The Pig and Whistle had
the usual crowd as Kerryann walked into the common room. Through the
haze of smoke in the room laughter and the occasional argument rose up
above the general buzz of the patrons at dinnertime. Kerryann paid it
little heed as she let the warmth of the room soak into her unnaturally
chilled form.
As she was about to walk up the stairs to her personal quarters her glowing blue eyes alighted on something unusual; there, sticking from the mail slots that the innkeeper kept for each of the patrons, a letter protruded. It was stuck in Kerryann's designated mailbox.
Curious, the death knight walked over to it, plucking the scrap of paper from the slot and turning it over in her hands. It was only a single page, folded twice and sealed with a wax seal. Beneath the seal was a little doodle of a heart which made her features scrunch up in irritation. She quickly broke the seal and opened the letter.
Kerry,
Two bells before midnight. The harbor. A ship's arrived with something of interest.
The letter was unsigned, but Kerryann recognized the writing. One of her contacts within the city had sent it. The heart on the outside of the letter was clearly a joke at her expense, making the otherwise secret correspondence look like a love letter for the love festival. As she looked up, Kerryann saw the innkeeper smirking at her from across the room. She rolled her eyes and crumpled the paper into a ball, holding it over a nearby candle to burn it to ash.
It looked like she had some work to do.
************************************************************
The harbor was quiet so close to midnight. Most ships set sail with the morning's tide and those arriving had already made port or were still out to see until daylight. Without all of the bustle of a busy port the place was somewhat eerie, the sound of waves and seabirds overpowering other noises that might normally be present. The place was dark too, with only the starlight and the dim glow from the distant lighthouse to illuminate the wooden docks.
Within the darkness and stillness, a single form moved quietly past the stacked crates and rigging rope piled along the piers. Carrying a medium sized wooden crate stamped with symbols of Stromgard, the man took great care to move with utter silence, or as silent as one can be when carrying a burden. He would pause now and then, looking around to ensure that he was unobserved.
As he came near a pile of stacked crates, he paused, staring at the dark silhouette of the obstruction. Something seemed off, and as he blinked and stared, he was hard pressed to determine what it was. His question was soon answered though as two glowing points of blue light appeared amongst the shadow of the crates. He realized after a moment that they were eyes, staring balefully at him.
Kerryann grinned as she stepped away from the crates she'd been leaning against. She'd kept her eyes closed, relying on the sound and sense of the living man approaching her to detect when he'd come close enough, keeping her eyes hidden from him until the last moment. judging by the look of surprise and fear on his face, the trick had worked well.
The man stepped back as she stepped forward, looking pale. She smiled at him, pointing at the crate, "Going somewhere with cargo? You are so dedicated, to be working in the middle of the night."
"I don't want no trouble lady," the man sputtered. "I'm just taking this shipment for delivery, as I've been ordered."
Kerryann said nothing for a moment, stepping forward and slowly circling the now clearly frightened man. She leaned forward, whispering in his ear, "And who orders someone to collect and deliver cargo from the docks in the dead of night." Her emphasis on the word 'dead' made the man shiver; he could clearly sense the malice in her tone.
"Look lady, I don't know who you are, but I swear I've been ordered to take this crate to...uh..." the man trailed off, realizing he would rather not tell her everything.
"Listen," Kerryann said, walking around in front of him again, "I know you're not a dock worker. I don't really give a fel who is paying you. I want to know where this is going. Now."
Her tone and gaze suggested that her willingness to continue talking was drawing to its end. The man looked at her and swallowed hard as he noticed the pommel of her runeblade sticking up over her shoulder, "I-I'm t-taking it to the S-slaughtered Lamb. Under o-orders from the....you know...R-right?"
Kerryann's eyes widened for a moment and then she nodded. "I know. I have reason to believe that something is amiss here. I want to see what's inside, and then you can bring it to your masters. Set it down and open it."
Seeing the look on her face, the man nodded and slowly set the crate down. With a short knife on his belt, he pried the lid off, revealing a small metal canister with a screwed on lid sitting amongst a large amount of hay used for packaging material. A note was on top. Kerryann reached down to pick it up, reading it over carefully.
As promised, the materials you need for your experiment are enclosed. Our mutual friend went through much trouble to arrange for this delivery. See to it that it doesn't go to waste.
~S.C.
As Kerryann read, she failed to notice the man reaching down to pick up the canister. By the time she had looked up, he had already half unscrewed the lid. She lunged at him and he backed away flailing, "DON'T OPEN THAT! STOP!"
