A MATTER OF TIME - RP EVENT
#1
Timeline- Announcement
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This RP event will begin on June 11th at the Moot
Additional night Monday June 15th
Wrap up will be Moot of June 18th

Storyline and Guidelines are forthcoming



Background Stories

Dispaya's Origin
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"When the crypt was finally opened it was Walter who was there to release me. He took me as his own and I had no memory of the life I had lost and no will of my own. For what I can only guess were many moons, I lived as his servant in his dark tower, hidden away from my father and my love who now thought me lost to them. Forced to serve him in ways most wicked was I…"

Anca's Origin
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"Anca Stormchilde, you must remember, was an anomaly. She was born in the Could Have Been, touched by the Portal. Time wasn't quite sure what to do with her once the Could Have Been became the Is. She did, though come back to her world. But Time no longer had the same hold on her as it did on the rest of the world. She never grew up, living out her whole life as a child.

Kardwell Storyline
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"These are your orders. The time and place is there. We do not know the assassins name or exactly when he will strike. We only know an approximate time. You Dispaya will be perfect for this mission as you know how to pass for human better than others of your kind. We want you to go and seek this assassin out. Guard Lord Mograine in secret and make sure he remains safe so the timeline will be preserved."
"How will I get there"
Chromie next presented the mage with a small hourglass shaped trinket. It pulsed with a faint glow.
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#2
"Time takes it all whether you want it to or not, time takes it all. Time bares it away, and in the end there is only darkness. Sometimes we find others in that darkness, and sometimes we lose them there again." — Stephen King

"They say Time is the fire in which we burn." - Soran

Time is the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things; the past is gone, the future is not come, and the present becomes the past even while we attempt to define it, and, like the flash of lightning, at once exists and expires. ~Charles Caleb Colton

Time is making fools of us again. ~J.K. Rowling


A Matter of Time - Prologue

Dispaya arose from her evenings meditations just as the tower clock of Dalaran chimed it's midnight toll. All was quiet in the magical city. All was well.

She reached out with her finger and touched it to a candle wick which spontaneously popped into flame. The glow bathed her and lit the small apartment she had been calling home since her arrival in the city many months ago.

Quietly she reflected on the tribe's recent battles, it's wins and it's losses. Kel'Thuzad and his dreaded citadel Naxxramas had recently fallen to the tribe's onslaught. The dragon Malygos had been defeated at long last. She and her tribe were heroes of the Horde once again.

The victory's were great ones for the Horde and for her adopted father the troll Warlord Sreng, but there had been many losses along the way as well. Hebren, a deathknight friend she was only beginning to know was among the first to fall before the Lich King's armies. Lucinther had vanished and only recently returned...but he was different now due to the taint of necrotic energy that now flowed through him, and her dear friend Luther Kernasas, now lie dead in a sealed crypt in Undercity. The fel magic that had once powered him somehow took away his life enrgy. Saezhur was gone and she did not think she would ever see him again.

There were others as well, including Mokimi who had died fighting valiantly in the battle for Undercity, and Shillatae and Eveline who had vanished during that battle as well. They had returned but were not quite the same. The battle for the wrathgate had taken it's toll on so many of her friends and aquaintances. Indeed many things had changed since she came to Northrend.

As she pondered these things over in her mind, the candle flame suddenly flickered and Dispaya's intuition flared. She sensed the presence behind her even before he spoke. It was a cold voice she had not heard now for more than fifty years, but was also a voice she knew well. She spoke to the dark man behind her without even turning around.

"I knew you would come looking for me sooner or later Walter Ostranger."

The man stepped forward into the candlelight and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. He was a simple looking human with a mane of long black hair and a prominent beard. He was dressed now all in black accented only by the red lining of a long cloak fixed around his neck by a silver clasp. When he spoke his voice was elloquent and rang something of the olde tongue of humans, much like Dispaya herself spoke.

"You are looking lovely as ever Caroline. Undeath has been kind to you."

Dispaya turned suddenly to face him. For the first time in half a century their eyes met. They were the same eyes she remembered. Dark and glassy with a hint of something more sinister lying just beneath the surface. They were eyes that could drink you in and know all of your secrets with only a glance.

"I am undead only because of you wretch! But I am no longer the powerless girl you once corrupted!"

With a single word of power, Dispaya summoned her magical might and brought it to bear on the man standing before her.

"Behold now the kindness of your work villian. You created me and now I will destroy thee!

The undead mage's hand suddenly burst into a violet glow. With a single gesture she unleashed a bolt of arcane fury at the man, but before it struck him it suddenly dispersed with a harmless whisper.

The Dark man only smiled his devilish grin.

"Your spells can never harm me Caroline. It is a side effect of our pact. The created may never harm her creator."

