Feychild

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

“Thank you for seeing me, Ma’am” Kathlin said nervously, after a glance at the dwarf told her that she was going to be the one holding any conversation with the old lady. “My name is Kathlin Lennox. And this is Ragnar….who I suppose you already know. Uh”

Stalling for a moment with no help from Ragnar, the girl fumbled for something to say, something that would make grieving, little old ladies give her less of a withering look. “I’m sorry for your loss. He is where Its grace burns eternal”

“….”

“…Would you be able to tell me what happened to your husband, Ma’am?” Kathlin began again hesitantly after a pause. “I don’t want to intrude, really, but I’ve just come from downstairs and I’m really not sure how anyone could have done it. I mean, it could have been a mage – but I assume you have wards against teleportation and aggressive spells set up around the house, Ma’am? He was attacked with an object already in the house, so it couldn’t have been an incorporeal creature. I understand he was stabbed in the neck, the spray from the artery would have marked the culprit so they couldn’t have slipped away in the commotion. I asked one of your household to check the ground under your window for footprints and nobody saw anyone enter or exit through your window. Not that I’m a detective, Ma’am”

Having managed to talk for about a minute without a stutter or anyone telling her to shut up, Kathlin gave Rosemary a nervously appealing look. “Did you see, anyone, or anything at all? Anything you could tell me – it would help me…the Vanguard…bring whoever did it to Justice. I just want to help, Ma’am”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Li is inbound. Nyoooooooooooom! Collision with teh Rithrynn imminent? Quite possibly ^_^

Also, she is hanging around in a public place if that helps any new arrivals to get themselves involved. If that's what you decide to do, you see a human girl in her mid-to-late-teens, nice clothes, looks rich / nobility. And if any blood elves are having problems with the not-getting-lynched in stormwind thing, polymorph potions are totally a thing in this game. Or I am fine with the eye thing. Either works :p

(I will write some more murder mystrey stuff for Kathlin in a bit. I hadn't realised how much I missed this till I did)

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Liaena glanced up at the broker sharply as she broke out of her reverie. “They were. Thank you”

Reaching into a pocket, she produced a purse which she handed to the broker, standing up in the same motion. “I was never here”

Taking a quick moment to check the contents, the broker inclined his head towards her with a broad smile across his face. “Of course not, my lady”

Exiting the agency, Liaena was careful to pace her steps carefully as she strolled casually away down the street, mind racing the entire time. Stepping into a side alleyway away from the crush of the busy street as she rounded a corner, she felt in her satchel to produce a chocolate bar, held it aloft and waited.

A small, fluffy guided missile rocketed from the sky as Liaena pulled the hand containing the chocolate down sharply and made a lunge with her other hand. She promptly had to suffer several hard pecks on the arm from Hester as the owl squirmed to get free, squawking abuse at her.

“Would you – stop – that! You can have it in a second” Liaena hissed as she tried to twist away from the pecking. After one more jab, the owl paused in her assault at her words and fluttered away to wait on a dustbin as Liaena let go, all the while glaring at her.

Pulling a scrap of parchment and stubby pencil out of her satchel, Liaena used the side of the adjacent building as a writing board as she scrawled out a few words.

Stay away from Eternal Sun street. I’ll see you at Sharons this evening. Li

Rolling up the parchment, she thrust both it and a chunk of chocolate at Hester who promptly clamped both in her beak, almost swallowing the paper as well. “You get half now, half later if you take this to Kitty. She should be at that noblemans house in the Trade District, okay?”

With another blur of feathers the little bird was gone as Liaena ruefully inspected the scratches on her hands, some of which were quite deep. Stepping back into the crowds while mumbling rude things under her breath, she started walking into the middle of the Cathedral District.

*

The 32nd of Eternal Sun Street seemed entirely normal. Nothing at all to suggest it was actually a staging ground for the evil sins of a damned follower of the scourge. Liaena paused at a stall a little further down the road and pretended to inspect some silks as she watched the building carefully.

