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When both Nazkhur and Morgeth were gone, Norviskrall could return at his own problems. He had kept his calm throughout the training and campfire, but now the thoughts were taking him over. Claws hadn't appear to her own training, with some ambiguous reason he didn't quite understand. The fight one of these death knights had with her a few days back didn't help at all. He hadn't seen any of them since then.

"What did you get yourself into, Kei?"
Norviskrall found in Hammerfall a troll mage who agreed to make him a portal to Orgrimmar.
"A wounded wolf hides in her den".
But Claws had many dens, you never knew which suited her best at a given time. Norviskrall took a wolf shape and ran in Durotar, dropping by a hovel where he had seen Claws sometime, but he sniffed at no use around, nobody had been there for many days. He went to a place among the rocks of Durotar, where Claws had taken him weeks past, but the place was empty. Then he returned in Orgrimmar, and head to a hide of Claws known to him.

"She asked me to not come here without her".
"Then she would better be there, all safe, to tell me so and send me ...what, running all Azeroth".
The ghostly wolf jumped between the rocks and arrived at the hide. He sniffed the air and already knew there was someone there before he made his last jump. It was indeed, but not Claws. A masked figure tried to push him back savagely to the rock, while Norvis' wolf instincts took over and he bit hard the hand that was pushing him. With an inarticulate sound, the intruder pushed him again with the other hand, dropping what he was carrying, jumped down and disappeared in the night.

Alone, Norvis checked the hide. Several parchments were laying around, and a small package with a broken sigil.
Norvis let out a growl. He didn't know where else to go. He sit down and took the parchments one by one. The story on them started with the page that had a title on it:

It is done, Lord.

It was the story of Claws after she was exiled from the Red Blades, accused of betrayal.
Norvis stayed a while with the eyes at the parchments, thinking. He remembered the Chieftain's words about her disrespect.
Then this. She had come to Thrall after turning her back on the tribe.
"Why coming that hard on the Chieftain, why couldn't she let go a bit?" he wondered again.
The chieftain believed she acted very harshly because she saw him as honey-talked by elves, added to some disagreements with other orcs. But Norvis couldn't leave it at that. He always trusted Claws, and believed she must have good reasons for her acts.

He slowly turned to the package.

On it, it was written: "To be open at my death". But it was open, and an old parchment fell on the ground as he took it. A parchment with the same handwriting.

Personal Notes

An odd mixed feeling invaded him. Her duty. She had to. Unfair. Her Path. Her Path as was written to be. Unfair, unfair it was.
...Of course the elves DID take that as intrusion into their business. He knew only too well himself, from own experience, as he was among the elves at the time. Every other elf was talking about the intrusion of the savages, and adding his own "spicy" story about them.
But Claws... He felt a weight on his heart as he thought about how it must have been. "Yes, I can understand this was her Path, but, it is so unfair."

Norvis turned again to the package, as one more piece of parchment was inside. As he read, he knew it must have been written when the chieftain had dissapeared after the assault on Theramore and they all thought him dead.

Kei's Lament

Norvis put down the last page, and looked over the dark quiet city.
"I'll stay till dawn. She might, she might need help when coming" he said to himself unwilling to walk away.

All Orgrimmar was sleeping at that hour, except for a ghost wolf that howled in the night.

In a village in the frozen hills of Howling Fjord, Norviskrall hurries to post a letter to the tribe.
The letter reads:



Norviskrall comes back to the forge and watches it twist and melt the last remains of the cursed necklace, and thoughts swirl in his mind.

"We were and are being watched day and night, through the empty eyes of this 'creature', by the Lich King's minions."

"My only hope is that it's not too late. That the Red Blades didn't attract too much the attention of the Lich King."

"Once they all destroy it, there'll be no more unwanted ears. Because this is not a being, it's a ...thing with ears.
Channels through which communication is possible. Actually, it's possible to be both ways, I cannot tell."

[To all orcs!]

To all orcs!

I must warn you all about this letter I have received this morning, for it does concern every one of us.

