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Days at the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences rolled on, blurring into weeks. Weeks into months. Now it seemed her first year at the esteemed academy was nearing its end. A few more months and her fellow student would be on a short vacation away from the drudgery. But not Lilith.

No, there would be no rest for this raven hair gnome. She had a whole other curriculum to study. Professored by a master who gave copious work, required an insane amount of studying and who gave out brutal punishments for anything less than perfection. Not to mention long late night hours spent in secretive locations deep in the bowels of taboo locales putting her knowledge to practical application with endless tests. All usually in the form of ritualistic castings, summonings and conjurations.

Still, she had to keep up appearances. It wouldn't go over so well if professors discovered that one of their A-list students was doubling as a dark conjurer. She needed to look around the Mage District and Stormwind as a whole. She needed a day job. Something to help preserve her bright Ms. Goodytwoshoes facade. Perhaps an apprenticeship at Cordell's Enchanting. Something to look into.

((Open RP for anyone, but as the title suggests it revolves around the Mage Quarter of Stormwind. No need to be a student at the academy. Anyone and anything are welcome to post here, from the mundane to the storylined.
:D Lets see what RP we can make of it!))

Fresh from her recent excursions to elsewhere, Tahlyn found herself in a rather reflective mood. There were still so many lingering questions that she had pushed aside prior to her recent adventures. The librarian entered the Academy, looking around for ...something... someone. She wasn't quite sure yet.

Her steps were soft, just like her demeanor. Her dark eyes drank in her surroundings as she set about in search of one of the instructors.

Time. It was a mysterious thing.

Ceidy reclined on a bench, which sat grouped in a small alcove with a few other furnishings down one of the several wide corridors of the Academy. From her position she had fair light to read by from a large window looking out at the Mage Tower. Clean light drifted through the window. Her auburn hair glistening red highlights in the illumination.

Her clear green eyes scanned page after page of a book. The title clearly visible along the front cover and spine: Polymorphic Rules & Regulations. The works' context was nothing new to her, but she still found its pages upon pages of accounted mishaps curious, not to mention a potential learning experience. Several of the printed misfortunes had lead her to past studies which in turn helped her refine her own abilities.

Several people, from students of the Academy to professors to the common mage, all passed her by. Few ever glanced her way. Only a few caught her attention. A curious black haired gnome that looked a little out of place for some reason, and the familiar dark eyes and soft step of another mage. Tahlyn. The name brought to mind their recent shared adventure. She doubted the woman would remember her. Her head was hooded and face masked so it was very doubtful, but still. The mage had made an impression.

Ceidy pulled her nose from the book as Tahlyn glided by. "Are you lost dear?" she asked in her usual sweetly soft tone. The hint of a disarming smile. It was decided. She would test this one and see if she had a talent for details.

She paused mid-step as she heard Ceidy's voice. "Lost? That would depend on your definition of lost I suppose?" She smiled and mused, "Am I lost in spirit or body, or both? Am I in the wrong location? Or am I in the wrong time?" She turned to face Ceidy, "I think you would find that the answer to most of those questions would depend on your understanding of Time itself."

Ceidy shut the book in one hand. How delightfully unexpected, she mused.

"Does time begin and end, as the numbers on a watch face would suggest, or simply keep turning in motion following the arms? Is time linear or is it cyclical? What happens if the watch suddenly stopped? Does time cease altogether, or did it even exist at all?" She motioned with the book in hand as she spoke.

"Personally I ascribe to... " She stopped herself. "Well that's neither here nor there, but to clarify my question. I query more as an observation on your present state. You appear to be searching for something, or perhaps someone, and have yet to find them. So I suppose my question should have been; Can I help you find whatever it is you seek?"

With her free hand she motioned to an empty seat in the nook.

She slid into the seat across from Ceidy, "Those are questions that I would once ask myself prior to certain... events." She smiled warmly before adding, "I am simply searching for some differing opinions and understandings on some events that have transpired in the past that I would like to know more about."

"I have a bit of a personal interest in the matter as it were." She quickly deflected, "How is it that you came to be involved in the rescue of Caileanmor? I don't believe that our paths had crossed prior to that, not that it is not a good thing, I am simply a curious participant as it were."

Another successful ritual. The focus lines and incantations had been perfect, the right flux at the right time, and the flows of chaotic energy had been handled, if not as well as he had like, better than his other students.

