Mend Pet

I love the Horde.  Anyone who knows me at all knows this.  But why do I love the Horde so much?  And not just me, but why is there so much pride for players of this faction?  This is the question I’ve asked myself.

NOTE: Instead of saying “except the Blood Elves” all the time, I’ll just make a disclaimer that I am not a big fan of them.  They don’t count as part of the Horde as far as I’m concerned, in this post at least.

First of all, I think the Horde has such strong lore around its leaders.  And what is a faction without its leaders?  Thrall and Sylvannas especially have great stories behind them, and you can really feel like you have a connection to them if you learn their stories.

The Alliance?  Not so much.  Who have they got?  Jaina Proudmore?  Okay, she’s pretty cool.  But she’s not even truly Alliance – she’s almost neutral.  Her and Thrall?  Giggity-giggity is all I’ve got to say there.

It’s not even just the leaders.  The story behind the Horde draws so much more sympathy from me.  They’re the underdogs, they’re trying to make their place in this new home and ally themselves with their neighbours.  While the Alliance are just kind of there, holding on to the threads of an allegiance formed to fight a force which is no longer there.

Another point for the Horde for me is their races.  I tend to shy away from human-like characters when I play games.  Humans, Dwarves, even Gnomes are just not colourful enough for me.  If I wanted to be a human, I’d just, well, I AM a human, so I’d just be.  When I play a game, I want to be something different, and not just in height (or ear length) but actually different.  Humans are boring.

Now, it’s not like I have a whole lot against the Alliance.  In fact, I’ve secretly got a level 50 Gnome Mage that I’ve leveled up and been playing quite a bit more lately.  But I just don’t feel a connection to the faction itself.  And I don’t see other players displaying the same pride that players of the Horde do.

There seems to be a stronger connection to players of the Horde to their faction than players of the Alliance to theirs.  This brings to mind the whole debate from the WoW Insider Show… the cheer or battle cry of the Alliance?  They don’t really have one.  And the ones they do have are either copying the Horde, or based on the fact that they don’t like the Horde.  “For the Alliance!”  You just can’t say that with as much passion and pride as you can say “For the Horde!”  Can you think of a good one?  One that isn’t class or race specific?  (Not “For Gnomeregan!” or “For the Light!”, as they aren’t general enough to encompass the faction as a whole.)

I think the fact that I leveled on a PvP server may have also had an effect on my Horde allegiance.  When you’re on a PvE server, and you can quest right along side the Alliance… you might not form the same rivalry as when you can kill and get killed by them.

Also, the Alliance has Night Elves.  /hate.

It’s Friday again, and Anna has not let me down with her Friday Five post!  Here are my responses to this week’s questions.  Feel free to check out my answers to last week’s questions here.

Brajana, Troll Hunter

1. When is your character’s birthday? Does she know? Brajana was born in the spring – She figures it was some time in early May.  Trolls don’t especially celebrate their birthdays as much as their birth seasons, so the date isn’t exact.

2. What is your character’s favorite place in the world? Why? The more remote parts of Winterspring.  Even though she’s a jungle troll, Brajana loves the winter.  She loves how silent, peaceful and crisp the mornings are nestled up between the trees and the mountains.  It’s the one place she can go when feeling particularly pugnacious that will always calm her down.  … Or Thrall’s Chamber.

3. What kind of sense of humor does your character have (if any)? She’s a bit of a flirt.  She doesn’t mean anything by it, but she has made her fair share of sexual innuendos!

4. Is your character introverted or extroverted? She’s mostly extroverted, unless she’s around particularly large groups of people.  She feels most comfortable with a small group of friends, and in these situations, the leader in her is brought out.  But the larger the group gets, the more she tends to stick to her self and keep her mouth shut.

5. What just irritates the hell out of your character? Night Elves.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Ferguson, Undead Priest

1. When is your character’s birthday? Does he know? Ferguson can’t remember the exact date of his birth, or even the year of it.  He lost track of time and dates, as they take on little meaning in undeath.

2. What is your character’s favorite place in the world? Why? Felwood.  Something about the way the nature and the corruption have collided – and how no matter how corrupted it gets, he can still see healthy life emerging from underneath.

3. What kind of sense of humor does your character have (if any)? Ferguson doesn’t have a major sense of humour, but he enjoys light-hearted conversations with the ocassional chuckle.

4. Is your character introverted or extroverted? Very introverted.  Ferguson likes to think, and overthink.  He enjoys sitting back and observing people going about their business.

5. What just irritates the hell out of your character? Failure.  He blames himself every time something goes wrong when he’s with a party, he takes on too much responsibility and it makes him sick when something goes wrong!

Anna from Too Many Annas has come up with a fun idea for helping people develop and flex their roleplaying muscles.  I have always enjoyed roleplaying, but never been great at coming up with ideas.  So I’m going to follow along with Anna and help everyone (including myself) get to know Brajana and Ferguson!

Brajana, Troll Hunter

1. What is your character’s name? Brajana, named after her great-grandmother (a Troll tradition).

2. Why did he/she pick his/her class? Brajana’s father was a warrior.  She appreciated the things he did, and his lessons about the history of the Trolls and the Horde inspired her to follow in the fighter’s path – but her father could see that she had a quiddity about her, a way with animals, and so he sent her to be trained by her uncle, a proud Hunter.

