#Arathi

[cince-arts]

The Stowaway

Artwork (c) @cince-arts

[goethial]

Homosexual priests in Hallowfall 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[sirdolraan]

Meditations

((DWC Feb 2025, Day 1, Hypnotic/Star, @daily-writing-challenge CW: None ))

Beledar's light shined brightly down on Dolraan as he stood on the wall, gazing up at the giant crystal. Some part of, aspect of the worldsoul, filled with life-giving light, as well as terrifying shadowy power that tempted the great evils of the world. And a song that could only be heard by those who were attuned to the Light, like himself. Lorellai, Spiru, even Janosis once they'd dug him out of Azj'kahet, couldn't hear it, even though the Radiant Song had come to all of them. But here, in Hallowfall, he could hear the crystal's song, soothing his mind and warming his heart.

No wonder the Arathi had decided to live here. It was, in every way that mattered, a blessing unlike any other. Beautiful. Affirming. Almost hypnotic.

"Penny for your thoughts, champion?" Dolraan turned to see Quartermaster Steelstrike walking up behind him, carrying two steaming mugs of tea. "Saw you head up here, thought you might like something warm to drink."

"That's very kind of you, Quartermaster," Dolraan smile as he received the mug, taking a sip of the tea. "As for my thoughts, too many and not enough. Questions that just lead to more questions. Even by my standards, this has been a very eventful time."

"I don't know whether to be impressed or worried, considering your stories. And please, we've shared a dinner table, you can call me Auralia, I won't tell the general," she said, winking. Her gaze turned up to Beledar. "You know, you'd think after years and years you'd get used to it, but it's still just so… magnificent. I'm glad to know that you outsiders can also look to Beledar for peace while you think."

"It is among the most remarkable things I've ever encountered, and I can say that with confidence. I think I agree with your historians; that you were brought here to safeguard it. I can't say that we'd have been able to stop Xal'atath's assault on it if not for the Arathi having established yourselves down here so well."

"I certainly like to think so. After all we've been through, all we've lost," she said, looking down and rubbing a ring on her finger, "having it mean something is important."

"I think it would have meaning, even if it was just a fluke. Because you gave it meaning. You made a decision, you built homes and families, and you work every day to keep everyone safe and happy. That's the Light, back where I come from."

"You have a real talent for making things big things seem simple," Auralia chuckled.

"I've spent the last five years teaching and training, I had to get good at it or I'd be embarrassed by my students, or ridiculed by my squire. Can't stand that thought."

"Well, I can understand that motivation. A toast, then. To keeping everyone safe and happy, even if it's as simple as sharing a warm mug of tea."

As Dolraan tapped his mug with Auralia's, Beledar shined brightly down upon the paladins below, her song audible to those who could hear it, echoing with notes of safety, and happiness.

[esperanta-dragon]

I almost thought I will never be invested in the game again. And then The War Within happened. I could say a lot about the writing, quest design, cinematics, mechanics, and how I overall enjoy the expansion.

What resonated in me was the Hallowfall questline, because it's can be easily put into a real life experience of trauma and going through hard times. But the Light always returns. So even if I would be the only one to wear this pin, I am still happy that I've made it.

You can get it here: SHOP

[breadknight-likes-things]

Okay, Who Exactly Are The Arathi in The War Within?

I think every Warcraft lore fan has been working through a similar question over the last couple of weeks: who the hell actually are the Arathi of Hallowfall? In WoW lore we think of the Arathi Empire as one thing, the same thing I've been thinking since this expansion launched, Stormgarde, The Arathi Highlands, an old empire that split apart into many human kingdoms hundreds upon hundreds of years ago....so why do the people of Hallowfall refer to it in the present tense? Initially I felt like I had to have missed something. Something had to explain the characters referring to the Arathi Empire like it still exists, making reference to an extant emperor. If these people had set out from The Arathi Highlands ten or fifteen years ago did we....just not notice? Who is the emperor? Hallowfall seems shockingly well established for having only been established, what, ten to fifteen years prior? Nothing really explains any of it, and nobody stops to really ask any clarifying questions, and that's what makes it so fun. It's obvious that this new faction is being set up to play a major part in the World Soul Saga, and I personally am wildly excited about that very fact because it's something very new for this game. Sure, we'd had set ups and payoffs for things before, but often time it was broad strokes about things we already knew about in general. Warlords of Dreanor led to the Legion returning, and etc, but that wasn't exactly new. There suddenly being this entirely different culture of humans, insisting they've existed for a long time alongside everyone else, and having a presence and culture that's undeniable to look at? That is new, and that is exciting. I greatly look forward to where this whole Hallowfall storyline goes not just in this expansion but, I assume, the new saga being laid out in front of WoW fans. Damn, it's an exciting time for this game.

