Questions by Melchisedech

[Keeper Of Lore]

Melchisedech paced in Kargath, kicking at rocks and finding the general squallor irritating to his sensitive mood. He had problems that needed solving, and as much as he wanted to be patient, time might well be running out. Acherontia had shown an... inclination... toward channeling the power of a fel mage far more powerful than she, and Melchisedech was convinced it had something to do with the loss of her eyes. He'd been researching both since Arathi Basin, and now it was time to get some answers.

He fished his hearthstone from his pouch and focused his thoughts on Lupen. "Arch Dread Mage... I need to speak with you."

[Keeper Of Lore]

by Lupen

In the silence of sleep, but within the din of dreams, the Arch-Dread Mage Lupen Vakov awoke. His hearthstone resonating beside him, his back sore from a poor night's rest. As his hand came in contact with the stone, the quick message shot into his mind. Responding, Lupen contacted Melchisedech in his usual cold tone, "Yes, comrade, how can I be of service?"

[Keeper Of Lore]

Melchisedech breathed a small sigh of relief. The Arch Dread Magus intimidated him, he was not afraid to admit. And yet, when it came to matters of demons, there were few more qualified to answer his questions.

"I have some concerns involving one of the warlocks in the Grim, Magus Vakov... I was hoping you could allay my fears and assist me in assisting her." The anonymity was far from definite... surely Lupen knew about whom he spoke... and yet, it made the priest more comfortable. "Starting with a translation."

Closing his eyes, the priest reached back into his memory, clutching at the words indelibly burned that day in the Basin. "She said something... in a language I could not understand. She said it as she destroyed a powerful demon which she had summoned.

"She said: Adolibus! Mujzh atropozh Acherontia, velatir, sectistir! Khizh'tiu numordi azh'giro, te azh'giro grisnatin mor nik'shr okhat! Bia, adolibus, sinzh niralar!"

Even speaking the words, even as butchered as Melchisedech made them, he shuddered. It was a language not meant for mortal tongues. "Tell me, Lupen, if you can... what does it mean?"

[Keeper Of Lore]

Lupen sat up in his bed, sheets black and bloodstained, he thought. A minute passed in complete silence until Lupen finally spoke. "Your Eredar is terribly broken, but I can offer some translation. "Atropozh Acherontia" seems to refer to your mate... Correct, you two are mates? Hm... No more than a name..." He shifted his position and spoke again, " 'Adolibus' is either in embanishment or summoning, the meaning is unclear, but it must all me taken into context. The final line seems to replicate a common summoning technique, by repeating a name or phrase from the powers invoked." Lupen buckled a bit, his head throbbing, his heart pounding, not out of fear, out of nervousness, but what? What was it?

The Warlock paused briefly and spoke, "I'll need to speak with you and Acherontia, especially considering the context with this incantation is in."

[Keeper Of Lore]

Melchisedech frowned. "We are not mates... friends. I hope. That is beside the point." The priest shook his head. He had to stay focused. "The words were spoken in the heat of battle. And I do not entirely believe they were spoken by Acherontia." So much for subtlety. Then again, he'd never labored under the delusion that Lupen had any question as to the subject of their discussion.

"They came from her lips, but... she showed some signs of demonic influence." Some signs. She had spoken a language he had never heard her speak, cast spells so powerful and so rapidly that the priest had been frightened for his life, and summoned and dismissed a demon the likes of which Melchisedech had never seen. Some signs. "For that reason I am... hesitant... to involve her until I have no other choice. I have been researching ways to mend her vision, but they are all risky, and the best chances of survival involve retrieving her eyes."

[Keeper Of Lore]

Lupen frowned a bit and responded, "We will have to meet on the matter, as soon as possible."

[Keeper Of Lore]

Melchisedech nodded, moving toward the wind rider master. "Of course... when and where?"

[Keeper Of Lore]

Melchisedech sat on the cold stone of the Undercity, reclining against the wall of Acherontia's niche while she prepared some manner of food next to "her" wagon. No one else seemed to have claimed it, so it was hers. He watched her move and reflected on the evening's events.

In the end, he had brought Acherontia to Lupen, and the Dread Magus had pried the story of Arathi Basin out of them. They told him how Acherontia had summoned an infernal, how that infernal had killed most of their allies, and how she had banished it again in a burst of strength. Lupen suggested demonic possession, but he and Acherontia both suspected differently.

In the Third War, Acherontia had been different. She confessed to Lupen that the loss of her eyes had been a deliberate sacrifice, forced on her and many others by Archlich Kel'Thuzad himself. That sacrifice had someone granted them strange powers from the Burning Legion, powers that included shadow magic, demon summoning, and the shadowy fel vision that let them function.

Melchisedech suspected that Arathi Basin had been but a "relapse," so to speak. When she had been freed from the Scourge by Sylvanus, that Scourge persona (not personality, she was not insane) was subsumed by Acherontia's persona, a desire to have what was taken from her. Like roles, Acherontia switched between them as necessary, and as yet, only once had the "atroposz" role been required.

And yet, Melchisedech thought that, somewhere, there might be a third role inside her. She showed the potential to truly be Forsaken, not merely a human in a rotting shell. He had seen the battle fury in her eyes, and also seen the compassion for her fellow Forsaken, at least those in the Grim. He believed he could help her become more than a pair of roles. He believed he could help her realize her true potential as a Forsaken, with the powers of the Scourge and the clarity of thought of her more human tendencies.

That would require recovering her eyes, however. She knew they had been taken by a conclave of liches working under the auspices of a Dreadlord. As of yet, Melchisedech had researched the names of only four liches - Amnennar the Coldbringer, Ras Frostwhisper, Araj the Summoner, and Archlich Kel'Thuzad himself - and two Dreadlords.

Three, he mentally corrected himself, remembering the horns on Lupen's forehead. The Forsaken Dreadlord had offered his assistance dealing with the others, Varimathras and Balnazzar. Melchisedech had thought the latter deceased in the Lordaeron Civil War, but Lupen claimed the Dreadlord yet lived in hiding.

Melchisedech mentally reviewed the list. Amnennar was dead in the Downs, and he had personally scoured the quillboars' home with no trace of Acherontia's eyes. Ras Frostwhisper was said to dwell within the haunted ruins of Scholomance, and the priest felt he was very likely to have the orbs. Araj the Summoner ruled over what was left of Andorhal, and was heavily guarded by his personal Scourge entourage.

That left Archlich Kel'Thuzad, Lich Lord of the Plaguelands. He ruled over the Scourge in the Eastern Kingdoms from his floating necropolis Naxxramas. He would be the hardest to reach. Silently, Melchisedech murmured a prayer that one of the others had the eyes.

Acherontia lifted her head. "What did you say?"

Melchisedech smiled. "Nothing, my dear. Talking to myself." I will find your sight again, Acherontia. I swear it, if I have to slay every single Scourge in Azeroth, I will find your sight.