(2025-06-11) Cobalt Company Interview: Cerethan Starflight

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Author:	Alli
Summary:	Cerethan Starflight comes to Ironforge HQ to be interviewed by Jo and Elohad for Cobalt Company! ~2500 words
Rating:	T for Teen

Chain: Cobalt Company Interviews

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Jo is at the Cobalt Company Headquarters in Ironforge, reading over a recent application as she waits for the applicant in question to arrive.

Elohad is frowning over the latest Cobalt Company brochure, recently printed after some complaints about the old one. "I just feel like this is too much text," he says. "No one's gonna read all that."

Jo blinks, and looks up at Elohad. "But… how else can we tell everyone all about the company? We didn't have a Snapper at some of the most impressive missions."

Elohad sighs and sets it aside, rubbing at his forehead.

Cerethan dusts his white, black and blue robes and clears his throat. This Ironforge place is dusty! He stands on the other side of the HQ's door, readjusting his turban as he rehearses his introduction. "Greetings, I'm Cerethan, a wondrous Highborne astromancer. Pleased to meet you. Captain Jo, I presume?"

He's ready.

He knocks on the door.

"Come in!" Jo calls brightly, hearing the knock at the door. "Mind the stairs, we're just down here!"

Cerethan very enthusiastically opens the door, with full force. Oh no, the nerves are getting to him at the very worst moment. He very carefully walks down the stairs because he was told to mind them.

"Okay Cerethan," he thinks. "You can do this."

His face drops a little as he spots not one but two interviewers. And he doesn't know who the human one is!

"Greetings, I'm Cerethan!" He exclaims feeling the nerves about to twist his speech. "I'm a wondrous borne high astromancer. Pleased to meet you both. Capt and Jo, I presume?" That's two names right?

"Elohad Ference," he says, rising to stride over and offer a handshake. "Founder of Cobalt Company and a lieutenant to our fine captain here." He gestures to Jo. "She's the one in charge, but we've got three lieutenants who help with decisions and so on. I'm the main one for personnel."

Jo rises from her chair as well, looking a touch confused by his introduction but still smiling. "Yes, I'm Captain Jo Sparkwire. Our interviews are generally conducted by two or more of the officers, and El… Lord Ference is here today. Would you… like a bottle of water?"

She conjures one, looking at Cerethan in concern. Maybe his throat was dry, and that's what's garbled the intro.

Elohad knows stage fright when he sees it.

Cerethan's eyes widen as Elohad introduces himself. "Ah, I see! Now I understand why your presence is necessary." He smiles. Then he doesn't. "I didn't mean to say you were unnecessary at all, Lord Ference, far from it. I've heard of the exploits the company made while you were at its head." He clears his throat. "I heard about them recently, as I was in exile until now." He tilts his head. "Not now-now, but you understand what I mean. Perhaps?"

Cerethan takes a deep breath, then looks at Jocoza. "Are we doing titles in the Company? I feared coming off as haughty. I should have introduced myself with my title, then. Lord Cerethan Starlight, at your service," if nods. "If you hire me."

He forgets the water offer. Too many thoughts going on at once.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Elohad says with an amused, crooked smile, gesturing toward an empty chair before resuming his own.

Jo sets the water to the side, in case he wants it later, and returns to her own seat. "Yes, please, do take a seat. Then we'll be all of a height, more or less. And let's just start at the beginning. What's brought your interest in joining Cobalt Company?"

Cerethan almost falls onto a chair, trying to calm himself down. "I'm… a Highborne." he doesn't wait for them to ask him to elaborate, he feels like it needs elaboration himself. "We unfortunately don't possess the reputation of being heroic and good, as you may be well aware. I myself have committed terrible acts in the past, to my dismay. Acts that are extremely unpleasant to admit and to even consider true, even to this day," He pauses, wiping off sweat that is starting to drip from the ridge of his turban. His eyes dart from Elohad to Jo, then back to Elohad. "May I ask you to repeat the question please?"

"It's all right, you know," Elohad says gently. "A lot of us have done things we're not proud of. Well, except for Jo. She's perfect." He winks. "But most of us aren't."

