//------------------------------//
// Suramar: Masquerade 
// Story: World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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With Anora Hollow activated, and its connection to Shal'Aran restored to what it had been before the station went dormant all those years ago, Trixie and Lyra led Valtrois towards the area that Thalyssra had set up her camp while she planned out her attack against their enemies. They could tell that the elf that was following them didn't much like them, but was willing to put up with them because they had already proven themselves useful in helping her awaken Anora Hollow from its ancient slumber. The Equestrians, in turn, didn't know what to make of their newest ally just yet, as she appeared to be bossy and had an attitude that neither of them particularly liked, but they both had people they were forced to work with that they didn't like... to which they silently agreed to put up with Valtrois and brought her to Shal'Aran.

When the trio reached Shal'Aran they discovered that Oculeth was already hard at work trying to create the rest of the teleport portals that came with each activated teleport pad, though something told Trixie and Lyra that they would have to find the other pads, the ones in the city anyway, before such a thing could even happen. Thalyssra, on the other hand, stopped what she was doing and welcomed Valtrois to their hideout, where she gave her comrade a quick tour of Shal'Aran before leaving her to her own devices for the moment. That was quickly followed by her approaching Trixie and Lyra, meaning that there was either another ally they needed to save or it was time to set their plan in motion.

"Elisande's decision to welcome the Legion into Suramar earned her plenty of enemies, though only some of us were bold enough to openly defy her." Thalyssra explained, though the way she was speaking told Trixie and Lyra that the time had come to start whatever plan she had been putting together since her exile, "We have allies in the city... we just don't know how many. I need the two of you to make contact with a spell-fencer by the name of Silgryn, as he is loyal to our cause and has been lying in wait since our failed coup. You'll find him patrolling the western edge of the city, where you'll have a better chance of not being discovered immediately. Address him by name and tell him our cause is not lost!"

Trixie and Lyra nodded before they headed outside the cave and made their way towards the main gate of Suramar City, though when they arrived they turned to the right instead of the left, as that was where they had been directed towards. While the two of them walked, however, they made sure to avoid the withered that were trying to attack the barrier that surrounded the city, where they noticed that the barrier was designed to push them backwards before they collapsed on the ground. From there they continued towards Felsoul Hold, where Lyra had claimed the Twinblades from Varedis, but she paid it no mind as she followed Trixie towards the area that Thalyssra said that Silgryn should be patrolling in... where they spotted a lone elf walking down the street on the other side of the barrier.

Since it appeared that there was no one else in the immediate area, and that meant that the elf was alone at the moment, the two of them quickly breached the barrier, finding it odd that they could do so when the withered couldn't, before they approached the elf.

"Excuse me, are you Silgryn?" Trixie asked, though at the same time she reached into her robe and withdrew the coin once more, just in the off chance that saying the elf's name didn't do what Thalyssra said it would do.

"Thalyssra lives!?" the elf said, though as Trixie and Lyra nodded their heads slightly the elf looked around him to be sure that they were alone, before beckoning for them to follow him for a moment, "Come, let us talk in private."

Silgryn led them down the hill that was behind him, allowing them to drop down into an area behind a building, though Trixie and Lyra assumed that whoever owned the building was either out or an owner didn't exist, but they kept their guard up just in case something happened and they were forced to leave the city rather suddenly.

"We should be safe to speak here for a moment." Silgryn said, to which he turned towards Trixie and Lyra for, who were clearly eager to see what their first step towards taking down Elisande would be, "Many Nightborne had pinned their hopes on Thalyssra deposing the Grand Magistrix. Since she disappeared, dissenting voices have grown silent. We must spread the word, discreetly, among the populace. Ly'leth Lunastre will be a perfect ally in this. She is a socialite with many  connections, and she is no friend of the Legion. Ly'leth hosts a masquerade party at her estate where rumors are traded  like coin... and brandished like daggers. Let us invite ourselves in."

Trixie and Lyra nodded their understanding, as they were now aware of the fact that the first stages of the operation were starting, and followed Silgryn up to a nearby table that they happened to be standing near, where they found a number of party masks that looked completely different from what Trixie had seen so far. Silgryn explained that these were enchanted masks and that, when they were worn, they would envelope the wearer in a special costume that would essentially hide who they were until the mask was either removed or they were spotted by the guards, who could see through the magical material. Silgryn donned one of the masks as was immediately enveloped by the magic, where Trixie and Lyra noticed that he appeared to be covered by a large moth, though as he walked away he suggested that they don the masks and mingle with the other guests until he found Ly'leth.

