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tristanis-starweaver · 5 years ago

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Boss Fight!

Tristanis - The Sha of Hopelessness.

This was the finale from a RP even a few years back, I adapted it from the script for another writing prompt we had.

Open world Boss fight - Temple of the Jade Serpent's main courtyard. (plz don't tell Corta!)

Stage 1 : Sever the connections.

Connected to a pulsating egg in the center of the courtyard are four victims. Each victim is having their life slowly drained into the egg. The victims are under active attack by greater sha manifestations. The raid must be split to heal, defend, or kill the sha manifestations equally depending on the victim. One victim can be healed to damage the sha manifestation. One victim must maintain threat on the sha manifestations or they become immune once taunted away. Two Victims must have their sha manifestations taunted off. All sha manifestations must die within 20 seconds of each other or they are re-spawned from other victims. DPS and healing must be in communication to ensure heal-damaged sha and DPS down sha will die simultaneously. A victim death will trigger the Sha's early emergence and wipe the raid.

Sha of Hopelessness on wiping party : "I was doubt. I can see why my cousins failed. You all have some glimmer of hope still left in you. IT must be extinguished, tossed like detritus to the wind. I was in every breath, now I am in your soul."

Stage 2 : The sha of Hopelessness.

Once the victims are free phase 2 starts. The Sha of Hopelessness emerges from the egg revealing a sha-bound Tristanis frozen in what remains of the center.

Sha of Hopelessness: "You will all…" It broke free of the last bit of the prison, the sha substance shattering as it moved, sending a limp Tristanis down to the ground in a heap, "...will soon be as broken as my host was."

Attacks:

The Nothing: AOE fear. The Sha creature raised up as it yelled out "I will consume you all! Join us in nothing!" The wave of shadows that burst forth from the sha threatened to overwhelm everyone. All threat is lost and must be picked up by the tank and secured before continuing on. Triggers at 66% and 33%

Nightmare void Spikes : Targets 4 (or 40%) raid members. Each spike generates between 60-70% damage to the health pool. Raid members can stack to share the damage from the exploding spike. Spikes explode after 5 seconds.

Blood of the void: Single target debuff. Blood must be cleansed and target healed fully or the blood will explode, carrying a weaker debuf onto the closest three raid members. Does shadow damage until cleansed or explodes.

What you could be : One DPS or off tank without active threat is pulled into the egg. They are placed in a shadow field of the Temple. They must DPS down one threat. Themselves. Other than self healing they are alone. Death means the copy will return into the raid and must be killed. Killing the copy returns the victim back to the raid. Triggered at 50%

Void-scarred trails : The Sha leaves a void trail behind it. Standing in it triggers shadow damage. Leaving the Sha in one spot causes the zone to expand rapidly. If the boss is moved the trail is minimal and will evaporate in a few seconds.

During the fight the Sha will whisper to random players in the raid:

"They are going to fail you. It's better to let them do so on their own than die. Run…"

"You are weak. So very weak. But you won't be alone. You will be part of me soon. It'll be better."

"All you had to do was See! All your power. All your sacrifice, and you still failed him. You are doing it even now. Why don't what you do best and kill them all."

"You can join us. You can join us both and make three minds stronger. We can be closer than ever."

DK's and Forsaken : "You're are dead. You've always been dead. Even when the blood pumped in your veins you were a shell and puppet. Give up the fight. Surrender to it."

Anyone who has cleared the heroic Temple :" You failed to stop me once, You made me stronger. you gave me life here in this world. Now reap the despair as I take you all."

Stage 3 : Seeds of doubt

At 5% health the Sha pulls the entire raid into a void touched realm. A field in Quel'thalas. Tristanis is there wrapped in nightmarishly twisted vines. Flames engulfed in the entire area. The Sha makes one last attempt to stay alive.

Sha of Hopelessness : "No...NO! We won't be separated again, YOU WON'T SEVER US! You can't have him-Us!"

The Sha cannot be harmed directly in this place. However sustained threat and DPS does slow it's ability to drain life from Tristanis.

Tristanis must be fully healed to sever the link. The Raid must be healed as well as Tristanis through growing stacks of shadow damage from the void realm.