"Then if magic will not harm you we will try cold steel!"

The magical sageblade gifted to her by her adopted father suddenly sprang from its scabbard on the far wall. The blade magically flipped into Dispaya's outstretched hand and she brought it down in a smooth motion towards her former master.

Her swing was accurate but it met only empty space where Walter had formerly stood. She turned and he was now behind her again on the far side of the room.

"That will be enough violence for now Caroline. Time for you to remember your place."

He waved his hand and the sword dropped out of her grasp and clanged harmlessly to the floor. Walter next extended a hand towards her and uttered a simple command.

"Kneel"

Dispaya's legs were no longer under her control as she dropped to the ground before him.

"Much better...and much more ladylike." he stated arrogantly.

"Where have you been all of these years...and why come now to torment me so?" She spat the words in revulsion of her inability to move against him now.

"Oh I have been here and there...certainly never very far away for too long. When I was forced to flee from Gilneas I traveled the world a bit but I eventually settled here in Dalaran. Well..there in Dalaran where it used to rest anyway not far from Lordaeron itself. I have always kept an eye on you Caroline. Once when you battled those corrupted wizards just outside of our magical dome, I watched you. When you came to the edge of the bubble I was just on the other side."

Dispaya remembered that moment well. She had felt ill at ease but thought it only a side effect of her close proximity to the magical dome.

"I have visited your crypt under the guise of a Forsaken messenger...I have appeared at several of your moots...you know those stragglers who come there and pledge to stay and then are never seen again?

I was at your Hallow's End party just this past season disguised as one of your fellow tribe. I can appear to be anyone I wish. Why, I even came to the ball!

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"Well in all of your travels you have become quite famous. Always saving your tribe and helping them along. But let me ask you something. Who do you think causes so many of those little 'occurances' that cause you to be able to save the day? Let me ask you some things my darling love...

When Delgarsida's dagger suddenly cracked in your vault..who do you think did that?

Do you think that potion you gave Kardwell would have helped him cure himself? Perhaps but spiking it with a bit more of his own stash of wellwater certainly helped to turn the tides back!

Luther's fel energy destroyed him? Maybe all it needed was a little chaotic shove. Who could have done that?

Who could have had a hand in all of these things...even if it was just a nudge here or a tweak there? I have the answer for you sugar...Me, me, me, me me, me, me!"

Walter laughed at himself until tears came from his dark eyes.

"Oh there are more...so many more...we could go on about this all night. Valtrinity, Oxzen, Drak...hey remember Zema's nightmares...that was such a hoot...and let's not even talk yet about Anca..."

"Don't you even speak of her!"

"Oh precious...that's the last thing I would ever do. All of my little pranks really do not matter anymore anyway. All that matters is that all of the dark things that have befallen your tribe were your own fault!

Do ya get it now? YOU have been their savior as well as their curse Caroline. YOU!"

Dispaya wept. "This...cannot be..."

"Oh but it can."

"Why would you do such things? To punish me for what? All for loving another?"

"Oh darling...your love is long gone now. He died an old man...lonesome and sick. I didn't have to help him with the old...but the sick part...well hey...at least it got you back there to see him before he croaked eh? It was a sort of kindness really."

"I hate you."

"Oh now...don't be hatin'. It does not become thee."

"Have you come now to taunt me before you destroy me? Do you now serve the Scourge?"

Walter laughed again.

"The Scourge? I have nothing to do with those idiots. Arthas is a greater fool than any dark villian that came before him. I serve only myself Caroline...and darling, I could never kill you."

"And what do you want from me now then Walter? What dark purpose would you have me serve?"

"Oh my darling Caroline...it was only you that could ever capture my heart." He strolled forward and placed his hand on Dispaya's chin. "I only wish you to take your rightful place again as my humble servant. I have missed you for far... too... long."

"I will never do that..."

"Well...you will not have a choice really. You still exist only at my whim Caroline. The fact that you and your tribe are so very entertaining is really the only reason I have allowed you to go on this long...but I am tired now of that game. Your tribe is growing far too powerful killing Dragon aspects now and all. You are becoming dangerous and that simply will not do."

"And how will you stop us?"

"Oh I will just start with you my dear. I can take away your memory and your free will as easily as I just took the sword from your hand. You WILL call me master once again. From there we will begin to work on your tribe. You will do whatever I say and you will do it willingly."

"I will never..."

With that Walter produced a small charm and dangled it in front of Dispaya's eyes.

"Oh I'm afraid you will. I still have this...and...you know what THIS contains!"

Dispaya's head suddenly dropped. His power over her was complete.

"Just relax now. This won't hurt...not much anyway. Just let go and you will no longer need to worry about the big bad Lich King. Your greatest worry will be how to make my boots shiny."

