Flinthammer Hall

Ringo was on the last chorus of “Good King Bronzebeard” when the draenei joined in.

“In his master’s steps he trod,
Towards the goodly numbers;
Poison on his daggers went
So they dripped and glittered.
Therefore, Dwarven folk, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will save the wee,
Shall yourselves find blessing.”

With that, Ringo drained his mug, blew the foam from his whiskers with appreciation and sat down at the long table in the forest.

“There’s no snow here on Azuremyst, but this is a proper Feast of Winter’s Veil, right enough,” he grinned, slapping a draenei next to him on the shoulder. “Still, it’s hard to wrap my head around you lot celebrating the coming of Greatfather Winter a world away with the Wildhammers.”

“Well, surely you don’t actually believe in Greatfather Winter, do you?” asked an oddly lovely draenei woman across the table.

Beli dropped her cutlery onto her plate with a clatter. The guests all fell silent.

…

Read More Read More

Ringo Flinthammer was having fun.

“Dashing through the snow, looking for demons ta slay, o’er hills we go, shooting all the way!” He grinned, cocking his rifle with one broad thumb. “Bang, bang, bang, bang!”

Behind him, Beli jogged along, holding her warhammer with both hands.

“Should ye really be singing? It’s going to know where we are.”

…

Read More Read More

It was midnight.

Ringo and Beli couldn’t see the glowing crystal through the trees from where they were, but it lit the leaves and branches of the visibly mutated plants as the dwarves crept through the underbrush.

“If I said I saw figures around it, why would that make you want to sneak up to the crystal?” Beli hissed quietly, wishing she was sitting before a roaring fire in Lakeshire.

…

Read More Read More

Everything about the island was wrong.

It was Frostmaw who noticed it first. The bear hadn’t wanted to step on the grass and whined when Ringo tried to force him. Something had warped the grass into spirals with serrated edges. They were harmless when stepping straight down on them, but dragging something past a blade of grass would cut the skin with a dozen tiny cuts. Ringo and Beli had to stomp a path of flattened grass for Frostmaw before he would follow, and the rest of the time on the island, they tried to stick to clearings with no grass, or with shorter and stubby grasses unlike the warped sawgrass along the shore.

It was worse inland.

…

Read More Read More

The Maiden’s Virtue thudded dully against the Auberdine dock. The water was dark and Ringo Flinthammer knew it would be cold if he or is wife ended up in the drink. As a result, he kept a careful eye on the bear, the bear cub and the murloc as they pulled their gear off one ship and carried it down the dock to the nimble elf caravel preparing to make way.

“I think they’re arguing about you,” Beli said, returning to the Maiden’s Virtue for another load of their gear. Behind her, a knot of night elves were bickering in Darnassian, glaring at the dwarves as they piled their gear up for the voyage west to the empty isle of Azuremyst.

…

Read More Read More