(( DWC may 2026, Day 1, Gloom/Allure, @daily-writing-challenge CW: none ))
Dolraan smiled as he closed the infirmary door behind him, leaving a recovering Alynore in the care of her husband. Wes had been beside himself with worry, but with the destruction of the dark naaru and purification of the sunwell, she and the others who had suffered in the wake of Xal'atath's assault were healing well. As he exited, he spotted Janosis, Spiru, and Lorellai, his team, waiting for him.
"Janosis has a question!" Lorellai blurted out as he greeted them, causing the human to groan.
"I thought we agreed -we- had a question, Lorellai," Janosis sighed.
Spiru's gaze bored into Dolraan's. "We have had to face paladins and priests overcome with zealousness and rage. You have remained sane, but there has been a strain on you that in hindsight has seemed abnormal."
"We just want to be able to help you!" Lorellai chimed in, all three of them looking at him with various levels of concern.
Dolraan couldn't help but smile. "Well, isn't it good that I was just coming to talk to you three about it then? Let's grab a bench out in the grounds so we're not taking up the hallway.
A short time later, the four sat on a bench in a lovely park. The sky was clear for the first time in weeks, much to the delight of the locals. Dolraan cleared his throat. "Alright. So, you know that I, and my fellow paladins draw our power from the Holy Light. What's harder to explain is how the light feels to us. It's a bit different from person to person."
Dolraan looked up, letting the sunlight caress his face. "For me, it's always been like a lantern. Warm, welcoming, guiding. It has helped me find my way to where I need to be, and reminded me of what I need to do. Ever since we were summoned though.... it was more like fire. Powerful. Purposeful. Dangerous. And I wanted to feel it."
Spiru blinked. "That is concerning."
Dolraan nodded. "The allure of it was one of purpose, of Knowing with a capital K. 'There is the enemy' it felt like, 'you need but destroy them to save the world.' And it only got stronger as we pushed further into the Voidspire. It offered answers to all the questions and doubts in my heart. But.... what happened with the army of light? I felt the pull when they turned on us. The Light was burning in my soul. To stop Alleria. I think I know now what Lothraxion went through before we had to kill him."
"That's scary... how did you resist?" Lorellai asked.
"My oath. Most paladins swear one when we are knighted, and it becomes our purpose, and in Stormwind we were encouraged to write our own." Dolraan stood up, and when he spoke next, his voice resonated.
"I swear to devote my life to protecting the innocent from the cruel; the weak from the strong, and the righteous from the wicked. I shall show Respect in diplomacy, Tenacity in battle, and Compassion in victory. If I fall, it will be only when I have done all I could do."
Dolraan blinked then smiled at his friends. "And if I'd listened to what the Light was roaring in my ear then, I wouldn't have upheld that oath. It helped ground me, much like I think Turalyon's love for his family grounded him, kept him from losing himself up there, for all the good it did us."
"So, is the Light not the benevolent force we believed, then?" Janosis mused.
"The fire and rage is gone, all the survivors have felt it just as I did. It's like it was before all this happened. I think... I think we saw the harsh side of the Light, like we did back during the Legion War when X'era overstepped herself and tried to forcibly lightforge Illidan Stormrage. As we have seen over the last few years, none of the great powers are simply understood. I'd not expect the Light to be any different."
"Thank you for your explanation, and I hope the Light does not attempt to subvert you again. I would hate to have to attempt to subdue you, both because of our friendship, and because I suspect it would take many of us to do so," Spiru said, cracking a smile. "You have a remarkably hard head."
Dolraan barked out laughing. "It's served me well so far. Don't worry, I'm just a year out from getting my 'Ten years without being mind controlled' badge, and I'm not going to let that slip through my fingers!"
Lorellai blinked. "You were mind controlled nine years ago?"
Dolraan grinned. "Let's hit up one of Silvermoon's pubs and I'll tell you all about it. I was on a mission with Henii and Rastila investigating a demonic incursion...."
