![](http://cobalt-company.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images/writing:2026-05-14-lake-attack-vale-campaign/style="margin:/medium.jpg) |
| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | Baird, Ceiya, Lena, and Melancholy are doing their usual work with the Golden Lotus, when word of a mogu raid on Whitepetal Lake changes their trajectory! ~1800 words. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
The team begins to assemble at the Golden Pagoda.
Lena lands her gryphon near the Golden Pagoda and dismounts, stepping over to the Golden Lotus group.
Baird is there waiting, leaning against a pillar, rifle over his shoulder. He straightens at the arrival of others.
Melancholy dismounts with a prim step, already looking for Baird, and grinning when she spots him, giving him the traditional knuckle salute.
Baird flashes a grin back at her.
"Ishnu dal dieb, friends!" Ceiya stomps up with a beaming grin.
Lena waves at the incoming elf.
Baird tilts his head at Ceiya. He nods a greeting.
"Oh, I don't know what that means," Melancholy says, giving Ceiya a friendly finger wiggle hello.
Ceiya grins at Melancholy. "Oh…in Common it's something like…blessings to your family?"
"Oh, thank you, then, and blessings to your family in return," Melancholy says brightly. She sets the soulstone on Lena.
"Greetings my friends," Leven says to the team. "You know the work — the mogu continue to fight. Today they have brought in serpents, and seem to be empowering their stormcaller staves."
"Looks like we're off to the Golden Stair again," Lena says. "Storm staffs and cloud serpents today."
"Behemoth out there," Baird observes.
Ceiya perks up at the word 'behemoth'. Her eyes flare orange with excitement.
"We ought to kill it," Lena says, looking in the same direction.
"YES WE SHOULD!" Ceiya bellows.
Baird nods and unslings his rifle.
Ceiya clangs her weapons and charges!
The behemoth falls quickly.
Belatedly, Melancholy pulls up a soulwell full of healthstones.
Ceiya roars in triumph as the giant statue crumbles. "Tor ilisar'thera'nal!" The she leans over to Melancholy and says, "That means, 'let our enemies beware'."
Baird watches as the behemoth topples, then shoulders his rifle and helps himself to a healthstone. He nods his thanks to Melancholy.
"Ah, thanks," Lena says, nodding, but she doesn't take one.
Melancholy pops a plum lipped smile.
"Pandaren wounded up ahead," Lena says. "Might offer them some healthstones. That and bandages."
"I still don't know how to do much with bandages," Melancholy says, as she scoops up healthstones.
Baird takes two more healthstones and heads toward the pandaren.
Lena pauses to summon a healthstone to offer to each fallen pandaren she comes across.
Melancholy makes a noise of sympathy, putting a hand up on her cheek. "Oh, the poor things." Melancholy gasps as the ground beneath her feet electrifies, and she hastily steps out of it.
"It's those sky serpents," Lena says, looking up.
Baird is already taking aim at one.
"Oh, my garters, they're enormous," Melancholy says, as she reaches for a soul shard to shatter.
Ceiya clangs her weapons, "Bring them down to me, and we'll finish them quickly!"
The ranged part of the team brings down the sky serpents, and Ceiya finishes them quickly.
"Think we've pushed them back about as far as we can for now," Lena says. "Back to the pagoda?"
As the team flies in, Leven waves us down urgently. "My friends, I've just had word that the mogu have attacked Whitepetal Lake!"
The whole team from the lake, He Softfoot, Ren Firetongue, and Merchant Tantan, are taking shelter here at the Golden Pagoda.
He nods silently, and draws a picture of mogu.
Anji snarls. “The mogu have erected their filthy banners around the lake to the west, claiming it as their own. Take these torches and show them what we think of their banners.”
Kun nods earnestly at Anji.
Melancholy looks from the torches to Ceiya. "We do have a portable torch with us," she says blithely.
"Oh good," Anji says. "So you're set, even if you drop yours in the water."
“The mogu are taking over the minds of the saurok at the lake to our west and turning them against us!” Kun says in dismay. “The thing is, they were already against us, so I'm not sure they really thought this thing through fully.”
“Anyway, Anji's the fighter in this pair, I'm more the lover, so I'm looking for someone to do all the weapon swinging and spell flinging and war crying and such,” Kun looks at us. “Can you go kill some saurok for me?”
Melancholy looks between the assembled. "We have all of those capabilities, yes."
Baird nods.
Ren Firetongue looks very put out to be not enjoying his time at the lake right now. “Sometimes I feel sorry for these mogu… maybe ripping out the spirits of other races is just their way of coping with family issues at home?” Ren shrugs. “Maybe we should be more sympathetic to where all this aggression stems from?”
Lena stares at Ren.
Melancholy stares at Ren.
“Or we could just smash all their soul-stealing ritual objects down at the lake,” Ren concludes. “That sounds more fun to me personally.”
"Let's go with that," Lena nods.
The team heads to Whitepetal Lake, which is indeed under attack.
"I can't decide if that was meant to be a dig at us warlocks," Melancholy says as they arrive at Whitepetal. "Aggression! Family issues! Ugh!"
"He'd best not be talking about us," Lena says, ripping the soul out of a saurok. "Or I'll let those biting fish get his feet next time."
"We should be asking him about where all that foot obsession comes from," Melancholy says with a pout.
