10-03-2010, 04:43 PM
The Mark Has Been Made
Prelude:
The Sunwell's destruction proved to be a painful experience for all the blood elves. The unending thirst painstakingly amplified, and with it came no exceptions. Many sustained their addiction, but many also became twisted shadows of their former selves. Those who followed the same route as Caidrah became reliant on fel magic; the first taste of fel energies sated their thirst unlike any other magic. Following the Prince's end, Caidrah became much more of an aimless wanderer - with no home to return to, and no master to answer to she felt utterly lost.
Years passed and the wandering became increasingly tedious, although Outland has its abundance of demons and souls, it was simply never enough. A part of her died the day Kael'thas was betrayed, and it was a part of her she wanted to revitalise.
Part I: Friends and Foes.
The Prince's motives were clearly not favoured by all. Due to Voren'thal's influence many of the Prince's followers became turncoats; most notably Kael'thas' brightest magisters and scholars. Despite the Sunfury's inevitable failure, there were those who remained loyal to the true King of Quel'Thalas even after his death, these believers were spaced out across Azeroth and Draenor. Arcanist Syrael was one of few remaining blood elves Caidrah worked alongside during the Sunfury's reign over Netherstorm. Although they were never particularly close, they crossed paths once again, and soon held a private meeting within the Ghostlands where they discussed the makings of a new chapter.
"Let's try to keep this conversation fast paced, Syrael. I do have business to attend to."
"As do I, my dear." Syrael chuckled softly. "You have my attention, Caidrah."
"Very good." She briefly rubbed her hands together, as she took in a deep breath before she continued. "My interests lie in gathering the remnants of the Sunfury, to carry out the Prince's will and to bring glory to our peoples' name once again. My dream is to cease this ridiculous partnership with the savages, and to grant the Sin'dorei the independence and the power we so crave."
Syrael quietly rubbed his chin in a moment of contemplation. "Ah, I agree. But what of the Alliance? Surely they wouldn't allow these plans to unfold."
"What of them? Whilst we muster our strength, they will be too preoccupied with their pointless feud; let them obliterate each other, and once we flourish, we will execute the remnants. It is a simple plot, there is no need for us to worry ourselves over potential ruin."
"And where do you plan on housing this army? Surely they will notice an uprising in activity, if you were to reside in Silvermoon."
"I plan on following in our esteemed Prince's footsteps, if Outland were to allow us a place of refuge." Caidrah said rather calmly as she fiddled with a lock of orange hair.
Syrael gazed upon her as he thought deeply, as if he was attempting to discern a certain trait within her. "... Yes, I may assist you Caidrah, but know this," he became a little hesitant, as he spread his hand across the lower half of his face. "Many of our former members betrayed us, living the lives of pretenders."
"Pretenders?" Caidrah scowled, she adopted an angered, rough tone. "What do they hope to gain from falsifying their lives; what is it they seek from siding with these mongrels?"
"This..." Syrael shook his head, "This I cannot tell you, Caidrah, for even I couldn't possibly begin to understand them. But let us not wallow in their failure. I presume you'd like to know the names and whereabouts of these former members?"
"Please." She nodded, her anger noticeably began to subside.
Syrael cleared his throat. "Very well, there are only two who I'm currently aware of, although whether or not their situation has altered I couldn't tell you. I'll begin with Talarion, who now serves Silvermoon as a Blood Knight. If I recall correctly he regularly patrols these Ghostlands in search of the wandering undead. Once loyal to our Prince during reign, although Talarion never rendezvoused with his forces in Outland."
"And you believe he may be convinced?" Caidrah arched a brow, she was still fiddling with that same lock of hair.
"I never mentioned whether I believe he can or not, I'm certain you can determine that for yourself. The next is Zhaidra; a warlock, like yourself, although nobody knows of her whereabouts. I do suspect that she may be roaming the Blasted Lands."
"I see, why would she--"
From Tranquilien descended a lone Blood Knight, at first he didn't notice either of them, before his gaze snapped to the robed pair. His cautious eyes darted about, scanning either side of the path for any possible traps.
"Is everything all right down there?" He called out as he made his way down the hill.
"Yes, everything is fi--"
"Good, good. Try to stick to the road, there's been an increase in undead sightings as of late." He nodded. This paladin was overly sure of himself. One needn't look further than his smug little grin, his overdone hairstyle and his ridiculous posture to be able to tell that he's seething with arrogance.