(( DWC june 2026, Day 7, Horrify/Render, @daily-writing-challenge CW: none ))
"I want to have words with whoever taught the Dominaar the world "render" in our language," Lorellai all but cussed, eyeing the dissipating shadows of the dominaar they'd defeated to make sure it wasn't about to reform on them. "If I hear the phrase 'Render your soul unto me' one more time I'm gonna push the big red button!"
Spiru quirked an eyebrow at her friend. "So that's the part you find frustrating, not the part where they attempt to either kill or enslave you."
"Nah, that's just badguy stuff, that's whatever, but do they not have -any- new lines? It's getting old!" Lorellai threw her hands up in frustration. "How many more of these would-be tyrants do we have left anyway?"
Spiru's pulled the target list from her belt. "Two remaining from the locations given to us by Decimus. Thus far they have indeed been the same ones who threatened Eversong. If these last two are also appropriate targets, I will regrettably owe Janosis ten gold. I was certain Decimus would use us to eliminate unrelated rivals to his own machinations."
"I mean, he still probably is. It's kind of their way to have beef with each other at all times. Still, Decimus is better than most; he hasn't screwed us over yet, gave us shelter, -and- he actually has read a thesaurus!"
Spiru smirked. "You're -actually- irritated by their lack of creativity in their phrasing, aren't you?"
"And you aren't? Fighting against deadly foes is less fun if they make it boring, Spiru, that's auntie Hlin's rule number 3!"
"Having met miss Stoutarm, that does not surprise me." Spiru said flatly. "Well, we won't know if these other dominaar have wider vocabularies unless we find them. Or perhaps learn to speak their language so they can threaten us in their mother tongue."
Lorellai stopped, and let out a laugh. "Okay, yeah, that's fair. Let's go get 'em, and I'll try to avoid being too rude about it."
(( DWC February 2026, Day 3, Pompous/Blur, @daily-writing-challenge CW: none ))
Janosis realized three things, in a specific order. First, that he was cold. Second, that his vision was blurry. Third, he was lying on his back. Then he realized a fourth thing as a teal blur appeared in his vision, and Spiru's voice echoed asking if he was alright, and that was that he'd been struck squarely in the head.
The pain, and dizziness, faded as Spiru directed her healing mist to his injuries. "Did you get the guy?" he asked, rubbing his temple.
"The guy, as you call him, is incapacitated. His companions fled when he fell, I suspect they were not as invested in this find as he was, giving their unwillingness to continue the fight when their leader lost conciousness." Spiru capped the jug and returned it to her belt, then turned her attention back to the unconcious Kul Tiran man who'd struck her companion. "Based on his attire, I gather he is a former employee of the Ashvane corporation."
Janosis nodded. "That makes sense, there's a lot of former Ashvane officers who throw their weight around as mercenaries or treasure hunters. Sounds like he followed the corporate handbook on treating his employees. Thanks for taking him down."
"You were a very effective distraction, crying out like that and then trying to wrestle the relic away from him."
"Not my finest moment, I'll admit. However, even when out of mana, I couldn't just let him break the idol."
Spiru nodded. "His thuggish mannerisms were likely to do just that. Are you well enough to travel? We should vacate the premises in case his underlings recover their courage and return; you are not the only one who has exhausted much of their stamina today.
Janosis nodded and stood, clutching the idol close. A knock to the head was a small price to pay for the chance to study it before it would be turned over to the Explorer's league for cataloguing. Another successful delve for the books, he supposed.
(( DWC August 2025, Day 1, Ethereal/Calculate, @daily-writing-challenge CW: none ))
The bright flash of the dimensional gate faded from Lorellai's eyes as she and her team entered the city of Taza'vesh, close on Alleria and Locus Walker's trail. She stopped to gape at the wondrous city she'd heard of in Dolraan's stories about their adventures in the Shadowlands. The brokers and ethereals and their incredible technology surrounded her, drawing her attention every which way.
The same was true for her companions. Spiru eyed the nearby brokers with interest, Ghorren was taking a moment to orient himself, and Janosis was so distracted by everything that he stumbled into a large, four-legged Broker, having to awkwardly apologize to the expressionless mask of the enigmatic being.
