clanoftheearthmother

[clanoftheearthmother]

Garahirn Grimtotem

Born to Grimtotem warriors, the Tauren was raised by the tribe on a dogma of hatred and violence. He spent his days carrying materials for the tribes smiths as they fashioned weapons of war, and his nights falling asleep to the battle stories of the tribes raiders. Despite the brawny physique the calf sported as a result of constantly lifting ingots and anvils, he showed little aptitude for combat. In all of his training he was berated for his clumsy footwork and his weak sword-arm. The most concerning issue for the tribes Elders though was the child’s lack of killer instinct. In all of the calves sparring rounds he would fail to press any advantage he would win, preferring instead to hang back and prepare his defensives for a counter attack. For a tribe built on the belief of supremacy over others, this was a problem. For years the tribes warriors would work with the child, impressing the importance of aggression in pursuit of the tribes goals, but one by one they resigned from tutoring him, frustrated and enraged by the youths lack of drive and assertiveness.

Deemed a liability in combat he was assigned permanently to the role of blacksmithing; a position afforded great honour for a battle-hardened elder, but great shame for one as young as he. Thus Garahirn spent the early ears of his adolescence under the tutelage of Elder Kwahrol, who though the subject of a great many battle songs, was weary of violence and grateful for the company. For 3 long years he worked to melt down and reforge the metals that the raiders returned with. He ignored the disdainful looks they shot him and focused on cladding them in the highest quality equipment he could forge.

In his 14th winter a famine gripped the tribe, leading to infighting and unrest within the Grimtotem. Several Elders were supplanted by young upstarts dissatisfied with their efforts to provide for the community. This new regime brought with it a cleansing of those deemed superfluous by the leadership. Elder Kwahrol knew that this did not bode well for the smithing pair and though he didn't voice these concerns to Gara, he crafted a plan to spare him. The youth was sent on a mining expedition to the eastern edge of Mulgore. Though this was not an uncommon excursion for him, the location Kwahrol directed him to was not one Gara had visited before. Knowing better than to question the Elders instructions, he set out immediately armed with a pickaxe, buckler and knapsack. He never made it to his destination. As he approached the area marked on his map he was accosted by a group of Thunder Bluff Braves. They hauled him back to the city where the guards searched his knapsack. Within they found a strange letter.

"Whomever finds this young calf I beg you spare him. Though he was born a Grimtotem, he was never meant for this life. He was blessed with a gentle soul that no amount of training was able to break. He harbours a great love for smithing and the crafting of fine metal works. Our tribe has suffered greatly this season and I'm sure the Elders will not suffer him much longer with our sparse resources. If able to I ask that you look past the sins of our tribe and take him into your care."

--

And so it was that Garahirn was welcomed, despite his heritage, into the myriad tribes of the Horde Tauren. He quickly established himself as one of the foremost smiths in Thunder Bluff and spent countless hours discussing techniques with artisans of all professions. Before long he had his own forge and was sought after for projects of all sizes. One such request came from Aponi Brightmane. The head of the newly formed Sunwalkers, Brightmane entered his smithy to request the creation of arms for order. Behind the paladin, shuffled a young calf no older than he. She wore her hair in a braid on her right flank and as she looked at Garahirn with her piercing azure eyes, she gasped audibly. It may have been her exclamation, or that Gara felt he had never seen a more beautiful Tauren, but whatever the reason, he tripped, spilling the half dozen scabbards that he was carrying across the tent floor. As he gathered up the results of his clumsiness, he heard the two women exchanging hushed whispers.

"Him? Are you sure?" "Yes mother. I'm certain. It's almost as bright as yours" "I see"

The elder of the two women strolled over and offered Garahirn her hand. He took it, meekly as she explained the exchange.

