#gorehowl

[clunsebungis]

gorehowl ! !!

first run of dawn of the infinite and i got this bad boy !!!!

[assumptionprime]

Every single time I go back through and read Experience Boost I fall a little more in love with MMO's. I don't even like them generally, and somehow you make me want to play. Thank you for making it, and making it so well.

Thank you!

I bounce in and out of love with MMOs myself. For instance, I'm enjoying my time back in world of Warcraft currently, but I'm also gonna end up getting sick of running Murozond's Rise over and over trying to get the axe I want to drop.

[eonars]

gorgeous gorgeous girls loot gorehowl and mirror of fractured tomorrows in the same megadungeon run

[windwyrm]

It's my birthday this week, see. I thought I'd treat myself to something nice. I'm here, browsing nerd shops, and finally finding out about the WoW tarot deck. Huh, I say. Tarot readings were always wrong for me, but hey, I've always liked the aesthetic! And clicking on the website preview, the 3 cards they show look pretty nice! Time to google more cards, I say!

Of course, googling the deck turns out exactly three things: The same shop previews of the Thrall, Silithus Sword, and Tyrande (or was it Jaina?). The same argument whether or not Tyrande is supposed to be Empress and shouldn't Jaina be it instead? And more reviews, all centered around the same ten cards everyone shows. "Want to see more? Buy the deck!!!!!!!"

Now the thing is, I don't really vibe with this capitalist dystopia we've created. I was this close to NOT buying the cards, because the 10 I've seen did not impress me much actually. Good, but not brilliant. I happened to then see one that did, and decide, fuck it.

See, I'm a slav, and I grew up in a simpler time. We were all piss poor, and there was maybe one kid with a color television, one kid with Stephen King books, one kid with a Pentium 2, one kid with a portable boombox, in a friend group. You bought one cassette tape and you took turns. You wanted to see the Warcraft Tarot Cards? Well, then you hoped your friend Smaranda who likes Warcraft a little too much would invite you over for snacks and stories, and you'd then see the cards. And those cards would look so neat, you would decide Hey. One day, I will have 25 dollars to spare, and I will buy these cards too! They are SO worth it! I've never bought something that was teased to me by "here's three pages for free you shitpoor scrub! BUY!". But things my friend Smaranda or Ivan or Petr showed? God. I filled my house with them. Shelves upon shelves of books and games I tried for free from a friend or a library and absolutely fell in love with.

Is this an anti capitalist and pro sharing rant? Absolutely. So tonight, allow me to be your friend Smaranda, and invite you over for tea, sweets, and a thorough viewing of

✨The Complete Official World of Warcraft Tarot Deck! ✨

Lads, I'm being copyright struck......

After a lot of brainstorming on my part and a lot of good input from @goodest-noodle, we are certain we have all of them pretty correct. The power of TWO Smarandas!

pst: left click then right click the popup > open image in new tab will give you the fullsize file

MAJOR ARCANA

THE FOOL - Wrathion THE MAGICIAN - Khadgar THE HIGH PRIESTESS - Jaina Proudmoore THE EMPRESS - Tyrande Whisperwind THE EMPEROR - Malfurion Stormrage THE HIEROPHANT - Thrall THE LOVERS - Turalyon and Alleria Windrunner THE CHARIOT - Illidan Stormrage STRENGTH - Varian Wrynn THE HERMIT - Genn Greymane THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE - Alliance and Horde elements JUSTICE - Bastion Uther the Lightbringer

THE HANGED MAN - Vol'jin DEATH - The Jailer TEMPERANCE - Alexstrasza THE DEVIL - Xal'atath THE TOWER - Sword of Sargeras THE STAR - Anduin Wrynn THE MOON - Sylvanas Windrunner THE SUN - Prophet Velen JUDGMENT - Arbiter Pelagos THE WORLD - Azeroth on a backdrop of the magic schools

