Journal of a trainee mage - by Chabat

16th Feb

It seems fitting that I start my new journal as I sit in what will be my new home.
The hut doesn’t look much right now but, like the heritage itself, we can build it up.

There’s a kind of urgency about things at the moment. We are all eager to prove to the Warsong Orcs that we are not to be taken lightly. By now, Genjin should have left our ‘message’ outside their keep. It remains to be seen what they will make of it.

The Blades are strong and outnumber us greatly but by using traditional troll techniques of curses and subtle strikes we may be able to use their strength against them.

I hope Zanick will be able to use her knowledge of the Zandalari to teach us the battle techniques that have made them legendary warriors. In the mean time, I will practice everything I have learned to make myself stronger. I won’t stay behind this time.
Hopefully, Deyy will be able to come to terms with her recent problems. The Light may no longer answer her but I believe the Loa will. I’m sure she will soon join us as a true Bloodsister.

Me and Deyy had a chat after Ryleen left to get her things. The way things are, there’s always somebody that’s just lost a friend or a loved one and the heart of Deyy’s current weakness seems to be related to the death of a friend. She made me realise I should stay in touch with my friends as you never know when they might be taken from you.

Naturally that brought Vypra into the conversation and I had to admit i was sort of avoiding her. I was afraid she would be disappointed in me. The way I felt after what the Orcs did…Deyy is right though. These things happen and it’s how we deal with it after that’s important. I promised myself I wouldn’t go back to being the timid little thing I used to be so I’m going to see Vypra tomorrow before the Keel opens.

I’ll have to leave cleaning the hut until the morning now as Deyy has fallen asleep. She seems pretty restless, mumbling to herself. I can’t make any sense of it but she doesn’t seem upset like she would if it was a nightmare…I hope it’s the spirits showing her the right path to take.

I’m pretty tired myself now. I’ve just put up a few simple wards to protect us of any intruders. Ryleen should be able to see what I’ve done and pass through them easily enough. I just hope Zanick doesn’t get back first or I’m going to get a sharp wake up call...

(( I hope you guys don’t mind me adding the thing about the protection. It would just be a little spell to jolt Chabat awake if anybody blundered into the hut. Any magic user would probably be able to disarm them so I’m not trying to make us invulnerable or invisible ))

18th Feb

It’s taken a while to sort through all the information Rokalm gave us tonight. I don’t think we appreciated just how valuable he could be to us.

Me and Ryleen were just sitting down to eat dinner when he stopped by (I guess he saw the smoke from our cooking fire) and we weren’t really that keen to talk to him at first or answer his questions about our recent problems with the Warsong Orcs.

Rokalm isn’t the type to take subtle hints though (seems Orcs all have that in common) and eventually I think Ryleen decided to try and steer the conversation towards some things she wanted to know.

Our voices must have been a carrying a little as we attracted another passer by and an Orc female joined us at the fire. I didn’t understand why Ryleen and Rokalm didn’t greet her very warmly until they mentioned she was one of the Blades.

Xenya is not like the other Warsong I’ve seen so far. Although she did say she was new to the clan and didn’t know about any of the thing that had happened between the Blades and the Heritage.

Anyway, by this point Ryleen had mentioned that we had managed to get the Warsong Orcs to request a meeting with us and innocently asked Rokalm about Orcish concepts of Honour and how we could get them to respect us.

He was quite long winded about it but the simple fact is that while they all consider it the greatest honour to die well in battle, the different clans have different ideas about how to –live- Honourably. He said that the Frostwolf clan (and The Warcheif himself) focus mostly on friendships and duty, while the Warsong honour strength and wisdom. ‘Victory or Death’ is no empty battle cry for the Blades.

To try and summarise…the Warriors and Shaman hold the highest respect among the Warsong. Our rituals will count for little with them and they are deeply distrustful of arcanists. If we are to earn their respect we must somehow earn Honour according to their traditions.

It will be difficult for us as many of the Darkspear elders were killed either in the battle with the Sea Witch or our run-in with the Humans. Most of our warriors and witch doctors are still learning their art and proving themselves in battle. However, Ryleen and Zanick seem confident we can find a way and I trust them.

They will meet with the representative of the Blades soon and then we will see how we may proceed. In the mean time…I can’t do anything about the fact that I’m a young, female and a mage…but I can work on getting stronger and more experienced in battle and I’m looking forward to trying out Ryleen’s suggestion for experimenting with the spells I know and trying to make them more effective.

I think I’d better go somewhere quiet for that. I don’t want to accidentally hurt somebody while I’m trying new things out…and of course I’d rather too many people didn’t see all the mistakes I’m bound to make…

24th Feb

Didn't have time to write this last night as wanted to get down to some studying. I've spent a lot of time fishing and practicing my cooking skills since we moved to the hut here so i've let my studies slide a little.

