Pearlhunt in Blackfathom Deeps

[Mantigora]

Now that we have found one Murloc, others should be not far away.
But were we ready for a real fight?
Only Wilani had said anything, so far.

I dared to bring it up: "Guys," I said, "I really feel not so great."
"You handled those pests, quite decently" replied the Rogue.
"Thanks. But that is not what I mean. Ever since this Oracle killed me, I have been feeling strange and I thought I had got rid of it, but it only seems to get worse. Right now it feels like some oppressive force on my mind.
Don't you guys not feel anything?"

"Perhaps you did not sleep very well" said Wilani, stifling a yawn. "I have been feeling a bit tired myself, too."
"Will there be any more of these tiny crabs?" asked Gregory.
"I don't know what you are talking about, Lady" said the Rogue. "But if you want to find any Pearls, we better go on."
"Soon your question might be answered." said Dawnstrider.

Those replies! None of them was answering my question. Oh well.
"That reminds me," said the Rogue, "back there, I picked up this thing. It doesn't look all that great to me, but perhaps you can use it. The Priest got one already, so I guess you can have this one, here." And he handed me the Staff that the Naga Oracle had been carrying.

It was stronger and more roughly made than my own Staff, but it had a quality to it that enabled casting quite a bit. That made it definitely better than the one I currently had.
"Wow! thanks!" I said "Yes, this is going to be a big help!"
"Great!" he said, "then we can finally go on."




Nobody wanted to search the dead Murloc, so we went on.
It was not long after, till we found another Murloc. I froze it to the spot, so it could not run away and then we quickly killed it. It had a pearl! Only a small pearl, but I thought it was a good sign.
In the same way, we were able to catch four more Murlocs that rewarded us with two more pearls and one of those was an Iridescent one!
That went to Wilani.

But where was the water? This long winding corridor had still no caves on the sides and neither any water.
So it was no real surprise to come to a small lake with Murlocs splashing about on the shore.
What was a surprise, were the ruins that only just reached out of the water.
These were similar to the ruins at the beach at the Zoram Strand, but never had I heard of any ruins under the ground.

None of us had been here before. How did we manage to get in a place like this?
"We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere." I said.
"What should we do now? Go back?"






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

We decided to first get all the Murlocs that were in easy reach from the shore and then to have a closer look at this strange building, so nearly sunken away.

All these Murlocs left us with two more Iridescent Pearls, of which Gregory and I were the lucky recipients.
Now I had two! Enough to finish my boots that were waiting at home.

Home! It seemed ages ago. I, for one, would be fine just to make a Portal and be out of here.
But to be fair, the Rogue was still one Pearl behind and it was clear that he had an interest in these submerged ruins.





With all the Murlocs dead, the shore was safe now and we sat down.
It was a gloomy place here; the walls and the ceiling were too far to reflect any of the light of the Fiery Orb on my new Staff and the black water was also looking uninviting.

"A fire would be nice." I said. "Do you have any wood left, Gregory?"
"Only a little." He said. "It would be better if we could find something else to burn."
And he went scrounging along the waterline, to see what he could find.

"I like to inspect these ruins." said the Rogue. "And I prefer to go alone, so I can just Vanish if I happen to find anything dangerous."
How can you hope to see anything in this darkness, I wanted to say, but someone who was sneaking around in the dark all the time would probably have his ways.

"I will help Greg" said Wilani, and went along the shore in the opposite direction.
Dawnstrider said nothing. He seemed to be far away in deep thoughts.
And I was holding my Staff, like a beacon, in this small bright circle of light, in the middle of the great darkness.






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

And the darkness seemed to weigh upon my mind.
It was almost as when that Gloom-Orb had been stuck in my hair.
OK, not that bad, but somehow similar. I longed to get rid of it.
Was I the only one to feel this?



Shouting brought an abrupt end to my thoughts.
It was Gregory!
"It's after me!" we heard him shout and we got up quickly.





You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Xantros]

Omg... the views... they're... it's...!!!

[Mantigora]

Heheheh. Are you sure you don't have the scouter up-side down?

Yes, quite a milestone.
Thanks to everyone who has been reading.

[Mantigora]

He came running towards us, shouting: "I managed to scare it away, but it came back and now it's after me!"
What was after him?!
It turned out to be only a Murloc and the three of us managed to kill it without much troubles.
"So, instead of you finding something, something found you!" I said with a smile.
"When you are alone, it is not so much fun", he replied indignantly.

[Gregory scares away a Murloc!]

"I found something too." It was Wilani.
"Look at this thing! It is enormous!" And she held up a Giant Clam shell.
"Now I understand where these Murlocs get those big Pearls from."
"Yes, and think of all the Clam-meat that is in such a thing!" said Gregory.
"It would be great to find a few of these. Too bad it is so dark, there in the water."

"Are you afraid of the dark now?" said Wilani.
"Well, who knows what might be in there.", he replied. "Perhaps more of these tiny crabs!"
"You have more chance finding them on the shore, than in the water, Greg! You can count yourself lucky that you were found by that Murloc and not by those crabs!" I said with a laugh, teasing him a bit more. But I felt a bit sorry for him too. It was his first time here, after all.
"You should just stay with us and not walk off into the dark alone, OK?" I said with a smile.