MINOR ARCANA

WANDS SUITE

ACE OF WANDS - Kiro and the vulpera TWO OF WANDS - Yrel THREE OF WANDS - Li Li Stormstout FOUR OF WANDS - Some Murlocs, Man. FIVE OF WANDS - The Explorer's League and The Reliquary SIX OF WANDS - Garrosh Hellscream, receiving Gorehowl after the Northrend campaign, with Y'shaarj looming over. This is the card hat made me think there's more to the set than The Ten Cards Everyone Teases. Beautiful card. SEVEN OF WANDS - The Titan Pantheon EIGHT OF WANDS - Orcish arrows on a night elven background. Beautiful card again. Either invasion of Ashenvale, I suppose. NINE OF WANDS - Baine Bloodhoof TEN OF WANDS - Sabellian and the black dragonflight PAGE OF WANDS - Majordomo Selistra KNIGHT OF WANDS - Shandris Feathermoon QUEEN OF WANDS - Queen Azshara KING OF WANDS - Arthas Menethil / The Lich King

SWORDS SUITE

ACE OF SWORDS - Tirion Fordring with Ashbringer TWO OF SWORDS - High Overlord Saurfang with split Shalamayne THREE OF SWORDS - Burning of Teldrassil FOUR OF SWORDS - Ysera in a Dream Seed Chariot whatever the fuck they're called FIVE OF SWORDS - Kil'jaeden, with Velen and Archimonde, as draenei SIX OF SWORDS - Overlord Geya'rah SEVEN OF SWORDS - Medivh EIGHT OF SWORDS - Romanian Kael'Thas NINE OF SWORDS - The Old Gods. I keep thinking whether or not the elf is supposed to be someone specific. Azshara maybe. I don't know. It also feels it might not be meant to be specific. TEN OF SWORDS - That Nathanos Blightcaller Card Everyone Memes By Now PAGE OF SWORDS - Taelia Fordragon KNIGHT OF SWORDS - Deathwing QUEEN OF SWORDS - Talanji KING OF SWORDS - Nozdormu and Murozond

CUPS SUITE

ACE OF CUPS - Sire Denathrius TWO OF CUPS - Flynn Fairwind and Mathias Shaw THREE OF CUPS - Muradin Bronzebeard, Magni Bronzebeard, Brann Bronzebeard FOUR OF CUPS - Spiritwalker Ebonhorn / Ebyssian FIVE OF CUPS - Mankrik's sorrow SIX OF CUPS - Zekhan giving Saurfang his necklace back, as per the Old Soldier cinematic. Easily the card that surprised me most by existing. Zappy Boi lives! (in someone's heart at least, not only ours) SEVEN OF CUPS - Chromie EIGHT OF CUPS - Gul'dan offering Grommash Hellscream the fel blood NINE OF CUPS - Chen Stormstout TEN OF CUPS - Thalyssra and Lor'themar Theron PAGE OF CUPS - Scalecommander Emberthal KNIGHT OF CUPS - Calia Menethil QUEEN OF CUPS - Mayla Highmountain KING OF CUPS - Cenarius

PENTACLES SUITE

ACE OF PENTACLES - Rokhan TWO OF PENTACLES - Merithra with Khanam Matra Sarest, Sansok Khan and Okir doing the renewal of vows. The end quest of Ohn'ahran Plains THREE OF PENTACLES - Council of Three Hammers - Muradin Bronzebeard, Moira Thaurissan, Falstad Wildhammer FOUR OF PENTACLES - Jastor Gallywix FIVE OF PENTACLES - Vyranoth, Raszageth, Fyrakk, whoever the other two were SIX OF PENTACLES - Genn Greymane at the Burning of Teldrassil SEVEN OF PENTACLES - Gelbin Mekkatorque EIGHT OF PENTACLES - Nomi NINE OF PENTACLES - Gazlowe, most likely TEN OF PENTACLES - Ebyssian/Ebonhorn PAGE OF PENTACLES - Xavius KNIGHT OF PENTACLES - Bolvar Fodragon in Shadowlands. The meme, the legend. QUEEN OF PENTACLES - Moira Bronzebeard/Thaurissan KING OF PENTACLES - King Mechagon

CREDITED ARTISTS: Joseph Lacroix, Surfside 3D studio. Deck designed by Ian Flynn. If you fall in love with it like I did (no thanks to Those Ten Cards We All Know By Now), it's worth it for sure. You need to understand, my scanner borked, the cards are in fact smooth and shiny.

