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// Suramar: Statecraft 
// Story: World of Warcraft: Burning Skies 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Rainbow found that three days passed before anything interesting happened in Suramar, much less the city, giving the rest of the heroes time to make sure the Legion didn't make any attempts on the rest of the Broken Isles, Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, or any of the other continents of Azeroth, where the various classes made sure to beat their enemies back and ensure the safety of whatever area they were told to go to, even though Spitfire and the leaders of the factions made sure they had enough people guarding both the main cities and the provinces of the Isles. She still felt that it was interesting that all it took was the death of Sylvanas Windrunner to unite the Alliance and the Horde into a fighting force that happened to be in the middle of overturning the Legion's third attempt to take Azeroth, though when she thought about everything that the Banshee Queen had planned for this world, a fourth faction war that nearly tore apart the world everyone fought for, not to mention breaking the veil between Azeroth and a place called the Shadowlands, but she knew this was for the best and wasn't about to complain about it, since the results were in Spitfire's favor. While those days went by Ly'leth called for her to visit her a few times, where she was mostly playing the role of Anarys during a few events, as in this was to keep up appearances and make everyone think that nothing was wrong, and it was one of the times where she wished that Spitfire had been the one to take the role, as she was better at acting like she belonged in a noble's place like this, but given everything that Spitfire was going through right now, being the leader of the Illidari and the Horde, she just kept her mouth shut and did her best to act like she was Anarys, though one thing she did notice was that Ly'leth did seem happy to have a 'sibling' who cared for her, showing her that her true sister didn't love her that much. Truthfully, it was a little sad that Anarys didn't share Ly'leth's opinion on the Legion, that Elisande allying with them went against everything that their father stood for, not to mention the fact that Ly'leth had to go through a few measures to keep Anarys safe and sound, to prevent her from doing anything stupid and ruining her life, like joining the Legion for example, and she did her best to make it look like she was Anarys, all while waiting for something to happen.

While she did that, however, Spitfire spent her spare time studying the Leylines that Valtrois was focused on and seemed to impress her as the days went by, especially since she was able to track down the exact locations of the remaining Ley Stations that were scattered throughout Suramar, which would aid them in powering Shal'Aran and feed the Arcan'dor all the power it needed, something that was followed by the magical tree growing and the branches expanding more, putting a smile on Farodin's face as he saw it. While all of that happened, however, Spitfire also found something interesting while she explored one of the ruins of Suramar, the Mood Guard Stronghold to be exact, and it happened to be a small stone that was smooth and was half the size of someone's hand, though it possessed an Arcane purple coloration to it and she could feel the power that rested inside it, something that might help them out if her thoughts were correct, hence why the stone of infinite power remained with her as she studied the Arcane and the Leylines. Rainbow honestly wasn't sure what was so special about the stone, even though she knew that finding something that contained a vast amount of power in it might aid them in powering the Arcan'dor, but she decided to leave that part of their plans to Spitfire and those that were helping her work on it or tending to the magical tree that was in the middle of Shal'Aran, as she needed to focus on being ready for whenever Ly'leth called on her to come back to the city, be it for another party or heading into another part of the city to deal with another problem for the rebellion, like what happened when she and Elylia headed to the Vineyards to grab some mana wyrms. She was glad to have someone such as Elylia on their side, as it allowed her and the rest of their allies, those not familiar with the city, to know where everything was located and plan out how to aid those who were still under Elisande's thumb, because Ly'leth had acquired a number of lesser magical masks for the other heroes to use when they headed into the city for a time, either to help out at the Vineyards, with the hidden Margaux helping them out at the same time, or to aid the Waning Crescent, obtaining Arcwine and delivering it to Vanthir or just keeping an eye on the rest of the Duskwatch, with the masks making them look like ordinary Nightborne citizens.

Once the third day had ended, and the fourth one started with everyone getting up to greet the day, Rainbow found that Thalyssra seemed to be thinking about something, or maybe she was listening to something that had been brought to her, as Ly'leth used a few of her lesser known attendants to deliver messages between her and Shal'Aran, though she did make sure to have something for breakfast, praising Scarlet for the excellent meal once more since she had taken on the role of their chef, joined by a male Pandaren who went by the name of Nomi and was dressed as a chef, before collecting Elylia as she headed for where Thalyssra was waiting, as she felt that a new mission might be available for them.

