A Warlock's Conundrum

A Hot Meeting in a Cold Place

2010-04-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

Ice Crown was a sight to behold, its enormous spires many hundreds of metres high, towered above all, its structure an ominous warning to all those who wished to take on the might of the Scourge. Surrounding it, many abominations and undead guarded the fortress from all sides turning on all things living that came too close. An aura seemingly leaking from every pore, sucking the very warmth out of everything and everyone.

Reynnawulf shivered as she beckoned her Netherwing Dragon to turn towards the Citadel. Even the dragon, a twisted creature, brood of Deathwing but infused with the Nether Energies of Outland was hesitant to listen to his masters' command, but with a gentle pat from Reynnawulf proceeded to glide toward the spire.

Constructed out of the solidified blood of the Old God Yogg-Saron this one time lake is now the home of the most fearsome enemy of all the citizens of Azeroth, The Lich King.

Reynnawulf could see it, the Frozen Throne, for several years now, the Lich King sat upon this throne and oversaw the construction of the Citadel as well as his many abominations. But now it was empty, not a single being was atop the mighty spore. Reynnawulf signaled to her mount to land, ensured that the landing was clear.

The mighty dragon drew snow from the landing with its massive wings, pulsating, filled with Nether Energies, it hovered for a moment before landing effortlessly. Reynnawulf surveyed the area again, to ensure no one, living or otherwise was around. Satisfied that she was alone she dismounted ordered her dragon to fly around the spire to ensure she wasn't disturbed.

Again with powerful beats of its wings, it flew off into a holding pattern above the spire.

She summoned Piprot (she needed to be prepared for anything) who appeared and instantly felt the effects of the biting cold.

"Should of brought my cardigan" Piprot squeaked

"You have a cardigan?" Reynnawulf asked "Are they still in fashion?"

Piprot snorted "Where I come from, nothing goes out of fashion"

Reynnawulf looked around again, she was on the look out for whoever beckoned her here. She didn't like to be kept waiting, she had other things to do: crafting gems to sell, raiding with her guild as well as get some new clothes as she noticed other people running around with much, much better looking attire.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a portal open, and a figure stepping out. She turned on the spot, Piprot, already sensing the new arrival started firing up his fingers for a firebolt. The figure was covered in a hooded cloak, covering the figures' face and flowed from head to toe. A staff was held in one hand, looking more like a withered stick than a staff. The figure stopped just in front of Reynnawulf and planted the staff on the ground end first.

Nothing happened at first, the figure looked down for a moment whilst Reynnawulf stared. The cold wind didn't seem to bother the figure, the cloak blowing with the breeze whilst for Reynnawulf every gust felt like needles on her face.

"I come as a friend, not a foe" The figure finally said cementing the image of a male in the mind of Reynnawulf.

"I don't know what your intentions are, calling me all the way up here" Reynnawulf replied slightly frustrated.

"Trust me, my intentions will be made entirely clear when you have heard what I have to say"

"Well the sooner you tell me why you have brought me here the sooner I can get off this frozen rock" Reynnawulf responded with a touch of sharpness.

"As you wish Reynnawulf, but first let me introduce myself..."

Cold Wind Blowing

2010-03-02T04:56:00.000-08:00

Reynnawulf woke up to the twittering of birds, singing to each other
as the sun shone through the wintry clouds over Dalaran. The sun's rays came through the curtains and Reynnawulf had to blink a few times before stretching. Her back
arched, her arms stretched above her head, the curvature of her slender legs, she was the image of feminine perfection.

She sat up in bed, wrapped her bedsheet around and looked outside her
room window. The sounds of Dalaran arose and reached her ears, the
chatter of people below, the clanging of hammer upon anvil at the
blacksmith, the grinding of stones at the jeweller all greeted her
with sound resolution

Even with the shadow of the Lich King that hung over this cursed land
could not drown the spirits of this world of heroes, Horde and
Alliance alike.

She thought back to the days when she left Eversong forest, starting
down her path of shadow and flame, summoning Piprot for the first time
as she was coming to grips with the Dark Arts and the subsequent
argument over some 'contract' which to this day Piprot and herself
haven't resolved.

