Life Anew

The room was dim, the small windows providing only a little illumination even in the middle of the day. To Faleseth, this was a boon rather than a disadvantage. The dim light didn't bother her eyes, and if she was going to be forced to deal with people during the day she would prefer not to do it through blurry tears as she tried to force herself to see.

The Highborne sighed, walking across the wooden floor and placing delicate fingers on the counter that occupied a portion of the space. Around her there were empty shelves lining every wall, with a door behind the counter leading to a small two room apartment behind the shop-front. It wasn't much, but it was a place where she could at least start over and try to learn more about the time and people with which she was now surrounded.

A scuffling noise interrupted her thoughts and made her turn. Behind her two humans pushed the door open, a small bell on the door jingling as they struggled to bring a heavy crate into the room. Faleseth watched them as they worked, still bemused by the thought of there being races she had never heard of before. Then again, when one was magically imprisoned for eons such things likely tended to happen.

The two men placed the crate down, one of them propping the door open with a wedge so as to allow them to bring more items in. Beyond the open door Faleseth had a view of Stormwind's Mage District near the Slaughtered Lamb Tavern. Although she would have preferred to live in total isolation, the humans had some talents in practicing the arcane and would make for the best customers. They also wouldn't ask too many questions, and would generally leave her to her solitude; something that could not be said of the other Kaldorei. She'd needed to spend only a few days in the elven city to come to understand that her kind was shunned and that even the other Highborne were not like her.

She sighed, watching the humans struggle to unload another crate from a cart parked outside. No, this was for the best. She would sell some magical trinkets, charms, and cures for a bit of coin, giving the appearance of normality to those who wandered into her little shop. Behind it all, she would continue to pilfer Highborne caches where she could find them, profiting from selling the artifacts as she had already done and making more than the coin she'd spent to purchase the small shop and home where she now stood.

It wasn't comparable to the plush life she'd had in Zin-azshari, but then again there was something to be said for not having to watch one's back all the time, and for being truly alone without servants constantly pestering or eavesdropping. Faleseth just hoped that this new start would not result in a deepening depression as she continued to come to grips with the fact that she had no one and nothing familiar around her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the humans deposited the second crate next to the first. Dust arose from around them as they let it thump on the floor. Faleseth's eyebrow shot up in annoyance as she calculated how many fragile things within the crate they likely had just destroyed. As she performed a mental tally, one of the humans walked up to her, papers in hand.

"You'll need to sign for this lady," he said gruffly. "Can't drop it off without a valid signature and company name. The magi'll have our heads if we deliver arcane items without it."

Faleseth nodded, studying the papers the man had thrust at her. She took them in hand, laying them out on the counter, "I am not part of a company though... is that going to be a problem?"

"Look lady, I don't care honestly. I just need a signature and some sort of stamp on this, you get it?" the man said in irritation. He was clearly in a rush and his partner had in fact already passed out the front door and was boarding the now empty cart.

Faleseth pursed her lips and nodded, bringing a hand up over the papers. On one of the nearby shelves a raven cawed, and the man looked up to see the ominous black bird staring at him, his attention distracted. Meanwhile, Faleseth murmured the words to a spell, the palm of her hand heating up and burning a stamp into the paper. It was in the shape of a leaf, the black emblem smoking slightly before she extinguished the magic. She gathered the papers up, handing them back to the human.

"The Blackleaf Trading Company has signed for your documents," she said with a smirk. Although she had just made it up on the spot, the idea had already spawned a multitude of potential advantages in her mind and the newly invented 'company' was something she would need to expand upon. For now it was enough for the worker, who took the papers and headed out the front door, closing it behind him and setting the bell to jingling again.

Faleseth smiled, walking over to the first of the crates as the raven launched itself from the shelf and came to rest on her shoulder. Underneath the crate's top were a large variety of neatly packed items, including spell components, herbs, special wood for wand-crafting, potions, and anything else an aspiring magi or spellcaster might want. They would make up the wares for her small shop, and also be useful in her own work.

Nodding to herself in satisfaction, Faleseth turned and headed through the doorway behind the counter, the raven riding on her shoulder like a pet. She paid it little heed, knowing that it wasn't a real bird but simply a manifestation of her magic. She paused in the adjoining room, seeing the small kitchen and living room space with the door to her bedroom beyond. This would be where she would practice her craft, worshiping Elune but also making use of her arcane magic as any true Highborne might. Long ago the other Highborne frowned upon her magical research, considering it witchcraft and inappropriate for one who followed the Moon Goddess. Faleseth knew better though; divine magic and arcane magic combined were the most formidable force possible, and she now had a new opportunity to tap into such magic sources without the oversight of her peers who were long gone and dust on the wind.

Faleseth smiled to herself, satisfied with the interior of the house she'd purchased. It was time to make it a suitable living space! She turned, the raven hopping off her shoulder and alighting on a nearby kitchen counter as the Highborne began to sing to herself, beginning to unpack her wares.

The ancient song, sung in a dialect of Darnassian that had not been spoken for tens of thousands of years, drifted out into the Mage District. The beautiful song was haunting, and would have disturbed many listeners except for the fact that the neighboring denizens of the Slaughtered Lamb had seen and heard other, far more disturbing things in their time.

Where one life ended, another life began anew. Time would tell what would become of the Moon Witch of Stormwind.