(2022-12-09) Fel Poison

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Author:	Saaron
Summary:	Nesselos and Therald meet once again to do some work in the Hinterlands. They discuss Fel poisoning, the revelation that Therald's son is a warlock, and the puzzling existence of Firbolgs.
Rating:	T for Teen

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Mentions of Draenei mass murder

Nesselos waves at you.
Therald waves at Nesselos. It is a small wave.
Nesselos: Hello, friend!
Therald: Hi, Nesselos. Ready to do some work again today?
Nesselos: Yes! Up to the Hinterlands, right?
Nesselos: To deal with troll problems?
Nesselos: How have you been?
Therald: Yeah. There always seems to be a troll problem. No offense to the trolls who work with the Argent Dawn, though. Those are great.
Therald shrugs. "What about you?"
Nesselos: Different tribe, I assume. *Nesselos nods* Lots of different tribes.
Nesselos: I have been okay! Keeping busy with work here and there.
Therald: Same. Yeah.
Nesselos: You seem a little… subdued?
Nesselos: Difficult work?
Therald sighs. "Yeah, I guess you could say that.."
Nesselos: What is it? Something in the Plaguelands?
Therald scratches the back of his neck. "No, it's… closer to home. Warlock problems."
Nesselos: Ohh. I'm sorry to hear that, friend. She's causing more problems?
Therald clears his throats. He speaks very quietly. "Turns out she isn't the only warlock in my family."
Nesselos looks at him in alarm.
Therald looks straight forward, avoiding Ness looks.
Nesselos: You don't mean…
Therald: Yup.
Nesselos knows there is literally one person in Therald's family.
Nesselos: But he seemed so nice!
Therald: Yeah, he did.
Nesselos: Maybe he's just early in on it? And can turn away?
Therald sighs. "I don't think so. He's been doing it for a while. I think ever since he joined Cobalt Company, even before."
Therald: It doesn't seem he was ever hired as a "fire mage".
Nesselos: That can't be more than a year or two, right? He's very young!
Therald: That's a year or two too many!
Nesselos: What if I made a poison totem, like I did for the bite, but it withdrew the fel…
Therald: … Do you think that would work?
Therald: He did mention wanting to stop being a warlock. Or considering it, at least.
Therald: His mother is encouraging him to keep doing that magic, though.
Nesselos: Then maybe? If we take the fel out, and he doesn't put any more in…
Therald: That might be an option, yeah.
Therald: Is Fel… really poison?
Nesselos: …Not by a strict definition, no.
Nesselos: But it acts like a poison, doesn't it?
Therald: And you think the elements could heal something that… acts like a poison?
Nesselos: I will just need to find a way to make the elements recognize it… and convince them to do so.
Nesselos: Maybe I could ask wiser shamans. This must have come up before.
You nod at Nesselos.
Therald: Please do!
Therald: I wonder if he'll be easy to convince, though.
Therald: Sandy, I mean.
Nesselos: If he's a warlock by accident or bad choice, and he wants to stop?
Nesselos: The orcs reclaimed shamanism, and they had gone very far down that road.
Therald: Yeah, but as I said, his mother encourages that behavior. The living one, I mean. Who knows he'll really want to stop?
Nesselos: Should someone… talk to her?
Therald shrugs. "I don' tknow. I won't be the one trying that, though."
Nesselos: Well, I will try to see if it is possible, first.
Nesselos: Then, if I go to meet Sandy, I can have it ready. So he doesn't have a chance to worry about it!
Therald: That sounds like a good plan. I'm trying not to have false hopes. But maybe shamans do have the answer to that Fel problem.
Nesselos: I do not want to overpromise… I am very young, and I have been a shaman for only a year or so.
Nesselos: But if it is in my power to help your son, I will.
Therald smiles. "Thanks, Nesselos."
Nesselos smiles sadly back at him.
Nesselos: How did you find out? He didn't… do anything, did he?
Therald: He got fired of Cobalt Company, apparently.
Therald: I guess he did do something.
Nesselos: Fired? Did he hurt someone?
Therald sighs. "But no, I found out because he told me, simply."
Therald: I don't know, I wasn't really… in the mood to ask questions.
Nesselos: I can understand that…
Therald: Yeah, I was supposed to have dinner at his mother's place. I didn't really stay.
Nesselos: So he definitely knows you're upset. Is that when he said he wanted to quit?
Therald: I… I guess.
Therald: I'm hoping he got that wake up call *before* I got upset, though.
Nesselos: Yes, you see why I ask. It's as to whether he's likely to go through with it.
Nesselos: If he has doubts about warlocking, or if he wants to make the people around him not upset.
Therald: Yeah…
Nesselos: Maybe the doubts came from meeting his birth mother.
