Warcraft: The Shadowhand Conspiracy

[rivaan]

The forest was quiet and serene in the calm of eternal night. The wide enchantment over the entire area was powerful, but lacked in any form of pressure. It was as if nature itself wished the Moonglade to be an eternal night. Nothing seemed to bother the tired ranger as she spend time with her new animal companion in wait for their harpy friend. In the far distance an owl hooted in it's nighttime hunt. The rustle of small animals as they moved about and the occasional cry of other birds broke the almost hypnotic song of the rustling leaves that moved on the night's winds. The forest was playing it's own symphony for those who wanted to listen.

Now a good distance away from the camp the snow white harpy was busy collecting berries, edible roots and other plant based meal ingredients that could be used to survive in the wild as she was taught by her mother all the while also keeping an eye out for an unfortunate rabbit. Luck was on her side it seemed since it wasn't much into her hunt when she spotted a bundle of white fur with big ears that was napping some distance away. She got into the air and wasted no time in catching it proper bird ambusher style, but made sure for it to be a clean quick death. Just because she required it's flesh to sustain herself, didn't mean she had to prolongue the suffering. So with a bundle of edible plants and a rabbit, she decided to collect a bit more stuff, a few herbs and what not htat grew in the area before heading back.

Meanwhile back at their modest camp, a rustle in the bushes and a new presence that just suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the bushes was all the warning that Asha would get as now there in the bushes just 10 or so steps from their campfire stood out a half hidden female Kaldorei. Lean and athletic, green hair that looked like almost a mirror shine in the moonlight. She had a lot of leaves that seemed to be woven or growing in her hair and the kaldorei that had a distinctly youthful appearance to her face, seemed to stare at the blood elf and her bear cub companion like one would at something that confused you. The woman that didn't appear fisage wise any older than Naisha had been, tilted her head in confused manner before the bushes rustled once more and she stood up, gaining height as it turned out she was not a kaldorei after all. She was a dryad and she looked confusedly about the place, before her eyes settled back on Asha, her form now towered a bit over the ranger." Hello there!" Came a greeting with a voice of a young woman." What are you doing in this forest? You feel slightly Fel, but also have this calming aura of the Moon Goddess... are you..." The dryad eyes bore into Asha for a good long moment.

"... a warlock who has finally found the path of redemption and decided to forsake those evil demonic ways and turned to woship the light of Elune instead!?" And the serious and potentially dangerous atmopshere was gone and instead was replaced by that of an energetic youthling." Ohh they there, aren't you a cute one." She spoke and looked at Thas.

[Keira Kelly]

Asha was lightly playing with the fur on Thas' head as the little bear ate when something made her freeze. After the handful of years now as a Farstrider, she had developed something of the forest sense that all the Sin'dorei rangers learned and it was now telling her that she was being watched, even before she heard a telltale rustle off in the bushes. Without moving, or making it apparent that she had noticed, she listened intently, trying to judge the source. It certainly wasn't Naisha.. just the lack of exuberance told her that.... But what was it then? It had come from across the clearing. As Asha's green glowing eyes turned now towards where the sound had come from, she already had her hand on one of her swords. She would have preferred her bow here but it would take longer to ready than her swords would.

In the dark recesses past the firelight, Asha could just barely see a figure, looking at first like one of the night elves but something just wasn't quite right. As the figure started towards her, Asha stood, stepping just in front of Thas to protect him if this visitor should prove dangerous and her hand still on the hilt of her sword without making any immediately threatening movements. Her eyes widened in surprise as the figure finally emerged out of the trees and into the clearing. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she took the figure in. The top half certainly looked like a night elf but the lower half of the.. woman, was the body of a deer.

Asha's head tilted slightly in awed confusion at this thing before her for a moment before the creature spoke suddenly. She was even more taken aback by that. She had seen many creatures in her travels but nothing quite like this woman. Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment as she made to reply to what sounded like a polite but curious individual. "Greetings..." she replied slowly. "Uhh.. we, my companion and I that is, are travelling to the druids in this land, carrying dire warnings from Darkshore..." she explained in answer to the creature's first question.

