Jarigise

Chapter Six

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:22:10 GMT

“Unbelievable.”

Haaghun looked up at his master. He’d been reading these old journals for more than half an hour. “What?”

“The infinite fel energy source isn’t a single object,” he said, shutting the book. “It’s something that can be found all around us at any time.”

“Go on.”

“According to the studies these draenei have been doing, there is an amount of fel energy in every living thing’s soul. Once the soul essence is overwhelmed by the fel energy in the soul, the creature is, by most definitions, a demon. So, if I figure out how to harness fel energy in living things, I can drain fel energy straight from anything around me.”

Haaghun flipped through the book Jarigise had just put down. “Interesting. How will you harness that fel energy?”

“That’s the problem,” he said, sighing. “I can only drain souls, mana, and life energy. If I can figure out a way to alter my own soul draining spell to only drain the fel energy inside the soul, rather than the soul essence, then I’ll be invincible. It’s just like this whole bloody offensive… I’m so close, yet so far.”

The two sat in silence for a moment. “I need some way to test out my theories. We need the enslaved draenei alive for the moment.”

Haaghun stood up. “Hmm, I wonder where you could find a living source of fel energy. One that would bow to your will and walk off a cliff if he was ordered to and is strong enough to not fall over dead from your experimentation. Hmm, I can’t think of anyone,” he said sarcastically.

Jarigise rolled his eyes. “All right. Let’s see…” He started mouthing incantations to himself. “Let’s try this one.”

He stood up and held his hand out. As he muttered a few words, a pink beam shot from Haaghun’s stomach, pulsing into his body as he did. Haaghun winced in pain, but otherwise did not move. “Nope, that’s not it. Maybe if…” Again he started mouthing incantations to himself. He tried again. This time, a purple beam shot from his hand and into the felguard. He grunted and stopped the spell immediately. “Reverse soul drain. Doubt I’ll ever need that.”

A few minutes later, Jarigise shook his head. “Dammit. I’ve tried changing the words for my draining spells in every way I can think of that would grant results.” He sat down and thought for a moment.

“Take your time,” Haaghun said, grunting in pain. Burns, bruises and cuts covered his chest from the failed spells.

Suddenly the warlock sat up. “Maybe if I combine two spells in a certain way…” He began muttering to himself for what felt like the thousandth time, then stood up. “Let’s try this one more time.”

“Okay, but if this doesn’t work, can we at least take a break?”

“What, can’t handle a bit of pain?” he chuckled. He began muttering the words in his mind. Instantly a deep purple beam shot from Haaghun’s chest, and he began grunting in pain. Jarigise stopped casting. “So close! I was getting just your soul essence that time. All right, let’s try reversing the incantation this time…”

Before Haaghun could protest, Jarigise held out his hand and casted the spell. Immediately a bright green beam emanated from his heart. Haaghun bellowed in agony. “Yes! Yes!” Jarigise shouted. “This is it! This is the spell! I can feel the power already!” He cackled horribly as Haaghun started convulsing.

Jarigise cut the spell, and Haaghun fell to the floor, breathing heavily. “Wonderful,” he said once he could speak again.

“It hurts that much because I’m draining the major component of your soul. We need to try this on something that’s not a demon. Let me go get one of those draenei,” he said, sprinting forward.

Running out of the Exodar, he looked around. There were warriors escorting enslaved draenei out of the ruins all around him. He ran up to one, a troll. “I need that slave.”

The troll looked up. “Of course, master. Give it to 'er good,” he added, chuckling as Jarigise led the female away.

“Stand still,” he said. He backed away from the shaking, crying slave. He held out his hand and started muttering the spell. Before he finished, the draenei turned and ran full speed. He ignored her flight and finished the spell. The green beam shot from her and into his hand, coursing through his body. She screamed in utter agony as the spell drained her soul of fel, with Jarigise cackling the whole time.

After a minute, the spell cut out. The draenei fell to the ground, her face sallow and dry. “Perfect,” the warlock said as he turned to the Exodar, leaving the drained corpse behind.

NOTES:

A few things here.

Number one, my semester's ending, so that means finals and midterms and other fun shit. Also, I have an essay to write, and a crapload of homework to work on. So for the next few days, updates will be farther between.

Number two, I'm working on making chapters longer. Maximum Ride-size chapters will not cut it, unless you people like 200-chapter stories, and I don't think you do. So again, more time between updates.

So yeah, get used to more time between updates. I've been on a chapter-a-day streak, but that's not gonna work out anymore. Things have gotta change if this is gonna be the story I want it to be.

Also, thanks Caix for pointing that out. SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TELL ME WHAT I'M DOING WRONG? DO IT MORE OFTEN PLZKTHX.

and Chapter Five.

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:59:10 GMT

“How could I let this happen?” Man’ar said miserably, looking out from a distance at the ruins of the Exodar. “How could I let Velen down?”

