(Quan Tou Kuo the Two Fisted, Father of the School of Balanced Inebriation)
"Are you sure this will work?" Ruuki voiced her question as she dismounted from her golden serpent, hooves clopping onto the loose rock outside the tomb. No sooner did she touch the ground that the waves of the shoreline washed over to her, almost reaching her knees. She sighed and looked back at me. I had dismounted on top of a large boulder, safeguarding me from the waves. I fought back a smile.
"Well, Phil-" I stopped abruptly catching my tongue. "Ruuki, as a mender of the Grim it is my responsibility to help you in recovering your memory. However, I have limited workings with memory loss." I hopped down from the elevated position and started forward. As we entered the tomb I hushed my voice. "So you could say I'm working with the cues you've given me to try and trigger more memories. You mentioned this tomb and its inhabiting spirit, so here we are."
She nodded seriously as she walked ahead, putting herself between the tomb and I. She rotated a shoulder, I suspect due to discomfort. Perhaps her protective armor wasn't quite fitted right as she didn't use it often. Her shield arm instinctively reached to grasp her weapon in a two-handed fashion, but she caught herself. The small cramped passageway opened into a large square burial room, with four pillars holding up the looming stones above. It smelled of stagnant water and death. I shuddered from the cold, encompassing atmosphere while Ruuki grunted her acknowledgement of our surroundings. She seemed to remember it, glancing around at the stone sarcophagi scattered along the outer wall.
"Ready?" I asked, gesturing slightly as the ever familiar Jade Serpent statue materialized nearby.
She nodded, gripping her sword so tight I could hear the leather on the hilt groan in protest. "I know what to do."
She approached the large stone tomb on the back wall on the room, stopping at a small apparatus near it. She revealed three small glowing blue stones, and carefully placed them in the 3 available notches in the small device, then stepped back, readying her shield. The room began shudder and you could hear faint moans and cries. They seemed to be coming from the sarcophagi along the walls. And then, as if the stone weren't even there, a large brutish apparition sat up in the large tomb. It seemed to be an ancient Mogu warlord of great infamy. Turning to Ruuki it seemed to understand that she was its summoner, and in one motion the shade grabbed its polearm, leapt from its resting place and struck.
Ruuki blocked the first strike clumsily, taking two steps back to rebalance. I could see her smile as my healing mists washed over her and I moved to take position behind the warlord. Ruuki held its attention as I lunged in to strike. I lashed out at all known weaknesses and pressure points but it was to no avail. Continuing the assault, Ruuki's movements became much more deliberate and fluid as she seemed to acclimate to her task. As my strikes wore our enemy down, he took measures against me. His shouts boomed, seeming to shake the foundation of the stone tower we were beneath. The sarcophagi shuddered, and one opened. The ghostly apparition within it wailed, piercing my eardrums. Its grasp tugged at me, diverting my attention away from the warlord. In an effort to get free of its grasp, I dove around a pillar. The pulling stopped, and I heard stone meet stone as the sarcophagus shut. I turned back to the warlord, who wielded his polearm above his head preparing for a mighty strike,his eyes and weapon glowing with dark energy. Ruuki raised her shield in response but I knew that may not be enough. How I summoned the strength to pull a Tauren off her hooves I will never know, but we dodged the powerful strike.
Crashing into the stone floor together, I warned "Watch out for that one!" pointing out the dark magic trail it left behind. She nodded thankfully, and immediately went back to work.
Fortunately, even ghostly warlords tire. His strikes slowed and weakened as we grew more aware of every tactic he employed. He gasped in exhaustion and I took that as a cue to end it. From behind I swept my leg, bringing the mighty warlord to its knees. Ruuki, without hesitation, brought her shield down upon its exposed neck. In a muffled grunt, the apparition slumped to the ground, defeated.
I opened my eyes, the fire within the lantern seeming to stare back at me. I took a deep breath and looked down. Raising an eyebrow at the sight, the parchment showed a beautifully drawn picture of Ruuki and I standing over the spirit of Warlord Teng.
"Interesting," I said to myself, quite amazed. Deciding it's better to meditate on it later, I grabbed a brush and began to write under the drawing-
“I've been spending time with Ruuki, doing what I can to bring her memory back. We went to the Tomb of Warlord Teng, as she mentioned it as one of the images she remembered. Spending this time on Thunder Isle and this encounter with the warlord brought back recollection of our time assisting the Sunreaver Onslaught, along with skirmishing with the Kirin Tor there. I believe with enough time it will be possible to recover most if not all of her memories. As a mender of the Grim, this has been an experience of growth for me, and I would like to submit this as my Trial of Combat.
-Sunderpalm”
(Warning: Photo may be more graphic than picture in trial)
