Fandom WoW: A tale of two isolationists

[Bunsandpups]

She waited patiently for the Gilneans to have their whispers and gossip, wanting to be alone with her companion before explaining. "Warlocks are... not unlike Shamans, in a sense. Rather than spirits, however, it is Fel creatures with which they commune. They forge dark pacts in exchange for their power. Many are ostracized or even outright banned. To be a Warlock in Gilneas was to risk expulsion from your home. The practices aren't met with much love anywhere on Azeroth, from what I can tell." She waved to a group of Gilneans that walked by, giving them a slight nod at a questioning glance.

"They're not sure what to think of you, you know. Neither was I, when I first saw you. I thought you might have been a Druid form I hadn't seen before." She let her fingers skim over the top of the pond, watching the ripples they formed. "Then again, I'm certain we got a few of the same looks from those who hadn't heard we were coming here after Gilneas was assaulted."

 

[Steel Accord]

“Seeing as they were the ones who picked us up and brought us here, I doubt it.” Came a new voice. Over walked a man wearing some combination of a formal suit and a robe. He was bald but with an orange beard and moustache. He walked with his back slightly hunched forward.

“Elene. I have wonderful news! We can speak in front of your . . . your,” he was at a loss when looking at the monk. Following the usual palm and fist bowing, “Wei Yu Summers-“

“Your Way You. We can speak in front of it. He’s been speaking to me again, my acolyte. The great Balcephoth! He has spoken about you. He says this one, your Way You.”

“That’s actually my name, not my,”

“He will lead you to knowledge, child. The knowledge you seek, and the knowledge you need.”

 

[Bunsandpups]

"You know as well as I do that there are those who are determined to keep their heads in the sand." She gave a bow at the waist as she spoke to the man, to be polite. She couldn't resist a wry grin at her mentor's misunderstanding of Wei Yu's name, however, and had to stifle a chuckle as the Monk attempted to correct him. She took a moment to ensure that no Night Elves were in the Oak, as well as to make sure that they were relatively alone. Her people tolerated her work more, now that Gilneas had fallen, but she still made it a point to keep discretion key. If she didn't, she feared she would lose clients and the trust she'd built up over the years by keeping things as silent as possible.

"It has been some time since we have heard from him, Mentor Darkwalker. I am pleased he has not forgotten us, and that he comes bearing new instruction." She wasn't sure, however, how she felt about travelling over Azeroth with this Monk. Still, if her mentor's adviser had stated it, who was she to rebel?

"Is there news about when I should go? I presume at once, yes?" The Fel were patient, yes, but were not ones for inaction in the face of an order. "I presume as well that there is to be an open sharing of knowledge between myself and Wei Yu?"

 

[Steel Accord]

“Sure. Break his brains in half with the knowledge of what we know for all I care. A bloodhound could be eaten by the bear once it’s done its job of finding the beast.” Darkwalker seemed to be in no possession of irony in either the hound or bear used in that metaphor. His head looked off in a direction seeing or hearing something known only to him. He smiled wickedly.

“Excuse me acolyte. I am called to the shadows of this twilit timberland.” He stalked away, transforming mid stride before falling to all fours and pounding his way out of the city.

“He seemed . . . troubled.” Wei Yu surmised.

 

[Bunsandpups]

She shook her head as he wandered off, giving another half bow as he went. "He is... well, it seems his mind might be of two forms as well," she said after a moment. It would do no good to speak ill of her mentor, but she did acknowledge that he had his own quirks to be dealt with. The metaphor seemed apt enough, but she wondered if he'd fully realized what had been said. "He is my mentor, and has taught me a great deal. It seems the one that teaches him believes you are to be my next mentor."

She stood fully after a moment, drying off the hand that had been dipped in the pond water. "I suppose then that I'm your companion for the rest of your journey. Tell me, where were you heading next?" He'd already been here and to Stormwind, which didn't leave many places left to go if he was only checking in on the capital cities. "And when were you planning to be there?"

 

[Steel Accord]

“Were you planning on asking for my actual consent to travel with me or just continuing to assume I would say yes?” Wei Yu asked, feeling somewhat justifiably put upon.

