Tomekeepers

Wyrmrest Accord Alliance Roleplay Guild

[zirsia]

Fire in the Jungle

Recently, one of our Dedicants, Kalrum Greatforge, wrote to me with concerns regarding the flora and fauna of the jungle filled region in southern Kalimdor, Un’goro Crater. An infection he suspected was sourced in the sword of Sargeras was affecting the area. Life there was becoming unnaturally aggressive and indeed not only showed signs of a corruption via protuding crimson veins but also very combustive. Worryingly this effect appeared to be spreading quite quickly through the local populations. Two Tomekeeper expeditions were held to investigate, and throughout these we did experience first hand such aggressive behaviour as well as a tendency for the plants and animals who were infected to often explode upon death. The second expedition led us into the depths of a Silithid hive wherein we did locate what appears to be the source… an artifact of unknown age, sealed in a chamber which was guarded by a minor Faceless One! We were very nearly forced to retreat, but through the fierce will and resourceful wit of our expedition members we were able to defeat the creature and removed the now dormant artifact from the chamber. It now sealed and warded, unable to infect or corrupt and indeed without the Faceless One it appears to have lost all power. I am also pleased to report, now that it has been removed, though the infected life of Un’goro is not cleansed, there is no continued contamination, so it appears that as those infected die off there will be no further spread of this infection. I am quite pleased with both the determined actions of our Dedicants upon the expeditions and the committed research performed by those who participated in such. Commendations are granted to the follow Dedicants Kalrum Greatforge (@kalrumgreatforge) Adael Selvorge Mariiku Grovethorn Liabelle Grovethorn Camir Delchamps Lonnieael Irontalon Ninrandir Al'dressi (@ninrandir) Zeulus

as well as Archivist Renascia

[tkwra]

OOC : This was our last adventure for a time - We are in search of a guild which may consider merging with or absorbing us. We have a good number of very friendly and creative members but we do not have an officer structure upon which to grow. Tomekeepers will remain a roleplay group / continuity in future even if we aren’t able to remain so as a guild however and adventures are still planned! Meanwhile, if this sort of thing is in line with your guild and you feel you could use some strongly creative and good peeps to connect with, please consider us. Contact any Tomekeeper online in game and they can connect with me if I am online. Elsewise, I can always also be messaged on tumblr via my main account @spectraprism

[warcraft-lore-archives]

A “Short” Discussion of the Void

Parts to be Discussed:

A Brief Primer on the Void

Characteristics of the Void

“The Void and You” (races that have merged with the void and what that means)

The Void Dimension

The Shadow & the Light

A Brief Primer on the Void

According to Chronicle, at the very beginning of everything, there was only the Light. As the Light shifted and moved in great waves of cosmic motion, it inadvertently created pockets of cold nothingness. These pockets, absent of any Light whatsoever, gave birth to the Void, an entity of utter chaos and destruction [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume I].

At its core, the Void is a force that seeks to consume everything and destroy or enslave every soul in the universe [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 20]. Because the Void originated in a dimension outside of the physical realm, it is incredibly difficult for powerful Void beings to manifest on the plane of reality for extended periods of time [World of Warcraft, Chronicle Volume I, pg. 13]. Despite this, the Void has found a way to spread its influence unfettered through “maddening whispers” [Page: Whisper Gulch, NPC: C’thun Dialogue]. These whispers are quite invasive and hard to ignore, leading many a feeble mind to their doom [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 36, Quest: Arkhaan’s Peril, NPC: Magister Umbric Dialogue].

Void and Shadow are interchangeable terms [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume I].

Characteristics of the Void

As opposed to the Light, which seeks one path and shuns all others as lies, the Void seeks every possible path, seeing them all as truth [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 37, NPC: Magister Umbric Dialogue, Twitter: Steve Danuser].

It’s possible that mortals succumb to madness when exposed to the Void’s whispers because they are unable to discern what is truth and what is falsehood. Just as the Void believes every path is a true one, mortals believe (or want to believe) that everything the Void is telling them is true. This misconception leads mortals down paths of depravity and betrayal, especially when motivated by the Void’s desire to destroy everything. Alleria Windrunner, however, is able to maintain her sanity in part because she can sift out the lies and distinguish between the Void’s memories, plans, and desires [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 37, Comic: Three Sisters, pg. 10].

Similar to how the Light views the Void as a malevolent force that must be stopped, the Void likewise considers the Light a corruptive entity. A couple paragraphs from “A Thousand Years of War” describe this best:

“[Alleria] saw the Light moving through the cosmos like a ravenous predator. She saw it touch the minds of Azeroth’s mortals—a touch that corrupted them forever. She saw generations live and die in invisible chains, bound to a force that granted them fleeting moments of peace in exchange for absolute obedience.

