Bandits of the Blackened Woods
The nobles of Silvermoon City horde the regions resources to make their sparkling enchanted city eye candy to the Orc, Tauren, Forsaken & Troll empires while the rest of the Sin’dorei suffer from the various ongoing issues that trouble the rest of Kingdom of Quel’Thalas. We mean to take what is needed and then some to ensure the reclaiming of the southern kingdom is successful. We bandits are a merry folk who enjoy robbing from the rich and giving it back to the poor folk while filling our own purses in the process. Hey, it’s a dirty job and somebody’s got to do it. The Blackened Woods are a frightening, haunted forest with plenty of places to hide which makes it the perfect place to carry out our mission. Join us as we rob traveling wagons and kidnap, <cough> I mean, invite wealthy nobles over to treat them to a fine meal at our various hideouts and then send them on their way with little more than the shirt on their backs.
In-Game chat channel: /join BlackendWoodsBandits
Exposure (1 of 2)
I cannot be sure how long I sat there staring into those crackling flames, lost in some kind of self-induced, mind-numbing trance until all that remain are a mound of glowing embers. The first thing I notice when I am finally aware of my own presence again, is a slight stiffness to the skin of my face where raging tears had dried some time ago by the heat of this pyre. No longer able to cry, no longer able to release my pain in those long lamenting wolf-inspired howls, I’m left feeling brittle and hollow like a statue...or an urn.
Elishichi’s Vigil
"Aiiiieeee!" The young blonde’s panicked cry of horror brings the Bloodsword door guards inside her sister's private quarters.
Behind the marble white pillar supporting the bed loft, they find her ducking for cover with wand drawn and a squeamish expression upon her face. Several smoking scorch marks blemish the otherwise perfectly Sin’dorei architectured upper wall and ceiling. "What is it, Miss Elishichi?!" They ask with blades drawn and shields raised, ready to quell the cause of her fright.
Elishichi's long slender finger extends up towards the rafter overhead where they spy a small, brown, furry creature flapping about. "Get-it-out! Get-it-out! Get-it-out! And hurry PLEASE!" The manner in which she proceeds to flap about her own hands aimlessly, along with another high-pitch squeamish cry accompanying it, indicates the urgency of her distress.
Fever (Parts II & III) “But Mother, there’s a Troll in my Bed.”
My feet drag across the grass at a sluggish pace while I weaved through the lattice of autumn colored trees, all speckled with miniature pulsing balls of radiant fire. I only stopped when I came upon two women wearing large, fashionable sun hats. One woman had shortened dark curly hair and skin tanned deeply by the sun. She was atop a ladder plucking the fiery orbs and then dropping them down to the other, much fairer woman whose strawberry-blonde hair was tied back neatly into a bun. They began to giggle over whatever they had been conversing about until the darker woman took notice of me.
She spoke with a slight accent. “Ari’ella, dear, what are ya doin’ oot ‘ere?”
“Petal…?” The fairer woman, with a small basket of the collected swirling radiant orbs hanging off her arm, was already coming towards me. She crouched down to my height and placed her hand gently over my forehead. “Still with fever… You must remain in bed, my darling.”
The other woman had already descended the ladder to join us. “Aye, back to bed with ya now.” She said as she scooped me up to sit onto her hip and wrapped the blanket I’d brought along around me into a loving embrace.
“But Mother, Nurse Mai, there’s a troll in my bed.”
To Contain is to Be Contained
"First Sergeant ... Rya. What's your twenty?"
The butcher's voice could be heard from her mechanical box across the room, but neither occupant paid attention to the message. Wrapped within the arms of each other, Gil and Rya were in their own beautiful world. Life had been busy enough to keep the engaged couple separate for the majority of the time, making their coming together all the more intense.
"I love you."
"And I you."
An hour or so passed before the two realized there seemed to be a stir on the box. Gathering themselves, the lovers kissed lovingly before Rya quickly dashed off to do her duty. She didn't explain to him, there was no need to explain when there is a threat to be subdued.
"Brightsinger here; sorry for the delay."
"Rodger that. Girl's been found. Heading back to the ruins to aid with the clensing."
Atrophy
Days bleed into each other until several weeks have passed since Ariel came down with the mysterious, incurable illness.
