The apothecary at Falcon Watch is not an apothecary in the Forsaken sense.
He is a Blood Elf priest — which means he approaches the demonic contamination of Sha'naar with the specific combination of academic interest and personal offense that characterizes a people who have spent decades managing their own version of magical corruption. The Krvawe Elfy understand addiction. They understand what happens when a power source is removed and the systems built around it start failing. The Sha'naar contamination is, from a certain angle, a familiar problem in an unfamiliar scale.
Arnak wants samples. He wants measurements. He wants the specific data that only comes from going into the places that are most contaminated and coming back out with evidence.
Jezarman goes into the places. He comes back out with evidence.
This is, the internal log notes with a weariness that has become structural, the third apothecary on this peninsula. There is apparently no shortage of researchers willing to let other people collect the data.
The Sha'naar ruins yield their samples. The contamination is documented. Arnak receives the materials and begins his analysis with the focused attention of someone who has been waiting for exactly this information.
Whether the analysis will lead anywhere useful is a question that Hellfire Peninsula does not answer. It generates data. The data goes somewhere. The somewhere is above Jezarman's operational clearance.
Then there is Carinda.
Lady Carinda is a Blood Elf of a certain social standing, stationed at Falcon Watch in a capacity that the official records probably describe as "support staff" and that actually involves managing the specific category of problems that arise when aristocratic elves are forced to coexist in a military outpost on a dead planet. She has a cat. The cat is named Twinkle. Twinkle is, by all available evidence, the best-fed creature on Hellfire Peninsula.
She also has a problem.
Her husband — Lord Arelion, a mage of some reputation — has apparently been conducting a relationship with someone named Viera Sunwhisper. This is known. What is not known, or rather what Carinda wishes to be formally confirmed, is the current location and romantic status of Viera Sunwhisper so that appropriate measures can be taken.
Appropriate measures, Jezarman notes, is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
The investigation leads to Arelion's quarters, to correspondence that confirms what was already suspected, and finally to Viera herself — who is, upon completion of the relevant magical procedure, transformed into a rat.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
A rat that Twinkle is immediately, professionally, and with considerable enthusiasm invited to pursue.
There is a category of quest that the Valley of Trials did not prepare Jezarman for.
Not the combat quests — those he understood from the beginning, the relationship between the problem and the solution is direct and the solution is fire and lightning and the firm application of geological forces. Not the collection quests, which are boring but legible. Not even the escort quests, which are the collection quests of the escort genre.
This is the domestic drama quest. The kind where the actual problem is not demonic contamination or Legion incursion or the systematic destruction of a people's cultural heritage — the actual problem is that Lord Arelion made a choice that Lady Carinda did not consent to, and Lady Carinda has resources and a cat and a very specific idea of proportional response.
I have, the internal log tallies up the recent operational history, collected demon blood, defended a possessed scrying device, delivered letters to a Warchief, escorted an elf who didn't need escorting, gathered contamination samples for three separate apotecarzes, and now arranged the feline execution of a romantic rival.
Hellfire Peninsula contains multitudes.
Carinda receives the news of Twinkle's successful pursuit with the composure of someone who expected exactly this outcome and is satisfied to have it confirmed. She provides Carinda's Wedding Band as payment — a ring with properties that suggest it was made for a different occasion than this one.
+8 Stamina. +6 Intellect. +4 Spirit. Arcane Bolt on equip.
The ring fits.
Falcon Watch is complete.
The board is cleared — arakkoa, gan'arg, contamination, domestic drama, one cat fed. Venn'ren acknowledges the work with the specific efficiency of a ranger captain who has been receiving reports long enough to know when the perimeter is stable.
Silvermoon City reputation: 5,061, Friendly. The Blood Elves of Falcon Watch have decided that Jezarman has done enough work on their behalf to be considered something other than a stranger.
This is how it works, the internal log notes. You clear enough boards and eventually you stop being an outsider.
Outside, Hellfire Peninsula is unchanged. The sky is still burning. The rock is still red. The ruins of what was still outnumber the structures of what is.
The board has new notices.
Jezarman reads them.
?? END OF LOG — SESSION 010b / FULL SESSION STATS
- Time Played: (full session across 010a + 010b)
- Level: 16 → 19
- Gold: 61g 51s → 8g 29s (spending — equipment upgrade)
- Reputation: Silvermoon City — Friendly (5061) | Thrallmar — Honored (9395) | Mag'har — Neutral (700)
- Key Completions: Full Falcon Watch chain, Sha'naar contamination samples, Arelion's Mistress, escort: Thiah Redmane
- DPS Breakdown: Lava Burst 46% / Earth Shock 34% / Chain Lightning 19.4% / Lightning Bolt 19.1%
- Loot: Carinda's Wedding Band (+8 Sta, +6 Int, +4 Spi, Arcane Bolt proc)
- Unit Status: Board cleared. Twinkle fed. Operational.
Next log: Razelcraz and Legassi. Goblins. A crashed zeppelin. Keys in the wrong places. Outland, apparently, sucks.