//------------------------------//
// Suramar: Blood and Wine 
// Story: World of Warcraft: Burning Skies 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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As it turned out nothing happened for the rest of the day, allowing Rainbow to rest and ready herself for whatever the next couple of days might have in store for them and Thalyssra's rebellion, though in the early parts of the following morning she discovered something interesting as she got up and walked over to the main part of Shal'Aran, the Arcan'dor had grown up a little and, more importantly, there were now little glowing locusts that had flown into the cave and were now floating all over the area that the Arcan'dor was resting in, making her wonder what in the world was going on and if Farodin could tell her why this was happening.

"I see you, too, have noticed our uninvited 'guests'," Farodin commented, as he, like everyone else, had gotten just enough sleep to make sure he could still function and rose with the sun, even if it might be hard for him to tell the time from the cave they were inside, but for now his gaze rested on the locusts and why there were so many of them just wandering all over Shal'Aran, something Rainbow replicated not a few moments later, "I do not know if these locusts are harmful to the Arcan'dor or not, so it might be worth collecting a few of them and studying them to see if we can leave them alone... or if we need to take immediate action to get rid of them."

"Right." Rainbow replied, as this wasn't what she was expecting when she woke up this morning, because she had a hope that she would be sent out to kill some demons and chip at the Legion's power, before she sighed and opened her wings a little as she moved into the space around the growing Arcan'dor, where she carefully reached out and grabbed a couple of locusts that were in front of her, five to be exact, and made sure they were going nowhere, before landing by Farodin not a few seconds later and handed over the bugs, "Here, that should be more than enough for you to figure out whatever is going on with the tree... if not, then tell me how many you need and I'll get it done."

"Thank you. This should only take me a few moments," Farodin stated, where he accepted the locusts, which were pretty docile in Rainbow's hands and remained that way when they were in his hands, allowing the Night Elf to study them for a time without having to worry about anything unusual happening while he was doing that, before he let out a sigh as both Thalyssra and Valtrois walked over to where they were currently standing, showing Rainbow that they were interested in what he had to say, "It is as I feared, the Arcan'dor is in peril and these locusts are, in their own way, causing harm to the tree... if we don't do something soon, like within the next day or two, we'll lose the Arcan'dor and its power."

"I recall seeing something like this in the Vineyards, so maybe we can enlist their aid," Thalyssra said, though at the same time it looked like Valtrois wanted to say something about the idea, like it was suicide or something along those lines, but instead she kept her mouth shut as she realized that the mission of heading to the Vineyards would be given to Rainbow and Elylia, who had proved they were more than a match for whatever the Duskwatch and Elisande could send at them, before the rebellion leader turned for a moment, "In order to get what we need, to keep the Arcan'dor secure, we're going to need to infiltrate the Twilight Vineyards, and to get passed the guards we're going to need special help... let me talk with Ly'leth and see if she can't provide us with the aid we need."

Rainbow nodded and proceeded to simply wander around Shal'Aran for the next hour, keeping an eye on the locusts as Farodin made sure the Arcan'dor was fine, despite the presence of the insects, which she figured might be sapping some of the power from this seemingly powerful tree, based on what little Farodin told them since he didn't want to give away all the information he had on it, or doing something else if her thoughts on the matter were wrong, and when Thalyssra returned to the area she was standing in she found that an hour had already gone by, though she was a bit thankful that she had paused to eat some breakfast before resuming her patrol of the ruins, before she focused on Thalyssra while she wondered if she had been successful in her venture.

"Okay, I've arranged for Ly'leth to meet you and Elylia near the entrance of the Vineyards, and she has an idea on how to acquire what we need," Thalyssra stated, showing Rainbow that she and her new ally worked well together, as the pair had quickly come up with an idea on how to get someone into the Vineyards without raising suspicion, which seemed to be a very heavily guarded area of the city, where Rainbow had to assume that it was where Arcwine was produced and bottled before being distributed to everyone else inside the city, meaning they might be able to get some of the liquid for the rest of the rebellion, if they were lucky anyway, "though you need to get moving, like right now, and get to the Vineyards before too many citizens start to go about their day, as this gives us a short window to get in and out of there without drawing too much attention from our enemies... if we can get you two into the Vineyard, and out again without Elisande knowing what we're up to, it will be a major win for the rebellion, in more ways than one."

"I see. Then we had better get going," Rainbow replied, because based on what Farodin had said it sounded like the magic tree was in danger of being destroyed by the locusts or unraveling in some manner, or at least those were her thoughts on what he had said, and that danger spurred her into nodding to Elylia before they headed for the portal chamber so they could use the Estate portal, given her a safe place to slip on the mask she had been given and assume the form of Anarys once more, especially since it seemed to be the closest place to their destination.

