Field Report (Myst of Pandaria)

Alnarra sat nervously on the back of the Great Cloud Serpent as the crept over the final set of mountains that sheltered the center of all druid culture, Moonglade. It had been some time since she had been called upon by the circle to make any sort of official reports, and this was bound to be a very long debriefing.

The Circle was investigating possibilities of a tie between the recently discovered Sha in Pandaria and elements that would corrupt the Emerald Dream in hopes that the sources of the corruptive properties were somehow related. Alnarra had been dispatched to Pandaria because of her status within the Alliance as a diplomat and had subsequently been traveling around the newly discovered continent getting to know the various locals. Today would be the day that all of that information was given over to higher ranking druids to look over and analyze. Her satchel was stuffed to the brim with all manner of scroll and papers trying to flutter away in the night sky, kept in place by a series of elaborate knots and binds.

As the great serpent finally crossed the barrier separating the last of Darkshore from the calm and quiet nature of Moonglade, Alnarra nosed the creature for the structures near the center lake, hoping to make this meeting as quick as possible. She absolutely dreaded being forced to sit through debriefings, but this one was of some importance and she couldn’t think of an excuse for getting out of it.

As she landed, she spotted one of the new training classes being tutored by an Elder Druid. The number of trolls and Worgen amongst the training class was staggering, and served as a reminder of just how it had been since she had stopped in Moonglade for any extended period of time.

“Go on Jugan, go play over there in the lake. I’m sure there some wonderful druids that would love to meet you,” she said hopping off of the Cloud Serpent. The knowing glance from the Serpent’s almost puppy like eyes caused her the sigh “Go on you big baby, the water’s not going to bite”.

The Cloud Serpent whined for a moment before flying towards the lake in a nervous manner. As it did, Alnarra began to make her way towards one of the large structures at the center of the glade. As she stepped in, she was almost immediately greeted by a familiar voice “Well if it isn’t Feather Brain!”

“Arch Druid Dathans, it is good to see you once more”, she responded laughing.

“How long has it been little one? Almost 4 years since you have graced Moonglade with your presence? How do you manage to avoid dropping by?” the old Night Elf said, sipping on a small cup of tea.

Alnarra snorted, beginning to pull the various scrolls and papers from her satchel “Oh Dath, you know I was here last month dropping off supplies and information. Your memory is simply playing tricks on you.”  

Dathans nodded, before setting down his cup of tea, his tone and demeanor becoming much more serious “So, I understand you have reason to believe that the presence found in Pandaria to be related to the corruption in the dream?”

Alnarra could only manage to nod, making last minute notes upon the various scrolls. “Indeed. I suspected for some time that their root cause might be the same, but my continued research would seem to suggest that they are simply in the same family of problems. I had a chance to speak with members of a race known as the Kalaxxi who seem to have some understanding of the Sha’s origin, though as of yet they have not been willing to officially disclose that information”.

Dathans simply grunted, “Well, all in good time. I imagine you kept fairly good notes on the matter, I’m sure the other Arch Druids will be more than happy to read them in good time.”

Alnarra stood up, a look of confusion crossing her face, “So this isn’t going to be a multi hour debriefing in which I feel the urge to immediately step out and get as drunk as possible?”

The Elder druid could only manage to turn and laugh “Oh no, the council would like to take as much time to analyze your findings as possible, so once they get back from their various meetings  they’ll all be coming back here to debrief you together. Don’t think you’re getting out of this one that easy feather brain”. Alnarra could only respond with a mixture of irritation. “There is; however, another issue that I need to talk to you about…”

“Well it looks like I’m sticking around for a while, so I’m all ears,” she said, her momentary bliss shattered at the thought of being stuck in Moonglade for any extended length of time.

“Songtalon?” was the only word that Dathan’s uttered. The word caused Alnarra to step back for a moment a quiet response escaped her “Oh… right”.

“When you originally left the Netherdrake in our care it was under the premise that you would come back to pick him up. It’s been nearly 2 years,” Dathans said picking up and beginning to sort through the large amounts of paperwork that Alnarra had left on the table.

Alnarra nodded “2 Years to the date in fact, I just don’t know if SongTalon will be willing to listen to me…” her words faded as she began to run her hands through her hair nervously.

Dathans reached out his palm, placing it on Alnarra’s shoulder “Both you and I know this has nothing to do with the Netherdrake, it is because the beast swore loyalty to one Veraldan Stargrove,” the words cut through the increasingly tense air like a knife, as Alnarra began to bite her lip. She simply turned her head away looking into the night sky for some kind of escape. “Little one you can’t avoid this issue for much longer. You may have returned to active duty within the circle, but I still sense so much pain”.

“Dath, don’t start, you weren’t there. You don’t know what it’s like…” she began.

“Well then tell someone! You drop hints and rumors of what happened that day, but you won’t even tell me what really happened. Hell until I spoke with Alliance Military command, we all thought you had died. Do you know how strange it is to come to the knowledge that one of your students has disappeared into the forest of Ashenvale and resigned her military commission? It took the circle weeks of digging up information to piece together just why.”

“Dath… please can we not discuss this right now?” she said, her eyes beginning to water.

