The soft clip-clopping of hooves on stone announced the presence of the mage as she approached the Stormwind City cemetery, which seemed to be unusually full of people. Adjacent to the Cathedral District, the cemetery was ordinarily quiet, populated only by those who tended the graves and the small park they resided in, and those mourning the lost. It was the small gazebo that sat near the edge of the pond that seemed to be the main attraction. Maintaining silence--save for the gentle clopping of her hooves--Xoinae paused to watch. Instead of a funeral, which was usually what the gazebo was reserved for, the event seemed to be a wedding. A priest stood in the center of the gazebo, smiling fondly at the couple in front of him. Xoi couldn't help but smile. Two humans were there, clasping their hands together as they recited vows which Xoi assumed they'd written themselves. The man spoke with the usual dialect of those who'd grown up in the Eastern Kingdoms, near Elwynn. The woman, however, had the odd accent that typically identified those who'd lived in Gilneas. It seemed likely that she was one of those afflicted with the Worgen curse, though that hardly seemed to matter to anyone anymore. The Worgen had proven themselves capable of maintaining most of their humanity even when they walked as wolf-like creatures among the rest of the population.
Xoinae continued to watch quietly as the ceremony progressed, and when it finally ended, the guests watching them rose to their feet, cheering and throwing rice and flower petals. "Terawynne and Tobias! Tera and Toby!" The couple linked arms and walked down the aisle, laughing merrily. Xoi smiled, and turned away, headed for the docks, leaving the wedding party and guests behind in peace. Weddings had been cropping up all over Azeroth lately, and she wished the reasons for them weren't so dire. Couples who hadn't made the move to commit before were now scrambling to do so--those who could fight had been called to defend their world from the newest threat to their freedom, which came from another planet entirely, and a different time.
Word had reached Xoinae weeks before that something had gone horribly wrong at the trial of Garrosh Hellscream in Pandaria. She'd not been able to attend herself, but she'd spoken to Jaina and others who had been present, and what she'd learned was grim. Garrosh had utilized the magical abilities of one of the Bronze dragons, which enabled him to return to Draenor before the orcs had been seduced by the promise of power from the Legion. It seemed as though Garrosh intended to change the future of the Horde, an event that would have catastrophic consequences for all of Azeroth.
Standing near the fountain that overlooked the Stormwind Docks, Xoi delighted in the feel of the breeze on her skin. She reached up and carefully unpinned her hair, letting it fall loose about her shoulders in sleek, gorgeous chocolate-brown curls. The breeze gently ruffled it, tugging at small, feathery strands. One of them crossed in front of her eyes, and Xoi had to brush it away with her hand.
"Miss Bela'ri?" A voice behind her startled the draenei mage. She turned to find the source, a smile lighting her expression as she saw who it was.
"Emissary Taluun," she said, bobbing her head and bending her knees out of respect for the older draenei. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Taluun reached out and took Xoi's hand, bowing his head to her in an equal amount of respect.
"I have been sent to find you. The King and Jaina would have you meet with them in the keep. It is regarding the ongoing situation outside the Dark Portal. I assume you've been kept informed?" Taluun gestured back toward the heart of the city, and Xoinae nodded, falling into step beside him.
"I have," she replied, "though I'm not entirely certain what King Wrynn and Lady Jaina want to speak to me for. My apprenticeship with Jaina ended some time ago, and I was under the impression that I was to go my own way. She's been... preoccupied."
Taluun nodded, his expression grim. "Lady Proudmoore has experienced a great deal of heartbreak as of late. It isn't surprising." He shook his head. "She still grieves over the loss of her city and her people, on top of everything else that's fallen into her care. I don't envy her."
"Nor do I," Xoi murmured. "She's a strong woman to handle so much."