Who Can You Trust
The colors of twilight swirl and float about me in an array of fluid patterns that captivates and distracts me from the faint, irregular hum I can feel vibrating from within my core. As my eyes glaze over tiny winking dots of white fire fluttering about like lantern bugs across the darkened canopy above, I become aware of a flickering yellow light buzzing from within a doorway across the deck of the ship. With my gaze now fixated on this all too familiar light, I begin walking towards the open door, becoming more aware of my other senses. I taste salt upon my lips and smell it upon the breeze that hits my bare skin sending goose bumps rippling across unprotected flesh. A faint verdant breath seems to exhale weakly from the room before me, no more closer than a moment ago when I began to move my feet. Besides the buzzing light and low hum, my acute hearing picks up on a hypnotic, repetitive thumping against solid and hollow matter around me. I bring my focus back to my erratic humming to discover my voice, faint and unclear, but struggling to break free...to sing!
Merry Winter’s Veil - Three of Three
“Hey legs, how’s eet hopping?”
One of Ari’s exposed copper brow whiskers twitch irksomely at the Goblin standing under a street lamp nearby who is raising his own brows suggestively at her while she sorts through her packages at the mailbox. The General, now under the visage of a jingling reindeer by use of the enchanted sprig of holly, stands nearby with the saddlebags easily accessible.
“This city’s really gone downhill since I left.” The phantom spits out a broken piece of a strand of grass he’d been chewing while crouching on top of the sturdy Silvermoon City postage box.
‘You mean, since you died.’ Ari mentally corrects him, his presence causing her other brow to twitch.
Merry Winter’s Veil - Two of Three
The sound of glass vials clinking against each other has an echoing effect, startling Ari from a relaxing peace-weed induced reverie. She had been staring out the high window watching the twilight sky slowly brighten into a red dawn. It reminds her of an old folk poem she occasionally hears Elishichi recite. Her father had been a sailor.
Red sky morning, sailors take warning.
Red sky night, sailors’ delight.
She rolls over onto her side with a fatigued, foggy yawn, expecting to see The General moving about, but sees her phantom ranger has returned and stands over a pile of...her stuff? She pinches herself and then sits up hastily wondering how it went from the secured basement of the inn to here. She makes the hand sign for How?
Merry Winter’s Veil - one of three
Bloodied Naga corpses lay along a path leading from the mining pits to the mouth of the cavern known as the brain room. Inside, the space was filled with pearls of various sizes, the shells gleaming like hundreds of enchanted moons. Amongst the sea of iridescence, the Naga enchantress stood on a ledge with her back turned to the huntress and wolf, overlooking the vast mound that was the ancient shelled creature’s brain. Electrical pulses zap along the wrinkled meaty exterior at random intervals creating a surreal light show reflecting off the cavern walls.
The Naga began to turn as Ari approaches her, trident in hand ready to use the stolen weapon against this long lost deformed cousin. “Where have you taken her...where is Synn?” Ari and the wolf growl together as one.
The ranger freezes as the Naga’s face comes into view. A familiar long strand of black hair was being slurped by the vile creature like a pasta noodle and when she had finished swallowing, her lips parted into a sadistic, razor sharp grin. “Tassstessss like murglesssnout!”
An Exceptionally Long Night - Aftermath
((Previous blogs of relevance: An Exceptionally Long Night By SilentFox & A Simple Misunderstanding by Alexiia.))
The next morning, Ari awakes to two big gleaming blue-green eyes staring at her from a head full of short buttercup blonde tresses. The eyes widen at seeing Ari’s own sea-green glowing orbs flutter open.
“Ari! Good, you’re awake!” Elishichi beams. She had a vivacious look about her that made groggy Ari want to smack her with a pillow. “Lobby downstairs looks like one heck of a party happened last night. What in carnation happened down there?”
Ari sits up in bed with a painful moan and rubs the sleep from her eyes. Her bandaged burns were stinging like crazy. She blinks at the young mage who was sitting on her bed and looking at her bandaged hands with a frown. Ari made a hand gesture that corrected Elishichi: I think you mean damnation.
“I mean exactly what I said.” Elishichi grins defiantly.
Ari gestures with her hands again: Apparently there was a brawl.
“Hmm...I heard all about it actually.” Elishichi gets up and walks over to the window, throwing back the shutters to let in daylight. “Apparently...the infamous, elusive Fox from the Blackened Woods made an appearance and started the whole thing which was pretty foolish if you ask me.” She turns to look back at her elder adopted sister who was rolling her eyes back at her.
