Alt Appreciation: Warrior Week

It is the last week of Alt Appreciation weeks at World of Lae.  Thanks for the great idea!  I have a decent amount of warriors because, like a friend, I find they’re versatile for RP.  They make great belligerent drunks, or can easily be just some guy who has to pick up a sword to fight one day, or can be highly trained over thousands of years!  Warrior as a class is something I’m still working on getting a grasp on.  I seem to do great at tanking until level 60 or so.  I’ve played dps on one of my warriors and thanks to an addon telling me what to hit, I do okay, but I really have no idea what I’m doing with that.  Anyway, here are my warriors!

Teniron Whitemorn is currently my only level 90 warrior. He is a jeweler, turned drunk, turned jeweler again. He lives in Pandaria with Kit. I’d love to roleplay with him more, but there’s not much opportunity with him staying in Pandaria, so the best he gets is writing unwanted letters to his brother. He does have max jewelcrafting to match his story. He tends to wear his armor IC as well.

Jaene is a copy of Jaeyn/Jaen.  He is level 85. He had to have a warrior version after Vassanta taught him to use his sword. (giggles)

Aerrissa Summerleaf is Jaeyn’s mother. She’s a sentinel, and is currently in Ashenvale. She’s another one of those characters who is 85 and needs to level yet, but I hate Pandaria, so I don’t know how she’s going to.

 

Jaenella is level 82. She was my first warrior to max level, during Wrath of the Lich King. She hasn’t moved far since then, and sits, mostly forgotten, on my old realm.

Hernester has a basic back story. He might, some time, make an appearance in the Ghostlands. Who knows? He’s level 80.

Ethirdir Redfeather is the oldest son of a hawkstrider farmer who lives along the southern border of Eversong. He was one of the men in Theronil’s unit for the siege storyline, and is Sanimir’s cousin. OOC, he’s level 80 and has no matching gear. Poor guy!

 

Gaelardrim is a builder on the island of Quel’Danas.  OOC – He was my first blood elf warrior, created just after the pre-Cata patch. When Cata dropped and I changed servers, he stayed behind. I forgot about him for a year or so, then went back to level him a bit. That’s when I noticed he looks an awful lot like one of my mages! I swear I didn’t plan that. He’s level 66.

 

Another blood elf warrior! Arancon Firewind is Aeramin’s father, who is supposed to be dead, but time travel happened and a mage goofed up big time. Now Arancon lives in a house in the Ghostlands, after spending years in Murder Row. OOC – He needs to get to 60. I’m working on it. He’s currently in the mid-50’s and decked out in BoA’s.

Stunted, a random level 29 gnome warrior who wears a dress on a realm I don’t even pretend to play on. Poor girl.

 

 

Alt Appreciation – Rogue Week

It is rogue week at World of Lae!  I do like my rogues, and I probably have way too many, even if none of them are that well geared or anything.  I’m not a good rogue.  I forget to hit cloak of shadows when I vanish.  I forget I can pick pocket.  Sometimes I forget to put poisons on!  But it is a lot of fun being able to sneak around mobs, or in one rogue’s case, pvp hotspots on his pvp realm.  Anyway, here’s my rogues!

Latahlali Ashclaw is a very young kaldorei. She grew up around the tauren, even being named for one of them. After the orcs arrived, her family moved closer to Ashenvale for safety, and during the cataclysm, when the orcs pushed further into the forest, she lost her parents. Her grandfather found her and took her to the hills where he believed it to be safe. From there, she went on occasional trips to Darnassus for supplies. It was during one of those trips that she met Andarthir, who took her on as an apprentice, until her grandfather proved to be too much trouble. Latahlali still wanted to become a mage, so she wound up studying with Raleth, a sin’dorei mage, and eventually marrying him. She lives in Shattrath with him, their son, and three cats. She is currently waiting for Raleth to come home from the siege on Orgrimmar. OOC – She’s a level 90 rogue with a mage double, and was my pvp main during Cataclysm. She is also the GM of Gastropod. She was also my very first character on Wyrmrest Accord. I created her to sort of check out the server before I transferred Jaeyn there!