"Ah, Rainbow, I have some news that might interest you: there are new whispers coming from Suramar City, from both the citizens and the nobles." Thalyssra said, though the reason she was saying this to her was because of the amount of time that she was spending with Ly'leth and the rest of her group, even if she had been doing it to make sure no one raised the alarm about Anarys and the fact that she was missing, if such a thing happened anyway since she wasn't familiar with all of the customs of Suramar City, which happened to be one of the reasons why Ly'leth had her join her during the parties and events she invited her to, before she returned to the topic at hand, "Recent unrest in the city, between the actions of our rebellion and the demons being allowed inside our home, has prompted the nobles to seek another advisor to fill a spot on Elisande's council... such positions are rarely offered and hotly contested. This is the perfect opportunity and Ly'leth is the perfect candidate to fill it, almost as if fate smiles upon our cause and is beckoning for us to take the risk to cause her ascension in the ranks of the city's elite, even though she has, historically, chosen to avoid such politics and maneuvering, but we must now ask her to join the fray, to gain more information and resources for our forces. I suspect that she knows I'll be sending you to her, given our recent history with her, so fully expect her to have some tasks for you to accomplish to ensure her position on the Grand Magistrix's council."

"Meaning get ready to kill some enemies and assist allies with their tasks," Rainbow replied, showing that she understood what Thalyssra was saying and wasted no time in putting on the mask that she had been given during her first meeting with Ly'leth, one that had the enchantment empowered so that she could use it even when she wasn't inside the city, all to give her time to practice with Thalyssra, Valtrois, and those who knew the customs that Anarys knew about, making a good impersonation of their ally's sister, before she beckoned for Elylia to join her as she headed through the portal that would bring them to the Waning Crescent section of the city.

Her reasoning was that it was the best place for Ly'leth to move to while she was working to ensure her position before even making an attempt on claiming the new position on Elisande's council, and even if their ally wasn't near Vanthir's shop, the only place she figured Ly'leth would visit at a time like this, there was always checking out her estate or finding the Nightborne who served as her attendant, since he might know where she might be, though upon returning to the part of the city that seemed to be where they spent most of their time she made her way over to Vanthir's place and found the attendant standing nearby, with Ly'leth and Vanthir talking to each other inside the building, something that quickly came to a stop when they noticed the pair entering the building.

"Sister! It is good to see that you are already up, especially after last night's party," Ly'leth said, referring to the event that Rainbow had attended to continue ensuring that no one noticed that Anarys was missing and went to find her, which was definitely last night and happened to be one of the reasons Rainbow wanted a good nights sleep once she and Elylia got back to Shal'Aran, even though it was followed by her and Rainbow embracing for a moment, just in case something was watching from the outside, before separating as they focused on the reason behind their visit to the Waning Crescent, as it was different from the last couple of times they had come here, "Thalyssra continues to ask much of me, for the sake of our rebellion, but I am more than ready to do everything in my power to ensure we secure the position that has become available, as the position and title of advisor would grant us enormous influence over the city, give us more information to use against Elisande, access to areas formerly off-limits to us... I could change the rebellion and save lives. However, to do this, I will need a great deal of support, or endorsement as some like to call it, from the other noble houses that rest all throughout Suramar City, and while I know that many will side with me due to the virtue of my family's name, there are those that are hesitant to do such a thing... and, among their number, Lady Aurore of House Astravar is by far the most prominent of them all, so I would ask that you seek her out and offer her your aid, as it might convince her to put forth her support in this matter."

"Of course, sister, I'll be sure to give her whatever aid I can," Rainbow replied, where she did find it easier to slip into the role of Anarys after all the time she spent with Ly'leth, to blend into the nobles and everything, and knew that if Ly'leth's real sister saw this she would likely think that her entire life had been stolen, where in a way she guessed it had been due to the fact that Anarys didn't share her sister's faith at all, before she noticed that Vanthir also had something he wanted to say before she and Elylia departed, especially since he had a crate resting nearby.

