Ranger Lord Elaeryn Stardrifter

Journey Beyond

The calm evening shifted and the wind picked up, frigidly buffeting the stalwart stone structure. Fortunately, dwarven craftsmen know their trade well and thus the inside was cozy and warm.

Elaeryn reclined in deep thought, sipping at a glass of whisky as he enjoyed the warmth and glow of a crackling fire. The drink was watered down these days; the Ranger-Lord found that, ensconced in the wilderness, he had less need of substance to induce relaxation. Around him were scattered a few cherished gifts: the results of he and Neri’s little Winter Veil exchange. A new blank journal for her to record her naturalist information; the beveled highball glass from which he currently drank; a pie with two slices missing; fresh salted venison in brown paper. The presents themselves were refreshingly straightforward and nurturing, much like their relationship. Elaeryn enjoyed his quasi-retirement with her in this secluded compound at the edge of the sea so very much.

And yet…

Tapping his finger on his glass, he considered. If he was honest with himself, there was something missing. No - missing implied a lack. It wasn’t that; it was…a sense of something ripening, but the conditions for the harvest were frustratingly not met, despite the simple life he lived. Chop wood, carry water, whittle, build, cook, write.

Placing the mostly-full glass on the table, the amber liquid sloshing good-naturedly as it was abandoned, the ranger stands, snatching his heavy cloak from the edge of a chair to don as he makes his way to the front door. In taking a few steps outside he notes immediately that the wind had died down. In its place a light but steady snowfall was starting to cover the familiar seaside landscape of Compass Pointe hamlet.

The sky presented a sheet of white above and below the sea was a matching expanse of grey, ripples and white caps aplenty as it hastened to settle itself from the afternoon storm. Boots crunching through the cold turf, he wraps the cloak tighter around himself as he makes his way toward the water. After briefly surveying the conditions and taking a seat on the dock, Elaeryn takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, attempting to calm the inner questions and uncertainties which plague his thoughts. He felt much like the water - vast, uncharted, begging exploration.

Despite his unease and the creeping cold, years of practice gird his discipline to hasten a state of mindfulness. Thoughts flicker by, but he knows better than to attach to them. Acknowledge them and let them go, the cognitive aspect of his intellect reminds itself, as his mind slowly enters a realm of distant stars; that place of formless potential. For quite a time he remains there, thinly resisting the urges to give in to doubt, to distraction, even to pleasant trains of thought. His thoughts gradually calm like the waves upon the sea to a flat plain.

For a while he feels nothing, he is nothing; and in that state there is not dread, but peace. He feels a faint oneness with everything, intuitively grasping the cycle of life and all sources of dependent arising. Everything is connected and therefore everything matters and yet nothing inherently matters because everything is connected. Rather than feel overwhelmed, he feels relief.

But then something changes. A mist arises upon the surface of his mind; a flowing river of ethereal substance, coiling and coalescing. It consumes the stars slowly, swirling as it makes a vague form. Brushing away the thought of a likeness to a creature, the thought keeps returning until he cannot deny that he is seeing the mist shape into some sort of animal. He thinks of an old companion of his, from Sholazar, and the likeness it undeniable - a tiger. White from cloud and striped with thinner layers revealing the blackness beyond, the tiger opens his wizened eyes to reveal the most beautiful crystalline blue, like a lake from heaven. He opens his great mouth to speak, revealing massive fangs; but there is no fear, only expectation.

His deep voice echoes within the Ranger Lord’s mind: “It is time. Seek me out.” With those words, Elaeryn’s essence is whisked away, drawn across the sky in a blur of impossibly fast travel until he sees distant white-capped mountains. Climbing in elevation, he floats up to the highest peaks in Azeroth. There, he spots foreign structures tucked amongst the clouds. Willing himself closer, he drifts toward a snow-covered temple, around which figures can be seen sparring. With a shock, he starts to realize where he might be….until a massive roar interrupts his concentration and he rushes back to his body in a dizzying blur.

Eyes smashing open, Elaeryn returns to himself and in true Farstrider fashion first takes stock of his surroundings before moving a muscle. Covered in a dusting of snow much like the temple he just saw, he is yet where he began: alone, upon the dock, by the sea, at Compass Pointe, at the very edge of the Arathi Highlands. Letting out his breath in a slow exhalation, he pushes back his hood and runs his fingers through his dark chocolate locks. “I need to find Neri.”