Simply Abominable – A Winterveil Story
Orgrimmar seemed busy as Keristo emerged from the cleft of shadows. People of every race in the Horde were scurrying about intent on their business. There was nothing odd about that, the city was usually a hive of industry whether legal or illicit.
The strange thing was how many of them were dressed. Male and female alike they wore bright red or green jackets trimmed with white fur with matching droopy conical hats that had a ball of fur on the point and a band of fur round the head.
Keristo stood and stared. It was a typically sweltering hot Durotar day. Those outfits must have been boiling hot. Many of the females had the better sense, what they wore could scarcely be called a jacket , being barely enough to leave them decent.
He began to walk up the Drag towards the Valley of Strength, wanting only to settle into his favourite inn, the Broken Tusk, and sample some of Grishka's finest wine. As he made his way through the crowds he looked around curiously at the decorations that had also appeared, wreaths of greenery with red berries, strings of bright twinkling lights, and tall conical trees laden with more lights and bright baubles of every hue imaginable.
Had everyone gone mad? Normally everyone ignored each other unless they had mutual business; now they were calling out cheerful greetings to everybody they passed. A female troll wearing the strange outfit in a shade of green that clashed horribly with her skin, bumped into him, almost dropping all her parcels.
"Sorry, man. Ah didn't see ya there," she apologised.
"Happy Winterveil to ya!"
Then she was gone before he could ask for an explanation.
He continued on his way down into the valley. It was even worse there. Some goblins had set up a stall between the auction house and the inn and they were surrounded by people jostling to buy their goods. Keristo pushed through the crowd, then stopped dead as something else caught his eye.
On the normally bare area in front of the Warchief's Command Board was the most enormous tree yet. It was gaudily decorated and all round it were piled hundreds if not thousands or brightly wrapped parcels. They were unguarded yet no one made any attempt to touch them. Sitting nearby was an orc dressed in the most elaborate version of the strange costume. Cheerfully he chatted with anyone who approached him accepting their offerings of milk and cookies.
The crowd around Keristo began to drift away leaving him able to see what the goblins were offering for sale, toy, trinkets, food, and scrolls.
"Hey! You with the horns, you looking for a job?" the nearest one, a male, said cheerfully.
"Not particularly," Keristo replied wearily. He was really looking forward to a hot meal, wine and a soft bed.
Ignoring his reply the goblin continued.
"There's a mean old monster who keeps stealing all the gifts. We need volunteers to go get them back and teach him a lesson."
"A monster?"
"Yeah. A huge yeti. They call him the Greench. His helpers sneak into the cities and steal everything for him. There'll be no presents for the children if we don't get them back."
Keristo sighed. He got the feeling he wouldn't be left in peace until he helped out.
"Okay, tell me the details."
"He's got a cave in Hillsbrad where he keeps everything. Just chase him off and bring back what you can."
"So, not a demon then? You do realise I'm a demon hunter, not a monster hunter?"
"Close enough."
The goblin handed him a paper with instructions written on it. Keristo wandered away, reading it, wondering how he'd managed to get conned into this. He obviously wasn't the only one the wily goblin had signed up judging by the amount of people waiting to catch the zeppelin to Tirisfal Glades. Once on board he found a relatively quiet corner and curled up to sleep for the journey.
Once they arrived he mounted his armoured bloodwing and set off in company with all the other adventurers. It was about an hour's flight over Undercity and the ruins of Alterac to reach Growless Cave, the Greench's hideaway. Judging by the equally large group of Alliance waiting there the Greench and its horrible little helpers had been stealing their presents too.
Neither side made any attempt to attack the other. Their sole aim was to mete out justice and retrieve their stolen property.
It wasn't long before the Greench emerged to face the combined army of Horde and Alliance. The creature was massive, the hugest yeti anyone had ever seen. Keristo felt his inner demon react to it. There was clearly something faintly demonic about the beast. It took some doing but eventually they brought it down without anyone dying on either side though there were the inevitable injuries.
Leaving the huge corpse where it fell, a handful of warriors investigated the cave. It was stuffed full of presents, even a tree. A few toys had been unwrapped and played with presumably by the impish helpers, but most were intact. Everything was brought out of the cave and good naturedly sorted through. There was enough there to provide each adventurer with a sack to take home with him.
Keristo shouldered his sack, and with a final glanced at the dead Greench he stepped through the mage portal that would return him to Orgrimmar. He joined the queue waiting to hand in their spoils, when it was his turn the goblin checked the sack, then handed over the agreed payment, together with a parcel.
"Happy Winterveil!" he said.
Keristo walked away, a bemused smile on his face. He had the feeling they hadn't heard the last of the Greench. He wasn't complaining. It was a lot easier to fight than the demons he normally dealt with. And he got a present.