Unfortunately we had not found any wood to burn, so that meant no fire.
"So, what are we standing around for?" said Wilani, "There is nothing for us here."
"Do you know where to go then?" I asked.
"Over there, I saw a bit of a cliff, if we could get up there, we could go on. There is hardly any water in between."

That sounded like a good idea.
"What about the Rogue?" asked Gregory. "Should we not wait for him?"
"He had not told us to wait" I said, "and he is a Rogue, he can find us.
What do you think?" I asked the Shaman.

He seemed to surface from great depths and said: "Perhaps it does not make a difference.
Therefore I will remain here, and wait for the Rogue."
And so, the three of us went off in the direction that Wilani had seen.



But when we got closer to the cliff, it was just a bit higher than we had hoped.
And the water in front of it was too deep to stand, so we tried to make Gregory climb on our joined arms, while we were trying to keep our heads above water.

After several attempts, we gave up.
Tired and wet we came back to where the Shaman was still sitting.
We too sat down, waiting for the Rogue to show up.




You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

….
"So in the end, we decided that it was not worth the troubles, to try to get up that ledge after-all and I made a Portal to Orgrimmar.
I even went all the way to the Undercity, with Gregory and learned a few things from Tailoring, that I could make good use of.

In later years, we tried to go find that long tunnel again, that had lead us to that strange part of the Deeps, where those sunken ruins were, to show others that they were really there, but we never were able to find it again.

Anyway, Wilani and me, we ended up here, in Shadowprey Village, along the shore, much further south.
It is a nice enough place and close to the shore it is not so hot.

She is Hae'Wilani now. She ran into this Shadowprey Guardian and decided to stay here and I somehow stuck around.
Sadly, it was short-lived; he died a few years ago, when he was out on patrol.

At one time, when she was really short on gold, she had to sell one of her Dwarven-Axes which made her a good deal of gold and now she is an Axe-crafter and trader.


And I am still Lah'Mawhani and I sell Trade Supplies.
I have some contacts in the Undercity that send me goods that sell pretty well here, so I am not complaining.
It is a good enough business and I'm just next to Mai'Lahii's Fishing Supply, so you can understand that there is no shortage of fish here.

Yes, I definitely got hooked, as they say here. That Gregory, he had no idea what he unleashed, when he handed me that cooked Sagefish. "It is good for the brain, they say."


Yeah, about that, I finished my studies after some time, when I got into trade. Well, not really finished, I somehow just stopped with it. Too much danger in being a Mage.
Yeah, when you really get to the highest levels, then it is really tremendous, but ah, things went differently. I can still do some Spells, of-course, but it is hardly ever needed. Even for a fire, I only have to walk a few yards, since the beacons over there are always lit.
So yeah, that is about it, I guess.


What about the others? Hmm, from my contacts in the Undercity, I hear that Gregory is doing OK. He still cooks, but he seems to try to make his fortune with Enchanting.
It is a volatile business, I hear, sometimes you can make lots of gold, but losing a lot is also very possible.
Dawnstrider has visited us once, here in Shadowprey. He seems to know our Innkeeper, she is a Tauren too.
And the Rogue, well, he went off to inform his people and we never saw or heard from him again, though I have to say we hardly ever go to Orgrimmar, so that is just as much our fault, I guess.

Oh, there is a customer.
Now, if you excuse me, it was nice talking to you."

[Mawhani waves goodbye]

You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Sinrek]

Awesomely integrated story!

[Mantigora]

Have a look at Gregory's parents, in the UC. :-)

[Sinrek]

Hence the "integrated" part.

[Mantigora]

...
"Wait! What do you want from me!?
Let go of me!!
.
Let me go!
.
Let me go!!"
.
"Hani!"
.
"Hani!!, Wake up!"
Wilani was pulling on my arm, trying to wake me up.
I had fallen asleep. In this darkness, it was pretty easy.

Oh! What a dream was that! Phew! And it looked all so real!!
I hope I am really awake now.

It was not the first time I had been thinking that.
What is going on here? In this dark place.





You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

There was a splashing sound and startled we looked at the dark water: something big and dark was emerging!
It was the Rogue.
He looked tired and weary.
"You guys have no fire?!" He said, as he plumped down next to the Shaman.
"We could not find any wood," said the Priest "and I have only a little left."

"Might as well use that then, since this looks to be the end of the line. I have been searching these ruins and by the size of the clams that grow here, it is clear that no-one has been here for a very long time. Just look at this pearl I found!" And he held up a beautiful big Iridescent Pearl.
"Now we are even." He said with a tired smile.

"At least let us go back a bit and not sit so close to this dark water." said Gregory
"Yes! Let's go do something!" said Wilani. "I am tired of waiting around at this good for nothing black pool.
Why did you not bring the clam meat too? Then at least we had something to cook.
I have not even had a decent breakfast since we got up.
How do you expect me to do any serious tanking on an empty stomach?!"

"Yes," I said, "you have been rushing us to get up and go, go, go and now you tell us that it's the end of the line?"
"Ho, ho, ho! Ladies, now it's all suddenly my fault? You got your pearls, alright. Didn't you?
And he was able to do his job for the Earthmother, right?
So how can it be my fault that we ended up here?"

