Diary of the hunted

Date: 28th May Ten years after Brand..

Hey there old friend...never thought I'd be writing in here again...
Well as you can probably guess, yeah, I'm on the run again. Here's the thing...I thought I'd finally found somewhere that I could..settle you know? Just...to stop having to run and hide cus of this damned Witch brand on my hand..

It lasted for a month. The whole haven thing...

I really did give the whole Light thing a go... but apparently voicing an opinion that clashed with that of one of the higher ups isn't a good plan with this Anethion lot. Neither is defending yourself when they try to punch you in the jaw with an armoured fist. This bucket head...Eisen or something like that, decided that I was being how did he put it... "heretical and treasonous to the Light" with my opinions. And so to teach me a lesson....he tied me down to a bench, cut open the back of my robes, stitched into my back with steel wire one of their fecking commandments, all whilst smiling and I could swear I heard him whistling to his work. Then he did the same with my jaw, except sewed my lips shut with the damned stuff.... And then went ahead and tried to destroy all my weapons including my father's dirk.

I have only Rebecka to thank for keeping it safe from that bastard... Mellinda, the High Librarian at the time cut me loose from the stitching and said that that was far too extreme a punishment for what I'd done... All I'd done was defend a child's right to an existence, whilst the higher ups wanted to kill him simply cus of a fucking demon that the kid thought was an angel... Oh and pointed my daggers and pistol into Eisen's face and balls during our little fight.

I hope that they're okay...heh, Mellinda and her betrothed Aldric had to flee from the Abbey soon after their wedding was cancelled cus some of the Anethions had had...well feelings for Aldric in the past and believed that two high ranking brethren should not be together in case of distractions... Got smacked in the face by Lesandra for disobeying her orders for bandaging up a bullet wound that she'd made in Mellinda...

All these things together...all these acts... How can they profess their desire to serve the Light, when they willingly torture their own, blithely try to deny a man and a woman their wish to be together, and even threaten to put a bullet between someone's eyes if they tried to heal someone who was dying...

Osmand. He made the Anethions sound like a place that... I would feel safe with. That I could call a home...

What a load of shit.

The fucking Light...if it even does exist, how the hell can it allow people like that to run around doing this kind of shit in it's name? It's getting dark soon...I've had to leave my horse back in Stormwind after the guards shot at it and grazed its leg. It would take too long for it to heal if she was on the run with me... I hope the kids at the orphanage there treat her well and she doesn't wind up in some butchers or glue shop. She deserves better than that...

Well, better find somewhere to set up camp for the night...the Plaguelands are looking better than they used to that's for sure...

I just don't know what to do anymore...I just want to be left alone...in peace. How is that wish...so hard to fulfill?

But we are a place that you can call home!


But yes...very interested to see where this goes!

Date: 29th May Ten years after Brand.

Well...for all the visual change...the Plaguelands are still filled with the dead and their worshippers... had to leave my camp in the middle of the night cus a whole squad of banshees got close.

Not willing to take the risk that they can't sense the prescence of a nearby living..

Damn it...Forsaken patrols seem to have been heightened near Andorhal for some reason...one of the few living I could find said something about the Disciples having a skirmish or something with some Cult...

Fucking Disciples...fucking Anethions... They're supposed to both serve the Light right? So why the hell do they keep going at each other's throats the moment they see one another? I mean...come on! That's got to be the most idiotic and damned thing I have ever seen. We're supposed to be on the same side and yet stick those two in the same room with a pair of orcs...and the orcs would probably come out of it alive as they would just sit back and watch the pair kill one another over idealogy...

Having to avoid some of the larger settlements in case word's spread from Stormwind and in case they are doing a proper hunt for me... But where to go?

Can't head back into the south, not with the amount of Stormwind guards running around down there, as well as the Anethion/Disciple squabble going on as well... The north is permanently in Horde control...except for Gilneas...

That woman...can't recall her name... Lor I think it was or something like that, suggested that Gilneas could use a fighter like me... and what better place to find some solitude than in a broken kingdom... Yes. Gilneas sounds like a plan...who knows? I may also figure out what happened to my uncle that stayed behind the Wall.