Now, go forth. Be Smaranda to someone. Maybe your friend that can't afford the tarot but always wanted to see what the Flynnshaw card looks like. Maybe your cousin. Maybe yourself. Maybe you too were wondering, would you like the deck? Should you go out and get it? But you weren't quite sure who'd be in it, or if you even liked the entire thing. Well, I hope this post helped.

Peace.

[artistgem]

Promises

The Siege of Orgrimmar angst fic no one asked for.

2,464 words.

Taran, truthfully, had no idea how he had survived.

One moment he was standing on a shoddy wooden bridge, determined and at peace, ready to give his life for all of Pandaria, the next he was bleeding out from being gouged in the stomach atop the spiked eye of Garrosh Hellscream’s battleaxe, Gorehowl. Force to his knees and could only helplessly watch as the Heart of Y’Shaarj tainted the sacred pools he had so desperately tried to protect. The resulting explosion of corruption blooming into the sky, polluting once clear skies into an ominous black and white, and that was not even getting started on the blight that soon befell the golden, eternal vale all around him.

A series of explosions erupted underneath the ground and the only thing Taran – completely shell-shocked – remembered was plummeting off the platform.

What ever happened between then and how he got to the final chamber were only brief flashes in his mind. Stumbling over unsteady terrain. Coughing up blood. Confronting Garrosh once more.

He must have blacked out again afterwards – or been knocked out - as he found himself laying in a pool of his own blood, which was seeping out from his leather armour, and a faint ringing in his hears. A pounding in his head.

He barely registered the fact the Sha of Pride was several feet away from him and it was helped by the fact the Sha seemed to care less for the pathetic Pandaren dying on the floor.

Because that is what was happening, Taran was going to die here.

It was not a noble death. He would die here as a failure.

He should have tried harder. He should have tried harder to stop Garrosh, he should have pushed himself to his upmost limits even if it costed him everything. He should have tried harder to convince Xuen not to allow the Alliance and Horde into the Vale. He should have – could have – done so, so much more and yet he had not.

For just the briefest moment, he allowed himself a moment of vulnerability and shed the tears that were brimming in his fading eyes.

He was not going to pass on to the next life in peace. Not when he had failed his people. His Celestials. His-

Cho…

His mate.

…

He was leaving his mate a widower.

Fresher, hot tears fell faster.

He had wanted to spend the rest of his life with his mate and now it was ending so soon. He was leaving Cho to go on with the rest of his life alone, with only the reminder his mate had died without peace and marked with failure.

And Cho had asked him to come back to him safe, the last they had talked when Taran saw to the evacuation of the Seat of Knowledge personally, just to make sure Cho would be far, far away from the conflict. He had promised him he’d return.

A broken promise now.

Maybe there was one bit of peace for him, however. Cho was far away from here by now and would not have been caught in the cross-fire of the corruption of the Vale. Taran would never forgive himself, in life or death, had Cho been a casualty.

He had promised to protect him in his vows.

Taran coughed harshly, the rattling of his ribs shooting pain throughout his body and he stared blankly at the blood that splattered onto the ground.

Well. This was it.

He just wished – even for a second - he could tell Cho one last time he loved him.

Cho was his sun. His warmth where he was cold and harsh like a blizzard.

He was so, so cold now…

He shut his eyes for what he knew was the last time and coughed and wheezed as blood caught in his throat. Such a pitiful noise from someone who was once larger than life.

Ready to see what waited for him on the other side, he was not prepared to faintly hear the great doors opening before him and a rush of feet passing by him, nor the sudden burst of life from the Sha of Pride, who welcomed the lambs to the slaughter.

He was not prepared to hear Cho cry his name.

When he opened his eyes, for a split second he had thought he was hallucinating in his final moments. That the image of his mate was some way to ease his mind as he passed on.

The moment Cho’s paw touched his own and squeezed it tightly made him realise he was all too real.

Why-…why was he here?

