Commander Braghaman Larethian

“This is stupid!”

The field turned quiet as the other four paladin trainees stopped what they were doing and looked at the outburst. Then, one by one, the four looked away from their comrade and looked to the elder paladin who was standing to the side of the field.

“We’re wasting out time here!”

“Knock it off, Henkins,” one of the trainees said, looking to the one yelling.

“You knock it off, Julia! We’re wasting our time here.”

“What have you got against practicing?” one of the other paladins asked.

“Maybe you need the practice, Bin, but I don’t.”

“We all need the practice. That’s why we’re here.”

“Not me. If we were still back in Stormwind, they’d have realized that and sent me off to...

It was well past sunset when Danyel began his patrol around Northshire Abbey. He thought about how very soon he would be finished with his training and moving on to the city. He imagined his future in Stormwind with a smile on his face as he stomped around the building. In his mind, he could see all of the exciting adventures he would have as he continued to train as a paladin.

As he turned around the back corner of the building, something caught his attention. He couldn’t tell what it was; a movement or a sound. There was something in the tree line. He pulled his sword free from its scabbard and slowly moved away from the abbey into the shadows of the trees.

As Danyel got further away from the abbey, he heard someone speaking....

Braghaman looked across the road at the recently damaged militia camp and then turned towards the path leading in the other direction. While he thought through the situation, he could hear next to him his trainees as they shifted restlessly. Turning to face them, the elder paladin saw the five young paladins watching him intently.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Braghaman started as he pulled his shield off his back. He looked over to the camp again and saw Valiant staring at him. The paladin smirked before he continued, knowing the lion wasn’t going to like it. “I’m going to scout down the path. See if any ogres are still poking around. You five stay here. Keep an eye out.”

“Stay here?” one of the trainees...

Braghaman took a bandage out of his satchel and started to unwind it. Carefully, he began to wrap it around the recruit’s forearm. 

“Let’s see. I’ve been poisoned. Trampled by horses. Shot with an arrow. Slashed across the face by a Vyrkul,” he said, reaching up to touch the scars over his left eye. “Frozen by a mage. Thrown by a dragon, a small one. Stabbed in the gut by a death knight. Dislocated a shoulder. Knocked off an airship.”

“Knocked off an airship?” one of the recruits repeated with surprise.

“Well, to be fair it was exploding at the time. So probably wasn’t good to stay on it.”

“Exploding?” another recruit exclaimed.

“Demons,” Bragh answered with a shrug and a smirk. “There always...

Banagan gently ran his fingers over the spines of the books on the bookcase. He carefully read the titles of the books through his mask. More than once he was tempted to lift his mask, but he refrained each time. He could hear people walking around him in the Seer’s Library. Blood elves spoke quietly as they moved nearby.

Banagan focused his thoughts and read the book titles again. Tentatively, he reached out and took a book from the shelf. Opening the tome, he looked over the first pages. Absently, he began to nod as he read.

“You’re a difficult person to find.”

Banagan slammed the book shut and turned to look at the voice that had just spoken to him. The warlock almost spoke the name of the rogue standing near him, the...

“But I want to go!”

“No, Banny,” Bragh said as he continued to look through the papers and envelopes on his desk and, every now and then, putting some in his satchel.

“Why not?” the seven year old continued.

“Because you’re too young,” the paladin answered as he closed up his satchel.

“You went on patrols when you were my age.”

“No I didn’t,” Bragh replied, turning to look at his son. “It wasn’t even an option when I was your age.”

“You would’ve if you could’ve,” Banagan responded, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to scowl at his father.

“No, I wouldn’t. Not if I had been told I couldn’t by the commander.”

“But I’ll be so safe! Look at all the people who will be...

The large office was full of priests and paladins quietly listening to the presentation. The head of the Northshire Abbey sat quietly behind the desk as the two priests from the Cathedral finished speaking.

“So after inspecting the three sites, we suspect that these rituals were not legitimate,” said one of the Cathedral priests.

“What do you mean, not legitimate?” Sister Anetta asked.

“We detected no fel residual at the three sites,” the other Cathedral priest answered.

“Also, the patterns that were drawn in the dirt mean nothing. They’re gibberish.”

