The <Aeterum Arcanum> Guild

RP-Stories
Character Biographies

ICCE

(ding 80 - 7-10-2010 - in the Halls of Stone - Healing)

(after Loken was killed and the battles were over,
Aurankan dances to Icce's ding 80,
while Malvandra and Icce watch, laughing and happy)
(7-10-2010 - in the Halls of Stone)

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The Story of Icce

It was on a clear morning, in the late spring of the year.  The sun was shining and the grass on the plains was green.  The trees were full of leaves, giving shade to any who lingered beneath their boughs.  The sweet smell of flowers blooming drifted on the soft warm breeze that traveled across the land.  Baby lion cubs had been born and many of them were beginning to roam the plains alongside their parents.  The place was Mulgore, the home of the Tauren.

Bloodhoof Village lay in the middle of a huge meadow, not far from Thunderbluff.  Its small population loved their home beside the small lake that teemed with fish.  Its few buildings could be seen from a distance across the open plains.  Those passing close enough by could see the Tauren villagers there going about their daily chores.  Some were training, while others were fishing or cooking.

Over the sounds of the work going on, sudden soft crying could be heard.  Everyone in the village stopped what they were doing and became silent, listening.  Then, an instance later, a second voice joined the first in the crying.  The villagers cheered as two new members of the Tauren race joined the world.  The newborns didn’t know it, but they were to be named Icce and Thorevalda, and they were twins.

Everyone knows that it’s rare for twins to be born to the Tauren race, and when it does happen it is considered to be a sign of good fortune for the entire race, a good omen!  Everyone knows that good things will come from it.

Icce and Thorevalda were happy little girls, running around over the meadows near Bloodhoof Village.  Occasionally, their parents would take them up to Thunderbluff to shop.  They longed for the day when they would be able to fly away somewhere on those giant flying mounts, but they were still too young to do that, and having never been far from home there were no flight paths that they could connect to anyway.  When they got older, they would need to run or ride to some other villages to connect.  Of course, they could take a zeppelin from Thunderbluff to Orgrimmar, the capital city of the Orcs, where the Orc leader Thrall resides. 

The girls were nearly identical in looks.  They both had black skin and long black hair that they both wore in two long pig-tails braided to hang down in front of their ears, hanging down in front of them.  Their eyes were the same, their ears were the same.  The only exception to them looking identical was their horns.  Icce had very small black horns while Thorevalda had longer white horns.  No one knew that inside both of them lived a furious dragon, sleeping, to one day be awoken.

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Growing Up

Icce and her sister Thorevalda had been inseparable from the day they were born and together they had gone up to the great druid trainers in Thunderbluff to train to become druids.  They both loved the skills they were learning and they practised together constantly.

At a young age, Icce decided that she wanted to become a healer one day, but the druid trainers told her to wait a bit, until she was at least level 40 before switching or adding to her training, and she had to be satisfied with that.  She loved plants, as did her sister, Thorevalda, and they would often go out searching for plants together.

One day, when they were out together, the two sisters climbed up to the top of one of the ridges and came across a young male Tauren who was fighting for his life against the cobalt miners in that valley.  Icce quickly started to heal him, while Thorevalda jumped in to help him fight.  Between the three of them, the cobalt miners were soon all dead and the three of them were able to escape safely.

As they walked along the trail, they remained together and they all started talking.  Before much time had passed, the girls learned that the young Tauren was named Rodaren and that he was about their own age.  He told them that he had been living on his own for about a year, ever since the cave where he had lived with his parents had caved-in and killed them.  He had escaped death that day because he had been out fishing when the cave-in happened.  He found the cave entrance blocked with broken boulders when he returned home that evening and, although he tried to move the boulders and dig to get his parents out, he had not been able to do so.  He had called to them, repeatedly, but he had never been able to hear any sounds coming from inside the cave that had been his home.  So, eventually he stopped digging and, in due time, had walked away.  From that day on, he had wandered around the countryside, making his home wherever he found a dry safe place to sleep, never remaining in one place for too long.  His parents had been from Sunrock Retreat, a distance away from Bloodhoof Village, but he did not know anyone back in that place.  His parents had both been the only children of their parents, both of whom had given birth to them late in life.  So, he doubted if any of his ancestors remained alive in that place and he had never gone there to check.

The girls told Rodaren that they were sisters, twins in fact, and that they lived with their parents not far away, in Bloodhoof Village.  Rodaren told them that he had guessed that the girls were twins, since they looked identical except for their horns, but he had not known for certain until they had told him.  For all he knew, they could have been sisters a year or so apart in age, just looking similar.  But, with being twins, he knew they were even more special than he suspected.

Thorevalda took an instant liking to Rodaren and invited him to return with them to their home.  Having no other plans, he accepted the invitation and went with the girls back to Bloodhoof Village.