It is most obvious to me that the "B.B." stands for Bloodsail Buccaneers.
It makes me sad to be the messenger of such news, as if we didn't have enough problems waiting around the corner. I trust you will all be careful these days, to avoid the possibility that a gang of villains put their hands on any of you! I cannot stress enough that this is not a good time to travel alone, specially across the sea of in the jungle.

I will wait for you on the seventh day of the moon, in Booty Bay, when they will come around. Hopefully, we will be able to show them they cannot just threaten us and get away with it. Or, if anyone thinks we should give in, please say so.

Meanwhile, I will try to find out how did they get the idea to do this now and eventually uncover how they intend to act on their threats. Anyone who is curious about this whole thing will probably find me in Booty Bay these days.

(( Friday November 7th, 20:00, Booty Bay ))
(( an occasion to get together and have fun while probably visit an island and kick some pirate arse. Actually, the story may unfold some more these days and that may eventually change what we do at the final event ))

I am the kind of player that would keep an entire addon with quite many functionalities only because of a tiny piece of it. And what is worse it that I don't even use that tiny piece too much, because it has its inconveniences, still I "might" use it more one day...
Well, well.
Specifically, I kept the ImmersionRP addon that I don't use (I use MyRolePlay) because of the little "RP button" that it adds to the chat. The button hides most of your interface, leaving only the chat window and tooltips visible, for you to ... RP of course. That seemed like a wonder for someone who always had a too many action bars and such.

These days I was tired enough of them too many addons, so I extracted the code for the RP button into another little addon that does nothing else (RPButton), and gave up the rest. I attach it here. Please feel free to take it if you find it useful. If not, perhaps you can say why not and I might add something to it?
Mind you, currently there is nothing of my own there, is only a part of the ImmersionRP (http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/immersion-rp.aspx).
I attach a screenshot with what the interface looks like when you click it.
Then, as I said, in fact I don't use it because of some inconveniences. Specifically:
1) It hides most frames, including the "target" frame. That is a little too much, it makes it wierd, you don't know when and what target you have selected unless you notice the thin selection circle around it... not good. The same for the pet frame I think.
2) It lets the chat how it was... Perhaps it could leave the damned /trade channel and join it back at the end?
3) Again, the chat. Perhaps it could split the chat window in two windows, one for /say, /yell, /emote and one for the rest.
4) It could allow one action bar still visible? (the one for RP macros I suppose)

/discuss

["Your tribe should have the history they remember."]

"This time it will work."
The ash of the herbs previously burned in countless attempts to call the spirits was dissipating. They had all failed. The spirits just wouldn't listen. Maybe she was too untrained. True... Well, there was no such attempt now. Now she used powerful arcane spells, learned from a secret sin’dorei school of magic, to open a portal to another time and space.
"It's here."
A deep fog was gathering around, and a portal became visible. Morsha entered with no hesitation, and came to a clearing. A few orcs near a fire. No one seemed to smell her at all. One of them was looking out in the distance, and then he started to sing, an old sad song she had never heard before.
"One of the old songs!"
She stayed still, listening. The last sounds went away and a deep silence took their place, each was lost in thoughts of their own. Later in the night most went silently to their tents, only the one who sang remained near the dying fire. Morsha saw him take a scroll and writing. She approached carefully, though she felt just as foggy as the thick air around, and bent over his shoulder. He was writing a story, and the song! She took a scroll and copied it quickly, fearing it may disappear.
Her fear was not unwarranted, for soon thereafter, the fog became more dense, and she felt like going down. She closed her eyes, dizzy. When she opened them again, she was to the place when she had started the invocation.
"That was all, can't be, just one?...aw broke my vow for just one story, kaeldamn it! I mean…aw, nevermind! But it's a good one, it was worth it..."
She was just too tired to think about the broken vow, about the arcane magic she used again, and should not have done it. But she wanted the stories too bad.
She let herself sit down, slowly. She opened the scroll and straightened it with her palm, then completed the recovered story with its title: Songs and tales on the path of an Orc.

