Ghostly Goals
5/26 afternoon
I knew that Lillibeth had been better than Mary when it came to possession, and Harnea had been so bad at ghostly things that she might as well be alive. With that in mind, I figured that I should have Melisara test the ghosts and assess how good they were at… well, being ghosts. Possession especially, but also stuff like going through walls, flying, turning invisible, all that jazz. I figured that she’d have a much better idea of how to measure that kind of aptitude than I did, and if I only gave amulets to the very best at first I’d get more bang for my buck.
I checked my amulets and confirmed that Fandral had the full week left, and Elune had not taken the bait. I don’t think this surprised any of you, but still. According to Xylinnia, Tyrande and Shandris left for Auberdine earlier today. It was the closest night elf garrison to the last dream portal. They were going to mobilize the Silverwing Sentinels against it, but if possible they would do so with the Horde’s blessing. That meant negotiating a truce.
Relations weren’t good enough to make that an easy process, but if it went well the orcs may even join in. They had no love for their Satyr neighbors, and would kill corrupted green dragons without a second thought. If the orcs didn’t agree to a joint operation, they might try to handle it themselves instead. While Splintertree post was just an overgrown logging camp, with a truce the orcs could transport the Warsong Outriders through the forest to the target location, or they could send troops directly from Orgrimmar through Azshara.
Delays for negotiation and potential body counts aside, the portal at Bough Shadow wasn’t really my problem anymore. Officially, the green dragonflight was pulling out of the waking world for the most part, so as to fight the Nightmare where it was strongest but most vulnerable. Erius had been assigned as a liaison with the mortal races, and a few green dragons (such as “Esmerelda”) were being left behind in case something like this happened again, but the real fighting was happening in the Emerald Dream, after all.
It wasn’t bullshit either. As much as I wanted to keep Ysondre and Emeriss as active members of my team, I had no immediate need to keep guns that big on standby. The nightmare wasn’t going to have a proper resurgence for a few years in universe, at least not by canon, but that meant it was currently vulnerable. I wasn’t going to be getting the full use of Ysera, Malfurion, or any wild gods I might stumble across until the nightmare was contained, even if they all lined up and professed their love and devotion to me today.
It was drastically more valuable to keep my green dragons closely monitored in the Twilight Grove while they projected their minds into the nightmare. They could rejoin the battle, as unlike anyone else they would be mostly immune to corruption, and hopefully Sally would be able to resurrect them if they were killed. Two unkillable dragons wouldn’t single handedly destroy the nightmare, but it was a damn fine start. Importantly, they would also be dedicated to the grove and feed an extra 100 energy into my budget each day.
I really, really wanted Nishera to just be captured already so I could start in on Ysera, but I had a working strategy in play. It would be unfathomably foolish to jump the gun, though I had told Emeriss and Ysondre to give their necklaces away to anyone important that they found in the Dream, and to actively seek out and support pockets of resistance. If their necklaces vanished in the waking world, they would be replaced. No matter how much it would irritate me to have fewer jewels for myself, the chance of simultaneously reinforcing and taking over the resistance was just too good.
••••••••••
Nathanos was doing fairly well for himself, though travel through the Plaguelands was never pleasant. Unfortunately for him, he had to make his way back to Undercity. He had a trinket his dark lady desired, after all. His new master’s suggestion had to not been entirely foolish after all.
Aelthalyste had been adamant that Nathanos not put it on; a bit late for that, but she can be forgiven. The two of them had always had a good working relationship, one which Nathanos hoped would survive his deception. As far as she knew, he was delivering an amulet taken from an assailant; for testing by the Royal Society, of course.
The Blightcaller had also been entrusted with a few extra toys; a cloak and a short glass rod. The cloak was like the necklaces, but moreso; more power, more control. The rod, he was told, would allow him to ensure that she put it on. He had instructions on how to make use of each of them, and they were simple enough. He just needed to get her in private, and then they could share yet another secret. He didn’t like hiding anything from Sylvanas, but it was necessary.
He would do anything for her. In this case that meant lying to her and binding her for her own good; she wasn’t going to win this fight. She still trusted him; he would do anything he could to make sure she wasn’t punished for that too badly.
••••••••••
I sent for Melisara to come to Raven Hill with the most promising spirits available. To my mild surprise she arrived with 9 shadowy figures. They weren’t totally invisible like Lillibeth had been, but they were close; I could only see them because I was actively looking for them. I looked at the banshee skeptically.
“If you’re looking for those well equipped to possess others, these are it. The more physically present a spirit, the harder it is for them to inhabit another. If they manage it, it is overwhelming, but that takes substantial training. I could probably get Harnea completely dominating others in a few months, but if you want to weaponize possession within the week, these are your best bet.”
Is this another argument for soul talent? Maybe. Though it isn’t exactly spellcasting; I hope this wasn’t Psychic talent. Psychic talent sharing would be a hell of an investment for better ghosts and not much else. But she was right. I wanted results now, and what she’d told me lined up with my own experiences with Mary and Lillibeth.
