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

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Thanatosra said:
even if deathwing wanted to 1 he cant find the place cause its being hidden from everyone (also it mentions how wrathion was looking for them but couldn't find them) 2. deathwing was the one to lock them away when the titan arfifict he had broke so I doubt he trusted them for whatever plan he had (but not gm so they could decide different)
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There's probably the fear of his own creation he made turning on him too.
 
rx915 said:
What about Deathwing's secret clone army dragon hybrid army kept in stasis he didn't bother collecting for his own mad plans that his son is doing but his dad failed to pass him his notes?
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I probably need to familiarise myself with some of the new lore, but for the moment it's just not relevant. It's one of those things which is sort of on a timer, where certain time must pass and conditions be fulfilled before anything happens. Apparently Deathwing decided he couldn't use them if he couldn't absolutely control them, so he just decided to put them away and not deal with them for now? Presumably also at some point he just... forgot about them I suppose, as the other Aspects seems to have also done.
 
FractiousDay said:
I probably need to familiarise myself with some of the new lore, but for the moment it's just not relevant. It's one of those things which is sort of on a timer, where certain time must pass and conditions be fulfilled before anything happens. Apparently Deathwing decided he couldn't use them if he couldn't absolutely control them, so he just decided to put them away and not deal with them for now? Presumably also at some point he just... forgot about them I suppose, as the other Aspects seems to have also done.
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It had something to do with a dragon civil war. Titan aligned dragons vs Elemental aligned dragons.
 
rx915 said:
Elemental aligned dragons.
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which might or might not have something to do with titan keeper medaling (serious the titans and their keepers don't know when to leave shit alone seriously first they create g'hun, they have something to do with galargrond and then odyn creates beings using death. and also we see protodrakes being expermented on so its not like its to far out their)
 
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Thanatosra said:
which might or might not have something to do with titan keeper medaling (serious the titans and their keepers don't know when to leave shit alone seriously first they create g'hun, they have something to do with galargrond and then odyn creates beings using death. and also we see protodrakes being expermented on so its not like its to far out their)
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It's been their schtick since the first Titan became sentient to meddle whether it's right or wrong to do so then after one started having doubts the rest was undone.

Left unsaid too is what happens to the locals living on said planet which the Titans hold in high regard because of the world soul concept leads to.
FractiousDay said:
Arathi 8

Drum Fel leaves, stalking away without a glance over his shoulder. He walks quickly but unhurriedly, trying to move as quickly as possible without running. The sight is just about honourable enough to be acceptable, for running off would seem unmanly.

Though no one had explicitly taught you, certainly you were aware that there was a certain style, a certain mystique a leader had to maintain, let alone a captain and a commander of fighters. Drum Fel was hurrying off for something, to seek counsel from his advisers, to rally his supporters perhaps, but off he went, and left you with the food that'd been provided.

It was generally poor fare, there was fresh meat, as well as smoked jerky with a strong seasoning you weren't familiar with, some root or bulb from the Eastern Kingdoms perhaps. However, it was certainly war-food, not really fit for a foreign captain.

"O Battle-Screamers, O Snow-Stalkers," you call, using the ancient names of the Warsong and Frostwolves your father had taught you. The Burning Blade were one of the guardians of Orcish history, and the poetry of the Blademasters was well known as part of their philosophy and training, "I would speak with you."

The address surprises them, you can see. Whether it's the form, or the address itself, several orcs break away from their groups. The first wear riding leathers, lightly armoured but with long axes, while the second are more heavily armoured and dressed in the dyed and patterned fabrics of their clan.

"The Warsong with the scar is Shatterskull, I've not met him but I recognise him, he fought the elves in Ashenvale, though I wonder what he's about here." Vark growls softly from your side.

The leaders of delegations approach and make their salutes, which you return.

"A Mok'Nathal fought with the Warsong in Ashenvale, I heard tell he was too big to mount a warg, and ran alongside the riders." Shatterskull says, and you see his name is well founded, for he bears a terrible scar across his face and head as if his skull had been split with an axe and then healed.

"I am Vark, son of Tagar, and I was once of the Warsong, though now I lead the Boulderfist." Vark says, "You are Shatterskull, of the Outriders. I have told my brother of you." and Vark places a hand on your shoulder briefly.

Shatterskull nods, and you see his whole body relaxing. Where once there was a tension in anticipation of confrontation, at the news of a fellow clan-member and your own blood-brotherhood with Vark the warrior calms, adopting a friendlier expression.

"I have also heard of a young warrior of the Burning Blade." Shatterskull remarks, turning to you, "Now I see you bear the banner of a Blademaster, and the weapon of one. I commend you, for I remember the Blademasters of old."