I'd heard that there was a mage in Azshara that is willing to give some instruction to those willing to learn. It seems to be one of those 'help me with my research and i'll tell you a few of my own tricks' kinda deals but it can't hurt to check it out.

Anyway, most of last night's meeting was about the Warsong Blades again. Ryleen met their 'ambassador' who basically seemed to have said 'quit what your doing and we'll pretend this never happened'. They won't even accept that they were in the wrong for killing that troll girl nevermind the whole business with Jimar.

Still, there was a slight bit of good news, from what Zanick says, the news about this is starting to get out and many citizens aren't happy about what the Orcs have done. I know it isn't likely to sway the Warcheif to listen to us -yet- but we can always hope.

At the end of the meeting we had another Deathwalker approach us. Gen'jin still isn't happy about allowing them to join us because we might risk angering Loa Samedi but the rest of us agreed that Gonzzo deserved a chance to prove himself to us and the Loa and Ryleen brought him into the spirit link.

Star still doesn't seem to be connected to us through the link...i started to ask her about it but she kinda distracted me with some other news. She told me she finally found somebody that makes her feel happy again...unfortunately, he already has a mate. Still, it could be a good thing. I remember Vypra telling me something about Soul-mates, people sent by the spirits that are very close to you. They can help you through things that nobody else can but they may not always be your life-mate. I'll admit, its strange concept to me but it -seemed- to cheer Star up a little.

Anyhow, i need to get going if i'm to see this mage. I wonder what he will be like...

3rd March

I can’t believe I slept in so late today. Even though I made sure to go to bed early, all the training I’ve done in the past week seems to have caught up with me. I didn’t really say much at the meeting last night as I was too busy trying not to yawn all the way through it.

The Forsaken that gave us the message about Gul’zayne’s injuries shocked me wide awake for a while htough. Star said she would visit him as soon as possible to make sure his healing is taken care of properly so I’m sure he’ll be able to regenerate fully in time. I think I’ll ask if we can send him a nice present to make him feel better. I just need to find out where his mother’s hut is…

The guild has gained more members again. He may be uncomfortable with the idea of Death Walkers but Gen’jin agreed that another one could join us (under his close supervision of course). We didn’t get to meet him right away but i expect we'll be hearing him on the spirit-link soon. The other new troll was brought along by that Forsaken. He seemed nice and Gen’jin brought him into the spirit-link before the end of the meeting.

Zanick told about the latest response she’d had from the Blades after we left our ‘message’ for them. Why must they be so stubborn?! Would it hurt them so much to admit they were wrong to do the things they did? The stupid thing is I don’t want to fight them…because I’ve come to see that they may be right about some things.

Ever since that night in Ashenvale I’ve been training hard. I wanted to prove them wrong and most of all I was sick of always hiding behind the others and putting them in danger because I couldn’t fight my own battles. Well, I got what I wanted…Vypra wrote a letter of recommendation to her former comrades in the Frostwolf clan and I joined the latest recruits in Alterac Valley this week.

I saw for myself how important the resources are to the Horde and the endless skirmishes the Frostwolves have to deal with to get access to the mines.

We were hopelessly outnumbered and the Alliance drove us back time and time again. I tried my best to help defend the keep and our medical staff but it wasn’t enough. In the end we were in full retreat and all I could do was round up a few frost wolves to replace the fallen mounts of the soldiers before we left the valley.

The noise was horrendous. I tried as hard as I could to get back that feeling i’d got in the forrest when I saw the dead troll girl but it just wasn’t there…I was too confused in all the chaos around me. I was almost as scared of the Orcs thinking I was useless as I was of getting killed but a young-ish looking female gave me a smile and a few words of encouragement (she must have been able to tell it was my first battle). She said that the Frostwolves would be back in the Valley in no time. Scouts would infiltrate the place and retake our positions while the Alliance miners were busy retrieving the ore they needed for their weapons… and she said she liked the wolf I picked out for her (I should have gotten her name but she had to go before I got chance to ask).

Anyway, Hir’eek must have been watching over me as I managed to get out with only a few cuts and scrapes that a tauren medic patched up pretty quickly.

I told him about that burning angry feeling and how I was trying to get it back and he laughed at me (I was –so- embarrassed I tried to get up and leave) but then he saw he’d upset me and apologised. He reckons its something like meditation. Warriors work themselves up into a frenzy so they can react quicker and not feel as much pain…I didn’t really understand what he meant though so I guess I’m going to have to ask somebody…I see why he laughed at me though. The thought of me getting all riled up and attacking somebody like that does seem slightly absurd now.