"There are other houses that must be dealt with in a different manner, who use fear and coercion to get what they want, and Ly'leth must deal with them as well," Vanthir added, though that was when he opened the top of the crate and let the pair peer into it, finding a number of the stronger mana crystals resting inside it, something that told Rainbow they might be heading to see Arluin again, as he was the only one, in the entirety of Suramar so far, who even asked for something like this for the aid or information that he lent them, before he sealed the crate once more, "We believe that Arluin might have a few ideas on how to proceed with preventing those houses from gaining the support necessary to challenge Ly'leth for the advisor position, and, as such, we have prepared an offering for him ahead of time, it just needs to be delivered to his location and he needs to be spoken to."

Rainbow nodded, showing that she understood what was being asked of her, before Ly'leth informed her that Lady Aurore should be somewhere in the Gilded Market, an area of the city that was crawling with demons and, if rumors were to be believed, the Felborne, Nightborne that had succumbed to the Legion's power and was aiding them in ensuring the rest of the city followed Elisande, a problem they would have to deal with in time, while Arluin should be in the same place they had found him the last time they sent Rainbow and Elylia to find him. As such the pair grabbed the crate, or at least Elylia did since she was the 'servant' in this situation, before they headed outside and made their way over to where Arluin was hiding out, in the Evermoon Bazaar, though once more none of the guards seemed to care about them and likely figured they were just getting things ready for a venture to another part of the city, given all of the gondolas that were traveling in the canals of the city, and it wasn't long before they found Arluin, standing where they had found him the last time they had been in this area.

"Arluin, it would appear that we are in need of your assistance again," Rainbow said, keeping her voice low so only the elf in front of them would be able to hear her speak, while at the same time he gestured to Elylia for a moment and waited for the crate to be placed on the ground between them and their shadowy acquaintance, who opened the lid for a second and noticed what was inside it, though once the lid was closed she spoke up once more, "My sister is preparing to make a play for the advisor position that became available recently and we could use your help in 'persuading' some of the other houses to support her over those they might be supporting right now."

"With the rebellion going on, I knew you would come to me at some point in time, so let's talk strategy," Arluin replied, his tone revealing that he had guessed that someone from the rebellion would have paid him a visit again and that he was pleased with the offering that was being given to him this time around, something that he placed to the side and had to be thinking about how he would transport it to another part of the city, to get it away from the Duskwatch, before he took a moment to consider something, "While there are two houses that might threaten Ly'leth's chances of claiming the advisor position, we can only concern ourselves with one of them right now, and that is House Duskmere, who commands respect through fear and fear that is unfounded, and they happen to possess an heir that is quite powerful in the magical arts, a boastful and charming individual called Ruven Duskmere... one of the first Felborne to grace our city, after accepting the power of the Legion so he could, in his words, 'fulfill the destiny' his mother saw in his future, though with this betrayal it is clear, to some anyway, that he has lived long enough."

"Meaning he must be taken out before anything else can be done," Rainbow stated, showing that she had figured out all of the phrases that usually revealed someone's intentions and that there were many that might tell someone that another person needed to be slain, though she also knew that those who accepted the power of the Legion usually became worse than what they were before they took the Fel energy into their bodies, her, Spitfire, and most of the Illidari being the big exception to that rule, before she sighed for a moment, like she had received bad news, and focused on Arluin for a few more seconds, "tell me where I might find him and the job will be done in seconds."

As it turned out Ruven was in the Gilded Market as well, supposedly down in the canal and was near a set of stairs, which would allow him to emerge once he was ready to do whatever foul business his new masters had for him, something that was followed by Rainbow and Elylia departing from the area as they headed towards the new section of the city that they were going to be spending some time in, which involved walking by the magical cages that were no longer filled with those the Duskwatch had been planning on exiling at some point. From there they made their way through the part of the city that was right under the main bridge that she and Elylia had met Ly'leth on, before she had them head down into the Waning Crescent for the first time, and eventually reached the start of the Gilded Market, where Rainbow found a number of demons and Felborne walking around like they owned the place, all of them no doubt empowered to the point where they might be able to see through disguises. Fortunately, while most of that was bad news, she did see a path they could take that would get them into the section of the city that Lady Aurore was supposedly waiting in, and given it was Ly'leth who gave them that information she was sure it was correct, so she beckoned for Elylia to follow her as she gracefully made her way through the areas that their enemies were watching over, giving none of them a chance to figure out that someone with a mask had slipped by them, before pausing as she reached the central statue, mostly to let the guards in front of her move before continuing towards her destination. Lady Aurore stood off to the left of some stairs, putting her above everyone else that was in the area, something that was the fault of whoever designed this portion of the city and not her own doing, meaning she was far enough away from the Felborne and the demons, while at the same time her own guards seemed a tad bit nervous about something, either due to whatever had happened to House Astravar or the fact that Anarys Lunastre was approaching them, no doubt wondering what sort of business she had with their boss, but at the very least Aurore allowed her and Elylia to approach her, all while she glanced out towards the city and made sure none of the guards or demons came at them.

