The search for Raeven's lost daughter.

[Reinhilde]

Grand Master Gregorius Temüjin Khan of the Teutonic Knight asked me to put his message online. It is about my grandfather disappearance.

Here is what Mister Temu wishes to say him self first:

As promised I would get the letter I received translated from Orcish to Gnomish. I had this done by a wise man I know in Darnassus. A man whom I know from the time I was in Ashenvale as Master Tanicus Raeven’s Pupil. Master Tanicus Raeven was klerk to Miss Sensissi Flowerling’s family back then and it was he who taught me Engineering and Alchemy. Anyway this man, who prefers to be anonymous because of non-discussed reasons, has been in the position of klerk to Miss Sensissi Flowerling’s family ever since Master Tanicus Raeven left to go back to Stormwind a year or so ago to look for his assumed dead, but apparently still alive relatives. These Relatives being his granddaughter Reinhilde Steelanger (f.n.a. Dollbreaker) and his daughter Gnomia Dollbreaker, as you know well.

Anyway … the circumstances of this letter were very mysterious. I woke up one day to find this letter stuffed away in my backpack. I wanted to throw it away but saw there were some typical Gnomish icons and markings on it and I realized Master Tanicus Raeven could read Orcish. He does not speak it, but for security reasons he frequently translated Orcish messages in the time the Flowerlings were in war with the Orcs who were cutting down the trees in eastern Ashenvale. They are still add it thought, most sad. After the death of Miss Sensissi Flowerling’s father by the hand of the Orcs her noble mother Kinsha, decided to retreat her family to Darnassus in the hope the war would not end up in the death of her only child, being Sensissi, the last in line with the ability to preserve the long Flowerling’s history and lineage. Ofcourse as you all know, Miss Sensissi fled away from her family, leaving her druid education behind, seeking revenge on the Hordes and above all the cruel Orcs. This has become her goal in life.

But I am straying away from the point. The point is that for decades the Flowerlings have had no direct dealings with the Orcs. Very few people on the alliance side know of the link between myself, Miss Sensissi and Master Raeven, the Gnomes, the Orcs, the Elfs. So whomever wrote this letter and left it in my backpack was very aware of it! In fact, the only one beside me, Sensiss and, Raeven,  is the most honorable Miss Kinsha Flowerling and this family klerk. And I already contacted them, but they seems to be in total oblivion about it. I trust these noble Elfs enough to absolutely believe them on their  word of honor.
After I gave this letter to Master Raeven, he seemed to be absolutely shocked. He said some odd words “she still lives?”

It was not long after that my former teacher disappeared and I became worried. I went to GRS monday clan meeting last monday to make you grand Gnomes aware of the issue of his disappearance. I promised you to get this odd letter I got translated in Gnomish a.s.a.p. ... So here it is.

Here is the translation Miss Sensissi Flowerling's family klerk made for me.

With respect to Gnomish Rescue Squad,
                                                       Grand Master Gregorius Temüjin Khan of the Teutonic Knights

Here is the translation of the letter:

My lovely oil-smelling Tanny,

It has been years since we saw eachother. I know you assumed me dead but I assure you I am not. I could not have written this letter if I were dead. Your “sweet Inky” is alive. I am however old now. I am not sure if you would still fancy me if you saw me now. My skin has dried and soon old age will do his deeds and I will die. Not many weeks are left, says the local Troll witchdoctor. Troll (?) you might think, yes Troll. It is a long story my Tanny. Read the last words I will ever write before time will take my last breath. I promise you, it will be worth it. It can mean happiness in your future.

