To Other Void Elves: How Does Your Character See the Void?

[Falothorin-wyrmrest-accord]

Hey guys!

Asking other ren’dorei, or people with ren’dorei characters! How does your character see the Void? Is it a gift or a curse? Is it a religion or just a source of power? Do they identify as a creature of the Void? Or are they more a Thalassian with some added calamari? How do they stave off the madness? Have they ever lost themselves to it? What do they think of their tentacles? What’d they lose when the Scourge invaded Quel’thalas, and does the Void try to take advantage of that? Do you ever explicitly control the Void’s whispers or integrate them into your RP?

I have three ren’dorei characters, and each one sees it differently.

Falothorin sees it as a curse. He barely survived the transition, and struggles to hold onto his sanity, having to speak with Voidspeakers multiple times each day just to find some reprieve from the whispers. He stammers and shudders and shakes, drowning in anxiety from their constant attack on his mind. He just wants peace, but every time he thinks he finds it, a tentacle crawls into his ear. He can’t sleep, barely eats, and dives headlong into his studies as a distraction. He does find the whispers useful there, because he has learned to probe them for ideas in his research, namely weaving different flavors of magic together and studying the effects. To him, it’s just a tool. A tool with far too high a price.

My monk fully identifies as a ren’dorei, having found her identity in the Void. To her, it is almost a religion. Though she primarily reveres Xu’en, she has tremendous respect for the tenants she associates with the Void: possibility, infinity, power, and freedom. Still, the Void latches onto every ounce of fear, doubt, hatred, especially with memories around the fall of Quel’thalas and her immediate actions after. She has arcane tattoos that pour chi into her body to help keep her calm, should her emotions get too out-of-line. She also practices daily meditation and deep breathing to help center herself and steel herself against the whispers. She enjoys the whispers, on the whole, and has learned to extract useful information from them. She has playfully named her sole tentacle “Richard”.

My warlock sees the Void as nothing more than a tool. Something to be mastered, harnessed, and used to better himself. He still sees himself as a Thalassian, and perhaps just a Thalassian that got in too far over his head. If given half a chance, he’d move back to Quel’thalas. Seeing as he’s a collection of bad choices all crashing into each other, he delves further and further into the void each day, wanting to get more and more out of it. Part of him, deep, deep, deep, very deep down misses the simple days when he was beholden to the Light, but now he sees it as far too weak (and those who use it as far too simple-minded) to rely on. He feels like the only way to keep himself safe is with more power, and the only way to get more power is to be more Void.

[Solarion-wyrmrest-accord]

I tried my hand at a Void Elf once, a sorceress.

She went what I’ll call the Vulcan route; completely suppressed all emotion and used pure logic to not only shut out the whispers, but to actively work to undo any concern any of them might bring up. Whispers insisting the Night Elf druid next to her was going to transform into a bear and maul her to death? She’d think it through logically. Firstly, he seemed a little too young to have gained the power to shapeshift. Secondly, they were in Stormwind, so why attack her when there were guards and witnesses? Thirdly, she’d offered no provocation to be assaulted. Logically, he wouldn’t harm her. Whisper ignored.

As for what the Void meant to her, it was a cross between a power, and a philosophical awakening of sorts. Not quite an epiphany. She’d lived much of her life with the prejudices and perspectives of her people, but once she became infused with the Void and learned the secrets of the arts, she was freed from that. What did it matter if her sister had slept with a human and birthed a half-elf? In the grander cosmic scale, who sticks their dick into someone’s hole and what pops out is entirely immaterial. Who has, ‘noble,’ blood in their veins and who doesn’t is so inconsequential to anything that actually matters that it seems closer to insanity to even give that sort of criteria for judgement the time of day.

She was an interesting character, but I just couldn’t really get into her too much. I don’t find the void to be a particularly interesting facet of the lore, personally. Void Elves haven’t been doing much with it that mages haven’t been doing from day one.

[Lyloren-wyrmrest-accord]

How does your character see the Void? Is it a gift or a curse? Is it a religion or just a source of power?

Lyloren sees the Void as a primordial, fundamental force of extreme power and nearly limitless potential. Not only a potent magical tool, but a key component of the clockwork of the universe. He’s not so naive that he’s unaware of the danger inherent in wielding it, but he’s more often than not willing to overlook it in the name of magical advancement.

