User:Khandivya/Jaedenar Unveiling

''((Aku and I went traveling on Tuesday evening, creating the script that has been translated into a story here by myself. There is a line across the page near the bottom, which is where I stopped the in-game portion of my story, so the conclusion to this is still a complete unknown to Aku.''

''Thanks to Aku for helping me with everything, and in particular this story. I started writing it when I was with Clan Skullsplitters as an attempt to bring more RP into the guild, but no one bit except for him. He’s waited a long time to hear the conclusion and to see where I was going with it .''

''Thanks to Suntarin, Caladi, Illyth and Shahkra for inadvertently being inside my story. You didn’t know I’d write you in, but here you are. Suntarin in particular provides a certain amount of comedic relief in the middle Wink.''

There were two lowbies when we got to Razor Hill who were trying desperately to role play with us, and I really wish I could remember their names (my chat isn’t with me right now), but unfortunately they got written out as I wanted to focus on the main part of my story at the end.

Anyway, here it is.))

Khandivya set down from her long wyvern ride to see the friendly face of her fiancé Akuyim staring at her. Running forward, she gave him a hug and petted Reggie, making sure neither boy felt the other was getting more attention. She was in Bloodvenom Post, a small Horde outpost in Felwood. She hadn’t been here since her experience in the Jaedenar Hold, several months ago.

“I’m glad to see you, my dear” Aku broke into a smile as he saw her.

“I’m glad to see you as well! I don’t think I could take down this daemon by myself!” Khan responded lightly, although her heart was pounding from the thought of trying to take on the creature from another reality.

“The daemon won’t lay a finger on you, I swear it.” Aku was suddenly serious, and Khan felt better about their task because of his reassurance.

She laughed anyway, trying to push away her fears. “Not if Reggie has anything to say about it! Shall we?”

They both mounted up, Khan on Bryana and Aku on his wolf, and started the short ride through the marsh towards Jaedenar. Aku could sense that his beloved was tense, so he tried to make small conversation along the way.

“How is Everlook these days?”

Khan however, was now to busy thinking of the job ahead to have anything of importance to say on other subjects. “Snowy as ever.” She responded and then went back to her thoughts.

They arrived at the Jaedenar area and rode through the tall archways just outside the actual hold. The trees were thick, and smelt of decay and corruption, only the visible influence of the Burning Legion in this area. Dismounting, they found their way once again blocked by acolytes of the Shadow Council, they must have been recruiting at an incredible pace to keep up the flow of young up-and-comings. It was a bad sign, and hopefully Khan’s theory that it could be stopped at the source was correct. The two of them cut through two acolytes and came across a third, a gnome.

“Now the cult employs gnomes! Will their evil never cease?” Aku was serious, and yet joking at the same time.

Khan laughed at him, “I was thinking the same thing!” She hated gnomes more than anyone; none of her experiences with them had been pleasant, including the encounter that caused her to lose her only friends and loved ones. She cut down this one while she thought about that, using her anger her past to fuel her present. Aku reached down and picked up something that had fallen out of the pockets of the slaughtered gnome – a Four of Beasts!

“Well equipped evil gnomes at that!” Khan quipped.

“But in the end, they still die the same wretched scum.” Aku shook his head and put the card in his pocket. That would fetch a good price back in Orgrimmar.

As they walked up to the front entrance of the Shadow Hold, they noticed that there were no guards in front of the entrance to the evil place.

“Hmm…no guards. Has someone been here before us?” Khan pondered to herself.

They stepped into the Hold and started the long walk into the bowels of the stronghold of the Shadow Council.

“Eerily quiet…” Aku muttered as they walked down a long hallway which, when Khan had been here months ago, had been filled with warlocks and acolytes burning for unholy knowledge. They walked through the carved out dirt hallways of the fortress and came around a corner, finding a legionnaire and a warlock. Quickly dispatching their foes, they continued into the next ones. They had come far enough in that they had found untouched opponents.

“I’m glad these guys aren’t smart enough to run from a fair fight!” Khan laughed as she charged into the next one, “I was clearing Scarlet Monastery of evil the other day and they kept running away!” Her enemy fell beneath the cut of one of her two axes and they continued into more enemies, in a hurry to get to the center of the Hold and to deal with their real enemy.

After a long series of Council brutes, they took a small break to bandage what few open wounds they have accrued and for Aku to gather strength to cast more of his hunting magic. They sat down at the edge of a huge pit in the ground, surrounded by more candles than you could count. Khan wondered briefly what sort of evil rituals the Council performed here.

“So what is it that you hope to find in here, my dear?” Aku looked up from his drink to ask.