The blood elf frowned at the next bit. "Fel? I have nothing to do with the Fel or with Elune." she answered in confusion as her hand finally fell away form her weapon. "And no, I am no warlock and I have no wish to worship anyone. I am a Farstrider, a ranger from Quel'Thelas, come to build peace and.. well, to fight demons now apparently." she added. "If you sense Fel though, perhaps you are picking up on the proof we have brought to present to the druids about the demonic presence in Darkshore... and my companion, who is out gathering some food, is a devotee of Elune..." she hazarded as a guess. She couldn't even fathom another reason other than that stinking satyr head for a Fel presence around.

When the creature's focus turned to Thas, the little bear let out a little call and he stood up on his hand legs for a moment, as if trying to get a bit of height to better view the tall newcomer. After a moment, he returned back to all fours and took a few steps towards the creature. Asha glanced at him worriedly, while still keeping an eye on the visitor. "Thas..." she said in a quiet warning. When he came back, she picked him up in her arms, looking back at the creature. "My name is Asha of the... Sin'dorei. And this is Thas'dorah. Who... are you?" she asked, wanting to ask 'what' instead but deciding that would be too impolite. "Is it all right that we travel these lands?" she added, wondering if maybe this was a restricted or sacred area or something. She was also beginning to worry about Naisha, somewhere out there, when there were unknown creatures out there too.

( XD Like most blood elves, Asha has no clue that her people are using fel energies to replace the sunwell stuff so she cant even understand why the dryad said anything about sensing fel on her lol )

[rivaan]

The Dryad tilted her head at Asha, in confused, thinking manner as the elven woman explained her theory as of why she was sensing the fel and the light of elune. Also what she was doing in Moonglade or rather Kalimdor in general." Hmmm..." A questioning sound was heard as silver eyes shone in the darkness and focused in the direction where a certain cut off head was hiding. The dryad stared at the spot for a good few moments, before turning her eyes back to Asha." Maybe?" Came a confused blink at her." It's possible... probably? But... feels different. Hmmm... wonder what the Lord of the Forests would have said, given his understanding and senses." She mused, eyes looking at the blood elf. The dryad could swear that something was different from the fel in whatever proof the woman was speaking about and what was on her... in her? At least the energies of Elune seemed to be hard at work on dealing with that as much as possible. Maybe the companion used the light of Elune on the ranger for one reason or another? Well it wasn't a bad thing per say, so...

"Aren't you just the cutest." She said to the lil bear that was appoarching. He was just the right size to be cuddly. Maybe he was a smaller breed or he was just born smaller than the average, but the cub was absolutely adorable and the Dryad was rather sad when Thas pulled back into Asha's arms. She really wanted to hold and play with him too!

"Ohh where are my manners! Minn'do would be so disappointed!" The Dryad exlcaimed in alarm." I just got so curious by what I sensed that all decorum slipped my mind! My name's Calliope. I'm a dryad! My and my sisters and brothers' task is to defend the wilds from all evils that seek to defile them!" She greeted Asha and introduced herself." Yes, the Moonglade is neutral ground for all who wish to walk upon it's soils as long as they do not seek to do harm." The dryad explained and nodded her head." Well I just came to check out whom it was that was camping in this part of the glade since I felt the Fel and something really familiar... Felt presence and energy that I've only felt back home and if I didn't know better, I would have said tha you've met my..." The dryad's speech was interrupted by a screetch as a white blur descended from on high between Calliope and Asha. Naisha had arrived, all her feathers puffed up in hostile manner , two rabbits held in her claws.

