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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:32:17 GMT -5
2nd Life, Week the 47th
I only stayed in Stormwind a few days. I studied a few new spells, but mostly I spent my time looking up binding techniques. I was unable to find anything that might help in looking for a specific demon. Most demons of the same species have the same capabilities, so it doesn’t really matter which one you use – at least that is the common attitude among warlocks. They’re demons, no one cares. So a first binding of a species simply sends out a searching spell for a demon of that type and then binds it – it’s why warlocks never know the name of the demon until they actually summon it.
All I can say is that the lore we have was singularly unhelpful. It is beginning to look as though I’m going to have to start experimenting with my spells in order to get anything accomplished. I copied down everything that might be useful into a separate notebook so I can at least continue my studies while I am out exploring.
My next stop is the Badlands.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:33:07 GMT -5
2nd Life, Week the 48th
The Badlands are full of researchers and archaeologists. Apparently there are quite a lot of Titan artifacts and buildings in this area, and so of course they want to study them. It is actually somewhat amusing to see the Horde researchers fighting with the Alliance ones over who gets to study a carving or relic.
I have been working quite closely with one Rhea, who is actually a red dragon. It is my first time meeting a dragon – at least one that admitted it, so I can’t be sure I have not met any before. In any case, she is studying the black dragonflight. Her methods are slightly… questionable, but she assures me that they are simply trying to find a way to cleanse the black flight, or at least to create a future generation of uncorrupted drakes. Considering what the black dragonflight has done to the reds – as well as the entire rest of the world – I can’t say I really blame her for not caring too much about the subjects of her tests.
So far we have managed to create what looks to be a promisingly corruption-free drake egg. The black flight is up in arms over it though… they do not seem to appreciate our efforts.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:33:54 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 1st
Enchantment worked. Dying hurts.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:35:31 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 5th
I did not have a chance to write again until just now. So far everything has been much the same as my first two – lives, I guess I will call them. I have done my best to prevent as many deaths as I can, but I am unable to reveal my knowledge of the future without consequences. I tried to warn Liam in my last life of his impending death… it did not go very well. At first he thought I was expressing romantic feelings for him, of all things. He eventually concluded, despite my best efforts, that I was drunk.
This time, I have been expressing my warnings more carefully… as well as much more vaguely. Liam is still as reckless as ever though. I do not think he really understands that the danger is real for him as well as everyone else. He knows it is, but he still doesn’t understand that it is.
Another danger is the fact that I can still cast the spells I have already learned. I accidentally cast a bane on an enemy out of habit, very early on, but fortunately no one saw. I cannot simply run around casting spells that even Vitus does not know yet – I do not know what would happen but I do not think it would be pleasant.
I think my new imp, Piznar, knows that I have the ability to command him, and is wondering why I am not. He keeps sending glances my way, like he expects orders. He is also incredibly respectful, unlike my first two imps. I am worried that he will give me away, but there isn’t much that I can do right now.
I asked my father and brother to be careful, but there has been no sign of them in this life. Perhaps I shall ask Vitus if he knows anything in one of our “training” sessions, where he teaches me things I already know. (At least he is happy that I am a fast learner.)
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:36:34 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 7th
I have been trying to figure out why I died. I mean, I know why I died… but I think that I could have survived had I been more careful. There isn’t much you can do when there are fifteen dragon whelps chasing you though. They even broke through my sacrificial shield.
I think the problem is that I tried to head straight through them, instead of looking for the best path. Then, after too many of them noticed me, I ran but ended up trapped in a blind canyon... It was not like my first death, where I know I cannot survive – I think if I scouted out the area first I could make it. I will need to remember that when I am back working for Rhea again.
Everything seems to be much weaker than before. I know they are not, so perhaps it is just I that am more skilled.
…It has only just occurred to me that I should have raided my father’s library before I left to see if there was anything that might help me. I will see if I can’t find a way to quickly go back to the house when we attempt to take the city from the Forsaken.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:37:18 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 8th
I have bound a new voidwalker, but… I simply cannot bring myself to summon it. I know I will have to eventually but it is highly likely that it will neither be Jhazvhug nor even Nakky.
I am going to delay that disappointment as long as possible.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:37:51 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 9th
I am looking forward to the ceremony to restore balance. I do not truly mind my worgen form anymore – after all, my senses are much sharper, and I am stronger and faster. It is ideal for combat, tracking, and heavy labor, and makes many things easier. But I find that I miss my human form for delicate tasks, such as handling money, assessing goods, or writing in this journal.