“That daemon I saw must be more powerful than the warlock that I killed when I first came here. Ruining the power structure from the top is the only way to win this battle.”

“I have never met a daemon that I couldn’t kill.” Khan knew he was serious, he had faced more daemons than she could count. Despite her claims of being a fierce warrior, Aku could take down opponents far more powerful than her thanks to the added hitting power of his faithful friend, Reggie.

“I know you haven’t, sweetheart.” Khan wasn’t so certain, but wasn’t going to say that to him. “But this one is bloody big.”

They finished their rest and continued running through the hold, their path was empty of enemies once again. They came across a river, flowing with red stained water. The last time she was here it had been filled with living slime that chased after you, trying to envelope your solid body within it’s flowing liquid one. Khan couldn’t imagine a more painful way to die than to be looking out from the inside of one of those things. But this time, the sluice way was empty.

“More silence…I don’t do well with the silence.” Khan preferred her enemies in front of her, and easily within reach of her axes.

“Too quiet…” Aku agreed.

They run on, unhindered by any living thing. But the Hold itself threatened to slow them down. They came across an altar covered in skulls, and the thought of the blood rituals that had been performed here almost caused Khan to fall over and wretch in the corner. She moved on. Bones hung in long, gruesome ornaments from the ceiling as they descended down another long ramp way. When the downward spiral ended, they found themselves at a fork in the path. Both stopped a moment to consider their options before choosing the path in front of them. A few moments later they were rewarded by the sight of the open area where Khan had killed the previous warlock leader before. However, as she had feared, the Shadow Council had already replaced the warlock she had slaughtered on her last visit to this vile place. She knew that killing this daemon would strike a terrible blow to the council, but in her heart she feared that even that would not be enough.

But they also saw something that neither had expected to see. Two night elves, a priest and a hunter, as well as two humans, a mage and a warlock were locked in combat with the evil warlock. Khan felt inspired that even such evil creatures as humans and night elves could see the impending danger that the Burning Legion presented to their world. Her and Aku watched as the four of them quickly destroyed this new evil warlock and then continued on up the ramp and into the next room without even breaking a sweat. They were clearly powerful adventurers, but would they be powerful enough to kill the daemon? The four of them ran so fast that Khan and Aku had to run at an even faster pace to follow.

Khans heart pounded with fear now as they approached the chamber of the daemon. She remembered the last time she had been here, when she had almost died and her two new found friends also. Had Cyruse made it out alive? She cursed herself for her cowardice; she hadn’t even stopped to check. Still, all would be made right in a few moments, the loss of his life paid for with blood. They ran up and over the bridge and stopped at the top to look down at the battle that had already started without them.

The daemon was indeed big; it’s wings almost touching the massive thorned vines that ran throughout the ceiling. It stood before a gazebo, and stretched it’s arms and wings out to summon power for its battle. Inside the gazebo was an altar. Standing behind the altar was an orcish warlock, trying to cast spells to aid its summoned creation. Aku and Khan didn’t have enough time to get down to join the battle. Before they could react the daemon took one step and crushed the mage, then swung down with its powerful arms and knocked over the other three. The priest didn’t get up, her skull caved in on a nearby rock. The hunter and human warlock tried to pull themselves up and fight again, but the evil orc warlock cast a spell of weakness on them, causing them to slump back down on their backs, completely helpless. Aku and Khan were forced to watch as the warlock cast another spell, and their skin peeled off and flaked away into the ground, their muscles spasmed one last time and then they fell still, thankfully dead at last. Khan averted her eyes at the end, unable to bear the thought of such brave adventurers dying in such a horrible way.

She looked at Aku with fear in her eyes. Aku was stone cold solid, “Just humans and night elves. No one will miss them.”

She knew that he was right, but the loss of life, life that was trying to help a cause that she believed in, shook her still. “You ready for this?”

“I am, my dear.” He had faith in his abilities, something she lacked. Reggie charged down the last part of the bridge and into the daemon as his response. Khan followed with all of her speed, Aku lending his magic and his mighty gun to aid their cause.

The daemon tried once again to crush the two ant like creatures under its feet, but Khan and Reggie were to fast for it and they easily dodged out of the way. It bent over and tried to swing at them with its massive claws, but its epic bulk only slowed it down. It had size and strength, but these three had courage and speed, and you know which will win out in the end. Aku shot at the warlock, keeping its attention away from the close combat so that Reggie and Khan could do what they did best. The final blow was dealt by the incredible cat Reggie, as the daemon, slowed further by an unimaginable number of small wounds, fell to the ground, no longer able to power itself enough to keep upright.

“You were right, he didn’t touch me.” Khan laughed, only barely believing that it was over.