"It's just a fel crystal lady! Light! Calm yourself!" the man muttered, prying the lid off the rest of the way. He upended the canister, spilling a large crystal into the palm of his hand. A sickly orange glow illuminated the dock.
It was a Blight crystal.
The man had time to look up at Kerryann in horror and shock before the skin on his face started to rot, the bones poking through here and there. Any exposed flesh on his frame likewise began to decay, and a sickening gurgling sound emanated from his mouth. Kerryann herself shivered as she felt the deadly power of scourge magic settle over the area, the only visible effect on her an increased glow in her eyes.
The man's eyes began to glow with a sickly yellow light, the look on his rotted face changing to rage and hatred as he tilted his head at an odd angle, looking Kerryann over and growling. Before he could move, her runeblade was out, plunging into his chest and piercing his heart. He sighed once and slide from the blade, the blight crystal falling from his dead hands and snatched from the air in a quick grab by the death knight.
As he crumpled to the ground, Kerryann took stock of the situation. She had an open crate, a dead body, and a blight crystal and was standing on the middle of one of Stormwind's main docks.
"Fuck my life, seriously," she muttered to herself. "Oh no constable, that man accidentally picked this blight crystal up. No sir, I didn't murder him, he had already died before I stabbed him. Of course I didn't order this shipment sir, what do I look like, a death knight?"
She shook her head, sheathing her runeblade on her back without cleaning it and retrieving the canister. She carefully put the crystal back inside the canister and sealed it, placing the whole thing back inside the crate and closing it. "They would NEVER believe me. Fel! I have to find out where this thing came from, and who it was going to."
She paused, looking the body over again. She had two options; take care of it herself, or bring it to the Knights of the Ebon Blade.
She considered for a moment and then shook her head, "No. I won't go to them. They'll be just as likely to blame me. Looks like I'm on my own. Not really an unusual or undesirable situation in the end."
She leaned down and carefully slid the body over near the crate. After positioning it, she chanted something in the Language of Death, using her magic to call out across the distance. Having finished this task, she casually sat down on the crate, using her cloak to cover the body behind her. She crossed her legs beneath her plate skirt and fished out a cigarette from a pocket, lighting it up and taking a long drag.
Several minutes passed, but no one noticed her sitting there, or if they did they didn't question a woman sitting on a crate enjoying a cigarette at least. In the darkness of the sky above, several stars were blotted out as a shape dove down, boney claws digging into the wood of the dock as a skeletal gryphon alighted before the woman. A baleful scourge-light illuminated the empty eye-sockets of the creature as it uttered a hiss at Kerryann.
"About time you got here," She muttered at it. Her comment was ill-received as the creature growled deeply, the sound completely unnatural. It took a menacing step towards her, and one of her eyebrows rose up. "You really are not going to start right now, are you? I mean, I'm already pissed off."
The creature lurched forward, its dead, rotting beak snapping in the air inches from Kerryann's face. She rolled her eyes and flicked her cigarette butt at the undead creature's skull, causing it to rear back for a moment before hissing again. Instantly Kerryann was on her feet, the expression on her face less pleased now. She raised a hand that suddenly glowed with sickly green light, her necromantic powers ready to be hurled at the creature.
"I'm not going to deal with this right now. You will obey me. Now." Her tone brooked no argument. For a moment, the creature looked as if it might spring at her, but then it shuddered and bowed its head down.
"That's right. Now then. We're going out over the ocean. Pick up the crate and the body," Kerryann said, lowering her hand and walking to the side of the creature. She quickly mounted it, grabbing several of its vertebrae to steady herself in the saddle before taking up its reins.
As the creature lifted into the air, using its claws to grab the objects, Kerryann sighed. It was always this way with necromancy. One had to assert one's dominance, or you lost control. It was unforgiving, there was no comfort, no warmth, no understanding in it. She had to have absolute control over her steed or it would tear her to bits.
As it carried her up into the air and over the sparkling ocean below, Kerryann smiled. The wind blew her raven black hair out behind her, and for a moment she felt a thrill as they soared over the waves. For a moment she could look up at the stars and away from her hands and the mount beneath her and just live.
She would take the body and the blight crystal far out over the ocean, where they would sink into the depths and prevent others from being infected. Then it was back to Stormwind, and possibly Arathi. She had to find out who would have the audacity to ship such an object into a crowded city and put a stop to them.