"Can we please go away from the water, at-least?" said Gregory. "I don't feel happy to sit around here."
"A fire will raise our spirits" said the Shaman, getting up. "We can make it over there."


We went back a bit, inside the tunnel, somewhat more sheltered than in that black void.
Gregory put down the last of the wood and I contributed the Fiery Orb, so that together with my magic, it would last as long as possible.
There we sat down to hold our Counsel of War.

[Counsel of war]

You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

The glow of the fire did indeed raise our Spirit and I said: "I am sorry that I got so irritated, I told you guys that I have not been feeling so great. It is as if something is trying to squish my mind.
But at least tell us why you have been rushing us all the time."

"I would feel much better if I had something decent to eat." said Wilani. "Sorry dear, but your conjured food is just not doing it for me now."
"I still have some Cooked Sagefish that I made earlier." said Gregory. "They're cold, of-course, but you can warm it at the fire." And he dug in his bags.
"Anyone else?" Even the Rogue accepted one.
And silently we were eating, each of us in our own thoughts.


You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

It was the Rogue who spoke first:
"I will level with you guys, as much as I can.
I have told you that I did not come here to find Pearls but to find something out. And it seems I have found more than I can chew. Therefore I suggest that we be happy with what we have accomplished and make a Portal to Orgrimmar and go our merry ways.

"What did you find out?" asked Gregory.
"Who says we can not chew that!?" said Wilani.
"You say level with us? You still did not tell us why you have been rushing us!" I said.

"I really wish that you guys would not ask these things." he said, looking uncomfortable.
"If you plan on getting a Portal back to Org, you better start explaining." I said.
"The Earthmother has put me on this path, therefore it can not be wrong." said Dawnstrider.

"You guys don't understand, he said, getting a bit desperate, this is much bigger than any of us."
"You can put your trust in the Earthmother" said the Tauren.
"At least tell us why you have been rushing us." I insisted.
"Lady, then I might just as-well tell you everything!" he exclaimed in agony.

"What can be so bad that it has you sweating like a boar on a spit!?" said the Warrior.
"Come on! Out with it! Then we can still decide what to do."
"We should just go back to Orgrimmar!" he tried with his last effort.
"We can decide that once you are done explaining." said Wilani firmly.

"OK then," he sighed. "I have come here to find out what is wrong with this place.
There might be some kind of bad influence here. That's why I have been rushing you all, in order to not stay here any longer than needed. I did not know what to expect or what to look for, but it seems to be something that affects the mind. Since she is trained to use it all the time," here he pointed at me, "she notices it more, apparently.
If I could find out the cause, that would be a great success."

Thank the Spirits! I thought. I have not been imagining things!




You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

The Rogue continued.
"It turns out we are not the only ones with an interest in this place. Over there, beyond that ledge, there is a much bigger lake. There I found an agent from a global organization. He is in very bad shape and I could only make out a few words of what he said because my Elvish is not that great."

“Elvish!?” we all said.

Now everyone spoke at the same time:
"How did you get on that ledge?"
"Did you finish him off?"
"What did he say?"

"Yes, he is a Night Elf.
If you manage to get on top of the ruins, you can just make it onto the ledge.
No, he is protected by powerful magic, way out of our league and besides, this organization is global, there are Orcs in there too, they work for the same goal. We should not kill him, even if we could.
The only things I know he said were "Danger" and "Go back".

Do you now see how this is so much bigger than any of us?" He said hopeful.
"Anyway, he lies there on a big island in the middle of the lake where he managed to make the turtles guard him since the whole of the lake is full of Naga.
I had to Stealth all the time!"

"If he is badly injured, he should be saved." said the Shaman.
"I doubt if we can be of any help to him, his own magic is of much higher level than ours. The best we can do for him is to notify his organization once we are back in Orgrimmar."
"You keep talking of going back to Orgrimmar." I said. "So far I have not heard anything specific that is so dangerous and I too would very much like to know what is causing this seriously annoying attack on my mind!"

"And I really want to see how you got up on that ledge" said Wilani. "We put in a lot of effort trying to get up there! Then at least we can be gone from this useless place."
"Yes! Somewhere away from this dark water would be great." said the Priest.
"Perhaps we can be of some use to him. It is my feeling that we should go have a look." said the Shaman.
"OK then." said the Rogue defeated. "But don't say I didn't warn you while you still had the chance of going back unharmed!"

"Get ready guys!" I said. "The fire is finished."
And I took the Fiery Orb to put it back on my Staff.
"I was born ready!" said Wilani.
"If you would follow me, please." said the Rogue and he went along the shore, to where Greg had been found by the Murloc.






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

The time at the Fire had given a boost to everyone's Spirit. They all looked more lively.
Even the Rogue had regained his composure and didn't look so tired as before.
We should have a Fire more often, I thought. So, you keep an eye out for some wood, I made a mental note to myself.

A part of me was full of amazement: from where came this determination? All the time I had been griping about everything, only looking for an excuse to make a quick portal home and now I was the first one to get up to go on! I might not like it when someone told me what I should or should not do, but that could not be all of it.

