Looking haggard in his mixed armor and using a weak looking staff, Netherlord Capellini, the undead warlock stumbled in to The Filthy Animal, a bar in Dalaran. He exuded the slightly noxious smell common to all who had spent a little too long in the graves just outside of what had once been Lordaeron. The look on his face reflected a weariness, a lifetime of war against, well, just about everything.
The walls and floor were made of stone. They, along with the wooden bars, tables and seating gave the Filthy Animal a rather rustic appearance. The two dire wolves stretched out on the floor did little to dispel the feeling. Cap walked in and scratched one on the head. “Been a long time, guys. It’s good to see you. I’ll see if I can’t scare you up a bone or two from in back.” The animals smiled an animal smile, obviously remembering the creaky old undead.
Capellini shook his head. At various times, he had fought The Lich King, the Alliance, members of his own Horde, dragons, demons, gods and who knew what else. He had, with the help of many friends seen scores of foes defeated. Every day had seemed like a fight, a mad scramble to get that one piece of gear he needed to save all of Azeroth. The battles against enemies so fearsome they never should have never been allowed to exist. It was a good thing that the valiant warriors of the Horde (and, possibly, their counterparts in the Alliance, including even Khadgar with his long-winded tendencies) had been there when the fate of the world hung in the balance. He’d done years of good service to his Horde, given his life to protect his people. He had been looking forward to a long, well earned retirement hanging out with his feet up so he could count his toe bones to make sure none had fallen off. And then, this had happened.
“Cap!” It came from off to Cap’s right. He would never forget that voice.
“Uda!” Cap turned and started walking toward the bar and the innkeeper behind it. “It’s so good to see you. How’ve you been? You’re looking good.”
“It is good to see you, Cap. I think. You were in kind of a bad mood last time you were here. I seem to remember you were in a bad mood last I saw you. You were about to head off to the Broken Isles…”
“Sorry about that,” Cap sidled up and sat down at the bar. “I was feeling a bit cranky that day. I made sure to leave enough to gold that you were more than adequately recompensed for your losses in both crockery and furniture.”
Uda nodded. “That you did. Otherwise I’d be asking you to leave. As it is, have a seat, but PLEASE try not to break anything this time.”
“Heh,” Cap gave a quick chuckle before continuing, “That I will. Sorry I lost it last time. I had been through a lot and being asked to go back into the fray one more time was just a little more than I could handle. Gimme a plate of whatever’s hot and a mug of something that’ll help me take the edge off. I’m not being picky today.”
Uda nodded and started wiping the bar. “So what happened, Cap? It’s been years.”
“It just got to be too much.” Cap smiled a sickly sweet zombie smile and took a plate from a passing waitress, along with a mug of something he wasn’t sure he really wanted to identify. “I went to the Broken Isles loaded for bear. I was ready for anything. I was a veteran of multiple campaigns and, to me, it was just another fight.”
“Yeah, we kinda covered that last time you were here.” Uda started to look a bit nervous.
“Yeah,” Cap nodded. “Again, sorry about that. Anyway, I got to the Isles and travelled around a bit, offering my services where they were needed. At the end of the day, there’s not a lot that can’t be solved with the proper application of willpower and demon fire, and those are what a ‘lock does best.” He looked up to make sure Uda was still listening. “Anyway, we ended up at a place called the Temple of Sethrallis.”
Cap paused for a second and stirred his Smoked Elderhorn around on his plate. “So, yeah. We’re fighting our way through this place. It was a little freaky looking, but not as bad as some of the places I had been.” He took a drink out of his mug. “Anyway, we hit that place hard. We were dropping stuff like flies. Snakes, scorpids, people,” Cap saw Uda’s eyes pop out when he mentioned ‘people’, “it didn’t matter. We were there to do a job. So we get to where we needed to be. When we saw the Avatar of Sethraliss, we charged. That’s who we were there for. One more big kill and we could knock off for the day, have a couple drinks, celebrate our big win, divvy up the treasure. You get the idea.”
Uda nodded her understanding and set to polishing a few of the glasses on her side of the bar.
“We must’ve gotten a little too cocky. My buddy Deathbrain, a fellow undead, went straight at it. He died horribly, electrocuted by a lightning strike, his whole body convulsing even after he was gone.” Caps head drooped. “I lost it afterward and threw a couple quick chaos bolts. I was screaming and cackling with tears in my eyes and spit flying from my mouth. The avatar went down and I got a nice new robe. I had been pretty beat up during the fight though. It happens.”