They had just barely escaped the Horde attackers. It took an elemental summoned from Sayaadi’s totem and a huge cyclone created by Ilthilior to get them away, but they’d escaped.

“If you’d tried to help him any more than you did, we’d be dead,” Ilthilior said.

“It was pretty obvious from the beginning that he was done like dinner. You’re beating yourself over a cause that was lost before we even got there,” Sayaadi added.

Man’ar shook his head. He knew they were right, but yet he knew he hadn’t done enough. “What now? The Exodar’s lost, we don’t know what they’re planning with it, and the draenei race has been literally decimated.”

“We go back,” Ilthilior said, unfittingly calm for the situation.

“What?”

“You said yourself, the Exodar’s lost and we don’t know what they’re doing. We can at least try to find out. Maybe it won’t end up being a total loss. Who knows, we might even be able to get some ideas on how to take it back.”

Man’ar blinked. That was the longest he’d heard Ilthilior talk in a long time.

“In an odd way, he’s got a point,” Sayaadi said.

He stood up again. “All right. We’ll go in there, round up survivors, and find out what they’re planning.”

“Why does this place feel so different?” Sayaadi said, a chill running through her.

“It’s typical of a place where a great battle’s taken place,” Man’ar replied. “None of the dead here have found true rest, and most of them never will.”

They stepped carefully among the corpses strewn about the remains of the massive ship. There were a few Horde fighters, so they tried to stay generally out of sight.

“Did you hear that?” Ilthilior said suddenly.

The other two stopped and listened carefully. The echoes of shouting and battle could be heard down the halls of the Exodar. They walked in its direction, careful to avoid sight from the guards.

Soon they came to the Trader’s Tier. The shrieking was louder and more bloodcurdling now. It was impossible to tell what the source was yet, and there were three orcish guards in the way. Man’ar quietly signaled to Maladath to fly overhead, while Ilthilior’s body started to suddeny change shape. Within a second, his body was like a panther’s, lithe and powerful. Blending into the shadows, he snuck behind one of the guards. Man’ar held his bow at the ready, pointed to Maladath, then to the middle guard. Finally, he snapped his fingers.

The attack was sudden. Maladath divebombed one of the guards, stabbing him in the head with his tail. Ilthilior pounced from the shadows and ripped at another guard’s flesh, killing him before he could even call for help. Man’ar’s arrow flew straight into the third guard’s skull, killing him instantly. With all three dead in seconds, the three ran towards the source of the sound.

“Next time you pull a sneak attack, I want in on it,” Sayaadi said jokingly.

When they arrived, they found a hectic battle going on. One appeared to be an undead, two swords in hand, locked in combat with a draenei engineer, who could do nothing but use a metal pipe to parry his blows and take occasional smacks at the attacker with a wrench.

“Give me the warp engine, you damn fool! Maybe I’ll spare you then!” the rogue yelled. His blades sent sparks flying as he struck the reinforced pipe.

The engineer smashed his attacker in the stomach with the pipe, knocking him off balance, then cracked him across the head. “I’d sooner die than let you take this!’

Finally the rogue brought both blades down on the pipe, slashing it in two and throwing the draenei off guard. Before he could recover, the rogue stabbed him in the chest with both swords. The engineer dropped to the ground, barely breathing.

“All right, let’s get this thing to the master...”

Shk. Man’ar’s arrow hit him in the back. He gave a yelp of pain and turned to his attacker. Angered, he charged towards Man’ar, blades ready to find flesh. Man’ar lifted his spear and jabbed, impaling the rogue through the chest, then pulled it out and cracked him over the head with the flat.

Sayaadi and Ilthilior ran to the dying engineer. “Hold on, we’ll get you to safety, we’ll…”

The draenei wasn’t listening. “Don’t let them get it… don’t let them get it…” he wheezed over and over again. He started to reach to the pack on his back, but his hand fell limp and dead before he could get it out.

Man’ar put his spear back and walked to the dead engineer. “What was he talking about?”

“He kept saying not to let them get something. Probably that warp engine they were talking about,” Ilthilior said, keeping his eyes on the body, its face still warped in a pained expression.

“Well, now we know what they’re planning. They want to get this thing to fly again.” Man’ar reached to the backpack and shuffled inside. He pulled out a strange object. It resembled a crystal with a ring of magic around it. Smaller crystals were orbiting it. Surprisingly heavy for something of its size, Man’ar had to lift it with both hands.

“If they want to get this thing flying, they’ll have to get this thing,” Sayaadi said.

Man’ar nodded. “And if they want to get this thing, they’ll have to kill us first. I swear on my life, this death, nor any others, will be in vain.”

NOTES:

The end is cliche again, I know. I'm trying to avoid those, I really am ; ;

In essence, the story arc for Man'ar, Sayaadi, and Ilthilior is all about protecting the warp engine, and Jarigise's story arc is all about growing more powerful. This will change towards the end as the arcs come together, but that's to be expected, really.

