World of Warcraft®

Failiani sighed deeply as she sat down on the Zeppelin that went to Orgrimmar. She had left Thunder Bluff not long ago. The young elf wasn’t alone; her father was nearby along with the mounts. He returned from Northrend a few days earlier after investigating reports that Cori’s flying machine had been located in Zul’Drak. He hadn’t mentioned to Faili what had been found yet except that he had to do some business and she was to come along during his trip.

And no, she didn’t know the exact location where he was going. Normally she would’ve be allowed to stay in Thunder Bluff or one of the other Horde cities; however after she had broken one of his rules, Taelis didn’t want to leave Failiani alone for long periods of time and Qixi was still recovering from the ambush that had happened almost two weeks earlier in Azshara.

Which rule did the young one break? Failiani’s thoughts went back a few weeks. Since Nisensi was still after her for that vile experiment, she wasn’t allowed to leave Horde Territories for even a short amount of time. She couldn’t go to Ratchet; Nisensi’s workers were occasionally spotted there and could grab her if she went. She didn’t go to the goblin town- some other place landed her in trouble.

The Darkmoon Faire was also off limits; however the last time they were open, Failiani had ‘sneaked’ away from Thunder Bluff and went there anyways. She didn’t think anyone would have recognized her but someone had and informed her father. He hadn’t been very happy hearing that she had gone and for now, she wasn’t allowed to be left unsupervised. Once Qixi was fully recovered, she would be allowed to stay with the bruiser but until then…

She briefly looked at the bandage on her right wrist; shaking her head. Under the bandages, she had bruises and a burn. How did she get those? While she had been at the Darkmoon Faire; she had been approached by a goblin male. Faili had never seen him before and he didn’t work for the Faire, either. Still he seemed friendly and honest tradesman. What type of stuff did he sell?

He sold various types of Steam Tonks but that wasn’t what had interested Faili. He apparently got a ‘special’ order of two mini versions of the Sunreaver Constructs. Sentry constructs and said even though they were small; it’d make good bodyguards. Qixi hadn’t been able to find and hire loyal bodyguards; something that had been strongly suggested due to the bruiser’s hearing. With the recent ambush that happened, one might be needed sooner.

She had asked the goblin how much both devices were and to her surprise they was cheap. It had been less than 100 gold coins; granted that should have made the young one suspicious of the offer but at the time Faili was happy and bought both mini-constructs and had left the faire shortly after. She didn’t tell anyone the location where she bought the devices after she got back to Thunder Bluff… she didn’t want to get in trouble with her father after all.

Anyways, she had given one of the constructs to Qixi shortly before the goblin left with Driqa; they had to make a brief visit to Stranglethorn Vale before heading back to Azshara and check on Qixi’s wolf. It still hadn’t woken up since before the ambush; Faili hoped it’d be awake soon.

At first the mini-construct had worked just fine but then she noticed her wrist started to hurt. It continued to be sore for a few days until the day the weekly Da Doctas clinic came to Spirit Rise. She had woken early that morning and noticed her wrist still seemed to be injured and Faili didn’t know what she could have done. Was she hitting it on something when she was napping? After falling asleep and waking up later in the evening, she decided to go to the clinic and have a healer check it out.

While there, she had taken off her glove and bracers when she noticed a burn on her right wrist. That had surprised her as she hadn’t noticed that before. There was a female undead priest and two Sin’dorei females sitting down. She had seen one of the Sin’dorei before; a red haired one that had bow strapped on their back- Sidonwy if Qixi’s hearing was correct. That elf had come over and examined Faili’s wrist when she noticed she had bruises, too. How did she get those?

Sidonwy had asked for the others to come over and check the burn and bruises. Before she knew, a bow was drawn. Since when were weapons used at a clinic? Apparently the undead priest had performed a ‘mind vision’ spell or something similar on Sidonwy; thinking she was being of help. That had made the Sin’dorei snap. Then again the rogue could understand having privacy invaded.

The excitement of having a possible battle break out had made the rogue suddenly yawn and fall asleep, mainly due to the narcolepsy-type curse. That’s when real trouble began with the construct. While she had been snoozing, the mini-construct apparently was making moves to attack and ‘grab’ Faili; it was responsible for the injuries on her wrist. A bit later after smelling some sort of salts, the elf woke up to being dragged and having the mini-construct being hit by a staff by the other elf.

She watched the mini Sentry Construct go flying and land in pieces at the edge of the bluff. The rogue was impressed; if she had tried to do the same thing, she would have either hit the tree or even the tauren first aid trainer that had been standing outside his tent at the time. Faili found out then that the mini-construct had tried to attack her and it was apparently haywired. Fel, she had bought those types of constructs?

The burn was then treated with a salve and then bandaged. After being given the jar that contained the salve and a bandage, she thanked them for treating her wrist. She realized that she would have to send a letter to Qixilixa and warn the bruiser about the mini-construct; if Driqa hadn’t already dealt with it. An offer was made for the other elf to help Qixi deal with the bruiser but that’s when Faili’s father contacted her via hearthstone.

After leaving the clinic, Failiani found a quiet spot and contacted her father. Of course that’s when she found out that he knew she gone to the Darkmoon Faire and that he was on his way to Thunder Bluff to talk more. Once he had arrived the next evening, they talked about her visit to the faire and the mini-constructs. He told her due to breaking one of his rules that as ‘punishment’, she wasn’t to be left unsupervised at all even in horde territories.

She wrote a warning to Qixilixa and had gotten a letter from the bruiser. She grabbed it out and smirked as she read it again.

Hey Faili,

I got the note. Don’t worry; Driqa’s employee smacked the mini-construct over the edge of the zeppelin into the Great Sea while we were traveling back to Orgrimmar. It didn’t attack me but sure tried to attack every cat, mouse and lizard it saw. I had to smack it several times…

My wolf isn’t awake yet but she’s still alive. I’m convince she’s been affected by the same potion that was used on fish that I told you about. Pizaxxa’s trainer is certain he’ll figure out how to dispel the effect soon and my wolf mount should awaken then. Pizaxxa’s doing better, too. She was asking how you were.

My eye seems to be doing better, kid. Don’t you worry; I’ll be fine in time and my other injuries are getting better. I’ll have to thank that mercenary again for helping out. Once my vision clears up, I’ll be able to keep an eye out for trouble and… Stinky. He sure needs a good beating after what he did, taking off from his protection duty due to a rabbit.

Keep safe, especially wherever you are going with your father. Tell him I said hi.

Qixilixa

P.S. - Has that Stormwind Watch contacted you yet?

“Is that the letter you received from that AAMS?” Taelis asked.

Failiani looked at her father. “No, it’s the one from Qixi…” She pulled out the other letter she had received a few hours before they had left Thunder Bluff. It was from an officer in Stormwind Watch. Qixi had told her they probably at some point try to get in contact. She had actually cursed in Thalassian after she noticed Nisensi was mentioned. Yes, she’d help them with that regard. “You want to read this?”

Her father grabbed it from her and looked it over. The young one hoped he’d be able to read it considering he only had his left eye. He had lost the vision in his right eye during the days he had been a pirate and wore an eye patch over it. From what she could tell, it appeared he was able to see the writing and able to read it.

“I said I’d be able to meet with them but told them you’d have to determine a location…”

“I’m aware, Failiani. It’s surprising this Stormwind Watch wishes to go after Nisensi.” Taelis interrupted and smirked. “And yes, we’ll meet with the officer and whoever they bring.”

“So where are we going to meet them?” Failiani asked.

“Let me think on that. It has to be safe for you… and them.” Taelis rubbed his eyes.

She nodded. Due to the Stormwind City Watch being a part of the Alliance, they weren’t going to meet with the officers in any of the horde cities. However, it still had to be in Horde territories for Failiani to be safe from Nisensi and her lunatic workers. Where would a good location be? The young rogue wasn’t sure; it probably depended on where her father had business at. “So where is your business taking place at?”

Taelis sighed, “Not now, Faili.”

“But…” Failiani shrugged. She really wanted to know.

“Not now.” Taelis quietly motioned to the few other passengers that had come from below.

The young elf nodded, looking at the tauren passengers. Her father would likely tell her later when they were… alone. Maybe once they arrived in Orgrimmar, she would find out at least which direction they were going in. If his business wasn’t in Azshara, they were likely going to the Eastern Kingdoms either by Zeppelin or hiring a mage for a portal to either Undercity or Silvermoon city.

