"Are you laughing at me?"

"If I am, I'm still being a lot less rude than you are."

"Why you-!" The man is interrupted by a tall elf with pale hair and piercingly blue eyes clapping a hand heavily on his shoulder.

     "That's enough, young Hooper. As a magus-in-training of the Kirin Tor, you are expected to show some decorum in public." The elf's voice is deep and commanding.

"M-master Arcus. I... I was just-" he stammers.

     "I do not care. This is not the first time you have attempted to pick a fight on the streets. You are confined to quarters until further notice. Go." The human slinks off, head down.

If he had wanted a fight, he would have had better luck asking, "Hey, want to fight?" But presumably that wouldn't've helped with whatever his problem was. "Hello," she says to apparently Master Arcus rather than voicing any of that.

"Well met," he says, inclining his head. "I do hope you won't let his actions sully your view of this city's inhabitants overmuch."

"No fear, I expect every place has a few like him. Dalaran has otherwise been quite pleasant."

"That is good to hear." He smiles, eyes twinkling. "Too few of our kind take an interest in our mortal cousins."

Blink blink.

"I hope I'm not being too obvious."

"Only to someone who knows what they're looking for. My name is Arcanagos. I am among those tasked with keeping an eye on the Kirin Tor."

"Maragosa. Has the Kirin Tor been doing anything interesting of late?"

"Not especially, no. There have been some growing concerns over the past year over the one they call the Guardian. I don't expect you're familiar with that one's powers?"

"I'm afraid not, no."

"To make a long story simple, after the War of the Ancients, a group of elven mages gathered together to hunt down the demons remaining on Azeroth and forestall further invasions. To make their efforts simpler, they decided to imbue a single member with the power of the others. And indeed this was effective; the Guardian previous to the current fought and destroyed a fully-realized Avatar of Sargeras only about nine and a half centuries ago."

"That is impressive. I assume the current one has more or less the same powers?"

"Yes. Which is why it is somewhat concerning that he has secluded himself in his tower of Karazhan, far to the south, shunning contact with all, even those who were his friends."

"Ah. And I suppose he wasn't so helpful as to give a reason."

"Quite. I intend to travel there myself, and ascertain the truth of the situation. If you would care to join me, I would welcome your company."

"I'd be happy to."

"Excellent. Do you have any plans here in the city?"

"Nothing that can't easily be dropped, if you want to leave soon; I was just exploring."

"Not before tomorrow. There's a small copse of violet maple just off the road a few miles south of the city. Meet me there in the morning."

"I'll be there." 

She is there, the next morning, having elected to sleep far enough away from the city that she could do it in her natural form and get a proper night's rest. She's in dwarf shape for the meeting, though, just to be on the safe side.

Arcanagos shows up an elf, so that was probably a good decision.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"I did! And you?" 

"The sleep of the just," Arcanagos says, chuckling. "Shall we be off?"