She saw war. She saw the forces of the Light striking back against the Void. She saw darkened worlds burning in holy fire. She saw millions of creatures encased in luminous crystals the size of mountains, sustained by the Light and unable to die. Warriors of the Light were monsters, corrupting and consuming everything they touched” [pg. 37].

The Void does not understand the bonds between mortals and that there are some things that cannot be corrupted [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 38].

The Void and You

Although many have succumbed to the Void, some of strong mind have achieved mastery over the shadow without falling prey to it. Most prominent are the void elves and void ethereals, although one Broken was successfully infused with void without falling to madness [Dungeon Journal: Seat of the Triumvirate: Zuraal the Ascended].

There are two groups of void ethereals: the Ethereum in Netherstorm and the Shadowguard on Argus. The former manipulated void energy in the Naaru manaforges and bonded it with their own energy, turning them into a creature called a nexus-stalker [Quest: Potential for Brain Damage = High]. It is not specified how the Shadowguard become void ethereals except that they succumbed to the void and do not have control over it in the way that Locus-Walker or Alleria do [Quest: Shadowguard Incursion, Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 19-20].

Although it may not seem like it, there is a marked difference between void users and void beings. Void elves and void ethereals have merged with the void and become void beings, whereas shadow priests only wield the void, making them void users. For more about this, there is a very good post here covering the distinction, however I will leave you with one more thing to consider: a line from the “A Thousand Years of War” story reads, “But now Turalyon was not simply a wielder of the light; he had become one with it, like most of them” [pg. 17]. Blood elf shadow priests, for example, are only wielders of shadow and not one with the void in the sense that Alleria and the void elves are.

(Sidenote: As a point of interest, some night elf shadow priests draw their shadow powers from a belief in “the dark side of the moon” and that “the light of the moon casts a shadow” [TCG: Anduros Silversong, TCG: Kintara Wintermoon].)

The Void Dimension

The PC has entered the Void, the dimension where the Void Lords and void beings exist, multiple times [Quest: Into the Void, Quest: Throwing Shade]. The Void dimension is described as a place of “nothing” with no light, sound, or ground, although it is represented very differently in-game [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 34, Twitter: Jeremy Feasel]. In fact, when one enters the Void dimension in-game, they seem to enter a muted mirror version of Azeroth full of void creatures (similar to the Emerald Dream) [Quest: Into the Void, Quest: Throwing Shade]. It is unclear if the Void is really meant to be a scape of “nothingness” or if it somehow operates similar to the Twisting Nether in that it can create strange reflections of real worlds [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 7].

The Shadow & The Light

Even though the Light once existed as the only being in the cosmos, it has been said many times that the Void and Light cannot exist without each other [Quest: What the Soul Sees]. Conversely, it has also been said that the Void and Light cannot exist together because they are antithetical in nature [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 20, 28, 29].

Very few mortals use both the Light and Shadow, preferring instead to give in to the powers of one over the other. Despite this, the Light and Shadow are incredibly powerful forces when used in concert because they are the two very base cosmic forces of the universe. As Locus-Walker pointed out in his lessons to Alleria, neither the Light nor the Shadow alone are responsible for determining destiny. One cannot use just the Void or Light to tell the future accurately, but Alleria, with her knowledge of and mastery over both, saw visions of the future that neither force alone could have foretold. It is this unique foresight which enabled her to see that the Void was lying to her [Audio Drama: A Thousand Years of War, pg. 36-37].

Even Natalie Seline acknowledged the power one would have using both the Light and Shadow together. For a time, those under her guidance practiced both forms of magic, however the pull of the Void was too much, and they eventually forsook the Light altogether [Object: Word of the Conclave, Part Nine, Part Ten].

[kalrum-archive]

Half-Breeds in WoW

I figured since I’ve been seeing them more often I would discuss the aspects of playing a half-breed in World of Warcraft using canon and non-canon sources.

#1: Any race can interbreed unless stated otherwise. This is not technically canon, but considering that races from different planets can breed (Draenei/Orcs, Orcs/Humans), it’s a safe assumption to presume this fact.

#2: Humans were NOT in Kalimdor until the Third War. Similarly, Night Elves were NOT in Eastern Kingdoms until the Third War as well. However, BOTH continents knew about Northrend for awhile before that (I.E., the elves who planted Vordrassil, and Arthas already knowing about Northrend when Mal’ganis brought it up). So while I can understand if members of either race met on Northrend and had a kid, do remember that canonically, the Third War was when these two races met for real the first time.