That, you judge, is a lie. Shatterskull doesn't look old enough to have seen Draenor, or if he did, he's one of the cohort of children who'd been artificially aged before the Horde's invasion of Azeroth. Nevertheless, you allow it, he gives respect to your clan, that is worthy.

"You honour our traditions," you say, "and I thank you for it. My father has spoken often of the fury and skill of the Warsong, so are one of the few to match us in bladeskill." Your speech is somewhat stilted, but you manage to get it out, "I would hear more of you, and your clans though. I've come from the west." you say, "What has happened to this place? I had heard of a settlement of our people here and thought to visit it, but I hadn't expected to find this.

They whole story comes out with a bit of coaxing. The Frostwolf, Gol'dir, eventually introduces himself after some unsubtly prodding from Shatterskull, with the later far more willing to exposit. He explains that since the Horde's march during the Second War, various clans and elements of clans, notably the Warsong who'd been the scouts and raiders of the Horde's forces, had found themselves left behind, cut off, or otherwise detained in the region, and unable to rejoin the Horde before the defeat at Lordemere Lake at the close of the Second War.

In turn, the cavaliers had managed to maintain their independence, staying free of the internment system, keeping to the hills where they could overwhelm any human force using their wargs and superior mobility, eventually coming under the rule of Grom Hellscream again, who returned to rally his people. Then when Thrall started liberating camps the Warsong joined him, but when Doomhammer fell circumstances forced Thrall to disperse his forces, taking many of the mountains and hills for his people. The Frostwolves lived in the heights around Alterac Valley, one of the passes that went through the mountains dividing the northern and southern halves of Lordaeron, while the Warsong remnants kept their hill camps. Hammerfell meanwhile seemed to have formed simply due to being the biggest camp around and a natural staging post for the wounded after the battle that killed Doomhammer, so it had grown up into a proper town in the years since.

One element missing was why they were both still around in the first place. Neither warrior mentioned it, but you knew Thrall rallied the Orcs after receiving a vision of Kalimdor. Had he just… left the clans behind? Had the rally been too quick for him to gather them all? What had happened. You supposed it wasn't immediately relevant but it seemed odd.

In any case, it seemed a sort of ecosystem had developed. The Frostwolves kept the west flank secure against the humans, preventing reinforcement through the Valley and keeping the others safe from envelopment. The Warsong kept the hills secure from the north and kept the Forest Trolls in their own lands, while the orcs of Hammerfell farmed and kept pastures to trade food with the Frostwolves and Warsong, as well as supplying other services like a smithy or tannery which the Warsong with their nomadic existence couldn't keep. The Defilers seemed to also serve some purpose, but neither mentioned them. Perhaps the southern flank, against Stromgarde, that's what you guessed.

"What news have you of Kalimdor?" asked Gol'dir, "The Warchief send me here to take a view of the humans, the Banshee Queen begged for aid, but by the time I'd arrived the Undercity was already threatened and soon enough the Forsaken released the Blight."

"It was deliberate then?" you asked, you'd suspected as much after all.

Gol'dir nodded gravely, "To have produced such a quantity… it speaks of treachery. In any case, I saw that there was nothing to be done, and sent back word, but since then I've heard nothing. I'd expected the Thundercaller months ago. The Warchief will send no reinforcements, at least that was what I advised, and so with the Alliance returning to these lands we will surely be overrun."

"Pah!" was all Shatterskull said to that.

The Thundercaller had been the airship that your father had contracted to carry you to the Eastern Kingdoms, and you remembered reports of strange lights over Alterac, as well as the presence of the dead goblin you'd found on the north shore of Tirasfal. Strange… you wondered what had happened to it...

But the request for news… "Something happened up north in Ashenvale or Azshara, the shamans felt it but no one seemed to know what. The Gordunni had one of their tournaments and Rehgar Earthfury lost a prize gladiator." you relayed, thinking back to the things you'd heard, "But there was more those trivial events. I led a warband against the Kolkar and destroyed them, but they called up a great spirit which attacked Orgrimmar."

Gol'dir blanches, "What?", while Shatterskull makes an oath and a gesture to ward away evil.

"You must say more of this!" exclaimed Shatterskull, "You say the Kolkar are destroyed? How large was your warband? There were many of them, and they were a vigorous people!"

"I took a hundred or so." you reply, "I went to learn from the elders of my clan at Dreadmist Peak, but the Kolkar came in force and I fought a defence of the mountain after clashes on the plain below. They came at us again and again from dawn to dusk, throwing themselves on our weapons. I slew two hundred myself, and thousands more died on the slopes. The elders summoned demons to fight their hordes, but we discovered later that the Kolkar were already summoning a great spirit with the power of their sacrifices. He was Forneus, a great duke of the inner earth, and my father compared him to
Cyrukh the Firelord in strength. He smote the mountain and reduced it to rubble, and only I and two others escaped. Then we marched to the Crossroads, got Wargs off the Warsong there and rode hard to Orgrimmar. The two others went on to the city to warn them, and I rode to Forneus himself."