Vaelarian Ashclaw is a very old kaldorei and is Latahlali’s grandfather. He’s currently lurking around Ashenvale. OOC – He is also level 90. I dual-boxed him and Latahlali. Things died fast.

Alinash Brightblaze is a Stormwind elf. No matter that he’s sin’dorei. Despite his youth, he’s gotten into a lot of trouble in Silvermoon, and he feels much safer in Stormwind. He rents a place from an old woman who doesn’t see very well, and tucks his ears inside a low-brimmed hat if he has to go out. He’s part of the Tangle of Brambles storyline, and likes hanging out with the Harrier. OOC – Level 90, and yes, I did actually take him to Stormwind for the screenshot, though usually for RP, we pick a spot outside the city.

Tik is the butler in the Fairsong Academy storyline. He was born and raised in the house, and calls it home. OOC – I thought I got a better screenshot, but this one works. Tik is level 90, and is one of two 90’s off my main server. His server is very low pop, one of the lowest, and is a pvp server. He is my first character ever to level solely to max level on a pvp server.

Artero DiRossi has made a couple of guest appearances in the Tangle of Brambles storyline. He works in Stormwind as an independent appraiser. OOC – He’s my level 85 banker rogue. Of note, he leveled to 85 without doing a single quest. I’ve done a couple on him since then though, since now, the battle pet dailies count as quests for all characters on the account, at least, as far as the statistics page goes. So if it doesn’t show him as having done 0 quests because another character did a pet battle daily, then there’s really no reason to not do quests anymore. It was amusing while it lasted though.  He’s one of my very few humans.

Aerissa is the rogue double of Aerrissa, the warrior. Aerrissa Summerleaf is a sentinel who just wants some time to herself. I think she’s managed to get it. OOC – She’s level 85, and probably will remain there for a bit. I’m not eager to level another rogue in Pandaria. It’s a near death experience with each mob, especially once you get to Townlong and Dread Wastes.

Tahro has no IC story. She’s a level 81 rogue, and was my first rogue to hit max level, when Wrath of the Lich King was current content, and the level cap was 80. Obviously, she hasn’t seen much action since then. Most likely, this is because I left her on my old server. She was my very first banker character, but has retired and passed the banking on to Youbuycat.

Kanedama is my only goblin. I hate isolated start zones, and can’t bear the thought of having to be stuck on that island doing the same quests in the same order again. (Same goes for pandas and worgen! Death knights almost qualify except you can leave after a few levels so it’s not so bad!) Kanedama is another banker character. She has no stories and is level 80 on a pve realm.

Mondevonse has a cool name and was one of my RaF characters. He’s level 80.

Jaedra was also leveled with RaF. I normally do not like female sin’dorei animations, but I do like their stealth crouch. She’s level 80.

Rotariggy is holding on to all of my timeless isle extras. She’s going to need bigger bags. She’s level 29.

I hate pandas. I thought the only way I could play one is if it was funny. So we have Bishou, the fat rogue. It’s funny. Who’s not going to see him sneaking around? Anyway I was wrong. He’s sitting at level 13. After having pandas shoved down my throat all expansion, I don’t want to see them anymore. Bishou remains a panda because race changing him would mean I wasted time on that stupid turtle that I was stuck on until level 12. I’m going to end my panda rant here before it gets worse.

Traela is level 11 and has heirloom legs so I don’t know. She might be leveled some day.
Or she might sit in Tranquillien looking pretty in her heirloom legs forever.

Aerrissa – A Sentinel on Patrol

Things were different now, in many ways.  Aerrissa slipped through the thick underbrush lining one of the steeper hills between Stonetalon and Ashenvale.  The last time she had fully served in the sentinels was well over 300 years ago, and in Feralas.  While she had held a higher rank back then, she found herself doing much of the same things.  Patrols, cleaning armor, sharpening weapons, etc. were all part of her routine again.  What was different was the constant threat of the orcs.

