STORERYYYR

Start of first mission
This works as an introduction of sorts to the story.

Long ago, in northern Kalimdor, the area that we today call Felwood, was thriving and beautiful. Some say that it was the closest thing to a paradise to ever exist on Azeroth.

Starglade.

Starglade was adjacent to Mount Hyjal in the east, the mountain on which the first world tree, Nordrassil, was planted.
In the north-east, there was the cold and calm landscape of Winterspring, in the north there was Moonglade, and to the west, the ancient and ruined land of Darkshore protected the other regions from the unforgiving and endless sea.

Here, in the most beautiful place in the world, a sad and horrifying story took place long ago...

'No, no, no.'
'Too strong. Too loyal. Too smart.'
'We need to keep looking. One of them it is.'
'Decent strength, but very wise. He will not be fooled.'
'How about her then?'
'Pretty strong still. A warrior, but she is narrowminded and blind. This might work.'
'In love too? I think we found the one.'
'Take him.'

It was a wonderful day in Starglade. somewhere in the eastern parts, muffled noises from strong wind echoed between the trees.
'You almost got it!'
In an open field, a night elven huntress in a heavy cloak and armor stood, supporting herself with her hands on her knees.
Shalis caught her breath: 'Do I have to do it in this armor? It is tricky enough already.'
'You have already made a lot of progress without it, love. Also, I figured that practicing Wind Steps as you would use it in battle made sense.'
'I'd rather do it without armor, or any other clothing for that matter, Willow. That would make things a lot more entertaining for both of us.'
Willow blushed. He always considered himself awkward, and situtions like this was not easy to handle for him.
Shalis took a perfect Wind Step towards him. She hugged him, gave him an encouraging smile and said:
'Sorry, but you are just so adorable when you don't know what to say.'
She gently placed a rouge strand of hair behind his ear. An uncontrollable smile haunted Willows lips.
'Shalis Darkhunter...' he said with a dreamy look in his eyes. 'I..'
He got cut off. In the cornor of his eye, he saw a bush in the treeline on his right twitch. He turned his head, and looked towards the treeline. Shalis turned her head too. Trying to catch a glimpse of what he saw, she carefully scanned the treeline. Just before she gave up, she found himself staring into a pair of burning eyes, embedded in the bushes. The eye-contact lasted for half a second, then, a large hound leaped out, and charged at them. Shalis reached for her Moon Blade hanging from her waist. Willow placed his other hand on his staff. Shalis waited with risen blade as the hound got closer. Just as she began to see its demonic features, the blade suddenly felt heavy. The heavy sensation quickly spread to the rest of her body and she felt like the earth tried to swallow her. Trying to reposition her stance, she failed to find the balance in her right foot, which caused her to sidestep and collapse into Willow. He caught her, and turned his head to gaze into her eyes.
'Shalis!'
Limbless like a ragdoll she fell into a sitting position. Willow held her still, and she tried to focus on his eyes, but her vision was hazed, and she could barely keep her eyelids up. With enormous effort, she raised her hand to stroke his cheek... Then, she drifted away into deep sleep.

She woke up a few minutes later with a pounding head and blurry vision. She blinked hard a few times, and extended a hand to massage her neck. What had happened? Her memory was dimmed. She remembered training the Wind Steps with Willow. A teasing joke. An embracement. A pair of eyes... Burning eyes. The hound! She spun on her heels to look about her. No hound, no blood, nothing, not even a handsome elven druid!
'Willow!'
No answer.
'Willow, asnwer me!'
A tree waved merrily in the distance. A bird sang a happy tune. No answer still. Shalis was worried. Willow would never just leave her there. Something must have happened to him. Almost panicing, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to keep calm and think straight. What needed to be done? She opened her eyes with determination.
'I need to go see Felore.'