With a careless wave of his hand, the Felguard was banished back to the Nether, and he turned to examine the small handwriting of his newest pupil in the margins of his own grimoire. "Progressing quickly, yet still reckless." He thought has his fingers turned the pages of his own creation.

The dim light from the candles in the dark underbelly of the city didn't bother him, nor did the steady aroma of fire and brimstone, chaotic Fel and sinister shadow magics. With a snap of his fingers, he signaled to Gordus, instructing the Observer to devour all traces of the magics used here. After all, he didn't want another Warlock following and stealing his secrets, his techniques and through them, his power. "Politics of the Covens are as cutthroat as they ever were" speaking to no one in particular, "I suppose I can consider this new student a useful addition, despite her many mistakes I have had to painfully correct. She will learn quickly, if she doesn't die one of these days."

As Gordus devoured the last lines of the magical ritual, he turned and stared his hood up into the ceiling, knowing his hidden Eye was following the petite little Gnomette, staring through it at her. "Study well, apprentice, I will teach you more than they ever could." She would be strong, one day, with his tutorship in secret, and her persona for all others to see.

With a final turn, the grimoire vanished and the man made his way with purposeful strides out of the subterranean vault, he had other plans to attend to...

In the failing light of dusk the little gnome moved quickly through the mage quarter of Stormwind, one hand on her head keeping the gray hat from flying off. She hadn't the time to visit the haberdasher and get it properly fitted. Life for her was getting more and more chaotic by the week.

She paused only for a moment to glance left then right, and seeing not a soul the little gnome sprinted across the open courtyard to the door of the Slaughtered Lamb. She pressed the door shut behind her and breathed a sigh of relief, blowing an errant lock of black hair from her eyes. Waiting a moment to compose herself, Lilith glanced around the room. It was a slow evening. Lilith tugged on the ends of her surcoat to pull it straight and dusted off her hands and pants. Lastly she tucked that defiant lock back up under her hat.

She strolled by the barkeep and gave him a nod which he returned with a curious question. "How do you lot do it?" She paused mid stride and turned to the man. "Do what?" The typical mask of friendly curiosity had vanished when she'd entered. The rather bleak look on her face put the man at disease she could tell. He began to squirm trying to explain what he meant. "Spit it out man." she sighed.

He held his hands up defensively. "It isn't for me to know or to judge the goings on behind that curtain." He gestured to the far door. "I ain't never asked and I never want to know. However, it all has me wondering. I watch you and others like you waltz in and out of here and its like you people change from one side of the room to the other."

Lilith didn't blink. "I am sure I haven't the faintest idea of what you mean." Before the man could respond she turned on her heels and disappeared behind the curtain that hung at the far end of the tavern. As she descended the winding path deep into the subterranean bowels beneath the city she let her mind wander. It was true. She was indeed leading two lives, now three counting her evening job. Four if you consider the scant trace of a social life. Too many hats to wear. To many masks to bear. She began to wonder how much longer she could go on before she either lost her sanity due to lack of sleep or died at the hands of her master and his grueling training regimen. As her feet reached the final spiral downward she consciously pressed such thoughts out of her mind.

For now she needed every bit of focus she could muster. Up until now she had only worked out he rituals in theory and on paper, which she promptly burnt to keep her works secret. Nothing existed outside her mind with exception of the few notes she made in the pages of the grimoire her master had given her. It never left her side or her sight and so for now she was confident its secrets were secure. Her life depended on it.

She moved swiftly through the salon dodging between busy practitioners hard at work perfecting their craft. A couple gave her a knowing nod, others a contemptible glance or challenging snear. Some days she would pause for an exchange with a few of them but tonight she was on a mission. Straight downstairs to the summoning circle. It was time she put into practice all her theorycraft.

It was time for her first summons.

"No, we haven't crossed paths." Ceidy reached down into her small pack, chuckling lightly as she did. She is a sharp one.

"Opinions and Understandings. Well I think I may be of some aid in that realm." She pulled up a small cup appearing to be made of white porcelain. She casually gathered up the hem of her robe and wiped out the inside as she continued.