The people were different as well.  She hadn’t made much progress in making new friends yet, and had spent little time in Ashenvale before now.  She had made some efforts, but had been kept busy with her work.  She veered off the path and began climbing up the hill.  Recently, there had been a push to check on the elves that stayed deeper in the forest, and higher up on the hills.  The orc activity had lessened, which made it more feasible to keep watch over the more remote areas.  She knew where many of them lived already.  Some would move around from time to time, but they never strayed too far.

The sentinel captain at the spire had also warned that criminals could be hiding in the hills.  There was a list, some with drawings, most without.  All of them had a basic description, which was never very helpful.  Any number of elves could fit the descriptions.

She checked on the Temil family first.  They had never moved from their spot since she had started her patrols, and as expected, they were still in the same camp.  A young boy, no older than 20, greeted her as she approached.  She met with his mother, uncle and aunt inside the camp.  Everything was fine here.  She continued along her patrol route.

At the top of the hill, she waded across a small river to an island that sat in the middle of it.  A bear resting near an old stump raised it’s head.  “Hello Norr.”  She reached down and rubbed behind the bear’s ears.

“The sentinels have come to check on me again?”  A male voice called out.  Moment’s later, he appeared from the other side of his tent.

“We check on everyone we can, Bear.  Everything’s been fine, I trust?”

Beroleth, whom everyone called Bear, nodded.  “Norr was acting funny the other night.  I thought he saw something in the forest, but there was nothing there.  It might have been a bird or something small.”

Aerrissa smiled, “I’m glad all is well.”  She bent one last time to pat Norr before heading off into the woods along the stream.

She hadn’t went more than 20 yards when she stopped.  She had heard something behind her.  She turned to look, but nothing was there.  She looked around at the surrounding trees before twitching an ear and continuing on her patrol.

Aerrissa – Leaving Darnassus

(( Just a short one today!  I have to raid soon! ))

Aerrissa Summerleaf made her way to the hippogryphs from the Tradesmen’s Terrace.  She carried two bags with her.  In the larger one, she carried her clothes, spare armor, and her bedroll.  In the smaller, she carried a few eating and cooking utensils, as well as some more personal things.  There were some very old letters, a few new ones, the fletched end of a broken arrow, a tiny sentinel figurine, a feather, and a small statue of Elune.  She wore her sentinel uniform, and had her hair in a long loose braid that hung over her shoulder.

They hadn’t been sure to let her come back.  They had believed her to be dead, after all, and she had made no effort to change what they had thought.  However, at the time, she had been a volunteer, having still been on her leave with two children under 300 in her home.  She had a long record of service before then, and upon looking at that, they had reinstated her, although she was to start out at a lower rank and work her way up again.  Aerrissa was fine with that.

She was to report to Ashenvale, to the Stardust Spire.  Orcs had apparently been moving up the pass there from Stonetalon, and although they had been driven back for the time being, the sentinels there had decided to increase their patrols of the area in case of another attack.  She secretly hoped she would be asked to scout out one of the more dangerous areas.  She was eager to use her skills.

She paid for the hippogryph ride to Ashenvale and secured her bags to it before hopping on its back and leaving for her new home.

Ellorian – A Visitor

Ellorian had expected her to show sooner or later.  He had not expected her to take the portal to one of the libraries he frequented.  Thus he was caught a little off guard when the kaldorei woman appeared in the middle of the room.  He had been sitting and reading while enjoying a glass of wine in the company of a couple of friends.  There was no running from her here.  She locked her eyes on him almost immediately and approached the table where he sat.

She immediately accused him of hiding behind the portals so that she couldn’t find him.  He couldn’t deny that was exactly what he was doing.  She insisted on speaking to him in private, even though he flat-out told her he didn’t exceptionally care to.  She grabbed his hand and led him from the library.

