The Scarlet Monastery

5/24 late morning

I wasn’t actually up for too much when I forced myself to get up, but a bit of conjured water from Kriss and an hour long nap by all rights should be enough rest. According to my profile I was at almost 60% mana, I was just being a baby about it because I had a headache. Once I decided to power through it, stress defense stepped in and made it easier for me.

Lividia was still flying towards Stonetalon Peak, so I teleported out to join her. Flying just for the sake of it, especially alongside someone I loved, had a certain excitement and joy that still hadn’t faded. When we arrived, I transformed us each into random night elves on the path leading to the settlement. Some of the native dryads came to speak to us, but it was nothing terribly aggressive. We hadn’t done anything to make them suspicious yet and we were physically normal elves right now. Even if they had been able to sense dragons, there was nothing to sense.

We exchanged pleasantries, and slowly made our way to one of the few buildings, a little cottage that was our target. The dryads wandered off once they lost interest, being somewhat flighty unless they had a mission to pursue, and we didn’t draw too much attention to ourselves. It was a small and remote town, but visitors weren’t so strange as to draw a crowd.

Illyane wasn’t home, as it turned out, so there was no need to kidnap her after all. Unfortunately her home was also locked and had no windows big enough even for Lividia’s dragon form, so no opportunity for burglary either. After looking it over, Lividia and I turned back into black dragons and pelted it with burning liquid all over until the dryads rushed in to stop us. At that point we flew off, job completed. Imriss had gotten to Darnassus some time today, so that’s where the new minor mission was set.

Priestly vowsCapture Priestess Alathea of Darnassus by love confessionReward: rabbit insignia

Rabbit Insignia: this stamp sets the target’s sex drive and views on sex to roughly those of an inexperienced nymphomaniac teenager. This removes most sexual hangups and sex related trauma and places the desire for sexual pleasure, with or without a partner, fairly high on their list of priorities. This is an instantaneous change, and will fade or intensify naturally over months or years depending on future sexual experiences or lack thereof.

Capture a priestess and get a stamp that makes someone super horny? I could get behind that. Unfortunately the juice didn’t seem worth the squeeze. A priestess in Darnassus was likely to be in the temple of Elune, and Aelthalyste had gotten me very nervous about high level priest trainers. I wasn’t inclined to assign myself or Talaada to the task right now, so as I flew through the skies of Tirisfal Glades I dismissed it.

Get Rich QuickConvince Sylvanna Forestmoon and Lotherias, both of Darnassus, to cooperate on a joint project of some sort.Rewards: A Price on Love, Imriss gains the ability to cast the spell “invisibility” on himself at will

A Price on Love: you may select any individual and receive a bonus mission relevant to the target (fulfilling one of their goals, defeating one of their enemies, etc) with their capture as an extra reward. The difficulty of this mission will scale based on the power level of the target, with tier 1-2 being minor missions, tier 3-4 being moderate missions, 5-6 being major missions, and 7+ being increasingly extreme grand missions. Should they be captured in the process of completing the mission, an additional reward of equivalent value will be added.

Jackpot. That’s the ticket. Even if I have to literally kidnap and capture these two and have them set up shop in Twilight Grove, I’m doing this one. It didn’t seem like an awfully efficient way of capturing someone, given how easily I could capture most people of tier 4 or lower at this point, but being able to create an extra major or grand mission for myself that is extra lucrative definitely appealed to me.

I, broadly speaking, knew what many major characters wanted. If I used this on Gelbin Mekkatorque, I’d probably get a mission to retake Gnomeregan. If I used it on Sylvanas, I’d get something related to fighting the Scourge or building up the power base of the Forsaken. If I used it on Ysera, I’d probably be expected to fight the Emerald Nightmare.

If the word “extra” meant what I thought it did, these would be major or grand missions that would have rewards on the same level as other major and grand missions, plus a bonus worth 50-100 credits. I had plenty of missions, but most of them were random side quests. This would be an investment. Or, hey, I could do something absurdly ambitious like targeting Elune or Eonar; you know. Actual goddesses. Just to see what they wanted, and if I could provide it.

I landed next to the Skitterer, gave it its marching orders, and followed it as best I could; faded, stealthed, constantly pausing to use Mind Vision, and headed into enemy territory.