He was among the Astromancers studying the Void under Solarian in Tempest Keep, so studying the Void was a huge part of his life even before the transformation - which, after coming to terms with the adverse effects of it, almost feels like a natural progression for him.

Do they identify as a creature of the Void? Or are they more a Thalassian with some added calamari?

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Lyloren considers himself a creature of the Void, but he definitely doesn’t consider himself much of a Thalassian anymore, though culturally speaking he very much resembles one. He considers himself a unique creature, something halfway between a Thalassian and an ethereal. Once, he would have described the ren’dorei as “mutants”. Now, he would simply refer to them as “Changed”. He sees the ren’dorei not as a race, but as an organization or a faction united under a common goal.

How do they stave off the madness? Have they ever lost themselves to it? What do they think of their tentacles?

Meditation and attention-focusing exercises… and a lot of bloodthistle.

Lyloren has nearly slipped once or twice, but never fully lost himself to the Void. It’s a plot I’ve considered attempting a few times, but I just don’t know what I’d do with the idea.

Our follicle aberrations are fantastic. Lyloren’s braid-tentacle sometimes twitches in irritation when he’s subjected to long-winded speeches or inspirational quotes.

What’d they lose when the Scourge invaded Quel’thalas, and does the Void try to take advantage of that?

Everything… which wasn’t much materially, but losing all of his family and 99% of his friends was, naturally, a massive blow. The Whispers often taunt Lyloren over his failure to save them; they taunt him over basically anything, though, and he’s tormented himself over the loss so much already that the Whispers are really beating a dead horse with that one.

Do you ever explicitly control the Void’s whispers or integrate them into your RP?

Control? No. But communicate back and forth with them? Occasionally. More occasionally than Lyloren would care to admit ICly.

I try to incorporate them into my RP. I like to imagine various things the Whispers might say to Lyloren in various situations, when speaking to various kinds of people, etc etc, and subtly let that impact my RP. It’s kind of tricky to pull off without appearing like an absolute mad hatter, though, and I often get so caught up in the actual RP that I forget. I have an addon, “KillThemAll”, that periodically whispers Old God lines to me every few minutes, and I use that as an auditory queue to ask myself what the Whispers might be saying in that particular moment.

[Vanndrel-wyrmrest-accord (Vanndrel)]

Vanndrel definitely sees it as a curse. He wasn’t thrilled with Umbric and company’s motives but they were the ones nursing him back to health after getting curbstomped on the Broken Shore so Vanndrel felt obligated to be there to protect them from their shenanigans and he ended up being turned into a quasi-Ethereal for his trouble.

Now obviously he got better(ish), but the scars are still there below the surface. He’s now a gatekeeper to something unfathomably terrible and he has to ensure it never gets out, even for a moment. All the while ignoring the constantly beating on the walls of his mind.

