Pearlhunt in Blackfathom Deeps

[Mantigora]

Hi, my name is Mantigora,

I have been writing a story for a while and I thought to share it here on the forum.
It is fan-fiction in the WoW-setting, but with some liberties, so things are not always exactly like in-game.
Also, I tried to give some extra information here and there, so that people who do not play WoW, can still enjoy it.

I plan to post here a bit, every week, or sooner if it is only a short bit. We will see.

In order to get into the story, I will put up a few bits to start off.

Any comments, corrections, typo's, bad grammar, praise(?) or curses(?) are welcome.
I also hope that people who are not the regular forum-lurkers will come to read it, so tell your friends!

And lastly, since there will be lot's of other writing in between (presumably), you can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

I hope you will all enjoy it!

Mantigora

[Mantigora]

Pearlhunt in Blackfathom Deeps

As we neared the entrance of Blackfathom Deeps, the Naga, that were a menace here along the shore of Zoram Strand, became even more aggressive and seemed determined to keep us away from that smelly pit. Even though they themselves never went in there. So, a quick run inside freed us from their attacks.
But not from the stench. It was revolting. Every benefit we had from our previous meal vanished instantly and the mere thought of eating would make our stomachs turn.

The heaviness of the stench was attacking our health, as well as our will to live, so in order not to waste away there and then, we hurried down the stairs.
They were slippery from sand and scum, that had been deposited when the water-level had been higher and the walls were covered with dead seaweed that was responsible for most of the overwhelming smell.
Our Priest put a Spell of Renewal on each of us, to counter our declining health, but the Warrior said that it was of no use, because soon we would reach the bottom and were to go into that pool of filth that is down there. There would be enough healing to be done, once we would get out of that, nearly half dead.

It became more and more dark, the deeper we went and at the same time the stairs became more treacherous. We told the Warrior to slow down a little, lest we fall all the rest of the way down. But she kept going and we tried to keep up with her as best as we could.
No-one would like to be caught without a Warrior at your side, in a place like this. Save perhaps for the Shaman. He carried a shield of his own and was looking pretty grim in his Dark Leather gear.

He was bringing up the rear and helped the Priest as good as he could.
The poor Priest! He was struggling to keep up, his bony legs not used to running.
At least he was not bothered by the smell. I think being Undead does that for you.
They say that the whole of the Undercity is filled with green slime that stinks at least as bad.

I looked at my Spirit-level and saw it was still quite a bit in the safe zone, so at least I would be able to cast unimpeded, we should be nearly there anyway - and slammed into that damned Rogue. Why was he standing still in a place like this?! There were no traps here, people had been going down these stairs countless times. Oh, sure! A great time to loot a crystal! What would he need that for?! This guy was going to be more trouble than he was worth, just as I had told them before we went.

We should have taken that Warlock-girl but nooo, she was tooo inexperienced, they said. But at least she had a Void-Walker with her, which could have given us an edge in case the Tank was going to have a hard time. Who ever wants a Rogue in their group?
Well, at least one less Clothie to roll against, I guess.

We neared the Warrior who was standing at the edge of the pool of slime, all that was left of the water that had been in here. For some reason, it was no longer being replenished, as it had been, long ago. Strange, that such a deep pit, so close to the shore, would not fill back up with water.
I took a deep breath - it was agony filling my lungs with that stank - and saw the Priest, being bodily dragged along by the Shaman, come into view. We were about to face the worst bit so far.

The Warrior had already stowed all her metal gear and was looking rather frail and sad.
She would be of little use once we would emerge on the other side. It would all come down to me, to make the fire and the Shaman and the Rogue, to keep the Priest and me alive.

[Mantigora]

"Ready?" I said, looking at the Priest.
He nodded with a big grin. I suppose he can't really do much else, can he?
"You have your daggers still out", I snapped at the Rogue. But he said that OF-COURSE he does not need to stow them since they ALREADY have poison on them.
Sure, whatever, this water is more like acid to anything metal, but who cares?!

"Let us go." said the Shaman, his deep voice resonating between the walls, as he strode into the goo. I quickly followed him.
The others should follow right behind us, if they knew what was good for them.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the Priest get into the wake of the Shaman and then the water level made me close my eyes. It was just a few yards and not even very deep, but it was only by touch and you had to not lose your way. We had explained it to the Priest as well as we could, while we traveled to reach here. It was the best we could do. Everyone, whose first time it was, had to go through this unsettling and nerve-wracking feeling of not knowing where you had to go, while being unable to breathe.

There! My hand grabbed the edge. That welcoming edge! And I dragged myself out of the sludge.
Wiping the goop from my eyes, I saw the Shaman putting down a fire-totem.
Fire! We need to have a fire as soon as possible. I found the bones, the stones should be right in front of it.
But these were not the right bones! Someone must have died here since the last time. Where was the place with the stones?
Frantically, I felt around for the stones, until a flash of the fire-totem made me see them. I had not advanced enough. But there never used to be more bones here! Quickly, I grabbed in my bag for the wood. It was not a good sign that the fire-totem had already found something to shoot at. They would be upon us any moment.

The Warrior was still busy getting on her gear and where was that Priest? He had been right behind the Shaman. No time to think of that now, we need to have a fire! I had put the wood in the circle of stones and started to cast.
The Rogue was emerging, finally! He really had taken his time, didn't he? And why did he get out, all the way over there?! He might attract more Naga, if they would spot him!
Speaking of Naga, there were already two that were attacking the Shaman. He was doing OK keeping the male at bay, but the female was casting some nasty bolts onto him, that were eating up his health way too quickly.
"Get that Naga-Seabitch off of him!" I yelled at the Rogue.

That was too much for my casting and it failed. It failed!
Quickly, I re-casted, a small fire-bolt, it had to do. There was no more time to cast a big one.
It caught, thank the spirits! The fire was burning!
I started to cast onto the Sea-witch.
"Get ready to heal." I told the Shaman. "I will take care of her."

The Rogue was moving towards the Sea-witch. Why?! Could he not see that I was already taking care of her?! She was quite far in the back. In the time needed to reach there he and the Shaman could have finished off the Naga-Warrior.

All in all, we were doing reasonably well, I even had time to lob a quick bolt onto the Naga-Warrior, who was nearly dead. If only the Priest would show up! The Shaman could not be expected to do serious healing, not for long, at least.

