No worries. Thank you for letting us know!
This is today! So very happy this is happening and thank you to all who put in the work to plan and lead this event. #notallheroswearcapes
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A delegation from the Sunfury Battalion plan to be there and to say a few words. Anu belore dela’na.
Lady Shalanori Sunshadow
First of Her Name, Grand Magister and Protector of the Order of the Sunfury
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One hour until the event!
Just a reminder: there will be no main raid group for the memorial. We will be in Razor Hill’s graveyard, war mode off. There is no phasing/layering/anything of the sort, and all levels will be able to attend.
Excited to see you all there. 
Thank you all for coming! Way more than I expected attended. I wasn’t able to get many screenshots, (I only got one) and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Here’s hoping the Vol’kar Legion and the Gor’Watha Warband can make this a yearly event. <3
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/269990447160492044/645451881686106134/unknown.png
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Thanks for having me!
Transcript of Chentao’s speech for those interested (sans one annoying typo):
I’m Chentao Bronzefur–‘Chen’ to most of you that know me. I’m here to speak on behalf of my own kin tonight: the Pandaren.
It’s more difficult than you might expect if you do not understand us. Pandaren are a diverse people. We come from many walks of life… hail from places most of the Horde have never laid eyes or set foot upon. But, myself? Those that have fallen in this war and before it? Those that stand with us today? We know the Horde.
Many–most, perhaps–are like me: Huojin. Followers of the decisive path. Those dedicated to act without hesitation to fight for home, for family. For the greater good, and no matter the cost. No matter the sacrifice, be it of ourselves or others that stand against us.
Some are refugees… survivors of the horrors endured at the hands of the Yaungol, or the Mantid, or Zul’s ilk that sought to ravage Pandaria and her people for their own interests, and now serve the Horde to repay its debt of kindness in helping to rebuild.
I could go on, really, but I don’t feel I need to. It has led us here. My people have not long been counted among the ranks of the Horde, but we’ve given our all. Old or young… poor or rich. Soldiers, healers… chefs, or brewers of the most kickass brews in all of Azeroth. Or whatever else.
But regardless, many gave their lives just the same to defend the Horde and its people. Lin, Xiang… and so many others. Many that I knew and trained personally. And despite what all has happened, I know they would do so again.
You see, something set us apart from the other races of the Horde when we first joined: We chose to be here. Willingly. We did not rely on the Horde’s aid to survive; be it on Shen-zin Su or Pandaria, we had other means to live our lives and few foes that could stand a threat to that.
I say this not to diminish the sacrifices made by others in this war or any before. I say this so that, even if in the most primitive and bare sense, you might understand what it means to be Huojin. To understand that the gravity of our actions–what we give our lives for, why our resolve is not to be questioned, and why we stand forever with the Horde and its people.
Those of us that have chosen to align ourselves with the Horde face harsh criticisms. Especially from our own kind. Hell, sometimes even within the Horde’s own ranks. War is a bloody ordeal, requiring us to face even an honorable foe at times. Including other Pandaren, sometimes. Perhaps someone we even once knew, counted as a friend, or even loved.
But, ultimately, our actions matter most in this world. And I cannot speak for everyone, but when I learned of the Horde and its values, I knew I was meant to be a part of it. Against the greatest foes, those with the fervor and passion I’d been told of the Horde’s people will stand the greatest chance. Those most staunch and iron-willed.
Because war… war is not pretty. It takes calculated, decisive, and sometimes brutal acts to assure that which we love and care about will endure. Many of my kin are against such a notion, though, feeling such compromises cannot justifiably be made; we persevere despite it. What we do, we do in service of the greater good.
Those Pandaren that fell in this war? They chose to. They laid down their lives not for necessity, nor for vengeance, nor their very own survival. They laid down their lives to preserve the very ideals of the Horde: Strength. Honor. Passion. And I have no doubt they would do so again.
Their bodies rest here in our world. Their spirits stand exalted alongside their ancestors’. We revere them for their sacrifices. We will not mourn them. We will celebrate their lives and their selfless deeds. It is the greatest way to honor them.
May we all seek to live on, or fall, in such glory. For the Horde.
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Thanks so much Buliss and Taz’jin for organising the event - it was a really good and symbolic thing for the Horde to do. Thanks for Axiann too, for inspiring the whole thing!
I really think we should make this an annual event, with new speakers each time!
For those who are interested, I’ve attached Sarestha’s speech as Forsaken representative as well.
My name is Sarestha Ravelle. It is my great honor to stand before you as the representative of my people, the Forsaken of Lordaeron, today.