Given the initials on the letter she carried in her pouch, she knew just who it was that had engineered the plot. The question was whether or not she would be able to stop him in time, before anyone else died.
As she was about to walk up the stairs to her personal quarters her glowing blue eyes alighted on something unusual; there, sticking from the mail slots that the innkeeper kept for each of the patrons, a letter protruded. It was stuck in Kerryann's designated mailbox.
Curious, the death knight walked over to it, plucking the scrap of paper from the slot and turning it over in her hands. It was only a single page, folded twice and sealed with a wax seal. Beneath the seal was a little doodle of a heart which made her features scrunch up in irritation. She quickly broke the seal and opened the letter.
Kerry,
Two bells before midnight. The harbor. A ship's arrived with something of interest.
The letter was unsigned, but Kerryann recognized the writing. One of her contacts within the city had sent it. The heart on the outside of the letter was clearly a joke at her expense, making the otherwise secret correspondence look like a love letter for the love festival. As she looked up, Kerryann saw the innkeeper smirking at her from across the room. She rolled her eyes and crumpled the paper into a ball, holding it over a nearby candle to burn it to ash.
It looked like she had some work to do.
************************************************************
The harbor was quiet so close to midnight. Most ships set sail with the morning's tide and those arriving had already made port or were still out to see until daylight. Without all of the bustle of a busy port the place was somewhat eerie, the sound of waves and seabirds overpowering other noises that might normally be present. The place was dark too, with only the starlight and the dim glow from the distant lighthouse to illuminate the wooden docks.
Within the darkness and stillness, a single form moved quietly past the stacked crates and rigging rope piled along the piers. Carrying a medium sized wooden crate stamped with symbols of Stromgard, the man took great care to move with utter silence, or as silent as one can be when carrying a burden. He would pause now and then, looking around to ensure that he was unobserved.
As he came near a pile of stacked crates, he paused, staring at the dark silhouette of the obstruction. Something seemed off, and as he blinked and stared, he was hard pressed to determine what it was. His question was soon answered though as two glowing points of blue light appeared amongst the shadow of the crates. He realized after a moment that they were eyes, staring balefully at him.
Kerryann grinned as she stepped away from the crates she'd been leaning against. She'd kept her eyes closed, relying on the sound and sense of the living man approaching her to detect when he'd come close enough, keeping her eyes hidden from him until the last moment. judging by the look of surprise and fear on his face, the trick had worked well.
The man stepped back as she stepped forward, looking pale. She smiled at him, pointing at the crate, "Going somewhere with cargo? You are so dedicated, to be working in the middle of the night."
"I don't want no trouble lady," the man sputtered. "I'm just taking this shipment for delivery, as I've been ordered."
Kerryann said nothing for a moment, stepping forward and slowly circling the now clearly frightened man. She leaned forward, whispering in his ear, "And who orders someone to collect and deliver cargo from the docks in the dead of night." Her emphasis on the word 'dead' made the man shiver; he could clearly sense the malice in her tone.
"Look lady, I don't know who you are, but I swear I've been ordered to take this crate to...uh..." the man trailed off, realizing he would rather not tell her everything.
"Listen," Kerryann said, walking around in front of him again, "I know you're not a dock worker. I don't really give a fel who is paying you. I want to know where this is going. Now."
Her tone and gaze suggested that her willingness to continue talking was drawing to its end. The man looked at her and swallowed hard as he noticed the pommel of her runeblade sticking up over her shoulder, "I-I'm t-taking it to the S-slaughtered Lamb. Under o-orders from the....you know...R-right?"
Kerryann's eyes widened for a moment and then she nodded. "I know. I have reason to believe that something is amiss here. I want to see what's inside, and then you can bring it to your masters. Set it down and open it."
Seeing the look on her face, the man nodded and slowly set the crate down. With a short knife on his belt, he pried the lid off, revealing a small metal canister with a screwed on lid sitting amongst a large amount of hay used for packaging material. A note was on top. Kerryann reached down to pick it up, reading it over carefully.
As promised, the materials you need for your experiment are enclosed. Our mutual friend went through much trouble to arrange for this delivery. See to it that it doesn't go to waste.
~S.C.
As Kerryann read, she failed to notice the man reaching down to pick up the canister. By the time she had looked up, he had already half unscrewed the lid. She lunged at him and he backed away flailing, "DON'T OPEN THAT! STOP!"