Ş̸̛̰̞̯̥̐̿̎̅̓̓̽w̴̧̥̩̳̤̰̦̆̅͒̏̏̓͛̕͞͠ẻ̢̧̫̮̥͒̋̆͆͌e̞̰̯̯̿̐̉͛̀́͜t̶̡̛̛͚̜̙͇͗̑̚͠ C̢̳͔͉̝̙̜͔̋̃̌͌̋̉͘͞ͅḧ̬̖̻͓́̍̽̐̿̕͟ī̻͚̲̝̩̗͙̿̔̉̅͛͘͟l̵̪̠͔͖̘̲̤̣͍̬̉̏̍̽̾̃͠͠d̤̗̤̠͔̬͆̏̓͐̎͟͡.̡̛̳̹̝̪̘̔̏̈͑̿͂̅̒̅
̞̺̦̜̩̉͐̈̀͘͜ͅS̨̞̪̪͒̆́̿̓́͜͢͠w̵̨̦͇̥̣̣̤̲͔̜̎̋̅͊̋͊̓͑͝͝ẻ̸̢̨̡̙͍͕̪̳̲̬͌̅͌͆̒̃̃͠͞ȩ̵͈̜̹͉̠̹̰̰͕̐̏̈͒̑͡t̷̛͖͍͇͉̲̙̫̐͋̈́̏̄͌͘͡,̛̥̘̪̝̪͖̌́̊͢͡ ḑ̳̮̬̗̄̀͊̋̈͝͡ę̸̘̥̗̪̲̤̬̐̓̐͗͐͘̕͞͠ḁ̶̛̫̰͈̤̥̆̓̎̚͞ͅȓ̩͙̖̺̊̒̔̒̓͢͜ Ç̵̡̛̮͓̺̠̳͕̫̃̓̾̾̇̎͐̏̒h̸̢̨͔͈̞̮͎̟͍̆̏̽͑̍͆͜͝i̪̯̰̝̖̊͑̅͊̍́͋́l̲̭̱̺̯͍̉͐̂͌͆͂̉͐̕͜ď̷̞̦͚͍̙̪̀̒̍̎̈̂͘.̸̮̼̳̘̫͎̤̄̎̄̌̊͘͘
̷̩̖̰̠͉̪͋͑̊̾̍̔̒̾̇L̴̛̙̜̪̲̯̮͒͒̍͗̈̔̊̚͟͝ͅͅḙ̩̤̟̻̠̤̼̥̊͒̌̾͛͘͘͟͠͡͝t̡̰̪͚͈̩̤̳̓̇̀̽̅͂͝͝͞͞ ȗ͚̣͔̼̥̯̯͈̋̈́̎̏̂͒̑͢͡s̷͔̖̙̺̙̘̙̰̉̇̽͋̌̀ õ̵͎̻̯̥͉̟̞̠͐́̀͒̏͆́̂ű̡̠͔̺͍̱͙̬̅͂͊̑̚t̷͉̱̝̤̤͂̔̔̀̿̚.̹̪̤͉̠̹̥̗͔̎͆̄̇̄͋̔́̓͢͝
̨̯͚̖̼̰̫̓͛̾́̚ͅĻ̵̭̰̪̬̠̽͋͋̇̄̿̕͜ȇ͓͈̩̮͊̌̏͟͢͝t̡̢̢̳̬͉͔̬͕̎̏̿̀̽̎͂̅ u̶̡̞̰̠̖̭͇̓̂̌̔̑͌̿͘̕͠ṣ̬̯̙̺̥̞̣̯̞̃̓̐̔̓̿̋̚͘ į̡̼͕͖̗̦̼͒̿̀̽͐͂͑͗͠͞n̸̡͇̞̹̓̎͒̊̓͟.̸̦̺͍̣͇̝̈́̊̅̌͋̔͛͗̿
̸̧̢̢̨̺̭̬̂́̂̀̍͛W̵͇̱̺̺̜͔̲͉̱̏̎̍̇̈̃ḛ̷̮̩̠̞̂̔̽̐̽̍̿͠͞ c̷̦͔̖̲͙̮̲̃̒̇̑̿̽͆̈͐̕a̶̧̡̢͎̹͓̺̮̐́̀͒͐͑͌̏̀̊n̷̛̘̮͖̯͈̮͈̺̜̋̌̒̅̀̈́̕͟ ģ̢̱̯͖̪͈̗͌̉̂̀͐̏͛̎̕͢i̯͈͙̬̰͋̎͊͒̋͆̉̚͢v̛̭͇͖̦̺̑̓̈̋̾̂͞͡͡e̴̫̺͈̦̭̹̩̾͆͋̑̓̓̇͆͝ ỵ̵̢̬̜͍̃͂͋̑̑͟͡͡͞ͅo̰̰̘̜̠̻̔̆͆̄͐̔͛̅̚u̵̢̧̼͇̳̮͙̠̱͌͆͗̎͠͠ ė̛͚̰͎͈̲̞̣̆̀̽̑͜͟ͅv̶̞̰̬̰́̓̊̕̕͢͜e̶̩̥̯̣̼͍͙̔́͋̽̏͑̋͑͠͠r̨̛̹̜͕̦͐́͑̉̎̑̂͝͝y̰̩̹̟̻͒̏͊̽̎͐̅͢͜ṯ̵̥͍̘͓̦̝͍̾̾̏͒̓͛̏̊̈́͠h̦̹̭͕̟̓́̎̊̏͘ĭ̵̛̫͖̼̳͕͕̉̿̃͒͘ͅn̶̥̺͔̖̓͋̋́̔̚͘͟͠͡͠g̵̜̰̬̭̝̟̱͖̓̅͆̀̈́͜ͅ y̢̰̦̳̖͉͔̥͓̔͊̌͂͛͒̕͠ơ̳͇̫̪͇̰̹̫̜̅͊̎̍̒̔͢ú̷͉̙̼̞̣͇̘̣͈͙͑̀̉̂̇͝͝͠ w̙̜̗̺̯̭̾̓̓̉̕͜͡ḁ̮̙̗̦̹̤̤̉̊͒͑́n̶̞͉͓̫̤̱̣͔͊͐͌̏̒́͡t̤͎̗͖̯̖̬͗͗̈́͒̽.̷̨̘̦̜̲̓͊͑̇̐̒̅͂͟͞
