A Meeting in the Legerdemain

Mirium ordered a complicated dish–something that most novice cooks usually couldn’t handle–perhaps as a way of making sure the food really did come from the Lounge’s staff and any tampering would be more obvious. Still, it was with ease that she joined Keelath at the table, even showing some camaraderie with him by linking fingers with his under the table cloth.

“You have me at disadvantage,” Keelath growled at Malcotin’s last statement. “So maybe you should simply explain. How does this work? What have you already accomplished? And what part are you wanting us to play in it?”

There was suspicion and yet the curiosity was still there. “There are many things I could tell you. About my state of being, and how I came to be thus. I have been experimenting for over 20 years now, both before I was captured and after I escaped. The time in between I spent learning all I could. As you both know, necromancy is deeply frowned upon. Yet it keeps us alive, and the Forsaken as well. We would not be here without it. And yet it does not have to be all wicked and evil. You are a death knight, Keelath and you keep yourself going with your skills. Learned from the best at Acherus, as did I. Yes, I spent time with the Unholy Lich King.” he growled the last part. “But like you, I broke away from his control, and I have my freedom.”

Malcotin poured himself a glass of Dalaran red and offered to pour for Mirium and Keelath. “I am different, in that I have learned to use my skills at alchemy, and some magic, including the dreaded blood magic. You know it is the most powerful magic? Underused mostly because it is fueled with blood. To have a steady supply, you need either herd animals you can access easily or a steady supply from battlefields.”

He sat back and savored his wine. Glancing between them and trying to judge their opinion on his confession. “My tormenter was an alchemist as well, and she was doing some rather remarkable work on giving the undead more lifelike features and reactions. Not always easy in Undercity, where all she had to work with was mostly rotting, walking corpses. Which is why she brought me here to Dalaran. It was here she set up a lab, to work with the residents of the area. She was friends with some magisters and some…warlocks. But she had some special friends in Icecrown.” He paused to let that sink in.

“So maybe you didn’t break away from the Lich King as well as you thought,” grumbles Keelath, put out by being told he was still under the Lich King’s sway. Mirium gave him a gentle elbow. “You are one of the undead, then, that can survive off of the blood of beasts. That isn’t something I can do. If I could, that alone would be a weight off my shoulders.”

“Not me, my friend, I was merely a slave dragged along as…fodder…” He rubbed his neck and growled. “She was fascinated by the fact I was not only immune to the Scourge infections and could not be turned undead, but by the fact the San’Layn could snack on me and I would not become a vampire!”

He grumbled at the memories and set his glass of wine down. “She made deals with demons! And the San’Layn! I was there as witness! They tortured me for days. Then when it seemed the sweet release of death had freed me…I awoke in Acherus. Horrified beyond reason. I could not…though I tried to resist him. He…he offered me hope. Told me I could kill all my enemies, even the ones who had left me there, dead and discarded like trash. Oh he was aware. He knew what she had done.” he growled deep in his throat.

It took several minutes of breathing deeply and concentration for Malcotin to calm down. “Forgive me, Keelath. You know what it is like. When the Battle for Light’s hope started, I was all ready to find her and kill her. But we had to win that battle…for the Master.” He poured more wine.

About then, the food arrived and Malcotin sat back to allow them to think about what he had said.