He grinned a grin that was more like the grin of a demon than a man, and with that Walter reached forth into Dispaya's mind. She felt the icy fingers of his psyche begin to creep inward.

She fought back as best she could. She could not, would not ever become his servant again...and so Dispaya focussed back with every bit of her Forsaken willpower. But Walter refocussed against her and slowly her own willpower began to buckle. There was time for only one more thing, and it was drastic.

While Walter was distracted Dispaya reached out with her magic and focussed on her sword where it lay on the ground beside her. With a sudden burst of animation, the sword suddenly leaped upward and ran itself into Walter's stomach!

The attack on her will ceased momentarily as the dark man cried out in pain.

"ARGH!!! NO!"

In that instant Dispaya drew forth a small charm shaped like an hourglass and extended her hand to show Walter its' glow.

"A Dragon called Chromie gave me this in return for a favor. I will never serve thee again! EVER!"

With that Dispaya crushed the trinket in her palm and a magical surge suddenly swirled around her.

Walter screamed out in fury and refocussed his psychic assault.


In that instant Dispaya's fragile mind >snapped<.


With a last flash of energy, Dispaya vanished into the vortex.

The pieces of the hourglass fell to the ground where she had stood only a moment before. The room was suddenly quiet.

Walter stood and in a single motion pulled the sword from his stomach.

"Oooof...That wench! Still..one has to admire her resourcefulness."

Where it had pierced him, the wound just as suddenly healed itself. He dropped the sword to the floor of Dispaya's apartment with a loud clatter. He then knelt and picked up the small pieces of the trinket and examined them. Again he smiled.

"Like sands through the hourglass....these are the days of our lives!"

Walter erupted again into laughter.

"She cannot escape me so easily. I always know where she is..."

He concentrated...but he could no longer sense her. He concentrated again and felt nothing. She was gone now as if she had never been.

"Caroline now what have you done?"

Walter spun around as all around him something changed in the fabric of time and space.

One by one the capital cities changed. Their leaders now long dead and their peoples now undead and enslaved by the being called Arthas.

The magical city of Dalaran suddenly vanished from the skies above Northrend.

In the Hills beyond Lordaeron an ancient ruined city once called Dalaran suddenly came into being.

Now Walter stood in the ruins of the once grande city.

"Ah Caroline...now you have really done it haven't you?"

He laughed. He thought he might never stop laughing. He laughed until tears filled his eyes and his sides split from laughter.

"Ah well...this world was never very exciting anyway...after all...there are many other worlds than these."

He took the heart shaped necklace and let it slip through his fingers to the ground. Walter then conjured his own portal and slowly faded away. He would never be seen in Azeroth again.

-The Beginning
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#3
A MATTER OF TIME - RP EVENT

Beginning 6-11 Guild Chat is considered to be the caverns of Time in an alternate timeline.

Where is Dispaya? Can you find her?
With her disappearance the current timeline has changed!
NO ONE has ever heard of Dispaya...save one of you.

Many other things have changed as well:


HISTORY

Darion Mograine never helped to create Ashbringer and never joined the Scourge.

Warlord Sreng died as a young troll.

The Ironsong Tribe never formed.

The Lich King and his forces WON the battle for Light's Hope Chapel.

From there the Scourge slowly took over Azeroth. The new plague was never cured.

All Horde and Alliance leaders as you know them are dead and/or now serve the Scourge. All major cities have fallen and been taken over.

Most all humans have been scourged. The only remaining life on Azeroth now consists of a few stragglers who fight for survival.

The Dark Portal has been destroyed to prevent the Scourge from taking over Outland. You cannot flee.



THE STAGE IS NOW SET

You are a refugee of the war.

Right now a Scourge Army surrounds the Caverns of Time seeking entrance and control of its secrets. Every day brings us one step closer to defeat.

Supplies are low. People are starving.

The Bronze Dragons have closed the time portals to prevent anamolies from forming.

Outside the caverns a large scourge army has gathered in an attempt to take the caverns by force but they are currently being held back by the Bronze Dragonflight and two large Titanium doors that the Scourge are unable to destroy.

With the arrival of Anca, you realize perhaps there is hope for salvation...but what changed the past and even more...how will you fix it?



Supporting Characters

ELLANOR

This is now my MAIN since Dispaya never existed. She is a PALADIN and servant of the Bronze Dragonflight. She is one of the leaders of the refugees in the caverns.

She is your guide for the RP event and will be on most evenings.
Look to her if you need guidance.


ANCA

There is the one tribe member who is not affected by the timeline. Anca is not affected because she exists outside of the timeline. (For more details please read Anca's origin.) Anca remembers everything as it was but also remembers everything as it is now. This is very confusing for her but she knows everything has changed. She remembers Dispaya but does not know why no one else remembers her. With no one else to turn to she travels to the Caverns and meets a keeper there called Ellanor. This is the beginning of the RP event.