Meeting Felore
This is the first time we see Felore. Shalis has just travled from her hom to the Temple of Elune.
Shalis charged into the temple of Elune. Felore flinched, and instinctively moved her hand to the quiver on her back. When she saw it was Shalis, she relaxed again.
'Elune-Adore, Shalis. What brings you here?'
'Felore, I need your help. Willow and I had an encounter with demons, and now he is missing.
'Demons? I sensed something foul lurking in those woods. What did they look like?'
'I only saw one of their hounds. I thought it was a lone left-behind by the legion, but it was not alone. As I prepared to gut the hound, another more potent demon must have put me to sleep from afar.'
'Really? That is not good.'
'What is not good?'
'You being put to sleep like that can only mean that we are dealing with a warlock.'
'A warlock?'
'It is a magic user of the demons. The ones possessing more potent magic are able to open small rifts to the Outland. It is possible for them to have brought Willow with them.'
'Why would they do that?'
'Who can tell?

Shalis charged into the temple of Elune. Felore flinched, and instinctively moved her hand to the quiver on her back. When she saw it was Shalis, she relaxed again.
'Elune-Adore, Shalis. What brings you here?'
'Felore, I need your help. Willow and I had an encounter with demons, and now...'
Felore interupted her:
'Demons? I sensed something foul lurking in those woods. What did they look like?'
'I only saw one of their hounds. I thought it was a lone left-behind by the legion, but it was not alone. As I prepared to gut the hound, another more potent demon must have put me to sleep from afar.'
'Put to sleep? That means we are dealing with a warlock. That might explain the magical sting earlier...'
Felore trailed on her words, and stared out into nothing. 'No...'
With fiery eyes, she looked directly into Shalis eyes.
'Where is Willow?'
'That is what I tried to tell you. He is missing!'
Felore swallowed hard. She couldn't look into Shalis' eyes anymore. Shalis noticed that something was not right.
'What's wrong, Felore?
'Shalis, I have to tell you something. The magical sting I felt earlier is common when a rift between this world and a place called the Outland is opened. As the veil between our worlds is broken, a pulse is sent out, and everyone close by can feel the magical energies stinging like a needle into our skin.'
Shalis did not like where this was going:
'Yes...?'
'As I told you before, we are probably dealing with a warlock. A warlock potent enough to put you to sleep without revealing himself to you. A more potent magic user like this being, is able to open small rifts through the veil between our worlds and step through...'
'What are you telling me Felore?'
'I think they have brought Willow to the Outland.'
Shalis felt like a hammer shattered her heart into a thousand pieces. The Outland? The ravaged and twisted land of foul magic and demons. She shook her head slowly. She could not believe it. Willow, a being of the woods and wind, was trapped in a place fire, void and death. She spoke as in trance:
'I must go there. I must go there and get him out.'
'Shalis...'
'There have got to be a way!'
'IT is too dangerous...'
Shalis threw her moonblade to the ground. It cracked a tile and rattled with a horrible noise.
'I don't care!'
Everything went silent for a while. The birds sitting by the rooftops choked on their jolly tunes. Shalis could feel darkness cloud her eyes. She was trembling with rage. Felore aproached her. With tsome hesitation, she put her hand on Shalis' shoulder.
'Are you absolutely sure you want to pursuit the demons that took Willow? The Outland is a very dangerous place.'
'Yes, Felore. I will do anything to get Willow back.'
Felore placed her hand on her hip and leaned back in a sceptical manner. She seemed to consider the situation. She then sighed and spoke:
'Very well then, Shalis. I will help you get him back.'
'You have my eternal gratitude, Felore. Elune bless you!'
'And you, bravest of my sisters. This will not be easy, but we'll make it. I will need to be left alone to search my tomes for the proper preparations. You should go sharpen your skillset, so that you are powerful enough to last in the Outland.'
Shalis heavy heart started beating stronger again for the first time since she lost Willow to the Demons. There was a way! There was hope! She made her way to exit the temple when Felore stopped her:
'Shalis, remember to keep this to yourself. The use of magic is not popular since the Sundering, but we will have to use some in order to open a portal. If someone gets to know this, I'm not sure they will be as understanding as me.'

The Soul Gem
This part is when Shalis has sneaked past the druids, and gotten to the cave where the soul gem resides.

