azerothian-histories - Tumblr blog

azerothian-histories · 7 years ago

Text

Interview #042

Interviewee: Anonymous

Subject: The Culling of Stratholme

Interview conducted by Archivist Gwyneira Farfeather at the AH Archives, Kirthaven

[Gwyneira]: Interview regarding the event known as the culling of Stratholme. Conducted by Gwyneira Farfeather.

Understanding that you wish to remain anonymous for this interview, can you tell me anything about your background prior to the event that might give us some context for your experience?

[Interviewee]: Well, for one, I wasn't who I am now. That much is obvious, however, given that I'm sitting here very much alive.

Prior to the Culling, I was... I hesitate to call it a conscript, as I did willingly sign up, but I was an unenthusiastic nun who grew up near Corrin's Crossing. My family was farmfolk; my going to Stratholme was a big deal to them.

I can expand on that, if you'd like, but corn farming's a dull thing.

[Gwyneira]: Only if you wish to. Otherwise, you can describe your time in the city.

[Interviewee]: There's not much to tell, I'll square with you. The life of a novice is deliberately boring. Morning prayers, service, community service, tending to the gardens... it all keeps you busy and unable to act out on your more base instincts.

I remember it was so big, though, the city. Bigger than anything else I had seen before, chock full of people. The Cathedral there was beautiful, prior to the Fall.

And - oh! There were so many merchants. Corrin's Crossing was a glorified carriage stop, but you could buy anything you wanted in Stratholme, and the other novices and I would look at all of the fine people who came to church.

[Gwyneira]: How long had you been in the city before the Silver Hand arrived?

[Interviewee]: A little under a year. I was... twenty at the time? Perhaps nineteen; in any case, my... closest relative had found places for my sister and I to go, as he was getting rather aged and the farm wasn't producing as much.

It was a strange time, for sure. My sister had gone to Light's Hope to squire, and I to the Cathedral, as church work provided room and board and the sort of education I sought beyond day school.

[Gwyneira]: I see. So your sister was not with you in the city at the time of the culling - the, the attack.

[Interviewee]: You can call it the Culling. That's what history knows it as. It was over a decade ago, I can handle it.

But - no. As she tells the story, she learned of Stratholme after Light's Hope was evacuated and she was sent down to Stormwind with the others. I... well. What happened to me will come soon, I'd wager, but we exchanged a few letters back and forth, which supplemented what she knew of the already bad situation.

[Gwyneira]: Can you speak a little bit about the events leading up to the culling? Plague had begun to spread across the countryside - had rumors of it reached the city? What was known at the time?

[Interviewee]: Farmers came to the city to sell their wares; of course they brought their rumors with them. In the beginning, we - the city-dwellers and magistrates - treated it as country lore.

I don't know whether dwarves have the same attitude towards the more far-flung settlements, but... and apologies if I digress here, but... country folk have a, um, way about them.

Home remedies and exorcisms and old wives tales run rampant among the fields, and so... you often find the 'bumpkins' being pat on the head and dismissed. It was the same here. A farmer died in Darrowshire? Ah, well. Tainted grain seems 'extreme'...

But. The more that was heard from the countryside and outlying areas, the more people began to take it seriously.

I remember some of the church elders undertook a mission to… to what's now the Plaguewood and the settlements to the south, down near the Marris Stead, and returned, quite alarmed. They returned shortly before the city went on high alert; it's only a day's ride if you your horses are fresh and you ride hard.

Unfortunately, by the time they'd returned and begun preparing the Church, the city was starting to buzz with hysteria.

[Gwyneira]: Do you know what they had discovered in the south?

[Interviewee]: Near as I could tell? Mind, I was very naive at the time. I imagine a lot of abandoned farmsteads and locked doors, though, as well as tales of graves getting disturbed in the night. Or day. Not like the dead are particularly choosy.

In any case, they didn't share that information with us. I gleaned this, um. After the fact, as best I could. They certainly sounded the alarm though, when they returned. You've never seen a clergy more motivated than that - they were preparing us and the neediest for the worst.

Not that they said so. But you could feel it. The air had changed; suddenly, there was even less spare time to be had. We were kept busy, distributing food and water, in our clinics, at study.

[Gwyneira]: You mentioned the buzz of hysteria - could you describe that a little further?