All I know is that this is going to be one hell of a trip...dodging Horde on one side and the Alliance on the other... feels just like old times again.

Especially since that damned nagging in my head's come back...bah. No use worrying over that now. Got to get some supplies from these woods that I can actually eat and drink...

-Later entry that day-

Well. Count a few more bodies onto my list of the dead. The time in the abbey must have dulled my senses or something... practically bumped into a pair of Death worshippers in the woods. One of the bastards managed to get me with a ShadowBolt before I killed them...good news though, even these bastards keep fresh water on them.

Now if I could just get rid of this nagging in my skull....

Date: 31st May Ten years after Brand.

This is far too amusing. I managed to get a hold of a paper yesterday from the Stormpike dwarves after ditching the Anethion tabard... good thing I did as well or I might not be writing in you today.

It would seem that all of the Chapter is under arrest and to be investigated for evidence of corruption. And the real kicker is that the Disciples were the ones to hand out this decree. Along with the Helmfrids.

I'm glad that those two were able to get married after all... they looked so happy together... But I'm still making my way to Gilneas though. Especially now with this corruption investigation going on. If the Disciples investigate it how the Anethions do... I don't feel like getting tortured again thank you very much...

Who knows, I may just run into them in old merry Gilneas. I still need to give them their wedding gift...although I should probably give it a proper clean and sharpening before giving it to them. I've had to use it a few times since their initial wedding day. A dagger of iron, forged in an elven pattern with steel lining it, and a bronze and copper hilt, embossed with some gold filigree saying "May our love be as a weapon against the darkness".

Yeah yeah. So sue me alright? I'm not that good at making stuff that's all...love and stuff. As for why an elven pattern? Well... I found it more pleasing to the eye. More elegant. What? Love is a beautiful thing... Oh shut up!

Anyways, camped out in Hillsbrad now, although not for long. The War here is particularly fierce so unless I feel like becoming part of the scenery I need to get moving soon. I'll make my way from my camp to the Dalaran Crater, then cut through there into Silverpine Forest making way for Ambermill... I just hope that I don't encounter a Forsaken patrol.

I'm running low on ammunition as it is and don't know when I'll be able to stock up on Light blessed bullets again any time soon. Regular ammunition is getting low as well... at best count I have at least thirty shots left of the regular and only six left of the Light.

Managed to get some combat leathers from the Stormpikes though... I'm grateful to the dwarves for that. Seems one of them stumbled on one of my armour caches and held onto it... for that I'm thankful. It's funny... if I was here with the Anethions and this occured, I'd no doubt be getting punished or something for thanking a dwarf for keeping a hold of my gear.

No matter... I'm not here with the Anethions... I'm not here with any of the church factions... I'm here with myself... urgh...the nagging in my skulls getting worse. I don't know what it is but I've learned to trust it... it always gets worse whenever a shitstorm is coming my way...

-later that day-

Yeah. Shitstorm.

One of the dwarves here took a glance as I was putting my gear on and spotted the scarring from Eisen's little stitch job on my back... The bastard had stuck the Anethion cross on there as a signature... had to leg it as fast as possible cus the bugger alerted the guards that an Anethion was here.

Like the Nether was I going to have gotten this far only to be dragged back to Stormwind. Not a chance. Need to figure out a way of hiding that damned thing without resorting to always wearing something on my back...

Well, the nagging and I are in agreement on one thing. Head for Gilneas. Keep on moving...maybe I can find some measure of peace there, in the broken kingdom of the wolves and the dead...

Date: 2nd June Ten years after Brand

I did it.

I'm finally in Gilneas. For whatever reason as I was camped out by the Wall the entire swamp came to life and every crocolisk inside it started to attack the Forsaken forces. Not one to miss a chance I used this distraction to slip inside the Wall.

This doesn't mean I'm complacent though oh no. I've taken refuge in one of the buildings here in Gilneas City. I wasn't going to take my chances out in the wilds of this place just yet, not with the ferals still prowling around. I can probably take a worgen one on one...but a pack of them? Not so much.

Will need to find some supplies though. The water I gathered in the Plaguelands is almost out and so are my food supplies...