You aren't quite sure whether the two believe you, but they and their own bands listen in rapt attention.

"I tried to stop him, but he threw me down. Thrall and the shaman made workings against him but he smote them too, and it took my father and his warlocks to finally bring Forneus down. Many hundreds were killed, and Orgrimmar was devastated. Thrall fell into a long sleep in the care of the wisefolk, and my father and Saurfang led the recovery. In the aftermath Thrall called my father and I before him and spoke of corruption and treachery, but I took responsibility for my actions and went into exile. Some who had journeyed with me and fought alongside me thought to walk the world with me, and I accepted them. In time I decided to test my blade against the Scourge, for they are a great evil in the world, and a shame on our people. You know Ner'zuhl leads them?" you pause, fully aware of the surprise this would cause.

Gol'dir only exclaims again, "What?"

"It's true." you remark, leaning on your swordhilt, "The Legion took him and set him in command of the Scourge, or so I heard it told, the Shadowmoon were the first to raise the dead, were they not? In any case, I fought alongside the Alliance, throwing many of the dead down and dismissing their spirits, and then a few weeks ago I took Anderhol. I slew the lich, Araj, with the Blademasters, then outside his tower I duelled a death knight and slew him in single combat. Saiden Dathrohan, the Warchief of the Alliance, spoke of the attacks of our people against Alliance caravans, and instead of having a force of knights and footmen bearing down on you I said I'd come instead. I stormed Stromgarde, then we moved onto Bolder'gor and my brother fought the Mak'gora against their leader."

Your remarks are met by amazement and silence by the assembly, and you suppose that indeed, the story is an incredible one. When you look back you've actually be rather busy, more than you'd thought really, but you supposed that's the way of things.

"You have come far," comes a voice, and you turn to find Drum Fel there, flanked by a whole host of others, from trolls to orcs to undead, the captain having snuck up while you'd been occupied with your narration, "But tell me then, Blademaster, what do you intend now?"

[Write in]



Have a think about what you want to do here. This isn't the final negotiation, this is where you make your 'pitch' to Drum Fel, among others who are listening in. I'll write it up as narrative after you give points in the write in, but I'd like you to discuss it, what your priorities are, or approach. This doesn't need to be massively complex though, it can be some bullet points. Recall that Grok isn't a diplomat so points should be relatively simple. For example, the 'perfect' solution to this would be perhaps to negociate some sort of complex treaty transforming theorcs into Marches of the Alliance, defending the frontiers etc, but that's not really something Grok could come up with on his own.

You know:
  • Hammerfell, the Warsong and Frostwolves exist in a symbiotic relationship, and weakening or removing one will lead to the weakening or destruction of the others
  • They are pressured by the Alliance from the west, the Vilebranch-Amani Trolls from the north, and the Syndicate-Ogre-Witherbark alliance from the south.
  • The orcs collectively are hostile to all parties, and receive periodic sponsorship and support from Thrall and the wider Horde, but otherwise have to raid to get stuff.
  • The Orcs are aware of the Alliance's advances, and the Forsaken's (almost) destruction. The Orcs also don't expect any support from Thrall.
  • You've been sent to sort this situation out generally.
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Is this the same Gol Dir from Alterac?
 
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rx915 said:
Kind of thought Grok would mention it as they did meet before but maybe too many people to remember and Gol Dir has to be inconspicuous.
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Well he does recognise him. It's not as if it's that surprising that Grok would find him there. It's not an especially remarkable circumstance to find him there, and to use the technical meaning of the word, not enough to remark on.
 
Watched this: Why The "Proud Warrior Race" Is Doomed To Extinction

The main thing that is touched upon but somewhat ignored here is that of developmental disruption. The Klingon's and the Krogan both got violently uplifted, they didn't just decide to stay as they are, they were disrupted in the development of their cultures, and as such didn't develop past the stage they were at becfause they were busy being proud warriors. The uplifters would have uplifted in them in such a way that either tenets of their cultures were preserved for utilitarian means (eg Krogan need to focus on individual combat because they needed to go itno CQC with Rachni) or because the uplifters didn't care (Klingons). If you just ignore the status of their cultural development it defeats the purpose as established in the opening narration, of categorising fictional worlds. You can see this in other settings though too, eg in Warcraft the Orcs were uplifted by the Burning Legion, and therefore had lots of cultural problems.
 