They walked to his home nearby.  “Ellorian,”  She said as they walked up the stairs to his apartment, “I know you don’t want to see me.  All I ask is that you listen.”

“I don’t have much choice, do I?”  He sat on his bed, realizing his folly rather quickly as there was space on either side of him.  He twitched an ear.

She smiled.  No, he had no choice at all.  She would have found a way to speak to him no matter what.  She turned to look out the window briefly before sitting in a chair at his desk.  Good, she didn’t choose the bed.  Maybe she wasn’t here to–

“Ellorian, I love you.”

He watched her warily.

“I know I’ve made some mistakes,”  That was an understatement.  “But I hoped you could forgive me.”

His eyebrow shot up.  Perhaps she was crazier than he already thought she was.  He might as well come out and say it, “Are you insane?  How can you expect me to forgive you?  I found out I had children 300 years after the fact.  You left instead of telling me.  I wasn’t going anywhere.  You had plenty of time to come back to tell me, but yet you never did.  And now you have the nerve to come here and say that you love me?  If you loved anyone, no one would have thought you were dead.  You would not have deceived me about the twins, and we might have been able to find ways for me to see them and be part of their lives.”

“I was going to tell you.  I’m sorry Ellorian.  Due to the circumstances, I wasn’t able to come back that last night and–”

“I didn’t even know that would be the last night.  How long did you know that without telling me?”

“Please Ellorian, listen to me.”

“I am listening.  That doesn’t mean I necessarily have to agree with everything you say.”

“I love you.  Please, give me another chance.”

“I loved you.  I loved you up until a few months ago when I found out you were ‘dead’.”  He stood, regarding her with a raised brow.  “When I found out I had children that I didn’t know about, you broke my heart.  I stopped loving you then.”  He frowned as he watched her eyes water.  He looked away.  He would not be subject to a woman’s manipulative tears.  “When I found out you had faked your death, and let your children, our children, believe you were gone…”

“I’m sorry.  I said I was sorry to them too.”

He twitched an ear, still looking away.  “I don’t love you anymore Aerrissa.  Please leave.”

He heard her get out of the chair, and start towards the stairs.  “If you change your mind, I’ll be in Darnassus.  I found a room there near the temple.”  He said nothing to reply to her.  “I love you, and I am sorry.”  She started down the steps.  “Goodbye Ellorian.”

He waited until she was down the stairs and the door shut behind her before whispering, “Goodbye Aerrissa.”

Aerrissa – Northrend

Aerrissa pulled her cloak tightly around herself as she stepped onto the docks of the town of Valiance Keep.  The elf in Stormwind had been right.  It was freezing here.  Luckily, the first building off the docks was an inn.  She hurried inside, and took a seat at an empty table near the fireplace.

The fire snapped and crackled as she took a look around the place.  She had heard things were quiet in Northrend now, but the inn seemed busy enough.  She could only imagine how crowded it must have been when the campaign against the Lich King had been in progress.  She glanced around at the other faces.  Most of them were humans.  A dwarf sat near the bar.  A pair of gnomes sat near the door.  She was the only elf.

Aerrissa loosened her grip on her cloak as the heat from the fire began to warm her.  A human girl approached the table she sat at, and asked if she would like anything to eat or drink.  She still had a couple of apples in her bag that she had packed for the trip.  “Just a small honey mead will be fine.”  The woman nodded politely and rushed off to fetch the drink.

Aerrissa watched the fire.  She hoped Ellorian would want to see her.  Things had not gone well in Feathermoon.  She had not been expecting him to show up there.  It would have been better if he hadn’t been so foolish.  He could have waited.  She had to make the trip anyway.

The woman brought the drink to the table.  “Would there be somewhere I could change before I journey further?”  She asked as she handed the woman a few extra coins.

“There’s an empty room upstairs.  You can use that one if you like.”

