Authors Note: Hey guys I am officially finished study until March so I am free to update frequently, so I hope to get a couple chapters up by the end of the week. Oh and points to whoever can guess what Khardran's armour set is =D.
A SAGA BEGINS
Khardran pushed off the table where he and Mur'ne sat, causing his chair to emit a piercing screech. He stood up and began to pace continually up and down the now quiet distillery.
"Let me get this straight." He said calmly "yer want ta rush off ta the Highlands, into immeasurable danger, just because a pretty elf told ya too." At this point Mur'ne exploded out of his seat, interrupting Khardran.
"Khardran, you have been like a father to me, so you should know that I have longed for this opportunity."
"This ain't just runnin' off into the wilds of Dun Morogh Mur'ne." Khardran pointed out "this is the Twilight Highlands we're talking about here, it would be irresponsible of me ta let ya go."
"But I wouldn't be alone Khardran." Mur'ne pleaded "You would be there to help me plus we have been asked to join a team." Khardran froze in place, putting a halt to his continual pacing. He turned to face Mur'ne while his voice dropped to just higher than a whisper.
"That's a detail ya left out before lad. Whose team would we be joining?" Mur'ne sighed while gesturing for Khardran to sit. He remembered how Shayla had told him he could mention their meeting but something told him that it may not be the best idea, he had no idea why, but something tugged at his mind as he prepared to tell Khardran the full story.
A candle flickered violently as a harsh wind blew against the walls of Thunderbrew, seeping through one of the few cracks in the dwarven stone. Mur'ne gazed at the candle while he reiterated the entire story for Khardran. The dwarf sat in complete silent, eager to learn the truth about Mur'ne's encounter with the mysterious elf.
When Mur'ne had finished he got to his feet and began to walk toward the bar, fetching two drinks. When he returned Khardran was in the same position, his head resting upon his hands while his face was scrawled up in a thoughtful expression. Suddenly, when Mur'ne placed the glass next to him, he looked up from the table; accepted the drink and questioned Mur'ne further.
"Did ya say Shayla Nightbreeze?" Mur'ne looked puzzled but nodded, not understanding why Khardran was so focused on Shayla. The dwarf sat silently drinking his brew for a few moments until finally he continued.
"I've heard of her and her team's exploits in the Highlands, quite an impressive résumé they have. It makes me wonder why they are so interested in us Mur'ne."
"I said the exact same thing Khardran." Mur'ne replied "but Shayla was adamant that we were essential, perhaps she knows something we don't?"
"Perhaps she does. Well Mur'ne I think it's time ta hit the hay, yer'll have me answer in the morning." As Khardran finished his drink and began to descend the old, creaky stairwell, Mur'ne sat in silence. Great he thought now I have to wait, definitely not sleeping tonight. With that thought on his mind, Mur'ne followed Khardran down to the sleeping quarters and awaited Khardran's decision, the decision which would decide his future.
XXX
The crisp snow crunched quietly under Khardran's boots as he headed towards Steelgrill's Depot, to begin his morning routine. That boy's probably still sound asleep, Khardran thought lazy sod. With that thought, Khardran opened his workshop door and began rummaging around in all manners of copper bolts, bronze tubing and other engineering junk until final he stopped; pulled out a large iron chest and hefted it up onto the workbench.
Painting slightly from the effort, Khardran began lightly brushing the dust away from the casing, which billowed away in the air, causing him to sneeze. Cursing at the dust Khardran then reached down his tunic, revealing a key on a long chain. The key was corroded slightly and Khardran opened the locked chest only with some difficulty.
Inside the chest laid a full set of plate armour; a black, orange tipped, horned-helm with a full face mask sat on top. Next to this sat two shoulder plates which appeared to be several jagged blades welded together, simulating wings. The shoulder plate's glowed orange at Khardran's touch and a mist billowed out from the top. The warrior removed these pieces and sat them next to the chest, smiling as the armour came alive at his touch. After this was done, Khardran removed some simple chain mail and put it on, he followed this with leg plates which matched his helm and secured them with a similarly styled belt. The dwarf then carefully removed a chest piece and began to equip it. The armour was covered in intricate flame designs and a face design centred the whole piece. Finally, Khardran removed from the iron casing two hand guards, both of similar design to his chest armour and equipped them.
The dwarf than closed the casing and placed it gently under the workbench. Khardran then looked up, through the roof and past the sky; to the great beyond
"I have fulfilled me vow Anandor" he whispered, "yer boy has been kept safe but now he must go… and I shall go with him." Khardran sighed deeply, seized his helm and shoulder guards and left his workshop.
XXX
Mur'ne awoke with a jump to the sound of his Alarm-o-Bot blearing at him
"WAKE UP MUR'NE. WAKE UP MUR'NE. WAKE UP MUR'NE." Mur'ne groaned loudly and threw a nearby shoe at the bot, sending it flying into his open closet. After getting dressed and brushing his hair, the half-elf made his way up stairs to the Distillery's main hall – eager to hear his mentor's decision.