The moment her preparations were done, and Elylia confirmed that they were complete, the pair departed from the estate and started to make their way to the part of the city that the Vineyards rested in, where they walked along the edge of the Grand Promenade that was near where Oculeth's temporary hideout, where Rainbow and Spitfire first encountered Elylia, was located and discovered a group of Nightborne walking away from it with frowns on their faces, showing that they had to have encountered their ally's handiwork and couldn't do anything about it, before they focused on what was in front of them and continued towards their destination. It didn't take them all that long to reach an area that overlooked a bridge, one that Ly'leth happened to be standing on, next to some odd magical item that looked like a noble carrier of some kind that floated above the stone bridge, where Rainbow noted that it had been a ten minute walk, though since there weren't a lot of Nightborne in the area, in fact the only ones were the guards near an area that Ly'leth was staring at, the Vineyards no doubt, and their ally, to which Rainbow carefully removed her mask and spread her wings for a moment so she could fly herself and Elylia over to where their ally was standing. She made sure to land in the structure that was some distance from where Ly'leth was standing, something that was followed by Rainbow replacing the mask and assuming her disguise once more, to which she and Elylia walked over to where she was standing and made sure no one assumed that she was someone taking Anarys' form, which was followed by Ly'leth smiling as she noticed them and even embraced Rainbow in a hug for a few seconds, once more showing those that might be observing them that nothing was amiss and that Anarys was just fine, even if she might have a slight change of heart regarding the Legion.

"Sister, it is good that you have arrived," Ly'leth said, pulling away from Rainbow for a moment, since the brief hug had all the effects that she wanted it to have and would make sure everyone watching think they were truly siblings, something that informed Rainbow of the fact that the lady in front of her truly loved her sister and didn't want anything to befall her, hence why she was going through desperate measures to keep her safe and, more importantly, away from Elisande and her Legion allies, before she gestured to the magical device that was resting nearby as she got ready to talk about the task at hand, "I remembered that you had arranged for a visit to the Vineyards a while ago, after looking at our books, and I made sure to procure a palanquin for you and your guard to use, which will take you to the entrance... you're looking for a lady by the name of Margaux, the vintner in charge of the Twilight Vineyards, who should be willing to take you two on a tour for a while, and she's also shown an interest in Thalyssra's movement."

Rainbow smiled and thanked her 'sister' for helping her arrange for this visit, since that seemed to be the right thing to do in this situation, before climbing into the palanquin and did her best to look like she was above everyone else, like most of the Nightborne elite did, while taking a moment to think about the fact that they might have another ally inside the city, in addition to the ones they had seen so far, and this one might be able to provide them with Arcwine and everything that might save the Arcan'dor from failing, before she focused as the device moved down the rest of the bridge and Elylia made sure to walk next to it... though upon their arrival at the entrance, where the palanquin came to a stop, she climbed out of it and walked up the diagonal path that was in front of her, trying her best to ignore the weakened citizens who were being bothered by the Duskwatch and focused on a lady who seemed in charge of everything.

"Anarys! So good of you to come." the lady, Margaux, spoke up, welcoming Rainbow and Elylia to the Vineyards while the Duskwatch that were in the surrounding area seemed to either ignore them or paid them little attention, believing that all was fine in this area and that nothing was amiss, even though it was easy for them to see that Margaux was bothered by something and was thankful for a distraction, even though Rainbow found that it was quite the conincidence that Anarys had arranged for a visit to the Vineyards, which they were using to their advantage.

"Thank you for having us, Margaux," Rainbow replied, doing her best to continue her act, mostly for everyone else that was around them, as there happened to be a number of workers and guards in the section of the Vineyards that they were in at the moment, before she carefully pulled out the coin she had been given, which she had gotten a lot of use out of since Thalyssra gave it to her, and handed it over to her host, in the sense that it was more like a payment of some kind and just hoped the guards overlooked it while they were here, "though my sister said something about a tour... maybe we can take a look at the rest of the Vineyards?"

"A tour? Of course, how could I forget... come, I will show you around the Vineyards myself!" Margaux said, making it look like she had forgotten what day it was and that Anarys had arranged for all of this to happen on the same day, mostly as an act for the guards, before she handed over the coin and smiled, as if saying that she didn't need the payment, giving Rainbow a chance to return the coin to where she kept it before she and Elylia followed after their host, so they could get this mission started and retrieve whatever Thalyssra wanted them to grab, before returning to Shal'Aran as she planned out the next move of their rebellion.