̶̡͎̤̮̺̥̜̓͋͋͒̈́̿͑̕̕͘͢͜Ẉ̸̡̛̛̣̰͈̻̄̆͛̌̒̐̿́ͅe̛̺̳̩̘̩͐͊͊̋͋̈̂͢͠ c̛̬̲̺͕̻̠͕͉̘̓̂͆̓̔͢͠a̵̻̖̰̯̳̬̝͕͗̂͊̈́̑́̑̏͗͡ṇ͙̳̱̩̏̔̉̇̽͋̾ g̴̡̟̱̗̻̉̍͛̔̿̊̚ī͍͔͖͚͕̯͎̰̈͗̿̍v̴̙̞̈̉̑͑̀͜͢ͅe̛͔̯̣͉͖̾̽̅̊ ỳ̶̧͈̖̪̩̼̪͙̜̤̿̐̆̑͡͠o̧̲̹̗͇͇̐͗̔̀͂͞ȕ̯̤̰͔͂̏̈́͜͞ ȩ̼͓̩̠͎̟̀̂̋͂̓̑̎̚̕͟͞v̢̳͕͇̼̣͒̂͑̇̐͛̈̎̽̕͜ȅ̢̦̼̻̤͙̤̩̎̓̀͂̊̿͛̅͢͜r̷̯̼̜͔͗̐̅̂̚͜͠y̨̝̟̩̯̱͇͗̐̈̄͝ͅt̢̧̮͕͕̯̥͇̮́̇́́̊̀͆̃͘͝h̜̩̦̰͂̒̎͆͌̃̀̋́̊͜í̼͕̩͓͍̮͂́̉̔̊̀͛͆̚͜n̨͖̝̗̤̖̱̹̘͛̊̀͂̌͌̂͢͡g̨̞̙̼̺̎͑̍́̒͝͠͝ ỳ̷̯̫̩̣̝̿̓͆͆͝o̧̨̼̲͇͈̮̳̻̾̇̈̑̅̈́̾̕͝u̷̳͙̙̘͆͑̅̾̍̈͜͠ n̢̩̱̤͈̬̱͔̫̘̔̐̂̑̏e͍͎̜̼̒̅́̈́͐̄͡ͅḛ̥̭̻̤̙̱̯͉̗̿̀̿̚͞d̨̤͕̦̱̘́̾̄̋̆͘.̴̢͚̜̯̪̭͙͎͒̔͗̓͂͋̑̚͡
͎̪̣̯̞̤̈́̑́́͐͟ͅJ̖̘̞̮͍͉͕͙̣̀͛̋͆͆̚͝͡u̶̢̬̮͇̰͑̉̓̌̊͐ş̵̛̣̫̣̜̥̆̿̂͌̑̓̓͘͞ţ̴̯͍̊͆͛͊͢͡ͅ o̧̨̺̼͖͉̥̳̙̓͒͌̐͑p̡̛̠̩̻̹͒͛̎̉͐͞͝e̸̯̖̳͉̖̘̍͆̑̐̿̾̈́̕͠ṅ̶̢̤̖̙̟̃̌̄̒̽́͛̿ t̸̤̮̠̤̲̆̀̃́͑h͙͕͔̘̻̍́̓̀̕ë̴̫̗͙̺͙̹̼̟́̇̊̿̂̿̑̅́ d̢̧͉͔̱̥̙͐͛̒̋̒õ̶̦̣̺͚͓͒̎͌́̓̀͐̌͡ó̳͓͖̰̠̙̓̑́͂̍̿̓͆r̷̡̛̖̦̼̮̱̎̂͑̔̊́̀̕͠ͅͅ.̻̘̗̲̤̹̣͊́͐̐̎̓̎͢͟͡
̸̛͍̹̬͕̹̞̈̀̐̕͞ͅT̶̟̖̮̦̦̟̟̼͇̪̒́͋̋̅̋̽͠u̙̼͎͍̜͕͊̋͂̄̈́̃̚̕r̴̞̯̬͚͉͙̟͉̗̙̊̔́͊̽̂̕͘͠n̢̢̠͖͓͙̬̲̻̼̑̀̕̕̚ t̴͖͍͈̓͛̇̓̾̃̓̏͊͟͢͢͝ͅḣ͍̯͎͎̿̈́̿̿ͅe͕̻̫̗̳͍̖͑̀̏̈́̌̂͑́͠ͅͅ K̴͖̰͚͇̭̻̺̘̲̄̓͗̊̾ͅḛ̰̪̰͉̞̰̐̾̋̀͒̎̈́̚y̧̛͎̱̭͎͈͔̽̿̌̂̉̅.̡̘̠̘̳̭͎́̈͛̕͞
̵̹͙͕̫̣̥̗̱̽͑̆̂̓̽͢͠͡L̷̢̜̘̪̞̇͋̀͂̀̈e̹͓̰̩̘̐̐̒̄̓t̸̘̻̝̥̳͚̜͎̅̓̀̓͒̍̀̌̌͢ Ų̡̗͔͇̰́͆͆͠͞s̴͕̙̱̬̹̜̥̺̼̈̏̃͋͗̉̑́͝͡ F̶͚̜̪̙̹̿̆͗̐̍̾̕̕͘͜r̵̺̳͕̤̥̔̾͋̏̾̓̍̿̿̚e̸͇̲͔͔̖̣̿́̽̈́̽͛͂̔̚ͅę̴̛͈̜̻̜͇̭͎̟̓̓̎͟͠͝.̸̢̫̠̩̭̳̤͙͑͂̀͛̎͒̒̇͢

