(2025-01-25) Eastweald and Shadows

Details

Author:	Alli
Summary:	Brannagen, Jocoza, and Paluuva venture into the Eastern Plaguelands to practice their archaeology and discuss the information they learned from Aitne.
Rating:	T for Teen

Arc: Archaeology 101

Jo waits in Light's Hope Chapel for the Archaeology team to arrive, considering the recently-contructed walls and defenses with interest.

Bran approaches Jo with a big, beaming smile. "Well look who came ta study with the little people, it's the great leader o' Cobalt Company!" Who is, in fact, the littlest of people, but he seems not to notice.

Jo, the littlest of people, beams up at Bran. There are probably not all that many people who look up at him. "I heard you were heading to the Eastern Plaguelands, and I haven't been up this way in ages."

Clad in her durable field clothes and wide-brimmed hat, Paluuva enters the chapel. Her satchel is stuffed full of tools for the day's labors. She chuckles at Bran's comments. "I hope our presence is not intimidating."

Paluuva winks. The thought of Bran being intimidated is inherently amusing.

"Did ye jest use the royal we?" Bran says to Paluuva, and then bursts out laughing.

Paluuva grins. "I was referring to Jocoza and myself. However, perhaps we will begin speaking about ourselves this way."

Jo giggles at Paluuva, and waves hello. "I suppose I'm also a bit excited, now that I know where we're headed with all this archaeology."

"The Eastweald, it used ta be called," Bran says wistfully. "Back when it was a much lovelier place…" He nods to Jo, then. "Aye, what a grand task we're takin' on. An' dangerous. Once we're at the Infectis Scar dig we can talk about thengs in more detail without bein'… overheard." He glances around at the well-populated grounds of the chapel.

Jo nods her understanding. Discretion is important. She starts up her flying machine, and follows the other two towards the Scar.

Bran looks back at the machine in appreciation.

"I wish I could have seen it before the Scourge ravaged it," Paluuva comments. "I'm sure it was beautiful."

"Me too," Jo sighs. "I always meant to come up and visit Elo, but then… I didn't, and it was too late. So I've never seen any of these northern lands before."

"I passed through a time or two, but mostly on me way here or there. This whole part o' the country was quite pretty."

Jo smiles at Bran. "I'm glad you remember it like that. Maybe it'll be that again one day, if the druids manage."

Paluuva nods. "Their successes in the west have been nothing short of remarkable. Wouldn't you say?"

Once they've settled in, Bran gives one last look around for potential eavesdroppers. Satisfied, he turns to the two women. "What're yer thoughts on our upcomin' mission?" he asks.

Jo nods at Paluuva, and then turns to Bran. "I think we're definitely going to need to be good at identifying artifacts, if we're to go after whatever ruined Grim Batol."

"Quite so," Paluuva agrees. "Brannagen, I think your presence will be essential."

As he plants his archaeological equipment in the fetid soil, it points across water, helpfully. He sighs and levitates himself.

Paluuva also levitates. The priests helpfully levitate Jo as well.

Oona chirps as everyone starts hovering. Excuse her, that's her schtick.

Jo drifts across the water, accepting the levitation without question.

Bran finds something actually beneath the water, in a shallow area. He sighs again, and UN-levitates himself. "Fossil fragments…" he muses, carefully storing it in his archaeology bag.

"Ah, looks like you'd have to get your boots wet," Jo winces. "I do hope they're waterproof."

"Always!" Bran says cheerfully. "Have either of ye been doin' any more readin' on Grim Batol?" he asks as he sets up his equipment again.

"A bit, but it has not turned up anything significant beyond what we learned already,” Paluuva says.

Jo nods. "The usual books about the Three Hammers war. But none of them seem to know what exactly Modgud was up to, with all the shadows. It comes more to ghost stories, speculation."

"I had a chat wi' Lireen Cloudskimmer, who was there an' fought, an' even she had no clue wot was happenin'" Bran shakes his head sadly.

"That must have been terrifying," Jo shivers. "Shadows welling up in your own home."

Paluuva frowns and strokes a tendril thoughtfully. "I suppose we would need to find survivors of Grim Batol itself, if there is to be any hope of learning more."

Bran frowns at his fossil fragments, piecing them together. "Just a fern," he notes. "Pretty, an' very very old, but nothin' we en't seen a bunch before. Either o' you find anythin? Luuluu?" Bran smiles at Paluuva.

Jo shakes her head, realigning her arcanoscope. "I suppose that was from long before, when leafy-green things grew here in abundance."

Paluuva hmmms aloud and sets up the arcanoscope.

"That's the theng," Bran says in response to Paluuva's suggestion. "Ms. Cloudskimmer was not only a survivor o' Grim Batol but was one o' the folks fightin' … whatever it was. An' she still has no idea what exactly she was fightin."

"So even if we found more, it's unlikely they'd know," Jo nods, following along behind Paluuva.

"It all happened real fast, it seems," Bran muses. "An' people were just… blind with terror, ye know?"

Again, Paluuva nods thoughtfully. "Indeed. The likelihood of finding someone that had knowledge of Modgud's activities and survived seems to be quite low."

"Hopefully," Bran says with seeming confidence, "goin' in braced in advance fer the horrors will allow us ta study 'em a bit more closely."

"I've never even been up that way before… I think it's deep in the highlands, right?" Jo muses, glancing vaguely in the direction of the Hinterlands. "I hope we'll have enough time to get oriented before we have to brace for horrors."

Bran wrings out his wet robe, which now reeks of stagnant plague-ridden water. Bran absent-mindedly blesses everyone with a disease-curing spell.