I recall that one and only summer we had in Ashenvale, when we were so happy together. I remember your smile every time you saw me an whispered me “I am sorry Inky, but you silly Gnomette know I have a wife back in Gnomeregan” But I was to strong of will. It had been many years I had seen a Gnome. And a fine specimen  of Gnome you were and most likely still are. Your beard looked so awesome curly. Your long hairs waving in the wind, smelling like oil and metals, it reminded me so much Gnomeregan, that I knew I should have you as my mate, no matter what that you had wife and child back home. I was so happy you finally caved in. That one night we shared was special for me. You gave me a gift for a lifetime and you did not even know it. But after that summer we lost track of eachother. I know you heared the rumors, that the herb-caravan I was traveling in had been attacked by Orcs and that all were killed. It was true we were attacked, but I lived. It were all the others whom were killed. The Orcs had no trouble with taking the life of Elfs and killed them all. But the leader of this Orcish hunterpack showed an odd kind of mercy on me. He swore his men he would murder anyone who would kill the tiny childlike thing. “Tiny ones make good cooks. She slave, good cook!” And so it came to be I ended up in an Orcish warcamp cooking for the Orcs. My expertise as herbalist came in handy. I was able to spice up every meal to the liking of the Orcish leader who went by the name of Crom. The Orc leader Crom however had not saved me as cook, it took me not long to realize he had saved me because he fancied me for other things. And it was only a few weeks after that I realized I was pregnant. He was amazed it was possible, Orc and Gnome, but for a long time I had special protection and no Orc in the camp dared to lay a hand on me, fearing Crom’s wrath.

The girl child was born and it took him not very long to realize this was not a halfbreed. The child was completely Gnomish. She was your child Tanny! My one and only ever Gnomish lover. But oddly enough he did not kill her in cold blood as I thought he would. He loved her because Crom loved me … and this was my child so he loved her as if it was his own child! The logic of Orcs can be complex, I know. We named her Crommy and for a few years we were happy. I learned to love my captor, how odd it may seems. But this huge Orc leader had a sweetness to it, only I was allowed to see by him. But even that happiness ended. By order of Thrall Orcs and Trolls were forced to go on war together, … together to fight the alliance. And many war camps were mixed. It took the Trolls not long to realize there were some nice snacks in the war camp. Still we were under  the protection of Crom. But it became too dangerous for Crommy. Several times we had to rescue her out of Troll hands and one time we were just in time to prevent the Trolls to cook her over a large fire and eat her. Orcs and Trolls were killed on a large scale during this fight. Thrall obvious noticed that the Orcs and Trolls were fighting over this child, my child, Crom’s adopted child. The Orcs soldiers wanted to keep her as cute pet the way they saw me too, I and Crom wanted her most obvious as our daughter, but  the Trolls wanted her as food. I was not tasty enough, I think, to old … but Crommy was young and tasty for them.

Thrall ordered Crom, me and Crommy to him to discuss the matter. In all his bruteness Thrall can be exceptional wise.  Thrall growled at us: “This little Gnomish child disrupts my war camps. I need to get rid of it!” I was afraid he meant to kill her and I quickly grabbed Crommy in my arms, fell on my knees and started crying. Crom as proud stephfather drew his sword and yelled “Not in my lifetime.” But Thrall apparently had Troll rogue guards nearby. They came out of nothingness and grabbed Crom. Thrall stepped towards me. I was in absolute fear and made me even smaller, waiting for Thrall to launch a killing blow with his mighty weapon that would end my and Crommy’s live. But instead of a weapon I felt Thrall hand on me. Thrall kneeled and whispered me: “No fear silly Gnome. I know what love is and how you can lose it. I will not kill you or your alliance child.”

Thrall gave me an option. I would be allowed to leave, but then I would lose my love Crom, or I would stay with Crom and Thrall would see to it my child Crommy would be send to the alliance. I choose the second option. I knew Crom would kill himself because of lovesickness if I would leave. As such Trall made sure Crommy would end up on alliance side. It was a sad day, but it was the only way to ensure us three would live. After my decision to stay and to send Crommy to the alliance, Thrall asked “Is there a Gnomish family I could send this little one too?”. I stood up proudly and said “Crommy is the daughter of Master Gnome Tanicus Raeven, grand traveller and mighty warrior”. I saw Thralls face become grim when I spoke your name: “Tanicus Raeven that famous card player? He still needs to get 800 gold and the papers to ownership to The Barrens, from me.” But he smiled and said: “But Tanicus Raeven will have to wait to get the Barrens untill the wars are over. I will send your child to Southshore and make sure it will end up in Ironforge so the locals can contact Tanicus. I will also send the 800 gold with this child to make sure it is well taken care of and that it ends up in Ironforge and in Raeven’s care.”

