(2022-01-18) The Psychometric Reader and the Wool Blanket

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Author:	Saaron
Summary:	Auralind does a psychometric reading for Sandy on an old blanket to try and know more about his biological parents.
Rating:	T for Teen

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Blood, massacre, loss of consciousness, abandonment

23:53:34 You wave at Auralind.
23:53:37 You wave at Elushalla.
23:54:16 Auralind 's ears twitch at the distinctive sound of felsteed hoofbeats approaching. "Ishnu alah, Sandy."
23:54:46 Gausanders: Hi Auralind! Thank you so much for accepting to meet me! *He grins.*
23:56:05 Auralind inclined her head solemnly. "Your request was very serious, if a bit unusual. I could hardly decline."
23:58:31 Gausanders: Yeah I can be serious from time to time! *He chukles, then pauses.* … I don't know, it seems important to me to find out, right now…
00:02:58 Auralind: It is natural to want to know where you come from. I have some notion of what that is like.
00:04:59 Gausanders: Really? I thougt that with the long lives you have, you would always have someone to tell you about your past and your family… Like… I thought Night Elves could just ask plenty of other people about their great-great-great-great-parents or something.
00:06:25 Auralind: In most cases, that is true. In mine, I was in my third century before I learned about my father. However-…come, we should find somewhere more private to speak.
00:06:39 Gausanders nods.
00:07:09 Auralind: Tell me, Sandy. Why now?
00:08:48 Gausanders raises his eyebrows and shrugs. "I absolutely have no idea! I didn't really care about that when I was living with mom. Several people in the company asked me about it too, so it eventually… got me curious, I guess?"
00:09:01 Auralind dismounts at the lakeshore under a large tree.
00:09:29 Gausanders gets down from his felsteed and dismisses him.
00:11:00 Auralind nods thoughtfully. "I feel it is only fair to caution you, though I doubt this will change your mind. You might not like what you discover."
00:12:45 Gausanders laughs. "I mean, given the opinion most people have of warlocks, I suppose they would be more disappointed to learn about me than the other way around!" *He grins, scratching the back of his neck.*
00:15:15 Auralind: I once had a similar opinion. I found things did not bear out that way. Still, I am not trying to dissuade you. Only to give you the benefit of my own experience.
00:17:46 Gausanders nods as he sits down. "Got it!" He takes a deep breath. "I'm ready to know more!.. I think I am? Anyway, if I don't like it, I at least have a friend with me to help me through it!"
00:18:40 Gausanders then looks at the lion. "I mean, I have two friends with me! I didn't forget you, Elu'shalla!"
00:19:56 Auralind 's eyebrow lifts just slightly at "friend"…but she says nothing on it. A moment later, she comments, "I should also warn you that I cannot promise my abilities will be of much use to you. I am a novice at best."
00:22:50 Gausanders opens his backpack and takes out a very old, wool blanket that does not look very soft and beautiful anymore. "I've seen you help with your psychothermic readings before, I know you're not as much of a novice as you say you are!"
00:25:21 Auralind: You mean with Frostwhisper's book. That was an object of immense importance to a being with an incredibly powerful psychic imprint. It also took a heavy toll on me, and all I gleaned from it was that there were two volumes of that journal.
00:25:27 Auralind: This is a very different situation.
00:28:33 Gausanders scratches the back of his head. "Right, yeah, I remember it was exhausting to do… I can find another way to get the answers I'm looking for, if that's better for you!" He smiles at her.
00:29:55 Auralind shakes her head, reaching for the blanket. "I am not refusing, Sandy. I just want you to have realistic expectations."
00:31:01 Gausanders sighs of relief as he hands her the blanket. "Oh great, because I honestly had no idea how to do it otherwise!"
00:32:13 Auralind holds the piece of cloth in both hands. "Tell me why this blanket is significant to you."
00:34:13 Gausanders: When my brother Fulmurar found me, I was wrapped in that blanket, in a basket! Then mom found us and decided to keep the blanket. She said it probably smelled of my parents and that I needed that as an infant! *He pauses.*
00:35:57 Gausanders: I hope he doesn't smell like them anymore, though, because if it does, my parents smelled kind of bad! *He chuckles.* Anyway, I've just… always kept it with me ever since. Like a plush toy!
00:36:54 Auralind: I hope it was your parents that wrapped you in this. If they had no contact with this blanket…I fear there will be no imprint.
00:38:27 Gausanders: I never even thought that maybe someone else could have wrapped me in this!.. I don't think I've got anything else that could come from them instead…
00:39:40 Auralind offers a soft smile. "We have but to try. At the very least, we may glean some clues that could lead us closer to finding your parents."