Oo… were they going to see Master Lor’eth? Failiani had received word that he still was alive. He had been in poor health to the point of nearly dying but it was found out that he had been poisoned. Thankfully that type of poison was curable and slowly got a bit better. Nelur, the jerk great-nephew of Lor’eth claimed he had no responsibly in that but the venerable elf hired someone else for his care just to be safe. The fall he had taken in Winterspring had left him unable to walk permanently and would get help getting around.

Faili wished that her former mentor would disown Nelur since he was the main heir and could have motivations to poison his elder relative. The letter she had received weeks ago claimed he hadn’t for some reason. Why? She figured it was due to his biological grandson was still Quel’dorei and he didn’t have any desires to come back.

“Are we going to see Master Lor’eth?” Faili asked with a hint of excitement.

“I wasn’t planning but we could-provided my ‘business’ doesn’t take too long and we can get that ‘meeting’ arranged. It’d be good to see the old rogue.” Taelis smirked.

The Sin’dorei shrugged before checking on her pony-tail. What type of business did he have? Whatever it was, it was likely important. Maybe it had to deal with his findings in Northrend… which was possible. He still hadn’t mentioned what he had found concerning Cori’s flying machine that supposedly had been shot down. It had been many weeks since anyone had heard from the huntress. She hoped her cousin was still alive and not as a…

A wave of sadness filled the young one. Someone had to happen to Cori. As to what, who knew but clearly that cousin wasn’t in a position to make contact. Whether that was her being too injured or even held captive… both of those options were bad. She started to yawn and before Faili knew it, she was lying on the deck of the zeppelin and waking up. Her father had a concerned expression as she sat up. She noticed it was nightfall.

“Easy there.” Taelis handed her a canteen. “I know you’re worried about Cori.”

She drank the contents of the canteen and found it to be water. How did her father know? She must have muttered about it or something. “Is the business about what you found in Northrend?” She watched him put a hand on her shoulder briefly and nod.

“It is, Faili.” Taelis remarked briefly. “Those reports were true. I’m convinced Coriani survived the crash along with her pets but…”

“Someone took her.” Failiani muttered. She could tell by her father’s expression that was most likely the case.

“Don’t know who’s responsible; we’ll know more after the meeting I arranged. I have a feeling Cori's still alive.” Taelis said, scratching his head. “Once we’re in Orgrimmar, we can find an AAMS person and have them deliver a message.”

“You got a location for the meeting with that… group?” Failiani asked, noticing one of the tauren passengers was still on the deck. Based on what he said, his business likely had to deal with a mercenary or even the person he had infiltrating Nisensi’s organization. The young one groaned, she hoped that foul elf wasn’t involved in Cori’s disappearance. Still, where would they be able to meet with Alliance that was also safe for her?

“I do, Failiani.”

((I hope I got the information correct, if not I can edit.

I'll be looking for an AAMS courier again. ))

“So you didn’t tell them everything, Taelis?” A female human asked, shaking her head. Why would a human be meeting with Taelis on Fenris Isle? Simple, she was infiltrating Nisensi’s organization and he had contacted her, asking to meet. What did she look like? She had curly dark red hair and blue-green eyes. Her skin was light and facial features could be considered ‘pretty’ by some. She was five foot four inches in height but her weight; she was thin and could easily be considered underweight.

“Of course. I didn’t get into all the details concerning the Arrowind history with Nisensi or the Vasile massacre she’s suspected of committing.” Taelis replied, letting out a sigh. “Besides, Failiani was also present at the meeting. I didn’t wish to upset her further, Carena.”

Carena nodded slowly, looking at the shape of sleeping figure nearby. If that Sin’dorei had been at the meeting with the Stormwind Watch and AAMS, she understood why Taelis hadn’t mentioned the darker history of Nisensi. From what this rogue knew about his daughter, Faili had been cursed with a narcolepsy-type sleeping disorder and was made worse with emotional states. She would have been very upset and fallen asleep much sooner if she had heard about the massacre…

The Vasile massacre; when and where had horrid event taken place? She took off the gray-framed glasses off her face and rubbed her eyes. Right before Stormwind got sacked after the orcs invaded, a massacre had taken placed in Alterac Mountains. The Vasile family, a minor mafia-clan had been having a gathering at the main villa that had been located northwest of Strahnbrad.

That night a few screams had been heard before the villa went up in flames. The villa burnt to the ground and the Vasiles’ that attended were killed, including children and even an infant. Not many records remained from the investigation that had taken place shortly after; mainly due to the events that led to Alterac being in ruins. The few accounts the rogue had found indicated a few trolls had been spotted fleeing the scene.

One report stated that a white-haired female high elf and male high elf had been spotted at the villa a month before. Based on the descriptions, Carena figured out the high elves mentioned were Nisensi and Hiren. From infiltrating the organization-type cult, the rogue had learned that Nisensi knew how to create temporary illusions with potions and one of those illusions was that of a forest troll.

Nisensi had recently mentioned that a few of those Vasiles’ had ripped her off in a scheme; not surprising to Cara since the family was basically roguish-type figures. However considering Nisensi’s latest behavior with her plans to exterminate blood elves, murlocs and pandarens; the rogue wouldn’t be surprised if the alchemist had committed the crime in an attempt to kill the entire family off. Now why was the rogue interested in the massacre?

There was a good reason for that; she considered herself part of the Vasile family. Her late mother had been Meia Vasile. She along with her younger brother Keeneth and a few great aunts hadn’t been at the villa for various reasons when the massacre happened. Meia had been courting Carena’s late father in Gilneas while Keeneth had been on a ship and the few great aunts were simply too old to travel.

From what Carena had been told, the massacre greatly affected the surviving relatives. Two of her great aunts had died a few months after the event. Great Aunt Tara managed to survive until she was almost seven years old; Cara along with her older brother and twin brother was raised by this aunt after her late parents died from an illness when she wasn’t even a year old. Keeneth would have raised them but he suffered from depression for many years due to the event.

The entire family of Carena’s late father actually put the name Vasile into the surname, making it Vhitaker-Vasile shortly after Meia got married- Cara hadn’t found that out until after the Cataclysm happened and Gilneas rejoined the Alliance. She had met her father’s baby sister (somehow that aunt hadn’t become a worgen) who had told her more.

This family was also a minor mafia one- although they kept the crimes activities more secret. Thankfully, this was something Nisensi was still in the dark about. And yes, Carena planned to keep it that way. She was smart enough to use an alias, Hani Tara in Nisensi’s organization. This was also a situation that she was very thankful that she took after the looks of her father’s side of the family.

Her uncle Keeneth had the darkest red hair of the Vasile clan and it was a shade under medium auburn; his eyes were emerald green. Meia’s hair color had been a light auburn and her eyes had been gray. Other late Vasile family members had similar shades of the lighter red hair and eye color. Carena’s siblings had the hair color of Meia's side of the family.

The Vhitaker-Vasile relatives though had varying shades of medium to dark auburn red hair, brown hair and even black. Most relatives of that family had blue eyes; a few of them did have blue-green eyes such as her late father, her late grandmother, Cara and her siblings. This rogue wouldn’t have been able to infiltrate Nisensi’s organization at all had she taken after more of the Vasile looks. Granted, there was still the chance she could get recognized…

For that reason, the rogue did wear a hood that concealed part of her face whenever she was around Nisensi. That happened quite frequently since the alchemist had ‘promoted’ Carena to spy mistress several months earlier. She had first infiltrated the cult after she had heard rumors an Alliance pandaren had been taken captive outside of Westguard Keep in Howling Fjord.

Unfortunately the rumors had been true and the pandaren had died from starvation; he had been locked in a cell without any food and Nisensi had ordered her workers not to bring him any either. Cara first entered Nisensi’s headquarters a few days after the pandaren had starved. She briefly shivered at what the alchemist had done with his body… and the comments Laris had made about it.

Even if she had arrived sooner, Cara didn’t know if she could have saved the pandaren. The rogue thought about it and she wouldn’t have been able to, at least without getting caught herself. If there was one thing about the dungeons in Nisensi’s headquarters; they were well guarded. Talen, the chief enforcer made sure of that-despite having a limping injury caused by the former worker ‘Gnomish’ Nome.