“I told you.” Aku smiled.

The daemons body lay smoking before them, as the energy contained within its powerful body escaped at last. The silence, a change from the rush of blood through their ears, was deafening. And then…they breathed again, their muscles relaxing in the aftermath of battle. Then there was a sound, a slight whimpering from beside the altar. Khan looked over to see the frail form of a female night elf, kept capture there these long months and forced into participating in horrific rituals.

“What have you found, my dear?” Aku questioned, hoping it wasn’t something even more vile than the death they had just witnessed.

“It’s an elf, a simpering little elf. My Darnassian is probably way too rusty for this job. Maybe that human language…” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Still…she’s unarmed and can’t hurt us. We might as well get her out of this nasty place. She clearly isn’t Burning Legion.”

Khan leaned over the elf and put together a couple words of human Common her language weak from misuse. “Lo…sturume…bur.”

The elves demeanour changed noticeably as she realized that she wasn’t going to be chopped to pieces. “I noth bur! Khandivya!” Her face brightened with understanding and recognition.

Akuyim butted in, “We are no longer alone…a couple of legionnaires are by the bridge. “Did she just say your name? How the hell did she know that?”

Khan looked at the elf again, surprised that her name had just been spoken by a random elf kept captured in the center of the Shadow Council stronghold. “She did…gods, what I wish for a useful amount of human words.”

Moments later the elf burst into a long stream of fast paced words that Aku couldn’t follow. Even Khan had to strain to catch her meaning.

“What did it say, my dear? Were you able to make sense of that chittering gibberish?”

“She says that she knows me…I don’t remember her, but she is vaguely familiar. She says that she knew me from the Massive Tide, my old ship.”

“I thought you said that you were the only survivor?”

“So I thought…apparently she ran into Fizzle a few months ago…she says that he’s in Booty Bay…I have to find him!”

“Well, I’d be willing to track down this Fizzle for you. I spend a lot of free time in the Bay.”

“Excellent! I’ll need information…I’ll bet he spends a lot of time in the tavern there…if he’s still in Booty Bay…we must be off!”

Khan grabbed the elf by the arm and pulled her roughly to her feet.

“Aku, is your hearth stone still attuned to Booty Bay? Can we use that to get there quickly? I don’t want to waste any time!”

“Yes, of course.”

Aku pulled out the small greyish stone that allowed him to magically transport to any one location in the world and began to focus his energy on working it. Khan grabbed his strong arm tightly, lest the magical energies tear them apart while in transit. A green light enveloped them and when Khan opened her eyes again the three of them were standing in the Salty Sailor Tavern in Booty Bay. The locals were used to this sort of entrance and paid them no heed.

Khan turned to the elf briefly and said a few words. The elf nodded slowly and walked off. They never saw her again. Khan looked around the room.

“There has never been a more wretched hive of villainy and scum.” The place was filled with all kinds of people. Goblins, orcs, humans, night elves, a tauren, and all of them were drinking loudly, each one trying to talk above the person next to them, creating a cacophony in the room.

“That is true, but to me it’s a relaxing home.” Aku walked over to the bar and ordered a drink. Turning around to survey the room, he looked for someone with information and instead spotted a good friend, Suntarin. Khan and Aku both waved at him and walked over to see how he was doing. It was apparently from the smell emanating from his entire body that he was quite drunk.

“A foolish rogue…” Sunny commented, glaring at a night elf rogue that was staring back at him.

“All rogues are slightly foolish!” Aku claimed, clasping Sunny on the shoulder in greeting.

“Time to get drunk and be merry!” Sunny took a long swig of his drink, “Oooh, that’s good cherry grog!”

“I prefer a good jug of bourbon any day.” Aku raised his own glass in a toast, “Here is to good friends!”

“To fine women!” Sunny responded.

“To our future wives!”

“And…and…the Kodos!” Sunny took another drink from his near empty glass. “Oh, that hits the spot.”

At this point Khan blushed and looked away from the men singing the praises of women right in front of her. That kind of talk was best left to bar rooms that didn’t contain the women they were talking about. Aku looked at her and remembered that they had a mission here. He excused himself from the conversation and went to wandering around the room, searching for a person who could give information on the man they were looking for.

Khan looked at Sunny, still blushing. “Sunny…you have bubbles coming out of your nose.”

Sunny finished what was left in his glass and hiccupped. “Hmm…it’sh cause I drank a lot of liquid soap yesterday!”

Khan looked back to the room, and saw Aku across the way beckoning her over to him. She walked to him and he leaned over to whisper in her ear.

“This Crank Fizzlebub is apparently the brother of the Fizzle Crankstub you are looking for. I figured it would be best if you talked to him. His palm has already been greased, so don’t let him fool you.”