Aerrissa finished her drink and headed to the room.  She should be able to be in Dalaran later this evening.

Aerrissa – A New Home

Aerrissa walked along the path on the Tradesmen’s Terrace.  Darnassus had not changed much since she had last been there a couple of years ago.  The buildings were the same.  The trees were the same.  The people were…   different.

She stopped and stared as a human rode by on a horse.  He wore a top hat.  He was most definitely one of them.  The worgen.

She had heard of them coming to Darnassus.  She did not know there were such large numbers of them.  She twitched an ear as another rode by.  Hopefully they wouldn’t give the sabers fleas.  She was more worried about what their bites could do, but deferred to the wisdom of those that had allowed them here in the first place.  She prayed to Elune that none of the wild ones snuck through.

In addition to the worgen, there were the mages.  The Highborne had returned, and while many of them had moved on to Dalaran, she had seen a couple here.  From what she understood, Ellorian had gone to Dalaran fairly quickly.  She had heard they had taken on kaldorei apprentices as well.

She looked down at the paper she had in her hands with the address on it, and looked around at the buildings.  She smiled as her eyes settled on one.  She walked up to it.  A woman greeted her.

“You must be Aerrissa?  I received your note that you planned to stop by.  You’ve come to see the room?”

She nodded, and followed the woman upstairs.

“This is it.  We just replaced the dresser.  The latch on the old one would stick sometimes.”

Aerrissa walked into the room.  It was small and cramped, but it did have a nice view of the lake.  She pressed a hand on the bed, as though she were checking the softness of it.  In reality, any bed would be more comfortable than the ground she had been sleeping on for the past years.  The room would be cheap too, far cheaper than an entire apartment.  She wouldn’t need so much space now that her children had all found mates, and had their own homes.  This room would suit her fine.

She turned back to the woman.  “The rent is by the week?”

The woman nodded.

Aerrissa smiled.  “I’ll take it.  I’ll pay the first two weeks now.  I have a short trip to make soon.”

Now with lodging taken care of for a short time she was free to make her trip to Dalaran.  Later that evening she wrote a quick letter to Terivanis, asking him to send her stuff to her new address.

Aerrissa – A Stop along the Way

Aerrissa pulled on the reins of her hippogryph, slowing it to a hover.  She had heard of the destruction of Auberdine, but this was the first time she had seen it herself.  She had not imagined that it was so complete.

She urged the hippogryph forward and came to a gentle landing along one of the broken paths.  It was barely recognizable but she knew this was near where she had lived with her children.  The view of the dock that Jaeyn had always appreciated as a child was now obstructed by a jagged block of earth that protruded upwards toward the sky.  He used to watch as the boats to other places along the Kalimdor coastline would come and go.  It didn’t surprise her at all that he had left home when he did.

She looked back along the path, searching for any remnants of the house.  She approached one pile of rubble, and looked around for any of the landmarks that would tell her for sure which one was the right one.  Everything had changed.  Then she saw the large tree.  It had to be the one.  The tree split into two trunks only a few feet out of the ground, just as the one behind their home did.  Jaellynn had kept a small garden next to it.  It was a shame what had happened to him.  As she had expected Jaeyn to leave, she had expected Jaellynn would never stray far from Darkshore.  She still had trouble believing it.  Perhaps she didn’t want to believe it because she knew then she would have to accept it.. or not.  How could she?  He had died, and was raised to become a monster.  A death knight.  Her son.

She walked to the tree behind the rubble of the home.  The stone border of the garden still lined an area overgrown with weeds.  The boy had spent hours here, tending his plants daily.  So different, but yet he still wanted to continue with his druid studies.  He seemed to have his own mind.  Perhaps things weren’t so different.

She walked back to where she left the hippogryph.  She glanced out across the sea towards the island that held Teldrassil.  She hopped on it’s back, and took off towards the giant tree.  She had to hurry to find lodging before daybreak.