••••••••••

The trainees, as usual, looked up at her when High Inquisitor Whitemane went to inspect their weapons drills. A glance was good. It showed awareness. Stopping to look at her for a moment was acceptable; it was good to be aware of what a beautiful woman looked like so they would not be distracted by the rotting corpses that masqueraded as such. Gawking for any longer than that was not acceptable; it showed a lack of discipline. Those trainees, mostly men, were marked for additional training. If the mind was weak, the body must compensate. Her attendants saw to the bleeding and broken, so that they could return to the training field.

https://imgur.com/a/hspFmj2

These new warriors, shipped in from Scarlet fortresses like Tyr’s Hand through a hidden mountain pass, were the backbone of what this monastery was for. The might of the Crusade could not be allowed to flag for even an instant, and that meant constantly replacing the lost. That meant harsh training, often fatal. That was why Sally was High Inquisitor here.

Her next stop was the Chamber of Atonement, where James was at work with the very newest recruits. The screams would haunt her at night, if far worse things did not occupy her midnight hours. She had been informed that there was one ready for promotion set aside for her. She looked at the girl’s broken and burnt corpse, and felt fierce pride. She had passed the first and most vital test, not renouncing the light or losing coherence even to the end.

“Arise, Elona. Valor such as yours is needed.” She placed a hand on the dead girl’s chest, and light flowed through her. The wounds closed, new skin covered the burns, and exposed bone snapped back into place. Her eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she saw was a rare smile from the austere inquisitor. “You have proven yourself worthy; you shall be properly trained to channel the light. I will follow your growth with interest.”

The girl sat up in a daze, processing the end of her trial, and was presented with a tabard and sandals. New clothing would be presented to her when she reached the barracks. As either a Paladin trained by Renault or a priestess trained under Sally herself, the girl would be a leader among their order. After all, only one who had proven themselves willing to die before compromising could be trusted with such authority.

As always, there was a certain melancholy to resurrecting her comrade. If she had been able to do this during the Scourging of Lorderon, her parents would still be alive. Her brother, her little sister. Instead, she had to smite the creatures that had been made of their corpses. She had been a trainee, hardly beyond the stage of cleaning bandages, but the sheer wrongness she had seen in their twisted faces had brought clarity. Those were not her family anymore. If any vestige remained, it would have been a mercy to destroy the mockery. The lights wrath had practically come unbidden.

That the Scourge would dare to playact at some form of rebellion among their ranks was absurd. If it was so simple for one of the dead to resist, to become free and reclaim humanity, why hadn’t her father stopped himself? Or her mother? The “Forsaken” wanted her to believe that her family had simply been too weak willed, or perhaps that they would have suddenly come to their senses if she had run instead of fighting. To spit upon their graves like that was enough reason to snuff them out, all on its own. No, the Banshee Queen was just another undead harlot looking to entice the weak minded; if a bit more sophisticated.

Alas, Grand Crusader Dathrohan believed it best to allow the farce to continue. They would frequently assist the Argent Dawn or squabble with their fellow Scourge in order to preserve the illusion. So long as they didn’t show their hand, she was to keep contact with them limited to training exercises and defending their few strongholds in the area.

The rest, those who had broken to some degree but had not betrayed the light, were gathered in the next room. She raised them all as a group, and would let one of Herod’s sergeants handle their processing. Some of the more clever among them would be trained as mages, those with physical aptitude would become warriors, a few would tend to the hounds, and the rest would see to the upkeep of the monastery so that the real trainees could focus on their duties. None were worth an extra second of her time.

She next went to the chapel gardens, where those who had been killed while training in the field were gathered by their comrades, watched over to ensure that none were undead in disguise. This was the most difficult part of Whitemane’s day: raising the fallen en masse. She needed to do it within the day or the spirit was lost, but the monastery had surprisingly few true losses thanks to her unique abilities.

After the mass resurrection, she was drained. Empty. She maintained her posture, even though she wanted nothing more than to collapse. She needed to be a good example; something to aspire to for the women, and an idol of perfection for the men. She made her way to her cloister, a private prayer room in the rear of the cathedral, where she would be able to meditate and restore her spirit in private. Renault would guard the door while he trained his squires; she would not be disturbed.

Once the door closed, she fell to her knees and let herself relax. Perhaps this would be one of the days where she allowed herself a nap on the small bedroll she kept tucked in the corner. She sometimes worried she relied too much on this place for naps, but she had precious little time to herself. As she went to retrieve the bedroll and a small bottle of juice, the squires began clapping for sister Elona as she went through initiation. Over the clapping, nobody heard the high inquisitor struggle with the strange creature that had been clinging to the ceiling when she entered.