Tanks maintain threat and DPS must continue to attack to mitigate the speed at which the Sha can drain life. Once Tristanis is fully healed and the link severed, the Sha's can now be damaged and killed.

Aftermath :

Tristanis : "It used me, held me inside it and somehow in a twisted way loved me. As much as a thing like that can... There are horrors that a mind should not have to bear. Thank you friends for severing me from that thing. I do not have the words to express my gratitude, but please take this. You've more than earned a friend here."

Loot:

Fractured Triskelion : Staff / Caster 2h : Int/stamina/crit/haste "The orb that once held the shifting sands has now been fractured, but the power of the weapon seems as strong as ever."

Vintners Aerator : Trinket : +int Use : Reduces mana cost of all spells by 20% for 10 seconds (3min Cooldown)

Sha-egg Fragment : Shield : +stamina/Vers/Str Use : Removes all status controlling effects from the wielder (5min Cooldown) "The shield is translucent and seemingly still somewhat alive."

Cloak of flaming vines: Back : +Agility/Crit/haste Equip: Attacks have a chance of inflicting fire damage on the target rooting them for 3 seconds. "The flames lick around your shoulders and neck, but strangely have no heat."

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tristanis-starweaver · 5 years ago

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Sacrifice

Our Guild Discord had a writing prompt and it was a story I wanted to tell for a long time.

The eternal summer sky of Quel'thalas has clouded over. A bone chilling wind sweeps through the cityscape, and on it comes the stomach churning stench of fetid death. There is a buzz about the walking dead moving North, and mention that even the famed Sylvanas Windrunner has fallen to the forces that make their way ever closer. The Scourge is attacking, with Arthas at the front of the Army of the Damned! What is your character doing during the siege?!

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The din glow stretched the entire western horizon. The first hints of dawn started to peak over the eastern treeline. "She is burning." His voice was shaking, driven by the breaking of his heart. How could she fall. The idea that Quel'thalas could be overtaken was not even a possibility in his thoughts.

"Every cart we have is hitched and ready to go. I have sent the first ones on already. If we can get to Sunsail before it falls, word is they are ferrying as many as they can to Sunstrider Isle. We have to go now." Kayndor reached up and put his hand on his brother's shoulder as he made no acknowledgement of what he was saying. "Lar, we have to go."

It had only been a handful of hours since the bloodied Farstrider had woken them all in the night. Humans? Undead creatures? The elf had been badly injured and refused any aid from the estate. He had orders to warn every enclave and outpost of the impending advance. The fear in the young Farstriders face wasn't anything born of confusion, and his warning was clear "Evacuate or be lost. They are leaving no survivors."

"Lar!" Kayndor shook his brother's shoulder harder to snap him out of whatever stupor had taken hold.

"I am here, Kay. Where are we." He quickly snapped back watching the family and staff frantically try and pack down one of the last wagons.

"I have released the most experienced to take what weapons and those willing to fight on to Silvermoon. I have ordered a few more to stay behind to guard the children and inexperienced as we move. Cellars have been locked down. The chamber is sealed and warded."

"A few more minutes and we will all be ready to move out. Will you be assisting in the defense, Kayndor." Lar'thenan, the elder House Starweaver lord, glanced back over his shoulder towards the brighter glow of the fires near Silvermoon City.

"Once all of you are safe. Yes. Not before." Lar'thenan nodded and took one last look at the estate and the vineyards. The fog during the predawn hour obscured the most distant details, It would make travel even more treacherous. At least the invading force was at their backs.

"Burn through them all with the wrath of Belore's radiance." Lar'thenan spat on the ground as his calm demeanor broke for an instant.

"As you ordered too I made sure three packs of seedlings and seeds were sent on ahead. One to my contacts in Dalaran. We will regrow if the worst…" Lar'thenan scoffed at that as he interrupted.

"Yes prudent, but that was a very old plan in case the sieges by the Horde had made their way here. Quel'Thalas will not fall." Kayndor nodded, but his entire posture spoke that he believed otherwise.

