“Now, I believe Bishop Faol had need of us to bolster those at the Sunwell. Let us go help our first line of defense against the Devouring Host.” - Bolivos Dawnlight
I know it has been quite some time since we have checked in with one another. Simply put, life was fairly relaxed up until now. My daughter got married, had a son with her husband… She found her mother and grandmother - much like Alonsus Faol her Grandmother Blanche had been one of the many already dead in their graves and risen back during Lordaeron’s fall - funny it took so long for a reunion. She has a lot of spunk, for an old woman of the cloth - you might like her. I digress - life was warm and relaxed, not many complaints.
Then Dalaran was destroyed and with it my beloved Clinic was turned to rubble. I fear my tender heart may never recover from the loss of so many pleasant memories made it my little corner of that magical city.
Well, with these turbulent times I hope you have been doing well enough, my daughter’s link to the Shadows and Void had been challenging with this Harbinger looming over our world. I thought of you, my dear friend, fairly often whenever she had terrible visions and nightmares. Mayhaps we meet again in person some day, have a talk about where life has taken us, not that my experiences have been all that fantastical - another chuckle from me.
Well wishes and warm regards,
Bolivos Dawnlight, the Mender
Safrona initially regarded the letter with the same weary turn of the eye as she would too many others that passed through her hands. A Courier could build a kingdom of envelopes, and it would be one that would either drive her to a new echelon of void madness or unsung death by papercut. Some couriers were all too happy to collect mail - obsessed over it, even. Today she was done with it.
She much preferred voices and meetings for a reason. Voices had soul. Paper and ink were simply that. But Safrona would meet the expectant tradition of letter exchange as she only could.
Inevitably she pried the envelope free with a favorite opener and let her eyes focus on the words. Her manner improved as she read a wealth of story, realizing who wrote it by the end, then silently reading it all again with the Mender in mind. Some sign of a smile had turned at her lips. Bolivos had always been comfortable company, a benign sort of personality as most Menders tended to be. Conversation had been easy around the man. Maybe at times, too easy.
He had addressed her by name. Not simply "Courier", or even "Lady Shadowsun". Few knew how important the distinction was. And he wrote to her like an old friend. Clearly he was a man of the ink. Briefly she wondered how many letters he penned, if he wrote regularly in journals.
But what to write in return...? Time had a habit of change, and she had evolved in a smattering of small ways since they last spoke. She sighed inwardly as she thought to put pen to paper, preferring the jotting of short notes to the entire investment of long winded writing of...who knew what.
Words always came to her better when voiced. Beckoning an enchanted pen and filling a hand with a flute of merlot, Safrona wet her voice with drink as her letter would be transcribed:
Bolivos,
It's a surprise to hear from you. A good one. Dalaran's fall definitely ruined a web of connection for me as well. As much as I had a complicated history with that city, it sent its ripples. But we all move on as we must. We function as we have to for the sake of our world and the people depending on us. Can't let the Harbinger completely have her way, can we? <a strained, dry chuckle>
Besides. When one place to gather falls, another eventually takes its place. Have you heard of the Arcantina? I would definitely recommend it.
But yes. I've managed to keep myself busy too. I've made some choices with the business that I think have been successful in the long run. I run my own team of Couriers now, and that opens myself for other pursuits I've had bottled up too long.
I've also managed to find Home in another, and we have ourselves settled in a way I never thought I'd be. Then again, the past has also caught up to me in a way I never thought it would either. All around it's been almost a decade of surprising turns since we last spoke.
But Bolivos, I think all this talk of turns and daughters might be best made with something good to drink between us. I do still take Confession, after all. Let's make a plan to meet and see what we can get each other to spill, yes?
I have a little request. A favor, even.
I'll be including a little chatterstone with this letter. Attune to it as you like and contact me this way from now on? Another letter might finally be the death of your Courier one of these nights.
Sincerely,
-S
“I daresay my artist has improved greatly since the last I commissioned her… Oh… What a shame to lose such a wonderful family portrait… Perhaps I may commission from her a new one to include Nathaniel and Samuel.” - Bolivos Dawnlight
Like many others around Azeroth, Bolivos had been having flashing visions of a radiant song during some moments of rest. Though they were strange, he could do little about them, so he did the only thing he could.
Push them aside and worry about things he could actually influence in the now.
His daughter Antoinette had been plagued with terrible nightmares of recent, as far as he could gather they began around when everyone else was having visions of a voice calling. Bolivos and his daughter discussed that her reaction was likely due to her proclivity to the Shadows and delving into the Void... He was worried about her, of course, Bolivos was a chronic worrier and he worried especially when there was little he could do to help someone he loved. Usually Dreamless Sleep potions helped her unconscious yet overactive mind - but did little to help her now. Bolivos didn't doubt her husband, the respected Doctor Nathaniel Jameson, did everything he could think of trying to help... He just wished he could do more, no doubt her three children were scared to hear their mother scream in the night.
