The 5 tauren are back after a winterveil vacation! Excitingly Tekayo was told he could not have the tribe or elders help until he went to thousand needles and learned a lesson with the grimtotem there. This meant he and the other heading to the barrens and thousand needles had a common goal once more, and the party set off towards the barrens.
Akish stupidly thought if he lied to his sister and said he forgot to pack things, them being forced to share would make her feel useful and maybe help them bond. But his sister was flatly annoyed and upset, and not at all happy at the attempt to make her feel needed and wanted.
As the 5 passed towards the barren they had their first encounter with the centuars encroaching on mulgore. They were quickly cut down, but tempers ran high over the idea that they should not just be senselessly slaughtering all the centaur they meet. In addition, grizzly war trophies were taken. 4 ears were lopped off and divided amongst the people:
As the group rested after slaying the centaur, and members began taking ears from the quarry, Cairouth wondered whether he too would claim a grisly trophy. The Centaur had encroached on Mulgore for as far as he knew, forever. They were enemies of the Tauren and Mulgore itself. However, he knew they too were the Earthmothers creations. And while her children war, he could not compel himself to butcher them further. However, if it was the Ogre that they had encountered, he was less confident in his altruism.
Tekayo probably surprised himself with the bloodlust he felt when he killed the centaurs, and especially when he took their ears as a trophy. He’s never been attracted to war trophies or butchery of any kind, and would find it distasteful to do that to any other enemy - except the Centaur. He tells himself that he will bring back the ears as proof of the centaur encroaching in Mulgore, but deep down he enjoyed tapping into a more bloodthirsty side of himself.
After making it to the cross roads and starting the hunt once more, the group reflected on a few things they had seen that day. Great lizards ((way too high level for the group)) and how they could hunt them? A human passing by that moo’d at them, and the final upset was when they were all sharing Akish mentioned that he considered himself a druid before he considered himself a tauren, and that his laulty lay solely with the druids and their cause. This caused a few reactions:
When thinking about Akiish’s statement at the end of the day, Cairouth was unsure of how he felt. While he knows his loyalty lies with this new Horde, and that if he has any personal loyalties its to the Tauren and his family down south. He understood the duel loyalty Akiish has. It is a noble pursuit to strive for peace, and if this druid organization can help bridge the divide between the Horde and Alliance, it may be worth pursuing. Content with his verdict, he relaxed again, shortly before his thoughts began to drift again to the issue. He wondered where Akiish would draw the line. If the group ran into the Alliance, would Akiish partake in the battle? And what of the Elves? They are also part of this organization and yet Cairouth had heard tales of their savagery in Ashenvale to the Horde invaders. Unsure, Cairouth pushed the thoughts from his mind and steeled himself for the upcoming day, before quickly slipping into a dreamless sleep.
As for Akiish, Tekayo was also surprised by how much his comment got on his nerves. It seemed to trigger something in Tekayo, as his whole current reason to exist is pinned on his desire to seek vengeance for his people. The worst event in his life was watching the Centaur kill his family indiscriminately, and so his identity as a Tauren is forged in blood and blind violence. To him it’s inconceivable - offensive, almost - to believe that one can be a Druid first and a Tauren second. Tekayo thinks, bitterly, that the Centaur weren’t checking whether the Tauren they ran underfoot were Druids or not before they killed them.
The group seems determined to reach thousand needles, but seems distracted with loyalties and bloodlust.
youtu.be/YaZY7TBtKnk