[Mantigora]

"Don't worry! I can have him!" I heard the Rogue shout and looked up. Oh-h no! He had ran into another Naga! This one was clearly no match for him and he was dishing out appalling amounts of damage. It should be illegal for someone to be able to do so much damage so easily.

But then it happened! The Naga threw a net onto the Rogue and made a run for it.
He was well out of my reach so I quickly ran towards him, he could not be allowed to escape!
"Find the Priest!" I yelled. "He is getting away!"
The nearly dead Naga made it round the corner and was gone, permanently out of my reach.
That meant that a flood of Naga would soon be upon us.
Oh! What a great start this was.

[Mantigora]

I ran back and saw the Warrior sitting by the fire, trying to get her Spirit back up. She, having to get in that awful pool with no gear, was the most affected by the plunge and also had to put her gear back on without being able to clean it all off. I did not envy her the least. We Trolls are pretty clean, when it comes to it and we don't like to smell.

Unlike the other races! If I had to choose, I would think that the Tauren smelled the least bad. It was strong, but not a bad smell, like the Orcs. They said they had been cured from the blood of Mannoroth, but they never got rid of the stench, it seems.
And Undead, well, they are actually smelling very dead-dead, all be it more faint.
At least the fire was burning fine.

But where was that Undead? He still had not emerged from the water!
"I should go get him, don't you think?" I asked the Tauren.
He nodded, while he was bandaging his arm.
"Are you guys gonna be OK?" I asked again. He nodded again.
I knew what they were going to face and they knew too.
"OK then." I said and ran towards the water.



Getting back out was much easier, but still yech!
Why do we even go here? I thought.
But everyone knew the answer to that.




















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

[Xantros]

First! hehe Also, I love it! :D Keep it up!

[Mantigora]

When I surfaced on the other side, I did not see the Priest.
That was not good. Had he got stuck somewhere, perhaps?
They can stay under water for a very long time, since they do not have to breathe the same as we, but it had been a pretty long time.

I started to cast a fireball into the wall, an old trick: it would light up the whole place like the inside of a Core-Hound.
Whammmm! The impact echoed deafening against the walls. If he could not see the light, he surely must have heard this!
In the decaying glow, I quickly looked around. Was that a leg? It was, but not of our Undead friend. This friend had been dead-dead for quite a while.
That must have been a bunch of pityful noobs, that went in here, leaving someone like that, brr.

Suddenly, there was a bony hand on my shoulder and I let out a little yelp.
"It is only me," he said, "I can't seem to find the other side."
"I knew that", I snapped, "that's why I came back to get you. We must hurry, they have already run into some and more are coming soon. Grab the end of my staff and don't let go and try to feel where I go and to not slow me down, since I can not stay under like you can and I can actually die here!"
I spat it all out in one go.

"Sure, no problem," he said, with his grin, "and if you die, I will make sure to resurrect you."
I did not say anything and took a deep breath. I really did not wanted to die here!
I went under and started to feel my way with one hand, whilst holding my staff in the other hand. This was going much slower, but at least I did not have to drag him along. I could not feel him holding the staff, much, if at all. Had he let go?
Don't think about that, I told myself, you have to get out of here.


My heart was pounding at my temples, as I inched forward, not wanting to lose touch with what I knew was going to lead me out of here. We were nearly halfway and I was getting tired, doing it all with one arm. I kept my breathing-wish under control, further! Soon you can breathe, just a little more.
I reached, trying to find the edge, a bit further then?
I started to see stars in front of my eyes. The edge must be right here, where was it?
I had to come up for air, there must be air here, please let there be air here! I thought.

Gasping, I broke through the surface.
More dead than alive, I dragged my body halfway out of the water.
I felt so sick and miserable, I was ready to throw up.
"Where are they?", said the Priest while he was climbing onto the shore.
I wiped my eyes clean and when I opened them, it was just as black.

"Oh no," I groaned, "the fire is gone. They must all be dead."
"Uh-oh" said the Priest, "it seems there is work to do."
"You don't understand", I said in a raspy voice, "without the fire, our Spirit will be too low to do any serious magic."
"But you can light the fire again, can't you?" asked the Priest with an anxious yelp.
"I don't know where we are," I said, "or where the fire place is and there is little hope to find it in this darkness."
"So what can we do then?!" Shrieked the Priest.



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

[Mantigora]

"You could come over here and toss me a heal, Carebear!" It was the voice of the Rogue, all the way to the left.
"Are you at the campfire?" I yelled back. "And where are the others?"
"Dead.", came the Rogue again.
If I could find my way back to the fireplace, we would have a chance, but getting there, in this blackness, was not very likely.

"We should try to get over there," I told the Priest.
"Oki.", he, said and he rummaged in his bags. "I have this nifty wand", and a timid green glow sprang into life at the end of a thin stick he was holding. It lit a pale green circle on the ground.
This was looking much less impossible, all of a sudden.
"We are coming your way!", I yelled at the Rogue.


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

[Sinrek]

I'd say I like it if not for metagaming. Otherwise - good.

[Mantigora]

We still had to move carefully, staying clear from pits, of who knew how deep, and treacherous rocks hanging from the ceiling, but we got at the fireplace without too much troubles.
I saw the circle of stones and it was as I had expected: all the wood was gone. The Naga must have kicked it away in their hurry to put out the fire.
"Can I borrow your wand for a while?" I asked the Priest, "So I can find the missing wood?"
"Sorry," he said, "I can not give it, it is bound to me. But, I can cook and therefore I also can make a fire." Again that toothy grin.

An Undead that can cook? I thought. Who ever heard of that!? They were rumored to eat their fallen victims!
But he was already busy stacking wood in a nice little pile and went on to hit with a stone against something. What was he doing? Was he going to make fire with stone??
But then it struck me: this was ancient! That stone must be a Flint! An ancient, magical stone, that could make fire!
I always had wondered how such a stone could make a fire and now I was going to see it for real!

He was still hitting with the stone. Nothing much else happened. Sometimes a tiny flash sprang from the place of impact. That was all.
But he seemed undeterred and kept on hitting. Till suddenly he stopped.
He must have given up. He bowed his head towards the fireplace, was he crying?
I heard him make a slight noise. He was blowing, onto something he held in his bony hand.

