warforged | there's battle lines being drawn; (CLOSED)

Entry tags:

there's battle lines being drawn; (CLOSED)

Who: The Dragon Aspects.
What: An attempt to reconcile and work together.
Where: In the unoccupied mountains east to Sin'thalas.
When: Now.
Warnings: The mention of genocide should be the brunt of it.

Despite the fresh throes of agony that have weakened their kind, Alexstrasza made a promise to get her beloved siblings together once more for conversation. If they could talk it out, perhaps there was a chance that they could pool their strengths together to work alongside one another once more. While knowing the wounds of their hearts were still fresh (and would be for thousands of years to come), it couldn't be helped. Too much has been brought to her attention. Further misgivings on the younger races of Azeroth and those they have called their champions wouldn't be tolerated.

These were matters that needed to be dealt with before they further escalated out of control. So much has spiraled out of her control that the act in calling them together like this could almost be seen as desperation, but she cares not for that. Compassion has always been her calling and if she cannot get them to see reason, then what good was the title of Dragon Queen?

After urging them to come together through the mental bond all of the Aspects shared with each other, Alexstrasza busies herself with ensuring the remote location she's chosen is private. Circling around once more, she keeps an eye out for any sign of life. Upon seeing none, she finally chooses to settle down into the clearing surrounded by behemoth peaks all around. If she's fortunate enough to find Malygos in the right mind, he could ensure their privacy with his ward spells.

For now she waits in her majestic true form for the others to arrive.

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Malygos is the first to arrive, even before the Timeless One himself. He appears in a purple and blue puff of smoke, scales shimmering in the residual effects of an invisibility spell. Its not his movement that gives him away, but the loud inhale through reptilian nostrils. Spies everywhere, danger, the lingering taint of black dragon.

But there was no Deathwing here. Not yet. And why, of course, would Alexstrasza have him here now? If discussions were to be had, the Destroyer had no place in them.

"Alexstrassza," Malygos's ethereal voice came, half growled. "Bold moves, bold calls sister. Danger lurking, Destroyer will be waiting if we stay. Why do you call me here? Call me away?"

His presence both lifted her spirits and tanked them in succession. Malygos who had lost not only most of his children, but something greater. Something she tried to not think about now as her head leaned in his direction with her own nostrils inhaling sharply.

"Bold actions must be taken in order to ensure Azeroth's sanctity and that of our own."

Wise as always to question her when others wouldn't, but now she had to explain to him that Neltharion had been asked along with the others. She reached out to all four, not just one. Neglecting his presence would have dire consequences, more so than anything they have already endured, and she wouldn't make an enemy of someone who needed her faith. Her compassion. Her love.

If only she could reach out to Malygos in the same way. "Brother, I have called all whom been blessed."

The blue giant growled again, tail lashing like a feline's as his wings folded tightly to his sides and he began to back away. The runes along his body shimmered through the water-like cloak of his spell, yellow eyes narrowing.

"Those who have misused their blessings have no place among us!" the eldest barks. "You will state your business here with me now now now, Alexstrasza. I will not share my presence with that butcher!"

The invisibility shroud ripples, claws becoming solid and visible as they dig into the earth.

Having not anticipated a tantrum from the eldest one, Alexstrasza stood in temporary disarray at what she witnessed before her. It was only when he brought his wings in firmly around him did she begin to understand. He feared Neltharion, the Destroyer as he had called him.

For a moment she couldn't comprehend her unbelievable arrogance that the five of them could sit peacefully and determine the best course of action to take.

"Please brother. Were these matters not of importance to us all, I would have called upon us one by one."

Yet, she had to try to convince him to remain. If one left, inevitably the rest would and this meeting would be as meaningless as the loss of life close to them.

"Importance? To the Destroyer?" the Spellweaver barks cynically. "My, my my, Alexstrazsa. Are we plotting together to decimate another race of sentient creatures?!"

Malygos hisses venomously, looking around with obvious paranoia in every tense muscle in his body. The leviathan's tail lashes, as if he were chasing an invisible foe.

"Where is he?! Where??"

Edited 2014-06-10 22:06 (UTC)

The shadow of another massive wingspan passes over the two and with it, "He hasss not come yet."

Having worded it that way meant that there was a great possibility the Destroyer will be joining them. He may not, time will only tell and telling of time is something the Aspect of Time is forbidden from. As usual, he can only react and be present; nothing more.