Did Nisensi have prisoners currently in her dungeon? She had a few and they were all males. Her most recent one was a goblin named Stinky; apparently he had been running from rabbits when he ran into Hiren and Nisensi in Azshara. She didn’t know why he would be running from the little critters at first; they were mostly harmless. She couldn’t say the same of Virmen that lived in Pandaria.

They decided to take him captive; he was apparently an extended relative of a goblin that refused to join Nisensi’s organization. The current plan for Stinky was to keep him alive, for now and put living rabbits in his cell. Apparently he was terrified of rabbits, living and mechanical ones. Cara just hoped that didn’t kill him if he had a fear of the critters…

Another prisoner was actually a worgen employee that had tried to hurt the alchemist. He had been angry that Nisensi was letting actual Twilight Hammer cultist join her cause, his late wife had been murdered by one. There were three of those cultists currently in the organization, Laris easily the most insane of them. While Carena definitely agreed with his intentions and would have helped if she hadn’t been infiltrating, she had to stop the worgen from going through with his plans.

For one, it hadn’t been smart on the worgen’s part to try and stab the alchemist when the room was filled with loyal workers. Be somewhere more secluded if you’re to do that. The high elf had him taken to the cells, explaining she was going to ‘cure’ the Twilight Hammer workers of their thoughts. Nisensi had plans to brainwash that worker into being more ‘obedient’, once he was more weakened. She should try to save him if she can.

Interesting enough, one of the prisoners in the dungeons was one of the Twilight Hammer cultists that had joined. He was a human with tan skin and black hair. Nisensi ordered him to be put inside after he started yelling about ‘bringing the old ones back’. The plans for him were to keep him alive- the high elf alchemist was actually trying to make a potion that would cure them of ‘the voices’. So far, her treatments hadn’t worked on him.

The last prisoner that Nisensi was surprising keeping alive was Sleyin, a Sin’dorei ranger Carena had heard about working for the Argent Crusade a few years back. The elf wanted to exterminate all blood elves so it had surprised her when she heard one in the cells. She had asked Talen about Sleyin and found out that he at one time was related to Nisensi; he was her bio-logical brother. She knew high elves and blood elves were basically the same race but Nisensi didn’t think that way.

She had found out shortly after infiltrating the cult that Nisensi was fully convinced blood elves had become a completely different race- due to fel magics. The alchemist claimed that ‘blood elves may look the same but fel magics have bio-logically mutated their insides closer to what murlocs are’. Cara had to act like she ‘agreed’ with Nisensi and at the same time thought the Quel’dorei was an idiot.

What were Nisensi’s plans with Sleyin? She wanted him alive long enough to see his go extinct before killing him. She wasn’t going to use him to test the various potions; the alchemist still wanted Failiani as a prisoner for that. Still, the rogue knew he wasn’t being treated very well at all. He had many injures and probably looked malnourished; Carena couldn’t tell even with her glasses last time she went down to the dungeons as they were dimly lit.

Cara had thought the high elf had wanted to exterminate blood elves due to the history with the Arrowind House but then she remembered the majority of that house was still Quel’dorei. The alchemist had no plans to kill high elves, at least right now as no other Quel’dorei had angered her that much. Nisensi still thought Taelis Arrowind was deceased and Winthran had died years earlier so she wondered what or who had caused Nisensi to want all blood elves dead.

She along with Talen recently learned from Nisensi and Hiren that she had been disowned by her family for wanting to marry Hiren who had been related to a rival of her late father. That had really angered the elf. Nisensi mentioned that her mother had health issues but even with treatments died- her last words had made the alchemist suspicious her bio-logical father was involved. She had made claims hours after the death that he was involved.

He had denied the claims according to her. But he had married another elf woman before Nisensi’s late mother funeral, something that had made Cara shake her head at the time. The rogue wasn’t surprised that the alchemist thought her father was a big liar. He probably was innocent in his first wife’s death but she could understand why the alchemist saw her father as a murderer.

Anyways, Nisensi mentioned that her ‘father’ and entire family had agreed to disown her after she refused to not marry Hiren. The alchemist had ‘dealt’ with her father and step-mother but couldn’t deal with all the former relatives. Sleyin and his living relatives are Sin’dorei and are likely the actual reason Nisensi wants all blood elves dead.

Why had Carena thought of the dungeons, prisoners and Nisensi’s plans for blood elves? Taelis had found the wreckage of his niece’s flying machine and probably wanted to know if Nisensi had taken Coriani as a prisoner for the lab experiments. The alchemist still wanted Failiani as a lab experiment so that wasn’t the case. Still, Taelis was correct that Nisensi had found the huntress’ flying machine.

Someone else had taken Coriani and her pets before Nisensi had arrived on the scene. However, that elf had looted items from the wreckage including the large, insane amount of gold coins Cori had stowed on the flying machine. She knew from Taelis that Cori’s late father Winthran had inherited lots of gold from his father and had a good amount on his own.

“We can discuss more about the meeting with the watch later. I assume you wish to talk about the wreckage in Zul’Drak....”

“Of course. Why else would I risk making contact?” Taelis interrupted. “I have a strong feeling Nisensi was at site of the wreckage. Did she take Cori…”

“Capture Coriani and hold her prisoner? No.” Carena sighed, hearing Failiani starting to stir. This could get interesting with her waking up. She put her glasses back on before continuing, “She does have captives and they are all males. Someone else had taken Cori and the pets by the time she arrived. However, she did loot the wreckage...”

“What’s going on?” Failiani said, sitting up. “Wait, why is she here?”

Taelis turned towards her daughter. He then walked over and handed her a canteen. “Easy there. Just having a meeting with my contact...”

“Wait, that’s Carena?” Failiani asked.

“It is.” The rogue turned towards Faili. That young Sin’dorei was sitting about 18 feet away and all the rogue could see with her glasses was a blurred figure; without them she wouldn’t even be able to see the elf. She sighed and continued, “My full name is Carena Meia Vhitaker-Vasile. I hope you recovered from your experience in Storm Peaks, Failiani.”

Taelis sighed and smirked. “She’s mostly recovered by now. When did you…”

“She was that rogue who fought the death knight mercenary, father.” Faili replied before muttering something in Thalassian.

“Really?” Taelis crossed his arms. “Was that the death knight with the feminine name Nisensi ordered you to kill?”

Carena nodded. Nisensi had found some of the ransom notes the death knight mercenary had sent Cori in the wreckage. The rogue had known that death knight’s identity; he had been a former friend of Cara’s oldest brother. Former as he had betrayed that brother’s trust. After Cara had found out that he had been hired months earlier, she knew it’d only be a matter of time before he double-crossed Nisensi and wondered if she’d be able to use to her advantage.

She told the alchemist that she had information about the death knight and he was known to double-cross or even triple-cross his clients, especially if a better offer was made. Granted she had exaggerated a bit but if helped her out. Nisensi took the info into consideration but didn’t do anything about until the ransom notes were found. She then ordered Cara to find and eliminate the death knight mercenary, something this rogue didn’t have an issue with.

The human may have had eyesight issues but Cara knew enough about the death knight that tracking down him wasn’t too difficult. For one, he had a raptor fetish and liked to keep the hatchlings as pets. He called himself Ben Owens but she had found out a few years earlier that his birth name was actually Sue Lacy and he had changed it once he was old enough.

It took a few days or so but she had tracked down Sue to one of the titan facilities in the Storm Peak across Ulduar. An adventurer told her he had spotted undead raptor hatchlings outside of it after she had touched down in K3. He hadn’t checked it out but Cara tipped the adventurer and made her way there.

Once she had arrived at the location, she had snuck over to where Faili was being held and placed a drink nearby. If there was one thing she didn’t want, it was the young one being around if Nisensi decided to show up. There was always that could happen; especially since Nisensi had contacted and gotten a ‘progress’ report. The rogue was actually going to pick the locks of the chains but then realize the kid was starting to stir.

She hid briefly near a tall pile of bars and decided to watch the young blood elf. The pile of broken lock-picks gave the rogue questions, such as why were thieves tools left with a prisoner? Sue had come over and had questioned Faili and before the rogue knew, he was preparing to hit his prisoner over the drink. Carena threw dust at his eyes before he could hurt the Sin’dorei.