Aerrissa – Making Soap

Aerrissa Summerleaf sat in the area behind her oldest son’s home.  She watched as he mixed various ingredients together in a cauldron over a fire.  “It’s too strong.  The scent should be more subtle.”  She stated.

Terivanis twitched an ear.  “It will be more subtle after it set, and you know that when it’s used it’s even further diluted.”

She glared at him.  She knew what she was talking about.  How could he even dare to contest her knowledge?  “No, I mean it’s too strong.  It’s going to be too strong after it sets as well.  You should have added less of that floral oil.  Don’t you remember anything your father taught you?”

“I haven’t added the oils yet, mother.”  Terivanis sighed.  “You can’t add them until after the soap is cooked, otherwise they would just vaporize in the heat.”

She frowned and flicked an ear.  She could have sworn he had added it, and something certainly smelled.  “Well it’s none of my business if you mess up your soap.  I’m not the one who will be trying to sell it.”  His sharp intake of breath between his clenched teeth reminded her of his father.  It had been so long, nearly 6000 years since his accident.  She smiled briefly as she recalled how he had made soap on occasion as well. She watched as Terivanis removed the cauldron from the fire.  He continued to stir it.  He should add the oils now if he hadn’t already, before it sets.  She wasn’t about to tell him that.  He obviously wanted to mess it up.  Instead she said, “The bed you set up for me is lumpy.”

“I’m sorry.  It’s the best I could find on short notice.”

She had thought sleeping on a bed would be an improvement over sleeping in the woods.  She was wrong.  She shrugged.

She quickly got to her feet as someone walked around the side of the building.  “Captain Starfang.  Hello.”

Captain Starfang spared only a quick glance at Terivanis, who was finally adding the oils to his soap, before looking back to her.  “Aerrissa Summerleaf,”  She smiled wryly as she took some old, folded letters out of the small bag she carried.  “You should be ashamed.  These look quite old.  How long ago were they written?”

Aerrissa paled.  “Quite some time ago.”

“Before you took your leave?”

“Yes.”  There was no point in trying to lie her way out of this one.

“You were sent on scouting missions to the ruins of Eldre’Thalas then.  Are you telling me that you had contact with this Highborne and you never reported your findings?”

Terivanis’s brow shot up.  He quickly began scooping the gooey, thick soap into the molds.

Aerrissa stammered as a light rain began to fall, “I– Yes.  I concluded that he was harmless.”

Captain Starfang let loose with a long line of expletives berating her for her foolishness.  That wasn’t for her to decide.  How could she endanger her people like that?  Aerrissa glanced at her son.  He was tapping the molds.  At least there wouldn’t be air bubbles in his soap, even if it did smell awful.  He moved them to an area with enclosed shelves that he had set up near the wall.  They wouldn’t get wet there.  The rain began to pick up.  Captain Starfang was still lecturing her.

She continued standing in the rain, as the captain carried on.  Her son started cleaning up his soap-making tools, and moving them out of the rain.  Aerrissa was soaked now, and embarrassed.  Everyone would know what she did, if they didn’t already.  How many people had seen the letters?

The letters.  Captain Starfang tossed them at her now.  “That said, you’re free to go.” Terivanis turned away quickly and began checking some of the molds on his shelves.  Aerrissa was certain she saw him smile before turning.  Captain Starfang continued, “Too bad you weren’t caught with those a couple of years ago.  You could have gotten what you deserved.”  She turned and swiftly made her way to one of the other buildings, as Aerrissa picked up the folded letters, and placed them inside her cloak to keep them dry.  She was free to go!  It was time to start planning her trip.

Ellorian – Feathermoon

Ellorian slipped out the back of the inn and sat on the steps facing the sea.  Why would she write if she didn’t want him here?  Why was she dodging questions posed by both himself and their son?  Was she even the same person he had fallen in love with all those years ago?  She looked the same, but the way she acted was different.

And she had the nerve to call him grumpy, as if he was the one whom had changed.