"Back off from Asha, she isn't doing anybody... harm..." Naisha blinked at the dryad who blinked right back." CALI!/ISHA!" Both exclaimed as the duo suddenly tackled each other or more like Naisha ran at the drayd who did the same and picked up the harpy before begining to spin her around in jolly nad happy manner.

"Naisha, I haven't seen you since you began traveling alone! I thought you were in Darkshore!" The dryad exclaimed, seeminly completely forgetting the Asha was present, mind occupied eslewhere.

"I had an adventure! We found satyrs in Auberdine! Saved Asha from being set up! We fought satyrs and evil warlocks after that. Figured the druids here will help with the satyrs and help with clearing Asha's name!" Naisha replied and the dryad stared at her impassively for a bit, before recalling Asha and slowly turning to look at her again.

"Why don't you explain...? 'Isha's not very good at explanations." She stated, making Naisha exclaim in protest." But if she helped you, then you should be a good sort. Naisha has a real good eye for people. If she doesn't like somebody, it's usually good idea to keep an eye on them. Now what's this I hear about Satyrs? What did those traitors did again?"

[Keira Kelly]

Asha was at a loss at the doubt on the visitor's face as to her possible explanation of the Fel influence. What else could it be? Asha, as far as she knew, had had no other contact with Fel anything in her life. With a sigh, she mentally shrugged it off, though she wished the woman-creature-thing would stop staring at her in so unnerving a way. With Thas in her arms like some big, furry baby, she looked back at the visitor, wondering what the creature really wanted. She didn't miss the look of disappointment at Thas being called away but, without knowing anything about this other being, not even a name yet, and in enemy territory as far as she was concerned, Asha was on the defensive at the moment.

Asha's lips parted slightly, just enough to expose the hint of her elfish fanged teeth, in realization as to what this creature was. A dryad. She had heard vague mention of these dryads before.. very vague mention even lacking in appearance. Only that they were connected with the natural world somehow. Sort of the opposite of the satyrs in some ways. They were about life and nature whereas the satyrs were about corruption of just that. "A pleasure to meet you, Calliope." she replied, still not totally at ease but relieved at least a bit at knowing what this person was.

As she listened to the dryad continue on talking, suddenly a white blur jumped between them with an unholy screech. Asha jumped back, keeping a hold of Thas with one hand but already had one of her swords out with the other. It only took a moment though to realize that the white blur had been Naisha executing an ambush to defend herself and Thas. The words that followed from the harpy confirmed that. She was about to tell Naisha that it was all right when both the harpy and the dryd suddenly screamed out each others' names in seeming joy.

Asha could only stand there, slack jawed as she watched what appeared to be a very long-awaited reunion. She took that opportunity as the two began to speak to each other to replace her sword in its scabbard. When Asha's name was brought up, the dryad finally seemed to recall the Blood Elf standing in the background of the clearing, and glanced over again. Asha gave a lazy half-wave in reply.

"Ah..." Asha began at being asked to explain. She shrugged off the supposed compliment at being judged a good person by Naisha. She wasn't here after compliments. "That proof I told you about, to show the druids." she answered. "We have the head of the satyr who set me up to be blamed for the murder of a priestess of Elune back in Auberdine." she explained. "They murdered her while using magic to look like me even though I was the one giving chase to that rat. They arrested me and... Naisha here was kind enough to help me escape to give me a chance to prove my innocence."

She frowned. "On our travels north though, we ran across a large force including another satyr and warlocks, maybe some sort of cult that was working with the satyr to try to corrupt northern Darkshore." She fidgeted uneasily. "Even I could feel the Fel growing there...." She trailed off, a worried look passing across her face. She remembered now that the Fel there had been strong, bad.... but there had been a hint of something.. familiar? Could that tie into what this dryad had said? No, no.. there was no way. Why would Fel feel at all familiar? There was no way it was anything. It must be her imagination.