"We do need to get mov-" Kayndor's comment hung in the air as a piercing scream came from the eastern corner of the estate. Both elves moved without even a moment's hesitation towards the cry. Joined by a few others they found the source. The young attendant expression frozen in horror, no light left in their eyes as a hulking shambling mass of something once living tore again into their shoulder. The vineyards shook as more 'things' started to weave through the rows getting tangled in the grown vines and trellis.

A single arrow passed through the shocked group and was followed up by a hastily conjured mass of flames from Kayndor's hand. "Father, Uncle, We are ready." Lys'aria knocked another arrow into her bow and fired at the scourge beast. It was struck square between the eyes once again, sending its grotesque form wobbling back. It crumpled, as the burning remnants filled the air with a putrid scent. The creatures moving in the vineyards began to pick up pace, tearing through and destroying anything that stood in their way.

"Go now." He turned to look at some of the frozen elves that had tried to come help whoever was screaming. The sight of the scourge and death itself shaking them. "NOW!" There was no question in that last command as it broke through their panicked induced torpor.

The small group joined the rest at the wagons. "Headcounts on the way. We move." Lar'thenan joined his wife in the middle wagon as the nervous hawkstriders were pressed into moving forward. "Daughter, do we have everyone accounted for."

Lys'aria shook her head, "I believe we do, most moved with the first wagons out, it's just those helping with the last bit of securing the estate. I sent Kahynas and Tristanis along with the first carts out…"

"He wasn't with them." Linandri jerked back and looked at the estate. "Tristanis wasn't going with the first group. He was helping locking…" Lady Starweaver's face blanched as she stared at the estate and the shadow forms of more scourge starting to appear at the periphery. "Lar…"

"I'm on it." Lys'aria turned her lone hawkstrider back towards the estate. Whatever protests there were she wasn't going to leave her brother there alone. She closed the distance to the main estate in the matter of a few moments, "Brace girl." She said as she barrelled straight towards the front doors of the estate, the hawkstrider curling to the side at the last moment and using its momentum to smash into the front doors. The ancient wooden doors broke from their hinges and sent both the hawkstrider and her rider tumbling into the Starweaver estates main hall. "Tristanis! TRIST! Gods where are you." The dazed hawkstrider wobbled but seemed not to be much worse for wear, other than having a bit of wind knocked from it.

"SHIMMER. Answer me! Where are you!" A screech from the hawkstrider and she spun on her heel. Two quick arrows and the lesser scourge beast was pinned against the wall and silenced. They were already in their home. "Brother Please. Answer me." She screamed at the top of her lungs but no answer came.

She began to panic but was able to keep herself collected enough to remember some of her earlier lessons. The world may have been chaotic around her, but she focused. Listened. "Please answer." She whispered as he focused her hearing slowly. The creatures were growing in more numbers outside, getting closer. She would not be able to survive this alone. A voice. A cry. Fearful. It pierced through the other noises as a sharpened blade to her senses.

"Eveningstar...help me…I am to scared." Her brother's bedroom. He had to be there. Lys'aria gave a sharp whistle to her Hawkstrider that followed her down the hallway to the western end of the home. She slammed herself against the door. Forcing it open.

"Trist…" He was there, cowering and afraid. Pressed up against the dresser and wall and hugging his knees up tightly against his chest. "I am here We have to go." There were more sounds of breaking windows throughout the estate. Claws being raked against the exterior walls by near mindless things. She thrust her hand out to him to take. As he reached, Lys'aria was pulled backwards. A weapon struck hard against her leather armor and tore at her side. Blood started to flow. Trist recoiled back, as Lys'aria struck back She grabbed a pair of heavy arrows, using them as melee weapons. Screaming as she dug them into the chest of the mostly skeletal attacker. Her hawkstrider kicking and clawing at another scourge as she scrambled to get to her feet.

Lys'aria had incaptacated the scourge soldier just long enough to knock another arrow and let it fly into their skull. The blue glow of the soldier's eyes sputtered and eventually vanished. The second soldier was put down just as easily. She held her hand on her side trying to stem the bleeding. She pulled down her quiver and used the strap as a makeshift strap to hold pressure on the wound. "Shimmer please. We have to go." Her voice was not as confident as it was a moment before but this time Trist took her hand and grabbed onto his sister, trembling weakly against her. Her breathing was already ragged as she moved to get Trist onto the hawkstrider and her seated just behind him. "Hold on. Do not look back. Do not let go. No matter what. I will be with you all the way Shimmer." Lys'aria patted the side of the hawkstrider weakly. "Get us there, girl."