“Are you all ready to try it? We will be throwing you into the fire, but anyone who successfully helps me capture someone downstairs gets one of these.” I held up the two remaining amulets for the day with a smile. The nine shadows shifted in what Communication Talent insisted was excitement and pregame jitters.
I descended into one of the basements, where three women and a man were chained to the walls. They were all worgen, currently in human form but kept separated so they wouldn’t hurt one another if they wolfed out. When I opened the door to the basement, I was greeted with an animated discussion of the relevant benefits of different types of wool. It was way, way too niche a topic for me to really process, but at least they seemed to be in good spirits. I mean, they weren’t thrilled to be chained to a wall for their own protection, but at least they were able to discuss their special interests.
All four looked over at me with varying levels of interest when I walked down the stairs; I wasn’t Talaada, so I was at least new and interesting. I was back to my Erich persona; I figured they’d react slightly better to a human than an elf.
“Afternoon! My name is Erich. Erich Bismark. You could call me Talaada’s boss. I’m here to check in on you, make sure you’re alright. I can also heal you the same way she can, if you’re interested.”
One of the women, an older blonde with very pale skin, chimed in first. “Well the food’s shit. I’ve never had a worse spider leg in my life. What are you playing at, anyway? If we’re cured, let us go. If we aren’t, what good does it do to join some commune.” The other three nodded along; they weren’t exactly hostile, but they didn’t fully buy into the story Talaada was telling them.
I figured she’d be best to change first, so I pulled out an amulet and offered it to her. “Care to give it a shot anyway? I promise, we really are trying to help. The people guarding you have all gone through it, and the process really does help you control yourselves even if you transform. There hasn’t been a single incident yet.”
As she shrugged and put on the amulet, I felt Melisara enter her and made some logical leaps. This lady was the most openly skeptical. If she changed her tune, the rest might be more likely to follow. That meant she was the toughest nut to crack, and would be an excellent example for the procedure.
“How do you feel?”
“Tired, cold, hungry, and annoyed. What else?”
I pulled an apple out of storage and handed it to her, “You don’t have to be. Really, you don’t. I just want to take care of you, help you get back to a relatively normal life. If you just give me a chance, things can get better. I promise.”
Melisara started pushing her as I spoke, and eventually the woman relented. “Alright. It won’t work, but you seem like a sweet lad. If I were twenty years younger I might let ye kiss me.”
I winked. “If you were twenty years younger, I’d hold you to that.”
“Oh bless ye. Alright. I love you. See, it didn’t do a thing.” Her smile seemed warmer though.
“Oh? I think you look better already. Might just be the smile. Try again, for me?”
“Charmer. I love you.” That one did it. The skinny matron seemed to inflate, her wrinkles and worry lines vanishing as more meat returned to her bones. She laughed as she looked herself up and down, and looked at me expectantly. I unlocked her shackles for her and she stretched her arms and legs.
“Oh, that’s nice. So, the other thing?” She gave me an expectant smile and I obligingly gave her a kiss before taking the necklace and shooing her upstairs to wait for us to finish. The next girl was easy from my point of view; she wanted to know more about my organization. The first ghost possessing her was pushed out, thankfully without drawing attention, when it tried to push her affection towards me too hard and fast. I wasn’t flirting with her, so of course that didn’t work.
The next ghost instead angled for trust and curiosity, the things she was already feeling. Room successfully read, she went along with the ritual and joined up. The next girl was quiet, but suspicious. She’d seen more than one person go through with the ritual then completely change their tune. It reminded her a bit too much of how it felt to join the pack. That nervousness led to her being overly sensitive to any magical effect on her mind, and when the ghost inside of her tried to be a bit too pushy, she wolfed out.
I blinked away, appearing at the entrance of the cellar. “Well that’s a shame. There’s always next time.” I pulled out the second necklace and turned to the man. “How about you?“
The last guy was young, in his twenties at the oldest, and was now being presented with the choice of leaving with his newly hotter companions or staying with his newly feral companion. He was extremely interested in reading my newsletter, and genuinely wanted to believe his own words when he pledged his love. He was captured practically before the ghost got into his head.
The worgen were pretty bog standard; as cute as the first girl was, I probably wasn’t going to have much contact with her going forward outside of incidentally crossing paths. The ghost that managed to catch girl two, however, was worthy of praise and reward. Varvara Agamand was awarded with the amulet, taken from the newly captured man, and given free reign to determine her own appearance directly in front of all the rest.
https://imgur.com/a/kHyd1c1
While she fine tuned her visage, I soothed the egos of the other 8 shadowy undead. “I’m sorry you didn’t get it this time, but these are in short supply. You in particular,” I pointed at the one that was in the guy’s head when he joined up, “I’m sure you will get one soon.” I wasn’t actually sure of any such thing, but that ghost seemed particularly put out. “All of you, listen to Melisara and help Talaada when she comes by later. You’ll earn your necklaces soon enough.”
I left them all to their training and sighed. I had one major task left for the day. I needed to read through some reports, and start making plans.