"Oh I hope we get time to properly explore this place, it's incredible!" Lorellai said with stars in her eyes.
"Easy enough, just destroy the void god threatening the cosmos with destruction quickly enough and I'm sure they'll give you a whole week pass," Ghorren quipped. "On more serious matters, has anyone else noticed that Alleria has reached an entirely new level of On Edge?"
Spiru nodded, doing her best to keep up with Ghorren's stride. "She is indeed on high alert. She has likely calculated, as we have, that the Harbinger will be involved with this situation somehow."
"And she almost certainly will be, we're not lucky enough to only have to worry about Dimensius and the Shadowguard." Janosis sighed, rubbing his face where he'd smacked into the Broker's leg as the quartet caught up with Alleria and Locus Walker at the check-in station.
It was not long before they were drawn into conflict as the Shadowguard raided the city, each of them feeling eyes on them the entire time.
(( DWC November 2025, Day 2, Lucky/Heartache, @daily-writing-challenge CW: none ))
The sound of boots crunching across the sandy wastes outside the Eco-Dome caught Spiru's attention as she stood gazing out into the great dark beyond. Rhythm of a human just over six feet in height, not particularly heavy, gently favoring the left leg. Janosis. Her mental calculations were confirmed as Janosis walked up beside her, before gently lowering himself to sit on the ground, and join her vigil. "Copper for your thoughts?" he asked, removing his glasses to clean them.
"I am pondering my existence. I felt the vista would welcome such contemplation."
"Well, it certainly does that. There's just a whole lot of nothing out there, with the occasional point of light signifying something. Makes me feel very small," he replied, putting his glasses back on.
Spiru smirked. "Imagine its effect on me."
"I- I didn't mean- I'm sorr-" he stammered as Spiru let out a chuckle.
"Apologies, but the opportunity was quite tempting," she smiled as he stopped abruptly, turning his gaze back to the grand night before them. "It is a strange feeling, still. To know I am the sole survivor of an entire timeline. It makes it hard to feel connected to things here."
Janosis exhaled slowly. "Yeah, that's an impressive weight to carry. I'm honestly surprised you aren't holding a grudge against the bronzes over it."
"I considered it. Then Chromie showed me the overview of my timeline. One of many where Azeroth lost. My people, my world, were all doomed regardless. Pruning the timeline meant keeping this one safe, according to their explanation of how the timelines rub up against one another, and affect each other. Between that, and just how much was expended to pull me out from it, I am willing to accept the sad truth. Still though. I feel disconnected. I realized the other day I know next to nothing about gnomish culture."
"Oh? Was is that different where you come from?"
"It's just that, I do not know. Rokishan 'booped' my nose in jest and camaraderie the other day, not realizing that among my culture such an act is a declaration of romantic intent. When I explained this to him, he was surprised, and now I realize I do not know what is different about the gnomes of this timeline and the life I knew."
"Oh! Well I suppose you were kind of thrown in to the thick of things when you arrived."
"Indeed. I have my oath to Lorellai to consider, but I hope I will be able to get to know more about this version of the world. For better or worse, your Azeroth is mine as well now."
"Well, if you ever need a friend with extensive knowledge of portals, I'm happy to be available. We're teammates now, and if we're being honest, I suspect that traveling around with you for a bit will be better than doing my solo research. If nothing else, the inevitable monster encounters are better with a friend nearby."
"Do you really encounter monsters that often when doing research?"
Janosis looked at her, and sighed. "Drogar once told me that I was the luckiest person he'd ever met. I asked him what he meant, and he continued to mention that 'bad' was a legitimate form of luck."
Spiru chortled. "Fascinating. Well, I suspect I am close to exhausting the resources here on Karesh regarding my oath to Lorellai, so perhaps I can take you up on that offer, at least until the Harbinger shows her very punch-able face again."
"Deal. Can we stop staring into the void now? I am starting to feel like it's staring back," Janosis said, climbing to his feet and wrenching his gaze away from the infinite darkness. Spiru shrugged, and turned away as well. Always another path to walk.