Silvermoon. Or the remnants of it anyway, half of it torn asunder when
the Scourge brought ruin and destruction to her people. But her people
were themselves resolute, rebuilding what remained, and it looked more
regal than ever. It had been a proud moment for her stepping into
Silvermoon.

She remembered the first time she met the forsaken, undead
abominations free from the influence of the Lich King and under the
guidance of Sylvanas Windrunner. She met them in Tranquillan, when
they were trying to grind to dust the last bastion of scourge
resistance.

Orgrimmar. As crude as it was, Reynnawulf always felt safe within it's
walls. Thrall was a wise warchief that provided refuge for those who
came to Kalimdor, and she became friends with many an Orc and Tauren,
of which are now members of her guild.

As her powers grew the call of Outlands drew her, called on her
curiosity to find out what happened to her race's beloved Kael'thas
who went through the Dark Portal to find a new source of arcane power
to feed her then starving people.

The masses of the Burning Legion, continually assaulting Horde and
Alliance alike drove Reynnawulf to seek more levels of power to
destroy the very Legion that had created the Scourge and almost
brought ruin to her people and her homeland.

When she found out what had become of Kael'thas she was heart broken.
Being in league with the Burning Legion just didn't sit right no
matter what Kael'thas intentions were. The might of the Horde righted
that wrong and Kael'thas was dispatched with, or so she thought.

She returned home to find that Quel'danas has been rebuilt and a new
Sunwell was created. However the thoughts of peace in her land were
the furthest away from her mind as the Burning Legion and Kael'thas
tried one more time to summon in Kil'Jaedan, Lord of the Legion. An
organisation known as the Shattered Sun were leading the assault to
rid of this menance once and for all.

Eventually they stopped the summoning and Kael'thas was thoroughly
dispatched this time. And peace finally descended upon Silvermoon.

That was until the Lich King stirred and made his appearence known to
Azeroth.

Chaos ruled the land as citizens suddenly turned into zombies
and massive Necropoli appeared at almost every major city. From Thunder Bluff to Stormwind people fled, cities turned to ghost towns and the dead wandered
the street gnawing at the flesh of turning more into a foot soldier of
the Scourge.

Suddenly all the zombies disappeared, rather than just kill every
living thing and so did the Necropoli. One would think that with chaos
running rampant that the Lich King would of smash the hammer against
the anvil and crush all opposition.

But no, he allowed himself to be known, he allowed all citizens of
Azeroth to come to Northrend to face him.

Why?

Why?

Why?

Reynnawulf's thoughts now ran amuck, what started as pleasant thoughts
of the past turned to questions of the present and future. It didn't
make any sense.

A being of such power should be able to destroy everything in his
path, yet somehow given the circumstances and the advantage of surprise
and speed at which the Lich King appeared, any smart general would not
of had a second thought and crush all who opposed.

But Arthas faltered. No, hesitated.

There must of been something else. Fear? No the Lich King feels
nothing. Over confidence? Maybe but that wouldn't explain the sudden
disappearance. He would of kept the Necropoli hanging over the cities
as a constant reminder of what lay in store for anyone who tried to
oppose him.

The only thing that Reynnawulf could think of is that the Lich King
was told or it was pre-determined by some other factor to only keep
the necropoli above the cities and assault the citizens for a limited
amount of time.

But by who? Or by what?

Reynnawulf was confused. Suddenly there was a shuffle of feet outside
and a slip of parchment appeared underneath her door. Reynnawulf
called out but the shuffle and shadow of feet had disappeared.

Reynnawulf picked herself from her bed and still wrapped up in her
bedsheet in one hand, picked up the parchment with the other. Her eyes
widened as she read the message:

"The world is not as it seems. The power of The Lich King is nothing
compared to what I know and guard. Only you see what I can. We must
speak. Meet me at the top of Ice Crown Citadel tonight.

Come alone."

"At the top of Ice Crown Citadel?" Reynnawulf thought to herself "But
that's where The Lich King is..."

