#winter's veil

[fugue-feast]

Ahhh, I did it. I wrote a Winter Veil story. Putting the Ellipsus link here cause I don't wanna fuck with formatting:

Ellipsus makes it easy for anyone to write together.

Words: 1,756

Rating: G

Iantha convinces Falonel to come visit the village near their tower in Grizzly Hills. There, the death knight meets a new friend who mistakes him for someone else.

[artoriyasart]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Finally, I post a story! This was originally for spooktober but I changed to Christmas

[warcraft-positivity]

Day #165 of things I love about WoW:

The (Highmountain) Greatfather Winter. A friend pointed this Winter Veil-exclusive easter egg out to me because I had no idea it existed - it's fun how there's actually someone delivering gifts on a sled pulled by "reindeer" in Azeroth.

[advancedscoutkappi]

DWC Feb, Day5: Ambition/Relentless

Word Count: 921

Summary: Kappi has taken on a very ambitious project in hopes of giving @attzi-gearburst a special Winter's Veil Gift.

Warnings: None!

@daily-writing-challenge 

His body was tense, hunched over the workbench as he focused in. When he had the cabin built he made sure to include multiple areas for him or Attzi to work just for occasions like this one. Reaching up he flips lenses in his goggles, slipping the magnifying one into place, and focuses in again on the task at hand. In front of him lay an array of parts, some broken, most not and once he actually gets them all together it will be a functioning watch. Or so he hoped. Attzi had been teaching him all about clocks and watches, building them and repairing them. He had taken to it well enough, but just as with any new skill it had not been without its stumbles. But honestly, he had an amazing teacher with Attzi, she was extremely patient with him and he truly enjoyed learning from her. It made it that much more enjoyable. In fact, that is exactly why he came up with the idea with this ambitious project in the first place.

He took a deep breath and shook out his hands, then grabbed the mainspring winder and the mainspring, looking it over carefully to make sure it had no flaws. Satisfied it looked strong he started to slowly wind it. This, for whatever reason, was the part he always had issue with. Whether he wound it too fast, not fast enough, the spring was bad, or any number of other reasons that he failed to get the spring just right. Sadly this time was no different. As he was winding the spring got bound and snapped. He frowned and set the winder down. 

“So many times..just can not seem to get that quite right the first time.” He shakes his head and leans out seeing the broken piece on the floor. He shakes his head again then pulls the other piece from the winder and loads up another spring. He had planned for this and gotten quite a few extras. He smirked and even chuckled as he started again, this time taking even more care than the last. His extra care pays off, as this time it winds perfectly. He snaps it into the barrel and begins carefully closing it up and as he gets the barrel closed he actually jumps a bit on his stool, his tail wagging happily. He had been trying to complete this entire project for sometime, and had wanted to give it to her for even longer. 

The train of wheels came next and that was tricky for a completely different reason than the mainspring. Having to balance all the wheels simultaneously before installing the bridges, it was like the circus performer balancing all the spinning plates. He gets the center wheel placed then the bridge just to hold things together. The escape wheel comes next then comes the balancing act. Keeping the escape and other two wheels he was about to place in their pivots. It took him a few tries, having to attempt to place the bridge then remove everything to start again, trying the bridge again then starting again. He had to take a moment to take a few breaths and then, finally, everything fell into place. As soon as they do his tail begins wagging just as it had earlier. He knew it would only be a matter of time, as long as he kept at it.

He continued working, constructing, greasing, dropping parts into their perfect little places. Which would have been amazing had it happened. In actuality, he broke several parts, lost a few others and had to wipe away much more grease than he should have ever used.Eventually though, after many long hours of relentless work on his part, he drops the balance in and watches the watch come to life. Seeing that, made it all worth it. His tail wagging so hard it would have knocked over anyone in its path. In fact he had to take several moments to calm down because he was shaking. He had watched her construct many watches, helped build several with her right there. But seeing this come to life knowing it was all him..it was such a different feeling all together. He got everything locked down and set aside, after watching it tick away for several minutes of course, and pulled the case over to look at.

The case of the watch was made up of blackrock ore, its natural black color giving that away even at a glance. The back was smooth and had a small message engraved on it. The front was mostly smooth, save for the heart shaped stone in the middle. Around that the numbers one through twelve numerals were carved, but the stone was the eye catcher. Set in the gap in the front was a heart made from bixbite, her favorite stone. The way that neon magenta stone caught the light was simply stunning. He was almost as proud of the design of the watch as he was completing it, almost. He sets the watch in place, its face a white face that actually showed the inner working in its center. The numbers were a brilliant shade of blue as well as the hands and when it all came together he stared in awe. She had saved his life, and he would never truly be able to repay that, but he hoped this would end up being just one of those stones that he would use to build up as close as he possibly could.

[tyra-greydawn]

Ho Ho Ho No!

Somewhere in Kul Tiras The evening before Winter’s Veil

Thomas was a man who took pride in his work. Being a town guard meant other people could feel safe enough to relax at night. But personal satisfaction didn’t help with the cold. Nightfall and altitude were a hellish combination, especially in the middle of winter. Only hot drinks and moving around helped and since he didn’t have anything to drink he started walking. His route took him along the base of the wall just as a snowy owl landed in front of him. Her head swiveled around to look at him.