Its my own fault I suppose, I insisted that I didn’t want to help the Warsong in the Gulch on principle and I don’t trust the Defilers either so I had to go to Alterac Valley to get some real combat experience…maybe I’ll have to rethink…the Blades might just appreciate the gesture after all…

(( I actually wrote this last tuesday in work but then forgot to post it and wasn't back in again until friday....when it completely slipped my mind ))

9th March

Tonight’s meeting was fairly quiet...more like a family get-together than anything else. Ryleen had made a lovely stew and I was really only just finishing when we got started.

There were a couple of Elves present for the start. The girl, Kate, had just stopped by to chat to me and Ryleen but the other, Adalan I think his name was, had been invited to tell us about a big party he was organising. He spoke in very airy kind of way…kinda like everything was a poem…but he made us all laugh when he told us Vypra was going to be helping him by serving the drinks.

Still, I’m not sure how many of us will go. Star was adamant she wouldn’t be setting foot inside Silvermoon because of the Elves’ mistreatment of the spirits (I can’t say I noticed anything like that when I was studying there, but I’m no witch doctor, I don’t hear the spirits like she does).

There was also some talk of the Blades but Zanick said she hadn’t heard anything from them since she sent the letter so I guess we’ll have to wait and see. She did suggest that there may be ways to try and prove ourselves by fighting alongside some of the Warsong clan …and I told them all how I had helping out in the Gulch. I think they were all a bit surprised that I’d gone ahead and done it…I’m still kinda surprised myself. It’s probably a sign of how desperate the Orcs are for resources that even somebody like me can earn the Scout’s tabard. Most of our warriors are already in the north and the Horde is struggling to find fighters to help secure the shipments of ore and lumber we need.

…

10th March

I had to stop writing last night…Gonzzo’s tale was too troubling for me to continue…oh, I’m getting ahead of myself again…

Most people had gone to take care of other business after the meeting finished but Gonzzo and Ryleen were still talking about the ball and whether we would be in any danger from the Warsong (or anybody else that might want to make trouble) while we are in Silvermoon.

I went off for a bit as I needed a few things from Orgrimmar but when I got back Gonzzo was speaking of his past.

I joined them back at the fire and started writing my journal but when he got to the part about his search for the Tauren that betrayed him...well, it gave me the shivers so bad I had to stop. It was awful hearing about the death of his mate, then the trial he had to go through (apparently, it was only three years ago and was really big news but I was only 12 and that kind of thing doesn’t really get passed on to little orphan girls).

Ryleen promised to let Gonzzo know if ever she heard anything of this Tauren (I kinda forgot his name…I know it begins with an M…I’ll have to ask Ry about it later) but I think I’d probably just better stay away from somebody like that…kinda reminds me of Tivak. The kind of person that just enjoys other people’s misery and knowing they are the one that caused it…I’d hoped I’d never come across somebody like that again.

Well, dwelling on it won’t help and I should really go get in some more training…

17th March

It was a very interesting meeting last night. It certainly gave me a lot to think about.

We started out just really chatting about the ball on Saturday. Word seems to have got round that I have a bit of tailoring skill as a forsaken stopped by to ask for a Tuxedo for the event.

It’s a shame I won’t be able to go. It would be kinda nice seeing people have a good time and looking all smart in the outfits I made. I think I’ll make up some extra clothing in case there’s some folks that have left their shopping ‘til the last minute…

Anyway, we weren’t really talking about anything in particular when Gen’jin and Gonzzo both noticed the spirit wolves watching us.

They revealed themselves to be two Shaman from the Warsong blades. It seems their General has finally seen sense and asked that we try to put aside the recent unpleasantness and help them in their duties of patrolling Horde lands and fighting the Scourge in Northrend.

The one that seemed be in charge, Nazrug ( I think Haradar called him a pack Alpha, whatever that means ) said that we had reminded them all of why the Warchief gladly welcomed Trolls to the Horde in the first place.

The Orcs seemed to have some kind of disagreement though. Haradar said he felt so bad about what had happened with Jimar that he would come and be a slave to the Heritage for a while. Well, the other Orc didn’t approve of that at all.

It was kinda surprising that a Warsong would make such an offer but we explained that, although some troll tribes took slaves, we follow the ways of the Zandalari and so could never do such a thing (plus, the last time we tried taking a hostage it was a bit of a disaster ).

Instead, Haradar was offered the chance to live with us as outsider and help Gen’jin in his ritual cleansing of the spring in Stranglethorn. The ritual is part of Gen’jin’s tasks to make him a Shadowhunter. The spirits seemed to agree it was a good thing and the two of them will drive the Naga away from the sacred water together.

Once Gen’jin’s rite of passage is complete, I think Haradar will be given the chance to be a Freethinker for the rest of his time with us.