When Lyra donned one of the masks she found that the costume that surrounded her appeared to be some sort of air elemental creature, one that matched what Trixie had told her about when she was recounting her adventures, though Trixie's costume was a blue dragon, scaled down to fit in the area around them... which worried Trixie a tiny bit.

With their costumes in place Trixie decided to let Lyra led the way this time around, as she was more used to surveying the entire area around them and could easily spot the guards that could tear their illusions away from them if they weren't careful. Lyra made sure that they could reach some of the other guests and speak to them without the guards getting in their way, where Trixie could speak with them while she kept her eyes on the guards. Trixie used the opportunity presented that they were given and made several comments about the demons that were in the city, though at the same time she knew that she could easily blow their cover as she had no idea where all the demons were to begin with. To her surprise several of the guests seemed to have no idea what she was talking about, others were asking what they were doing in this party, and the rest seemed to agree with what Trixie had mentioned.

Based on the number of people that agreed with her statement, however, Trixie was able to come to the conclusion that Ly'leth was definitely gathering the people that agreed with her to her side, as silently as she could anyway, as if she believed that Thalyssra was alive and was preparing for something... to which she mentally smiled as Lyra brought them to the area that one of the other guests told quietly them to head to a few seconds ago.

"This is not up for debate, Anarys." they heard a female voice say, though at the same time the tone indicated that the speaker was someone that definitely had some influence, which meant that the speaker had to be Ly'leth, "You are either with us, or against us. Choose wisely."

Trixie and Lyra turned the corner and found a few elves standing near each other, though the one with the noble looking robes, who was staring at the female elf in front of her, had to be Ly'leth, which meant that the one in front of her had to be Anarys. Silgryn was standing next to Anarys, though at the same time Trixie and Lyra could tell that he was slightly worried about something, which meant that someone might be planning on not joining them and their new rebellion... and might possibly rat them out when the opportunity presented itself.

"I will hear no more of your scheming!" Anarys declared, which meant that not only did she know what Ly'leth was up to, but she wanted nothing to do with whatever she had planned, while at the same time angrily pointing a finger in Ly'leth's direction, "You endanger everything that our father worked for!"

"Dear child..." Ly'leth said, though at the same time she let out a sigh as her sister walked away from the area they were standing in, where she sounded disappointed in what her sibling was doing at the moment, "do you not realize what he died for?"

"Um, are we interrupting something?" Lyra asked, to which Ly'leth turned and looked at her and Trixie, as if she knew that they were the ones that Silgryn had told her about earlier.

"Not really... though you'll be surprised to hear that your masks suit the both of you." Ly'leth commented, to which she gave Trixie and Lyra her full attention, though they suspected that she was still thinking about her sibling, "In Suramar, it can be quite advantageous to be someone else for a time..."

"With what has been going on lately, I would say that such an advantage is good to have on our side," Trixie said, as she was already liking the strange mask that she was wearing over her face, despite the fact that her disguise reflected a part of her true nature.

"As my darling sister has demonstrated, Elisande's decision to bring down the shield has sown unrest among the Nightborne." Ly'leth said, to which she waved a hand towards where her sister gad run off to, where Trixie and Lyra noticed Anarys kneeling beside a tombstone of some kind, "Loyalists and demons march together in the streets, fear and distrust grip our hearts, and family turns against family. Don't worry, I will help Thalyssra stir a new rebellion, but first we must deal with Anarys. However, I do not wish to spill the blood of my blood... only to help her see reason. As you can see Anarys is brooding over our father's memorial... bring her to me alive."

Lyra nodded and walked over to the shrine that Anarys had wandered off to, though as she and Trixie approached the brooding elf she suddenly turned around and lashed out at them with a Nightborne sword, to which Lyra raised one of her Twinblades and blocked the attack that was coming her way. Lyra then delivered two light cuts into Anarys' chest, as she didn't want to kill Ly'leth's sister on accident, while at the same time Trixie delivered a few low powered arcane blasts to her chest as well. Since Anarys was only focusing on Lyra, and was completely ignoring Trixie, the two of them were able to deal some powerful blows to their opponent and knocked her to the ground... though Lyra then sheathed her Twinblades, pulled Anarys onto her feet, and walked over to where Ly'leth was standing.

When they returned to Ly'leth, and Anarys stopped in front of her sister, Ly'leth snapped out a word and froze part of her sister's body where she was standing... to which they had a brief discussion about Anarys having to be seen before someone came looking for her, though it appeared that Ly'leth was prepared for that as well.

"Thank you. Now our work can begin." Ly'leth said, to which she pulled out another pair of masks, though this time around Lyra could tell that these were different than the ones that she and Trixie had been wearing while they were mingling among the guests, "Our family commands great respect in this city, thanks to my father. Through my network of contacts, we can organize the citizens to prepare Suramar for Thalyssra's return. The two of you must walk among the Nightborne, earning the trust of our friends and foes alike. You must become someone else... put this on Anarys. My little sister is about to turn over a new leaf, whether he likes it or not."