Cap pushed his plate back still half full of its contents. “What happened next though, will haunt my dreams forever. I was bleeding. My whole body hurt. I’m an undead. When we need a quick boost, we eat something. If we don’t have anything else available, a body will easily get the job done.”
Cap could see the look in horrified Uda’s eyes. He heard the conversation in the once boisterous bar stop and silence fall. He kept going. “So I sat down and made a meal of my best friend, the man that I had journeyed the world over with. I really dug in, too. I was enjoying it.”
Cap felt his gaze lock onto a random spot on the floor. “And as I sat there with my best friend’s blood oozing from between my fingers and dribbling down my chin, I realized what I had done. I had known this guy from the first day of my undeath. He was dug up from the grave next to mine. We had left Lordaearon together, with dreams of seeing the world and getting rich. We became heroes of the Horde. We slew powerful enemies. We rode the finest in mounts and carried the best gear Azeroth had to offer. And now I was digesting his remains to fill in a couple scratches I got in a fight against an enemy we should have beaten easily.”
“I knew then that I had had it. My adventuring career was over. I had pushed too far and too hard for too long. It was time to head home. Undercity was still a smoking hole in the ground, though. It took me a few days staying at an inn and soul searching, but then I remembered: I still had that nice farm at Halfhill and I could feed some people, help them out that way. I grew crops and did some mining for the local smiths who built the farm tools. After awhile, I got to the point where I could do some light hunting, get some leather to sell to the locals. I became a selling point, ‘Would the young lady like a nice dress? The leather was gathered by Netherlord Capellini himself!”
“Come here, Nargut. Come here, Rhukah.” Cap tossed the two dire wolves the rest of his Smoked Elderhorn. There was no such thing as a dire wolf that wouldn’t love a piece of moose when it came right down to it. “But I got bored. Watching the southern end of a north bound mule all day really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Once you’ve faced Argus the Unmaker on his home turf, downing a Dustback Mushan to skin it isn’t exactly a challenge.”
“Makes sense.” Uda placed another mug on the drying rack. “One of the reasons I retired and started a bar was so that I’d at least have fights to break up. It keeps things lively.”
“‘Lively’? Who’re you talking to?” Cap chuckled. “Anyway, I had always kept up with the news. I’d pop in to Orgrimmar every so often and see what was up. I heard about the fight in the shadowlands. One of my goblin buddies, a guy named Bucatini, told me about the happenings in the Dragon Isles. I didn’t want to leave what I had built though. I had a nice, cushy existence.”
“But then,” Cap gestured toward his empty mug. “I started having these weird visions. It was like the past come to life. And I get word that Thrall’s worried. Anakin, I mean Anduin, is whining and scared. The Horde needs its warriors.” Cap picked up the cup placed in front of him and toasted Uda with it.” And so, it’s time. I’ve gotten back as much of my peace of mind as I’m going to and there’s work to be done.”
Standing, Cap dropped a few gold pieces on the bar. “Anyway, thanks for the good meal and good conversation Uda. Just thought I’d stop by while I was in the neighborhood.”
“Really?” Uda threw her head back and laughed. “Just in the neighborhood? All the way out here?”
“Yeah, Khadgar called for me. Now I’ve gotta go see a couple of dwarves who love to read. Sounds scintillating.” Cap snorted. “I don’t supposed you’ve got spare jug of barbecue sauce just laying around?”
“Now, now, Cap.” Uda shook her head. “The Kirin Tor don’t allow that in the city any more than I do in my bar.”
“Fair enough.” Cap held out his hand and a single green flame flickered to life. “But if you see anybody from Khaz Algar, you tell them that Capellini is on the way and he’s bringing damnation and hellfire with him.”
“Will do, Cap. You give ‘em hell.” Uda bared her teeth. “Tell ‘em I sent you.”
“Oh, I’ll give ‘em hell.” Cap tossed back the rest of his drink before heading for the door. “But I’ll tell ‘em the Horde sent me. FOR THE HORDE!!!”
“FOR THE HORDE!!!” The rest of the bar roared and Cap headed to the door, smiling. It was time for one old soldier to get back into the fight.