And so it happened. Thrall send Crommy to Southshore together with 800 gold intended as Thrall’s gambling-dept payment for you and to accept Crommy as your own child, which she is. He gave this task to one of his guards whom he trusted. But the guard disappeared with the 800 gold and Crommy. It was only years later the guard was found again. Thrall has never been fond of cowardly runners and had a price on this guard's head for years. When he was discovered begging in Undercity, by the local Undead guards, he only had 30 coppers left. By direct command of Thrall, he was tortured by the Undead for several days in the Undercity’s horrific dungeons before he said what had happened. It seemed he left Crommy alone in Southshore and feasted for years with the 800 gold until it was all gone and was forced to return to the major cities to beg for food and water.

Tanny … I know from the few alliance stories that make their way to my home, you lost your whole family when Gnomeregan fell. But somewhere you still have a daughter! It is my last and dying wish you find her and take her as your legitimate daughter. Though our love was illegal when we did do our love together, I do love you still and this daughter might bring happiness in your live again. She looks a lot like me. Her hair is as dark as mine. Her temper is that of mine too.  She is a determined little creature and seems to be never willing to give up on a task set. She might have a love for things that are yellow and shiny. When she was a little baby she already loved to collect shiny things that looked like gold. But when she was send to Southshore she was only 9 years old, and she might not remember much of her past. I think though because of Orcish influence she tends to be a little bit cruel in her behavior, though she actually is a sweet little thing. Her behavior might be considered devilish for those not used to be around Orcs. She might still show these trades many years later. It was how she was when I last saw her. My Orc lover Crom, before she was send away, marked her with a little tattoo on her belly. A small capital letter “C”. It will be the only feature perhaps, after so many years that would be visible and a way to know who she is. Crom did tattoo her because he loved her too and wanted to make sure he would be able to reckognise her many years later. After Crommy’s leaving he was never the same again. And his own idea of the tattoo caused his death a few years ago. Whenever he was in battle with the alliance he used to chase every gnomish girl he saw when fighting and check first if she had a tattoo before killing them. One day he chased a Gnomish girl in Alterac Valley just to check if she had a “C” tattoo on her belly. But the girl ran into an alliance stronghold and he was sadly killed by human guards, my strong Orcish lover.

Before I die I would so much like to see you again. If you can make your way to the Barrens and try to find Crom’s personal guards who are still loyal to me … they can bring you to Crom’s old camp in Ashenvale and me. I would love to see you again before I die… my one and only Gnomish lover.

Your love,
              Bizly Inkmaker

it oddly seems I have an aunty somewhere! I have more family then I already thought I had! I am very exited. I so do hope my grandfathter will return soon with happy stories and how we can find my aunty! My mother seems to have an half-sister. Her relationship with my grandfather aint all that well still ... I hope this brings them both a bit more together though!! She still doesnt know this! I am going to tell her right away after me posting this on our board!

If at all situation allows it, ... could you guys please help my grandfather and/or my mother out on this? I would appreciate it alot! I hope my grandfather returns soon and tells us what he has learned.

With respect,
                   Reinhilde Steelanger

[Reinhilde]

I am kinda VERY angry I missed this and you all not telling me about it! It appears my grandfather had asked you all to help him on his quest to find my aunt, his illegitimate daughter, my illegitimate aunt. But my aunt anyway.

Would you all next time please inform me if you go on an adventure like this? Because I am sure I would have gotten all the information we needed out of that evil orphanage woman myself for sure! Where you failed on this, I would have suceeded. I am Reinhilde strongest of the Gnomish Warriors, .. I betya I woulda gotten it outta her all myself!

I understand from what I was told, ... there was indeed a Gnomish Girl in the Orphanage about 60 years ago with a small letter -c- tattoed on her belly ... and she was known as Crommy, untill the orphanage lady changed it to  Penny later. And that is all GRS and my grandfatrher were able to find out. And that she was mistreated by this human Gwendlere in some very bad way.