It was strange hearing his thoughts over the spirit link. It’s been a while since we had any non-troll besides Deyy join us (and she’s practically a troll anyway now…I wonder which Loa will be her patron…).

Me and Deyy sat and talked about how she should go about choosing her Loa after everybody else left (well, they choose you really of course). I still remember how it was Vypra did the ritual with me.

The bloodsister ritual is another thing though. With Gul’Zayne being injured and Star not having any experience in these kind of rituals, we need to wait until Gen’jin is ready to step up and assume the role of a spiritual leader for us.

I seems a lot to ask for one of his first task as a Shadowhunter as I don’t know that anybody has ever done such a thing before but I’m sure he will be great.

Anyway, i need to go buy some more sewing supplies if i mean to make some more clothes for the Ball...

4th April

So much has been happening recently I’ve kinda had to leave writing my diary. The training sessions and manoeuvres the Gulch and now in Arathi take up a lot of my time, not to mention the work I’ve agreed to do with the Timbermaw furbolgs up in Winterspring.

None of that is really important though…the best thing in the world happened on Wednesday...Ryleen brought Jimar back with her to Orgrimmar!

I was really nervous when she told me over the spirit link that he was coming back with her. Jimar always hated fighting and I wasn’t sure if he would be angry when I told him I was now part of the Horde’s Irregular troop contingent. (It always makes me giggle when I think of that…as if we are some kind of large buzzing mass of people being sent on random missions here, there and everywhere…then I realise that’s pretty much what we are really and its sobering to be a part of it all).

As it turned out, he wasn’t really angry at all (though he did look a bit upset at first) and then we had fun as I got to show him some of the new spells I’ve learned. He said he wanted to see if I could blow up the whole world but I said that would be silly as then we would have nothing to stand on (he kept calling me “battle bats” which made me laugh too but I’m going to be so embarrassed if the others find out…even though it is kinda cute).

Anyway, all this is on top of Ryleen and Deyy both finding out they the same patron Loa, and Gul’Zayne finally recovering from his injuries and new people joining the Heritage so I’m glad I had time to sit down and write this. I’m at the inn in Razor Hill right now hoping to catch Jimar. When I stopped by the hut to get changed, Gando had come back from Northrend so I thought I’d come here and give him some time alone with Ryleen.

There seems to be quite a few people wandering round inn today. The Inn keeper said there’s some kind of Shaman gathering on so I guess that explains it. I wonder if Gul’Zayne and Star know about it?

I’ll have to ask them at the meeting tomorrow before we head to Zul’gurub. It’s the fist time I’ll be helping out there. Zanick and the others have been there before helping the Zandalari so hopefully it won’t be too bad.

Oh well, there’s still no sign of Jimar so I think I’ll go fishing for a bit…or maybe I’ll head to Ratchet and see if any of the Anglers are around …They might be ready for another bike race between Vexacus and Ryleen.

15th April

I’ve had a lovely week. Mostly just relaxing with fishing and reading some magic books. I kinda needed a rest though as the visit to Zul’Gurub was pretty tiring.

We went there after the meeting as planned. We’d managed to keep things short for once, though it seemed that Ryleen and Zanick were on the verge of a disagreement. Zanick thinks she’s found a new lead on Snicka’s whereabouts but Ryleen seemed concerned she’s letting more important things slide to just track him down.

I mean, we all hope he’s alive but it’s been 6 months…could he really have survived all that time? It’s difficult to know what to think. After all, Jimar turned up unexpectedly but with no memory of us…could the same thing have happened to Snicka? He could have washed up in Northrend with no idea who he is and even now be part of some mercenary band fighting the scourge…but maybe it should be somebody else that goes searching for him. We need Zanick with us.

Anyway, Zul’Gurub is an amazing place. The ruins at Zul’Farrak are nothing in comparison. I can understand why the Zandalari are so concerned with the place. Even if the Blood God’s avatar is gone now the zealots that are still occupying the city could try to bring about His return again and that wouldn’t be good for any of us!
I dread to think of the number of slaves they would think of as fitting sacrifice to Him.

It seems all my training has been good for me though, I managed to keep up with the others and Servitor Vinchaxa seemed quite pleased with our efforts. It would be wonderful if we could retake the place…seeing the Altar dedicated to Hir’eek was …well, it was awful to see what the Gurubashi have done there but it kinda inspired me too. I know I’ll be going back.

Like I said, that tired me out despite all the training I’d been doing so, I asked if I could take some time to myself for a few days. It’s been very quiet so I actually got time to catch up on my reading…I even tried experimenting a little with the conjured water like Ryleen suggested a while back. I can manage a slightly weak strawberry flavour…not great but it’s a start. Now I need to see if I can add a hint of apple to the cinnamon rolls.