"I had come to find the craftsman I'd heard worked here, said to produce great works the like of which are rare even in the great cities of the elves. It seems I've found something more." She paused, regarding the youth slowly. "My daughter has a gift. She is able to see the aura of those blessed by the children of The Earth Mother; be it Mu'sha, or in your case, An'she. While most of our people bare some level of connection to both, a few are afforded something far more incredible."

Gara looked from Aponi to her daughter, not quite sure what the former was talking about, but certain that her child was, as she said, incredibly special.

Aponi bade him come with them to the heart of their order and while he was reticent to leave his forge, something from within told him that he needed to see what she had to offer.

Over the following years the young Grimtotem learned of a The Earth Mother, An'she, and the order of Sunwalkers that drew upon his power. Aponi's daughter Hunadi had not been wrong in her assessment, and he found that channelling An'she's power came as naturally as swinging a smithing hammer. With it he could craft weapons and shields from pure light and wield them in combat. With practice he found that he could also infuse the light of An'she into all of his crafting, affording the metal he worked with incredible strength and flexibility. Using these armaments, Gara found a new confidence in battle beyond anything his tribe had been able to impart upon him. Though he was more competent as a bulwark against attack, in time he was able to provide something of an offense, and before long he was accompanying other Sunwalkers on excursions away from the orders halls.

As much as he enjoyed his newfound confidence, he was always eager to return to his forge and to Hunati Brightmane, a friend with whom he had grown incredibly close. By day the two youths spent countless hours sitting in his forge, talking on everything from their studies to their favourite cuisine. By night they would lay under the gaze of Mu'sha, watching her glint with the reflected light of her brother, talking at length about their plans and the adventures they hoped to embark on. Before long the two of them were inseparable and a badly hidden romance began to blossom.

By the time the Sunwalkers departed for Pandaria in an attempt to quell the Sha's destructive rampage, the two had promised themselves to each other. They fought against the emotional emanations of this new land in perfect harmony, protecting each other and striking against their foes in equal measure. Garahirn found himself particularly resilient to Sha influence, likely owing to the same inner strength that failed to break his spirit during the long years of Grimtotem dogma. Hunadi did not find resisting as natural but spent many hours in quiet contemplation of the Earth Mothers wisdom to prevent undue influence.

As the Horde offensive continued and the sickness that festered within its leadership grew, the Sunwalkers became a beacon of tranquillity and reason amid a storm of vitriol and chaos. Many horde combatants found themselves drawn to the group, especially those of Tauren heritage. To aid in the curbing of negative emotions the Order of the Earth Mother held numerous services and held many celebrations and festivals. Frequently the merriment would extend far into the night, and it was on one such evening that the couple discussed the taking vows of bonding. They had discussed the idea before of course, but it had always seemed like a far-off concept. Now, beneath the swaying boughs of the strange flora in this foreign land, they could think of nothing they wanted more than to pledge to one another and set about creating a life for themselves.

Within a month, the ceremony was held and while the resulting party lasted for several days, it was nought compared to the lifetime of joy that lay before them. The two continued to adventure alongside one another for many years, facing all manner of foes, and exploring ever more exotic lands. No matter how far their journeys took them, they always returned to their home in the Krasarang Wilds, and it was in their hovel on an otherwise unremarkable warm spring morning that the two welcomed their firstborn into the world. Looking upon the newborn, Kuoth Kwahrol Brightmane, was the single greatest joy that either had ever experienced. As they clutched the babe between them, they swore to safeguard the child above all else and to continue to fight for the betterment of the world he would inherit.

Beem

Named by Garahirn's son for the shafts of light that shine into his forge, Beem was a small doll crafted by a merchant in Thunder Bluff and gifted to the lad by his father. Despite his protests, the sunwalkers boy insisted that he take it with him as his duties took him far from home. Seeing the warmth and love in the childs eyes, An'she formed a simulacrum of the toy and granted it life. It is that creation that follows Garahirn as he roams, a constant reminder of the young calf waiting for him to return.

[clanoftheearthmother]

Clan of The Earthmother

How did we get here?