Rodaren liked Bloodhoof Village and liked the two girls and their family a lot.  A small hut was found for him to stay in, and he was soon put to work with the other villagers.  It seemed like a good place to live and he did like Thorevalda.  It didn’t take him long to become a member of their village.  After a few weeks, it was obvious to everyone that Thorevalda was his favorite and, of course, for the first and only time in her life Thorevalda was smitten.  It was the first time she did not think of her sister, Icce, first.

Icce was not blind and gave Thorevalda and Rodaren her blessing.  She had known this day would come someday.  She just had not known that it would come for Thorevalda first or happen this soon.

The wedding celebration and joining ceremony of Thorevalda and Rodaren was held beside the lake outside their village on a warm evening in mid-fall of that same year.  The tree leaves had started to change colours, making the evening glow even more beautiful when the sun set that night when the partnership of Thorevalda and Rodaren began.  They build a little house not far outside of Bloodhoof Village up against the mountainside and moved into it together.  They were happy there and much in love.  Rodaren encouraged Thorevalda to continue her studies with her sister Icce and the great druids of Thunder Bluff, and she continued to walk up to the village twice a week and go with her sister Icce up to Thunder Bluff to train.

A few months passed and it was deep winter.  Thick snow lay on the ground.  Thorevalda was late.  Icce decided to walk up the valley to see what was keeping her sister from being on time.  She was rarely late. 

Icce arrived at Thorevalda and Rodaren’s home to find it ransacked and no one there.  It looked as if a battle had raged within the house, things were broken and strewn about.  “Who did this?” “Where are you?” “Thorevalda!” “Rodaren!” Icce shouted as she searched the house for them.  But only silence remained.

Icce knew in her heart that if Thorevalda had died, she would have felt it. Their bond with each other was strong.  She knew in her heart that something awful had happened, but what? 

Icce ran outside the house and started to search.  She starting looking on the ground for signs of a trail to show her the direction in which Thorevalda and Rodaren had gone.  She was looking for signs of a struggle and for signs of who or what might have caused this destruction.  “Which way did they go?”

There!  There was a set of prints!  Icce ran over to them to look closer.  “Yes, those prints look like the prints made by Thorevalda”, thought Icce.  But there was only one set of prints on the ground and the trail was not a fresh one.  “Where are the prints of Rodaren?  Surely, he is with her.”  Icce ran along, following the trail of prints until she came to the pass that led into the Barrens.  That was the end of the trail.  Thorevalda had gone that way.  “Where is she going? And why? Where is Rodaren?  Why didn’t Thorevalda come to tell me that she was going away somewhere?  What caused this?”  Icce had all these questions, but no answers.

As quickly as she could, she shapeshifted into her cat travel form and ran as fast as she could back to Bloodhoof Village to tell her parents and the villagers what she had seen.

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Icce
(May 9, 2010)

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5 Years had passed...

It had been 5 years since Icce had last seen her sister Thorevalda and she wondered when she would see her again.  She hoped that Thorevalda was okay and happy somewhere.  She longed to see her sister.

While they had been apart, Icce had continued her studies with the great druids of Thunderbluff and had even gone to Moonglade to train with the great druids there a few times.  She had learned how to shapeshift into various forms as she grew up in levels. 

She had first learned how to shapeshift into bear form, which was exciting to begin with, but she really didn’t care for that form.  Next, she learned seal form, which came in handy when she was in the water, allowing her to swim faster and breathe underwater.  It was a form that she knew could save her life should she ever be caught under water for too long a time.  All she had to do was switch into that form and she wouldn't die.  Cat form was the next form she learned and, using that form, she liked to prowl around unseen.  She had made some amazing discoveries while in that form.  She had also escaped danger a few times by being able to shapeshift into that form and prowl.  Dire bear form was the next thing that the great druids taught her, and then cat travel form was after that.  Travelling in cat travel form was slower than riding on her Kodo ground mount, but she liked to run around in that shape. 

When she reached her 40^th level of training, she was finally able to learn to shapeshift into moonkin form (since she was “balance” spec – a caster) and it was also the time when she was able to learn her second spec, that of a healer.  She had looked forward to that day.  It had been a lot of work to earn the 1000 gold that she needed to pay the druid trainers to allow her to dual spec, but it was so worth it.  Icce had longed to become a healer, but she knew she needed the “balance” spec to keep herself alive. She loved the idea of being able to kill with her casting spells and healing too. 

Icce woke up and put on her clean tunic, splashed a little water on her face and headed out to Moonglade.  She wanted to get there early to see the great druids and learn her second spec and get the ability to shapeshift into “tree” form for healing.  She was so excited.    For some length of time, she worked hard at her healing skills, and she came quite proficient at it.  

