*Within the Ebon Hold*
The well-oiled hinges on the door made not a sound as the wooden barrier was pushed opened, allowing entry into the room beyond. In the dim dark of the stone chamber, a latent spell detected that the door had been opened and set scourge-lit lanterns aglow, bathing the room in a pale blue but very steady light.
The figure that slipped into the room resembled an elf, but looked like no other creature on the face of Azeroth. With skin the color of granite and hair bleached whiter than sun-baked bones, the death knight that called herself Malfecta was striking in appearance. Her face held a hint of youthful beauty and her flesh was unmarred by blemish or imperfection, and yet her color and the scourge-glow of her eyes told the tale that she was a creature created from the foulest of magics.
The chamber that Malfecta had entered was her personal quarters, assigned to her for use when she was within Acherus. She was a Knight of the Ebon Blade but unattached to any military component of that organization and instead was often called upon to investigate, study, and eradicate rogue undead or cultists that could pose a threat to the Ebon Blade or Azeroth in general. Arguably 'neutral', the death knight was primarily concerned with threats against the Horde or her former nation of Quel'Thalas, and was deployed accordingly.
Malfecta closed the door behind her and locked it from within before moving swiftly and efficiently across the immaculately clean stones that made up the floor of her room. She made her way to a weapon rack, carefully removing her runeblade from its sheath on her back and studying it for a few moments, checking for chips or signs of wear. The blade shone with a pale blue light, the carefully cleaned metal free of defects. With a nod of satisfaction, Malfecta set the blade in its assigned place on the weapon rack before moving towards an armor stand beside it.
Carefully and with precision, Malfecta began to remove each piece of her plate armor. Designed in the style of the Knights of the Ebon Blade, each piece was in excellent condition and the death knight studied the metal segments as she removed them one by one, fitting each onto the armor stand so that the equipment was orderly and readily available.
Stripped now to a padded black bodysuit that she wore beneath her armor, Malfecta turned and headed towards one of the three sets of furniture that were present in her chambers. She took a seat at the small vanity, observing herself in the mirror for several moments before taking a bone-handled brush and carefully running it through her snow-white hair. After a few moments she stopped, studying herself in the mirror and ensuring that every strand of her hair was in order before setting the brush down and nodding.
Seeing that her makeup was also still in order, she rose from the chair, striding across the open space in the center of her quarters that contained magical wards and circles on the floor. It was here that she cast her most powerful necromantic spells and performed her experiments in the safety of her private chambers. Having no need for a bed, there was plenty of space for such magics and combined with a lab table on the far side of the room that contained spellbooks and reagents, she had set up an entire laboratory dedicated to the study of necromancy.
Malfecta passed by her casting circles and equipment, heading for the only other piece of furniture in her quarters; her writing desk. She pulled out the chair and sat, noting that the desk was in the precise order in which she preferred it. The center of the desk had blank parchment ready to write missives, to the left of this was her quill and ink well, and at the edge of the desk sat several bins made of wire that were labeled with neat lettering 'in', 'out', and 'missives'.
Although Malfecta used her right hand to wield her sword, she always wrote with her left, and she picked up the quill and set some ink to the tip before beginning her report on a blank sheet of parchment.
Status Report 001- Felo'melorn Investigation
I have made contact with the representative of House Felo'melorn. As directed, I have placed my services at her disposal for the duration of this case. I have not informed Lady Felo'melorn that I may conduct additional investigations or perform additional duties for the Ebon Blade during this mission as this information was not relevant to her specific case.
As of yet, there has been little progress in my work. Lady Felo'melorn has been forthcoming with information upon request, but has no knowledge of the whereabouts of the creature that I hunt. I estimate that there is a ninety percent chance I will be able to continue working directly with her as her distaste for our kind is irrelevant in comparison to her desire to see to the safety of her House and staff.
SPECIAL NOTE: I believe my combat effectiveness may suffer minor degradation when fighting beside Lady Felo'melorn. She appears to wield Light effectively and with enough force to cause unintentional secondary damage to nearby undead allies. I will take necessary precautions to avoid becoming ineffective in combat.
I have attempted to intermingle with Horde non-combatants to acquire additional points of contact and information sources both to aid in this investigation and to uncover new threats. As I have been assigned to the Plaguelands for many years, my efforts in this regards have met with mixed results so far. I have encountered resistance from some of the living as well as incomprehensible curiosity about my form. I will make further attempts to create a contact network in the near future, although I estimate the chance of success is only thirty percent given my experiences thus far.
Objectives: One, interview additional subjects involved in the Felo'melorn case including one Biara Sunfire and her sister, Kyliska Sunfire as well as minor members of House Felo'melorn. Two, establish additional contacts in order to uncover leads to the creature's whereabouts. Three, investigate the ruins of Dawnsea Estate in Eversong to help determine the origin and strength of the rogue creature that I hunt. Four, study the living in an attempt to understand why they interact with each other and with myself as they do such that I can improve the chance of success during reconnaissance.
Additional reports will be forthcoming as more information becomes available.
Malfecta
Knight of the Ebon Blade
With her letter complete, Malfecta set her quill down, careful not to spill even a drop of ink. She took a small wooden box out of one of the desk drawers and opened it to reveal a bone-handled stamp that she inked and then applied to the bottom of the letter. It was a stylized 'M' with a sword through it, and once it was dry Malfecta picked the letter up and set it in the bin labeled 'missives'. Every three hours an undead minion at her command would enter the chamber and check the bin for messages to deliver to her commander, and it would make its way to his desk in a timely fashion.
With a smile of satisfaction, Malfecta rose from her chair and pushed it in, ensuring her desk was in perfect order before turning and heading towards her laboratory equipment. She had assigned herself precisely two and a half hours to perform several experiments before she headed back out to continue her investigation. Order was important after all; one could not perform at peak efficiency without rigid order and scheduling.
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