Khan moved past Aku and stood in front of the goblin.

“My friend says you have information on Fizzle Crankstub, a friend of mine? I was on the Massive Tide with him; I didn’t know anyone survived except for myself!”

“Indeed, I do, I do. He’s my brother, doncha know? He washed up on the shores of Booty Bay one sad day, sad sad day. He was sick from all of the seawater he had drunk, but someone recognized him and brought him to me. Goblins, you know, we stick together in a tough situation. I nursed him back to health, he’s my brother after all, and he told me a strange tale of a one manned gnomish ship.” The goblin shook his head with pity, “You know, everyone thought he was crazy. Hey, they still do! He spends most of his time behind his desk trying to reproduce the insane machine! Hey, maybe some visitors will do him some good, ya know? Let me give you my address…”

Khan got the information from the goblin, said her thanks and turned away to talk with Aku again. After he had heard the goblins story he thought about it.

“Well…after seeing the black death machine in Everlook, I’ll almost believe in a one manned gnomish boat.”

“I don’t want to talk about that ship Aku…it shouldn’t exist…it ruined my life…”

Aku put his hand on her shoulder and gripped it tight. “My apologies, my dear. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Khan looked into his deep red eyes and felt forgiveness wash over her. “That’s ok…you didn’t mean it. Let’s go.”

They said their goodbyes to Suntarin, who was still drunk. “Is…is that elf giving me the eye?” The elf roared at him fiercely, which indicated to Khan that it was well past time that they left. They walked out of the tavern and immediately upon leaving were hit with the salty scent of fresh fish and seawater. The town was built on what looked like a rickety collection of boards and nails, but it had apparently held together for a decade or more. They walked up a ramp and into a house on the upper deck of town. The door was unlocked and they walked up the stairs, as Khan had been instructed to do.

At the top of the stairs they saw the furiously writing body of Fizzle. Tears of joy welled up in Khan’s eyes at the thought of seeing her old friend, thought lost for so many years.

“Shall I wait downstairs?” Aku asked, unsure of whether this was a private moment or not.

“No, Aku, that’s ok.” Khan finished walking up the stairs and stood, in the goblins line of sight. “I thought you were dead! You damned bloody goblin! Where have you been?!”

Fizzle looked up briefly from his drawings to look at Khan. “Oh Khan, I’ve needed you…” he turned back to his drawings and pointed at them for her to look at.

“Needed? An odd word for a goblin…” Aku muttered to himself.

“Hush, Aku.” Khan walked over to the desk and looked at the hundreds of different drawings over Fizzle’s shoulder.

“I don’t know how this works…perhaps you could help me with it?” He spoke with a calm voice, seemingly unaware of exactly how long it has been since they have seen each other. He seemed almost mesmerized by his own drawings.

“I’ll be outside on the balcony should you two need me. Your engineering talk gives me a headache.” Aku said and walked outside to breath in the air that he had known for so long.

Khan and Fizzle spent most of the evening talking about his designs for the ship. After a few hours Khan was convinced that Fizzle was absolutely bat shit crazy, and that his design would never work. But apparently his kept him happy, so she went along with it.

“Ok Fizzle, I have to run now. We’ve been here for hours! But I promise I’ll be back! Don’t you think I’m going to let you become famous without me!” She laughed at him, the easy laughter that she had shared with him in the years before his supposed death.

“You two tinkerers finally done?” Aku overheard Khan talking from the balcony and had walked inside. Khan nodded to him and the two of them started to walk down the stairs, off home.

Fizzle stopped his writing for a moment and looked up again, rubbing his chin with the end of his pen. “Khan…?” His voice was filled with confusion, as though the many years had finally penetrated to the center of his consciousness.

Khan stopped on the stairs and looked back into the room at him. “Yes?”

“Someone was asking about you a few months ago…I didn’t recognize her at all…but she knew your name.”

“An elf, was it Fizzle?” Aku growled slightly at the thought of the elf.

“…no sir, it was a troll. A mage with fiery red hair…I told her that the last I had seen you was off the coast of Durotar…maybe she went there.”

Khan nodded slightly. “Thanks Fizzle. See you later.” And the two of them turned and walked down the stairs and out of the building.

“A troll mage? Asking about me? I don’t know any mages except for Shahkra…and she knows where to find me.”

“That is strange.”

“While we’re on the chase, I wouldn’t mind figuring out who that is. Let’s go to Durotar and ask that rogue I’ve been telling you about. Maybe he’s seen someone in the area.”

