Elyrin Wintersprout
Passing through the jungle filled with potential hostiles turned out to be less eventful than expected. There were more than enough people with expertise in navigating such terrain and suitable spells, as such I had nothing substantial to do at that moment.
A strange dart of plateresque design served as my only destruction, the same dart that saved my life during my risky maneuver. After the end of the battle I collected it and tried to inquire about its origins but everyone I talked to drew a blank. There were no signs of any of our allies operating in the area. More than that, no one had the slightest idea as to who could even use such a weapon, as its design was not familiar to any of us. While twirling it gently in my hand I pondered whether it was some kind of treachery within the naga ranks but frustrating as it was, there was too little knowledge to be certain of anything.
"I feel magic under the vines. It's very faint but magic leaks through the creeks in the stone" Helor stated while removing vines from what at first glance seemed like a natural extension of a mountain.
"Bring in the gunpowder! Let's knock on that door!"
Kank's order was followed swiftly and soon we entered inside through the dust and smoke. Few guarding murlocs that survived the explosion were too shocked to retaliate and were dealt with almost instantly.
What left us startled, however, was the sight inside. Contrary to our expectations, this place wasn't just a dark cave or an underground lair. We were inside an enormous palace the likes of which I'd never seen. It looked like someone had hollowed a bigger half of the mountain itself to build this place. There was so much empty space, that one could build a small town in the corridor we were in alone.
Everyone stood stunned for what felt like a minute.
No wonder, I didn't even dare to imagine what kind of resources, magical or otherwise, would be needed to create something like that. It wasn't solely about the size of the place. There was elegance in its design as well. Two rows of gray columns with detailed bas-reliefs between made the corridor's walls. They depicted dragons, humans in strange clothes, and disturbing crustacean creatures with long tails and many eyes.
"What in the Light's name is this place?" Folker muttered.
Others started murmuring as if that gave them the permission to do so.
"We can do sightseeing later!" Kank restored the order. "Move forward!"
And so we continued to go further. We entered what looked like a dining room with furniture so large that Archimonde could use it comfortably. Chairs were knocked over and the dining table was slightly damaged but otherwise, they looked surprisingly pristine. An obviously alien element in the area was improvised bridges made out of jungle wood that connected the floor with the table and then led from the table to various shelves and cupboards.
Without any better direction to go, we decided to climb the table.
"Furniture is enchanted, dishes as well!" Helor noticed.
Indeed, upon closer inspection symbols carved or painted on everything looked more like magical runes.
"I think I've got something!" Helor said again when he was close to a stone disk lying near other dishes.
"What's that?" Kank answered.
"That thing! It locked on something in my bag."
"Can you try making more sense?"
"Just look at that!" Blood elf said enthusiastically while pulling an empty glass bottle.
Then he put it on the disk and it instantly filled with brown transparent liquid.
"It's alcohol!" Helor exclaimed while sniffing the bottle. "And quite a strong one! We had similar enchantments in Silvermoon, though they needed to be renewed quite often. These ones seem to have been there for ages."
After some experimenting with other similar disks, we figured out that each one was dedicated to a specific kind of refreshment, including various alcoholic beverages and plain water. Judging by numerous normal-sized buckets and jugs, those devices were used quite frequently by the naga.
"It seems we stumbled onto an abandoned home of some magically inclined giants," Folker concluded.
While answering some questions, this revelation unveiled many new ones as well. Why was this building situated here and not somewhere in Northrend? What happened to the giants? Why wasn't this place discovered earlier?
"There is a murloc below!" Someone alerted the rest of us.
When we ran towards the edge of the table we saw the clumsy spy. He or she began to run away from us towards the still unexplored part of the building but was promptly shot in the process.
After getting down on the ground we examined the body and went into the corridor that the creature deemed to be a suitable refuge.
"The magic is getting stronger with every step," Helor reported to Kank again.
"It means that we are on the right path! Lok-Narash!"
The hands gripped weapons tighter as everyone present mustered all the courage and determination we had before leaping into the unknown.