“I suppose it sort of makes sense. Who would look for him here?”

The idea that somebody like Sherpa could manage to hide in what was the heart of Light worship in the eastern kingdoms, filled her with great unease. And somehow, she doubted things would go very well for her if she knocked on the door and asked to see him.

“I shouldn’t rush this. If Sherpa is here, he’s never going to know I’m onto him and nobody’s going to recognise me. There’s no hurry”

Eternal Sun Street was a residential road, but it opened onto a small leafy square at one end that had a couple of stalls selling knick-knacks like the one she was at now and little cafes with tables outside for wealthy residents braving the chill in the air to enjoy one of the first sunny spring days of the year. Liaena crossed the road to seat herself at one of these, in a position where she had a clear view of the 32nd Sun Street without needing to turn her head. Not looking at the menu, she glanced at the waitress who came rushing out. “Tea. And a pastry please. Whatever’s your best”

Fishing some parchment already covered in her own hieroglyphics and a pen out of her bag, Liaena studied her alchemic formulae so as to appear to be busy as she kept an eye on the Building of Suspicion. “Sooner or later, somebody is going to come out of there. And if they do that, then I know what I need to look like"

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

We are going to get along well. :p

I'm going to bed now, so no chat joining for me I'm afraid. I'm one of those annoying people with a nine-till-five job, which takes up a lot of my time as Rithy will complain about at length. Ahh, memories.

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Liaena smiled and dipped her head in response to the compliment. “You’re too kind”

“You’re certainly expensive…”

The sum the broker had quoted her was steep indeed. Liaena bit down on her tongue at the urge to haggle. Rich girls that were prepared to throw away lavish sums of money on chasing down an ex…probably didn’t haggle. The girl made a mental note to impersonate someone more businesslike next time as she pondered the mans offer for a few seconds, before looking back at him. “Agreed, then. I would like the information from both the housing records and the royal registry. I will pay you a quarter of the sum now, with the rest to follow when my friend is found. Is that acceptable to you?”

“There is one point though” Liaena added, holding up a finger when the broker started to speak. “You must appreciate that this is an urgent matter. I’m sure your business is nothing if not efficient, and it is that efficiency and that speed that I am paying for. I’m sure you understand my feelings?”

The broker smiled, a gesture that showed a lot of teeth. “Perfectly, my lady. Now, if I can ask….what is the name of the lucky gentleman?”

“That would be…Sherraine”

Liaena summoned a soft smile as she said the words, and resisted the urge to bare her teeth. “Sherraine Silverlion”

*

“Kathlin Lennox” The girl returned, bobbing her head back at the dwarf when he introduced himself. The young woman herself was of average height, with reddish-brown hair, brown eyes and wearing navy robes that were noticeably short at the cuff. She was also completely identical to the girl at the estate agent, simply less clean and well dressed.

“You said in the paper that nobody went in or out” Kathlin observed after spending a moment chewing over Ragnars words about suspects. “He didn’t, uh, have servants there? Or anything?”

“Nah. Tha man was fanatical ‘bout privacy, which kinda defeats tha point in havin’ a bodyguard s’far as I’m concerned” Ragnar grumbled. “Tha only people he’d have in his quarters overnight wuz his wife and his personal servant if he called ‘im – which he didn’. I was stationed outside his private quarters, next to tha only door. First thin’ I heard was tha screams”

“From his wife”

“Aye. She’s tha person to talk to s’far as I’m concerned….not that anyone here’s bin givin’ me so much as tha time of day all night” The dwarf muttered grumpily. “Not surprised she’s messed up though. Messy death”

“Mmhmm” Kathlin mumbled noncommittally. Waiting for the servant to return, her thoughts returned to the events of last night. They had been…eventful, to say the least.

*

“Tomorrow, I want you to talk to the dead mans wife. If it seems like she did it, come tell me first”

“Whaaa…?” Kathlin groaned, having just been shaken violently from sleep to hear her own voice talking at her. “What?”