This strange dream came back to my mind. It had been so real! Was I running away from such a quiet existence?
If that wasn't what I wanted, then what?
The powerful vision that I had earlier came to my mind: me destroying everything, like a burning volcano.
No! Surely not that! Something in the middle would be better, yes.

The Rogue's voice brought me back to the present moment:
"Here we have to swim a little, so we can get over on that side." And he pointed across the dark water.
Again, into the water, I thought. But it could not be helped.





You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

The shore sloped up there, getting close to the top of the ruins.
Aha! So that was the way he got up there!
A gap separated the ruin from the shore; a running jump and we all managed to get on top of it.
Save for the Priest. Greg had fallen into the water and had to climb onto the shore to try once more.
This time he jumped too early and fell short and in the water again. Somehow he had no feeling at all of how or when to jump and he failed once again.
"I can not do this!" he exclaimed. "And I don't want to get into this terrible black water ever again!!"

I went back and said: Let's jump together Gregory! Come on: One, two three, jump!"
It worked and we advanced to the next part where we had to jump again. One, two, three, jump!
OK! Only two more jumps until we would get onto the ledge.
The others had already reached the last bit and were waiting for us to arrive.

One, two, three, Jump! But he jumped too late again and missed. Now he had to swim all the way back.
Climbing onto the shore he shouted: "I'm NOT going to do it!! I will just walk to where you guys are!" And I saw the little green light of his Wand move along the cave walls towards us.
How was he supposed to get up on the ledge?

Meanwhile, the ones in front had got noticed by some Murlocs and had to jump onto the ledge in order to fight them. I did not want to lose track of Gregory, but I had to help with the fight too. And by the time the Murlocs were dead, I could see his little green dot no longer.
"Guys!" I shouted, but there were already more Murlocs incoming, aided this time, by well armored shellfish.

Those new adversaries proved to be very tough and the fight lasted quite a while.
The Shaman was not equipped to heal for so long and was already Out Of Mana and all that time the Warrior was not healed. Even though these last few crustaceans did not hit very hard, her Health started to get critical.
But then, as if out of nowhere, Heals were arriving!
Where did those come from?!

Finally, the last shellfish was slain and it was safe to advance once more.
And there we saw the Priest! Sitting up high, on a bit of rock.
"How did YOU get up there!?" I exclaimed.
"I did not dare to jump down," he said "I was not sure if I could climb back up, if I had to. From the other side, it is not so steep."
A happy stroke of luck; now we did not have to go back to find him.

The big cave came into view.
The ceiling was much lower and it was a lot wider, with an island in the middle, like the Rogue had said.
A good moment to check if everyone was ready for the next encounter.







You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

“This whole pool has Naga everywhere!" said the Rogue.
"So far, I have only seen Witches and Warriors, but there could be Healers too.
They will definitely see us, as soon as we get out into the open. The best we can do is to get on the Island as quick as possible. The longer we stay in the water, the more Naga will come to fight us.

We don't have to swim; there is a shallow stretch of water, that we can wade through, but it will still take time.
I think it is best if I go first, to draw their attention, then the Cloth-wearers and the Warrior should be last, so she can keep any of their Warriors from attacking the Clothies.

There is no need to kill them, just make sure we get past the turtles safely. They don't seem to go near the turtles at all, so we can use that to our advantage."
"Any questions?" He asked.

There was silence from everyone and I looked at the circle of turtles in the distance. That agent must surely be a Druid, that he could engage those animals in guarding him. And of high level too.
"If everyone is ready, then let's run there quickly" said the Rogue again.

We exited the tunnel and running towards the water, a warmth enveloped us.
This wide cave was not so cold as these tunnels had been.
Following the Rogue in file, we waded through the shallow water.
This alerted Naga Warriors on both sides of us.

They quickly swam towards us as we kept going.
Wilani behind us bashed her Shield, to get their attention.
I did not look back, to not waste any time.

The Rogue was already back onto the shore and told us to get behind the turtles.
Wilani was holding three Warriors at bay, whilst backing up towards the shore.
But getting closer to the turtles, they let off and swam quickly away and we were all safe behind the turtle-guard.

You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

My gaze was immediately drawn towards the Night Elf due to the enormous power that was emanating from him. Renewing Life-force was all around him, so much so that even moss had began to grow where he lay.
It was as if he was resting on a bed of moss.
There was no doubt about it: this was a Druid!

We Trolls had no druids, but I had seen Tauren that were druids. They were really weird; they could cast and heal, like a Priest, but the next moment they could change into a terrifying bear or a ferocious big cat that could tear someone to shreds.
Anything that had to do with living things was their realm.
A Druid in a place sprawling with life was nearly impossible to kill.

But for this Elf death was clearly a lot closer: a Naga spear straight through his back had him pinned to the ground. It was obvious how he had been unable to get himself free. And what were we supposed to do? This Spear, so full of barbs, would need the skill of a Blacksmith to do anything to it. It must have been the only way, for the Naga, to eliminate him.
I wondered how many of them he had slain, before they had been able to take him out like this.
But there were no dead Naga around him, they had taken their fallen when they left.

