Two Orcs, a Squirrel and a Gnomish Place

[Broxigan]

The icy winds blew calmly through the mountain range in Alterac, the furry animals scurried about and found their ways into their burrows, and an orc sat calmly upon the roof top of a building amongst what would look like a construction site. His gray eyes unfocused upon the horizon, the ruins of Lodareon a speck upon the horizon.

Upon his shoulder, a small mechanical squirrel sat, chittering, beeping, churring methodically to the orc looking to and fro with beady green eyes.

Down below, within the confines of the workshop, gadgets and wires lined the walls, gizmos and doodads flicked in the filtered light through the windows. In one particular section of the shop, something stood out. At first glance, it would almost appear to be a shooting range of sorts. But upon closer inspection, metal frames, bent into a right angle and placed upon a post, about a dozen, lined the walls. Upon each frame was mounted a crude, simple shield.

A couple of the frames seemed to have collapsed in on themselves, a few more have the shield broken in half and one or two resembled nothing more than a simple pile of broken metal. Leaning upon a nearby table stood Gorehowl, glistening slightly in the sunlight.

On a nearby stand laid what looked to be a small arm, though, it was not made of flesh. It shone just as the metal from Gorehowl did, twinkling slightly in the darkness. By the size of the device, it almost looked like a child's arm. Panels had been pried open, wires hung loosely, a sprinkle of crimson painted where it obviously connected to a shoulder at some point.

Etched into the wrist were a few letters. They read:


"GERENZO"

Aside from this little display, not much else could be known about what was going on in the workshop. At least not yet.

So, Brox sat silently, listening to Vee as it spewed calculations and theories out, the both of them waiting patiently for Vilmah to show up. A few hours ago, Brox had sent out a message to Vilmah, care of the goblins, to meet him in the mountains.

Good news or bad, she at least needed to know what he had planned.

[Vilmah]

Vilmah sat held on tightly to Edmund's fur, her brow furrowed in thought. An hour ago, she'd received word from Broxigan to meet him in the mountains. She got the message from a goblin, which was proof enough that his plan was coming into fruition. That much was reason enough to come as quickly as she could, despite how strange it felt to hold on to her wolf with one hand.

"C'mon, Eddy. Broxy might have a solution for us."

It was wishful thinking, but after learning from Malethia about her alternatives, Vilmah decided that the mechanical route was likely the way to go. Magic tended to have strange side effects, as she recalled in Nojinbu's case when he was bombarded with so much that he split into two entities.

One of which resembled a grizzled old troll who still gave her council.

Attempting to calm herself, Vilmah rode on. She tried to keep her hope low, as not to be disappointed, but couldn't help thinking how wonderful it would be to open a jar by herself again.

[Broxigan]

Brox knew the alternatives. He had been around when the subject of magical solutions came up. The risks for it were high, the Balance would require something in return. Not to mention his previous experiences...

Clys would have been a choice as well, though she had vanished, seemingly, from the face of Azeroth. But risks arose from that. Sure, Brox had received a bit of help from Clys when he had lost his eyes, but the risk at what he would have to repay with was high. He came off lucky, thank the spirits.

Engineering.

Years of tinkering and exploring and learning had proven fruitful for Brox. Vee was the perfect example of his art. He spent days, gathering schematics, materials, books and had Vee read them aloud to him within the confines of his workshop. Different metals had different stress limits, different frames had different mobility.

The schematics that Hellista had found, months ago, about possible synthetic growths upon metallic materials had proven almost useless. The goblins had translated what could be deciphered from the gnomish plans, but it was nothing more than any could have figured out on their own. Nearly useless...

Days passed as he paced through his workshop, thinking over the possibilities of how to go about "building" a replacement arm. Then it hit him.

He recalled having to retrieve something from a gnome in Stonetalon. A goblin had sent him to one of the Venture Companies sites to retrieve an arm.

A mechanical arm.

From a gnome.

Gerenzo Wrenchwhistle.

Now, sure, there was a gnome with a "mechanical arm", but what functionality did it have, how did it move, were synthetics involved, was it just a simple accessory strapped to a numb.

