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Orc Quest; or, A Critical Examination of Agency Through in Interactive Fiction (Warcraft)

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You know, I understand that many Orcs respect strength above all else, but I wonder if there are ones that respect strength "earned" more than strength "given".

Like, if there are Orcs that go: "You got power by becoming a slave to the Legion? Pathetic. I got here through training and determination."
 
Enmascarado said:
You know, I understand that many Orcs respect strength above all else, but I wonder if there are ones that respect strength "earned" more than strength "given".

Like, if there are Orcs that go: "You got power by becoming a slave to the Legion? Pathetic. I got here through training and determination."
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If there was it went lol nope once Guldan was through with establishing his street cred when he took on the Furies and lived. Regardless of where that power came from it showed which was stronger.

Similar effect happened when Feldad saved the day rather than Thrall.
 
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Enmascarado said:
You know, I understand that many Orcs respect strength above all else, but I wonder if there are ones that respect strength "earned" more than strength "given".
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If I had to guess from what's been presented through the story, they would make a distinction between an advantage gained through dishonorable means, and one gained acceptably.

The definition of what is considered honorable may stretch. I think Thrall won one of his Mak'gora through magic? Apparently it's within the limits of acceptability. Poison would be less so... unless informed about in advance? This is guessing territory.

So if one gained their power from the Burning Legion without (openly) licking their boot and compromising their honor, they would likely consider it fair game. They got strong, and kept their freedom and their wit about them; it's admirable more than anything. There is no inherent stigma about taking the Fel, as far as I can see. Grok makes his refusal a point of pride, but it's a very personal choice, and many would argue him on it, his father the first among them.

It's like taking pride in being able to run a marathon, when what's important is to get from point A to point B. Sure you can do it on your own merits, but I can take a cab and would not think myself lesser for it.
 
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FractiousDay said:
cool yea seeems pretty clear, will roll tomorrow
Scheduled vote count started by FractiousDay on Apr 4, 2023 at 7:59 PM, finished with 36 posts and 19 votes.
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Very worried for results.
 
I would say that strength gained from the fell is hardly easy. Demons want to kill you and it takes a supreme effort of wit and will power not to fall fro their deprivations and to keep your sanity. True it's not purely physical strength but if that was the case shamans and any magic users would be stigmatised as weaklings for seeking strength through the arcane.
 
Redgamer026 said:
I would say that strength gained from the fell is hardly easy. Demons want to kill you and it takes a supreme effort of wit and will power not to fall fro their deprivations and to keep your sanity. True it's not purely physical strength but if that was the case shamans and any magic users would be stigmatised as weaklings for seeking strength through the arcane.
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I think it would all depend on how they gained said power they don't see the original leaders of the horde as weak for gaining fell powers since they might be put in the earned it camp but maybe if someone who has never fought (or done anything to earn such power) before got to drink the demons blood it would be seen as a shortcut.
 
To drink the demon blood is to engage in a pretty difficult transformation of your body and soul. It can kill you. It's not like bam you get demon enhanced power. There's a cost to it. Take hellscream the guy went his life fighting off the corrupting influence that the demon blood had on him. Now while we can say he made a bad choice I couldn't say he was weak for doing so.
 
Redgamer026 said:
I would say that strength gained from the fell is hardly easy. Demons want to kill you and it takes a supreme effort of wit and will power not to fall fro their deprivations and to keep your sanity.
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Mmm... I see it differently. It's only not easy if you try to keep your mental state intact -- and Fel corrupts you more than any other magic, perhaps -- but the orcs don't care too much about the last part. And even if they do -- when the warrior's mind becomes so warped as to threaten the tribe and lead to dishonorable deeds -- the failure is attributed to the individual, not Fel itself. Something must have been wrong with you all along, because there are so many examples to the contrary which were a 'success'.

To make a simplified example, orcs are taking mind-altering steroids to get ahead in a competitive environment. Some die off, and some go mad, but it is only recognized when it inconveniences the rest. If you are a frothing at the mouth genocidal monster, but it is directed outwards, you just have a strong warrior spirit.

Taking steroids is easy. Avoiding negative aftereffects is hard, but everyone who goes through with it thinks they will avoid the worst because they are better than those who failed. Few recognize it as a dangerous addiction that may have far-reaching consequences, and they have trouble convincing anyone else because of how widespread the practice is.

That Hellscream spent his life fighting off demon influence matters mostly to himself. Neeru didn't; he is outright working with the Burning Legion, and he is one of the most respected individuals in the Horde because he hides it well.

