| Shal'elah | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Location |
Azsuna |
|
Functions |
Telemancy Workshop |
|
Architecture |
Late Highborne |
|
Constructed |
Pre-Sundering |
|
Repurposed |
2016 |
|
Status |
Active, occupied |
|
Residents |
House Firesong |
|
Sovereign |
Lord Entilzha Firesong |
|
Thera-dora Commander |
Magistrix Morgane Devaux |
Shal'elah is a largely underground complex in Azsuna built among long-disused and partially buried Highborne-era ruins. The exterior and surface levels appear as though they'd belong anywhere in Azsuna, with once gracious spires in disrepair, yet large indoor spaces which were well suited to the retrofit and renovation for use as a clandestine underground base and safe haven outside Suramar City during the period of Legion occupation.
Thalassian Lord Entilzha Firesong of House of Firesong sought a suitable research location before arriving on the Broken Isles with his then allies, recognizing the need for a quiet, secure base for a Firesong-led position. Much of the funding for the construction and upkeep of Shal'elah and the training and equipping of its militia, the Thera-dora, was provided by House Firesong.
Shal'elah was seen as an important step towards re-establishing the neutrality and sovereignty of House Firesong in the future, and the success of the Farstrider-trained exile Calindra Lemoine and other Shal'dorei given far more training then most, and were able to take on increasingly dangerous assignments as the battle for Suramar neared.
The Firesong Suramar Consulate has since taken over many of the compound's functions, but notably in light of Legion bombardment, Shal'elah remains concealed along the Azsuna-Suramar border region, the home to arcane and telemancy experiments given its preferable ley coordinates, Shal'elah stands ready to absord several hundred seeking shelter in a short time, with tools as wind elementals among the tools used to manage so many underground.
It is expected the large residential spaces of Shal'elah may soon enough close, the arcane workshop and leychamber is certain to endure, and given the chaos of recent times, Shal'elah is likely to remains functional in one capacity or another for the forseeable future.
History[]
Nothing within the compound has been found that sheds specific detail on the names of the Highborne structures and chambers below, though a small number of spellbooks, wands, and an enchanted amulet suggests it played a role in Azsuna's pre-Sundering purpose as a site of magical learning.
Entilzha came onto the site while surveying leylines; Shal'elah stands directly over a large flow, closer to the surface than typical. Divinations used in study of the leyflow suggested the presence of air bubbles beneath the surface, and the subterranean levels were charted using short range portals and an arcane elemental capable of recording energy patterns and other details of its surroundings.
The chambers proved to be surprisingly spacious, with what was likely the primary entrance chamber and a large room which contained benches, likely some sort of assembly hall, in the deepest reaches. With the full size of the underground chambers more than was immediately needed as well as the generally out of the way, unappealing, and dangerous nature of the surface and surroundings, the then nameless site had everything Firesong sought - secure, spacious, and directly over a major leyline flowing to Suramar.
Entilzha initially reached one of the chambers using a portal to the largest room, one an elemental followed by a number of mechanical constructs passed through and back safely.
Reconstruction[]
Much more remained in the submerged levels than on the surface in terms of furnishings and personal belongings. If much was in tatters, items as bookcases, shelves, ornamental sculptures and scrying instruments were cleaned up and put to use. Ornamental statues and carvings that had survived were arranged notably in section 2, the residential and guest quarter, adding a touch of elven pleasantry without much in the way of time or resources. Arcane Glow orbs were placed throughout the complex and in a few places where it was necessary to dig, presumably to connect chambers that had once been in separate buildings, simple engineering constructs were used and the soil removed via portal.
The current Shal'elah complex is believed to contain submerged portions of what was once three buildings, and the complex is thus arranged into three subdivisions. Tapestries, beds, and some comfortable chairs were among items requisitioned from Dalaran or Ashal'Thalas or salvaged from the countless ruins across Azsuna and Suramar, aiding with making the space livable as well as a place for research and study.
Caged birds are kept throughout Shal'elah to assure the air is safe. Wind elementals act to direct airflow to and from shafts to the surface, ventilating the chambers. A gentle breeze flows through Shal'elah's primary corridors, assuring fresh air from outside and preventing stagnation.
Financing[]
While Shal'elah was built from existing structures and often receives furnishings and the sort being moved from the crates in Suramar city to be secretly filled with arcwine, weapons or otther such things, House Firesong has thus far financed costs associated with making it safe and livable, connecting and fortifying the chambers, and expanding the potential for magical development.