He was so confused.

He was in so much pain.

He was so tired.

“Cho?”

His body shuddered with repressed wheezes and coughs. He did not want to traumatise his mate more by hacking up even more blood. There was enough surrounding him already and the fact he was dying in front of him.

Tired golden eyes lingered to the enlaced paws. His heart ached seeing how Cho’s was shaking. He could not bare to look at his face.

“The-…the outsiders”. Taran’s voice crackled for a bit; it was taking so much energy to speak. “They did this…w-we should have never had l-let them in…”.

Taran could not muster any true ire towards the Alliance and Horde champions, who were currently engaging with the Sha of Pride not far from him. He barely had enough energy to speak, much less waste it on an emotional outburst.

He was tired. Defeated.

The faint press of lips to the bridge of his nose soothed the ache in his heart briefly, as did the gentle hush that was as light as breeze.

“Don’t speak…save your energy, I’ll get you to the healers”.

Had this been anywhere else, under different circumstances, Taran Zhu would have been greatly amused of his smaller mate attempting to carrying him anywhere. Cho only barely reached his chest and lacked any form of muscle as ‘knowledge was his armour and the quill was his sword’. Taran was now worried Cho would get injured trying to drag him out or make himself vulnerable to any lingering enemies who would easily pick him off given his sole protector was out of commission. Or he was just giving his mate false hope.

Taran had no time to tell Cho something cliché such as ‘I’ll only slow you down’ because the smaller male was wiggling himself underneath Taran’s left arm and heaving him up as best as he could. Cho was clever as well because he muttered a quiet yet determined “I’m not leaving you” that brooked no arguments whatsoever.

Mustering every last bit of strength he had left, Taran stumbled onto his feet to at least take some of the strain of his small mate. With one arm slung around Cho’s shoulders, his other hand was clutching the wound on his abdomen where a cloth had been-

When had that-…

It was Cho’s tabard.

When had he wrapped it around him?

It was already stained a deep red.

They took their first few steps. Taran gritting his fangs tightly. Locking his jaw as his body ached and screamed to rest yet he soldiered on for the sake of his mate, who was staring straight ahead. Repeatedly squeezing the paw Taran had around his shoulders every so often, whether that was to comfort Taran, or himself, or both…who knew.

It…was a long walk through the ruins and then out through the mine, all the while he battled between slipping into unconsciousness and trying in vain to stay alert. Not only for any left over sha but just to listen to the soft rambling coming from his mate.

If he died, he at least wanted to die hearing his mate for the final time.

His ears finally picked up on something else, commotion from the entrance to the mine which instantly had him on edge but Cho kept walking them forward.

“It’s the relief efforts”.

And he was right, outside the mine several first-aid stations had been quickly set up and healers of all factions, races and classes were banding together to tend to the wounded and paying respect to the deceased. Those who were not medically inclined worked in tandem to clear the area of any leftover sha or were scouting through wreckage and bodies, bringing survivors to the healers.

Something stirred within Taran’s chest as he was lead to a tent and slowly laid down, immediately being swarmed with healers and medics, all the while Cho was by his side.

“We made it, My Heart. Just stay awake with me now”.

Their paws never parted for a second even as the top half of his armour was stripped away, the blood-soaked tabard removed, and his wounds were tended to.

“You are lucky you are pure muscle; you are going to pull through, Taran. You are going to be okay”.

Taran finally had the guts to look at his mate fully and his heart broke into many splintered pieces at seeing the tears in his eyes, in spite of the smile on his face. It was too forced. Cho was still shaking. He always hated seeing Cho cry, such gorgeous eyes and kind face should never have a hint of sorrow ever.

Achingly, he lifted his free paw to wipe away those dreadful tears with his thumb. Cho leaning into the palm of his paw with a mix of a sob and a laugh.

“’m…I’m so sorry…”

“What ever for, My Heart…you are here you came back to me like you promised”.

Taran squeezed his eyes shut.

“I failed…the Vale I-…I tried…I should have done more I’m so sorry”. He hated how his voice cracked. “So…so many good people died”.

Cho’s face contorted into worried horror.