As a side note, incredible powerful individuals such as the Guardian and I would presume the Six (leaders of Dalaran), as well as the Sunstrider family know of the other continent and the Night Elves (while I would presume any powerful druid would know about the Eastern  Kingdoms, even if they never visited!).

On a more interesting note, goblins have known about both continents for a long time (I presume), so it’s always possible for a half-breed born out at sea or at a goblin settlement from sailors from both continents meeting.

#3: Humans were not really traveling the seas until after the Troll Wars. This one is more of an assumption then anything else, but considering the state of their technology and the closeness each nation shared at the time, it would make sense that sailing was not very advanced or even not discovered until after the humans united. The point of this statement is to make sure people realize that it’s VERY unrealistic to have humans on any other continent besides Northrend further then 3000 years ago. Also the fact that Kul Tiras wasn’t built until after the Troll Wars helps this assertion as well. So while humans may have had fishing vessels, I doubt they had any real sea dominance until they allied with the High Elves to fight the Amani (which goes with the whole sharing their strengths like magic to defeat the trolls).

#4: Teldrassil was planted after the Third War. This one is less about half-breeds and more about ages. I see way too many Night Elves (and half Night Elves) born on Teldrassil, but have their ages being more then… 12 years old at this point? Remember, it’s year 32 in the Warcraft universe. 32 years after the Dark Portal, the Third War was year 20 according to Chronicles, making Teldrassil around 12 years old. This isn’t exact, it could be younger, but 12 is the maximum age it can be with the Third War in consideration. When BfA comes out, that will increase to 13 years old, but then it’ll be dead. Oh well.

#5: It is not always a best of both worlds, I.E. the best traits of both races. Many real life halfbreeds have terrible downsides, like health problems, inability to have children, and so forth. While World of Warcraft certainly throws Biology out the window in terms of what can breed, it would be unwise to presume that a half gnome-half ogre *shudder* will have the strength of an ogre and the intelligence of a gnome. A half-elf won’t live as long as an elf, although it’s safe to presume they will live longer then their lesser lived parent (of the two).

#6: Draenei as we know them today did NOT get on Azeroth until the Burning Crusade. Although there were humans/dwarves/gnomes/high elves (and no other race from the Alliance) on Draenor/Outland before BC, most draenei were in extreme hiding until they had a chance to steal a ship from the Blood Elf controlled Tempest Keep (which the Blood Elves sabotaged to make the Exodar crash on Azeroth). This is to point out that anything half-draenei, if it’s one of the four original races of the Alliance can be at a maximum, as old as when “Beyond the Dark Portal” takes place, when the Sons of Lothar invaded Draenor. While any other race native to Azeroth (trolls/night elves mostly) can only be… 6 years old at this point. You could argue that some individual draenei may have sneaked through the Dark Portal when it was opened, and I will give you that one, but those draenei would have had no way to meet a night elf until the Third War. Making that sort of child at most, 12 years old. Presuming they went undetected on a Horde or Alliance ship. Considering the shit the Horde ships went through getting there, it would be an Alliance ship (although I also concede that they could have been hired on a crew of goblins, who know about both continents and taken to Kalimdor before the Third War… but that is a very unlikely set of circumstances to occur).

#7: The 5 traditional flights stopped being able to breed at the end of Cataclysm. I agree this is shit lore, but it is the lore. The only understanding I can make of it is that they were transformed by the Titan Keepers power, and when that power finally left the Aspects to kill Deathwing, it made their species unstable (since they were transformed proto-drakes technically). Thus, while they aren’t turning back, they can’t reliable have children anymore. The other flights, Twilight, Nether, Storm, and the like, they have no problem whatsoever because they (in the first 2 cases) went through another transformation of sorts that separated them from the Aspects and thus the Titans power while Storm Dragons seem to be keyed to Odyn, and he’s not revoking his blessing anytime soon.

#8: As a concluding thought, I applaud all efforts to make half-breeds (please make more half-dwarves, thank you very much), but PLEASE take the lore into consideration. Simply disliking it does not mean it doesn’t exist, and it ruins the immersion I feel roleplaying with you when your character can’t make sense. And I know, if I don’t like it, I shouldn’t play with it, that’s fine, but the problem is that I WANT to play with you all (baring OOC jackasses) and the lore isn’t THAT bad, it gives plenty of room to wiggle when making characters, and there are natural non-Lore breaking assumptions one can make to make more interesting characters.

Thank you for reading this rant, I felt like writing about roleplaying today.