Chapter six is in the works. Unless I get more virus troubles, I should have it up tomorrow. I write these things crazy fasr, so unless something happens, this may be done by the middle of February. The chapters are short because most of the books I read have short chapters too.

Chapter Four...

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:53:02 GMT

Heh, sorry about that guys. My computer got loaded down with viruses and I wasn't able to post chapter four until today. On the upside, though, you get two chapters.

“Victory! For the Horde!” Jarigise bellowed, his voice booming through the ravaged Exodar. He could have almost jumped for joy. Phase one was complete! The Exodar was his!

But… something was amiss. He looked at Thrall and Vol’jin. Their battle scars were clear, their sorrow obvious. Oh, right, he thought, Cairne and Lor’themar. Well, my victory will come at a cost. “I’ll have a group send Cairne and Lor’themar’s bodies to Orgrimmar. They will be given the grandest funeral procession possible.”

“Thank you, Grand Warlock,” Thrall responded, looking up slightly. “Will you accompany us?”

“Unfortunately, no. I’m going to make sure the Exodar is clear. I don’t think we’ve killed everyone in here.”

“Very well.” With that, he and Vol’jin walked down the platform. Jarigise gestured to a few guards, who ran after them in search of the bodies.

“Grand Warlock. Do you really care for the casualties, or are you trying to get in Thrall’s good books?”

He turned to his queen. “There will be costs for this battle. Unfortunately, some of them will be severe. But I assure you, it is for the best for our people.”

Sylvanas nodded, looking over the ruined ship. “What now?”

“I’ll send for peons from Orgrimmar. Every able-bodied worker, engineer, and mage will get down here and start rebuilding, improving. With the knowledge we’ll get from the enslaved draenei, we’ll learn the secrets of naaru technology. This time a few years from now, this old ship will be ready to travel again.”

“And from this ship,” Sylvanas said, grinning for the first time Jarigise had ever seen, “we will sow utter terror across the Great Dark.”

Jarigise nodded. “The perfect kingdom… I can see it already.”

“I’ll look for any survivors. It sounds like this thing needs to go off without a hitch.”

“Thank you. Keep an eye out for that damnable hunter who hit me with this arrow,” he said, holding out the arrow that had, minutes earlier, been embedded in his arm. “He’s probably gone by now, but if not…”

She nodded and walked down the ramp. Haaghun stood next to Jarigise. “Master. You said there were two major reasons to invade the Exodar. What was the second?”

The warlock looked around, making sure no one was listening. “Research.”

“Research? Of what kind?”

“I believe the draenei have made an important discovery regarding fel energy. Possibly an infinite source. If I found this source, I’d be invincible. We just need to look for the area they would have this knowledge in.

“May I suggest the Vault of Lights? I saw they have holographic projectors there that give information on demons. Maybe their research is inside those projectors, or else in the Vault somewhere.”

“Good idea. Let’s go,” he said. The two stepped off the platform, and Haaghun kicked Velen’s body off as he left.

Arriving in the Vault of Lights, dead draenei littered the ground, much like everywhere else. The projectors seemed slightly damaged, but otherwise functioned well. “They wouldn’t have it in the projectors,” Jarigise said, “otherwise they would be giving away information about the source. There must be a room around here with their studies. Possibly hidden.”
Something this important would have to be well guarded and close to someone who would not dare delve into it. Someone like…

Jarigise walked up the stairs to Velen’s throne-platform. Pushing a staff out of the way, he began looking through the books stacked nearby. After a minute, he found there was nothing in them of use. “Damn. Haaghun, did you find anything?”

“Not yet. Wait… this crystal seems different from the others in here.” Jarigise looked in his direction and saw a huge crystal, much like the ones on the top of the ship and within its doors. Something about it seemed… off.

Haaghun pulled out his maul and smacked it. It vibrated severely, but didn’t crack. Jarigise held his hands to his side and threw a shadow bolt at it. To his shock, the crystal absorbed it, but did nothing else.

“It absorbs magic. Maybe it needs it to do anything,” Haaghun said.

“Then it wouldn’t budge using shadow magic, they don’t use that for the most part. Maybe…”

Of course. He grabbed the staff he had knocked off Velen’s platform and pointed it at the crystal. Suddenly a blinding ray of light shot from the tip and hit the crystal. The massive gem vibrated so intensely that Jarigise had to cover his ears, and to his amazement, it began to crack in the bottom base. After a moment, the cracks shattered, revealing a path to… another room?

He stepped through the crystal tunnel to the room. A number of books – no, journals – were stacked in the room, a quill on top. Pushing the quill off, Jarigise began to read the journal entries. “None of this is important,” he said, tossing one book aside and reaching for another. He continued to flip the pages and was about to toss it away when something caught his eye. Reading a few words, his mouth started to curl into a smile…

NOTES:

Well, now you know the jist of the whole evil plot here. Get the big starship running again and start conquering the universe with it. How cliche. This one will be different from a lot of others. Remember, this story here's gonna break pretty much every basic story rule, so be ready for damn near anything.

