Dear reader,
I hope you find my WarCraft fanfiction entertaining. Constructive criticism is very much welcome. A new chapter will be published every two weeks.
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The Cure
Prologue
Day One in the Sewers
Today the Kirin Tor finally found out about my work on the cure of the leprosy of Gnomeregan. I can only assume that my laboratory has by now been purged by fire. Although I am, or rather was, exalted among my colleagues, they were never willing to let me work on a cure for the plague that cripples my people. To them, my infected brothers and sisters look just like the undead, created inside these same walls that all but destroyed Dalaran. The fact that I am trying to cure a plague, rather than create one like Kel'Thuzad, is of no interest to them.
I fled to a secret location inside the vast sewers of Dalaran. No one knows where I am. A long time ago I built an emergency laboratory here, in case I ever had to leave my main laboratory. A smart idea, as it turns out. Although this sewer laboratory is not as well equipped as my old one, I made sure that every step of progress of my work can be found here as well. The only major problem in this environment is the lack of cleanliness.
My thoughts are with my assistants, who I can only assume are in chains and being questioned about my whereabouts by now. I feel truly sorry for them, but the future of the entire gnomish race is on the line.
Luckily, my research and experiments have been of great success in the last month, and I have been able to save several vials of possible cures as well as herbal mixtures and other rare ingredients I had not yet brought down here. None of my possible cures are easy to produce, but if one of these is actually the breakthrough I am hoping for, I may be able to finish my work despite the poor work environment I have to endure in these sewers.
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Day Two in the Sewers
The first formula was a grand failure. The test subject died in a matter of minutes. Sometimes I question my work myself, but then I think about what I saw during the 'Operation: Gnomeregan' and other expeditions into the fallen gnomish capital. There are still countless gnomes alive inside of Gnomeregan. As long as there is the faintest hope that I may be able to free our people from this Light-forsaken plague it is worth losing the lives of a few gnomes. I will make sure each and every of my test subjects will be remembered as a hero. Today I killed Bannyn Greensocket, a childhood friend of mine.
It may be a morbid thought, but at least the stench of the infected does not bother me as much anymore, compared to the ungodly smell of the sewers.
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Day Five in the Sewers
The second possible cure I tested seems to be a failure as well, but at least it did not kill the test subject. The subject shows no difference in its state. I will wait a few more days for any effect at all, but I do not hold high hopes. The cure has to work fast and be easily dispersible through Gnomeregan. If we try to cure the city tunnel by tunnel, room by room, we risk the cured gnomes being attacked by those who still suffer from the plague.
Good thing I am not only an apothecary but also a mage. Without my conjured food, water and light, it would be extremely hard to work under these conditions. Even so, I try to use only a minimum of these resources out of fear of exhausting myself too fast.
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Day [Nine] in the Sewers
When I was young, my friends and I used to explore the sewers, although it was strictly forbidden. We were amazed by the fluorescent plants that bathed some of the damp tunnels in glowing green or blue light. We were also afraid of, but simultaneously fascinated by, the creatures you can find in the labyrinth. Most of them are failed experiments or mutated rats and roaches, transformed by the magic waste dumped down here. We never encountered anything too dangerous since we kept to the upper parts of the giant underground system, but we sometimes could hear screams in the depths.
Now I am in these depths, and I am the cause of those screams. I have three possible cures left to try, and five test subjects. The one i tried seven days ago was nothing but a slow poison to the leper gnome I gave it to. He was screaming so loud that i had to kill him, afraid of being found by roaming monsters, or even worse, the mages of the Violet Hold, who no doubt are searching the sewers for me.
Now i am trying a new cure, which looks promising. The test subject fell into a deep, but stable slumber, not plagued by the night terrors my infected brethren normally experience every time they lay down to rest.
I concocted some sleep medicine for myself as well, as it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to find sleep down here, in these Light-forsaken catacombs.
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Day Twelve in the Sewers
I am infected. I don't know when or how it happened, but due to the poor environment of my work, I am not too surprised. The last test subject died in a peaceful sleep. Now I am trying the last two possible cures at the same time, because i do not know how long it will be before the disease prevents me from working. I give myself twenty days at best.
The mixtures I am trying now are variations of the last one, and both test subjects fell into a deep slumber again, both seeming to not be experiencing nightmares.
It is very lonely down here, but I dare not contact anyone on the moment I became infected, my fate was sealed. Either I will find a cure in the next twenty days or I will die in these sewers.
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Day Fifteen in the Sewers
It seems that I am a prime example of the way the leprosy of Gnomeregan works. Every time I wake up from a long period of sleep, I can't feel my arms and legs and as the life returns into my limbs I am overcome by extreme nausea that lasts for basically the rest of the day.
