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[Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac]

Some picks from my playlist:

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac - Need Your Love So Bad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_CV9cZhyi4

The Band - Up On Cripple Creek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EisXJSsULGM

Bob Dylan - Cold Irons Bound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsKR82bimu8

Tom Waits - Ice Cream Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1TLD98iOB4

Led Zeppelin - The Rover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JybkqBGrVs

Really enjoyed this story. A strong, deeply melancholic character piece that grabs you by the heart-strings.

[change the concept]

And finally, I know I'm probably breaking a huuuge taboo here but I've got to say it anyway: If you fear that allowing trolls and tauren will water down the concept, perhaps we should change the concept then.

Man, I feel dirty for writing that down...

But there's nothing wrong with the Red Blade concept - nothing to justify completely abandoning six years of backstory and guild lore. There's nothing wrong with change, but change for its own sake is pointless.

But eh.

Gnash's proposal would better suit an alliance of guilds rather than a single guild, personally.  Squishing three whole tribes, eighteen ranks and multiple warbands under ONE guild tag is a recipe for calamity.

-If- we were to accommodate trolls and tauren, it would be better to incorporate them under the existing Red Blade lore and concept rather than diluting the guild's backstory and concept.

Nonetheless, on balance, I feel it would be better to form an IC alliance of different guild tags rather than forming a single indistinct homogenous entity.

No offense, Gnash, but a single lumped-together guild called 'The Tribes' doesn't sound nearly as interesting as three distinct guilds that could collaborate together on events.

A very well-written glimpse into the mind of what promises to be a fascinating character indeed. And it ended on a very... interesting note. 

Very good poem! Your use of couplets kept things very succinct and to the point, and I couldn't help but think of W. B. Yeats' Second Coming in your first few lines ("Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand").

Loved it. Please write more.  

I like that orcs of the red blade is, as the name state, exclusively for orcs. One thing I've always mourned is, however, the low interaction between the races/guilds. I think the idea of inviting others to events, and perhaps hosting more open stuff that's not necessarily tied to kosh'hargs or markets could be a very good idea. That way we perhaps get some closer kind of RP without immediately going through any painful complete overhaul of our guild concept. If there would be enough interest in this from trolls and tauren I'd consider creating a kind of sister guild or such.

On balance, this is probably the best idea in the short term (by which I mean the next twelve months or so). Doing so would keep OotRB fundamentally -orcish- whilst allowing orcs RP opportunities with their troll/tauren bretheren.

I do think that IC interaction between the various guilds is something rather lacking, and something that should be worked towards after our brave orcs return from their adventures in Northrend. For instance, Marrickus has restarted tavern RP at the Wyvern's Tail on his orc alt; should it last, holding a tavern night would probably be a nice alternative to Razor Hill campfire nights when the orcs are in Durotar between RP focuses.

Returning to the topic, however - I've outlined my reasons why integrating the orcs, trolls and tauren just makes sense. Establishing a sister guild but inviting it to our events is a very sensible halfway option to retain our orcish niche whilst exploring the options of further establishing Kalimdor RP.

I'd easily amend my vote to a close-knit sister guild, but the reasons for having a limited poll are clear and obvious, considering how abstract and hypothetical the topic is at this current stage.

[yes,]

Apologies in advance for a brick-wall of text, but this is a big deal and I'd rather outline exactly why I cast a vote for 'make it so' (bar the irresistable TNG reference).

So I say yes, depending on correct implementation of course.

By which I mean that it is important to reaffirm the Red Blade lore and history to prevent the guild concept being lost. In essence, trolls and tauren would be entering from the bottom in an orc-filled tribe with orcish ideals and orcish past.

This in itself is not a problem, considering how closeknit the orcs, tauren and trolls are depicted as, not to mention the cultural cross-fertilisation as the tauren and trolls begin to accept the dominant orcish culture of the Horde.

Certainly, the Darkspear 'enjoy their alliance with the Horde and support their new allies by revering what they revere.' (source: http://www.wowpedia.org/Darkspear), and the tauren and orcs are depicted as 'spiritual brethren ... No other race shared such a similar outlook on the world, and the shamans of both races met frequently to discuss the matters of the spirit world. The tauren allied with the orcs out of a shared vision' (source: http://www.wowpedia.org/Tauren).

Expanding the remit of the tribe, which is already cross-clan and accepts orcs regardless of class, caste or outlook, is therefore not much of a stretch. To reinforce the orcish values of the tribe whilst allowing troll and tauren applicants, I therefore propose the replacement of the unused Packweaver rank with one running parallel with New Blood for non-orcs wherein the trolls and tauren are assimilated into the pack before entering the standard tribe hierarchy with their Oath of Blood.

OOCly, there's no current niche for Darkspear trolls or tauren (bar the Blackbloods, which has a definite slant towards Fel/Dark Horde). We could help facilitate those RPers whilst providing new opportunities for the guild to evolve. The arguments raised on both sides certainly show that inducting trolls and tauren would give our characters -much- to talk and argue about.