We didn’t really have a meeting as such this Monday. There was no sign of Zanick or Ryleen and so we were kinda milling around in Orgrimmar by the spirit lodge when a strange voice come over the spirit link. We followed his directions and found an old troll by the waterfall in the valley of honour.

Deyy gave him a bit of a hard time and Rokalm was pretty suspicious too. This elder claimed to be Gen’jin’s Uncle and was looking for him to help with his Witch Doctor training. Worryingly, none of us had seen Gen’jin since last week and the old fellow tried to put our minds at ease saying Gen’jin was probably just avoiding him. Still, breaking into the spirit link like that was not a great start to getting on Deyy’s good side (she’s was pretty confrontational…and that was even after he tried flattering her with tales of how he heard of this Elf who would be one with us trolls). I hope he thinks it through before he does something like that again.

After that, everybody went their separate ways. Deyy had asked Rokalm to watch the old troll carefully (and he seemed to think this meant I needed telling to stay away from him…like I couldn’t figure that out…he was a bit creepy after all) so I went and got some material for a new robe I’d like to make and then went fishing. It was really busy at the pool though, I think everybody had the same idea of relaxing and I was half thinking about going somewhere else when the guy that I met when me and Ryleen had that motorbike race with Vexacus.

I tried not to let it show but the undead still freak me out a bit. Aeol seems okay though and he sure likes fishing. He has a lot of respect for Vypra and he says he’s quite enjoying being in the Horde (apparently before he was made into a Death Knight, he was a night elf!). I get the feeling I’ll be seeing a bit more of him if the Anglers want to have more motorbike races…

12th May

I’ve given up trying to get to sleep its been a while since i wrote in this journal.

Writing the minutes from last nights meeting had both good and bad points… My hand was shaking so much at first I had to write them out twice but keeping simply to the facts did help me calm down a bit…
for some reason writing often has that effect on me.

The things Ryleen told us scared me silly (I’m surprised I remembered as much as I did) but I think she was right to tell us…even if it does mean I’ll be having nightmares from now on. I’m still trying not to think about how the ‘message’ was written…

How can one person think to kill so many? What kind of connection does he …or she have to us all? All of us are in guilds that belong to the Blood Pact…but can it really be a simple grudge? It doesn’t feel that way…but what else connects us?

The thing that scares me most of all was the hint that this person knows us…or has at least come close to us. There aren’t many that know the pet name Jimar has for me…at least that I know of. The other odd thing is Deyy being mentioned twice. I’m not sure how many knew about that strange episode she had where she was almost literally two people for a little while…could this person know about that? Or was it just that they’ve made a mistake as people often call her by both Lyranne and Deyy?

Oh, it will drive me crazy if I keep thinking like this… but what else can I do? I’ve only passed 15 winters…and this is the second time my life has been in danger from a lunatic!

If they come for me I can at least hope they will keep their promise and make it quick. Better to never know what hit me than be the last one on the list…

21st may

I was dreading meeting Vypra tonight, but her letter was very insistent. I got the feeling that if I didn’t respond positively, she was getting ready to search Dalaran from top to bottom so she could see with her own eyes that I was ok so of course, I agreed to meet her.

Anyway, she came up to the Purple Parlour and started joking about me hiding away behind books…(I must admit, there was kind of a large pile on the table when she arrived) but she soon got the point. Apparently the Blades had left rather a grisly display in the valley of Strength and she didn’t want me be to be upset by it.

I got the impression that she thought it was more to do with the problems in Ashenvale at first (I know Ryleen said they’d talked about that at the last Blood pact meeting) but when I kinda let slip I’d been avoiding Orgrimmar already, she knew straight away it was something more.

I tried to play it down but I stammer so much when I’m scared she knew…and then she was giving me –that- look…the one that seems to burn into my eyes and see the truth behind whatever words are actually coming out of my mouth…(there’s no avoiding that look even if I turned my back….she knows me too well after all these years) but despite that…I couldn’t tell her all the details of what they found in that building.

I’ve never seen her look so hurt and angry before. She accused me of not trusting her but its not true…I burst into tears then…it was awful. She’s been watching out for me since I was small…I know she’s not always been around but she did keep her promise to come back and make sure I was ok after she had to serve in Arathi.

Well, she grabbed me in one if those fierce hugs and then lifted my chin and wiped my tears away like she used to when I was little and told me not to worry. She set of right away telling me to study hard because when she got to the bottom of it, we would deal with it together.

I felt kinda guilty as I watched her stride off. I was pretty sure she would be heading for the Keel…but if she saw Ryleen along the way…well, it wasn’t Ryleen’s fault we’d been told not to tell too many people about this. The other thing was…I was glad Vypra was in on this…even though it put her in danger too.