She shook it off. "Anyways, like I said, we are heading to the druids here to ask for help with the small army of warlocks and satyrs gathering there. I couldn't go back to Auberdine to give the warning; it wouldn't be believed from an 'escaped murderer'..." she said with frustration, "but maybe the druids here will believe us, especially if we show them the head of this satyr we killed." she concluded. "Maybe they can do something to help with the fight against the corruption back there."

[rivaan]

Naisha proudly stuck her chest out at Asha's retelling of the story of how the two had met. Which turned into a bit of a twitch and nervousness when the dryad stared at her with even eyes." You HELPED her escape from prison?" Cali asked, earning a nod from the harpy." Very well then. Good job!" And that was that apparently. The dryad seemed content with that explanation for whatever reason. In actuality, Cali knew Naisha well enough that she'd not do it if she wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. That and the dryad had never really ventured inside a prison so she was honestly more curious how htey actually acomplished it than why it was acomplished.

"Yes! It was very weird, and scary!" Naisha chirped when Ashe retold the loose events at Darkshore." There was the tower, and some weird tentacly things in the spirit world it felt like and then there was a hole through my chest when the satyr attacked me and then everything was gray and there was a vortex in the sky and it was sucking me in and..mmmhmhhhhmm!" Naisha's rapid speech was suddenly halted when a pale purple hand was placed on her mouth, muffling her voice.

"Nai, calm down, remember your Minn'do's words. Deep breaths, say only the things of importance one at a time." The dryad told the excitable harpy that had gotten out of control and Naisha visibly deflated for a moment, before inflating as she took a really deep breath. Possibly deeper than most humanoids could. She nodded and the dryad pulled her hand away.

"Yes... there's a corrupted tower in Darkshore as Asha said. Cultists, corruption visibile in the spirit world! The Wildkin showed us." This earned a nod from the dryad again and Naisha continued." Think we can convince the druids to help? I said to Asha that they will!"

"The druids here will certainly be interested in helping. After all technically the only thing separating Moonglade from Darkshore is the mountain and nobody wants another source of corruption around here. Felwood is hard enough to contain and if corruption's spreading unnoticed in Darkshore then there's some serious plotting going on by the enemy." She looked at the place of the Satyr heads and made a face of utter and absolute disgust." In any case... the druids should help you. At least they will dispatch people to help the wildkin in the area and see if htey can root out the corruption there. Which is probably the reason for the weird deseases spreading among hte animals in the area. We've had quite the issues with taking care of many as we could last I hear. Hmm very well, I will show you the most direct way to the enclave in the morning. THough now that that's settled... 'hole through my chest', Naisha? Does your Minn'do know?"

Naisha visibly paled if that was even possible considering how snowwhite she was to begin with." I seem to recall that you were allowed to travel on your own under the condition that you stay as far away from anything dangerous as possible...?" And the dryad was back on menacing the poor Naisha that had apparently broken a lot of conditions to her solo adventures since the day she helped Asha out of prison. Then she hugged the poor harpy." You silly, I'm just glad you are alright. Promise me no trips to the spirit world from now on."

"I promise." Naisha quietly promised as she was let go and she plopped down on the ground, still holding hte duo of rabits in her hands." Look Asha, I got dinner!" She held the duo of bunnies by their ears in front of the elf. The poor thigns were still very much alive if in a magical sleep. The dryad just smiled at the antics of her friend and pulled the bunnies off Naisha's hands, earning an angry sqawk!

"You know the rulers... hunters shouldn't prolongue the prey's suffering. You are still keeping them asleep!" The dryad's arms gently glowed for a moment in a forest green light as teh two bunnies stopped breathing in their sleep.

"Hey, I had a gut feeling something was happening at the camp and forgot!"

[Keira Kelly]

Asha's expression turned to one of pained amusement as Naisha decided to continue with the explanation of events, turning it into a rapid maze of words that even the blood elf, having lived through those events, had trouble following. She couldn't help to laugh, though, when the dryad stopped her with a hand over the harpy's mouth. Once Naisha was able to make her point in a more understandable format though, Asha was very interested in what Calliope's thoughts were on the matter. She was happy to hear that the dryad was pretty sure that the druids would not turn them away.

