nerai

With a foothold in Silvermoon City and Eitrigg taking care of the heavy lifting, Ezra has turned his attention elsewhere for a time. With a ritual circle open on one of the rare untapped places of power still available in Eversong Woods, the mage casts his telepathic communion spell and reaches out to contact the mind of the tauren shaman, Kagarn.

Saeren's eyes flutter open to the blurred sight of a white-robed dwarf bending over her. She's lying in a cot inside a tent - apparently the field hospital on the Maker's Terrace. Her right arm and left hip are still throbbing where the rifle balls struck them. "How are ye feelin', lass?" asks the dwarven priest.

With Angor Fortress contained, the Maker's Terrace is clear of opposing Dark Iron forces; a regiment of Ironforge riflemen hold the valley at the head of the Uldaman excavation.

A chest wound is one of the quickest ways to bring down a foe, but in the presence of a skilled shaman, it is not necessarily fatal; and Gerstahn was far too valuable a prisoner to pass up.

In the war room of Light's Hope chapel, Tyrosus has a map of Stratholme laid out on the table. "This is what we know about the disposition of Scourge and Crusade forces," he says, placing tokens on the map. "The Crusade maintains a blockade here, in Crusader's Square. Naturally, the Scourge holds the rest of Stratholme, but their stronghold is here, on the northern end of the city."

Sitting in Eecee, watching the Scarlet Crusade prisoners, Nerai was idly fiddling with the control surfaces of Eecee. The goblin's hands twitched over the various knobs and dials, all the while muttering under the breath, "50 quarks.. 25 degrees.. no no no.. time to oil.. " As if a dancer and singer, performing a ballet expressed only in chrome and steel.

The quarantine cells at the Scarlet Monastery are as comfortable as regular quarters - the mattresses are thin but clean, as are the sheets. The bars and locks are the only sign that the occupants are not fully trusted to have the run of the Monastery.

It is only mere hours after Nerai returns to the Defiant that a messenger brings a note addressed to her. The note reads: "I must speak with you on a matter that concerns your friends. Come alone, or if you do not, ensure that your friends are not seen." There are directions to a mausoleum in the great Graveyard near Brill. The note is simply signed with an M and a stylized gear.

The Sepulcher of Silverpine was once nothing more than a common graveyard. However, most of its original population was removed to fight for the Scourge during the Third War - some of which regained their free will and returned to dwell there as Forsaken.