Emancipation
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 12:24 am
“Another moment of triumph dashed upon the rocks…” Brig thought as he plummeted towards the lava below. He could no longer hear the roar of the dragon, but still caught fleeting glimpses of Deathwing as he fell. A skeletal hand reached beneath his robes and deftly traced a symbol upon one of his many contingency gems that would teleport him to safety. There was a familiar blue flash of arcane energy, then the portal, then…something violet. Something wrong. Had he fallen into another trap? The laziness of the mind that accompanies staying trapped in a physical form had led him into more than one oubliette since his arrival on Azeroth. Falling into another would be completely unacceptable.
Both light and shadow eventually cleared away, revealing a familiar location. A cell of another sort. Inviting and welcome after the trials he had faced following the Cataclysm, he looked upon his old enchanting workshop beneath Kargathia. Long abandoned, he had collapsed the upper tunnel leading down to it when he decided to disband the Decimate faction nearly ten year prior. All the tools of his trade were still intact, if a bit dusty, as well as an extensive library of Azerothian writings that had been compiled by his faithful servant, Fallacy. A multitude of unfinished projects lined the upper shelves of the room; most were intended as gifts for colleagues who had passed on or been otherwise forgotten, but a few still held relevance. Serenity invited him in and he welcomed her sweet embrace. It was time to take a bit of respite from the non-stop combat of the world above and what better place than behind his magical wards where not even the most clever of his allies, let alone his enemies, would be able to search him out.
With the slightest of grins, he picked up an intricately carved harlequin, something Xarja had tasked him with enchanting to both dance and bleed, and he set to work.
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“...shadow fragment never left infinity conflux juxtaposed teleportation modulation reset to default goto twenty Kargathia?”
The sound of falling rocks and scraping stones failed to disturb the old lich from his musings. The Malebrignon had spent the better part of two years working his art and contemplating his magical mishap with nary a thought to actually escaping the prison of his own creation. Lost within his own mind, he remained oblivious to the digging and shouts right up until the blood elf placed her hand upon his shoulder.
“Sir. We have finally found you. You are summoned to your duties once more.”
Skeletal fingers lunged for the girl’s throat, only to bounce off the metal helmet that sheathed it fully. His violet pupils glowed with a dark rage at being disturbed but quickly softened with recognition.
“Critical speed multiverse mastery!” he shouted into the Blood Knight’s face. “No, wait. That is wrong. Lady Teelari, why have you been sent? Where is my dog?”
“You mean Grooda? She will not return to your service. You should know this, sir.“ The elf raised her hand to silence the lich as he began to speak once more. “Neither will I. This vigil you have set me upon is a failure. Most everything you have tasked us with has ended in loss or stalemate. Those who served you have moved on to better things. Even your precious Grim thrive without you, lich.“
“You….you…..you….DARE TO SPEAK TO ME……”
*SMACK*
Teelari cracked a gauntlet across his bony jaw, setting his head to ringing and sending him careening to the floor.
“Damnable physical forms,” he muttered.
“While I respect what you have tried to do, sir, you failed us all. Repeatedly. We followed you. We trusted you. You chose to set yourself above the Mandate and all of our ‘tiny and insignificant lives’ as you so often put it. Your freedom, which you so often denied us, is the last courtesy any of ‘your minions’ will ever extend to you. You can thank Pleiades for finding you, if there is anything close to a gracious bone left in that pathetic shell you wear. If not for her and Grooda's insistence you would be left to rot. They argued you are too valuable a combatant to leave dormant. Return to the front. Return to your Grim. It matters not to us. We do not need you anymore.” With that, the proud knight spun around and began to head back down the tunnel she’d just finished excavating, sending a small wave of goblins scurrying ahead of her. She had felt the magical bonds that enslaved her and so many others fade over a year ago, but it was only now that she felt truly free.
Both light and shadow eventually cleared away, revealing a familiar location. A cell of another sort. Inviting and welcome after the trials he had faced following the Cataclysm, he looked upon his old enchanting workshop beneath Kargathia. Long abandoned, he had collapsed the upper tunnel leading down to it when he decided to disband the Decimate faction nearly ten year prior. All the tools of his trade were still intact, if a bit dusty, as well as an extensive library of Azerothian writings that had been compiled by his faithful servant, Fallacy. A multitude of unfinished projects lined the upper shelves of the room; most were intended as gifts for colleagues who had passed on or been otherwise forgotten, but a few still held relevance. Serenity invited him in and he welcomed her sweet embrace. It was time to take a bit of respite from the non-stop combat of the world above and what better place than behind his magical wards where not even the most clever of his allies, let alone his enemies, would be able to search him out.
With the slightest of grins, he picked up an intricately carved harlequin, something Xarja had tasked him with enchanting to both dance and bleed, and he set to work.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“...shadow fragment never left infinity conflux juxtaposed teleportation modulation reset to default goto twenty Kargathia?”
The sound of falling rocks and scraping stones failed to disturb the old lich from his musings. The Malebrignon had spent the better part of two years working his art and contemplating his magical mishap with nary a thought to actually escaping the prison of his own creation. Lost within his own mind, he remained oblivious to the digging and shouts right up until the blood elf placed her hand upon his shoulder.
“Sir. We have finally found you. You are summoned to your duties once more.”
Skeletal fingers lunged for the girl’s throat, only to bounce off the metal helmet that sheathed it fully. His violet pupils glowed with a dark rage at being disturbed but quickly softened with recognition.
“Critical speed multiverse mastery!” he shouted into the Blood Knight’s face. “No, wait. That is wrong. Lady Teelari, why have you been sent? Where is my dog?”
“You mean Grooda? She will not return to your service. You should know this, sir.“ The elf raised her hand to silence the lich as he began to speak once more. “Neither will I. This vigil you have set me upon is a failure. Most everything you have tasked us with has ended in loss or stalemate. Those who served you have moved on to better things. Even your precious Grim thrive without you, lich.“
“You….you…..you….DARE TO SPEAK TO ME……”
*SMACK*
Teelari cracked a gauntlet across his bony jaw, setting his head to ringing and sending him careening to the floor.
“Damnable physical forms,” he muttered.
“While I respect what you have tried to do, sir, you failed us all. Repeatedly. We followed you. We trusted you. You chose to set yourself above the Mandate and all of our ‘tiny and insignificant lives’ as you so often put it. Your freedom, which you so often denied us, is the last courtesy any of ‘your minions’ will ever extend to you. You can thank Pleiades for finding you, if there is anything close to a gracious bone left in that pathetic shell you wear. If not for her and Grooda's insistence you would be left to rot. They argued you are too valuable a combatant to leave dormant. Return to the front. Return to your Grim. It matters not to us. We do not need you anymore.” With that, the proud knight spun around and began to head back down the tunnel she’d just finished excavating, sending a small wave of goblins scurrying ahead of her. She had felt the magical bonds that enslaved her and so many others fade over a year ago, but it was only now that she felt truly free.