00:41:04 Gausanders smiles back, and his smile grows wider as she speaks in 'we' and 'us'. "Yeah! Thank you so much."
00:42:43 Auralind takes a deep breath, focusing her attention on the blanket. "Give me a moment."
00:43:25 Gausanders nods. He puts his elbows on his knees and places his head on his hands, waiting as patiently as he can.
00:52:12 Auralind drapes the blanket over one hand, clasping the other atop it. She closes her eyes, breathing steadily as she concentrates, focusing her mind not on the blanket, but on the resonance of its history.
00:55:53 Auralind tilts her head. "I'm getting…something…coming into focus…"
00:56:30 Auralind: A woman…knitting…she's knitting the blanket. She made this.
00:57:46 Gausanders nods, listening as attently as he ever did in his whole life.
00:58:37 Auralind murmurs distantly, swaying a bit. "And…a man. They're close…her husband, I think. She…she's pregnant."
00:59:46 Gausanders looks a little worried as she starts swaying, but leans a little forward to make sure he hears everything.
00:59:56 Auralind: Sirie…he calls her Sirie…she…she is giving birth…a son……~Leghan~…
01:01:41 Gausanders lets out an "oooooh" as the worry on his face disappears. He mutters. "Is that why one of the Draenei has been calling me like that?I thought I'd pronounced my name wrong when introducing myself, or something!"
01:01:57 Auralind 's eyes snap open, wide but pale as ever. "A demon! Chaos…screaming…it's attacking the village…killing…Elune, the bodies…" Her face twists in horror, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.
01:04:07 Gausanders now leans a little backward, frowning in worry again. He starts biting his fingernails.
01:05:11 Auralind starts to visible tremble, her fingers curling to clutch the blanket tightly. "A d-dagger…blood…Sirie is screaming…Therald! The baby is crying…people are coming…yelling…Sirie…she swaddles Leghan…in the blanket…and flees the mob…
01:09:15 Gausanders looks at her with tears in his eyes, half because of what she is saying and half because of how Auralind is reacting to her reading. "B— but…"
01:09:40 Auralind lets out a soft gasp of air, shudders, and slumps to the earth.
01:09:46 Auralind lies down.
01:10:30 Auralind | Elu'shalla lets out a growling whine and steps over to nuzzle Auralind's shoulder.
01:11:26 Gausanders crawls towards Auralind. He exclaims, with a lot of fear in his voice: "Au— Auralind?! Auralind?! Can you hear me?"
01:11:32 You kneel down.
01:12:26 Gausanders he tries to shake her by the arm, but approach carefully, looking at Elu'Shalla.
01:13:09 Auralind | Elu'shalla growls and rises up menacingly in a protective stance over Auralind.
01:13:56 Gausanders takes a few steps back, and watches to see if she still breathes through his teary eyes.
01:15:50 Auralind | Elu'shalla paws at Auralind, moaning worriedly.
01:16:17 Auralind groans softly, her fingers slowly unfurling from their death grip on the blanket.
01:17:28 Gausanders: I know! *Sandy approaches the lake, then cusps his hands and grabs some water. He then turns around as she groans, looking to see if the splash of water is going to be necessary still.*
01:18:39 Auralind is moving slowly, groggily, but still prone.
01:19:41 Gausanders decides that, indeed, the water is necessary. He runs towards her, going around Elu'Shalla and splashes it on her face before taking a few steps back again. If he's more scared of Auralind or the lion right now is unsure.
01:21:07 Auralind sputters and gasps, blinking rapidly at the sudden shock of cold water. A weak hand slowly rises to her face as if to try to deflect any further attempts to splash her. Elu'shalla glares at Sandy with another warning growl.
01:22:21 Gausanders: Auralind! You're awake! Can you hear me? Can you talk? *His voice cracks.* Please tell me you're okay!
01:23:59 Auralind tries to push herself up to a seated position. Elu'shalla ducks under her arm to hoist her up with his powerful bulk. "I'm-…I can talk. What did I say? It's all…blurry…at the moment."
01:26:05 Gausanders falls to his knees and wipes the tears off of his face with his sleeve. "I was so scared for you," he says, letting out a sob. "Will you be okay?"
01:26:50 Auralind takes several deep breaths before answering. "I think so. But…I do not think I will be doing that again. Not anytime soon."
01:28:29 Gausanders chuckles. "I'm never asking you to do that, ever again!" he wipes some more tears from his eyes. "I would take that blanket as far away from you as possible right now if Elu'Shalla didn't growl at me when you were passed out!!"