"Even me, Elo, even me," Jo giggles. "But we know a little of the Highborne. You were with the ones at Eldre'thalas, right? We have a pair in the company already, and they've proven suitably heroic and good, I would say. So you need not worry about us pre-judging you based on that. We choose to judge people based on who they are now, not what they've done. Though, you know, a little background information would be helpful. Can you tell us how you came from terrible acts to wanting to join our company?"

"Yes, of course!" Cerethan shakes his head. "First of all, I would like to acknowledge that these words and those admissions of having regrets do set me at ease slightly more, and I thank you for that. It's good to know even people like you, mercenaries, that is, are able to feel that way," no, he doesn't hear himself. "Well, simply put, once I acted upon these… well, acts, I came to the realization that I had done…" he pauses. "Terrible acts. This made a desire to not hurt others that way any longer. When we were freed from our exile and welcomed back to the Kaldorei empire, I thought I would do good by being a scholar. Instead, I had the chance to joina group of adventurers in Ashenvale, and realized that this was my vocation. I had to help people practically. I do enjoy the camaraderie that is born from fighting with people at your side quite a bit as well."

Elohad smiles at this last sentence, nodding in agreement.

"I also appreciate that," Jo nods. "The camaraderie, that is. I am starting to get a little worried about what exactly you mean by 'terrible acts'. Can you elaborate? It's good for us to know where our people are coming from."

Cerethan sits up straight on his chair, taking a deep breath and wetting his lips a little too excessively, trying to find the right words. "I… believe you heard about the massacre that took place in Eldre'Thalas, you visited the place you unfortunately call "Dire Maul", after all. Not the massacre you caused, the one that took place earlier." His ears droop a little. "I unfortunately was a part of those who partook in the massacre. I was obsessed with the energies of Immol'thar we fed from." Just the act of speaking the demon's name almost seem to remind him of those days. Of this power.

Jo looks at him seriously. "But Immol'thar is gone now, and now you regret following along with the others?"

"Indeed, I regretted it almost as soon as I dropped my blade, that day," Cerethan says. "Sometimes… I almost still feel the Fel's pull. The Arcane suffices me, now, of course," he nods. He exhales, then frowns worriedly. "I actually have never expressed any of this out loud, so I fear I may be oversharing on this interview. You have a way to get words out of people, and with minimal use of torture, at that!" That is his attempt at a joke.

"Very minimal torture, I hope," Jo giggles, and looks over to Elohad, to see if he seems satisfied by this explanation. "We do appreciate your honesty and forthrightness. You have to understand, we care deeply about this company and the people in it, which is why we do like to know a few things about the people who may be joining us."

"Of course," Cerethan nods. "It would be completely irresponsible to hire people for such a prestigious company without attempting to know them a little first."

Elohad nods solemnly. "The people who concern me most are the ones who are unwilling to admit their past mistakes. Those who disclose them freely, and feel regret for them… I believe they deserve a chance at redemption." He smiles. "I suppose that's the paladin in me."

Jo smiles at Elo, such a paladin. Then she turns back to Cerethan. "Okay, and you said you were an… astromancer? I assume you're skilled in battle magics, since you mentioned working in Ashenvale?"

Cerethan smiles at Elohad. "I'm delighted to her about the paladin inside of you and his worldview!" He then turns to Jocoza. "Indeed, Captain Jocoza. I use the celestial bodies in wide array of ways. To make prophecies, for example, or for scrying, which I'm not quite adept at yet. Most interestingly for the Company, I can use them to channel the arcane in destructive ways! I hear even druids pull powers similar to the it from the stars. Did you know about this?"

"Oh, yes, I've heard of that. We have a number of druids in our company," Jo nods. "We can certainly use people with those sorts of skills — Elo, did you have any other particular questions for Cerethan on your side?"

Elohad considers. "Well we usually ask, are there any sorts of people you're uncomfortable working with, and would rather not be assigned on missions with?"

Cerethan smiles at Jocoza and nods. He turns to Elohad to listen to his question. "Well, I believe I'm not one to judge anyone, no matter how primitive or barbaric their methods are," he answers, a smile on his face. "So I'm happy to work with just anybody. I think I can handle collaborating with people using the Fel, too."