Shalis approached the glowing light-blue crystal, which lit up the entire room with bright rays of light. It was loosly attached to a rock pillar in the middle of the room. It made a mild humming noise that echoed between the walls of the cave. Shalis stopped within an arms length of it and considered it for a moment: what a beautiful crystal. If you looked closely, you could see small silhouettes dancing and running around inside. Souls from countless fallen animals. Shalis took a deep breath, and placed her hand on the crystal. The crystal acknowledged her touch and her soul by sending out a pulse of darker blue light and then vibrated slightly. Shalis placed her other hand on the crystal, and tried to pry it free from the rock. She pushed away from the rock with one leg while pulling the Soul Gem towards her. It let go, and Shalis fell backwards onto the ground. An obtuse noise pulsed out from it and made the walls of the cave quake.

Everything was still for a few seconds, a numb silence filled the room. Then, in panic, robbed of their home, the wisps and silhouettes of the gem were quickly withdrawn from their sanctuary, bolting in all directions about it with great speed, and dissipated in a few blinks of an eye. The many agonized spirits sparkled around the gem with a fizzling noise, and was then lost forever into nothing. Shalis felt a big weight growing on her heart.

A quickly aproaching thump, thump, thumping noise sounded from the corridor leading to the cave of the soul gem. One of the brothers of the druid order came rushing into the room. With a mix of surprise and great fear in his eyes, he fixed his eyes upon Shalis.
'Shalis...'
Shalis noticed that his muscled flexed, readying himself for battle. He spoke again, in a concentrated and serious manner:
'What are you doing, Shalis?'
Shalis' lip twitched. She felt her eyes getting wet. Her voice was trembling:
'I have to, brother. They have Willow.'
'I do not know what has gotten into you, Shalis, but I can't let you leave with that crystal. You know this.'
'I know. But I will not let you stop me. I'm so sorry.'
The growl of a beast started gently somewhere deep inside the druid. The brother adressed Shalis with a warning voice:
'Don't do this.'
Shalis braced herself.
'I must.'

The meeting with the High Elves
A comedic easter egg. Can be found somewhere in the first campaign mission.

Shalis entered the small clearing in the forest, and aproached the two blond elves standing stiff next to each other. The air was thick with some kind of fog, which made it hard to breathe.
'Ash Falanah. Are you alright?'
The woman turned her head to look upon Shalis. She considered her with sleepy eyes and spoke:
'Heyy...'
The other elf, a thin man, also greeted her.
'Yo Dude.'
'Daughter of Elune, actually.' Shalis stated sharply.
'Ah.'
The blond elves wasn't trying to be rude, but they simply had a hard time comrehending what Shalis just had said. They didn't continue the conversation, so things was quiet for a few seconds. Shalis felt awkward:
'What are you doing in those parts?'
'Dude,' Shalis bit her lip in order not to lose her patience. 'we're here for the fumes dude.'
'The fumes?'
'Ya! The fuuuumes.'
'I don't understand, why are you-'
Shalis was interrupted by the male elf laughing a highpitched and raspy laugh.
'Ha ha! Get it, dude? Because we are High Elves. High. Elves.'
It took a while for the woman to get it, and she was left with a dumb smirk while she struggled to figure it out. When she finally did, she exclaimed:
'Ha! That is hilarious, Rolf! Because we are high Elves! High!
'High Elves? You must be the last of your kind!'
'Hey Rolf, you know... You know what we will call our children? Highborns! Because they are born by me? When I'm high?'
She paused, waiting for Rolf to laugh. He did.
'Hang on.' Shalis said. 'If you have children, they have no one else to have children with. They will be inbred!'
Rolf suddenly got very defensive and gave Shalis an evil look.
'Dude, what are you talking of? In bread? No, they will live a normal life. In a house and stuff.'
'No, I'm saying that-'
'Don't listen to her Rolf! She knows not what she is talking about.'
Rolf tried to frown, and almost succeded to:
'Let's get out of here. This one knows nothing. She is just judgemental and boring.'
They turned around and walked away. Something fell out of Rolf's pocket. He didn't notice. Why would he? He was high as a kite. Rolf spoke one last time:
'Good day to you, dude.'
Then they vanished among the trees.

Visit Felore 2
'Ah, Shalis, there you are!'
'Any progress?'
'Yes. I have revealed a big deal of knowledge regarding portals, and I have made the neccesary preparations. I have it all set up in my secret garden. Follow me!