Margaux, as Ly'leth previously mentioned, was concerned for Thalyssra's sake, since the rumors about her demise just so happened to be too good to be true, and she even made sure to keep her voice low when talking about their friend, which prevented the guards from hearing what they were talking about, while mentioning that the Duskwatch were not kind to her and everyone that worked under her, something that really made Rainbow wonder what in the world the faction did to those they captured, or at least the activities that weren't twisted by the Legion's ideas, before she decided not to plague her mind with those thoughts and followed Margaux. The vintner explained that they were heading to the Tasting Pavilion, which happened to be the open square shaped structure that was in front of them, with four stone posts that held up the roof of the building, giving Rainbow a moment to glance out at the rest of the Vineyards and found that there were a good number of structures scattered around the place, locations that they would likely stop at, and a number of trees that had to be filled with Arcane energy, before she refocused on what was in front of them as Margaux explained that they made sure to prepare some samples for her to test, to sample the product. Rainbow also learned that the area she had been led out of was the only area of the Vineyards that visitors were allowed to be in, which didn't give them a chance to see all that much since it was a small courtyard, and anyone who wanted to see more of the Vineyards had to be escorted by one of her workers, just like what was happening right now, something she agreed with since it made sure everything was secure and nothing was stolen, before they came to a stop and she found that three samples had been provided for her to taste before they moved onto the next part of the tour. As such Rainbow played along and sampled the first one, which just so happened to be honey infused and had a berry taste to it, something she was sure that their Nightfallen friends might like if they got a chance to taste it, the second was made from seventh generation manefruit and was mixed with nightshade flavors and a walnut finish, which made her feel like she was floating for a tiny bit, while the third was rather powerful, as the moment she tasted it she felt like it was strong enough to knock her off her feet, where the aid revealed that it was a mix of shadowberry and manafruit, triple infused with essence from the Nightwell.

What Rainbow found to be interesting was that Margaux had arranged for three bottles of Arcwine, each a different color and being one of the three flavors she had tasted, were going to be added to everything that would be prepared for her to take with her, once she reached the end of the tour, where she figured that the first and second could be given to the rest of their allies while the final one might be shared between her and Spitfire, mostly to try and get her friend to relax a little, after becoming the Warchief anyway, before her host beckoned for her to follow and it wasn't long before she and Elylia left the pavilion as they followed her. As they walked, however, Margaux took a moment to inform them that there was a chance that they were going to see some troubling things, given that the Duskwatch was present inside the Vineyards and that usually brought trouble, before she started to inquire about Thalyssra and the rebellion while Rainbow answered to the best of her ability, keeping their voices silent while her host raised her voice every now and then to make it look like a tour was going on right now, even though she did admit that she was relieved that Thalyssra was alive and that she was inspiring those in the shadows to move once more. While they talked about the rebellion, and the First Arcanist's role in all of it, Rainbow learned that the Nightborne had the power to manipulate time, meaning that channeling the power of the Arcane allowed one to control time as well, which actually worried her a little since Elisande was the most powerful being in the city and that meant she likely had a grasp on Chronomancy, time magic, that was beyond what everyone else had, information she would pass onto Spitfire the next time they crossed paths, before Margaux inquired as to why Rainbow and Elylia had come here in the first place, given the danger of such a mission. Of course she was surprised to hear that Thalyssra had mentioned that the Vineyards had a unique way of dealing with insects, since it made her wonder if there was an insect problem she wasn't aware of, before she revealed that they had a good number of mana wyrms in one part of the Vineyards and that they preyed upon the insects that were bothering their trees, where it didn't take her long to figure out a reason as to why Thalyssra had sent them here and promised that she would have a few mana wyrms readied for their departure, in addition to everything else she was gifting them.

Of course there came a moment of rage for all of them, one of the Duskwatch was viciously beating one of the workers in an area that they were passing by, all for the crime of taking a break, meaning that they must have been working since the first bit of sunlight hit the city and shined on everything that the Nightborne controlled, no doubt with a small break every now and then given that Margaux was the operator of this area, but seeing the guard beating up the worker enraged all three of them and it was their ally that stepped forward to stop it from happening further, even though it looked like her actions might have enraged the guard in question, before Rainbow assured her that the rebellion was, despite the terrible start they had, was gaining strength and allowed Margaux to get over what just happened as they walked over to the next structure she had for the tour.

"This is where I must leave you, even for a short period of time, as I must prepare the next activity," Margaux explained, as she came to a stop near the small bridge that would bring them to the area that Rainbow assumed the next structure had an activity of some kind, making it the second and whatever Margaux had planned was the third in however many Anarys had arranged for her visit to this place, before she beckoned to the figure that was standing in the middle of the next area Rainbow and Elylia would be staying in for some time, "my assistant Sylverin will be more than happy to show you how the infusion process works."

Rainbow thanked Margaux for what she had seen so far, despite the instant where the Duskwatch guard was beating up one of the workers, and walked over to where the male Nightborne was standing, who seemed to be waiting for them to show up and do whatever activity that the infusion process might be, where she found an intricate bowl resting nearby and assumed that it might be part of everything, while it looked like Elylia was keeping an eye on the guards in case they tried anything while they were in the Vineyards.