The halls of the lost estate echoed with the call of the single hawkstrider as it lurched forward. There were dozens in the main hall already but the hawkstrider lowered her head and ran through the scourge that were in the way. A burst of speed and it was free from the main hall and outside. Not a single one had laid a weapon or claw on them.

"It is going to be okay, Shimmer. We will get back to mother and father. They are already on their way." her voice was weak as she held herself tightly to keep either of them from slipping on the galloping hawkstrider.

"S-sorry! There was the scream and the thing. And and, I am sorry! I did not mean…" Trist started to ramble an apology as tears streamed down his face.

"Trist…Its…" She clung tighter using every bit of strength to hold them both on the hawkstrider as they made their way eventually catching up to the rest just before their arrival at the anchorage.

"Lys'aria! Tristanis!" Lar'thenan slowed the wagon as he leaped off to meet them. There was Chaos at the Anchorage, More than enough ships and space but panic had set in and others were demanding to get on first due to some perceived rank, station, or acquaintance. Trist finally opened his eyes as he felt Lys'aria being pulled off the saddle by his father. She felt so cold.

"Lys'aria! Answer me!" Her father was screaming at her as she lay still in his arms as he quickly put her down on the ground. "I need a healer! Please!" Trist's mother came and pulled Trist free from the Hawkstrider. Linandri pulled him up closer and turned him away from the scene as the body lay still. A priest, struggling to keep standing after the amount of power he had expended came and knelt by Lys'aria side. "I am so sorry, she has passed on. There is nothing I can do here." Trist had heard his father wail only once when his eldest brother had passed in the first war and he was given the news. It was a sound he'd never heard until this moment as he saw her lifeless body be pulled up by his father.

Trist just hugged onto his mother tightly as she held him even closer. Her own sobbing muffled a bit as Trist was held tightly against her.

There came the sound of wailing from one of the ships as it sailed to one of the evacuation points on Sunstrider Isle. The deck hands and evacuees had no idea what had happened as the started to move to look over the railing at one of their sister ships. Silvermoon was in flames. The news came as one of the magisters from the other ship teleported to theirs. "The King has fallen! They advance on the Sunwell. Quel'thalas is lost!" The silence on the ship was only punctuated by the wails and cries from other ships. The silence only lasted a moment before the elves on the ship, some falling to their knees in grief began to cry out in pain and loss.

"Sh-she's gone because of me. My Evening Star is gone because of me…" Trist clung onto his parents as the wails of the elves grew louder.

"She saved you. Never forget what she gave you to be here."

#ashes of al'ar #IC #Sin'dorei #Scourge #World of Warcraft #blood elf

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tristanis-starweaver · 5 years ago

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Quel’Cocktails

Thinking on some coctails to spice up our bar nights, I started to look for some ideas that would be pleasing to Sin'dorei palate as well as sensablities. Here are a few I think might fit in well at some of Belore's sunlit city.

Quel'thalas Absinthe

While the stories of it generating hallucinations or death were far, far overblown due to a smear campaign against the liquor. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Dzvf9Aum4 Is a great history lesson!)

Absinthe starts as neutral liquor that undergoes a second maceration process that botanicals are infused with it. The most common is Wormwood and Anise. Suspended in the liquor are components that are soluble from the botanicals. Adding water causes them to drop out of solution with the alcohol, turning the drink cloudy with a milky opaqueness known as the louche. Usually in most Absenthes the milky green color is the most common.

But what if it DID have some slight mind altering effects.

Bloodthistle is such a nasty habit isn't it? But maybe reduce some of the effects, and make it a bit more palatable. Prepare Bloodthistle by first cutting along the shaft of the plant. Several incisions to drain the most potent of the sap from the plant. The thistle leaves and blossoms then are added to a neutral spirit. The second maceration takes place over several more weeks and the resulting golden liquid is filtered to be clear. A small portion is added to a waiting glass, over top of the glass a raw sugar cube is placed as nearly frozen water is slowly dripped over the cube. The water draws out components of the bloodthistle into the drink, The clear golden liquid becomes cloudy and reddened. Sweet, bitter and strong, and a bit more palpable to share in public company. While most of the effects of bloodthistle are removed with the sap, some remains. Quel'thalas Absinthe has a nickname of "The Serpent's Tongue." Bloodthistle and Alcohol in too much quantities can loosen the tongue to some unwanted secrets being shared. As with many things in the life of the Sin'dorei, taking part of them is a calculated risk.