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Fireworks provided by Malvandra before Icce and friends go into BRD. (Feb 28, 2010)

Icce enjoying a picnic in Un'Goro Crater with friends. (Feb 28, 2010)

Other things

Time passed and she reached her 60^th level. Time had gone by so quickly.  It was once again time for her to return to the great druid trainers to learn to transform herself into yet another form, that of the “regular” flight form of a bird.  She yearned to fly in that form. 

After she had trained, she flew off.  For a few weeks, as she flew, she enjoyed it, but she wasn’t really satisfied with her flying ability.  She longed to fly faster.  She knew it was going to be expensive to get the training to do that, but she was determined to get the money to pay for the “epic” flight form training that she so coveted, even though she would not be able to obtain that training for a few levels.

She worked hard to earn and save her gold.  Finally, the day arrived when she reached level 68, and she had her sack of 5000 gold.  It was the day when she could finally go and learn her “epic flight form” and she was happy she had the money to get it.  It was a sunny day, warm for the time of year, when she went to pay the trainer to allow her to learn the ability.  From there, she went to the druid trainer to pick up the quest chain that would lead her to Zangermarsh to learn the skill.  But, the druid trainer did not have the quest to give to her.  She was disappointed, but thought perhaps she had just made a mistake and gone to the wrong place, so she flew out to Zangermarsh in the Outlands to see if she could pick up the quest there, but when she got there she found that she could not get it.  So she tried again at level 69 and at level 70.  The same result occurred.  She was a bit frustrated!

Apparently times changed things and Icce had not known of the changes.  Eventually, she learned that druids were no longer able to pick up the quest chain at level 68, 69, or 70, even though he/she had paid the 5000 gold.  They had to wait till they were level 71 to learn “epic flight form”.  However, she did find out that, like all of the other classes, druids could pay 5000 gold for the fast flying ability and go purchase an epic flying mount at level 70.  Icce did pay the 5000 gold then, but she refused to purchase an epic-flying mount.  She would just wait.

So it was when she reached level 71 that she was finally able to get the “epic flight form” training directly from the druid trainer, with no quest required (another change).  However, obtaining the epic flight form that way had a drawback.  It did not give her the “unique trinket” that she would have been given as a quest reward at the end of the quest chain to obtain “epic flight form” the “old school” way.  She went ahead and learned “epic flight form” from the trainer, but then she went down and picked up the quest – which lead her all over Terrokar Forest, doing a score of chores and running errands.  Finally, she was told to gather up a group of her friends and go into “heroic” Sethekk Halls and summon the Raven Lord and kill him.

Unfortunately, at that time, her “Lower City rep” was only friendly and she needed it to be “honoured’ in order to purchase the Auchedown Key from the quartermaster in Shattrath City to get into Heroic Sethekk Halls.  (Having the Auchedown Key would also allow her to get into the other Heroic dungeons in Auchedown, so it was a good thing to have, in any event.)  

Icce was a little annoyed that she could not go directly into the dungeon to kill the Raven Lord, but, after speaking with a few of her close friends, she wasn’t quite so disappointed.  They wanted to go with her, so they teamed up and went together into “regular” Sethekk Halls, over and over and over again, to build up their rep with Lower City, along with Icce, so that they all could purchase the key.  Of course, everyone benefited from doing this, and it was a lot of fun.

Icce enjoying teaming up with her friends and “running through” regular Sethekk Halls.  By the time she reached her 74^th level, she had gone through Sethekk Halls enough times that her rep with Lower City was finally “honored” and she went and purchased the Auchedown Key.  That very day, she went with her friends into Heroic Sethekk Halls for the first time and she summoned the Raven Lord and they killed him to complete the lengthy quest chain.  She flew up to Zangermarsh to see the archdruid there, to tell him of her success, and he gave her the coveted unique trinket to keep forever. 

It was during the time that Icce was talking to her friends about going into Heroic Sethekk Halls for the first time, that she told them about the unique ground mount that occasionally dropped when the Raven Lord was killed. That encouraged many of them to want to go kill him too.  Several had never heard about this unique mount or about the Raven Lord before, and that was when Icce told them that was probably because “only a druid who holds the unique trinket can summon the Raven Lord”. 

So, it came about that two teams were created to go into Heroic Setthek Halls together in search of the mount.  Of course, Icce was a part of each group, since she was the only member of the guild who had the “unique trinket” required to summon the Raven Lord.  It would not be an easy mount to obtain, especially since the group could only go there once a day, but Icce wanted to try to get it.

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Flying

Although Icce had not been able to obtain “epic flight form” at level 68, she had been able to learn Cold Weather Flying at that time. (Normally, she would have had to wait until she was level 77 to learn it, but her good friend, Queen Laara, of Silvermoon City, (was level 80) and was able to purchase a “Cold Weather Flying Tome” for her in Dalaran for 1000 gold for Icce to learn early.  So, that is how Icce came to be able to fly in Northrend in her “regular flight form” at level 68.  It came in very handy for Icced as she leveled up from 68 to 80.