[tkwra]

Tomekeeper’s June Creative Prompt

As the members previously holding the Azeroth contingent of the Tomekeepers, outside of Renascia, have all vanished... everyone, including Zirsia herself, are new to this place.

With this in mind, June's creative prompt is 'A New Home' ... this can be interpreted and expressed in whatever medium or style you wish. ...

For writing : Poetry, Prose, Short Story, Report, or something else. For art :  Sketch, Sculpture, Real Media or Digital, even Music if that moves you.

Whatever you feel moved to do, you may do.

You may submit here on the guild tumblr or in the specific threads on our Guild Site Forums. I look forward to seeing what comes of this! -- High Archivist Zirsia

[tkwra]

Tomekeeper Monthly Creative Prompts

Each month we present a creative prompt as a means to encourage connection to the guild stories. We invite all our members to join in on for fun and to flex their creative muscles in either words, art or even music if they wish... The prompts are posted as threads in our forums as well as here on the guild tumblr and everyone is welcome to respond as a reply to those threads or here as a submission to this tumblr. If you have any questions, ask here!  

[tkwra]

Knowledge Serves As Wisdom Guides

The <Tomekeepers> Society is an Alliance based Roleplay Guild on Wyrmrest Accord. We are relatively casual with a strong focus on community, enjoyment of the game and cultivation of creativity. Our premise is one of a well established society of knowledge seekers and preservers who find themselves now, for various reasons, needing to rebuild... Applications are OPEN! Read all About it...

[tkwra]

History of the Tomes

As they fled Argus, a handful of Draenei scholars combined their experience and whatever records they could to ensure its survival during their flight. From herbalism to arcane mysteries, teachings of the Light to Rangari scouting techniques, these scholars inscribed volume after volume, binding them in metal plates that would never tarnish. Keeping one step ahead of the Legion, they recruited others, gathering artifacts to add to their precious vault and preserving only those relics that would serve their people in both history and function. These scholars, now known as the Tomekeepers, continued to grow their collection. When the eventual destruction of the Outlands became unavoidable, they once again consolidated their collection, crafting another set of tomes with pages of metal, saving the artifacts that could not be abandoned and detailing the rest for future generations. Both sets of Tomes were protected through both war and natural disaster, trusted to each generation.The Tomekeepers’ inclusive methods allowed for both practical application and theoretical research in all areas. When the Dark Portal opened and remained so, a few operatives took the opportunity to travel to Azeroth. There, they found an immense wealth of knowledge that they could not hope to curate in their lifetimes.

(Deathwing art by Yaowenro)

Deathwing’s Cataclysm struck, striking home the realisation that this new planet might just suffer the same fate as those that came before. With the blessing of the Draenic Tomekeepers, the Azerothian chapter began growing in earnest, not only working to preserve historical knowledge, but also to apply it more effectively in preventing another disaster. As more dangerous and deadly relics were unearthed, and even created, by the many conflicts and struggles that plagued the planet, the Azerothian chapter managed to find a steady foundation.Their interests expanded yet again, in the light of the faction warfare that continued to spark between the Alliance and the Horde. The Azerothian chapter created a network of spies, information brokers, and messengers, serving the interests of the planet as a whole without taking unnecessary sides. This endeavour continued to fund their efforts as time went on. This, and their priceless wealth of knowledge, required that the Tomekeepers keep their archives a secret from all, even allies. Now it has come time to abandon the Outlands. The original Tomekeepers having gleaned as much as they could from the disintegrating planet, the decision was made to relocate to Azeroth for good The tomes were entrusted to the care of Zirsia, while the Archive of relics and remaining members of the society would follow once a place had been prepared. A member of the Azerothian chapter, Archivist Renascia, traveled to the Outlands to escort Zirsia and the tomes. Upon their arrival, they found themselves forgotten, and the Tomekeepers’ great hall empty and abandoned.

The Azerothian chapter had disappeared without a trace, leaving no clue as to where, when, or under what circumstances they had left. Without a treasury, no archive, and limited connection to the delicate, quickly disappearing information network, Zirsia and Renascia were faced with both a mystery and no spare funds with which to finance its solution. Through fortune, chance or something more, new members have been directed their way from a destabilising organisation with similar methods and practicises. Further, the Lady Amiara Thorne brought a proposal of her own services, providing the beginnings of access to new networking, contacts and contracts. Now Zirsia’s mission to rebuild the Azeroth chapter, investigate the original chapter’s disappearance, and create a new sanctuary for the Draenor Archives begins in earnest. Now, new Tomekeepers, like you, are needed more than ever...

https://tomekeepers.shivtr.com/