Year of the King 635

06 / 4

I've just arrived at the Emberhearth Enclave. It's somewhat surreal to be surrounded by peoples of the Horde, but not as much as I might have imagined. Whatever the political history, these are just people trying to live their lives. That said, given my history, I'm not sure it should be that simple to dismiss the "political history". I've lost two precious homes to Horde, or rather the Forsaken, but I doubt anyone here was responsible for that. Even among the Forsaken, how many could be said to be responsible for Gilneas and Teldrassil? A handful? A hundred?

Esslar seems to be staying with the Academy, or perhaps returning to his "retirement". He hasn't responded to Falthoryx's invitation in any case. I wasn't sure what Wayne intended but Aki was already here when I arrived so I'm sure he's around. Falthoryx already had a lodging prepared for us, naturally. He seems eager for me to make use of the largest space as some variety of public library or museum. It's an interesting idea, an institution open to the public, and one I've rarely seen in practice. I'll spend tomorrow moving the materials but that's certainly worth careful consideration.

10 / 4

The move is mostly complete. Everything is portalled in and ready for unpacking once it has a place to go. If the archive will be open for public viewing it warrants reconsidering the accession indexing. I had planned to use the Arathian standard, as that is what I'm most accustomed to, but it's not very accessible for the public. I learned the Lyozie standard in Valdrakken and that could be a better option. It's less specific but doesn't rely on the patron being intimately familiar with a two thousand year old categorization index.

In the meantime, I fashioned a new slip binding for Falthoryx's journal. He'd nearly run out of empty pages and mentioned how he wasn't sure where he'd find another codex with it's weather proof binding. The slip binding will allow him to interchange the blocks, and it's relatively simple matter to sew them into a more conventional cover once they're full. It doesn't seem like the dragons had developed anything like that and Falthoryx seems quite taken with the idea.

14 / 4

Something phenomenal has happened. Falthoryx has given me something he's calling the "Sense Defense Hood" and I can use it dampen sound, light, or smells. I can control it with a small, detachable fob and it'll dim the space in front of my eyes, soften the sound around my ears, or, if I pull up the face mask, nullify odors in front of my nose. I can vary the strength of the effect and activate each one independently. I don't think Falthoryx realizes what a gift this is. For the first time I have *some* control over sensations that doesn't somehow separate me from the world. I won't have to take forms that can't speak to get relief from one sense while heightening others. If I'd had this hood decades ago, I can only imagine how things could have gone differently.

Mist doesn't seem to appreciate it as much as I do. She keeps gnawing and pawing it. I think its in her way, but as a human she's able to wrap around my neck inside the hood and she doesn't seem to mind that. Whatever lets her bite my ear I suppose.

18 / 4

The furniture for the library is in place and I'm well into the accession of the collection. I still haven't met anyone else from Emberheart so I can't ascertain what, if anything, would be suitable from the community. I've been told they already have an archive and various personal libraries anyway so it's likely I have little to offer. At Falthoryx's request I've ordered basic materials covering a variety of topics, predominately history and fabrication.

Having this hood has made it even easier to lose track of time. Wayne hasn't said anything directly, but he keeps bringing me little snacks well before I notice I've missed a meal.

Falthoryx has been spending time in Quel'thalas dealing with the incursion there. He's been charged with hunting down a dominaar and has requested Wayne and I assist him with the hunt. It's been a long time since I've worked with a group like this and it's bringing up thoughts and anxieties I'd rather stayed buried. In either case, it's work worth doing. I haven't heard Wayne say if he's going, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't show up on his own.

28 / 4

I can certainly see why dominaar are feared, but I did not expect Wayne to be so intimidating. He becomes an enormous bear, perhaps a third again my size, and he retains his antlers and that weathered old hat. By all rights, it should look silly (or at least odd), but when he roared at the dominaar I froze for the second it took to remember we were in the same pack.

Falthoryx was impressive as well. His trap was effective and the redundancies well planned. At first he was firing bolts from somewhere I couldn't see, they kept coming from different directions. Then things got chaotic and he was in the middle of us throwing fire and spellfrost.

I'm not sure how much help I was between the two, but I did what I could to protect the pack as a proper wolf. It is... disconcerting biting dominaar. Like most extradimensional beings, they don't bleed and there's flesh within them but somehow there's still a taste... a sort of tart bitterness. It's an unpleasant sensation, but the job is done.

We've returned home and I've completely lost my place on the library. It's going to take some time to get back on track. I understand there will be a gathering of the Emberheart in a few days to hear one of their elders share some stories. I plan to attend and make some records.