She nodded in response to what the dryad was saying about the druids. "That's what we are hoping: that because the corruption is so close and threatens other areas, that the druids would be quicker to act that many of the Kal'dorei back there seem to be. I've heard that many refuse to believe there is trouble." she explained as she watched the dryad take in the severed satyr head. She nodded again. "We are pretty sure that is indeed the source of the corruption of the wildlife there... I've seen similar back south of my home, where the scourge had travelled and blighted the lands." she added.

Asha smiled at Naisha's sudden change of topic, amused at the harpy defying parental 'orders'. She glanced over at the dryad. "Sometimes a child must learn the dangers first hand before they can truly understand where the lines are.. and what their own abilities are." she said knowingly. "I know I needed to." she added with a shrug and rubbing a hand over her neck/shoulder junction where some of the scars were just visible from under her clothing. "Probably better off though as she isn't learning that all on her own. At the end of the day though, she earned what understanding she has gotten from it by doing something noble and vital. Maybe worth the risks, hm?" she asked, glancing back at Naisha. She hoped that while she still travelled with Naisha, she could help the harpy learn the right lessons from such dire situations, as she had herself.

She turned back to focus on the two rabbits that Naisha had brought in. Something... didn't seem right about them. There was too much muscle tone to the bodies even if they weren't moving.... The dryad got to them first and the sudden noise that Calliope emitted made Asha jump. Asha's jaw dropped. She frowned, both at the idea of making the rabbits sleep and then how the dryad took their lives. Sure, it was humane and quick but.. all of it just seemed so... unsporting. It was one thing to land a nice arrow but.. to use magic like this to kill? It just didn't seem right to Asha. She, herself, did use some magic for combat but not for hunting defenceless animals. That did not really honour the animal giving up its life. It did not respect the animal's sacrifice. But.. she would be outnumbered here apparently, so she kept it to herself for now.

She held out her hands to take the two, now-dead, rabbits from the dryad and then proceeded to sit down near the fire, taking out one of her blades and began to get the rabbits ready to cook. As she did, she glanced over at the dryad. "Calliope... would you know if there are any moonwells nearby?" she asked, feeling that hunger within for something other than food. "If so, would we be allowed to approach one?" If she could sate herself enough just being near one for a brief time, and not have to rely on her dwindling supply of mana crystals, all the better.

[rivaan]

"I've heard tales of what the scourge did to your lands from the survivors who fought with us at Hyjal." Cali nodded." It caused issues here also when the forces of the demons arrived after the orc and human expeditions, but it was never that far spread, thank Cenarius. Though our issues began after Hyjal when the lingering sources of corruption instead began to fester and grow." The dryad grumbled, still nodding." Some of my sisters and brothers had expressed desire to travel over the ocean to those far distant lands and see if we can begin healing small pockets of the lands and forests there, however we never seem to have enough time or people free. We aren't that many to begin with and many fell in the war. Without our father to oversee the forests of Kalimdor, we cannot in good mind leave these lands in big enough numbers unless we begin dealing with the issues present in Northern Kalimdor first. That and well neither the Alliance or the Horde seem to be able to settle their disputes and tensions and we'd need permission from both." The dryad explained and sighed.

Naisha was nodding energetically at Asha's words, causing the dryad to sigh." You do know that your Minn'do will have your hide for this despite learning a lesson, right?" Cali stated, ennjoying hte look of mild fear that ran through Naisha's face. It was fun teasing the little birdie.