Real life counterparts.

Red Absinthe from Doc. Hersons.

https://www.newyorkcraftspirits.com/products/doc-hersons-red-absinthe?variant=16805282118

A craft spirit who's red color comes from natural ingredients rather than dyes.

Limoncello

This is one drink that could quite possibly be available unchanged between Azeroth and Earth. There are several ways of making this from fast to months. I tend to think that the Sin'dorei would go the patient route, as the hanging method imparts far more of the oil onto the alcohol and none of the bitter pith.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015304-limoncello-once-removed

Lemons are hung in cheesecloth over the liquor of choice. Usually a high proof, neutral spirit. The jar or urn is sealed and put into a nice cool space to sit for weeks. The alcohol dissolves the oil from the lemon peel and it slowly infuses into the spirits below. It is a slow process, but the end result is worth it. At the end, you have an extremely high proof, lemon oil infused liquor. Filter and bottle the infused liquor, and place it in a freezer or chill.

Prepare some simple syrup. It's equal portions of water and sugar, dissolved. Mix the syrup and liquor until you achieve the right balance of aromatics from your lemons and sweetness you desire. This can vary depending on personal tastes. If kept in the freezer, The alcohol can be bitingly cold, at a loss of a bit of the sweetness.

It's the perfect drink to end a meal when Belore's light and warmth shines the longest in the summer days.

Suntouched Shimmer

With food and treats in good supply before the scourge, a drink that was both bitter and sweet to draw on the richness and the strength of their culture.

Something that is bracing and bitter when you first taste it but moves to a light sweetness as you finish. Bitter citrus that ends with an almost confectionery sweetness. Made from varying citrus liquors, lime and syrup. Shaken with ice and then served.

When shaken the drink shimmers in a golden pale orange color before settling to a deep orange.

Real life counterparts.

If you are not watching "How to drink", you should! It's a great channel!

Cosmo Canyon Shaken from the "How to Drink" Youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1jdjY64qro

.25 oz. -or- 8 ml. Lime Juice

.5 oz. -or- 15 ml. Amaro Nonino

.5 oz. -or- 15 ml. Curaçao

.5 oz. -or- 15 ml. Luxardo Bitter -or- Campari

.25 oz. -or- 8 ml. Simple Syrup

1.5 oz. -or- 45 ml. absolut citron

Shake & Strain

Bourbon Fizz

Taking something already good but making it perfect, one of the hallmarks of being Sin'dorei. Bourbon, coffee, almonds, creme, all pretty good on their own, but mixed in the right way makes something spectacular. Starting with Bourbon, the older the better, take about three portions of the beverage. Then one portion of a coffee based liquor, Almond sweetened syrup, and heavy cream. Shake the mix with large chunks of ice vigorously. Pour into a tall slender glass and add a splash of clear fizzy water to the glass. The foam will rise to the surface and make a drink that's both rich and fizzy. Depending on the season maybe a bit of grated nutmeg or chocolate for the top.

Real life counterparts.

The Bourbon Lift

1 1/2 oz Bourbon

1/2 oz Heavy cream

1/2 oz House Spirits coffee liqueur

1/2 oz Orgeat

Club soda, to top

Add all ingredients except the club soda into a shaker with ice and shake for 10 seconds. Double-strain into a Collins glass. Fill with the club soda, pouring from about 6 inches above the glass. Wait a few seconds and then add another splash of soda. This will lift the foam above the top of the glass. Serve with a straw.

