((Finally posting the rest of the scene where Diederich sees his son. I wanted to wait to post it until I finished the illustration!))

( Does anyone wish that I were alive...? Why do you look at me like that? This face that is rotting; It's painful; it's painful and it can't be helped )

Diederich was sitting at a desk in his study, writing. He liked to write poetry and fiction, and burned every page of it when it was finished. He didn't know why ( Read more... )

Diederich double-checked the notes Ceirin had handed him. She was a highly skilled tracker, and he'd paid her to find Aurora and Daydelis for him, but she'd declined to get involved any further than that. He didn't blame her, but now he was forced to deliver his message to Aurora himself ( Read more... )

Diederich shambled into the bar he frequented in Orgrimmar, still soaking wet from melted Northrend snow he'd never bothered to brush off on his way to Kalimdor. He looked and smelled repugnantly foul, crusted with blood and gore and spittle and slime from fights with Scourge ( Read more... )

The funeral was held in a parlor reserved exclusively for nobility. Though Diederich's mother Yelizaveta's relation to one of the noble families was not by blood, her pedigree and social standing were good enough to grant the Dawnblades access.

( Read more... )

"Father, I'm home!" Matthias yelled.

( Read more... )

Diederich bundled Oli, "Daydelis" now, up in sheets and blankets, tied him to his back, and used a hearth stone to return to Shattrath. He was fifteen minutes behind schedule, but that was close enough ( Read more... )

Diederich approached one of the matrons, an old troll woman. "Have any Blood Elf children died recently?" he asked ( Read more... )

"You have to let me kill him myself," Diederich told Matthias quietly as he led him through Shattrath.

"What?"

"He's my son. I want to do it myself. Make sure it's clean."

( War is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves. - Leo Tolstoy )

-Continued from here.-

"I don't want him to have that, either."

"So you're going to help me kill Daydelis?"

"Yes, I am."

( Read more... )