Sue had cursed and realized someone else was in the premises. He left Faili alone and went looking for her. After a few minutes of him searching, that when she decided to appear and call him out. If there something that enraged Sue, it was him hearing his birth name. He usually carried a two-handed runeblade but for reason had two smaller swords with runes instead.

That was his mistake as he didn’t have that good of a knowledge using those as his other weapon. Taking him out had been the easy part for this rogue. Nisensi had actually shown up with Hiren shortly after Sue was defeated. After torching his body, the rogue went inside and was glad to find out that Failiani had escaped while she had fought. Not only that, the young one was also kind enough to leave a pile of broken lock-picks…

Listening to Nisensi throw a fit about the pile of lock-picks had amused her. The Quel’dorei was convinced that Sue had made a bizarre deal with Failiani and let her escape. Carena didn’t think Sue had actually done that due to something mentioned in his diary but she let that assumption go through. Nisensi had made the claim if another death knight screwed her over, there would be plans to eradicate them.

“That’s actually the only order I didn’t have any objections to.” Carena sighed.

“He won’t be missed.” Taelis turned towards Cara and sighed before continuing, “So back to wreckage, what did Nisensi loot from it?”

“Several ore bars were looted along with engineering supplies. A few notes along with a large amount of gold coins…”

“Wait, gold coins? How much did Cori stowed on her flying machine? She refused to tell me…” Taelis shook his head. “I assume Nisensi took every bit of it.”

Carena took a deep breath. She knew Taelis or Failiani weren’t going to like the answer. “There were about fifteen thousand gold coins in the wreckage.” She frowned as she heard the Sin’dorei female mutter something in Thalassian. Taelis sighed angrily and shook his head. “As you can imagine, Nisensi was extremely glad to find that.”

“She told me she had taken some of the gold from Winthran inheritance in case a ransom note came. If I known it had been that amount…” Taelis grabbed a canteen from his pack and started to drink it.

“Why would Cori even take gold coins from Winthran’s inheritance? She mentioned before to Master Lor’eth that she had fears Vylairea would appear and smite her if a copper was taken from it.” Failiani asked, shaking her head.

“She was rather desperate to find you safe, Faili. However, I’d say she wasn’t thinking quite clearly…”

“Of course not. Cori’s a thistlehead!” Faili had an upset tone to her voice. “I bet that wench Nisensi has Cori as…”

“Nisensi doesn’t have your cousin as a prisoner.” Carena interrupted, hoping the Sin’dorei wouldn’t fall asleep. She knew Failiani was worried about the huntress’ well being, even if all the kid wanted to do was annoy her older cousin. “All the prisoners in the dungeons are males including a goblin...”

Failiani crossed her arms. “Wait, is that one named Stinky? He went missing and my business partner needs to know if he’s been abducted…”

Cara nodded. Taelis had mentioned before that Failiani did enchanting-type business with a goblin bruiser. “That’s his name. He’s alive, at least for now.” She sighed slowly.

“I can let Qixi know. She’s wants to beat him for leaving his sister unguarded. She won't be able to do that.” Failiani frowned briefly. “But someone has to have Cori as a prisoner. She would have contacted by now. My memory is still foggy but the death knight mentioned plans… and Cori.”

“Plans?” Taelis put a hand on Faili’s shoulder. “Carena, did the death knight have anything on him?”

She sighed before blindly feeling around her large brown pack. She had taken a few of the death knight’s mercenary possessions and kept them hidden from Nisensi. Inside of it had Sue’s journal and a silver necklace that had an insignia on it. Sue knew how to write in Thalassian and therefore that was the language the diary was written in. No, Carena didn’t know it but she knew these two did.

The human walked over to where she saw Taelis’s figure standing and handed him the journal and necklace. He may have had vision in only one eye but he could easily read. “These were on Sue. If the death knight mentioned plans, they might be in here.” She heard him open the diary briefly before muttering a curse.

“Wait, that necklace looks familiar; almost like the one Nelur has.” Failiani shook her head before muttering, “That wretched fel Amani troll lover better not be involved…”

“I have to read this further but the first page mentions something about deal with a Sin’dorei- not that fel Oristanne who’s captured Coriani before. I hope Nelur isn’t involved, Failiani. We were planning on visiting Lor’eth; he’ll be able to confirm if this belong to his great nephew...” Taelis held the necklace briefly before putting into his backpack along with the journal.

“Is there anything else you wish to discuss?” She asked, looking up at the night sky briefly despite not being able to see the stars.

Taelis pulled out an envelope and hands it to Cara. “Just keep me informed about Nisensi’s activities. Would you be able to deliver this to the Stormwind Watch, or at least to wherever their headquarters are?”

The rogue winced and sighed heavily. She could get his letter to their building sneakily but to give it to a member of the Stormwind Watch; she wasn’t about to right now. Taelis had mentioned when she first arrived they may have been onto her activities that consisted of her blowing up tombstones. She sighed, the only ones she had put explosives on was hers.

Wait, what? It was a complicated situation but she had been forced to fake her death right before Icecrown Citadel had been siege and Lich King was killed. She hired someone to have coffin built that was fairly resistant to weak explosives and delivered it to her siblings. They and 'possibly' Uncle Keeneth had fallen for it and placed a tombstone in Westfall; the coffin was dug and located somewhere else. Carena found it one night by accident and decided to blow it up right then; she didn’t want her family remembering her that way.

She thought that had been the end of it but her siblings kept having them replaced and she would blow them up every time. Eventually no tombstones were at that site in Westfall and she figured they had given up. However, that wasn’t the case. Her siblings had actually had the tombstone moved to Stormwind. The rogue had walked into the cemetery and found that site and yes, she decided to blow up the tombstone. Recently she had done it again to another one placed.

While she didn’t think other ones had gotten damaged, it was possible some of them nearby were. She hadn’t seen any laws that stated blowing up tombstones in Stormwind was illegal but Taelis had indicated the Watch possibly thought otherwise. It might be best if she waits a bit before meeting with them. Besides, she needed to track down Laris.

“I can get this to their building. Don’t expect me to meet with them in person at this time.” Carena simply stated, putting the envelope in her pack.

“I figured as much.” Taelis nodded. “Well, it’s getting late and we got to head over to Silvermoon.”

Miss Vhitaker-Vasile nodded. They were probably going to head over to wherever Lor’eth lived and visit. “I gotta continue with the search for Laris. I’ll keep you informed with Nisensi’s plans.”

“Keep safe. Don’t blow up too many tombstones unless that gnome is near them.” Failiani exclaimed. “You could use that as an excuse…”

She was certain that excuse wouldn’t work but at least the kid was thinking. Carena smirked, watching the elves figure briefly bow before climbing onto their mounts. Her prized gryphon mount, Gryphy was in Pandaria and hopefully not giving the pandarens too much trouble. She waved at them. “Good bye and take care.”

“Fare you well, Carena. Tell your Uncle Keeneth my regards next time you see him. He’s quite aware that you faked your death for some time.” Taelis said before he and Failiani took off in the direction of Undercity.

Carena blinked and shook her head. She wasn’t surprised to hear that her Uncle Keeneth had figured out she had faked her death; he had done something similar years back. Wait, she heard footsteps; quiet ones. Her eyesight may have been horrid but her hearing on the other hand was exceptional. She had been told it was comparable to an elf’s. Her good hearing kind of made up for her bad eyesight.

The more she listened to the footsteps; the rogue realized they were familiar. No, they weren’t from anyone in Nisensi’s organization. It was someone friendly and someone who was related; not her siblings otherwise she would have ran off and vanished. How long had he been listening? Better yet, when had Uncle Keeneth arrived?

“I figured it was about time I met with you. I see not much has changed except you finally followed my advice and got glasses, Carena.” a male human’s voice said, walking over to give her a brief hug.