Random Encounter
It was some time before Dimetri made his way to the local bar, enjoying the atmosphere and the way the bartender would give him studying glances. He took his spot at a table close to the fireplace for warmth and a brighter light than the normal candles, seeming very comfortable with the flames being near him.
The bartender, known by most as Theo, put down a glass of brandy before the mage with a wide smile. The two greeted each other silently but with knowing looks, enjoying the knowledge they had of each other. Dimetri reaches for the brandy glass just as the bartender went back to the counter to serve another customer.
Dead Bread
The bread for the dead recipe had been followed perfectly yet the dough would hardly rise. ‘What am I doing wrong?’
“Did you add yeast to it?” The Marquis’ grand-daughter asked over the chatter box and she went on to further explain something about the dough needing warmth and moisture to rise though she may as well have been speaking Nerubian. Baking had never been something she was very good at unless she was making cookies and even then, she could only make a specific kind of dough which only varied by her choice of which nuts, chips or berries to add. Her skill with cooking food was also quite deficient. Aside from salads, the only recipes she was able to reproduce in an edible manner could be counted on one hand and consisted of various grilled fish and a hearty vegetable soup.
‘I have spent too many hours trying to perfect this recipe. What a waste of a Sunday.’ Suddenly her eyes brightened. ‘Wait. Today is Sunday. Fancy Cakes is open...I’m saved!’
However, she arrived at the baker’s shop just as the two ladies were leaving. ‘Damn...I’m too late! Now what?’ With Hallow’s Eve drawing to an end, time was running out for her to gather a suitable offering for her dead loved ones. As she dragged her feet back to the inn and had a nice long smoke from the hookah, she wondered what she would do and thought about the previous year’s offerings. ‘I want them to have bread that is soft and supple, not the hardened bricks I usually bring mother and it seems wrong to steal someone else’s bread offerings.’
An Exceptionally Long Night (cont.)
After climbing into the window to her own room, Silent Fox immediately begins to shed the fox-helm and peel the pieces of burnt leather and cloth from her body, quickly locking it all, along with the gold into the false bottom of the trunk. Burned naked skin pains her in various locations and blood still oozes from her hands. Fortunately, the adrenaline pumping through her body numbs the pain just enough to keep focus, although she knows she’ll need to deal with her wounds sooner rather than later. For the time being, she does a quick semi-botched job redressing her hands and slips into one of her robes, disposing of the spent bandages in the waste bucket.
A loud rapping on the door to her room startles a jump out of her and an authoritative voice speaks from the other side. “Open this door immediately by order of the Silvermoon City Peacekeepers!”
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An Exceptionally Long Night (cont.)
‘Stole...from HER...? Surely she jests! SHE’s the thief, not I...’ Silent Fox had to retract that thought as she rose from the broken table since she was after all technically a thief. ‘Just not this time.’ On her feet again, knees slightly bent, alert and ready to react on the drop of a copper, she takes in her options. Three exits tempted her, but obstacles threatened to hinder each escape. There was the unguarded hall beneath the loft where the warlock stood that led into the Royal Exchange full of Peacekeepers. Getting there would be easiest, but getting out of the Exchange might prove more difficult a feat than dealing with the inebriated crowd of patrons, some of whom were now taking up arms, ready to make claims to her bounty. Past them was the hall that led into Murder Row which would be most ideal. ‘So many ways to disappear in the Row.’ Other than that, it was back up the ramp and through the capable warlock to slip out one of various windows or balconies.
The room seemed to be at a standstill, everyone watching anxiously, waiting for someone to make the first move. Silent Fox’s eyes glanced back and forth between the warlock and the crowd. She knew whatever happened had to happen soon, before the Peacekeepers who patrolled through the tavern returned to make their rounds.
An Exceptionally Long Night (cont.)
Silent Fox slipped into her own room on the upper level of the Inn on Murder Row where she put on the violet cloak that had been left for her in the underground room. She brought the hood up just barely covering the fox-helm and exited the room.
It didn’t matter that it was the midnight hour for the tavern was still packed with various individuals of either a shady or inebriated sort, usually a combination of both. ‘I should have gone back to the House to check on the Mistress before coming out here. Tis unlike her to be so cryptic about these missives.’ She thought about the mole and wondered if the Mistress was in trouble while she stood at the banister overlooking the lounge below. She scans the patrons looking for someone who would show some sign of recognition of the deep violet cloak she wore thinking that had to be the reason the Mistress had left it in the room with the map and payment.