She was with him today, though not as a patient. Today they were quickly preparing his little clinic as he had gotten the news the Council made the decision to move the entire city to another part of Azeroth. The pair had learned the lesson of being ill-prepared for the jump the flying city could make. From Northrend to above Kharazan, then to sit above the Broken Isles, so many things had been broken they thought would have been okay back then. Anne didn't like to remember the ordeal as the second jump she ended teleported halfway through a door, something he did like to tease her for being so disgruntled by it, as she ended up okay enough despite a few splinters and an incredibly bruised ego...
Anne let out a sigh and wiped sweat from her forehead as she tucked away the final densely packed box of delicate medical equipment. "Well, hopefully nothing breaks. Last time it was a disaster replacing everything as soon as war broke out." She said to Bolivos as he rounded the reception counter to meet her.
"Yes, but I think we have everything more secure this time. ...Though you ought to head back home to Nathaniel and your little ones. He would be worried sick if you teleported through another door - or ended up like that other fellow where two parts of you were split across the city." He teased with a soft chuckle as he shooed her towards the door, his lips wore the same easy smile that he always did, with just a hint more mischief.
Anne dug her heels into the ground, bunching up the rug underneath her boots, "Don't bring that up again!" She pouted, cheeks puffing up in her still somewhat youthful manner, despite being a nearly forty mother of three. "Just - send us a letter when everything with you is settled, okay?"
Bolivos knew Anne didn't like to leave him alone so long, always worried he'd slip back into his depression he had been melting away into when they first met... But Anne had a family of her own now - she had to worry about them - and it was his job to worry about her! No doubt he had been in enough wars to handle himself... She needn't worry. He broke from his thought as suddenly the resistance of his push ended and she stepped forward on her own, then turned around for her large emerald eyes to narrow up at his own haunting golden glow.
His smile faltered somewhat as she rushed forward and hugged him tight around his waist. Something about how she acted, as if he would never see her again hit him - but quickly his face evened out into a smaller smile... He still carried some warmth, despite his curse of undeath.
"I will, I will, Starlight." He said, gently ruffling her hair. "Be safe on your way home."
Anne beamed up at him, "I will. I love you." She said as she drew back, arms slipping from around him. She didn't seem too sad that he couldn't quite work out a soft 'I love you too' or a 'goodbye'. He said goodbye to her so often... Why could he not say it now?
Now with the door closed...
He was alone.
Finally his face fell completely, the smile faded into a still and serious gaze as he looked over his empty clinic. Things were packed away so nothing would go flying, shelves secured, beds dressed down - but easily accessible if anything were to go wrong. It wouldn't be long now until the Council finished their spell to move the city. He just prayed to the Light that Anne would be out of the city - she was quick - he had to hope she'd get home just fine.
He just felt so... Uneasy. The way Anne looked quietly terrified, sneaking glances at the dark places in the clinic, staring at him for a time when she thought he wouldn't notice... She never did share with him what she saw in her nightmares, he never wanted to pry, he wasn't the sort.
He shook his head and let out a soft sigh and found a spot to sit down and gaze out the window into the streets outside.
Now... He just had to wait for the city to give one final warning before it moved.
Safrona receives a box, wrapped in deep purple paper, and topped with a black velvet ribbon. A tag reads: From Bolivos Dawnlight and Antoinette Bourseiller. Inside are three wines, one named Charlotte Rosé, Sweet Violet, and the last dubbed Black Butterfly. The last, Black Butterfly, has a label reading "Not for consumption by the living." A note inside the box is left underneath the wines. "We both hope all is well."
The generously dressed box had caught the eye of the younger Shadowsun first upon being brought into Empyrean Star Trades, though Wenne gave it up to her elder sister as needed when the tag was properly investigated. It by no means stifled Wenne's curiosity however.
"Dawnlight and Bour...seller? Sounds very glamourous! Ooh! Open it, Saf! Let's see!"
"Bolivos...there's a name I haven't heard from a time." Safrona attempted to reflect. She wasn't left to her own thoughts in the wake of her sister's insistence. "You'd think it was Winter's Veil the way you're going on about it all," she spoke flatly. "Calm down, I'll open it."
"Why are you taking your bloody time with the packaging? Stars, Saf, just open it!" One of the bottles was nearly snatched into Wenne's hands upon the unveiling. "Wine! Hah! They know you well, don't they?"
Safrona poured attention over the bottle labeled Sweet Violet now as if she handled an artifact, chuckling. "They've definitely been paying attention."
"Should I get us some glasses? Pop one of these open? It's late enough in the day to indulge, I think."
"Mmmn..." Safrona hummed in consideration as she finished with the short, sweet note inside. Her eye caught the labeling of the last bottle dubbed Black Butterfly. It was collected in her other hand quickly. "I think I'll keep these on the top shelves. Especially this one. Personal collection. Assure these are not sold off."
"Bah, " Wennefer sighed, and helped bring out a sliding ladder in the office to reach the top most shelves. "I'm keeping one of these on a lower shelf. I know you."
"Careful," Safrona half-teased. "I might never open them now just to spite you, sister."
