If you won't come back I respect that, but can you at least tell me where you've been?
Here and there, but I've kept busy. I've mostly been taking on odd jobs. Cracking some bandit skulls here, incinerating some necromancers, there. Putting down the odd sheep-stealing dragon. It's not much, but it's honest work, and it keeps my hands busy.
Plus... it's a great way to stay in shape!
Why are you here now?
Recently I've been... retracing my steps. Trying to understand where it all went wrong. I've known a lot of failure, and I have a lot to atone for. So I'm doing that atonement now, in my own way. Andorhal is my next stop. I've actually not been back there since before the war started, but It feels like part of me has been waiting there for years.
<Remain silent>
I've been avoiding this place for a long time. So many of my best friends, my brothers and sisters... died in that accursed city protecting that little box of ashes. I should have been there with them, of course. But my own stubbornness led me to leave the order just as they were about to need me the most.
You couldn't have known what was coming.
It hardly matters. I swore an oath and when you swear an oath it's for life. Whatever petty squabbles I had or how narrow-minded some of our leaders were, it didn't excuse me from walking away, even if many of them wanted me gone. So now I'm retracing my steps and walking towards the things that are uncomfortable instead of walking away from them.
I understand. I'll let Katherine know you aren't ready yet. I hope we meet again soon.
I'm sure we will.
I think I'll remain here for a while. The Night Elf is a surprisingly good conversationalist. Not bad at hearthstone, either. The fishing also isn't bad near Caer Darrow... if you don't mind fishing up the occasional zombie head.
First off, why did you take the echoing orb from Stormwind?
The cult of the damned has eyes and ears in a great many places. When I realized that the Burning Blade intended to make a move on the orb, I made mine first. Trust me, the orb is safer where I have it than anywhere in Stormwind. Getting into the vault first wasn't terribly difficult either. It turns out when you don't properly compensate the people who build your opulent castles and vaults, you can never be sure who might end up with knowledge about the secret doors and passageways.
Well, that's a disturbing thought. Fine. What's next, how do I fit into this?
For starters I wanted you to know that the orb was safe to prevent you from rushing off to chase a dead end. For another thing, the partial ritual we performed in Felwood did have an effect on the orb. It's changed now. I believe that there may be another way to finish the process and destroy it without needless betrayal. However, I believe we'll still need you to complete the ritual, just not as a sacrifice. These things are all about creating and severing arcane connections and for good or ill, you are a part of this until the end now.
Great. Sounds like you tried to kill me for nothing then.
Regrettably, yes. You must understand that at that time, your death seemed a perfectly acceptable price to pay for the expedient advancement of my goals. It was simply the most pragmatic path forward. In retrospect of course, I can see that it was entirely self-defeating and served only to delay the completion of my objective.
That is one of the worst apologies I think I've ever heard.
The morality of the living is something that does not come easy to someone in my position. I can honestly say that it was a costly misjudgement, and I am sorry for that. I am also sorry that it made an enemy of Aeonas, after doing much to gain some amount of his trust. He was a powerful ally and our cause is weakened without him.
"Our" cause is it? Just like that?
Yes, just like that. Or so I had hoped. You are a capable paladin. Whatever is lurking on the other end of these orbs is dangerous and I think you know that. I hope that you can see logic in continuing our partnership until my mission is completed.
I'll have to think about it. What are your plans now?
For now, we lie low and wait. The orb is changed, but it's also as if its been tempered, hardened. I suspect we'll need something significantly stronger than your blood to finish the job and destroy it this time. Ada will be hard at work searching for a suitable reagent. If you happen to cross paths with Aeonas again, tell him I'm... sorry.
