>>5924398
Yeeeewttttt

>>5924398

You walked a bit tenderly the next morning, the last night's activities having left your body a bit mangled. Not getting into further details, it had been quite a fantastic night and you would savour the memories and burning feeling inside you for a long time.

Jandice walked slightly tenderly as well, she couldn't avoid feeling spent either. Still she hid it well, better than you did actually. You at least had the cane to hide behind, but her act as a powerful noblewoman had to be idiotproof.

Neither of you did speak much during the breakfast, but you couldn't stop giving her glances and brief smiles which she returned.

She was something, you couldn't describe it exactly, but definitely something.

But silently flirting and exchanging quick looks wouldn't get you anywhere. You had plenty to do today. And hopefully this time there would be no assassins lurking about.

…

It was still raining when you stepped inside the church. Catching yourself from cursing aloud in a holy place, you pulled the hood of the Robe of Obfuscation off your head and looked around.

The main hall of the church had been made into a temporary hospital with the wounded Syndicate assassins laying on the benches. Father Hampton's assistants scurried around as did Malevus who looked like she hadn't slept a bit last night. She had been probably helping Hampton and others with the most difficult patients.

"Prince Alric." Father Hampton greeted you after spotting you. The one armed bald former paladin looked similarly tired.

"Father Hampton." You greeted back with a small bow.

"Why have you come?" He asked you. Feeling was that he didn't care for pleasantries right now.


>You wanted to check on the wounded guards and thank them for their work and service.
>The Syndicate assassins should need to see you. Not as a taunt, but as a reminder that you hold power over them.
>Tap your glasses, you want to talk about your eyes, the Fel inside you.
>Other, write in.

>>5924401
>You wanted to check on the wounded guards and thank them for their work and service.
>Tap your glasses, you want to talk about your eyes, the Fel inside you.

Work our way to our main conversation. Show we still care about our people and the taint hasn't changed us...

>>5924401
>You wanted to check on the wounded guards and thank them for their work and service.
>Tap your glasses, you want to talk about your eyes, the Fel inside you.
Damn that was fast Medivh!

>>5924416

I am speed! Alternatively bunch of pent up writing inspiration from the sick days needing a release.

>>5924401
>>5924407
Support

Last thread ended on a bang :^)
Well done and good to have you back in high form Medivh.

I don't know if the crit means we've mastered magical writing as well as a confession, but Alric's magical mastery needs to keep ahead of the game. Continuing to expel fel energy is still proceeding.
>Write-in to Father Hampton
>We're trying methods to small-scale remove fel

>>5924401
>>5924407
>>5924416
support

>>5924407
The optics is just a bonus to imo, I think Alric would genuinely appreciate their grit and sacrifice.

>>5924524
I just hope we don't have another Magic Heart Attack Incident™

>>5924401
>>Tap your glasses, you want to talk about your eyes, the Fel inside you.
>You wanted to check on the wounded guards and thank them for their work and service.

>>5924401
>>You wanted to check on the wounded guards and thank them for their work and service.
>>Tap your glasses, you want to talk about your eyes, the Fel inside you.

>>5924401
>>You wanted to check on the wounded guards and thank them for their work and service.
>>Tap your glasses, you want to talk about your eyes, the Fel inside you
Damn Jandice, confessing like that. Pretty fun way to end the thread there, Alric and Jandice seems to like it bit rough.

"I wanted to check on the guards and my knight who is in here." You told him and then tapped at the side of your glasses. "And then talk about this."

Hampton looked at you and nodded once.

"Please follow me." He said as he led you to the infirmary of the church.

The side building's beds were mostly all full from wounded guards and even some bystanders that had been attacked. Stab wounds were common, as were slashes and cuts. Thankfully no amputations were necessary, but a couple of these men would never be soldiers again.

You exchanged words with those who weren't asleep, thanking them for their work, praising them for their bravery. Seeing you visit them did seem to cheer them up. They had succeeded in defending their homes and the most important person currently in the town.

Joe was in good spirits as well, though he would need to lay on his stomach for a couple of days due to the arrow wound on his buttocks. In a couple of weeks he should be ready to protect you again.

The office of Father Hampton was near and entering it, you closed the door behind you before sitting down.

"They are brave men." You said to the priest.

"And you are a foolhardy Prince, I heard how you had fought the assassins." Hampton replied and poured two mugs of water.

"The whole town seems to know about it then." You replied and took the mug.

"Word spreads fasts Prince Alric." Hampton replied. "How did you disappear, magic?"

"It is the robe, I took it from the assassins that tried to kill me in Durnholde." You told him. "And it doesn't make me disappear, it just makes you look away so to speak."

"A magical robe, the Church keeps warning us of things like that." Hampton said. "How many times have they tried now? Three?"

The Church too? So both Dalaran and the Church of Light are concerned about magic items.

"Four times actually, no five times." You replied to him.

Before your trip to Stormwind, twice in Durnholde and now this. And then of course the 'poisoning'.

"Yet you are still here, the Holy Light has blessed you." Hampton said and nodded.

"Barely still here… that is why I wanted to speak with you." You said and took off your glasses.

Hampton didn't react to your eyes. The green tint of Fel coloured them as you stared back at him and placed your hands on the desk.

"You know the news so I will keep this short. Alteraci Brandy had been poisoned with a Fel liquid. It failed to kill me, but my eyes and nails were changed. Nothing else has changed." You told him. "I want to get rid of it, I don't want it inside me."

"Fel corruption, clear signs of that." Hampton replied with a steady tone. "Brave of you to come into my church carrying them."

"I have already sent a letter to Lord Uther explaining the circumstances." You told him. "Signs or not, I am not going to let them stop me."

1/2

>>5924862

Hampton stood up and walked around his desk before taking your chaperon off. He reached and placed his good left hand on your head, but like he had touched something hot, he pulled back immediately.

"No other changes…" Hampton mused and placed his hand back on your head.

And when he did that, this wave of relief and tranquillity spread through your body from head to toes. You didn't feel tired anymore, nor ragged from last night or day. You felt light, serene.

"May the Holy Light bless you Prince Alric for you have the fortitude and willpower many men are lacking." Hampton said, his eyes slightly glowing white before returning back to normal.

He walked back behind his desk and sat down.

"Thank you for the blessing Father." You said and nodded to him.

"I could feel it deep inside you, entangled and twisted. I cannot remove it, I don't know if even Lord Uther could do it, without putting your life in danger." Hampton told you. "The taint is there and will stay there, unless you can find a way to get rid of it some other way."

Hearing this made you deflate. Damn it, Hampton couldn't help you with this, at least not directly.

"I can see that you are disappointed Prince Alric, I am sorry. But your mind is strong and a strong mind is the best defence against the ruinous unholy powers of Fel." Hampton replied to you. "You coming here and sending a letter to Lord Uther being signs of that. Your mind is clear, not clouded by it, you aren't avoiding it."

"So I need to live with this for how long?" You asked disappointingly as you put your chaperon back on.

"Worst case, rest of your life. Best case, the taint dissipates and disappears with time." Hampton replied to you. "I am sorry, I am not an expert and those who are aren't that many."


>A strong mind, willpower and fortitude is needed to repel Fel. Can he tell you more about that?
>What did he mean with danger to your life? Did he mean Light and Fel reacting with each other?
>Ask him about your fears that the Fel changes who you are from inside. Amplifies the worst parts of you.
>Tell Father Hampton about your nightmares, about Malevus Thing. See what he has to say about it.
>Reveal your plan to him even if it means that he learns that you are studying magic. You are going to burn the Fel away.
>Other, write in.

>>5924524

Not yet mastered, but learned quite well how this utility magic works. Next thing to learn is how to use a quill or a stick so that you don't need to finger paint everything. This is followed with learning how to write on air and the synergy with Draconic. Work needs to be done.

Jandice is very impressed with your progress and that is one part of why she confessed now.

>>5924864
>What did he mean with danger to your life? Did he mean Light and Fel reacting with each other?
>Ask him about your fears that the Fel changes who you are from inside. Amplifies the worst parts of you.
>Reveal your plan to him even if it means that he learns that you are studying magic. You are going to burn the Fel away.

I think this shows Alric's good will, and maybe Alric will go so far as to light his finger green if Father Hampton approves. If he doesn't approve then we've just released fel energy into the holy chapel and this could be bad.

>>5924866
Jandice is for hugging as a qt3.14 good girl

>>5924864
>>What did he mean with danger to your life? Did he mean Light and Fel reacting with each other?
>>Ask him about your fears that the Fel changes who you are from inside. Amplifies the worst parts of you.

>>5924864
>A strong mind, willpower and fortitude is needed to repel Fel. Can he tell you more about that?
>What did he mean with danger to your life? Did he mean Light and Fel reacting with each other?
>Ask him about your fears that the Fel changes who you are from inside. Amplifies the worst parts of you.
DONT mention magic.

>>5924864
>>A strong mind, willpower and fortitude is needed to repel Fel. Can he tell you more about that?
>>What did he mean with danger to your life? Did he mean Light and Fel reacting with each other?
>>Ask him about your fears that the Fel changes who you are from inside. Amplifies the worst parts of you.
Mentioning magic wouldnt be smart. Hampton is a smart guy, he would start putting things together and expect the worse. Magic + Fel = Warlock and thats paddling by Silver Hand if the hardliners learn about it.

Just ask about these three things. They go in hand in hand

>>5924866
Eagerly waiting for Alric putting draconic and the arcane writing together

>>5924864
>>Tell Father Hampton about your nightmares, about Malevus Thing. See what he has to say about it.
>A strong mind, willpower and fortitude is needed to repel Fel. Can he tell you more about that?

>>5924864
>A strong mind, willpower and fortitude is needed to repel Fel. Can he tell you more about that?
>What did he mean with danger to your life? Did he mean Light and Fel reacting with each other?
>Ask him about your concerns that the Fel changes who you are from inside. Amplifies the worst parts of you.
The business at hand anons, the business at hand.

Rest of your life? Well he didn't know about your plan of burning the Fel away, but how pessimistic he seemed did concern you somewhat.

"You said that my strong will keeps it away, I presume you mean not falling into the temptation of wanting more?" You asked Hampton and took the mug of water.

"Fel preys for those with weak minds and gravings of power. Not of course on its own as Fel is inanimate, without its own will. But as an option available for those who know about it. An easy alternative to power and if you fall for it, Fel has taken control of you." Hampton told you. That sounded quite the same as what you had learned before. "But for the Holy Light you need time and patience, strong enough will to go through countless hours of training and studying before you learn to harness it."

"So it is a matter of self-control." You said.

"Yes, I have said before that you could have become a great Paladin if you had chosen that path when you were younger. You have the will and fortitude for the training." Hampton explained. "And the same will and fortitude will keep your mind clear."

"For the Fel to not change me… Father, that is what I fear the most of this. What will become of me?" You asked him.

"An apt fear to have, the Fel is a potent force and capable of bringing out the cruelty out of those who are gentle. That is why we fight it whenever we can, we cannot allow it to take root amongst the common folk." Hampton told you. "It all goes back to your mind, by being strong and not wavering of who you are, you will be fine. But if you give a spare thought to the things that Fel represents, that will be your fall."

It all circles back to your willpower and fortitude. The need to be strong and avoid whatever temptations there are. Hampton's answers didn't really surprise you, you somewhat expected his stance to be something like this. Strict, unwavering, fitting for a former Paladin. The Church of Light did put a big emphasis on clarity of thought after all, the core tenets spread were all opposite that of Fel. Which brought a question to your mind.

"You mentioned that maybe not even Lord Uther could remove it without putting me in danger, surely he could achieve it without such a thing happening?" You asked him.

"Maybe, but I am not sure. The Light and Fel are polar opposites. Order and chaos, reconstruction and destruction. They cannot exist at the same time in the same place without a conflict." Hampton told you and continued. "I have seen how a warlock writhed in pain as the Holy Light shone upon him. The man died, imagine what could happen if a Paladin of Lord Uther's magnitude would attempt to… for the lack of better word, to flush the Fel out or destroy it inside you. Could he do it, definitely. But what could be the harm caused when something deep inside you is so violently taken away?"

1/2

>>5925222

"You are probably right… I hate this, I hate this a lot…" You sighed deeply.

"Which is natural, but a sign of strength that even with all these obstacles and tribulations, you haven't given up." Hampton told you and continued. "Because that would be the easiest thing to do and if that happens, the Silver Hand would have no qualms in doing what they have done once before."

A veiled threat? Or just an accurate observation? Both are probably true.

"Thank you Father, but I am sure that the Silver Hand can stay their hands." You said and smiled.

"I am confident of that as well." Hampton said. "Now do you have anything else?"


>Ask about Malevus. How has her training continued and has she been helpful with the patients?
>Dawnholme has grown, could it be possible for Hampton to visit the town more often?
>The migrants from Underbelly seem quite untouched by the Light. Could the Church help with enlightening them?
>Offer a direct invite for Hampton to move to Dawnholme. You trust him and the town needs a priest.
>Other, write in.

>>5925224
>Ask about Malevus. How has her training continued and has she been helpful with the patients?
I'd rather the priest of Dawnholme be a native to the community and Im not interested in proselytizing about the light to the new residents

>>5925224
>Ask about Malevus. How has her training continued and has she been helpful with the patients?

>>5925224
>>Ask about Malevus. How has her training continued and has she been helpful with the patients?

>>5925224
>>Ask about Malevus. How has her training continued and has she been helpful with the patients?

>>5925229
>I'd rather the priest of Dawnholme be a native to the community and Im not interested in proselytizing about the light to the new residents
You know actually.... i never thought about that. Thats not a bad idea. We should do it.
What if we ask Hampton right now if one of our people could be picked and sent by us to be educated has a priest and assigned to Dawnholme ? Or more than one. We could recreate an alteraci priesthood, its frankly a legit thing we can do and that they can't deny us, because we aren't forcing them to send their existing priests.

We have also two other settlements not just Dawnholme.
Stonedon is a village, and Shoredon might become a river village instead of just a fortified camp, once the campaign ends. And our army could have some priests assigned to them.