Whatever the case was, Brox had taken a trip into the mountains, and low and behold, the gnome had a replacement. The spirits certainly were playing into his favor it seemed.

Brox had asked the gnome for the arm.

The gnome hit Brox with a wrench.

Brox asked again.

The gnome punched Brox in the back of the knee.

Brox forcefully asked once more.

The gnome attempted to stab Brox.

Brox sighed, picked the gnome up, ripped the arm from his shoulder and tossed him over the edge, into the lake below.

Now, with the arm in tow, Brox had brought it back to his workshop and begun dismantling it, with Vee's help. Basic structures, similar to the way bone and muscle were in living creatures. A solid beam ran to the elbow, joined with a few cogs, nuts and bolts, then another beam up to the shoulder area.

Wires ran amok throughout the inside of the creation, below the outer shell that seemed to have been hammered out into an arm shape. Small motors and gyros riddled throughout the arm. All far too confusing to figure out just yet.

But what really baffled Brox was the attachment to the shoulder. Leather straps had been pulled around the Gnome's chest, it would have seemed if Brox had not ripped it from the body, but where the metal had met flesh, it felt and seemed to have been grafted in. Wires had snapped around where they had connected to something else.

He would figure out the details later. Carefully, he crafted similar, yet crude, arms and set them up for testing, all made from different metals and ore at different temperatures. With Vilmah's Gorehowl that she had given him, he tested out each creation only to come up with undesirable results.

The answer to what he needed lie within the Gnomish city of Gnomeregan. That was when he sent the letter to Vilmah. He needed to head down there, to find something, anything, that would help him with the creation of something for the Warboss.

Vee let out a shrill as he saw Vilmah riding up the path, a smile playing onto Brox's face as he leapt from the rooftop down into the snow below, landing on one knee before pushing himself up, stretching. As she approached, Brox offered a warm smile, "Glad you could make it."

[Vilmah]

In spite of her rather tumultuous situation, Broxigan's face never ceased to brighten Vilmah's spirits. His smiles were generally contagious, unless he was laughing at her expense. Seeing him now, in the frigid conditions that she usually hated, made their surroundings bearable.

"Well you call me, so I come a'runnin'," she said with a shrug, bringing her wolf to a halt. "Always hated that your lab hasta be out here, you and yer frigging cold.. freezin' my toes off!"

Edmund gave a quick snort, shaking his head as if to tell Vilmah to stop bitching.

Sliding off of his back, she gave the wolf a playful pat on the cheek, "And don't you start.."

[Broxigan]

"Yeah yeah, it is warm inside. I managed to get the coils installed throughout the basement," he shrugged and pushed the door opening, waiting for her to walk in before following. "So, you remember that goblin I told you about?"

He closed the door behind them and before she could reply, he continued, "Well, it wasn't a goblin. It turned out to be a gnome. Which is a good thing." Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back against the door, looking over towards where the "arms" and Gorehowl sat along with crumpled pieces of metal.

"I think I can do it. I just need to head into Gnomeregan and find a few materials similar to the one that is used with that one," he nodded to where he knew the table was. "At the very least, a frame that can support blows and a shield should be workable. Movement will be more difficult."

[Vilmah]

Vilmah nodded, taking note of the idea that movement wouldn't be what it once was. She would have something there to hold up a shield, but little else. The idea frightened her. Whereas once she was rather proud of her acrobatic ability, she might now be forced to be somewhat stationary for the rest of her life.

"I understand. Um.. am I gonna be able to move it on my own at all? I mean, the way I might move a regular arm.." She scratched her head. "Will I have to like, use a wrench to change the settings or something?"

[Broxigan]

"No clue as of right now. The gnome seemed to be able to move it...but it seemed to drive a little deeper than just a simple accessory. Hence why I need to head down to Gnomeregan. I need to poke around, find a few things and possible find more to these schematics Hellista had found. You know, the synthetic thing I told you about."

He pushed himself from the door and walked over to the table, picking up the mechanical arm, running one hand across the open compartments. "It is obviously doable. It will just take time." Turning to face her, he grinned and waved the tiny gnomish mechanical arm around in the air.