Sand and dirt fly up around his claws as he digs them into the ground to steady himself while landing. While he favored taking a spot near Alexstrasza, today he's chosen to stand next to Malygos in a feeble attempt to comfort him.

"Isss there reasson the dragon magesss are absssent from our discusssionsss today?"

"I suspect it is because our discussions today do not pertain to the matters of our kin," comes a voice on wind as Ysera steps out from seemingly nowhere. Her ethereal form appears from the greenery shrouding the mountain ranges, and she predictably takes a seat beside her sister.

The green's eyes remain closed, and her head does not tilt in any direction in particular. Though she seats herself beside Alexstrasza, there is no greater attempt to communicate with anyone. As per usual, her body is transparent -- an indication that she is not actually present at this gathering, but offering a projection for discussion purposes.

"Whatever those may be. I trust Alexstrasza will be forthright, as should you, Timeless One. Spellweaver."

Her tone is not accusatory, but it is quite blunt.

"Yet. Yet!"

Malygos might have been insane, but he certainly wasn't stupid nor oblivious. He knows the role of his brother well enough to know that Nozdormu could not commit to an answer either way, but he also knows somewhere deep in his scales that he is in danger.

"But he will. He lurks. I will not stand idly by and leave my belly bared for the Destroyer! I won't, won't, won't!"

The blue promptly skitters away from the bronze Aspect, as fast as a beast of his size was able. His wings stay tightly folded, and a hiss comes from somewhere in his chest.

"Make it quick, Alexstrasza! Not all of us are so blessed with infinite time in our claws."

The sight of the four of them together in this way lifts her spirits and discards them both at the same time. The distrust that shows in Nozdormu's gaze, the fear in Malygos' own and the dismissive one of Ysera's was almost enough to call it all off. Allow the younger races to continue to think poorly of them and leave those delicate matters in the hands of their dragonsworn.

"Calm yourself, brother." Alexstrasza stood her ground both physically and mentally, unrelenting when it came to her reasons. "No harm will come to you, not while I'm around."

If she must fight Neltharion right here, right now, in order to save the other two (Ysera having thought ahead of her own protection), it would be done. Doubt wouldn't betray her, not today. What a scene that would make for their younger companions who have placed their trust within them, but better that than the show of her incapable of wrangling the four Aspects together for a discussion.

"The younger races of this area hold us accountable for what has happened."

Malygos' head whips around the moment Alexstrasza chooses to address the reason she's called them together, and the Spellweaver barks out a maddened laugh.

"Of course they do!" Malygos snorted, straightening in a moment of lucidity with a darkening gaze. His invisibility spell falls in an instant, the runes along his body dulled from the power once drawn from him, but still sparkling with brilliance. "It was our power that was their undoing -- nevermind their recklessness and vanity that rained demon fire upon us all!"

The Aspect's tail thrashed downward into the ground, sending some rocks tumbling down the mountains shielding them.

"While I hesitate to lay blame at the feet of those who we are meant to be guarding and preserving, Malygos is correct," Ysera replies, with slight hesitation. "We can all admit the Dragon Soul was forged in error -- a well-meant error...but error."

The Dreamer turns her head toward Malygos, eyes still closed but obviously watching.

"The younger races fear us now because it is easy and it is proven to them. That is not likely to change so long as the Legion continues to assault Azeroth." She puncuates her next statement with one claw. "And that is what we are meant to be focused on."

The weight of this form feels heavy suddenly to Alexstrasza as she listens to her sibling's raised voice and the laughter that accompanies it. A glimpse into a futile future is all she can see when he addresses them in that way. Still, she finds the strength to keep her wings upright and her posture still, unwavering even now.

"The dragonsworn cannot do their work without being attacked for our mistakes." Alexstrasza's voice is boisterous despite the discussion. "They have sought me for answers that have been denied to them. If we further neglect it, our damaged reputation may become impossible to rectify and then our children will have more to fear. We cannot afford to make more enemies in these dark times, my beloved brothers, my beloved sister."

Nozdormu doesn't bother to waste his time pursuing the frantic bundle of nerves and scales that is Malygos, choosing instead to settle his great weight down upon the ground. Coiling his body around, he listens in on the discussion, silent save for a snort here and there into the surrounding dirt.

"There are more important mattersss to wasste our time disscusssing."

What those are, he doesn't say. He simply just reminds them that the dragonsworn are a temporary solution to a much greater problem and why should they spend their time caring about them?