A tiny wisp emerged from his hand. Smoke?! How was that possible?
He kept on blowing and the smoke became more and more, until he gingerly dropped the bundle of smoke onto the wood, where it suddenly caught fire!
Never before had I seen such a thing! This must be some powerful ancient magic!
I looked fascinated how this wondrous fire started to eat the wood, just like normal fire would do.

The light filled up the place and I could see the Warrior, lying at the edge of the circle of light.
She had fallen onto her shield and her crushed helmet was lying beside her, her Axe gone.


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

[Mantigora]

"Do you feel you can resurrect her?" I asked the Priest.
"He should heal me up first," said the Rogue, "I have been waiting long enough!"
He did not seem to be hurt that much, but since he had been through this ordeal, I decided not to say anything. And really, I felt too weak to argue about it anyway.
"I could do with a Renew too, if possible." It was nothing more than a whisper, but there was just not enough left in me for more.

The Priest started to cast and I felt the desperation lessen in my body. But my mind was still a black void. I shove more towards the fire and shivered.
"Oh! You have a Gloom-Orb in your hair!" said the Priest. "Can I have it please?"
A Gloom-Orb! I must have picked it up with my hair dragging along the rocks while I tried to get back up in the air.
"Yes, take it", I said weakly. "Why would you want to have such a thing? Do you want to become a Shadow-Priest?"
"Perhaps", he said and untangled the Orb from my hair.
Those bony hands, so close to my head! I shivered again, but I could notice the difference, light started to dawn again in my mind.

"Where is the Shaman?" I asked the Rogue.
"They killed him first", he said. "We were here, defending the fire and he had used up all his Mana, so..."
He did not finish his sentence. He must have run in and tried to slay or wound as many as possible, buying time for the others. An Honorable deed, but I felt more like crying. But I was not going to cry! Not with him being so matter-of-fact.
"They started to cast bolts of Lightning onto her", he continued, "from many sides, all far away. There was not much she could do, or I, for that matter. Anyway, she went down pretty fast."
Again this cold measured speech.

"Then they started to cast Lightning onto me, while a bunch came running towards the fire. I had taken quite a few hits already by the time they reached the fire and was ready to take out at least a couple of them, but they kept coming, there were more than eight at least. They basically ran me over and I had to jump out of the way. They did not seem to care about the fire at all! I had to Vanish and saw them kick the wood away and quickly run off, while the last glow of the fire died."
"The cowards!"
I could tell he said it out of habit, but I sensed doubt in his voice.
He must have noticed it too.
These attacks were not like their normal behavior...









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

[Mantigora]

I saw the Priest, next to the body of the dead Warrior. What was he doing to her? He should not raise her as an Undead or something unnatural!
"Should we not get her next to the fire?" I asked him. But he shook his bony head,
"No need", he said.
I really had my doubts. Our priests always used fire.
Had he not said that he wanted to become a Shadow-Priest? A Face-melter! They are more scary than Warlocks even!
They can make people shed so many tears, from desperation and fear, that the skin of their face bloats, until it completely drops off from their naked skull. If the poor souls had not already clawed off their own face, out of sheer existential dread.
You wanted to stay away from someone like that, as much as possible.
There was little anyone could do against that shadowy magic, that came from beliefs from inside. Warlocks were more like us Mages, in that regard. They would cast Shadow and Corruption onto their targets, like we do bolts of Fire or Ice.

He started to cast the Spell of Resurrection.
It was going to be a long cast, much longer than any Spell I had.
I kept watching, holding my breath without realizing it, not wanting to risk anything that might cause it to fail.

That was it! She was surrounded by a golden aura and light was emanating from every part of her body.
It quickly diminished and was gone.
Had it worked?! I could not see any difference, had she come back to the land of the living?

Then he started to cast quick Healing Spells onto her, in rapid succession, to help her Spirit take hold again and mend all the damage that she had sustained when she died.
She was going to be OK! I felt such a relief! I quickly got up and went to her.
"Welcome back!"

"Thanks," she said weakly. "I've not been of much use so far, haven't I ?"
I wanted to reply, but I was cut off: "Yer not gonna be much use still, with no Axe, Lady."
That damned Rogue!
But he was right, without her Axe, she would not be able to tank.

Maybe we can find your Axe, I wanted to say, but I held it back. They easily could have dropped it just about anywhere and we would never be able to find it.
"Shall we go find the Shaman? I need to resurrect him too, I think?" Said the Priest.
He seemed eager to go, I, however, felt no such eagerness at all.
But yes, we should go find him, even if we would decide to get out of here.

"Do you remember in which direction he went?" I asked.
"If you could light up, we can go look", said the Rogue.
He was right, again. I went to the fireplace to create a Fiery-Orb, that I could attach to my staff. With the fire burning, it would not be such a drain on my Mana to create it and keep it alight.
It was a feat I was particularly proud of: a well-prepared and well-studied Mage would never find herself left in the dark. It was my great desire to reach the mastery-level of this spell. Then I would be able to cast it instantly, no matter what circumstance and never be caught off-guard again!





We searched and found just his shield after a while.
Why had he thrown off his shield? Shaman don't do Berserk.
On we went, looking on either side, until we found the ground slope down and become sandy.
There were marks in the sand, something heavy had been dragged along here.
The track was going out of sight, round the corner, where I had lost that Naga.

"I don't like this", said the Rogue, and I agreed wholeheartedly.
"I go to check it out. Be ready in case things turn bad."
And he Vanished, right in front of our eyes.

Since we could not see where he went, we could only wait, in anticipation of his return.
The Warrior had stashed her shield and was wielding a Battle-Axe. It was an old Axe and it looked terrifying and she looked really menacing, but I knew it was mostly show. She was not as trained, nor skilled for that matter, in the use of such a weapon. A lucky hit would probably kill an opponent, but to have to depend on luck does not let you grow old.

She was practicing swings and stances, to get into the feel for her weapon.
"I wish that he would hurry", she said, "I could do with some real practice!"
I smiled: you could see that holding a big Two-hander did do something to a Warrior.

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

[Mantigora]

"I found him", said the Rogue, stepping into the light, "and I don't like it.
They have laid him on some makeshift altar or something.
It is too dark to make out anything else, so we have to take position around the corner.
If you girls would go in front, then I can keep an eye on our life-insurance", he chuckled, pointing at the Undead.

