Helena's Apprentice
Chapter 1: An Important Task
The sunset painted the clouds red and pink as Third Priestess Helena made her way to the guild meeting. The Wardens of the Cathedral had called her, as well as other members of the third rank, on a matter of "utmost importance", the messenger had said. While she was not one to shirk her duty, she was slightly annoyed that her weaving had been interrupted. With a few more scraps of Imperial Silk, she could have finished some Royal Satchels, which fetched quite a price at the market. Once those sold, she could make a run to Dalaran and get a loaf of bread, a nice cheese wheel, and some wine to have a nice little party by the fountain. Perhaps some of those lovely Night Elf druids would stop by. It was a nice, warm day, maybe one of the males would take off his shirt.
She stopped that thought as quickly as it begun. She should not be entertaining such impure thoughts. She arrived at the meeting hall, a small, stone building in Cathedral Square. Tables were arranged for the meeting with an attractive arrangement of fruit in the middle. A hired servant bustled from place to place, making sure the area was clean and pleasant.
"Priestess Helena! Glad you could make it!" a warm, familiar voice called. It was Guildmaster Thomas Eisoth. He had been a paladin before, but a strong curse had befallen him. It weakened him, making him unable to perform his duty. Now he was an older man, and found himself better suited to leadership than battle.
"Light bless you this day, Guildmaster Eisoth. How do you fare?" Helena responded, stuffing her annoyance away. Really, there was no point in taking it out on him.
"I am as well as can be expected", he replied. "Have you had some of the fruit yet? The apples are in season, and they are quite delicious." He motioned to one of the fruit bowls. The apples were shiny and red, and looked amazing.
"I may have one in a bit", Helena said, nodding. "So, can you tell me about this important mission you want me to take on?" Images filled her head of what it might be. It was probably going to be healer duty, to accompany a group to clear a dungeon of dangerous things, or travel to a far settlement to give some healing to people who could not reach a healer easily. Or perhaps the orcs had finally mustered up the guts to launch an attack on Stormwind, and she would be needed to lend a hand. Nope, probably not that one. Orcs are not exactly quiet or subtle creatures, and she was certain they would be heard banging on the walls and making their barbaric cries long before anyone thought to call her.
Guildmaster Eisoth nodded agreeably. "Yes indeed, it is a very important duty. You see, the cities have become rougher places of late. It is near impossible to figure out one's way around if one is new to the area. There is a bad tendency for the folk to be rude and unhelpful. I fear this may discourage new members from their duty to the Light."
"So", the guildmaster continued, "we have decided to assign some experienced members to the new recruits. The experienced members can mentor them, help them develop new skills, and most importantly, offer moral support when they most need it. Your charge will be developing the same skills you have, so it should be easy for you."
Helena understood immediately what the guildmaster meant. She had seen many a disoriented person try to ask directions from passersby, and few did more than allow their mount to fart in their direction. The ones who did do more were not very pleasant either. "Go buy a map!" they would jeer, either oblivious or uncaring that the poor person probably had less than 10 copper to his name after buying whatever weapon he had. Not to mention taxes were no picnic under King Varian. Westfall was proof of that.
Still, she was slightly uncomfortable with that becoming her problem. "So, newbie duty", she said, disappointedly. "Please tell me I will end up with someone that knows their staff from a hole in the ground." She could think of other problems, too. She remembered the outright idiots showing up in the cathedral in a glorified bathrobe bragging about the rat they had killed on the way there, making themselves out to be great warriors. The rat size got bigger each time the story was told. She couldn't help it. She rolled her eyes.
The guildmaster chuckled. "I'm sure it will be fine. Your charge will turn out a fine priest if you are patient. You will have some time to get acquainted tomorrow." He turned toward the front of the room to discuss something with another person that was taking what looked like some props out of a chest.
Helena wasn't sure about that. She decided to try not to think about it too much, instead distracting herself with one of the apples from the fruit bowl. It was just as good as Guildmaster Eisoth had said. It was crisp, juicy, and sweet. As she enjoyed the apple, the other third ranked guild members started to file in. There was Astorian, the mage from the Wizard's Tower, who often cast portals for the guild when they went on their hunts. There was Ghath, the hulking draenei warrior, and his sister, Atossa. Erenae and her squad of young paladins found a seat near the front, their armor clanking as they moved.