Having epic flight training allowed Icce other special privileges too. She learned of a special mission in Shadowmoon Valley, so she flew down there one sunny day to seek out the master who would send her on the mission. It was a lot of work, a long term spying mission for the dragons.

Her first mission lead her into the Fortress that was teaming with enemy orcs, to save Neltharaku, the mate of Karynaku and set her free.  She survived and was sent to infiltrate the Netherwing Ledge itself. 

Daily she was sent down into the mines to do the job they sent her to do, to kill many of the Flayers down in the caves. She kept her eyes and ears wide open and listened to all of the gossip from those on the surface and heard what was going on there on the Ledge.  She learned of Illidan’s plans. 

Finally, after weeks of work, she reached “exalted status” and was called before the Highlord, who called Lord Illidan to come to him so that he could present her to him as his “prize worker”. 

Of course, Lord Illidan could see right through Icce’s disguise and he was outraged that the Highlord could have been so blind to allow her to infiltrate the Ledge.  She was lucky that Lord Illidan did not kill her right there on the spot.  Instead, Lord Illidan ordered the Highlord to kill Icce, and with that command given Lord Illidan disappeared into a puff of smoke. 

The Highlord turned to Icce and was condemning her, when suddenly out of the sky there appeared a huge blue dragon, who flew right up to Icce and said, “Icce, quickly jump on my back”, and Icce did that.  It was Neltharaku, the mate of Karynaku, one of the great turquoise dragons of Shadowmoon Valley.

Neltharaku flew high and fast and flew Icce safely away to land with her in Shattrath City, where because of her brave deeds Icce was given an opportunity to choose one of the Netherwing drakes there as a lifelong companion, one who would gladly fly with her anywhere for the rest of her life.

On June 29, 2010, Icce chooses  "Onyxien", the Reins of the Onyx Netherwing Drake

Icce was honoured and thrilled.  She picked a beautiful Onyx Netherwing Drake named  Onyxien.  When she got on her back for the first time, Icce just wished that her sister, Thorevalda, could have been there that day to see her.

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Two Months later…

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Icce was still working on her questing, knowing that one day she would reach her 80th level and then be able to go into some of the harder dungeons with her friends.  She looked forward to that, but she was in no rush.

One day, when Icce was in her 76^th level, a friend named Kalker, a Death Knight who was also in his 76^th level, teamed up with Icce and they quested together in Grizzly Hills for two seasons before parting and going their separate ways.  (Of course, later, at level 78, Kalker changed his name to Kalastarian, but that’s another story.)  After parting with Kalker, at level 78, Icce went up to The Storm Peaks to quest solo.  While she was questing there, she started thinking about the fact that she only had a short ways to go to reach the level cap of 80 and she was excited about that, but she was in no real rush to get there.

One afternoon, a couple days later, some of her friends (Lifecrave, Malvandra, Totemer, Kalker and Dathias) showed up and they encouraged her to go with them to help defend the Wintergrasp Fortress together, and she went with them.  Of course, she died often, but she loved it!  She was glad she went to do that!

The next day, when she was level 79, her friends once again teamed up with her and they went and ran “random” dungeons together the whole day long.  They ended up in one of the dungeons at Ulduar, called “The Halls of Stone”, several times (actually 5 times in a row) and it was while inside that dungeon with her friends, that Icce “dinged” her 80^th level.  It was exciting! 

Inside the "Halls of Stone"
(July 10, 2010)

Inside the "Halls of Stone",  after Icce dinged 80, Aurankan does the "dance of joy"
(July 10, 2010)

Icce only regretted that her sister, Thorevalda, had not been there with her to see her reach her goal. 

Icce wondered where Thorevalda was and if she would ever see her again.

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Some time Later....

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Icce was at loose ends.  She didn’t know what the matter was, but she kept feeling that something was wrong with her.  From some time, she had been having odd sensations: on occasion, her skin would crawl and the hairs on her arms would stand on end.  Then she would have a hot flash as if burning hot blood was running through her veins.  At first this only happened once in a while, but lately it had been happening more often, at least a couple times a week.  And, she had noticed a couple of other physical sensations the last time it had happened: she had been able to see more clearly and farther, and for an instance she was certain she could smell the sweet scent of the flowers that grew on the other side of Thunderbluff.  That was two days ago.

At first, Icce thought to go to one of the local shaman or to the druid trainers and talk to one of them about this, but she decided against it in the end, since no doubt the conditions would not occur when she was in their presence.  After all, it did not happen at will, but rather at sporadic intervals, always coming on unexpectedly, and only lasting for a few minutes time.  She decided to “just wait and see” what happened.