FractiousDay said:
Watched this: Why The "Proud Warrior Race" Is Doomed To Extinction

The main thing that is touched upon but somewhat ignored here is that of developmental disruption. The Klingon's and the Krogan both got violently uplifted, they didn't just decide to stay as they are, they were disrupted in the development of their cultures, and as such didn't develop past the stage they were at becfause they were busy being proud warriors. The uplifters would have uplifted in them in such a way that either tenets of their cultures were preserved for utilitarian means (eg Krogan need to focus on individual combat because they needed to go itno CQC with Rachni) or because the uplifters didn't care (Klingons). If you just ignore the status of their cultural development it defeats the purpose as established in the opening narration, of categorising fictional worlds. You can see this in other settings though too, eg in Warcraft the Orcs were uplifted by the Burning Legion, and therefore had lots of cultural problems.
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I think another missing link is just the entropy of civilisation in general regardless of what they are. Some just die out faster than others at external or internal factors.
 
Actually that may well be an issue for the entire legion. Every member race of the legion was jumped into the legion by a bigger bad from day one. That may well be why the legion can't do anything right without Sargearas to hold their hand.
 
w34v3r said:
Actually that may well be an issue for the entire legion. Every member race of the legion was jumped into the legion by a bigger bad from day one. That may well be why the legion can't do anything right without Sargearas to hold their hand.
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How they formed is kind of fascinating in itself.

They're actually quite successfully organised in the fel way before they came to Azeroth. Sargeras beat his former pantheon and then had almost free reign for the galactic genocide run besides corrupting and despoiling the useful ones. There were the light floating things that helped the draenei and organised a resistance against the burning legion but they were losing badly until things changed.
 
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rx915 said:
The goal of their leader was to snuff out life so as to prevent a void Titan. So long as life exists it'll exist.

I'm not sure what it means when they meet other old gods from other planets though.
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what he has done to every other planet destroy it after all sargaras first act was to destroy a planet with the void and a titan egg on it
 
w34v3r said:
Actually that may well be an issue for the entire legion. Every member race of the legion was jumped into the legion by a bigger bad from day one. That may well be why the legion can't do anything right without Sargearas to hold their hand.
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Goes to teh question of how the cosmic forces actually fight. Sageras is an order-being leading an army of chaos-beings, therefore does that make their organisation inherantly chaotic?
 
It makes it inherently conflicted is what it does. It should be fracturing without the titan to holding together.
 
That's easy to get. Remove the leadership and they start splitting. That's why Sargeras needed the eredar and dreadlords as leaders within his group. Once the prime leaders were gone they splinter.

The hard part is getting rid of them.
 
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Just read through the Quest, and wow it's been a wild ride, huh? Am looking forward to what we stumble through next.

On that note, Grok now rules the Demonsword Clan, which was said to have 3,000 members IIRC? Did that include noncombatants/Peons, or are they separate? Is there even a notable amount of Peons, or is it basically All Warriors?
 
Chimeraguard said:
Just read through the Quest, and wow it's been a wild ride, huh?
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I must admit it's been somewhat unusual. Generally, I've been rolling with it, but it's been advantageous that I've not really needed to deal with the machinations of Neeru in the background directly.

Chimeraguard said:
On that note, Grok now rules the Demonsword Clan, which was said to have 3,000 members IIRC? Did that include noncombatants/Peons, or are they separate? Is there even a notable amount of Peons, or is it basically All Warriors?
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The position of peons in the Orcish culture is somewhat uncertain. They're an underclass, but it's not clear whether they have something inherent about them which is problematic. For example, there might be an implication that they suffer from a developmental issue, similar to the eugenics program in Brave New World or similar. For the Demonsword, I've been interpreting them to practice a pretty aggressive eugenics programme, dedicated to a combination of Fel-empowerment of the most powerful orcs, and similarly extreme infanticide of those deemed unfit to live. We already know the orcs practice infanticide, so I don't think this is much of a stretch. Presumably, though they'd still need workers, so we might imagine that some of them are indeed peons.
 
Wich By gork being gork would put the pratice in question, but one of the main ways to make it go out of pratice is to make food plentiful.
Honestly the way that Orks are portrayed by having such tight parental bonds most orcs likely hate having to kill their kids.
 
MrRobot said:
Wich By gork being gork would put the pratice in question, but one of the main ways to make it go out of pratice is to make food plentiful.
Honestly the way that Orks are portrayed by having such tight parental bonds most orcs likely hate having to kill their kids.
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1) Grok'mash, shortened Grok. Not Gork, that seems like GORK from GORK AND MORK. GORK is brutally cunnin', while MORK is cunningly brutal'. Or was that the other way around?:eyebrow:
2) Orcs, not Orks. Da Orkz come from spores and mushrooms, and dey have no such fing as "civilization". Warhammer Fantasy has the quasi-comic version, that ironically is a lot closer to LOTR orcs under Sauron; we don't hear of Orc civilians in Mordor. World of Warcraft went the complex route, with ladies, children, and (pugnacious) civilians.
 
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