Lord Entilzha Firesong is silent as to the details, but often stating that House Firesong's 12,000 year legacy is wholly at stake in Suramar, the expenditure is believed substantial. Taxes and tariffs in Firesong-governed Ashal'Thalas have increased since the defeat on the Burning Shore, with mining activity in the land's mineral-rich Sunstrider Mines booming. with workers seemingly exempted from Ashal'Thalas' long-standing policy of only permitting elves from Quel'Thalas (defined presently as Quel'dorei and Sin'dorei) entry.
The goblins working the Sunstrider Mines are remote from Bal'adeni, Ember Watch, and other settlements of note, and come and go via designated trails to a remote port well in the scarcely populated northeast coast. The frenzy of activity and temporary suspension of a ban House Firesong has adamantly upheld against alliance, horde & nonaligned traders, suggests some sort of short term lease of the rich but only moderately explored mines, likely providing House Firesong a notable gold infusion for the financing of ongoing & continued operations at Shal'elah and beyond. With the extent to which House Firesong has gone to keep any non-elves from the shores of Ashal'Thalas, the goblin lease alone suggests something of importance and hints of a deeper investment in Shal'elah, but few know of all elements due to a common desire at Shal'elah to keep their location concealed, and as not much is known among Sin'dorei not assigned there of day to day affairs in Ashal'Thalas.
Subdivisions[]
Shal'elah's three sections correspond with the three original buildings connected via freshly dug if rather short tunnels. Expansion to two other sites is possible, but the current design is more than suitable to its purpose.
Section 1 - Telemancy & Research[]
The first chamber entered contained two large rooms and a number of smaller ones, and was designated for arcane research, with ample room for complex arrays. Following the arrival of Fourth Telemancer Kadremis, the large central chamber has been growing into a telemancy lab, with salvaged items and more importantly, warpsleeves and other tools provided discretely by Kadremis' son arcanist Thorel Mathieu, a resistance operative during the occupation.
Leystation Anasterian provides a power relay to the leychamber, functioning along similar principles as the leystation network in Suramar though deriving its energy from a major offshore leyflow to the west of Azsuna.
With Entilzha showing much interest in telemancy, needed tools were also acquired via smugglers and other such characters. Kadremis' understanding of telemancy combined with ample supplies enabled Kadremis to resume the telemancy research he'd been focused on prior to exile, and to bring Entilzha up to speed in telemancy. A distinctly elven art form elegantly fusing magic and technology, the versatility of telemancy soon became apparent, and from working with Kadremis, Entilzha's own skills have come a long way.
The chamber is built around an experimential telemancy pad in the central of the chamber, which for a time was the only pad present as the supplies needed to develop more were lacking, and remodulating the pad to teleport to a new location has helped much with Entilzha's understanding of the craft.
Entilzha Firesong manipulating the Leychamber
Since supplies from the city and elsewhere including warpsleeves, modulation pylons, and beacons began to arrive, a number of pads were brought online in the central chamber, being charged with the crystallized arcane common to Suramar and Azsuna.
Entilzha and Kadremis each have their own pads for personal experiments, and its grown fortunate the location is large, for the space has grown filled wit telemancy pads and equipment. The first pad Entilzha constructed on his own, though Kadremis checked it over well before use, was a link to the Hall of the Guardian in Dalaran. The Tirisgarde itself shows interest in the craft, having re-purposed pads throughout the Broken Isles to direct to the Hall.
Kadremis showed Entilzha how to weave around these spells, and to modulate pads in use by the Tirisgarde, Nightborne or others to access the Shal'elah network. A telemancy pad atop the Temple of Elune in Val'sharah and one in an abandoned section of Suramar have stable, devoted pads, as do Dalaran and an outdoor location in Azsuna not far from Shal'elah though concealed.
The other large chamber is devoted to general magical research, and has been at the focal point of Entilzha's divination of the leystation network in Suramar activating. Conjuration, time magic, and astromancy are among the leading research priorities, and a large magical projection of the leyflows on and near the Broken Isles is continually being upgraded until the lines are mapped to a level of detail that would satisfy a leywalker.
Beneath this area sits the Leychamber. Possibly dug to directly reach the shallow leyflow under the structure or perhaps utilizing a pre-existing chamber to access it, a series of runes and Shal'dorei mana collectors encourage ley updraft at the site, and the access shaft to the Leychamber in the center of the room presents a suitable source of energy for work carried out, and direct access to the flow has proven useful with divination, identifying the sites of a number of leystations which were investigated and provided further insight into the nature of the network.