"This is a rare treat, I hope you know, as not just anyone is allowed to stand in this hallowed ground." the elf, Sylverin, said, where he took a moment to adjust the cuffs of his shirt, in a dignified fashion no less, reminding Rainbow of Rarity a little as she watched it happen, before he gestured to the bowl that was nearby and then waved a hand for a moment so they could look out at the trees and water that rested around the area they were standing in, no doubt allowing them to take a few seconds to glance around the area before staring at him once more, "To participate in the demonstration, you must simply take up an energy vessel, like the one that we have prepared for you, and wade through the pool that is beside us, to catch the delicate dewdrops of Nightwell energy in the bowl as they fall... this is the only way one can safely manage its essence. Once your vessel is full, proceed to our demonstration cask and gently pour the amalgamation into it. That is the activity we have prepared, and I hope you enjoy yourself."

That was followed by Rainbow raising her eyebrow for a moment, as she wasn't expecting something like this when they came over to this area, though it didn't stop her from picking up the bowl that had been prepared for her and walked out into the pool of water that was around them, leaving Elylia by sylverin and the rest of the workers that seemed to be on Thalyssra's side of the war, meaning more additional allies, where she turned her attention to the task that was in front of her and discovered something interesting, her innate Equestrian magic allowed her to see where each drop of magic that fell out of the sky might land, allowing her to carefully catch the droplets with ease and, once the vessel was full, she took it over to the nearby barrel that Sylverin was standing near, mixing the energy into the liquid.

"Simple, no?" Sylverin inquired, though while he said that, and made sure the vessel was returned to where it had been a few moments ago, so one of the workers might take it out to gather more droplets and add them to the rest of the barrels that were around this area, he offered her and Elylia an intense fake smile as he beckoned for the pair to follow him once more, meaning they would be heading for the area that the next activity rested in, though as Rainbow expected it didn't take him long before he spoke up again, "The next activity will be taking place in the Juicing Veranda, where you will be the one making some Arcwine by following the instructions you are given."

Sure enough Sylverin brought them over to a building that was surrounded by a few more impressive buildings, no doubt where the rest of the workers rested, or maybe the more important staff that distributed everything to the parts of the city and made sure everything arrived on time, before bringing them to where Margaux was standing and Rainbow found a circular tube that was filled with what she assumed was manafruit, blue colored fruit that had purple colored spots, likely a sign of the Arcane power inside them. There were a few things that Margaux had her do after she asked if Rainbow was ready for her activity, where she added some silver jasmine when told to add something floral, a sour note brought some shadefruit to the mixture, had to add a bit of additional water when her or her assistant determined that the water level was lower than it needed to be, and even jump into the vat to smash the fruit, to massage the fruit or something, which she did for a few minutes to make a mixture that, according to Margaux, would be added to everything else they would be taking back to Shal'Aran, before she finished and cleaned her feet, or the disguise's shoes.

"You did quite well there... have you made wine before?" Margaux inquired, referring to the fact that Rainbow was able to follow all of her commands when she studied the mixture she had prepared for the activity, where she shook her head not a few seconds later, to show her that this happened to be the first time she had done something like this and that she had been lucky in getting everything right, without messing something up, which was when the vintner shrugged for a second and glanced at the large open area that was near them, the area that the trees rested in, "Our tour is just about over, so I will be letting you loose to 'walk the orchard', as is proper at this stage of a tour, for a few moments, where you'll be able to take in the sheer majesty of our vast manafruit orchard and notice the large number of mana wyrms floating about... I am quite certain that the Vineyard would not miss a handful of them, though to bring balance to the orchard you will have to take out a few silkwing moths at the same time."

"Shouldn't be a problem for us," Elylia spoke up, speaking for the first time since they got to the Twilight Vineyards, since she had been doing a good job acting like a bodyguard and letting Rainbow, or Anarys to everyone else, do the talking as they explored the Vineyards, a place she knew about and had never come here before this point, where she was thankful for Spitfire and Rainbow finding the Arcan'dor's seed, since it allowed them to come here in the first place, while her brief statement was due to the fact that Rainbow was powerful and would be able to take out a few moths without being even a little bothered by it.

With that done Rainbow and Elylia headed out to the orchard and found that there were definitely a large number of both mana wyrms and silkwings floating in the air, surrounding every tree Margaux and her team tended to, though she found that using her Equestrian magic while touching the wyrm caused the creature to stall, like she was stunning it for a time, so she made sure to do that to several more that were fluttering around the orchard and watched as it repeated itself on all of her targets, allowing Elylia to collect them and deliver them to Sylverin, making it looked like he had asked them to do it and that she was doing her part as Anarys' servant. Once that was done Rainbow glanced around the orchard and found that all of the Duskwatch seemed to be in the previous sections of the Vineyards, keeping to themselves while beating the daylights out of anyone who dared to take a break, something that caused her to smile as she removed the mask and took on her true form once more, which allowed her to spread her wings for a few seconds and flashed throughout the orchard she was in, swinging her Warblades with enough force to knock out several silkwings before they noticed what was going on, while also leaving no trace of her deed, so the Duskwatch would have no idea what happened. This would make them assume that it was either overeating, cauing them to collapse, or possibly heat or something else, to explain them coming to a stop, but once she had made sure to cut down eight of them, which happened to be the same amount of mana wyrms they had collected a few moments ago, Rainbow landed near where Elylia was standing and put on the mask again, which was when they left the orchard and let any Duskwatch that were entering the area, where a few happened to be heading in the direction of this section of the Vineyards, causing her and her companion to raise their eyebrows as they headed into one of the buildings, the same that Sylverin was waiting in.