“Taran…Taran, no…no nonono do not say such things you did everything you could have”. His own voice was breaking as tears were flowing even more freely. Purple eyes lingering on the wound to his abdomen before Taran firmly tilted his head back to look him in the eyes again.

(He was grateful the healers and medics were professional and focused on tending to him rather than actively eavesdropping in on a vulnerable conversation).

“I just want you here – alive – with me. The Vale can be restored. The dead can be put the rest. I cannot replace you…please, I cannot- I can’t I can’t I can’t…”

He was sobbing now. Gut wrenching sobbing and Taran was shaking now, squeezing Cho’s paw tightly.

“Don’t cry…I hate seeing you cry”.

Cho sniffled.

“I could say the same to you…”

With another sniffle, Cho laid down on the hard dirt and burrowed his face into Taran’s neck, who rested his chin atop his mate’s head. The healers and medics worked dutiful and ignored the howling cries and barely repressed sobs.

Soon their work was done. Wounds were stitched, bandaged. Blood lost was slowly being transferred back.

Taran and Cho still laid side by side. Exhausted and red-eyed and silent. Their clasped paws were held between them and at some point Taran had brought his other arm around Cho to cushion him off the uncomfortable ground. Cho was busy focused on his heartbeat.

There was movement at the tent’s entrance which Taran and Cho could only blankly glance over too, being greeted by one of the relief effort volunteers who looked reluctant for their sake.

“Lorewalker Cho, you are needed out here. Lady Proudmore and Lord Regent Theron require someone who has been into the chambers below and no one from the previous party has returned…”

Cho did not move for a moment before slowly sitting up. Even more slowly bringing the palms of his hands to rub at the corners of his eyes and sniffed.

“May I have a moment…I will be out shortly”.

“Of course”.

The volunteer turned and left quickly. Cho shakily sighed before straightening up, taking slow and measured breathes. Taran watched him undo his hair bun, fix his hair before redoing it up again, carding blunt claws through his sideburns and harshly rubbing at his cheeks to remove the feeling of tear stains. He reached to the side and slipped on a fresh, clean tabard – that one of the medics must have left for him earlier.

He did not look ready to face anyone but Taran admired how quickly he put on a fake mask to appear fine when things were not fine.

Cho looked at him and smiled (it did not reach his eyes).

“Seems they need a navigator”. He laughed humourlessly. “No idea why…getting down there is simple enough and the champions cleared everything out”.

The Lorewalker bent down and pressed a soft kiss to Taran’s forehead and made to stand up when Taran reflectively grabbed his wrist. Fur standing on end. Cho was briefly startled but his smile settled into something more genuine.

“Taran, I’ll be fine”.

The Lord stared at his paw around Cho’s wrist and slowly loosened it, not releasing it though. Mildly embarrassed but could you blame him for being on edge and not wanting his mate to go back down there.

But he could not delay Cho any longer.

“Come back to me, safe”, he begged. Quietly.

Cho’s features softened even more. This was the Cho he knew and loved. “I will, I promise”.

He bent down again and Taran leaned up, aiming for a kiss to the lips but Cho planted the kiss to his nose instead. Upon seeing the confused look on his mate’s face, Cho raised an eyebrow, amused.

“We can have a proper kiss once you wash the blood out of your mouth”.

Taran blinked and – for the first time that day – laughed, even if it was soft and short. His fingers slipped from Cho’s wrist and he let his mate stand and move to the tent’s flap. Cho paused and turned back to Taran. Face sincere and eyes captivating and Taran was reminded all over again how wonderfully, radiantly gorgeous Cho was.

“I love you, My Heart”.

His heart quickened.

“I love you too, My Flower”.

Cho closed his eyes, breathed in deep before composing himself. Set his shoulders and stepping out of the tent, leaving with a flutter of his cape.

It was silly how quickly Taran immediately missed his presence but there was not much he could do until he was given the clearance to leave. However long that was.

So instead he laid back down and tried to rest. Holding on tight to the promise Cho would be back and he would be fine and safe.