Helena suddenly had a bad feeling. She stopped short of a bite as the apple she was holding suddenly rotted in her hands. She turned to see Kirath, one of those "death knights", staring at her smugly with cold blue eyes. Why the Alliance had accepted these abominations, she could only guess. "Kirath", she said coldly. "If you wanted an apple, why didn't you just ask?"
Kirath responded with what sounded like a snicker. "I don't want an apple. I want to eat your brains out of your skull."
One can't show weakness to a death knight, she thought. She let a sarcastic smile creep over her face. "Poor dear", she replied. "It must be tough to have a rotting brain. No wonder you want to steal mine. It must be in much better condition than yours."
Kirath did not seem pleased, and started to raise her polearm. "Oh dear, are you getting cranky? You must have gotten a boo-boo somewhere." Helena's hands started to glow, and she sent the heal spell right through Kirath's rotting skin.
Kirath jumped back suddenly. Helena smiled. Undead do not like normal heal spells. To heal an undead properly, one has to use a specialized spell, one that uses shadow energy. But she wasn't about to mess with that shadow nonsense.
The death knight looked like she was about to strike, but looked around the room and seemed to think better of it. A few people were staring now. Someone from a dark corner of the room called her, and thankfully distracted her for now. The guildmaster clapped for silence as a few gnomes found their seats around a low table. Helena tried not to picture them all in bibs and diapers. It was not easy.
The guildmaster clapped for silence again, and after thanking them all for attending, he announced the mentorship program. The news was received with mixed emotions. Helena stifled a giggle as she imagined Kirath trying to teach another death knight. What a train wrecker that would be.
After various other announcements on upcoming guild events, the guildmaster introduced the man who had been taking the props out of the bag as Darron Cartwright. He had been invited as a guest speaker to give some coaching on mentorship. He spent the next hour explaining what new people needed to know the most, things most recruits lacked at first, and some effective training techniques. He demonstrated active listening, correct tone, and tried to instill in the audience a diplomatic speaking method.
Frankly, Helena couldn't see the point. Whenever someone got told what to do or how to think, it made them reject it immediately, it seemed. But she wasn't about to say it. Fortunately for her, a brave hunter did it for her. "How is this going to be useful?" Joryn asked, doubtfully. "People are idiots; they'll be stupid no matter what you say."
Darron smiled. Helena got the impression he heard this a lot. "Let me tell you a story", he said. "Once, long ago, in the kingdom of Arathor, there was an odd man named Clyde. His house was always in disrepair, and his hair was always disheveled."
"Because he was such an unkempt individual", Darron continued, "people would laugh at him. He was insulted every day for his appearance, his house, and any other thing they could think of. And he would sling it right back. He would become belligerent over any slight."
"What an idiot! Hahahahaha!" someone chimed in.
"There were certainly many people who agreed with that statement", Darron nodded. "All had given up on him, except for one; a clever young man by the name of Tirion. Tirion knew well enough that insults did not work on Clyde, so he tried a different approach. Instead of greeting him with insults, he sent a friendly greeting his way. He sent over good food when he had extra, and helped Clyde when his farm equipment needed fixing. Now it didn't happen right away, but eventually Clyde began to open up to him. His relatives had died early in his life, and therefore he had not learned all the normal things."
Darron, noticing that the room had grown silent, continued. "So Tirion began to teach Clyde the stuff he was missing. He taught him how to paint the house nicely, how to repair the broken furniture. He took him to a woodshop, and had him observe how the woodcutters shaped beams to the size they needed. He even spent some silver to buy Clyde a good quality saw, so he could make things on his own. Eventually Clyde's house was pretty and well-kept, and the insults about his house stopped. Tirion then began to make recommendations on personal hygiene, and showed him where he could find some good soap to use. He also took him to the barber, and Clyde picked out a style that he liked. Now, Clyde looked more well-groomed, and people stopped insulting him entirely. He made many friends, now that he had earned their respect."
"So you see, you shouldn't just assume people are idiots", Darron explained. "Ignorance and stupidity look exactly the same, and there is no way of telling which is which unless you take the time to suggest something better. If you want less stupid people in the worlds, educate them."
Helena hadn't thought of that. She decided she would try that if her charge started acting like an idiot. Maybe it would even work on Kirath. She suppressed a snort.
The rest of the meeting passed uneventfully, and at the end, Helena had a pretty good idea of what she would say when she met the new priest. After all, they were both servants of the Light. How hard could it be?
She would later consider this a foolish thought. But for now, Helena made her way to the inn, and wrote a few reminders for herself before turning in for the night.