Offworld Journals

Every once in a while, someone or something reminds me the dark reality of the path I have chosen.

Tonight was one of these times.

I was taking some much needed rest in Stormwind after days of continuous travels between the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. Although I usually prefer the quiet and mystical atmosphere of Darnassus or Auberdine for my research, I do enjoy the hustle and bustle of the human capital city one in a while. It is a good reminder of what we are fighting for.

So here I was, enjoying some Ale with a few guild members at our usual place, the Blue Recluse, in the Mage Quarters. I haven't said much of the Azure Dreamers in these pages so far. I will have to remember to change that. For now, just a few words about the guild members present that night will suffice.

Sir Solmachina was his usual quiet self, visibly still bearing the burden of his recent campaign in the Outlands. Lady Taliana was blessing our little group with her grace and her peaceful words of comforts (most of them directed to Sir Sol I might add). Sir Dremnon was there as well, listening with interest to this old gnome's rambling about his research before we started celebrating the arrival of a new member in our organization, Lenresh, a night elf, druid, still fresh from his journey from the Emerald Dream.

So here we were, exchanging ideas and theories about Un'Goro, power crystals, the Titans and Gnomeregan... when a familiar voice came through our hearthstones. Rhellus... the draenei I met with much interest a while back. I didn't think much of it when he expressed a wish of being here with us... like so many times before, I left my seat, reached for a soulstone deep in my bags, let it glow in my hands for a brief second before I started whispering the familiar incantations of Summon.

Predictably, Rhellus soon appeared in the room. What was less predictable was his reaction, somewhere between discomfort of being summoned that way and fury of being subject to the whim of a warlock.

If it had not been for the intervention of my friends, I wonder how quickly the Vindicator would have reached for his mace and attacked me. I should have been more cautious and more thorough in my studies of the Draenei... Vindicators especially. Following the teaching of the Light and the words of the Naaru with absolute devotion, they have nothing but repulsion for anything close to the dark arts. That would include me.

To his credit, he tested his patience by listening to my explanations about my own training and philosophy regarding the path of warlocks. I am not sure he was fully convinced, although we did apologize to each other and eventually sat at the same table. Unfortunately, the discomfort was visible well into the night. I hope we will find a way, somehow, to reconcile our choices.

I am fortunate to count the Azure Dreamers as my friends. Today was a reminder of how far they are willing to go establish a force capable of fighting the Burning Legions using every mean necessary, from the devotion of followers of the Light to scholars of the Dark Art. After all, how can you really fight an enemy you know nothing of ?

My old Master in Iron Forge predicted that my path would not be successful as long as I was alone. I can see now what he meant.

A missive from commanders in the Western Plaguelands was waiting for me when I stopped by Ironforge on the way back from Gnomeregan.

Little did I know that missive would turn into the most fortunate discovery. Fortunate ? Probably not, given that the discovery itself redefines the very concept of Fate or Destiny.

During a mission in the ruins of Andorhal, I had the surprise to find a gnome and an elf comfortably settled in an abandonned inn, drinking tea and engaged in the most peculiar conversations. The gnome introduced herself as Chromie, a member of Nozdormu's bronze dragon flight, guardian of Time and Destiny.

After making thinly veiled remarks about my own future, she explained a few missions of her own and how I could help her preserve the timeline from alterations that are taking place across Andorhal.

She also told me of the Cavern of Time, a sanctuary deep in the Tanaris desert, where her kin watch over time and carve out destiny. If there was a way to visit the past and find the answers I needed about the Un'Goro crater or even Gnomeregan, I could surely find it in Tanaris.

The Cavern of Time is the strangest place I have visited since I left the confines of Gnomeregan for what seems ages ago. Its walls are made of buildings and artefacts from all over Azeroth, and I assume, from all times as well. Time guardians perform their duties in silence, oblivious to visitors. I was humbled by the sense of immense power one can feel throughout the caves.

Ultimately, as amazing as the visit was, it was deeply disappointing. As I mentionned, the time keepers are so absorbed by their work, watching over many timelines, that they barely acknowledge the presence of visitors. And when they do, their answers are cryptic riddles that I could take years to decypher.

One of them told me I would come back to them eventually. Maybe this is just not the right time for answers yet.

"Won't you stay still, you little $#!^&* !"

Clenching his Stick of Binding in a menacing way, Cluricaun couldn't contain his frustration at the whirring mechanoid standing before him. Or rather, squirming before him. That was the problem. The damned mechanical squirrel could not stay in place and the sound of that defective gear in the auxiliary balancing unit (also known as 'squirrel tail') was driving him crazy.

The little creature looked at him, tilting its head to the side with a click, stopping for a second before starting to run in a circle around the toolbox left open on the table.

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Once again, my path is taking me back to the familiar mountains of my childhood and the painful reminder of what it has become. This time, I came back to Gnomeregan to research my hypothesis of a possible power crystal experiment turned wrong.