The sun had not risen when Icce awoke, but it wasn’t far below the horizon.  Red streaks were already starting to spread across the sky and the midnight blue of the deep night sky was fading fast.  She knew it was going to be a beautiful day.  She could smell a sweet scent in the air and the cool breeze that blew through the window of the hut suggested a warm day was in store too.  She got out of bed and started to pack a few things in a sack to carry with her.  She didn’t know where she was going, but decided it was time she went for a walk outside of her homeland of Mulgore.  She had gone back there to visit her family after she reached level 80.  She had been there for a week, resting and enjoying the peaceful days. 

But now, she was at a loose end. She needed to do something or go somewhere.  She didn’t know what it was that she needed… Perhaps she only needed to get away and open up her mind to some new discoveries.  Perhaps that would cool her blood.  Or maybe it was just her active imagination that was causing her to have these odd sensations.  Lately, she had been thinking a lot about her sister, Thorevalda, too, wondering where she was and how she was doing.  She’d even had a couple dreams about her.  She could see her chained to a wall in a dungeon, nightmares really.  In her dreams Thorevalda was covered in blood, and Icce was trying to get to her, but she could never get to her before she woke up.  She was sure something was going on, and she felt the urge to go find her sister.

It had been 5 years since Thorevalda had run away after Rodaren‘s tragic accident and death.  Not once during those 5 years had Thorevalda written or returned, and no one knew where she was.  Icce missed her sister.  Maybe it was time she found her!

Icce picked up her bag and canteen and walked to the Cross Roads in the Barrens.  She stopped at the inn and then went over to the Wailing Caverns to explore it. From there she walked up to Astranaar and checked into the inn.  Then she went into the Black Fathom Depths.  It was just the beginning of her search.

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A year passed...

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It was when Icce got to Gadgetzan in Tanaris, that she met the first person who knew her sister.  She was walking down the street towards the inn when a stranger ran out of the inn towards her, calling out “Thorevalda! Thorevalda!”  He was looking straight at her, calling out.  He had obviously mistaken her for her sister.  Of course, Icce speeded up her walk and hurried over to the man who was running towards her. 

The innkeeper stopped short of hugging her when he got face-to-face with Icce.  A look of puzzlement, and then sadness, was on his face.  It was obvious that he was disappointed that he was not meeting her sister there in the street. 

Icce immediately told him that Thorevalda was her sister, her twin sister, and that she was looking for her. The innkeeper smiled and calmly said he could easily see that she was not in fact Thorevalda since Thorevalda’s horns were white and her horns were black, and he said he was happy to meet her.   

But that had not been his first thought.  At first all he could think was, “This is not Thorevalda”, but then he realized what Icce had said and his face showed surprise, and then excitement, “What? Thorevalda has a twin sister?”  It was apparent that the innkeeper had not known this. 

The innkeeper grabbed Icce and hugged her and then stood back and bowed.  He invited her to come into his inn and take a room for the night.  He said he would give her his best room, one that had a bath with it, and he wanted to talk with her over a cold drink as soon as she was rested, if she didn’t mind.  Of course, she didn’t mind.  This was news of her sister and Icce wanted to hear all that the innkeeper could tell her.  But first, she did need to clean up and rest a bit.  She had travelled a long way that day was tired, as well as dusty.  She would enjoy a good soak.  But then, she wanted to eat something before she sat down with the innkeeper for a talk.  It was obvious that he knew her sister, and Icce was grateful for his hospitality.

Two hours later, Icce had bathed and rested, changed clothes and had a meal before her.  The innkeeper was patient while Icce ate.  Then the innkeeper drew her away from the dining room to the parlor to sit in an easy chair beside him.  He handed her a cold drink and sat down, looking across at her.

He told Icce it had been two years since he had last seen Thorevalda, but she had stayed in his inn for a few weeks back then and, while she was there, they had become friends.  He had been sorry when she said she had to move on.  Although he never saw her again after she left town, from time to time, he would receive a letter from her telling him about the places she was visiting, and the sights she was seeing, and about her experiences.  He had saved the letters he said, and asking Icce if she cared to see them, to which she said “yes, please”, he went to get them.

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The innkeeper’s letters from Thorevalda told Icce a lot, but at the same time, also told her little.  They were brief letters, containing general facts, with a little description of the places Thorevalda travelled to.  That is, all of the letters up to the last one.  That letter was different from the rest.  It said that Thorevalda was on her way to Orgrimmar to join the warriors there.  She planned to be a woman training with the men warriors there. That was the last letter the innkeeper had.  Mmm… Icce would have to travel to Orgrimmar to see if she could find out anything there about her sister.  Had she made it there? What had become of her after that? Was she still there?

So Icce wished the innkeeper well and went out to fly up to Orgrimmar.

During her fight to Orgrimmar, Icce once again felt her skin crawl as she flew over the land.  It has been 2 weeks since she had had that sensation.  It seemed to have died down after she left Mulgore and started on her journey.  She had “kind of” forgotten about it.