The skin on my arms and back developed painful red rashes. The urge to scratch myself is almost too much, but I am able to hold myself back. I know how the leprosy works and in a few days the rashes will cover almost the entirety of my body, then my skin will decay and turn green.
I am afraid of the further physical symptoms the leper brings; I will at least lose a few fingernails and teeth, but the psychological consequences are even scarier to a man of science like me.
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Day Seventeen in the Sewers
The test subjects are still stable, which I hope is a good sign. Although the radiation released to kill the troggs who were invading Gnomeregan originally caused the leper, direct counter radiation never seemed to have any positive effect on the state of leprosy gnomes. Only four years ago, during the war against the Lich King, I found out that potions seemed to have the most positive effect on my cursed brethren.
By chance I dropped a modified healing potion during an expedition into the fallen gnome capital and witnessed the effect on a leper gnome who lapped it from the floor. For a moment he seemed like he was master of his mind again, looking around confused, but with clear eyes. He was then shaken by spasms and collapsed, frothing and twitching on the ground.
I never knew what became of him. We had to move on quickly, because we had caught the attention of more of the residents of Gnomeregan than we could handle.
I wonder how the Violet Hold knew of my illegal work.
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Day Eighteen in the Sewers
I encountered the first hallucinations of the plague, almost like fever dreams, but more realistic and way more violent. I saw my wife Zanria and my daughter Zeeri, first getting torn to pieces by leper gnomes in the dark echoing halls of Gnomeregan, then being questioned and tortured by the Kirin Tor. The vision, if you want to call it that, then shifted to a scene from my childhood, the day I visited Silvermoon for the first time. I remember being blown away by the beauty of the eternal Kingdom of the High Elves and when I heard that almost all of it was created by the arcane powers of the mages, I decided I wanted to be a mage myself. But this time, instead of beautiful elves, wart-faced troggs inhabited the city, and instead of showing me around, I had to run from then, to avoid being eaten.
I know that my family is safe and sound in Ironforge, where Mekkatorque will protect them, but it was so real that I found myself crying and screaming on the floor.
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Day Twenty in the Sewers
One of the test subjects died. The hallucinations are getting worse. During periods of madness I lock myself in a cage and wait for my mind to become mine again. The other test subject shows signs of getting better. I have to be patient. I should be able to work for another twelve days. I will not fail so close to the cure.
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Day Twentyfour
I need to hurry. I already lost a fingernail and my teeth are starting to become loose. I can't believe I have actually done it. The test subject is on a stable way to betterment. But it is too slow. It is still to slow. I will try different catalysts on each remaining test subject, including myself. I pray to the Light, to Elune, to the spirits and to the Titans that one of the catalysts will work.
I am barely able to write anymore.
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Day Twenty-nine
It burns. One with a catalyst is dead, the one without a catalyst will by my estimations completely healed of the leprosy and can then be given into the care of conventional healers. I hope for the cooperation of the Cenarion Circle. I met Malfurion Stormrage once during a peace summit in Darnassus. I think. My memory betrays me, for the better part of the day I was convinced that I was a rat.
I actually found the cure. All these years of work were worth it. But without a working catalyst the curing of my people will be slow, too slow for a lot of them. Maybe the catalyst i tried on myself will work, or the one I tested on the last remaining infected subject. I can't close my mouth anymore and I think I lost an ear but I am not sure.
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Day Thirty-one
I will die, but it does not matter. The other catalyst works. This is a stroke of luck I would never have thought was possible. The catalyst I used on myself is speeding up the process of the leprosy. I fear this is the last sane moment of my life. Time is running out.
The sewers are dangerous and without me to protect it I fear that the laboratory will be destroyed by the monsters that inhabit these parts of the Dalaran catacombs. I will leave an activated signaling crystal here so it will be found quickly.
I will also use what little strength I have left to teleport into the bedchambers of Jaina Proudmoore. The safety mechanisms of her private chambers will dissolve me into ash maybe seconds after I do that, but I was able to imbue this journal, so it should survive the teleportation. I have to do this, it is important that Lady Proudmoore finds my work first. I trust that she will give the cure to my people.
Lady Proudmoore,
I, Hylon Cogfire, Grand Apothecary and Archmage of the Kirin Tor, have been illegally working on a cure for the leprosy of Gnomeregan for years. None of my assistants knew of this and I hope you will give them a fair trial and find them to be innocent. From the contents of this journal you will learn that I have successfully cured two gnomes of the leper and I plead you to give the cure to Gelbin Mekkatorque, so that the city and people of Gnomeregan may once again be free.
I know that I have no right to ask this of you, but please tell my family and friends I love them, and never let them read this journal.
May the Violet City prosper beneath your reign, as the city of Theramore did.
- Archmage Hylon Cogfire, Grand Apothecary of the Kirin Tor