>>5924973
>DONT mention magic.
You're right, I missed the billboard that was Hampton asking about the cloak. Excellent insight.

>>5925224
>>5925229
Support. Burdening Hampton with travel at his age is potentially something we can now avoid, but as a senior and original paladin, he could become the effective minister of the Light for the Darrowmere Alliance. Alric could treat him like a bishop.. in all but name.

Malevus.

Potentially no update today, but could I have a simple roll for weather and other stuff.


>1d10
>Best of three, taking the second roll

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>5926055

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>5926055
>Inb4 triple 1

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>5926055
TRIPLE 1 GO

>3
>1


The weather is shit and things go horribly wrong. Also known as a normal day for Alric. Update later, maybe!

“I need to ask about my squire, has her studies progressed?” You asked Hampton. “I can teach her how to fight, but the Light? That is not my forte.”

“She is progressing in her studies, but she isn’t ready. Not yet, not in a long time.” Hampton replied. “But she does have qualities that many don’t have.”

“Which are?” You asked. You had some ideas, but couldn’t narrow it down enough.

“Empathy, her ability to be friendly and approachable is something I haven’t seen in a long time.” Hampton told you and continued. “If you gave her time, I bet she could befriend an orc.”

“That’s Malevus for you.” You said to him. “She can make friends with anyone.”

“She understands people, if she ever decides that the path of a Paladin is not for her, becoming a priest could be a choice for her.” Hampton replied. “She has all the qualities of becoming a great priest.”

“Though she wants to become a Paladin, that is her goal and I don’t want her to stray away from it.” You told him.

“Then we need to put our trust behind her.” Hampton said to you.

“I wouldn’t be here without her, you know.” You said.

“Neither would many of the wounded.” Hampton replied. “Her work has been exemptionary.”

A slight smile grew on your lips and you nodded several times.

“Though I have a request Prince Alric.” Hampton said to you.

“What is it Father?”

“When you leave, could you please take her with you. She needs to rest and I don’t think she will listen to me right now.” Hampton said to you. “Patients come before yourself.”

“I will do that. Thank you for the talk Father Hampton.” You said to him. “Maybe in the future we could have a more thorough talk, Dawnholme after all is missing a priest of their own.”

“You aren’t planning on inviting me to join you?” Hampton asked.

“I wouldn’t dare to request you. Your place is here in Tarren Mill after all, but maybe one of our own could fill that role.” You said to him and stood up from the chair.

“Maybe, but we can talk about that later.” Hampton said to you. “Thank you Prince Alric for visiting me.”

“Pleasure is likewise.”

…

Malevus was somewhat unenthusiastic at leaving the church, but with some goading and reminding her how tired she was, she did follow you back to Monica’s hotel.

Frankly she looked like shit, she was tired, her clothes and hair were all messy and odd spots of blood and whatnot covered her. When you got her inside, you gave quick orders to Monica. Malevus was to eat something quickly, then have a bath and then go to sleep.

And thankfully she followed those orders and in just a few moments your elven squire was happily asleep in her room with her clothes being washed by one of Monica’s many servants.

You sighed and knew that for you the day was just starting. The job of a Prince wouldn’t stop just like that, there were a lot of small things for you to do.

And you couldn’t just curl up next to Jandice and enjoy the warmth there.

1/3

>>5926290

…

>3
>1


The rain intensified outside as you stared out through the window. The spring rains had struck Hillsbrad hard and you knew that your soldiers in Strahnbrad Hills would be all soaking wet. You also knew that the rain would make following any tracks in or outside Tarren Mill a very difficult job and soon you got confirmation of that.

The older gentleman whom you had spotted had disappeared. There was no sight of him in Tarren Mill nor around the walls of the town. No footprints, no rope that he could have used to climb over the wall.

Nothing.

The guards had searched the houses through Tarren Mill, checked the warehouses and small storage sheds outside the houses. No sight of the man at all.

You cursed this, but you also knew that whoever was the man, they would learn their lesson. Attacks like this wouldn’t work. Not in Tarren Mill and definitely not in Dawnholme. A message was sent so to speak to the Syndicate.

Assassination wouldn’t work.

…

The rain splattered around you as you looked around yourself. The main street of Tarren Mill was nearly empty as the evening had approached. Only the guards and a few others were there. Your dark glasses made the evening feel darker than it was actually, but you had gotten used to the dark tint already.

You had spent the afternoon with the paperwork. With Garside away leading the troops, some of the work had fallen on your hands to deal with. Most of it was just supply and logistics issues, giving permissions to purchase supplies here in Tarren Mill or to have a merchant purchase something specific from Southshore. Nothing really specific, but things that someone had to do and put a name behind them.

You sighed deeply as the roof of the hotel protected you from the water. A small break before you would head back in and continue the work. The fresh air was something you needed.

“Alric, here you are.” You heard the voice of Malevus and you turned to look at her.

“Good morning sunshine.” You replied with a jest as you looked at your squire. She had ditched her armour and was just wearing her trousers and spare tunic. All blue of course.

“It is not morning, you know that.” She said and sighed.

“It is for you. You need to learn when to rest and not to push yourself too hard.” You said back to her.

“You are the one to say that.” Malevus replied.

“And I paid for pushing myself too hard.” You said back to her matter of factly and looked at the rain hitting the mud outside.

2/3

File: Tarren Mill, it is actual(...).jpg (163 KB, 1280x1024)

163 KB JPG

>>5926291

There was silence between the two of you. An elven squire and an Alteraci Prince.

“Did you have something to say to me?” You asked her.

“I did, but I am not sure if it is relevant anymore.” Malevus said back to you.

“Then what was it, please speak.” You said.

“I haven’t seen you step into a battle like that before. You just wrapped yourself within the robe and stepped outside not caring a single bit about your own well being.” Malevus said to you and continued. “And then later I heard how you had just killed them all without hesitation.”

She looked at you and brushed her red hair off her face.

“I am not sure if I can recognize that Alric.” She said to you.


>You are still the same Alric she knew. You had to act, otherwise they would have brought you and the others in danger.
>Her concern is misplaced. You had to act before the situation turns any more worse.
>Is she thinking that the Fel has changed you? That you wouldn’t have done the same thing before?
>The assassins had to be dealt with, they deserved to die. It was either you or them.
>You had told her to stop you if she thinks that you have taken a step too far. Have you taken a step too far?
>Other, write in.

>>5926292
>Is she thinking that the Fel has changed you over this? That you wouldn’t have done the same thing before?
>How? Have you had qualms with putting your life at risk or killing your enemies before? Where was this fear after the battle against the Syndicate bandits? The assassins? The Gnoll ambush? The Ogres?
Now this is just silly Malevus, Alric (Anons) are worried about it too but this is really fucking stretching it.

>>5926292
>>5926308
support
when has alric ever taken it easy.

>>5926292
>>5926308
Support.
Again, they had fire arrows, the entire town was at risk of being burnt down. Fast subtle action was required to disable their capability as fast as possible. Its why we went for the carriage first. It's not glory-seeking or a lack of care for our person, it's balancing that against keeping the peace of Alric's ally and life of his men.

>>5926308
>>5926292
>Support

>encourage her to articulate what she means.

>>5926308
support yes i think this will do

>>5926364
Adding more to this, Gavis, the knights and Malevus are going to have to majorly skill-up in order and do things themselves to prevent Alric from taking assassins to town by himself.

No update today, I am too knackered to write coherent text. But I could make do with a roll for events happening in the background. These rolls are for your army. First d10 is for Garside's group and second for Cromwell's.


>2d10
>Best of three

Rolled 1, 2 = 3 (2d10)

>>5926927

Rolled 7, 6 = 13 (2d10)

>>5926927
hail kills the army.

Rolled 3, 6 = 9 (2d10)

>>5926927

Rolled 8, 4 = 12 (2d10)

>>5926927
What if I was commander in some of the worst weather imaginable.

You had to take a pause as you thought about what she had just said.

“How? Have I had any qualms with putting my life at risk or killing my enemies before? Where was this fear after the battle against the Syndicate bandits? The assassins? The Gnoll ambush? The Ogres?” You said to her and continued. “Look, I get that you are concerned after the incident, we both know about the side effects and the nature of Fel itself. But how I fought yesterday and the times before, didn’t differ at all.”

Malevus looked at you and weighed your words in her mind.

“I appreciate your concern, but nothing has changed.” You said to her.

“I-I will trust your word.” She replied after a pause. “It is just…”

“You are afraid that someone you care for is going to change or that something happens to him.” You said back to her.

“Y-yes… you are right Alric.” She said, a shade of red crept on her cheeks.

“Then don’t be afraid, because I won’t change. I am still the same Alric that saved you from those bandits last year.” You told her.

Malevus nodded to you.

“Good, then let’s go back inside, I still have paperwork to do.”

…

Jan was still deep asleep as you carefully wiggled out of her embrace and tucked her safely inside the blanket. She mumbled something in her sleep as you did it, she looked so serene and content in life. In that moment her words, her confession, came to your mind.

I love you.

Dangerous three words that you nor her hadn’t brought up since then. Instead things had continued as before. She had taught you how to use a quill when using your mana to write, applying the arcane energies through a tool like that. It hadn’t been that easy at first, but you had gotten the hang of it rather quickly.

And then well a night spent together. Boy she was something, the tricks she has shown you…

Stretching your back, you collected your clothes and put them on. Having gotten used to waking up very early was a definite bonus here as you could rather easily slip out of her room and go to your own. This relationship after all was supposed to be a secret one.

“Sleep well Jan.” You whispered to her before as silently as possible as you left her room. You thought about saying something else as well, but you didn’t.

Today would be a long day, though at first you would throw yourself into your own bed and kill some time. Maybe you could go through your magic studies, that did sound like fun.

1/2

>>5927739

>7
>6


It was still raining and so you chose not to go bother Malevus with sparring. Instead you allowed her to go back to the church to help with the wounded men. Father Hampton would prefer to have all extra hands as possible and this would be a great opportunity for her to learn more about medicine and the art of healing.

Instead you threw on your orange Alteraci cloak, deciding to leave the Robe of Obfuscation neatly folded with the rest of your clothes, and headed out into the rain.

Now though, what were you planning on doing?


>Have a talk with Mayor Fowley about the Darrowmere League. Maybe you should hold a feast for local burghers and traders?
>There is the assassin whom you knocked out, you should see what he knows and what the rest of the Syndicate assassins know.
>While Malevus is not up for sparring, ask Sir Gravis to spar with you instead. You need the exercise after all.
>Other, write in.

>>5927739
>“I-I will trust your word.”
I would've had Alric say "Why trust my word when you can trust my actions? Like I said, they've been no different to before." in response to that.

>>5927740
>There is the assassin whom you knocked out, you should see what he knows and what the rest of the Syndicate assassins know.
It's what Im most curious about.

>>5927740
>There is the assassin whom you knocked out, you should see what he knows and what the rest of the Syndicate assassins know.
more pet assasins.

>>5927740
>Have a talk with Mayor Fowley about the Darrowmere League. Maybe you should hold a feast for local burghers and traders?

The assassin you had knocked out looked rough. One side of his face had burn marks from where the flat of your blade had struck him and then afterwards the guards had roughed him up even more. Broken nose, swollen lips and one eye nearly swollen shut. You could guess that he was rather thoroughly beaten and full of bruises under his clothes.

But this approach had succeeded, the assassin had told the guards everything he knew to make them stop beating him. And when the guards told you what they had learned, it gave your speculation a bit more weight.

This man wasn't an assassin, he was a farmhand who had taken small time banditry and thuggery as a side job before ending up doing it full time. He was a thug, who had been recruited from near Andorhal and had since then mostly done menial labour and acted as hired muscle for the Syndicate. He ended up in Tarren Mill by the orders of his superior, the man whom you had killed, to infiltrate the town as a lumberjack and then wait till the signal.

He hadn't been told much else, the communications from Syndicate were sparse and very short. He only did his part in all of this, because he didn't know anything else. The pay was better than being a farmhand or a normal thug, which was the main motivation for them. Not glory or some greater purpose. Just coin.

The day before the attack he and the others in the town were told to prepare for something. He was only told about who the target was, though he had his ideas due to your presence, only the day of the attack. Just a couple of hours before the attack. Their plan had been simple, try to kill you with arrows first and if that doesn't work, then set the building you hide in on fire to flush you out. They didn't have concerns for any bystanders, the town could have burned down for all they care as long as their targets had been dealt with.

Targets? That caught your attention as the guard recalled that their targets had been you, Mayor Fowley and Lady Barov. Getting any one of the three would have been a great success and well rewarded. Or at least that was what was told to them.

The guards hadn't gotten much more out of him and what you had now learned was plenty. Though you might have something in your mind that you could ask the assassin, but what? What would a thug know that would be new information to you or something Pai or Sahvan hadn't already told you? Maybe there could be something?


Alric's further questions to the assassin:
>Write in.

QM: If you have any questions or things you would like to ask the man, write in time is now. In the next update we will choose their fate, what will happen to them. I might get the update out later today evening.

>>5928450
Ask him to elaborate on the infiltration process and ask him about the old guy we saw.

Maybe also: "Did you really think you had good odds going into this?". Besides that I want to banter and talk to the guy so Alric and him can get to know each other. Build rapport and all that.

>>5928450
>>5928651
support
this guy basically covered any questions i wanted.
beside im sure alric doesnt hold any hard feelings for people who try to kill him.

>>5928450
Who recruited this man around Andorhal, are they still operating?
Was this recruiter different to the person that paid him and gave orders?
Was the person giving his orders all along the INCOGNITO old guy in the inn? Or are there multiple people in this command structure operating?

The results here could be fed to Lordaeron as Andorhal is considered their property and responsibility, if we wanted them to take some military action or enact martial law on that town.

The brief glimpse you had gotten of the man through the vision slit of the cell door wasn't enough and while the guards had covered most of the stuff you had wanted to know, you still had questions you could ask from him.

Having the cell door opened, one of the guards carried a chair for you to sit on and a small table for a lantern to be put on. When you then entered, you just sat down and had your cane lean on the table as well.

The prisoner was watching you with his one good eye as you made yourself comfortable on the chair.

