Aelflaed sat across from Elizabeth Cross at the little breakfast table, in the tiny kitchen behind the Silver Shield. Her old landlady hadn’t changed outward appearances in the last year, but everyone in Old Town was more cautious now, and the windows had better shutters with locks. After the cultists had been the elementals – and after the elementals things had gotten pretty tough with the proliferation of lotus-addicted thugs.

Tea steamed.

“It’s good to see you, Aely – you look well. Brian said you’d stopped in looking for me, and I heard about the kerfluffle with Bricu, what’s the trouble?”

“Well…” Aely grinned a little. “I ken ye’ve a pin on everythin’ wha’ happens in this place, e’en down to knowin’ if Sevens involved, so I figure if anyone’s got news, it’d be ye.”

Bess smiled. “Well, I do seem to be easy for folks to talk at, if that’s what you mean.”

“Yeh, exactly. I’m still tryin’ t’ figure what’s goin’ on wi’ Bricu an’ Haemon endin’ up… well, missin’. I ken it’s Sevens, but I dinna ken why, unless it’s th’ Riders tryin’ t’ look out fir Old Town against th’ druggies?”

“Well, you’ve got about all the news I do on that front – they don’t like people messing in their business, especially with the one they call the Angel.”

Aely grimaced. “Aye, that’s a title ’s been bandied ’bout. Ken anyone’s got connections to it tha’s tryin’ t’ do business as well, air is th’ whole mess underground?”

“Not outright.” She set down her tea. “Madeleine Hunter still takes the Purple stuff as a tincture to help with her back, but she’s done that for years and isn’t likely to stop, nor is she likely to be selling it – she needs it too badly and she gets it as upfront as you can get it, from an herbalist who also does poisons. The garden variety lotus heads are after that weird distillate of Black that’s been the hot new thing in brain destroying chemicals for the last year or so. I don’t push too close though, for the same reason as Bricu and Shad are discovering. Those folks ain’t nice.”

Aely dug in her pocket and produced her reading glasses and a notebook, opening it to jot down a few notes about the different types of recreational lotus.

“Reading glasses?” Bess nudged at the glasses gently. “That’s not something I remember.”

“‘S new, an’ bugger all annyoing. Crusade’s got me workin’ paper pushin’, an’ after a long day I canna see th’ end ay my nose. So I wear specs.”

“Seems a waste, putting you on clerical duty.”

Aely huffed into her tea, fogging up the lenses. “Aye… aye it does.”

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Spectacles

She glanced at the time. Five in the morning. Arrens would be coming through soon, she thought as she glanced once more at the letter in hand. She’d been up for the past 12 hours redressing wounds and giving comfort where she could. Professor Vyree would come in for the morning shift and replace both she and Theo leaving the weary paladin and priest to get some much needed rest.

Arrens entered the lounge, sleep in his eyes yet.”Good morning, my love,” he said as he kissed her gently on the forehead.

“Mornin’.” Aely stifled a yawn. “Folks’ll be up an’ out ‘fore long. Mostly just some broken bones left ta mend.”

The headmaster nodded solemnly. “You look ragged, dear. Why don’t you go and get some sleep?”

Aely looked at the half-full cup of coffee before her. “Aye, I should.”

Arrens sipped his coffee and cocked his head towards the letter in her hand. “What’s that?” he asked.

“Nothin’, love. Jus’ a letter.” She folded it up and put it in her breast pocket.

Arrens shrugged, stood up and said, “I need to go prepare for my first class. Get to bed. I’ll be along as soon as I have a spare moment and check in on you, ok?”

Aely smiled wearily and nodded as Arrens bent down to give her a kiss. As he left, she removed the letter once more and read it for what felt like the hundredth time.

Crusader Larsdottir:
Please Stand By for announcement of Orders. The Crusade will be mobilizing healers shortly after the first of the year to aid with the influx of wounded from the recently developing wars.
In the Service of the Light,
Commander Rebekah Brightsong

*****

Within a few days, the following announcement was posted around Stormwind and the Argent Dawn headquarters – some making it as far as Dalaran and the Tournament grounds in Northrend.

((OOC Stuff:

That’s right! Aely and Arrens have decided, in lieu of their planned Spring wedding, to move things up a bit. By “a bit”, they mean “next week, during Winter Veil.” Hopefully this will help Aely not get shipped all over the world for another expansion, and let her spend more time in Stormwind, both with Arrens and the Wildfire Riders and running the infirmary at the school.

Everyone who wishes to attend is welcome – level 1 alts are fine. If you need assistance getting to Stormwind, there should be warlock summons available, at least up until the beginning of the ceremony.

Come join us for an evening of fun and festivities. There will be lots of food, good company, cake, and booze. The ceremony is behind the Stormwind Cathedral, at the newly opened outdoor chapel. If you need help finding it, let us know!))

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The honour of your presence…

*****

The landscape didn’t change much, really. He had fallen; they had won. But the snowy desolation of Icecrown was still snowy and desolate, unchanged from the events that occurred inside.

Light-forsaken. The land where even sunlight would not shine.