'A portal reuires a great deal of magic to be opened. Normally, the greatest of the demons collected stones in the Outland wich have collected magicical energies over an eternity. Using five of those are enough to open a portal to let any being pass through. Obviously, we can't collect any of those stones, since they are all on the other side, but we can collect magical artifacts.'
'Leave that to me, Felore. You have done so much already.'
'As you wish, Shalis. I have already placed two objects from the temple into the circles, so only three more are needed.'
'What about the larger circle in the middle?'
'This is a problem. A page was missing in my book, so the object that must go there is unknown.'
'Don't worry though,' Felore added as she noticed how Shalis skin began to go pale. 'it must be around here somewhere. I'll search for it while you collect the rest of the magical objects.'
'How do I recognize a magical object?'
'Not very hard. Look closely, and you'll notice a faint glow around it. Some of our fellow villagers in the glade may have them, so see if you can trade them for something.'


Finding The Missing Page
(triggers when Shalis is going back to the temple, the first time after returning the artifacts)

Shalis stopped in her trails. By the side of the road, stuck in the grass waving merrily in the wind, was the page of an old book.
She picked it up, and realized that this must by the page Felore had lost, as she read through the text:
"The most important thing one needs to open a portal, is souls. In order to open a portal without suffering losing a piece ones own soul, a container for souls is needed. A container can be a crystal, a piece of jewelry or anything that has experienced enough death around it to start collecting the spirits of the fallen."
Even as Shalis read the last line of the page, she knew where an object like that could be found.
The druids to the north-east have been the guardians of the animal graveyard since the dawn of time. Deep inside their cave, a grand chamber holding the Soul Gem can be found. The Soul Gem is a natural crystal that the spirits of the animals found suitable as a beautiful home, and it has therefore absorbed uncountable souls over thousands of years.
Shalis knew that taking the gem would be a horrible crime, but taking it would be her only choice if she wanted to see Willow ever again. She decided not to return to Felore, as she would surely disuade her from doing it, and would instead sneak into the druids cave, and retrive the Soul Gem. The risk would be worth it in the end.

Return to Felore after killing Druids
'Welcome back Shalis! I'm sorry, but I hae not yet found the page. We'll have to keep looking. But don't worry, I can feel that it is close.'
Felore noticed Shalis' expressionless face.
'What happened to you, sister?'
Shalis reached inside her cloak and withdrew the Soul Gem. Felore took a step backwards when she recognized what it was. Her voice was infected with fear:
'Shalis, what have you done?'
'I had to do it. It was the only way I could find Willow.'
'At what cost!?'
Felore was no longer frightened, but angry. She stepped over to Shalis and pushed her hard in the chest.
'Have you lost your mind? All those souls... Lost.'
Shalis had nothing to say. She did not resent Felore for her reaction. This was the least she deserved.
Felore wiped away a tear from her cheek, and stared Shalis down with a mix of disgust and surprise in her eyes. She adressed Shalis with clenched teeth as she slowly shook her head:
'You really do love him, do you not?'
Shalis nodded shamefully. Felore sighed deeply.
'Well, the souls are already lost, and there is nothing we can do about it. We might aswell follow through rescuing Willow.'
Shalis did not expect this. She lifted her gaze from the ground to look at Felore. felore frowned and filled her voice with venom:
'Know that this is only for the sake of Willow. You will answer for your crimes when you bring him back safely.'
'Of course, sister! I will take my punishment.'
'You are no sister of mine! Don't speak to me unless spoken to. I will not share this with anyone else until you are back, as they might want to execute you right away. Hand me the Soul Gem.'
Shalis did so.
'As I suspected. The souls of the Druids was not enough to be of any use for a portal. You'll have to gather at least a few grander souls in order to open the portal.'
Felore lobbed the Soul Gem back to Shalis who flinched and caught it with both hands.
'Go to the south-east, and visit the ancients. I heard that they have a problem regarding a corrupted spirit in the Forest Temple. That spirit, along with a few others should be enough to open the portal.'
Shalis opened her mouth without knowing what to say. She was interrupted before she did though:
'Do not speak to me. Go, and do not come back until you have collected seven souls.'