"Anarys, this is usually the point of one's tour where they are escorted from the Vineyards, to return to the city and enjoy the rest of their day," Sylverin spoke up, where Rainbow could see that he was distressed about something, which seemed to be the fact that Margaux was missing at the moment, something Elylia even noticed as they entered the building, but at the same time it made them wonder if the Duskwatch had come for her, which would mean either death or banishment from the city, the latter being the same as the former if the Nightborne in question couldn't get any Arcwine, where it took him a few seconds to regain hmself as he turned towards them, "my mistress is never late, in fact she is on time no matter what happens, so something must have happened to her after she took your Arcwine to be bottled and prepared the rest of your gifts for when it came time for you to leave... please, I need you to find her and make sure she is well."

Rainbow nodded and barely had time to move as she heard the phrase 'seize her' to the left of the building they were in at the moment, something that caused her and Elylia to head outside in time to see a number of Duskwatch, flanking one of their number that appeared to be a commander of some kind, an Overseer to be exact, and there happened to be a group of Margaux's workers who were worried about what was going on right now, before she spotted Margaux as the Overseer cast a barrier spell around him and his target.

"Margaux, by the order of the Grand Magistrix, you are hereby charged with sedition, as you continue to undermine my authority over this place and must pay the price." the Overseer stated, informing everything that was around him and his guards that they were here under orders from the one who ruled over the entire city, something Rainbow belived to be false since he had been inside the Vineyards earlier and there was no way for Elisande to know of what happened earlier, not unless it happened every day and she had grown tired of hearing this piece of news, though despite all of that it did look like Margaux was ready to stand her ground.

"I have done no such thing! I have ensured that the Arcwine flows with no complications, and your authority doesn't give you the right to beat workers for taking a break!" Margaux replied, showing that she had no fear of the Duskwatch, even if she and the Overseer likely butted heads all the time about the subject and it had brought about this confrontation at long last, though before Rainbow could do anything she felt a familiar presence in the air, something that caused her to smile for a moment as she watched what was going on, since it looked like her aid might not be needed, which meant that she could keep her identity a secret and not ruin the Anarys disguise.

"SILENCE! I will hear no more of your pitiful excuses!" the Overseer stated, showing everyone that was around him that he was definitely abusing his authority over the Vineyards and that Margaux was right on that, meaning this was just petty revenge for her treating the workers right and not beating them whenever they wanted to take a break, which needed to be given to them since Rainbow was sure that they worked long hours every single day, where that was followed by him forming a ball of magical energy for a few seconds, causing everyone to stop talking for a time, "Your sentence is death, be it by execution or banishment!"

In that instant the Overseer loosed his attack through the air and it rushed towards where Margaux was standing, though before it could reach her a wall of fire sprung up around Rainbow's contact and stopped the attack before it could hit her, which would have killed her, though when the flames cleared she and Elylia found that their host was gone, though given the magical power that had been in the air a few moments ago, which was now heading in the direction of Shal'Aran, she had to assume Spitfire had grabbed Margaux and carried her off before the Overseer could figure out what happened to his target, where the Overseer started to bark out orders, commanding his forces to take full control over the Vineyards, which meant workers were going to get beaten up whenever they wanted to take a break. Sylverin was, of course, enraged by the fact that the Duskwatch would dare to lash out at Margaux like this, even if she was safe and sound in Shal'Aran, if Rainbow's thoughts were right on the matter, though instead of lashing out at the Duskwatch in retaliation, like one would assume he would ask of them, he suggested that they leave the Vineyards quickly, though there just so happened to be a small pavilion, a single person one, at the very edge of this section of the city and it had been where they placed the gifts for them to take with them, for safekeeping. Interestingly enough Oculeth spoke into their minds for a moment and made sure to tell them that there were a number of teleportation spells targeting the Vineyards, meaning reinforcements had to be coming, despite the fact that Rainbow and Elylia did nothing to the Duskwatch, though before they left the area they did make sure to thank Sylverin for his aid, even if they came at a bad time, and then departed from the building, making their way over to the pavilion in question rested, finding another Telemancy beacon resting on a very familiar pedestal, one that made Rainbow wonder how many small platforms there were throughout the city, before she raised her hand to activate the beacon and another portal sprung to life. She was sure that this one would be the same as the one that was resting inside the ruined temple Farodin had lead them through, as in she was sure that Oculeth would use his magic to seal the portal and prevent their enemies from following after them, or invade Shal'Aran for that matter, though as soon as that was done she and Elylia made sure to move the few containers that were nearby through the portal and placed all of them down in the portal section of Shal'Aran.