But at least now I'm far enough away from the squabbles of Stormwind...the bickering of the Light... the idiocy of the Guards to maybe finally get some answers... Damn it Osmand. Damn you. Why did you have to be so fucking calm when I had that gun to your head? Why didn't you call on the damned guards when you saw this brand... Why'd you have to go and make me want the Light again?!

Ten years I have thought of the Light as an all consuming fire, just waiting to swallow me whole and destroy me... then you had to cross my path...

Now I can't think straight for all this damned Light crap...least the nagging in my skull has quietened down...it's like a faint beat now barely noticable...

Maybe now I can find peace... away from the feuds and fallacies of the Light and its servents... what do I do...

What do I do?

What do I do?

Date: 6th June Ten years after Brand.

Argh! I can't... I just can't... I just can't figure this out! Why does this have to be so fucking hard?!

The last ten years I was sorted. I knew my place with the Light... it was something that wished to kill me, to devour me... to burn and destroy me... to cause me pain...

Then that fucking old man...that Osmand had to go and shatter my views... then that thug Eisenstorm goes and proves me right... what is the truth with the Light?! Is it here to cause us pain and suffering in order to gain its fucking blessings? Or is it a loving entity that radiates peace and love...

Why can't anyone just give a straight answer?! Argh and this damned nagging in my skull... it's only gotten worse since I got here... it keeps tugging me in the direction of what the locals call the Blackwald...

Fine! Fine! I'm setting off for the Blackwald, if only to stop this damned nagging in my skull!

-later entry, the writing is less angry looking-

Serenity... this strange tree out here... this massive tree who's roots I am now lying against... I feel... calm here.

I feel at peace for the first time in... who knows how long...

The nagging in my skull which I have felt since childhood...since the Priest branded my flesh with the Light... it's gone. It's completely stopped. Even in the abbey it faintly whispered... but here beneath the shadow of this tree... it's completely silent...

I don't know what's going on... but I wish to know more... More about this tree that has given me the peace I desire... This... I can't even begin to describe how this feels!

This isn't the Light though... I remember feeling the Light at the Abbey and the Cathedral in Stormwind, I recall how it felt... this feels different though... something more... wild... more natural...

Date: 8th June Ten years after Brand

How can this be so bad... how can this be a foulness to the Light... This place... this tree... it... this is going to sound mad but I could swear that its singing to me... not in words that I can describe, but that I somehow understand...

The Anethions list of sins... how can something this wonderful be a sin against the Light? I don't understand it... Anethion's second recitation says "The Holy Light is simple; do not look for It in theology. Take a look around you and let the whole world inspire you with Light’s Glory. Seek It out instead in beauty of the nature and the arts, the power of a sincere prayer and sweetness of a psalm."

The beauty of nature... and how can this singing in my mind, my soul not be considered beuatiful? Oh how I wish I could just sit here for the rest of my days in this peace...

But I can't. That's been made clear to me now... the Anethions have fallen into a pit... they scramble for the Light at the top of the pit and don't care for whom they strike in their gamble for freedom from it...

Obviously I can't just say that outright to them, they'd torture me for saying such words...or probably kill me.... all in their wish to escape the pit and be with the Light at the top...

What do I do though... if I remain with the Anethions with these thoughts of truth in my head, then they'll discover them and strike me down into the pit with them, or into a crypt... But I can't just let them suffer blindly knowing what I know...

I would really like to meet Larxx IC. Gwen would have a LOT of things to say of her, neither of which Larxx expects!

((Well she's ICly on her way back down to the Stormwind lands so you may just get your chance ))

Great, hope to run into you on a patrol. Will recognize Larxx by smell if she is disguised! *sniff*

Date: 9th June Ten years after Brand

As I was leaving the tree, an acorn fell down next to my foot... as if anyone could misunderstand that message.

As I travel further from it, the singing fades slowly, but the nagging is gone completely... now all I hear is the singing...

Nature provides.

I was worried about how I was going to get past the patrols and camps of the Forsaken at the Wall, but the forest nearby suddenly burst into life as foxes and hounds surged forwards into the Forsaken lines... and a horse strode up next to me. I mounted it and charged through the embattled lines, firing off a shot from my pistol here and there into the Forsaken as I rode through them.