“Tomorrow, I want – you to talk – to the dead mans wife” Liaena repeated herself tediously slowly, each word enunciated carefully as though she was talking to a small child. "If it seems – like she did it – come tell me – first”

“I heard you the first time” Kathlin muttered, resigning herself to being awake at some unholy hour of the morning as she sat up in bed. “Why? I thought you were coming with me”

“No. I’ve got something else that needs doing. Its just that if it seems like it was the wife that did it, I want to know before anyone else does. Okay?”

“Okay…but why?” the girl enquired doubtfully, after taking a moment to digest the most recent news. “Are you going to try and blackmail her or something?”

“…No, actually” Liaena was already at the door, turning the handle when she looked back. “It just probably wasn’t her fault. See you later”

“But –“

Click

*

“Her ladyship will see you now” Kathlin looked up swiftly as the servant rematerialised in front of them, tilting up his head to give them both an annoyed look. “I will ask you to remember that my lady has recently gone through a terrible ordeal. There must be nothing that may upset her further, no inappropriate questions and the meeting ends when she deems it so. Is that clear?”

“Completely” Kathlin murmured as she fell into step behind the servant. “No inappropriate questions. Gotcha.”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Nice to meet you guys. Our group doesn't expand very often, so it's nice to get some new blood now again. Not literally of course. *cough* :p

Just as a word of warning, we do have a tribe of highly xenaphobic Night Elves hanging out in our main base of operations. Any members of the Horde that might show up are liable to get ganked with extreme prejudice. Playing a member of Alliance or a neutral party would probably help with integration....Unless you want to hang out with Sherpa that is, our resident Big Bad Evil Guy. In which case, I may try and stab you at some point. Nothing personal ^_~

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Following the agents movements intently, Liaena was quick to catch his glance towards the ledger when he initially looked towards it.

“Well…he did try to kill my boyfriend. Several times. So yes, fairly important”

“Very much so” Liaena quavered after a moments pause. Taking a few seconds to compose herself, she blinked big brown eyes up sorrowfully at him. “He and I – we were close, once, but we lost touch when he had to leave the city. I would give anything to be able to find him again”

That last was in fact, entirely true.

Giving her words a few moments to sink in appropriately, she looked up at the agent with wide eyes. “I would never ask you to betray your principals sir, but is there anything you could do to help? Anything any at all?”

*

The Advisor of Treasure was very definitely dead, that at least could be verified and had been by Kathlin about a minute after walking in through the door. Everything else, and there was a lot of ‘else’, was entirely up for debate.

Walking over, the girl stifled a yawn as she raised the sheet covering the corpse of the man lying across the dining room table. There had apparently been some friction between the city guard and the mans relatives. The latter were intent on removing the corpse immediately for the funeral rites, the city guard and Vanguard had been resisting as much as possible to postpone events until the Vanguards ‘specialist’ showed up. It was only after Kathlin had enquired of the arrival time of the aforementioned specialist had she learned it was supposed to be her.

Leaning over, Kathlin traced the entry point of the fatal wound, a neat hole in his neck. Death had been rapid and unavoidable, the spray from an artery splattering the wall near where the chalk outline had been sketched out. The murder weapon was easily identifiable as one of the advisors ceremonial swords, a relic apparently from his time in the army and which normally hung on the wall. What there was not, was a murder suspect.

“Excuse me” the girl turned to look the household servant that was tasked with following her around to make sure she didn’t misplace, break or steal anything. He gave her an unfriendly look that suggested he trusted her not to do none of these things. “Could I speak to his wife yet?”

“Her ladyship has been through a traumatic ordeal” the servant said stiffly. “She is not taking visitors at this time”

“Right…yes…you said that last time” Kathlin mumbled. Not for the first time, she glanced over at the Vanguard member who had accompanied her, who shrugged back at her looking equally lost. “The thing is…I understand she is very upset, but she might be able to help me understand what it was that happened here. Which…would help bring whatever it was that killed her husband to justice. Which is what she wants. Right?”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Oh ye of little faith.

