“Now, I know you are all upset about the night elves running around killing your kind, but there is a reason for this.”
A group of large cats known to the night elves as nightsabers were sitting among a group of boars. Both species looked outraged as their own fell victim time and again to young night elves starting their adventures. The instructors were often telling them to cut down on the population of nightsabers and boars in their land and the animals were getting sick of it.
One night elf assumed the form of a nightsaber that was slightly larger than the ones in the area and gathered the uniting animals together to explain things to them.
This night elf was a druid named Flutashe Lunarwind.
One of the nightsabers growled at Flutashe. “You are all young and I will explain the best I can to all of you,” Flutashe began. “Our role is to maintain the balance of nature here, and the latest spring rains have caused a slight disturbance in that balance. First, I want you all to know that nobody was at fault here, but the rains have caused a boost in the local vegetation which meant more food for the boars. With more food, the boars increased their reproduction rate. Since the nightsabers prey on the boars, their food supply also boosted as a result and allowed them to increase their numbers.
“This caused a problem because the increased vegetation was not sustainable and would eventually revert to the same levels as before the rains. This would mean that there would be starvation among the boars and would ultimately affect the nightsabers.
“Knowing this, the night elves made the decision to reduce your populations as they believe that a swift death would be a more preferable way than slowly dying of starvation. Ignoring this would mean that the nightsabers would overhunt the boars until they were wiped out and would leave you to attack the night elves who would defend themselves and retaliate. With the boars gone, the night elves would have no choice but to wipe out your population too.”
The nightsabers and boars nodded their heads in understanding. Many night elves who knew Flutashe knew that she possessed a unique gift. Her connection with nature heavily favored the fauna aspect of being a druid while her connection to plants was about average.
It was in Shadowglen, a village in a valley in the northeastern section of Teldrassil, that Flutashe was directed to begin her journey. In her younger years, her gift was discovered by the deities and demigods of nature. Many night elves believed that Flutashe had potential that may one day rival Malfurion Stormrage, the most powerful druid in the world.
Knowing this, Flutashe’s training began with the tutelage of the demigod Cenarius, a being with the upper torso of a night elf and the lower body of a stag. Vines and leaves grew on his body and deer antlers grew from his head. His arms ended in talons of aged wood.
Initially, Flutashe was very shy and reserved. At first, she found Cenarius intimidating but as time went on his gentle nature combined with his fierce determination to protect the forests of Kalimdor inspired her to become more courageous. Through Cenarius, she learned that kindness would sometimes mean doing what must be done, even if it meant putting down maddened or corrupted creatures.
While Flutashe learned many things from the demigod, her training was cut short when a group of orcs invaded Ashenvale forest to harvest the trees. While Cenarius pushed them back for a time, the orcs counterattacked when their demonic energies were rekindled, ending in the demigod’s death.
Soon after that, an army of demons called the Burning Legion invaded their forests. After the final battle against the Legion at the summit of Mount Hyjal, one of the tallest mountains in the world where the great world tree Nordrassil grew, Malfurion found out about Flutashe and picked up where Cenarius left off with her training. She soon found herself being taught alongside a fellow student, a tauren named Hamuul Runetotem, who would go on to spread these teachings to his people.
One day Malfurion had to go into the Emerald Dream, the ethereal realm where all spirits of nature reside and the Green Dragonflight protects. Days passed and he never woke from the Dream. News spread that Malfurion had gone missing in the Dream so a new archdruid had to be appointed until Flutashe’s master was found. In the meantime, Archdruid Fandral Staghelm had been appointed as leader of the Cenarion Circle, an agency of druids that maintained neutrality between the Alliance and the Horde due to incorporating both night elves and tauren into their ranks, and co-leader of Darnassus, the capital city of the night elves, alongside High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind.
Flutashe did consider joining the Cenarion Circle to aid in preserving the lands, but that plan changed one day during her meditation in Ashenvale when she received a surprise visit from none other than the soul of the forest herself, Aessina. The ancient wisp sensed the great destiny that awaited the young druid and set her on a journey that would lead her to that fate.