-later that day-

I had to leave the horse behind, but it just trotted off towards the farmlands here in the Western Plaguelands... I guess it knew its part of the journey was done. I paid for a gryphon to take me down to Redridge... I haven't been here properly in years...

Once I've made camp in Redridge somewhere... I'll visit their graves... it's overdue that I visited them... then I need to think... think of the future...

The singing is still with me, albeit much quieter now that I'm further from the tree... but whenever I have the acorn in my hand the singing grows... It's gift from the tree to me... the gift of peace...

Date: 14th June Ten years after Brand

[Inside is a pressed flower]

...I don't understand...

How...

How did I...

When I visited my families graves, I wept for them like I hadn't in a long time... funny thing about finding peace, it means you feel your other emotions more keenly... But that's not the part I don't understand...

As my tears hit the ground... little blades of grass grew and bloomed into flowers... How... I don't understand it...

I've tested this out at my camp now... I focused on a spot and held out my hand... and a flower grew in the spot I was focusing on...

The flowers don't last long though. They fade and blow away a minute or so later... I've managed to keep one though... a white rose.

What's happening to me? What has happened to me... I could never do anything like this before.... what has happened... what's going on?

I thought that finding peace would mean less questions, but now I have more than ever...

Date: 15th June Ten years after Brand

I see now... that's the meaning behind this...

It's to remind myself that there is more to this bleak world than the death, destruction and hate that is all around us every day...

I've been putting this off... I can only hope my words will be heard before they try to seal my mouth shut again... Oh this is going to be fun. Broke their little silence rule they had me under as a result of that Inquiry of Faith and now I'm going to be telling them that they're doing it all wrong...

This is going to be entertaining... I doubt my words will reach them even if I do get a chance to say my whole piece... No doubt they'll take this journal and throw it into a fire somewhere and destroy it for all these "heretical" thoughts that lie within.

But it will only prove that they are all scrambling in the pit.

Each one of them, is scrambling around in that pit of despair and hate, scarring, fighting, beating one another in order to furtively reach the Light at the top of the pit... And in case someone else does read this I am not speaking solely of the Anethions.

No. I speak of all these factions and orders within the Church and without it.
For too long have you remained locked against one another. Your history with one another is filled with bitterness, and hate... from what I can tell, it has almost spilled blood between you all...

For anyone reading this, realise this one simple truth.

You're giving the enemy what they want. Is it no wonder that despite all that you do in the Light's name that this world remains the same despite your efforts? It is because you are all so embroiled in your own little, petty conflicts and feuds with one another that nothing has changed.
You may say that you put those aside when the time for the battlefield comes, but do you truly?
You call each other in the shadows terms such as Faithless, and heretics, and other such terms. And the bile with which you say each and every one of them... It sickens me.

No wonder the Shadows and the Fel all seem so enticing if all the people see of the Light is the feuding and bickering and pain that each of the Light's factions brings about.

Unless you wish to see this world descend into the shadows of darkness, then you will heed these words. End your pointless bickering. Cease your fruitless fued with one another over who's doctrine is the correct one to follow.

We are ALL servents of the Light. Regardless of what we may individually believe, this is one of two unifying facts that binds us. The other is that the Shadow must be vanquished.

Remember this above all else... We can either stand united by our common goals and purpose and prove victorious... Or we can continue the way that we are now, keep on fighting amongst ourselves however politely it may be, and let this world's hope slip ever deeper into the abyss as we all stand divided.

If there is someone reading this besides myself... well, I'll leave that to your own conscience to act upon... May the Light guide your hand to the right choice...

Larxxene sighs as she slips into the Vicar's office in the Abbey. It was the middle of the night and everyone was either asleep or away. She carefully walked over to the Vicar's desk and put down a small leather bound book with a note attached to the front of it.

"Osmand... good luck you old fool." Larxxene sighs. "I don't see this turning out well for anyone, even if you do read this..." she brushes a hand over the tome gently before heading for the door. "Now then... think I'll head for Stormwind... find myself a nice alley to curl up in or something till this mess is sorted..."

With that she left the abbey and made her way towards the city.