It is hard not to give people the answers they seek when I know them. But I have to remember that ordinarily I would not. I will try my best to act surprised if I need to.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:38:38 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 10th
It is so good to be able to switch forms again. I tried before the ceremony a few times… I could almost feel my human form, but it was just too difficult to actually change. Perhaps if I had more practice I would not need the ceremony for it, but I am not going to die again if I can help it at all.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:39:18 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 11th
Huktast does not speak. I do not know if it is because he will not, or because he cannot, but either way it is slightly disturbing. He does not even acknowledge anything that is not an order. I am finding myself more inclined to dismiss him when I do not need to fight, simply because he is so disinterested in everything. That could be dangerous though. I will simply have to ignore it when I am out beyond the safety of a town or city.
Liam’s death draws closer. I am not sure what else I can do.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:40:03 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 12th
I was unable to reach my father’s house during the battle for the city. I was almost killed by a group of Forsaken the moment I stepped away from our little army. We were close enough to the rest that they were able to rescue me, but after that nearly everyone was keeping an eye on me in case I got in trouble again.
The sadness I felt at Liam’s death was not the same this time. It was not truly grief, but more… regret. Regret that I failed to save him. I suppose it is because I have already grieved for him, twice now. It is hard to summon up the energy to do so again.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:40:38 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 13th
Westfall still fares poorly. The horror in this place is not visible, like in the Plaguelands or Badlands, with their rotting wildlife and burnt soil. It is instead the horror of what people do to each other in the name of good, and in the name of their own interests.
I suspected Hope – or rather Vanessa – even in my first life. With what I know now, who would believe me? No one. I tried in my last life to point out the inconsistencies in her actions and words, but they had all known her for years… it couldn’t possibly be poor, sweet Hope who was behind everything.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:41:12 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 14th
The investigator from Stormwind is beginning to annoy me. He cannot seem to take anything seriously. This is the third time I’ve heard his jokes, and they were terrible the first time.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:41:39 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 15th
I am starting to wonder how Vanessa is managing to get all of this done. She is always at the keep, working or helping the homeless, and yet she is also around almost every corner I turn. Perhaps she was secretly one of twins. With all the secrets the VanCleef family keeps, I would not be surprised.
More likely, she has a mage or warlock summoning her to where she has to go. It is still frustrating that no one seems to notice her absences.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:42:18 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 18th
It has been almost a month since I last wrote. I haven’t been feeling very… talkative, I guess. It is just so hard to see all the problems that I have solved unsolved, like I did nothing at all. Which I guess is true, since I suppose my previous two lives never really happened. The only thing keeping me from simply stopping and letting someone else take care of things is the fact that this journal shows that I did exist and that I haven’t just been imagining everything. Lately though, I have just been taking it out and sitting here holding it, rather than writing.
My current voidwalker, Huktast, is not helping with my current lack of motivation. I have to be very careful with my orders, because he follows them to the letter and does nothing more. I cannot expect him to do anything that I have not explicitly stated, which often results in me trying to find a way to word my orders without giving him any loopholes. It is incredibly frustrating.
I must stop here and work again on resolving issues that I have already fixed. At least I can use my foreknowledge to simplify things somewhat.
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Post by ironfear on Mar 2, 2012 13:42:59 GMT -5
3rd Life, Week the 19th
In my last life, I had begun to save money so that I might acquire the materials for a ritual unbinding. I think I am going to make this my top priority in this life. The materials are expensive (it is at least fifty gold, if not more) but a voidwalker that is so clearly unhelpful is going to make surviving much harder. I doubt that it would be so easy to find Jhazvhug or Nakky again, but almost any demon would be better than Huktast.
On the subject of Jhazvhug, I do not think that I would be able to bind him again with a regular summoning ritual. If the magic I cast on this book allowed it to survive my death, then it is very likely that the pact I made with Jhazvhug in my first life is also still in effect. If that is the case, then he is still bound to me, but with a different magic than the regular voidwalker binding – that was the whole point of the pact in the first place. He will always be passed over by a ritual of binding since the ritual seeks an unbound demon of the specified type, but the typical voidwalker summon spell will also not call him since he is not bound by that magic. I had not planned on ever dismissing him so in my first life it would not have been a problem, but clearly I did not think this through as carefully as I should have.
So to wit, it is not a matter of binding him again, but of summoning him again.
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