“Ho ho ho.” She hoo-hoo-hooted.

Thomas stared. “You talked.”

“Yup.” The owl said. She turned her body to face him in a disconcerting display of avian biology. “And, I’m here with presents!”

“Owls don’t deliver presents.” Thomas said. He shifted his spear into both hands and didn’t quite point it at the bird. He assumed it didn’t mean any harm. Attackers didn’t usually chat. But that didn’t mean he shouldn’t be careful.

“I do.” The owl stood up straight and fluffed her feathers a bit.

“Then where are they?” Thomas asked.

The owl’s eyes half-closed. Her head looked side to side. Then she pointed behind him with a wing. “Um. Look! A witch!” That trick hadn’t worked the last fifty times Thomas had heard it and it didn’t work now. What did work was the owl flinging herself at him. Thomas ducked the flying – saurid? Where was the owl?! The reptile sped off into the night with Thomas in pursuit, bellowing for her to stop.

Thomas rounded a corner and skidded to a halt behind a horse that shouldn’t have been there. He circled the animal, staring at the ground for any sign of tracks in the snow but didn’t find any. The horse turned its head to look at him. Thomas looked back. The horse chuffed and Thomas snorted.

“All of the horses should be in the stable.” Thomas said. The horse’s ears flicked. Then it made a very un-horse-like leap straight up, changing into a stag that scrambled her way onto the roof of the building. Two other guards joined the pursuit, each trying to corner the stag as it leapt from rooftop to rooftop. Thomas thought it might have even worked if they had been coordinated. The chase ended at the blacksmith’s shop. The only route left for the stag to go was the way she had come from, and Samuel was busy climbing a ladder to cut that off. “You’re caught! Now come down!”

Samuel finished his climb. There was silence. Then he cursed. “It’s not up here, Tom!”

“Maybe it flew off. It can turn into an owl.” Thomas called back but he didn’t believe that. He walked up to the shop and tried the door. It was unlocked. Strange, Augusta always latched the door when she went home. A mouse skittered past his feet as he stepped inside. The shop was empty. The only outstanding thing was a wooden chest sitting on a countertop labelled “To Faye and Valdyss”. Inside, Thomas found a bottle of Pandaren whiskey and a package labelled “bath bombs”.

Samuel walked up behind Thomas carrying another bottle in hand. The label was covered in the same writing as the bottle of whiskey. “I found this on the roof. Someone lost a bottle of mead.”

“I think I know who, and I think that’s for us.” Thomas said. He tucked the chest under his arm. “Come on, we should deliver this to the keep.”

Mount Cortis, Drustvar Thirty Minutes Later

A thump, a yelp, and a plume of snow heralded Tyra’s arrival on the mountaintop. She transformed into a worgen, grumbled, and staggered over to where Haxley and the Peregrine were waiting.

“Not your best landin’.” Haxley said, laughing. He held out a blanket which Tyra wrapped around herself.

“Anyone else would be dead. It’s hard to fly here.” Tyra said. She and Haxley climbed into the gunship’s cabin and pulled the door shut.

“That’s sayin’ somethin’ comin’ from you. We’re good to go? We still need to make it to Crystalsong and back home ‘fore it gets too late.” Haxley said. He scowled at Tyra who was prying open one of the crates that she had brought.

Two more bottles Pandaren whiskey and another two of mead disappeared into Tyra’s backpack, as well as the latest soother she had built. “Not yet. I did the hard one first. I need to leave two of these bottles with Safere and Anna, then the others for Merellia, Alexandria, and the baby.” Tyra transformed back into a snowy owl and strode over to the door. Her talons clacked on the metal floor the whole way. “So, um, can you Peregrine up while I’m gone? Then we can get back in the air once I’m back?”

“Fine.” Haxley shook his head and grinned. He pulled the door open. “Don’t get caught this time.”

“No promises!” Tyra chirped. She zipped straight out into the cold, dark night, circled the mountain, and dove into the darkness, hooting “Ho ho ho!” the whole way down. ( @mercurial-muses @saferemercer @merelliahallewell @alexandriawilliams )

[damien-ward]

Not even the Jailer and his chains can dampen Dard’s Winter’s Veil spirit!

[miriredsteel]

Winter’s Veil is one of Miri’s favorite holidays, and what better way to celebrate it then to dress up in something sparkly and play in the snow!

Happy Holidays y’all!

[tiernen-morningwild]

For Kore, Tiernen presents a beautiful set of carefully chosen personal care and grooming products, neatly packed in a buttery, leather bag. Some are clearly meant to be personal-use, but in truth any of these can be used by someone else, should the Illidari accept. Beard oiling? Maybe a little hand and claw attention? As you like~.

Secondly arrives a small case of artisanal beer- the first of many to come in Kore’s new Beer of the Month subscription. Only the finest, craft breweries to taste. Happy Winter’s Veil, and many more to come. 

@koreriverwood