So for most orcs, Fel equals easily accessible strength. It only corrupts weaklings! Who is corrupted, me? That's what a weakling afraid of the stuff because they have no self-control would say! I have everything well in hand, and no demons whisper nothing in my ear!
 
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I think the method is important too. Just juicing up on deamon magic is different from actually studying the fel and learning about it independently from the dread lords and related assholes.
 
w34v3r said:
I think the method is important too. Just juicing up on deamon magic is different from actually studying the fel and learning about it independently from the dread lords and related assholes.
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It improves your chances at keeping your wits about you, sure, but I don't think the culture makes a distinction between the two. The foremost point is strength, not sanity, which is hard to measure.

I can't help but make a rough analogy with indigenous people and alcohol. You could make an argument that alcohol is not an 'easy' recreational drug for how many side effects it may cause, especially in people who have no prior experience with it, and that is should have made them treat it with caution. The reality of it was, sadly, different. It was that easy.

Having some knowledge of the chemistry involved helps you, personally, avoid the worst of it, and may even allow you to partake safely, but has significantly less effect on the wider society if they just want to get drunk.
 
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I meant in terms of keeping your wits about you and not loosing yourself. I'd be totally up for studying and mastering the fel, but the juicing process used to create chaos orcs is just anti-ethical to keeping control of ourselves.
 
Honestly I'd be totally pro taking the fell and becoming a warlock, since our battle anger and prudence perks show remarkable self control. We would almost certainly keep our mind especially with help from feldad.

However since we're likely to be dealing heavily with alliance forces in the future, and they tend to be openly anti-fell, that probably wouldn't be the best idea now, since fell influence tends to affect appearance in obvious ways.

Assuming we win this battle, and take the leadership position in alterac, we will have to decide how to handle fel users and warlocks. In my view the best way of handling it would be full legalization, and preferably some form of mandatory anti-legion training for all practicing warlocks, with similar programs for shadow, shaman, and necromantic magics. Take a lesson from American prohibition.
 
rolls


grok strikes first because he's the challenged, 57, slight advantage
hao counter 97, effortless, advantage on attack

hao attack, 56, alight advantage
grok defence, 35, poor

hao preserves initative, 100, crit, runs grok through, awkward,
Anime powerup, 86, heals,

confused hao, 1 even more awkward (wtf is up with these crits lol)
grok presses advantage, 72, significant advantage,

next phase, hao defends, 48,
grok attacks 49, no change,

duel continues, grok advantage, 50
hao defends, 6, loses.


grok wins
FractiousDay threw 12 100-faced dice. Reason: D100s Total: 657
57 57 97 97 56 56 35 35 100 100 86 86 1 1 72 72 48 48 49 49 50 50 6 6
 
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... OK; I think this is actually better for our cred: having an impressive, mind-baffling heal into total victory is more legend-worthy than just a equal fight until one side wins, after all :V
 
We also have someone to replace Ishi. He's just Sesk 2.0. Twice the fel and more bloodthirsty.
Somebodynobody10 said:
... OK; I think this is actually better for our cred: having an impressive, mind-baffling heal into total victory is more legend-worthy than just a equal fight until one side wins, after all :V
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Probably the light.

More possible future conversions perhaps?
 
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YESSS! Ooh the dice made this a cool one. Sorry Tirion, if our anime powerup is too light themed I hope we can roll with it, there's instant conversion potential there, if we do it right.
 
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Blessed, those that follow the Light!

May its power always gives you strength and never ending stamina!

A Blade! A Blade! A Radiant Blade!
 
Wonder what Thrall's spy is thinking as he saw that? He must be shitting bricks.

Karlus meanwhile would be ecstatic. Grok's clear super saiyan mode is clearly a sign of the light's favor upon him.

The dwarves would be honestly impressed.

Scorn's justification in sticking with Grok is rewarded.
 
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Hmm. All this light stuff has me wondering if we could teach an elemental Light magic. They do tend to be fairly self assured which is necessary for light.

Hell, isn't our sword supposed to have a fire elemental trapped in it? Maybe we convince him to do light things, might even help keep unimprisoned elementals under control.
 
Mr.Norm said:
Hmm. All this light stuff has me wondering if we could teach an elemental Light magic. They do tend to be fairly self assured which is necessary for light.

Hell, isn't our sword supposed to have a fire elemental trapped in it? Maybe we convince him to do light things, might even help keep unimprisoned elementals under control.
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There's a light elemental though that's in the future.

It does bode an interesting theory on proselytizing to an elemental just to see what happens besides dragons.
 
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