"I’ve been at this bloody job fer thirty damned years. Ever since the Second War, when the Horde first invaded. Lost me clan then. Lost me brother to the madness o’ hate. I was filled with that hate way back then, but it’s long burned out o’ me bones now. Now…I’m just tired. Sick an’ tired of the blood an’ the death an’ the sufferin’ of innocent folks. I jus’ wanted to settle down with me adopted daughter and live the rest o’ me life in peace and quiet. To hell with the Horde an’ the Alliance.
But then the war happened. An’ the war took me daughter. Now she’s in that Maker-forsaken place called the Maw, all thanks to that damned Banshee. I’m tryin’ to get her back, but it’s already cost me my left foot to a Shade. More than that, it’s tearin’ me apart from the people who care ‘bout me. When will it end? I jus’ want her back. My dear Hannae…I don’t care what it takes. I deserve t’be down there, after all the blood an’ sufferin’ I’ve caused, not her. Never her.
It’s funny…I was born before this age o’ endless war. But I have trouble rememberin’ it. Has it been so long? Or is it just made murky from the rivers of spilled blood. It has to end, doesn’t it? We can’t go on killin’ eachother forever. Aren’t ye tired, too?"
"So very tired my friend. I’ve been tired since our first tour of Icecrown. However, the Scourge made me a living weapon. This wretched curse offers little by way of comfort and no real hope for anything far as settling down. I chose to fight for Azeroth, to make as best use of this curse as I could, and maybe save a few souls along the way. When I pledged that to myself, to forsake the war between Alliance and Horde I thought it would be over by now. I suppose I did not truly know the number of enemies Azeroth has either…
I am unfortunately a man of my word, perhaps still a monster to some, but I will not yield that oath til my final death. It is a burden, and it makes me feel so exhausted at times… However it is for the innocent and those who have no capacity to fight that I march on, now in lock step with Maldraxxus until the Banshee’s end and the Jailer’s fall.
May you find you daughter and find peace thereafter. If I see you in the maw you shall have my aid, a worthy cause if ever I’ve heard one. Fire Guard and Shadow hide you and yours."
I believe this may be our opportunity to prevent any future acts of horde aggression against us, and it begins with helping them form a true, reliable connection with their ancestral spirits here in the shadowlands.
Think back to the three major times the horde began a war against us. Trace the chain of events back far enough and one thing they all have in common is the spirits.
The initial horde was formed into a war machine when Ner’zhul was tricked by kiljaeden the deceiver, pretending to be the spirit of his dead wife.
Garrosh only became warchief because Thrall left to try to communicate with the spirits (though the connection here is more of a stretch because Thrall could have simply picked a successor who was not a warmonger)
And finally, the Banshee only became warchief because Vol’jin was fooled by someone once again pretending to speak with the voice of the spirits.
None of these wars were in truth supported by the spirits that many races of the Horde venerated. So now that we are in the afterlife, the world of the spirits, all we need to do to stop future horde aggression is to get them in contact with the spirits, maybe get them to teach a password or secret handshake, or preferrably some shamanic mystical means of ID verification next time a horde warchief consults them?
In Vol’jin’s defense. He was speaking to a loa. Just not one that had anyone’s best interest in mind, 'cept his own and uh, ya know… He’d been fel corrupted after a sword got shoved through his chest. Not the clearest mindset to be communing with the beyond.
Thrall on the other hand chose poorly. His desire to get more in touch with the elements had nothing to do with that. That’s all on mister I want peace but I am gonna wander off in the woods and not guarantee it with my own two hands.
As for Nerzhul… if the original is anything like the one in the iron horde he had a half dozen screws loose to begin with.
"As much as I’d be wishin’ to agree, I have to be sayin’ that be a unwise theory to be relyin’ on for a foundation of peace. Even if spirits be present, it’s not spirits that continue the issue.
Tyrant Hellscream didn’t be consolidatin’ the power he did because of the spirits, he did because he challenged the faulty ideas Thrall peddled in makin’ the newer generations of orcs atone for crimes they did not commit. He attained a people willin’ to go to war because this sentiment led to Orgrimmar bein’ settled in a place without the means to b self-sustainable. As records be showin’, the political circumstances combined with that ensured the orcs be havin’ all the motivation they need for war.