Sure enough Spitfire was standing near Thalyssra, with Margaux next to her, looking a little shaken after being swept off of her feet and carried to this area in a matter of moments, so Rainbow focused on making sure everything was in order and left Farodin in charge of managing the mana wyrms, since he was the only making sure the Arcan'dor operated smoothly and had been the first to notice the locusts, which apparently the wyrms liked to munch on, before she and Elylia focused on discovering what sort of task Thalyssra wanted them to do next, especially after learning that Margaux had just been expelled from her own domain, all for protecting the workers from the Overseer's brutality, even though she hoped that the next task was to kill the Overseer, as she didn't like him all that much.

"When I sent you two to the Vineyards, to get some mana wyrms for the locusts, I had no idea that the Duskwatch would make an attempt on Margaux's life," Thalyssra said, as it appeared that she had been talking to the vintner since she had been brought to Shal'Aran, thanks to Spitfire saving her life before the Overseer's attack had struck her, and was enraged by the fact that the Duskwatch would do something like this, especially since Margaux ensured that perfect Arcwine was sent out into the city and without complications, meaning removing her was a bad move on Elisande's part, before she sighed for a moment and focused on Rainbow once more, "since the Duskwatch think Margaux is dead, even though both of us have a plan to get a mask for her to assume a new identity to continue her work inside the Vineyards, they're likely going to return to their posts and come back later in the day, and this separation is just what we need... we're going to take down Overseer Durant and temporarily cripple the Duskwatch."

"Given his contacts, I'm sure Vanthir will be able to help us out," Rainbow commented, as the elf seemed well connected to the various trades that were scattered throughout Suramar City, or at least it sure looked that way to her, though that was when Thalyssra nodded her head in agreement, showing that she shared the idea and believed that it would be the best way for them to bring down Durant, even though she also knew that Spitfire returning was only temporary and that she might be returning to one of the major cities, or she might stick around and help out the rebellion.

Instead of heading out immediately, like one would expect, Rainbow took an hour to rest and make sure Farodin was fine with the amount of mana wyrms that were now flying around the growing Arcan'dor, something Margaux helped with as she waited for their allies to come up with a new mask for her, since her skills were more attuned to wine making and she belonged in the Twilight Vineyards, even though it would be some time before she would be able to return to her normal workplace, though as soon as that hour was up she and Elylia headed out, where they used the portal that connected to the fountain area of the Waning Crescent and made their way to where Vanthir was stationed.

"Ah, Anarys, I'm glad that you and your bodyguard are unharmed, after all the unfortunate business in the Vineyards, or so the rumors suggest," Vanthir said, informing Rainbow that someone had definitely spread a story, or several since he had mentioned there were multiple ones that were being told, meaning the Duskwatch likely informed everyone, through one of the magical means that no doubt existed throughout the city, of what had happened in the Twilight Vineyards earlier that morning, before he raised his hand a little, to stop them from saying anything, "the 'loss' of our friend is regrettable, but, sadly, it will be the first of many for the rebellion, since there will be times where someone can't be saved from what is happening to them. News of Margaux's 'death' has hit many in the city hard, especially those who call the Waning Crescent home, but if we're going to carry on with our lives, both daily and the rebellion, something has to be done about this, and by that I mean we have to sent a strong message to our enemies, so that those like Durant will know we are watching their movements and that we will hold them accountable for their actions... and to do that we need the help of someone, Arluin to be exact. He's, well, a rather shadowy figure and might not talk to you if you flash the loyalty coin at him, or maybe he will, but I do know that he'll ask for some sort of compensation before he will lend you his aid, though you'll find him in the alleys of the Evermoon Bazaar."

Once more Rainbow entrusted the task of navigating the city to Elylia, since she knew most of the city's layout like the back of her hand, who lead her back over to part of the Waning Crescent that they had walked through earlier, when they saved those that had been abducted and aided them in escaping, who joined Thalyssra's forces after leaving the city behind for a time, before they crossed a bridge and entered the other area of this section of the city, where it seemed like there were a fair number of Duskwatch either patrolling it or just relaxing after what they did this morning, before Elylia spotted an elf that was wearing darker clothing than the rest of the Nightborne and had a hood covering his head, something that was followed by her nodding her head, indicating that this was their target.

"Arluin, I was told you might be able to help us," Rainbow spoke up, keeping her voice low so that none of the Duskwatch would be able to overhear what she had to say to the elf, who seemed to raise an eyebrow for a moment as he glanced at her and Elylia, though since he didn't move to grab a weapon, nor did he emerge from his hiding place while she talked to him, that made her hope that the Nightborne was willing to listen to her and then render his assistance when his toll was paid in full, "but first, I must ask: do you know the significance of the dusk lily?"