An Exceptionally Long Night (cont.)
‘Careful or that curiosity shall get you killed.’ The rest of Elros’ words flash through her brain as fight or flight instincts take over. She chooses to run...and why not? She had what she came for. It seems she had what the mole was apparently looking for too.
The uneven path disables Silent Fox from running at her full capacity. ‘Should slow them down too at least.’ She figures, thinking of her pursuer as she fumbles in the darkness for a juggling torch. From behind, the sudden flash of violet light fills the cavern. ‘Ah, many thanks. That’s helpful.’ She finds the torch and risks a look back. A horned woman emerges from the light and laughs with wicked intent. Silent Fox’s eyes bulge at the sight of the succubus while lighting her torch. The crack of a whip echoes through the cavern signaling the ranger-bandit to pick up her pace and put as much distance between them as possible. With the torch securely tucked between her lips, the fiery end extending safely past her face and trailing behind her, she places her hand in her satchel and thinks, ‘Frost trap! Frost Trap!’ The item she desires touches her hand and she yanks it out, sets the mechanism and casts it onto the path behind her. Knowing she would need a little extra balance and concentration to cross the tightrope, she prays the succubus gets ensnared in her trap.
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An Exceptionally Long Night (cont.)
When she finally reaches the end of the long tunnel, an arching doorway with thick red velvet drapes comes into view. She pushes the drapes aside and enters a smaller room where a stone bench and a single large wooden bookshelf are set against the inner cavern wall. Upon the lower shelf rests a medium sized trunk. It is not bolted so she opens it to find a folded up parchment and a messenger’s bag that lay on top of some fabric of a deep violet color. She lifted the fairly heavy bag and immediately knew its contents by the telltale jingle. Silent Fox gave a somewhat relieved smile as she loops the strap around her shoulder. This was the place for the trade and what she expected to find. ‘Ah, a mark for me already.’ She ponders the ‘who’ and ‘where’ as she unfolds the parchment next. Her eyes immediately go to the big red X before taking in the rest of the image which was a map of Silvermoon City done in black ink. The X rested over one of the shady inns along Murder Row, the very one she kept a room at rent. A time and date was circled on the lower right side of the map. ‘Midnight...tonight!’ She breathes a sign of relief knowing it had to still be the same day she entered the tunnel otherwise the message might not still be here. ‘Luckily I stopped by after all. I might have missed it. Did my little bandit apprentice somehow overlook this?’ Silent Fox pondered as she recalled the mage’s bat phobia, a light irritated tone tainting her mind’s voice. ‘Did she even come through the cave?’
She tucked the map into her tunic and lifted the violet material. It cascaded down the length of her body and smelled of the painted women in the apartments above. ‘A cloak...Hmmm.’ She peered up the ladder pondering what that old matron was up to these days. The temptation to take a gander into the room to perhaps gain some kind of insight was too great to resist. She was already folding up the fabric and tucking it into her satchel resolved to do so. ‘Just one little peek...’
‘Curious like a fox, you are.’ Elros’ words echoed in her distant memory reminding her of her namesake.
An Exceptionally Long Night (cont.)
The cavern quietly flickers and glitters in the light of the ranger-bandit’s juggling torch which now lay abandoned on the cavern floor just before the chasm. An owl swoops down from the shadow of another hanging stalactite and flies down the cavern towards the fresh night air. The torchlight grows dimmer as time passes and the owl returns to the shadow with a bat securely in its grasp. Irregular high pitched chirping sounds emanate from the shadow before the owl descends and flies back out in search of more food. Before the owl has a chance to return again, in the light of the nearly diminished torch, a long slender gloved hand rises from the dark chasm and firmly grasps the ledge.
An Exceptionally Long Night (cont.)
I’m sitting on a green quilt laid out on the gray and lavender Ghostland’s meadow not too far from Elrendar River. Various species of wildflowers are growing along the river’s banking and I watch hypnotically, a four-beat pulse starting in my head as they sway in the breeze. as they sway in the breeze. In the near distance, a blood red-headed woman in regal clothing swings a croquet mallet sending a croquet ball flying off into the river with a cheer. She briefly blows me a kiss as her companion, a large, muscular, brilliant white armored horse stomps its hoof in applause and a familiar shadow stalks it way across the field, sending a shiver down her spine.
From above, a single drop of rain hits me in the forehead.