When Icce arrived in Orgrimmar, she went immediately up to the warrior trainer area to check out the area, to see if she could find out anything about her sister from any of them.

When she arrived at the warrior trainer area, she saw a couple of warriors training outside.  She decided to approach them first and ask if they could direct her to the warrior trainer.  As she was approaching them, they looked at her and stood stock still.  She saw a startled look cross their faces.  Then they just stood still as statues and just looked at her.  It seemed to Icce that they had “seen” something that startled them, like they were frightened.  But what would startle a warrior inside the city?  It was a strange reaction.

Icce walked closer to them, stopping about 10 feet distance from them, and bowed.  At first, neither of the warriors moved.  They just stood there silent and gazed at her.  So she took a step closer and bowed again.  Then she held out both of her hands in front of her, palms up, to show them that she meant them no harm.  She thought, “What harm can they suspect to be coming from me anyway? After all, we are both inside the capital city of Orgrimmar, where no fighting is allowed to take place. What could have happened to cause a reaction like this from them simply by the sight of me?”  And then she remembered that she looked like her sister, Thorevalda.

Icce decided to be careful what she said.  She had a feeling there was a lot of information to be gotten here if she was careful of the things she said and of the questions she asked.  So, as she approached the two warriors, she asked them if they could point out to there was way to the warrior trainers.  Both warriors, pointed to the side, and about 50 yards away to her right, Icce could see the building they pointed to.  She guessed they meant the warrior trainer was inside.  She simply looked at the two warriors, who had not voiced a single sound, said thank you and bowing again she turned to her right and started walking towards the building where she could only assume the Warrior Trainers were.

She had a feeling something was “not right” here.  Somehow she knew they knew Thorevalda and something had happened here, something that had frightened them, but what?  She was determined to find out.

As she walked slowly towards the building, she realized that she needed some time to think about this odd reaction, and she was having second thoughts about simply barging into see the warrior trainers.  She looked around and saw that everyone seemed to still be going about his business, but she could tell that it was only a pretence.  Everyone was suddenly aware of her presence.  So, she turned and made her way back down into the heart of the city, where she found the inn.

At first she was going to check in for the night, but then changed her mind.  She again experienced that crawling feeling on her skin and the hairs on her arms were starting to stand up.  She walked on passed the inn and went into the bank.  The sensation continued, but it lessened in severity.  Then it came back stronger. 

She hurriedly finished up her banking and walked out.  She walked slowly, but at a steady pace, straight towards the front gates and out of the city, never looking back.  Once outside the great city gates, she moved around to the side of the city wall and, out of sight of everyone, quickly shapeshifted into cat form and stealthed, standing silent and unmoving there in the shadows beside the wall.  She stood there hidden beside the gate.  Her skin was still itchy and that crawling feeling was still there.  She knew that it was a warning of some kind. 

Within less than 2 minutes of time, several warriors came riding out of the city gates at top speed, obviously looking for something or someone.  Icce suspected it was herself they were looking for.  So she remained motionless there in the shadow, just watching.

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A couple of the warriors remained near the city gates, while the others ran on down the road, obviously in a hurry to get to Razor Hill.  The warriors within Icce’s sight milled around, on guard, looking around, searching for sure, but in a quiet way.

Icce somehow knew that their odd behavior had something to do with her sister, but what?

Icce would need to get back into the city, quietly, and she knew she would have to stay stealthed and not draw any attention to herself.  She knew these warriors would, no doubt, have something to say to each other about something important that had to do with her or with her sister when they returned to their barracks and were away from their trainers, later that night  And Icce would be there outside the window listening to find out what they said.

MORE TO BE ADDED HERE.. SOON..

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Time of Discovery  

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For the better part of six months, Icce had travelled to many places in Kalimdor and been to most of the Eastern Kingdoms areas, in search of traces of her sister, Thorevalda, but she had not found any.  In fact, no one had been able to give her any information about the whereabouts of Thorevalda.  No one knew anything about her, and had never seen her.  Icce had to search further.  But where to go?  She needed to clear her head.  She couldn’t think straight.  She had searched all of the Horde lands and not found any signs of Thorevalda.  Perhaps she had to go into the Alliance lands to search.  Maybe that was the missing link.  She would sleep on it and set out on a new journey in the morning.

She was glad to be in Hammerfall for the night.  The inn was fairly large for it being only in an outpost, leagues away from Undercity, and the food there was decent.  At least she would have a clean bed to sleep in for a night before she went off into the wild again.  It would be awhile before she had another bed as soft, since the next inn was miles and miles away, so she would enjoy the luxury.

