Chapter one.
The cold was indescribable; the wind was so sharp it felt like blades against her skin as the boat she was traveling upon pulled into the harbor. All Libitina knew was that she would have to get used to this for she was at the crown of the world, Northrend. Her quest for vengeance had pointed her in the direction of Ice Crown all her life but she never thought she would come to be in this land. She and a score to settle with Arthas Menethil, the fallen Prince of Lorderon but knew if she was to challenge him; she would need to be stronger. Much stronger. Shaking her head sadly at the thought, she followed the small crowd of raw recruits off the boat that had taken them from Stormwind, the capital city of the Humans and central hub of the Alliance, to Valgarde in the Howling Fjord. She glanced around the town, it was nothing new. The same fast paced setting that adorned most towns, same smells and sounds, same diversity of people most of which were adorned with some kind of armour. A voice caught her attention and drew her out of her thoughts.
"All new men and women from Stormwind are to report to the inn at once to be signed in!" yelled an armed guard from atop a stack of boxes, pointing towards a large queue that led into a tall building. Sighing she gathered her pack from the pile of cargo being off loaded from the ships and made her way to the front of the queue, ignoring all the mumbled complains of the soldiers in line.
"Name and rank, soldier." asked the administrator, without looking up from his book that he was ferociously writing in as she approached the desk.
"Libitina Verity Harris, Rouge, Adventurer. Here on orders from King Varian himself." Libitina replied in the most business like tone she could muster. She handed over an envelope, a letter that had the commander of the outpost's name on it, as the administrator looked up. "This is for the head of the outpost. I will not be involved in any army business and this letter excuses me."
Stunned the administrator took one look at the seal on the back of the envelope and said "very well miss. I shall see to it myself that the Vice Admiral gets this at once". He struck her name from the book on the table in front of him, gave a small smile to Libitina and looked to the man who she had pushed in front of, then called "Name and rank, soldier!" Evidently dismissing her. She rolled her eyes and headed out into the town, she would need supplies and repairs before any adventuring could be done.
Stretching out her back after rising on her rest spot somewhere near Westguard keep, Libitina glanced at her surroundings. 'Not a bad view' she thought as she looked out over the cliff towards Kamagua. The small island was surrounded by almost light blue ice burgs and the deep blue sea. She tore her eyes from the sight and rustled through her pack then triumphantly withdrew her map. If she was to get the experience she needed, she decided the best way was to go through the grizzly hills, into Dragonblight and up to the Wrathgate where she would help out in the battle against the dreaded scourge. Studying the map closer she planned her route. "If I head north then I can head straight for Amberpine lodge, since I don't fancy camping lots in this temperature" she mumbled to herself, wishing she had brought her trusty steed Harlow with her so she wouldn't have to walk. 'Come to think of it, I should have asked for one back in Valgarde.' She thought mentally scolding herself. She began heading towards the border of the howling fjord and Grizzly Hills trapped in her thoughts so she didn't notice it until it was too late. *whump* she bounced slightly off something warm and looked up to be faced with the hind quarters of what looked like to be a woolly stag. A now angry woolly stag. It snorted and wheeled round to face, pawing the ground with its hoof and Libitina instantly drew out her daggers. Having already lost the aspect of surprise she was already at a disadvantage. She eyed the beast carefully then, just as it charged her, she shadow stepped behind it and sliced its hind legs. As it fell to the ground the stag gave a cry of pure rage and she finished it off with a thrust of one of her daggers. She bent down to inspect the corpse, to see if there was anything she could use or sell, but froze as she heard a growl behind her. She whipped around ready to defend herself, but there was nothing in sight. Confused, she held her defensive pose and studied the surrounding area seeing if she could locate where the noise had come from but there was nothing in sight other than a few trees. Shrugging she stood and moved on towards her destination, keeping an eye out for stags which she swore would appear from thin air, how else would she have walked into one?
She reached Amberpine lodge just as the sun was setting and headed straight for the inn. The inn was comforting and warm, a nice respite from the hard, cold day's walk she just endured. Picking the sturdy wooden table nearest to the fire she sat down and started to mentally plan her task. She knew that the General resided in a camp somewhere near Corp'Rethar which lies in front of the Ice Crown citadel itself.
"I know that look well" Said the old gray-haired barman as he limped over with a plate of food and a cup of warm tea, which he placed in front of Libitina "Here eat this, you look like you have had a hard day" She was going to refuse until her stomach rumbled in protest "Thank you very much, but what look is it that you speak of?"
"The look of a seasoned traveller facing an enormous task." The barman replied with a knowing look
"Well you would be right in that" Libitina sighed "the task I face seems impossible to complete"
"Nothing is impossible my dear and don't you forget that. When I feel something is impossible I do a little research or I ask for help" the barman winked and turned to walk away "oh, it's on the house by the way." Gesturing to the food "Every adventurer who comes through those doors gets a free meal and a room for the night" and with that he hobbled off to converse with some other customers. With a small smile she tucked into her delicious meal, it warmed her to her very core and put her in a fantastic mood. She finished her meal, thanked the old man profusely and insisted on paying for her room, which he only accepted due to a playful threat of death in his sleep, then headed for her room. It was only a small room but there was a fire already dancing playfully in the fireplace and the bed had thick furs to keep the morning chill out. There was a large trunk which many other adventurers had carved their name, to which she too added her name, next she pulled off her armour piece by piece and then stacked the leathers neatly on a chair, placing one dagger under her pillow and one under the armour. She jumped in the bed and snuggled down to sleep.