Her journey began in the humble valley of Shadowglen.
So here she was assisting the locals keeping the balance of nature while keeping aggravated animals from retaliating against those who were keeping their numbers down for their own sakes.
The animals looked at each other and nodded then looked back at Flutashe. Unlike other night elves who all had a connection to nature that slowly waned over the years as a result of Malfurion expending the power of Nordrassil to destroy the demon lord Archimonde, Flutashe had a unique gift for communicating with animals. She could understand them and she could get them to understand her. This was a gift she learned that she had since childhood.
Flutashe was surprised that one of the nightsabers offered the suggestion that a number of them venture out and live among the beasts beyond the valley. It was a risk to their lives since they would be competing against stronger beasts for food and territory, but a fighting chance would be better than waiting for their numbers to be culled every year like a bunch of pigs awaiting slaughter. The nightsaber reassured the boars that he meant no offense to what he said.
“Well, if you’re sure that you want to do this, I’ll let Conservator Ilthalaine know that some of you will be migrating out of the valley to control your population. But what about you, miss boar?” Flutashe asked. The boars were content to remain in the valley. They didn’t have the pride that the nightsabers had so they were perfectly fine with having their numbers reduced by the night elves. One nightsaber offered the suggestion of sharing some of the boars they kill with the night elves so they could have food. This way, the boar population would be under control and the nightsabers could avoid being hunted by the night elves.
“Alright, is everyone fine with this proposal?” the animals nodded. “Alright, I’ll speak with the conservator while you select volunteers to leave the valley.”
Leaving the animals behind, she approached the conservator who had witnessed the meeting and still couldn’t believe what happened. Instead, he shook his head and gave the druid his attention. Flutashe reverted to her night elf form as she approached.
As a night elf, Flutashe had an unusually bright shade of pink hair. Night elf hair colors ranged in shades of purple, blue, green or silver with a skin color in varying shades of purple. Her robes were tan colored and made of a soft leather lined with white fur. Her hair went down to her waist and was decorated with bright green leaves.
“Shaha lor’ma, Flutashe,” Ilthalaine thanked. “You are a true champion to animals everywhere. I could only imagine the tragedy that could have happened without your assistance. But tell me, what brings you here? A druid such as yourself and Shan’do Stormrage’s student no less would have no need of basic training like the young ones here do.”
“Well, truth be told, I was sent here by none other than Aessina herself to begin a journey, but I’m not sure where to go from here,” Flutashe admitted.
“Hmm, perhaps Aessina sensed the imminent problem and sent you to help, but I doubt that that was the only reason you’re here. Teldrassil is a flawed world tree because the Dragon Aspects refused to bless our tree.”
Flutashe nodded, “Right, Shan’do Stormrage said that nature would never bless a tree grown out of arrogance. He warned Fandral that this would happen but he went through with it anyway.”
“I’m sure Lord Staghelm will come up with something. He always has the best interests of our people in mind.”
Flutashe had her doubts about that statement. The fact that Fandral ignored the counsel of his teacher, his Shan’do, and continued to behave disconnected from his people in favor of his research into morrowgrain, showed that the archdruid didn’t have the least bit of concern for his people.
Still, the people held on to hope that Fandral would come around and become the leader the night elves needed. At least High Priestess Tyrande had been able to keep up with the governmental duties on her own.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Flutashe, have you heard any word about your sister?” Ilthalaine asked.
The druid paid attention to the ground for a few silent moments before she answered, “No, there still haven’t been any updates on her whereabouts ever since she followed the wardens who were chasing down The Betrayer. I hope she’s still okay.”
The conservator smiled faintly, “I wouldn’t worry too much about her. I’ve heard the stories about her, she’s one of the most talented fighters to ever graduate from the Sentinels academy.”
Flutashe knew how right he was about that. As twin sisters, both she and her sister entered the academy together. In that time, she often felt that she was in her sister’s shadow because of her breaking many academy records in their time there. Flutashe never stood out and was overall on average with the rest of her peers. This was before her path diverged from her sister and she took up learning the art of druidism from the most prominent figures of nature in night elf society.
