[4/29 Response] A Letter For Zentao

[Solivar]

(The letter arrives via standard Horde courier post, a thin, neatly folded packet sealed in blue ribbons and a medallion of unmarked black wax. The contents are written in Thalassian; the handwriting at the beginning is somewhat sloppier than usual, but this corrects itself by the end of the letter. Despite the quality and resilience of the parchment, the left hand edge is deeply discolored in places, eaten nearly through at spots, though the black stains are not from spilt ink.)

My brother,

I hope this letter finds you well. I write you this day to report a matter that arose after our discussions of late concerning our efforts to procure a home for our brotherhood.

I confess I behaved a bit intemperately, more out of personal restlessness than anything else; I have found it difficult to attain a state of rest and remain in it of late, and that inquietude impelled me to make myself useful in some way. Pursuant, I traveled back to the Undercity and from there to Kalimdor, where I took the overland route to Azshara for the purpose of exploration.

I was plesantly surprised, I will admit. Idling a bit about Orgrimmar and the Warsong encampments in Ashenvale and asking a few questions here and there yielded the intelligence that many felt Azshara cursed in some way: a punishment duty post filled with plentiful opportunities to die an ignominious death but few chances to earn lasting glory or redemption for past errors, a haunted chunk of rock and gorse and tumbledown elf-ruins with nothing to recommend it but the view of Hyjal's lower slopes. Given my usual places of residence, I found the protestations of haunting an uncompelling reason to avoid the place and so continued across the river bridge onto the tree-lined far shore.

If you will forgive me, I must digress for a moment. In the Royal Library of the Undercity, there exists a book entitled Wonders of the Forgotten West. The document is old -- the head librarian shared with me the theory that it was written some time immediately after the founding of Quel'Thalas -- and purports to be the memoir of a scholar in the court of Dath'remar Sunstrider, who undertook to collect the reminiscences of the king and his courtiers of their homeland, before it was destroyed by the Sundering. I mention this only because Azshara, the land, is said to be all that remains of Zin-Azshari, the old capital of the fallen empire of the Kaldorei-as-they-were, and the description of the city and its environs from Wonders lends some weight to this theory. I felt, upon entering Azshara, a sense of deep melancholy, as though the very stones, the trees, the fallen columns and broken cornices jutting from the leaf-cover and yellowed grass, deeply mourned its glory, lost and never to be regained. The sensation persisted as I traveled, waxing and waning in intensity, until I came to the shores of a small lake. (Be aware: there is an unpleasant selection of dragonspawn in the vicinity. The only conversation they accept involves weapons.) It was there that the melancholia gave way to actual, physical pain, a sharp ache in my hand, and I discovered upon the removal of my gauntlet that the wound I received in Atal'Hakkar had reopened and was bleeding again. At the time, I believed I had simply aggravated the injury during my discussion with the dragonspawn, and so I bound it and continued on my way, taking note of such features natural and otherwise that I thought might aid our ultimate goal. (I have attached an annotated map with these observations.)

It was not until I returned to Orgrimmar that I discovered this supposition may have been in error. When I removed the bandage, I found that the desiccation that, while the wound had closed again, the desiccation that my hand suffered had spread from the palm into three of my fingers and down toward my wrist. It is possible that, as I originally thought, that I merely reopened the wound -- it is in a touchy place, given my usual methods of fighting, and the damage has simply spread beyond the ability of my flesh to reconstitute itself completely. I do, however, think it might be worth determining if there is something in the environment that could have caused this reaction -- for I feel strongly that Azshara might make a more welcoming home for our brotherhood, given its many natural advantages of defense and climate, and its relative proximity to Orgrimmar. If it falls within your power, I would ask that you survey the area and come to your own conclusions. I would also suggest that you not go alone, for some danger does reside there, even for one as skilled as you. In any case, I would ask to speak with you at your soonest available convenience.

I remain your brother-in-arms,

Solivar Eventide