UMU
Captured inside the Caverns is a Giant Death Knight called UMU!
He has been restrained and is being interrogated by the refugees.
He is a scourge monstrosity and incredibly powerful. Be wary of him.



RP Guidelines for the week


Feel free to makeup your own RP and backstories but take care not to overshadow the main storyline and do not do anything that cannot be resolved. The main theme is to figure out how to change the timeline back.

Any members who are currently offline are considered DEAD in this timeline.

There are no Death Knights as they were never freed.
For the RP event either bring an alt...OR...if you want to RP your DK character then consider them any other class you wish.

You may alter your character or personality however you see fit.
YOU decide if your charactrer or alt is dead/alive or changed/different.

LAST- Any confusion on the part of members not knowing about this would be explained as happening because of fluctuations in the timeline. Things are currently unstable and must be re-stabalized. Look to Ellanor for guidance in these matters. She is your guide.

RAIDS
Raids are outside of this event so whoever is logging on for raids does not count in this storyline. We will still be raiding as usual.
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#4
To keep GC from becoming confusing:

Please put any character changes in parenthesis just to keep everyone on the same page. Examples:

Ellanor: (paladin) Greetings to everyone!

Armande (Bob-Rogue) Hail Ironsong

No need to do it on every line but when you first come online it will be a good time to let everyone know who you are.
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#5
((Feel free to post your character's changes in the alternate time-line here.))

Now that Dalaran had situated itself high among the snow-covered peaks of Northrend, it had been the hustle and bustle city that every hero (Alliance or Horde) found themselves in. Though tensions between the two factions were high with the declaration of war Varian Wrynn had placed upon everyone, the mages of Dalaran and the Kirin Tor fought hard to maintain peace within their city. Perhaps because this city and its natives were so respected (or perhaps because neither faction wanted to see such a beautiful city laid to waste), there was no fighting here. It was the only home they all had at this point.

Many of the heroes had moved here to be closer when the horn for battle did call. Those in Ironsong were no different. Some of them prefered to remain closer to the cities they grew up in or near, but a lot would find themselves waking from a hammock in an inn or finding some kind of housing here.

Kardwel had moved here like many others. And since he had been given a new body, there were all sorts of new things on his mind. First off, had been his conversation with the Naaru, A'dal. He had taken the words to heart and had done as the being had instructed him. It was now a matter of time of when he could start his "training" with this new-found energy and way of controlling himself. But before he truly left to begin his new life, he had on other matter on his mind. One he believed he could not focus fully on his "new self" with if it were to go unsaid.

He found himself standing at a small row of apartments and homes near one of the entrances to the sewers. His dull, green eyes were glancing over the numbers of the homes, hoping he could find the right one. He just hoped she wouldn't mind his appearance this late. As he spotted what he thought was the right apartment, the city bells suddenly tolled, telling him it was midnight. Well, if she didn't answer the door, he would simply have to return tomorrow.

The blond Sin'dorei approached the door feeling slightly nervous. Was he just making a fool of himself? He couldn't help but think that maybe he was. He felt his eyes instinctively roll, but this time at his own cowardice. He just had to get it out there and lay this situation on the table. He had a feeling she would take it for all it was worth. And, to be honest, he wasn't sure what that was. He paused for a moment, thinking he had heard something from inside the apartment. Was this the right one? He had tried to remember if this door was indeed the one she had walked into when he had come across her a few nights ago. She hadn't known he was there, he had just happened to be passing by when he had seen it.

He sighed inwardly, realizing he was wasting time. He brought his hand up to knock on the wooden door when he hesitated. Something...didn't feel right. He couldn't place a finger on what it was, but perhaps being a paladin for so long had given him a sort of sixth sense. He stood there, his hand slowly sliding over the door for much longer than he should've been. Finally deciding it was his head and the nervousness messing with him, Kardwel pulled his arm back in preparation to knock.

