Fulfilling the Mandate
Laughing Crow - January 16, 2006
Crow Growled uncomfortably as he stood at attention. He could not
feel at ease at this meeting, no matter what he did. The stench
of Elves was everywhere. He'd practically have to bathe to get it
out of his fur when he left. He could feel thier demonic
tendrils, the light of Elune, the usurper of Mu'she, blinding
him, vapors likely meant to make him go numb and prevent him from
fulfilling his purpose...
And there were the wardens. The Elves, listless, snow-white eyes
staring at him, and more of them, he swore, peeking from beneath
bushes and from tree branches all around. They watched and
waited, waited to pounce. Waited to deliver what was talked about
here to thier alliance masters. It was a wonder that Sister
Meicious trusted them enough to hold her meeting here. But all he
could do was stand at attention and keep his rage in check, just
long enough to keep the meeting placid. But... The longer he
stood, the more his blood boiled. The Cenarion Circle. Too long.
Too long had they usurped so much.
He fingered the piece of Parchment. He had planned to save this
paticular hunt for later, after he had dealt with finding a
suitable way to punish the dwarf that defiled Ogrimmar, but it
would certainly do him good, and he saw no reason to delay it,
and now, as any wise Predator, he would be able to hunt in a
pack.
Slowly, he began to filter through the crowd, whispering words in
ears, exchanging Nods. Those who were true to the Mandate. Those
who understood the true meaning of revenge. Those who also hated
the Elves with the purest clarity of vision. Brother Pincus.
Brother Grainger. Frain and Necrosis. Sister Thermal. Bini the
Mute, a relatively new induction the Fellowship, but one who
already bore watching for great potential, one who understood the
path of the Predator. And finally, even Father Maledictus, after
prying himself from the fawning of the other leaders of the
lesser guilds, agreed to the mission. Now, they would send the
message he had been planning to send. Now, the Cenarion Circle
would know the power of the Mandate. Let them continue to oppress
the Shu'Halo, let them continue to steal the secrets of the
Earthmother. Now the Shu'Halo had powerful allies. Now the
Shu'Halo, and indeed all the Horde, would fight back.
They made thier way to Nighthaven. Crow walked, and put up with
the incessant, mindless prattle of the Frostwolf Traitors,
Brakogar and Zusteakai. He wished that he could turn there and
gut them on his spear, but of course, the protections of Thrall
forbid it, and thus they were free to spew thier poison and lies
at the Dark Lady and the Royal Apothecaries out of one side of
thier mouth, and attempt to talk of honor and respect out of the
other. So he caught up with thier prattle. And for whatever
reason, they followed him. one foot in front of the other,
sharing the occassional nod or secret smile with those beside him
who knew what they were in on. Bini took a bit of serpent's
poison out of her bag and applied it to a marvelously feathered
arrow.
Soon enough, they entered Nighthaven, and under the watching
eyes, both the monochrome, empty eyes of the elves, and the
beady, indolent eyes of the Shu-Halo who had turned traitor and
sold thier own race into slavery under the Kaldorei, they strode
toward the abode of Dendrite Starblaze.
They climbed the stairs, the wardens below, while standing
vigilantly enough, too foolish to understand what was contained
in the stony faces of the War Band.
They walked Into Dendrite's study. The Elf sat at a desk, poring
over some ancient looking parchments: "Yes, Yes," He said,
without standing from his stool or turning around, "What do you
want? I've just recieved more writings from Silithus, and I have
NO TIME-"
*CRACK BOOM*
A Black hole opened in the roof above, and a small meteor, rimmed
in green-yellow fire, slammed out of it into the floor, and then
raised itself up to reveal a small, but still deadly-looking
Infernal: Pincus' footsoldier. The sound caused Starblaze to take
notice, and he turned around.
"What is the MEANING of this? You bring demons into the inner
sanctum of the Circle? What is the meaning of this? We have no
business with the dead men today, and I will NOT TOLERATE-"
"DENDRITE STARBLAZE, " Crow bellowed, "Your race and your order
is charged with crimes innumerable. You have enslaved many
Shu'Halo, and stolen the secrets of the Druids and Tyrannized
Mu'She, the eye of the Earthmother. You have abused and
disrespected our sister, Snowfeather, and contributed to her
death. For this, you will DIE!"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Before Dendrite could speak, a Tauren Bull came
running up the stairs... But this bull wore - a Grim Tabard?
"I won't let you do this, Crow," Bellowed Trilok, looking like a
whipped cur defending it's master against an approaching Lion,
"You will not harm him, or I will kill you!"
Crow idly wondered why Trilok seemed so fixated at him. Were
there not other Grim here, all of them grinning at Dendrite
Bloodthirstily - those whose facial muscles still allowed
grinning, that is?
He continued to fit a specially prepared bolt to his crossbow,
"Stand aside, Trilok. This one has defied the will of the Grim
Mandate long enough."
Trilok began to scream, But Crow heard not. Pincus was yelling
something as well, about his Infernal. Everything slowed down to
a crawl. Dendrite's mouth opened, and an indignant look was upon
his face. He raised his hands, and white light began to play
about them. Crow did not hesitate. He raised his crossbow and
aimed. The bolt flew true, crossing just above Trilok's right
shoulder - and into the eye of Dendrite Starblaze.
A Scream, and the rest fell upon him. Shadow and Fire, Ice and
lightning converged on the Kaldorei beast, and Harbinger's claws
raked his face. Then, with a scream, the chains on the Infernal
broke! It began to roar, an unearthly wail, as its fire began to
lick upon the walls of the abode. A Portal opened, either
Grainger or Frain had made it, He did not know which.
