(2023-10-09) Good News, Bad News, Cult News
Details
Author: Athena
Summary: Roper writes Siamus about what he's managed to learn about Harvey's situation. It's good news. Kinda. 700-ish words.
Rating: M for Mature 17+
Roper Sunstrike Admiral Siamus Fallon
cw_language.png

[in Roper’s usual spiky, aggressive handwriting, with maybe some extra pressing on the paper]

9 October 27

Fallon –

I’ve got good news for us, bad news for the Cathedral. The three priests (Abner Crouse (64), Darold Schooner (39), and Penrod Hockery (23)) were Cult of the Damned.

Priestess by the name of Estel Herald went looking for their personal things to pass on to any family, and found a journal by Penrod, talking about shit like getting a “gift” soon that he was nervous about but that it was probably too late to back out of it, and some other incriminating phrases enough to justify asking an old friend to look into their histories and stories, and it starts to form up a certain picture. Crouse and Schooner are both from Lordaeron originally. Crouse was working privately until he got the sudden urge to join the Cathedral three months ago. Schooner had the ability, but was by all accounts not devoted to it until he also got that sudden urge to join the priesthood, two months ago. Penrod had neither interest or ability, and then, out of nowhere, you’d never guess, got the urge to join up at the Stormwind Cathedral, and immediately become buddies with Crouse and Schooner. Must be something in the air.

The priests got to Mourn and started healing him, simultaneously, that’s what fucked him up, and what made him look like a gods damned madman without a scratch on him. The Light burns death knights, and healing can be so searing a man’ll forget his own fucking name. He wasn’t injured, and didn't get their attention. They just went in, with something that only someone who knows the effect would do to a death knight to get him to fight back. Deliberate provocation by the Scourge. Got someone who could stand as a witness to it, another priestess of the Light, Almeiria Fey.

Kaela Mondragon’s work, given the timing and the target. She’s from Lordaeron, would have had the connections to pull it off. Gonna probably want eyes on those priest's bodies. Scourge “gifts” tend to be shitty ones like immortality through becoming an abomination. I’d watch them myself, but obviously a death knight lurking around the Cathedral would be really fucking stupid right now.

It might help to know that Kaela’s got it in for Mourn in particular. She’s the one who killed him and had him raised up into a death knight, did some work on him training him. She’s taunted him out before, and knows how to get under his skin. And knows what his weaknesses are. Mourn wouldn’t have let himself get baited into a fight in the middle of Stormwind, but we’ve all got our pressure points. He’s got longer than some before he gets real cranky, but he’s a danger to everyone the longer he stays in jail.

I’ve set someone that Mourn trusts that’s worked protection detail on Westwind before back on her, temporarily.

Kaela has a spy in Stormwind, haven’t found them yet, but they haven’t been following Westwind. Kaela will probably know if or when Mourn gets out. It’d be a good time to strike. If Kaela lures Westwind out, Mourn will follow Westwind, even if it violates his bail, because Westwind’s his biggest fucking weakness. So someone needs to make sure they both stay put for any trial, if it gets that far.

You might also have a different problem. I was tracing back something else – a Darkmoon Faire cannon that Kaela had that shouldn’t have had any business being in Northrend. Found out who got it there: Lester Amerith. Don’t know why or what his connection to Kaela is. But he went to a lot of trouble to get a mage to transport it, illegally, to Voldrune. Mage himself has disappeared enough that he’s either dead or ran. I’d guess blackmail from Amerith, if I had to put a name to it. Heard that Amerith visited the Cathedral, poisoned and wounded, the same day Mourn was attacked. Might be that Kaela was trying to clean up a loose end, or someone who knows too much. Or it might be that the House of Nobles has a similar problem that the Cathedral does.

- Roper of the Ebon Blade

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License