Post by aleros on Aug 13, 2008 14:50:59 GMT -5
(( My contribution to all the Northrend posts! "Family Matters" is a longer project I'm working on involving Xionn and Ale sitting down and having a long talk about their respective pasts. ))
He had spoken with both Seylon and Skyborne about his absence. Khallar would be in good hands while he made his journey to Northrend. While he was up there, he would also be searching for Genise as she had gone missing. Seylon passed the message on to him from the Riders, and he would do his best to ask around, although with no clues it would be difficult if she was indeed up there. He would go, do his business as commanded by the Cenarion Circle and find someplace possibly to live while he was there. His official business would be to speak with the Kirin Tor, on behalf of the Cenarion Circle and see if they would reconsider their plans for the blue flight. The emissaries could be found in Northrend, as well as the initial preparations for the secret project of moving the entire city of Dalaran.
He did not wish for either side to be in war with the other. The blue flight had awoken and was seeking to reclaim their grasp over arcane magic and its flows and leys. Dalaran, The Violet Eye, it was an entire city of humans and elves that had built a city and society based upon this magic. After Malygos’s disappearance many thousands of years before humans even emerged, arcane magics were allowed to flow freely, and now Malygos wanted to bring them under control again, but Dalaran would not have it. The blue flight refused audiences with both Dalaran and the Cenarion Circle.
“And now I am expected to speak with Dalaran and convince them to roll over and accept Malygos taking all their magic away. We saw how well that went with the Blood Elves and the Sunwell…”
“The fark are ye mumblin’ about over there?”
There was no way to fly there, there was a chill curse on the wind around the northern continent. Aleros’s brother, Xionn, had agreed to ferry him up to Northrend. There was a supposed discount for siblings, but it was still a hefty sum. Xionn had assured him that the Grimskull was the fastest—
“Well maybe not fastest, but sure ‘n shit fast enough ta outrun them slow arse alliance blockades.”
“And their weapons? Mages? Surely if they’re slow they pack a bite.”
“You leave tha’ logistics ta us, the experts, we been outrunnin’ an’ outsmartin’ both alliance and horde dimwits fer awhile. Ye hafta rememba’, ye grew up around trees ‘n fairies ‘n shat. I grew up around goblins and cutthroats. If ye want ta turn a profit and live ta spend it, ye have ta be smart.”
Tarquin had brought to light his distaste for pirates when Aleros had mentioned Xionn’s services. He could see why, pirates did indeed make it hard for those earning an honest “underhanded” living, as opposed to the pirates who just made a dishonest living openly in an underhanded way to make it look honest. But economics were never his concern. The Cenarion Circle had enough money for any “necessary” expenditures.
The current blockades were only in place to protect thrill seeking adventurers from throwing themselves blindly into the Lich King’s waiting arms while the alliance armies set up forts and established communications with old ones. At least that was the front they advertised. In reality, along with the scouts and initial diplomats, adventurers were charged a hefty fee as long as they were under jurisdiction of the alliance. Thus even the nobles of Stormwind were lining their pockets underhandedly… but right out in the open. Aleros wasn't so sure that pirates were so bad at this rate...
He wasn’t an official diplomat by any means, otherwise passage would have been simple. Staghelm had no interest in the north as it held no prospects for the expansion of the Darnassian people. The temple had lent several of their trackers and scouts to Stormwind, but otherwise that was all they were allowing. Aleros had undertaken this task as part of a sect of the Circle that acted independently of Staghelm and had other interests in mind; more modest goals that held the interests of the Circle rather than the expansion of the Kal’dorei race.
There was a sudden chilled wind. As he looked over the sides of the ship he could see the first signs of ice in the water. A land that was cold enough to freeze even the sea…
Xionn was at the helm. He didn’t look afraid. At least he tried not to. He hadn’t shown weakness to the crew, and he wasn’t about to start.
“Straight on through’it all, men.”
The first signs of the alliance blockade appeared, figures they had been seeing all along but thought were icebergs.
Xionn whistled, “Jugga’nauts, shat, haven’t seen those fossils since that second war ended. All tha’ scrap metal from ‘em washed up on our shores.”
As they approached the massive ships, which were almost akin to mountains when seen from afar, a sudden mist surrounded the smaller sloop. The entire crew went deathly silent and they sailed in right beside the ironclad ship. Neither vessel made a sound. It was as they passed that Aleros realized the lack of any life aboard the alliance blockade ship. The decks were silent and covered in ice and not a single light was lit. Everyone on board seemed to realize this as well, but nobody made a sound, nor did the magic cover lift. Xionn broke the silence.