Somehow he was smaller that I had imagined, but his power was unmistakable.
I had seen Night Elves before, but only from far, far away, when they would ride through the Barrens on their enormous cats. To come close to just one of them would mean certain death and a small patrol, like they used to have, could perhaps take on a small army.
Of-course, those were their Elite Scouts, they would not send anyone less, so far into the Barrens, but still.



The Shaman was sitting next to him and that made him look even smaller, but somehow his great power would make even the big Tauren look small. In what way could we be of any help?
This guy was far beyond our capabilities, whether to kill or to heal.


"You're a good turtle", said Wilani, patting the giant shell. "Those nasty Naga’s really don't want to come near you. You should come with us, don't you think? That would be so much easier, now, wouldn't it?"
But the turtle did not leave it's post and made no sound.

You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

"Can you do anything for him?" asked the Rogue.
"I carry some life-giving Herb with me, but his Spirit is far away" gave the Shaman as reply. "He escaped into a Dream. It will not be of any use, unless he returns to his Body.
Even if I dared, I can not go there.
It is not a pleasant Dream." He concluded.

"But we can both Heal!" said the Priest. Together we can save him, right?"
"Gregory," said Wilani, "your biggest Heal would not even show up against this Renew that he has going on. We are wasting our time here, he can lie there for ages and we can't do anything about it.
Who knows how long he has been lying here, already?"

"But there has to be something that we can do?" said Gregory again.
"I took the Documents that he carried, I will bring those to their Headquarters in Orgrimmar." said the Rogue.
"Night Elves used to be Immortal," said the Shaman, "therefore they are not used to Dying.
He is so afraid of Dying that he chose to dwell in that Nightmare instead. Even though it must torment him relentlessly. They do not know that they will be taken up in the care of the Earthmother."
"Can you not show him, you know, when you found me?" said Gregory.
"With the Earthmother's help, I might." rumbled the Tauren.

Then he fell silent.
We could only imagine what he was doing, sitting there, motion-less.






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Sinrek]

Timber me shivers!!

[Mantigora]

"Well that's clear then." said Wilani. "Looks like we're again not going anywhere soon.
Knowing this guy here," pointing at the Shaman, "he's going to sit there for at least a couple of hours, before anything happens. Might as-well get some shut-eye. Didn't have too much sleep, the last time."
And with that she put her shield on the ground and laid her head to rest.
"Too bad we don't have a fire, but it's not cold here, so..."
And she turned over on one side.

I was astounded. How could she even sleep, in the middle of a lake full of Naga?!
I looked over the water; no Naga were seen, but I knew they were there, suppressing their hatred in fear of the turtles. What could have happened that they had become so hateful?
It was a good thing that they never went far from the shore, or there would be no place free from their menace!

You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

Gregory sat down and closely watched the Shaman and the Rogue was sitting, reading the Notes that he had taken from the Night Elf. He felt my gaze and looked up.
I said: "Can you read that?!" wondering, seeing an Orc read.
"The Elvish writing is hard to read," he said "but I can make out the words, the problem is that I don't know much Elvish. But others can and in case I lose these Notes, I will have at least some of it stored here."
And he tapped his head.
I was amazed.

"What does it say?" I asked.
"Ofnir y gallai fod dylanwad Soggoth y slitherer nad yw ei weddillion ymhell i'r Gogledd o'r fan hon." read the Rogue.
"What!?" I exclaimed. "And you can remember words like these?!"
This made learning Mage-Spells look like child's-play.
"Yeah, Lady, not all of us are raging, foaming at the mouth, War-Ax-wielding Berserkers.
Contrary to common belief." he added smugly.

I was at a loss for words. With such a memory, you could hope to start Master-level Mage-craft in less than 2 years!
"It is all a matter of training" he went on. "And dedication."
And with that he went back to his reading.

I was left speechless. It showed that people can be very much different from how you perceive them.
As a Mage, I was used to place great value on Intellect, especially, as Mages desire it above anything else.
I can't help but admit, that it made me look down a little, on those who would go along with less.
And now this guy, having me on the wrong foot again!

I felt more than a little bit irritated; it would have been so much easier if he was just an annoying, back-stabbing Rogue, that would do something stupid because he was bored and then bring the whole group in danger, that could only just be averted by resourcefulness of all the other party-members.
But no! Mr. Rogue sat down and was reading! Not making any troubles at all!
If a Naga would have showed it's ugly head, I would have flung a Bolt at it!

I tried to calm myself down: Icy-Veins! Remember?!
Shut Up! With your Icy-Veins! I am getting totally crazy in here!
This incessant onslaught on my Mind! I can't take it anymore!

I had to do something, it was getting the upper hand.





You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

"Gregory!" I said with a hoarse whisper, "can you cast a Dispel on ME, NOW, please?!"
He shook up and rose quickly to his feet.
"What happened?" he said.

"Dispel Magic, Greg!" I said from between clenched teeth.
Startled, he started to cast. The influence was instantly lessened a great deal.

"Phew! That was close!" I said with a sigh of relief, "Thanks a lot!"
Puzzled, he looked at me, "What happened?" he asked again.
"Don't worry, Gregory, I am OK now", I said with a smile.
"This influence was getting the better of me, but your Dispel has caused it to die down a lot."