"Anarys, I can hazard a guess as to why you came to find me," Aurore said, showing that she understood what was going on in the city and that it had only been a matter of time until one of the Houses that were making a move came to gain her support for their candidate, which made things somewhat easier for Rainbow since she didn't have to explain herself to one of Ly'leth's close friends, before the Nightborne sighed for a moment as she focused on her, "but I'm afraid that it is impossible for me to assist you. I mean no offense, as I love Lady Ly'leth like she was my own sister, like how she loves you and how you love her, but my hands are tied right now and there is nothing I can do to help you..."

"Something must have happened, to make you hold back your support like this," Rainbow replied, where she hoped that Aurore would tell her and Elylia what in the world was going on and what they could do to help her overcome whatever in the world had happened, though given everything she assumed that it might happen inside the Gilded Market as well, but as she said that it looked like her companion might have an idea on where they could find Ruven Duskmere, allowing her to focus on the task at hand for the time being.

"I'm not entirely sure how I didn't see this coming, but my son has been kidnapped." Aurore stated, where she wringed her hands for a moment, like she was relieving herself of some of the stress of the situation she was currently in, while taking a few seconds to consider what had happened to her and how much she wanted to tell Rainbow, though it sure looked like she might tell her everything, since she believed that she was Anarys and that she might help her if she revealed what had happened to her House, before she focused on Rainbow and Elylia once more, "Yesterday, after we heard the first couple of rumors about the new advisor position, I was approached by Coryn Stelleris and learned that he wanted to talk about appointing someone to take the advisor role, no doubt one of his friends or even himself, but I did not offer my support to his cause... he, in turn, told me that my son's life would continue as normal if I gave him my vote and, sure enough, this morning my son went missing, no doubt abducted by Coryn. You know that his family is capable of cruel things, which has me worried that they might do something to my son if I don't agree to give them my vote... but you, Anarys, you might be able to either talk some sense into them or even rescue my son from this fate... if you save my son from Coryn, and those who serve him, I'll give Ly'leth my support."

Rainbow nodded her head and quickly departed from the area that Aurore was standing in, heading for a bridge that just so happened to link this part of the market to a second section of the same area and found that there was far more to the market area than what she had been expecting, though fortunately there also happened to be a set of stairs further ahead of them that lead down to the canal, the one that would bring them to where Ruven was located, so what Rainbow did was head down it and avoided anyone who might see through the illusion of her mask. Sure enough she found a Nightborne who was wearing the armor of the Duskwatch and happened to be watching over some of the citizens of the city, citizens that had shackles on their wrists and legs, meaning they were going to be delivered to the Legion, something she figured out with ease thanks to the fact that the armed elf had a slight modification to his armor, as his was Fel-tainted and wasn't the silver that the Duskwatch wore, meaning this had to be Ruven and he was, as far as Rainbow could tell, intoxicated by all of his new power, to the point where she was sure that any more Fel energy would begin his transformation into a true demon. Instead of wasting time, given that a group of citizens were about to be shipped off, she pulled away for a couple of seconds and pulled the mask off, which she handed to Elylia, who would slip over to the prisoners and free them before the Legion came for them, before rushing forward and drew her Warblades as she swung at Ruven, who noticed the attack and raised his weapon to intercept it, causing their blades to clash with each other for a few seconds before she spun her body a little and kicked him in the side of his chest, knocking him into a nearby wall within a matter of seconds, causing the Felborne to cough up some blood before he charged at her and tried to strike her down. As they clashed, however, Ruven reached a point where he tried to call upon his innate Arcane powers, the very powers that Arluin had mentioned and the ones Ly'leth told her about during one of their sessions, and found that nothing happened, causing Rainbow to grin for a moment as she spun around and delivered a few diagonal slashes to her foe's chest, dropping him to the ground without him being able to do anything, while the addition of his soul to her blades, and his small Fel power to hers, informed her that Ruven was dead.