Anyway ... here is the follow-up on what happened after this adventure, as my grandfather told me.

-- You see .. it was not enough for him and he pushed some more buttons to get this Orphan Lady investigated.--

The interrogation of Gwendlere

Grandtraveler and Questionseeker  Master Tanicus Raeven was horrified by what he had heared. That evil orphanage patron that went by the name of Gwendlere seemed to have done horrible things in the past. She appeared to have misused the poor orphaned children to make the orphanage rich, according to her own words. And the only reaction that foul human being gave him was an evil looking grin. If the rest of the Gnomish Rescue Squad had not been so near, he was sure he would have hurt that woman horribly, using some of his newly learned arcane spells. But the most honorable Miss Frigga Yulesdottir, grand leader of The Squad, had been standing right next to him when they were asking this human questions, and he was not about to make trouble for her and all his other Gnomish friends of the Squad, in the alien city of Stormwind, that had joined him on this mission. He could not bear the thought of the squad being arrested by the human guards of Stormwind-city and becoming the laughing-stock  of the alliance. So he had held himself back with great difficulty. Promising himself “this aint over yet b…. bad woman!”

Now he was on his way back to the orphanage with several sleepy guards and a big Sergeant following him.  None of them looked pleased. The guards did not want to listen to him initially, but he would not have been a smart Gnome if he did not have a trick up his sleeve. Well extra playing-cards normally. When he had first arrived at the guardhouse a few hours back the humans did not allow him to enter or speak to anyone inside the guardhouse: “We are not impressed with you Gnome, … so go away!” It was only after he had said he knew the boss, Sergeant Johny Stander, personally that they paid more attention to him and bothered to go talk to their Sergeant. He had actually threatened these ignorant guards with the fact they will lose their jobs if they did not let him in and talk to with boss.  He was not sure if the “I-owe-you” actually carried that much weight, but who cares, it worked anyway. Sergeant Johny Stander wasn’t all too pleased to see him: “You come to collect?” He had nodded, but explained to Sergeant Johny Stander he would tear the I-owe-you to pieces if he was willing to do him a favor. He told him what had happened this evening and that he wanted this Orphan Patron investigated and questioned. Tanicus knew that woman was still only telling half of what happened 60 years ago. The full force of the Squad entering her Orphanage was impressing enough already for her to reveal lots of information she kept silent for 60 years, … but perhaps the sight of her own kind, these Stormwind guards, with heavy armor shields and swords, would impress her even more and give her enough incentive to tell it all, to reveal all. To get his question answered: What happened to Crommy, his illegitimate daughter?

---

The door to the orphanage was open. And Tanicus Raeven, five guards and Sergeant Johny Stander entered. “Clean your muddy feet,” a screechy voice yelled. It was her. The old woman was bent over a small bed, her back to the door and doing something, not even looking up to see who just entered. But she did hear the steps were not that of small children. Her movements were clear enough indication. Still not looking back a clear shock went through her body. She slowly rose from her bend position, still her back to the door, and said “You are no children,” turned her front towards them and gazed with her eyes over the guards and ended her viewing by resting her view directly on Raeven’s eyes. She grinned again, the same evil way she had done before that evening when he was here with The Squad: “What do you think you will accomplish now, little Gnome? I will tell you nothing.”
 Raeven poked the Sergeant in the back and whispered him: “Go ask and tell her what I told you too say.” Sergeant Johny Stander stood half stiff stupid and stumbled out the words he was told to say: “You .. uhm … evil human ... uhm .. woman … You did bad things and going to tell him now … uhm … us Stormwind-guards now, I mean, he wanted me to say … what really happened 6 years ago!” Sergeant Johny Stander quickly looked at Raeven and nodded with satisfaction as if thinking he indeed made a lot of impression and sence. Raeven slapped his forehead in disgust of Johny and looked up at the Orphan Patron Gwendlere. She grinned and said slowly: “I … will … tell ... you .. nothing!” Raeven poked Johny “60 years ago damned, not 6!” Raeven jumped forward , trying to make good the stupid actions of the Sergeant: “Just tell me or I will hurt you in the worst ways! I am an arcane wizard and I can make you hurt BAD!” Raeven raised his hands above his head and small bolts of lightning appeared in the palm of his hands. “I want to know all you did and you are going to tell me that now!”