The Farstrider's Campfire

Capturing the comfort of a good encampment on a glass is not an easy challenge. The feeling of warmth, smoke and home combine to make a rather calming drink for longer nights. In a glass a few orange peel strips are squeezed to let the orange oils burst along the insides of the glass. A Dark sugar cured cherry, ice and then a sugar cube is placed on top. A small ceder plank is then set to smoulder with a bit of kindling. Just as the plank starts to smoke in the center it is blown out and placed upside down onto the glass. Smoke fills the glass fully, and once the glass is filled with smoke the plank is removed. A splash of bitters and the bourbon is poured over the sugar and ice and then starred gently. It is served with the remnants of the smoke still in the glass.

Real life counterparts.

Smoky Old Fashioned.

While there are dozens of ways to make this from Burning beakers to filling ice spheres with smoke, I've always been successful at using the plank technique,

This technique uses a smoke infuser: https://www.atbbq.com/thesauce/smoked-old-fashioned-cocktail/

2 fl oz straight rye or bourbon whiskey

1 sugar cube

2-3 dashes Angostura bitters

twist of orange peel

Cherry

Your own way of smoking things

#ic #sin'dorei #drinks #world of warcraft #ashes of al'ar

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tristanis-starweaver · 5 years ago

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Generations...

Note: A lot of this is my own personal ideas, head canon and guesses. You're more than welcome to take and use some of it!

A lot of us toss out the fact that we know ninety percent of the Quel'dorei population was killed by the scourge, but what effects does that have on a person, a smaller community, not just the nation as a whole. It's something I've wondered ever since I made Tristanis.

The age old question

You have to start with age first. A lot of sources, the RPG in particular, say that Quel/Sin'dorei hit adulthood at 60-100 years. One one hand can you imagine the "Terrible Twos" lasting for years, maybe even half a decade?

Being an adult is more than just physical maturity. We know that their lifespans can reach several thousand years. How does that affect how you look at maturity, and even time itself when a decade or three following some pursuit can look like a summer vacation laying around.

This is how I've always approached elven aging. Birth to 40 is physical growth roughly analogous to birth to 18 in human terms. At 20 they start puberty (roughly 13 Human years) and at 40 they are physically pushing into being a young adult. Once that threshold is passed aging becomes a slow process. Forty to death physical aging just seems to stop from a human perspective but slowly crawls on as they live out millennia of life.

So what about that range from 40 to 70-100? They are physically mature but not an adult in their culture. It's the "freshman in college" years. Decades of hard study or training for some, traveling for others. The time when some find themselves and try out new ideas and experiment with who and what they will become. A time for them to question who they are before they set down the paths of their life.

"There taking the summer off to find themselves." or "They are spending the year traveling the country" suddenly becomes "Oh, they are just spending the next three decades under a master craftsperson." Time takes on a whole new meaning when you look at a decade as your summer off. Conversely, an elf would not look at months of study and even consider that scratching the surface of a subject.

But within that range between being physically mature and considered an adult you have the pressures of elven culture to be superior, but not the expectation to be fully capable. But that is a society view, not an individual view. A specific master would push their students to be perfect at every turn. Even knowing that they will not be. Practicing over and over, year after year until perfection was a habit. After all, what's another decade consumed by a young elf.

The Lost Generation

The Scourge changed all that.

Think of a stadium filled with 50,000 Sin'dorei. Suddenly only 5000 remain barely able to fill one section. A good 500 of the remaining of the strongest left to follow the prince, with only a few fraction of that returning. If you're lucky you're in a set that has your friends still near it. If not, the nearest elf could be dozens of seats away. It wasn't life that was lost but culture too.

Let's look at a real world example. Roman Concrete. Developed and known by artisans of the empire. Somewhere around 200-300 the knowledge was mostly lost. Not completely, but it took centuries to understand why it was as effective as it was. Trade secrets, and competition helped to push that knowledge away and be lost as the western empire fell. What would happen if 90% of teachers, doctors, scientists, researchers, builders, construction builders, baristas, students, politicians, administrators,... (and so on) were gone after an invasion. How much knowledge held close to the chest by jealous rivals would be gone forever? How many stonemason techniques that had only been half learned would become the norm? How many teachers, now forced to be experts in their fields when they were not fully understanding all they needed to grasp.