With the advent of Pandaria Remix and the speed with which it allowed you to level characters from creation to max, I decided to take the plunge and ‘move’ all of my characters to an RP realm, specifically Wyrmrest Accord. Some of them I paid to move, such as the Tauren Shaman who was my very first character, and some I simply deleted and remade on WrA. Over the course of Remix, I levelled roughly 30 characters to 70, first to have one of each class on both factions, and then because I was having fun and decided to level one for each spec.

To provide myself with ample roleplay options I made sure to include one of each race in my characters. I started the expansion with a few different characters; predominantly my Tauren Paladin and Tauren Priest. As a fan of Tauren lore and mythology I set about writing my Paladin’s lore as a Sunwalker under Aponi Brightmane’s command. Over the course of writing this back story I got to thinking of how a Tauren priest, who draws from An’she in a similar way to Sunwalkers, would use the void. As my priest was played as a discipline priest this was something I wanted to try and ‘explain’ in her back story.

I imagined that instead of drawing on the void, they would likely draw up Mu’sha as the druids did. This felt like a better compliment to a solar An’she priest than the void. As such I styled my priest as the daughter of Aponi Brightmane and a powerful druid. She would wield An’she’s light to heal and Mu’sha’s to harm. This feels pretty close to the in-game representation of druids, but as a more naturalistic race it makes sense.

At this point I decided I would try and include my other Tauren characters and after a little thought came up with the idea of a naturalistic clan of Tauren comprised of individuals devoted to The Earthmother and her various aspects, rather than being a clan brought together by blood. I backed out to character creation and looked at all the classes available to Tauren/Highmountain and tried to think of how each would fit into this group. The following is the diagram I came up with:

Class designations and names

For many classes I decided to imagine what a Tauren culture might refer to them as. I decided to name druids Moonwardens in opposition to the canonical Sunwalkers, and Celestial Seer/Oracle for the priests who bridged the two eyes of The Earthmother. Fire mages felt like a natural extension of An’she worship and so were named Suncallers. At first, I wasn’t sure how to ‘justify’ warlocks but eventually landed on the idea that they could dwell in the shadows cast by An’she’s light and worship that aspect of the mythology. Because of this shadow focus I decided on Umbral Witches for their ‘class name’ Rogue’s joining them felt like a natural fit but I wanted something that felt more grounded in a description of their abilities than their beliefs and so they were named Shadehooves.

For Warriors and Hunters, I didn’t want to force the idea of them using naturalistic powers when there was no in-game support for them. I figured a guard corps for the clan would make the most sense for them. I named the warriors Guardians and Hunters were dubbed Striders in homage to the Plainstriders that wander Mulgore.

With the Tauren’s reverence for their ancestors and heritage, Shamans and Monks felt like a perfect fit for a spiritual group within the clan and while Farseer is an established Shaman title that made sense I struggled with Monk for a while but eventually I landed on Spirit Horns as a similar naming style as the Rogues Shadehooves.

I didn’t find a way to have death knights make sense as they felt like such an antithesis of the core of a clan dedicated to The Earthmother. I also didn’t really care to force them into it for the same reason.

I created one of each and while I don’t tend to RP actively, I do like writing stories for my characters and imagining how they would react to the changing world.

Character List

Garahirn Grimtotem – Sunwalker (Protection Paladin)

Hunadi Brightmane – Celestial Seer (Discipline Priest)

Rhanoth – Guardian (Arms Warrior)

Mohkri – Farseer (Restoration Shaman)

Meshagor – Moonwarden (Guardian Druid)

Quara – Suncaller (Fire Mage)

Paohu – Strider (Marksman Hunter)

Rhugon – Umbral Witch (Warlock)

Tuhalin Palehide – Shadehoof (Assassination Rogue)

Orwam – Spirit Horn (Mistweaver Monk)

I’ll be posting either their back stories here or my thoughts on their place in the expansion and the campaign.