Icce woke up covered in a sweat, almost in a panic.  Something was wrong.  Her skin had that crawling sensation again and she could feel the hairs on her arms standing on end.  Although it was pitch black in the room, she could see clearly through the darkness and she could hear sounds outside, an owl and other wildlife off in the distance.  What did it mean?  And then, abruptly, the sensation went away. 

It wasn’t morning yet, but Icce decided it was time to get up.  There was no reason to wait in the inn.  She knew she would not be able to get back to sleep.  Although it was very dark - there was no moon out on this night -, it would be morning in a few hours and the sun would be getting hot soon after it rose over the horizon.  She wanted to make it across at least part of the Wetlands before she stopped again, and it would be easier to travel in the coolness of the day.  She anticipated the travel to be easy, but she would have to be more alert then she had been for the last few days.  It was a long dangerous route she was to follow, and she had never been to the Wetlands before.  She had heard some wild tales about the place, too, and was going to investigation all of them.  She had decided she would discover every inch of the place before moving on.

She quickly dressed and pulled on her boots.  She picked up her weapons and canteen and left the room. She walked to the water barrel and quickly filled it to the brim with cold water.  Then she walked toward the exit to the town.  When she got to the town gate, she mounted up on her kodo and headed south toward the main road.

The journey from Hammerfall across the Thandol Span and down into the Wetlands was an easy one, but long.  The road had been deserted, not a soul crawled across her path.  Walking across the partially broken bridge, high above the  river, Icce heard gunshots.  When she reached the other side of the bridge, she saw a small fortress under attack by some alliance.  It was Dun Modr. She paused for a second, but then passed on, leaving them to their jobs there.

Coming down the hill, she first thought to go straight on down the road, but then second thought and decided to head cross country, across The Green Belt.  So she turned left and headed east across the green wavy grass, towards the tall trees in the distance.  There was an outcropping of hills in the distance too and she decided to see what was over there.

The area she was walking through had numerous camps of gnolls, all going about their business, none taking notice of her crossing.  She was glad of that because she was feeling weary, and a bit drowsy, almost lethargic, and she had the tinniest bit of tingling on her arms, that went down her spine, a new odd sensation.  She decided to stop once she got to the hills or the next set of trees that were not occupied.  She needed a short break.  She wished she had slept better the night before.

Every grove of trees housed a group of gnolls, so Icce was forced to keep going.  She finally reached the hills to find them treeless, but unoccupied, so she climbed up into a ravine and sat down to rest.  She opened up her sack and took out her food and ate a little, and drank some of the water that was in her canteen.  Looking around, and deciding it was safe enough, she lay down and dozed off to sleep.

It was then that she began having dreams… she could see dragon gates and bones of dragons… and a huge building… Then she began to feel a great urge to go there. She felt she had to go there at once.  Something was waiting for her there.  She awoke up with a start.  She had been asleep but a few moments.  The sun was still in the same place in the sky, and she was still alone.  But she sensed danger not far away.  So, she got up and began to walk down the length of the valley.  She went around the edge of it and saw, there in front of her, great gates, and the skeleton of what looked to have once been a great huge dragon.   What was beyond those gates?

Of course, she had to explore this place.  She started walking towards the gates.

She stepped inside the gates and walked a short distance.  Then, suddenly, there before her was a huge red dragon, with gigantic white wings that easily spanned 50 feet! 
Axtroz was its name.

Icce thought, "How do I know that?" “Where did that dragon come from?"  and "Why are all these dragonkin here?"

Icce skirted around the edge of the valley and wandered on further up the canyon. 
There was another set of gates, and more dragonkin.  “What is this place?” she asked herself.

The further up the canyon she went, the more gates she saw, and there were dragonkin everywhere, but none of them seemed to take notice of her.

Finally she saw the building. It was Grim Batol. 
It was then that she recalled her dream on the hillside.
She realized these places were actually the very images she had dreamed about while dozing on that hillside.

Walking up to the very end of the canyon, Icce looked out and could see the great Stonewrought Dam, holding back the water in the Loch in Loch Modan.

Turning around, looking back down the canyon, she decided she had seen it all, and decided to leave.

She walked all the way back out of the canyon, out of the many gates, surpassing all of the dragonkin guards. 

They all seemed to be oblivious of her presence.

Then, after she passed out of the last gate, she looked back and, as she turned, she noticed what looked like dragon bones on the ground, just on the other side of the gate. She could just see them.  She didn’t recall seeing them the first time through.  She decided to go take a closer look at them.  So she began to retrace her steps, back inside the gates.

Walking back inside the gates, she could clearly see the dragon bones, a huge skeleton of some dragon who had been long dead.

Getting closer to the bones, the great maw was open wide and the teeth still looked sharp.  Icce got closer and reached out to touch the skeleton.  It felt smooth and hard, warm to the touch, as she ran her hand along the edge of the jaw.  Then her fingers touched a tooth.  “Ouch!”  It was sharp.  She had nicked her finger and she was bleeding.  She looked at her hand as the blood seeped out of the cut and trickled down to the ground. 