"I... know it's dangerous. Since I began traveling with Asha after leaving Auberdine, I've seen a lot of danger, things that were lurking right there in plain sight that we've never looked at. I've fought and killed, but... I know now. The world's a dangerous place and you need to be ready to struggle to survive... I couldn't hide behind Minn'do's skirt forever... " Naisha said solemnly." I want to be like her and help people out in the world... I know she's afraid I will meet my end like my oldest sisters whom I've never met, but still. I helped Asha... and the owlkin... and if we help the druids see the danger, it would help many others. Minn'do will understand... after she has my hind." Naisha replied in an extremely honest, but certain way. There weren't many times when she had been punished or spanked for being a bad child. It wasn't the priestesses' way. However she rememebred in very precise way the only time she had been spanked by her mother. She had been very young and not even a summer in her care and had tried to play with a knife and instead cut herself real bad. She had never seen a knife with the harpies so never grew to understand the danger. Her mother healed her, then proceeded to spank her something fierce with tears in her eyes.

The dryad sighed and nodded, patting Naisha on the head." You've grown indeed." Calliope stated calmly, earning herself a hug from Naisha. With that over with she looked at hte ranger in studying eyes when the other woman had mentioned one of the Moonwells." There are Moonwells here in Moonglade, though to be honest the place's saturated more than enough with ambient magical energies if you stay here for enough time to get a feel for them, seeing's the energies of the Emerald Dream are mostly the ones at play. Still if you wish to get near a Moonwell without causing issues, you should be able to get near the one in the village where the druids live. Though if you wish, I could probably form a bundle of energies for you right now if it's about that hunger that your kind seems to have developepd nowdays. It wasn't that prominent during the battle of Hyjal, but I've heard the tales since."

[Keira Kelly]

Asha's butchering of the rabbits slowed to a halt at the mention of her homeland and what had happened. Staring down at her bloody hands brought back the memories fresh once again and she had to forcefully push her mind away from it. She slowly shook her head. "There is corruption all the way from Quel'Danas, in the most north of Quel'Thalas, all the way south, nearly to the Hinterlands, and even further south further to the west. It spans the continent there from east to west coast... The numbers it would take to cure that land...." she trailed off, her voice betrayed her resignation.

"And that is even without mentioning there are still mindless walking dead roaming those lands. Some of it has been reclaimed by both us, and the Forsaken, those undead who managed to reclaim themselves from the Lich King, has retaken some of Lordaeron and are prepared to push into the lands to the East, but it will not be easy." she explained. "While any help would have been greatly appreciated, we understand all too well the reality of dealing with an overwhelming problem with very limited numbers, now more than ever before..." She glanced up at the dryad, her eyes mirroring the sad resignation but gave a sad smile. "Even if you were able to travel there to help, I am not sure that you would have the numbers to do anything significant. We are so few that even in the past six or seven years, we have only managed to reclaim barely half of our capital city.. and little else." she added, forcing herself to finally going back to preparing the rabbits.

She listened as Naisha spoke, the harpy talking about having lost siblings out in the world. Asha drew a heavy breath. "Being at home, behind walls, and guards and culture... doesn't promise safety either." she agreed. "My parents, my six brothers and sisters.. all the rest of my family.. they were all at home. They all lived and worked in the city of Silvermoon. None were soldiers and every single one.. of them..." Her eyes clenched tight for a moment in pain. "I was the black sheep of the family who decided to go out and learn how to fight.. I am the only one who still lives..." she said, the tone betraying the emotion she tried to rein in. She looked up, her green eyes flicking between the other two. "I lived, at least in part, because I chose more than the sheltered life behind walls and houses that the rest of my family chose. That most of my people chose. There are no assurances in this life so isn't it better to learn to be able to.. perhaps have a chance to direct the course of a life-threatening situation?"