Logic told her to stay away, but the lure of more power was too great
for her to ignore. She will meet this being.

Reynnawulf took a long bath and thought about what she was going to
do. After she dressed herself she summoned Piprot who appeared with a
back scrubber and a bath hat, water dripping all over the floor.

"You have no idea when to summon me at appropriate times can you?"

"Well I needed you so I summoned you" Reynnawulf said.

"I think we need to discuss our existing contract then" Piprot replied

"But we haven't even got our initial contract agreed upon yet"
Reynnawulf said "Anyway something is going down" and passed the
parchment to Piprot. He scanned the message, and his eyes widened as
well.

"Ice Crown? As in where the big bad Lich King is?"

"Indeed" Reynnawulf replied "Keen?"

"I suppose so, I mean I got nothing to do and Lady Piprot is making
durotar chilli tonight so that might come in handy if I freeze up"

Reynnawulf jumped with glee "Lets go then. But first we have some
errands to run"

"Not the jewelcrafter again" Piprot said depressively

"Yep gotta eat somehow" Reynnawulf said walking out the door, with
Piprot behind towards the busy streets of Dalaran.

A figure watched as Reynnawulf left the inn and headed toward the Jewelers. His over cloak flapping in the cold, biting wind. Through dark eyes his gaze turned towards the horizon behind the ominous sight of Ice Crown Citadel.

With a deep breath, the dark figure closed his eyes, and vanished.

Stop the Gold Spam!!!

2010-02-06T21:06:00.001-08:00

Reynnawulf stared at the pendant as it glinted in the shining sun, its gold edging around the ruby caught the light magnificently, so bright it was that she had to cover her eyes for the moment before shoving it into one of her pockets in her robe.

“Another day another dollar” she thought to herself as she summoned her drake so she could fly back to Dalaran.

“When are you going to stop these shenanigans with Jewellery” Piprot asked as they were flying over Crystalsong Forest. “You do this everyday without fail and it is starting to bore me. Last week we were in Ice Crown Citadel having a load of fun, but we haven’t been there for the last five days”.

“You know the drill Piprot” Reynnawulf yelled as the wind howled in their ears. “We only go to Ice Crown with our guild, at all other times we do what we like, and that is something I thoroughly enjoy!. If you don’t like it, I can always dismiss you and you can go back to your Lady Piprot”

“No no no, that’s fine I’d rather stay here. Last week Lady Piprot burnt me while boiling water! How does that happen? I literally am on fire constantly, and I got burnt with bloody H2O!”

Reynnawulf chuckled to herself as Piprot continued to rant about his missus other abuses upon his physical self as they began their descent to Dalaran.

Dalaran was ‘the’ hub of activity as all manner of heroes battled the forces of the Lich King. A massively floating mass, it float above Crystal Forest, this Home of the Kirin Tor was now a sanctuary, its many spires provided comfort for those battle weary souls as they rested from their engagements.

It was also a hub of economic activity, housing grand masters of all professions selling their epic recipes and materials. The master Jewel Crafter was where Reynnawulf was heading to now.

She was always amazed at how busy Dalaran was, even at this late hour, people were coming in and out of the bank, drunken heroes (mostly Dwarves, they can really drink) stumbling out of the pub being carried by their human companions (one dwarf under each arm mind you).

An Orc Warrior ran past her almost knocking her down with his back pack full of saronite bars and jump into a portal heading back to Orgrimmar.

“He must be in a hurry” Reynnawulf said “to make a quick sale” regathering her footing, and continuing towards the Jewel Crafting store.

The place was buzzing, jewel sparkling and rings shone with power, Reynnawulf was never ceased to be amazed at the place, people crowded around the Jewel crafting master, handing in their wares and getting tokens so they can get epic gem recipes.
Reynnawulf made her way through the mass of flesh and handed her pendant in. The Jewel Crafter (who’s ability to multitask was amazing) accepted her Pendant and gave the token that she is after.

Reynnawulf did a little pirouette and kissed her new recipe “Excellent I can now get my Runed Cardinal Ruby recipe. That will save me quite a bit of gold since I have some new upgrades since we last stormed Ice Crown Citadel.