"Did you come to gloat?" He asked you.

"No, just to talk with you." You said and waved your hand. The guard watching you through the vision slit locked the door behind you. The prisoner was well chained so you weren't in any danger, but giving privacy like this could make him more talkative.

"Then talk." He replied.

"Did you really think you had good odds going into this?" You immediately said to him. "I mean sure my army is gone, but my knights are still with me as are the Royal Foot Guards in their new quite easily recognisable armours."

You didn't allow him to respond as you continued.

"And you very well knew that Lady Barov was here, an Archmage of Dalaran and the single most powerful person within miles of this place." You told him. "Did you really think you had a chance of succeeding?"

"It only takes one arrow." He responded.

"And yet you only managed to skewer the buttocks of one of my knights." You said to him. "And do you really think I don't have a couple tricks in my sleeves for situations like this? You already saw one of them, but what else could I have?"

Partial truth, partial lie. You didn't have any tricks that could save your skin from getting pincushioned, but you did have the Robe of Obfuscation and your still rather limited skills in magic. Though making yourself sound more invulnerable was the goal here, to make him realise how lopsided their effort in the end was.

"You used magic!" The prisoner spat back.

"That wasn't magic, just a little trick courtesy of your compatriots in the Syndicate." You told him. "How does it feel that one of your tricks was enough for me to cut you all down? You didn't really expect that to happen did you?"

He stayed silent and didn't answer.

"Like I said, I have a couple tricks. And so my question stands, did you really expect to succeed?" You told him and continued changing the subject. "How did you infiltrate Tarren Mill and when?"

"Work opportunities, the town needs more labourers so they took in everyone who was willing to work." The prisoner told you. "I just walked in late autumn and that's it. Same with the rest of us, easy to get our swords and bows in as well. Just hide them and smuggle them in."

Nothing really surprising, but worth noting that goods need to be checked that enter the town. Thankfully Dawnholme was already more alert after the smuggling ring was busted.

"You were recruited in Andorhal, how did that happen?" You asked him.

1/3

>>5929414

"Why are you asking me questions?" The prisoner asked.

"To learn as much as possible from you of course. Besides, you should know my reputation. Now please answer the question." You responded.

"We had a small group and a camp in the woods. One night we were approached by a Syndicate member who gave us a deal, join us and be paid better or we will have to deal with you." The prisoner told you. "We chose to join him and we got paid better."

"Do you know or recognise the man?" You asked.

"No, always wore the bandana and he kept his visits short, telling us promising places to rob or roads to watch over." He told you. "Until later we were introduced to our boss, Brennan whom you apparently killed, he stayed in closer touch with his superiors."

"What can you tell about them?"

"Not much at all, just saw them once or twice in camps. Can't recognise them, bandanas and dark cloaks you see." He responded.

As expected, a foot soldier in a decentralised organisation only knows very little of what happens above him.

"How were you paid exactly?" You asked.

"First pickings from the robberies, but when Brennan took the lead, he handled the coin. We put the spoils in a preplanned position and Brennan got a bag of coins in return. We didn't need to barter the hot goods at all." He explained to you.

Again a rather decentralised organisation, they probably had people responsible for moving stolen goods around. You should send a letter to Lord Uther, as he should appreciate information like this and forward the information to those responsible.

"Thank you, one more thing. Did you ever see an older man who stayed in the same hotel as I do?" You asked him.

"There are plenty of old men in here." He responded.

"I am meaning only that one man." You replied.

"No, our only contact was Brennan and we weren't supposed to see him without a very good reason." Prisoner told you.

"Did you see Brennan talk with anyone else? Be in contact with his superiors while you stayed here?" You continued.

"No, he kept things underwraps." The prisoner replied to you.

He didn't seem to be lying or avoiding telling everything. The decentralised structure of the Syndicate makes it hard for you to get information. Really you would need to catch high ranking officers or hope that you can get enough small snippets to build a big picture from. And Pai was still in your jail, you have a hunch that she could tell you more.

"Thank you." You said and stood up. Not needing to say anything more, you knocked on the cell door and left. You had heard enough.

2/3

>>5929416

The guards had interviewed some of the wounded Syndicate soldiers who were capable of talking and their stories matched with what you had learned.

They were bandits and thugs, usually conscripted at sword point, but then being paid better than before. They weren't skilled assassins or trained agents. They were muscle, a brute force to be applied. Their stories were the same about their leaders, of which sadly none had survived. Very little information was shared with them.

You wouldn't get much out of them so interviewing them personally would be just a waste of time so you opted to leave that for the guards to deal with.

You meanwhile received a message, one of the spies in training delivered a letter to you from Eligius. You had made Sir Gravis send a rider to Dawnholme post haste after the attack to inform them and give them short orders. And now in the reply you learned that everything was fine in Dawnholme and that they would be more on lookout for any signs of trouble.

You would need to talk with him and your officers at some point about this. Dawnholme was most likely quite safe from infiltrators like these, but from assassins?

We need to be extra watchful.

…

"Nothing major that matters that I didn't already know." You said to Jandice as you ate lunch with her. The carrot soup was quite splendid. "Just another confirmation on how the Syndicate operates, decentralised as expected."

There was a brief break in the rain, but it had soon started to rain again. You wondered how your army was faring, probably everyone was soaking wet.

"You seem disappointed, what did you expect to learn from a thug who is meaningless in the grand scheme of things?" Jandice asked you and continued. "They have probably hundreds of men like him who only know their tasks and that's it."

"You are right Jandice." You replied.

"What will you do with them? Extend the leniency of Prince Alric to people who tried to kill you again?" Jandice asked you.

"That would be a consistent approach." You said back to her.

"But also sends a message, they might think that you are too soft, too lenient and that could bite your ass at some point." Jandice replied to you. "Lordaeron would hang them all for an attack like that, so would my father."

"Are you suggesting that they should all hang, even the ones that are wounded?" You asked her.

"Alric, I will tell you how people might see it. You have your hard labour as a scheme to get them to pay back their crimes by working, but plenty of innocent people could have died." Jandice told you and continued." I'm not advocating hanging them all, just that justice needs to be appropriate to what they were planning on doing."

"What would Dalaran do?" You asked her.

"Kirin Tor would execute them all, make them disappear completely, they want no banditry in their lands." Jandice told you.

3/3

>>5929418


>Hard labour to all, you need to stay consistent with your sentences to bandits and Syndicate members.
>A few will hang, choose them by lottery and hard labour to the rest of them. A message needs to be sent.
>Execute them all and bury them in a mass grave. They were planning on burning the town if needed, no remorse for them. Your leniency has a limit.
>Tarren Mill will decide, you will clean your hands of this.
>Other, write in.

>>5929420
>Hard labour to all, you need to stay consistent with your sentences to bandits and Syndicate members.
We have already sent a message with the execution of our former foreman, mercy to our enemies and death to traitors. They know what will happen if they cross us from henceforth.

>>5929420
>>A few will hang, choose them by lottery and hard labour to the rest of them. A message needs to be sent.

>>5929420
>Tarren Mill will decide, you will clean your hands of this.

This happened in their lands

>>5929420
>Hard labour to all, you need to stay consistent with your sentences to bandits and Syndicate members.
Consistency. Also we did promise our squire to be mercifull when we can.

>>5929420
>>Tarren Mill will decide, you will clean your hands of this.

>>5929420
I think we can do better, though Tarren Mill deciding is an important point
>offer hard labour to criminals
>Fowley & Tarren Mill makes the final call on whether they transfer prisoners to Alterac or practices their own justice

Trying to stay consistent and having them work in hard labour, but asking Fowley what he wants to do with the prisoners first.

Also a roll for weather please.


>1d10
>Best of three

File: Spoiler Image (41 KB, 490x652)

41 KB JPG

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>5930096
Rollan blizzards

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>5930096

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>5930096
Demons rain from the sky and this pathetic world burns.

You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose. It probably never gets any easier for you to decide the fates of people who can't fight back, but maybe should deserve a strict sentence and swift justice.

But again you wouldn't choose to do so.

"I need to be consistent, I have shown mercy to my enemies and I have hanged those that have betrayed me." You told her and continued. "And those who attacked us are just my enemies."

"Hard labour then?" Jandice asked and raised her eyebrows. She could see how this wasn't an easy decision for you.

"They will work to pay back their crimes, but I need to talk with Fowley first. This is his town that they attacked, so he gets to have the say what to do with them." You told Jandice and continued. "Well technically you Barov's own these lands so…"

Jandice dismissed your words with a wave of her hand.

"Alric, the decision is yours to take and I believe Fowley will defer to you as well." Jandice replied and then smiled. "What have you planned for later today?"

"Well I need to talk with one of my people first and then I thought about doing some paperwork before practising what I have learned lately." You told her. "Why do you ask? Do you have something in mind?"

"Well I have this boring meeting with some of the traders, they want to get into our markets." Jandice replied with a sigh. "But after that's done, I could help you with the studying and then…"

You felt her foot touching your leg and making its way up your thigh, stopping teasingly close to your crotch. Jandice gave you a sly smile as she withdrew her foot.

"And then maybe some extra curricular activities…" She said, the tone of her voice quite playful.

You chuckled and smiled. How could you say no to that?

…

>6


You had met with the spy sent by Eligius before he returned back to Dawnholme. You told him to expect more prisoners to arrive to Dawnholme and instructed Eligius to arrange their interrogations and screening with Sahvan's help. You needed more workers, but you didn't need anymore troublemakers for you to deal with.

And then you had delved into paperwork. Though your mind was completely elsewhere and you got only little done. Damn it Jandice for teasing you like that earlier.

Then there was the rain. It was quite apparent now that it would be raining for days as the wind had picked up and the distant rumbling of thunder echoed through the town. You were slightly glad that you didn't need to be out there in the Strahnbrad Hills, but with the spring rains washing the whole region, there was very little that could be done.

The soldiers would soldier on with or without the rain.

…

Jan kissed your neck as she snuggled by your side. Your heart was still racing fast and both of you were sweaty from the past few hours. Candle light glimmered on Jan's smooth skin as you took hold of her and caressed the curves of her body.

"Al… it's raining quite a lot outside…" Jan whispered.

1/2

>>5930159

She was right, the wind splattered the rain all over the window and you could hear the howling winds.

"Yeah it is…" You replied and kissed her brow.

"I think I will stay in Tarren Mill a bit longer… maybe till the rains stop." She told you with a quiet voice.

"That could be days more, maybe more than a week?" You asked.

"Yeah, but I think we will find something to kill time with if we're stuck inside.... just like before." She said with a playful tone. "And besides I don't want to get awfully wet while travelling."

You chuckled, she had found an excuse to stay with you a bit longer.

"You are going to get wet nevertheless." You replied nonchalantly and caught her by surprise.

"Al, what a dirty thing for you to say!" Jan protested and laughed. "Where are your Princely manners!"

"And where were your Ladylike manners a couple hours ago?" You said and laughed. She had been quite eager and well so had been you. Each night she showed you something new and exciting.

Both of you laughed until silence fell in the room.

"You are something different Al… you know that…" Jan replied and found your lips for a kiss.

You just chose to hold her close. You wouldn't mind having her stay here for a few days longer at all, for this was nice. You could get used to living like this, having someone by your side.

Jan giggled, for she felt your excitement pressing against her body. She gave you a sly smile and kissed you once again.

It was going to be a very fun and very enjoyable night.

…

"Good morning Mayor." You said to Fowley who looked a bit pale. His stomach issues had returned, probably due to overworking and so he was bedridden at the moment.

"Good morning Prince Alric, you look fresh." He replied to you.

"I took a morning bath." You told him. Last night's activities had left you a bit too sweaty for your liking. "How are you feeling?"

"Not great, but not that terrible either. We can talk though, but I won't be moving around that much in the coming days." Fowley said to you. "What did you have in mind?"


>The prisoners, you want them for hard labour, but does Tarren Mill have anything against it?
>Planning of a feast regarding the Darrowmere League. The local traders and burghers should be informed and talked with.
>Further discussion regarding the security of Tarren Mill, what more can they do for the security? What will be Alterac's part in it?
>Ask about the Barovs. They are technically his bosses, what does he think about them?
>Other, write in.

QM: Weather is terribad.

>>5930160
>The prisoners, you want them for hard labour, but does Tarren Mill have anything against it?
>Planning of a feast regarding the Darrowmere League. The local traders and burghers should be informed and talked with.
>Further discussion regarding the security of Tarren Mill, what more can they do for the security? What will be Alterac's part in it?
Do what has been discussed and use the Feast as a celebration of the defeat of the bandits and the cooperation between Alterac and Tarren Mill that made it so crushing.

>>5930160
>>5930164
>Support

File: 1642526232279.jpg (546 KB, 1600x900)

546 KB JPG

SIDESTORY

A Stormy Night in Stormwind

The fourth glass of sherry had given Katrana a solid buzz as the storm outside continued to rage. The wind blasted the windows and water rained near horizontally. The sound it made was her companion as she slowly wrote a letter to one of the many nobles requiring her aid.

Katrana was in a bitter mood, it had been just nobles this, nobles that for the past few weeks. The list of things they needed her aid with just kept growing and yet again she had to write a response that eloquently had the same message as before so many times.

Sorry, House of Nobles cannot support your request due to not having budgetary control.

That was a half-truth. They did have the power to present and argue for spending, but all executive power was in King Varian's hands and the King had chosen to just brood. Katrana had tried to get him to sign some papers, but without much success. After the third time of him sending her away and not having even touched the scrolls, Katrana understood to not even try.

She sighed as ink dropped on the letter, creating a smudge that she didn't bother to wipe away. So many things were going against her plans, nothing seemed to stick. Years of careful manoeuvring seemed to have gone to waste.

The door into her study opened, but Katrana didn't even turn her head. She knew who had arrived.

"I am here Mistress." Nalice said and kneeled.

"How is he?" Katrana asked her back immediately and now turned to look at her.

"He is a young man in good physical condition. He will recover, but it will take some time." Nalice said to Katrana, not raising her head one bit.

"You can stand." Katrana responded and turned away once more.