"And, I am sure you will want to tag along, if I know you. Besides, you mentioned you have never been down there, right?" He set the arm down behind him and shoved his hands into his pockets.

[Vilmah]

"Yeah yeah, you know me," Vilmah admitted, rolling her eyes. "And no, I never went to Gnomeregan. I kinda skipped it in my adventures, dunno why.. but it'll be neat to go there, now! ..'least it will be once we get whatever it is you need, in there. I wonder if I can swat away troggs with one arm?"

As she spoke (mostly to herself), she tried to understand the arm in front of her. It had about a thousand gizmos and doo-dads which she knew nothing of, and looked somewhat hard to maneuver. Imagining something similar being strapped to her was a frightening prospect, to say the least. Or at least intimidating.

"That thing isn't gonna shock me or anything, is it?"

[Broxigan]

"This one?" He shrugged and chuckled. "Most probably. But you won't be using this one. Plus, it would look funny. Having one short arm."

"Anyway, I plan on leaving soon. I have things packed...so, if you have the time, we can head out there now, hm?" Walking across the room, he grabbed one of the two satchels he packed, grinning widely as he nodded to the other.

[Vilmah]

Vilmah glanced down, looking at the equipment she'd brought. Truthfully, she hadn't intended on doing much adventuring, but thanks to her usual amount of paranoia she had in her possession a full suit of armor and a sword. At her sides were several small magical bags, which kept the usual necessities.

"Uh, sure!" She answered quickly. "Lets do it!"

[Broxigan]

With a nod and a smile, Brox lead Vilmah out the door and down the mountains, to Undercity. From there, the taxi service took them across the entire Eastern Kingdoms down to the southern tip; Booty Bay. The trip consisted mostly of Brox talking with Vee about one thing or another. It wasn't really clear as to what it was, but it sounded...important?

Upon landing in Booty Bay, Brox double checked his equipment he brought, Vee chittering as the orc pulled out various instruments before tossing the sack over one shoulder.

Leading Vilmah down the docks, with the help of Vee, Brox lead them to the goblin made device tucked away in one corner. One goblin stood by, appearing to be making small adjustments to the device.

Brox cleared his throat and the goblin leapt nearly two feet off the ground, letting out a shrill before turning to glare at the orcs. "Eh, what?! What do you want?!"

"Well, I was hoping to use the device, Scooty. Just need to plunge back into that stink hole to find some more things," Brox said with a slight sigh.

The goblin squinted at the both of them, then eyed the squirrel, then looked back to the device before nodding, "Yeah yeah, sure sure. Go on ahead, Orc. You know how to use it."

Nodding, Brox stepped up onto the platform of the device, pulling Vilmah up with him. Reaching one hand over, Brox slapped the button on the inside of the device, grinning as he spoke, "Beam me up?"

Scooty roared in defiance, "I TOLD YOU BEFORE I HATE WHEN PEOPLE SAY THAT!" The goblin leapt towards the both of them and just as he did, both orcs and the squirrel faded into thin air, the goblin crashing onto the floor with a groan.

The machine literally pulled every fiber of their being apart and shot it hundreds of miles to the north, carefully placing them back in the correct order, one by one. A shiver ran through Brox as the transport had completed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I hate that..."

"Oy, heading back into the hell hole, Brox?" said a tiny voice from off to the left. Sprok sat upon a nearby stool, picking idly at something from between his toes, eyeing the two orcs.

"Yep. Gotta find something down there. Let's hope I don't come back empty handed, hm?" He smiled to Vilmah then nodded to Sprok, heading down into Gnomeregan, rolling his shoulders.

[Vilmah]

Vilmah held her sword in one hand, idly looking around their surroundings as they ventured deeper into Gnomeregan. She considered all of her adventures concerning gnomes, and realized that they came up considerably short. She'd run into sore spots with Dwarves, Elves, Humans, Draenai, even Tauren.. but for some reason, gnomes made very few appearences during her journies. Walking through Gnomeregan, she imagined that their decimated city ight be the result of that truth. There were probably very few of them left, and she imagined that of the, even less would be in the mood for another war.