I wanted to protest, but this was his area of expertise and it would not do to speak against it.
Still, I did not like it one bit, how he commandeered us 'girls' around.

We went past the corner and we could see a pile of stones with the great bulk of the Tauren on top. There was nothing else to see, so we checked both sides of the tunnel. When those seemed clear we advanced towards the Shaman's corpse. They hadn't been very careful with him and he was going to need some serious healing, once he got resurrected.

"Well, there are no Naga here," said the Warrior, "let's get him ress'ed and then we can go on."
"Perhaps you forgot how you got killed, Lady. I told you how I don't like it here. So I suggest we be very careful."
What was going on here? The Rogue being all concerned all of a sudden and she was so impatient, I hardly recognized her.
I looked at the Priest, was he noticing anything? It was his first time here, it could all be normal as far as he would know.

But it did not feel normal to me at all. "He is right," I said to her, "we must be careful."
"Are you going to say the same thing now as your Rogue-friend?"
She said it in such a way, that left little doubt about what she meant. What had gotten into her?
"I think you behave strange", I said.
"And I think that I am going to pee, if we are not going to ress him quick," she said.
"I think I am going to do that anyways."
And she walked out of the circle of light.



"I can start the preparations while we wait for her to come back", said the Priest in an effort to defuse the situation. "Can you see if there is any Magic hidden in that pile of stones?"
I casted a Magic Detection spell. It came up empty. "It's clear", I told him.
"Great!" He said, "that saves us a lot of work, dragging him to the side." "I can begin once she returns, OK?"
"You can start, as far as I'm concerned, darling! I'm nearly done."
A few moments later she stepped back into the light.
"I'm fine now," she said, "I really needed that. Let's get our fuzzy friend back, OK? Then we can go."

The Priest looked at the Rogue, who said; "Are you sure you are OK?"
"Yes, I'm fine!" she said. "I will shut up now, OK? Then we can get going at least."
"OK, then", grumbled the Rogue.
The Priest started to cast.

"I get sooo pissed when people keep asking me if I'm OK, that I really have to take a piss.
But now I have pissed and I still feel pissed."
"I thought you were going to shut up, Lady," said the Rogue in his familiar cold tone. "He is casting, you know?"
"He is casting, he is casting", she echoed. "Let's see how he is going to cast this!"

And she swung her Axe onto the Priest, but the Rogue was quicker and blocked her swing.
"Mind-Control!" he shouted.




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

[Mantigora]

--- there was a duplicate page here ---
You can read the whole story in one piece here: https://mantigora.net/bfd

[Mantigora]

Mind-Control! That was why she acted so strange and now she was trying to kill the Priest!
I did had my doubts about the priest when he said he might go Shadow, but she was attacking him now! And he was still casting the Resurrection-spell.
So where was it coming from then?!

She came in for another swing and the Rogue had to parry.
He was in a disadvantaged position, due to the Priest limiting his movements.
"Don't kill her!" I shouted.
"Find the one who is doing this!", he said with a grunt.

A flash of panic struck through my body. Then the training took over.
Detect Magic would be of little use here. The caster had to be in Line of Sight, but still we could not see him.
So he must be Stealth-ed.

I ran towards the side of the tunnel, casting explosions of instant Arcane damage around me. Nothing here.
To the other side.

Beng!
Beng!
Beng!

The explosions lit up the wall, but there was nothing.
That left the far end of the tunnel.
I ran again.

Beng!
Beng!

The noise reflected on the walls and rang in my ears.

Beng!
Beng!

I saw them!
"There's two of them", I howled.
"Satyrs!"





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

[Mantigora]

I had to make them stop casting, in whatever way possible.
They were too far apart to hit with an explosion, and that would take too many hits anyway.
Not to mention the huge amount of Mana. How could I take out both of them at the same time?

Only recently, I had learned a special Spell, to turn an adversary into a harmless sheep.
But just one and only for a little while. It had to do. Luckily it was not such a long cast and poof! - one fluffy sheep was walking up and down, aimlessly.

Now for the other one! I started to cast a fireball, it burned him, it was effective, but it was not going to make him stop casting. Not until he would be dead.
I tried a volley of Arcane Missiles, every hit of which interrupted his casting, but only for an instant. They costed too much Mana anyway and I needed Mana to re-cast the sheep-spell, before it would run out.

Frustrated, I swung my staff at him and I hit him with a satisfying bash.
That interrupted his casting too!
And so I settled into this weird routine:

Bash!

Bash!

Bash!

Sheep!

and again Bash!


I was not used to fight fights in melee. My arms started to hurt and I ran short of breath.
This Satyr was like a statue, enduring my hits as if he was in trance.
He had taken quite some damage, but still not enough that I could risk to finish him off quickly.

Bash!

Bash!

How's the sheep!?

Bash!

Bash!

"Guys!" I wailed, "Hurry up!"

Bash!

Bash!







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

[Mantigora]

"Welcome back!" said the Warrior, "You really saved my skin!"
"Thanks! You're welcome," I said automatically.
What happened?
"Yes. Welcome back", said a deep Tauren voice.
"You were dead when we found you", said the Rogue.
"I have ress'ed you" smiled the Priest. "I told you I would do it!"
"You probably ran out of Mana," said the Rogue, "or one broke free from his Sheep-Spell early. It does happen sometimes. But you did a good job. We got her out of the Mind-Control!"

It started to come back to me, The Mind-Control! Was it really over? The Rogue was still saying nice things!
"And the Satyrs?" I asked? "There were two Satyrs!"
"We did not see no Satyrs", he said. "They must have run away. The Cowards!"
He was back at his cold behavior, but I was too happy to be alive again to complain and I had seen that there was more behind that cold facade.
"Five more minutes, OK?" I said.
"Yes. You rest now. He is going to cook something for us" rumbled the Shaman, pointing at the Priest.



"Fish! It's good for the brain", said the Priest. Happy smiles and all.
Fish! I did not want to spoil his good mood, but fish?! I was not going to eat that!
Those cold and smelly things!
But this was not smelling bad at all, actually...


"Sagefish!" He declared. "The food of the Wise!"
"It brings Health to the body and Power to the mind.
And it is a good source of Mana too", he added.
He passed the Sagefish around and soon we were all sitting, munching down on warm, deliciously smelling fish.


