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| Details |
| Author: | inkie |
| Summary: | Admiral Fallon writes home belatedly to his wife. His excuse for the delay is that Pandaria kind of exploded in monsters. It is a critical moment for the free market to rise to the occasion. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Chain: Siarenne
15 October 29
To Her Grace the Duchess Esprit,
Lady Fallon,
I must first of all beg Your Grace’s pardon for the unwonted delay in my reply to your welcome correspondence of 24 September. The Lady Blanche was for some days occupied with taking soundings and making a survey of the southwestern coast of Pandaria in expectation of the Alliance fleet’s eventual arrival. Then, shortly after we returned to our Jade Forest anchorage and I dispatched my report to the Admiralty, disaster struck our efforts here.
Admiral Taylor received word that a Horde force and their allied hozen (disagreeable monkeys) were on the march; our provisional airbase in the north had been taken by surprise and had fallen to their attack. Somewhat uncharacteristically, Taylor made the unilateral decision to meet the assault, and he and his jinyu recruits marched north.
The battle between the two forces was joined at a place called Serpent’s Heart, upon which the pandaren were in the century-long process of constructing a jade monument sacred to their wild god. In the chaos of battle, the monument was toppled and destroyed. Subsequently — as a result of the monument’s fall, the battle that preceded it, or some alchemy of both — a great Sha was unleashed.
Cobalt Company was able to drive back the monster; they were obliged to do so twice, as after containing it the first time, it fled into the local temple to wreak considerable havoc until Cobalt’s arrival. In its aftermath, however, the land remains infested by smaller sha, and tainted by corruption of a sort none of us has seen before. Mrs. Shine confirms it is not fel. Miss Herald suggests it is akin to shadow, but not precisely shadow. (I am uncertain as to what that means, but I trust to Miss Herald’s expertise.) The pandaren seem at a loss entirely, and consult their scrolls.
As you may have anticipated from the tenor of the above, the outcome of the abortive battle itself was disastrous. There were no more than a handful of survivors on either side. Taylor was among the few on ours; whether Nazgrim survived, I do not know.
I have put the project of harbor-dredging in Captain Foyle’s hands for the time being, as I feel myself duty-bound to remain in the immediate area as an official representative of the Alliance, and to oversee our aid to the native peoples.
I believe it would be of substantial benefit to both the Alliance and the people of Pandaria if the pandaren portal-keepers were persuaded to allow some small measure of commerce between Stormwind and Paw’don. It would ensure not only less reliance by us upon their resources for the fleet’s supply but also that they might as needed be supplied by us in turn. If they were convinced to open the portal to allow a somewhat greater number of skilled craftsmen or healers to join us here at this particular moment, it would grant us an unparalleled opportunity to demonstrate what the Alliance might offer the pandaren as their allies.
Beyond the above there is little to report. Ralaea came with me aboard the Blanche for the coastal survey and was glad to be asea again, and pleased to take some of the soundings herself with a very little guidance from Pascoe. She still will not grasp even the most basic principles of spherical trigonometry, however, and I was obliged to leave off trying to explain it to her for fear of inciting a very small, localized mutiny.
Shine and Mrs. Shine continue to be well, though Shine has given the tanuki dog a name and allows it to sleep in their room at the inn, which does not bode well.
The dwarven priest Stillwall is here with Cobalt — you may recall him from Northrend — and has evinced an enthusiasm for naval matters. I may perhaps assay his background in spherical trigonometry. (Captain Sparkwire, a frequent dinner guest aboard the Blanche while she was here, has been obliged to return to Ironforge. She is an excellent conversationalist and will be missed.)
As a body, Cobalt’s people seem to be faring well. Captain Sparkwire having returned to Ironforge, the forward teams are under the field command of Sir Atley, who has been made lieutenant. I cannot say he has been given the easiest of commands for his first, but nor do I think Atley a man who would seek an easy command. There is a certain sort of man who is at his very finest in the throes of a crisis, and Atley is one.
Which is very well, as these last several days have been something of a rolling broadside of crises. It eases matters considerably that I can rely on him and Cobalt Company to see to diplomacy and local relations, and concentrate my own efforts on broader matters of Alliance strategy and security.
As to domestic matters — I am grateful as ever for your assiduous work regarding the shipyard reports, and I trust the quarter closed satisfactorily.
You may tell Ery that I am pleased to hear of her kraken, which is a benevolent omen, and of her forays into running. I am also gratified to hear that the boys begin to crawl. I must request now, however, that when they someday begin to walk, we conceal that information from Shine.
I would be very glad indeed to meet Miss Summersong and speak with her when I return. Pass on my thanks to Miss Jadepaw as well for the considerate gift of the charm.
I hope you will tell Finley that his drawing is the very finest model of a flower I have ever seen, and I have admired it in considerable detail. It has been something of a refuge in this last week.
I think of you often.
With warmest regards,
Yr. obd’t svt.,
S. Fallon
P.S. When I told the innkeeper in the village that I do not care for her tea, she offered me a different variety, this from a region called Kun Lai. It is a black tea that has been peat-smoked, and it has an extraordinary malt flavor. I have enclosed a packet for you. There is no especial reason for the jade rabbit figurine save that I thought it appealing and a woman told me that rabbits here are associated symbolically with the white moon. I apologize for the paucity of other gifts but I have been much occupied for the last several days.