[Interviewee]: News of the grain had started to travel. Well... if people in Darrowshire, in Corrin's Crossing were eating the stuff, where it was grown, what do you think people in the city had been making bread with?

Most folk are... I hate to say it, but fairly simple. Uncomplicated. They hear about a cousin or neighbor dying, and they start to talk. Suddenly, the city starts putting two and two together. And then people began falling ill in Stratholme.

They felt helpless. A lot were talking about visiting relatives down south by the time the Silver Hand came.

Of course the city thought their problems were done for. There were rumors going around a plenty about The Light being able to cure the problem, you know? But - hah. We all know how that turned out.

[Gwyneira]: Did you encounter the sick, at the church or clinic? Could you estimate how many had fallen ill by the time the Silver Hand had arrived?

[Interviewee]: No. I was still very much a novice, and a talentless one at that. They kept all of the younger, less experiences - or talentless - priests away from the truly ill, though we know they began burning the bodies afterwards.

I'm sorry. I wish I had a more thorough answer for you. This is... one of the rare occasions I've really tried to dissect the event as a whole, as opposed to my individual part in it.

[Gwyneira]: Don't apologize; I appreciate your candor thus far. Is there anything else you wanted to bring up before we move on to what happened once the Silver Hand arrived?

[Interviewee]: Nothing that comes to mind, unfortunately. If I think of anything, though, I'll let you know.

[Gwyneira]: How did ye hear that the Silver Hand - and Prince Menethil himself - were approaching the city?

[Interviewee]: Why, one of the church elders mentioned it, of course - one that had been south on horseback and seen the devastation, and another novice overheard them. Of course, it spread like wildfire from then.

But it made sense, you know? Royalty itself coming to investigate reports of an outright pandemic? Our fearless leader would do it now...

[Gwyneira]: And what happened when the prince entered the city? Can you attempt to walk us through the chain of events from your perspective?

[Interviewee]: Oh, Stars. Well.

[Gwyneira]: Take your time.

[Interviewee]: No, it's...

So none of us saw him enter. We knew he was coming; we were all cloistered in the back, either not to get in the way or not to be embarrassing. Both are equally likely.

I was sweeping, however, not along after he arrived when -

I'm afraid this may get somewhat difficult to hear, both in terms of content and from the perspective of satisfaction. I never saw Arthas once during the Culling, but I heard it.

[Gwyneira]: Not to worry, that's why we're here - to hear your experience of that day. Every perspective matters.

[Interviewee]: I... well. As the history books - and Bronze Dragonflight - have recorded, his visit, um. Escalated. Quickly.

As soon as the timbre of his visit changed, we... we were gathered by the elder priests and told we had five minutes to gather up food, water, a blanket. That we'd have to go into hiding for a short while.

That something had broken out in the city and that they wanted to keep us safe. There were no explanations given; they never said what had gone wrong, but by the tone of their voices, it was bad.

And so... while Arthas was 'visiting'... I spent that visit locked in a supply closet.

Yes, I thought it was strange, too. A supply closet! It seemed... unceremonial, to say the least, and not terribly safe. But that is where I spent all of Arthas' visit.

[Gwyneira]: Where you alone in there or with the others?

[Interviewee]: Alone. We were locked up individually. At the time it seemed strange - strength in numbers but when you really think about it, um.

Well. Given what the plague did, it, um. It made sense.

They padlocked me in, and told me someone would be around to let us out once the danger had passed... that, um. It didn't happen.

[Gwyneira]: What did happen?

[Interviewee]: ... I died in a closet, listening to the events of Arthas' and what happened when he burnt the city down.

I heard it though, as he came through into the part of the city with the priests. I heard him go by, listening, waiting for signs of life from the building around him. I thought... I thought I would jump out of my skin when I heard his armor jangling by, heard his voice.

He... was torn, it sounded, between culling the plague making its way through the city and spilling blood in a house of the Light.

[Editor’s Note: Here the interviewer’s horrified expression is noticed by the subject.]

Ah, yes, when... you've been through what I have, you tend to forget that most people haven't, um. Experienced quite the same things.

[Gwyneira]: Forgive me, that was unprofessional.

[Interviewee]: There's naught to apologize for.