It also my great honor to stand among the Horde, and its ever growing, ever diversifying, roster of membership. While the early Horde was made purely of the orcish clans, we have grown and changed - and we now represent the outcasts of Azeroth, united to be strong together, and to endure, no matter what challenges are thrown against us.
Many of the orcs were prisoners of the Alliance. The trolls were fragmented remnants of a fallen empire. The Tauren were scattered and falling prey to the barbaric Centaur. My own people were struggling to survive against the Scourge and the human remnants of Lordaeron. The list goes on and on. All of us here, at some point in our recent history, were struggling outcasts in one way or another.
But the Horde, this curious union of culturally diverse outcasts, has only endured because of the bravery of its people. Many of these people have gone to their deaths defending the Horde, and today we honor their bravery and their sacrifice. I’ve fought as a proud part of the Horde personally since the War in Northrend, where brave soldiers of the Horde were integral to bringing about the demise of the Lich King, and the Scourge. Since then, we have fought many battles, within many wars.
The Horde has had a difficult journey in that time, discovering its identity and sometimes even fighting itself, as in the case of Warchief Garrosh, but we still endure, and we are still strong. We owe that to the men and women who were willing to give their lives with bravery and valor, for the greater good of the Horde. So to the fallen, whether ordinary people, or great heroes like Varok Saurfang, I say thank you!
As speaker for the Forsaken, I have been asked to comment on what this memorial means to my people, to my race. We have always been a little bit different from the Horde as a whole. It is no secret that our initial pact with the Horde was an alliance of convenience. The Forsaken, in still fairly recent history, were largely living humans of Lordaeron. Many of them fought AGAINST the Horde during the Second War. I personally grew up on stories of the Horde’s defeat, told by my parents, living Lordaeronians and members of the Alliance. But…
We experienced a harsh reality check when the Scourge destroyed our home. The living remnants of Lordaeron hated the Forsaken, believed them to be monsters who deserved death. The Forsaken, free willed undead who had broken free from the Scourge, whose only crimes at that point had been to exist in their undead state, might well have been annihilated by their own living friends and companions. The Forsaken’s only chance of survival was to seek out an unlikely alliance - the Horde, based out of central Kalimdor.
The Forsaken were accepted into the Horde for a variety of reasons. Some wanted to help us find redemption, meaning in our suffering, and perhaps even a cure. Others saw the strategic value in a Horde base in the Eastern Kingdoms - a check on Alliance hegemony on the continent. But whatever the reason, the core remains the same - the Horde took us in. They had little reason to trust the undead. They had little reason to even believe we had free will. And yet, they did. They trusted us. They called us their brothers and sisters, despite the obvious differences we had. We were welcomed unreservedly into the Horde. And perhaps most importantly, The Horde has continued to welcome us. Despite the fact that some consider our state of being to be unnatural. Despite the Wrathgate. Despite the treachery of Warchief Sylvanas. The Forsaken are still welcomed into the Horde as respected equals.
We are not called the Forsaken for no reason. We were Forsaken and abandoned by our living family. Our friends. Our former allies. We were cast aside, with nothing left but our free will, facing death at the hands of the living remnants of Lordaeron, and the Scourge. And now, despite all we’ve accomplished, we are even forsaken by our once-beloved Queen, one who many saw as a hero, a saviour… and who is now a traitor. In the process of her treachery, we have lost our home - it lies in ruins. We now exist at all only thanks to the acceptance of the Horde. The Horde saved my people, more than once. And for that, I am eternally grateful. I am eternally Horde.
So, what does the Horde mean to us? Our former Warchief, Vol’jin put it best when he said the Horde is family. Perhaps sometimes it is a dysfunctional family. Perhaps the siblings are very different from one another, and perhaps they quarrel and fight. Sometimes they may not even like each other that much. But at the end of the day, we, the Horde, ARE family. We always support each other. We’re always there for each other. And if anyone threatens one of us, the whole family gets involved. We. Are. Family!
And now… we stand united even in being forsaken, abandoned by the Warchief who was supposed to protect us. But despite this, we are still here for each other. We are still loyal to each other, in situations when many people would have torn each other apart. We have each other’s backs. We are family. And we always will be.
And the fallen here, behind us, and in every other Horde graveyard? They represent the great hardship, the loss, that has occurred to protect every last one of us - no matter what our race, culture or creed. Let us never forget them. Let us always honor them. And let us continue in the work that they died for. For the Horde, always.
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Thanks to everyone who put the work in to make this event possible!
It was a great turnout and very interesting to see the different perspectives from the other speakers. I think it would be a very cool thing to have this become an annual event to honor the fallen each year.
I’ll follow suit with the others and leave Nok’ghor’s speech here:
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Thanks to everyone for this great and appropriate event to symbolize the end of the war of BfA. I whole-heartedly agree that this should become an annual tradition over on Horde side!
