A Meeting in the Legerdemain

Nodding in sympathy, Malcotin ponders for a moment. “It’s very sad, isn’t it? These wars have done nothing to help anyone.” He takes a deep breath. “When I broke free from Arthas, I went back to find her…but she was cunning, the heartless…” he stopped to avoid saying words that would definitely offend.

Running fingers through his dark hair, he continued. “She caught me, with some of her San’Layn friends. They used something on me…you might have seen or heard of it. Called a Domination Rod. Normally used on the dead, it works only too well on an Undead. I found myself under her control, yet again…” he was barely holding his anger in check now.

“For six months, she…used me…to kill her enemies, to entertain her friends, and to experiment still further. It was those six months that were the hardest. I knew it would be almost impossible to escape while she held that rod. It was not perfect. There is only so much power that it can use before it needs recharging. In between her sessions, I was locked in a cage.”

He stood then and paced, back and forth as he gathered his thoughts. “When she was arrested, well…I told you about that. I was able to return to Acherus then and to the Ebon Blade. After the Lich King was destroyed, I felt free for the first time in many years. It was then that I went back to my former studies of Undeath. I was able to use her research as well. Though it was horribly obtained, the data is still valuable.”

He ordered brandy then and sat back down. “I have been thinking of what I could do for you, Keelath. You expressed a desire to control your urges to kill and cause suffering? I believe I can help with that. But to return you closer to the living might prove nearly impossible. The amount of time you spent in the grave…too much damage has been done. The only thing that would even have a possibility to work would be what Sylvanus did to Nathanos. I am sure you would not want that…or would you?” he tilted his head to observe the elf.

Mirium looks uncomfortable with the mention of Sylvanas, glancing at Keelath as if to see if he’s taking offense to it. Keelath, for his part, is ignoring it.

“I’m not entirely aware of what went on with the Ranger Lord,” Keelath replies. “The bloodlust is the most pressing, yes. I can live with the flesh I have, but I use what I feed on to repair it. I believe the Lich King wanted us to be…motivated…to fight in his wars, and so only sentient flesh seems to work.”

Malcotin fingered his pipe and thought about that while he filled it and lit it. Drawing smoke from the pipe and letting it drift, he finally nodded briefly. “I can do something, but it might not be very comfortable for you. I should explain, as I bring out my equipment.”

He reached under the chair and brought out a large wooden case, it looked much like a musical instrument case. Dark brown wood, polished to a sheen, about two feet long and only about six inches wide. Setting it on the now cleared table, he opened it to reveal a dark glass rod with a fixture on one end and a row of gems along side of it neatly nestled into felt depressions.

“This is what my tormenter used on me. I was able to grab it on my way out of her lab when her minions released me. They intended on using me to fight the Magisters, but I fled instead, along with her Imp, who insisted on going with me.” he gave a growl of distaste.

“I had no intentions of keeping that creature around, but he was able to help me get across the Plagued Lands, until he was caught and banished.”

He paused to run a finger along the length of the rod. It lit up as he mumbled something. The glass rod was an empty tube and it looked like it was fairly fragile. “It needs blood to work properly.”

“The rod has been altered. As you can see, the gem normally in the fixture is not permanent. Through many years of experimentation, I was able to tune it to work with different gems and acheive some very interesting effects. Along with the blood magic, I can control your urges and dampen them down to a respectable level.” He glanced at Mirium and gave her a slight grin. “Any blood will do, even that of a rodent. Only a few ounces will be needed.”