About:
This story is set before our adventures in Draenor. It details the events that lead to Eudaimonia becoming the First Consul of the Echoes. I am not usually comfortable with writing major lore characters - but for the purpose of the Echoes being expressly an enterprise in Velen's name, I did so here anyway.
"The Prophet wants to see you", said Hekaan. "tomorrow at dawn." His face hardened as he met her eyes. He didn't continue, but it was obvious from his expression that he would have liked to reiterate his accusations from the previous day, when they had discovered her. His words had been crushing, yet now he remained silent, the look from his silvery eyes aimed unblinkingly at her face as if he was trying to break her defiance with his stare alone.
Eudaimonia felt her grip tightening around the gyromatic micro-adjustor in her hand, her thoughts racing as she stared back at the chief artificer. She could feel the heat of her forehead against the rim of her goggles. Her superior's condemnation only intensified the anger she felt about how she had been treated. She took a step back and pointed the screwdriver at his face.
"Don't give me that look", Eudaimonia said angrily. "There was no need to get the Prophet involved; you didn't have to report me. You of all people should know that I was acting as I did with best intentions, for the future of our people."
Hekaan observed her for a brief moment, then placed his hand on hers and gently but firmly wrought the tool away from her. "So does the Prophet and in his judgement we trust."
He smiled sadly at her. "You are still young, child. Brilliant, but unexperienced. Take this lesson to heart and learn to calm your passions."
She swallowed. Standing with crossed arms now, her gaze was fixed on the screwdriver in his hand.
She had no reason to distrust Velen. But when his decision took from her what had been her life's purpose ever since that fateful day she had picked up a toolbox and joined the Exodar Reconstruction Unit to help rebuild the ship, she could feel something snap inside of her. Before Azeroth, she had had little knowledge of technology. Nonetheless she brought valuable skills to the team after having worked as an architect for centuries.
This was, of course, only the beginning of a short but intense span of years that should see her interests shift completely and set her on a new path that outshone everything she'd done before. Then, she'd had a profession -- now she had found her calling. She devoured everything the artificers could teach her about the workings of the ship, and was soon able to add new insights to the still patchy knowledge her people had acquired of the Naaru's otherwordly sentient technology. When she was named cocoordinator of the Reconstruction Unit, she wore the position with pride like a badge. And when the repairs on the crystal core, the ship's 'engine', eventually finished -to a large degree thanks to her discoveries and her determination -the celebration that followed felt like the crowning moment of this new, exciting chapter in her life. She should have known that only disappointment could follow after so large a success.
At first, the team continued work as usual. After the fickle power systems were online, the task remained to bring the outer shell of the vessel back to shape for interdimensional travel. While less intricate of a job, they would have to involve more people and assets to pull it off: in order to reach the parts that still lay half-buried inside a mountain, one would require either heavy machinery, or the assistance of a decent number of highly skilled arcanists.
After many long nights of discussing, it was finally agreed to solve another problem first, pertaining to the materials necessary to rebuild the outer shell. Nobody knew where the stuff the Exodar was made of derived from, or whether any of it even existed within this universe. For a while, Eudaimonia was content travelling Azeroth and even Draenor in her gyrocopter, searching for possible sources of minerals which would be at least sufficiently similar to qualify substituting the original ones. Then one day, out of the blue, a message reached her: Velen had emerged from a long time spent alone in his chamber, seeing nobody but the human prince Anduin. He proclaimed that the Draenei were to stay on Azeroth, to await their final battle against the Legion.
In response to his prophecy, the triumvirate had passed a number of policies. Amongst other things, they pleaded that the Draenei were to increase their support of the Alliance's war efforts, and that the cost-intensive plan to raise the Exodar from the mountain and repair the shell was to be cancelled indefinitely.