Only...he never got the chance...
[Image: AWOeJWn.png]
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#6
Ronx looked over the plains of Durotar once more. The rugged vegetation of the desert and the creatures abound lead the hardy lifestyle that the Orcs worshiped. The scorpids fought with one another to get the nearest scrap or morsel. The boars fought to win the right to mate. The raptors avoided each other so that they might not get killed in their plots to steal meat from the villages. It was a landscape for breeding the toughest, hardiest creatures, where only the strong can survive. Survival of the fittest. It was a landscape that the Orcs used to breed their great warriors, by sending them into this savage terrain to fend for themselves for a time. They would cut down the local creatures, and also the other way around. The creatures would fill in the vacuum if they could, but the Orcs separated their potent young from those that should have been Peons. Survival of the fittest.
The Zeppelin came over the horizon, and Ronx looked away, giving no more attention to his simple appreciation of the land. It was nearly time to move on.
~
Key'athe lead his band over the hill and looked over the sands of Tanaris for the first time. "Hold here. A short survey." They all muttered amongst themselves uneasily. To Key'athe, the salt flats behind him did not seem so different, but this landscape was slightly more crude and cruel. Scouring sands, massive dunes, ergs with no end in sight, and the ruin of Gadgetzan down below. Key'athe snorted at it all, trading one place of death for another. The world behind him on fire, no mercy for any that stood. To trade it in for the place where nothing lived as his final refuge was one of the great cosmic jokes that he found he had little humor for.
In this place, gated by a small, disassembled machine town, this place where there was no more life to be found in even what few plants there were, in this place where blight and sand choked everything else to a slow, agonizing death, just to have it all get back up again...
This place where dunes were disturbed by empty places where dead goliath creatures should have been waiting, and where a number of them lay cast aside for the time.
This place, that just may be the apotheosis of Scourge rule outside of Icecrown, is supposed to be the last vestige of hope for all living beings.
It was another cosmic joke. Another point that the so-called Earthmother was, in the end, not real. Or perhaps, just maybe that she too, was Scourged.
"Let us go." Key'athe lead the band into the dragon's den, and smiled at the punchline.
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#7
THE CAVERN TIMES - NEWS

Tonight the Timeline changed and the group first met a Timekeeper called Ellanor.

We also met two strange characters.

The first is a captured Scourge Deathknight called "UMU." the creature is now chained up inside the caverns so please be wary of it. He is quite clever and may try to fool you into letting its chains free. Don't fall for that!

The other is a small orc girl called Anca. She goes on and on about a time that never was. She talks about a tribe called Ironsong..a leader called Sreng and a mage called Dispaya who was her friend.

All a bunch of nonsense?
Perhaps...but soon time will tell.


***

THE CAVERN TIMES - NEWS


Well the Timeline has shifted again.

Lurie discovered that Upon looking into the library texts on the name "Caroline of Gilneas" one log book that was rescued from the city of Stratholme had reference to a Caroline Mograine, wife of a Tavern Owner named Darion Mograine. The registry records her home city as being "Gilneas."

They opened a Tavern in the city a year before the plague hit. Both were presumably killed when Arthas stormed the city and killed everyone.

More research found the couple in the town of Southshore so Ellanor decided to send scouts through a time portal to see if this was indeed...the missing Dispaya.

the scouts...Lucinther, Anca and Valshar found Caroline who was living as a schoolteacher in southshore. After some questions Lucinther convinced her to come with them to meet heir leader..Ellanor. She agreed.

They tried to take her back through the portal but she never appeared on the other side.

Their mission was different. Upon returning it appears they were sent to find out why the Lich King's wife vanished. It seems she disappeared from Southshore and Darion searched the world for her. It eventually drove him mad. He returned to Stratholme...killed Arthas...killed all of the citizens due to the plague...eventually found Frostmourne...and now...

Darion Mograin is the Lich King.
Please change your RP to fit the new timeline.

It would appear that the world was overun...and all because of Lucinther, Valshar and Anca.(though no one knows that part)

Can things ever be fixed? Only Time will tell.


***

THE CAVERN TIMES - NEWS

The Timeline altered again

Using information gained from the previous travellers, Ellanor was able to more accurately pinpoint the time when Caroline and Darion met.

She sent two agents back to intercept and hopefully save the Troll called Sreng...who Anca knows in the alternate timeline.

Valen and his sister Shayalla went through and found themselves in the Tirasfal woodlands.

Upon hearing a scream they went to investigate and came upon a young troll standing over the body of Caroline. It looked more to them like the troll was trying to help her and was not attacking.

The voice of a human yelled for the troll to stop and before Mograin could attack the two intercepted him. The troll made a quick escape.

After thanking the brother and sister Mograin helped Caroline to her feet and helped her back to Southshore.

Valen and Shayalla returned.

The Timeline changed.

Sreng is alive.
Sreng and the Ironsong tribe saved Thrall and rescued him from Orgrammar, although many Ironsong Tribe were killed.

Sreng and Thrall are now residents of the caverns of time.

The Lich King is still Darion Mograine

*interesting note - As a DK Valen killed his sister Shayalla in the original timeline

***

THE CAVERN TIMES - NEWS

A sickness erupted in the caverns. It was the plague...finally.
The dragons made a desperate decision...the tunnel would be collapsed so the infected settlement would be quarantined...and destroyed. Times were desperate.

Despite being forbidden to open more time doorways...Ellanor assembled a group to try once again to correct the anomalys.