As a visual guide in helping orcs come to their decision, I've also included a small mock-up of trolls and tauren in Red Blade colors.

EDIT: And yes, I think goblins are a little heterogenous and self-serving at this point. Trolls and tauren would be a better first step.

Unrelated to the above, but I don't know where else to put it, and it hardly merits its own topic.

At the request of multiple guildees in redorc, I present Sadok's amazing campfire placement skills (or lack thereof). Truly my derpiest hour.

Upon a tattered scrap of paper:

I cannot settle my mind. Worries. Doubts. Fears. I have not slept. I have not eaten. And so I do what comes naturally to me... I write.

We made landfall this evening. Our ship has run aground, a wreck relentlessly ravaged by the cruel winds of the North. Yet this heavy blow to the tribe is rendered insignificant by the loss of its entire senior hierarchy - Chieftain, High Blade and Varog’gor alike. The power vacuum left by their absence has crippled a tribe already on the verge of collapse; Karak and I have done our best to organise the provision of our remaining supplies and marshal those who have survived the wreck. Our short-term priorities are clear. Despite the freezing seas and nearby human presence, searching for our missing orcs is of utmost importance, as is finding a safe path out of this harsh bay, surrounded on all sides by steep cliff-faces.

My head throbs intolerably. I need rest. I cannot rest. My hands are shaking. Why are my hands shaking?

Dirgesong claims that he will leave in the morning; that he will set out eastwards to seek the Hand of Vengeance’s aid. Should he depart, I become sole Alpha of this fractured pack. Already I feel a sense of unease; I will become responsible for the lives of each of the tribe’s orcs, yet I feel that I do not command the necessary respect to lead alone. I could have swore I heard a New Blood speak of coups. I see the glint of ambition in Devilstep’s eyes. He has experience, expertise and charisma... a leader of orcs and a veteran of the North. I dare not relinquish power to him, however; I have heard of the events surrounding his fall from Varog’gor, and I do not wish the tribe to be lead to their deaths for the sake of one Blademaster’s vain pride.

Oh, to have traded places with any of them! My life for Sharpeye, for Feralheart. Any of them would be better than I.

Another key consideration on my troubled mind is the New Blood, Ragaresh. Driven mad by dark magics, he might prove an active danger to the tribe even when bound and gagged. His words are poison. Worse yet, I fear that should he break free, he would murder me in my sleep... if I could sleep. I have heard an orc suggest we dispose of him rather than allow the traitor to encumber the tribe, yet I stand by High Blade Sharpeye’s command that he be kept alive and unharmed, in the hope of some ‘cure’. Would she have intended the command be upheld in such exceptional circumstances? I do not know. I must exercise my judgment.

My eyes are heavy, so heavy. The future looks bleak. I fear for my tribe.

((Curses! The orcs before me took all the good colours!  ))

I just saw Titanic from start til end

that is all

Oh Jack, draw me like one of your French girls!

- Sadok, frost mage. Make cap every week with friends, but generally don't have a problem helping some guildees with a few 2v2s should they require it.
- Rashlak, resto shaman. See above.

Oh dying orc amongst the ferns
The day is late, the sun, it burns
His head is sore, his stomach churns
Another dies, the world, it turns.

Oh dying orc in pale moonlight
His body broken, he cannot fight
Bereft of honor, strength or might
It’s growing dark, he fades from sight.

Oh dying orc soon to be drowned
Sinking slow, never to be found
No last rites, no burial mound
He breathes his last without a sound

Oh dying orc face down in snow
Failed to block his enemy’s blow
Such wasted life ‘neath spiteful foe
He feels so numb from head to toe

Oh dying orc beneath the trees
Lets out a final painful wheeze
No one around to hear his pleas
He could have lived, he’ll rest in peace

Oh crying orc amongst the furs
So wracked with grief, she softly purrs
Her love is gone and woe is hers
She turns to ale, her vision blurs

I'm a big fan of your prose, Devilstep. Tightly-written and directly engaging (rather than my tendency to write self-indulgently). Would love to read more!

Though taught by Pandaren, there's no reason why someone couldn't come to that conclusion of inner balance and focus independently.

This I however do not agree with you, with that logic, there is 0 reason why there whould not be orcish paladins (Real paladins, not Blood Knight or Sunwalkers), meaning, they fight and they learn the holy light themself (like the old priest did of the Humans, but they don't have the relgion themself)

And where did the humans learn to use the Holy Light? They didn't have a close encounter of the Naaru kind a la Draenei. I choose to believe that given its status as a nontheistic philosophy rather than a deistic religion, the humans developed usage of the Light independently or derived it from Titanic worship of Tyr (see Tyr's Hand in the Plaguelands) which eventually evolved further.

I see no reason why Chi -has- to be taught by the pandaren, nor do I see any reason why (with the exception of stigmatisation, and a culture coloured by thousands of years of primal shamanism upon Draenor) one couldn't have orcish adherents of the Light.