Edited 2014-06-13 08:36 (UTC)

"Enemies? Hah!" Malygos begins. "They cannot win this war without our wings, and they must know it as much as anyone else! Tell me, Alexstrasza, are you incapable of wrangling a handful of mortal creatures? Pity, pity that..."

The leviathan hums loudly in thought, wings unfurling -- a sign he is getting more comfortable, now that his thoughts have been drawn away from Deathwing.

"The curious will always ask questions, sister. Questions become more questions -- trust me, I know, mine is the very realm of curiousity and questions. What answers are they owed beyond what we've already given? How soon before we again give that which is not our's to give, Lifebinder?"

Nozdorumu's interruption is worth acknowledging, though Malygos seems to remember just a beat too late as he swings his head toward the bronze beast.

"I should say so!"

"Malygos," Ysera rumbles in displeasure, shifting in her chosen spot enough that her form becomes a bit more solid in the process. The tense air between them clearly doesn't sit well with the Dreamer. "Our's is to give to Azeroth, no matter the personal cost to ourselves, and our Dragonsworn are meant to aid us in that task."

She goes quiet for a moment, then swings her head back toward Alexstrasza.

"Alexstrasza is correct. We will not have trust from these mortals if we are not forthright with them, and they may in turn damage what we are working to preserve."

"I will not wrangle them, Malygos." It comes out sharp as she bares her fangs at the implication of it. They weren't giving these blessings to control, only to guide and to protect. "If we cannot earn their trust, they will surely turn against us."

The last thing any of them need are the younger races undermining the foundation they've built over the past few centuries. Especially not after one of their own did precisely just that as of recent.

"The loss of life affected not only us, but the rest of Azeroth. Remember that above all else. Every being suffers right now, some more than others." The last bit comes as an afterthought as she solemnly watches the blue leviathan.

Malygos recoils just a bit at the show of fangs, various fins along his body flattening and wings folding in closer to his body. Aside from that small show of discomfort, he says nothing more.

"And how are we expected to trust these Dragonsworn in turn?" Malygos rumbles, narrowing his eyes. "What of those slithering about in the Obsidian Sanctum? Are we to place our trust in--"

The leviathan pauses, silent and alert like a startled deer.

"--he's coming. No--no, no, he's been here the whole time, hasn't he? HASN'T HE?" he roars accusingly at Alexstrasza. But before she or anyone else can retaliate, Malygos lets out a fearsome blast of ice and vanishes under the cover of the mist it leaves behind.

As if the Spellweaver were the Timeless One himself, a black smokey mist begins to billow from the pores of the ground. It grows into a vast cloud of living shadow that eventually takes the form of the black leviathan everyone had been whispering of moments prior. His tattered wings fold in smugly at his sides, and he sits in the center of the three remaining Aspects as if he was born to be there.

Lava oozes painfully from his scales and sizzles as it connects with the ground. The fresh metal mantle grafted to his body reflects off of it and the sunlight from above. Deathwing's great head only rests on Ysera and Nozdormu for but a moment before he turns to Alexstrasza, gutteral voice working against ancient vocal chords.

"I hope I'm not interrupting, Dragon Queen," Deathwing offers snidely, raising his metal chin proudly. "After all, you spent so much effort pulling me from my duties."

Edited 2014-06-13 10:00 (UTC)

It isn't the chill of ice that causes her to shiver, no, it's the sudden spike in the temperature around them. Flame has always been her comfort as the breath of life, but just as easily as she can grant it, life can be snuffed away in the ashes. A garish arrival with the intent of intimidation hardly works on her, but she can see the success of his actions in her siblings.

"You-!" What little control of the Aspect's deliberation regarding the Dragon Soul and their new champions has been crudely snatched from her, resting now in the arrogant jaws of Deathwing. Snapping her jowl shut and with it her exposed teeth, the rest of her body grows rigid. Firmly gripping the earth underneath her, life no longer can contest with the ruination his very presence brings.

Ysera promptly gets to her feet when Deathwing arrives, sidestepping any of the black smoke that wafts in her direction, but otherwise appearing mostly unruffled. There is a stern dip between her scaly brow that hints she isn't altogether pleased at his manner of arrival.

She promptly goes very silent, circling around to the other side of Alexstrasza and glancing passed the Destroyer to meet Nozdormu's eyes. No discussion would be had so long as Deathwing was present -- not for lack of trying.

