Commander Braghaman Larethian

A Cold Day In...

(Originally posted Oct 27, 2010)

The hour was late. Sooner than some would want, the morning would begin to break along the horizon. But for the moment, darkness had settled deep as the night slowly progressed. Most had long since gone to sleep, few continued to mill around the city of Stormwind.

Inside one of the town's inn, the silence was disrupted by five men who quietly moved from the entrance to the steps. Hints of armor could be seen beneath their cloaks. The men had taken the trouble to try and muffle the metal of their plate, wrapping particular parts in cloth to reduce the ringing. As the five men began to climb the stairs to the second level, they drew clubs.

"Who are we looking for?" one of the men whispered from the back of the group. 

"Isn't it the guy who broke the captain's jaw?" another questioned.

"Quiet," hissed the leader of the group. "We got intelligence that Larethian is asleep upstairs. Now do what you're told and shut up."

The four men looked to their leader and nodded, determination or hesitation appearing on their faces. Slowly, the one in charge led them quietly across the landing towards one of the rooms. The leader looked back at the others in his group, holding a finger to his lips to motion for the silence. He reached out and tested the latch of the door and found it unlocked. Looking back to his men, the leader nodded once. Planting his foot behind him, the leader lowered down slightly and gripped the latch. Taking a slow, deep breath, he held up his left hand with fingers extended. Then, in measured time, he lowered his fingers one at a time. As his thumb curled into fist, the commander forced the door open and the five men rushed into the room.

Waiting, armored and with one leg resting on the sill of the window, Braghaman smiled at the men entering his room. In his hand, he held a small box with openings on opposite sides and a large red button on top.

"Hello," Bragh said calmly, a smirk on his face. "Sorry I can't stay. But here's something my gnome gave me." Inside, the paladin grimaced. He knew he'd have to apologize to Meladenya for that comment. Braghaman pushed the button on the box and tossed it towards the men. Immediately, the box began to belch out a thick, black smoke that quickly filled the room.

Braghaman kicked his other leg out of the window and jumped down to the street below. The paladin let out a grunt as he landed on the hard pavement of the road. Taking a moment to look back at the window, Bragh saw the thick smoke spilling out of the room he'd been sleeping in. Chuckling quietly to himself, the paladin turned and started moving towards his charger, which was tied down near the inn.

Braghaman took a few steps towards his steed when there was a muffled explosion. Suddenly, Braghaman found that he couldn't walk. More specifically, he couldn't move his legs. Looking down, Bragh saw his feet encased in ice. Looking up, the paladin saw a man in robes pointing at him. The paladin could feel himself growing sluggish. Painfully slow, Bragh started to pull his mace from his belt. And that's when he heard the clatter of horse hooves from behind.

Braghaman turned in time to see another armored man riding quickly riding down on him. Before Bragh could react, the rider swing a mace. Connecting with Braghaman's helm, there was a loud crack as the rider struck at the frozen paladin. Bragh's head jerked back and he slumped to the ground.

The rider pulled up slowly towards the robed man and dismounted.

"Good work, mage," the rider said with a grin.

"I don't need your compliments, Brother Faris," the mage responded plainly. "Where is my money?"

Faris smirked as he reached for a coin bag hanging from his belt.

"Don't spend it all at once, mage," Faris chuckled, handing the bag to the mage. As soon as his hand closed around the bag, the mage disappeared. Faris looked around for sign of the mage, finally giving up after a few moments. Shaking his head, Faris turned and began walking towards the prone man on the ground.

Just as Faris came up next to Bragh, five men came running out of the inn, coughing heavily as they moved. Seeing Faris standing over Braghaman, they slowed their pace and moved over to the scene.

"Is he out, captain?" one of the men asked.

"He is," Faris answered smugly. Faris used his foot to nudge Braghaman in the side, just to be sure. "Take his weapon and bind his hands. Once we get him back to the Cathedral, we'll get him out of his armor and get started."

"Yes, sir," one of the men responded. Pulling out a strip of leather, he tied Braghaman's arms behind him and two of the others began to lift him up from the ground.

"When we get back," Faris began as he started leading the way back to the Cathedral, "send someone out to take down all those wanted posters."

The men chuckled as they followed Faris down the road, the deep silence of the night closing in as they left the inn behind.