When a healer entered his tent and finished up some exams, they asked if he needed anything – food, something to drink, some painkillers?

He asked for mouthwash.

[valyrra]

General Shao's "Axe of the Furious Crusader" reminds me so much of Garrosh Hellscream's cursed version of "Gorehowl" (Xal'atoh, Desecrated Image of Gorehowl) from the final stage of his boss fight in Siege of Orgrimmar. am I trippin' ;_;

I AM NOT CRAZY RIOHT? THEY DO LOOK SIMILAR RIGHT???

(P.S. I was a huge simp for Garrosh and Siege of Orgrimmar is probably my fave raid after Icecrown Citadel)

[husknoises]

me seeing the new gorehowl tooltip 

[noxmachinimafr]

Hi there, It has been such intensive weeks at work. I had no break in two weeks. Not surprisingly, today being my first full day off, I slept for 12 hours! Anyway, BlizzCon announcements are really cool for WoW, although I am that much into the new allied race. At least, several things sound pretty neat, and I am more intrigued than I was for DF story.

I took the opportunity of these quiet days to keep refining the official trailer of Untold Tale of Pandaria. The first version was hastily made to fit a deadline, while, now, I really have time to polish everything. I first worked on the introductory sequence featuring Jiora'Kirh (Kirh) and Karl Whistlewind!

But the session of the day was dedicated to Garrosh Hellscream. The in-game model is already quite good, and because Garrosh is an emblematic NPC, there is not that much customization I can do. Still, the map is a bit low-def, which gives the tattoo the typical problem of ugly pixelization on the shoulders. And another point is that his necklace (seen in all the artworks and GCI cinematics) is absent! So I have to craft it. Regarding the axe, there are different models in the game files. The original Gorehowl was a bit too low poly and low def, while the upgraded model (dating back to WoD) was the one of the Alternative Draenor, so NOT the real Gorehowl.

In other words, I had to do the same work I did previously on Dranosh Saurfang's axe that I had made from BFA Varok's axe.

(I still love this model so much! :3) The work is not fully done yet, but the model got a nice refinement. The leather will be made in 3D. And I will implement his shoulder pads if needed at this time.

I can now start working on this scene of the trailer. Please appreciate that my OC is nothing but a shrimp compared with the warchief! ^^'

And, ahhh, look! I need to paint all the panels of the shrine, of course! Plus smallest panels with the pandaren clan portraits that I haven't placed yet. O__O

As I used to say, working on Blender gives a lot of freedom. But choosing to build a Japanese/Sichuan-Pandaren universe means that I have plenty to do from scratch! Hope you enjoy the sneak peek!

[touhouweed]

I was gonna ask my mom to bring my old Gorehowl replica, but it wont fit in the car w the other stuff :(

[sekhisadventures]

Dark Dreams

Orgrimmar, Year 28 AFW

The crowd was near rioting, the shouting in the stands deafening… but one person wasn’t shouting, she wasn’t doing anything. She could only stare down in horror at the lifeless body of her chieftain as Garrosh Hellscream stood over him, roaring in triumph.

Carine had declared Mak’gora against him. A duel of honor, due to his actions as Warchief, and Hellscream had won.

Nitika Dawnhoof stared down at the scene before her and felt as if her chest might explode, her heart pounding. She wanted to scream. She wanted to vomit. She wanted to… to…

Kill him.

She shuddered, holding her head.

Kill him. You can do it. You can attack him from an angle he’ll never see coming. You can reach out and make him cut his own head off. The power is within your grasp, all you must do is take it…

She shook her head, then looked to her right and gasped, stumbling back.

Standing there was another tauren woman, her body wreathed in shadow. She couldn’t make out her features, but something about her words resonated with Nitika in a way that terrified her… and yet…

If you don’t want to do it, I could do it for you… the strange apparition said.

Nitika shook her head, her eyes huge. “W-who are you?!” she gasped.

… you mean you don’t know? Pity, maybe you’re just not ready yet Sunny…

The Barrens, a day’s walk from the Crossroads, Year 29 AFW

Nitika awoke with a start, the tauren sitting up on her bedroll with her heart pounding. She looked around in terror, then slowly she calmed down as she woke the rest of the way. “It was just a dream…” she mumbled.