“So what do you think is happening?” one of the paladins asked.

“We don’t know. Its possible that someone was playing a prank. Or maybe someone is dabbling,...

The young paladin walked out of the abbey. He was close to finishing the program and would soon be on his way to Stormwind to finish his training. But as one of the older students at the abbey, he sometimes was asked to help guard the others. He’d walk around the outside of the building once or twice, and that was usually about it.

On this day, it was an early morning walk. The birds in the trees around the abbey were just beginning to wake up. The sunlight was just creeping into the skies. The area was calm and quiet, which made this kind of patrol somewhat enjoyable.

As the paladin turned the corner around the back of the abbey, he came to abrupt halt. On the ground next to the back wall, were three wide, black candles that had...

(Another collaborative writing between Niviene and myself, though not as long as our normal stuff.)

The gentleman tugged his cloak tighter around his shoulders as he walked down the path from the gryphon master. The shadows cast by the trees always made Darkshire seem colder than the season should be, at least in his mind. In the back of his mind, he noted the clock tower chiming in town. Eventually he made his way to the gate that welcomed people to the Darkshire Academy.

As he stepped into the courtyard outside of the main building, the sound of children started moving towards him. Within moments, the doors to the academy opened and students of various ages exited on their way home. The gentleman stepped to the side to let them all...

The warlock stood back from the edge of the forest. Partially behind a tree, he hid as he looked out at the clearing beyond the tree line. He was motionless as he waited and watched.

Across the clearing, outside of the house at the other side, two children were playing. Banagan couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the tones and the laughter carried enough that he knew that they were playing.

“Why are you doing this?”

Banagan looked down at the imp beside him. Voltuk was staring at the warlock, waiting as patiently as an imp might for an answer to his question.

“Do what?” Banagan asked in reply, looking back at the house across the way.

“Just go and say hi. Tell them you’re back.”

“I can’t do...

“That you Sten?”

The door to the small apartment opened and large man slipped in then closed the door quickly. “Yeah, I’m back.”

“What’d the boss have to say?” another large man asked as he sat on one of the two beds in the one room apartment.

“Couldn’t find him,” Sten answered as he slumped into one of the chairs at the small table that took up the center of the room.

“Gonna go back?”

“I’ll try again tonight. But there weren’t no sign of him.”

“So what do we do?”

“Just stay here for now, I guess,” Sten answered, rubbing his face.

“You didn’t see that imp, did you?”

“No, Ollie. I didn’t see an imp. There was no imp out there.”

“You sure?” Ollie asked without seeming...

The well-dressed gentleman stopped at the end of the walkway and looked at the simple home at the end. He tugged his traveling coat closed and frowned slightly. Letting out a quick breath, he walked down the path to the front door. He glanced at the windows before finally knocking on the door. After a few moments, he heard the latches on the inside sliding against the wood and the door started to open. Inside, an older man with braided hair peered out. 

“Yes?”

“May I speak with Braghaman Larethian?”

“Depends. Who’s asking?”

“I represent someone from the city who wants to propose a business offer.”

“Really?” Braghaman asked, opening the door wider and revealing the mace in his hand. He crossed his arms and...

With a downward swing, Braghaman brought his made down on the skull of the skeleton that the paladin had been fighting. With a grunt, he pulled his mace from the bone and quickly scanned the area. At his feet were the remains of three other skeletons that had been fighting him. The paladin could hear the rattle of bones from other parts of Raven Hill cemetery, but nothing was nearby.

Bragh took a moment to catch his breath before moving past the broken fence around the cemetery. He didn’t have to go too far before he found the body. On the ground were the bloody remains of an adult. The victim’s clothing lay shredded on the ground around the body.

“Guess you got too close to the fence, didn’t you?” Braghaman whispered as he...

The fire was working at keeping back the chill in the air. Outside, rain could be heard tapping against the windows and the rooftop. Looking through the glass, the two youngsters sigh dramatically at how uninviting the weather outside was. 

“I’m bored,” Banagan said, leaning his head against the glass. “Why can’t we go outside?”

“Because it’s too wet,” Korissa answered matter-of-factly. “We’d get all muddy if we did.”