The Rogue stood next to me, probably to make sure I was OK, or to cosh me over the head, if I wasn't.
Looking at me, he said: "It is good to know that Dispel can abate this influence, we should have it cast on each of us, just to be sure."
"Oki" said the Priest and got to work. "I will Dispel her when she is awake, I think, and the Shaman when he is ready." he said after he had casted Dispel on himself too.

"I have no need for this yet." said the Shaman, without looking up.
It gave me a bit of a shock, hearing him react; he seemed so far away, when he was sitting there like that, but it showed he heard everything nevertheless.

"Some people just can not be helped" he rumbled, getting up.
"He dwells in this Nightmare and he thinks he is doing fine.
Thinking it to be better than to look at the situation he is in.

Life giving Herb strengthens the Spirit, so it can see clearly.
It does not give Life as such, only the Earthmother can do that.
And it should be clear to him that he needs to move on.
But his fear of dying prevents him from seeing this and the pride in his power made this evasion look like an attractive option.
And now he suffers more in his Nightmare, than he would if he were present here.

How can someone be so great, be so blind at the same time?
Some, who are in a desperate situation, think that death would be a good way of escape, but actively seeking death is not the way of the Earthmother and is very bad.
But he, a Druid, who must know of these things, he is like the opposite, somehow that makes it even worse."
He sounded defeated.

"You mean he cannot be saved?!" said Gregory.
"Saved?" said the Shaman. "There are fates that are worse than Death.
I was going to tell you about it, but this is hardly the right place, or time.
Even-so I will tell you. Things are the way they are.

Every Spirit has its own allotted time, as soon that is over, you can try to resurrect a dead body as much as you want, but the Spirit will not return to it. They will return to the Earthmother.
What will happen then, we do not know, we think She will give them a new Life to live.

In your case, as with all the Forsaken, your Life was cut short by unnatural means, before its allotted time was up and that is why you were able to be re-awakened.
You have a living Spirit, but your body is dead. And it will be like this until the allotted time has finished.
In your case it would only be fair if the Earthmother would give you a new Life." he concluded.

"So at least I can hope!" said the Priest.
"How long do I need to be in this dead body? I guess it can not be known, right?"
"Indeed, it cannot" said the Shaman. "We all know that life is different for everyone.
We think that it is Her wisdom that every Spirit receives a different life.
More lives than one, would make all this much more understandable."


I noticed that he somehow had been able to get out of his gloomy, defeated feeling and looked now more as before, like how I had come to know him.
How had he managed to do that??





You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

I ventured a question: "You said that each Spirit has his own allotted time, so does that not mean that his time is not yet up? Or he could not have stayed here up-until now?"
"You are right." he replied. "The Intellect that you carry makes your Mind sharp. Pointed in the right direction, it could do a lot of good.
It was foolish of me to think that I could save him, just because it is my wish. The Elders would remind me: Just as we Call upon the Elements, we do not command them, similarly, we follow the Way of the Earthmother.

To expect Her to do my bidding is my foolishness.
You see how She works through you this time again?
I am thankful for your question, it gives me much to think about.
If you would excuse me, I have to regain my Peace now."
And with that, he sat down again.


This gave me much to think about too! First and foremost, WHY can HE just go sit down to regain his Peace while > I < have to bottle it up, because the situation does not allow for it?

The cave with the dozens of Murlocs came to mind.
It had felt like a bomb was exploding inside me, and there had been no time for it.
Somehow there was never any time for it.
It made me feel miserable.

"You have time now", said my own voice inside me.
"Yea, but I really don't feel like it" I gave as an answer.
"And where to start? So much has happened... And it will only make me feel worse, if I start thinking about it."

"You are right." I said to myself. (It is always nice to be in agreement with yourself, btw.)
"You are right, so that is not the way to go."
"I know that!" I gave myself as reply.
"Not much help you are, with all your Intellect, is it not?" Scathing words, that I flung towards myself.

How to get out of this situation?
I wished I could ask Gregory for another Dispel Magic, but these were the Demons in my own mind; I had to deal with those myself.






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

What was it that the Shaman had said? Pointed in the right direction, my Intellect could do a lot of good.
"Yea, in the right direction, we only have to find the right direction and everything will be peachy, sure."
"You know, you have a point there," I said to myself. "What was the idea again? To regain his inner peace, was it not?
"Well, I, for one, would be happy if I could even gain peace, for starters, let alone, re-gain." came my voice again.
"You are right again", I told myself


So how to get Peace?
"It would help if we would not fight with each-other", I said to myself.
I saw what I was going to reply, but my inner voice was too smart to fall into that trap.
"You're right" came as an answer.

A reluctant peace was established.












So, how to gain Peace?
Not fighting isn't exactly peace, although it is a start.
When did I feel really peaceful? So much has happened, yea...
Sorrow and sadness, loneliness and fear, despair....
"Yes, I know", I said to myself, "I was there too..."
There was a tear in my eye.

"Come, let's think of something else" I said to myself, and gently led my thoughts away...






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

"You know, when I was dead, there was no fear."
I was not sure which part of me had brought this up, but yes, I remembered, the calmness that I had experienced, no fear or anger was present, a feeling of detachment, perhaps a slight wondering.

I let my mind drift into that direction.