Lurie traveled to Southshore 8 years past...and stopped Lucinther from trying to bring Caroline through time. They were successful.

The rest went to Pyrewood village...to save the White Lady.

In the new timeline...Mograine went to Pyrewood and killed Dispaya in her first undead incarnation. He saved the village...but...it meant Dispaya no longer existed. The group was able to meet the White Lady in person. It was a frightening experience, especially for Anca. (Jusst a finger...a finger?)

The Timeline shifted again.

Mograine and Caroline once again died in Stratholme. The original White LAdy became Scourge and rose through the Ranks...but with no Mograine she eventually took control of all the armies. Arthas became her primary Death Knight and the White Lady ascendeed to Icecrown, detroyed the throne and merged with Ner'zhul. Now the lands of Azeroth are ruled by...

THE LICH QUEEN

The Lich Queen is more diplomatic than Arthas. Tanaris is now a free zone as the scourge do not wish to live in a desert. Most races are now enslaved rather than undead. There are 10,000 more refugees in the caverns and there is no plague thus no need to kill anyone.

The Lich Queen's minions are more diplomatic now (Hi Umu) and will more likely try to get the refugees to surrender themselves to slavery rather than undeath.

Ellanor has declared that she believes there is only one way now to save the world. Open one final time portal..and send an assassin back to kill Caroline before any of the timelines change. "Caroline...Dispaya...must die."


***

THE CAVERN TIMES - NEWS

The dragonflight came to a decision that the girl Caroline would have to be killed but in a merciful way. If the timeline had been polluted then perhaps it could not be corrected completely so the best that could be done is to make sure the least damage possible was done. This would give them a 65% chance that the timeline would resume as it should have. To that end they brought forth the great assassin Zlinka..the deadliest assassin in the known world.

Zlinka came up with a plan to poison the girl before she could corrupt the timeline. Together they headed for the portal. HOWEVER..once at the portal they met...ZLINKA!

Zlinka came from the future to tell this Zlinka that her plan failed. The poison didnt work and accidentally killed Mograine. She also tried a half dozen other tactics and all of them failed. Together the two Zlinka's sat down to discuss what to try next.

After considerable debate Zlinka present and Zlinka future decided the method may not matter as much as the time...and so striking at Caroline just a week after her arrival in Southshore might be the best bet. Zlinka future headed back to her time first....then Zlinka present and Oryx, her faithful servant, headed once again to the past.

So...they tried...but Caroline did not die...but not for lack of trying. A garote...a backstab...impalement on a scythe...she kept getting up. Why? well as it turns out...she is undead! You see Caroline the anomally is really our Dispaya of the present who went back in time. She looks human...but she is actually still undead.

Zlinka and Oryx interogated her...but after discovering she was undead, Caroline fled and so the two returned to the present. But now the pieces all fit. Here is what happened as Ellanor finally was able to put it all together.

From the original timeline...Dispaya somehow was sent back to the past. She also must have lost her memory (thus the prologue story.) Once in the past she met Mograine. They fell in love. Mograine decided to go kill the white Lady, who was really Dispaya in that time period. HE succeeded. SO...Dispaya never existed and Caroline was now an anomally who should not be there. She and Mograine were married and that changed the original timeline.

Since then Time has been bouncing back and forth.

Ellanor is now fairly sure she knows what happened but she also came to a strange conclusion that if all that WAS true...then maybe all of the caverns inhabitants were not meant to be here. Maybe this time period is what was all wrong.

Before leaving she told Zlinka they had received word that the Lich Queen herself would be coming to the caverns to discuss terms of surrender. The refugees are now running out of time.
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#8
UMU ESCAPES

The guard approached the large Death Knight more from a sense of curiosity than anything else. Though he knew he shouldn't come closer, something willed him on as if he almost had no control over himself.The creature's eyes were closed and it was unmoving. He took another step closer and suddenly the room around him came to life.

The floor he stood on suddenly erupted and skeletal arms reached forth and grabbed him. With unnatural strength they pushed him forward where he was suddenly impaled on the Death Knight's great horns. His scream turned into a gurgle as blood filled his lungs. A moment later he lay dead and lifeless on the cold stone floor.

"Now...rise my pet." Umu commanded as his blue eyes flared with necrotic energy.

The corpse on the floor suddenly stirred and rose, bowing before it's new master.

"One of the guards outside has the key to these chains. Bring it to me." The Knight commanded with a wicked smile. The creature turned and slowly shuffled away.

A minute later, muffled screams filled the halls outside.
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#9
FINALE

Umu attacked with a fury that none of the refugees had ever encountered. One by one they fell.

As warriors charged they were just as soon sent flying backwards. When spells were unleashed, the Knight shielded himself and continued to fight.

He made his way toward Ellanor who took a battle stance to defend herself. It did not matter.