Blasted Fel, the near death of Alric was bad news, she had nearly lost one of her most important allies and someone she wanted personally, to a mistake during training. When she heard the news the first time, she had been heartbroken, shaken to her core and would have lashed out at Nalice if not for an ocean between them. How could she have failed to prevent it from happening in the first place? Alric nearly died and now he has Fel inside him.

Though as days passed and Nalice sent her updates of his condition, her mind slowly calmed down and the need to lash out disappeared. It had been an accident and Nalice had done her best to save Alric's life and then tended him as best as she could. And Katrana knew that what had happened was incredibly rare, very little was known about the heart suddenly stopping.

"You have done well, but I am not fully happy with you." Katrana spoke to her. "Please do not let anything like that happen ever again."

"I understand my Mistress." Nalice said as she stood up.

"Good, how did his studies progress?" Katrana asked and sipped more of her sherry.

1/2

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>>5930417

"Faster than I expected, if he had chosen to study Fel, then the progress would be even faster, but the current pace is… fascinating." Nalice replied.

"Fascinating… what do you mean with that?" Katrana asked her.

"He is mundane, or is supposed to be. Yet his body reacts like that of a full-blooded mage's." Nalice told her and continued. "It could be his own bloodline, his sister is a mage after all, or it could be my mana that I have given to him."

A weak smile appeared on Katrana's face. At least some good news has come out from this.

"Any other news?" Katrana asked her.

"Mistress, he has a new lady." Nalice told her.

"What! Who?" Katrana said with a surprise.

"Lady Barov." Nalice said.

"A Barov? He chose a second rate family with a negligent amount of wealth over me?" Katrana said and couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"He also requests funding for…" Nalice continued, but was interrupted.

"Yes of course, he will get everything he needs and more." Katrana said. "Now leave, we can talk more tomorrow. I need to be alone with my thoughts."

"Yes Mistress." Nalice said and silently left the study.

Katrana drank the sherry in one go and poured more. She bit her lip and felt fire ignite inside her.

Another woman? Had he dropped that Menethil girl or what? Though it didn't matter, Barov or not, they don't compare with her at all. It would be just a friendly competition and she would make sure that she would win it at any cost. She definitely wasn't jealous, it should be her tending Alric at his bedside and not some Barov hag.

Katrana had the wealth, she had things Alric would need and want and sooner than later her allure and her body would work on him. She would get him, sooner than later he would be hers.

Katrana had a wicked smile as she looked out into the storm through the window. Oh this will be fun, finally some exciting news. This got her all fired up and aching for release.

Maybe she should invite Alric to visit Stormwind City or maybe she could visit Alric by herself? Not bad ideas at all.

…

QM: Finished this sidestory idea from some time ago as I didn't want to go with just two votes this evening. The voting continues and if you have any sidestory ideas, I might write something again later.

>>5930160
>>5930164
support

>>5930420
id like a sidestory about the dark dwarves or maybe wiklish.

>>5930420
>RANGER LORD SYLVANAS

sorry I'm incredibly partial....

>>5930160
>>5930164
Support.
Write in:
>Share our prisoner info that some lumberjacks and other labourers are undercover Syndicate agents. Checking who entered Tarren Mill with swords or similar weapons might be worthwhile.

>>5930546

And I need to shoot her down, there's no reason for her to be involved with Alric at all. Not one of her concerns.

>>5930886
I'd love a sidestory about the thoughts of Stormwind King Varian Wrynn and just how deep his brooding goes. As I understand before the events of World of Warcraft, he somehow gets kidnapped and put into the slave gladiator rings off the shore of Tanaris. Finding clues to his whereabouts were in the Ahn'Qiraj raid opening quest thought Wowpedia says he was removed from this location. His thoughts and the events of he ends up in this predicament or doesn't would be interesting from your take.

>>5930992

Thoughts of Varian Wrynn could work as a sidestory. I need to think about it. But the kidnapping is something that happened in canon many years in the future and isn't timeline wise relevant at the moment.

Also you should use https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Warcraft_Wiki instead of Wowpedia. They migrated to new site as Fandom is a shit platform amongst other reasons.

>>5930160
>The prisoners, you want them for hard labour, but does Tarren Mill have anything against it?
>Further discussion regarding the security of Tarren Mill, what more can they do for the security? What will be Alterac's part in it?
well hopefully the weather is bad for all sides not just our army. They must be walking through mud. Speaking of.....

>>5930420
seeing katrana was funny, maybe some Van Cleff or one of our boys up in the hills right now ? Like Cromwell, the twins or one of the new sarges. OR has wildcard sidestory that officer we gained has informant in the underbelly of Dalaran.

You took a chair and sat down, standing around still tired you out so sitting was preferable.

"Does Tarren Mill have demands regarding the prisoners?" You asked him and continued. "I would prefer to have them moved to Dawnholme and put in hard labour."

"The others might want them to hang, but we can't keep them here in any case. Our jail isn't big enough." Fowley said to you and sighed. The small bookish man looked even smaller, having tucked himself under the blanket. "Have they been interrogated?"

"Yes, your guards are going through the process." You told him. "I spoke with one of them and learned probably everything I could from him."

"Then you can have them, the guards know what to do next." Fowley said. He wasn't a military man so he deferred these issues to others rather easily.

"Thank you Mayor, just that you need to be careful with outsiders. They had infiltrated as lumberjacks." You said.

"Yes, I heard about that." He replied.

"Is there anything else Tarren Mill could do for her security? Barovs are sending footmen, but what would Alterac's part in this be?" You asked him.

"That would require investments." Fowley replied back to you.

"Investments into safety, to prevent anything like this or the gnolls happening again." You countered. "Look, we are happy to patrol your lands, but that will cost us supplies and spread our men even more thin."

"I will need to raise this with the others. What did you have in mind?" Fowley asked you and hesitated.

"Tarren Mill needs more guards, either her own or Alteracis. The town has walls, but a couple strategic towers could help with the defence through providing warnings against outside threats and a good place for archers to be in." You explained to him and continued. "We have built towers around Dawnholme, I don't want my people to be surprised and now we can watch the King's Road with an ease."

"True… true… I will think about this." Fowley said. That was probably the most you could get out of him right now.

"But uh… when do you think you are healthy and out of the bed" you asked him.

"Couple of days, maybe three. Why do you ask?" Fowley said to you.

"We should hold a feast, invite the traders, burghers and others who are relevant and have them learn about the Darrowmere League. Inform them and make them see the benefits." You told him and continued. "And to celebrate our victory over the assassins, cooperation of Alterac and Tarren Mill prevailed over them."

"Not a bad idea Prince Alric, maybe in five days? Maybe then this awful rain has stopped and my stomach can handle itself." Fowley said to you.

"Five days it is, will your people handle it or?" You asked him.

"We can use the larger hall downstairs for it, don't you worry about it. Organising a feast is least we can do." Fowley said to you and forced a tired smile.

"I will then leave you to rest, get well soon Mayor Fowley." You said to him and stood up.

1/2

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>>5931108

"This will pass, now just plenty of herbal tea and rest." He replied to you.

"If you have anything, then you will know where to find me." You said before leaving the room.

…

A certain rhythm had entered your life during your stay in Tarren Mill. You found yourself eating lunch with Jandice again and then spending the good part of the afternoon working on some paperwork and then continuing your magic studies by reading theory from books given to you by Nalice and making notes with your freshly learned new skill. You were getting better and better at writing by each hour.

When it was time for dinner you spoke with Malevus who had spent the day at the church again where her skills are still needed. Some of the prisoners are still in quite bad shape and her healing through Light can do only so much. But maybe soon you could start moving the first prisoners to Dawnholme, you didn't think that Father Hamptom would like to have them around in his church longer than necessary.

And then it was just time to lay on your back for a moment before sneaking into Jandice's room.

…

Jan was wearing her purple dress and little else as she weaved letters to appear in the air in front of her. Using her finger as a pen and applying her fantastic skills at art, you now had a quite awful drawing of an apple in front of you. You wouldn't know that it was an apple without her having written it underneath it.

"Being an artist clearly wasn't a prerequisite of becoming an archmage." You said and chuckled.

"Ha ha, very funny." Jan chuckled as well. "You know I didn't care that much about art, I was more concentrated on having fun instead."

"Oh I know, you told me that." You said and watched the purple apple and lettering slowly fade away and disappear.

"Writing in the air is the final lesson I can give you about this. After that it is just practice and more practice to apply the basics properly." Jan told you and gave you a curious look. "Do you think you can handle it?"

"Of course, it shouldn't be that hard." You said confidently.

"That's the attitude!" Jan replied with a wide smile. She enjoyed teaching you as she got to be quite hands on with you. "Now, just like before, apply what you have learned on writing on paper, but instead use it on air. Similarly channel your mana and let it stay in the air."

You nodded and concentrated before extending your arm and hand. You should be able to do this even if it is a bit hard. Maybe you should use a bit of the Fel inside you to make sure you succeed?


>3d10, Best of four
>DC 15, 20, Crit 25

Use Fel to boost your magic:
>Yes
>No

Rolled 4, 2, 6 = 12 (3d10)

>>5931109
>Yes
I dunno?

Rolled 3, 10, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>5931109
Use Fel
>Yes

Mostly because I want to see what happens, will the letters turn green or what?

And as a sidestory idea, what about Jaina, Arthas and Kaelthas learning about the poisoning the first time?

Rolled 9, 4, 2 = 15 (3d10)

>>5931109
>>No

Rolled 6, 5, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>5931109
Use Fel? If this ain't a nat 30, sure.

>20, Success!


This was just a matter of concentration, just like before channel the mana, the arcane energies to the tip of your finger and draw a line.

You breathed deeply several times before committing and as you moved your finger through the air, an uneven faint line of purple light stayed there before fading away quickly.

You had done it, but it wasn't easy at all. Much harder than just drawing on paper, probably because it was a hard surface, a canvas to use. But air was just there, there was nothing there to grasp.

"Surprisingly hard, difficult to make it stick, like there is no feedback." You said and tried again.

"You are right, it is not easy, but it helps you to learn how to control your mana better." Jan replied and continued. "Part of the overall progress of learning magic, a compulsory course for all mages in Dalaran."

"Makes sense, but I will try something so don't be alarmed." You said and extended your arm again and getting a puzzling look from Jan.

Drawing from deep inside you, you took a sliver of the Fel and felt how easily it did flow through you into your hand and finally into your finger.

And with a single clean swipe through the air, a sickly green, Fel green line appeared. It illuminated the room faintly before slowly fading away.

"Al… you didnt need to do that." Jan replied as she first looked at the line in the air and then your faintly glowing eyes.

"I wanted to see how it works and… I get it now…" You said and stretched your hand, concentrating on inside you.

"Get what?" Jan asked.

"How easy it is, why do warlocks and others fall for this power." You told her and continued explaining. "It just flowed, surged through me."

You concentrated again and drew an awkward circle of purple light in the air. Breathing deeply, you watched as it disappeared. No Fel this time.

"It is a shortcut, I do see it now. It gives you power to succeed and then it gives you the feeling of gratification." You told her. "And then you want to do it again and again."

"Until you have gone too far and there is no stepping back into the light." Jan replied. "You are right Al, that is the intoxicating power of Fel and why so many minds fall for it."

Jan walked to you and hugged you.

"Don't let it get on your head." She said to you as you returned the hug.

"I won't, I want to get rid of it." You said back.

"Good." Jan replied and let go of you. "Now let's keep practising, there is still plenty for you to learn."

"Yes ma'am." You replied with a chuckle.

"And don't ma'am me, it makes me feel old." Jan laughed back at you.

1/2

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>>5931889

It had been three days since then. The rains continued to wash the lands and you heard that the farmers had started to murmur about there being too much water. You meanwhile had continued practising the arcane writing during the afternoons and then in the evenings with Jandice before sharing the bed with her. You hadn't dared to touch on Fel again and it did surprise you a bit that no nightmares of previous kind had happened either. Hopefully you didn't jinx it by thinking that.

And during the days you fell into your usual administrative role, just in Tarren Mill instead of Dawnholme. A messenger carried finished papers back to Dawnholme and brought new papers for you to sign or work through in return. Seemed like both Tari and her father Tannis were keeping things rolling and going on back home.

Same time three prisoners, the one with whom you had spoken with and two others were transported to Dawnholme. The rest would follow when they had recovered enough.

But on the afternoon of the third day you received a messenger from Captain Garside. Seeing the importance of this, you called Sir Gravis to join you in your room as you went through the report.

"Normand chose to camp in Shoredon instead of pushing forward. The weather has turned the hills into one big swampland and they are waiting for the rains to stop. Cromwell did the same and chose to divert to Stonedon. Neither had seen or spotted anything unusual, not even Cromwell who had skirted close to the troll totems and their territory." You explained to Sir Gravis.

"Not the greatest campaigning weather." He replied to you.

"What do you think? The rain might continue for days and days." You asked him and put the scroll given to you down. You had told Monica to treat the messenger well and get him dry, warm and fed.

"The rain hampers everyone just as much as it does us." Sir Gravis said and continued. "Well maybe not the trolls, but if there are bandits or others."

"Could we use that to our advantage? Send a scouting force ahead? Rovers with some archers, maybe Sir Radan and his men or Lyion and the forest bandits?" You asked him.

"Not the worst idea Prince Alric, but the men won't be happy to trek around in the rain and mud." He replied to you.

That was a bit of a pickle. You wanted the hills to be under your control as soon as possible so that the work could start on the oil rig. Delay of a few days was acceptable, but who knows how long this weather will continue?


>Send a reply to have them wait till the rain ceases. No point in marching through bad weather.
>Have them send a scouting party ahead and use the weather to mask their approach. Try to gather as much intelligence as possible.
>Gather a raiding party and have them use the weather to their advantage. Find and destroy any bandit or Syndicate remnants in Strahnbrad Hills
>Order them to advance despite the weather. The progress might be slow, but no one knows how long the rains will last.
>Other, write in.

>>5931895
>Have them send a scouting party ahead and use the weather to mask their approach. Try to gather as much intelligence as possible.
Don't want any nasty surprises.

>>5931895
>Have them send a scouting party ahead and use the weather to mask their approach. Try to gather as much intelligence as possible.