That’s right. That had been a year ago now. It had been revealed that Carine’s death was due to the actions of Magatha Grimtotem poisoning Gorehowl and that when she tried to take Thunder Bluff for her own Garrosh had found out about her treachery and stood aside so that the forces of the Horde could take it back, banishing her from Mulgore along with the rest of the Grimtotem Tribe.

“Having trouble sleeping youngblood?” came a voice from beside her. Seated on a bedroll next to her was Krag’thar Stoneshaper. The aging orcish shaman had taken this job with her to attempt to find out who was ambushing carts along the path between the Crossroads and Splintertree Post. The obvious suspect would be the Night Elves, the Sentinels having become very aggressive at seeing their ancestral home get stripped down by goblin shredders… but the carts were passing the Barrens checkpoint at least… so it could still be something else. Centaurs perhaps, or the quillboar, or even the renegade Burning Blade Clan.

“Yeah… sorry Krag’thar…” she sighed, rubbing her eyes, “Ever since Wyrmrest. I swear its every night anymore…” she frowned, gazing into their campfire.

The old orc nodded, “Mmm… you sound like me when I was your age. Before the Legion came to Draenor I was part of a group sent to deal with… well, we never really found out what they were. Some sort of strange sickly orcs with pale skin and glowing white eyes. ‘Pale Orcs’ was as good a name as any for them really.” he shrugged. “I went in with the warriors of our clan, ready and eager to show them the fury of the elements… and they ambushed us the minute we entered their caves.”

He shook his head, “We fought well, and we did win… but it was costly. Half of our group died to them, and I saw the mad things cannibalize those who did fall.” he sighed, “Every night for the next month at least I woke just like you did, just now. My dreams full of glowing eyes in the dark, and long sharp claws.”

She looked at the orc curiously, sitting up and picking up her waterskin. She wasn’t likely to sleep again after that anyways. “I never heard you talk about Draenor before…” she commented.

Krag’thar shrugged, “Mmm, let the youngbloods imagine what it was like. Those of us old enough to remember it, well… we’re also old enough to remember what we did to it.” he frowned.

Nitika nodded, “I’ve heard bits and pieces… but… you were tricked by the demons into the blood pact. You had no idea what it’d do to you…”

Krag’thar snorted, “HMPH! You know the barest terms of it girl. Garrosh’s father was first in line for that cup, and we saw what it did to him… and even then…” he sighed, “We wanted it, we saw how powerful it made him. We didn’t know what else it did at the time, but not one of us questioned it… even after seeing the monster whose blood he drank.”

He gazed into the flames, and his annoyed expression slowly became one of sorrow, remembering an ancient pain. “The moment I drank it… the elements turned their back on me. I could hear the furies raging at what the demons did to them, though I didn’t know it was the Legion at the time, but the very moment I swallowed Mannoroth’s blood, I heard nothing… just the pounding of blood in my ears and…” he trailed off, shaking his head.

“… you don’t need to hear the rest. You know it well enough from those who went to Outland and saw what’s left.” he finished.

Nitika nodded, glancing away. “I’m sorry you had to endure that…” she whispered.

“Don’t be. We did it to ourselves and did worse after that. We don’t deserve any sympathy for the horrors we committed under Gul’dan and his Shadow Council. All we can do is hope that our actions are remembered so the next generation of orcs won’t repeat them…” he frowned, “… by the spirits I hope they won’t…” he grumbled, thinking on some of the more recent actions by Garrosh. If the rumors he was hearing were true then it would seem he was taking after his father in the worst possible ways.

Nitika shook her head, “But Mannoroth is dead now, you and all the other orcs are free, aren’t you?” she asked.

Krag’thar shook his head, “Not… entirely.” he glanced back at her, “We remember it, we remember how it felt. Anyone who is old enough to remember Draenor was there when we made that pact with the Legion, and we remember what it was like…” he took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly, “… the burning in our veins, the power… I felt like I could tear an entire clefthoof to pieces with my bare hands… like I could run across the whole continent… like…” he gritted his teeth, “… like I could just fight and fight and fight and kill and slaughter and never…” he stopped as he saw Nitika’s expression, the tauren actually having scooted back a bit on her bedroll.