Umu ground slammed and knocked Ellanor off her feet. He then snatched the sword from her hand and impaled her with it. She dropped to the ground now fatally wounded.

The huge Death Knight then took her time rod. He knocked aside the last few combatants and then fled towards the time doorway.

The Rod flared. A portal opened. The Death Knight laughed an insane laugh and escaped through it.

Behind him the Rogue Lucinther who was just on his heels, lept through also just as the doorway closed.


***
Southshore - 7 years ago

Caroline fled from her would be assassins. They tried to kill her. Somehow they failed. She ran back towards town. She had to find Darion. He would save her. She called out for him over and over.

Then she saw the single most terrifying sight she thought she could ever witness.

The thing stood before her in the center of town. It looked like a huge bull with glowing blue eyes. It snorted as she stopped frozen in her tracks.

Then she saw the child next to it..also frozen from fear. The Bull-thing grabbed the boy and lifted him into the air, but as he readied his sword to strike Caroline suddenly cried out... "NO!"

A bolt of pure arcane force leaped from her outstretched hand and struck the creature in the chest. It dropped the boy harmlessly to the ground.

"So YOU are the cause of all of this confusion and debate!" It cried. "I will put an end to all of this...now!"

The Death Knight charged. Caroline never stood a chance. The creature's sword sung true, and she dropped to the ground. Next the deathknights eyes flared a bright blue and with a ripple of necrotic energy Dispaya's undead life force left her.

Caroline now lay dead at the feet of the great creature. Mograine and Tirion arrived too late to save her. They drew their own swords and charged and just as quickly overpowered the monster. Fordring held it at bay using his command of the powers of light, and Mograine removed it's head with one great strike.

The Death Knight withered and turned to dust as if it were never there. The two men turned toward Caroline laying dead now at the side of the road. Fordring tried a spell to return the girl to life, but she did not move. The Death Knight had done it's job well.

"I barely knew her." Darion whispered.

"She saved me." The small boy proclaimed.

They held a funeral for the girl called Caroline and buried her high on a hill overlooking the valley. Mograine said a few words but he did not know enough to speak of her at great length.

After the services the two friends returned to the town.

"What will we do now?" Fordring asked of his friend.

"I will destroy ALL creatures of that things type. This I swear. Come...I will show you something I found some time ago."


***

The rest as we say...is now history. Tirion and Darion forged the sword Ashbringer, and history took it's true course once again. No one would ever remember..save for two.

The first was a small Orc girl..an anomally herself who now remembered the way things were as well as the way they are now.

The other was a rogue called Lucinther who stepped through a time gate and arrived in Southshore a few minutes too late to do anything other than watch the death of the creature called Umu.

Wisely (for once), he remembered the words of Ellanor who said he should do nothing to pollute the timeline. And so he headed west and found a small tomb. Once there he crawled down deep into a grave and there he slept for 7 years. That may seem like a long time to you and me, but remember that Lucinther was undead and so a few years to him was only a moment of his lifespan.

Upon awakening he pulled himself forth and walked out into the small Forsaken town known as the Sepulcher. Many Forsaken greeted him warmly. From there, he headed North towards Lordaeron. He had to find his tribe and tell them what he remembered.


***
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#10
A Matter of Time - Epilogue

Lucinther took the tribe to a small unmarked grave in the hills of Hillsbrad. He dug down and finally uncovered a coffin. Upon opening it they found the body of a young girl...many years dead. She also looked vaguely familier.

At the request of Lurie, together the tribe gathered and and each donated a bit of blood to the corpse. The blood seemed to absorb into the corpse and after several minutes the corpse began to regenerate.

A few more minutes and the corpse sat up. It stood and suddenly began to take on the visage of a certain mage everyone knows.

***

Dispaya thanked her tribe and greeted them with many words of thanks, but with a sudden realization she made a hasty farewell.

"I am sorry my friends...there is something I must do."


***

Southshore - 7 years ago


A time portal rippled and a dark figure stepped out. It looked around with a solitary eye before bounding off towards the town below.

As it reached the edge of town a horse whinnied from a nearby stable as the geist got too near. It turned and hissed but then quickly adjusted its heading. It had been sent here on a very special mission and it would not disapoint it's King.

The time was almost midnight and the only real lights were coming from the Southshore Inn that was still bustling with activity. The creature sensed it's prey was close and so it stepped into the shadows and waited, but it did not have to wait for long.

Darion Mograine finished his last tankard of ale and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Fordring sat across from him in his usual place along with several of the other town regulars. Behind him at the bar the mage Hecular boasted about a magical "rod" he found that would soon give him unlimited powers. Mograine doubted that and smiled. The man was an imbecile.

