Afterlives (writing exercise)

Wyrmrest Accord
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I forget if we’ve seen this sort of thread before, but I want to make one now, so nyeh.

In a scenario where the Maw isn’t nomming every soul it can get its hands on, where do you think your character would go? Is Revendreth calling their name, the vampiric masters of that land eager to purify your soul via torture? Are they pure of heart enough to be able to call Bastion their home? Or would they perhaps prefer Ardenweald, eternal winter and rest? Or perhaps they’d prefer Maldraxxus, a land where the strong survive above all others? Or is the Maw their eternal ‘rest’?

Or, perhaps, somewhere else calls them…

Isalenna herself is afraid, and rightfully so, of where her soul is going. Even if it wasn’t tainted by the void, it is tainted by hatred, anger and fear, as well as a desire to do whatever is needed to avoid death. She wouldn’t admit it to herself, of course, but…

She’s pretty sure the Void is going to claim her soul. Not a happy thought, indeed… but if it didn’t lay stake, I suspect Revendreth at worst, Maldraxxus at best. She’s a good woman, but there’s enough darkness under the surface that she may need a bit of cleansing… or perhaps her desire to survive, and her willingness to destroy to protect herself and others, will land her in Maldraxxus?

What of your characters?

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My characters are all going where all the good food, beer and dinosaurs are. Because no place is complete without dinosaurs, and the same must be true for the Shadowlands! :t_rex:

It’s also a place of good vibes, where one can relax after a party, hug a friend, all that good stuff!

I don’t know what it’d be called though. Probably something friendly sounding.

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Hugland.

2 characters required

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Hugland …well, Ariiah has always maintained that hugs are good for the soul. As have a bunch of my other characters (and naturally the sentiment spread throughout my character list…). Seems as good a name for an afterlife realm as any when it’s a nice place to go!

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If Gen’tarn was going to go to the place he thought he was supposed to go, it would be to the Tauren’s Eternal Plains, a place of endless fields of wild grain and tall grass, broken up by primeval forests, fresh, cold streams and rivers and occasional snow-capped mountains, given he generally falls more into the Tauren side of the Horde spirituality, rather than the patch-work hodge-podge of Orcish shamanism, which has also failed repeatedly in living memory with Dark Shamans abusing and twisting the elements to empower themselves, and the Horde, and thus Gen’s made a conscious choice to follow the Tauren’s example.

However, all things being equal and given Gen’s track-record of not-having-nice-things, he’d probably end up in the Maw by accident and have to pull a Outlast and have to run, hide or die his way out of that place because as a ‘Light’ Shaman, one who asks for power rather than making pacts or taking it via slavery and force, I can’t see too many Spirits or Elementals being able or willing to reach down there to grant him power without having nefarious goals of their own.

Otherwise, given that Gen’s developed a bit of an ego as he’s the ‘Only Sane Man’ in his team of kleptomaniacs, power-seeking overly-ambitious spellcasters and frankly weird people with useful talents, so he’d probably end up in the Vampire Covenant to get that attitude and arrogance beaten back out of him really bloody quick, especially when he ends up in this dark, barren, horrible place and realises he done goofed hard to get here.

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Given he clearly has nobility to him, if he required punishment he’d get Revendreth and nothing worse, the rehabilitative version of hell.

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Fizz has never given a bother about his afterlife, feeling he’d worry about that when he was dead. Chances are his soul would end up drifting, arcane empowered little wraith that sticks to Azeroth some way or the other. If he had to go to an afterlife, Revendreth would have be breaking his ego before he wanted to bother with any of the main four. Is there a goblin afterlife? I like to think yes.