[azerothtravel]

I feel like the story of the Arathi in Hallowfall is

"We are constantly at war. The monsters come in the night. They are relentless. All Arathi have known loss. We can leave at any time. We must endure these horrors to build a life for ourselves here, trapped between giant spiders and evil fishmen who want to kill us. We have a fleet of giant airships and could leave at any time. Our lives are hard, but we manage to find joy amidst the hardship and death. We go to the surface, we know how to leave, we could go home at any time. It's difficult, but we persevere. Well, time to fly to the newly discovered Siren Isle, like we could just fly home. But won't!"

I mean, right? What is keeping them in this hellhole? They have a fleet of airships. Just... leave. And yet they act like they can't. There's the whole thing with the mage guy desperately trying to make a portal so they can go home. Just fly out of the big door! I really don't understand.

[jthorsten]

My dumb brain be turning.

So I read Heartlands a few days ago. Had to wait for the pdfs to be unearthed because I couldn’t listen to Metzen. It sounded like Varian describing everything, and I’m still not over that. But, without any kind of spoilers, not that there was much in it, it DOES set up a possible interesting interaction with Jaina and the Arathi of Hallowfall. Without getting into detail, a fanatic manages to get a jump on Jaina and knock her out for a significant amount of time. The fanatic almost gets something very important destroyed and cause irreparable damage on both sides.

Due to that situation, I will be very curious if Blizz carries that bit of story into TWW. I would love to see the dynamic of Jaina being wary and distrustful of the Hallowfall Arathi, especially when she finds out they come from the ‘glorious empire.’

I will be TICKLED if she goes full protective aunt!mom mode with Anduin, who seems fascinated and downright trusts them by comparison.

I will be honest, the Hallowfall Arathi give me the creeps. The whole place gives Scarlet Crusade vibes wrapped in the light of Beledar. From what I’ve gleaned from the expac so far, outside of this ‘lost expedition,’ the Arathi Empire is large and isolated. They had no knowledge of ANYTHING that we know of.

Now, I could be grasping at straws, but if the Arathi Empire is so grand and glorious, how would they react when they found out they many not, in fact, be so grand and glorious? There are other nations of humans that they didn’t know of. On top of that, there are whole other races they didn’t know about. With armies that have seen and experienced more wars than they realize.

Will they be friendly? Or will they seek to conquer and absorb the rest of the human nations?

I ask this, because this made me pause during the 30th anniversary stream.

They adjusted the original cinematic of Faerin gearing up. Instead of ending after she finishes, it pans back to an ARMY of people behind her.

Now, this could just be the army the Arathi are granting to fight whatever comes next in TWW concerning Xalatath. But what if it isn’t JUST that. What if this is just a taste of what the entire Arathi empire could be, backed by an unwavering devotion to the Light? Just like the Scarlet Crusade.

Or maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree and Faerin is just a shiny my little pony whose weird sweetness makes me TWITCH. I main a protection paladin, and everything about Hallowfall feels WEIRD.

[embersoftheorder]

NPC face claim - Jaime Murray

Jezebelle Vidala A voice like embers.

Lute strings were plucked with concentrated ease as if no matter how many times they have been used for a song they still needed to remember. Remember the tension. The soft pain to tips. Strength of each pluck. Memory of a song.

'Undo this storm Undo this storm Undo this storm and wait I can't control withering wonders Flowers that lose their shape.'

Her voice carried gently through the Empire's Edge with softness but clarity as each line was spoken to match the instrument. Those words would flow from a mouth that had spun a hundred tales, a thousand songs, and a million barbs. Some were harsh; many gentle; and mostly truthful.