He was tired and the quiet evening weighed heavily on him. He thought of Caroline, the mysterious woman he met. She was dead now and buried high on a hill outside of town. He wondered again what might have been.

"If only..." He thought as he excused himself to take a fresh breath of air outside. Fordring nodded to him in understanding as he left the table and headed out into the night air.

The geist spotted its mark. The man the Lich King called "Mograine appeared in the doorway and walked alone up the street. The time to strike was now. Slowly it reached into the folds of its ragged clothing and pulled forth a long wicked dagger that dripped with a black poison. Silently it padded up the street behind the unsuspecting man. The dagger was raised for a lethal blow.

There was a "crackle" and a sudden blinding flash of light. The geist was struck from behind by a blast of energy that knocked it to the ground. Darion Mograine dove for cover out of reflex and looked up from the ground where he beheld a figure in white raise its arm towards some unknown assailant.

The geist quickly recovered its feet and spun but it was not fast enough as a volley of purple missiles pounded it again and again. The creature dropped once more to it's knees as a final gesture from the figure in white sent a magical blast of fire that exploded the creature from within. The geist collapsed into a pile of dust in the street. It could do no more harm now.

Mograine slowly stood and stared at the figure in white. It was glowing slightly and he could see glowing yellow eyes from behind a white hood. The face that held the eyes seemed familier.

"Are you a ghost?" he asked?

"Perhaps." a soft voice answered. Mograine thought he recognized the voice.

"C...Caroline?"

"Caroline is dead Lord Mograine. You will not see her again."

Darion stood motionless. He could not speak. Somehow he knew it was her...somehow...she had returned to save him.

"The time has come for you to leave this village and seek out your destiny. Farewell."

There was another flash and the girl in white was gone. The street grew quiet once more. Darion turned and with a heavy heart headed back to the inn.

He would never speak of the incident to anyone.

THE END
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#11
Final Thoughts

This was a story and RP idea I have been cooking up for quite a while. I debated over and over if it would be too confusing...or maybe just too elaborate. Finally after getting some advice from fellow members I decided to go ahead with it. I had been feeling like we needed a really good rp event to stretch the imagination. The idea was to give members a chance to rp their characters in a different way. I also wanted to challenge them to think about "what if." To my delight, this event was a great success and that was mainly due to the excellent players here. I could never have known how interesting and amazing this story would become.

I knew I had to plan out the basic problem. I knew what happened back in time so the challenge was for the players to figure it out through a series of adventures. Most of the strange timeline changes were incidents the players created and I could never have predicted that...so I was instead just challenged to go with the flow of things. This made the storyline a little more confusing than I had originally planned...but in a way it also made it alot more interesting.

I wish I could document all of the minor stories and rp events that came out of this but there were too many to name. In particular though I want to mention that the alternate timeline of Valen and his sister Shayalla (is that spelled right) completely captivated me. He had originally killed her in the main timeline and in the new one she was alive since he never became a DK. As Umu was escaping I can still hear him telling her how he would never hurt her. I can still hear Anca telling her that she did not know her. I can still remember when the timeline changed and she was gone. I was very very moved by that story.

Umu and Anca did amazing jobs as my supporting cast. I filled them in a little more than everyone else and they knew most of the story although neither knew how to solve it. I felt Anca was amazing in portraying her confusion about all of this and yet her determination to set things right again. Umu did some of the most creative RPing I have ever seen come out of him. This is truly a player with an amazing imagination. I really wanted to challenge him and boy did he ever come through.

Lucinther came back online around the beginning of this event as was originally to play Lucinther the DK as a rogue but halfway into the RP I told the player that we really needed the real rogue back. (He had since gone to another server.) The player agreed whole heartedly and transferred the rogue Lucinther back to Silver Hand. So I wove that into the story by having Lucinther the alternate timeline Rogue go back in time...and go to sleep for 8 years so he could return in the real timeline. Thats the nice thing about being undead. Time has little restriction on them. As to whatever happened to Lucinther the DK...I will let the player speak on that if they ever wish to. Personally I am afraid to ask. (Maybe the rogue lucinther disposed of the DK version? I shudder to think...ha)

Ellanor is an alt of mine that I rarely play in GC so I thought it might be fun to give her a part in this. I really liked the Timekeeper version of Elle. I know I will miss her now that she is gone. I purposely played her as being extremely hateful of the scourge and DK UMU in particular, knowing that one day she would find out she is one. I knew this fact might be too much for her to bear. I felt this irony was one of my best story features.

So there you have it. "A Matter of Time" is done now. I invite all players to make posts about their experiences and comments on this story. I'd love to read more. I am glad everyone seemed to have such a good time and I thank you all for the nice comments you have given me. It was my pleasure to run this story for you and I hope to run more in the future.

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-=((D))=-
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