Closure at Gilneas
After a long an exhausting flight, Irys Grimrock arrived late at night at the outskirts of Gilneas. She remembered there being an inn at Keel Harbor and travelled there to find out if it is still in business. As luck would have it the inn was open yet badly damaged, and neither the innkeeper nor any staff were present.
When Irys entered the building, there were two young women sitting at a table. One had blonde hair, the other dark. The blonde haired woman greeted Irys as she walked in, the other seemed completely oblivious of her surroundings.
Irys soon found out that the inn, now named “The Mangy Mastiff”, was attacked only days ago by a group of pirates passing by the area. Several large and smaller holes were punched through the building as the ship’s cannons targeted the harbor. The inn was a mess. Broken plates, bottles and cups littered the floor, together with half-eaten chunks of meat. Curtains were ripped and entire kegs were emptied or simply missing.
The blonde woman informed Irys that the other woman was inside the inn as the attacks occurred. She was injured in the event but her physical wounds had already been treated. However, the woman seemed unresponsive to anything happening around her. Irys was asked to try and communicate with her, perhaps get her to eat something. Irys immediately focused on the injured woman, who would just stare through her as if she was not there at all. Irys asked her several questions, but since the woman did not answer any of them she decided to talk about herself instead, in an attempt to gain the woman’s trust.
Irys explained that she came to Gilneas looking for closure. She needed to find out what happened to the remains of her parents, and if they had been buried she needed to weep and pray at their graves. The other woman interrupted Irys, mentioning some sort of a ledger or register which contains the names of the victims during and shortly after the Wall was breached. Irys took note of this information, but decided that the dark haired victim needed attention first.
After several unsuccessful attempts to get a response from the woman, the woman suddenly stood up and went outside. Irys and the blonde woman quickly followed, observing her closely. The dark haired woman, who Irys later found out worked at the inn, was pointing at the inn’s cellar doors at the back of the building. When attempting to open the doors, the blonde woman noticed they were locked. Due to the heavy rain and cold winds, both women took the waitress back inside. They never figured out why she was pointing at the cellar doors.
Irys realized she wasn’t getting through to the waitress. She remembered a technique taught to her by Chaplain d’Armagnac which allowed her to try and communicate with someone via thoughts. Unfortunately, no matter how hard Irys tried, the woman remained unresponsive. She held the woman by her hands, closed her eyes and searched for any traces of Fel energy. None were found. In desperation, Irys remembered seeing the Chaplain perform a special method to find out whether dark magics might be blocking any form of interaction with the victim. She quickly rushed into the inn’s kitchen where she found a jar of salt and a can of water. The blonde woman was quick to point out that the water supplies could be poisoned, and so she brought in a filled cup from a bucket which was collecting fresh rain water.
Irys opened her pouch, removed a small vial from it and poured some of its contents into the cup of water. As she began to draw circles on the floor with a piece of chalk she found on the counter, she asked the blonde woman to collect some dirt from outside. Irys drew three circles; two small ones and a big one in between them. She poured the salt in one circle and asked the woman to drop the dirt in the other. She attempted to get the waitress to drink the potion she made, though she remained uncooperative. Irys had no other option but to force the woman to drink it, which she did. Both women guided the waitress into the big circle as Irys explained her plan. She was going to attempt to create a flow of Light moving from one circle to the other. The potion would facilitate the flow through the woman. If no flow could be created, it would mean that the woman is filled with dark magics.
After making sure everything was perfect, Irys held the waitress’ hands, closed her eyes and summoned the Light to her. As time slowly progressed, a bright aura of Light surrounded Irys filling the room with warmth. And so Irys attempted to create a flow of Light from one circle, through the woman, to the other circle. The first attempt was immediately successful. The aura vanished as Irys opened her eyes. She had mixed feelings about what just happened. On one hand, the woman is not possessed by any magics. On the other, they still did not know what was wrong with her.
Irys felt disappointed. Was there something else she could do? Something she had missed? She went upstairs to meditate on the matter, and due to the exhaustion of her travels she fell asleep shortly after.
When Irys woke up the next day, she immediately ran downstairs to find out if there was any change in the woman’s condition. To her surprise she found the woman hard at work behind the counter, cleaning up the mess and baking fresh bread and pies at the same time. Irys confronted the woman about what had happened, yet she seemed to have no recollection of the previous days. She had no clue as to who Irys was, how she got there or what she had done. Irys concluded that the woman was in shock, and that all of her attempts to restore her were unnecessary as all she needed was some rest. Irys was glad the woman was better, but disappointed when she realized she did not recognize the signs of shock. She wondered what the Chaplain would have done in this situation, and how he would have reacted to her actions.
Irys enjoyed a nice breakfast, freshly made by the waitress. She payed for her meal and the night she spent in the inn. After redressing herself, she set forth to the graveyard in search for any familiar names. When she arrived there, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Hundreds of graves lay before her, many more than what she last remembered. So many losses, it was a shocking sight. Irys never realized how many lives were lost, and the graves before her probably did not contain all of the victims. Many people were torn to shreds, mutilated, burned. The chances of her parents having their own grave are slim, yet she was not about to give up on them that easily.
Irys had spent hours at the graveyard, checking the names on each and every grave. From time to time she stopped to pray for those who were lost, and to clean some of the tombstones. Tired, she returned to the inn for a short rest. When she arrived back at the Mangy Mastiff, the innkeeper had returned. He was aware of the situation and confirmed that there is indeed a register, though nobody knows where. He suggested the old Greymane Manor, though advised caution as the place is haunted by lost spirits and a witch. After regaining her strength, Irys travelled to the Manor in search for clues. The place was deserted. No spirits were seen, no witch was found. And neither were any clues to the register. Irys returned empty handed to the inn for another night’s rest.
Several days had gone by. Word had travelled that a Gilnean girl had returned to her place of birth, looking for information about her parents. More and more visitors, both human and Worgen, stopped by the inn to see her. None of them spoke to her though; perhaps they were merely looking for a familiar face. Irys visited the graveyard every day to check the remaining graves. Eventually she found one grave with a familiar name: Jack Grimrock. At last she had found the final resting place of her father. She was overjoyed and overcome with grief at the same time. She kneeled at his grave, crying and praying for hours. She searched the surrounding graves but could not find a trace of her mother.
Eventually, Irys felt she had spent enough time in the Gilnean area and decided she should return to Stormwind. The victims of the plague needed her help more than the people of Gilneas. When she left, there was nobody present at the inn. She wrote a note and pinned it to the door.
"To the staff of the Mangy Mastiff, and to the local residents: I was in somewhat of a hurry and didn't have a chance to talk to all of you before I left. I wanted to thank you all for your kindness and hospitality during my stay. The registry which I have been looking for has not been found, though I discovered my father's grave at the graveyard west of the city. The location of my mother's remains are still unknown to me. I will return some day to search for her resting place. Light be with you all. Irys Grimrock"
Before she flew off to south, she stopped by her father’s grave one last time. She promised him she would return, and that she would never stop searching for her mother. She hoped he would be proud of her.