"Why can you even cook?" asked the Warrior mouthful.
It was as if she had pushed a button, and he sprang into action.
"I was an apprentice cook in the kitchens of Lordaeron, the seat of the King."
His voice had a different ring to it, all of a sudden.

"A coveted place of work, where I was to become a Master Cook, in the fullness of time.
I used to dream, of how it would sound: Gregorius Raleigh Burch, Master Chef, at Your Highness' service!
But you can call me Gregory, or Greg," he said and went on:
"I was named Raleigh after my fathers best friend, Raleigh Andrean, who was the greatest Chef of all of Lordaeron!"
His rattling came to a sudden stop.
"And then we all died", he concluded.


"I will cook some more, for later, if you guys want?"
There were sounds of agreement coming from all of us and he went back to his cooking.

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

[Mantigora]

It was strange to think that this Undead guy, Gregory, he must have been quite young still, at that time and at the same time, it all had happened so long ago, that he was very much older than any of us.

"My Name is Lah'Mawhani, I volunteered, Hani for short, and she is called Lah'Wilani, we just call her Wilani, or Lani, if she is nice." I smiled.
"Hani and Lani hmm? Nice to make your acquaintance", he replied. "Are you related? Your names being so similar?"
"She is my mothers youngest sister, but I am older than she is", I said with a big grin.
"Not even by one Moon!" She blurted out.

I smiled again. "We grew up together," I continued, "we were inseparable, until she decided that she wanted to become a Warrior and had to leave for her training. They must have bashed her on the head a few times too many, because she never was the same after she came back!" And I dodged out of the way.
"And your Mom never bashed you enough, young lady!"
She sprayed bits of fish and tried to hit me, but I was already gone.
"Yes, I can see the resemblance, you two are evenly matched", he said wisely.
And that ended the hostilities.















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

[Mantigora]

The Shaman had been sitting quietly, eating. Tauren get their names from the Earthmother and those are sacred, not to be revealed to anyone but family or the closest of friends. And everyone knew that it was no use to ask a Rogue for his name, they had so many, they changed names quicker than they changed their clothes.

He had gotten up already, not getting as much sustenance from the fish as we Mana-users did and was doing something with his bags.
Probably putting poison onto his daggers again. I could not tell, he was sitting with his back towards us.
They never did anything into the open if they could prevent it.

But turning his back to us, that showed lack of concern. I did not expect him to trust us, a Rogue does not trust anyone, but that meant that he felt we could not be of any real threat to him and that meant that this guy was really not what we thought him to be when took him in our party, back in Orgrimmar.
But if he was indeed that good, he would not give away any information like that.
It made my brain start to hurt. This was a dead end.
I could not figure this guy out.









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

[Mantigora]

"One Silver for your thoughts?" said the Warrior with a smile.
It shook me awake.
"None of your business", I said, airily.
"Are you thinking about your Rogue-friend again?"
"Are you being M-C-ed again?" I retorted.

He is not my friend, I wanted to say, but that would be just oil on the fire.
She looked disappointed, that I was not giving her more leverage, it was almost as if I could hear her say: "Your Mom will hear of this!"


"She must be a strong Spirit to have both you as a sister and her as her daughter", said the Shaman.

I could not believe my ears! Was he reading my mind?!
Tauren never spoke much and when they did it was always in some mysterious way.
It was things like: "Ah! I have just the thing for you." Or: "I have been expecting you."
Sure Lady, you sell things, that is why come I to you. Something you say to all your customers.


"Had," said Lani flatly, "she was killed by Murlocs."

By nightfall my Mother had still not returned from the other village.
I wanted to go find her, so desperately that they had to lock me up; I was not allowed to go out in the dark.


"They found her after four days", said Lani.

What was left of her!! I screamed internally. Murlocs were never to pass over an easy meal.
They could not even find her skull! How was she going to be taken up amongst the ancestors!?


"She is in the care of the Earthmother", spoke the Shaman again.

Yea, sure, I thought, whatever!


"I only heard of it when I came back from my training", said Lani with a bitter tone in her voice.

I had wanted to go tell her!
Oh! how I wanted to go find her, but we did not know where her training was held or when she would return.
All those Moons that I was unable to speak to her! We had always shared everything!

And when she had come back, it was not the same as before. Nothing was the same!
She was always out, practicing this stance or that weapon or whatever they did!
All I had left were my studies.







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

[Mantigora]

"Anyway," said Lani, getting up, "it is time to get a move on."
"Yes," said the Rogue, returning to the fire, "I have been thinking about that."
"I think we should have a vote on it," he said, "but only after you guys have heard my concern."
This guy kept amazing me: an Orc, who was thinking and spoke more than one-word sentences. Incredible!

"You all may have noticed the strange determination shown by the Naga. Although they are sentient, they never behave any different from aggressive animals, much the same as Murlocs do and that is not what I have seen here today.

And then there is the Mind-Control."
He looked us over, sitting around the fire.
"The odd Satyr-Rogue, perhaps, stealing from the Naga, minding his own business, who would not dare to attack a group of five. That is all of the Satyr we have seen in here for many years.

And now, suddenly, there are casters who can do Mind-Control and risk to attack us!
What reason might they have?
And lastly the little things: her missing Axe, that makeshift altar where they dragged you onto.
Uncommon behavior, all without a clear reason.

We could go back to Orgrimmar, report it and everyone would laugh it away and not take it serious.
But we would be alive and well, save for some cheap jokes about our lost Honor.
Or we could go on and see what we can find out.
This is a good group, even though she can not tank, unless we find her a suitable weapon.
We can work around that, if we care to do that.
But it is up to you all", he concluded.


"I can make a Portal to Orgrimmar right now, but I can also do that later", I added unsurely.
"Yes," he said, "but what do you want yourself?"
"I, I don't know."

I was thinking about those boots that I hoped to finish soon. They only needed a pair of Iridescent Pearls. It was the main reason I had come here. Foraging Murlocs often found pearls that they kept without doing anything with them. I would put those to much better use.
And it would be quite some time until I would feel the urge to make another trip here.

"I would like to go on," said the Priest, "it is my first time here, but that means I can't really say much about it."
"I would go on, if you guys would go", said Lani.
"The Earthmother has given me a small task", said the Shaman.
"She is patient and forgets not. I will find again a group, if I must."