(( DWC November 2025, Day 7, Premonition/Drop, @daily-writing-challenge CW: none ))
The Void was hungry. It loomed over the tiny world, alone in the great dark beyond. Many tiny points of light dotted it. The void had consumed some of them. But one shone brighter than all.
The Void was hungry. The Harbinger reached out her hand towards that brightest of lights, and the void answered, slithering towards it, to snuff it out forever. The Harbinger's servants, her trusted and faithful, flowed with it. And at their head, the impossible girl, broken and made to serve, would ring the death knell for the-
"Hey! Spiru!" Janosis' voice rang out as he slapped Spiru across the face, bringing her back to her senses. She blinked, and looked around. They had made camp in the woods, their fire still cracking merrily, lighting their cooking tools and tents. She looked down, and realised she was standing on Janosis' chest, pinning him to the dirt. She hopped down, then caressed her smarting cheek.
"I'm sorry… what happened?" she asked, turning back to him as he sat up.
"Well, I was telling you about the rubbings we took from that tablet, you were looking into the fire, and then suddenly you knocked me down and were staring down at me all creepy. So… I hit you, just in case. Sorry."
"Do not apologise, it was the right thing to do, and your strike lacked sufficient force to injure me," she answered, eyeing her hands. "I believe I am still suffering the after effects of embodying Xal'atath's magics on K'aresh. I had hoped such moments had passed, but it seems the influence lingers still."
"Maybe our next stop should be a city where I can buy some components so I can take another look at you, or track down Vasily. He's an expert when it comes to helping people exposed to dangerous energies that mess with their heads." Janosis pulled himself back onto the seat he'd made on a fallen log, and dusted off his coat. "You sure you're okay now?"
"I seem to be in control. If it happens again, feel free to use your magic to subdue me, I would rather not injure you."
Janosis shrugged. "That's alright, this kind of thing happens to meddlers more often than people realize, I know what to do."
"That is a very troubling thing to become accustomed to."
"We're adventurers who insist on poking our noses into every nook and cranny where we're not wanted, I think it comes with the territory. I've accepted it as a part of my life."
Spiru sat herself back down. "Tell me more stories of your adventures. They still beggar belief."
Janosis smiled. "I was there for most of them and I still don't believe all of them. But how about the time a deadly assassin who wanted our founder's head decided to just show up and order a drink at the bar we liked to hang out at during the evenings?"
(( DWC August 2025, Day 5, Rustic/Attack, @daily-writing-challenge CW: none ))
Bolts of magic streaked through the air as the oracles and void elves clashed with the Shadowguard, doing the hard fighting while Lorellai's team split into three squads to target the shadowforges that were extracting energy for the gigantic manaforge that loomed to the west. Lorellai and Spiru charged at their assigned target, Point Darkmend, hurling bombs and fists at any shadowguard who tried to interfere with their advance.
Once inside, they took a chance to catch their breath. The facility was wondrous, yet simple. Four wings feeding energy into a central console for transmission to the forge, shielded with void energy. Lorellai began to scan the shields for weaknesses, when a voice emerged, revealing the third member of their team.
"No need for that, my champion," Xal'atath purred as she apparated behind Lorellai. "I know exactly how to overcome this magic. Simply take this, and use it to pierce the shields. Then your clever little bombs can do the rest," she continued, laying a friendly hand on Lorellai's shoulder as her other hand extended, holding forth an orb of shadowy energy. It pulsed and writhed like a living thing, wanting to be held. Wanting to be used. By her.
"No."
Lorellai looked up in surprise, wrenched away from the fascinating orb by Spiru's sharp denial. The Harbinger arched an eyebrow as Spiru stepped forward. "If this must be done by one of us, it is most sensible to be done by me, so that Lorellai can focus on her demolitions work. We wouldn't want her to be distracted, after all."
Lorellai couldn't help but note the edge to Spiru's voice, usually so level and calm. "Spiru, it's alright, I've used borrowed magic before, you can focus on watching our back," she said, hoping a smile would diffuse the tension. Spiru didn't even look at her, the gnome's gaze was locked onto Xal'atath.