01:30:17 Auralind looks down at the blanket still clutched in her hand. "Ah…yes, here." She offers it back to Sandy. "Leghan…they called the baby Leghan, and he was wrapped in this. Sandy, I think that was the name your parents gave you."
01:32:27 Gausanders nods. He grabs the blanket and puts it back in his backpack immediately, as if it would attack someone otherwise. "Yeah, that seems like it. There's a Draenei, a shaman, I've been told she called me 'Leghan'. I guess that's where that came from…"
01:33:49 Gausanders sits down, hugging his knees.
01:35:13 Auralind: A draenei shaman? How curious.
01:49:06 Gausanders: Yeah. I've met her a few times, but she didn't really talk to me, I don't know why! I thought it was because she didn't speak common, but she does, apparently!.. *He hugs his knees tighter and hides his face behind them.* You also said their names.
01:50:51 Auralind squints a bit. "Did I? I…cannot quite recall. What did I say?"
01:53:48 Gausanders: You said you saw her… Sirie… knitting the blanket. That she was close with a man, and you guessed it was her husband, Therald… And then…
01:54:04 Gausanders pauses, thinking.
01:56:32 Auralind nods slowly. "I remember the demon…"
01:57:49 Gausanders nods. "Yeah. and then that…" Sandy sniffles.
02:00:04 Auralind: The dagger and the blood. Sandy…it is difficult for know for certain what those mean. Sometimes the visions are literal, sometimes…it is my mind trying to make sense of impressions I cannot understand.
02:02:57 Gausanders looks up. "And the demon? Could that be an impression you cannot understand as well? If the dagger, and the blood, and the demon all are… they could be okay, right?"
02:05:05 Auralind pinches her lips for a moment. "Unfortunately, I doubt that. The dagger and the blood were just images. Those are things that might be just symbols. But the demon…it was like a memory. I saw it it…a felguard…rampaging through a village."
02:09:10 Gausanders sighs, passing his fingers through his hair. "That's… horrible. I'm sorry. Sorry you had to see all that… and you had to go through… all that too."
02:10:35 Auralind shakes her head. "I understood the risks, Sandy. Psychometric reading is not to be undertaken lightly. I only hope this has brought you some of the answers you seek."
02:13:17 Gausanders nods. "Yeah, I know their names now! And… mine too, I guess? That means I might get to know someone who could tell me more about them, if I'm lucky!" He smiles, but the smile quickly fades from his face. "Were there orcs in that vision?"
02:14:03 Gausanders: My brother… did mention that something had happened where he found me, and he said it was probably done by orcs. I guess orcs summoning a felguard and attacking a village isn't too farfetched, right?
02:15:06 Auralind: I suppose not. However…I did not see any sign of orcs. Only the felguard. In my experience, orcs do not sit back and let demons fight -for- them. Their warlocks use demons to bolster their own ranks.
02:17:39 Gausanders frowns and goes back to hugging his knees. His eyes get teary again as his voices crack. "So it either got there on its own, somehow… or it was summoned by another human?"
02:18:58 Auralind nods grimly. "That seemly likely."
02:22:49 Gausanders frowns, this time in anger. He suddenly speaks sharply. "Well. I hope to meet whoever did that, one day! Letting a demon attack a village of innocents…" His voice gets softer as he speaks his second sentence. He shivers.
02:27:01 Auralind: You have a good heart, Sandy. I pray to Elune that it is never corrupted.
02:27:32 Auralind sets her jaw and pushes herself to her feet…slowly, to mask her unsteadiness.
02:28:51 Gausanders gets up as well, smiling with a soft, almost sad chuckle. He wipes his face on his sleeve again. "I'm going to let you rest for today, but I'd love to hear about your parents one day, too!"
02:31:44 Auralind purses her lips for a moment. "Hmm…perhaps one day. You go on back to the city without me. I think I'll rest here in the forest. I find it more rejuvenating here."
02:33:06 Gausanders nods. "Okay! You're in good hands anyway!" He looks at the two cats. "Sorry about the water in the face, I panicked a little bit!"
02:33:31 Gausanders mutters. "I'm probably going to go say hi to mom. It's been a while."
02:33:58 Auralind smirks. "It's fine. I can handle a little water in my face."
02:34:14 You laugh at Auralind.
02:35:55 Gausanders: Okay. Thank you, Auralind. For everything! *He smiles.* I'm hoping to see you again soon! Rest well!
02:35:57 You wave at Auralind.
02:36:04 Auralind: Go in peace, Sandy. Elune light your path.
02:36:54 Gausanders summons his felsteed and heads back to Stormwind, saying. "Bye Auralind! Bye Elu'Shalla!"