World of Warcraft®

This woman wasn't the all knowing, all powerful, teacher Lilith had allowed herself to believe. True enough, she had some talents and power, but the leaps and bounds the gnome had been making of late were completely outside the woman's realm.

"What did she call it?" She murmured. The title came to her. Blood Magic. She berated herself a moment for not seeing it earlier. Quickly the self-reprisal melted to amusement.

I'm a threat. She mused.

On the pages before her were all the complex spells, rituals, incantations, and reagent needed to transform those robes. A devious plan began to form. She grinned.

"Thank you Grimm." She caressed the page rather reverently. "Show me more."

She flipped through the pages again on instinct and stopped where the book showed her. Plans for a particular knife. A sacrificial knife. Instructions on how to forge it and a list of the precise reagents required.

Splendid.

She frowned with the realization that she had no skills with tailoring. Never mind metal work. Her enchantment skills were moderate at best, far below what was required here. Gathering these materials was doable. Not easy, but it could be done. She would need help with the forging and needle work if she was going to don her new regalia any time soon. Gaining the skills to do it all herself would take far too long. Months, if not years.

One thing at a time, Lilith. The robes.

She closed the book and slipped it back into her satchel and found a linen bandage to wrap her hand, though the bleeding has all but stopped. Draining the life essence of a small animal would heal the wound quick enough.

Lilith stood and rejoiced, gazing down at the valley below. No longer was she this woman's puppet. She was on her own quest now. When it was complete she would return, if only to allow herself a moment of boast.

The notion filled her with a renewed energy, and she set out again on the high road across the Red Mountains, heading south east toward the demon infested blasted lands.

The high road cut a wide swath through the mountains, climbing up and falling down following the rough terrain of the red mountains. Eventually it turned down the other side descending into a green malaise.

The warm funk of the swamp wrapped tightly around Lilith the deeper she descended. She paused for a moment and looked out over the cliffs edge. The tree tops of the swamp sorrowfully beckoned her enter. The air stagnated with a lack of off-shore breeze. Almost directly below her were the high walls and roof tops of Bogpaddle, a goblin merchant town.

Lilith frowned to herself. Having a rather low opinion of goblins as a whole, she'd like nothing more than to bypass this place altogether. Her need for some supplies and at least an hour's rest out weighed her disdain, and so she steeled her resolve to pay the town a visit.

The road turned sharply and steeply and in short time she was there, standing at the western entrance. Her ear twitched suddenly and she turned. She was alone. Something didn't feel quite right.

She exhaled sharply and murmured. "You're in a swamp, Lilith. Surrounded by ageless decay."

She crinkled her nose to the overpowering musk of rotting vegetation. The warm humid weight of the air made her shift uncomfortably in her clothing. She couldn't wait to push through. The arid lands beyond were preferable.