“Child it has been 2 years, and you have been putting off this for far too long. For someone who is about to submit a report on matters of corruption, you should know damn well that a corruption of the heart, a wound not allowed to heal, is the most dangerous of all. Beyond that, rumor has it that Alannah is very much alive. If ever there was a time to sort this out it is now,” the elder druid said calmly, rubbing Alnarra’s shoulder.

Alnarra took a seat, throwing her head back and staring at the ceiling “Do you really want to know what happened?”

“I think the answer to that should be obvious,” Dathans replied.

“Fine…” she said beginning to tell her story.

“We were in the Twilight Highlands, SI:7 had gotten some information that the Twilight Cult had setup shop deep in the mountains just north of Loch Modan. Veral decided it would be a good idea to get a strike team in from the south side of the base. He figured with a small combat group we could eliminate key targets within the cult and get out before they became too dangerous. So I got together some trusted individuals and we went right for the throat. We had made it deep into their headquarters before I realized that something wasn’t quite right. I should have seen it sooner, no door guards, and a minimal number of defenses.

Anyone with half a brain should have realized it was a trap. I guess I just thought that the cult wasn’t nearly that organized. Needless to say, we made it to one of the central chambers, only to discover that we were surrounded by two dozen crazed cultists all who had blades screaming out for our blood. We fought in the corridors for what seemed like hours before it was becoming clear that we were not going to be able to complete the mission, so Veral ordered a mission abort.

We began to fall back, only to find out that rather than let us escape with information about their organization, The cult would prefer if we all both wiped out. They had planted a large explosive with the destructive force to kill everyone in in the area. Veral and I were the only ones on the team who had the tools to disarm it. The problem being that we knew there was not enough time to attempt to disarm the bomb and get the wounded members of the team out alive, so we decided that one of us would go back while the rest of the team escaped to safety with the information.”

A flashback began to stir in Alnarra’s mind, a crystal clear memory of the events as the unfolded

“Veral get the team out of here, I’ll take care of the bomb.”

“Lynx I’m not going to let you do that. You and I both know you’re more qualified to get these people out of here, and let’s face it I’m far better at disarming bombs then you are.”

“Veral they will kill you, please let me do this!” she pleaded.

Veraldan simply shook his head, “We don’t have time to argue about this, you need to go, now”

“Veral No!” her eyes began to fill with tears.

Veraldan simply kissed her before motioning to one of the other team members “Get her out of here, now!”

“Damnit No! Let me go, He can’t do this!” she screamed as the other members of the team began to drag her along the corridor towards its exit.

The team had indeed escaped safely and Alnarra returned to Stormwind waiting pensively for news from the recovery team.

The next week, two well-dressed Kal’dorei had shown up at her small temporary lodging in Stormwind. In their hands they carried two items, a pair of SI:7 Dog Tags simply marked “Veraldan Stargrove” and an unmistakably familiar wedding band. At some level Alnarra had hoped that like times in the past he had simply escaped and failed to report in, but the arrival of the two soldiers made it clear how things had ended.

The memory was etched into Alnarra’s memory like a scar, never to be removed.

“And so in the following weeks, after they brought me the dog tags, I had a grave stone placed in the Stormwind graveyard. They said they never found a body, so I can only begin to imagine what the cult did with him. I retreated form the service, resigned my commission and I dealt with things the only way I knew how.

Dathans, you have to understand, I considered him for all intents and purposes my soul mate for well over 3000 years. Tradition be damned, we were married. It is not something that you can just ‘Get Over’”.

Dathan’s simply nodded listening intently to Alnarra’s story, “I know. I was there when he gave you that ring,” he said pointing to the small band on her finger, “remember? But he would not have wanted you to continue living like this. I hear rumors that you spend most of your time in a bottle of booze at the recluse trying to chase away the demons, but it won’t work and you know that. And what of Alannah? Does she know of all of this?”

Alnarra simply shook her head “I have only told her that her father passed. I have not… had the time to explain everything that has happened”

Dathan’s continued “I see, and is there any word on her brothers? Surely if she survived that assault then perhaps…”

Alnarra shook her head “I do not know Dathans, had you asked me a week ago if I thought any of my children still walked this earth I would have told you no, but now? Now I’m not really sure of anything”.

“Then perhaps this time in Moonglade will be good for you, it would seem that you still have much more to ponder then you were willing to admit,” he responded, standing up and making his way towards the door, “The council meets in 5 days, please have your case ready by then.”

It was some time before Alnarra even managed to stir from her seat, simply staring into the empty room, her mind lost somewhere to the void. As she walked out of the house she staggered slowly towards the stable, her gaze looked out beyond the horizon, searching the stars for answers. As she entered, her movements became pensive, approaching a stall she had reserved some time ago. She carefully opened the gate to the behemoth stall stepping in slowly and cautiously. Her eyes quickly began to focus on the glowing eyes that stared back at her, the Great Netherdrake sleepless in the shadows.

“Songtalon?” She said quietly knowing the great Netherdrake rarely if ever obeyed anyone but Veraldan. “Songtalon, It’s time to go home,” she said, a tear running down her check as the words came out with a cough. Much to her surprise the great beast stepped forward, resting its massive head upon her shoulder, “It’s time to go home” she repeated softly stroking the great beast.