Lyra looked at the shimmering mask that Ly'leth handed her for a few seconds, marveling at the power that such a simple thing could contain, before she turned towards Anarys and slipped the mask over her face, which was actually much easier than she originally suspected it would be. Once that task was completed Ly'leth handed her the second mask and said that this was the mirror of the one that was now on her sister's face, to which she prompted Lyra to put it on and see what happened. Lyra gently pulled off the mask that she was wearing, dispelling the illusion in the process, before she slipped the mask over her face and felt the arcane energy wash over her body... though when she looked down at herself she noticed that her body now looked like Anarys' body, while noticing that her clothing matched as well.

It was then that Lyra realized that the mask allowed her to take on the appearance of Anarys Lunastre, sister of Ly'leth Lunastre, and that everyone they came across was likely going to assume that she was who she appeared to be and not someone that wasn't from Suramar City. A few seconds later Ly'leth gave Trixie a different mask, one that allowed her to take on the appearance of one of the mage guards they had seen while they were wandering around the party grounds, meaning that they could both move through the city with these masks on.

"Now, I believe that it is time to put your new disguises to the test." Ly'leth commented, to which both Lyra and Trixie turned towards her for a moment, as they were definitely interested in getting this operation underway and preparing the way for whatever Thalyssra had planned next, "Your first contact is Vanthir, a merchant from the common district. He is in the Grand Promenade today visiting one of his suppliers. Tell Vanthir to pay me a visit regarding a shipment of dusk lily bulbs. He will understand. Beyond that, we will need time to prepare. You should return to Thalyssra after making contact with Vanthir."

Once Ly'leth said that she pulled out a corked bottle that contained a faintly glowing fluid, one that seemed to be the same type of liquid they had seen during the party and had taken none of while they walked, as they had no idea what it was and didn't want to do something stupid.

"Give her this, with my regards." Ly'leth said, to which Trixie nodded and claimed the bottle, as she was sure that if they got into a fight Lyra would be able to hold the attention of their enemies, so she didn't have to worry about it breaking before they got back to Shal'Aran, "We will call upon you soon."

Before they left the area that Ly'leth was standing in, however, Trixie noticed a place where they could activate another teleport pad, to which she walked over towards the pad and wove her magic through the air for a few seconds, which was followed by the portal snapping open before her eyes. The reason she activated the portal now was because it provided them with an easy escape route back to Shal'Aran and she was sure that Ly'leth and her allies could keep this a secret from their enemies. From there she returned to Lyra's side, to which they walked forward and departed from the party grounds as they started the search for Vanthir, where they wished that they got a brief description of him before they left Ly'leth's side.

Fortunately it was easy for them to find the area that Vanthir was supposed to be meeting one of his suppliers in, while at the same time finding some additional fortune in the fact that Lyra was able to move them around their enemies without blowing their cover... and it was rather easy to find their target, as Vanthir was glaring at Lyra, indicating that he only saw the disguise and believed that she really was Anarys.

"Anarys, what do you want?" Vanthir asked, though at the same time his supplier turned his attention to another customer, knowing that this was on conversation he didn't want to be apart of until one of them left his area, "Are there no more demon boots left for you to lick?"

"Ly'leth would like you to visit her regarding a shipment of dusk lily bulbs." Lyra replied, finding that even her voice had been twisted to match Anarys' voice, telling her that the Nightborne were definitely worthy allies if they had control over time magic and the ability to do this to someone's body.

"Dusk lily pods? I see..." Vanthir said, as his eyes seemed to light up as he realized what she was talking about, but then changed the look on his face to ensure that no one knew that something was up, before he turned towards his supplier fora few seconds, "Please excuse me, I must address this immediately."

As the supplier nodded, understanding that he had to be busy and would be back later, Vanthir walked away from where the elf was standing and headed towards Ly'leth's location, though at the same time Trixie and Lyra decided that they had best head back to Thalyssra. Their friend was going to be happy when she learned that they had taken the first step in her plans to start a new rebellion, though that just meant that they could begin the next phase in her plans and start undermining Elisande's forces. Then, once the city had been retaken, Lyra was sure that they would be able to find Gul'dan's hiding spot... and then she would gladly end his life and stop whatever he was planning.

Then, once Gul'dan was dead and the final Pillar had been claimed, they could turn their sights towards the Broken Shore and the Tomb of Sargeras... and save Azeroth from the evil that was closing in on this world.