"This place smells," Vilmah noted, shaking her head quickly, her ponytail hitting the sides of her face. "Whatizzat, troggs? I remember hearing about the troggs down here.. gross."

[Broxigan]

Brox nodded slowly, pulling the axe on his back from its sling, resting the back of it against his shoulder as he holds it firmly in one hand. "Yeah, troggs. They came up from the bowels of the earth and invaded the city. From what I know, the gnomes fought back, failed and let a toxic gas out into their city." Vee looked around slowly, chittering and beeping. "Obviously, it didn't work out too well."

As they walked down the only available path towards a larger chamber, Brox fell silent, listening to Vee closely. The walls of the abandoned city loomed eerily over everything, dead, motionless aside from the insects and critters that jumped out of one hole and into another. Everything, for the most part, was metal. Wires hung loosely from open panels; nuts, bolts and screws littered the floors; off in the distance, the skittering of the troggs could be heard, a few darting in and out of sight at the end of the corridor.

Brox continued walking as Vee leapt from his shoulder, running over to a wall and picking up a few loose wires and tidbits, bringing them back over to Brox, stuffing them into a bag tied to his side.

As they entered the large open area at the end, the sound of the troggs running rampart through the city grew in volume. Some of the creatures were literally pulling panels from the walls and yanking whatever was inside, out.

Shaking his head, Brox pushed on, not giving the troggs the time of day, heading around the perimeter of the room. A few troggs attempted to get close to the pair, but either axe or sword swiftly cut through the beasts with little effort.

For the most part, the next half hour or so was rather uneventful. A trogg or some other creature attempted to stop the two orcs and the squirrel but met a quick end. Vee had left Brox's shoulder from time to time to pick up various objects, wires and tools, shoving them into the bag.

One corridor led to another room, then another, twisting and turning deeper into the earth. The rotting scent grew thicker and thicker the further they went. The lights that were wired throughout the city had become unstable. Some stayed on without effort, others flickered, some looked as though they had exploded.

The duo [and the squirrel creation] turned a corner and Brox stopped Vilmah from proceeding. He whispered softly, "We will take a small break here before going on. This is a clean area, so to speak. Gnomes up ahead still holding on to a small portion of the city." Down the hall was a brightly lit room, the small figures of the gnomes seen running around, doing this and that, their voices faint.

With a sigh, Brox dropped himself down against the wall, leaning back, pulling a loaf of bread and to skins of water from another pouch, breaking the bread in half and tossing one part to Vilmah.

[Vilmah]

Vilmah took the piece of bread from Broxigan, the very act causing her to pause in thought. It had been over a year since she had met Broxigan the Grey, a hunter who had been recently blinded and seemed lost in his outlook on life. They hadn't much celebrated the anniversary of their first meeting, but she remembered how they sat together in Shattrath, talking about how things were. How they should have been. Things had changed much since then that she hardly recognized the guild she led, anymore. None of the original members had stayed the test of time, save Vilmah herself. Therium had come much later, but his loyalty impressed her nearly as much as Broxigan.

Arm or no arm, he was still there.

"Yanno Brox," she began, weighing the piece of bread in her hand. "It's been a little over a year since I first met you. You remember that?"

Vilmah chuckled to herself, then answered her own question.

"I do. Remember how my brother was all jealous when he saw you an' me swimming out in Outland? Or how like, right after you joined, we fought against the Righteous Hand? Those were some good fights.." She sighed, leaning back against the wall as she looked up. "I can hardly believe I'm still alive. There's so much to fight for, still. The world is shaking, and we all know something bad is going to happen... and as much as it worries me, the truth is that I'm pretty sure we'll both still be alive after it's over."

Turning to smile at Broxigan, Vilmah bounced the piece of bread against her hand.

"I appreciate you, Brox. I know you're not the same orc I met, a year ago. I know I'm not the same either, but I hope I'm not too different. I hope I haven't become something you're not proud of, anymore," she continued, then bit off a chunk of bread.

"If Sanctuary is anything," she said finally, after swallowing. "It's you."