---

...She felt him watching, rather than hear him or anything else. Looked up and saw him, the grey wolf, with his big grey eyes watching her. Big, understanding eyes and yet so sad... Those eyes made her feel guilty before he said a word.
"I called you! You wouldn't listen, what would you have me do? My tribe needs their history! They need the bonding their old stories can give them, if they are to survive these times, you have to understand, you do, don't you?"
The wolf's eyes seemed even more sad.
"You are the Spirit of Time, aren’t you? My quest finally brought you here"
The wolf shook his head.
"Your tribe should have the history they remember."
"Err, no…not necessarily, things happened, The Wolf-Lorekeeper is not around anymore, scrolls were lost, it’s not so simple, I need to bring them back somehow"
"Your tribe deserve the history they remember." The wolf said it so clear that it sounded harsh, and it made her uneasy. "Did you ask them, about their history? Did you ask for their stories? You are in a tribe now, you cannot go on doing alone, the way you want, things that concern the others."
"Err, I, no, I did not ask them."
The wolf was looking at her with same soft grey eyes full of sadness, and he did not say anything but she wanted to explain:
"I, I just wanted to understand a few things before asking them…one knows a tribe by its history" her words sounded empty. Then she looked at him with sudden understanding.
"Yours is not the Aspect of Time, it is Memory. So my quest for the history of the tribe is not about time…?"
The wolf nodded.
"Your tribe needs to remember themselves, they should not be forced into anything. If it still belongs to them, they will remember. If they don’t, then they changed, and should follow their other path. There is nothing wrong with that."

---

It was late in the night and the wolf was not there anymore.
She took the scroll and rolled it carefully. Among her scrolls, including those the future will bring, there will only be one of this kind, a scroll scavenged from the remains of time itself. The rest will be different, there will be stories from those who remember. If they will remember…
The fire was dying but she did not care anymore. She stood up and walked slowly to the tent. A calm though sad voice she had never heard before that night was singing in her head

    "Imagine to wander the great forests here
     by the great oaks and the beautiful pines
     the dancing shadows of the sunsets fiery mane
     those forests are me, so dear... "

Hello all,
me thinks Morsha will have to finally go in the vision quest she was sent to, and may not come to spend time with you orcs for a while. Like, two weeks.
Have fun in there, and not only!

PS: The laptop had so much blank space that me said "what useless junk can I throw in here" and I put wow there. But of course that was only for storage purposes, no will to enter the game is implied anywhere, nor will be.
( that came out believable, didn't it?  )

Cheers,
Morsha

One of these days, in Orgrimmar:
Morsha: Lok'tar!
Searn Firewarder: Fire be witcha, mon. I see you be strong in da ways of earth already, an' me tinkin' you be ready to talk to Kranal. He be strong in da ways of da elements and can teach ya da ways of fire... if you tink you be ready.
Morsha: yes, I believe I am, and I will try to prove I can control fire.

* Morsha goes to Fiss, in the Barrens*
Kranal Fiss: Well then, I see it in your eyes already, the burning, the desire. You've tasted power, and now you think you're ready for more of it.
Morsha: Yes, I think I am ready. I am willing to try and harness the power of fire.
Fiss: You are powerful enough to wield the totem of fire, but that does not mean you are ready.
Morsha: What do I have to do to prepare then?
Fiss: Along the Southfury River in Durotar, before the Great Sea, lies a hidden trail to one of the highest peaks in the land.
Find your way to the top and you shall find one of our holy shrines watched over by Telf Joolam Morsha: the Shrine of the Dormant Flame.
Take this torch to him Morsha: it marks that you attempt to tame fire.
Morsha: Yes, I will.
[thinking] I have to attempt to tame fire. That is, like you tame a beast, make it bend to your will. Nothing more esoteric than that? Almost not interesting... Well, I will try.

* finds Telf Joolam in his hidden plateau in Durotar and steps right in front of him, saluting *
Joolam: I am pleased to make your acquaintance. Many adventurers find their way here while looking for lost treasure or the promise of mystical creatures to slay, only to be turned away from a seemingly empty shrine. But we know the truth, do we not, Morsha? This shrine holds a greater secret from the mundane members of the Horde. To us, it is sacred.
Morsha: yes... It was my understanding that it is the place where I can test my ability to control fire.
Joolam: [low] Hm, proud words. Almost dangerously so... [loud] You came for the Eternal Flame and fire totem.
Morsha: Yes.
Joolam: Good. The first step is to create a sapta and bind you to the flame. I can create the fire sapta for you. I have enough ingredients for a sapta of fire if you can find a reagent pouch and some fire tar.