[Gwyneira]: And when the prince stopped speaking? What happened then?

[Interviewee]: As I said; I forget sometimes, having gone through this and much more, that not everyone else has too.

I believe he waited to shed any more blood outside of the House of the Light. A small mercy, that. I can tell you, though, that the priests who locked us up never returned to let us out.

[Gwyneira]: Do you -

[Interviewee]: Do I?

[Gwyneira]: No, go on. I'm sorry for interjecting.

[Interviewee]: No, no, it's fine. After all, I'm here to contribute to an open book of Azeroth's history.

[Gwyneira]: What else do you remember?

[Interviewee]: Fire.

The fires set by Arthas' men outside made their way into the temple complex, and... if I had to be completely objective about it, that is likely what did me in.

I also heard a lot of what went on. Troops yelling, though it was muffled by the stone walls of the Cathedral. Screaming... Stars. I still remember that, when my dreams take a turn for the worse. And then?

Silence. Stony, dead silence.

[Gwyneira]: Is that where you would prefer to end your tale?

[Interviewee]: If you have more questions, good lady, I'm happy to answer them. I'm sure a few come to mind.

This isn't my original body, like I said. That one... to the best of my knowledge... is buried in the farmhouse near Corrin's Crossing.

I arose like everyone else and found myself in a... a very uncomfortable situation for a number of years. And it was by the grace of powers higher than myself that saw me to where I am now.

You can ask anything you want, though if you'd also like to end it there, I understand. That likely threw you for a loop. No one survived the Culling. A few of us have 'lived', after a fashion, to tell the tale.

[Gwyneira]: Indeed. I do not believe my curiosity is a good enough reason to pry into your personal matters, beyond what we agreed to discuss here today. Is there anything you would like to add before we call it complete?

[Interviewee]: ... that I still love my homeland, despite what it's been through. I'd hoped we would have been able rehabilitate it back to what it had been, but-

No. No, that's all.

((OOC Note: All text attributed to the Interviewee was written by @the-real-arcanist-val for the purposes of this interview. Please note that this interview was given anonymously, so there is no IC attribution of this experience to any of the characters played by Val. I would like to thank them for being among the first to volunteer for this project!))

#the culling of stratholme #the third war #the scourge #alliance #eastern kingdoms #lordaeron #stratholme #pre-shattering #interview #anonymous

3 notes · View notes

azerothian-histories · 7 years ago

Text

Interview #041

Interviewee: War Dancer Zul’Jawa, High Emissary of the Darkspear Tribe

Subject: The Darkspear Rebellion

Interview conducted by Apprentice Tanseril Sunsinger at the Shrine of Two Moons, Pandaria.

[Tanseril]: Interview with War Dancer Zul'jawa, High Emissary of the Darkspear Tribe. Conducted by Apprentice Tanseril Sunsinger.

Can you begin by telling me a little bit about your personal background?

[Zul'Jawa]: Of course. I was born on the Darkspear Isles, as most the tribe was, on a tiny spit o' sand assailed by storms an' swallowed now by the tides.

My greatfather, a War Dancer before me, instructed me in his martial art, which became my callin', of sorts. As well, growin' up, I served my tribe through service as a scribe. Sort of... what got me started on the diplomatic pat' I be walkin' now.

I was inspired to serve the Horde, as well, by none otha' than Vol'jin. The Horde had saved our people, I couldn't do anythin' less than dedicate myself to their cause. Wit' my skillset, I lended my skills to an elite wing o' de Horde's military.

That elite wing... bein' de Kor'kron.

[Tanseril]: So you worked directly with the Kor'kron legion? In what role?

[Zul'Jawa]: Yes. For almost five years. Believe it or not, I lied about my age jus' to enlist. Worked my way up de ranks, firs' as a grunt, eventually into a specialty role. By de end o' my career in de Kor'kron, I was a Sergeant, an' a few otha' titles that only really mean much to otha' fellow an' former service members.

Got some dogtags 'ere... don't wear 'em anymore. Ya might be able to piece togetha' why already.

[Tanseril]: Can you explain the Kor'kron legion from your point of view? What where they like when you were serving with them?

[Zul'Jawa]: Good question. Truly.