"It's just a fel crystal lady! Light! Calm yourself!" the man muttered, prying the lid off the rest of the way. He upended the canister, spilling a large crystal into the palm of his hand. A sickly orange glow illuminated the dock.
It was a Blight crystal.
The man had time to look up at Kerryann in horror and shock before the skin on his face started to rot, the bones poking through here and there. Any exposed flesh on his frame likewise began to decay, and a sickening gurgling sound emanated from his mouth. Kerryann herself shivered as she felt the deadly power of scourge magic settle over the area, the only visible effect on her an increased glow in her eyes.
The man's eyes began to glow with a sickly yellow light, the look on his rotted face changing to rage and hatred as he tilted his head at an odd angle, looking Kerryann over and growling. Before he could move, her runeblade was out, plunging into his chest and piercing his heart. He sighed once and slide from the blade, the blight crystal falling from his dead hands and snatched from the air in a quick grab by the death knight.
As he crumpled to the ground, Kerryann took stock of the situation. She had an open crate, a dead body, and a blight crystal and was standing on the middle of one of Stormwind's main docks.
"Fuck my life, seriously," she muttered to herself. "Oh no constable, that man accidentally picked this blight crystal up. No sir, I didn't murder him, he had already died before I stabbed him. Of course I didn't order this shipment sir, what do I look like, a death knight?"
She shook her head, sheathing her runeblade on her back without cleaning it and retrieving the canister. She carefully put the crystal back inside the canister and sealed it, placing the whole thing back inside the crate and closing it. "They would NEVER believe me. Fel! I have to find out where this thing came from, and who it was going to."
She paused, looking the body over again. She had two options; take care of it herself, or bring it to the Knights of the Ebon Blade.
She considered for a moment and then shook her head, "No. I won't go to them. They'll be just as likely to blame me. Looks like I'm on my own. Not really an unusual or undesirable situation in the end."
She leaned down and carefully slid the body over near the crate. After positioning it, she chanted something in the Language of Death, using her magic to call out across the distance. Having finished this task, she casually sat down on the crate, using her cloak to cover the body behind her. She crossed her legs beneath her plate skirt and fished out a cigarette from a pocket, lighting it up and taking a long drag.
Several minutes passed, but no one noticed her sitting there, or if they did they didn't question a woman sitting on a crate enjoying a cigarette at least. In the darkness of the sky above, several stars were blotted out as a shape dove down, boney claws digging into the wood of the dock as a skeletal gryphon alighted before the woman. A baleful scourge-light illuminated the empty eye-sockets of the creature as it uttered a hiss at Kerryann.
"About time you got here," She muttered at it. Her comment was ill-received as the creature growled deeply, the sound completely unnatural. It took a menacing step towards her, and one of her eyebrows rose up. "You really are not going to start right now, are you? I mean, I'm already pissed off."
The creature lurched forward, its dead, rotting beak snapping in the air inches from Kerryann's face. She rolled her eyes and flicked her cigarette butt at the undead creature's skull, causing it to rear back for a moment before hissing again. Instantly Kerryann was on her feet, the expression on her face less pleased now. She raised a hand that suddenly glowed with sickly green light, her necromantic powers ready to be hurled at the creature.
"I'm not going to deal with this right now. You will obey me. Now." Her tone brooked no argument. For a moment, the creature looked as if it might spring at her, but then it shuddered and bowed its head down.
"That's right. Now then. We're going out over the ocean. Pick up the crate and the body," Kerryann said, lowering her hand and walking to the side of the creature. She quickly mounted it, grabbing several of its vertebrae to steady herself in the saddle before taking up its reins.
As the creature lifted into the air, using its claws to grab the objects, Kerryann sighed. It was always this way with necromancy. One had to assert one's dominance, or you lost control. It was unforgiving, there was no comfort, no warmth, no understanding in it. She had to have absolute control over her steed or it would tear her to bits.
As it carried her up into the air and over the sparkling ocean below, Kerryann smiled. The wind blew her raven black hair out behind her, and for a moment she felt a thrill as they soared over the waves. For a moment she could look up at the stars and away from her hands and the mount beneath her and just live.
She would take the body and the blight crystal far out over the ocean, where they would sink into the depths and prevent others from being infected. Then it was back to Stormwind, and possibly Arathi. She had to find out who would have the audacity to ship such an object into a crowded city and put a stop to them.
Given the initials on the letter she carried in her pouch, she knew just who it was that had engineered the plot. The question was whether or not she would be able to stop him in time, before anyone else died.
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