Imagine being a student, and having to go to teacher to teacher. Teachers who were overwhelmed with limited resources and had to pick and choose who they would teach. Elven culture would color their choices. They would choose the best and the brightest in their mind. Ones that could learn the best from them. They could only teach so many and there would be so many that would fall to the wayside. Untapped potential pushed back by both limited teachers, and elven ways of viewing things.

Entire trades would be obliterated as the knowledge to effectively run them would have been lost. Higher ranking socialites having to 'lower' themselves to doing menial tasks because there was simply no one else to do them. A lord who had never cooked in their life having to learn to manage a house. Others having to make the very real decisions of continuing to battle for the Horde, or having a family. Having children would be a civic responsibility. Young ones who's entire lineage was eradicated, taken into houses where they had no place or purpose.

The soul of the people may be strong, but the culture would be hard pressed to survive. It would weigh hard on those that have no remembrance of that culture. Those that were viewed as children, yet grown. Thrust into places they were not ready to stan, but forced to.

Diverging paths

Imagine you're in that idealistic generation. Mature, but not yet fully adult. The only thing you know your whole life is that there's been war always at the edges of things. Your uncle lost to the invading monsters in the first war. Heard stories of ships limping back to Sunsail Anchorage in the second. Then your friends and family. Everything that made you, you to the scourge. You're still alive, but in a world where you try to learn and get turned down at every chance. You are called Lord but you're not part of that society. You hear calls to "Remember the sunwell." But you never even made a pilgrimage to it before it was corrupted and reclaimed.

You're told to act more like an elf, but all you've seen is people clamoring over the remains of what was left. You don't remember what it was like in the glory days as you were not even born yet, or too young to have memories of it. You read of heroics others lived in the past, but look up to see broken remnants just left over. Older elves balk at the way you act and dress or carry yourself, but you have never known how to act any different. You have friends that accept you, Goblins, Trolls, Tauren. Yet elders would be mystified as to why you would even consider them equals.

Like many your age, that idealism needs to have something to grab on to. Is it the horde and its ways? Do you begin to resent Silvermoon and all it stood for as you gravitate further into a culture of mixed beliefs. Does a faction within your own people call to you? A faction that might not be eye to eye with those in power now, but that drive to be part of something drives you headlong into it. Do you look at the death and see that things are at an end? Looking to other outlets and other ways of power since you are ignored. The void won't ignore you. That idealism sending you in many ways further from what it was to be Sin'Dorei to what you believe it should be. A unified culture, fracturing.

The scar is not just a tear through Quel'thalas. It's a tear into the soul of every one of her people.

Growing young ones, not ready to be adults, forced into stations they needed to fill.

What does it mean to be Sin'dorei when you do not know how.

#ooc #Sin'dorei #head canon #world of warcraft

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tristanis-starweaver · 5 years ago

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Doubt

The Sha are dead, with the Heart of Y'Shaarj's power consumed they are fading from this world. But like all creatures, they would fight claw and tentacle to keep from fading from existence. Five years past, an echo of what was once the Sha of Doubt tried desperately to cling back into existence. What was an errand of good intentions, turned into a nightmare.

Tristanis Starweaver, Zin'dhal Splint-tusk, Ah'cheh Kei, Aetyn Sorrowfel, and Bofyr Plainshoof decided over drinks that they had had enough of the horde moving from place to place without thinking of what they left behind. One such place that came up was the Temple of the Jade Serpent in Pandaria. They decided that they would all go together and help to do anything they could there for a week to try and fix what so much violence had shattered. Even if it was simply to sweep the floor. While most of the world was focused on the horrors on another version of Draenor, they wanted to do something to help their world here.

Initially the pandaren were wary of any more 'help' but after much negotiation (more like pleading from the Pandaren Ah'cheh), They were allowed to come into the temple and assist with repairs or any other help the pandaren would require.

It was a nearly perfect week. The troll, pandaren and tauren did much of the heavy lifting in the main courtyard that still showed signs of the conflict. While Aetyn and Tristanis got to work, recataloging and ensuring there were no more tainted scrolls in the library.

A single question was enough to set things in motion. "I've been curious. I've never seen you cast any fire magics. Why?" Tristanis didn't answer aside from making a quick note he didn't really want to answer. That question was enough to have his mind twist over the past. The loss of control and burning of almost everything that was left from his family.