But all of a sudden the arcane bolts growing in Raeven’s hands grew smaller quickly. Something drained away his magic. Raeven looked at his hands and whispered some more spells to try to regain his magic. … But it had no effect. Any spell he casted seemed to disappear into nothingness. His arcane bolts were gone. His magic essence, his mana was gone. He desperately tried new spells, but without his mana it was useless. His mana had been drained away. With eyes wide open he looked at the Orphan Patron Gwendlere and thought to himself: “what did she do to drain my magic?” But when he looked up at the Orphanage Lady she appeared to be engulfed in a heavy dark cloud.  It was most obvious she was not the one causing the dark cloud, not the one using this cloud in some way to undo his magic, this was something else! The Orphanage Lady was clearly screaming in pain while being engulfed by this dark cloud that seemed to have appeared out of nothingness. She was screaming, yet no screams were hearable. Raeven turned his head to Johny and the 5 guards who were behind him, but they seemed stunned in some odd fashion and unable to interact, to see anything, to do anything. He looked around the orphanage and now noticed the dark cloud had completely engulfed the whole inside of the Stormwind Orphanage.  It seemed to avoid the children’s beds, where all children were sleeping in. but the cloud was clearly everywhere else. Tanicus Raeven thought he was going mad and yelled out: “What is going on here!?!?”

A very calm and gentle sounding woman voice entered his head: “I am your friend Master Raeven. Please do not worry. Let me do this for you. I have been waiting a long time to do this.” The body of the Orphanage Patron Gwendlere rose from the ground and started floating around in the dark cloud. Raeven observed her screaming in utter agony and pain, yet he heard no screams. It was as if the Patron  was silenced in some way. Her voice taken away. Tears of hurt and pure pain streamed away in heavy floods from the Patrons eyes and eventually went red with pure blood. But the blood red tears seemed to dissolve into the dark cloud and feed it in some way and give the dark cloud even more strength, power and darkness. The darkness grew even larger and Raeven had no spell to counter it. The darkness started to engulf him … but it was not touching him.
And then all of a sudden, the darkness went away. Raeven  was in a defensive posture. He had no magic essence anymore, because of this dark cloud that had drained it all, but he still had his staff, firmly grasped in his hands. The body of Gwendlere fell almost lifeless to the ground, drained of most life-essence. The dark cloud seemed to even become darker now as it compacted in on itself near the body of Gwendlere. It was clearly turning into the shape of a human. The darkness grew more form … a human indeed ... more distinction to be made, it is a woman … long robes, a large hood. ….  Raeven was stunned … he suddenly recognized the human that was forming itself from this dark cloud.

“Miss Kehlyer ?”

The mysterious dark cloud, turned humam female, smiled back at him: "Yes Master Raeven, it is me. I have things to tell you now, you will not like."

[Reinhilde]

Miss Kehleyr had told my grandfather what the orphanage lady revealed to her during the "interrogation". Though Miss Kehleyr is a nice lady and she always says she has the shadowside of the light completely under control, this investigation method had totally surprised my grandfather who had been watching it, and noticed that Kehleyr almost had some odd sence of pleasure in it too. It actually kinda freaked my grandfather out but Miss Kehleyr told him all the interresting things she found out during her mindprobing. The daughter my grandfather is looking for was indeed the orphan girl in Stormwind. A small letter -c- tattoed on her belly to identify her with. when she was a little girl the orphanage lady in Stormwind forced her to steal  from the rich people in the tradesquare. Crommy turned out to be very good at it. She could blend into the public easy because of her small size and her quick little fingers pinched wallets from pockets very easy and simple. The Orphanage lady made thousands of gold this way which she spend on luxuries for her own apartement. But .... even little girls grow up. Crommy turned out to be very smart and went to the library very often to study. The orphanage lady was drunk very often and that gave little Crommy a change to escape for some hours at a time. She wasnt being educated in the orphanage, but as a Gnome she seemed to have the intelligence to study on her own.