"Genevra is a mutual acquaintance. I like to keep busy so from time to time she gives me odd jobs to complete. I happened by a correspondence about the incident and thought to offer up my service." She had hesitated, though she didn't know why. Holding the cup level in one hand she traced a finger around its lip at a calculated pace. The cup filled with a clear liquid. With two steady hands she took a sip. A satisfied grin crossed her lips.

"I am a child of history," she paused to take another sip. "So tell me, what other events would you like to know more about?"

She seemed amused at this last comment, "A child of history?" Then perhaps you may be just the one that I am looking for. "Tell me, which history do you favor, the one on parchment and scroll, penned by the shaky hands of the victors or the history which actually transpired?"

Tahlyn's thoughts darted elsewhere and for a moment she would appear to be distracted before blinking several times as if she were regaining her composure or reassessing her surroundings. Finally her gaze settled back on Ceidy and the look of recognition returned to her.

"What do you know of things before the fall of the North, and by the North, I do mean Lordaeron, then South Shore, and other holdings as well."

The summoning circle was prepped. All intersecting lines drawn to perfection. Her circles had improved a great deal since beginning. All prescribed runes were marked at their proper places. The candles were placed and lit, each made of a particular type of wax. They came at an expense, made and imported from the north through new contacts she had made at the enchanter's shop.

The purist in her wanted to know how they were made. The rather naive gnome that still remained didn't. Even still, putting her trust in another's craftsmanship when so much was on the line didn't sit well with her, but what other choice did she have? There was no time right now to learn, to gather materials, to prepare them herself. The time was nigh and she knew the master was out there, somewhere, watching.

Even now she could feel his gaze on the back of her head. Over her shoulder. On her while she slept. All around her. It unnerved her at first, causing her to glance around nervously. It made her feel naked. After so long however the sensation became a welcomed security. There or not, the sensation drove her to make him proud. To do that her work had to be flawless. For now, she would have to trust.

A strike of the match and the candles were lit. She laid out to the side her three items. A needle coated in the blood of an innocent but mischievous child. A swath of linen stained in the blood of a woman whose innocence was taken from her. The dagger of the one who took it from her, which was also the dagger of a killer, still slightly stained with the blood of its victims. The chanting began.

Echoes of herself reverberated within the deep crypt pulsating into a rhythmic harmony. The burning wicks dancing to her song. A each appropriate interval Lilith introduced each catalyst. First the blood coated needle, placed within the circle atop an appropriate rune to at first capture and focus the chaotic energies then lead it to the second rune. Atop the second she laid the dagger, properly oriented askew from the cardinal directions. In the flame of a particular candle she lit the swath of blood stained linen, and with that she ended.

Nothing recorded in any book, nothing recounted to her from any source, nothing in the world prepared her for what followed...

Ceidy sipped from her cup.

"The scroll and parchment seldom lie, but I have found that they offer only a skewed version of truer events. Even when scrawled by the hand that witnessed them, their inks are little more than fluid prejudice. That prejudice however, the biases, lies and half-truths all offer up clues seen only by those open enough to receive them."

She sipped again from her cup.

"Clues to a more complete truth. At least this is what I have found in my own experience."

She shifted in her seat and lowered her cup in one hand to the arm of her chair. Her expression remained soft but a cold seriousness sank deep within her gaze. "Who is to say what actually ever happened. In terms of the North, I knew the regions well. I am personally acquainted with much of its history."

Ceidy's mood brightened for a moment, a smile gracing her crimson lips. "South Shore in particular. It was a lovely settlement. A prosperous and extremely important hub of trade and commerce for our people." Her mood fell serious again. "Its loss saddens me. I admit, I am remiss to discover the precise reasoning behind its obliteration. I can assume only that it was a chance for the horde of Tarren Mill to finally rid the region of an extremely important alliance foothold. Such cold calculation seldom justifies such an extreme and terrible loss of life, if any justification can ever truly exist."

Ceidy had noted Tahlyn's momentary shift in composure. "Perhaps you can relate to me your own knowledge of what happened?" She asked as softly as possible, understanding that she might have a personal tie with that regions' events.

Darkness enveloped her, swallowing the room whole.

Her world spun. She wobbled, whirling her arms in the darkness, trying to find support where there was none. The floor came up to meet her, smashing her knees upon the cold hard stone. Lilith pushed herself away from the summoning circle, scrambling to find the far wall. Her head split with a sharp pain. Hands clasping her temples to keep it from exploding. Her innards turned until their contents came out in a single horrendous wretch.
Pinpoints of light emerged but did nothing to illuminate. They merely hovered, existed, within the utter darkness. Her nose burned and eyes watered at the stench. A new stench. A new sensation. Nothing prepared her for this event.