“Excellent” Piprot said, exasperated by Reynnawulf’s girlish overtones. “Can we go now?”

“Yeah sure, let’s head back I am pretty tired now” Reynnawulf said.

They turned around to leave when suddenly a voice was heard from no particular direction.

“Welcome to Handyexpress, six dollars and eighty eight cents per one thousand gold. We have best gold price. Delivery from fifteen minutes to four hours, and satisfaction guaranteed. Welcome to our new and old customers.”

“What was that?” Piprot said

“I have no idea” Reynnawulf responded. She looked around to see if anyone else were as puzzled, but everyone were just going about their business, no one had obviously noticed what they had just heard.

“Welcome to Handyexpress, six dollars and eighty eight cents per one thousand gold. We have best gold price. Delivery from fifteen minutes to four hours, and satisfaction guaranteed. Welcome to our new and old customers.”

This time it was louder, so loud that both Reynnawulf and Piprot had to hold their hands to their ears to drown out the noise. It was a peculiar sight and everyone started to take notice, not the voice, but at both Reynnawulf and her imp!

They both ran out of the Jeweller and onto the streets of Dalaran. The voice disappeared again

“What the nether is going on?” Piprot Squealed.

“Don’t look at me!” Reynnawulf yelled. Suddenly a BloodElf male Paladin, wearing nothing but his loin cloth ran into Reynnawulf

CRASH!

They both landed heavily on the butts, disorientated. Reynnawulf was first to regain her senses just enough to see a flash before the Paladin drew his loin cloth between his legs. Reynnawulf blushed slightly but stood up, regained her composure and offered the semi-naked Paladin a hand up.

“Sorry about that” The Paladin said

“You should really watch where you’re going you know” Reynnawulf said sternly. “And where is all your gear?”

“I don’t know. I woke up and then suddenly realised everything I had was gone, my armour, my weapons, my GOLD!!!” The Paladin suddenly burst into tears.

As much as she enjoyed watching a Paladin squirm, Reynnawulf felt sorry for him.

“Here take this” Reynnawulf said giving him the gold she obtain from finishing the quest for the Master Jeweller “To help you get on your feet”

The Paladins’ eyes widened, threatening to burst out into tears again

“Thank you, thank you so much”

“Its’ ok don’t worry about it”

The Paladin ran, obviously to find some new clothing.

“A bit strange isn’t it?” Reynnawulf asked Piprot and they started back towards the Inn.

“One in many strange happenings Boss” Piprot replied questioning.

“Indeed” Reynnawulf sighed as they turned the corner and walked into the Inn.

“Well you’re dismissed, see you tomorrow” Reynnawulf commanded.

“See you Milady” Piprot bowed as he disappeared from sight.

Reynnawulf readied herself to sleep, but the voice and the run in with the Paladin (which made her blush again) reappeared in her mind.

“Looks like I may not get much sleep tonight” as she closed her eyes.

Just as her eyes closed, her bedroom door opened slightly and a grizzled hand appeared, and as it did, electricity appeared around the door. It hit the hand which flinched and pull away, closing the door.

The electricity faded and Reynnawulf fell into a deep sleep.

Get that skull off Me!

2010-01-19T21:03:00.001-08:00

Power coursed through Reynnawulf as she chanted for yet another Chaos Bolt, green flames flickering around her fingertips. She wished that all her spells involved green flames, she had been mistaken for a Mage so many times she had lost count and it was really getting on her nerves. She put it down to not reaching the heights of power that she had yearned for since she heard the call of the dark arts

She cast the thought aside as another bolt of fel energy left her hands and speared it's way to Saurfang. Piprot had not let up since the fight started, keeping to the commands Reynnawulf had spoken to him prior to engaging the Death Bringer.

"Here comes some more blood beasts!" yelled the Druid up on the steps going toe to toe with the Deathbringer. "Bring them down quick!"

"We know, we know!" Reynnawulf shouted as she turned and saw multi-limbed, slithering beasts moving towards her and her partner for this fight, a Mage looking to draw blood and further power up Saurfang.