Based on what Jace and the other Illidari had said a mage can lose their original abilities when they take in too much Fel energy, crippling them and forcing them to take in more Fel energy, which would grant them more Fel related powers at some point in time, and Ruven had been trapped in the crippled state without him knowing about it, which lead to his demise, though Rainbow made sure the citizens were safe, who praised her and Elylia for their actions before heading out to return to their homes, but as she applied the mask once more, and assumed her disguise, they found a gondola moving into the area and Arluin was on it, who glanced towards them for a moment.

"It would seem that I was right to leave the fight to you, as you had everything under control," Arluin remarked, showing that he must have been following and watching them since they left the part of the Waning Crescent that he worked and lived in, not that Rainbow was even remotely surprised to see him since they were working to bring down Ly'leth's foes so she could take the advisor position, meaning he likely had another idea to use against the Houses that were in their way, or at least she hoped that was the case, "Now, with you being Ly'leth's sister and all, I'm sure you know that Coryn Stelleris and Ruven Duskmere were close friends when they were younger, but one of them always overshadowed the other and they loved their competitions with each other, especially when it involved gaining something the other had... now that you have done in Ruven, and the guards will soon discover his fate so they tell everyone in the Gilded Market, Coryn and his House stand to gain much from Ruven's death. I think you should redirect House Duskmere's anger and grief towards Coryn's family, with a few well placed rumors that I have prepared for you... though once you've done that, and have made sure to stir things up, you should return to your sister, just like I'll be doing after this conversation is over."

Instead of wasting time talking to Arluin, even though she collected the note that possessed the rumors he wanted her to tell to certain individuals, who were included on the list, Rainbow and Elylia headed up into the market and spent a bit of time looking like they might be looking for something to buy or just enjoying the day, even though they were waiting for a guard to discover Ruven's fate, and sure enough, not an hour later, the guards and citizens started to talk with each other as they heard part of the troubling news, which meant Arluin was controlling how much information the people got and was opening a window for her to use to spread her rumors. Once she knew what was going on, and Elylia understood it as well, they made their way over to one of the shops and found a distraught noble inside, a lady to be exact, and according to the note it happened to be Ruven's mother, where Rainbow offered her condolences to Lady Duskmere before taking a moment to ask if she heard the rumor about a small silver crescent near Ruven's body, the mark of House Stelleris, and it was met by Lady Duskmere proclaiming that she couldn't believe that Coryn would do such a thing to her son, based on their relationship anyway, and Rainbow assured her that she didn't mean anything by it, even though she dropped a small bit about the guards knowing about the pendant, causing the lady to break down in tears. Part of Rainbow really hated to do something like this, even though Ruven brought his fate upon him by taking in the Fel energy like that, because for the most part Coryn was innocent in this and it didn't feel right breaking Ruven's mother down like this, but at the very least this would disrupt the communication between the two Houses and maybe cause one to not vote for the other, before she headed out and tracked down one of the other individuals on the list she had been given, just to get this over with and go find Aurore's son, who was at the docks based on what she had seen earlier. The second individual she was looking for, to spread some additional rumors to tip things in Ly'leth's direction, was someone who appeared to be a butler who worked for Ruven, who must have been dismissed before she killed his former employer, which was when she asked him if he was aware of the fact that there was a rumor about Coryn buying all of House Duskmere's personal, causing the butler to say that such a thing didn't make sense and that it would never happen, before apparently buying into her rumor and took a moment to inquire why Coryn was purchasing Ruven's attendants as he walked away in a huff.

The third and final individual was a noble who looked ashamed of siding with Ruven, apparently due to him making plans for when his lord ascended to the council, plans that have now shamed him in the eyes of the remaining Houses, and that was when Rainbow mentioned overhearing a joke while visiting the Stelleris family, something that outraged the shamed noble and caused him to walk away in a huff as well, which was when she and Elylia headed over to the dock and found a stroke of good fortune, Ailen Astravar was unharmed and his guards had fled after hearing some of rumors about what their boss was up to, allowing them to free him and deliver him to his incredibly grateful mother, who embraced her son the moment they returned to where she was standing.