 

[Bunsandpups]

A flush fell across her cheeks at the question; how could she have been so presumptuous? "I apologize," she said after a moment. It had been determined for her the moment Balcephoth's name was in the conversation, but in her haste she'd forgotten to actually ask Wei Yu for permission. "I was too hasty and assumed to much. Please, let me make it up to you. Do you have provisions for dinner yet?" It was a bit early in the day to be thinking of an evening meal, but the least she could do was give him something tangible to show for an apology.

 

[Steel Accord]

Wei Yu let out a hearty belly laugh. “One thing you will learn about my people? The way to a pandaren’s heart, is through their stomach. I will humbly take you up on that offer.”

 

[Bunsandpups]

She smiled in return, glad to have smoothed things over so quickly. "I'm afraid I haven't come into contact much with Pandaren cuisine, but I would love to show you what Gilnean food is like. It's very rich, and quite filling." She turned back towards the way they'd come in. "I actually don't live here; I live on the outskirts of Darnassus proper. Is there anywhere else in the city you'd like to see today before dinner?"

 

[Steel Accord]

He shook his head as they walked together.
“This was the last place I hadn’t been to in the city. One my Si Jie tried to warn me from. I can see a little of why.” He chuckled.

 

[Bunsandpups]

"Worgen are... well, for a long time they were the beasts lurking just outside our homes, frightening small children into behaving. The 'monster under the bed' if you will. We had no idea if there were still people in there or not, or if they were worth saving. It was only once they attacked Gilneas that we found something to help stabilize the curse. It doesn't get rid of the urges entirely, but it does make them easier to ignore. Much more like impulse than anything else." She refrained from going into detail about the desire to hunt and chase the critters around Azeroth, for fear it would make her look both savage and undignified.

 

[Steel Accord]

“Hmmm.” Wei Yu slid his staff into a holster on his turtle’s shell when they came to the resting reptile. Following he pulled out a scroll, laying it on the slope of the shell and started to inscribe notes in his calligraphic style. He was writing down what Elene has just told him.

 

[Bunsandpups]

She kept her pace with the mount, deciding that her own would likely have made it back to the house on its own. "Your handwriting is lovely," she commented idly as she watched him write. It seemed that his people did things in an exacting manner, making sure there was purpose to it all. It was an enviable skill, and perhaps one of the key things she was meant to learn from Wei Yu. "I will note that we have much more control over changing in general than it seems the feral Worgen have. Though, that is also thanks to our Night Elf friends. If we become over-stressed or find ourselves in combat, the beast takes over on what feels like survival instinct. But other than that, it's more or less at-will."

 

[Steel Accord]

“Fascinating.” He finishes up and slides off the shell to walk along his guide. Not wanting to be comfortable while she’s walking. Especially as she offered to graciously host him.

“Might I ask, Elene, why do you live so far both from your hosts and your own people?”

 

[Bunsandpups]

"It's a personal preference. Even in Gilneas my home was rather tucked away," she said easily, noticing the small gesture for her comfort. "You'll soon find I have reasons for preferring my privacy, but if it's all the same to you I would rather wait until we've left the city proper to show you." She left it at that, for fear that there could be people listening in. After all, they were two outsiders walking together through a city neither one could really call home; what more could she do to invite onlookers than perhaps summon a demon there and then?

Once she was comfortably far from the city, she paused. She concentrated for a moment before summoning an imp to her side, deciding it was the least threatening of all the creatures she could have pulled up. The imp voiced complaints to her in Demonic, but she chose to ignore it, simply beckoning it forward and turning to her companion. "This is some of what Warlocks do. We deal with the Fel."

 

[Steel Accord]

Wei Yu stepped back as he could see that Elene was doing some form of magic. He didn’t want to disturb her concentration. As she summoned though, Wei couldn’t help but feel something else. The air around them started to sting. His fur stood on end. He tensed. Like he was getting ready to fight despite seemingly no threats being nearby.

When suddenly this chattering little creature burst into being. It reminded him somewhat of the sprites of the Wandering Isle but this being was wreathed in flame and its eyes glowed, with the sprite like mischief but something far worse behind it.

“What . . . is that?” Wei Yu was somewhat frightened he had to admit.