Paluuva unearths another preserved fern, not far from a bit of petrified wood. "The memory of life clings to this place."

Jo traces a little symbol and sends a burst of warmth around herself to dry the team, not enough to burn.

"There's an entrance to the place in the Wetlands," Bran observes, "but it's been a while since I went that way - dunno if it's still accessible." Bran squints at the northern horizon. "Wonder if there's any good troll artifacts up near Zul'Mashar," he murmurs under his breath, and whistles for his gryphon.

"I'll have to look into it," Jo nods. "That's my job, getting us into hard to get into places. Like Uldum, and Deepholm, and Hyjal, and Vashj'ir… it's been a weird year."
Jo takes off after him in her flying machine.

Shortly after landing, Bran finds a site and gets to digging, his eyes still distant and thoughtful.

"This far north - this is still Amani stuff, right?" Jo asks, waddling along behind Bran and Luu.

"Should be, aye," Bran agrees, "but as we've seen, sometimes there are surprises."

Paluuva winces as numerous troll zombies crawl out of the ground. "Bran, do be careful of the grave mounds…"

"Hm?" He belatedly notices the zombies. "Oh aye, oops."

"I suppose the undead are still a problem here, as well," Jo says.

Paluuva dispatches the undead with some excessive holy nova. "Quite alright."

Bran then immediately stumbles over another grave mound. "Let's see let's see…" Bran spreads out his fragments over the putrid ground and examines them, oblivious to all else.

Jo hastily tosses a handful of fire in the latest zombie's face. "What've you found, then?"

Paluuva peers curiously over Bran's should-…his everything.

"Aha, another fetish of the bat-loa Hireek! Must be a story as to why these are travelin' so far from Stranglethorn…" Bran carefully pieces it together.

"Fascinating. I suppose it makes some kind of sense that the influence a loa of a flying creature could be found far and wide," Paluuva says.

"Maybe the bat is particularly popular," Jo says, peering at the fetish curiously.

Bran looks around. "I thenk that's likely all the progress we'll make in this area today," he says. "But it's good ta get practice balancin' danger an' analysis. We're gonna need a lot more practice before I feel confident tryin' ta solve riddles in Grim Batol."

"I have full confidence in you, Bran." Paluuva beams proudly at him.

Jo nods firmly. "We'll need to know what we're about."

"Cap'n, how much experience do ye have personally wi' Void magic?"

"With void magic? Well… we have a number of people with experience in Cobalt, I believe," Jo considers. "I have only encountered it otherwise in enemies - in fighting cultists."

Bran nods. "Do ye think ye'll want ta take part personally in the Grim Batol investigation, or will ye be sendin' some of yer people?"

"I suppose we'll see… I did go into Scholomance, and that was a whole… shadow… necromantic… situation," Jo considers. "Are you leading towards advice on that topic? Because if so I'd hear it."

Bran scratches at his beard. "Oh nae, just tryin' ta get a sense of who the team'll be, who needs trainin' in what. I'm goin, fer sure. Wild rams couldna stop me."

Jo nods. She is not a wild ram, but she also has no plans to stop him. "I often seem to run into the situation where I can't be on the front lines, but I'd like to be. If I'm trained up enough for it."

"I'll have ta chat wi' Whirlwind an' see what her ideas are about the size o' the team and what sorta specialists we might need," Bran says.

"I wish I could be there for you," Paluuva says. "But I fear my expertise will be of little use in that place."

Jo nods. "I think it’s wise to speak to her further on the topic. At the least, I bet Sir Atley would make a good addition and… oh, really Luu? Hm, but you'll help us study it, surely, even if you don't go into the site, right?"'

Bran nods to Paluuva. "That's one o' the things that makes ye so wise, lass - ye know where yer best suited, an not afraid ta say 'This isna my particular wheelhouse'. No one's a specialist in everythin', aye?"

"Of course," Paluuva says to Jo and nods to Bran. "And yes, quite so. As a scholar you will offer much more than I could. But I will be more than happy to look over any findings with you after your return."

"I feel pretty confident in my own abilities ta keep me analytical brain workin' on mysteries o' history while thengs try ta string me up by me beard an' disembowel me." He seems very cheerful about this.

Jo laughs. "And I may not have your style of analytical brain, but I do have steady hands and small fingers. I have confidence in my ability to recover the relics without damaging them."

Bran grabs one of Jo's hands and examines it. "Hehe," he says. "Look at those little thengs. Sometimes I wish me own were not so damned thick, hehe."

Jo lets him examine her fingers, smiling. She indeed has very small fingers, very high dexterity. Jo giggles. "It's always been a bit of a specialty, handling very small things, very delicate things."

"I might recommend Niksi Knockfathom for the team," Paluuva opines. "She is an experienced soldier, and a field scholar as well. I think she could provide ample protection along with a sense of the importance of preserving findings."

"An' tiny little fengers!" Bran says delightedly.

Jo nods thoughtfully. "Gnomes and dwarves will be good for the team, in general, and I have a high opinion of Niksi."

Bran gives her hand a friendly little squeeze before letting it go. "Well I guess I'd best transport these fossils an' such back ta Ironforge," he says.

Jo nods. "And your fern as well, right Paluuva?"

Paluuva nods to Jo, "And this petrified wood. I'm curious to find out what sort of tree it came from."

"Well, travel safe, lasses, an' keep me apprised if ye find any more information on Grim Batol aside from the usual sources, aye?"

Paluuva bows her head. "I shall. Good health and long life to you both."

"Yes, good health, long life, and as many mysteries as you can handle," Jo says with a smile, climbing back on her flying machine.