She couldn’t help but smile at hearing Uncle Keeneth’s voice. She had enjoyed talking to him before faking her death. He was a few inches taller than Cara’s older twin brother who was about 6’2” in height but not as tall as Taelis who was on the taller side for blood elves. Faili was quite tall as that Sin’dorei was already taller than her. “It’s good to hear you. Sorry I didn’t contact sooner…”

“It’s fine. I understand why you had to fake your death. I won’t get into the details here. Still, I find it rather amusing that neither of your brothers know you’re still alive.” Keeneth smirked briefly before continuing, “Venn should have figured it out after his wedding reception got crashed the way it did. Who else would have changed the menu from lobster to chicken soup and have the cake explode on them? Only thing I did was the bad music…”

“I had to keep with the Vasile and Vhitaker-Vasile family traditions. He’s wasn’t going to get out of it, luckily I was able to do everything on that from a distance.” She smiled. Both families had a long-standing tradition of weddings and/or the receptions getting crashed in some way whether it was minor or major. That was something the rogue wanted to keep as it was an unique and fun.

“Agreed. It's a great tradition.” Keeneth let out a sigh. He motioned for her to walk along, knowing she’d be able to hear his signal. “Still, we have other matters to discuss.”

“Alright but I do have to be heading back. Laris needs to be track down.” She followed after her uncle.

Keeneth nodded briefly. “I’m aware of that and don’t wish to endanger you of being discovered. Otherwise, I’d be cooking a meal. You have a great chance at taking out the foul high elf. Granted, I already knew you were infiltrating Nisensi’s organization from my sources. You didn’t tell Taelis everything, Cara.”

“I told him everything he needed to know…" Carena shook her head when Keeneth pulled out an arrow and waved in front of her face. A closer look revealed it belonged to the Sin’dorei huntress. "Alright, I did leave something out. But she’s still in danger. Once Taelis finds out who shot down Cori’s flying machine and ordered her captured; then he can know that his niece is alive.”

“Don’t worry about anyone going after Cori while you’re busy ‘working’ for Nisensi. I can assure you she’ll be protected.”

She sighed. The rogue wasn’t worried that someone was going to attack Coriani currently. She had paid the pandaren at the location a good amount of gold coins to keep the blood elf safe. Based on her uncle’s word, he might even step in as added security if needed. Still, she wondered if he wished to talk about anything else. While they did have a lot of catching up to do, that was something she would have to do another time.

“Is there anything else you wish to talk about?” She pulled out the hood she used when she around Nisensi and put it on.

“Well, your siblings foolishly put another tombstone up a few days ago, this time north of the farm on the outskirts. Don’t worry about blowing that one up, I handed it before coming here. I can also guarantee your siblings shouldn’t put any more up. It’s wasting them gold.” Keeneth smirked.

Carena smirked under her hood. What could have he done to make her siblings stop? Had he planted a tree in its place or something? She did have letter to deliver for Taelis and as long as guard patrols weren’t around or hadn’t found what he did, maybe she’d check it out. She pulled out a hearthstone that would teleport her to and only to Nisensi’s villa.

That wasn’t her main and prized hearthstone; that one she had managed to lose in Stormwind less than a week earlier. No, that trip hadn't been to blow up tombstone. She had done that activity on the previous trip. She had made a brief visit to warn the Stormwind Watch that Laris was still at large and might try to go after the monk Xing Quai.

No, she didn't actually meet with the officers to warn them. She had better ways of doing it. Li and Xing-Hio had been watching the orphans when Cara approached. The rogue had bought some sweet treats from Pandaria recently and gave it to the pandaren.

While they were distracted, she noticed they had Xing Quai's pack and she decided to take that monk's hearthstone and coin bag and leave a note, telling them to go to the nearest mailbox. There, she had left the coin bag and another note that contained the warning. Wait, had she lost her hearthstone near the Watch's building? That could complicate things...

But she had other things to get concerned with at the moment. Laris needed to be tracked before he attacked and sacrificed another innocent for the 'old ones'. Nisensi wanted to see if her latest potion would work on the gnome before considering plans to leave him in a position for the Watch to find.. “I’ll talk to you later, uncle Keeneth.”

“Do so when it's convenient. Keep safe, Car.” Keeneth said, waving at her.

Carena waved back and activated the hearthstone that would teleport her away. She still didn't know the exact location of where Nisensi's headquarters were in Northrend; except it wasn't in Icecrown. Her eyesight without glasses was practically to the point of being nearly blind and with glasses wasn't much better. Still in time, the location would be found and the rogue's plans for Nisensi would go through.

(( OOC here. I hope I got timeline issues with the first war and such correct. If not, I can edit.

I plan on Carena having a meeting with the Stormwind Watch but it'll take more convincing for her to go.

Keeneth is another 'forum only' character. Basically my idea was that he removed the tombstone and put a coffin in its' place, the same one Cara had hired someone to make. If someone actually wishes to create a post about inspecting or even opening the coffin or even rp it in game, that's fine with me.

I do plan on having another post with Taelis's letter to the Stormwind Watch posted later.))

Days later,

The rogue was sitting somewhere in Stormwind Harbor, smirking and putting a parchment paper in her pack. It was late at night and one of the sources had informed her via mail that Laris had been seen in Ironforge. She had reasons to trust the information was accurate; Laris’ ex-wife was the one who spotted him. That gnome lady was even kind enough to send a photograph-portrait of him along with a note as further evidence.

While the note was written mostly in Gnomish, it had a drawing on it that showed a stick-figure gnome that resembled Laris. The stick-figure was surrounded by a circle with a red X drawn through it. Rather interesting to the human, it seemed his ex-wife didn’t have any love for him. She didn’t blame that gnome either; he had left her to join the Twilight Hammer. The note also contained a map of Ironforge with the Mystic Ward and the Forlorn Cavern areas circled, likely where his hideout was located.

Hmm, the Watch needed to know of this development if they wished to arrest the gnome before Nisensi got to him. That elf wanted to see Laris one more time and test her latest potion that’d supposedly ‘cure the voices’. So far, the other potions created for that purpose hadn’t worked on at all.

She sighed at hearing another horn that signaled another ship was entering the harbor. A good time as any to write a note to Stormwind Watch before any more ships arrived. Cara blindly grabbed a parchment paper, a quill and ink from her black/brown pack before writing down her message.

After it was done, she put the note and writing items back into the pack. No, she wasn’t happy with the message but she’d need to be going and get this and Taelis’ letter over to Stormwind Watch, sneakily. She did have other things to do after all. She decided to get up from her spot and sneakily follow after two guards.

Once she delivered the letters, she would have to make her way over to Ironforge and meet with Laris’ ex-wife and… eventually Nisensi. The elf had contacted and gotten another ‘progress’ report when checking the mail earlier and yes there was a very strong chance she would be coming to Ironforge once the information was ‘fully’ confirmed.

Nisensi didn’t figure the photograph/portrait was enough proof that Laris was currently in Ironforge due to a possibility of it ‘being old’ and wanted Cara to find and talk with his ex-wife. She would do that but it could take her a bit; for one she didn’t know where that female gnome was staying. Hopefully it would a while so the Stormwind Watch would be able to find and arrest Laris before he hurt anyone else or Nisensi located him.

“Did you hear anything more about that grave that was robbed?” a younger human voice asked.

“Only new information I heard is that the coffin was located on the outskirts north of the farm.” a female answered.

Carena stopped. Wait a minute, that’s where supposedly her siblings had placed the newest tombstone. Her uncle said he done something that would make her siblings stop putting more tombstones up. A smirk formed on her face; taking out the tombstone and putting a coffin, especially if it was the one Cara had sent to her siblings in its place could certainly do that. Her oldest brother wouldn't even go near that site now...

She briefly thought back to when she had faked her death. She had hired a dwarf to make the coffin and yes, she had him placed a body inside of it. What? The rogue had to make it believable; mainly if the coffin was checked out. Placing bricks or rocks inside the casket hadn’t been an option; especially with that nosey twin brother of hers. She knew he wouldn’t have been fooled by heavy rocks so luckily for her the dwarf had a body.

Who had been the person inside the coffin? She didn’t know who the identity was except it had an older human female who had died of natural causes, or at least that’s what the dwarf claimed. They may have been the same height but the lady had dark brown hair and brown eyes. The body was wrapped around with cloths and placed inside along with some of her possessions that included a locket of her late parents. From what she had heard, this had fooled both her twin and oldest brother.

Still, she was impressed that Uncle Keeneth could do such a thing; he was a rogue that was far more trained in the subtlety arts than her. Granted, the likelihood of her uncle being the grave robber was extremely slim as he had visited her after the meeting in Fenris Isle and apparently had gone to Pandaria since so someone else was responsible for that.

