The Real Reason Behind Gergel's Current Absence

Cute and Quiet. Makes a lot of hand gestures, a bit like Yoda, but less green.

Topic/Postby Gergel » 19 Jul 2009, 18:38

The Real Reason Behind Gergel's Current Absence

Icy wind spiraled flurries of snow around the tiny figure on top of a tall
mountain somewhere in Winterspring. The figure, clad in all-white, did not
appear to mind too much and trudged on, ever higher towards the peak.

She reached out a hand and cold breeze around her seemed to quiet and settle.
A calm spot in the middle of the gale where snowflakes fell quietly to settle
upon the rocky ground and the Gnome in the middle.

There was a distant sound like a tremendous carpet flapping in the air. Then
there was another sound like a huge sack being dropped on ice-covered rocks,
and shattering like swords being dragged across ice by unimaginably powerful
forces.

The Gnome took another step. She was still holding out her hand, from which
white cold vapour was slowly wafting downwards. The calm area within the storm
moved with her.

A large white-blue reptilian head emerged from the wall of swirling snow.
Ice-cold eyes glared at the tiny Gnome with blue-white flames dancing within
the gaze. The Gnome's other hand shot forward with a tiny icicle emerging from
its palm and pointing towards the threatening snout before her.

The blue dragon opened its jaws. A maw big enough to devour a Tauren whole,
let alone a small gnome. Fangs longer than her entire forearm. The icicle in
the palm of the Gnome's hands grew longer, multifaceted and sharper, and
became transparent like a diamond.

"Stand down, Gergel," thundered the dragon. "I have not come to do battle. You
and I must talk."

The Gnome smiled gently. The icicle in her palm seemed to evaporate. She shook
her head very slightly and placed one finger across her lips.

"There is no point in pretending to be unable to speak," the dragon said
reproachfully. It seemed to shrink and change. A moment later, instead of a
flying reptile the size of a house, a high-elf-shaped figure stood before
Gergel. His eyes were still the same, though, blue and incredibly cold and
crackling with tiny blue flames. He extended one of his hands almost casually
to the side, causing the gusts of wind and flurries of snow swirling around
them to freeze solid, surrounding both with a glimmering magical field.
"There. Now we can hear ourselves think."

Gergel looked at him without saying a word or moving a muscle.

"I am Eiragos, envoy of the Blue Flight. You are Gergelygosa, the prodigal
dragon who has been living among mortals, wearing the shape of a Gnome. I have
been sent by the Flight to bring you back to us."

The Gnome opened her mouth. First words came slowly, she had not spoken for
such a long time. "What... if... I... do not... wish... to return?" The voice
was unmistakably alien with strange harmonics shimmering within it, almost
visible.

"You misunderstand me, Lady," Eiragos said. "I am not here to force you to
return. I have come to guide you to where you need to be as you return."

"You believe I will return under my own volition?" she responded with a
derisive snort. "I like it here. Now. In this guise. I do not intend to
return."

The dragon-in-elf-form said, "The Spell-Weaver is dead."

"I know. I heard. Killed by mortals with the help of the Life-Binder. This...
saddened me, certainly, but I suppose it was necessary for the mortal
spellcasters to survive. An Aspect gone, destroyed, vanished, forever."

"That is exactly the point." Eiragos held out his palm on which lied a small,
unremarkable glass bead. Gergel shot a glance at it. It seemed dull and fairly
worthless, with its only distinguishing feature being a hairline blue flaw
appearing in its centre. The crack had the appearance of a tiny arrow and
seemed to be pointing at her. As she looked at it, she realized it seemed to
glow slightly and change its position when she moved, always pointing directly
towards her.

"A tracking device? A simple bauble. What exactly is its point that you are
talking about?"

"In my hand, yes, a bauble. Pointless. Worthless to me. This, Lady
Gergelygosa, is The Blue Aspect."

"What?!" the Gnome sneered wryly. "Malygos' soul? Your humour escapes me,
Eiragos."

"Not his soul. The Aspect. A long long time ago Titans imbued a representative
of each Dragonflight with their power. It was mis-assumed that the recipients
then became the Dragon Aspects. As it appears, the recipients took on the role
and the powers of the Aspects but in fact, they are quite separate powers...
entities... forces. When Malygos had been destroyed for his madness, the
Aspect was freed and is now seeking a new... host, so to say."