They moved quickly at first as she and the Mage let loose but suddenly they slowed considerably, the Earthbind totem that the Shaman in the group dropped had done it's job. Reynnawulf and the Mage brought down the blood beast quickly and turned their attention back to their primary target.

They had brought him down before (which was peculiar since she was sure her group had brought 'death' to the Deathbringer, but the Lich King probably just brought him back for another go) so this time shouldn't be any different.

Reynnawulf suddenly felt a large surge course through her body and then found herself slightly weaker.

"What's wrong?" Piprot squealled turning around to see what was the matter and the suddenly widening his eyes

"I don't know, except I can feel myself getting weaker" Reynnawulf replied. She then saw the look on Piprot's face.

"What?" Reynnawulf asked

Piprot just shook his head

"What is it Piprot? Is it my hair? It's my hair isn't it? I knew I shouldn't of gotten it done, but the barber in Undercity said it was the latest look in Azeroth. Damn goblins I knew I shouldn't trust the..."

"it's not that" Piprot finally said "there is a gigantic skull above you head!"

"What!?" Reynnawulf yelled reaching up and frantically tried to find this skull that Piprot was talking about, when suddenly she felt another drain on her life and she fell to her knees.

It all happened in an instant. Everything around her started to blur, and faint voices could be heard but Reynnawulf couldn’t determine where the voices were coming from and then suddenly a surge of light started to appear, and she could feel a warm glow caressing her skin, and her energy seemed to return to her. Her visioned sharpened, and what she thought was a few minutes turned out to be nothing more than seconds, and she brought herself to her feet.

“Are you alright?” screamed the source of the light, a Priest on the opposite side of the landing shouted to Reynnawulf.

“Yeah I am fine” Reynnawulf panted as she started to chant another Chaos Bolt into existence and hurled towards Saurfang, he was weakening, which meant he was close to destruction (again).

There was a roar as Saurfang breathed (do the undead breathe?) his last breath and fell face first onto the ground.

There were yells of triumph all around on the landing and even Piprot was flipping backwards on the spot with glee, obviously happy not to be yanked from the Nether repeatedly and his dizziness seemed to have subsided.

Saurfang the Elder (who for some reason found it humorous to stand there and watch the fight rather than come in and help which would have been great considering his strength and size) picked up the corpse of his fallen son and disappeared into the bowels of Orgrim’s Hammer.

Everyone was congratulating each other when Reynnawulf walked over to the Priest that had saved her from death. Piprot followed behind her, relieved to see that the skull above his master’s head had disappeared.

“How did you know I was going down back there?” Reynnawulf asked “you were all the way over the other end of the landing so there was no other way you could’ve known.”

"I just had this feeling you were in trouble that's all.” The Priest retorted as if all she wanted from the Warlock was a thank you and nothing more. “One minute I was healing the Druid, and then the next minute I started to heal you. It all happened very quickly”

“I see. Well thank you for your assistance then” Reynnawulf said.

The Priest walked off towards the rest of the group leaving Reynnawulf and Piprot on their own.

“Do you remember what you said at the Filthy Animal last night?” Reynnawulf asked as she watched the Priest walk away.

“Unfortunately yes” Piprot replied “Why?”

“Do you think the fact that somehow your idea of time repeating itself and a massive skull that I have never noticed before appearing above my head are somehow linked?”

“I don’t see how they can be linked directly” Piprot said, “except that they could both be the result of the same higher powers I mentioned before”

“I see… For now let’s continue” she said as a loud crack was heard and the door that led to the Plagueworks opened before Reynnawulf and her group.

The conundrum had started to appear in Reynnawulf's mind. How come she had never noticed the skull before? How did the priest know she was in trouble but never mentioned the skull as the reason? It's as if there was some kind of connection between everyone in the party but they are unaware of it.

Everyone except her.

She will have to think about it some other time. Now wasn't the time, she had a job to do.

“Ready to go?” Reynnawulf looked down to Piprot

“Whenever you are…milaaaady” Piprot said with a grin on his face.