"That's good, that's one reason we ask," Jo nods. "We have few warlocks in our employ, but there are some. I wouldn't categorize any of our people as primitive or barbaric, though, just so you know."

Cerethan opens his mouth and no sounds come out for a second. He's frozen there, stuck in that position. "Of course!" he finally manages to say. "It was… a poor choice of words on my part. I meant… crude, or dated. I wouldn't want to reduce potential future colleagues in such a manner, no matter how much their way are those of sava- Hm."

"Right, it's a good idea not to," Jo says generously. "Is there any sort of work you'd prefer not to do, as well?"

"I'd rather not get my own hands dirty. Not in the sense of murdering our foes, of course, I understand it will be most of my work, as a mercenary," Cerethan shows his perfectly manicured hands to Jocoza, with its dark blue nail polish. "It's important I keep my hands in good shape. After all, they are my tools for drawing constellations just as well as my staff is. I'd rather avoid doing anything actually dirty. Skinning an animal, or… digging through the dirt. I leave that to the…" he takes a long pause, looking up at the ceiling, searching for his words. "Cruder members of the Company, if possible."

"You'll likely want to work in teams, then," Jo nods. "So that if something like that comes up, there's someone skilled in that sort of labor." Jo glances over to Elohad, and then back to Cerethan. "Is there any further questions you might have for us?"

Cerethan runs his tongue on the inside of his lips, as he considers this question. "I have many, but perhaps they will be more useful to ask if I get hired." The elf rubs his chin. "Perhaps one, then. Just out of curiosity, what are Cobalt Company's current objectives. With Deathwing gone, are there any other major threats you're looking to tackle now?"

"For the moment," Elohad says with a smile, "things are relatively peaceful, but there are still nests of Twilight Cultists to clean up, and of course any black dragons still flapping about. That sort of thing. I'm also a bit worried that the Horde will ramp up aggression against us, now that Deathwing isn't around to distract them. So to answer more succinctly: no major objective right now, just various jobs as they come up and as people hire us."

"And as it seems you're hiring, there is more work to do coming up than people to do said work in the Company, I wager?" Cerethan says, rubbing his chin again.

"We have a lot of people," Jo says. "But the more we have, the more good people, the more good we can do."

Jo glances over to Elohad. "I think I've made my decision. What do you think?"

Cerethan perks up, his ears raised high to the side of his turban, looking intensely at Jocoza and Elohad.

"I'm always interested in increasing our company's diversity, and we don't have many Highborne among us. I think you'd make a fine addition." Elohad smiles.

"I agree," Jo says with a wide smile. "I'm happy to welcome you to Cobalt Company, Lord Cerethan Starflight. Please do let us know whenever you need answers to other questions."

Cerethan stays there, is mouth agape for a moment. "I… Thank you very much. I am incredibly grateful for the trust you put in me!" He gets up from his chair to bow. "I'd like to clarify something first, though. I didn't come here expecting my status as a Highborne to open this door for me. I'd like to make sure I'm being hired as Lord Cerethan Starflight, not as someone with a title, a spectacular education and privileges."

Jo tries very hard not to look amused.

Elohad chuckles slightly. "As a man who once enlisted at the very bottom of the army despite being qualified for officership on account of my birth, I can sympathize. Trust that we see you for what you do, not who you were born."

"And we'll continue to do so," Jo nods firmly. "I hope you'll see us all in the same manner."

"Great! I'm delighted to join the prestigious Cobalt Company!" Cerethan smiles proudly. "Just tell me where to sign, where to get my tabard fashioned, and point me to my next mission, I'll gladly oblige!"

"Sometimes we'll send a message to you if there's any work we think you're particularly qualified for, and also you can come in here and check the job board." He gestures to the board on the wall. "Or if you see something that needs doing, and someone willing to pay, you can tell them you're with us and we'll make sure you get your payment."

"And no signature needed, but we'll get a tabard sent to you, free of charge," Jo says with a smile.

Cerethan beams. He's ready for what comes next.