The Light’s work had been done regardless; the Crusade marched onward, past the ever menacing gates of Icecrown, until the sound of Fordring’s voice echoed in the very halls of the Lich King. It echoed past the chambers of plague and blood, past the reanimated dead and willful, fanatic living, past the screams of Bolvar Fordragon and the screeching of frostwyrm and Val’kyr, until it reached the very halls of the Frozen Throne. And they had been victorious at the end.

The Lich King fell, but with such a terrible price as to be almost immesurable.

Aely walked, rather resolutely, past the gathering throng of people waiting outside and back to her tent on the Crusade grounds, ignoring the ever-increasing shouts and whoops of victory.

Not far behind, Arrens tried to trace her path, pushing his way through mobs of celebrating men and women and families searching for their loved ones in the crowd. He had seen Aely storm from the keep doors and tried to get her attention, but the loud, unruly crowd had kept her from seeing him.

Once he reached the bottom, however, she was gone.

He raced towards where he had last seen her and found an injured soldier sitting on the frozen ground surrounding the tents. Hurriedly, Arrens asked, “Excuse me. I’m looking for Aely Larsdottir. Do you know where her tent’s located?” The soldier never bothered to look up and instead flicked his thumb behind him in the direction of several dozen tents.

Arrens raced passed him, asking anyone and everyone where Aely’s tent was. At last, a bloodied, grizzled-looking Dwarf had an answer.

“Ye be lookin’ fer Dame Larsdottir, she’s like ta be o’er ‘n tha’ tent, lad,” he said, pointing towards a tent on the edge of the Crusader’s medic camp.

Thanking him profusely, Arrens got there just in time to hear the clattering of metal on metal. Fearing the worst, he yanked the flap of the tent open, only to have her sword come clattering to a stop at his feet, surrounded by a pile of hastily discarded armor. Her hands were badly scratched and bloody, and she’d picked up a nasty gash on her forehead but was otherwise whole. Relieved, he pulled her gently in against his chest. He whispered softly as he ran his hands over her hair, pushing it out of her face. “It’s over my love. It’s over.”

She leaned against him. “I ken. I saw. ’s just… na real yet.”

***Thanks for reading this post from Too Many Annas. May the Loot-Fu be with you***

Aftermath – Icecrown

This is the “Well, now what?” story – what does a Paladin who’s spent her entire adult life fighting Arthas do when suddenly Arthas is gone. How does she go back to life, how does she deal with the destruction of her homeland and family, and what will she do with herself now? How will her life be different, and how will it be the same?

In a way, the post from a few weeks ago, titled Old Breeds and Old Ways, is something of a prologue.

I’ll be posting the actual “Part 1″ tomorrow.

Until then, have you guys written stuff to deal with your characters post-Icecrown? Have you had in-game RP events to that affect – possibly revelry, or even some introspection? Was Arthas’ death a big deal, or just something your character helped with because their friends cared, or was it something that happened far away, with other people, and barely touched your character?

***Thanks for reading this post from Too Many Annas. May the Loot-Fu be with you***

Aftermath – Introduction

I Tanked A Raid Instance

Granted, it was 8-man Naxxramas and then VoA 10, and I was the offtank. And I had a lot of help, both in the form of SSH (who helped me with boss strats and stuff) and in the form of several really good healers. But we won, and I even got a little bit of loot. So yay for that!

I’m not sure tanking is my favorite thing to do, and I still prefer healing overall, but it’s certainly a lot of fun, and I’m very slowly getting better at it. I still don’t do really well with chasing down adds that get loose, but otherwise, I manage to do ok!

I Am Playing My Hunter

Something that doesn’t usually happen very often – especially the part where I’m really enjoying it. I leveled Angoleth mostly with gritted teeth in Burning Crusade. I really wanted her to hit 70, and I wanted to be able to use her leatherworking/skinning skills as part of the great alt conglomerate to ease up on the cost of raiding mats for the three raiding healers I had at the time. The last time I was a hunter for more than 10 minutes at a time, I was running Karazhan (can that really have been 18 months ago or more?), but I’m finding that once I get the dust off, I’m enjoying it again.

I’m also planning out achievements I want to get… which is another first.

I DPSed For A PUG (and had fun doing it)

See that bit about being a hunter. I know very little about “modern” huntering, and my hunter instincts are weak at best. But I managed – and the group I got plunked into decided to keep me along for a second run. (To the guys from Crushridge – thank you for being awesome, and for even RPing with me. You rock!) I had my pet on passive with growl off; I MD’d the tank on cooldown; I used Bestial Wrath on boss fights and frost-trapped things that tried to eat the Tree.

I am not yet to the point of doing MQoSRDPS, but I will get there.

I Killed The End Game Boss

For the first time since I started raiding, I have killed the Big Bad of the expansion. TRI never made it to Illidan or Sunwell in the last expansion, and while I saw Nefarian, I never saw the original Naxxramas or even C’thun. But I have a Kingslayer title (and hopefully will soon have the 25 man version to go with it), and I think that’s pretty cool, especially considering the RP implications Arthas’ death has for Aely.

Being able to take part in an Arthas kill is something I really wanted for Aely since the expansion launched, and I’m really thankful for the other people I raid with. Without them I’d never have gotten to see the fight, let alone beat it.

What new things have you done lately? Are you trying new things in RP, PVP, or PVE, or maybe even all three? Have you enjoyed them, or did they reinforce that you prefer to do other things?

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A First Time for Everything