The Diary of Llorian Cromwell.

((Going to put Llor's accounts of work and personal stuff here. Although it's her diary, so no-one will really see it, I figure I should get it down for all those times when I'm on an alt, or just to get across how she feels about certain situations.))

Amongst Llorian's few remaining possessions is one rusted leatherback tome, which bears the scars of many years. The object is well hidden, but between its pages rests one of the last standing places for her innermost confessions.

Eighteenth day of the seventh month.
I had given up hope that the lotus would offer us any form of passable content. It has been imposed upon in several means, the least disappointing being that limp state in which it remains once boiled. It is a waxy, retentive leaf, and through all of this, the smell for which it was selected has never once faded, which I have always taken as consolation. However, the salve which I have been given has rendered all my complaints redundant. Whatever it is composed of has managed to clarify the lotus into a dry pulp, while maintaining it in a way that does not see it turn to mulch, but something smoother, and more tactile upon the skin. I am left with an article that is finally a suitable companion to its counterpart, that being the heartblossom, a plant that has never once made any cause for concern, and always acted as I wished it to. I shall make it known to my lady when next I see her, and offer some good news at last.

There was a lecture this evening which brought the joys of my day to a hanging gloom. Lord Marwonaeth spoke to our Apothecaries of the forthcoming advance, and the cruelty in which it should proceed. Our lands must be defended, I agree with that more in this age than ever, but the methods in which we enact it crawl upon those of sadism time and time again. Is killing a man not enough? Must he also be tortured, mutilated, and ravaged so that even the stonemason cannot put a name to his tomb? I do not wish the deaths our people saw upon anyone, and I could see no worse existence than to become the person administering it.

Nineteenth day of the seventh month.
I received a letter this morning from the lord himself, informing me that there would be another lecture tomorrow, and that it would continue in its tradition as one of malicious guidance. I know this because I, Cromwell, have been requested to give a speech for how best to go about it. I cannot help but think my discontent has been noticed, and that this is my penalty. I have been told to brief my brothers and sisters on the anatomy of the Alliance races, and how best to dispense our concoctions within the battlefield. I know not what I will do.

My lady came to me once darkness had fallen, and brought with her a hound that I did not recognise. She required that I administer the balm upon its skin, to which I stated that I had already done so of my own, and thought it clear that to do so on a living being would not be necessary, in lieu of its final objective. My observation refused, I was again told to administer the substance to the animal. It was not that I doubted my creation, but rather that in principle, the cur was neither the enemy nor any fitting representative, such as captured Scarlets, for example, or the incessant worgen. Even if it was, I felt implored to state the outcome of its intended use was again for us, the undead, and no other. She remained so unmoving in her position that I felt the only choice I had was to speak plainly. It is not my objective to become so laboured with hate that even the unknowing beast must be my experiment. And so again, I answered no. At this time, a crowd had gathered, with the lord amongst them, and when it became clear we were both unmoving in our intentions, the matter of the dog was withdrawn completely, and it became a dispute over devotion to the cause. That I had questioned my duty rather than to follow it blindly was deplorable, and worthy of the first punishment under the lord's new tirade. It is as if a trap were prepared for me, and the responses already known.

My dearest Ada, I dreamt of you, and my heart wept.

(( Tsh, she was to put lotion in the basket- oh wait, on the piece of meat, not dog >: (
But yeah, that's what I meant in my previous post about keeping the offline work going. Thanks for your initiative on this! ))

Needs more time travel.

((I would, but captain Mar says we aren't allowed to work on personal projects anymore, and I need that flux capacitor working dammit. THIS IS WHY THE FUTURE IS LAME.))

Twentieth day of the seventh month.
I spent several hours this morning categorising the tinctures and observing their infusion. Laudanum seems to me not only the most attractive, but also the most potent. I am soothed by the elixir. Its scent eclipses all of lotus and heartblossom combined. My sobriety for the moment lies in the knowledge that I can be placated by such a substance.

The cards showed Temperance reversed. I should have expected no less, with the state of things as they are. My lack of restraint and self control in present company are as plain as day. Of course, the afternoon did not see a lecture, but a tutorial, and I was bereft even of the voice with which to speak. I thanked the skies that the lady Nightdragon took it upon herself to speak for me, though I looked amongst a dozen and more faces, each in agreement of where best to inject poison, which areas of the armour were weakest, and our numerous coup d'état, and saw nothing of the Lordaeron I, and surely they, lived through. The extent to which we are asked to recognise the tools of agony has compounded in me such sorrow that these meetings are intolerable. What's more, I saw the third as an inverted King of Swords! Proof if this were not so overwhelming that tyranny is destined to reign. Perhaps I was right all along, in that idle decade. Perhaps I should never have come home.

((A brief explanation on this one. Llorian is paying particular attention to tarot cards, and in this case has read them through the “Three Fates” spread, meaning that three cards have been drawn, representing the past, present and future respectively. She hasn't mentioned the first, but the second and third are described briefly, as she wouldn't feel the need to explain them to herself.))