Ever since her sister’s disappearance, Flutashe had dedicated all of her efforts in mastering the various forms most druids could shapeshift into. She practiced these forms by sparring with some of the most ferocious forest animals. Her bear form had an exceptionally thick hide that shrugged off sharp claws and teeth. Her cat form was swift and agile with sharp senses, a combination that allowed her to exploit the weaknesses of her opponents. However, her ability to channel moonlight from the goddess Elune was nothing spectacular, even when using the wildkin form, an avian beast who is a cross between a bear and a horned owl, which was more attuned to Elune’s light.
Flutashe shook away the thoughts of her sister for the time being. “Well, thank you for not forgetting her. I need to go back to Darnassus and figure out my next move in dealing with the tree’s corruption.”
“Ande’thoras-ethil, Flutashe,” Ilthalaine wished for her in farewell.
The druid left the valley with the volunteer nightsabers before she parted with them and traveled the road through the lush forest that grew atop the flawed world tree to the night elven city.
Along the way, she was ambushed by a few bear people called furbolgs who had gone mad from the tree’s corruption. Sensing the danger, Flutashe quickly transformed into her bear form. The three spear throwers among the attackers were unable to pierce the druid’s hide in her bear form and used her claws to brutally maim the four unfortunate melee attackers among the ambushers. For a bulky bear, Flutashe was very fast on her paws as she charged toward the spear throwers who were too slow to react before Flutashe ripped out the throat of one furbolg with her teeth and her claws tore deep gashes into the flesh of another. The last ambusher was most unfortunate as he ended up with more gashes on his body than necessary for one to bleed out. Fortunately he died quickly.
Flutashe reverted to her elven form and walked over to a nearby stream to wash off the blood on her hands and around her mouth. She hated committing such acts of brutality against those who didn’t deserve it but with no way to cleanse the tree’s corruption, there was no way to save the poor creatures other than putting them out of their misery.
Once she cleaned up she continued on the road to Darnassus. The rest of the trip went unhindered.
Flutashe crossed the threshold into the bustling city of the night elves where nature coexisted with commerce. The buildings were built of either weathered white stone or of wood generously given by nature. The roofs were painted in dark shades of purple or navy blue. The city was built around a small lake with a small island in the middle that housed a tree that was shaped like a bear. A bank was built into the base of the tree. The northern section held the Cenarion Enclave where the headquarters for the Cenarion Circle was located, as well as where Fandral Staghelm locked himself away to conduct his research into morrowgrain.
She had no idea why he had most of the organization dedicated to obtaining more of the herb nor what properties were so important that he would entrust anyone who visits him to help him get more of the stuff. She made a note to find her own sample of the herb later to study it herself.
To the south, she noted the Temple of the Moon where High Priestess Tyrande resided and ruled the theocracy of Darnassus.
To the west of the island with the bank was a tree that housed a portal that led to Rut’theran Village, which was where she was heading.
Flutashe had decided to take a ferry to Auberdine, a night elf town in the region of Darkshore, and study the corruption afflicting the animals of the region.
Those plans changed with the arrival of a gnome with curly hot pink hair in a white robe that Flutashe had often seen worn on priests. This came to the druid as odd as the last time she heard, the gnomes didn’t practice wielding the Light.
As the gnome emerged from the portal from Rut’theran Village, she looked around and caught sight of the druid. Rushing over faster than her tiny legs should have allowed, she stopped less than a foot from the night elf who was three times her size.
“HeyIneedaguidetohelpmegettosomeplacecalledBlackfathomDeepsmyfriendneedssomethingtherebutshedidn’ttellmewhatitwascanyouhelpme?”
While Flutashe had seen some scary things in her life, a crazed gnome who was speaking so fast that she couldn’t make out a word was giving her a bit of fright. The large smile on the gnome’s face wasn’t helping either.
