Nightmares in the Void, Part 2

"You thing Lynesia is alive?" Phredaria asked Jon Chess, her voice squeaking in the middle of her question with excitement. "But for the last three weeks, you were convinced that she was dead! What changed?"

"I had a dream," said Chess, sheepishly. He had teleported from his apartment above the Scribes & Nobles bookstore and woken Phredaria from a comfortable, warm bed so he could find out if she could use her arcane abilities to create a locator charm.  Phred had been grumpy until Jon had mentioned it was for Lynesia Deh'lorei.  Phred had never before taken to any of the women that Jon had romanced over the years - until she had met Lynesia, who, like Phredaria, was a mage for the Kirin Tor. She had immediately bonded with the Ren'dorei woman, and they had become fast friends. When Lynesia had vanished after the burning of Teldrassil by the Horde, Phredaria had still held out home - until Jon had told her that the mind-link that Lynesia had forged with Jon had not only been silent but had apparently been broken.

"A dream?  Jon Jon Jonny, maybe... maybe you just really miss her" Phred asked, her voice softening. "I know that you really loved her, despite... I mean, she loved you too, Jonny.  And I know you loved her.  Maybe it was just a dream?"

"Well, Phred, my darling little dove, there are two possibilities.  Imprimis, you are correct, and it was just a dream, spawned out of the gaping chasm in my heart that her absence has caused..." Jon began.  "Or... Secundus, Lynesia is alive but has been prevented from contacting us.  Maybe contacting me in my dream was the closest she could get?"  Jon's voice took on a pleading tone. "It may be a wild goose chase... probably IS a wild goose chase... but how would we feel if it was a call for help, and we dismissed it?  I'd rather waste my time and look like a fool - hardly a new experience for me, after all - than have the regrets born of not trying. So... help me?"

Phred looked at Jon's face, a mixture of hope and resignation that it had been just a dream, and that Lynesia was really gone, and sighed. "Of course, I will help, Jonny... do you have anything of hers, something as personal as possible? A lock of hair, a piece of clothing she wore?"

Jon blushed, having anticipated the question. "I brought something..."  When a few days had gone by with no word from Lynesia, Jon had gone to her house in Dalaran, and picked the lock.  Lynesia had several animal pets that needed care; Buttons the cat-form voidling, and Shadow, the Light and Void shadowfox among them.  Jon had cleaned up the messes they had made, and taken them with him back to Boralus.

On his way to Phredaria, he had stopped there long enough to obtain a garment from her dirty clothes hamper. He handed the piece of lingerie to Phred, who gave Jon a look that was half disgusted and half amused. "Well, I suppose it doesn't get any more personal than that... Go make us lunch, and I'll get started."  Phred disappeared to her workshop, and Jon went to make them lunch.

Not too much later, Phred reappeared and handed Jon a small Truesilver Kul Tiras anchor pendant on a fine mithril chain, like the golden one Jon wore, a present from a friend. "Say the usual invocation phrase, and this will point the way, Jonny.  And uh... take these, as well?" Phred handed Jon a half-dozen smoke grenades and box of high-explosive demolition charges.

Jon grinned.  In the places he went, he would have been dead several times over without Phred's tinkering "toys".

"Thank you, Phred."

Jon Chess microhero, Lynesia microhero

Nightmare in the Void, Part I

Jon Chess was in the throes of a nightmare; he rolled and shivered in terror as tentacles of solid void battered at him helplessly.  His wrists and ankles were ensnared and nightmarish pseudopods beat his body from calf to face relentlessly, each landing as if clubs wielded by very unsympathetic brutes.  A hauntingly familiar voice could be heard all during the beating. "Why have you forsaken me, Jonny?   Come rescue me, Jonny!"  The voice was filled with hopelessness and torment.  The voice was  Lynesia Deh'Lorei's, the lover he had thought lost during the burning of Teldrassil and the battle for Lordaeron.  He woke from the nightmare, his breathing labored and heavy.  Tears had streamed down his face, and his body was sore as if the void tentacle beatings had actually happened.  He sat up,  the wild look of fear fading from his eyes, and he whispered one word.

"Querida"

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She had no idea where she was at this moment in time. The only thing Lynesia Deh’lorei knew was that she was somewhere isolated in the Twilight Highlands. The only thing she knew was... It was beautiful. The air literally filled with void magic dancing, with arcane whirls swirling together. Her body was a shade of dark grey, her eyes a deep purple, almost black. The mage didn’t know how or why she was here or even how long she has been here. She just knew she had to be in this spot in time, the seductive voices filled her head… The oddest thing though.. Was that she heard Jon’s voice. “Jonny?” she whispered softly. “Where are you?”

Confession in Boralus

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Jon Chess - TIRED Agent of Cheese!

Jon collapsed in the cheap apartment he rented in the Hooks Point, a rough neighborhood whose merchants catered to Proudmoore barracks nearby.  It was a rough neighborhood, like the occupants of the barracks, and there was no shortage of merchants willing to provide food, beer, and other diverse divertisements to the barracks' occupants.  Jon's apartment was above the Scribes & Nobles bookshop - Jon had discovered the apartment was for rent when he had gone to the store to get a copy of <A Steamy Romance: Stormy Seas>, by the author Lawrence E. Craft, who was signing copies of the novel.  Jonathan had stood in line for the autograph, and then headed into the bookstore to ask about other books for which he was looking.  There had been a sign "Room for Rent", and the idea of living in a room above a bookstore tickled Jon's fancy.  he had haggled with the owner Melissa Miller for half the day, and it was only when he offered her a rare copy of <A Steamy Romance Novel: Blue Moon>.

The neighborhood, like anywhere that provided relaxation, entertainment, and vice for the consumption of soldiers, was under the control of a criminal organization - in this instance the Scrimshaw gang.  While not often seen in the open thoroughfares, the back alleys were thick with Scrimshaw Underbosses, thugs, footpads, and Pickpockets.  They controlled the whores, the illegal drug trade, the smuggling from the Ashvane Docks, the gambling, and loansharking in the area.  Jon had used his contacts to check and they were not affiliated with the Uncrowned, a secret organization of criminals and spies.  Their leaders were known as the Shadows, and the Council of Shadows were instrumental in the fight against the Burning Legion.  The Uncrowned included members from both the Alliance and the Horde, including members from Ravenholdt, SI:7, the Defias Brotherhood, and the Bloodsail Buccaneers.

Jon and his employer, Elling Trias, were both Shadowblades, members in good standing.

Jon was exhausted from his day, which he had spent mostly in Boralus, making arrangements for supplies of Kul Tirasan cheeses to be sent to Stormwind by Kristin Stephens and Matt Fieler (they arranged to supply and then would trans-ship them to Trias Cheese in Stormwind).  Both the cheese merchants had been suspicious; they both had varied sources of the Kul Tirasan delicacies, and guarded them jealously., but eventually Jon had convinced them that Jon's interest was seeing the end product in Stormwind, not in cutting them out of their part of the arrangement.

Between arranging for shipments of cheeses to be sent back to Stormwind, and in taking orders for Trias Cheese to be delivered throughout Tirisgarde Sound, Stormshield, and Drustvar, Jon's cover story was almost exhausted.

Now... he had to find out why Her Grace Elianna had been arrested for treason...

Jon and a Friend

"An Early Dinner in Telogrus"

Art by my friend Wickertop!

Lynesia Cheesecake!

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