At some point though Crommy got caught sneaking into the library. A guardsman caught her and brought her back to the orphanage. The lady was enraged en started hitting Crommy infront of the guard. He was stunned by this, but finally stepped in, smacked the orphanage lady in the face and took Crommy away from her. Not knowing what to do else, he took Crommy into his own house. The guy was poor though. Being a guardsman in the library doesnt make that much money as being a soldier in the frontlines. After a week though he suddenly noticed his house started filling up with lots of new things. A new couch, fresh bread, new cloths, cake, wine, new cutlery, silk sheets for his bed, bags filled with goldcoins. It was Crommy paying the man back for his kindness. He took care of her as his own daughter, but it turned out she was fully capable at the age of 15 to take care of herself and him at the same time. Ofcourse, everything in the house was stolen or payed for with stolen money. But after a month the house was so filled up with shiny things there was no room anymore. The small tiny shack was filled with gold and stolen goods from the bottom up to the ceiling.

The orphanage lady though was still mad at the guardsman for hitting her. It had taken her a while to find out were he lived, but when she did find out, her revenge was horrible. She turned Crommy and the guardsman in to the Stormwind Sherrif. When they arrested him and Crommy it turned out that some of the gold they found in the little shack was linked to murder-robbings. In that last month several rich people had been found dead in their houses and stabbed to death from behind. Odly though ... all those that were found dead seemed to have had connection with the orphanage lady. Like the guy that rented out the orphanage to the lady and was also suspected of getting other services from her. The rich baker that sold the scruffy molded bread to the orphange what the kids had to eat, had been found with his throat cut and stuffed in his oven, head in first. A guy that ran the prostitution racket in Elwynn forrest but had been seen in the past too to visit the orphanage, was found bathing in his own blood near a little lake in the neighbourhood of Goldshire with some of his bodyparts cut of. All of these dead people seemed to have had connections with the Orphanage lady ... and now they had two suspects, the guardman and Crommy.

It didnt take the judge that long to come to his conclusions. They first wanted to sentence both to death, but as Crommy was underage that wasnt allowed by law. So they only hang the guardsman. Crommy was sentenced to jail. The orphanage lady visited her several times. Her first intentions had been to mock Crommy, but after several visits the talks turned odd. It appeared Crommy actually was gratefull to the lady. In her own words Crommy had said to her: "You have given me the best education I could ever had. Everything I needed to know to become rich and earn shiny gold in this world I learned from you. You are the only family I have ever known and I am gratefull to you." She went to visit Crommy several more times in jail and the talks they had were very revealing. It turned out that all that time Crommy had run of to the library, she had been studying engineering books and books about boat-building. Crommy told the orphanage lady: "When I get out of here, I will go to Booty Bay and become a pirate. I will build the biggest fleet the world has ever seen and become the world most formidable pirate."

And then all of a sudden she was gone. On a cold winter-night, the lock to Crommies cell was found picked. One guard knocked out and several other stabbed from behind. Crommy had escaped. The guards and dogs traced the little footprints in the snow leading south. But south of Elwynn forrest the trail went dead at the river and in Duskwood the howling of wolfs was to scary for the guards to dare and go any further.

Crommy the little Gnomish girl and want-to-be pirate had escaped, now aged 16, and was making her way south to the sun, Booty Bay, ... and her future.

[Reinhilde]

So about ten days ago now my grandfather Tanicus Raeven and some of the braves of the Rescue Squad went to Booty Bay and tried to retrace the steps of this Gnomish girl. It was by now clear that this was the daughter he had been searching for. If she indeed went to sea to become a pirate then surely some old pirate in Booty Bay might recall it. Ofcourse it should have been about 60 or 70 years ago and pirates tend not to have a very long life. But they were lucky to find a pirate that might indeed know something. A dangerous looking fellow who was not all that talkative though. It took some pursueding and a task to get him to tell something. This pirate seemed to have some issues with pirates that roam outside of Booty Bay and the Squad members were given the task to go and kill some of them. You see, ... this pirate was bound by some honor-piratecode that did not allow him to tell much of anything to strangers. All he asked in return for some information was for the members to kill some of his enemy pirates and return with some swords, that he might be able to sell.