Flutashe wanted some space from the gnome so she backed up a few feet. Mena was about to close the distance again until she felt a sensation in the back of her neck as if someone had slapped her there.
“Knock it off you brain dead goofball.” Surprise scolded. “We’re not going to get anywhere if you go around violating peoples’ personal space. You also don’t need to be coming across as a lunatic by ranting at a thousand words a minute either.”
Mena’s expression changed to that of a scolded child which surprised Flutashe once more. “Sorry about that,” the gnome apologized. “This is actually my first time being so far from my home in Gnomeregan that I got too excited.”
Flutashe was grateful that the gnome was speaking normally so she could take a deep breath and regain her composure. “Um, it’s alright, I suppose. My name is Flutashe Lunarwind. What brings you to Darnassus?”
“Nice to meet you, my name is Mena Overclock. I came here because I have some business in a place called Blackfathom Deeps. Have you heard of this place?”
“The partially submerged ruins of Lathar’Lazal? I know of them. They lie on the west coast of the Ashenvale region. An army of naga have taken up residence around the ruins and the temple has fallen upon dark times. I heard rumors that a cult has been making sacrificial offerings to something down there.”
“Yeah, that place. Can you please guide me down there? I don’t think I’m strong enough to go down there on my own.”
Flutashe raised an eyebrow in suspicion, “What could you possibly want in that goddess-forsaken place?”
“I’m not sure, a friend of mine wants something that lies at the very back of the place.”
Flutashe could sense that there was something off about the gnome priest. By the fact of her odd behavior alone would be reason not to trust her. For all she knew the gnome might be one of those cultists leading her to Blackfathom and into a trap. Every logical part of her screamed for her to just walk away from the priest and call the Sentinels to arrest her. On the other hand, Flutashe was still unsure why Aessina wanted her to go to Teldrassil as there had to be a better reason than to settle a dispute between some night elves and the local wildlife. Could this gnome be a part of the journey the mother wisp wanted her to take?
Mena stared at the druid pacing around in deep thought but didn’t disturb her.
“You better hope that your antics don’t drive her off, we’ll be up a creek without a paddle if she declines.” Surprise warned her counterpart. “Wouldn’t surprise me if she called the local guards to arrest us.”
In the end, her curiosity won against her better judgment. However, Flutashe wasn’t about to take any chances. She did detect corruption on the gnome and if there was something in Blackfathom that was going to be dangerous and the priest wanted it, she would want to see what it was and destroy it if she could.
The druid cast a spell to wrap vines around the gnome, binding her arms and legs and gagging her to make sure she couldn’t cast spells. The vines then wrapped her into a makeshift cocoon. Flutashe then shapeshifted into a doe and commanded the vines to wrap around her belly.
With the gnome secured on her back, the druid entered the portal to Rut’theran Village and headed to the dock to await the next ferry.
Tirisfal Glades, a region where once was a glorious kingdom known as Lordaeron that stood as a beacon for other kingdoms to rally to during the Second War against the Orcish Horde. At one time, human children raced through the forest without a care as there were always those who ensured the safety of those children. Farms were fertile and the kingdom traded with its fellow human kingdoms along with the dwarves of Ironforge and the elves of Quel’thalas.
Now it was a shadow of what it once was. Darkness consumed the kingdom and the dead rose to keep what was theirs in life. The actions of the Crown Prince of Lordaeron, Arthas Menethil, desecrated the land he once called home. Though the betrayer of humanity had been driven from the lands, the darkness remained.
Once members of the Scourge, the undead of Lordaeron were now free from the will of the Lich King, leader and controller of the undead Scourge. The former citizens of Lordaeron called themselves the Forsaken, claiming the ruins of their capital city as their home in death.
In a small valley in western Tirisfal, was a town with a large cemetery. An unmarked grave was located behind the mausoleum in the back of the town, away from the notice of any forsaken. The rotting body within that grave gained a new inhabitant that day as the soul of a certain mare took possession of it.
Unlike her associates on the other side of the world, Crystal Silicon didn’t need to evict a soul in order to gain a body to use on Azeroth. Of course, this also came with its own problems with the rotting flesh and doing what she could to keep the cadaver held together.