Maybe she could ask Uncle Keeneth if he noticed someone watching him when he had placed the coffin the next time she saw him. Better yet, it might be a good idea to find out the location where her siblings had buried the casket. Granted, if the rogue had actually known what had been found, she would have questions to ask him.

Another horn sounded and broke Cara's thoughts. It reminded the rogue that it'd be best to head to the Stormwind Watch office. So she blindly headed in that direction.

While walking up the stairs and into Stormwind itself, Cara briefly looked at the night sky. She couldn’t see if there were stars or clouds in the sky but that was normal for her, with and without her glasses on. In case one was wondering, she was wearing her gray-framed ones.

When she got near the Stormwind Watch Office building a bit later, she could hear noises coming from it. Great, that just might complicate things a bit. The rogue should have expected there was a night crew working. She got closer to the closed door and listened briefly. Based on what she heard, it’d be practically impossible to open the door assuming it wasn’t locked and sneak a letter inside without being spotted. No, she wouldn’t risk entering and possibly get into trouble.

However, the room next door seemed to be very quiet. If what she remembered was correct, that should be the location of the off-duty room the Stormwind Watch had. She turned and walked over to the closed door and listened. With how quiet it seemed to be, there was a good chance she could sneak something inside here without being noticed. Only one way to find out.

She quietly touched the handle of the door and smirked when she noted it wasn’t locked. Interesting… when she had first arrived earlier a guard patrol passed by and mentioned that screaming had been heard in this area. That situation must have not been serious enough to warrant the doors locked. Even if they had been locked, the rogue could have picked the lock open.

Once inside, the first thing the human noted was the smell of the coffee. While she normally liked the drink, something about the smell told her it was bad and wouldn’t be a good idea to get a drink. She didn't hear any devices that could see through a 'stealth'. Looking around, Carena noticed the shape of a hallway.

Was that the entryway to the barracks she had heard about? She better make this quick and quiet, the last thing this rogue wanted to deal with was grouchy officers and guards. If the folks here were anything like her twin brother when awoken from unusual noises...

Shuddering and thinking of that, Carena quietly got out her note, the photograph/portrait (she didn’t know what to call it), the map of Ironforge that had Mystic Ward and Forlorn Cavern areas circled and Taelis’ letter from her packs and looked for a place to put them. She noticed the shape of a small table in the corner.

A good place as any to put these items on. Before that a good, quick read over of the note she wrote might be in order, make sure every about Laris had been mentioned. Cara quickly looked and well… it read;

Greetings Stormwind Watch,

A source, one that is very reliable informed me Laris Wretchit was spotted in Ironforge, talking to a pandaren. Claims I heard the gnome was trying to sell a mechanical rabbits. He tends to do that type of thing to target victims for his ‘sacrifices to the old ones’. Fortunately that pandaren has since left alive.

Laris is still in Ironforge according to my source. He may be hiding in the Mystic Ward or the Forlorn Cavern areas; his hideout is apparently in one of those locations. If a warrant is needed to be obtained, I would suggest doing so sooner than later. Nisensi wishes to find Laris.

Now concerning Nisensi, I’ll be willing to meet but it will be on my terms.

The rogue shook her head. She knew her handwriting was no masterpiece but this was horrendous. She couldn’t even read what had been written down earlier but then again that could be due to her bad eyesight. Her twin brother had stated a few years earlier before faking her death that a five year old could write better than she can. Car didn’t think that way of course and hadn’t been too happy when he had mentioned it. Uncle Keeneth had even said her writing was fine…

Anyways, she couldn’t worry about her note. Maybe someone from the watch would be able to understand what she wrote. She had to get out of the building before an officer showed up. Cara placed her note on the table along with the photograph/portrait of Laris, the map of Ironforge that had been included with that, and Taelis' letter.

She hadn’t taken a look at it but knew that the Sin’dorei had written it in Common; due it to who it was going to and that it would fairly legible. Every letter she had received from him was in elegant handwriting. Once it was opened, Taelis’s letter would read;

To the Stormwind Watch,

I do appreciate the meeting and would agree with a common goal of bringing Nisensi to justice. There were things that I couldn’t mention at the meeting due to my daughter’s presence; hence why this is being written now.

There was the mention that she had killed members of her own family after being disowned and they are the reason she wishes all blood elves dead. She also has tried to come after friends and even relatives of the Arrowind House. Still, this doesn’t even come close to committing a massacre; one I strongly feel she did the dark deed of. I’m not certain if you’ve heard of the Vasile massacre that happened in Alterac Mountains before the fall of Stormwind. Not many records are left so I’ll make a mention of it.

The Vasile family had a ‘gathering’ or family reunion and during the first night, a few screams were heard before the main villa was touched. Every relative that attended was murdered and were at least 40 of them. Several of the victims had been… children; one was even an infant. A few recounts claimed that few ‘forest trolls’ had been seen fleeing the scene. One might think they were responsible.

However, my contact informed me that Nisensi does know how to create illusion potions that can make one temporary appear as forest troll and a few of the Vasiles’ had ripped her off in a scheme. A seer told a friend of the Vasile family that a ‘white haired high elf was involved’. I realize that this is circumstantial evidence but given Nisensi’s recent behavior that she tends to make plans to exterminate based on the actions of a few…

Which bring me to my next point; I forgot to mention at the meeting that one of Nisensi’s organizations, Alterac Mountain Children Orphanage was originally a Vasile scheme created by the late Hans Vasile and his wife Areanni. This ‘organization’ originally claimed to raise disabled orphans in a remote orphanage. The Arrowind House actually fell for it before the first war and sent gold- we didn’t find out it was fake until after the massacre happened.

If Nisensi was ripped off by Hans and Areanni, this could be another indication she committed that crime. While that foul elf hadn’t admitted to it, my contact won’t be surprised if she does; especially if she should find out that there were a few Vasile members that didn’t attend the gathering and therefore survived. I’m not too concerned that she’ll actually be able to locate them.

Anyways, if I find out more about Nisensi’s plans from my contact, I’ll be sure to send another letter.

Keep safe while you investigate and go after the gnome. Fare you well and keep your wits.

~Taelis Arrowind

PS- One more thing; my niece Coriani Arrowind has disappeared some months ago. I don’t know if Nisensi has her prisoner or not. She might also have information about Nisensi if she found…

Granted if Car had actually had read it, she would have been a bit upset at the mention of her late grandparents 'organization'; while it was scheme, a small part of the proceeds had gone to an actual orphanage according to her uncle. She had been considering plans to restart it but with Nisensi doing it, that was out of the question.

She took off her glasses and briefly rubbed her eyes before exiting the building and quietly closing the door. One task was done; now she had to make her way to Ironforge and possibly Dun Morogh depending on where Laris’ ex-wife was staying. Should she take the Deeprun Tram?

Gryphy was still in Pandaria so that wasn't an option. Taking the tram wasn't a bad idea and would get to her destination until she remembered that occasionally Venn was up at this time and liked to hang out at the anvils in the Dwarven District.

With that thought, she put her glasses on and sneakily walked out of Cathedral Square. Sometime later, she arrived at the flight master and paid him for use of a gryphon that’d go to Ironforge, assuming it didn't get lost along the way.

((I hope I got information correct. I'll be happy to edit if I got anything wrong. Laris is hiding in Ironforge; as to which location, that'll be revealed.

About the grave-robbing; I've heard that parts of two bodies are involved but my rogue doesn't know that. Car also doesn't know that the coffin she sent to her siblings went missing for a time. Other than that I don't know much about this situation but will be interested in seeing where it goes.

Cori is overdue for a post. I'll see about getting up for her later. ))

Calent Miller arose just before dawn, emerging from the barracks bleary-eyed. The events of the last few days had left her short on sleep, although she had gotten a little more last night than the previous days. She yawned and shuffled into the off-duty room, gravitating towards the coffee pot. She poured herself a cup of coffee, it was old and burnt, and probably brewed yesterday. She drank it anyway, wincing at the taste, but exulting as she began to feel the coffee bring her tired body to life.