“Fuckin’. Shat.”
He had spoken with both Seylon and Skyborne about his absence. Khallar would be in good hands while he made his journey to Northrend. While he was up there, he would also be searching for Genise as she had gone missing. Seylon passed the message on to him from the Riders, and he would do his best to ask around, although with no clues it would be difficult if she was indeed up there. He would go, do his business as commanded by the Cenarion Circle and find someplace possibly to live while he was there. His official business would be to speak with the Kirin Tor, on behalf of the Cenarion Circle and see if they would reconsider their plans for the blue flight. The emissaries could be found in Northrend, as well as the initial preparations for the secret project of moving the entire city of Dalaran.
He did not wish for either side to be in war with the other. The blue flight had awoken and was seeking to reclaim their grasp over arcane magic and its flows and leys. Dalaran, The Violet Eye, it was an entire city of humans and elves that had built a city and society based upon this magic. After Malygos’s disappearance many thousands of years before humans even emerged, arcane magics were allowed to flow freely, and now Malygos wanted to bring them under control again, but Dalaran would not have it. The blue flight refused audiences with both Dalaran and the Cenarion Circle.
“And now I am expected to speak with Dalaran and convince them to roll over and accept Malygos taking all their magic away. We saw how well that went with the Blood Elves and the Sunwell…”
“The fark are ye mumblin’ about over there?”
There was no way to fly there, there was a chill curse on the wind around the northern continent. Aleros’s brother, Xionn, had agreed to ferry him up to Northrend. There was a supposed discount for siblings, but it was still a hefty sum. Xionn had assured him that the Grimskull was the fastest—
“Well maybe not fastest, but sure ‘n shit fast enough ta outrun them slow arse alliance blockades.”
“And their weapons? Mages? Surely if they’re slow they pack a bite.”
“You leave tha’ logistics ta us, the experts, we been outrunnin’ an’ outsmartin’ both alliance and horde dimwits fer awhile. Ye hafta rememba’, ye grew up around trees ‘n fairies ‘n shat. I grew up around goblins and cutthroats. If ye want ta turn a profit and live ta spend it, ye have ta be smart.”
Tarquin had brought to light his distaste for pirates when Aleros had mentioned Xionn’s services. He could see why, pirates did indeed make it hard for those earning an honest “underhanded” living, as opposed to the pirates who just made a dishonest living openly in an underhanded way to make it look honest. But economics were never his concern. The Cenarion Circle had enough money for any “necessary” expenditures.
The current blockades were only in place to protect thrill seeking adventurers from throwing themselves blindly into the Lich King’s waiting arms while the alliance armies set up forts and established communications with old ones. At least that was the front they advertised. In reality, along with the scouts and initial diplomats, adventurers were charged a hefty fee as long as they were under jurisdiction of the alliance. Thus even the nobles of Stormwind were lining their pockets underhandedly… but right out in the open. Aleros wasn't so sure that pirates were so bad at this rate...
He wasn’t an official diplomat by any means, otherwise passage would have been simple. Staghelm had no interest in the north as it held no prospects for the expansion of the Darnassian people. The temple had lent several of their trackers and scouts to Stormwind, but otherwise that was all they were allowing. Aleros had undertaken this task as part of a sect of the Circle that acted independently of Staghelm and had other interests in mind; more modest goals that held the interests of the Circle rather than the expansion of the Kal’dorei race.
There was a sudden chilled wind. As he looked over the sides of the ship he could see the first signs of ice in the water. A land that was cold enough to freeze even the sea…
Xionn was at the helm. He didn’t look afraid. At least he tried not to. He hadn’t shown weakness to the crew, and he wasn’t about to start.
“Straight on through’it all, men.”
The first signs of the alliance blockade appeared, figures they had been seeing all along but thought were icebergs.
Xionn whistled, “Jugga’nauts, shat, haven’t seen those fossils since that second war ended. All tha’ scrap metal from ‘em washed up on our shores.”
As they approached the massive ships, which were almost akin to mountains when seen from afar, a sudden mist surrounded the smaller sloop. The entire crew went deathly silent and they sailed in right beside the ironclad ship. Neither vessel made a sound. It was as they passed that Aleros realized the lack of any life aboard the alliance blockade ship. The decks were silent and covered in ice and not a single light was lit. Everyone on board seemed to realize this as well, but nobody made a sound, nor did the magic cover lift. Xionn broke the silence.
“Fuckin’. Shat.”