Nozdormu doesn't need to glimpse into the future to know how the rest of this will play out. Ysera's throwing in her crown, Malygos has taken off, and there's nothing beneficial he can add in without provoking ire in the remaining two.

"Thisss isss a wassste of time." Sand spills from between his bronze scales as he takes to the air once more, wings billowing dust and smoke beneath him. "He isssn't here to ssspeak, only to make a ssshow of himssself."

"Ha! Leaving so sssoon brother?" Deathwing chortles, eyes widening with maddened glee. The leviathan doesn't bother turning around -- the wingbeats tell their own story, and he isn't all that interested in stopping him. The two he's most interested in are sitting right in front of him.

"How rude of him, to leave the females in waiting," he adds, sitting on his haunches and scratching his plated stomach idly. There's an awful metallic sound that echoes through the mountain peaks as his nails, hard as diamonds, make contact with the protection there. "Though I suppose it comes of no surprise to either of you that I remain the most sensible...of the three of us."

"The mossst sssenssible?" Now it's Nozdormu's turn to break out into laughter, his own mad exuberance echoing in the mountains around them. Unlike his siblings, he has no qualms about confronting the behemoth below him. "There isss ssensse to your madnessss?"

A dismissive snort can barely be heard as he takes to the sky fully, leaving the other three behind. Deathwing. Sensible. Now that's a joke that won't grow old over time.

Ysera is not interested in listening to the boys bicker, nor is she all that keen on hanging about in Deathwing's shadow.

"Perhaps another time, sister," Ysera offers while the males talk over each other. "I will need time to think on this, and we will have no progress when they are not willing to listen. But I do not believe you are incorrect in your assumptions."

Her form starts to fade with the breeze in the mountains.

"I would not linger in his presence for long. Something has overtaken him, Alexstrasza...I can sense it."

When all else fails, it's Ysera's words who bring ground her back to reality. Her beloved sister with whom she can place her faith in even when tensions are high. That feeling of warmth fades and begins to boil into something else from the intense heat of the only one who continues to keep her company. Ysera's warning remains on her mind, but it was the duty of this Aspect to remain benevolent even when faced with the beast responsible for killing her lovers, children, and so much more.

"Neltharion." He's taken up a new title, a new name, but it matters little to her for he will always be the Earth-Warder in her eyes. "Your needless entrance cost us time and trust within our new allies. I hope you intend to make up for it with favorable news."

"Come now, Alexstrasza," Deathwing half chortles, watching Ysera fade away with an amused shift of his metal jaw. "Perhaps you ought to reevaluate your approach. My allies do as they are told, when they are told to do it. Is that the sort of favorable news you were looking for?"

Of course Alexstrasza would remain behind. It must be some sort of clever trap. Deathwing himself has little to fear. If the Dragon Soul were nearby, he would sense it.

"As I recall, sister, it was you who summoned me here."

While paranoia clung to the back of the minds of her siblings (as well as the festering betrayal they all felt in the presence of the darkened Aspect), Alexstrasza feels none of that. True, the loss of life should result in mild antagonism between the pair as he took all that was dear to her heart, yet she knows that displaying it will only further add to his self-created opposition. She won't aid in him feeling singled out, nor will she give him any reason to believe he's truly bested her.

For he's done neither.

"I did." With a steely edge to her tone, she steps towards him without fear. He speaks of the Blacksworn as if they are mere pawns and she wonders briefly if they are. Who knows which of the ones she's spoken (and opened up) to have reported back to him. Keeping that in mind, she endures the heat his presence brings to stand near. "Though I had hoped to keep things amicable. It doesn't matter now."

They are gone and they are here. Now it was just down to the two of them.

"The people of the earth you have sworn yourself to protect are forsaken, wandering lost due to your actions. What will you do to set things right?"

Deathwing doesn't back down when Alexstrasza steps toward him. Smoke begins to furl from his nostrils when she appears generally unruffled, and his temper bubbles slightly as she continues to press him. A reptilian noise of discontent comes from him as he gets to his feet and steps toward her in an attempt to intimidate her, to keep her from asserting authority.

"You do not make demands of me Alexstrasza," Deathwing snorts, tail dragging a great rivet into the ground to accent his point. "I am not a creature to pay dues to lesser races. This earth is mine. This world is mine. I shall do with it as I see fit, Life-Binder. If you are not with me, then you are against me."

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there's battle lines being drawn; (CLOSED)

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