I remembered looking down on my crumpled up and smitten body. How it lie there and me ... where had I been at that time?
Somewhere above it all, somehow.
Detached, yes, quite literally too, but also as a feeling and more peaceful than I had ever been whilst alive.

But dying every time to experience peace, that is just not healthy.
No, it would be nice to feel so peaceful whilst alive.
Is that why they call it Inner Peace? I wondered jokingly.

I never had given it much thought, Peace was something when a war with another tribe had ended, not something to do with me. But making peace with my inner voice was somehow similar, no?

We Trolls were not particularly peaceful, there was always some hostile tribe that had to be dealt with and if that was not the case there would be feuds that had been smoldering for generations, only waiting for a quiet time to be set ablaze once more.
No, fighting was our nature!
Besides that, there were dangerous Ogres, marauding Centaur to take care of and behind every tree in the jungle there could be a stealthy big cat, waiting to pounce on you and lots of other dangerous animals. We always had to be vigilant!
There had been many occasions when the whole Tribe's existence had been in the balance.
"So who needs peace?" demanded my inner voice to know.

"Oh, come on!" I replied to myself "You have to admit that all this would be much easier to deal with if I have not ALSO have to fight an inner fight!"
"Yea, you're right" answered my inner voice, "so it is for the better that we have stopped fighting then, eh?"
That put a smile on my face.
"You know," I told myself, "I think I could get used to getting along with you".






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

I felt pretty good.
I looked around and my eye fell on the Druid again.
But this time I saw not his power, but the sad situation that he was in and the fear he must feel.
He had gotten himself stuck, much more than the how the Spear had him pinned to the ground.

And I felt pity, somehow it did not matter that he was an Elf.
All I saw was someone too afraid to do anything.

It does not matter if you are powerful, when your fear will make your power work against yourself.
I wished I could do something for him, but even the Shaman had said that he could not do anything.
And what could I do? Casting Fire and Frost was not of much use here.

But I could do Sheep! If the Sheep-spell would wear off, he would be back to his fresh and undamaged self again! Just like that crazy Dwarf!

And before I realized it, I shot a Sheep-spell at the Druid.






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

Baaahhh!
The Sheep, still pinned to the Spear and with no more healing spells going on, instantly died.
"Oh NO!" I cried out "I wanted to help him!"

The Sheep was gone and only a few bleached bones were sticking out from the bed of moss. It was as if time had caught up with it, leaving not much behind.


"You are coming with me, Lady!, if we get out of this alive!" exclaimed the Rogue, getting up quickly. "Then you can explain to the counsel how an agent was able to die whilst under my protection! They will have my skin for this!"
"I only wanted to help him" I wailed.

"The Turtles!" he shouted again, "They are leaving!"
He was right, the Turtles, no longer bound to their guard-duty, went straight for the water. Except for one, of which only an empty shell remained.
These Turtles can live to a very great age, so it was likely starvation that had caused its death.

Entering the water, they created a big stir among the Naga that were hiding there.
It looked as if the water was boiling!


The Shaman got up too and looking at the bed of moss, he said: "The Earthmother's way, so different from what I had in mind. I must strive for greater clarity. It seems his meeting Her was long overdue.
And you, you have once again been Her instrument, you are certainly blessed!"
I felt completely torn! One was calling me guilty while the other one called me blessed!
And I only had wanted to help!

Gregory said: "At least now he will know soon if there is a new Life for him from the Earthmother..."
He did not continue.
Somehow he looked very, very, old suddenly. As if all the centuries were showing through.
An ancient being.

I could feel his deep sadness. Much too deep for me!
This was not for me to deal with!
And besides, I had my own Inner Demons, that were trying to tear me apart right now!
Quickly, I looked away.







You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

But the Inner Demons had to wait:
"Get ready to defend yourselves!" shouted the Rogue.
He was right, like so many times before. We were in a dangerous situation: Naga could attack us from all sides!
Already I saw some ugly heads, here and there, appearing out of the water.
"Wilani! wake up!" I shouted.

"Come with me!" shouted the Rogue. "Over there we can get some cover, at that bit of a ruin!"
"Wilani!" I was standing near her, calling her again to get her to wake up.
"Ow!" I heard the Shaman say. He got hit by a frost-bolt; being so big, he was an easy target.
I quickly ducked down besides Wilani, shaking her by the shoulder.
Why would she not wake up?!

"Get to some cover!" I said to the Shaman, casting Frost-Armor on myself.
I could protect myself from some of the magic damage, but not the others.
Looking up, I saw Naga-Warriors advancing and dished-out some Arcane Missiles, which made them vanish under the surface.
But that would be only temporary.

"Wilani! Wake up!!" I called again, getting desperate. Sea-Witches were one thing, but not Naga-Warriors!
For that you had to be a Warrior too.

"There is no time!" murmured Wilani. "It is too late!"
"Wake up! Wilani!" I said again.
"Ooooh!" she groaned, clutching her head. "Oh, what a dream was that!"
"Wilani!" I said, "Naga are coming, we have to get out of here!
Stay low, there are casters on all sides and Warriors too!"

She readied herself in an instant. It is in situations like these that Training asserts itself.
"How many?!" she asked.
"Lots!" I replied. "Over there is some cover.
I will cast on them, as much as I can, but you will have to keep me safe from the melee."
"Lead the way." she said.