I’d promised myself I wouldn’t hide behind my friends anymore and that’s why I’d been avoiding her. Her name wasn’t on the list…I’d had a chance to keep her out of it but it was such a relief knowing that I could talk to her now that I tried to push the guilt away. She’s never been one to sit on the side lines… in some ways I’m surprised it took her this long to realise that something was going on but maybe she’s had other things on her mind…

I think I’ll make an offering to Hir’eek tonight. I think we’re all going to need her protection before this is over.

10th June

I seem to write here less and less …maybe it’s because I’m finding it easier to talk to people these days.

I had a lovely night last night out in Nagrand. I got to visit with the little Elekk I looked after earlier in the year. He’s grown a little bit now and he could probably knock me right over if he tried. Not that I think he would do that, he’s so gentle really.

I see why Ryleen always liked the place so much. Apart from the problems with the Ogres and the Horde and Alliance fighting over Halaa, it’s probably the most peaceful place in Outland.

It’s nice to get out in the fresh air too. I was spending too much time staring at books trying to find out if the scholars have written anything about Trolls and how priests receive their power from the spirits so I can help Jimar.

I haven’t seen him since that last meeting he came to where he told us about the woman that had visited him, then hit him on the head …I hope he’s alright out in the Hinterlands by himself. I wish I knew why he decided to go and live in the middle of all those Witherbark and Vilebranch trolls; honestly he seems to get stranger and stranger.

I have to say, that Jimar isn’t the only one I’m worried about. We haven’t heard from Zanick in a couple of weeks and Gen’jin has been out of touch for a while too. I kinda hoped I’d see him around Shattrath while I’ve been there but I haven’t yet.

We talked about Zan this week at the meeting. Ryleen wants to give her a new title…something that sounds better than 'steward' anyway. The meeting was pretty short and the only other thing that really happened was a new troll joined us. Jinaz was his name and he seemed kinda nervous facing us all and having to take his oath with us all watching…I was lucky …I kinda got away with only having to say mine in front of Snicka and Barzovia.

Anyway, he mentioned something about not trusting forsaken…so he already has something in common with most of us. Between what happened with Tivak and the House of Sylvanas, we’ve not had the best relationship with them.

It's something I might try to talk to him about…if he doesn’t find it too hard. In the mean time, I have to take some books back to Dalaran today. The mages can be a bit funny if you return them late.

22nd June

I’ve had a busy weekend. After what happened at the dinner on Friday I have even more reason to find out about curses and how they work.

I’d already been doing some research trying to figure out what happened to Jimar (I’m fairly sure now that he was either cursed by somebody or he did something to offend the spirits somehow) but narrowing my search to curses has made the task more difficult.

I tried to ask Great Hexer Ohodo about them but he kinda looked at me as if to say ‘what’s a nice little whelp like you asking about hexes for’ and told me that such things were passed from master to pupil and never written down for others to find so I had to look elsewhere. Needless to say I couldn’t really ask the dalaran mages about any books on the subject. Some of them are still suspicious of Horde mages as it is and even asking about defenses against them was difficult without getting their backs up.

It was thinking back to something the Great Hexer mentioned in passing that made me remember my old teacher in Silvermoon. The Elves there had spent many years studying troll hexes and curses, first to try and counter them with their magic, then later to use as weapons of their own when they turned to Fel magic to sustain them.

Lucky for me, Inethven is one of those elves that never discards something that could be useful and he had a couple of contacts among the former warlocks (I have my suspicions about how many of those elves had really given up using Fel energy but right then I needed the information and I was keen to get out of there as soon as possible rather than voice any issues I had), one of whom agreed to lend me a small volume containing his research, provided I told him how we got on with dispelling this one so he could add it to his notes.

Unnfortuntely, translating from Thalassian to Zandali is tricky as I’m not the best at either language (although writing my diary in Zandali studying elvish magic books has helped my understanding a lot) so I’m really hoping Gul’Zayne turns up at the meeting tonight. Ryleen said Jimar told her he was the best one for the task and I think he’s probably right…maybe I can learn something from Gul' in the meantime that will help Jimar if he does cure Ryleen and Rokalm.

Anyway, I hear somebody on the stairs so I should get ready for the meeting…

27th July

It always amazes me how quickly life can get so complicated. I think about the problems Ryleen had with Gando and now it turns out she was in love with that Orc that the Blades have accused of being corrupted by Fel…well, I guess it was only a matter of time before I had to deal with these things.