“Let’s go then” said Reynnawulf as she and Piprot ran to catch up with their group to face the horrors that lied in wait for them in the Plagueworks, one step closer to the eventual face off against the Lich King.

Another day, another PUG

2010-01-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

Reynnawulf strolled into the Filthy Animal dusting herself off, she had just returned from Azjol-Nerub, killing Anub'arak for the umpteenth time (that annoying bug had created more dust than usual). All she wanted to do right now was to have a stiff drink and a bath before retiring.

"what do you say Pip? I hear the Binary Brew is quite excellent" she questioned her not-so-faithful imp Piprot.

"You me both" quipped Piprot "I got ripped from the Twisting Nether at least four times today after you kept dying to that god-damned former King. I can still feel the dizziness"

Reynnawulf laughed "Not my fault! That warrior just couldn't cut it today"

"Yeah yeah" Piprot said with exasperation. "Just a quick drink, Lady Piprot is waiting for me back home, and you know how she is when I am late, she burnt me to a crisp last time. She thinks we're having a affair"

"I find that quite hard to believe since you always have flames dancing around your fingers and shoot fireballs all day" Reynnawulf snapped

"I wasn't being literal!" Piprot exclaimed "You get my drift"

"Ok ok" Reynnawulf defended, flicking her hair and walking towards the bar where Hamaka stood waiting for orders.

Reynnawulf always thought inns were strange places, too busy for her liking and too bright, She preferred places with dark lighting, and just thought about Murder Row back at her home in Silvermoon when Hamaka interrupted her train of thought.

"What can i get yah?" Hamaka asked. Reynnawulf got a whiff of her orcish breath and held back the urge to vomit. Damn Orcs, don't they ever brush their teeth she thought.

"Can I get two binary brews please?" Reynnawulf requested, slapping two gold pieces onto the bar. She always wondered where she got this gold from as they somehow magically appeared in her purse whenever she did anything interesting. but for now she wouldn't complain.

Piprot jumped onto the barstool next to her, just as their drinks arrived. Piprot knocked back the brew hard and fast, without the glass melting in his hands (another feat that Reynnawulf couldn't explain) and then looked into his glass.

Reynnawulf looked at him stare into the glass for a while, finished off her drink and asked "What seems to the problem Piprot? you haven't been your usual self since we killed Saurfang last week"

Piprot took a moment and replied "Don't you ever get the feeling that time is always repeating itself? I mean all we seem to do is go off and kill the same bad guys over and over again."

Reynnawulf thought for a moment and then replied "Now that you mention it, we have killed Cyanigosa at least forty times since we have come to Northrend."

"But no matter how many times we kill them they never seem to die." Piprot explained "Here is an example; Malygos. Everytime we kill him the Wyrmrest Accord say the Nexus War is over, but there he is seven days later and we go kill him again. Doesn't that seem weird? It seems that some kind of external force is playing with us and bringing him back. It like time restarts every seven days."

"I suppose, but the rewards are good and you and I are getting more powerful everyday so as long as I continue to grow in power i have no qualms" Reynnawulf said.

"Anyway that is food for thought" Piprot said, putting down his glass "I gotta get going, you wanna dismiss me now?"

"Yeah sure, i'll see you tomorrow" Reynnawulf said "You're dismissed"

"Can't wait" Piprot said sarcastically as he disappeared into the Nether.

Reynnawulf sat there for a moment contemplating her demon's words. Everything did seem a little repetitive, but just then a Tauren Hunter ran into the Filthy Animal, his party trailing behind him and shouted "Ice Crown Citadel is open! The Ashen Verdict have blasted the door leading to the Plague Works!

Everyone stopped what they were doing, the chatter died down for just a second when a collective roar erupted from the bar. Every Orc, Tauren, Blood Elf and Forsaken in the bar leaped in triumph and started organising their respective guilds to storm the Plague Works. At that moment Reynnawulf received a summons from her guild, TEN to make her way to Ice Crown Citadel immediately to start bringing down the horrors that lurked inside the Lich King's domain.

"Oh well Piprot, looks like tomorrow has just arrived." Reynnawulf said, smirking as she started chanting her summoning spell.