“I don’t care,” Banny grumped. 

“What would you do if you could go outside?” Braghaman asked as he sat in front of the fireplace, reading through a stack of papers that had been delivered to him earlier in the day.

“I’d play,” Banny answered defiantly. 

“Doing...

The logs crackled in the hearth as the fire continued to burn itself out. Braghaman took a sip from his cup and then rested it back on the arm of the couch. Next to him, Niviene shifted a little bit as she slept against his arm. Bragh smiled and gently reached over to pull the blanket back over Niviene and then kissed her on the head. The priestess smiled in her sleep and then snuggled in again.

Braghaman returned the smile. Then he turned his head and glanced back towards the stairs. All was quiet in the house. The children long ago had fallen asleep.

The paladin turned back towards the fireplace and picked up his drink to take another sip. After he’d finished his bourbon, Bragh sat the cup back down. Looking back to the sleeping...

Braghaman used his shovel to finish filling the small hole in front of him. Straightening up, he cast a glance around at Raven Hill Cemetery to make sure that nothing had tried to approach him while he’d been digging. Everything was safely at a distance. The paladin knelt down and moved the mace that he’d placed on the ground beside him and pulled over a leather bag. Opening it up, he pulled out a small, stone panel. He placed the stone next to the hole and then stood slowly.

It read ‘Faris’.

There was the cracking of a branch behind the paladin, causing him to grip the shovel tightly and turn around. Braghaman relaxed as he saw Eric walking towards him.

“Was he there?” Braghaman asked as he reached down and picked up the...

The taps of Braghaman’s hammer echoed along the road into Darkshire. He put the last nail flush with the wood and then stepped back to look at his handy-work. The frame of the window was repaired and the panes of glass were set in properly. Bragh hooked the claw of of his hammer into his belt then put his hands on his hips. 

“Good work, commander.”

“Thank you.” Bragh turned to see a woman standing at the entrance to the academy’s courtyard. He recognized her as a parent of one of Niviene’s students, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember her name.

“Maybe you missed your calling as a carpenter.”

“That’s possible. I’ve used a hammer for both.”

“Hopefully they’ll increase the patrols on this side...

(Originally Posted: Apr 11, 2008)

Braghaman sat quietly in the living room of his home. His mace sat on the floor, next to his chair, as he relaxed in simple clothes. His armor sat, cleaned and repaired, in the side of the room, but Bragh had no thought of wearing it this evening. 

Sitting next to the window, the afternoon light shining in to brighten the room, Bragh leaned back with his eyes closed. In the kitchen, he could hear his wife preparing all sorts of new concoctions. Pans banged, utensils clinked together as she tried new things for him to taste. A smile creeped across his face as he listened to Ana explaining the recipe to her minions. He could imagine them wearing aprons at her insistence while they all cooked. There...

*knock knock knock*

“Do you have a minute?”

Lord Shadowbreaker looked up from his desk to see Braghaman standing in the doorway to his office along with another gentleman behind him.  “I do. Come in.”

The two men stepped inside as Shadowbreaker got up from his chair and moved around the desk with his hand outstretched. “Doing well, I hope, Larethian.”

“I am,” Bragh answered as he shook the paladin trainer’s hand. 

Shadowbreaker then turned to the bald man beside Braghaman and held his hand out. “Eric, right?”

“Yes, sir,” the rogue said as he shook the paladin’s hand.

“What can I do for you two?”

“Eric,” Braghaman said, looking back at his guild mate and nodded towards the door. Without any...

The death knight stumbled out of the cave and onto the bleak landscape of Icecrown. Even with the wind and snow pushing against it, the death knight only heard the ring of the explosion echoing within his helm. Shaking its head slightly, the death knight gripped its sword and turned to look back at the smoke that was streaming out of the cavern. He gave a metallic growl as he listened to the grunts of its last remaining men inside.

“Fel-damned warlock,” the death knight spat as it stood and waited.

After a few moments, a vague form started to separate from the smoke. A figure in dark brown robes moved towards the entrance of the cave, his mask hiding his features and likely protecting him from the smoke. In his hands he held a...