She moved to sit at the table, pulling her journal off of the bookshelf and flipping the dog-eared pages open. As she sat, she noticed the parchment on the table, at first she didn't give it much thought, but then she noticed the handwriting. The same chicken scratch handwriting that had adorned another note, addressed to Xing Quai, one of the Pandaren under the protection of the Watch. The handwriting belonged to a rogue named Carena, she knew. She had learned more about the mysterious rogue from her meeting with Failiani and Taelis Arrowind.

Calent closed her journal and picked up the note, squinting at the scrawl between sips of coffee, turning the letter occasionally to see from a different angle. This girl definitely had some messy handwriting. Calent looked over the photograph and the map, glad to finally have a face to go with the name. She opened the sealed letter and quickly read its contents, having an even greater appreciation of the elegant script the Blood Elf had written his letter using.

She stood, fully awake now, heading to the Commander's office. He needed to see this information right away.

Nightfall; one would expect it to be quiet but not where the huntress was at. Arrows were being aimed at the flying machine from the balcony of a small tower; one that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. A brief glance down at the ground revealed a complex; two buildings along with the tower that was Quel'dorei designed. What the fel? She swore she had seen trees along the mountainside less than a minute earlier...

There was other things to worry about at the moment. Her attention turned back to the archers including a male high elf firing their bows. The huntress did her best to avoid the oncoming arrows but cringed when one of them hit Sea Gull's left wing. While she couldn't smell poison and didn't think the wound was lethal, Coriani knew the bird was in pain as it squawked.

Still, the blood elf couldn't check on this pet until they were in a safer location. She needed to get away fast before the archers got the idea to get a portable cannon out and shoot down the flying machine. Cori was certain that she and her pets could survive a crash landing but if they followed and attacked... who knows especially since she had a broken foot.

With that thought, she looked on the panel for the near her steering levers for a green button that would increase the speed for a bit, as long as it worked. It was the newest addition and the huntress hadn't had the chance to test it out with the events concerning her missing cousin. Now seemed as a good time as the hula doll on the back of the flying machine got hit by an arrow.

After pressing the button, she let out a sigh and held on as the turbo boosters activated. Good but was it enough? Within a few minutes the boosters died off. She looked back to see if anyone from that complex was following and again saw trees along the mountainside. She shook her head; it was an illusion field of trees. Clearly someone didn't want to be found but who?

Thankfully no one was following right now. Granted that didn't mean they weren't scrambling to get on mounts for a pursuit. For that reason, Cori would have to keep flying in the northern direction but that didn't mean she couldn't check on both of her pets. The bird had been injured and TigerCat was growling in his seat. But first she needed to make sure her flying machine could fly straight for a bit on it's own.

Once she made sure of that, she picked up Sea Gull and placed him on her lap. Cori carefully took out the arrow stuck in his left wing and briefly inspected it. The arrow was bluish in color and of Quel'dorei design, likely the male high elf she had seen had fired this particular arrow. She put it into her packs and decided to look for something to treat the bird's injured wing.

Coriani found a few bandages along with three Glacial Salmon in her pack. She bandaged up the injury the best she could given the circumstances and gave the bird one of the glacial salmons. She then checked on TigerCat and gave the Springpaw lynx the other two fish in an effort to make him happy.

Cori glanced behind her once more and still no one following. The huntress sighed in relief. Good, she really didn't the trouble of being pursued. She already had enough problems with a broken foot and her young cousin getting abducted by a death knight mercenary. Hopefully she wouldn't have any more difficulties when she got to Zul'Drak.

Once she crossed into Zul'Drak many, many hours later, her luck changed. She started to steer the flying machine to the area where Gundrak raptors lived when suddenly a bullet bounced off the right engine. Coriani looked and with horror, there was blood elf male on a gryphon and a dwarf riding a windrider pursuing her. Wait... what? Rogues, by the looks of it.

Where had they come from? Better yet, how long had been following her? Were they from that compound she had flown by? She didn't know as she flew the flying machine in an evasive manner, barely avoiding rockets. Surely this had to be a bad dream. It felt like it was one; a dwarf riding a horde mount? Still. she couldn't have this amount of bad luck...

Coriani opened her eyes, panting and shaking. Another dream had woken her up. Parts of this one seemed very real as if it had actually happened; then again the previous night's dream that persisted of Oristanne pursuing her was the same thing. That fel rogue however hadn't tried to attack her in Orgrimmar that she knew of.

Still, something about this latest dream concerned her. What could that be? It was the part of her pet Saltspray Gull getting injured; Sea Gull was recovered now but it had been found with it's left wing bandaged. Coriani's memory was foggy as she couldn't quite remember what happened between her meeting with her Uncle Taelis in Howling Fjord months ago and when she woke up in protective custody less than two months ago.

She sat up on the plushy bed and rubbed her eyes. Yes, she was in protective custody and guarded by pandaren that were hired by a rogue who interesting enough was infiltrating Nisensi's organization. Why? There were reasons for it; the main one was due to her flying machine being shot down by in Zul'Drak. Who had shot it down?

That was another reason she was in her current situation. A mysterious someone had hired orcs, a goblin and a troll mercenaries to shoot down her flying machine and have her captured. Cori's few memories of the crash was that she and her pets had made it off her flying machine in time; however she had managed to break her leg and a few other injuries she wasn't going to mention.

Between her broken foot and those injuries, the huntress had remembered being in severe pain before passing out. She couldn't remember really anything else but Carena claimed the huntress had been in poor shape when found about three weeks after the crash with the mercenaries still guarding her. The person who had hired them hadn't been there and they didn't give the identity of the person.

She shook her head; the mysterious person's identity was still unknown. Until it was found, she would remain in protective custody. It wasn't Nisensi but Carena had told her that foul elf had found out about the crash and looted the wreckage including all the gold coins that had been stored on the flying machine. That thought still made Cori curse...

And that's when she started to get a headache and cravings for Bloodthistle. Normally she would be getting out a petal of the herb and either eat it or brew tea with it. However; since she had first woken up about two months ago, anytime she ingested herbs with magical effects (bloodthistle, even goldthorn) her body didn't respond to it very well, even if it was a tiny amount.

She wasn't sure why that was happening but she had suspicions it was due to the experience after the crash; the huntress was in bad shape. Luckily she could sniff a pedal of bloodthistle and not get sick. But that didn't really help with the headaches she had.

The elf sniffed the air and noticed the smell of Kafa. Huh, one of the guards must be up and brewing the drink. Maybe that would help her headache go away; at least for a few hours. Kafa berries/beans was something she was able to tolerate thankfully along with cocoa beans and coffee for that matter.

Sighing a bit, she grabbed the staff next to the bed and swung out of bed. Coriani was currently wearing a brown/yellowish plaid shirt and black pants- a rare sight as she usually wore mail armor even in bed. The elf winced as she used the staff to steady herself while walking over to the chair where her reddish colored armor was at. Just because she was in protective custody didn't mean armor wasn't needed.

Why did she need a staff? Well, her left foot that she had managed to break before meeting with Uncle Taelis was still broken. A pandaren had been trying to mend it but for some reason, it was being resistant to heals. Her other injuries had healed many weeks ago. Was that due to what had happened to her after the crash? Possibly....

After sitting down in the chair, Cori put on her mail armor as quickly as she could. She clasped on her shoulderpads before looking at her feet. Getting her right boot on wouldn't be difficult but her left one was a different story. While it wasn't in a root-cast as the healer didn't have a knowledge of how to create one, it still had a bluish bandage rolled around the foot.

Should she try to put it on? Coriani thought about it and figured as much at it hurt putting the boot on, it'd be worse if something fell on the foot and injured it further since it wasn't in a cast. She sighed before biting her lip and putting the left boot on, wincing as she did that.

Once she had the right boot on, she stood up and regretted it. The sharp pain in her left foot was making it known it existed. Using the staff to keep balance, she made her way down the stairs and into the room below. What did the downstairs look like?

It had a cook-stove and tables where she could sit around and hammocks along the wall. There weren't any windows but the huntress already knew they were located somewhere along the coast in Pandaria. The exact location she didn't know as the only time she had actually visited was from the Shrine of Two Moons to Halfhill.

She noticed that TigerCat and Sea Gull were awake as she sat down on a stool near a small table. The lynx came over and the huntress petted him. He had been depressed when she was unconscious due to injuries and wasn't eating much from what the pandaren guards had told her once she woke up. He was doing much better now.

