-1Upon reaching the grand city of stormwind, Rhodark went straight to the only place left that would take him, the Pig and Whistle tavern.
Entering the grand old building, the scent of beer and body odor greeted our intrepid hero's nose like a warm embrace, Rhodark was home. Walking toward the bar, he was pleased to see that his friend, Jacob Fordran, was on the job tonight. Rhodark took a seat, and waited for his pal to finish flirting with the lovely lady two stools down and notice him.
A few moments of conversation and a slap to the face later, Jacob was done speaking to that particular customer and looked toward the elderly man sitting at the bar, a smile curling at his lips.
"Well, well, well, Rhodark Rheban…. The scum of Azeroth, how've you been man?" he cried, putting out his hand toward the miner.
"Eh…. 'ave been alrigh' I s'pose." said Rhodark neutrally.
"How's the mining gig going, eh? Strike any diamonds down there in the rough?" said Jacob with a slight chuckle
"Act'lly…. I done got fir'd jus' about a week 'go. . . . You got's any alch' 'round 'ere?"
"Uh… yeah…. It is a bar, ya know." said the bartender, grabbing a bottle of Dwarven Stout and a glass from under the bar. "Now what's this about getting fired?"
"Eh, tha boss said I was t' old to contin'eh ta work down in tha' mines…. But I wouldn't really want to go back down inte the mines an'eh more me'self." Said Rhodark taking a large gulp of his beverage.
"Why'd you say that, Rho?" Said Jacob, pouring a glass of Piont Noir for another customer who had sat down next to Rhodark.
"Well…. There's the freak'eh little rat-things tha' took it over fer starters."
"Wait." now the who had sat down next to our hero was speaking. "Freaky Rat-things invading a mine? You wouldn't be talking about Kobolds would you?" his speech was proper and his accent refined, his clothes were clean and personally tailored, his glasses looked to be gold-rimmed. The man was probably a noble of some form, not the kind you usually get in Old Town.
"YEAH! That's what the bigger one said when he was talking to that red-clad bloke." said Rhodark, a good buzz going through him from his drink of choice, which was now empty.
"Red-clad…. What were these two talking about exactly?" the bespectacled man demanded excitedly.
"Uh… some kinda alliance between the little freaky rat-bolds or whatever you called them and some kinda Brotherhood, I dunno." said Rhodark, slamming his glass on the table to signal Jacob to give him a refill.
"And the invasion, when was it?" The man was now leaning in toward Rhodark, much to close for comfort.
"Alri'gh, mister, yer startin' te freak meh the hell out, kay? Now if yeh don' mind, I'd like it if ye'd back away alrigh?" said the graying miner, lightly pushing the nobleman away from him with one arm.
"Oh, right, please forgive my rudeness. I am Rupert Ogsden, Alliance Intelligence. I've been trying for years to prove that this crisis was true! You must come with me to the keep at once!" said the man, grabbing a hold of Rhodark's arm and attempting to leave the bar, quite surprised when the man did not stand up along with him. "Well, come now, we MUST inform the king!"
"Uh, sir, I dun much like yer tone, I don't take no orders from no body, not no way, not no how…. That and ah am quite tir'd an' jus' a we bit drunk. So yer gonna leave here and come back tomorrow when I've got me some shut eye, okay mister big-shot?" said Rhodark, gripping his ax and glaring daggers into the man, daring him to attempt to persuade him otherwise.
"Oh, right, well…. Um I suppose that I shall retrive you tomorrow then, eh? Right…. Well, I'm off to the keep to arrange our meeting then, good day sir!" the man then turned on heel and left the bar, walking as quickly as possible to still be called a walk.
Jacob, who had been attending to his scarce few other customers, spoke up. "I heard you tell him you're staying here… why not go and stay at yer own home, eh?"
"Oh, tha' ole' place, it burned down 'bout an hour ago."
"Burned down? Why exactly?"
"I dunno, I was sleepin', havin' one o' those realla' nice dreams, the kind ah told yeh 'bout."
"The one's involving Lady Prestor?"
"Wha'?! No, no, the other one's the ones about the armies and such…." said Rhodark, blushing as much as his old skin would allow. "Anyway, back on subject. I was sleepin' there an' then I hears this gunshot' like sound righ' beside me, an' the whole place goes up in flames! I high-tailed it out of there, and came down 'ere."
"Rhodark, you are a plumb idiot, you know that?" said Jacob, flabbergasted.
"Why'd'ya say tha'?"
"When your house burns down you go to the Guard not the frickin bar! What's wrong with you, man? You need to take shit more seriously!"
"Well, I didn' th'nk 'twas a probl'm to go to the guard 'bout, they've got better things to be doin' then worryin' 'bout an old man's house burnin' down…. I think I'm gonna hit the hay now, I'll be down in the cellar if yeh need meh." said Rhodark, pushing himself up off the stool and away from the bar, walking away toward the lower level of the building.
"Whatever, man….." Jacob then went back to tending bar, acting as if Rhodark had never been there. But after a few minutes he had to voice one concern. Walking back toward the kitchen, Jacob called down the stairs leading into the booze cellar, "HEY, DON'T GO DRINKIN ALL MY PRODUCT YEH CRAZY OLD MAN!"
Rhodark paid him no mind on account of his alcohol induced coma.
Valiant and Proud, the alliance army marched through the lands claimed by undeath , led by the greatest war hero the alliance had ever known, Rhodark Rheban. All their conquests had led up to this final conflict, the reclaiming of Lorderon from the savage zombies that had taken it after the plauge. Sure, the undead were once humans themselves, but now they were an abomination. And abominations had to be put down.
Following the bumbling Orcish leader's directions, Rhodark found the cavern the bumbling green beast had described. Entering it's dark depths, Rhodark felt a rush of excitement as he realized that his dream was finally at hand, he would finally end the scourge of the Horde all over the world, and he would be remembered all across the globe as a hero, the greatest hero of all. Rhodark, the Almighty.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice when one of his more forward scouts called out, on the second call he replied.
"YES!? WHAT DO YOU SEE?" He called, his voice deep and commanding.
"Shhh… quiet master, this tunnel here leads directly into what appears to be the Apothecarium, very very close to the Dark Lady's chamber. It's not wide enough for us to get through though…."
"Hmm…. Mekkatorque , get over here. The Gnomish king strode up toward Rhodark, astride his mechanical steed.
"Yessir? You need me to blow this hole open for ya?" Said the pink-haired munchkin, smiling.
"You got it, I want that hole wide enough for ten plus me. You've got 3 minutes."
It did not take the small engineer even 1 to set the charge and tell all those within the vicinity to get the hell out of there. In another 2 the massive mine he laid down exploded, and Rhodark got his wish, and his men poured out of the hole taking all the twisted creatures inside the town by surprise.
A/N: And there it is, chapter 7! Rhodark has a friend! Rhodark has an appointment with the king! I wrote this at 2 in the morning so I have no clue if it made any sense at all! Seriously, if it didn't, tell me and I'll rewrite it.