Other than that, there's... not a lot for me to comment on. A couple chapters from now you'll find out what the "infinite fel source" is, and the story will really get rolling from there.

... Oddly enough, I have the beginning, beginning-of-the-middle, and the end all planned out. It's what happens in between that's gonna throw me for a loop.

Chapter Three

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:27:33 GMT

“I kinda figured there’d be more here,” Sayaadi said, looking over the outside of the Exodar crash site.

“They may have gone inside,” Man’ar said. “Jarigise may have called them in there because he found a serious thre— oh crap.”

Before the last words had left his mouth, Man’ar was sprinting towards the closest entrance, Sayaadi and Ilthilior close behind. Come on, Velen, hang in there…

Suddenly a sharp pain shot into his back. He turned around to see a troll some yards away, his bow in hand. He pulled out his own bow in retaliation, whipping out an arrow from the quiver on his pants and shooting it with impeccable speed. The arrow struck right in the attacker’s heart, dropping him like a fly.

Hearing a crack behind him, he turned in time to see Sayaadi’s thunder bolt electrocuting an orc. Man’ar reached to his back and pulled out the arrow, wincing in pain as the wound opened deeper. Ilthilior turned to him and waved his hand in Man’ar’s direction. A soothing wind enveloped him, and the pain slowly started to fade. He nodded in thanks and turned to help Sayaadi.

“Man’ar, where’s Maladath? We could use him right abow now,” Sayaadi yelled as two tauren ran towards her, massive weapons in tow.

Man’ar nodded again, placed his fingers to his mouth, and let out a loud, shrill whistle. Immediately a bolt of lightning struck the larger one from the sky, followed by a burst of freezing wind. The warrior fell to the ground, breathing heavily, helpless as Man’ar drew his spear and impaled him. As he did, his beloved Maladath swooped down from the sky. The blue and purple chimaera stabbed the second one with the blades on the lower jaw of both its heads, then lashed at her with its two tails. Its jet black eyes affixed on the kill, it withdrew the blades from the tauren’s flesh, and its left head snapped shut on its neck. The victim let out a shriek of pain, which slowly wavered as she died.

“Good work, Maladath,” he said, stroking its two heads, The chimaera let out a quiet sound of pleasure as it followed him to the Exodar.

The ramp down to the Seat of the Naaru was empty, strangely enough. The reinforcements were either not here yet, or already slain. Neither possibility was any good. “Wait… where’s O’ros? Wouldn’t he have done some serious damage to these forces?” Man’ar said.

Sayaadi looked down the huge circular ramp, and her expression turned rock-hard. “Not as much as we would hope.”

Man’ar followed Sayaadi’s gaze, and his stomach turned. Below, where once there was a being of greatest light, there was nothing but crystalline fragments. How they had done it was incomprehensible, but they’d done it… they’d killed the naaru.

Ilthilior looked down alongside them. “How did they manage that?” he said incredulously.

Man’ar shook his head, peeling his gaze away from the horrific sight. “We can worry about O’ros later. Velen’s in danger, and we have to find him now.” With that, he turned and ran down the ramp.

He started to run to the Vault of Lights, but before he had stepped too far into them, he heard shouts of battle in another area of the wrecked ship. Listening carefully, he ran to its source, Sayaadi, Maladath, and Ilthilior behind him.

As he ran, he nearly tripped on a corpse. He looked down to see a huge tauren, an important looking one, dead on the ground. As he looked around he saw a very fancily-dressed blood elf body. Were these two Horde leaders?

A dull whistle sounded right by his ear as a bolt of shadow spell whizzed by his head, missing by mere inches. Looking at a ledge above, he saw a large group of Horde fighters alongside an important-looking orc – Thrall, he thought – an undead elf wielding a bow with amazing prowess, and another undead wearing purple robes and an odd, large-looking collar… Jarigise.

Looking to the figure locked in combat with them, he saw a familiar figure… the Prophet. He was being forced back, but was also casting spells almost endlessly. Beams of light burst out of thin air and pierced his targets’ flesh. Man’ar, realizing there was no way Velen could win alone, let out a bellow of rage and held his hand to the sky. Suddenly, bolts of shadow energy rained on the Horde army, exploding on contact and forcing many of them back. The ones that didn’t die quickly focused their attention on Man’ar, Sayaadi, and Ilthilior, leaving only Jarigise, Thrall, Sylvanas, and a handful of troops on Velen. Man’ar rose his bow and fired a quick arrow at Jarigise, hitting him in the arm. The warlock yelled out in pain and turned in the offender’s direction. His eyeless sockets narrowed in anger when his magic-granted sight caught Man’ar.