When Mur'ne arrived upstairs he was surprised to see no-one around, the Distillery was a ghost town. Mur'ne began to call out
"Hello? Khardran, are you here?" Mur'ne was met with the gruff reply of the warrior Khardran
"I'm up stairs Mur'ne and I have an answer fer ya." Mur'ne could barely maintain his excitement as he bolted up the stairs to Khardran where he got the surprise of his life. Sitting in front of him was Khardran except he was armoured to the teeth, fully-clad in plate armour except for his horned-helm which was tugged under his arm. On the table adjacent to him, Mur'ne saw a set of plate armour displayed in all its glory. The armour set was simple, coloured red and black consisting of: a face guard, pauldrons, a chest plate, gloves, leg plates, boots and a simple belt; though the set was humble, Mur'ne could tell it was special. He turned to face Khardran, a large smile appearing over his face
"I'll take this as a yes." Khardran smiled and nodded which caused Mur'ne to explode with joy, bouncing around the Distillery and laughing as he did so. Khardran, after restraining Mur'ne, guided him over to the table and began to speak
"I believe it is time ya know more about yer family Mur'ne, so we might asw ell start with this set of armour." Mur'ne took a sat and looked up at Khardran like a child intently listens to a story, so Khardran continued. "Yer Grandfather, that is yer father's father, was a founding member of the Blood Knight Order, a group of paladins from Silvermoon who were set up after the reclamation of Quel'Thalas by the blood elves. This is his armour Mur'ne and yer father wanted me ta give it to ya, yer know, once ya were old enough. Wear it with pride lad."
Before Khardran had even finished, Mur'ne was already in the process of equipping the armour. When he had finished, the young half-elf began to maneuverer around as if he was in battle, testing his mobility. Satisfied Mur'ne turned to Khardran who was staring back at him with pride, his eyes were slightly wet
"Well boy," he said "looks like yer all grown up now…" Mur'ne turned to the dwarf and hugged him. After a few moments, Khardran pulled away and gestured for Mur'ne to follow him. The two adventurers left the Thunderbrew Distillery for what would be the last time and with packs on their shoulders they made their way to Steelgrill's Depot.
A few minutes later they arrived at Khardran's workshop and Khardran led Mur'ne inside. When Mur'ne entered he noticed the immense amounts of pointless junk which were scattered around the place. Khardran blushed slightly, apologizing for the mess and handed Mur'ne a flask, purposing a toast to Mur'ne's first adventure. When that was done, the dwarf opened a secret compartment in the wall of his workshop and removed three bronze chests placing them gently on the bench in front of Mur'ne. Khardran opened the longest chest, removed a sheathed sword and handed it to Mur'ne
"This is the sword ya completed on the day ya became a man and a bloody good smithy if I do say so meself." The warrior said with a smile as Mur'ne took the sword and unsheathed it. The blade was a large but light weight Claymore, forged from Truesilver and Mithril ore and tempered in the essence of the elemental winds. Mur'ne stared at the blade for a few moments before sheathing it and placing it on his lap.
While Mur'ne had been staring at his handiwork, Khardran had removed a shield and a rather odd looking weapon from the other casings. The shield was massive, beautifully trimmed with gold, bore the markings of Lordaeron while two decorative swords appeared to cross through it diagonally and finally two large jewels were attached to the top and bottom of the shield. The weapon, however, was very strange in appearance. The 'mace' had a dark metal pole with column like ornamental ends, possibly forged from Saronite ore, as the handle while the head was globe shaped and weird runic patters danced around orbiting the sphere at Khardran's touch.
Khardran attached the shield to his back and the mace to his side while Mur'ne fixed his blade onto his back and followed Khardran outside. Khardran and Mur'ne strode around the back of the workshop until the dwarf stopped in front of a canvas cover and turned to Mur'ne
"A'ight lad," he said "yer about to see something special." As he said this, Khardran pulled of the cover to reveal a pristine motor bike. The chopper was gold and blue, the colours of the alliance, made from a mixture of metal plates, timber and rubber. Khardran beamed brightly in front of his creation while Mur'ne stared in awe.
"Khardran." Mur'ne said "How long have you been working on this?" The dwarf proceeded to attach a side cart to the bike while answering Mur'ne
"On and off fer about five years, parts were quite hard to come by so I had ta pay a bundle fer em." Once Khardran had finished welding the cart to the bike he told Mur'ne to jump in. The warrior inserted his skeleton key into the ignition and the engineering marvel roared into life while Khardran slipped on a pair of goggles and revved the engine.
"A'ight Mur'ne." he said with a smirk "Onward ta Ironforge, then lets see if we can bring an end ta this war." With those words, the chopper sped out from behind Steelgrill's Depot like a bullet, gliding through the morning air and onwards to the dwarven capital where Mur'ne's real life would begin.