Therald: I should maybe tell him about his mother. The undead one. I'm not saying I want him to become full of doubts but… I mean, there are good reasons to have them about being a warlock— yeah, that too.
Nesselos nods at Therald. "He wouldn't know that whole story, would he? About the betrayal?"
Therald shakes his head. "I don't think he does, no. I haven't told him and I see no reason why she would have told him."
Nesselos: Then maybe that alone would be enough to give him reason to hesitate.
You nod at Nesselos.
Therald: I'm sorry to bring that up, but…. you knew your orc friend well, right? Do you think… he'd have become a warlock if he knew what was going to happen?
Nesselos considers that one in silence for a while.
Nesselos: If he had truly understood the cost… no, I do not think he would have.
Therald takes a deep rbeath. "Then I'm hoping Sandy is like that."
Nesselos: Their minds were poisoned by the Legion, and they saw us as monsters. Though we had done nothing.
Therald: That's… terrible.
Therald: I haven't met many Draenei personally yet, but I can't really imagine you as monsters.
Therald: I mean… I guess Draenei do look a little intimidating at first. With the hooves and horns. And the height.
Nesselos shrugs, modestly. He's very big.
Nesselos: And we were far more advanced than they were.
Nesselos looks suddenly embarassed. "I do not mean to brag only we had been on many worlds, and they were tribal hunters."
Therald: Still, being tall and having technology doesn't mean you're monsters.
Nesselos: Not a reason to wipe out a people, no.
Nesselos: That had to have been part of it, though. Fear of what one does not understand.
Therald: I'm glad you found Azeroth.It's not… much better safety wise, with all the wars and world-ending issues but… you've got allies, here.
Nesselos: It is good to have allies we can trust!
Nesselos: But I think that is how your son is different.
Nesselos: On the one hand, he is not being coerced.
Nesselos: And on the other, he is not targeting the mass slaughter of a peaceful race. I am confident I would have noticed that.
Therald: He isn't being coerced yet.
Therald: But… I do hope he's not trying to mass slaughter a peaceful race, yeah.
Therald: He seemed to like… Firbolgs.
Therald: I've never seen a Firbolg. He described those to me and I still can't comprehend what those things are.
Nesselos: Oh, I've seen them! Over in Kalimdor.
Nesselos: We crash-landed in Kalimdor.
Nesselos: We were learning how to speak with them! It was very interesting.
Therald: And they can talk?
Therald: I mean.. a language we could learn?
Therald: The little bearpeople?
Nesselos: Yes, yes, exactly those!
Nesselos: They have a language and everything, very clever bear people.
You blink your eyes.
Nesselos: Maybe one day I could introduce you to some furbolgs?
Nesselos: Then you would know what they look like!
Therald: … Why not? I've heard they're pretty nice.
Nesselos: I think you would get along with them.
Therald: Really?
Therald: Are you saying that because that because I said I like the woods? *He chuckles.*
Nesselos chuckles.
Nesselos: They can also be very fierce and protective of their own.
Therald: That, I don't know if I am.
Nesselos: Is that not the definition of a guard?
Therald: Hm, in that sense, yeah… I thought my own more of… my family.
Therald: I haven't been a great protector of my own.
Nesselos: I think it is hard to protect people from themselves.
Therald tilts his head in thought.
Therald: I… guess. Yeah.
Therald: I can't believe you're considered young amongst your people. And I'm supposed to be… old. You keep proving you're a lot wiser than I am.
Nesselos grins. "Maybe I only sound that way because I haven't been tested enough yet."
Therald: You really think you haven't been tested enough?
Therald: Fate should give you and all Draenei a break.
Therald nods at Ambassador Rualeth.
Nesselos: Well… okay… what happened on Draenor was very difficult. And painful.
Therald nods sadly. "It must have been."
Nesselos: Troll problems done! And now I have a message to send to Nethergarde Keep.
You chuckle at Nesselos.
Therald: Well I guess I'll introduce you to my colleagues.
Nesselos brightens, the topic having changed for the better. "That would be fun!"
Therald waves hello at basically everyone in Nethergarde Keep.
Nesselos follows Therald, waving where he does.
Therald strikes up very short, polite conversations with people there, briefly introducing Nesselos as they walk past.
Nesselos follows along as Therald introduces him to various colleagues.
Eventually, after they meet with a Very Important Person in Nethergarde, the two say goodbye to each other, promising to see each again soon. Because they never get enough work.