Well, easily done. With the full force of the Squad behind him, it did not take Raeven long to collect some of these swords. Only now was the pirate able to give some information. Raeven was told to go to Ratchet in the Barrens. It appeared some old pirate captain lived in Ratchet that could provide him with more information. The captain was named Anttonius and it appeared he already knew of Raeven and his search. The Gnome were expected to arrive there already, even before they went on adventure towards Booty Bay. Odd, but it seems these pirates have a vast intelligence network in this world. I guess it comes with the nature of the job, as information for them, also means survivability. Gathering no usefull information about potential enemies or dangers, might mean a pirate will soon hang at the end of a robe, I guess. Raeven was also handed a small locket, which he had to give to this captain. It was closed and Raeven was told only this former pirate captain could open it. And thus the Gnomes went to Ratchet.

The sea was calm and a fresh salty breeze welcomed the Gnomes in Racthet. Rachet is a true pirate heaven, the small dust blown corridors of the town. The little houses and wooden shacks all up the hill giving a grand view of the sea. It is easy to inmagine a retired pirate-captain could live here, spending the last days of his life in an old rocking chair overlooking the sea and thinking of his formidable past. It took the Squad a while to find this captain Anttonius. They were told he was on his sickbed and they searched most of the houses in Rachet before finally stumbeling on and old human laying in a bed in the back of the local tavern.

He appeared to be sleeping and Raeven jumped on the bed to poke the human: "Hey, are you captain Anttonius?" The weakened human looked up. He was clearly in dying pain. But he smiled and they started talking. This turned out to be Captain Anttonius indeed. Every once in a while though the human fainted, as he was so old and weak. Clearily the pirate-years counted double on him and he might not live very much longer. So it was important for Raeven to get as much information as possible out of this man. He confirmed what Raeven already knew by now. About 60 or 70 years ago a small Gnomish girl appeared out of the thick jungle of STV. Her cloths were all torn and she was bleeding from several gapes and scratches. She looked like she had some encounters with the local wildlife of STV. The raptors, apes and crocolilisks. Several pirates wanted to take advantage of this "oppertunity" and tried to capture this little Gnomish girl. They thought she would make a great catch and she would be a great sell on the slave-market. Back then, Gnomes were not commenly seen in Booty Bay and rarity increases gold-value! But this girl appeared to have spunk. It took her little effort to disarm some of the pirates whom attacked her and she even killed some of them. Anttonius told Raeven, he was amazed to see how a little girl no more then a turf high could move so quickly and kill so silent and swiftly with just a small blade in her hand. Taking out strong pirates who had fearce reputations of their own and who were 3 times bigger and 6 times heavier then she was.

Back then Captain Anttonius was the captain of his own little fleet of pirate ships and at that period in time he was the most infamous pirate in Booty Bay. None dared to question his orders. So when he yelled out to stop this fighting all the pirates stood stiff in fear. The little Gnomish girl was intriqued too ofcourse and bravely walked towards him. She tucked her little blade away in one of her sleeves and asked him: "Are you an important and rich pirate captain?" Anttonius had nodded and the girl said: "My name is Crommy of Stormwind, and I want to be become a pirate and make lots of shiny gold!" The braveness and fearlessness of this little 16 year old girl had impressed him alot and he decided to take her under his wing.

At this time he stopped to tell about the adventures they -Anttonius and Crommy- had together and told to my grandfather he should ask her himself about the rest, once he found her. Ofcourse Raeven asked where he could find Crommy and what name she is using these days. Anttonius smiled with a painfull grin and asked him for the locket. He took a small key from under his cloths and opened the locket and showed him the picture inside. Raeven had stumbled backwards and was in utter shock when he saw the picture and frankly when he later showed it to me I almost fainted myself too!!