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Emma would definitely get Bastion. While she’s a very rough and tumble woman with some major questionable acts, she left the tidesage order because something didn’t feel right about it. As she grew more powerful with the elements, and gained leadership of a crew, she answered more to the Waycrests and Proudmoores. As the beginning of the year came around and contact from Drustvar went silent, she docked there to find witches inland, and so she worked her crew and herself to the bone to save the dead from their dark magic. Once they managed a safe moment, she moved the dead onwards with careful work to keep them safe from N’zoth and the Drust.
She made herself more powerful with an Azerite battleaxe made from the cores of four elemental lords around an azerite core, forming the energy that courses through her whenever the weapon’s in her hand, and then modified herself at Mechagon, with this increased power, she barely slept, she never stopped, she could be a challenge to one of the champions one v one, with that axe in hand, and so she’s fighting as hard as one, with less rest or assistance, going straight to whatever the deadliest most vital conflict is that day to help out, and using potions and magic more often than actual healthy sleep to keep going. Because to her, if you have power, you owe it to the world to make things better. To have power, especially power you intentionally gave yourself, demands being heroic, and anything less is irresponsible.

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if sint were to die now, her afterlife would be very short because within a few months she’d stand back up as a new Death Knight.

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“Well, time to get back into the fig-”

Stops. Looks down at her new body. Frowns.

“Really, Bolvar? A Kul’tiran? I look like I died from eating too much fried food and not an axe to the face!”

from the top of Icecrown Citadel

"YOUR OPTIONS WERE FAT HUMAN, OR GOLDSHIRE HUMAN, AND THERE ARE SOME PLAGUES EVEN THE SCOURGE DOESN’T TOUCH! DEAL WITH IT!"

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Juspion is a wholesome good boy.

He’s spent the last ??? years worried about the Legion and what terrible things they would do to him and his soul should he ever fall to them. I think for Juspion, Ardenweald is best suited for him, he’s lived a long hard life and he’s tired. It’s time for some well earned rest.

However he can sometimes be prideful and has dreams of restoring the Draenei to their former glory. While he hasn’t acted on those desires to elevate the Draenei above all others, if he where to ever, he may find himself in Revendreth.

Otherwise Juspion doesn’t know about any of the above Shadowlands stuff. His beliefs fall in line with what most Draenei believe in, becoming one with the light and all that (I think). He’s not the most pious and while he does attend various sermons and ceremonies, perhaps with the defeat of the Legion and his exposure to other groups of people. He may find new a faith that suits him better than devotion to the Naaru and the Light.

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I imagine Xiano if not consumed by the maw would likely join the spirits and watch over the lands of his clan to be called upon so he can pass on the wisdom he learned in life.

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Altielle loves to joke to people that she has a whole host of demons with a claim on her soul when she dies, and when she does they’re all going to have to battle it out to get it. Humorously, she has never actually promised her soul to a demon.

If we ignored Altielle’s past deeds, I honestly think she might have gone to Bastion. She’s become a really noble person who values the lives of the people she cares about above her own. She’s even made sacrifices for them. But of course, she has far too much baggage to go there.

She might end up in Vevendreth. As her current state has proven, she’s got potential to be a good person but needs to purify her soul of the evils she’s done in the past. This seems like the most logical option.

I really wanted to say the Maw because having the world take a dump on her is sort of her theme, but I really don’t think she deserves it. Especially because she has risen above the world taking a dump on her.

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sint just finds her other body and keeps the new one as a backup

people question her why she’s got a body in a freezer, but she keeps telling them its just a spare. brings it out during parties. “HEY KIDS, WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY?!”

she also could just point at herself when she says that, but that’s not as funny nor as visceral.

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One of the biggest issues I have with Jan-Mak as a character is that it’s incredibly hard to gauge and figure out just what type of person he would be.

Frequently, people see his vulnerable side through write-ups and short stories as I didn’t want to portray an obnoxious 24/7 ironjaw of a General. However, I feel as if some folks now know his vulnerable side too much for it to be believable or genuine that he is a hardened warrior. Perhaps this is another pitfall for how I overthink most things.

I am stuck between Maldraxxus and Revendreth.