Section 2 - Residential & Social[]
The second section of Shal'elah contains a number of smaller rooms, and seems to have served a residential purpose. This function was restored, and Shal'elah's two residents, Kadremis and Entilzha, each have a bedchamber in this area. There's also a kitchen, hookah room, guest rooms, and the largest chamber was given special focus regarding furnishings as it's designed to entertain guests.
Recovered Highborne pieces as a bust of Queen Azshara adorn the chamber beside replicas of some of he Curators' collection, notably a portrait of Anasterian Sunstrider and tapestry portraying the founding of the Sunwell. Seeking to be welome to Shal'dorei guests as well, a number of Shal'dorei busts and a large, decorative crescent moon salvaged from a withered-infested site in northern Suramar combine to give the formal chamber a unique blend of Thalassian and Quel'dorei styles. In what free hime he has, Entilzha is fond of fusing elements of the two distinct elven cultures, something he hopes to scale up in Suramar City.
Purple curtains add a sense of Shal'dorei luxury, and this is the only room in which the walls have been repainted, using a mixture of purple and blue/gold/red. The traditional crest of Quel'Thalas, Houses Sunstrider and Firesong and that of Suramar grace the walls. Few guests have yet seen the area, which contains a telemancy pad for direct access.
Section 3 - Library & Vaults[]
The last section reached is also the deepest, and has been designated as a study, storage area, library, and vault. With Entilzha growing weary of Dalaran, especially seldom being there, a small vault based on rhe one under the Curators' Hall in Dalaran was developed. Despite the complexity of the wards and seals, Abjuration is Entilzha's strongest magical discipline, and having made orr expanded a number of such vaults recently, was not overly time consuming to set up.
Arcwine supplies are likely kept here, along with an impressive Highborne stave found during the initial sweep of the chamber. What else, if anything, is in the vault is unclear, though as its existence is not publicly known, and Entilzha may have transferred any number of items in his possession to and from the position, with a telemancy link to nearby Dalaran.
With tomes very common in Azsuna, old Highborne texts, journals of spellbooks the Withered possessed from before their deaths and a steady flow of Shal'dorei spellbooks from Kadremis' arcanist father, the bookshelves have been arranged in the largest room, which serves as a small but growing library, sorted by topic and then by age or approximate age and the author if known.
Entilzha has a desk and study in a room adjacent to the library, carpeted with a bearskin rug.
The Thera-dora: Seekers of Truth[]
While the intent to build a military force of some size around Shal'elah had been considered, its Thera-dora, "Seekers of Truth", in the Shal'dorei tongue came about through circumstance. During a successful raid to recover the Amulet of Ky'lintha. The Felborne elves holding the amulet also had a number of civilians from their own population in cages within their cavernous base, seemingly intended for use as soul fuel.
Although the amulet was not found in the caverns, the civilians were rescued from that dismal fate, and settling at Shal'elah with access to ample arcwine to sustain them, all five expressed interest in aiding with the liberation of Suramar, seeing the work put in by the Quel'dorei and Shal'dorei present, and have since been put through basic military training and testing of magical skills.
Calindra Lemoine, a mother of three having never wielded a weapon, quickly began to stand out from the group, quickly learning stances and with a natural alertness to her. Though a true hint of her potential would come at Irongrove Retreat. Having never been within a natural forest before, knowing only the manicured gardens of Suramar, her strong affinity towards nature became apparent. Calindra's training as a Ranger deepened, playing a vital role in the battle for Suramar and earning the rank of Ranger-Captain, along with deployment to the Broken Shore to track Felborne Shal'dorei having escaped there.
Morgane formally commands the he unit as Magistrix, though its recent turn towards being a ranger-oriented organization, focused on the security of Suramar City and defending what the dome once did, Ranger training and testing has increased after the war, and Calindra hopes as the countryside gradually quiets, the Withered either soothed or passed, her Rangers may secure Amberville, or the cradle of the liberation, Meredil, for proper restoration, an idea liked by the historian Entilzha Firesong.
Thera-dora uniforms hold a mostly purple, Shal'dorei look to them, with streaks of blue and gold interlaced, buckles bearing the crest of Quel'Thalas and the upward-facing crescent moon beside each other.