I'll try and knock out a Kathlin post tomorrow to try and get the murder-mystrey side of things going. In the mean time...Liaena is making waves. Again.

(Sharon, it is up to you whether you want to add anything by writing the npcs at the estate agency or not. I'm happy to do it all myself...but you might want input into how quickly I track down your bbeg :p )

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Outside in the city, Stormwind had very much awoken. It might not have been a festival or other religious day in the cathedral district, but all of the shops were open for trade with their awnings hung out and carriages and pedestrians were rushing back and forth. It was in the middle of all of this that a fairly unremarkable girl with brown hair in crumpled robes strolled down the street, keeping a sharp eye out around her for anything…unremarkable.

“One district…just one district to search in. How hard could it be?”

Liaena felt in her pocket for the purse that she had taken with her from Sharons house. It felt heavy, which was a sensation she still wasn’t used to. Frivolous expenditure of her boyfriends money was still something that she had very solidly in her head as a Rithrynn-Move, but this was clearly an activity that could be chalked up to the Saving Sharons Life fund. It was with this in mind that she crossed the road to walk into one of the more prestigious, expensive-looking boutiques in the area.

Once she was inside an assistant was quick to approach her, while also eying up her rather dowdy robes, mussed hair and dirty satchel. “Can I help you?” the girl enquired, while looking as though she would prefer her sentence to finish with: ‘leave’.

“Oh. Yes.” Liaena said sweetly. Glancing around, she peered as some of the racks of clothing. “I want a new outfit. Something in your latest fashion…oh, and do you do hair, too?”

It was some time later that Liaena finally exited the boutique. She was now wearing a fitted wool dress that while still managing to remain relatively functional, screamed style and expense. A new blue cloak with cream fur trimmings hung loosely around her shoulders and Kathlins long, straggly hair had been washed and twisted into a bun. A new leather bag was carried from one shoulder.

The bag was the only point that Liaena had actually fought over with the eager shop assistants. Her insistence on size and convenience had clashed with their opinion on the Latest In Thing, and they had eventually compromised on something that while not the height of the fashion, was still passable in their eyes with the rest of the ensemble. It was actually quite a nice upgrade over her old satchel, Liaena mused as she walked down the steps into the street and immediately flagged down a cab. Where she was going was in fact just around the corner, but that wasn’t the point.

What was around the corner was in fact the most prestigious estate agent in the Cathedral District. The server behind the front desk glanced up at Liaena entered, took in her general attire and demeanour and started to rise to his feet. “Can I help you?”

“I would like to speak to your manager. Can you arrange that?”

“Uh” the man glanced behind him, then back at her again. “Pardon me, Ma’am, but do you have an appointment?”

“No” Liaena whispered. Leaning forward, she slid a solid gold piece across the table towards the service. “Could you possibly see if he would make time for me?”

*

It was in a remarkably short space of time that Liaena had been ushered into a cushy office, to be greeted by a portly man that reminded her strongly of Lord Graymoon. The thought stuck in her mind and made her have to bite back laughter as he offered her a drink, which she declined. “And what can I do for you this morning, my dear?”

Liaena sunk into one of the cushy chair, before looking back at the overweight house broker. “I have a favour to ask you, sir”

“Oh?” The mans curiosity was clearly piqued, although it was tempered with disappointment that her response hadn’t been ‘sell me an extremely expensive house’ as he gave her a sharp look. “And what would that be?”

Liaena paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. “I am looking for a friend of mine. I have lost contact with him, but I believe he has come back to live in this district in the last few months. He is a man of excellent taste, and if he has had dealings with your establishment you will have records of where he is currently staying. I am asking for your – discreet – assistance in this matter”

Looking up, Liaena gave the agent a wide-eyed, imploring look, before settling her hands on her extremely expensive wool skirt. “If you were able to help, you would find me extremely grateful I assure you”

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Well I should get my Internet back as of the 12th September. So that's something to look forward to :P