The other day I quite literally stumbled across Athair, The Heart of the Forest, who is a huge white stag that wanders a circle around a small grove in Drustvar. For Druids only he can be used as an Innkeeper to set your hearthstone too, and the center of that grove becomes a resting area. As though you were at an Inn. I thought this was incredibly cool. After doing a wowpedia look-up it turns out he may be a Wild God. I also thought his short tale was pretty neat.
So I thought it might be fun to start a casual Tavern-style RP thread around this concept. A protected grove in Drustvar where namely Druids (but also other wary travelers) might come and rest a while before continuing on their journey. Nothing serious. Just something fun, light, and IC for us to use to get to know each other’s Druids (hunters, or any like character).
Similar to a Tavern, but more of a wild setting. No bar, but there is a clear stream! No kitchen, but you can forage all you like and there is an abundance of wild animals outside the grove to pick from!
I personally love the idea of Druids being able to have more interactions with Wild Gods / Loa.
Personally I’d like Druids to have more major interactions benefits with them.
And the exception of having Night Elves / Zandalari have minor interaction benefits from them as well, given their cultures - With the odd wary travellers (All classes) being able to have some kind of interaction, to get a casual flux and more of a Role-Play friendly mood going on.
But playing on a Wild-God Tavern ideal sounds intriguing.
I like those ideas. Druids receiving the most benefits out of their interaction within the grove, Night Elves and Zandalari receiving a degree of benefits due to their respective cultures, and everyone else receiving some small benefits out of good faith and will.
I’ve really liked the active presence of all the Loa in Zandalar while questing. So I wonder, how many Wild Gods and Loa need to be present in this Grove? And which ones would be (or should be) present? Right now I’m thinking an equitable divide between the Night Elven styled Wild Gods such as the Stag Athair and his mate that appears at night, and the Troll styled Loa such as the proud and wise Gonk. But which ones?
I’m also wondering if there would be a better location that Drustvar. I personally like the forest setting, but perhaps there is a better location.
The location doesn’t necessarily have to be one that you can visit in-game; it just needs to fit with the aesthetic and concept of whatever zone you pick. Azeroth is huge, and the playable areas aren’t built to actual scale given that it would chew up too much development time and computer resources. The playable areas you see in-game are essentially just an overview of the territory and noteable landmarks within.
Therefore, inventing your own location to serve the needs of the thread isn’t implausible.
Very true, and thank you for mentioning it. I was considering doing just that, having our own Grove that isn’t the same grove as the one found in game with Athair. I’m brainstorming off ideas and known content for everyone to easily reference, using Athair’s grove as my base (or prime example).
I agree. Ultimately it should be our own unique space. Like another tavern thread that’s posted up, it seemed pertinent to keep it relevant to the expansion by having it exist in Drustvar. I personally really like the zone, but it could be on Zandalar just as easily as Kul Tiras. Really it could be anywhere on Azeroth, as you said Mori. Just a matter of finding the right place.
Any thoughts or opinions on location?
Any ideas on the Loa / Wild Gods that should be present?
I’m beginning to wonder if it’d be better to have minor Loa / Wild Demigods wandering the grove instead of the actual major named creatures. Maybe they’re tending to specific shrines that have been established those major Loa / Wild Gods. Perhaps there should be some kind of prophet or priest/keeper present?
If it’s dedicated to loa then very likely there will be a few worshippers around somewhere. If it’s dedicated to Athair and his mate(only appears at night under moonlight, I believe), then it wouldn’t be surprising to find a few Thornspeakers or other nature-oriented Kul’tirans around. Though I’m not certain whether Athair is a true Wild God, a loa, or something else entirely.
Another route you could take with it is adding statues of one of the deities, or scattering about their spawn, rather than have the loa or Wild Gods themselves present. For example, an area of respite in Nazmir could be filled with the spawn of Krag’wa and idols depicting his symbology, rather than Krag’wa himself being present.
Ah, I see. That would be the better direction to take it. Focusing on one Loa or Wild God rather than many. Being inclusive would only make it difficult and convoluted. Hmm. I’ll stew on this for a while.
Still open to any other thoughts or ideas!
Edit: Shameless bump!
I’m mulling over a write up! I’ll post what I have when I feel confident with it. I’ve not done a lot of these, and while I know it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece of writing, I still want to feel comfortable with it.
If anyone wants to offer some advice for the write up, I’m an open door!
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