"Anarys... thank you. I owe you, and Ly'leth, a great debt, one I will do my best to repay," Aurore said, her expression and tone revealing that she was overjoyed to see that her son was safe and sound, especially after all the worrying she must have been through since his kidnapping the previous day, which made Rainbow better about this entire ordeal, since part of what they had done didn't sit well with her at all, but before they did anything else she beckoned for them to move and Rainbow started to lead the way back to the Waning Crescent, as it seemed that Aurore might be worried about Coryn or his henchmen coming for her son again and wanted him to be safe before the vote happened.

While they walked through the city, and headed back to where Ly'leth, Vanthir, and the rest of their allies were waiting, all of them heard several guards talking about the rumors that had been spread about Ruven, be they those that Rainbow had dropped before retrieving Ailen or ones that Arluin had spread, no doubt having prepared a few items to make sure their story stuck, and based on what she could tell it sure sounded like no one was going to side with Coryn or his House from this point forward, meaning they might have crippled one enemy House and the other had no candidate to place in the new position, something she stopped thinking about as they reached Vanthir's shop and informed Ly'leth of what was going on right now.

"Sister, I must thank you for assisting Aurore, and everything else you did at the same time," Ly'leth said, showing that she appreciated Rainbow going out of her way to make sure Coryn didn't do anything dangerous to the son of her friend, one of her friends anyway, even if there wasn't much she had to do to save Ailen from those that wished him harm, while also making sure not to reveal anything about the rumors, or Rainbow being the one to start them, while Aurore was nearby, before she thought about something else, "Please, head upstairs and rest for a bit... it will take some time for the rest of the Houses to determine who they want to lend their support to, and I'd like for you to be ready for when we heard what all of them have to say on the matter."

As Rainbow discovered an hour went by before anything happened, because once sixty minutes went by they received the news that they had been waiting for, that nearly every House in Suramar City was lending their support to Ly'leth, save for House Stelleris anyway, which meant they had succeeded in raising Ly'leth to the new council position that had been made available recently, something that told Rainbow these seats were filled rather quickly and took only a day or two to fill, but once the courier disappeared Ly'leth had her attendant, along with Rainbow and Elylia, follow her to the Sanctum of Order so they could witness the ascension process, while Arluin parted ways with them. Apparently he didn't like being in the company of such esteem figures, or something like that based on what Rainbow was seeing, but she paid it no mind as she and the others followed Ly'leth as she lead the way back to the main bridge that connected the main structure of the city, the Nighthold, to the Grand Promenade, meaning that the Sanctum of Order had to be one of the buildings that rested close to the main road, even if they had to make their way through the Duskwatch and several demons to reach the area that was their destination, without fighting them anyway. Sure enough it was easy to see that there were a few nobles that were making their way to the same location, meaning they were interested in seeing what in the world happened when everyone was in attendance, and it wasn't long before everyone made their way up the large set of stairs that would bring them closer to the building that they were going to be gathering in, for the formal ceremony that would grant Ly'leth the position of advisor, though many of the nobles, even those who had sided with House Stelleris in the first place, were a tad bit pleased by what had happened to Coryn, that he was made a fool and paid for his hubris. From everything Rainbow had seen and heard since she started hanging out with Ly'leth, which might be coming to a stop with her ascension, it did look like Coryn was one of the most unliked nobles in the city and everyone was happy to see him knocked down a peg or two, especially since he likely threatened many of them in some manner to try and get their support for the position that had become available, to which she remained silent as she waited for them to see what happened next.