He buried his face in his hands.  She had blamed her daughter for rescheduling their trip to Auberdine.  She could have told him before that.  She didn’t.

He heard plate boots on the stairs behind him.  He quickly wiped his eyes and turned around.

“Ellorian,” she said while removing her plated gloves.  She sat beside him and touched his hand.  “It’s not safe for you here.  You should have waited.”

He raised an eyebrow.  There were a million things he wanted to say right now.  Part of him wanted to throw himself at her, to forgive her, to love her.  The other part couldn’t even begin to figure out where to start with how upset he was.  He pulled his hand back.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She sighed, “I told you.  That little brat resche–”

“You could have told me before that.”  Ellorian interrupted.

“I was scared.  I didn’t know how you would react.  I couldn’t stay in Feathermoon, and risk having the wrong people trying to find out who their father was.  I did not want to risk you nor your hidden sanctuary.  I didn’t want to hurt you.  Would it have helped to know that you had children that you couldn’t see?”

“Something could have been arranged.  I could have translocated to a spot in the forest where we could meet.”

“And I would be followed by curious sentinels who would then kill you on sight and put me to trial?  Believe me, I considered the options before moving.”  She moved her hand to his again.  “I wanted you to know, but perhaps it was for the best that you didn’t.”  Aerrissa looked around, “Speaking of curious sentinels…”  Her voice lowered to a hushed whisper.  His brow shot up again as she whispered in his ear.  “I had letters in my bag.  From you.  The old ones that you would sometimes leave for me near the outer courtyard door.  When I was arrested they took my bags.  The letters are missing.  That’s why I told you not to come here.”

“You still have those?”  He paused, considering the rest of what she just said, “They can’t do anything about that now, right?”

“Not directly, not now.  I can see them saying because it happened in the past it should be treated by the laws of the past.  It doesn’t help that the captain leading the investigation is a woman that I used to outrank and I wasn’t exceptionally nice to her.”

Ellorian groaned, “Aerrissa, why didn’t you tell me all of this in the letter?”  The last thing he wanted right now was trouble with the sentinels.

“I honestly didn’t think you would come.  I was told you found the twins, and believed I was dead like everyone else.  I figured you must be angry.”

“I’m not?”

“You still talk to me.”

Ellorian looked away, towards the rolling waves on the sea.  “All of this time, Aerrissa, I dreamed of seeing you again.  I waited for you to come back.  Every night.  Sometimes I would venture out further out, and leave a letter for you near the main courtyard.  They were never picked up.  When, at last, I could leave, I spent weeks searching through records for you, and questioning people who might have seen you, despite the looks they gave me.  Then I learned you were dead, and my heart broke.  Then I learned I have two sons that you never told me about, and my heart broke again.”  He looked at her,  “And now, you’re here.  I had to know why.  Why would you do that to me?  Why would you do that to your children?”

She watched the waves for a minute.  A tear ran down her cheek.  She quickly wiped it away.  “I told you.  I didn’t want to endanger you.  Nor did I think you would want to know about children that you could never see.”  She paused briefly, “As for letting everyone believe I was dead, I was stressed out and wasn’t thinking.  I never purposely set out to cause anyone pain.”

He twitched an ear, and nodded.

She glanced over to where the sentinels were training in the moonlight.  “We’ve already spent too much time talking alone.  If you talk to them, I would use a different name if I were you.  Will you stay much longer?”

“I was planning on another day, but with what I know now, about the letters, I think it would be best if I left.”

She nodded, holding back tears.  “Can I visit you?”

He nodded as he stood, and descended the rest of the steps.  He walked into the area between the stairs where no one could see.  She followed him.

“Goodbye Ellorian.”

He looked at her.  Maybe she hadn’t changed so much after all.  No doubt she would never show up in Dalaran.  “Goodbye Aerrissa.”  He cast his teleport spell.  Seconds later, he collapsed on his bed and cried.