Gergel's eyes flashed. "You are either lying or misinformed, in which case I
will have nothing to do with you. Or if this preposterous story is true, I
want nothing to do with the power. I do not care about the Flight. Go back to
Northrend and find someone else. Certainly there is no shortage of the late
Malygos' lieutenants who would be more than happy to assume this role." She
turned to leave, waved her hand and shattered the force field around them.
Piercing gales surrounded them immediately, now un-restrained.

"I am sorry, Lady Gergelygosa," the elf whispered. "You do not know what is at
stake here, now. Forgive me."

He darted forward and tossed the glass bead at the Gnome. She had anticipated
the move, turned immediately and snatched the quite high-velocity projectile
from air. "You would *attack* me?!" she snarled. "Even after your silly
declaration of me... being..."

Her eyes widened. The glass bead seemed to be stuck to her fingers. Now it
glowed from the inside. A pulsing glimmer which intensified with every beat.
Once, twice, thrice, then a powerful flash and it was gone. As was the Gnome.
In her place, a huge dragon -- her true form -- with her jaws wide, roaring
towards the sky. Lightning crackled within the storm. Her scales assumed a
bluish pulsing glow. Once. Twice. Thrice. And another blinding flash.

The storm was gone in a heartbeat. Snowflakes settled slowly on the rocky
ground. Animals and people in the radius of many miles looked up at the clear
sky with wonder.

"Now then, Lady Gergelygosa the new Spell-Weaver," Eiragos said quietly. "We
must go to where your presence is needed."

* * *

The Wyrmrest Temple was no longer the centre of a battle between the Red and
Blue Flights. Drakes and dragons of both sides were perched here and there on
rocky and icy outcroppings and were staring at each other with suspicion. The
top of the tower was surrounded by an opaque sphere that no mortal or dragon
could penetrate.

Except the glimmering blue creature that approached at supersonic speeds and
slowed down mere yards before the sphere with a -WHUMPH- of wings, hovered
briefly, and vanished as it touched the magical field.

* * *

"Why have I been summoned here?" the pale gnome dressed in white demanded,
looking at the entities around her in the spherical featureless room lit by
dozens of small independently floating flames which circled above them.

/The new Blue Aspect. Very good. We may begin now,/ said a translucent form
standing in the centre of the room. /I am Norgannon of the Titans. I have come
to decide the fate of this world./

They looked at the image silently. A slender crimson-skinned female high elf.
A black-eyed fierce-looking human male. A night elf with green hair and weary
countenance. A rather unremarkable gnome dressed in brown. And the newcomer
who once was Gergel.

/In quick succession, we received two signals from Azeroth. One, which
informed us of the discontinuation of watcher Loken. We then sent Algalon the
Observer to verify the continued viability of this world. His response was
Reply Code Alpha which at first glance appeared to indicate that evolution and
maintenance of Azeroth was proceeding within projected parameters. However, as
Algalon did not return from his mission, this reply was deemed suspicious and
I was sent to verify the status./

Norgannon's image scanned the five entities surrounding it.

/Unfortunately it appears that this planet is far beyond *any* acceptable
tolerance limits. Our originally seeded creations have been warped by
malevolent external forces to parameters unlike anything we have intended for
them to have. Dragon aspects designated to govern and watch over the world's
development have been twisted, maddened, destroyed. The malevolent Old Gods'
influence has irrevocably spread and tainted many facets of our plans. Beings
from other planets, alien to this world, have colonized large areas of the
surface. Not only have constant wars claimed billions of lives, they have
devastated the structure of the planet itself./

A floating spherical shape appeared on Norgannon's palm -- the borders of
Azeroth's one large ancient continent were unmistakable. There was a silent
flash in its centre and the continent was split in half, forming the current
maps of Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.

"What is it that you are stating?" asked the majestic crimson elf. "That you
intend to destroy the world and everyone and everything on it? Are you truly
so... strict in your plans and regulations that you would eliminate countless
sentient beings?"

/Any of the reasons stated earlier is sufficient for immediate initiation of
re-origination of the world. However, we have indeed observed the world,
determined that while its current occupant sentients do not fall under most
planned categories, they are nevertheless highly-evolved. We should therefore
consider delaying the re-origination or at least preservation of samples of
these species for controlled re-seeding following planetary re-origination.

/It is our belief, however, that the current state of this planet requires
immediate decision on this regard. We ourselves do not possess sufficient
knowledge to make such a decision with complete certainty. This is why I have
requested the presence of the five of you.