Suddenly, her skin was getting that crawling feeling again. The old sensation was happening again. The hairs on her arms were starting to stand on end and her blood was starting to boil inside her. Her ears rang and she felt dizzy.  Then she felt like she was floating.  She was having trouble breathing.  Her mouth felt dry and she wanted to throw up.  She blacked out.

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She opened her eyes and looked out down the meadow, wiped her hand across her face and wondered what had happened to her.  She suddenly found that she could hear things far away.  She could hear the shooting up in Dun Modr and the water pouring over the Stonewrought Dam.  She could also hear the dragonkin and the dragonette nearby. 

She looked down the valley and saw that everything was sharper, more in focus than it had been a moment before.  That was when she noticed that she was looking down at the great dragon skeleton.  She looked down at herself and saw she was a red dragon, like Axtroz.  She took a deep breath and turned her head to look down the valley once more.  She wasn't surprised.  It seemed natural.

At a distance, she could hear the screams of orcs as they were beating someone, and she could hear that person screaming in pain and agony.  Then she could hear her sister Thorevalda calling her name “…Icce, Icce…”

Icce knew that Thorevalda was nearby.  She looked around and decided that it must be at Grim Batol that Thorevalda was being held captive.

Icce spread her great wings and launched herself up into the sky...

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It didn’t take Icce long to get back to the main buildings at Grim Batol. Now, that she knew where Thorevalda was, it was just a question of how to get inside and get Thorevalda out… and how to get out of this dragon shape...  It was with that thought that Icce became her former shape. 

She looked down at her hand and saw a white scar on her finger where the dragon tooth had cut it earlier.  It was now completely healed.  She wanted to believe that it had been real, but it was a lot to swallow.  She shook her head, “It was a hallucination.  There is no way that I could have really turned into a giant red dragon.  I must have fallen asleep here.”  She shook her head in disbelief again and said aloud, “It wasn’t real.  It was only a daydream.” 

But then she heard Thorevalda’s voice crying out to her again, “…Icce, Icce…” and she knew that her sister was really here, inside Grim Batol somewhere, and she knew she had to get in there somehow.  There had to be some way to get Thorevalda out of there, away from those horrible orcs who where torturing her.  Icce was a healer, but she was going to kill those orcs.

Icce looked back at the huge doors.  They were shut and sealed tightly, with no discernible way of opening them.  There was no keyhole or handle.  It was apparent that Icce was not going to be able to simply push them open and walk inside.  She would have to look around to see if there was another way in.  Perhaps she could, some how, climb up the side of the building and find a window open that she could climb into, to get inside.  It didn’t look like it was going to be easy to climb up that smooth surface either. 

Icce saw that the scar on her finger looked like it was starting to glow.  That odd sensation was returning.  The tingling was starting again.  Icce looked around her to see if there was any danger in sight.  The only thing she saw was dragonkin, walking around at a distance, apparently oblivious to her presence.

At that moment, she was instantly transformed into a giant red dragon.  She spread her magnificent wings and flew easily up to the top of the tower where a lighted window stood open.  She quickly landed and saw that she was standing on her feet again.  She was no longer a red dragon.  “This is going to take some getting used to”, she thought.

Not having time to really dwell on this phenomenon at the moment, she put it in the back of her mind, turned and climbed into the window.

Once inside, Icce saw she was in a large vacant room.  A closed door was on the far wall.  A bed was in the corner covered with a spread, and a cupboard was standing against the wall.  A table stood in the middle of the room with books scattered about on its surface.  Icce moved closer to the table and saw that the books had a fine film of dust covering them.  It was obvious that they had been laying there untouched for some time.  Although the room was light inside, there was no fire in the hearth and, outside the open window, there was no other discernible source of light present.  It just was “light” inside.  Icce was puzzled by this, but didn’t take time to investigate.  She needed to get moving.  She walked softly over to the door and put her ear up against the wood panel.  She listened, but heard nothing.  She waited for a few minutes, listening the whole time, and never heard any sounds coming from outside the room or inside it.  So, she decided it was time to open the door and move on.

She turned the door handle slowly, and she was grateful it did not make a noise.  Carefully, and ever so slowly, she opened the door a crack.  With her hand still on the handle, she stopped and listened again.

She moved to the door.  

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.... TO BE CONTINUED soon...

... it's a work in progress...

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Thorevalda and Icce outside the Violet Hold - in Dalaran, both level 80
(July 10, 2010)

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(Icce at level 85 - Resto/Balance Druid  - January 17, 2011
 

Icce at level 85 - with her friend, Solar, a level 85 tank pally - who was with her when she "dinged 85"

Icce at level 84 - becomes a "Sandstone Drake" (Dragon) - January 16, 2011.

January 20, 2011