Asha felt a wave of relief to hear that they were not too far from one and that it was where they were headed. What she didn't expect was that the dryad knew about the problem that the Sin'dorei now suffered from since the lost of the Sunwell. It was not something that her people were keen to admit to outsiders. It was a weakness if nothing else. Her brow drew down to meet together in the middle as she frowned. A quick glance towards Naisha, to judge what the harpy was perhaps picking up from this, before looking back at Calliope. "You.. know about it?" she asked hesitantly. "It is not something we.. like to advertise..." She paused, grinding her teeth softly as she glanced away for a moment, before turning back. "We are.. were children of arcane magical energies. The loss of our Sunwell to corruption, making it unusable to us, only too graphically illustrated how much we relied on it." she explained. "We have very little to nothing to fall back on now to sate the new.. Hunger that its absence causes. We lost too many to the Scourge, but once we lost the Sunwell... many of the few survivors of that withered and died without access to new arcane energies."

She made a face, gesturing towards her pack nearby. "I have a few remnants of relics to help sustain me but.. it's a bandage over a wound that does not seem to heal. I wish to cause no issue to any moonwells, just be near enough them to feel the energies. To have them help sustain me for at least the short time they do, as they last longer than my mana crystals I brought from home." she explained. "We lost the Sunwell shortly before battle at Hyjal but it did take some time for the effects to become apparent." she replied, filling in that gap for the dryad.

With a skeptical look, she frowned slightly. "What.. sort of energies can you form?" she asked. "I assume it would be much the same as my mana crystals or something? Would it be a similar form of energy to that of a moonwell?" she added as she skewered the two rabbits and put them over the fire. If it was either of those two, she knew it would be usable though fairly short lived. What she could take from a mana crystal would last.. perhaps a day or two, while being near a moonwell might sate her for a handful of days, but in the end, the Hunger would come back. What she needed though was arcane magic and she had no idea of what kind Calliope was offering.

[rivaan]

"I do, I've remained in contact with one of the Sin'Dorei who fought at Mount Hyjal. They mentioned it in one of their letters when it began manifesting." Calliope replied calmly, looking at Asha." The Kaldorei were in a similar situation to your kind during the War of the Ancients, though back then it didn't continue for long enough for them to manifest such bad effects." The Dryad explained." I wasn't born back then, but I've sisters who were and they told me about it when I asked them. Back then it was before your people and the kaldorei split and all of them were tied deeply to the Well of Eternity in the way your people were to the Sunwell. So it's not hte first time this has happened, it's just that the previous time luck was on the side of Azeroth."

Naisha who was also listening, looked at Calliope with curiosity, tilting her head innocently." What does this mean with the World Tree in such damaged state because of the last war at Hyjal though? I know that mother and all Kaldorei lost touch with the purified energies that came from the tree. Which also affects their longevity, but would mom and the others develop such Arcane hungers too now?" She asked, honestly curious about this.

"Not quite as far as we are aware." The dryad shook her head in reply." As far as we are aware, the tree under the Aspects' blessings and the careful management of the Wild, purified all energies that the Kaldorei would have normally gotten from the well at Hyjal. The purified energies ensured the Kaldorei with endless longevity without the same dependency that the Kaldorei of old or the Sin'Dorei experienced. The Kaldorei nowdays have had millenias to have hteir bodies completely clean from the raw Arcane energies that caused their dependence. With the Tree currently not working as intended, the nightelves will simply return to their natural lifespans as it should be, nothing else should happen."

"As for an answer to your question, Asha, I'm capable of collecting and creating both arcane and nature energies. In fact I think for you it would be best to go with a mixture of both. What, just because the Kaldorei swore off the Arcane, doesnt' mean all of us have. We Dryads are innately magical beings, our most famous ability is the one that allows us to use our own arcane magics to completely breakdown other arcane energies, making us immune to any and all spells should we wish to." The dryad explained.

"It's very good ability!" Naisha quipped from the side." IT allowed us to set up all sorts of pranks in protected areas without triggering any of the magical defenses or warning spells! Since it was usually Minn'do that led our pranking adventures, we never got caught or in much trouble. As for the Moonwells, Asha, those contain waters from the second Well of Eternity on Hyjal. They are very in tune with nature magics and the energy of Elune, likely as an effect of the purifying by the World Tree. It is why we make use of them and revere them so! The waters of the Moonwell, are miraculous and have incredible healing properties that Elune gave them, so we can use them to heal ourselves and the defenders of Azeroth, no matter who they are."