You had to get used to Tauren-speak: He would go in here for sure, today or on another day, just to do some simple thing, like putting a flower somewhere or pouring some water over a stone and it would be done when it was done and that was then the right moment.
They sure lived their lives different from us, I thought.

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

[Mantigora]

Everyone was getting up and went on preparing their bags and things.
Somehow a silent agreement had formed.
I had seen this before, in groups that had been together for a long time, like Lani and me, but this group was only made today!
Even so, it was miraculous and a good sign too.


I had nothing to pack, so I went to the fire to replenish the Fiery-Orb.
While the fire was still burning, it was like free Mana.

"Here, for later", said Gregory, and he put a Cooked Sagefish in my hand.
"Thanks!" I smiled.
I was not used to be given food.
Mages were always asked for food, since we can magically create it, and drinks, too.

The drinks would replenish Mana, like nearly all drinks do that aren't booze, but the food was only good for keeping you alive. It did not give any other benefit.
Unlike these fish.
He was right; They were really good for the brain.
I smiled, I think I had become a fish-convert!





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

[Mantigora]

We set off, Wilani in the front, at the edge of the light, the Rogue behind her at her flank.
They were casting long shadows that merged into the unknown blackness.

I held the Fiery-Orb on my Staff high in front of me, making it shine as bright as possible, in order to have a decent gap between us.
The Priest and the Shaman were right behind me, ready to spring into action if those in front got jumped by something nasty.


The ground still sloped downwards and was covered with sand everywhere, so there were no hidden pits to fear and we made good progress.
From time to time, or when there was a sharp turn, they signaled us to a halt, to listen.

Our ears were peaked and we tried to stop our breathing and if we could have, our heartbeats, to pick up any sound in this stifling silence.
But only sounds that we had brought with us were heard.


Only after a long time, we started to hear a sound, a constant drone.
It was the surf and the accompanying ground-swell, conducted all the way down, here, through the great weight of rock and water above us.
We were going under the sea!





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

[Mantigora]

Other sounds of water added themselves to the drone, drips in unseen pools and such.
The sand was now wet and this made the going a lot easier.
The air was also markedly cooler and a tension that had been unnoticed left the group.

I dimmed the Orb a bit, the walls here were shiny and wet and had their own pale glow of blue light.
That was a welcome change and quite bright after that long walk in complete darkness.


We moved along more freely and I dimmed the Orb some more, to let us get used to the different kind of light and to not alert any nasties from far away.


The ceiling got higher and the tunnel narrower and it started to branch out.
Most of these branches were dead ends, some literally so, there lay bones of unfortunate ones, who had taken a wrong turn whilst trying to flee, or they might have been ambushed with no way to escape.
I looked around while we waited till our vanguard had checked them all out.

This then, must be the right tunnel but I don't remember it being so narrow.
But it widened soon enough.

The sand here was covered with a thin layer of water and there were huge shallow puddles that held big blind crabs. They were harmless and quite tasty.
We really should get some on our way back.
But first, pearls!

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

[Lichenwitch]

great story, keep it up!

[Mantigora]

We must be getting close to where the Murlocs would be, there was more and more water everywhere.
But it was not the Murlocs we found.
“Naga!” whispered Wilani back to us.

The Rogue Vanished on the spot, ready for an ambush, while we held back a little more.
And poor little Lani was there all alone, it seemed.

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

[Mantigora]

It was an Elite patrol, big, gleaming scales, one with a trident, the other a huge saber.
They rushed in, ready to slay this trespasser fast.

She blocked the incoming trident but was too late to completely dodge the one with the saber.
It hit her on the shoulder and slid off her armor.
He closed in to flank her and was nearly hit by her enormous Axe-blade.

She spun the Axe round like a madman, but they were undeterred.
Much heavier than she was, there could only be one outcome.
A well-trained Warrior could have given them a run for their money, but she was not going to be a serious threat.


Trident-guy was harassing her, forcing her to lose ground while Sabre-guy was moving around, looking to get closer.
They were working to pin her to the wall.
That did give her some cover, but it made escaping virtually impossible.

It seemed they had found their positions now and they began their onslaught in earnest.
Perhaps they felt it had taken long enough.

Someone else had the same thought and Sabre-guy reared up with a dagger in his back.
It put his throat in the path of the oncoming Axe and he was nearly decapitated by it.
The Rogue finished him off quickly and took his daggers back.

"Let me have this one, OK?" panted Lani. "I need the exercise."
She changed tactics, mostly parrying now, her Axe was so much slower than the Trident.
She choked up on the Axe-blade and started to use it more like a shield.
A very edgy shield, that she could put forward suddenly with her other hand.

It suited her tanking instincts much better and I was surprised to see the fight turn around.
Up to now I had been a bit concerned for her safety and could not see her win this fight at all.
Of course, we were ready to step in if needed.


The Naga was spending a lot more energy with his long slashes and his arms were losing scales, but he was still so much stronger. How long was this fight going to last?
I was flexing my hands, ready to cast, a Frost-bolt or something, but I would not interfere, nor make her lose her concentration.
Come on, Lani! I thought.



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

[Mantigora]

The Naga was slowing down, unable to keep up his frenzy but his blind determination was not affected.
It was slowly becoming a spectacle instead of a fight.


Suddenly the great bulk of the Shaman stepped past me and towards the Naga.
He was carrying a Staff now and not his shield and mace.
An instant Frost-shock hit the Naga and was followed by a Lightning-bolt.

"Mine!" Shouted Lani.
"The Tide of your opportunity has passed!", rumbled the Shaman.
He flung another Lightning-bolt while Lani swung onto the Naga once more.
The Frost-bolt I had been keeping at the ready hit him at the same time.
The Rogue stepped in to finish him off, but I think he was already dead when he hit the ground.


Lani was steaming! Her body as well as her anger.
"I was going to finish him myself!" she shouted at the Shaman.
His silence made her even more angry.
Fearing she was going to attack him, I called her name: "Wilani!" on which she directed her anger to me.
And she was still holding that big Axe!
"Please," I said, "put down the Axe, Lani, before someone gets hurt."


A tiny bit in me was afraid that she was going to say something like: "I will show you who is getting hurt!" but to my relief, she tossed the Axe aside, only to pick up the Trident that the Naga had used.
"It is a bit dinged," she said, "but I can have that repaired", talking as if she was at the market of used goods!
Her anger had left her without a trace as if nothing had happened!