Why wasn't she prepared?
Did she do something wrong?
Was she going to be damned?

The pinpoints of light flickered. They candles they danced upon emerged within the darkness. Then something in her vision shifted. Lines of light, of pure energy, pure chaotic energy, appeared. Growing, curling, snaking through the darkness forming patterns. They were familiar to her. The patterns of her summoning. The runes. In one quick moment she was witnessing her own ritual at work. It was beautiful. Marvelous. The lines of energy gathered, pooled, then stretched, crossed, and swiftly completed their preset pattern.

The pinpoint flames upon the candles turned green. They popped and grew as if with anger or annoyance. The lines of energy also shifted several vibrant shades until they matched the green flames. The sickening putrid scent thickened, threatening to choke the life from her. She blinked watery eyes trying to glimpse what was happening.

Something opened within her summoning circle. A portal to another realm. Dry heat blasted her face and for a moment she tried to shield herself. Hostile voices, threatening whispers, negative thoughts and emotions attacked her from all sides. Howling in her ears. Laughing in her face. Taunting her. Probing her. Panic filled her. Crouched, huddled in a ball within the darkness she felt hopeless. Alone. Despair threatened to take her.

A spark of realization. She was alive. She was in control. She had summoned this and so she can dispel it. She gripped her fear, controlled her emotions, centered herself and steeled her resolve.

In that moment... She exhaled.

The world returned to her, flooding back all at once.

She blinked and stood. Everything was silent and still. The room was illuminated. Her back against the far wall. Peering around the summoning chamber she noted nothing had changed.

She inhaled. The room smelt the same, dusty and dank. Only a hint of something rotten remained in her clothes. She caught the gaze of the summoning circle's overseer, a fellow warlock. A human female. She just watched, face expressionless.

"How long was I gone?" Lilith asked, struggling to regain her composure.

"Gone?" She looked mildly confused. "You've never left."

"Never left?" Lilith studied the summoning circle. "But when I..." She gasped. Sitting in the center of the circle was a small imp. Legs folded. Leaning forward as it were a child curiously watching as the grownups spoke. The woman, the overseer, gestured down at the circle. "Your summoning was a success."

Lilith carefully approached the circle, mindful not to break its protection. This was all new to her, and so there was no way for her to know just how well her summoning had worked. She joined it, sitting an arms reach just outside the circle. The small imp watching her with big green curious eyes. Small flickers of green flame dancing across its dark skin. She leaned forward a little. "What is your name?"

The little imp convulsed until it could not restrain its laughter. Its mouth opened wide with a laugh and then it grinned, displaying its gnarled but extremely pointed teeth. "What's my name?" It mocked with an insidious hiss. "You have the audacity to summon me here, and you don't even know my name?" The imp broke into a high pitched squeal, falling backwards into a ball, laughing hysterically.

Lilith's face burned red. A mixture of anger and resentfulness mixed mostly with embarrassment. She inhaled once more, ready to start a new but unsure where to begin. Before she could speak the imp abruptly ceased and bounced to the edges of its magical cage, staring at its summoner.

"Ohh..." The imp glanced up and down the length of her. "You're new at this. Yesss." It hissed. "You're new, and that makes me..." It gasped. "You're first!" The imp hopped the perimeter of the circle clapping its hands excitedly before continuing. "Well then! The rules of the game. Yes, yes. The game. I shall take this privilege to inform you of the rules." It stopped in front of her and plopped back down onto the floor within the circle. It beckoned. "Ask me anything. Go ahead. Anything at all. EXCEPT!" It paused, raising a long single finger. "My name."