[Keira Kelly]

Asha listened impassively as the conversation passed from Calliope to Naisha and back, hiding her sour thoughts. Even if not intended that way, to her it sounded as if yet again her people were being blamed for the addiction. Yes, they needed the arcane energies, but that was not just by her own people's choice. It had been all of the Kaldorei that had been linked to the arcane... Ambitious people had made stupid choices which had led to catastrophe but Asha's forbears had enough sense to realize that it hadn't been the arcane well itself that was so dangerous but choices made by people to do stupid and dangerous things.

There was nothing wrong with using the arcane itself. When the Quel'dorei had been exiled though... they had had no choice but find a replacement to the Well of Eternity in the Sunwell. It was hard enough to found a new civilization on another continent without having to find a way to power their society and avoid the loss of the dependence on the energies their people would have suffered. Even now, when it was so vitally important to cure, there seemed to be no hope in sight. At least her people had merely used the arcane energy for support, rather than trying to upend the natural order and grasp onto immortality that wasn't meant for mortals.

She schooled herself, pushing away all the internal annoyance she had, nodding at Calliope's suggestion. "A mixture of that would be fine. I would be grateful." she answered. "What magic I can wield thanks to Farstrider training is a mixture of both anyways." she explained. She almost sighed in relief, giving a bit of a smile at hearing the dryads had nothing against arcane magic, unlike the Kaldorei. She gave a bit of a nod. "It is nice to hear finally from one outside of my own people that Arcane is not evil. It merely is. Any power can be used or misused but that is at the hand of the practitioner, not the magic itself, right?" she asked rhetorically. "Well, with the exception of Fel, of course..." she added.

She turned suddenly at Naisha's input, arching one very, very long eyebrow at the harpy, surprised at the sudden mention of pranks in relation to the conversation. She hmphed to herself as she thought back on her own childhood. "You know, I probably would have been good at pulling pranks... but I never remained in the city any longer than I had to when I was younger... and pulling pranks on a bear or a lynx aren't the best of ideas." she said with a laugh. "Though.. there were most definitely other children of nobles around who sorely deserved some pranks..." She leaned a little bit towards the other two, almost conspiratorially. "I once heard Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner herself was something of a prankster..." She trailed off, about to repeat a story she had overheard Ranger Lord Lor'themar speak of once but stopped herself, the loss of her leader and childhood hero still being raw.

She frowned slightly at Naisha's mention of the moonwells. "There are a few moonwells back home as well.. or what used to be a part of Quel'Thalas. To the south, what we now call the Ghostlands, there used to be on there... though since the Scourge came, we have been mostly cut off from it. I hear there are Kaldorei there that guard it from all, including us." she replied. She sighed. "I am sure that if the moonwells were capable of curing my people, the one there or elsewhere would have been sought out already to see, even if we had to fight to get there." she explained. "And yes they do heal, but.. I am far more dubious that they would be able to do anything for this affliction in the long term..." she added as she checked on the cooking rabbits.

She sat back again, noting that the rabbits needed more time to cook, as she stared off into the flames. "Besides, if nothing else, even if the moonwells worked, it would take much.. much time to... 'purify' the energies as you put it. Eventually I do have to return to my people though." she said slowly. "I have... duties, both in protecting my people and... well, the Sin'dorei need every individual left now." she added with a sigh, thinking of the crumpled letter in her pack. She glanced over at Naisha, her green eyes glowing. "I am not going to run off and abandon you like you said you feared, not tomorrow or anything but remaining near a moonwell here to 'purify myself', could take... months, years... perhaps longer. I cannot be away for that long...." she said in a pained tone.