Suddenly, Man’ar was tossed upward. A pillar of flame had risen from the ground and thrown him up, severely burning his arm. He shouted in agony, but was forced to turn to the many Horde soldiers advansing upon them. Rising his spear with his good arm, he stabbed one soldier through the heart, then withdrew and slashed another’s throat. With that, he turned and ran, knowing he couldn’t handle that many. Sayaadi held her hand out and threw one troop into a few others, and Ilthilior’s magic generated a small tornado, tossing a large portion of the troops back and forth. They, too, quickly turned and ran.

Man’ar made the mistake of turning back to see a horrific sight. Velen was standing still, a blank look on his face. A sword that seemed to be made of pure flame had pierced straight through him. As the great prophet fell to the ground, Jarigise grinned horribly and sheathed his magical blade. Not even having time to shout in sorrow, Man’ar kept running… knowing that the master of his whole race had fallen before his very eyes, and he hadn’t been able to stop it.

AUTHOR TALK:

So far, this has been my favorite scene to work on, I've worked out how I want the end to turn out (SPOILER: haha yeah right, are you fucking serious)

A lot of major lore figures will end up dead in here, and considering I killed off four in this chapter alone, you can expect more to come. It's sudden, yes, but I can't find a way at all to fit Cairne and Lor'themar in there. Plus, Velen had to die in order for the plan to work.

For the most part, I've worked out most of the issues I had before, mainly whether Sylvanas will feature prominently as a main character. And no, she will not, unfortunately. Sorry, Sylvanas fans, but it was getting too hard to work her in to a story about a deranged tyrant loner.

Chapter four should be up tomorrow, but no guarantees on that, because I'm back to school and all.

... and Chapter Two.

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:22:06 GMT

“Where the hell is he?” he roared in frustration.

He turned back to the line of draenei corpses behind them as he ran. None of them could possibly be him, could they? Either he was weaker than they thought, or they hadn’t found him yet.

“He’s not going to just sit there and wait for us to find him, you know,” Sylvanas said.

“I know, but how many hiding places can you find in a wrecked spacecraft?” Jarigise fumed.

“Velen probably knows this place better than we ever will. We’ll find him, though. Be sure of that.”

He nodded. But it was unbelievably angering when he was so close, yet so far.

Feeling a whoosh by his head, he turned and grabbed the attacker’s chest, forcing him a few yards back with a burst of fire. Sylvanas turned and shot an arrow straight through the guard’s skull, and a dull groan escaped his lips as he fell.

Two more came forth, one a female wearing robes. She started to cast some sort of spell, but she never had time to finish. Jarigise yelled something in Eredun, and the towering felguard charged forth, smacking her with his shoulder and sending her flying. He pulled out his massive maul and caught her in the chest in midair, crushing her as she hit the ground. Jarigise snapped his fingers, and the second, a male, burst into flames. He waved a bony, rotted finger in front of him, and fire burst from his fingertip and travelled in a wave towards the burning figure. As they met with him, the flames tripled in size, and the draenei fell to his knees before succumbing.

“Do you think Thrall’s already found him?” Sylvanas asked nonchalantly.

“Completely possible. Just listen for that war cry of his…”

“Lok’tar ogar!”

“There we go.” Jarigise took off running again, Sylvanas and Haaghun behind him.

“Where is he? What happened?”

Thrall and Vol’jin turned towards the three. “This thing squealed,” the troll said, moving to reveal a beaten, bloody civilian. “He be hiding in the Crystal Hall somewhere.”

“Helpful. Where in the Crystal Halls?” Jarigise said in common tongue, his hand bursting into flames as he reached for the captive’s neck.

“I don’t know! Don’t kill me, please, I have a wife and family!”

“I doubt you do anymore. Speak now, or suffer.”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! Please, leave me be!”

“He doesn’t know anything, warlock. You’re beating a dead horse,” Thrall said.

“Fine.” He clenched his hand into a fist around the coward’s throat, hearing him scream in utter agony and watching the life slowly fade from his eyes. The flames around his hands died, and he let go, letting the limp figure fall. “We’ll find him somewhere in there. He can’t be too hard to find, just look for a huge group of guards.”

With that, the five charged toward the Hall. Two minutes and ten dead draenei later, they found a small corridor, covered by rubble.

“Wait,” Jarigise said. He held out his hand, and a green orb materialized. The Eye of Kilrogg flew down the corridor with incredible speed. His vision bound to the eye, the warlock saw a massive gathering of guards, at least fifty of them. A taller figure stood behind them, sitting on the ground, his face showing unending sorrow.

The eye dissipated. “I need to call the troops. Velen’s in there, heavily guarded.” Before Thrall could react, Jarigise bellowed. “Warriors of the Horde, heed our call! The commander of the draenei has been found! Help us claim victory in the name of the Warchief!”