"I see, you're one of hers, aren't you?" the elf, Arluin, replied, showing that he understood the odd question that Rainbow had asked, even though Elylia knew that there was no phrase that would have allowed Arluin to figure out whose side they were on, meaning it was made up and he even understood it with ease, before he seemed to think about why they were here in the first place and seemed to come to an understanding in seconds, no doubt thinking about the rumors that the Duskwatch were spreading around the city right now, "That means Vanthir told you about me... unless you two happen to have something for me to risk my life for, say enough mana to sustain me for a month, roughly twenty mana shards, then I'm afraid we can't do business with each other."

Rainbow paused for a moment, since she wasn't expecting something like that to be the price of them doing business, and just sighed as she turned to leave this part of the city, even though part of her wanted to punch Arluin's face since he had a smug look on his face, like he believed that she couldn't pay his price, but since Anarys didn't seem to lash out at people whenever she got mad about something, based on what she had learned from Ly'leth, she just headed back to the portal they had used to get to the Waning Crescent and returned to Shal'Aran without much delay. Once they returned to their based of operations she found a crate that wasn't being used at the moment, making sure that it could hold the number of mana shards that Arluin had asked for, before heading out while Elylia remained inside the ruins, because with her speed and the seeking stone Thalyssra had given her she knew that this task wouldn't take too long for her to complete, even if she needed to collect twenty shards and deliver them to their contact, and sure enough the first two rested at the bottom of a tree to the immediate west of Shal'Aran's entrance. From there it was a simple matter for her to return to Ambervale and started to harvest the mana crystals that were scattered around the place, making sure to target the shards since she spotted far more of them and less of the other kinds, even though she did find a bigger crystal that seemed more ancient, meaning it had to be more powerful than the shards she had found, something she slipped into her pack to give to one of their allies, since Arluin didn't deserve such a thing in the first place and it would be wasted on him. The moment she had the twenty shards needed for their new ally, or at least she hoped he was an ally and wouldn't betray Thalyssra when he felt that Elisande was the better bet, not that she planned on letting such a thing happen, Rainbow returned to Shal'Aran and made sure to put the lid on the crate, before applying her disguise as she and Elylia headed back through the portal to the Waning Crescent, where they retraced their steps and headed to the area that Arluin was hiding in, who seemed a tad bit surprised to see them again, but he returned to his neutral state when he noticed the crate.

"It is good to know that you truly value my skills and knowledge," Arluin commented, where Rainbow said nothing as Elylia handed over the crate and allowed the Nightborne in question to check out the contents for a few seconds, finding twenty mana shards, as per his request, something that caused him to close the lid and set it aside, meaning that he would take it away once they were no longer in the area, though Rainbow was amazed they had gotten the crate to him without any of the Duskwatch bothering them, but she wasn't going to complain about what was going on, "Now, I know you want to get back at both Elisande and her Duskwatch, while sending a message to everyone else in the city, both potential allies and enemies, and one way to go about doing that is by stealing the one type of Arcwine that is reserved for our beloved ruler, the Thousand-Year Arcwine to be exact, and it just so happens that Elisande has a daily shipment of it that is currently on its way out of the Vineyards... if you promise me a cut of the Arcwine, my inside man can hold up the shipment for a while and give you a chance to take the shipment. Also, the guards have caught onto one of my favorite havens, where I hide my goods, and I'm positive that whoever has been sent to claim my goods might be leaving soon, so if you could take them out and recover my goods it would show me you can be trusted... I might even kick a few jobs your way, if I feel that such a thing is required."

Rainbow had no desire to do such a thing, even though she was sure that it might happen in the future, given that no one had an idea of what direction the rebellion might take next, but she did make sure to learn that the shipment was likely at the entrance of the Vineyards, while the hideout that was being raided was in the Waning Crescent, on the other side from where they were standing, to which she moved to an area that was away from everyone else and removed the mask, all so she could spread her wings and take to the skies once more, even if it was to drop off Elylia at the location of Arluin's now revealed stash. The plan was for Elylia to take out the Auditor, as their new friend called the individual in question, while she rushed over to where the shipment was located, which she would know due to Arluin's agent acting out a scene to stall the rest of the team, basically killing two birds with one stone, even if they were in two different areas of the city, and sure enough the Nightborne that was raiding Arluin's stash barely noticed as Elylia was dropped behind her, allowing Rainbow to focus on her task as she headed through the air and traveled in the direction of the Vineyards. Sure enough she found a group that had to be the ones shipping Elisande's Arcwine, right outside her destination no less, and it looked like Arluin's man had done his job, as he was upholding the others by 'accidentally' dropping a cask and put a crack in the side, but given how important the shipment had to be she assumed that this was a fake cask with a bit of normal Arcwine to hide the real thing, which was no doubt unharmed inside the true container, and, as she expected, the others weren't all that happy and seemed to be approaching the elf that was slowing them down. Not a few seconds later, after she had a chance to determine who the highest ranking member of the group was, as there happened to be an elf who wore a set of impressive armor, in the familiar style of the Nightborne, and carried one of the double bladed weapons, similar to their warglaives, but instead of giving him a chance to slay Arluin's man, as that seemed to be his intentions right now, she just flashed down to where he was standing and used her Warblades to stop the attack, before spinning around and cut into her opponent's chest, dropping him in seconds, much to her surprise.