3. What’s the worst trouble he/she ever got into as a child? On her first trip to Orgrimmar, a young Brajana had a chance encounter with the Warchief, Thrall.  She’d gotten separated from her father in the Valley of Honour, and ended up sneaking into the Warchief’s chambers, only to come face-to-face with Thrall himself.  She still to this day will not tell anyone about what Thrall told her that day, but ever since then, she’s held his opinion above everyone but her father’s.

4. What is his/her favorite thing to eat? Crunchy Spider Surprise – She can’t stand the creepy things when they’re alive, but fry ‘em up and they’ll be gone in no time!

5. What does he/she have in his/her pockets? Pet food – always pet food.  She feels like these beasts of hers could eat every living thing in all of the Barrens and still come crawling to her for an extra Sporeling Snack or two!

Ferguson, Forsaken Priest

1. What is your character’s name? Ferguson.  He had a first name in his former life, but will only go by his last name, as it helps bring back the memory of his family.

2. Why did he/she pick his/her class? Ferguson was inspired by the light all of his life.  He spent his time as a young adult at the Abby, where his caring nature made him a very popular friend to many.  After he was… lost, he fell into shadow for a time – the loss of his family was too great for him.  But he has since redeemed himself, and has gone back to a life focused on helping those around him not suffer what he did.

3. What’s the worst trouble he/she ever got into as a child? Ferguson was a very good child.  Except when it came to playing with his sister, Anabelle.  Something about her brought out the worst in him!

4. What is his/her favorite thing to eat? Ferguson is a vegetarian, he refuses to act like a cannibal like so many of his fellow Forsaken.  Give him a tasty deep friend plantain, and you’ll have one happy priest!

5. What does he/she have in his/her pockets? Whiskers the Rat – the first friend he made in the Undercity.

Undead.  Lost.  Forsaken by the Light.

Ferguson lived a life of peace.  He was a Priest of the Holy Light, he had a family, his faith was strong and his motivation to help others was even stronger.

And then, the Plague came, and it spread quickly.  Ferguson learned what the plague was doing to the infected, and he and his family fled the land they called home, in search of safety.  However, before they arrived, Ferguson began showing symptoms… he was infected, and it was only a matter of time before he became undead.  In a last desperate move, he sent his family away, hoping it had not spread to them, and that they could find safety, while he was left to rot.

Much time was lost to Ferguson.  He awoke to find himself somewhere strange, not remembering anything since the time he left his family, with no concept of time passed.  He found his jaw had been removed, or rotted off, and had to learn other means of communication.  He learned of others around him with similar stories, and they banded together, determined to return to their homes and get revenge for what had been done to them and their families.  They found a leader in Sylvanas Windrunner, and forged a home in the underbelly of their old capital, Lordaeron.

The Light had forsaken them, they could no longer call upon its power, Ferguson quickly found.  And so he followed a new order, the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow, he and his brethren were forced to wield the power of the Shadow against their greatest enemy, the Scourge.

Ferguson, powered by his anger for his lost life and loved ones, fought viciously against the Scourge.  However, as he battled in the land beyond the Dark Portal, memories of his past began to influence his decisions.  He was tired of fighting, he wanted to return to his life of peace, he wanted to help.  He left the Cult of the Shadow, and worked to find a way to call upon the Light, although it was tainted, to help his companions in battle.

From meager beginnings in Sen’jin Village, a great huntress arose to fulfill her role as a defender of the Horde.  From her first visit to Ogrimmar, and her first encounter with the great Warchief Thrall, Brajana knew her destiny was to uphold the might and honor of the land she had come to call home.  She felt that it was up to her to help give the Darkspear Trolls a new name and help build upon the alliances built with the Orcs and Tauren that had saved them from their conflict, and offered to share their land to give a home to the exiled Darkspears.

As she worked toward her goal of being recognized by the Horde as a true asset, especially by Thrall, whose opinion she valued above all, Brajana met many new people, and learned to appreciate that some members of the Forsaken really could be trusted.  She was aided by one particular member of the Forsaken as she battled her way through Stranglethorn Vale, her family’s former home and the land of her most hated enemies.

In her many conflicts with the crude Alliance, Brajana fought diligently to show her pride for the Horde, and demonstrate her prowess as a hunter.  Alongside her, Fiddlesticks, the white pride lord who she had formed a particular bond with while journeying through the Barrens, destroyed many foes.

When the battle of the Horde turned a focus on the forces of Outland, Brajana rushed to the Dark Portal to do what she could, where ever she could.  In this new land, Brajana made a new ally, Willy, a Warp Stalker.  His swift movements and brilliant white colour made him quite notable, and his power could not be contested.

However, Brajana realized that although she had Willy and Fiddlesticks, she could not make a true difference in the Horde without a greater number of allies to work with.  She quickly found a ragged cuddly and friendly group of fighters aiming for the same goal as she was: The Unemployed.  She quickly made her home with them, and that is where she, Willy and Fiddlesticks help to make their contribution to the Horde, hoping to someday gain the attention of the Warchief, Thrall.