I looked at the Rogue and I saw him put away his Sap, he had been ready to hit her on the head!
He felt my gaze and came towards me, "We must talk soon", he said quietly.

I looked at the Priest. He had not said anything and looked like he was nailed to the ground.
I went to him and said: "Hey Gregory, could you perhaps check on Wilani if she needs any healing?"
It seemed to unfreeze him.
We went on, leaving the two dead Naga behind.

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

[Mantigora]

Lani was talking to Gregory, probably explaining to him all the benefits of her new prize.
The Rogue came to walk beside me and handed me her Axe, if I could put it away for now.

"Sure," I said, "but I think that was not what you were going talk to me about."
"Those two Satyrs," he said, "can you remember how you were killed?"
"That was not what I was expecting, either", I said.
"I will come to that", he replied. "You were not visibly hurt, so I would like to know how you were killed."
"I can really not remember", I said. "I had one Sheeped and I was hitting the other one with my Staff and I was getting pretty tired. Then I woke up."
"Just tired?" he asked. "It is important, he added."
"Well," I started, not very happy to speak about it, "I was feeling very much alone and desperate.
I did not know how long I could keep up the fight."

"You know Wilani for a long time", he said, it was not a question.
"You feel she is not the same as before and it makes you feel alone."
"What are you getting at?!" I exclaimed irritated.
"Hmm", he said, "I have to ask you to keep this a secret, for your own safety as well as for hers.
But I think that she was not Mind-Controlled and that you were killed by enhanced desperation and loneliness. Let me finish.

This Spell is called Induced Insanity and there are a few Satyrs that have gained this tremendous power.
That they would be here is so unlikely, I can not even begin to think about it, but it seems to be the case nevertheless."

"Why do you think she was not MC-ed?" I said, "We all saw her trying to kill the Priest!"
"Mind-Control takes over a persons will instantly and makes him act against his own will.
Induced Insanity makes use of what is already present and enhances it till Insanity is reached.
You saw how she gradually worked herself up to the point she was ready to strike, didn't you?"
"Yes!" I said, "And you fed her even more until she flipped!"
"Well, yes," he said, "I had to, to see if she was willing to go through with it."
"That is terrible! Do you mean to say she is a murderous person?", I said, getting angry.
"No," he said, "I don't think that she is. It was planted in her, most likely at her Training.
We are not exactly sure how."

Her Training! I thought, I always had known she had not been the same after that.
I said: "I know you are not going to tell me who 'We' are and to trust a Rogue is a sure way to lose your life and everything, but I can only say that I think you´re right.
This outburst of hers, that vanished without a trace, that is not normal behavior.
And I don't want to lose her completely to this Insanity.
What must I do, to make it stop?"
"We don't know", he said. "All I can ask is to keep an eye on her, knowing that she can not be expected to be her own self all the time."

"Are you going to inform the others?" I asked.
"No," he said, "Gregory is still pretty young, if you can call it that, and he," pointing behind him, "he knows things without the need of anyone telling him.
He will be our greatest help in this, just because he is who he is."

"You knew about this, when we were picking you up in Orgrimmar," I said accusingly, "and you made them not choose that Warlock-girl."
"I expected it", he said, "and no, it happened like that.
You have my word", he said with a grin.
The word of a Rogue.
I showed a sparse grin too.





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

[Mantigora]

I saw how Gregory and Wilani were chatting.
It is always a good thing when the Tank and her Healer have a good understanding.
The performance of the whole of the group, and not to forget, it's survivability,
depend on the synergy between those two. They are the core of every successful party.

Since the ground was covered with water, ankle-deep only, we made a lot of splashing noise.
It was unavoidable. So our voices were hardly to blame, if we were heard.


"I have been thinking", I said to the Rogue.
"Those Naga at the start, they must have used a shortcut.
There is no way they took that same long path over the dry sand that we have followed.
Especially that nearly-dead Naga, he would have been dead even before half-way."

He looked at me in a way that was hard to describe.
"And we didn't see anything." I continued. "We were so occupied with the altar and the dead Shaman and the attack that followed, that we have missed it."
"Very sharp!", he said.
It was my turn to show a grin.

"Maybe, there is a hole in the ceiling that they use, if it is high up, we would never see it."
"Or a Portal, perhaps?", he said.
"Those Sea-witches are not real Mages", I replied, "they are Shamanistic."
"Hmm. Intriguing", he said, "and very sharp of you!"
I showed an even bigger grin.
That was the moment that Lani turned her head towards us, to tell us that soon we would be running into Murlocs, and if we could be more quiet from now on.
Oh! I could hear her already, as soon as she would have the slightest opportunity.




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

[Mantigora]

There were caves here, along both sides of the tunnel. All filled with deep pools of water.
The ideal place for Murlocs, so we approached quiet and carefully.

But there were no Murlocs.
In one cave we found three Naga Sea-witches.
It was a short fight: they were startled and tried to get away to be able to cast from afar, but the pool was too small for that and they succumbed quickly to the onslaught of the Rogue and the Warrior, aided by the casting of the Shaman and me.

All the other pools were empty.
Till, after we checked yet another empty pool, we heard a sound.
Quietly again, we moved closer, Rogue in front, this time.


It was clearly talking, in strange harsh voices and I had no idea of even what language was spoken.
"Dwarves!" Whispered the Rogue, and signaled us to stay back.

He slowly went closer while we waited.
Dwarves! I thought. They are very dangerous!
I only had seen them from far away. Short but strong and always busy and not to be underestimated.
They were as clever as any old Troll Witch-doctor!

The Rogue winked us to come to him and we silently reached by his side, at the mouth of a big cave.




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

[Mantigora]

Quite a bit inside, there were two Dwarves, clad in Naga-scale armor.
One was sitting and the other one standing over him and doing most of the talking.

He had gray hair and beard and his armor clearly showed that he was of higher rank than the other Dwarf.
His subordinate had brown hair and a shortish beard.
He was sitting down, his bare feet hanging in the water and he seemed not so much bothered by the dressing down from his boss.
He had taken off his gloves and shoulder-pads and was only holding a burning torch.

They were fairly loud, not trying to be quiet at all while they argued. So they must feel pretty safe here.
That was a thing of concern.
We all moved back, away from the mouth of the cave, to make a plan.




