The day had started like many before it. Latsari had woken up, had a small breakfast of coffee, bread and strong, fungal cheese, gathered her various enchanting powders, solvents, and her product development logbook and headed to her favorite working spot atop the city walls. It wasn’t just any spot on the walls. This spot, was hers. It was perfect. The trees on the outer side provided shade and cover from the wind and the paths along the mage district below were usually quiet. Latsari unpacked, opened her logbook, and continued her research into perfecting Vibrogel® as the first rays of dawn begun to light her work.
It wasn’t long before she heard a ruckus in the street below her. She let out an annoyed groan and peered over the edge to see who could possibly be disturbing her work this early in the morning. Below her, two ragged looking men were hunched over the ground picking at the ground like animals. She couldn’t quite make out their words but their tone was quite hostile. Latsari let out a sigh and mumbled to herself “Pair of beggars fighting over scraps.” Her eyes shifted back to her work and the more pressing issue at hand. Vibrogel® wasn’t going to turn is to a commercially viable solid by itself after all.
Despite her attempts to find her thoughts again something just kept bothering her. Did she know one of the two? Had she caught something they said? She couldn’t put her finger on it, and with a sigh, peered over the edge again. How was she meant to work with such mental uncertainty? It all came crashing down at her at the same time. No, she didn’t know them. No, she didn’t catch anything they said. That thought which was stuck in her mind was a third voice, faint, but which couldn’t belong to either of them. There, below her, the two men ruffled through a pack while a gnome tried to crawl away dragging a leg behind it. Latsari’s blood boiled. The rage inherent to her kind swelled up in her. She watched as the men bolted off after ransacking their victim, not before one of them give the hurt gnome an departing kick in the gut. And yet, there was little she could do. She was unarmed, and even if she managed to climb down and catch up to them, or fly after them it would be stupid to confront them. Her eyes drifted back to the gnome, and seeing that poor little creature laying hurt on the ground cooled her head some. She whistled for her nether ray and pointing at the fleeing men issued a quick command in Draenic “Track”. Praise the light for well trained Skyguard surplus. The nether ray flew off after the men while Latsari climbed down the wall towards the gnome.
Her heart broke as she drew near the gnome. Lying on the ground, crying was an elderly gnomish woman. The anger grew in her. She promised herself that this wouldn’t go unpunished. It took her most of the morning to calm the gnome, a Mrs. Jumpsprocket, tend to her injuries to the best of her limited capacity, and carry her across the city to her nephew in the Dwarven district. She returned to her camp brooding and waited almost until darkness descended on Elwynn Forest for her nether ray to return. Latsari knew not to charge into a situation she had no information or control over. She dressed herself in her black working leathers , loaded her pistols, hooked her sword on her belt and used a dark cloak to make a turban and mask to cover her face before mounting her ray and letting her carry her off into the darkening sky.
It took them a little under an hour to reach a small cottage on the border between Elwynn and Westfall. Latsari dismounted a good two hundred feet away and crept to the cottage slowly. There was light coming from within and voices could clearly be heard. At first she thought she heard two voices but as she crept closer, two became three ad by the time her back was against the logs of the cabin, three had become four. She peered into the window with care, hoping they wouldn’t notice and that the darkness would hide her. Four became five. Two men looked close enough to the men who had assaulted the gnome. They were, perhaps in their late thirties while two might have been in their twenties, and the last, who hadn’t spoken since she had drawn close was in his late teens. On one of the tables lay a satchel which could very possibly be one described to her by Mrs. Jumpsprocket. Quietly she slid back into the shadows and towards where she had left her nether ray. She was outnumbered and ill equipt to take on five armed men. She wasn’t in a hurry. The gnome would be avenged, and her oath satisfied. As quietly as she had arrived, she left and headed back to her camp.
The next day was a busy one. There was much preparing to do. She spent the morning darkening her armor with soot and coal. When she was finished she begun to prepare for a dinner she had invited friends to later in the evening. It was all really quite simple. She would be in the air at sunset, but in and out in half an hour and be home with plenty of time to clean up and get dinner going before anyone arrived. The plan was simple. She had two good shots and a blade that she could wield quickly with 180 degree swings from wall to wall at the doorstep. It would only take both bullets and at worst, three well placed swings to get the job done. She had the element of surprise and was pretty sure she was a better fighter than any of the brigands she would have to deal with.
She arrived near the cottage as the first shadows fell over the forest. She slid from shadow to shadow slowly, making sure to not make a sound. Finally, she crouched beneath the window she had peered through the previous day and peeked in. Four. One of the two men who had mugged the gnome wasn’t there. She decided to wait. No good would come from having someone come up behind her. After a quarter hour, she had her opening. The fifth man walked towards her distracted. She barely had enough time to slip behind a tree without being noticed.
The door. That was her chance. One easy target and a perfect way to terrorize the rest. Latsari quietly unsheathed her blade, helped her tail grip one pistol and took hold of the other in her free hand. She moved from tree to tree quickly until she found herself behind the man. The moment he opened the door, she sprung forward, driving her blade straight through his spine and out his gut. With a shove of her knee she pushed the dying man into the cabin and lifted her pistols taking aim. A few seconds later, both shots went off and found their marks. The shot from the pistol in her left hand struck one of the younger men in the chest while the other, her tail being far less accurate struck its target in the shoulder. Latsari let her pistol fall while the second man who had been at the mugging picked up a mace charged her. She took a proper hold of her large swords and adjusted her stance towards the cursing, spitting man. His mace came down at her with a clumsy and powerful downward swing. An easy block. Her sword came up horizontally to stop the blow and a moment later came back down in a diagonal swing which split the mans flesh apart from his neck to his lower ribs. As he attempted to swing again he fell to his knees with a dying gurgle. Latsari felt the blood gush from his neck onto her face. She ran her tongue long her lip tasting her fallen adversaries blood, feeling it set her own blood on fire while she scanned the room for the fifth. There, cowering in one of the corners was the youngest of the band. He whimpered and sobbed trying to hide from what was happening. Lat curled her lips into a smile, her bloodlust at its height. She approached the young man and lifted her blade but before she could bring it down took a breath and lowered the blade. She fought with the desire to kill him. She strained against what her blood desired. With a sigh, she looked to the two younger survivors. “Change your lives. I don’t want to have to come back”, she growled at them, turned to snatch up the gnome’s satchel and disappeared into the deepening shadows.
The cold wind and the flight back home gave her time to calm down. She smiled the entire flight back to her camp. She had no regrets about what she had done. There were some people the world was better off without. People that Alliance laws and justice never found. She dismounted at her camp, caressed her nether ray and sent her off with a “Thank you” and a smile. Slowly she stretched. She was a bit late, but would still be able to be ready on time to host her guests. She stabbed her sword into the round and pulled off her helm, tossing it on the floor and running a hand into her hair to ruffle it up a little. She turned slowly running her fingers through her hair only to see Eva standing behind her with a brow raised and jaw half hanging open. They looked at each other for a few minutes before Latsari finally spoke “Well, this is awkward…”