"Why not your name?"
"Well, because that is all part of the game! You must discover my name on your own. Me telling you defeats the purpose of the game..." The imp rambled on like a chatty child. "...and without the game we have no fun, and we have no fun then I get bored, and when I get bored I pluck out your eyeballs and play with the squishy gray matter behind them."
Lilith blinked. She slowly inhaled. "Alright. I'll get to the game in a moment. What happened to me just a few moments ago? I completed the ritual and everything went black."
The imp bounced to its feet again, pointing at Lilith. "You saw? Little gnomie saw!" It clapped excitedly again. "This is grand news! This means you are now connected. Our realm to you, and you to our realm!"
"Connected? What do you mean?"
"You know, for a smart pants gnome you sure ask a lot of dumb questions." It sneared down it long pointy nose at Lilith. "Your first summons, when done correctly, pulls the target of your summons, in this case me." The imp twirled in a pirouette. "To your prescribed location." It bowed, gesturing down at the circle. "But any foolish conjurer can summons one such as I, or any of I's elders, but it takes particularly special ones such as you to open doorways." It peered at her with one large green eye. "Tell me. What did you see?"
"Darkness. Utter darkness."
"How did you feel?"
"Sick. The world spun and I collapsed and..." She gestured to the spot on the floor where she vomited.
"What did you smell?"
"Something putrid. It also made me ill. It was choking."
The Imp giggled. "That darkness was you peering into our realm. Darkness was all you saw because your vision is not yet sharpened. Your world spun because your senses are not yet honed. The stench you breathed is of our realm. Sulfurous Brimstone."
"I also saw green flames and lines of energy shifting all manner of colors."
The imp giggled. "The fel flames of home, warm and cozy, painful and traitorous. The energies of your magic you witnessed, pulling, coalescing, pooling the arcane and natural and then stripping them down into the raw fel. This power you called upon. This power you harnessed. Opened our doorway you did and sealed with it you are now. Forever linked." The imp clenched its fist. "Your soul now belongs with us."

Lilith leapt to her feet. It was all too much to process. Questions, doubts, fears, all churned within. She needed to get a handle on herself. Get a handle on her situation. Her thoughts turned to the black grimoire of the Master.

The imp nodded with a hiss. "Yess. Your thoughts are chaotic, but even now you are in control." Its gaze followed hers to her book bag. "Take up the book. Bring it near but do not show me its pages."
Lilith paused, shooting the creature a glance. "Why?"
"I may learn precious secrets." It innocently shrugged. "Put you in peril they might. But I will teach you."
"Why would you offer me aid?" She shook her head. "How am I to trust you?"
"Imps are traitorous." The imp nodded. "Mischievous. Diabolical. Playful as well. Some more maleficent than others, but all implings want to have fun. To be free." It smiled wide. "I see great potential within you gnomling, but you are yet a novice. Your master is formidable, I can see plain, else you would not be chosen." Lilith glared at the imp dubiously. It chuckled. "Gnomie, all similar to you are chosen. Make no mistake."

Lilith pulled the black book from her pouch and sat again upon the stone floor, but this time a distance from the imp. She took care not to reveal any page to the creature. The small imp clasped its hands behind, assuming a proud posture, and began pacing the circle. "Now. Let us begin..."
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The long hours of the night drifted into mornings light before they were finished. Lilith bid farewell and dismissed the imp back into its own realm. At one point her tired mind could not hold any more information, and so against her better judgement she pulled a few blank pages from her pack and jotted down notes, keeping them like bookmarks between the pages of the black grimoire.

Everything the imp had taught her was noted on the pages in one form or another. Lines, circles, diagrams and arrows pointing to other parts of her notes. A chaotic mess. Complete with nagging questions. Some doubts. Even a few lingering fears. She needed to study the information it gave her. Surprisingly it named particular books for her to research along the way. One in particular named The Infernal Key. A difficult tome to acquire but one it stressed, and so she circled its title.

She needed to take her time. Verify the work first. She also needed to consult the Master... somehow. She needed his guidance. What was truth and what was a lie? A trick to release the imp upon the world. A trick that would end her.

First. She needed sleep. Today she would rest. The Academy work could wait.

Tahlyn’s face fell at the mention of South Shore. She took on that look of elsewhere again, for that is where her mind was, not just somewhere else but sometime else. She stared through Ceidy as she spoke, her voice as distant as her thoughts, “I thought that was where it all started… South Shore. My cousins and I, all mages, all stuck.”

She paused, “Stuck, that’s a poor choice of words, but I find that there aren't exactly words which can explain the situation.” She smiled, her eyes returning to the present. “I would start at the beginning but that is the nature of time-based paradoxes isn't it? I am not sure where or when the beginning shall be or has been.”

“This is what I am attempting to research. Perhaps you might have some insight on the matter?”