I was... fortunate enough to serve alongside some o' de best o' the best that the Horde had to offer. Not jus' orcs, mind ya. Souls from all reaches an' spots on Azerot'.

Many of them were truly good. Honourable, valourous. Fought for the cause we perceived to be right, an' in defense o' our homelands an' the collective good.

But there was certainly an... undesirable element. Insidious. Supremacist. Who craved domination an' subjugation. I didn't take notice... maybe I jus' didn't want to notice... until it was too late.

Some, who joined me in rebellion, remain my friends to this day. Some... I pray to neva' see again. In this world, in the one below, or in my nightmares.

[Tanseril]: And what was your opinion of Warchief Garrosh Hellscream during this time?

[Zul'Jawa]: I hadn't decided. I tried to be optimistic. Maybe... maybe he was a source o' strength, one the Horde undeniably needed in tryin' times.

His... mak'gora... wit' Cairne Bloodhoof... certainly changed my perspective. Found myself questionin' the Horde's every action. The Kor'kron's every movement.

[Tanseril]: You mentioned you didn't take notice of the insidious element until it was too late. What marked 'too late' for you?

[Zul'Jawa]: That revelation came when I awoke to find out the Kor'kron were occupyin' the Echo Isles. My home.

I was in Pandaria, at the time. Possibly even in the Vale, right 'ere. When I returned to Kalimdor... everythin' was different.

Few o' my brothers an' sisters knew it was wrong. They submitted their resignations.

My... resignation... came in the form of obsidian arrows fired their way.

From that day on... I wasn't a War Dancer. Not a scribe, not much of anythin' other than a revolutionary.

[Tanseril]: Do you know of any retaliation taken against the other Kor'kron who had resigned more uh...traditionally?

[Zul'Jawa]: Mmn... yeah. A few were jailed. Insubordination. Violation o' military protocols, goin' A.W.O.L. But I don't know all too much about that. I didn't step foot in Orgrimmar again until the day the Siege finally broke through an' the gates came down.

But... hah... I suppose we'll get to that.

[Tanseril]: Indeed. So after your personal confrontation, what did you do next? Where did you go?

[Zul'Jawa]: The only place I could go. Home. No military occupation could stop me from gettin' back. If not for nothin' else, for my motha'.

Once there, I was able to link up wit' otha' Darkspear loyalists. We started to set the foundations in place for the revolution, which got into full swing once Vol'jin arrived to run the whole show. Brave mon. Miss him endlessly.

But, personally... myself an' otha's got to work on evacuatin' civilians, engagin' in sabotage an' subterfuge. Skirmishes, when pressed to. It was difficult to fight against the Kor'kron. At least, until we got the support o' everyone else.

More difficult for myself than most, I suppose. But we all had our difficulties. We all managed.

[Tanseril]: So you were with the rebellion from its very inception? What was morale like in those early days? Did it change when Vol'jin returned?

[Zul'Jawa]: One o' de first.

Morale was... about as poor as you could expect. We Darkspear barely eva' even had a home, an' it was taken away. By our brothers, by those we trusted most. We had nothin'.

When Vol'jin returned, spirits be praised, it was as if de skies parted, an' de tides of war changed. He ain't jus' an inspirin' figure, he's a strategic genius. He whooped our sorry hides into shape an' guided us.

Still. Even wit' him, an' even wit' the entire Horde behind us... was tough, girl. Darkest time in our history. An' that history is filled wit' a lot of dark times.

[Tanseril]: Did you ever speak to Vol'jin about the assassination attempt?

[Zul'Jawa]: Not personally. But I was wit' a number of otha's when he recanted his experience there.

But... 'Darkspear neva' die'... it be more than jus' a mantra. It became a bit of a rallyin' cry.

[Tanseril]: I'd like to ask you about the siege of Orgrimmar, but is there anything else of note that you'd like to speak about before we move on? A particular conflict or event?

[Zul'Jawa]: It's... difficult to describe, exactly. Before the Siege, there weren't many... pivotal, particular moments that stood out. It was sustained guerrilla warfare against an enemy that had, for so long, been an ally. That... that be diff'rent.

Everythin' was jus' a blur. Across Durotar, across the Barrens. Disruptin' caravan movements, blowin' up oil rigs, fightin'... fightin'... fightin'.

