Gurrousard and Guardian in the Garden

A roleplay transcript by Lyrena Auberan and Iskrin Orin'Darr (playing as Ven-Vyzran)

Lyrena Auberan had just walked out of the House of Healing with a man in plain clothes and limbs wrapped in bandages by her side. His arm was around the Blood elf's shoulder for support. "Careful.", Lyrena counseled sternly as the pair stepped out of the building. After a few more steps, the man took his arm off the Dame Commander, and began to tread on his own. Successfully, albeit with a slight limp. "Very good.", Lyrena assessed, with a congratulatory dip of her head. "You have recovered quickly. Quicker than your healers anticipated, even. At this rate, you will be back on patrols before long. Go to the barracks.", she instructed. "Your belongings are in your chest. Along with your reward." The Private's face, obscured by a short but very dense ginger beard, lit up with a smile. "Thank you, Commander.", the lad said. The Guardian briefly stopped in his tracks, nearly stumbling as he nearly bumped into a rather familiar orc. His brown eyes blinked a few times, looking a bit star-struck, before the boy carried on with an even bigger smile - and a faster walk. No doubt hurrying to reunite with his fellow Guardians and tell them who he had just nearly bumped into. Lyrena watched the exchange from the side, and once the Guardian left, turned her attention fully towards the blue orc. "Have we met?", the Dame Commander cordially asked the man who seemed to be standing nearby, rather than heading into the House of Healing. Her long eyebrows perked in curiosity as she awaited an answer.

Ven-Vyzran stepped out of the slave tunnels and onto the soft grass of the Healer's gardens. He'd been told that the new Guardian Commander was likely here visiting her wounded, and so he'd made his way quickly in the hopes of catching her. If she wasn't here, then he'd have a word with Master An'dorel instead and find the Blood elf some other time. As he approached, a woman matching the description he'd been given stepped out of the house with a young ginger man. Ven-Vyzran waited at a polite distance while the two discussed something and the man practically bumped into him in haste when he left. The Night Orc smiled at him and then turned back to the woman. In response to her question he took a step closer and shook his head. "Not met," he said, his rich voice carrying on the evening air. "Ven-Vyzran. You Dame Commander Lyrena?"

Lyrena craned her head up a bit as Ven-Vyzran stepped closer to her, the notable difference in height between the pair emphasized. "I am.", Lyrena duly answered with a nod. "Ven-Vyzran.", she reiterated, her eyes looking upon the man's own. "That name I have heard before.", she spoke while her gaze continued to examine's appearance - as if it matched a description she had vaguely heard before. "You are involved with the Seekers.", she verbally guessed. "Forgive me, the name eludes me.", she added soon after, rather than risking butchering the word 'Gurrousard'.

"Gurrousard Seekers," the night orc replied, his tusks impeding his own ability to pronounce either word. "Named before I join," he said with a shrug. "I am Chief," he added after a moment and then paused. "Seeking you Commander Lyrena. Came to talk. We sit in garden perhaps?" he gestured with a blue arm as thick as a small tree to the benches dotted around them. "You have time?"

Lyrena Auberan hummed in acknowledgment as the towering orc reminded her of the name. Her eyes widened a bit in curiosity as Ven-Vyzran additionally reminded her of his role within the Seekers. A curiosity she tried to still for now, replaced by a cordial sternness. "Not a lot.", the Blood elf answered. However, her gaze soon pointed to one of the benches nearby - the one before the thick, mossy tree beside the gazebo. It seemed she had -enough- time after all. "I do not imagine you are here to report a crime.", she added as she sat down, tugging her cape to the side so it wouldn't be caught under her rear.

Ven-Vyzran shook his head and followed her to the bench. He eased his huge frame down onto the stone and looked ahead towards the hall. "Advice," he said at length. "From me to you." He turned then to look at her, seeking to make eye contact to get the measure of this new Commander. "I return yesterday from quest. Everyone telling me Guardians in Undercity. Want that I do something." He shrugged. "What I do?" he asked with a chuckle. "Not fool, I." He looked back out across the gardens as he continued. "I ask around. Heard Guardians found children. Is good," he said with a firm nod of his head. "Many will tell you Guardians not be in Undercity." He turned again to meet her eyes. "I tell you: yes, should be there. People to help there." His voice was emphatic and passionate. "You help them."