'I lie awake and watch it all It feels like thousand eyes I lie awake and watch it all It feels like thousand eyes.'

The stanza was completed again as she continued on with her song. It didn't feel like an appropriate tavern ditty or something someone could even imagine requesting. And it felt odd. It felt wrong.

'I'll be the calm I will be quiet Stripped to the bone, I wait No, I'll be a stone, I'll be the hunter A tower that casts a shade.'

Again it rose with her voice, strength rising but never volume. The volume in the tavern was receding as the song caught energy to it, filling the empty space in the room. A stifling warmth was causing some to look about in search of the innkeeper to perhaps make the call to change it. It should stop. It needed to stop.

'I lie awake and watch it all It feels like thousand eyes I lie awake and watch it all It feels like thousand eyes I lie awake and watch it all It feels like thousand eyes.'

As the woman's voice continued on with the opus, someone called out for it stop. But it kept gaining, the empty space expanding with her sound to squeeze all those in the common together. It was oppressive and heavy as hands gripped cups tighter and shouts tried to rise above the music. But it was getting louder but her voice was still so level. It had to stop. There was a cry into the wind of the words to please make it end, but she would not stop.

And then it stopped.

Silence.

No one spoke. No one moved. Was it just a dream? It was just a song. There was too much to drink. Uncomfortable laughter followed to match with creak chairs and floor boards. Orcs and humans stood up to leave. Men and women cast cautious gazes about to each other, the deep fear of the night that had plagued their ancestors settling in stomach. It didn't care about wealth. It didn't care about race. It didn't care about prestige.

It cared about blood.

'I am the storm I am the storm I am the storm So wait.'

A smile came to those lips again as she closed her song, gently resting her fingers from the frets and to caress the body of her weapon. She had gotten what she wanted.

From across that tavern, a pair of hard blue eyes knew what she had wanted and gotten. Despite his training and will, he could feel it into his bones and heart. But the witch hunter was used to it.

And he was patient.

@damien-ward

[ederiuss]

I draws some warcraft

[wowtalesofadventurers]

OC-Tober day 5 Learning something new

A World of Warcraft The War Within fanfiction for @thepromptfoundry event OC-Tober 2024 day 5 learning something new featuring my Draenei priest OC Xali.

Xali the Draenei priest wearing a armored robe due to her role as a adventurer ask a male knight from a race of half-elves called Arathi while she and her party are at Hallowfall, "So, let me get this straight. You Arathi worship the Light just like most of the Alliance, but you also worship something called the Sacred Flame." which the Arathi knight nod and said, "Yes." Xali take a moment to think it over before she reply, "Well, you learn something new everyday."

[martyrette]

"The Auxiliary. Put her on the field; at the very least she knows how to use a gun."

Blodwynne Bellin posting? My new OC? Gunner Arathi with underground PTSD? You know it. :)

[laedrin]

drawing for someone in my guild of their healer priest :]

[corvid-and-flowers]

spoiler-ish

[wibblerart]

full body for WakenerMG on the bird app!

[1-800-dracula]

[anunendinggaze]

The piece-mail forsaken rose from the ground, bits of dirt and grime dripping from the stolen metal that covered his body. There would be no blood or moans of pain from him just the simple rise and shift broken bone. It was disturbing evident by the faces of the Lamplighter and his cadre of soldiers.

"What are you?" Whispered one of the soldiers as he tried to adjust the bronze and red mace in his hand.

Klaudin would say nothing as he switched the sword from his broken hand to his good hand, the latter swinging dangerously by a literal thread of sinew. The steps would never falter and his dull lit gaze would never break as he stalked toward the knights once.

A hand would grab hold of the senior Lighter, the grip hard with confusion and slight fear. "Emperor's light, what do we do?"

The Lamplighter would swallow hard at the sight of the rising dead, adjusting the shield in his one hand and adjusting the mace in the other. "Stand firm. For the Emperor."

"For the Emperor." A chorus of halfhearted responses rang out as they prepared to fight the armored machine once again.

(Thanks @susan-gampre for the awesome tag! Knights and armored people always make me think of the single minded scourge addled murder machine.)