"They are heavily armored", said the Rogue, "something to be expected of Dwarves, of course, but it is clear that someone is spending a decent amount of gold on their gear. Naga-scale armor is not cheap to make and since it is always wet and shiny, it is highly resistant against Fire." Here he looked at me.

That was bad news, because Dwarves are by Nature resistant to any Frost-damage. One of the many reasons why they were so dangerous.
"They also wear chain-mail-cloaks", he continued, "which is bad news for me."
"So, what to do?" he concluded.

I was surprised, I had expected him to come up with a plan, but it was the Shaman who spoke:
"The Earthmother has showed me this cave in my Dream.
It is here where I must fulfill my task."

Well, that ruled out quietly sneaking away and leaving them be, I thought.
"Here is not their righteous place, they must go." said the Shaman again.
Wilani said: "I will take on the barefooted Dwarf, if you can keep his boss busy."
"OK," said the Rogue, we will take out the younger Dwarf first."



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

[Mantigora]

So, we had a plan.
We moved into position and the Shaman started to cast a Lightning-bolt onto the boss-Dwarf. He wavered but swiftly gained his composure and readied his shield and a short sturdy Axe.
With a loud cry, he stormed at the Shaman.
Wilani stormed past him, to charge at the younger Dwarf, who was getting up hastily.

She hit him with her Trident flat on the back while he dodged to escape her fury. Staggering, he swung his torch in her direction while she came in for another hit.
The torch left a swirling string of fire behind that coiled around her arms and head. She screamed in agony and went clear past him, backing off in pain.

"Wilani!" I shouted and went all-out, casting Arcane-missiles onto her assailant. "Get away from him!"
She was badly hit and I heard the Priest casting Healing-spells onto her while I shot more missiles.
The Dwarf did not like that at all and came running towards me.

I engaged him and casted my Fire-ward-spell; we Mages can endure a decent amount of Fire this way.
He whipped me with Fire while I kept casting volley after volley.
When he saw how little it affected me, he took his Axe from his side and advanced towards me. He would chop me to bits with that thing! I quickly casted a Frost-Nova and Blinked, out of his reach.

Even though the Frost had little effect on him, it froze solid the shallow water he was standing in. He used his Axe to cut himself free but he had to be careful not to chop off his own toes!
I looked around. Wilani had moved to the boss-Dwarf and was taking turns with the Rogue. They had little impact on the sturdy Dwarf but he was becoming more and more agitated.

"Help me finish off this one!"I called out to the Shaman. The younger Dwarf had freed himself and was now hell-bound on turning me into fish-food. I had to run for my life.
The Lightning-bolts of the Shaman, made him stagger a bit and that gave me a chance to cast another volley.
We were getting him down!

In the meantime the Rogue had received a nasty gash and the Priest had to heal him a lot. This upset the boss-Dwarf so much that he decided to go kill the Priest first.
Foaming with anger he ran to poor Gregory who froze on the spot.
But I had underestimated him. He casted a protecting Shield onto himself and sprang out of the way.
That shield would only hold one or maybe two hits, so he had to run for his life.
Now everyone was running!

Except the Shaman. He threw another Lightning-bolt at the Dwarf, who fell to the ground.
I ran towards him to cast an Arcane-explosion. And that was the end of him.

I took his Axe and shouted: "Here! Wilani! Take this!" I waved the Axe in the air and she came running to me.
Now she had a weapon again that enabled her to use her shield.
She dropped the Trident and took out her shield.
Then she let out a blood-curdling Challenging Shout!
Our Warrior was back in business!!

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

[Mantigora]

She ran to Intercept the boss-Dwarf, blocking him from reaching the Priest.
This was a language he understood and he let out a Challenging Shout of his own.
Shorter and sturdier, he was difficult for her to handle, but she was backed-up by a healing Priest while he wasn't. She could take more risk than him, and it seemed to cool him down from his anger, having to parry most of her attacks.

Backing up now, he saw how the odds were, definitely not in his favor.
I started to cast Arcane-missiles on him and he made a run for it, deeper into the cave.
Lani was on his heels and we were all running behind her.
But then, suddenly he stopped and bursted out laughing. The laugh of a madman.

He started to talk now, in his strange, coarse, language and winked us to come closer, while he went back, carefully.
We followed him, deeper into the cave and then we saw what he had seen: Murlocs!
Dozens of Murlocs!
They were walking and sitting around in the knee-deep water.

So, that was were all the Murlocs had gone; they were imprisoned here by the Dwarves.
And now their warder was dead. It was all to clear what would happen if he would run into there and stir up that big group. Once they had killed him, they would not stop there. They would be free!
Nothing would keep them from running into poor us.

He laughed again, seeing how we were taken aback. And even louder when he saw our anxious glances over towards the Murlocs.
He was clearly mad and it made him the more dangerous.

Lani backed off a little, by the time she would catch up with him, they both would be spotted by the Murlocs.
This was cause for even more joy to the Dwarf and he laughed again.
"He must not be allowed to escape" said the Shaman.
And I shot a Sheep-spell at the dwarf.


It was a desperate act: once he would turn back into a Dwarf, he would be his own fresh and undamaged Self again. But this way at least, he could not laugh any-more.
We all went back a little more while the sheep wandered aimlessly about.


The Warrior ran her new Axe along a Sharpening stone, but that Dwarf-made Axe had little to gain, so sharp as it was.
The Rogue applied new poisons onto his daggers.
The Priest topped-off everyone's Health.
And the Sheep wandered over towards the Murlocs!

"Run!" I said, while I casted another Sheep-spell onto it, just to be sure.
If we were lucky they would only kill the sheep and be busy eating it.
It would buy us some time until the first inquisitive Murlocs came wandering this way.

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

[Mantigora]

I felt a stone in my stomach.
No-one had said anything. No-one had blamed me for acting impulsively.
I wished we could run away. So many Murlocs!

The Shaman looked at me and said: "You are in touch with the Earthmother.
She works through you. Know that you are blessed."


It felt as if a bomb had gone off inside me!
I stepped away for a bit to regain my composure.
Those Tauren! Always so unexpected!
I let out a deep sigh.


Big emotions were wrestling inside me to gain the upper hand.
I wanted to cry!
I wanted to scream!

But there was no time for that now!
We were going to have an enormous fight on our hands soon.
It HAD to wait.






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