The Harbinger laughed, a sound like beautiful, if slightly discordant chimes. "Oh, do you want this power for yourself, my impossible friend? I hadn't expected such a play. I intend this for Lorellai though, she will wield it best, won't you, my champion?" Xal'atath turned once again to Lorellai, the void magic pulsing in her hand, waiting to be siezed.
"I'm afraid I must insist." Spiru stepped between Lorellai and the floating woman, and held out her hand. "I will take this."
"Spiru, what's the matter? We're all on the same side, right? This is too important for us to be feuding, even Alleria knows that!."
"Lorellai, please grant me your trust in this. I know what I am doing." Spiru said, sparing a glance to her companion, then turning back to Xal'atath, who laughed again.
"I suppose the choice is yours, my champion. Will you take this power, or give it to your trusted ally, this impossible girl who should not be?"
Lorellai looked again at the energy. It sung to her. And then she remembered those long nights sharing a room with Spiru, talking about the world. Spiru hadn't opened up much, but she had spoke of the timeline she'd been plucked from. Of what she'd lost, and how determined she was to make sure her new home, her new friends, wouldn't share that fate. And then, Lorellai withdrew her hand. "You take it, Spiru, I'll get the bombs ready."
Spiru motioned towards the orb, which the Harbinger released with a slight roll to her eyes. "Such theatrics. Still, so long as the job is done, our march to Dimenius continues. Use this gift well, impossible one."
The orb touched Spiru's outstretched fingers, and she immediately felt overwhelmed with cold and emptiness, and then power, so much, begging to undo that which was done, to rebuild that which was built, to bring a new possibility into form. It subsided, acquiescing to her will even before she could rally herself, clearly obeying its true master. With a grunt, she willed the energy into a lance, and hurled it at the shield, piercing and shattering it in a single blast. Three more times, she threw lances of shadow, breaking the shields as Lorellai moved about the room, wiring her explosives. Within minutes, the building was rigged.
"Time to go Spiru!" Lorellai shouted, picking up her spear and whistling for Stroganoff, who coughed up a pile of empty wrappings and bounded after his dwarf. Spiru felt the energy leave her, and though she could not see the Harbinger, she heard her words.
((DWC May 2025, Day 1, Cruel/Beauty, @daily-writing-challenge CW: None ))
"I just don't get it," Lorellai mused, tapping her pen on the paper where she was writing her journal.
"Don't get what, exactly?- 90, 91-" Spiru asked, not breaking pace with her sit-ups on the floor behind Lorellai's chair in their shared room.
"The old gods. The Void. They claim to be all possibilities, all truths. So why be cruel?"
That almost gave Spiru pause, but she resumed before losing count. "A peculiar question. Perhaps- 92, 93- cruelty is a part of their nature?"
"Maybe, but some might argue cruelty is party of many people's nature, and yet we can overcome it. But Xal'atath, and the old gods, they hurt people even when it would be easier to get what they wanted if they didn't! Xal'atath might have been able to help the nerubians actually win if she'd wanted to, but in the end she just used them as a distraction, and discarded them. Then again with Gallywix. I don't get why the dedication to being a jerk when it's causing her to fail."
"I think- 94, 95- that attempting to understand the methods and goals of the void- 96, 97- is what drives many people in history to madness," Spiru said. "Perhaps this is not a productive line of questioning?"
"Ach, you're probably right. Still, maybe a little understanding might be good, if only to make sure we can stop her.
Spiru kipped up after her hundredth sit-up, and laid a friendly hand on Lorellai's. "You are a good soul. Please don't spend too long looking into the abyss, I'd hate for it to look back, so to say."
Lorellai rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Now you sound like uncle Dolraan. I suppose you can't both be wrong though. I promise not to try and divine any void secrets without one of you present."
"Very good. Now, I do believe it is your turn for your daily exercises. I shall spot you." Spiru replied, smiling as Lorellai groaned but obediently got out of her seat to comply with her roommate's request.