What they discovered was that the Sanctum of Order had a set of stairs that lead to two teleportation devices that took all of them to a lower floor, one that was circular in nature, with a raised section for some reason, and Rainbow was sure that there was a Telemancy beacon nearby, in addition to a hole that seemed to lead to somewhere important, since a couple of guards were protecting it, or patrolling the area, before Ly'leth made her way to the platform in the center of the large chamber and everyone waited for the ceremony to be done. Once the crowd stopped flowing into this area, and the heads of both House Astravar and House Stelleris, the other two major Houses with the others being lesser than them, stood up on the upper balcony, no doubt in the high ranking section of the area, something that was followed by Ly'leth starting to talk as she addressed everyone, as was custom at this point in time, but for the most part Rainbow tuned her out and kept her eyes on those who were in attendance, especially since not a few seconds into the speech the Grand Magistrix herself teleported into the highest point of the upper balcony and focused on Ly'leth. It took every ounce of Rainbow's will not to simply drop the disguise, access her true power, and rush through the air so she could take Elisande's head off, which she knew would bring an end to the rebellion in an instant if she was successful, and if not it would reveal that the rebellion had spies in even the noble houses, so she kept her cool and smiled as Ly'leth spoke, maintaining the illusion that she was her sister and that she was happy for what was happening right now, even if it was clear that Coryn was outraged by what he was seeing at the moment. Rainbow knew that it made sense for Coryn to be upset by Ly'leth taking the position from him, no doubt believing that he deserved it more than anyone else and couldn't believe that everyone had taken to the rumors about his involvement in Ruven's death, and the more he heard of Ly'leth's speech, which seemed to be getting to the ending, the angrier he got, to the point where it looked like he might snap and teleport down onto the platform so he could lash out at the one who was stealing the council position from him.

"...I humbly accept this appointment, as it is an honor beyond words." Ly'leth finished, coming to the end of her speech at last, even if it hadn't been all that long and seemed to only be more of the ceremony that she had talked about, while she also bowed her head and accepted the council position that the other Houses were allowing her to take, some no doubt knowing that she would use it for the betterment of their people, something that seemed to be the final straw for Coryn, hence the reason that Rainbow readied herself for whatever was about to happen next.

"Filthy backstabbing cretin! That title should have been mine!" Coryn declared, his tone and expression revealing to all that he was totally outraged by what was happening at the moment and that he wouldn't stand for it, which was when he took a moment to weave his magic around him and teleported down from where the rest of his entourage had been standing, as he reappeared right in front of Ly'leth and seemed ready to continue speaking to her face, while the guards stood down for a time while Elisande waited to see what happened next, "You impinge upon my honor and besmirch my name with all of these baseless accusations and rumors!"

"Lord Coryn, you have lost your sense of decorum. I have done nothing to damage your image... besides, the rest of the Houses have already come to a decision." Ly'leth replied, doing her best to make it seem like she had honestly done none of the things that her opponent had accused her of, even though she had asked Rainbow to carry out a few jobs to make sure the vote went in her favor, to which she turned for a moment and made it look like she was starting to leave, which told Rainbow that, unless something else happened, the ceremony was over and that the decision was truly set in stone, something that Thalyssra would be pleased with when she heard the news.

"No, I will punish you and reclaim my honor at the same time... for I invoke the ancient rite Tal'ashar!" Coryn stated, where his words reached everyone in the chamber and caused them to pause for a few moments, even though Rainbow took a moment to think about it and recalled some of the sessions Ly'leth had with her, where one was on an ancient rite that, in a sense, was basically the Nightborne version of the Mak'gora, with the loser generally losing their life, and whatever else was at stake, while the winner took everything, even though nobles could name champions to defend both them and their honor, meaning that if Ly'leth accepted it, with no champion, her life was on the line and Coryn might kill her, robbing the rebellion of an ally and Rainbow of someone she had come to see as a friend, even though that was when her eyes locked with Ly'leth for a moment and they both put a light smile on their faces.

"Tal'ashar it is... and I name my sister, Anarys Lunastre, as my champion!" Ly'leth replied in kind, as she knew the sort of power Rainbow possessed and was planning on using it to crush Coryn in battle, even though the rest of the nobles were a tad bit surprised that she would put her faith in her sister, meaning that Anarys was either a spell user or whatever skills she had access to had been hidden from the rest of the nobles and the public, and if that was the case she assumed it was due to Ly'leth protecting her sister, but in the end it didn't matter, as Rainbow as more than willing to do battle with Coryn and put him down, otherwise he would just come back to bother her in the future.