Krag’thar shook his head, “… the point is… we are free from Mannoroth, yes… but while it was corruptive… it felt incredible, and we older orcs remember that. Even now, even after the elements accepted me back, after I begged and pleaded with them to forgive what I had done and speak to me once more…” he sighed, running his hands along the ground, feeling the earth below them, and hearing it’s reassuring rumble in his mind. “… part of me still craves it girl. I still remember it, and I’ll remember it until the day I die.” he nodded. “Even knowing what it made me do, I’ll never stop wanting it. Unlike your nightmare, I can’t wake up from mine.”

The tauren nodded, “I… In my dream I was back at the Mak’gora where Carine died… but there was another tauren next to me, covered in shadows, telling me to… kill the Warchief.” she winced, glancing nervously at Krag’thar. Some of the orcs were very protective of the Warchief.

The shaman nodded slowly, “Mmm… plenty of tauren wanted to after that, I don’t blame them. Carine was a good and wise leader, may Baine live up to his legacy.” replied the orc, “I know I was ready to go to Thunder Bluff myself when I heard of Magatha’s treachery.” he growled.

Nitika nodded, “I was lucky, I wasn’t in Mulgore when she took control of the city. Grimo had me helping to move goods in Stranglethorn Vale.” she replied, “I... didn't mind... I wanted to be as far away from Orgrimmar as I could after that...” she shuddered.

Krag’thar nodded, then took another bite of his jerky, “They’ll stop, eventually. The dreams I mean.” he said simply, “I still have them every now and again… but… eventually they stop. They have to, you go mad otherwise.” he shrugged.

Nitika sighed, “I hope you’re right Krag’thar…” she whispered.

The old orc shrugged, then held out the rest of his jerky to her. “Here, you should have the rest. If you’re up I’ll try to get some sleep. No point in both of us being tired when whoever is attacking caravans finally decides to make themselves known.” he grunted.

She took it with a grateful smile as the orc stretched out on his bedroll with a protest from his back, wincing a bit as he lay on the dusty ground. “Goodnight Nitika… remember, they do stop eventually. They did for me, even the worse ones.” he said.

Nitika paused as she chewed on the piece of meat, looking at him. “The worse ones? Worse than seeing your friends get killed?” she asked, “What was worse than that?”

Krag’thar rolled onto his side so she couldn’t see his face, then replied, “… the dreams where I remember who I killed.” he grunted in a tone that said he wouldn’t be saying any more on the matter.

Nitika looked at him sadly, then finished the jerky and crossed her legs, resting her hands on her knees as she bowed her head. “… An’she, light our path… warm our spirits and show us the way under your watchful gaze…” she murmured in prayer as she waited out the rest of the night, until An’she’s gaze did, indeed, warm them once more.

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[jerek]

If you tossed gorehowl like a baton twirler would it make a "wooooo-woo!" noise

[viralarcadian]

gorehowl for sale at cashies in the latest dankpods vid

[dretanya]

i still think the legendary from WoD should have been a belt made with the Ata'mal Crystals. there are seven shards and seven zones, one major questline at max level in each zone, possibly ending in dungeons or raids i still think the fury warrior weapons in legion should have been Gorehowl from both timelines - garrosh abandoned his first one in the SoO raid and got xal'atoh instead, and then garrosh got his second one in WoD and it was left abandoned in Nagrand near where he died (also there is a mysterious third one from the last boss of old karazhan??) time travel shenanigans gave us so much extra stuff to play with but the only mention of the ata'mal crystals in WoD was that the green one was found in a ruined village near auchindoun

[lord-soth-dk]

Anyone else think his axe looks like Gorehowl from WoW?

My website: Orniris.com

[husknoises]

a gorehowl for my agonies

[marsy-hellscream]

Grom Hellscream, art by yours truly (Copic Ciao, Sakura Pigma Micron and some other random white markers for highlights)