I've fought quite a bit. More than my fair share, more than most my age. But it was horrible. An' it seemed wit'out end. But we whittled down their forces. Cut off their supplies. Interred them in Orgrimmar.

In my time in de Kor'kron, they took to callin' me the Black Arrow. Wasn't for nothin'.

Came to use these arrows against 'em. Knew their armour. Knew its weak points.

[Tanseril]: To your recollection, when did the Alliance get involved in the revolutionary efforts?

[Zul'Jawa]: Nnh... believe it or not, this, too, helped put me on my diplomatic pat'. Let Vol'jin see that I could be an accomplished emissary.

To their credit... they didn't leave us to die. They arrived when we'd established a base o' operations at Razor Hill. Mostly adventurers. Then they started pourin' in.

Maybe it was opportunistic... to take down the Horde from within. But I tell ya, I ain't neva' been as happy, as relieved, to see blue an' gold as I was then.

Their actions, that day, made me desire peace between our peoples. A peace... a peace I ain't neva' stopped fightin' for since. An' I haven't raised a blade against the Alliance since that day, as well.

I'd rather be a peacemaker than a warbringer any day.

[Tanseril]: Can you walk me through the beginning of the siege? Preparations, skirmishes, meetings with the alliance army - really anything that sticks out to you.

[Zul'Jawa]: More logistics than I eva' thought I'd need to concern myself wit'. Blockades made resupplies from the seas difficult, an' the Echo Isles had no such port to accommodate anythin', even when we'd liberated them. For the second time in its history, mind you.

Kodos. Spirits be praised... those beasts are unsung heroes.

The tauren brought them from Mulgore, an' they carried the brunt of all our supplies an' pulled our siege weapons right up towards the Dranosh'ar Blockade.

There was... a real sense of unity, o' camaraderie, between all us. Made friendships wit' tauren, elves, goblins, humans, draenei, all walks o' life were well-represented in de Rebellion, I swear to ya.

But it did reflect a weakness on our part. On the Darkspear's part. We were hopelessly... hilariously... unprepared for somethin' like this. We had little in the means o' siege weaponry, o' war machines.

Glad to say we've righted our course since then. Darkspear shipwrights an' engineers be as respected now as shadow hunters an' witch doctors. But we could've used more of all o' them back then.

[Tanseril]: How did the siege begin?

[Zul'Jawa]: When we were certain we were as prepared as we could be... we began a two-pronged assault. To disrupt forces at the gates, an' to seize the docks at Bladefist Bay, so that the forsaken, sin'dorei, an' Alliance navies could lend aid.

I... I was at the gates.

The Iron Juggernaut... what a wretched, wicked machine. An instrument o' death shaped to resemble a scorpid. Took down far too many of us.

We held it off, at least long enough for the docks to be liberated. Then, reinforcements from the east. Zaela an' her Dragonmaw taken down, we all focused on that hunk o' metal.

Then, the gates fell.

I sustained a few too many injuries against the Juggernaut; I didn't see much action beyond that day. My regeneration had me up on my feet an' tendin' to the rest o' the wounded soon.

Fewer came back than we expected. But more an' more reinforcements funneled into Orgrimmar. Into the depths o' Garrosh's lair. Only then would we enter the rest o' the city. Discover what else he'd been up to.

...too many bodies. Too many atrocities. I wish he'd been put to the sword, then an' there. None o' de fiasco wit' the trial. But... alas.

[Tanseril]: Where were you when Garrosh was apprehended?

[Zul'Jawa]: At the back o' the frontlines. Like I said, tendin' to the wounded. I wasn't a medic. By any stretch. My medical trainin', wouldn't ya believe, actually came from my time wit' the Kor'kron.

Dumb bastards taught me everything I'd use against 'em.

Most everything. My greatfatha' was watchin' over me, I like to think. War Dance still had its uses.

When did you hear of what happened after the battle? That Vol'jin had been appointed warchief, and the confrontation between him and King Wrynn.

It took some time for the word to reach us. There was much rejoicin'. Ya ain't neva' heard drums bein' played that loud before.

O' course, most of us wanted him dead. But the pandaren had suffered more at his hands than even we had... they had the right. I've spoken wit' Taran Zhu since that day. I unda'stand why.