Xoinae and the Emissary continued to converse as they walked through the city. When the finally reached the keep, they parted ways, with Xoinae promising to stop and see Taluun again before she left the city. She thought it was an odd request for him to make, but brushed it aside--she had been traveling a lot, particularly to the Exodar. Perhaps the Emissary was a little jealous of her freedom to do so--he seemed forever stuck in the Stormwind Keep, his communication with his people limited to what information he was sent from the Exodar and word that came to him from the mouths of travelers, like Xoi herself. She felt bad for him. She knew all too well what it was like to be homesick.
The situation room, as Xoinae thought of it, was full of people when she arrived, and all of them important. Varian Wrynn was there, as were the leaders from most of the other Alliance capitals. Several high-ranking SI:7 agents were in attendance as well, heightening Xoinae's sense that something was very wrong. There were others in the room that Xoinae didn't know. They were armored to the teeth and standing with authority, clearly some of the Alliance's greatest heroes.
"Thank you all for coming. We'll be brief, as there's little time to waste using our words when other methods of problem solving will be more effective." Xoinae knew that voice. She turned to look behind her, finding Archmage Khadgar in the doorway. Heat rose in her cheeks, darkening her midnight violet skin. She'd only ever seen Khadgar from a distance, never up close. She knew the story of his experiences as an apprentice to Medivh, and she was well aware that his power was greater than hers, than even Jaina's.
Stepping back until she had her back to the wall, Xoi listened as Khadgar launched into his speech, briefing everyone present on the situation. They were preparing to head into the portal, knowing full well that chaos and danger lay in wait on the other side. Xoinae had been back to Draenor--more commonly known as the Outlands--since the crash of the Exodar, but it was nothing compared to what it had once been, before the Legion had caught up with the fleeing draenei. A touch of nostalgia overtook the young mage as she listened to Khadgar's voice. She remembered the beautiful forests, the rolling hills, the lush jungles that made up Draenor as she remembered it.
"...and that's why we're sending a number of Azeroth's greatest champions through the portal, from both the Horde and the Alliance, to combat the threat."
What? Xoi perked up, brows raised. She'd been nearly day-dreaming and was now sorry for it. What had she missed? At her side, a Night Elf huntress stood stoically, her features smooth and pretty and betraying no hint of emotion. She seemed to feel Xoinae's eyes on her and shifted her gaze to look at the mage. One long, feathery eyebrow raised in a silent question, What do you want? Xoi couldn't speak--Khadgar was still going over details with Varian and others, and she didn't dare interrupt, not even with a whisper. She flicked her eyes to Khadgar, and then back again. The huntress rolled her eyes and resumed her concentration on the Archmage. Feeling a little humiliated, Xoinae did the same, this time pushing aside memories of Draenor.
When the meeting was over, the room emptied quickly. Xoinae found herself walking alone down the long corridor that led to the keep's main entrance. Guards were posted there, and they nodded to her as she left. While she'd missed some minor details about the dangers awaiting her in Draenor, Xoinae hadn't missed the mission that she--and many others--had been given:
She was to step through the portal in a few days' time, to combat the threat of the Iron Horde. The danger of this assignment wasn't what she was focusing on, however; instead, Xoinae was wondering what it would be like to step back onto the Draenor she remembered. Chaos no doubt awaited her in the immediate future, but all she could think about was the land of her childhood, and how good it would feel to be back there once more.
As the description notes, this is an in-character blog for the character Xoinae Bela'ri, a draenei mage found on the Ravencrest-US server. This is not an RP-related blog, but rather, simply a continuation of posts following the experiences of Xoinae in Draenor. This is meant to be read as a story, but not all the posts will be in chronological order, nor should they be seen as chapters (unless otherwise noted).
In short, this is a writing exercise done by the author. Feel free to ask questions about Xoi or suggest writing prompts, if that's your thing.
(The artwork above is actually Xoinae--it was commissioned a couple of years ago and painted by the talented Riikozor on deviantART. Please do not take or alter--I own this piece, and I will take the necessary actions to punish you if you steal what is mine. kthx.)