>>5931895
>Have them send a scouting party ahead and use the weather to mask their approach. Try to gather as much intelligence as possible.
Volunteers only for scouting, by rewards of them being the first to try oil-heated baths later or something equally grandiose and slightly ridiculous.

>>5931895
>>Have them send a scouting party ahead and use the weather to mask their approach. Try to gather as much intelligence as possible.

>>5932006
>>5931895
>support

Let them volunteer.

"I will have orders written for them. Scout the route ahead with some volunteers and try to find the best path for the army." You told Sir Gravis. "Just try to gather information and avoid fighting if possible."

"That sounds quite reasonable Prince Alric." He replied to you. "Will the messenger start his return journey today?"

"No, let him rest and have his saddlebags filled with fresh foodstuffs." You told him. "He can leave tomorrow morning."

"Will do, we will think of something nice." Sir Gravis replied. "Anything else?"

"How's Joe faring? Also how are the guards doing?" You asked.

"Joe has moved back to the barracks, his buttocks are healing well." Sir Gravis told you. "And the guards are doing well. They are feeling fortunate that our men were here, they got their asses saved by them after all. But they do speak about you."

"Oh, what have they said?"

"They are really glad that you are on their side. Most can't believe how fearless you are after hearing about what you had done." Sir Gravis told you.

You smiled a little hearing that.

"Prince Alric, don't get any ideas." Sir Gravis replied. "We already have our hands full trying to keep up with you."

"Sounds like someone needs more sparring. And you need to find someone to fill your numbers." You told him.

"Still looking for him." He replied.

"Alright, if you don't have anything else…"

Sir Gravis bowed and left the room. The black haired young knight in his black armour had been a trustworthy bodyguard for you. Always ready for action and ready to defend you. A good man, you needed more people like him.

…

A day had passed and the rain continued to fall as you stood in the town's cemetery. The ceremony for the four dead Tarren Mill guards was a sombre one. They had been buried several days ago, but due to the guards wanting as many of their wounded brethren to be part of this, the ceremony had been postponed.

Father Hampton had made a beautiful speech and then you along with Fowley and Jandice had laid down flowers on the gravestones. This was the least you could do to honour their sacrifice.

"How are the preparations for the feast progressing?" You asked from Fowley as the three of you slowly made your way out of the cemetery.

"As expected, we have the invites out and the chef is preparing the ingredients." Fowley replied.

"That sounds splendid, how about your stomach?" You tried to be polite.

"Much better, thank you for asking." He said to you. "There is a thing we need to talk about."

"What is it?" You asked and turned to face him better. The water dripped off your Alteraci cloak's hood.

"I spoke with the others, the traders are willing to invest more in our defence, but our budget is a strict one and we couldn't find consensus on where to exactly put our funding in." He explained to you.

"So you want my opinion as a more martial person?" You asked.

1/2

>>5932205

"Well yes. We have budget to either build the towers as you suggested or recruit more guards to protect Tarren Mill or we could house a large detachment of your troops and pay for their upkeep instead." Fowley told you.

"All three options do sound good, but have you thought about mercenaries?" You asked him. His indecisiveness regarding military matters was showing a lot.

"No, I or the others aren't military men." He replied. "So what do you think?"

Each had their benefits. Building towers could give them a warning against threats while more guards are always useful and prevents them from being outnumbered by the enemies. Now an Alteraci garrison would be an interesting choice, it would save you supplies, but it could raise some political questions and further drive Tarren Mill under your influence. Though while that does sound like a good outcome, you are sure that some people are going to hate it. Mercenaries are an option as always, a simple garrison duty should have plenty of people interested in it.


Choose one:
>Scout Towers are build by Tarren Mill
>20 Footmen are recruited by Tarren Mill
>Tarren Mill houses an Alteraci detachment and pays for their upkeep, 40 soldiers at max
>Tarren Mill looks for mercenaries instead
>Other, write in

>>5932207
>Scout Towers are build by Tarren Mill
>Tarren Mill houses an Alteraci detachment and pays for their upkeep, 40 soldiers at max.
Can they do both of these if we help them? Eat the supply cost for a season or something.

>>5932208

You can do that, I will allow it.

>>5932220
Great! We should do that then.

>>5932220
>>5932231
Now that I think about it we could also have the Stonemasons help out. They can make a difference right?

>>5932208
>>5932207
>Support

Sweet talk Jandice into helping out also.

@qm it's been a while but the stonemasons haven't showed up are they coming soon? We still only have the initial ones that we hired to make our sewers ect. I thought there was lots of refugees ones coming...?

>>5932208
>>5932207
support

>>5932208
>>5932207
+1

>>5932207
>>5932208
Support. Seems like a win win, similar to the Durnholde arrangement

"When my army returns, I will have some of my men stay here and in the meanwhile you can approve the construction of the towers." You told Fowley.

"Prince Alric, our budget can't cover the both." Fowley protested.

"You can start paying the upkeep come summer, before that we will handle their supplies." You said and continued. "I will also have several Stonemasons come help with the construction projects. They are quite busy right now in Dawnholme, but I think they can lend a few workers."

Not forgetting the ones that are supposed to arrive any day or week now. You are going to have a lot of Stonemasons in Dawnholme shortly.

"That… I need to speak with my colleagues, but I will heed your advice." Fowley replied.

"Lady Jandice, when you speak with your father and hopefully get some soldiers sent here, joint patrols and sharing the supplies could help us all." You said to her.

"Not a bad idea." She mused and continued. "I will have to bring that up."

"Wonderful, but let us leave this damned rain. I fear that the water will sweep all of us off this earth." Fowley said and left for the town hall, leaving the two of you slowly making your way back to the hotel.

"You know Alric, I am not sure who is supposed to rule Tarren Mill anymore. Is it us or is it Fowley as the Mayor or is it you." Jandice mused again.

You gave her a glance and opted not to answer. She was right, your influence had grown a lot over Tarren Mill. Which had been a natural progression, but politically a sore subject to some in Lordaeron. After all Tarren Mill was territory of the Kingdom of Lordaeron.

"Let's head inside, I can't stand this rain either." You replied. "Lunch should be ready soon as well, care to join me?"

"That would be lovely." Jandice replied and smiled, getting your smile back in return.

…

Rest of the day had progressed without any surprises. You spoke with Malevus in the afternoon and gave her the permission to spend even more time in the church. The patients still needed her and this way she could learn as much as possible from Hampton. You didn't need her to run errands for you, just that she would be at the feast tomorrow.

After that it was just paperwork and studying until the evening came and you slipped into Jandice's room opposite of yours.

"Alright Al, I have taught you nearly everything regarding Arcane writing." Jan told you and continued. "We could just repeat our previous lessons and get more practice in, but instead I have planned a test for you."

"A test? What kind of test?" You asked her.

"Rather similar to the one done in Dalaran at the end of the lessons, don't you worry, it is not that complex." Jan told you. She seemed to take this rather seriously, there had been very few faint smiles and touches between you and her today.

"Alright, let's get to it then." You replied.

1/2

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>>5932762

At first there would be a short essay to write under a time-limit, then you would need to draw complex geometrical shapes in air and finally you would need to write in the air and have the text stay there longer than a minute. The last task definitely wouldn't be an easy one, as you would need to apply a lot of mana to succeed.

Or you could use Fel again to make it all so much easier.


>3d10, Best of four
>DC 12, 17, 21, Crit 25

Use Fel:
>Yes
>No

What will you write in the air?
>Write in

QM: Test time! Has Alric been a good student? We shall see!

Rolled 4, 1, 8 = 13 (3d10)

>>5932763
No fel

Alterac Stands

Rolled 7, 6, 1 = 14 (3d10)

>>5932763
Use Fel:
>No
If this is a test then using Fel kinda defeats the point of it.

What will you write in the air?
>Alterac stands!
I tried of thinking of something funny but I drew a blank.

Inb4 we roll shit

Rolled 1, 8, 9 = 18 (3d10)

>>5932763
>No
>I Love You Too.

Rolled 9, 7, 3 = 19 (3d10)

>>5932763
>no
>Alterac Stands

I am feeling generous today, can someone give me one more roll? So make it count!

Rolled 5, 2, 3 = 10 (3d10)

>>5933015
The shit rolls are back.

>19, Partial Success!


The essay was the easiest part, you had gotten hang of writing and making notes on paper so you had no difficulties at completing this part. Half an hour later you had a nice small essay written about Arcane writing and the theory behind it, you felt like any other subject wouldn't fit the essay today.

The next part was a bit more difficult as Jan instructed what shapes to draw in air. Starting from a straight line and then moving to circles, squares, triangles, stars and so on. This started as an easy task, but as the geometric shapes grew more complex, the task began to be quite difficult.

When you finished drawing a crude circle with a square inside it, you realised what was the goal of this test. It was to tire you out. First you had to write as much as you can within a time-limit, preventing you from recovering. Then the more and more complex geometrical shapes are to sap remaining strength you have. So when the third and final part of the test was at hand, you were already tired and sweating a bit.

"Now the third part of the test." Jan said to you and crossed her arms as she studied you. "Al, you may proceed."

Flexing your hand a bit you concentrated and drew the mana within you only to realise that you were nearly out of your own mana. The amount you have had grown a bit as your body had gotten more used to the mana given to you by Lady Nalice, but you feared that it wasn't enough to successfully finish the test.

Yet you needed to try and you started to write in the air.

AL

This was much harder. To have the letters not disappear quickly, you needed to apply a lot more mana than before and avoid messing the lettering up. This was a test of your mana reserves, ability to turn it into arcane at your fingertip, applying it evenly, but with enough power behind it. Quite a smart test all in all.

TE

More beads of sweat appeared on your brow as you concentrated harder and harder. You tried to draw every single bit of your own mana into your hand, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

RAC

You were at your limit. Your heartbeat quickened and breathing became heavier. You weren't sure if you could finish what you wanted to write. Did you have the mana remaining to write STANDS anymore? Or would you have to dip into the mana given to you by Lady Nalice which acts as a seed for your own and helps your body to get acclimated with mana, not knowing when you could receive more from her?

Or the Fel, idea of using it to finish tempted you. Tiny sliver would be enough and you could get rid of it this way.


>Call it here, ALTERAC is enough. Don't push yourself too hard
>You know you have enough your own Mana to finish writing STANDS, you just need to drag it all out
>Use the mana given to you by Lady Nalice as a seed to finish the test, it should work rather well. Though you don't know when you can receive more of it
>Fel, that is the answer. It should work easily and get you through the test
>Other, write in

>>5933125
Damn Im torn between calling it here or trying to finish it. Tell me QM, are we gonna have to get lucky to finish it?

>>5933140

You are going to need some good rolls, the options go from hardest to easiest if you choose to try.

What is the worst that can happen thought?

>>5933151
Yeah but what is a "good" roll? With our luck, 19 was a good if not great roll yet here we are.

>What is the worst that can happen thought?
Another heart attack.

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>>5933155

Oh no, nothing that drastic, trust me.

>>5933125
>You know you have enough your own Mana to finish writing STANDS, you just need to drag it all out
im feeling good about rolls now.

>>5933125
>>Call it here, ALTERAC is enough. Don't push yourself too hard
Yeah no, that last description doesnt give me a good enough sign. Very very bad, things haven't changed much if he is this tired already.

Remember current physical conditions of this last days might have looked positive, but it really wasn't long ago when Alric moved around badly and for short periods.
Or when he was just in bed, sleeping and being helped for go take a shit and other basic stuff. While i like magic i would prefer if Alric wasn t bedridden for it again, so take more care of him.

Man I just want him to return doing his martial training and being able to partecipate battles, or travel far.

>>5933169
Tempting fate

>>5933125
>Call it here, ALTERAC is enough. Don't push yourself too hard
Lets go for a solid minute and a second then

At least no one nominated "Alric was here, Aliden is a loser"

>>5933162
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic and can't discern the meaning behind the image you posted.

>>5933125
>>Call it here, ALTERAC is enough. Don't push yourself too hard

>>5933125
>>You know you have enough your own Mana to finish writing STANDS, you just need to drag it all out

Make it happen captain

>>5933251

Somewhat sarcastic, but mostly telling the truth.

And the reference is from a game from my childhood. Stronghold was such a fun game.

Letting your arm drop, you took several steps back and sat down on the bed.

"That's it, I am spent." You said between breaths as Jan watched you and the floating text that said ALTERAC in the air.

Falling on your back, you ran your fingers through your hair and swept the sweat away. By the Light this had drained you.

"I tried to write Alterac Stands, but couldn't finish it." You said as your breathing calmed down.

Staring at the ceiling, you didn't look or concentrate on the test anymore. You were just glad that it was over.

"47 seconds." Jan suddenly said, forcing you to push yourself back up to see the writing having disappeared.

"That means that I failed, right?" You asked her.

"No, you passed with flying colours." Jan replied and smiled.

"What? I thought the time to pass was a minute?" You asked with a puzzling look on your face.

"That was just a way to get you to try your best Al. People perform better under pressure." Jan told you and came to sit next to you before grabbing your shoulder. "You did really well."

"I did?" You asked, you were a bit too tired to comprehend everything.

"You did, usually this test is done after a month of training and you did it just after a week." Jan told you and kept smiling. "You impressed me yet again. I am proud of you Al."

She gave you a slight kiss on your cheek. Hearing that from her felt nice, an archmage… no, your lover is proud of your progress.

"This was all just a test to see how well you can control your mana. A normal student learns this and many other things that share the same idea, and gets better at controlling your mana and weaving it into arcane energies." Jan explained to you.

It made sense, this did require plenty of concentration when you moved away from just writing. You needed precise control and ability to keep the flow as steady as possible.

"Sounds pretty smart, just what will happen next?" You asked her.

"Well… we don't exactly have time to start learning anything new, who knows when the rains end so I will leave things like invisible writing for you to learn." Jan said to you and had a sly smile on her face. "Instead we can spend this time with something that both of us will enjoy quite lot."

You knew what she meant as she leaned in to kiss you. But just before your lips connected, you pulled back a bit, getting a curious glance.

"Will there be a test about this as well?" You said with a jest and smiled.