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I am more than happy to host it yearly, and I think Taz’jin would be fine with that as well! Although we may change it around some weeks some years due to expansion launches and major patches falling distinctly on this week in November in past years. Thank you again for all of those who came and supported the event! It means a lot to see a good Horde community still going strong. I’ll see you next year! (hopefully)!
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I would indeed be happy to do this again. I think it was a beautiful event, and I loved the fantastic speeches, and the amount of participation we got.
Also, since all the cool kids are doing it:
I come before ya now ta speak fa de Darkspea Tribe. Dis be a difficult topic ta speak on—it always be, wen speakin’ on de lost, an’ de fallen. Especially wen we so recently lost so many ta a war dat was as much among our own as it was wit de Alliance.
So. As I often be doin’ wen I ain’ sure wat wisdom I can bring ta uddas, I turn ta de words’a my bettas: “Dis world don’ give us nothin,” Vol’jin was fond’a sayin.’ “It be our lot to suffer…an’ our duty to fight back.” Dis has eva been de Darkspea creed, even before our Chief put words ta dem. We don’ feel right—we don’ be feelin’ troll–if it don’ feel like tings be harsh, like we fightin’ something, or for someting. De Horde give us dis. Fa a troll ta die in battle…dat be de mos’ troll way a mon could die—an’ de way dat any troll’d die feelin’ mos’ like ‘imself. Dat be wat Vol’jin’s words be remindin’ me of…an’ why I be here ta celebrate an’ honor de Darkspea dead dis day. Each an’ every one’a dem be an exceptional example’a wat it means ta be a troll, an’ dere be no doubt in my mind dat Bwonsamdi be honorin’ dem on de Udda Side, as we tank an’ hona dem here, taday.
“Dis Horde be our family,” Vol’jin also say, on more den one occasion. “We don’ always see eye ya eye. We come ta blows before. But wen we work togedda, dere’s nuttin’ dis Horde can’ do.” I tink it not be lost on anya us here—an’ it’d be impropa ta ignore—de fact dat somea dese mon died fightin’ dere own Horde bruddas an’ sistas. We lost many good mon durin’ de Siege, on bot’ sides, an’ dat ain’ de only time, as Vol’jin say, dat we come ta blows. But end de end, it be de MOS’ important ta rememba dat—wateva side dey might’a ended on—dey fought for de Horde. Different ideas’a wat dat might mean, mebee—but it was always for de Horde, at de enda de day. De Horde gave my Darkspea bruddas an’ I a place ta call home wen de naga an’ de Alliance took ours from us. It be why Vol’jin turned down de offa ta join de Prophet Zul’s alliance’a tribes, all dose years ago. “De Horde BE our family,” he said, an’ made it known among us all dat dis was his decision—an’ he was right, as he always been. De Horde be our family. It be wat dese mon restin’ behind me died for. An’ it still be wort’ dyin’ for—an LIVIN’ for—taday.
/me places a hand gently onto the earth at his feet.
De Horde neva forget. An’ Darkspea neva die.
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Thanks to everyone who organized this event. We appreciated being able to attend and it was an honor to speak on behalf of the Sin’dorei.
I will also post Aeythyr’s speech for continuity with the others:
Aeythyr walks slowly to the center stage area of the graveyard. Upon reaching the center, he stops. Reaching down to a satchel near his belt, he extracts a bottle of what appears to be a dark liquor.
Aeythyr remains silent, uncorking it slowly. He raises the bottle into the air with one hand, and begins tipping the bottle slowly. Eventually, dark brown liquid begins pouring out, slowly at first, then faster as he continues to tilt the bottle further and further, until it is completely inverted.
Aeythyr watches as the last drops trickle out from the bottle, replaces the cork, and puts it back in the satchel at his belt.
“Tonight we honor our fallen, those Sin’dorei who have selflessly offered their blood, to protect Quel’thalas, and this Horde, so that others may sleep safely without knowing the horrors of war.”
“To those who fought at our side, we thank you for your service, and wish you to know that we continue to stand vigilant to protect that for which you died.”
“To those captured, still in the hands of our enemies… We are coming for you brothers. We are coming with vengeance.”
“Make no mistake, the vigilance of the Sin’dorei shall continue…”
“…To those who would help protect our people, I offer you my shield and the aid of the Sunfury…”
“…To those who would threaten even a single of our people… I offer you… my sword at your throat, and my condolences to your next of kin.”
“Selama Ashal’anore… For the Glory of Quel’thalas.”
Aeythyr salutes the crowd and walks slowly, deliberately, back to the outer ring.
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