* he explains how to get them, from the Burning Blade warlocks, and asks her to do that and bring them back, and so she does. *

Joolam: They had them, didn't they? The Burning Blade fanatics carry the proper components for most of their spells in those pouches, and usually have enough of the items I need that we will not have to search much farther for anything else.
Morsha: Yes, they did. They were using them for their fire spells as well.
Joolam: Of course they did, the saptas are always made from ingredients that are closely tied to their respective elements. It makes our work easier because of the warlocks' ties to fire.
Morsha: I suppose the stoopid warlocks did not control themselves while doing so, I saw them, they seemed so lost, their death must have been a blessing to them. Main difference, that, control it or it will control you, as always...
Joolam looks curiously at her, but continues: The fire sapta is finished. The time has come for you to face the flame. Use the sapta at the shrine and head to the top of the mountain to face the manifestation there. He will not attack until you are ready, but he will realize you are able to see him. Strike him down swiftly, Morsha, for he shall only grow in power the longer you take to slay him.
Morsha: Yes, I will defeat him. I will defeat the manifestation of fire... and by that, control the power of fire.
Joolam: Control the elements? * laughs with some difficulty *
'Tis second time I hear a proud assertion of this kind from you, but you probably do not master orcish completely, your language is more strange than others'...Go.

Morsha looks him curiously, but goes. She uses the sapta at the shrine, and suddenly all around her she sees fire elementals, smaller or bigger, and a minor manifestation of fire. She charges with terrible desire to prove her worth.
And defeats the minor manifestation fairly easily.
Then places the ember in the brazier on top of the mountain.
A white hot flame ignites within the bowl.
She can feel the magical effects of the sapta coursing through her body and the fire dances rhythmically before her.
Torch firmly in hand, she turns away from the brazier and looks out over Durotar.
She feels an excitement tugging at her spirit as the wind picks up and forces the flame to dance violently.

Joolam: Your spirit burns brighter than any torch I've ever seen, Morsha, and for that, you should be proud. If you continue down this path, the elements will be yours to command, and our brethren will look to you for guidance and wisdom. Let me be the first to congratulate you and present to you your newest totem.
Morsha: You have my thanks. I am now the agent of fire, and use it to do my will, but always for a noble cause ! *smiles*
Joolam: What?! No, no, you apprentice! Saying the elements will be yours to command, is merely a way of speaking, actually what you do is call for their help, that they may choose to grant you or not! You, you * cough * are not an agent, but a mere conduit through which * he cannot continue *
Morsha looks at him surprised by this sudden burst.
Morsha: I have heard this way of speaking before, to "call" and wait for them to make things... And if you want to say that, I suppose you can. But I was merely saying exactly what it all meant.
Joolam: That is what it all means! you can never control the elements, you can merely be closer to them so you can ask for their help! They decide if they want to help you and in which way actually.
Morsha frowns: I hope you are not saying that you make it possible for forces to act however they want, while you don't try to control what they do. Because if you are, then that also means that you allow them to do things using your spell, that is you allow yourself to be used, controlled by them. You can disregard unfortunate words I may use, I am just an apprentice, but it is clear that one should control both himself and the forces he uses...

Joolam looks at her in horror ("spell"?!). He remained silent for a few seconds. "You can only reach your true being by making yourself vehicle of spirits..." mumbles he, more for himself. He understood she was too far away, in what it looked like a heresy to him, for these words to get to her. Calmly but firmly, he looked at her.

Joolam: Morsha, you are not supposed to use fire this way. The best thing for you to do, and listen to me carefully on this, is to try to see what path you are actually on. Go on a vision quest. I recommend you talk to the shamans in Bloodhoof Village, they may help you...I hope. But until you do, you are not allowed to use the power of fire. Don't do it. It would only anger it... Go now.

Morsha remains a second disoriented, wondering "what the kael-dam...grom-damned a vision quest actually is". But then she gets hold of herself, salutes and goes away.