"Al, you are unbelievable." Jan said and rolled her eyes before replying with a seductive tone. "Who knows."

And then she pushed you down on the bed and found your lips.

…

"Most of the guests are here." Fowley said to you. "A few couldn't sadly come."

"Doesn't matter if the majority are here." You replied.

1/2

>>5933606

The next day had passed without any issues or events and with evening arriving, you had taken a bath and tidied yourself. Dressing in your better clothes, your chaperon and wearing the orange cloak, you looked rather Princely. Standing now in the town hall's backroom that was connected with the grand hall, you had been waiting on when to make your entrance.

"Prince Alric, do you want to handle the speaking or shall I do it?" Fowley asked. The small bookish man had dressed up well and wore his clearly fancier jacket, vest and trousers combination.

"It is mostly just traders and burghers there?" You asked him.

"Yes, and a few bigger landowners and farmers." Fowley said. "And of course their wife's and so on."

So not that martial crowd. People concentrated more on economics and coin. Still security was important for them and they understood cooperation. Maybe you could think of some nice angle to sell Darrowmere League to them, something that gets them to understand it.

You can think something, you are pretty good at speaking after all.


>Allow Fowley to introduce you and then handle the speaking by yourself.
>Have Fowley introduce and speak shortly before it is your turn to speak.
>Fowley can handle most of the talking, this is his town after all. You can speak shortly in the end.
>Other, write in

Alric's speech:
>Write in

QM: Write ins don't need to be complex, just main points what Alric should say or speak about. The progress Alric does with studying magic is a good one, you are ahead of your schedule a bit. It is still overall a slow progress, but I am keeping track of successes and failures.

>>5933607
>Have Fowley introduce and speak shortly before it is your turn to speak.

Alric's speech:
>Go through the history of cooperation between Alterac and Tarren Mill, all they way back to the bandit problem and the logging deal. Spin the tale of security and development that has developed more and more since then and connect it to the League as the next step in this history, into a more safe and prosperous future.

>>5933607
Supporting >>5933696

Maybe have some example of cooperation from the lives of farmers that we can use as an example of why being alone isnt worth it.

And boy Alric and Jandice cant get enough of each other. If the relationship wasnt a secret, they would probably be with each other all the time.

>>5933607
>>5933696
Ought to mention that the last thing that should be talked about before connecting to the League is to mention our crushing victory against the bandits.

>>5933771
What do you mean? If that example is just for comparison then I think it's better to stick to the history.

>>5933607
>Fowley can handle most of the talking, this is his town after all. You can speak shortly in the end.
Let fowley talk it out people will start wondering on our influence if were too assertive.

Alric's speech:
Focus on Mutual defense and proven properity through cooperation.

>>5933696
>>5933607
>Support
>Imply getting in early gets you a better spot.

"You should start and speak for a moment, before it is my turn." You told Fowley.

"That sounds fine." He replied. "Are you ready Prince Alric?"

"I am." You replied.

Fowley nodded and went for the door opening it and stepped into the grand hall. You followed right behind him, your cane clacking on the wooden floor. The grand hall of the town hall was quite full, two rows of tables lined the hall with a smaller one with three seats reserved at your end for you and others. You recognised some faces, Father Hampton had come to listen to you as had Monica. Being a successful entrepreneur had made the innkeeper quite an important person in Tarren Mill. Your knights were there, as was Malevus, leaning against the walls and watching the proceedings. You knew that the Tarren Mill's own guards were out in full strength and Royal Foot Guards were protecting the building itself. The place was as secure as it could be.

Walking to the table, you shared a brief smile with Jandice who was already sitting there of course as a representative of the Barovs. She had chosen to wear her purple dress in the colours of Barovs and then the purple robe of an archmage in Dalaran's colours. She had put more effort in her hair and other garments as well, she looked absolutely stunning. Certain decorum needs to be had and so she stood up before you gently took her hand and gave her a slight bow. She replied with a curtsy, before both of you sat down, you in the middle and Jandice to your right.

"Welcome everyone, I am glad that all of you could come here." Fowley said to the guests and stayed standing. "We are here today to celebrate the growth of Tarren Mill and our continued successful cooperation with Alterac."

He gave you a polite nod.

"Tarren Mill wouldn't be where it is today if not for Prince Alric and I am very happy to call him my friend and as someone who has done more to our town than anyone else in Lordaeron." Fowley said. Was that a dig towards the Barovs, it seemed to be. He then continued. "He has been unselfish in his want to help us, choosing cooperation and prosperity over petty politics and neglect. For these reasons and many more, I am happy to form the Darrowmere League with him and Alterac for further prosperity and security."

Fowley turned a bit towards you and that seemed to be the signal for you to stand up and continue.

"Thank you Mayor Fowley." You said and shook his hand before turning towards the traders and burghers.

"I am Prince Alric Perenolde, the second heir of Kingdom of Alterac and the man who will reclaim my homeland and restore it back to its former glory." You started rather proudly before smiling. "But I cannot achieve that alone. When two years ago I started this journey, I had twenty good men following me. Loyal Alteracis who have given everything and more to help me achieve my goals. Now there are over two hundred of them in my army, but that isn't and will not be enough."

1/3

>>5934512

You looked around the listeners and tried to maintain eye contact, which was hard as you were wearing your glasses, but the idea that you were talking directly to one of the audience members is an important one. It makes things more personal.

"When Tarren Mill had their bandit problems, people being kidnapped, I came to your aid. I didn't need to, I could have stayed on the sidelines and allowed the Alliance to deal with the problems, but I did the right thing. I was a good neighbour and I came to your aid in the time of the greatest need."

"And since then our cooperation has just deepened. We have helped to train your guards who have now shown their valour in a battle, we have made deals like the logging deal to provide the Alliance Naval Base with timber or how our traders and craftsmen have regular market fairs, allowing barter and trade that has energised our economies. My soldiers have stayed here, bringing their coin here and their presence has aided to protect and secure Tarren Mill. Now they are in the Strahnbrad Hills finishing the work started last year and when they are done, Tarren Mill is more secure than ever before."

You took a small pause to take a sip of water and you pushed your glasses back up a bit.

"But why stop here and be content with what we have? The next step to take was the Darrowmere League. We realised with Mayor Fowley, what the attitude the Alliance and Lordaeron have towards us, we realised that together we are stronger, separated we are weaker. Cooperation will bring both of us prosperity and security. Going alone won't bring us anything. Hence Darrowmere League, an agreement of mutual security and defence. And through that prosperity, wealth and growth come the future."

"And I am happy to say that unlike two years ago when I was alone, I now have friends and allies. And amongst those allies, no one has been as important as Tarren Mill has. I can safely say that I wouldn't be here today without Mayor Fowley." You said and started to wind down your speech. "The future is a bright one for all of us, I can promise you that. And no one can prevent that, because together we are stronger."

"Alterac Stands with Tarren Mill."

You finished and smiled. The guests nodded to each other until someone started to clap and others followed. Seems like they were receptive towards your words.

"Well spoken." Jandice whispered as you sat down.

"Thank you, I hope that wasn't a too long speech." You replied quietly

"Oh no, I could have listened to you speak the whole night long." She said to you and smiled.

You couldn't do anything but smile.

2/3

>>5934514

"My friends, fellow guests. The food will be ready in a moment so we can spend this time talking and discussing. Not often all of us are in the same room after all." Fowley said to the guests.

He was right, you could mingle with the guests or wait for them to come talk with you. How approachable should you be now, you are a Prince after all.


>Go talk with Monica. Ask what she thought about the speech and then talk with whoever dares to approach.
>Stay at the table and see if anyone has anything to say to you. Let them come to you and not the other way around.
>You should mingle with the guests, there are plenty of hands to shake and names to learn. Be as approachable as possible.
>Other, write in.

>>5934517
>>You should mingle with the guests, there are plenty of hands to shake and names to learn. Be as approachable as possible.
Prince maxxing.

>>5934517
>You should mingle with the guests, there are plenty of hands to shake and names to learn. Be as approachable as possible.
The gregarious prince

>>5934517
>>You should mingle with the guests, there are plenty of hands to shake and names to learn. Be as approachable as possible.
Shake babies, kiss hands

Taking a glass of wine, you sipped it carefully before sighing.

"I guess I will need to mingle with them." You said quietly to Jandice.

"Not a fan of shaking hands?" She asked.

"Not when there are so many of them." You replied. "At least the wine is pretty good."

Jandice laughed a bit.

"Go be a brave Prince, I will happily stay here and observe." She said.

"Yeah… will have to do that." You said back to her and stood up.

Straightening your back and taking your cane, stiff upper lip applied and downing the wine in one go, you were ready.

May the Light preserve you.

…

Having joined the guests, the progress of shaking their hands and introducing yourself had been quite a task. You would probably forget most of them come tomorrow, but they probably wouldn't forget this meeting which was the goal of this.

You shook hands of traders and burghers, their wives and daughters who had joined them. Unsurprisingly the daughters giggled a bit when you introduced yourself to them, your supposed reputation keeps spreading. The couple landowners were more scruffy than the others and didn't have much to say, but the traders, they were talkative.

They asked questions about everything, but the events of the couple days ago were in people's minds the most. They asked about the attack, about who the attackers were? Those more knowledgeable asked about the Syndicate. The word clearly had spread more and more and the existence of the Syndicate started to be of common knowledge.

You tried to answer them as truthfully as you could without revealing everything. You told them about the thugs and how you had defeated the Syndicate forces last year. When they asked about the events of Durnholde and your poisoning, you fed them the tale you had planned out. You couldn't be sure if they were linked, but they were awfully similar to each other.

The food was a bit late, but at least there was wine to drink. Having to talk about the same things for the third or fourth time was annoying, but you kept your smile and kept your cool. This mingling was important for your and Darrowmere League's sake. You need to present yourself as well as possible.

…

The talks had continued until the food arrived, everyone at that point was already a bit hungry and varying degrees of tipsy from beer and wine.

You included.

With the clerks and servants carrying the food, you filled your plate with a bit of everything and started eating. The wait really was worth it.

1/2

>>5934941

As you ate and drank, the guests gathered in their small groups of friends and acquaintances. A lute player started playing and the atmosphere relaxed quite a bit.

"How did all the talking go?" Jandice asked you.

"Tiring, but well. My legs didn't like it." You replied and drank some wine. "They seemed to like to be able to talk with me."

"I can massage them later." Jandice said to you and you were glad that Fowley had left the table earlier.

"I will remember that promise." You said and smiled.

You looked around and watched the guests enjoying themselves. The feast seemed to be on its way to be a success. Finishing your glass of wine, you thought about what would you do next?


>Fowley is talking with some burghers. Join him momentarily, present yourself as friends and partners.
>Father Hampton sits in the back row and is eating calmly. Go see what he is thinking about all this.
>Monica seems terribly bored and uninterested in talking with some man. Go save her and be a more interesting talking partner.
>Jandice has kept mostly to herself what she thinks about the Darrowmere League. Ask what she is thinking about.
>Other, write in.

QM: Next update tomorrow evening. No midday update tomorrow.

>>5934943
>>Monica seems terribly bored and uninterested in talking with some man. Go save her and be a more interesting talking partner.

>>5934943
>Fowley is talking with some burghers. Join him momentarily, present yourself as friends and partners.

More networking.

>>5934943
>Monica seems terribly bored and uninterested in talking with some man. Go save her and be a more interesting talking partner.

>>5934943
>Jandice has kept mostly to herself what she thinks about the Darrowmere League. Ask what she is thinking about.
Either this or Monica is fine with me.

>>5934943
>>Monica seems terribly bored and uninterested in talking with some man. Go save her and be a more interesting talking partner.

>>5934943
>Bring Lady Jandice to talk with Monica and show how a lady dismisses a suitor
More opportunity for banter and jokes among friends

File: Innkeeper_Monica.jpg (53 KB, 269x784)

53 KB JPG

“I think I need to go save a damsel in distress.” You said to Jandice and she gave you a curious look as a response. “Monica.”

Jandice scanned the crowd and found her quickly.

“Oh I see, well go be the Prince Charming.” She replied with a chuckle.

“Less Prince Charming and more of just a friend.” You said back to her and stood up taking your cane.

You breathe in deep a couple times and blinked your eyes to clear your mind a bit. Oh you were a bit drunk. Then you carefully made your way around the table and past the tables where Monica was standing.

The man who was talking with her didn’t notice you immediately as you approached, but when you got to her, he noticed Monica averting her gaze off him and towards you.

“Excuse me, could I talk with my friend?” You said to the man and smiled. People knew that Monica and you were friends after all.

“Y-yes… of course Prince Perenolde.” The man said and gave you an awkward bow before turning away and leaving.

“Thanks Alric.” Monica replied after the man had left. She was leaning against the wall with a wine glass in her hands. Just like other women in here, she had tidied up her hair and chosen a long dress that of course yet again was green, just like all other clothes she had. No wonder she had suitors after her, she did look quite pretty.

“Not a problem, I noticed you looking bored out of your mind.” You said and took a wine glass from passing a servant's tray.

“Big day huh? That speech and all.” Monica asked you.

“Did you like it?” You asked back.

“Bit too long for my liking.” She replied and continued. “But pretty solid, I think people understood what you were saying.”

“That is what matters.” You said back and decided to not try to sell Darrowmere League to her. “Things will accelerate from here. I am making moves that people won’t like.”

Monica gave you a look and sipped her wine.

“Last year in Stormwind City, I don’t know if the Kings and Lords took me that seriously. Just an upstart Princeling, a pretender trying to get on the throne.” You said. Wine might have opened your mouth a bit. “But they can’t deny me now, not anymore.”

“Alric…” Monica replied.

“Sorry, I might have misspoken.” You said back to her. “It is just…”

“I get it, it isn’t easy to be you.” Monica said back. “All your enemies, assassins…”

“It isn’t.” You deflated a bit. “But I can’t stop now, things are in motion.”

Both of you just stood there in silence awkwardly for a moment.

“Sorry, I got a bit too serious.” You said to her.

“I know, I know.” Monica said back to you. “Let’s just enjoy this feast, not often we have events like this in Tarren Mill.”