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| Art by Ramavatarama |
Eudaimonia was furious. How could they possibly wish to sacrifice even more precious Draenei lives to the senseless wars waged by the Alliance? And what grave mistake to cancel the reconstruction project, so close to its resolution, when they might have to flee from the Legion's onslaught at any moment! Indeed, if she could have it her way, they would be repairing the ship and waving Azeroth goodbye for good. After witnessing so many of her Draenei brothers and sisters following the humans into a war waged for pride and greed, and all too often never returning from it, her initial enjoyment of the colourful variety of places and people on Azeroth had all but faded away.
"Eudaimonia, is it? Do not be shy. Come sit with me", said Velen. The Shield who had guided her inside exited the chamber, and she stepped closer, but remained standing, greeting Velen with a defiant look. The prophet smiled his distant smile, then sat himself down on a humble chair, his hooves never touching the floor as he remained hovering just a finger's width above it.
"I hear you have acted against the word of the triumvirate and chosen to... take matters into your own hands regarding the rebuilding of the Exodar."
She bowed her head to him briefly before she spoke. "My apologies, prophet. But while I know I have transgressed, I stand by my actions. The triumvirate is mistaken to cancel the reconstruction. I understand that your visions show you our destiny here on Azeroth, and yet we must be ready to leave this planet behind if worse comes to worst. Without a plan B, we risk the Exodar becoming a second Shattrath."
Velen slightly raised his bushy brow, and looked at her earnestly. "Shattrath has been reborn as a beacon of Light and hope", he spoke gently.
She stared down at his aged hooves, biting back an angry retort.
Suddenly, the prophet leaned forward, arching his back like the old man he was, and covered his face with both his hands. He sighed deeply, shook his head and looked back up at her.
"I can see that your worry over our future honest. I meet but few Draenei these days who concern themselves this eagerly with what will become of our people." He smiled.
"Save for me and the Exarchs."
She listened quietly, feeling tempted to sit down rather than keep looking down on him. "I shall put a word in for you with the Triumvirate."
She sat.
"Oh, I would be most grateful! All I wish is for my team to finish what we have started. If we advanced at our previous rate, and with a little support from the arcanists, we shouldn't take too long anymore to finish the repairs. Perhaps we could still make it this year, even."
But he was shaking his head, smiling bemusedly. "I must ask you to lay down your tools and leave your machines in the care of my book keeper. These are fair disciplinary measures in accordance with the Triumvirate's requests."
"I understand", she said finally, not wishing to push her luck any further. She felt Velen's eyes resting on her with their supernatural calmness. No tools? No robots? How was she even going to spend her time, sitting in a Stormwind tavern and getting drunk? A vast emptiness seemed to fill her mind. She could travel, of course, they wouldn't go as far as to take away her gyro. She'd have more time for reading, even for drawing up designs to build at a later time. And yet she felt a wave of helplessness rolling over her at the thought.
When Velen spoke again, his voice seemed to come from far away.
"You mustn't see this as a punishment, child. Your mind is sharp, and you are quick to learn new things."
He paused. "Combine this with your good will, and you could achieve great things."
"I can think of no greater thing to achieve than to restore our ship and with it our independence.", she replied sullenly.
Out of nowhere, a frown crossed his face, only to dissipate again and be replaced by a smile a moment after, much like a passing summer storm.
"Eudaimonia. I am glad I had the fortune to speak to you today. And I see now that it would indeed be foolish to dimiss your eagerness to do good. Your youth causes your temperament to run away with you, and there is much you need to learn still. Regardless, you combine intelligence, foresight and a strong loyalty to our people, all remarkably noble traits."
He paused. Stroking his beard with his long, bony fingers, he appeared to be too deep in his own thought to notice the silence filling the room for nearly a minute.
"Yes. I know. There is something I wish to ask of you, something I believe you are more suited to than constructing talking machines."
She straightened her back and eyed him guardedly, preparing for whatever his request might be. Noticing her tension, he reached over to briefly touch her hand, and she felt a wave of warmth flooding through her, easing her thoughts and calming her mind.
"Have you ever heard of the Echoes of Argus?"
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