You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

I got up and threw some Arcane Missiles around and made a run for it.
"Right behind you." I heard her say. Followed quickly by an "Ow!" and the characteristic sound of an impacting Frost-bolt.
She got hit and could now only walk slowly, being affected by the Frost.
I turned around and focused my attack on the Witches, preventing them from slowing her down even more.

The Warriors were advancing, but I could only spare them an occasional Frost-bolt and Wilani kept those most near busy.
This way we backed-up towards the others who were in a fight of their own.
Them having some cover and two casters were doing quite well, but at the cost of lots of Mana.
Once that would run out, we would be overrun by Warriors from all sides.

"We have to get on the other side of these walls." barked the Rogue. "We get better cover that way."
But on the other side it quickly became clear that our situation was untenable.
We had to get away from this lake!






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

The shore closest to us was opposite from where we had come.
It meant to go in the water again, where the Naga would have the advantage, being so adapted to it.

"Get ready, all of you!" said the Rogue again. "We go in the same manner as how we came, the Warrior in the back." And he started to retreat towards the water.
Once in the water, I send Frost-bolts around, to slow down our attackers, but some fights were unavoidable.
They made our escape take more and more time.
There seemed no end to the supply of Naga.
But finally we got back on dry land and the Warrior and the Rogue were fighting off the last Naga while I made sure no Sea-Witch was able to cast from afar.



Suddenly, the Shaman and the Priest fell over, face-down, on either side of me, daggers sticking in their backs.
I immediately casted an Arcane Explosion and saw two Satyr-Rogues!
"Satyrs incoming!!" I yelled.

The Rogue was quickly at my side and attacked one of the Satyrs while the other one Vanished and escaped.
He could be sneaking-up, ready to Back-stab someone again at any moment! So I casted an Arcane Explosion again, to break his Stealth, but he was not there.

"Hani!!" I heard Wilani shout.
I quickly turned towards her and saw her fighting two Naga-Warriors, who were nearly dead, but so was she!
Immediately I shot Arcane Missiles at them, killing them quickly, only to see Wilani getting hit by a Frost-bolt coming from a far-away Sea-Witch.
"Nooo!" I screamed. "Wilani!!"






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

But there was no time for that, the Rogue was still fighting the one Satyr while the other one could just be anywhere by now.
Quickly, I casted an Arcane Explosion, but it did not hit the Stealth-ed one.
It gave me a moments respite to cast a big Fireball onto the Satyr.
Beng! another Arcane Explosion followed by another Fireball and the Rogue was finally able to kill the Satyr.
Now for that other one!

I casted Flame-strike, to check an area greater than an Arcane Explosion could cover and at the cost of less Mana too.
We had been fighting for a long time and my Mana was nearly finished.
The Rogue was using bandages, since there were no Healers now, in order to get himself in the best possible shape, before taking on the other Satyr-Rogue.

"If you want to be of any help and stay alive, you better use a Mana-potion, if you still can." whispered the Rogue. "We need to ferret him out, or I can't guarantee you won't get Back-stabbed too.
I just don't understand why they chose to attack us. We were five, it doesn't make sense!"


A Mana-potion is something, but not a whole lot, I still had to be very careful on what to spend this precious resource!
Starting from the water's edge, I casted Flame-strike and the Rogue Vanished.





You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

Flame-strike did cover a rather big area and lasted for several seconds.
That time plus the time it would take to sneak-up to me from beyond that reach, I could be sure to be safe from an Ambush. Even so, using the lowest Rank, I could manage perhaps 10 casts in total, before being completely out of Mana and unable to do any kind of Damage.


I remembered what Gregory had said.
Never would I go out without a Wand from now on, if I ever would get the chance to get one, that is.
To be in the Undercity with Greg looked so much better now, than it had before!

But he was dead and the Shaman too! And Wilani! Who was going to ress her now?!
Focus! Another Flame-strike was in order: Fwooomm!






You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

Very slowly, we advanced into the tunnel. At least, I assumed the Rogue was still with me!
I could not expect him to give away his position.

Fwooomm! Another Flame-strike reverberated against the walls of the tunnel.
And another 10 to 15 seconds of relative safety.

Fwooomm! Again 10 yards of tunnel checked and again no Shadow-stalker.
These Satyrs were the worst of them all, being able to hide everywhere.

Fwooomm! I hoped the Rogue was able to keep up with me, but he kept silent still.

The ground sizzled after another cast and still no Satyr was found. I was getting worried, my Mana was nearing its end. This Demon-spawn must be just staying out of reach, every time we advanced a bit.
At least, that is what I would do.

I suppressed the urge to start randomly casting Flame-strikes everywhere. But I could cast one at twice the distance and then another one in between. It was a plan.
After this one then. Fwooomm!

"Get ready, Rogue!" I called. "Where ever you are. It is your time to shine now."
Counting the seconds, I readied myself to cast twice in quick succession.
Fwooomm! Was that him over there?
Fwooomm! We got him! The Satyr was in the middle of the big patch of fire and unable to Stealth again.
Instead he made a run for it, coming towards us!

"Get him!" I screamed.

You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd