[Prompt] Witness

Lore World's End Tavern: Role-play and Fan Fiction
1

This is not how today was supposed to go. You were minding your own business, attending to chores or what not around whatever city you frequent. And then you witnessed it. A figure attacked a seemingly innocent person and ran off with their belongings. Now, as a key witness, you are being hounded to describe the person, and or help identify them. Do you cooperate? How well did you notice the details? Can you give a picture perfect description, or did you only see generalizations? Do you make up the blanks, or are you honest? Do you take the time to do this all to the best of your ability, or do you want to rush through and get on with your life? Or perhaps you flat out refuse.

Info

This is meant to be a fun exercise, so there aren’t many rules.

Prompts are fun little things meant to inspire. You don’t have to perfectly match the prompt. Just let it inspire a thought.

I’m going to try and post these weekly, sometime between Saturday and Monday probably. Feedback and prompt ideas are welcome, so feel free to post them in the archive thread. Some prompts will be more thought provoking, some more whimsical. Respect your fellow writers.

Disclaimer: I cannot take full credit for every prompt. Some of these I create on my own, some are prompts I’ve seen that I’ve taken a WoW spin to, and some I’ve seen and used in the past, some are ideas spoken in passing between me and coworkers, or guildmates, or some are offered directly from folks on the forums. If I’ve been directly given a prompt from another person, I will credit them unless they do not want to. Otherwise, know some of these are gained through many means.

Archive: Kersia's Prompt Archive and Discussion

2

The pair of officers stood before the demon huntress. Her arms were folded. She hefted a sagging burlap sack over one shoulder. An aura of quiet irritation smoldered around her. The clear veteran of the pair spoke up first, unphased by the demon huntress’s demonic visage. He cleared his throat. “Alright miss,”

“Vesthi.” The demon huntress interrupted.
“Alright.” The veteran officer continued. “Ms. Vesthi,”

“Just Vesthi,” She snapped her blindfolded visage to the officer. “Or Illidari, if you prefer.”
The officer bit back his annoyance and continued. “Would you kindly share with us every detail of,”

Vesthi pointed with a claw tipped finger. “That woman there was accosted by a pair of men,” She swung her arm to the left. “Near that street corner.” She continued her description in nearly the same breath. “The two men wore masks and non descriptive clothing. Dark in color. Blacks and browns. Their make was common and well worn. The first stood a head taller than the second, whom I would guess was human by his stature and gait. The first was Kaldorei. The first spoke threatening words at the woman and grabbed for her satchel. The second punched her in the stomach when she responded defiantly, then he cut the satchel straps and the pair ran into the alley.”

The veteran officer nodded his head as he listened. He turned to the junior officer to ask, “Are you getting this?” The younger officer nodded as he scribbled. He looked back up at Vesthi. “Anything else you can tell us about them?”

Vesthi considered the veteran officer for a moment before opening up. “These two went by the moniker Sam and Jack, respectively. They were a couple of thugs linked to a local crime syndicate, recruited for this job specifically. Their specialties are strong arm robberies and assaults. They were only meant to take the woman’s satchel. She wasn’t to be harmed, by their bosses orders.”

The veteran officer looked a little flabbergasted. He worked his mouth to ask the obvious question, but Vesthi continued before he could. “I witnessed the assault and followed the thugs back to their hide out.” She produced a small bundle of paperwork and handed it to the veteran officer. Unfolding it he found a letter that detailed the whole robbery for the thugs, positive legal identification of the thugs, as well as an innocuous bundle of other papers.

“That other bundle of papers,” Vesthi pointed out. “Is what they were sent to steal from that woman.” At closer inspection the veteran officer noted the Alliance Military mark on several of the pages. This was clearly sensitive intelligence. The veteran officer’s mouth hung open as he bundled the papers in his grip. “Well.” His tone teetered between gratitude for the work she’d put in and irritation that she clearly thought she could do their jobs better. “I can see you’ve got this all wrapped in a bow. All that’s left for me to do is deliver these sensitive document back to their rightful hands in the military.”

It seems irritation won the day. The officer sneered up at Vesthi. “Whatever happened to those thugs ya followed?”

Vesthi lowered the burlap sack over her shoulder and dropped it at the veteran officer’s feet. A sickening wet slush hit the ground. The officer peered down at the sack and then up a Vesthi. “Don’t tell me,”

“Their heads.” Vesthi confirmed. “Self defense.”
“Not bloody likely.” The officer muttered.

“I have elsewhere to be.” Vesthi stated, annoyed. She turned and stepped from the officers. The Veteran of the pair called out. “Stay where we can reach you, Illidari. We most certainly will have more questions later.” Vesthi offered a halfhearted wave over her shoulder as she walked away.

2 Likes
3

Haha, why am I not surprised she took matters into her own hands XD

1 Like
4

“Seat yerselves!” Came the haggard, yet booming voice of the eldest man on the Brethren Court. At Admiral Barbossa’s call, every blackguard, buccaneer, corsair, and privateer present promptly shut up and sat down, without exception. Even the gronn that someone had brought planted its tremendous behind.

Sathonys stood in the witness line-up, and eyed the man that had been brought to the Brethren Court in chains. When a man sits before the Brethren Court, his guilt is guaranteed, as pirates didn’t chain one another for very long unless there was a damned good reason. Such as a profound betrayal of trust, or an act of such tremendous stupidity that it threatens piracy everywhere.

Captain Edmond Blackheart had done both those things- besieging Kul Tiras’ tidegates with most of Sweete’s lackeys, and then having the colossal cannonballs and tiny brain to turn on his fellow besiegers with barking cannons, seeking to claim all the loot for himself, Sweete’s orders be damned.

Eventually, Sathonys was brought forward to offer condemnation on Blackheart’s soul- nobody in the Brethren Court expected the truth, their lot was thieves, blackguards, poachers, and they fully expected ships and crews to be “redistributed” after every calling of the Brethren Court. And so, the truth was far more damning than a lie could ever be.

“Yer Alliance bias be noted, Captain Silverdawn- but I should hope the captain of such a prestigious ship has clean, trustworthy hands?” Admiral Barbossa began, smiling wryly. The head of the Brethren Court was, ironically, one of the most trustworthy men there. The only backstabbing he did, he did when there was something of true worth to be gained from the act. He raised a hand, “Present your condemnation, captain.”

Sathonys produced a stack of papers that had Edmond Blackheart sweating bullets. “On my black heart, I swear all you find herein writ, is naught but the absolute truth, and may its veracity be found wanting, bury my heart on an unmarked isle.”

Grins vanished from the faces of the gathered, and even Admiral Barbossa trained a steely gaze on Silverdawn, before receiving the stack of papers. That was one hell of a solemn oath Sathonys just invoked, and his Dark Iron friend, Bandis Forgehammer, glanced warily at him.

Several moments passed as Barbossa read the parchments with well-trained eyes, everyone waiting for his judgment with bated breath.

“Lads and lasses, with what I have discovered, I can lay only the harshest verdict on the cur before me- and furthermore, a king’s ransom for any who bring proof that they’ve slain a score or more of Ashvane culls- irrefutable, I’ll note!- for they and this man have conspired in acts which would see piracy a distant memory! Privateers and corsairs, sworn men and blackguards alike, rejoice! This shall be a crusade! To Neptulon, and keeping the seas free!” Barbossa declared, even as Edmond Blackheart was picked up and dragged off to be ferried to Fate’s End.

Sathonys adjusted his hat, walking off now that the verdict had been delivered. He had seas to patrol.

2 Likes
5

Ravasha was stopped by some officers trailed by an Arcane Guardian. They seemed unreadable, perhaps distantly annoyed, and motioned for her to halt.

“Yes? I’m on my way to complete a very important errand for my dearest Mother.” The warlock lied.

“Your Mommy can wait. What’s your name, ma’am?” The first officer spoke up. The Arcane Guardian mimicked her movements as if it was her.

“My name is Iridessa Blackdawn. How may I be of service madames–?” Ms. Witchhawk lied again.

“You can just call us ‘officer’ or ‘ma’am’ thank you.” The second officer supplied.

“Well, I was on my way, when I saw a young woman–” The first officer held up her hand. The Arcane Guardian did the same thing.

“What did the woman look like?” She asked Iridessa.

“Well, she was dressed like a paladin. She had… silver armor. Plain features. Fel green eyes. And she was accosted by a thug.” Ravasha says.

“Did this thug say or do anything suspicious? What did he look like?” The second officer asks.

“He or she, they were wearing a mask and baggy clothing, said ‘for my sister!’ And hit her over the head. She wasn’t wearing her helmet and fell unconscious.” Ms. Blackdawn bit her lip.

“Was that it? Anything else?” The first officer wrote on her notepad. The Arcane Guardian mimicked her writing.

“I intervened. I cast a Fireball and scared off the thief’s Hawkstrider. Then the woman fled down the street.” She said.

The two officers nodded and the first finished writing her notes.

“I do hope you find the culprits. All involved were Sin’dorei by my recollection. It’s a shame to have lawbreakers in our home isn’t it?” Ravasha said with a sad tone.

The officers nod and send her off. The truth was that she had seen an attack, but she wasn’t sure what was going on.

Ravasha walked away from the scene.

If the woman was a criminal or not who cares? She was attacked without cause and I’m a witness. My parents taught me to defer to authorities on this matter. Ravasha thought.

Later she saw the same woman. She thanked Ravasha for turning in the attacker.

“Now they’re in jail. Thank you. I had no idea this person was colluding with the Alliance and I had slain her sister in arms, a human.” The paladin confessed. Ravasha had been the only witness.

“Of course. I live to serve. Just be careful next time. You may not live through another attack. Here’s my business card.” Iridessa slipped the woman a perfumed business card and then walked away.

3 Likes