That doubt was just enough for the lingering echo to crawl inside and make itself at home. It would be weeks before anyone was aware. It started as slight discolorations around the temples. Violet scarring that spread into the hair and eyes. Emotional disconnection came soon afterward. Fear. Anger. Hatred. Love. Swings from one extreme to another started to happen on a daily basis. The fear of what was happening kept him from seeing direct help from his order as he hid his face behind a mask.

The fragment of the sha fed off his fear and doubt. It grew and twisted inside him altering his form further. It was not until a goblin friend Tinkerella all but forced him to visit her priest acquaintance that gave him a choice. Either surrender to it or face and expel it.

The priest and goblin shaman drew out the sha-fragment from his body and combined all three were able to seemingly destroy it. The scars and changes faded over time but like most scars a bit still lingered. It was hiding.

Years passed as craving for learning of power and knowledge is like breathing for the young mage. Such cravings can lead someone inexperienced down a path that might not be the most safe or wise. Such a path had a disastrous end during a chaotic time in Silvermoon. While Elf was set against elf, factions tearing at each other, he and his friends tried to keep to the edges of the conflict Old friendships were tested and more than one broken in that time. One he cared about the most had been drawn under the influence of a void entity. He desperately searched for a way to free them, that search leading to answers he was not ready for.

The touch of a power beyond his ability to control shifted the scar in his mind. This time the thing was patient. Exposure to the nightmare in Val'sharah, touches of the void, the growing arcane power in the elf created something. Different. It was still a fragment of the sha but feeding off these energies created something beyond. Something that needed to be born. The drive to be its whole self again became harder and harder for Trist to ignore.

The growing sha creature in his mind surpassed doubt. It whispered of something grander and far more amazing. Why did the world need hope? It would feed off the despair. It was the currency of the age after all. It would become like the grand cousins it once had. More than that it would surpass them. This sliver of doubt would try to become the Sha of Hopelessness. A waking nightmare consuming all the last shreds of what was left.

Drawn back to the Temple of the Jade Serpent, he felt it was time to confront what he was afraid to do on his own before. Once there, all the doubt and fear started to creep up in him. This time twinged with anger, hatred, and the need for more power. Their minds infected each other. The sha's desire to be born, Trist's desire for power, family, love, hatred, rage, they all were shifting in a joined consciousness.

Erupting in a flurry of energy, tendrils of void twinged nightmare started to creep out hunting anyone inside the temple. Latching onto their own fragile hopes and pulling them into their own small delusional world. Everyone trapped in their hopeless worlds as the new thing started to feed and grow. At the center, Trist wrapped up with the entity, and began succumbing to it. The sha creature trying to show the futile nature of this world to Trist in his own nightmare. It continued to feed from all those it trapped as it began to form into something new.

Heroes, friends. They severed each one of the trapped individuals captured by the sha. Showing their own hopelessness was not the truth. They could fight against the visions they were within. One by one they were given the strength to free themselves from the sha's control.

It was a fragile time for the new being and the Nightmare Sha withered without the souls it was feeding from. It erupted into the world broken and malformed. Weak. It was easy for Trist's friends to destroy forever. It tried to escape into the nightmare, tearing a hole through the temple's flooring, but was destroyed before it could make its full escape.

As it withered and died, it mocked those there that the Mage would never be free of it. The last of the Nightmare Sha leaving this world. Trist's body battered and not breathing lay in a crumpled heap

His friends entered the last vision. Trist, forced to watch as his home burned. His father died just feet away. Nothing he could do could stop this. Everything he tried was useless. His friends pulled him from that vision giving him what he needed. That while he could not change the past, There was still hope in the future. Breaking him free from the vision he started to breathe again, but there was damage. Part of his soul had been ripped away, His mind scarred from the presence of the sha. Doubt in everything he did was always there. Second guessing became a constant companion in his mind.

Over time, and through much help, The weakening of his soul was bolstered. While still there, the scars of doubt were easier to ignore, but they were never truly gone.

Just as the fragment of his soul too had passed beyond through the nightmare in the sha's desperate attempt to escape. Growing...

#sha #sha of doubt #IC #sin'dorei #warcraft #blood elf

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