I spend so much time studying it’s kinda left me feeling a bit cut off from people. So when Gnaljin started staying to chat to me after the weekly meetings I was happy to spend time with him. I’ve seen so little of Jimar that it was nice to have somebody paying attention to me like Gnaljin has been. Just fishing together and sharing supper…I didn’t really think it would ever be anything more. I mean…why would anybody be interested in a skinny little Whelp like me? I’m not exactly ready to give anybody sons yet…well, technically, I am but I know from my studies that it can be dangerous if you start trying too young….and besides I’m not sure I’m ready for all that kind of thing yet (I’m glad there’s nobody here that can see how much I’m blushing even writing this!).

It –was- nice to see Jimar again and even though he got it into his head that we should be the king and queen of Undercity (the thought of staying in that damp, dark, mouldy place with all those Forsaken really freaked me out!), he did actually listen when I said liked Dalaran much better with all the books and stuff (though he seems to think that books are a kind of animal and that you have to breed them to make new ones) and he did bring me presents. The problem is…so did Gnaljin.

He’d already got Vypra to give me a little kitten, but I thought that was just as a thankyou for helping him get a job at the Keel but last night, after confessing he spied on Jimar and me while we were talking (oh no…I just realised he could have seen me getting changed into the new dress Jimar bought me!) he gave a pretty little diamond ring. It must have cost an awful lot… so i promised i'd wear it in secret ( its on under my gloves right now).

I just wish there was somebody i coud talk to...but I already know what Vypra would say and Ryleen has enough to worry about. If only Star were around...or Deyy. I'll start looking for her again in the morning. Asking people if they've seen somebody always seems to generate more questions than answers when you ask after dark...

3rd August

Well, I’ve searched Northrend from Vengeance landing to Warsong Hold over the past week but I still haven’t found any sign of Deyy. I have gotten to know the Taunka and the Kulag people better though. I had to spend a couple of nights bundled up in furs in a communal tent which was kinda fun the first time but I was really glad to get back to Dalaran and sleep in a proper bed again.

I’m going to have to try heading north next and while I’m looking forward to the excuse to explore Wyrmrest Temple, I’m worried that the further I go, the more dangerous it will be. I’m getting really worried about Deyy now too…I can’t find any trace of her from after the memorial she hosted. I wish I’d stayed with her afterwards…but I just wanted to get out of Brill and away from all those forsaken.

It’s not the only thing that’s bothering me right now though. I hadn’t seen Gnaljin since last week’s meeting and when he wasn’t there at the start tonight, I kinda started to think he was going to avoid me for a while. Then he turned up for the end of the meeting and wouldn’t look at me. I have to admit I was feeling quite irritable and I may have worked myself up to getting a little annoyed at him but he stayed behind after everybody else left and we talked for a bit.

It was kinda awkward…I don’t know how this stuff is supposed to go. It’s not like Vypra was a great example of how to deal with males. I don’t even know how she ended up with Vexacus. All I do know is she thinks troll males are more trouble than they are worth…but then she’s never objected to me being with Jimar even when Ryleen and Deyy did.

Anyway, i think Gnaljin’s ok with us just being freinds now and he started asking me all about Dalaran. It’s a shame I haven’t quite mastered opening a portal there yet...but with the amount of magic in the city takes a lot more skill to keep it stable for more than one person. If i don’t get the hang of it soon I’ll just have to beg Ryleen to do it for us then i can show him round... and i’m sure he’ll be much more interested in those two females in the Filthy Animal once i take him there.

((this is an account of the 1st night of the Mage excursion ))

8th August

Its been a long day and I’m really tired, but I wanted to write something down here before I get some sleep. It's been an hour since I left the excursion and I made sure I wrote own all the new things I learned before starting on this but magecraft isn’t the only thing I’ve seen today.

Well…firstly, I was the only troll there. I kinda expected that and I’m used to elves looking down on me (well, not literally…I’m taller than most of them these days) but it was hard being around all the forsaken that turned up. Still, most of them were at least polite…but there was one in particular that seemed to have a bit of a grudge against Master Sunbloom.

Katheryn was pretty snippy with Andellion right from the start; questioning some of his lecture material and sneering at the questions he asked us as if they were beneath her. To be honest, I felt like she wasn’t really a student at all…it was almost as if she’d turned up just to make the point that she wasn’t impressed by him. She talked all the way through his lecture at the Dalaran crater. Then, while we examined the binding stones in Arathi, another Magister that Katheryn introduced as Master Dawnshade turned up and I almost felt that we ended up in the middle of some kind of old rivalry. It was a bit intimidating...but listening to them debating the finer points of Arcane theory and the corrupting nature of its use was absolutely fascinating.

