LIGHTNOVELONLINE Visiting the Harborage
5/11 late morning.
Along the way, I directed my forces. Darcell was directed to go to Stormwind via Auffrey, then try to finish the minor quest at the stockades there. I wasn’t too picky about what she stole, just that she get enough to finish the quest and then bug out. Preferably without wearing her own face. I got some exciting news from Abby and Eliza via the notes page: Stitches was completed. Which meant that I needed to figure out what exactly to do with them; they didn’t need to work on him constantly if he was done.
“For now? Eliza. Give him your amulet. I’ll disguise him as an ogre and you three can go out and gather herbs for potions. Abbie, can you keep an orc warrior trapped in one of those cages in your basement? If so, do so and get a necklace around their neck. Keep her alive; she will be training Eliza once she is in the right mindset.” There. They were handled for a few days. I couldn’t contact them again without flying out there until Stitches was captured, but that was probably fine.
I went through the currently-in-progress captures, considering my options. Zelena seemed to be getting closer to capture. I gave her a dose of arousal any time she imagined serving me, or anyone like me. It was never clear to me if the necklace would implant entirely new ideas or if it could only reinforce them. Either way, fantasies of some sexy anonymous demonologist plaguing her mind probably wouldn’t get her into trouble and might accelerate her capture.
Stitches popped in at an easy 72 hours; sweet guy, really. Just wants to play. Totally innocent and unaware of morality or the real effects of hitting people with a giant cleaver. I gave him a sense of shame for the idea of playing with someone without being attacked or directed to fight by a fellow member of the retinue. Hopefully that would prevent giant blood orgies; at least ones I didn’t intend to happen. I also disguised him as an ogre; I really hoped he looked like one big ogre instead of an abomination, but made up of ogres.
Ursula Deline was unknown to me, but from her location she seemed likely to be wearing Drusilla’s amulet. To that end, I gave her a trigger of pleasure for catering to Drusilla’s wants and needs, and a classic memory restriction on examining the amulet more closely.
Nadira Ragewind, unsurprisingly, had the full seven days worth of work to get through. I casually gave her a reaction of shame paired with any thoughts rejecting my authority.
We touched down near the Harborage, a small fortified village, and I summoned my ghosts. I let Lividia teleport away; more accurately I asked her to become a draenei and she didn’t want to, so I told her to occupy herself. The overall defenses were about on par with what the Night Watch had set up at the crossroads, but compared to the small reed huts I’d seen so far, it was a fortress.
The Draenei were wary at first, but when they saw that I was an uncorrupted member of their species, they shouted with excitement and I’m pretty sure the whole damn town came out to see. “Draenei! There are unbroken draenei here!” They seemed excited and happy, like they had just seen an old school friend in an unexpected place.
These ones seemed to be in much better shape than the lads I’d met up to now. Most were a bit more than 5 feet tall, some might have been almost 6 foot with better posture. More importantly there was a spark in their eyes that the uncaptured lost ones lacked; they were wearing simple patchwork clothes made from old fabric and leather, but that was still a lot better than the loincloths and crude ponchos I’d found Talaada’s family wearing.
“Welcome, brother!” A man with a staff moved forward to speak with me, beaming at the opportunity. “I am Magtoor, the leader of this small band. We have not seen our kin in a long time. I will warn you, be wary of the lost ones. Many have become violent as of late. Today however, we will give you what hospitality we can. I have many questions!”
I followed him to a large hut draped in skins. The inside was a surprisingly dry and cool; the skins were doing their jobs. Magtoor made a few preparations, including magically freezing several barrels of water as a kind of rudimentary air conditioning. We sat around a large table, and he offered me some kind of tea. I didn’t like it very much, but I’d never been much of a tea drinker anyway. I sipped politely while we spoke.
When the drinks were placed in front of Lillibeth and Mary, Mary took it gingerly and sipped with a focused expression, but Lillibeth could only look at it sadly. “I am sorry, Magtoor, but my friend here is not able to do partake. Both of my companions are in fact spirits with only their faith and connection to me allowing them to persist.”
That seemed to throw Magtoor off for a moment. He paused before responding. “I see. Is it perhaps like the orc spirits that were drawn to K’ure?” He was suspicious. Time to head that off.
“Yes. In truth I am not a Draenei; I am a vessel of the light however. I came here to try to heal your people. I have had some small success with a few of the broken, and they told me of you.”
“Heal the broken? How? We are cut off from the light. It rejects us.”
“No; it doesn’t. The light rejects no one who does not reject it in turn. It simply cannot reach you as easily, not with your body corrupted. This world does not have any Naaru, nor are their teachings the sole path to the light. I hope to reestablish your link by connecting with your people through bonds of love and compassion. It is the strongest power I know of, the greatest source of healing.” I took his hand, trying my very hardest to sound as genuine as possible.
He looked at me, distinctly troubled. What I was saying was most likely heresy of some kind, and I had a creeping suspicion that these broken had held onto their faith in order to maintain their sanity. Might not be the easy marks I was hoping for. That was fine of course, unless they went Scarlet Crusade on my ass.
“I will need to meet these success stories you spoke of. It sounds wonderful, if true.”
We had a somewhat awkward but reasonably tasty meal of mushrooms and fish. I asked him about his people, and if there was anything I could do to assist him. He explained that the lost ones had stolen a number of valuable crystals, which he’d appreciate getting back since I was going among them. Given that those very crystals had apparently been weaponized against my ghosts, I was only too happy to agree. Keryn and Darcell could start on that tomorrow.
I decided, given his clear suspicion and interest in magical crystals, to not give him a necklace yet. I had enough other uses for them that I could pick my battles. Instead, I offered to show him the process of healing. He deflected, preferring to see the results before risking his people.
“As you wish. I have much work to do, however. My new disciples are progressing quickly and will soon require additional guidance. The burdens of leadership, I’m sure you understand. Even if you do not take my offer, I hope we can be good neighbors.”
“That is a wish I can heartily share, Bismark. One thing; be wary of the lake to the east. Many dragons live there. My scouts believe they are guarding the temple in its center. Also, to the south there is an encampment of orcs. They are not so bad as the old Horde; we trade with them sometimes, for cloth mostly. I’d suggest introducing yourself so they do not mistake you for an enemy.”
“I will heed your council. I have no desire for conflict.” Well. No desire for unprofitable conflict. Unless my recollection is entirely off, that temple will probably contain the regional target for this swamp, so I’ll be either sneaking in or storming it eventually. Assuming I get offered something worth the trouble by The Company, of course.
On a slightly more immediate note, green dragons, the ones I knew to be in the area, get along well with druids when they aren’t completely insane. If I capture one, I’ll be able to masquerade as a green dragon whenever I get around to subverting the Cenarian Circle. If I’m really lucky I might even be able to have a different visage for every type of dragon.
Laden with ideas and with not near enough time to act on everything I’d like to do, I left the Harborage with my companions, who I dispatched to seek out Lost Draenei. This time they would work together until Mary found a target and then Lillibeth would see if she could find another. Lilli just seemed better at that part of the job.
Right now though? Right now I was going to go and start planning out my ritual. I want a necklace around Onyxia’s neck tomorrow at the latest, and I had one to spare. I was headed to Redridge.