Thankfully she didn’t need any assistance to claw her way out of her grave. In the style of the undead, her hand soon breached the surface and with that arm to spread the hole she made, she managed to pull herself out of her grave.
Once she was all the way out of the grave, she dusted herself off and inspected her new body. Miraculously, the clothes somewhat survived the years of burial. The robes she wore were a tattered mess and felt like cheap linen. It really was a miracle that she wasn’t walking around as a naked corpse.
At any rate, it was time to endear herself to the locals. The first person she saw was an undead caretaker who was momentarily surprised since he didn’t expect anyone would be buried behind the mausoleum and away from the other plots.
“Strange, when we scouted this cemetery we took note of all the plots here,” the caretaker said.
“For whatever reason, my grave was unmarked. There might be more unmarked graves around here,” Crystal noted.
The caretaker groaned, “Great, now we have to dig up the whole area to see if there are any more unmarked graves. Or maybe not. If you promise to keep quiet about the unmarked graves you can take your pick of the quality stuff I found from the undead that couldn’t fight the Scourge’s influence.”
Crystal shrugged, she didn’t really care one way or another about the caretaker wanting to avoid work but she might as well go along with it since it meant free stuff.
After making the promise, the caretaker led her to his stash where she found some better robes and clothes to better cover herself with. She also found a decent staff and a cultist dagger.
“By the way, I never got your name,” the caretaker said.
Crystal had to think quickly to come up with a fake name and stick with it since having her name spread might reach the ears of Sphere. Since the grave was unmarked, she had no clue to the identity of the undead woman she now possessed. So on the fly, she blurted out a name, “Talia Conilis.”
Just like that, the name she would adopt during her time on Azeroth would be Talia Conilis.
“Very well Talia, exit the cemetery and enter the old chapel on the left. Shadow Priest Sarvis should have some work for you to do.”
Right. Work. Menial labor. As a former noble, it once upset her that she would have to take on tasks that she used to leave for servants, but she got over that in the years following the incident atop the Sphere tower. While her days as a noble were behind her, her passion still burned that one day she would take her revenge on Twilight, her errant program Midnight and everyone else who stood in her way that day.
Talia headed out of the cemetery and spoke with the shadow priest who gave her the task of dealing with some of the aimlessly wandering undead north of the village.
The undead used this as an opportunity to test how capable the body was at handling some of her magic. She used some low power dark magic to dismember the undead since they were pretty flimsy. She set some on fire and watched them turn into piles of ash.
Talia soon learned that her body had a very limited wellspring of mana that only allowed her to cast a few spells before becoming exhausted. Thankfully, the local warlock trainer taught her a few new tricks, such as how to convert her own life force into mana. It really hurt to do so but the trainer also taught her how to replenish her life force by stealing it from others. The source of life for an undead was the magic that reanimanted them and by ripping the life out of her victims, she could convert that life energy into magic to sustain herself.
The warlock trainer gave her a brief lesson on summoning demons to be her servants. Of course, as she was still trying to strengthen her body’s reserves, he could only teach her how to summon an imp, the most basic of all demons.
Using the ritual taught to her, Talia soon had an imp bound to her. The demon could tell right away that something was off about her soul, but stopped caring when it sensed the malice within it.
Sarvis soon sent Talia on another mission to deal with some zealous humans wearing red and white armor called the Scarlet Crusade who had made camp nearby. She took great pleasure in turning the campsite into a pile of bloody ashes which pleased her new servant and motivated him to keep up by sending fireballs at the humans.
One crusader dropped some documents when he was decapitated by a dark blade spell. She picked up the documents and delivered them to Executor Arren who was in charge of protecting the town. He then decided to send her and the documents to Brill, a town which acted as the base of operations for the Forsaken in Tirisfal.
Talia’s mood darkened as she made the long trek on foot to Brill. She was still not used to walking long distances. She could only hope to one day find a faster means of transportation in this bothersome world.