I was really worried when they made the portal to the elemental plane. I still can’t believe Andellion went through (i think master Avior thought it was a big risk too), although given what I saw later, I have to wonder if there was some kind of plan between Haelas and Katheryn to be rid of him . I can’t be sure, but Katheryn really seemed much more snappy after he made it back ok. I could have just been imagining it i suppose...it could just have been that she wanted to get back at me for doing so well in the pop quiz we had earlier but either way, she attacked me pretty viciously when we were having the wand duel.

I’m the first to admit that I’m pretty useless at any kind of combat but she managed to completely drain all my energy so I couldn’t even fight back. Master Sunbloom seemed like he wanted to teach her a lesson for that so they paired up next and they really went at each other…infact, they were barely using wands by the time Katheryn agreed to call it a draw.

Thankfully we took a portal to Silvermoon soon after and I nipped over to have a quick chat with Inethven while the others got themselves ready to head off again (and was a little ashamed to have him remind me that studying Magic can be a risky business). We set off through Eversong woods next and learned all about the great runestones that were erected to hide the power of the Sunwell from the Demons of the Twisting Nether.

By then it was getting pretty late and we made a little campfire and told ghost stories (not my idea of a good thing to do so close to bedtime but everybody else seemed to enjoy it). We got another quiz and chance to exchange the coins we’d been awarded for some of Avior’s prizes. Then something happened that really freaked me out.

Haelas and Andellion were debating over the extent of the corrupting power of Fel as compared to Arcane energy again and most of the others had left already…and then Haelas said something like ’I’ll show you the true extent of the corruption…’ and then he turned into a demon!!!

I panicked at that point. I was tired and jittery and just totally freaked out and ran. I’m sure it was probably just an illusion thinking back and I’m going to be so embarrassed going back tomorrow (well, it’s today now I guess ) but it looked so real…

Anyway, I’ll make sure to read over all the notes when I wake up and hopefully I won’t make an idiot of myself this evening.

9th August

Well, despite the icky start, I think things went a bit better tonight. We didn’t have as many with us …but I’ll get to that in a moment.

Me and Dionisia were the 1st to arrive again but after waiting for the others while Master Sunbloom spoke with the Blood Elf lady that had followed us at the end of last night’s trip, we finally set out for Brill.

The Lady (I don’t think I ever caught her name ) wanted us to gather dust from the bones of the people buried in the graveyard. I’m not sure why but Andellion seemed to think this was educational. I was reminded of what Inethven had said to me in Silvermoon…but this was more than just dangerous ( and disgusting…I mean… rats and diseases and slimy mould…Yuk! ), it went against everything I’ve always been taught. I didn’t want to risk being cursed by the Loa for desecrating the graves so I refused to do it. Dio seemed more than happy to get some for me though so I guess the Lady didn’t end up with less than she wanted but don't even want to think about what Leahman said Dio was doing while she got the samples...being sick once was enough!

After the Lady was satisfied, we went to the Inn. I didn't know why at first but it turned out that Master Dawnshade was running a lecture in the town hall next door and Andellion wanted to check it out. He was really upset when he came back, going on about people stealing his students...apparently that was why Katheryn hadn't come with us tonight ( can't say that i was -too- bothered about that though).

Magister Avior finally managed to calm things down and we took a portal to Silvermoon again before making our way to the Blasted Lands to see the Dark Portal. It's the only fixed portal in existence and was formed by Medivh himself to let the original Horde come to Azeroth from Dreanor (well, everybody calls it Outland now).

Next we went to see the great Tower of Karazahn where Medivh lived. The place was Huge! I wish we could have got a little closer...maybe even gone inside...but it was too dangerous. The passes were full of great big birds that kept attacking us and i really didn't fancy falling and Master Sunbloom hurried us on into Elwynn.

The Tower of Azora was realy intresting, though the mages got a little annoyed by us just marching in and looking at their stuff. I hoped we'd be able to talk to them about the scrying orbs and how they made them but we just ended up getting into a fight with them and Andellion had to cast a spell to erase their memories so they wouldn't come after us. I guess the Kirin Tor haven't been able to persuade the rest of the Alliance mages to accept us Horde spell casters after all.

After that we stopped at a waterfall. I didn't notice at first, but Master Sunbloom told us the waters were magical and could be used for scrying. Master Avior showed us how to make a fire stay burning on the surface and make the water freeze...that looked like a complicated bit of magic...but i think i understood the principle once he explained it.

Finally, Avior created a portal so we could return to Dalaran and we used the last of those magic coins to get some prizes (Dio got some magic snowballs and i got the little paper zepplin kit that i'm going to try putting it together in the morning). It was a lot of stuff that we had to take in and i'm glad Andellion gave us some course notes to study or i'm sure i'd forget half of what we learned but i did have a good time in the end (Mindrathu and Dio weren't too bad despite being forsaken) ...i hope we all get together for another trip sometime.