Felwood Chronicles, Episode One

Less-Than Good First Impressions

Multack shivered as he stepped through the invisible veil which cut the Felwood off from the surrounding Kaldorei lands. It wasn’t cold or fear, but a darker force which he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Anxiety? Too subtle. Was it dread? Dread was too similar to fear to fit the bill. It was something unnatural, yet completely natural all at once. It overwhelmed his sixth sense.

Ignoring the chilling presence about the area, he continued his course for the Cenarion Circle’s small post- consisting of only several buildings- ahead. Contemplating his decision to leave the Eastern Kingdoms and Order for the umpteenth time, Multack pondered about his future now that he was here. When, if at all, would he return? What characters would he meet, if any, during his time here? Where would he start, now that he was nigh alone in this forsaken forest?

He brushed it aside as he neared the Sanctuary. One curve down the beaten path and he’d be in sight of the entire “town”. In truth, the Emerald Sanctuary was nothing more than a building and tent or two, but at the moment Multack didn’t care. He just wanted to get in, heal some flowers (or something to that effect), and get out. Unfortunately, the only way he could presently do that, would be to seek aid of a druid- a druid that was accustomed to the corrupt nature of the Felwood, and could harness it properly.

The only person he’d met before who could use this twist of magic was a night elf member of the Argent Dawn, named Rayne. But she was stationed in the Plaguelands, and, at the moment, that was a continent away. He needed the aid of a druid here, in the Felwood.

Thinking about it, the only reason he was here was because he’d picked up that dreadful sword- Bloodmourne- those weeks ago. Without pausing to think of the consequences, he’d claimed the sword which his enemy had previously owned, not in the least suspecting of its darker properties and intent. Runeblade as it was, Bloodmourne’s runes were simply ones of deceit and corruption- not of power. He had been lied to by it, and how idiotic he must have been, thinking on it now, to have fallen for the trick.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he returned his thoughts to the matter at hand- getting in, healing some flowers or something, and getting back out. He stared unblinking at the four buildings that made up the ‘settlement’.

“It’s not much, but give us slack. It’s an, er… frontier town, one could say.”Multack blinked in surprise at the voice and turned his head to the left to see a rather short night elf woman standing nearby, watching him as if watching a child play. “It’s a bit… small.”

The night elf smiles. “Small as it may be, it provides what it must. Shelter, fire, and food. That’s all we need to live out here in the Felwood.” She purses her lips slightly, as if annoyed, at the end of the sentence, but after a moment smiles again. “I’m Ivy. I believe you’re the man who we’ve been expecting?”Multack coughs quietly, clearing his throat, and nods. The night elf, Ivy, nods in reply. “Good. Fresh meat for the grinder, then. We’ll start with sending you to the Timbermaw Hold for diplomatic negotiations.”Resisting the sudden urge to display fearful surprise, Multack looks back from one of the nomadic tauren tents at Ivy, disappointment set in his face like stone. Smiling again, the night elf shakes her head. “By Elune, you humans’ll believe anything. You going to start by picking flowers or killing squirrels?” Multack remains confused. “I… I’m not… I don’t…”

Ivy rolls her eyes at him. “Oh, just hush up and talk to Kelek over there.” She points at a male night elf sitting on a tree stump on the edge of the fray of buildings, slowly carving away at a chunk of wood with a pocket knife. Multack glances at “Kelek”, then back at Ivy, and nods. “Thank you.” She shrugs in response. Looking back at Kelek, Multack sighs, and makes his way over to him. Somehow, he thought, I think this is going to take a long time.

Kelek looks up from his wood carving at Multack. He sets his wood and knife down near the foot of the stump and rolls his shoulders. Afterwards, he cracks his knuckles, and yawns. “Welcome to your worst nightmare, boy.” Multack coughs, “Er, I’ve been in worse situations than this.”

Kelek smiled. “Have you now? Well, then, I guess we can skip basic training. Block and counterattack.” As Multack opened his mouth to speak in retaliation, Kelek tossed a handful of seeds (which he had obtained seemingly out of nowhere) at his face. As the grain sprinkled over his skin and eyes, it began to burn and sting horribly. The fact that Kelek had grown huge roots around his legs to bind him in place, didn’t help either. Thinking about it, neither did the fact that a ball of greenish-blue electricity had just rammed itself into his chest. He wanted to fall over, but the roots around his legs and gut prevented him from doing so.

“Well, boy, for having been in worse situations, you’re pretty bad at this, aren’t you.”

Suddenly the roots fell off of Multack and slithered back into the ground. Gritting his teeth and clawing at the remaining grain sticking to his face, Multack replies, “Hah, hah. Very, very funny, I really do admit. Can we please do something productive now, instead of making fun of my inability to see into the future?”

Multack straightens his back (after having hunched over), Kelek beating him back down with a stick as he nears a normal stance again. “No. A druid needs to be able to predict. For that is what our art is, no?”

Grunting lowly, Multack takes a large step back and straightens up quickly. “I’m not a druid, Kelek, nor do I intend to become one.” Kelek sneers, “Oh, then why are you speaking to me, boy?”

“Because I’ve been told you’re the one who trains druids here.” Kelek nods, “That would be correct, but, if you’re not hopeful in learning our ways, I ask again, why are you speaking to me?” Multack sighs sadly, “Because I was told you could help me.”

“And who told you this?” Multack raises his left arm up and jabs a single thumb behind him. “Some ‘Ivy’ person. I don’t know.”Kelek raises a brow at Multack. Blinking, and turning around, Multack sees Ivy standing not far away, watching with an amused expression on her face, and leaning against a post. Looking back at Kelek glumly, Multack sighs. “Okay. What do you want.”

Kelek thrusts a fist up. Multack leaps to his right, and tosses a ball of conjured plague at Kelek as a ray of searing moonlight strikes the spot he stood at a moment ago. Kelek clenches his right hand into a fist, and immediately it glows a soft emerald color. He opens the fist, hand still glowing, and catches Multack’s spell in it, closing it immediately afterwards and snuffing it out like a fire. He waves his hand off to cast away the glow, which it does, and speaks. “That would be impressive, if you were a whelp.”

Annoyed, Multack sighs in frustration and repeats himself. “What, do you want, from me.”

Kelek sneers again, “I want you to toughen up and train just like anybody else would to be a druid.”

Multack frowns, “I’m not, nor do I, again, intend to be, a druid!”

Nodding, Kelek responds, “I know. That is why I won’t be teaching you.”

In his surprise, Multack blinks and steps back. “Y- wha-?”

Kelek nods, “I know too much of strict druidism to teach you in what you seek to know. Ivy is much less knowledgeable than I on such things, and can instruct you much more clearly on how to fight, and heal.”

Multack’s right eye twitches once. He glumly turns around again, to see Ivy staring at Kelek. She looks shocked and annoyed. Looking back at Kelek, Multack raises his right brow, “Er… I’m not sure if…”

Cutting him off, Kelek quickly speaks, “I am sure. Ivy will teach you the basics of how to heal the demonic corruption of the Felwood, and how to fight. Your plagueshiftry does not interest, amuse, nor gladden me, and so I am unable to teach you.” Multack narrows his eyes, “And how, tell me, did you know I search for a plagueshifter?” Kelek looks disdainfully at Multack, “You threw an orb of undeath at me, necromancer.”

Multack sighs. Oh yes, he thinks, this is going to take a very, long, time.

((Heh, Mult got pwnownstomped))

((Not the last time in this storyline either.))

((Soo...Mult and Ivy...they going to get alittle funkY?, Like the capitalized Y? ))

((*Posts second episode.*))