Grim Views

**A parchment is posted in the guild hall. The ink is a deep red.**

As I have undergone my trials, I have developed a deeper understanding of what it means to serve the mandate. With my sacrifice I intend to remove distractions that prevent me from serving the mandate wholly.

In my previous life, as an Elf of Silvermoon, I was a goldsmith. I made beautiful jewelry that served no purpose other than to be pretty. With the advent of the third war, and my eventual service to the Lich King, my skills were forced into making weapons of war. I kept one particular piece, a pocket watch, in my possession. Eventually, I no longer had the skill to maintain it, and the watch ceased to work. Out of sentimentality I kept the watch.

I had not though much about this watch until I spoke with Khorvis during my second trial. He spoke of clearing his mental state in order to serve the mandate more fully. It was then that I realized that the watch has come to represent my anxiety regarding who I once was. The circumstances surrounding my death and my inability to protect those that were most important has always been a source of grief. I feel that I am to blame for circumstances that, in reality, I could not control.

My sacrifice is twofold. The watch is the is my first part of the sacrifice. In it's destruction I sacrifice my anxiety, worry, and doubt. I will fight to serve the mandate and in doing so I will exorcise my mind and work towards mental clarity. However, the nature of sacrifice means that it cannot be easy. As the second part of my sacrifice I will cut all ties to who I once was. All ties to my elven heritage and to my single living son will be cut. The Elf that once lived in Silvermoon is dead, and that man is not who I am. If I am to serve the mandate completely, then I need not focus on this other person, but on who I am now.

-Ishiner

The parchment wilted in Khorvis's grip. Sitting alone at one of the long banquet tables in the Great Hall, the orc had finished reading Ishiner's final report.

An enveloping wave of sadness washed over him. Family was a dear thing to lose, and to give it up willingly seemed a waste. What he would not give to have his brother returned from the grave? Or his greatmother?

Pondering these indulgences, Khorvis watched the hands of the great arcane clock, which hung from the ceiling, tick their slow progression. An eternal cycle, each moment achieved by forgoing the last. Minutes and hours sacrificed for the promise of another instant in time to be delivered on the wings of faith. The intricacies of the clock could dazzle the casual observer, as an illusory model of the solar system mirrored the immediate locale of the Great Dark Beyond. Tiny stars in the backdrop winked out of existence, some in small flashes, to be replaced by newly burning coals in wispy nebulae.

Khorvis's attention returned to the parchment. He was being selfish. Older lives were sacrificed to make room in this world for new ones. That was the way of things, and always would it be.

Flipping the notice over, he wrote a hasty note to Ruuki, Ishiner's Inquisitor.

This sacrifice do be worthy, with one exception. This one may no longer claim the surname "Silverblood". Under the Mandate, he will choose a new family epithet.

Bloodstar

Ruuki looked over both the report from Ishiner and the note from Khorvis. She had spoken with Ishiner regarding this trial, and made certain he was full aware of the implications of his sacrifice, so this came as no surprise to her. First, she penned her reply to Khorvis.

"I agree with the exception to his sacrifice. He can present his final trial before the Inquisition at our next gathering.

-Ruuki"

To Ishiner, she wrote a little bit more of an in depth note.

"Ishiner,

Be present at the next gathering of the Inquisition to bring forth your final trial. There is but one preparation you need to make before it.

Silverblood will exist no further once you have completed this sacrifice. You may, as many others have including myself, select a more appropriate name if you'd like, or simply go by Ishiner. You will no longer lay claim to your family name once this is seen through.

-Inquisitor Ruuki the Reborn"