Sylvanas did not keep herself in power because of Meuh’zala’s whisper. She played in the paranioa of those who had been wounded by Alliance actions and knew enough to be takin’ this paranoia to be turnin’ it into total calamity for the Kaldorei civilization. That paranoia did not come out of the void.
Peace be a very noble thing to want, but unless underlyin’ issues are addressed, this armistice wont be havin’ a chance of lastin’. Even if the orcs, forsaken and tauren under their leaders be more than willin’ to bend over backwards to be appeasin’ and some dwarves, humans and gnomes be expressin’ sentiment condusive to peace, the fact be they’re not the entire situation.
Until the underlyin’ bitterness the fourth war has fostered among many on a civilization level for the Kaldorei and the troll kind, neither of the dominant powers on the Eastern Kingdoms or Kalimdor will be seen as more than tormentors who demand a peace which is built on the pain and humility of others who only see them less favorably by the week."
Sir, I have reflected on your words and decided that they mostly ring true to me, especially this part about how the underlying issues have not been addressed.
I was still a young acolyte in Stormwind during the riots that would become the Defias, but I still remember it. I remember neighbor turning on neighbor with hatred and fury… but also with desperation and conviction. They were not a mindless mob, they sincerely believed they had been wronged and that they needed to fight.
But when they were fought off and exiled everyone wanted just to go back to normal and swept under the rug. It should not have surprised us when the Defias returned twice, because we never even tried to address the underlying issues that made them believe violence was their only option.
Short of starting another war, how would you suggest we might address these underlying issues, sir?
“I admire your patience to ask this with full knowledge that the answer shall be something close to ‘kill every tenth Draenei as a warning and provide every home in Orgrimmar with a worgenskin rug.’”
Considerin’ the calamity that befell one civilization and another feelin’ that the current armistice was built on a humiliation dealt to them for the crimes of those they forced from the society at sword point when they chose to be followin’ G’huun, nothin’ short of the primary aggressors against those two groups takin’ a wise approach and silencin’ it’s problem mons will suffice.
For the Kaldorei, a combination of a proper response for their own allies along with proper reparations and aid from the orcs who have served as the greatest menace to their civilization since Tyrant Hellscream’s ascent would be a good start. Proper aid to be helpin’ them consolidate and begin rebuildin’ their civilization would be doin’ the most to cool their tempers.
For trollkind… look. The current moment, there not be much that can be done to convince my people humans are anything but violent boogeymen who exist only to torment us and play a role to us like the orcs have done to the Kaldorei. For all the actions Kaldorei, Sindorei and Dwarves have taken against us, there has been a line in the timeline where it can be said they decisively stopped. Humans be lackin’ this considerin’ their actions north of Khaz Modan and in Stranglethorn. More importantly, while Zandalar was laid low, the core of the civilization and it’s wealth remains intact and cured of it’s internal issues. The same aid the Kaldorei need not be needed.
For my own kin, short of humans ceasin’ any -ideas- of expansion against Zandalar’s allies until minds cool and someone proposes the idea of a rapproachment that be unheard of in both our people’s history, it be unlikely there will be many handshakes.
“Were you the Dwarf I stood with after the battle of Blackrock Mountain? Where we rummaged through the pack of that dead Peon and found that tobacco? We both agreed it was the most rancid thing we’d ever tasted and yet…”
Gestures to the lit pipe in his hand
"…I can’t quit the damn stuff. But I digress, you may not be the same one I stood shoulder to shoulder with on that day. But I hear you, my friend. I hear you oh so well. I was a doe eyed youth - still am if I’m to go by whatever nebulous criteria the vain and blinded kin in Silvermoon go by. But to say you and I have aged dramatically since is an understatement.
Neither of us are who we used to be, and whatever happens I’m frightened about the fact we’ll change yet more before the final tally. I’d hoped - prayed really - after the Legion had been dealt with there could have been some sense of normalcy. But then, the Horde as a concept is not one native to Azeroth and ever since Medivh tore open that damn hole in reality all those decades ago, it seems like there’s been more bad years than good."