Lyrena felt the heavy stone bench budge as the large Ven-Vyzran sat upon it. Their shoulders nearly touched, courtesy of the Night Orc's wide frame. Again, Lyrena had to look up to be able to meet her gaze with the Chief's. Her eyes stayed squinted a bit as she intently listened to her companion, careful not to miss the meaning behind the words he spewed in a language that was clearly not his mother tongue. "We have.", she confirmed in a more hopeful tone - a relief that at least something had had a happy ending. "Three. They are safe at the barracks now. I mean to reunite them with their families in the coming days.", she explained to the orc, speaking a bit slower than usual - but not disrespectfully so - in case it was necessary. She thought on the matter of there being Guardians more consistently in the Undercity. "Guardians.", she repeated. "Down there…" She thought on it some more, again. "In time, perhaps. This expedition was not welcomed warmly, I have been told.", she said. "It will make time for trust to build. And right now…", she grumbled a bit. "Right now, the Guardians are needed up here. I imagine you have heard what has been happening recently?"

"Heard of battle, yes," he said turning his big blue head to look up to the sky, as though the sun might still be there. Then he turned to her again. "People in Undercity citizens too. Can't have this," he gestured widely with his arm at the shining marble, pleasant gardens and stately homes around them, "without their toil." He sat silently for a moment. "Know it not easy," he offered. "No one down there like law. But need law. Maybe more quiet next time," he suggested. "Like when Iskrin go there. Disguised." He looked at her earnestly, trying to get a measure of her in this brief meeting. That she hadn't dismissed the idea out of hand was promising. And he conceded that what she had said about the need for the Guardians in the city itself was true. Yet still he hoped she might prove to be different than her predecessors. "I help if I can," he said firmly. "Just say so."

Lyrena Auberan herself was still getting a measure of the large orc. Though his words seemed to spill only a few at the time, and not very eloquently, she sensed a certain genuineness in them, something that kept the Dame Commander intently focused on his counsel. She wondered what motivated him. "The Undercity.", she brought up again. "It is your home? Was?", she asked. "I imagine your home would be up there.", she pointed at the second level of the city above them, where the rich houses were - it was likely that the Dame Commander imagined Ven-Vyzran to be decently wealthy, considering his reputation. "If you are close with the people down there… If your word holds weight…", she started off, then paused to think. "Tell them the new commander of the Guardians does not think lowly of them. That… At certain points in her life, even she has lived not unlike they do.", the Blood elf suggested, with an honesty of her own. Her eyes briefly drifted away as certain memories of the past ten years struck her. "Tell them we do not need to be enemies. That we can work together. Help each other.

Ven-Vyzran listened to Lyrena's words with growing optimism. He nodded his agreement. "Will speak for you," he confirmed. "Some listen. Some not, I think." Then he shook his head, reflecting on her question. "Rich? Yes. Famous? Yes. Successful? Yes." He looked into her shining yellow eyes. "Orc? Yes." He shook his head again. "Decent people here," he said, gesturing to the upper city. "Some are friends of Ven-Vyzran. Decent people there too." He gestured down to their feet now. "Friends too. Happy enough," he concluded. Then he shuffled his bulk forward, as though about to stand. "Not want to take your time, Commander. Just thank you for your heart." He beat his fist gently on his own chest twice and then held out his hand, offering it to shake.

Lyrena slightly curled the corner of her lips with an optimism of her own that their conversation had taken such a pleasant, agreeable course. Ven-Vyzran could suspect that initially Lyrena came across as a bit coldly formal and cordial. That perhaps she held little love for orcs. But her demeanor had certainly changed since then. For the better. "Perhaps we can be friends too.", Lyrena retorted as she stood up at the same time Ven-Vyzran did. Looking at his large hand that made hers look small even with the gauntlets she wore - her arm soon extended forward. However, it was the orc's forearm she attempted to clasp hold of - a more masculine type of handshake she thought Ven-Vyzran might respect. "We should speak again soon, Ven-Vyzran. I will let the Guardians know to let you into the barracks, should you visit. This week, I have mostly been stuck to my office.", she said in a not so content tone, clearly not a fan of paperwork.

Ven-Vyzran clasped Lyrena's arm and smiled, a slightly unnerving sight with a mouthful of teeth like tombstones. "Friends," he said, gripping the Blood elf's forearm and feeling the strength in her muscles and sinews. "City changing," he observed as he released the clasp. "Better I think." Then he stepped back, ready to return to the tunnels of the Undercity. "Will come soon," he said. "Thank you."

Lyrena certainly felt the orc's strong grip press against the unarmored half of her forearm - and practically bend the crimson armguard for a moment, feeling the metal hug at her forearm harder. She gripped him firmly as well, though the Chief's strength was certainly far greater than her own. "Thank you too.", she said after a moment of deliberation - the best way she could summarize how she felt. It was clear that Ven-Vyzran believed in her, and the gratitude on the Dame Commander's face was perhaps not childishly overt, but it was one the Night Orc could certainly notice. As Ven-Vyzran returned to the Undercity, Lyrena herself prepared to return to the barracks.