 

[Bunsandpups]

"Don't be afraid. It won't hurt you, unless I command it to," she said with an easy smile. Despite protests she picked the creature up, kneeling in front of Wei Yu to show him how small it was. "It uses the same magics I do, as an aid to me. It's an imp." The chattering continued in displeasure, and she ignored a few bites to her hand as "punishment" for daring to pick up such a mighty demon. After a moment she set it down, instructing it to totter a few steps ahead of them as she gently nudged Wei Yu to continue on.

"That's one of the lesser demons I can summon. Though, don't tell him that. He might bite you for it, and those teeth are a bit sharp." She was applying light pressure to the hand that had been bitten. "Have you truly never seen something like this before?" To her this was completely mundane. In the back of her head she made a note to describe any and all demons to him in the future before simply summoning them, lest the poor man faint.

 

[Steel Accord]

Wei Yu was visibly paled. So much so that the black of his fur threatened to disappear altogether. He shook his head. He had never seen a demon in his life. Indeed, his people had no concept of what they even were.

Needless to say, he was a little more nervous about sitting down to dinner.

 

[Bunsandpups]

"Please, relax. He's relatively harmless, all things considered. No more ferocious than your average house cat... if it could cast a fireball," she conceded after a moment. "I can send him back, if you'd like. I promise my house isn't crawling with them. Though I do like to have the privacy to summon company if need be." She motioned for the creature to move further away, hoping it would give him a moment to relax.

"You're looking quite pale. Would you like to rest a moment, or perhaps ride your turtle?"

 

[Steel Accord]

“Pardon me. I’d just like to reach your home first. A proper place to sit would be most appreciated.” He followed Elene.

 

[Bunsandpups]

"Absolutely. Feel free to rest wherever you like. I managed to get some nicer furniture over time, though I'm afraid it's nothing quite like what we would have had in Gilneas." She took a few shortcuts that she would have considered ill-advised had it been later in the day, and silently offered her thanks to whatever may have been listening that they encountered no danger. She unlocked the front door of her home and held it open for her guest, waving away the imp with a dismissive gesture. It gave one last annoyed chatter before disappearing, and the two of them were left alone.

She gathered the basket from the back of her hippogryph before heading inside herself, taking stock of what the creature hadn't managed to knock loose in order to snack on. "I suppose the first question I have is whether or not you eat meat?" She realized she had no idea what he might prefer to eat, and didn't want to offend him by cooking something he couldn't, or didn't, partake of. "Is there anything in particular you're not fond of?"

 

[Steel Accord]

“Yes, I love meat. I don’t drink though, so save the wine.” He said as he found himself a couch to sit on. He folded his legs under his body, touched his pointer fingers to his thumbs, closed his eyes, and focused on his breath. He suddenly had a LOT to process and think about.

 

[Bunsandpups]

"Of course, thank you for telling me." It was a shame, as the best things she had to drink were the vintage wines she'd managed to begin collecting again, but she was certain she could find something for him. She set about the kitchen without saying much, humming softly to herself as she worked. Normally she would be working with a demon, perhaps chatting over dinner about ways to improve technique or contracts to be bartered, but she figured she would spare him the exposure. It was clear he was still processing the day.

She cleared her throat once dinner was done. She'd made something relatively simple, but which she hoped would show off her culture's cuisine. She had thrown together a meat pie from some of her stores of chicken, mutton, and venison; a pumpkin fondue from the Gilnean white cheese with a toasted barley loaf to dip into it, and finally a mixed berry salad for dessert. She'd set both places with a glass of milk and moonberry juice, unsure of his preference. "Dinner is ready, if you are."

 

[Steel Accord]

In . . . . and out. Calmness. Loosing fear. In . . . out. Nose twitch. Pumpkin? In . . . out. Consideration. Readiness. Ear twitch plates clanging. He took a deep breath in. He arose from the seat and hurried over to the table for the veritable feast. He smelled it all.

“Oh if this tastes as good as it smells.” He pulled his seat up.

 

[Bunsandpups]

"I assure you it will. I didn't have everything on hand I would've liked, but it'll be close enough to home," she said with a smile. She gestured for him to take his helping first, since he was her guest. She wanted to see the look on his face anyway, once he tasted her people's food. It was nothing like what he was used to, she was sure, but it would hopefully still be to his liking. "What was it that you made a tea from, earlier? I've never smelled an herb like it."