/Alexstrasza the Red. Gergelygosa the Blue. Neltharion the Black. Nozdormu the
Bronze. Ysera the Green. You have watched over the development of this world
and the mortal races which inhabit it. It has therefore been decided that you
must be the ones who will decide the ultimate fate of the world.

/If you believe in the viability of this world, the Titans will withdraw for a
period and allow the sentients to continue evolving, in order to determine if
they will develop past the chaotic influences of themselves and the higher
entities.

/If your choice is re-origination, the world will be cleansed, re-structured,
and re-seeded with the preserved genetic material of its current inhabitants.
We have determined that the present organic patterns are better-suited to this
environment compared to our original plans involving crystalline, metallic and
mineral structures.

/To allow for optimal decision-making, we have eliminated any and all external
influences from this chamber, including sights, sounds, smells and mental
effects of various benevolent, neutral and malevolent beings./

The image of Norgannon fell silent and stood perfectly still, waiting for the
five Aspects' decision.

"As the Life-Warder," said Alexstrasza in her current elf form, "I cannot even
consider the second alternative. I believe the beings who inhabit this world
are sometimes cruel, warlike, destructive... but they also have great good
within them. I vote for preserving this world."

The dark human form of Neltharion, Deathwing, sneered wickedly. He said only
three words: "Let it burn."

Ysera in her night elven shape raised her eyes from the floor with obvious
difficulty. Her voice was weak and trembling. "The corrupting influence of a
force beyond my power to fight has been twisting my realm, my children and
myself for aeons. I... do not wish for this to continue any longer. Please,
cleanse this world, rebuild it, and if you choose to recreate the aspect of
the Dreaming, make it pure and untainted once again."

"We of the Bronze Flight has been observing and guiding the history of Azeroth
for an eternity," said Nozdormu whose mortal facade was that of a gnome. "We
have our troubles with the Infinite Dragonflight and other, lesser concerns
regarding the timestream. Your re-origination would no doubt neatly solve all
of *those* problems as well as take care of all the pesky mortals who seem to
have a penchant for making our work ever harder by their actions. But
nonetheless, we are rather fond of this current world and... most... of its
inhabitants. Therefore my choice would be preservation if it is at all
possible."

Norgannon's image looked at the remaining aspect, Gergelygosa in her customary
quiet female gnome shape. /It appears then that the deciding vote is yours,
aspect of Blue./

Gergel blinked slowly. "I... have lived among the mortals as one of them for a
while now. I have watched their doings. I have partaken their fleeting
pleasures, joys and sorrows. I must admit, I am... fond of them.

"But their joys are most often swiftly destroyed by the sorrow brought by the
violent nature of this world. Wars amongst each other and even themselves,
hostile creatures, petty squabbles over the least of things. Should life truly
continue like this? Will you Titans look at Azeroth a millennium from now and
see how pointless the choice of preservation was?

"I believe... I will decide... to..."

* * *

Gergel awoke with a gasp. She was damp with sweat and breathing hard, her
heart was pounding.

A larger dark shape beside her turned and opened his eyes. "What is it, my
love? What's wrong?"

"Oh Zhevvee, mon chéri, I had ze most terrEEble dreeme! Ze verld, ze teetans
vere goin' to deestreye eet an' zey vanted for moi to deceede if zey vould
speer eet or..." she sobbed.

"Hush Gergely, darling. It was just a nightmare." With a snap of his fingers
Shevron lit a candle beside the bed and cuddled the little gnome. "It's all
right now. You are with me."

"Oh Zhevroon, in ma dreem you vere allvayze grumpee an' you did not lurve moi
an' aye deed not speeke to you beecauze eye vaz scayreed you voul' know eye
vaz a bleu dragoon..."

"I would love you even if you were an Orc," said Shevron and gently stroked
Gergel's hair. He held the trembling gnome close. "It was just a nightmare.
Tomorrow we will get up and go out and have fun and you will forget all about
the bad dre..."

* * *

Gergel awoke with a gasp. What a nightmare. Must've been something she ate
last evening. She closed her eyes and recalled the few remaining memories. She
was a blue dragon... and then she spoke funny and was in love with Shevron.
The gnome giggled silently to herself. Then she pinched herself
experimentally. Yep, she was definitely awake now.

She turned her head to make sure of her surroundings. Her bunk swayed gently
in the waves. Beside her, the tremendous bulk of a Tauren rose and fell slowly
as he breathed.

Gergel smiled, brushed a few strands of black hair from her face, turned to
her side and fell asleep again. Everything was just as it should be.
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Gergel
Gergel Cosmic Smash!
 
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