Speaking of the guards, where were they? She took a look around the room didn't see the pandarens near or on the hammocks. Actually she didn't the guards at all; maybe they were outside on the deck of the hut or tending to a gryphon they were watching after.

There was a tall human with red hair standing near the stove. Coriani recognized him as Keeneth Vasile, Carena's uncle who also was a rogue. Not surprising since the Vasile's had basically been a family of them before most of them was killed in a horrific massacre. She shivered briefly, remembering a detail her late father had heard about the event.

Anyways, He apparently had been friends with her uncle; they had worked aboard a pirate vessel once. The ship wasn't named and Cori wasn't going to ask but if she had to wager a guess, it was the one her uncle Taelis had lost the vision in his one eye. Keeneth mentioned he was only a cabin boy at the time... and yes, he had found out Taelis was alive.

"Another headache? Maybe this cup will help relieve some of it." He commented as he brought a mug of the Kafa beverage over to her. He sat on another stool nearby.

Coriani nodded before grabbing the mug. "Yes, another one. Thank you for bringing it over." She took several sips of the beverage, hoping the pounding in her head would start to ease.

"No issue, Cori. I figured I'd brew the last of the Kafa up since the guards aren't around or needed."

She gave him a puzzled look. The pandaren guards weren't here or needed for that matter? What did that mean... wait a minute; did that someone had discovered the identity of the person who had ordered her flying machine shot down? It was about time if that was the case. She wouldn't mind being allowed to leave. She could get herself checked out at the Da Doctas clinic.

Before she could ask, her pointed ears twitched at the sound of the door opening. She looked and sure enough, a human female with curly dark auburn hair was closing the door. She wasn't surprised to see Carena here. While the rogue was infiltrating Nisensi's organization, she was allowed to leave those headquarters; someone had to keep that high elf informed of 'Pandaren activities'. Car did that along with doing her other business.

"Greetings, Coriani. I hear you are up." Carena said.

"Yes." Coriani said after finishing the mug of Kafa. The headache had eased a bit but she still had one unfortunately. "So I assume you were able to sneak away?"

The human smirked. "Of course. I did promise Nisensi I'd keep an ear out for 'information'. She doesn't suspect what I'm actually doing."

"It's good she doesn't suspect any of your activities. Maybe she'll get what's coming to her." Coriani sighed; the human obviously had something important to tell her to make a trip here. She rubbed her eyes before continuing, "Let me guess, you found who was responsible for shooting down my flying machine and wanted to let me know."

"Taelis informed me with the name of the Sin'dorei involved. Does the name, Nelur Winddawn sound familiar?"

The elf nodded angrily when Nelur was mentioned. Of course she knew who he was; he was Lor'eth Dawnshadow great-nephew and heir since the biological grandson was Quel'dorei. She had suspected that Nelur had been poisoning his venerable relative and she had attempted to let the magisters know of it. He had threatened before...

The huntress should have suspected that he ordered her captured due to that. While he wasn't that good of a fighter and to her knowledge hadn't studied to be a mage or warlock; he obviously had the means to get others to do his dirty work. "Yes, I know of him." Cori had a bitter tone to her voice.

"Good. You probably heard the pandaren guards left and it's due to Taelis' letter. It also told me that once Lor'eth Dawnshadow found out the full situation, he disowned Nelur as a heir. Your uncle claims that Nelur his gone into hiding and isn't too much of a threat by himself; in fact it's rumored that his ex-fiance has put a hit out for him."

Coriani nodded, hearing the information. She had heard rumors before leaving Silvermoon that Nelur had stolen large amount of gold before dumping his fiance so she wouldn't be surprised if it was true. "So does that mean the protective custody is over?"

"Yes." The rogue smirked. "If Nelur is in hiding due to his ex-fiance; I doubt he's serious enough of a threat to come after you. Besides, I wasn't impressed that the guards were getting lax here."

The part of the pandarens getting lazy was true; a few months earlier most of the guards would be awake during their duty. In the last few weeks that hadn't been the case. Out of the eight pandarens, one maybe two would managed to stay awake during their shift. Luckily nothing bad had happened...

"Good. I assume you haven't told Taelis of my situation." Coriani said, eying her pets. It would be nice to leave finally and get back to her search. Even though Failiani had been found and was safe, Cori figured she needed to change it to locating Nisensi's villa. The huntress didn't want another attempt being made against the young one. Also, she wanted the gold back.

"Not yet; I only received the letter two days ago. I was going to write him..." Carena took off her gray-framed glasses and wiped her eyes.

"Don't write him. I'd be best if I informed him myself." Coriani interrupted. She had good reason for it; she actually saw this rogue's handwriting and it was horrific; a five year old blood elf could write better. Granted, she knew the rogue's eyesight was bad but still...

"Alright, I'll let you inform him then." Carena put her glasses back on and motioned to a cabinet. "Your other belongings are in there. There is a special kite out on the deck that'll take you to Halfhill. Someone inside the inn volunteered to give a portal to Thunder Bluff; that is where that weekly clinic takes place, right?"

"Yes." Coriani got up on her feet and made her way over to the cabinet with the staff in hand. She opened it up and noticed her packs and toolbox were inside. She was anxious to leave and get going. "I'll assume you're not coming along."

"She needs to eat. Have you seen how thin she is? She doesn't need to be as skinny as an elf... no offense, Cori." Keeneth commented, pointing at Carena.

The huntress looked at the female rogue and first time realized the human was thin; even by their standards. She couldn't blame Car though, who would want to eat the food at Nisensi's headquarters? It was probably tainted...

"Knowing what Nisensi is capable of, I don't blame you for wanting to eat." she commented while grabbing her packs and toolbox. She motioned for her pets to follow her.

"So you'll be headed out, now. Tell Taelis I'll continue to keep him informed of Nisensi's plans."

"Yes, I need to get check out at the next Da Doctas clinic whenever that is. I appreicate you saving me months ago." Coriani hoppled over to the door. Walking on her broken foot even with a staff for support wasn't the smartest idea but she didn't have much of a choice.

"No problem, Coriani. Have a safe journey." Carena waved.

"Likewise. Fare you well." The huntress commented and bowed briefly before opening the door. Once her pets were outside and the gryphon ran inside, she closed the door and walked over to the kite, noticing it was late in the day. Nightfall would be around soon.

..................................

Coriani sighed as the kite landed east of Halfhill near a wooden/bamboo bridge. It had kinda veered off-course but then again the kite had a magical nature to it. Still, at least she was close enough where she could make it to the town though it'd be painful considering the injured foot.

She looked at the sky; it was night out though she figured daylight would start to show up in an hour or so. She once again got the staff out and used it to support herself to get off the kite; her pets were already off and looking at something in the northern direction. The blood elf hopped over and was shook her head when she saw a dead horse laying on the ground.

Not just any dead horse, one that had been shot by many arrows. Coriani walked over to it and knelt down to inspect one arrow that was lying on the ground next to the dead animal; somehow she was certain she had these type before but couldn't recall exactly where. They were Quel'dorei in style and bluish in color. A memory suddenly flashed before her eyes and she quickly went looking through her packs.

She pulled out a bluish arrow from her toolbox and compared it to the one on the ground; they were an exact match. The dream she had... no wonder that part of it had seemed real, it was a flashback to her bird getting injured. As to who the high elf male was, she didn't know but something told her she would need to find out sooner than later.

She got back on her feet and was startled to see a lantern lying on the ground along with a dog-tag. The huntress tripped and fell on her bum while taking steps back; had she found a crime scene? She didn't see a body anywhere and no footsteps went near the water... possible abduction? Maybe but who did the dog-tag belong to?

Before she knew it, Sea Gull flew over and managed to retrieve the dog-tag with it's talons. Coriani looked over the name Danner Vasile inscribed on it and was horrified. She knew she needed to get to the inn and see if this particular Alliance soldier was safely inside and someone had stolen this.

If not, she would have to let Carena know right away that her estranged twin brother was missing. Why he didn't use his late father's last name of Vhitaker-Vasile as his own was unknown to Coriani and even Keeneth who was the one that told her more about the family.

The elf got to her feet painfully and without too much thoughts, she walked in the direction of the Halfhill inn using the staff to keep balance. If there was something she was certain of, it was going to be painful getting there and she would be looking forward going to the Da Doctas clinic.