"Yes, let's get to the point. Is your name Talarion?" Caidrah gave the Blood Knight a rather bored gaze.
"I'm afraid this is not Talarion, my dear." Syrael smirked.
"I'm afraid to inform you that I am not Talarion, madam. I believe he's currently out on patrol, but then, I'm a lot nicer than he is." He winked.
She rolled her eyes, disregarding his flirtatious efforts. "Would you be able to pass on a message?"
"You're no fun. Very well, then, what would you like me to tell him?"
"Tell him that I am interested in meeting him at Fairbreeze village, I'd also like you to tell him that I am a friend of Syrael's, so he does take the message more seriously than he would otherwise."
The Blood Knight stared at Caidrah for a while, "All right, I'll pass on this message to Talarion. I must continue my patrol for the time being, however." He waves to the pair as he continues down the path, "Farewell, and be safe."
Caidrah gives the back of the Blood Knight's head a cold glare."... I suppose we have discussed all we need to for the time being, Syrael. All we can do now is wait."
"Indeed. Since you have located your first target, I will be in Silvermoon. If you require my assistance, you know where to find me. Goodbye for now Caidrah." Syrael bowed his head.
They both went their separate ways for the time being. Caidrah waited patiently at Fairbreeze village for a couple of hours, before Talarion arrived. It was obvious he was a Blood Knight; he wore the traditional black and red body armour, he even wore the tabard. Although he has one of those smug little grins plastered onto his face; dripping with arrogance - self-certainty, but, don't they all? They all become over-confident, and they all have a tendency to have that ridiculous strutting gait.
"I presume you are Talarion."
"You presume correctly, Caidrah." Talarion extended a plated hand forward, giving her an utterly false grin.
Caidrah eyed his gesture, but chose not to react to it. Instead she chose to walk, she gestured for Talarion to follow. "If I have your full attention, I'd like to ask you a rather important question. I heard you used to serve Prince Kael'thas."
"Why, yes. Of course I did, in fact, most of us did didn't we?" Talarion chuckled to himself loudly, "I heard about his betrayal, how he plotted to reward himself and not us. He promised us a 'golden destiny?' Rubbish."
"I regret to inform you, those of you who couldn't make it to Outland were only the insignificant - you are a stain on our peoples' name. If you were too pathetic to make it to the rest of us, that is entirely your own failure." Caidrah clearly wasn't amused, her fists clenched tightly as she continued to glare at Talarion.
"What?" Talarion narrowed his eyes. "Are you a fool, Caidrah? You believe in a man who sought all of us dead, for his own personal gain? It seems to me you're just as much a traitor as your beloved little Prince. Why don't you jump back down that hole you crawled out of?" Talarion gives another smug grin.
"Traitor? The only traitor here is you, Talarion." Caidrah's fingertips lit up with fel flames as Talarion's eyes widened in fear.
"Me? Hah! Y--... N-no, no, no. Stop. I order you to s-stop." His arrogant demeanour plummeted, he raised both of his hands to pathetically defend himself, as he stuttered and he cowered.
"Now this is exciting. With your shroud of falsity lifted, your glorious true self is finally revealed to all. No longer covered by layers upon layers of lies." Caidrah was enjoying every minute of it, as her fingers remained lit. "I should have known you sided with these mongrels; you are driven by cowardice, you turncoat to the winning side in order to provide yourself with safety."
"No-ooo! Stop! I wi--aieee!" As Talarion dragged his plated knees across the dirt, Caidrah looked down upon him hatefully. Fortunately, this meeting was well timed, as they were also shrouded by the cover of night. As Talarion grovelled before Caidrah, she could take his pettiness no longer; a chaos bolt connected with Talarion's face.
"M-make it stop! It b-burns! It buuurns!" Charred flesh began to flake, he tried to recuperate from the attack, before he was instantaneously engulfed in flames. He lied helpless, his body spasmed as he was within an inch of his life.
"... Such is fate. A pity, I thought you'd prove to be more of a challenge." Caidrah outspread her hand and began to extract the Blood Knight's soul, as he writhed in pain, it only took a couple of minutes before his lifeless corpse slumped to the ground.
When dawn broke, all that was found was the charred remains of Talarion. Caidrah was nowhere to be seen, and the authorities knew near to nothing about her. They soon began their search around Quel'Thalas, searching for one who matched her appearance that night.