Ceiya grabs a banner while she is still on fire, and sets it aflame.
"Ceiya, I think we can leave the burning of banners to you," Lena says, nodding.
"I'M ON IT!" Ceiya barks way too loudly.
In the center of the usual pagoda is a massive light, with four statues channeling beams toward it.
"These would be the statues for us to smash?" Lena says.
"Oh, that looks extraordinarily unnaturally bright, doesn't it?" Melancholy says. "Like a beacon."
"Aye, like something we ought to destroy," Lena nods.
Melancholy uses the power of her felhunter to silence a mogu, and then gasps as that same mogu charges straight at her.
Baird shoots it.
Melancholy drains the mogu's soul with its dying breath, and pops a smile at Baird.
As the team comes back into the Golden Pagoda, everyone looks up.
The team heads back to the Golden Pagoda.
“I'll take the smoke on the horizon to mean that they've received our message,” Anji says. “Good.”
“You smell of saurok and mogu. Not a terribly pleasant mix, my friend. But it suggests to me that your task is done, and for that I thank you,” Kun bows. “May we meet again soon under better-smelling terms.”
Baird plucks at the collar of his shirt and sniffs it.
Melancholy delicately sniffs at her shoulder. Her Purple Melancholia perfume is still pleasantly dominant.
"I beg your pardon. I smell of ash and smoke." Ceiya says, because that's better, apparently.
Melancholy laughs, a dark little bell.
Lena sniffs the sleeve of her robe.
"Apparently saurok and mogu smell like lavender," Melancholy says blithely.
Baird leans over to sniff Melancholy. He nods. Better.
"Well," Leven says. "You've pushed them back. The last thing I would ask of you today would be to patrol around Guo-Lai. The mogu still seem to have quite some interest in the place."
They all head out to Guo-Lai.
Melancholy refreshes the soulstone on Lena as soon as they land.
"We can circle around as usual?" Lena suggests. "See to the sprites, spiders, and mogu statues."
Baird nods.
"Sprites, spiders, mogu statues, oh my," Melancholy says lightly.
"Sounds almost like a poem," Lena says.
Melancholy laughs. "It might be something like it."
They fight some sprites, and then circle down to the giant spiders near the entrance to the Guo-Lai Halls.
Melancholy sighs with nostalgia. "These spiders really do remind me of home."
"You make Duskwood sound a touch frightening sometimes," Lena says with a faint smile.
"They remind me of lunch," Ceiya says.
Melancholy laughs. "'The acorn's cup, the raindrop's arc / the swinging spider's silver line, / the rube drop of wine,'" Melancholy recites. "A lovely spring lunch menu."
Ceiya's tummy rumbles.
"I suppose anywhere can be frightening, when you aren't used to it," Melancholy muses. "I think parts of the ocean sound a bit frightening."
"In storms, it can be," Lena agrees. "Or in certain places."
Baird nods at Lena.
They head back up by the usual Guo-Lai camp.
Anji and Kun are there at the camp, breathing a little hard. Anji looks up as the team arrives. "We've had a report — there's a huge spider down in the Halls."
"You'll kill it, right?" Kun asks, eyes wide.
"Oh, aye, I reckon we can," Lena glances at the others.
Baird nods.
"Oh, I definitely reckon," Melancholy says blithely.
Baird eyes Melancholy sidelong.
"I will definitely be wreckin' it," Ceiya agrees.
Baird declines to reckon.
They head down into the Halls to fight the spider matriarch. It is really very huge, like larger than four people put together.
"Oh, tides, that is a big one," Lena says, as they approach the spider matriarch.
Baird nods. It's okay he has a gun.
Ceiya nods, clangs her weapons together, and charges in a trail of fire!
"Cinnamon peach!" Melancholy…curses? as the tiny spiders come from all corners.
Baird begins methodically picking off the swarming smaller spiders.
Melancholy tosses out seeds of corruption like they're going out of style.
Ceiya roars, a literal lick of flame spitting from her mouth, as she hacks wildly at the giant spider. Splorch, splorch.
The spider, and all the little spiders, are soon defeated.
Lena looks a little pale, but she takes a breath and shakes it off.
Baird studies Lena impassively.
Lena smiles at Baird politely, and heads out of the Halls.
The team returns to Anji and Kun at the camp.
"We've slain it," Lena reports.
“You've got a follow-through I can respect. Thanks.” Anji says.
"Hissing, but stingless — they were slain for food,'" Melancholy recites lightly.
"I saved some of the meat, if anyone is hungry," Ceiya adds.
Lena looks askance at Ceiya. She does not ask for spider meat. "I think I'll head back to the Shrine for now," Lena says. "Till we're needed next."
Melancholy considers it. "I am peckish, and I'll try anything at least once. We have spider cakes in Duskwood that are popular," she says, not exactly making it sound less frightening.
"I can't make them myself though. I've never learned the how of it," Melancholy says.
Baird contemplates this impassively. "Is it like… crab, I guess?"
"It actually does taste a bit like crab," Ceiya says. "But tastier."
Baird nods thoughtfully. "I like crab."
"Sometimes, yes," Melancholy agrees. "I like them with a chili oil."
"Oh, that sounds interesting," Ceiya perks.
Lena backs away, in the direction of her gryphon…