Maldraxxus appears to be the covenant where the duty-bound, hardened and focused go. Those who have toed the line of grey morality but have done their best to protect and do what could be argued as right, but aren’t altruistic like Kyria/Bastion.

Revendreth is those who are prideful, those who have seen folly but do not address it for the goals they have in mind; but in the afterlife they wish to atone.

Without making my post 5 pages long and too personal, it’s no secret that a lot of folks have serious qualms with myself and/or my character. Jan-Mak has frequently failed as a commander where it has made sense in the storylines that are set forth, but he himself is not a failure, nor is he stupid, impulsive, or shortsighted. He is a character that puts wisdom over intelligence at inopportune times, and it bites him. It is a definite struggle to have a character that is supposed to be inspiring yet he is not someone that many people would want to follow if they were given a choice.

The “I don’t know what type of person he is” is being solved somewhat with Classic being released, allowing me to creatively explore a younger Tsu’lay that has a somewhat naive idea of being a protector/defender of his people and of the Horde.

Seeing the proverbial tree being planted and finding out just how deep the roots go and why some branches grew to be gnarled. (i.e. why Jan-Mak lied about getting a ‘vision’ from Vol’jin post-Broken Shore to follow Sylvanas just to keep everyone together, why he followed Sylvanas in BfA to keep the Horde going, why he chose inaction over civil war, etc) These are the things he wishes others would understand why, but can ultimately agree with those who hate him for said decisions.

Ultimately, I am likely to choose Revendreth on my hunter Jan-Mak and Maldraxxus on my priest Jan-Mak, since I dual-class him. Revendreth for that vampire aesthetic. But for what he will canonically experience… it’s a tough call. Almost impossible to decide.

Have you ever been unsure about your own character’s decision? Not to be mistaken as: ooOoOO, my character has so much depth that even i don’t understand him, hon hon hon - just a scenario where you really, really aren’t sure? I’m sure I’ll know when the time comes.

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Part of what we still need to know is what defines a soul as being bound for Revendreth - and what separates those souls from the ones being bound for Maldraxxus, or even the Maw. I may be able to make a more firm decision once I see what Blizzard has in mind!

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Revendreth seems to be for people who have committed “sins” like theft and tax evasion, things that harm others without being outright murderous and evil. I could see a lot of default Goblin characters going here.

The Maw seems to be for straight up powerfully evil people. Arthas is confirmed to be here I think although we won’t see him? Most big bads I assume would also be here.

Maldraxxus doesn’t seem like a punishment in comparison. Sure it’s all green and toxic and zombie-ridden but I think that’s a side effect of the realm’s nature. A place where might rules over everything else sounds like the type of afterlife an Orc or Vrykul who seek an eternal battlefield in death might be looking for. Good or bad characters could end up here, I guess.

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The maw is a little easier to define, but Revendreth? We don’t really know what defines them, yet, past a few characters who are there. Given the brief similarities to real-world religious afterlives, it’s possible that it’ll cover a large swath of ‘sins’. Or it could be, like you said, only meant to cover larger-scale sins, like Kael’thas.

As for Maldraxxus, it’s true, it’s not really a punishment… in comparison. To some, it may still very well be close.

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I want to align Talonis with the Venthyr because ~aesthetic~ but if she died I don’t know exactly where she would go. Her past life as a Blood Elf would definitely place her in Bastion but since she became corrupted I’m not sure. If it’s a thing, I imagine her going to some kind of void (pun not intended) in between afterlives as if the Arbiter couldn’t decide on a fate yet.

We haven’t seen what separates these different afterlives but I’m imagining each one as an island separated by a vast, misty sea kind of how it is in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and God of War. Very much a “river Styx” kind of vibe I realize so I’m curious how they’ll actually implement it. The game map seems to imply it might end up being like this.

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That would be cool. And yes, the Venthyr aesthetic is really neat! I’ll probably side with each one on a character, see which one I like the most since they’re making leveling a ton easier.