would ever be the same when...
...when she...
...returned.

Dalaran. Arathor. Stormwind. The Mage Tower. Northshire. The Abbey.

Conclave.

Everything blurred with the thought. There goes her subconscious again. Without knowing it she willed herself to return from whence she came.

Blinding light. A deafening clap of noise. Tumbling. A dark torrent raged around her. The sharp sting of rain droplets made her focus.

Rain. Crisp wind at her back. She was falling.

Ceidy's eye popped open. I'm...I'm FALLING!

Reality flooded back. The mage twisted her body and like a cat flipped in the air. The ground rushed up at her. With hardly an effort or a thought her hand motioned a specific and well practiced gesture accompanied by a mumbled phrase. Her descent slowed to a drift, and not a moment too soon.

Her feet touched the rocky top of a hill. She gazed around her, almost embarrassed as she smoothed down her robes along with her panic. She took in a deep breath of the crisp fresh air. She slowly exhaled remembering how much she loved the rainy seasons. The mage peered out from the hilltop at the surrounding landscape. Yellowed grasslands. Thin orchards. Old farm lands. That crisp smell of rain that awoke that musty smell of earth nearly unique to one place she knew.

"Westfall."

Her nose caught another sent. An altogether unpleasant sent, but one with she was acquainted. She turned and locked gaze with a half naked dirty wide eyed man, laying flat on his back. She saw the wonder in his eyes as he looked up at her. It turned to confusion and then shifted to terror. Ceidy held up her hands and as sweetly as she could tried to reassure the man.

"Fear not. I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're..." the man stuttered. "You're a mmma.. a ma... ma-ma-mage?"

She smiled pulling down her hood and mask. "Yes. I've just returned from journey." There was still fear in his eyes. She tried to ease him again. "You'll be alright. There is nothing to fear from me."

The homeless man shook his head and pointed to something behind her. "Its not you I'm worried about."

Ceidy turned. A large creature glided through the clouds. It danced on the wind. Its cry echoed to her through the rain. A cry familiar to her but foreign to this land. It was a playful cry. A joyful noise. Her familiarity with it awakened her memories as the large winged Sprite swooped overhead and down toward the grassy plain.

The mage caught herself in a giggle. She felt it strange. She was not the giggling type. "No need to fear that one either."

"What is it!" The man cried out, covering his head as it swooped by.

"An Enchanted Sprite. A dragon of sorts. It's not native to these realms and is rather enjoying itself."

They watched as the large winged creature swooped low over the grasslands. Its skin color shifted hues as it flew. A soft blue to a vibrant green then golden as it skimmed the grassland.

It shot spinning up into the sky, shifted to a vibrant purple that nearly matched the dark cloud bank, then tumbled back toward the earth. Nearing the ground it popped its wings out nearly halting its descent and shifted a vibrant almost hostile red.

Then she saw it.

It was a large red winged plains vulture. The type of bird capable of killing a grown man and carrying away the corpse.

The Enchanted Dragon Sprite pounced on a red winged grassland vulture. Beneath the Sprite's hind foot it looked like a small parrot. The Dragon Sprite pulled the bird apart with its two front claws, standing on his hind legs looking almost humanoid as it did. It lept into the air with the birds carcass and then flung it away into the trees, letting out a cry of triumph.

The two watched from their hill top. The man in horror, the mage with a morbid curiosity. She put her hands on her hips. "Huh. I guess it doesn't like large birds."

Wyrd, the small Sprite Darter, drifted down from the skies, watching the larger sprite go about its fun. The cat sized creature floated on the winds near Ceidy for a moment. When the mage noticed it, Wyrd drifted near and landed on her shoulder, tucking its wings close to its sides. It gurgled in her ear.

Ceidy nodded. "Yes, we need to get back. Fortunate that we should be returned here of all places." The mage patted her robes. "My book." She looked at the small Sprite Darter on her shoulder and then on the ground around her. "Where has it gone?"

The homeless man shrugged on the ground. "I saw no book..." He held the wide eyed look of a man that was on the brink of losing his mind.

Wyrd swung its head around and clucked for Ceidy's attention. The mage turned and saw the book tumbling through the sky, pages rustling, almost as if it were carried by the winds. The Sprite Darter read the mage's intent before she could put it to words.

In a blink the small cat sized creature disappeared from her shoulder. The man followed the mage's gaze to the book tumbling through the air on the winds. The small Sprite Darter suddenly appeared near it, the man noticing only its small wings opening. It grasped the book with all four claws and again disappeared. The man blinked, looking around the countryside. A strange gurgl drew is gaze back to the mage.

The small Sprite clutched to her shoulder. The book now in the mage's hands. She swung her pack down and shoved the book in, drawing it closed and fastening the flap. The deep beating of large wings neared and the Large Enchanted Sprite dropped from the sky, landing on the gradual slope of the hillside. It scampered up to the mage with an unearthly nimbleness.

The man cried out in terror, recoiling and covering his face with his arms.

Ceidy sighed and mused. How things considered strange and terrifying to most are rather common to her. As it is with most mages, she assumed.

The large Sprite Dragon lifted a wing and lowered its shoulder. Ceidy climbed to its back with ease and settled, tucking her wind blown auburn hair beneath her hood and pulling her mask up. With little more than a whoof the Enchanted Dragon lept into the air, caught the winds with its large wings and they were lifted away.

The homeless man watched as they drifted northward toward Stormwind. He lifted himself and took up his sack looking around. "I had better get down before any other strange thing falls from the skies."

As he descended the hill the winds calmed. The clouds began to break. The storm that so suddenly appeared drifted away.

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

((*note: Enchanted Fey Dragon is the mount I am referencing. In writing I mixed its name with the Sprite Darter pet. I think it works well enough so for now I'm not going to re-edit.))

Ceidy plopped down into the comfy padded chair. Large enough to accommodate a burly dwarf but tall enough for a human, she pulled her legs up beside her and slumped back into the cushions.

Even a mage, regardless of talent, needs a rest. Now and then.

She arrived at Stormwind late that afternoon. As evening fell in the mage quarter she fell out of her usual attire of robes, belt pouched, hooded masks and into a simple white blouse and blue dress. Her home in Stormwind was small and simple, but plenty of space for a mage constantly on the move. All her things of value were usually kept on person, one of the benefits of carrying a pocket dimensional portal as a small backpack. Even without, her pack would still be light. There wasn't much that held any personal value for her these days. Relics of the past were left right there. In the past.

Still, she did carry a few momentos. Reminders of her heritage lest she forget. There were times she wished she could. Now and again, as she fingered the signet ring kept around her neck and usually hidden beneath her robes, a wise voice from the dust would speak to her.

Never forget from whence you came. It's the foundation of who you are, and the secret of who you will become.

"Wise words." She whispered. Her head tilted back and eyes were closed but her fingers played with the ring dangling around her neck. "Wyrd?" Her voice soft and sweet. "Be a dear and draw me a bath?" A small body moved on the padded arm of the chair. The cat-sized creature uncurled and gurgled. Its wings spread and with hardly an effort the Sprite Darter glided across the small room to a free standing porcelain lined iron bathtub.