"Through, Through, My Brother!" Pincus grabbed Crow by the
shoulder, "Let my servant raze this place, and all the traitors
within it!"
From his belt, Crow took the piece of parchment, affixed it to a
bolt, and fired. The bolt flew the far side of the room and sunk
into the wall. The scroll attached to it unfurled, ready to be
read.
Within seconds, Crow fell through the Portal, and onto the cold
stone of the Undercity, and Harbinger flew through beside him. He
picked himself upright, and Grinned, and yelled..."KIL MOG
RO'OTH!"
It was a good day. A Day of Vengeance.
***
The young initiate had only come to the Circle from Thunder Bluff
less than a month ago, but already, he felt the fellowship here,
and it had him more scared than he cared to admit that enemies
had struck such a sore blow. Now he stood guard in the burned
upper room of Dendrite Starblazes' apartments. Some Wardens were
removing pieces of stone that had only recently been animated as
a demonic footman from the deepest reachest of the nether. Some
of the most Senior druids of the Circle: Rabine Saturna, Celes
Earthborn, and two others the Initiate did not recognize, kneeled
over... something that looked vaguely night elf, but the burns
and wounds covering him made him impossible to recognize as his
mentor. Still, Rabine said that Master Starblaze was not yet
lost, but could be recovered... He turned away from the scene,
trying to fight back tears.... and what was this on the wall? A
Note? He began to read....
***
"To the Cenarion Circle:
I have infiltrated the inner sanctum and destroyed the great
"mentor" and leader of your people, Dendrite Starblaze. Or, if I
have not destroyed him, the poisons and Voodoo curses I placed
upon the first crossbow bolt I fired at him will ensure that his
healing process is slow, painful, and ardous. And with every pang
of utter agony, every scream, may he, and you, understand the
power of The Horde, and know that not all of us have been taken
in by your lies.
Even now, you hold us in your Thrall. You so jealously guard the
secrets of Silithus, so quickly have your tendrils spread, that
we are powerless to do our own research, and must come to you and
your musty Hold if we want any hope of taking it's power for
ourselves. Your plans in doing this are already made crystal
clear. Just as you are attempting to enslave the Shu'Halo by
convincing them that you are the true masters of Druidism and not
they, as if you had recieved the words directly from the
Earthmother at the beginning of time and not they, you are
attempting to enslave ALL the Horde by convincing them that they
are doomed against the Silithid unless they submit themselves to
Alliance direction.
But these are not the only of your crimes. The list is too long
to mention them all, but I shall declare here some of the most
grevious.
You have stolen the ancient secrets of the Druid from the
Shu'Halo, and turned them away from thier ancient principles of
wildness, and balance, and the way of the Predator. And now you
keep many Shu'Halo under your thrall, subverting and enslaving
them, claiming superiority over them, using words to hide your
weakness and inferiority, and drag them into this same weakness
with you.
You have usurped Mu'She, the eye of the Earthmother, denying it's
power and instead setting your waif-goddess, the demon Elune, as
tyrant over it, denying it's wild freedom.
You have again and again shown yourself incompetent in dealing
with the unknown, the unseen, the Demonic and Necromantic. Your
dabbling leads only to failure.
You claim to work to heal the wounds of this world, and to
control and surpress the workings of the Burning Leigon. Yet when
the afflicted come to you, posessed, you scoff and laugh at them.
And as well, you leave your own World Tree standing, That
corrupted arm of the Leigon that sends tendrils down into the
world and threatens to break it open.
You usurp knowledge that is better left to those with more
courage. In Silithus, you jealously hoard secrets, denying the
power and glory that should rightfully be taken by the strong of
the Horde, by those scholars who are not afraid to explore the
truth, who will use methods you are too afraid to use, who will
use insights your pitiful minds cannot conceive of! As you stole
the knowledge of Druidism from the Shu'Halo, you steal the
knowledge of Silithus from the Horde, like common robbers.
You claim to be champions against the Old Gods and the Demonic,
and yet many suffer the pangs of Demonic Posession even today.
You claim that Snowfeather was one of your own, and yet she was
left to suffer demonic influence, until her weakness bested her
and she died. You abused her and mislead her, disheartened her
and wore her down. And you have done so and continue to do so to
so many brave Shu'Halo who work so untiringly for you, fooled by
your poison tongues into believing they do the work of the
Earthmother.
Know this then, Cenarion Circle. The Horde will not stand for
this. Soon, we may rise up and wrest the secrets of Silithus from
your grasp. Do not think the domination of the Cenarion Hold
proves your own domination. Your Destruction cometh, and it
cometh swiftly, Oh den of inquity, Oh Prime Den of Kaldorei
Blasphemy.
A Copy of this missive shall be placed at prominent locations in
the cities of the most noble and mighty Horde, so that all might
read and understand the treachery of the Cenarion Circle. Be
cautious, for soon the Horde may rise up against you. Now shall I
return to stalking the wilds. Even, perhaps, shall I destroy the
Barons of Silithus again, not for your sake, but for the sake of
power. And when I have no more use for the Hold, Perhaps I will
begin to assassinate your leaders there as well, one by one. Your
usefulness is fast running out, Cenarion Circle, and your death
is foretold, oh Blasphemous weaklings.
Death to the Kaldorei! Peace through Annihilation!