Wit' Vol'jin as Warchief... now that's anotha' story. We were... overjoyed. Humbled. Grateful. Determined.

Most of us. I was... shaken, to my core. More than most. For the longest time after, even when most my people were celebratin', rebuildin', I... was alone. Numb. I'd lost my purpose. Didn't see much point in livin' after.

[Tanseril]: What changed that for you?

[Zul'Jawa]: It be a bit of a departure from the rebellion, but... heh... if you'll oblige me...

I was not in a good place. Any medic wort' a damn would've diagnosed me wit' post-traumatic stress disorder. I left everythin' an' everyone. I'd been betrayed, I'd spent months on end fightin' war after war wit' no end in sight. I'd lost purpose.

An' I remember standin' over the ashen cliffs o' Durotar, lookin' over the waters. Sacrificial blade in my hands. Ready to put an end to it all.

By the grace o' de loa, a passin' pandaren took notice o' me. A War-Philosopher, a monk employed by the Shado-Pan.

He took notice. He tried to talk me out of it. I tried to take him on.

He whooped my ass. Took my blade. An' told me... if I had no purpose to live... to offer my life, in service to his, for a hundred days. No more, no less. An' he would give me purpose, for those hundred days.

If, at the end o' those days, I still had nothin'... he'd give me back the blade an' wouldn't stand in my way.

He became my mentor, an' what's more, my friend. Over the span of a hundred days, he taught me a hundred lessons. By the end... I'd found purpose again. An' returned to my tribe.

Vol'jin welcomed me back, bless his soul. An' he appointed me as the High Emissary o' the Darkspear Tribe.

[Tanseril]: Did Vol'jin ever speak to you again, publicly or privately, about the rebellion or the siege?

[Zul'Jawa]: Oh, yes. Definitely. Lessons learned, difficulties experienced. It was damn near a reformation o' the entire tribe, wit' our efforts, wit' our restructurin'.

Neva' again would somethin' like that divide us. Neva' again would somethin' break us.

He focused tremendous efforts on buildin' our strength back up. Reconstruction projects, as well as restitution. Makin' amends. Makin' peace.

I pushed for peace wit' the Alliance in the aftermath. The esteemed High Warlord Volrath saw t'ings differently. But what transpired in Ashran is... worlds away, an'... a diff'rent story altogetha', I suppose.

[Tanseril]: And what happened to the Kor'kron after Hellscream's defeat?

[Zul'Jawa]: As its own entity, as the oft-hailed 'Right Arm o' de Warchief'... not anymore. The Siame-Quashi largely took that role. Spears o' Vol'jin, too.

The Kor'kron Legion survived through the actions o' those who revolted against Garrosh. Still a few around.

[Tanseril]: Is there anything else you'd like to say on the record? Any other experiences or events you'd like to discuss?

[Zul'Jawa]: It was a watershed moment for the Darkspear. Our entire tribe was forced into a crucible, into a war we didn't ask for.

I should hope that my testimony reflects how... a revolution, a guerrilla movement... it be more taxin' an' tollin' than any other sort of conflict. It scars the body, the mind, the spirit.

On the record... as High Emissary o' the Darkspear Tribe, still... it has proven difficult to rationalize a true connection to the Horde as a distinct entity since those days.

There are questions raised. Should one Warchief hold dominion ova' all? Should their actions conflict wit' de desires o' our tribe, or the tauren, or the sin'dorei, who is to say what is the correct course of action?

I... I wish Vol'jin were still here. To help us formulate an answer to those questions.

The Darkspear Tribe is stronger than ever. I don't doubt for a single second he would be proud of us, of what we have done, of what we are doin'.

But I cannot say what he would think o' the Horde, in its present state o' affairs.

An' I hope nothin' like that eva' transpires again.

[Tanseril]: If that is all, war dancer, I think we can conclude our interview.

[Zul'Jawa]: I thank you, tremendously, for this opportunity.

((OOC Note: All text attributed to Zul’Jawa was written by @thewardancer for the purposes of this interview. I would like to thank him for being among the first to volunteer for this little project of mine!))

#zuljawa-wra #zuljawa-mg #darkspear #darkspear rebellion #siege of orgrimmar #horde #echo isles #kalimdor #orgrimmar #post-shattering #interview

20 notes · View notes