Almost immediately, a huge number of voices called out in response, “For the Horde!” The guards charged forward at the five, screaming in anger.

Sylvanas lifted her bow and fired three arrows, each finding a mark, dropping the wretches nearly instantly. Thrall forced his hand outward, and a bolt of lightning shot from his palm. It struck one draenei, then burst out out and killed four others. Vol’jin snuck behind the group and slashed a guard’s neck, then turned and stabbed another one in the head. Jarigise held his hand to his side, then threw a blast of shadow energy forth, which struck one of the guards in the head. Then he held his hands together in front of him, generating an image of a demonic head, creating black flames that scorched some of the wretches to ashes. Haaghun’s maul hit one draenei’s head so hard it knocked it clean off.

Then the Horde troops started pouring in. Blades clashed, blood flew, and bodies fell. When it was over, a large group of Horde stood behind Thrall, Vol’jin, Sylvanas and Jarigise. Draenei littered the entire room. Almost the entire room was coated in red. The warlock cackled as they moved forward to Velen, the only one standing between them and the fulfillment of the first phase of his master plot…

FUN FACT TIME:

Finally! I stormed through the beginning boredom as fast as I could, and here we are in the middle of the action, where I'm actually a half-decent writer.

Anyway, with the format I'm going with right now, expect one chapter involving Man'ar and co., and one chapter with Jarigise, unless I have the four meet, in which case it'll throw a wrench in the works.

Jarigise isn't meant to be an overpowered boss-type... yet. I'm keeping away from the real World of Warcraft-style stuff because it obviously makes for bad writing. Setting someone on fire with magical flames should kill them a shitton faster and be a lot more painful than it is in WoW, dammit |:[

I don't know yet if Sylvanas is going to be a major player in the story. I know Thrall and Vol'jin will be little more than bonus muscle for the most part, but they'll be more pivotal toward the end (or Thrall will be, at least - I'm trying to fit Vol'jin in there as well, but it's proving difficult, like a lot of stuff).

"BUT JAR, WHAT ABOUT CAIRNE AND LOR'THEMAR? D:"
Next chapter. I warn you, though, you may not like what I've done... (oh dammit I may as well just come right out with it, that kinda gives it away
oh well no one's gonna read these things
... are they?
D:)

Chapter One...

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:07:36 GMT

The dimly lit house atop the massive World Tree Teldrassil lay close to the edge of the trunk, yet far enough to avoid its two residents certain death. Many would have considered it unsafe and stayed away, but they were happy with it.

Inside, a draenei kicked up his feet on the bed. His hooves nearly touched the ceiling as he did so. We really need a bigger place.

In the other room, another came through the doorway. “Man’ar, there are some people coming to the house.”

Getting up again, Man’ar wandered towards the door. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know. Looks like a courier, he’s carrying some sort of parchment. Looks like he has a package, too.”

He glanced over her shoulder towards the visitors. It was a human, a relatively thin build. Seeing Man’ar, he sprinted the rest of the distance to the house. “Master Man’ar, it’s good to meet you.”

He shook the man’s hand. “You are?”

“I have a message from Lady Jaina Proudmoore herself. It’s a matter of great urgency.”

He took the scroll from the courier and began reading. As he did, Sayaadi took the package from him and opened it. It was a brilliantly polished, glowing orb.

“An attack? What?” he said, looking up. Noticing the courier looked understandably weary, he motioned for him to come in and sit on a chair.

“We can only assume it was the Horde,” he said, easing into the seat. “The army is currently attacking the Exodar in huge numbers. Lady Jaina has appealed to King Varian Wrynn for more reinforcements. The draenei will not hold up on their own.”

Man’ar sat down in another seat, feeling sick inside. “So you’re asking…”

“Lady Jaina is asking you to defend them from the Horde. She wishes an audience with you, which is what the orb is for.”

Man’ar rubbed the tentacles on his chin, thinking. Sayaadi read and reread the letter, possibly hoping it was some sick joke. “I understand if you feel uncomfortable going back to battle,” the courier continued, “considering how you gave it up.”

“Surely the Alliance has enough forces of our own. Two more will not make a difference.”

“Jaina believes your presence will serve as a ray of hope for the defenders of the Exodar, if your acts in Outland and Northrend are any indicator. She’s sending out for all able-bodied warriors. Ilthilior Nightwind is also going to battle. I understand he’s a friend of yours from around here? In any case, she asks an audience of you before you make up your mind.”

“Fair enough,” Man’ar replied, standing up again. “We’ll leave as soon as I get my weapons, to save time if we decide not to get involved.”

“I’m already in,” Sayaadi said. “I’m not letting that scum take over the only reason our race is still alive.”

“I don’t like this. I don’t feel comfortable risking my life anymore. Besides, I’m getting older, I’m not in my prime, if you know what I mean.”