Coryn didn't seem to care about Ly'leth naming someone as her champion, even though it pleased him to know that if he was successful in taking down his foe's champion it would rob Ly'leth of both her new title and her sister, even if the latter would be incorrect, something that was followed by him teleporting out of this area and headed to the upper part of the Sanctum, where Rainbow headed down to where Ly'leth was standing and readied herself for what was going to happen next, something that was followed by her ally weaving a bit of magic into her mask, while to everyone else it looked like it was her blessing her sister for the battle ahead, to strengthen it and grant her a bit of power, even though she knew that Rainbow didn't need the help. Once that was done she teleported them up to the summit of the Sanctum, which just so happened to be a rather flat area that would also serve as a fighting arena, before Rainbow discovered that her form had changed slightly, as she was still wearing Anarys' form, only it looked like her noble attire, or at least the shirt, had been removed and revealed that she happened to be wearing a silver bra, with Nightborne inlay, while she carried two blades that matched what the Duskwatch and the other warriors of the city carried, even though under the illusion she knew that they were her Warblades, meaning she looked like a true warrior, in the sense of the Nightborne anyway. The instant she was done taking in her form Rainbow walked forward for a second and then rushed at Coryn, who carried a single blade and seemed to be using his magic as well, loosing a small burst at her that she just avoided by turning her body to the side for a few seconds and let it hit a wall behind her, with Ly'leth using a barrier to protect herself from harm, before rushing at Coryn and swung at him, cutting into his chest a little as a look of surprise appeared on his face, revealing that he had no idea that Anarys was capable of doing this. What she discovered after a few moments of battle was that Coryn, while believing himself to be able everyone else in the noble Houses, wasn't that good of a spell user or a warrior, as Rainbow was able to dodge his attacks with ease and avoided being blasted by his Arcane spells, the latter striking the pillars that were around them, before she spun around and lashed out at her foe with both of her weapons, delivering a number of diagonal slashes to his chest and dropped Coryn to the ground.

Of course Rainbow hadn't pulled any punches when she engaged her foe, so he was as good as dead and she made sure that Coryn was down for good, otherwise the battle would have gone on until someone died, though the moment she was able to confirm that Ly'leth teleported them back into the Sanctum and informed her that she would be teleporting both her and Elylia back to Vanthir's place, even though Elylia had activated the Telemancy beacon for later, since they had no idea what Thalyssra would ask of her allies in the coming days, and by returning them to the Waning Crescent this gave the pair a chance to leave without being seen by their enemies. Not a few moments later Rainbow and Elylia appeared outside Vanthir's place and found that, in anticipation for her victory over the other Houses, Ly'leth had ordered her attendant to wait for them with a group of lesser attendants, the main one having far more experience than the others, who had a good number of comfort items for Thalyssra and the rest of her forces, meaning they could actually outfit Shal'Aran and make it a true home for those who had been exiled, at least until Elisande was defeated and Gul'dan's plans were smashed into the ground, with the orc warlock paying for his crimes against everyone. Rainbow was more focused on breaking Gul'dan and tearing down all of his plans, including every demon that was inside the city right now, but at the very least this meant everyone would be able to relax a little and patiently wait for either Thalyssra to come up with a new plan of attack or have Farodin discover something wrong with the Arcan'dor, as either of those would have them head out to obtain something to boost their chances of success, but instead of saying anything she beckoned to the group with her head and started to move towards the protected portal that was nearby, which would allow them to return to Shal'Aran. She knew that most of the attendants would be a little bored without Ly'leth being there, given that being an advisor would keep her busy for a time and make it harder for her to visit the estate, and that she was glad to accept them, since it would grant the others a few missing comforts, though once they reached the beacon both she and Elylia made sure the Duskwatch weren't near their location, of which there were none of them near, before allowing the group to head through the portal and headed through once they were the last ones left.

When she reappeared on the other side, however, Rainbow found that something had changed in Shal'Aran, which was the that that the Arcan'dor had grown even larger and it was in the middle of producing a storm of Arcane energy that did no damage to all of the stones that were around the ruins, with Thalyssra and Farodin standing away from it, Valtrois was down in the lower chamber, most of the exiles were near the walls to get away from all of this, and Spitfire was used that stone she found in an attempt to stop whatever was going on, causing Rainbow to sigh as she walked over to Farodin, as she had the feeling that something bad had happened since she was last in this place and that something needed to be done before the Arcan'dor exploded.