“Let’s do that then.” You said to her.

1/2

>>5935691

You continued to talk with Monica for a moment before returning back to your seat. Having filled your plate again, you continued to eat and drink as the evening progressed. Two more musicians joined the lute player and the guests took that as a message to clear some tables away to be able to dance.

Watching as the guests danced, you kept drinking and in the end had become quite drunk.

Fowley had retired earlier and left the feast, as had Father Hampton and most of the older guests, leaving the younger people to continue the merry times. They drank, they ate, they danced while you watched and knew that your legs couldn’t handle any of the faster paced dancing. And frankly that ate you a lot as you enjoyed dancing.

Finally as more people had left and the evening marched on, the band started playing slower music. Something slow enough that you could participate in.

Looking around, you spotted several prospective dance partners. Malevus was still standing by the wall, she had been just watching and observing the guests. Monica had been left alone by prospective suitors and she had danced earlier with the others. Jandice meanwhile had sat next to you and continued to drink wine, she was probably just as drunk as you were. And then there was everyone else, the wives and daughters of the guests who had stayed here. Prospective dance partners were plentiful, but should you try dancing? You were quite drunk after all.


>Dance with Malevus. It isn’t strange to dance with one’s own squire, right?
>Dance with Monica. She is your friend and seems to enjoy dancing. She would like this a lot.
>Dance with Jandice. You don’t know if she is of the dancing type, but dancing with your lover could be quite fun.
>Dance with the rest. Give them a chance to dance briefly with a Prince. Not often that is possible.
>Don’t go dancing, you are quite drunk so just enjoy the evening and rest your legs.
>Other, write in.

QM: Dancing! No pitfalls here.

>>5935694
>Don’t go dancing, you are quite drunk so just enjoy the evening and rest your legs.

>>5935694
>>Don’t go dancing, you are quite drunk so just enjoy the evening and rest your legs.
nah

>>5935694
>Don’t go dancing, you are quite drunk so just enjoy the evening and rest your legs.
I have no feelings about these one way or another but this one might get us another update faster.

>>5935694
>>Dance with Malevus. It isn’t strange to dance with one’s own squire, right?

Dance with Malevus, shes just standing there watching not dancing after doing all that healing, she should be drinking and singing like usual. A dance should lighten her up

>>5935694
>Dance with Malevus. It isn’t strange to dance with one’s own squire, right?
Its perfectly socially acceptable to dance with ones squire.
Besides it a bit boring to not dance at all.

>>5935694
>>5935759
>Dance with Malevus. It isn’t strange to dance with one’s own squire, right?
Fine... let's cheer her up.

File: Malevus The Lady.jpg (151 KB, 800x1091)

151 KB JPG

You left the cane behind as you silently stood up and made your way past the dancing guests towards Malevus.

“Lady Malevus.” You greeted her and gave her a polite bow.

“Alric, I have told you to not greet me like that.” Malevus responded annoyingly, she hadn’t used any prefixes since the incident. That had changed.

“Decorum Lady Malevus.” You replied and took her hand. “May I have this dance?”

“Alric, you are drunk.” Malevus replied as the redness creeped up her cheeks.

“Yes, yes I am, so what?” You replied.

“It is not proper.” She said back to you.

“Lady Malevus, you have been standing here for hours. Before that you have been tending the wounded. You haven’t drank a single drop of wine, nor have you entertained us with your singing.” You told her. “It is just fair that you get to dance a bit, a little bit of enjoyment after all that.”

“Alright, fine.” Malevus responded as she sighed heavily. She knew that she wouldn’t win this argument.

“Great, it will be top fun.” You said to her and smiled as you led her to where others were dancing.

Placing one hand on her hip and second holding her hand, you pulled your squire close to you and slowly started to dance. It was more of swaying from one side to another, but the thought was what mattered.

She was very embarrassed as you led her through the dance, red from the face and barely keeping up with you. You kept smiling and spared a glance or two to her as you danced with her.

“This is not proper Alric, people will talk.” Malevus whispered to you.

“I don’t care, dancing with one’s squire is all fine.” You replied.

“No, it is not.” She insisted.

“Just enjoy this, you deserve it.” You told her and pulled her bit closer. Her armour being between you and her.

“Alright, fine.” She said to you.

The two of you danced slowly, swaying from one side to another. She was quite stiff at the first, but relented and let the dance take her. You smiled and allowed the dance to continue until your legs felt quite tired. After several songs, you grasped her hand and gave her a polite bow.

“Thank you Lady Malevus, it was my pleasure.” You said to her.

“Don’t call me a Lady.” She said embarrassedly.

“Pish posh, I will call you a Lady if I want to.” You replied to her and held her hands. “Thank you Lady Malevus, it was my pleasure to dance with you.”

“Ughh… and it was my pleasure as well.” Malevus replied and played her part. She was thoroughly embarrassed.

You let her go and gave her another slight bow.

“I hope you had fun.”

“I did, even if it was embarrassing. People were watching.”

You smiled in response and watched as she took her position against the wall.

Alright, let’s return back to the table.

1/2

>>5936030

You kept drinking and eating. You felt really stuffed, but the wine still found a way into your stomach and in the end you were really drunk.

You didn’t really remember much about leaving the town hall, nor walking through the town.

Nor did you remember much about getting into your room and getting into your bed.

It was all just phantoms in your memory.

The next morning when you woke up, your head was throbbing and you felt quite dead. You were in your own bed based on the pattern of the ceiling, yet you heard and felt someone sleeping by your side. Thankfully it was just Jandice and not anyone else, that would have been quite awkward, but based on the position of the sun, it was way past the morning. If someone would surprise you now, they would find you with Jandice.

Though you didn’t really care that much as you ran your fingers through her hair. She was safely sleeping there, serene in her sleep. There was no need to wake her up right now, just let her sleep. You needed sleep as well. You kissed her brow and Jandice in her sleep wrapped her arms around you, you could stay like this forever.

But when you have recovered, was there anything you wanted to do? Anyone you wanted to talk with? Today seemed like a day to waste just recovering and not doing much else, but maybe you should do something productive and not just cuddle with Jandice? Though that did sound like a fun idea.


What will Alric do today?
>Write in.

QM: If you have any ideas what Alric should do in Tarren Mill or engage with the characters, then now is the chance for write ins.

>>5936033
See Father Hampton, does he stock hangover cures or bless the pain away?

Then a light jog around town to be seen and doing things after

Malevus is for teasing

>>5936070
+1
i cant think of anything

>>5936033
Jandice
>Taking the Magic test again.
>Finding out what she's been doing for contraceptive.
>Seeing if she has any more interesting things to teach.
>Asking her about the Darrowmere League.
>Seggs and cuddles throughout.
Malevus
>Helping her out on whatever she's doing.
>Asking about that confrontation and what's got her so wound up.
>Sparring?
Monica
>Hanging out at the tavern and helping the patrons have a good time.
Tarren Mill
>Walking around town meeting and talking with the people.

>>5936033
>teach malevus hand to hand combat
>time for wrestling

>make lots of jokes at her expense
>alric rizzz to the max

>Talk to our Knights see if we can get ourselves a squire for our boys or a other knight. I'm thinking we ask them all to take a squire so we can expand our knighthood.

>>5936033
Malevus
>Pull her away from the Temple and go see the people of the Town
>Wrasslin
>Talk about Incident and aftermath she seems bothered

>>5936428
>>5936033
+1

I can work with these ideas. Could I have the fan favourite, the best roll there is. The weather roll!


>1d10
>Best of three

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>5936715
Oh no

Rolled 6 (1d10)

>>5936715
Finally demons raining form the sky?

File: Spoiler Image (32 KB, 428x496)

32 KB PNG

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>5936715
What could possibly go wrong?

>>5936729

Demons raining from the sky.

Jokes aside, the rain continues. No update today though, too tired to get my writing juices flowing.

>>5936790

Actually, is Alric serious about wanting to spar and wrestle with Malevus in the rain and mud? Give me your answer.

>>5936920
I was gonna say no but that sounds exactly like something he would do to mess with her and try to brighten the mood.

>>5936920
Mud wrasslin is very much a yes, good fun. Get dirty and then get clean, and maybe another bath slip.

>>5936920
No

>>5936920
Yes
Alric is a godless tryhard.

>>5936920
>Yes.

True fighting won't wait for sunny weather.

Can't wait for the first mud to be yeeted.

>"What do you think my soldiers will be facing Malevus? Do you not have the grit and determination for combat anywhere at anytime?"

You closed your eyes and let out a deep breath. Right now you just wanted to rest and weather the hangover away. Carefully embracing Jandice, you let yourself to slowly fall into slumber.

A life like this wasn’t a bad one. Having someone there for you made you at ease. Just who will that one end up being?

…

>6


The rains continued with no sign of easing. They washed the town and everything around it, no one would be safe from it. Yet you were up and running. Later in the afternoon you visited the church to see how the patients were faring and to see Malevus. You were interested to see what she had learned and how her studies were progressing. You also spoke briefly with Father Hampton and while he could have blessed you and made the hangover go away, he just gave you a brief smile and spoke about one’s own decisions.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to make your hangover go away. After all it had been your decision to drink way too much.

Grumbling, you had returned back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day trying to nurture your headache away. Only in the evening you had felt normal, just right on time to spend the evening with Jandice going through some basics on magic and sharing the bed with her.

You really hadn’t managed to achieve much today, but that didn’t really matter in the end. Neither would your army achieve much in Strahnbrad Hills in this weather.

…

“Alright Malevus, we are going to spar today.” You said to your squire. Slight drizzle fell on you and you could feel the drops flowing down your hair.

“I am not sure if it is smart in this weather.” She replied.

“You must be able to fight in any weather, be it sunny or rain.” You told her and removed your sword belt and put it aside.

“Alric…” Malevus was going to say something to you, but stopped.

“We are going to wrestle, I kept beating you through the winter and so you need more training in that.” You told her and smiled as you took off your glasses and put them away.

“In this mud?” She asked you bewildered.

“Are you scared of a bit of mud?” You asked and smiled as you looked at her with your Fel green eyes.

“N-no… of course not.” Malevus responded back to you.

“Good, then get ready so that we can begin.”

Malevus did as told as she unstrapped her sword belt and left it leaning against the small fence surrounding the sparring area. She seemed somewhat unsure of this and took a bit of a lazy ready stance. She wasn’t sure how seriously you would take this.


>Take it easy, this isn’t supposed to be a serious sparring session.
>Be competitive, but not overtly so. You plan on winning and you won’t make it too easy for her.
>You are going to win. Full stop. You are going to try hard and force Malevus to take this seriously.
>Other, write in.

Tease Malevus:
>Yes
>No

>>5938012
>You are going to win. Full stop. You are going to try hard and force Malevus to take this seriously.

>Yes

Tickle her and slop some mud down the back of her shirt ect.

Like an annoying brother. Get her feathers all ruffled.

>>5938012
What he said >>5938043

This is SERIOUS BUSINESS

>>5938012
>>Take it easy, this isn’t supposed to be a serious sparring session.

I thought this was just supposed to be a fun ha ha session and we end up throwing mud at each other.

>Yes

Though if it becomes a super serious and we tease her thats not too shabby either probably

>>5938012
>Be competitive, but not overtly so. You plan on winning and you won’t make it too easy for her.
>Yes
we are going to get kicked in the nuts again, and we will deserve it

>>5938096
>>5938134
If you're gonna wrestle than you gotta put your strength in it! Who says that having fun requires not giving it your all?

>>5938096
She won't let us rub mud in her face. We're going to have to try for it. Same if we want to slop some down the back of her shirt and cackle like a child at her fury.

We definitely might get hit in the balls again. And we will be a proud prince. Our squire is learning well.

>>5938012
>You are going to win. Full stop. You are going to try hard and force Malevus to take this seriously.
Alric truly is the best teacher.

>Yes
Mandatory.

Alric tries hard, could I have some rolls please. No DCs this time, just hope that you go high.


>3d10, Best of three

Rolled 1, 1, 3 = 5 (3d10)

>>5938400

>>5938409
yeah, that's about what I expect from me

Rolled 4, 1, 9 = 14 (3d10)

>>5938400
Mud smiles and no tears.

Rolled 8, 2, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>5938400
Rolling bones. Hopefully nothing broken

>>5938409
impressive in a way

>>5938409
Holy fuck. I hope this doesn't reflect real life luck anon

>>5938409

Uh Oh!

Thankfully the roll of 19 saved this situation. Though could I have rolls for Malevus now?


>3d10, Best of three
>DC 19

Rolled 3, 8, 8 = 19 (3d10)

>>5938596
i swear if i somehow have good rolls now.

Rolled 10, 6, 2 = 18 (3d10)

>>5938596
If the 19 was determined by our roll then shouldn't the DC be 20?

Rolled 8, 10, 7 = 25 (3d10)

>>5938596

>>5938611

Now that is a good roll for Malevus, will Alric get outwrestled by Malevus? I will get the update out later today or most likely tomorrow.

>>5938623
Well fuck looks like we tried to slop some mud down the back of her shirt and she's going to hip throw us into a muddy puddle.

Kek

>>5938611
Guess it doesn't matter anyway. Why can't we roll like this when it really counts?

File: just saiyan.gif (999 KB, 500x273)

999 KB GIF

>>5938623
>Will Alric get outwrestled by Malevus?
Will Monica or Onyxia ever find a prince that will love them back?
Will Arthas grow up? Never
Will Beckston form a barbershop quarter?

On next episode of Dragon Ball Zeeeeeeeee
Alric charging his power: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

Update half done, but I am way too knackered to get it out today. I will try to finish it as soon as possible.

>>5938896

Arthas can grow up believe it or not. There is a path for it.

>>5939518
Does is it involve kidnapping Calia and really beginning the revenge arc where frostmourne runs through Alric instead?
I can't see us having any other effect on him, unless in some even more unlikely way we somehow make peace with his mate Varian and so Varian speaks on our behalf.

I'm really really curious now

File: Malevus the Worst Ending.jpg (798 KB, 1076x1854)

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>19, Success!
>25, Success!


