I’ve been a horde player for a good while now but its come to my attention that a decent amount of my friends only really play alliance and I don’t want to be alone lmao.
Now the thing is I like to RP as well on the side but the idea of a draenei shaman just doesn’t make sense very much in lore, like dwarves 100% do, but I main taurans only on horde and the tiny models for dwarves feel weird to me, any info on draenei shaman? is there ANYTHING behind it
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The origin of draenei shamans is covered in the short story Unbroken, which goes over Vindicator Nobundo losing his connection to the Light after being exposed to the Red Mist during the fall of Shattrath and becoming Broken, and eventually being reached out to by Outland’s disoriented elemental spirits searching for a new medium to commune with and restore balance there, as Gul’dan’s severance of the orcs’ connection to the spirits was still in effect.
Nobundo learned shamanism from the spirits, then returned to draenei society and started teaching others, both regular draenei and Broken. Eventually he and other draenei/Broken shamans found their way to Azeroth with the draenei and in time some of them became members of the Earthen Ring alongside the other races’ shamants.
Unbroken has more details, but that’s about the gist of it.
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Is the book mostly about this story you told me? Or is there other side stories
You seem awfully sure of your knowledge of the lore. Blizzard wrote an entire short story dedicated to Draenei Shaman in 2007.
Unbroken - Micky Neilson
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The core concept behind a draenei shaman is that they believe that the elements are the first children of the Light. In their belief, when the Light forged the universe, it had to start somewhere, so it started with the basic building blocks: the physical elements.
The Naruu saved the draenei from extinction at the Legion-aligned, manari eredar, so they have a great respect for the Light. It’s been baked into their culture for twenty-five thousand years. So, it makes sense that they’d believe even the elements themselves came from the Light, and see the elements as another path to the Light.
I haven’t roleplayed a draenei shaman myself. Some of them turn to it as an outlet after being cut off from the Light. Some have a natural affinity for the elements, and use it in a belief that it is connecting them to the Light. Some just don’t give a damn about the Light and instead choose to pursue the elements as any other shaman would.
One component of shaman is their connection to the ancestors. One thing interesting to pursue would be a shaman as an Auchenai soul priest. Obviously, this is typically seen as a priest’s role, but you could probably tie it in with shamans too!
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Draenei shaman are have my absolute favorite race-class lore and background bar none
Victims of genocide by demon fueled orcs, countless atrocities commited on innocents, cut off from the light, which had for thousands of years helped and comforted them, in deep despair and depression for years, having no more reason to continue a miserable existence. Suddenly the wind whispers, stop. A kindred spirit, scorned and abandoned, tortured and destroyed by the very same people that once communed with it. The wind found Nobundo, and Nobundo found the rest. They needed each other, Nobundo calmed them, soothed them and in return, they gave him a will to live.
Yes, Unbroken makes me cry.
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The core concept behind a draenei shaman is that they believe that the elements are the first children of the Light. In their belief, when the Light forged the universe, it had to start somewhere, so it started with the basic building blocks: the physical elements.
Is this right? I have never heard of this before, do you have a source?
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For a moment, I was like, “No, I’ve read that somewhere!” But, it took a bit to find.
"[The wind] taught me the path of shamanism, which in a way is just another facet of the Light. Joining the wind was the water of the oasis, the fire from my camp and the earth upon which I sat. All had something to say. "
They definitely believe that shamanism is just a facet of the Light. The rest is from the ordering of the Great Dark Beyond, as described by the Light article.
The cataclysmic birth of the cosmos sent shards of fractured Light flying through the cosmos, suffusing the newly formed planets of the universe with the spark of life and giving birth to countless life-forms, the most common of which were the primordial elementals.
So, I guess I tried to reconcile “how does the Light = the elements?” And my answer was that the Draenei recognize that the elements were born from the Light as the start of everything. Definitely some head canon in there, but I don’t think it’s too much.
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I hadn’t realized this, awesome that you took the time to look it all up, thanks!
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If only we got Broken AR, I’d love to rp a Broken Shaman, so much story potential there. Draenei still have some cool aspects though, not as much to my liking as a Broken story would be.
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This is amazing, I have to give this a read one time.
Goblins can be shamans, so…
Shaman lore is basically, “Hey spirits. Do stuff for me and I’ll do stuff for you. Deal? Deal.”
Logically, any race can be a shaman if all it takes is the ability to barter.
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Even their totem designs reflect that. Think of Draenei Shamans as a sort of New Age Wiccan analogue for Shamans only without the nonsense.
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Draenei take on shamanism is rather peculiar I would say. Nobundo in Exodar says among other things, this:
The Light had not forsaken the Broken! The fel energies that the orcs had wielded long ago against the draenei had infused us, causing a break in our ability to be heard by, or perhaps to hear, the Light. The same that had been responsible for the degradation of our bodies.
But our spirits were not broken, and the air offered to me another path, through which I might deliver my people.
It taught me the path of shamanism, which in a way is just another facet of the Light. Joining the wind was the water of the oasis, the fire from my camp and the earth upon which I sat. All had something to say.
Which, funny enough, is not the only thing that might support this take. For example, Chronicles:
The cataclysmic birth of the cosmos also flung shards of Light throughout reality. These shards suffused the matter of myriad worlds with the spark of life, giving rise to creatures of wondrous and terrible diversity.
The most common forms of life to appear were the elemental spirits — primordial beings of fire, water, earth, and air. These creatures were native to nearly every physical world. Many of them reveled in the turmoil that held sway over the early ages of creation.
And you can even see it briefly in one of WoD cinematics:
So, shamanism of draenei seems to be 1 step from holy magic. I hope that is a good enough reason to add that class to the light-forged.
gl hf
I meant in the sense that Draenei are followers of the light and worship the naaru, it goes against what they traditionally believe in.
It does! They were even rejected for worshiping the elements instead of the Light. But the Broken/Draenei shamans and the Draenei people, though the guidance of Velen, reconciled that with the belief that the elements are just a facet of the Light.
Its been a while since I dove into this part of the lore, but I could have sworn i read somewhere that a lot of draenei weren’t very eager in accepting shamanism into their culture at first, and then Velen stepped in.
I’d like to hear more about this if anyone knows.
I think its in the Unbroken short story.
So you want everything spoon-fed to you, without reading the book? Or trying to search for the lore?
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