Thera-dora serve as rangers, scouts, and other security elements in and around Shal'elah and as the skills of each recruit or small group advance sufficiently, they're taken to a suitable location to test the skill they're training. Initially serving as guards, as time passed and teams became operational, the Thera-dora began to fill a number of key reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, and are often deployed to Azsuna for combat training, where as the teams have sharpened they've proven increasingly effective at pushing back naga incursions.
Thera-dora rescue teams played a vital role in the events following the Crescent crackdown, using telemancy beacons hidden nearby for arcwine smuggling to move several dozen to safety. The added refugees create a strain on resources and arcwine, but the numbers of the Thera-dora grow, with Entilzha and Morgane expecting to contribute a full company of fully prepared Thera-dora to the fight to liberate Suramar.
Leyflow Conduits[]
As the network of leystations in Suramar and system of feeds directed to a single location became better understood, such an effort on a smaller scale in Azsuna has been considered to empower the leychamber with the needed energy for their work and possibly in time, the arcane needs of refugees and/or more Quel'dorei. Entilzha's 18th runic tattoo, carved deeply using a Shal'dorei ink and horridly painful but effective technique serves to further enhance the leywalker's attunement to the flows of Azsuna, and aids with the development of similar conduits around Azsuna, the first, Leystation Anasterian, currently in development.
The project makes use of old Azsharan tunnels used to move about energy from the Well of Eternity along with newly dug shafts, which need only be inches in diameter to serve their purpose and are thus achievable over long distances using brief though potent arcane pulses to vaporize dirt or rock in the way. The usefulness of such an artificial ley nexus is vast, even if the presence of naga and Legion forces may prevent as robust as design as is ideal, a few rather simple redirects can do much to improve arcane availability at Shal'elah and with it improved magical and research capacity plus a way to help those desperate for arcane should such a situation arise.
The additional flow to Shal'elah can be directed to telemancy, wards, sentry empowerment, or other such functions, in addition to serving as sustenance. One possible application involves using the artificial nexus to infuse wine in a manner similar to the creation of arcwine, a process Vor'taria Aralith works to better understand. If all goes well, "leywine" may soon add a new chapter to the long Thalassian and pre-Thalassian winemaking tradition, with Entilzha taking increased interest in winemaking and its fusion with the arcane.
Security, Supplies, Operation[]
Shal'elah was selected in large part for privacy and safety, and one of the first things Entilzha did was assure it could not be casually found. Thin wards on the ceilings are designed to cause a scattering effect, adding too much interference to divine the presence of rooms, let alone to teleport there.
Divination orbs are linked to concealed partners on and around the surface levels, warning of any interlopers, with a mechanism to lure in hostile enemies, likely naga or murlocs, should anyone wander too close. Close to water, fish is a common food, as is bear, with plenty of good hunting in Azsuna.
The most critical aspect of keeping a discrete site where a Sin'dorei and Shal'dorei live is assuring their magical needs are met. A large cache of mana crystals is kept, possibly some in the vault, significantly more than needed but intended to deal with any future emergencies. Arcwine is typically provided with the shipments from Kadremis' son, and while much of it is drank, a reserve of arcwine is being built up as well, from both Thorel and other connections. This along with a high energy demand for telemancy, divination, wards and other magical functions highlights the need for the planned or possibly under construction leyflow conduits.
Coming and going is conducted by portal or telemancy, and its exceedingly rare to see either inhabitant on the surface or outdoors in the immediate vicinity. With direct access to a leyflow, conventional portals work quite well, though telemancy is used for most travel within the Broken Isles.
Entilzha and Kadremis keep in contact using an enchanted sphere adorned with Shal'dorei ruines; similar to other ley-based communication methods, though much more secure and the runes are designed particularly to prevent eavesdropping via Shal'dorei magics, which has the effect of also obscuring most other arcane traditions due to the advanced level of Shal'dorei spellcraft. The security features limit function some, as only one can speak at a time, and transmissions can't lst more than a few seconds or security drops, so the device is designed to only transmit for ten seconds at a time.
When Entilzha is out on an operation or otherwise, Kadremis is typically at telemancy command, prepared to extract him and his allies should they get into trouble. As Entilzha's knowledge of telemancy and trust in Kadremis both grew, he derived comfort from knowing Kadremis is monitoring the situation and able to provide near-instant evacuation. Even should Shal'elah eventually no longer serve a purpose, operating in this fashion has high tactical merit and would be transferred elsewhere.