Always expect the worst, don't relent or underestimate your opponent. Malevus would be learning an important lesson here.

Stretching your legs a bit, you started circling her slowly and she responded to it by doing the same. Your eyes darted across her attire. She had her armour on which would help you a lot, plenty of spots to grab and pull from. Your arming jacket meanwhile was more fitting to your form so it wouldn't be as easy for her. A small advantage for you that you would surely exploit.

The rain continued to fall when she made a half-hearted move towards you and you immediately pounced on her mistake. Grabbing her right arm, with a pull and a twist, you threw her over your shoulder through the air. A move you had done to her multiple times and something she should have learned to predict and be careful with.

Malevus landed with a splat on the muddy ground back first and immediately you followed her, pinning her right arm down with your left knee and her cuirass with your right. Before she could recover, you already had one hand on her throat and the other over her mouth.

If this was a real battle she would be dead.

"A win for me." You said to her while pinning her down on the ground. She knew not to struggle. "You didn't take this seriously enough so I need to think of a motivation for you…"

Releasing your hands off her, you stood up and watched as your squire pushed herself up on her feet. Her back was all wet and muddy, as was most of her hair.

"Alric… that wasn't nice…" She grumbled as mud fell off her red hair.

"You are scared of mud." You said back to her and grinned. "Oh I know what I will do, I am going to grab your ears and slop mud down your collar."

"You… I will show you the mud!" Malevus replied and took this now more seriously.

She then prepared herself for the second go and this time you liked what you saw. Going for another try, this time you couldn't surprise her as both of you tried to get a good grip of one another. You were the first one as you grabbed the side of her cuirass and tried to push her over. Instead she wrapped her arms around your waist and pulled you closer to her, putting you and her face to face and preventing you from having leverage.

Which suited you rather well as both of your arms were free to grab her ears, softly rubbing them with your fingers.

"A-Alric!" Malevus said to you as she let go of you and you did the same with her ears.

"I told you what I would do to you." You said and had a sly grin as redness spread across her cheeks.

"T-that was ungentlemanly!" She replied and tried to maintain eye contact with you.

"And the rumours say that I am quite a scoundrel." You said and laughed, giving her a playful bow.

"You are a scoundrel! Rubbing my ears like that!" Malevus replied back and surprised you by charging at you.

1/3

>>5940673

You didn't have time really to react other than bracing yourself as her shoulder hit your chest and soon both of you were laying on your backs on the mud. The tackle pushed air out of your lungs and she then jumped on you and tried to pin your arms down, but you grabbed her cuirass again and with a pull threw her off you.

As quickly as possible you were on her, straddling her waist and scooping a handful of mud in your hand. Malevus, realising what you were going to do, grabbed your hands and stopped you, forcing you to let the mud go. The mud fell and splattered over her cuirass and bit on her face. But that didn't stop her as she quickly turned on the ground and made you fall on the mud. She then pushed herself on top of you and this time she knew what she was doing.

Quickly grabbing your left arm as you tried to push her off, she used her own body as a leverage as she twisted it behind your own back. Same time she used her knee to turn your body and as you didn't want her to dislocate your shoulder while struggling, you found yourself nearly face down in the mud.

And then she had her revenge as you felt her hand on the back of your head as she dunked your face in the mud.

She had gotten you. You tried to avoid laughing to not get mud in your mouth as Malevus turned your head around a bit to get your face all muddied up. Your chaperon had fallen a long time ago and Malevus didn't relent here as it was her who scooped mud and let it fall on the back of your head and flow through your hair.

"I give up! I give up!" You managed to say as you felt the mud seep between the collar and your neck.

"What did you say?" Malevus said to you. She heard you very well. "Say it again."

"I give up, you won." You replied.

"That's more like it." She said back to you and you felt her weight move off your back.

You rolled on your back, a little bit more mud and water wouldn't hurt as you were already quite soaked through.

And then you laughed.

"Alric, what are you laughing at?" Malevus asked you.

"This was such a stupid idea." You replied back to her as you chuckled. "Look at us, we are both all wet and muddy."

"It was your stupid idea…" Malevus reminded you.

"Yeah… you are right… now help me up." You said back to her. It was a stupid idea, but you had some fun with this.

Malevus walked to you, lending her hand that you took and for a moment you just thought about pulling her down and throwing her back into the mud. But more calmer thoughts prevailed and you let her pull you up. You shared a smile with her and ran your hands through your hair as the rain washed the mud away. The two of you stood there in silence for a few seconds.

2/3

>>5940674

"Something bothers you." You said to her. There was no one around you in this weather. It was just the two of you, yet you weren't sure if it was smart to ask now. "The incident and what has followed, the confrontation of yours."

Malevus freezed, she hadn't expected you to ask anything like that.

"I… I mean…" She started to say.

"You are my friend and a confidant, if you have anything you want to know or tell me, just say it." You replied back to her. "Just ask me."

…

You are Lady Malevus Silverthread, a squire to Prince Alric Perenolde, a paladin trainee under the tutelage of Father Hampton and Raleigh The True and a noblewoman avoiding her family duties.

"Anything?" You asked Alric. Was he serious about this?

"Anything." He replied to you. He seemed serious, you could see it in his now Fel green eyes.

The rain continued to fall, it was warm and somehow soothing. You stared back at him, thinking what to do.

Anything?


>Choose to not say or ask anything. This is not the time or place.
>Ask or say something, write in

QM: What would Malevus ask Alric? The 25 was enough to give her this extra scene. And it took me a moment to get this thing out, sorry about that.

>>5939753

There is a route, which I am not going to mention or go in further details for obvious reasons, that will lead into Arthas mellowing out and maybe even to friendship. Is it an easy route, probably not, but it exists in my pile of quick notes.

>>5940678
>Ask or say something, write in

Kiss me alric, you fool.

>>5940678
I don't know QM, I was hoping you'd be the one to write this piece of dialogue. I voted for it because I had no clue about what she was thinking.

>>5940682
I would unironically vote for this if we were playing as Monica.

>>5940682
>>5940678
>support
>kiss her on the forehead.

Get her all riled up.

Before that though.

>Ask about our future after she's done being our squire.

Captcha ggwph

>>5940678
"Touch my ears again Alric and I'll make you wear the fanciest dress Alterac has ever seen"

>>5940678
>>5940682
>Support

I have some ideas, whatever sounds good.

>Ask or say something, write in
"I want my Alric back. Not the man who laughed when he cut those men down."

"I'm supposed to be your squire, your closest bodyguard, but you went where I couldn't protect you and now you have this Fel."

"Alric. I want to be strong enough to purge your fel away myself."

"With your cloak and your sword those men who shot at the wagon weren't a threat to you. Under that cloak you could have just...Left. You have to stop fighting until the fel is gone."


Bonus Yandere Malevus "Sometimes I want to gouge these fel eyes out."

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23 KB JPG

>>5940682

I will have to veto this suggestion, even if the scene could be quite funny and could lead towards other fun scenes, it just wouldn't fit Malevus to say something like that in this moment. She would be way too embarrassed to even think about something like that. Malevus kissing her Prince? Banish those lewd thoughts.

Though Monica could go for it.

Besides that, there's some good ideas here. I will write the update later today evening so there is plenty of time to vote and share write ins. They write ins could be about something else as well.

>>5940678
Tell Alric that he can also tell you anything. The fel is clearly bothering him more than he lets on. You want to know the true extent so you can help him.

>>5941060
malevusbros... we lost

>>5940678
>>5941207
support
clearly malevus best girl.

>>5941060
Malevus:"Alric you need a new hobby that isn't fighting"
Alric:"I'm studying magic as you're aware."
Malevus:"To fight people."
Alric:"How about I learn tailoring? Where could I find such a trainer?"

You stayed silent for a second before sighing.

"I'm supposed to be your squire, your closest bodyguard and yet you went out there. With your cloak and sword, those men weren't a threat to you. Under that cloak you could have just… left." You said to Alric and continued. "How can I protect you, if you throw yourself so recklessly into a battle?"

Alric stared at you and kept listening.

"I know the Fel is bothering you more than you are letting us know. You can speak to me Alric, you don't need to keep things within you." You continued telling him. "I want to know so that I can help you. I want that Fel removed just as much as you do."

"I know Malevus." Alric answered.

"I want my Alric back… the one from before and not this… current one." You told him. It wasn't easy to say any of this to him. "You have changed."

Alric averted his eyes off you. You could see that this wasn't easy for him either.

"I am afraid of that as well…" He replied.

"Then let me help you." You said back to him.

"I…" Alric started to say. "Thanks Malevus."

"Thanks for what?"

"For speaking sense to me."

"Someone has to, if not me, then who?"

Alric nodded to you. The rain kept washing the two of you, slowly removing the traces of mud.

"There's one more thing." You said to him.

"What is it?" He asked and didn't know what to expect.

"Alric, you need a new hobby that isn't fighting." You said and sighed. "Wrestling in the mud is a bit too much."

"I'm studying magic as you're aware." Alric replied to you. "Does that count?"

"You are studying it to grow stronger and to fight people." You replied and gave him the look of cut the shit. "Besides, it is the reason why everything happened."

"How about I learn tailoring? Where could I find such a trainer?" Alric said and gave you a sly smile.

"No, just no. Nope. Won't happen." You answered quickly and knew that Alric was now just goofing around. "Something else."

"Music then, I will get myself a lute or something… but only if you are willing to take an instrument too and do the singing." Alric bartered back.

It wasn't a bad idea, but you would also have to learn to play something. Maybe it was worth it?

"I need to think about it…" You replied.

"Great, now let's get away from this blasted rain and get ourselves all cleaned up." Alric said and smiled.

He then walked to where he had put his sword belt and glasses away and took them. Well he put his glasses on and handed you the belt.

"Oh one more thing." He replied as he picked up his wet and muddy chaperon and then placed it on your head. "There, all of my stuff."

"Why can't you carry these?" You asked, confused how this had happened.

1/2

>>5941525

"Our wrestling tired my legs." He replied nonchalantly. Now he was just playing with you. He had done it again and managed to slip away.

"You are unbelievable." You replied and sighed. "One last thing Alric. Touch my ears again and I'll make you wear the fanciest dress Alterac has ever seen."

"Hahahaha… no promises!" Alric just laughed and started to walk away from you.

You wouldn't have a boring day with him, that's for sure. With Alric, my Alric… oh Fel… you had said that aloud. Oh no.

Thank the Light he didn't see the redness creeping up your cheeks, for he was already some distance away.

…

The spring rains always arrived, but how strong and how long they lasted couldn't be predicted. Older people did always remember that one time when the rains were even stronger than now, but not this time. Now everyone agreed that these spring rains were strongest within living memory.

And boy it made everything as miserable as possible.

For you though this time has been enlightening. Every day you helped Father Hampton with healing the patients and tending their wounds. You learned a lot about medicine and how to treat wounds, Hampton even allowed you to use the Holy Light to close smaller wounds and ease the pain of those more heavily wounded.

"Lady Malevus, thank you again for your help." Hampton said to you as you were preparing to leave. You hadn't dared to tell him that you were no Lady, he seemed to be just polite.

"Father, I will just wash these clothes before leaving." You replied back.

"One of my assistants can do it. Instead I want to talk with you." Hampton said to you.

Putting some of the still bloody clothes back into the washing bin, you knew not to argue back to him.

"Just let me tidy myself a bit." You said to him.

"Good, I will have some tea ready in my office." Hampton said.

You wondered a bit what was this about as he turned and left.

…

"Thank you for the tea, it is lovely." You said to him as you sipped your tea.

"I will get to the point immediately as I don't want to dance around the issue." Hampton replied to you and was quite serious. "I don't want to put you into this position, but for the sake of all of us, I want you to tell me any and all changes in Prince Alric that you will spot."

"You want me to spy on him?" You blurted out immediately.

"To spy is a harsh word, but you are correct." He said to you.

"Because of the Fel…" You replied more silently now.

"Lady Malevus, you as his squire get to see and interact with him most of all of us. This doesn't bring me joy to suggest this, but I was a Paladin and a member of the Silver Hand, my duty doesn't end with losing my right arm." Hampton told you and continued. "And you want to be a Paladin as well, so you understand very well what I am telling you."

2/3

>>5941529

He wanted you to spy on Alric and tell him everything that was wrong or off with him. Any chances that could be the work of Fel. Hunting and dealing with evil people and Fel was one of the core tasks of Paladins and now he was wanting you to be part of it.

Just with Alric being the one to watch over.


>No, put the tea down. You aren’t going to spy on him. Your duty first and foremost is to be his squire and to protect him. That includes even against Silver Hand if needed.
>Is this something Silver Hand has instructed him to do?
>What caused Hampton to bring this up now? How concerned is he?
>You will agree. He is right, Paladins must root out and remove evil whenever possible.
>Other, write in.

>>5941530
I feel like Malevus would've done this without him asking but now that he's asked she feels real grossed out about it.
>Is this something Silver Hand has instructed him to do?

>>5941530
>What caused Hampton to bring this up now? How concerned is he?

Did alric himself not talk to you? He mentioned to me that he would Father Hampton.

>>5941530
Oh, this is good. Alric some time ago presented to Malevus this hypothetical:
>If a paladin is given an order by their lord or superior and is expected to follow said order to the letter, would the paladin follow the order or follow their conscience?
Malevus answered that she would follow her conscience.

I think Malevus should refuse because
1) Her conscience is obviously telling her that it's wrong.
2) She is one of Alric's retainers and wears the Alterac eagle pin, a symbol of the trust Alric placed in her.
3) On becoming Alric's squire, she agreed to stand by his side (not act against him behind his back). She also agreed to protect him and even throw her life away if it meant doing so. Being the earliest, these promises should take precedence before any other to anyone else.
4) Alric is her friend.

>Other, write in.
>Extract as much information out of him as possible in regards to whether he's being instructed to do this and, if so, by who. Give him every assurance that Alric is trying to get help and that he doesn't need people plotting against him because of his honesty. You will ensure that Alric overcomes this. You won't let him fail. But you're not going to be a spy or betray his trust, even for the Silver Hand. If they mean to deny you your dream of becoming a paladin because of this, then so be it.