Radiation is still everywhere. Somehow, survivors still manage to escape the troggs infested ruins, although most of them are too sick to leave the mountainside.

I could not afford much time in the dark hallways of my homeland. My magic is still not strong enough to protect me from the poisoned air, much less from the hordes of troggs and mechanoids gone mad.

I managed to take a few samples of ooze for further study, but I was not able to find any trace of crystals. If they were at the origin of the catastrophe, maybe they were not in large enough quantities to survive the explosion, or maybe they need flora to survive instead of the cold, metallic structures of our city.

I will have to return another time with a larger group. The source of radiations seems still active somewhere underground. There is still a chance to find out if power crystals were involved.

Maybe my fellow Guild members will answer my request for assistance. This would be a quest worthy of the Azure Dreamers.

I knew it !

I thought the familiar feeling I had when I saw the corruption of Bloodmyst Islands came from my memories of Gnomeregan. On the surface of course, the similarity of both catastrophes are undeniable, but this is not where that feeling came from.

There is another place in Azeroth that bears the same kind of scars. The same alteration of fauna and flora. The same alien looking walking vines. The same crystals of power rising like a bad weed.

Anybody familiar with southern Kalimdor will recognize a description of Un'Goro crater.

After spending some time in the suffocating jungle of the crater, I can attest both places bear striking similarity. The major difference is that time has not been allowed to erase the early marks of destruction around the Exodar, as it has in Un'Goro.

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Something went terribly wrong when the Exodar landed on Azeroth.

One has to simply take the road inland from the majestic city-ship to find out how deep the devastation caused by the crash landing reached inside the very fabric of the land and the life it hosts.

Every area where a piece of the ship landed bears crimson scars, spreading like a disease around gigantic crystals. Watching the effect these crystals have on their surroundings brought chilling memories from the Fall of Gnomeregan. Radiations from the crystals turned innocent wildlife into mad mutated masses of flesh. Even flowers were altered in some unspeakable way.
This is far worse than the disease that turned so many of my countrymen into Leper Gnomes, although the effects are strangely similar. Could there be a link between the Catastrophe and crystals of power ?

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Rhellus, that Draenei fellow I met in Stormwind, was right about the wonders of his home, although his awkward words could not possibly have done justice to the beauty and the scale of Exodar.

The trip from Auberdine was uneventful, save for two blood elves who made me nervous on the ship. Who knows what they were up to going to Draenei lands.

Once on the shore, I did not need any sign or map to point me to the right direction. The towering giant crystals recently sprouted around a colossal structure clearly marked my destination.

It is still not clear if Exodar is a city, a ship, a colony... maybe a little bit of each. What is certain is that, as a civilization, the Draenei have much to teach us. They seem to have mastered the untapped powers of crystals and light to create a technology beyond the wildest dreams of Gnome and Gobelin engineers. Their architecture is delicate without being fragile. Everywhere I looked was a new wonder to discover - statues made of light, staircase made of a sheet of crystal, floating towers of energy, flickering strands of ... I don't know what they were made of but they seemed to connect the whole place like veins.

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After catching only glances of the Draenei for a few weeks now, today was the first occasion I had for a close encounter with one of their kind...

What amazing creatures.

There is a certain majesty to their presence... a certain essence that is clearly otherworldly. We should be fortunate they came to the Alliance for support in the fight against the Burning Crusade, although the timing of their arrival is peculiar. Is there a link between the opening of the Portal and the exodus of the Dreanei ? Could their journey have been possible with the Portal shut ?

They seem genuinely willing to help and I could tell they yearn claiming back their homeland as much as we want to return to Gnomeregan. We have that much in common at least.

I must set course for the isle where they established themselves - Exodar... named after a seemingly wondrous ship that took them away from their homeworld. There is so much to learn from them, their art, their magic... their technology maybe ?

I have to see it for myself.

What I will learn from them could have dramatic consequences for my research !

Maybe there is hope after all in this dark hour.

The mages of Nethergard Keep finally found a way to breach the Portal. The crater in the Blasted Lands is no longer the scene of a siege. Instead, the Commander of Argent Dawn have claimed the area surrounding the Portal and set camp there with the unusual assistance from the Horde.

Is this the beginning of a new era of collaboration between all races of Azeroth ?

We sure all face the same dangers. Word from the first wave of scouts is slowly trickling down about what lies in Outland. Maybe we will start getting answers soon.

Maybe the return of the Balance is closer than we think... or it is just as possible we stand on the edge of the Abyss. With the exodus of the Dranei from their Homeworld and the recent betrayal of the Blood Elves, it is becoming more and more difficult to predict what will happen next.

One thing remains clear however. I must complete my research. It has become too important to keep it to myself. I must cast it in writing. And if I fail in times to come, maybe someone will eventually find these meager notes and will continue what has become my life's work.