She had to assume that the Nightborne in question was one of the weaker guards, like those that had been sent to find Oculeth or retrieve his Telemancy supplies, though before she could focus on the other members of the shipment, those who sided with the slain guard, they gave up and ran away, causing Arluin's man to thank her and departed from the area as well, leaving her to collect the true cask of Thousand-Year Arcwine, which had been hidden inside a fake cask for safety, and flew back to the Evermoon Bazaar, where she made sure to put her disguise back on as she met up with Elylia, who seemed to have succeeded in her task as well, before they returned to Arluin's location and gvae him the news, all while wondering if he'd actually help him or not.

"You two are quite dependable, I'll give you that much," Arluin said, where he made sure that the cask Rainbow brought was the right one, which it was as he soon discovered when he opened the lid and noticed what was inside it, though that happened to be when he divided what was inside it into two casks, one for himself and the other for them, their share of the goods as he called it, before he reached into a pocket and withdrew a piece of paper, one that he handed to Elylia not a few seconds later, "While you were working I took the time to ask around and found that Overseer Durant happens to live near the Shimmerscale Garden section of the Waning Crescent, though while I know you two are both skilled, given what I asked you to do, there are three others that need to be gathered to bring him down with due haste... you need to tell Cyrille that the owl hoots at dusk, inform Lorin the saber prowls the plaza, and tell Sylessa has breathed his last, as all of them will know what to do from there."

As Rainbow soon discovered the note contained the physical descriptions of the three individuals they were looking for, who she suspected were additional members of Thalyssra's first rebellion and had gone into hiding, in a sense, when their leader had been taken out, so hearing that she was back and that they were going to punish Durant might have brought them out of their hiding places so they could restore order to the city, to which she and Elylia departed from the area and started to hunt down the three Nightborne that they were looking for. According to Arluin's notes they would find Cyrille in the Bazaar, no doubt shopping and passing the time as he planned his next move out, Lorin was somewhere in the square and should be easy for them to find, given that they knew what she looked like and the Duskwatch didn't apparently, and Sylessa liked to check the canals, meaning she might be near one of the gondolas for some reason, but at least they had an idea of where to find each one and moved out without delay, once more putting on the act that they had been using since Ly'leth started helping the rebellion out. Sure enough it didn't take them all that long to locate there targets, who happened to be minding their business, though when they gave each individual the phrase that Arluin had given them to use for the three targets, while making sure no Duskwatch guards were nearby, each of them walked off with purpose in their step and that meant they might see their new allies when they approached Overseer Durant, which was the moment they found another addition to the note and it possessed the location of their target, hence why they headed out before any of the guards tried to stop them. Thanks to Arluin's notes it didn't take them all that long to track down Durant's place of residence, where they quickly found their target trying to rest after what happened this morning, though once Rainbow was sure that there were no guards around, and felt a slight shift in the air, like someone else was near them, to which she removed the mask and rushed right into her target's side, knocking him into the floor as Lorin and their new allies sprung out of the shadows, their invisibility spells fading away in seconds, meaning it was five on one and Durant really had next to no time to react as he parried Rainbow's first attack, leaving him exposed to the other incoming attacks.

Given the circumstances it didn't take them long to bring down Durant, who called Lorin and the others traitors as he fell face first into the floor, though as the trio started to leave, by teleporting out of the building, Cyrille knelt by Durant's body and placed a dusk lily on top of his chest, to which she smiled at them and vanished from the area as well, leaving them to do the same as Rainbow assumed her disguise once more and they headed back to where Vanthir was waiting, as based on Arluin's words he wasn't expecting them to return to him once the deed was done, and sure enough their friend was waiting for them to return, with their new allies standing nearby.

"Well done. All of you have ensured that our enemies will be more wary from now on," Vanthir said, meaning he knew all about the dusk lily being placed on Durant's body, which made sense considering that they were trying to send a message and this one was as bold as they could make it, telling Elisande that Thalyssra was alive, or at the very least that those who had followed her during the first failed rebellion hadn't given up hope yet, and that she would likely be glancing at any and every shadow that happened to be near her or her allies for the foreseeable future, before he sighed for a moment as he considered something, "but know that there will be consequences for what has happened today, for both us and those we stand against... for now, I would suggest returning to Shal'Aran and telling Thalyssra the news, as we'll keep an eye on the city and report any strange happenings to her."

Rainbow nodded and returned to Shal'Aran without delay, with Elylia following her, where they informed Thalyssra, not to mention Margaux since part of what they did involve her 'death', but they were both pleased by what the pair had done for them and the rebellion, as it showed those that were still on the fence that if anyone like Margaux were to perish at the hands of either the Duskwatch or Elisande, the latter being unlikely, then they would pay the price, but for now they were given some time to rest as they waited for something to happen inside the city.