“You know that all of my skills and expertise are at your disposal, my dear. And yes, I would lie to see this rogue myself. Perhaps that way I can introduce him to Reggie properly.”

They walked up to the wyvern rider and caught a lift, riding to Grom’gol. From there they caught a zeppelin ride to the way station just outside of Orgrimmar city, home of Thrall the War Chief. Just as they came into the station they saw Caladi and Ilyth, both members of the White Kodo Clan, standing on the edge waiting for the very zeppelin that Aku and Khan were getting off of. The four of them said very quick hellos and goodbyes, they were all in a hurry and would see each other at the next guild meeting anyhow. Aku and Khan mounted up and headed off to Razor Hill, the last place that Khan knew her favourite rogue had been.

They rode past the tall rocky cliffs just outside of Orgrimmar, past the harpies and the thunder lizards and into the small town of Razor Hill. As Khan had thought, they found Kranik trying to pick someone’s pocket in the local inn. That rogue had no concept of personal space.

“Aku, this is the little thief I’ve told you about.”

“Shall I just throttle him now then?”

“No no, Krannie is a friend of mine. A sneak, but a friend.”

“Very well, I shall let you do the talking. After he tried to take your ring I think that I might kill him.”

The two of them walked up to Kranik, who quickly removed his hands from the pocket they were in and looked innocently at the two of them. Quickly forgetting that he had gotten caught in the act, he starts to bounce around aimlessly and waving frantically at Khan. “’allo nice warrior lady!”

“Hey Krannie, this is my friend Aku whom I have been telling you about.”

“Krannie see da bad man in da hat…Krannie been gud h’onest!”

“I know you have, Krannie. But he isn’t a bad man, and I think you should meet him.”

Kranik moved behind Khan for protection and leaned out to wave happily at Aku.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Kranik.” Aku kept his rage inside, trying to be friends with a friend of his fiancé. He spoke to Khan. “I’ll go stand over here since he appears to be dreadfully frightened of me.”

“I told him you’d kill him if he picked my pockets again. It’s worked out for me!” Khan laughed. “Krannie, you’ve been hanging around this area for a while now, yes? I was wondering if you have seen someone I want to find.”

Kranik nodded his head up and down vigorously, desperately wanting to stay on the good side of this fierce, but kind warrior who had helped him many times.

“I’ve been told by a friend that a troll mage with fiery red hair has been looking for me. Do you happen to know anyone who fits that description?”

Kranik thought for a moment, really hard. A difficult task when stringing a sentence together is a difficult task. “I dun know nuthin’ ‘bout a fire mage, but I know an ice mage of da ultimate powa if dat’s who jur lookin’ fo’!”

Khan was sceptical about the description, but decided that after all of this time spent traveling it couldn’t hurt to at least try. “Ok Krannie, why don’t you introduce us.”

Kranik bounced around energetically, excited to be of help. “Okay dokay!” He quickly ran out of the public room of the inn and over to the mage trainer on the other side of the small town. In front of the trainer was a small, young blue skinned troll with the most brilliant red hair. She wore tight blue pants and pink goggles and carried a long staff, one which Khan knew could only be found in the Wailing Caverns. This must be a powerful mage indeed to have such a weapon at her age.

“Keishe’s Keishe! Dis is me gud friend Khan de nice warrior lady!” Kranik announced loudly, no respect for the fact that the troll with red hair was obviously in the middle of a conversation.

Keishe stopped her conversation in the middle of it, confusing the mage trainer. “Did ju…say Khan? Is dat short fo’ somet’ing?” She turned around and looked up at the tall warrior with broad shoulders and gleaming axes.

Khan was unsure of this reaction, usually people just accepted the shortened form of her name. “Yes, actually, it’s short for Khandivya…do you know a goblin named Fizzle? I saw him for the first time today in ages; he told me that a troll mage with fiery red hair was looking for me? Are you her?”

Keishe looked stunned. Khan started to wonder whether the wyvern had taken a dump on her clothes or something. But before she could ask the young troll any further questions Keishe was upon her, in the biggest hug such a young one could give. Khan barely felt it. Then without any warning, the small troll burst into tears, sobbing into Khan’s chest armour.

“I been lookin’ fo’ ju fo’ years! And ‘ere ju are, lookin’ fo’ me?!”

Khan was embarrassed, and gently stroked Keishe’s spiked hair in comfort. She wasn’t used to strangers crying upon meeting her, but if that was the reaction maybe it would work on her enemies as well. “What do you mean, you’ve been looking for me? Who are you?”

The small form stopped crying for a moment, but didn’t let go of her hug. “Ju mean ju don’ know?”

Khan shook her head, wondering when the question would finally be answered.

“Jur my sister!”

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