An Imp's Working Life in Stormwind

When Jess woke the next morning and sat up in bed, the room seemed completely empty.

He rubbed his eyes. The crumpled sheet of paper with the summoning spells was still on the table, but the imp had disappeared.

Daylight was just starting to show through the window. He felt as if he'd hardly slept.

Had the imp escaped? Or had it never been there at all? Had last night been a dream?

Reluctantly, he opened his mouth and tried saying, "Come out, Saeno."

A flash burst out beside his feet. Saeno leaped from it, startling him.

"Master, I've obeyed your orders! Whenever a third person is nearby, I stay invisible!"

"A third person?" Jess looked around, checked under the bed, searched the cupboard, and looked behind the door. There wasn't much chance of another living person hiding in this tiny room of about sixty square feet. "Where's this third person?"

"Outside," Saeno said. "I hear so many people talking! Could some of them be priests? Paladins?"

"Probably. Very good," Jess said. "That's exactly how careful you need to be."

For a moment he'd thought his room was haunted, but he was pleased that the imp took his orders so seriously.

Saeno hopped back and forth happily. "Any new orders, master?"

"Guard the house." Jess picked up his clothes. "Don't leave here all day. Stay invisible, and don't open the door for anyone."

"Understood!" The imp jumped onto the table and vanished in a flash.

Jess was about to pick up his pants when he noticed the staff standing in the corner.

"Come back out, Saeno."

The imp appeared again. "What else, master?"

"Do you recognize this staff?" Jess asked.

"Of course not," Saeno said with a laugh. "The eredar have made so many things! How could I recognize some random staff?"

Jess was stunned. "This is an eredar staff?"

"A staff made by the eredar. That doesn't mean an eredar necessarily used it, does it, master?" Saeno said. "Look at the material. It's called shadowgold. You can only find it on Argus, in the entire Twisting Nether. It's what remains when a beautiful metal called celestial gold is transformed by fel and shadow energy. And Argus is the home of the eredar!"

Transformed? More like contaminated...

Saeno touched the surface of the staff and shook his head. "Eredar wizards like giving their magical tools to slaves and servants to show off their power. Is master an eredar's servant? Then I'd be the servant of an eredar's servant! How impressive!"

Jess stared for a moment. Saeno's words had given him an idea where the staff might have come from.

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Gul'dan had originally been an outcast rejected by his own people. It was Kil'jaeden, Sargeras's lieutenant and a leader of the eredar, who had guided him onto the path of shadow magic. Gul'dan had later founded the Shadow Council.

Perhaps the staff was one of the many magical items he'd obtained from eredar demons after working with the Burning Legion. Then he'd given it to Teron'gor to secure his loyalty.

"You know quite a lot, Saeno." Jess nodded in satisfaction. "Don't sit around doing nothing while I'm out today. I've got some work for you."

"Happy to serve, master!" the imp said eagerly.

"Here. Look at this book."

He took the thick bilingual book from the cupboard and handed it over. "What languages are written in here?"

Saeno flipped through a few pages. "Demonic, the language of the pit lords... and... another runic language I don't understand."

"That's Orcish," Jess said.

So it really was a bilingual dictionary meant to help orc warlocks learn to pronounce spells.

"Here's what I want. Translate all the Demonic in this book into Common. Write down the matching words and their pronunciation on these sheets."

Jess brought out a stack of cheap rough paper, the kind he used for both notes and toilet paper.

Only when he set it down did he realize that the ink and paper he'd bought to copy Gorefiend's orders wouldn't be nearly enough for a job like this.

He gave the ink and quill to the imp. "Start with these. I'll find a way to get you more ink."

Saeno stared at the book and paper in its hands. Both were bigger than he was. For once, the fiery-eyed creature had nothing to say.

"Right, get to work, my good servant." Jess rubbed his hands together. He'd just grabbed his clothes to leave when he turned back, remembering something. "If anyone walks past the door, stop working and turn invisible. But if someone ever breaks in and touches that staff, blast them to death with every spell you've got. Whoever they are!"

"Yes! I'll obey master's orders!" the imp cried.

"Good!" Jess rushed out of the house and headed straight for the canal bridge.

Plenty of shops in town sold paper and ink, but the cheapest was the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences, which belonged to the university in the Mage Quarter.

He followed the canal past the tower of the Stormwind Stockade until the academy came into sight. He had ten silver coins with him. After ordering a sword from the blacksmith and buying a new outfit over the past two days, that was about half of everything he had left.

The academy was already crowded early in the morning. It housed Stormwind's second-largest library, but unlike the one at the Wizard's Sanctum, it was aimed more at ordinary citizens and university students.

"I'd like to buy some ink," Jess told the librarian at the counter. "And some paper too."

The librarian took out a bottle of ink and a large bag of paper, then started counting the sheets one by one.

"Ordinary paper is one silver and eighteen copper per dozen. Ink is five silver a bottle."

Halfway through counting, he glanced at Jess. "How much would you like?"

Jess was still trying to process the outrageous prices. He'd practically fought his way out of a wolves' den just to earn enough for one bottle of ink.

But this was money he couldn't save.

If he only needed a little paper and ink, he might be able to ask his employer, Marin, for some. But buying it in large quantities would raise questions.

He wasn't even an apprentice. Even taking an Orcish course wouldn't justify using that much paper and ink.

"I'll... take one bottle of ink for now, and three dozen sheets."

After paying, Jess ran all the way home. By then the imp had already filled some of the paper.

Jess looked at its writing. "Your letters are huge! Write smaller, and pack them closer together. Dilute the ink with a little water. As long as I can read it, that's enough! We need to save as much as possible..."

"Understood, master." Saeno nodded nervously.

Jess carried up a bucket of river water from downstairs. Wiping sweat from his face, he said, "My future is counting on you. Do a good job and I'll reward you."

"What reward?" the imp asked at once.

What reward? That caught Jess off guard.

"What do you want?"

"Mortal souls..." The imp licked its lips. "Delicious soul shards. Sweet screams. Tasty pain and pleasure. Have you ever tasted them, master?"

"I'm not one of you." Jess asked, "Are mortal souls the only kind you want?"

"Even beasts have souls. They're just not as interesting as the souls of intelligent beings," Saeno said, tilting his head.

In that case, Jess thought, the souls of the gnolls in Elwynn Forest might do. They more or less counted as intelligent creatures, after all.

"We'll see. Maybe you'll get the chance."

Saeno gave a couple of shrill laughs. "Oh, master is so good to me!"