Sayaadi looked at him and giggled. “You’re still young for a draenei. You only gave up war a year ago, you’ve still got it I bet.”

“Probably right. I just… haven’t taken on an entire army before. Without a tank, of course.”

“Who knows? Maybe that’s one of the perks. Anyway, I’m ready to go to Jaina whenever you are.”

“Me too,” Man’ar said. He picked up the glowing orb, and Sayaadi put her hands on it. She muttered a few words, and a bright light pierced through the room.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, addressing the two as they appeared in the tower. Man’ar opened his eyes, still partially blinded by the teleportation. He could partially make out Jaina and another, more elven figure in the room.

“I hope we didn’t arrive too late,” Sayaadi said, stepping forward. “Hello again, Ilthilior.”

The elf nodded at her. Quiet one, that druid, Man’ar thought as he stepped forward. “How is the Exodar holding up?”

“It’s not,” Jaina said, and a barely visible tear rolled down her cheek. “The Horde’s wiped out almost their entire force. I can’t believe Thrall would sanction such a massacre.”

“It is a bit hard to believe. Is he leading the force?”

“It doesn’t seem so. From what some of our troops have gathered, the leader is a Forsaken warlock, and a powerful one. The name’s Jarigise or something like that.”

Thump. Everyone in the room turned towards the sound to see Man’ar with his fist firmly into the wall. He turned to them and quickly pulled back. “Sorry, go on?”

“Right,” Jaina said, giving Man’ar an odd look. “He’s taking as many prisoners as he can, and only the ones that don’t cooperate are killed.”

Sayaadi barely suppressed a smile. “Well, we’re stubborn like that.”

“This is hardly a good time,” Ilthilior said, frowning at her.

“Sorry.”

Jaina continued for a few more minutes, then finished. “Can I count on your help in defeating this… Jarigise fellow?” – thunk – “Will you stop doing that? Repairs are expensive nowadays.”

“I’m in,” Sayaadi and Ilthilior said simultaneously.

“Wonderful,” Jaina said, clasping her hands together. “I will teleport you to the Exodar immediately. Man’ar?”

His face contorted in rage, he spoke. "Send us down there. I'll rip every damn thing there limb from limb."

FUN FACT TIME:

Yes this will be regular for me. I'll be making comments on the chapter/story here. Get used to it.

As I said before, I hate beginnings. As a result, I'm never happy with what I do at the start. So this chapter had a crapload of revisions before I posted it here.

I don't plan on this being a comedic story, but I will have bits here and there meant to get a laugh, for example Man'ar's outburst (which, by the way, will be explained later - I'm trying to give him a motive beyond "AHHHH RAGE REVENGE RAWR"). For the most part, though, it's an action-war style story spanning a large portion of Azeroth.

Man'ar, Sayaadi, and Ilthilior will be one side of the spectrum in terms of main characters, while Jarigise and possibly Sylvanas will be the other end. Ultimately, I'll be including each side's end of the story equally. I'm trying to make who's the protagonist and who's the antagonist subjective to your opinion moreso than other stories, but that's proving rather difficult, because it's pretty clear that I can't really give Jarigise positive motives, especially on the path I'm planning for him.

On the topic of Jarigise, you'll really get to see his plan develop throughout the story, rather than having it planted right in front of his face. The inspiration for his character comes from a lot of manipulative bastards throughout history, specifically Josef Stalin.

Warcraft: Prelude to Damnation, Prologue

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:14:45 GMT

Tell me if you come up with a better title. >>;;

The sun began to set in the large city of Orgrimmar. The streets cleared as night dawned on the barren, rocky landscape of Durotar, unearthly flames illuminating the buildings.

A single figure walked through the city, papers in one arm. Make or break now, he though. My life… no, my life ended in Lordaeron… my entire existence has been dedicated to this point. I can’t fumble so close to my ultimate goal.

The huge, musclebound demon walked to his side. He had crimson skin, and was clad in armor on his legs and head. A massive maul rested on his back. Sensing the warlock’s unease, the demon spoke. “Master, I am sure they will grant you your wishes. Your ideas are impeccable.”

He shook his head. “I’m fine,” he said in a gutteral, icy tone. The felguard silenced himself and continued walking.

The two arrived on the steps of the massive orcish fortress. The warlock stepped through the huge gateway, and immediately felt the gaze of multiple, heaily armed and armored figures, ready to charge and gut him at a moment’s notice.

Ignoring them, the two stepped into the main hall. A throne sat in the back of the room, and a large table in the center. Five figures surrounded the table.

One, an orc, turned his head up as the warlock approached. “You’ve arrived, then.”

The other figures turned in his direction. He looked over their faces, stopping at his mistress’, and he felt a twinge in his stomach.

“Thank you for granting me this audience, Warchief Thrall,” he said as he sat at the table. A map of Azeroth sat in the center, with markings covering some regions of it. “I know it is odd of someone to request one who is not a Horde leader, but I believe you will find this of interest.”

