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A few short months ago, a messenger had arrived at the manor. The messenger was from the king of Stormwind himself. The messenger checked the directions he was given twice before knocking on the dilapidated home in the middle of Elwynn Forest. Surely he must be in the wrong area. There was no way a Warlock or a Death Knight would live in a house that looked so much of ... Nature.
The surprises continued as the door opened. A young Drainei had answered, though in honesty, the messenger wasn't the best judge of age of other races. But judging from her attire and smile, she wasn't an adventurer, and couldn't be the heroes he was sent to find.
"Yes? Can I help you Soldier?" asked the Drainei in a cheery voice. The Drainei was attractive. Her bright smile, and sunny greeting only helped to momentarily clear the messenger's mind of what he was about to say.
"I have a message for Master Bob, and Mistress Hotplate" replied the messenger, in the most authoritative tone he could muster.
The messenger saw a tiger behind her yawn, apparently bored of the entire exchange.
"I'll take it to them" answered the Drainei, extend her hand to take the missives.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but I was instructed to present the messages to them in person". said the Messenger.
"Suit yourself, come in.", the door opened wider to allow the messenger in. "My name is Huntry. Bob's in his study, and I think Hotplate is in the backyard practicing. I'll see if I can get them"
The messenger walked through the threshold. The house almost seemed bigger on the inside. It seemed ordinary, if not a little messy. There were singe marks on the drapes, some bigger than others. Simple wooden furnishings here and there. Though not ornate, the furniture was solid and strong. This was easy to notice since the large tiger "brushed" against the leg of a table, and the table didn't budge.
"Have a seat at the table", Huntry gestured towards the chair closes to the Tiger. The Messenger thought for a moment about sitting next to the Tiger, but its large fangs "encouraged" him to take a seat a few chairs down.
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A raggedy looking old man walked into the room. His beard was unkempt, his eyes sullen from too much reading, the midsection of his simple robe was tighter than on the rest of his body. To the casual observer, he looked like a simple, though somewhat curmudgeon farmer. But the messenger had been around warriors all his life, knew how they talked, knew how they walked, and knew how they entered a room. This "old man" did not walk like an old man. His gait had no limp, and was fluid, never off balance. As he entered the room, his eyes flickered around, quickly taking stock of anything, or any one, that hadn't been there before.
"You have a message for me... corporal?" asked the old man.
"Yes sir, from King Varian himself". The messenger drew closer to hand the sealed note to the old man. As he got closer to his subject, it became much clearer that this was no ordinary old man. His eyes were sharp, and burned with a fire born of service and magic.
The messenger handed the sealed envelope to Bob and waited patiently.
Bob took the message, and seeing that the messenger had no intention of leaving until it had been read, quickly broke the wax seal and opened the letter.
Huntry busied herself by "cleaning" a shelf nearby. Conveniently the position afforded her a clear view of the message. Dranei eyes are sharp. Unfortunately Huntry could only see a blank page. Bob studied the page intently. Obviously he could see something that Huntry could not.
Bob folded the missive and regarded the messenger. "Yes, two."
"Yes sir, I shall inform the King of your reply" replied the messenger, giving a quick bow. Huntry showed the messenger out.
Huntry returned to the table to find Bob re-reading the missive quietly.
"Yes to what?" asked Huntry, no longer able to contain her curiosity. Bob was never one to accept anything, especially not from a message.
"Tell Hotplate to pack her gear. Her and I are leaving at nightfall." commanded Bob. Though his voice was clear, Huntry could tell that his attention was elsewhere.
Suddenly Kragnar and Bizpit materialized between them. Bob, not surprised in the least merely commanded, "Find Onaara, tell her to drop whatever she's doing and come here". Kragnar disappeared without a reply. Bob turned to Bizpit, the usually annoying Imp was silent. He must have picked up on his master's thoughts and remained serious for once.
"Send word to the dragons, I'll need their help soon" Bizpit disppeared as quickly as Kragnar.
Huntry, frozen by the sudden activity merely stared at Bob. It was clear that Bob was worried. Again, not characteristic of the old Warlock at all.
"Ready my armor, I must consult my books before we leave. Wait for Onaara, she should arrive within the week. When she arrives, both of you follow us."
"I don't understand, where are you going? Where am I going? What's going on?" asked Huntry.
"Anduin is missing, they think the Horde has taken him" replied Bob.