The picture of she who was supposed to be his lost daughter showed the picture of a Gnomish woman.
A huge scar over her right eye, raven black hair, .... his lost daughter, my aunt ... it is Maria Annebonny !!

Yes, her! The Gnomish assassin who once kidnapped my grandfather and tried to get money from Miss Frigga for his safe return. The Gnomish assassin, who kidnapped me, leaving me to die of starvation on one of the floating Islands in Nagrand and asking the Squad for money in trade of my location. One of the biggest enemy of the Squad, is my grandfathers lost daughter, Maria Annebonny, cutthroat, pirate, assassin, thief, kidnapper!! I feel anger comming up again just thinking about it. I'd say though, my grandfather seemed to have come with terms with it already. Even knowing this horrible lady is his daughter, he still was determined to meet her. It is logical to assume Maria Annebonny does not even know that my grandfather is her father and that I am her niece, else she might never have done the things to us that she has. Captain Anttonius had seen the horror on Raeven's face but he told him that Maria Annebonny is actually a very nice person, once you get to know her. He told him she takes care of him in his old days, regularly visits him, and that him being able to lay here in peace he all has to thank to Annebonny, as she pays for it all. Maria Annebonny has also eliminated all of his former enemies, so he never has to worry about getting slain anymore. She seems to care alot about her family, the pirates. She seems to show great love and care for her mentor, Captain Anttonius. He also told him, Annebonny has even shown to have a good warm heart, even when they were pillaging and murdering their way around the world, to only kill when it was absolutely needed. Killing is pure bizz for Annebonny he told him. She only kills if the contract says so and tries to prevent colleteral damage unless it gets in the way of the contract-target. She has strict rules to see every contract through to the end.

Captain Anttonius and Raeven came up with a plan to draw Maria out. She will never come on her own to him and knowing her elusive character, she will be very hard to find and track down. Maria Annebonny has shown the cunning ability to stay out of the hands of the law for many decades now. So, Captain Anttonius did a proposition to my grandfather. He asked him to kill him. He was old and dying and would not live much longer. Killing Anttonius would get Maria Annebonny angry and she would try to find Raeven and want his head. Anttonius seemed to be in a lot of pain. Raeven first did not want to do what he was asked to do, and had turned around and asked his party members how to go about it. But he finally made the desicion on his own. Before proceeding with it, Captain Anttonius wrote a letter which Raeven had to give to Annebonny. The letter explained it all and it basically asked Maria Annebonny to forgive Raeven for his deed of killing him, and that it was his -captain Anttonius- own wish to die this way. He prefered to die in dignity then rotting away in a old bed in Ratchet it seemed. So ... finally .... my grandfather took the head of Captain Anttonius ... and snapped his neck. He payed the innkeeper 10 gold for a proper funeral for this former formidable pirate.

Now he just had to wait for Maria Annebonny to come out of hiding ...

[Bildur]

*gulp*

[Reinhilde]

It seems they already met last week in Raeven's house in Ironforge. He kept that even from me! He probably knew if I had been there I would have slain her. She did sneak in with the intent to kill him for killing Captain Anttonius. But a cunning engineered trap caught her by surprise, which gave him a change to show her the letter Anttonius had given Raeven. She wasnt all that convinced and it did take some explaining about the who's and why's ... explaining his naughty past to Annebonny and how she came into this world ... but in the end she believed him and they are now atleast at some speaking terms. She still showed doubts and was sure that the only thing GRS had on their agenda were plans to kill her. So Raeven proposed to her she sneak in on a meeting on a monday, to go and see for herself this is not the case.

It appears this also has already happened!?! Is this true? Was she at the meeting monday? Oh my Goggles!

He had asked a guard in Ironforge to take their picture together as proof to the squaddies that Annebonny is very capable of being near a person of GRS and not kill him/her.

He told me this only today and showed me the picture. I think the guard did something wrong with the settings seeing that the picture is not top quality. But it appears the person on the right is suppose to be Maria Annebonny!

[Bildur]

must admit I did not notice a gnome. only a parrot that sang pirate songs