The undead elf – his mistress, Sylvanas – spoke. “Get on with it, then, Grand Warlock,” she said, clearly impatient. Whether out of annoyance, anxiety, or curiousity, he could not tell. “There better be a good reason you called this meeting.”

“There is,” he replied. “I have an attack plan against the Alliance that could quite possibly wipe them from the face of Azeroth.”

Apparently she wasn’t expecting this, or anyone for that matter, judging by the look on their faces. “Jarigise, this better be some plan,” Thrall muttered.

Jarigise placed the papers under his arm on the table and rolled them out, carefully explaining his plan. He began speaking feverishly and excitedly as he went through the details, feeling more alive than he had since… well, since he’d been alive.

When he was finished, the leaders all mulled over it. Sylvanas seemed genuinely impressed; the regent lord of the blood elves, Lor’themar Theron, Sylvanas’ close friend in life, seemed very deep in contemplation; the orcish warchief Thrall, as well as the leader of the bullmen-like race of tauren, chief Cairne Bloodhoof, seemed uneasy and skeptical; and the leader of the Darkspear trolls, Vol’jin, mumbled “I gotta bad feeling about this, mon” under his breath to Thrall.

Finally, Thrall spoke. “Leave us a minute. I need to talk with the other leaders here.”

Jarigise backed off from the table, grinning to himself. He was almost in the clear now; he had all the possibilities worked out and had a solution to each of them. The five spoke quietly amongst each other. After about five minutes, Thrall rose.

“Grand Warlock Jarigise, although your plan is well thought-out, we have decided we need to keep peace with the Alliance for the time being. A plan like this would change the course of Azeroth forevermore. To that end, we have decided to keep your plans on the backburner, while we work on more pressing issues.”

At this point, many would give up, but not Jarigise. This was his work from birth, to death, to undeath. Damned if it wouldn’t fall through at any cost.

“I didn’t want to have to tell you this, Thrall… but Jaina Proudmoore is involved in this.”

The warchief’s retreat back to his throne stopped dead. “What about her…?”

“My plan involves a distraction from what the Alliance has planned for us.”

All the Horde leaders, and even a few of the grunts and guards of the fortress, turned in interest to what he was going to say next. “What does this have to do with Jaina at all? She holds the Alliance back from fighting us, and I do the same for the Horde.”

“You are half right, you do indeed hold us back from a war with the Alliance. However, Jaina isn’t trying so hard. I have information from a human spy I caught near Warsong Hold in Northrend.”

He tossed a paper to the table. Thrall picked it up with shaking hands and began to read. Within a minute he had crumpled the paper in his hand. “Jaina’s leading an attack on Orgrimmar…? Why… how could she do this?”

“Face it, Thrall,” Sylvanas said, “the Alliance wants to get rid of us more than we want to get rid of it. Friendships, peace treaties, they mean nothing. One side or the other was bound to turn on the other sooner or later.”

Jarigise nodded to her, feeling simultaneously calmed that the worst was over, yet excited that this plan would finally come to fruition. “This plan is simultaneously going to distract the Alliance from their plans, as well as decimate their forces beyond repair. What say you now, warchief? Do you still want to try peace with a group that is clearly uninterested in it? Or will we fight back?

Thrall’s look of sadness was almost unbearable to some of the people in the room. He glanced sideways to each of the other Horde leaders, who nodded as he did. Finally he turned back to Jarigise, a look of rage on his face.

“You have the Horde army’s full support, Jarigise. This had better work.”

The feeling in his gut was indescribable. Success at last! He bowed before the five. “Excellent. I will not disappoint, my warchief.”

And as he turned to leave, his felguard behind him, Jarigise grinned.

FUN FACT TIME

I suck at introductions. My stories always start slow and sucky, get better in the middle, and start to get worse towards the end. I am inconsistent as hell. That said, expect this story to break damn near every rule you will ever think of in a story. Because I HATE RULES FUCK DA ESTABLISHMENT YEEAAAH

... ahem

I've actually had the prologue written for a while now. I'm just starting chapter 3 right now.
"BUT JAR WHERE ARE CHAPTERS 1 AND 2 THEN?"
... uh... well... I'm uh... Building the dramatic tension! Yeah, that's it.
Nah, seriously, they're done. I just want to give a sample of what I've done so far before I post chapters 1 and 2, which I'll probably post together. Criticism is welcome, even if it's harsh, but some things != criticism. "OMG JAR THIS SUCKS BECAUSE _________" is good. "OMG JAR THIS SUCKS NOT TELLING YOU WHY WARRGARBL" is not.

Welcome to LiveJournal

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:30:29 GMT

Yo. This is the LJ page where I'll be posting my World of Warcraft story that I'm writing. Chapters will be added whenever I get the time to add 'em, which is pretty often, since chapters are short for me.