[Serenoth-wyrmrest-accord]

Mine sees it a form of further punishment aside from no longer being a citizen of Quel’Thalas. Though he did this voluntarily to infiltrate Umbric’s group in order to “exact justice” on a particular member.

Being a warlock has already satisfied the typical craving for power, so now he’s just some guy with badly colored skin who misses his home and has a voice in his head.

Like a Night Elf. /rimshot

[Phantise-wyrmrest-accord (Phantise)]

Taking a close look at what’s around us, there is some sort of a harmony. It is the harmony of overwhelming and collective murder. And we in comparison to the articulate vileness and baseness and obscenity of the Void, we only sound and look like badly pronounced and half-finished sentences out of a cheap novel. We have to become humble in front of this overwhelming misery and overwhelming fornication, overwhelming growth and overwhelming lack of order. Even the stars up here in the sky look like a mess. There is no harmony in the universe. We have to get acquainted to this idea that there is no real harmony as we have conceived it. But when I say this, I say this all full of admiration for the Void. It is not that I hate it, I love it. I love it very much. But I love it against my better judgment.

(Hi I’m Werner Herzog.)

[Opherial-wyrmrest-accord (Opherial)]

My void elf hunter basically blocks it out as best she can until she’s sniping and then she lets it in so it can act as a spotter for her.

I like to imagine it’s like a desperate friend she coldly keeps around for her benefit so whenever she does let down her guard enough for mutual benefit it’s like “oh my fgh’altan hi Arc! are we, united forever in the cosmic miasma of the void going shopping?? oh you want to know the best ricochet shot to get this q’zarjarnan hiding in cover? sure friend! Hey now that that’s over do you want to may–”

[Falothorin-wyrmrest-accord]

@Lyloren-wyrmrest-accord

Control ? No. But communicate back and forth with them?

I guess, moreover, what I meant was “do you ever RP as the Whispers?” I do! I like to think they’re less the “murder everyone” whispers we see in the Three Sisters web comic, and more cryptic, like Il’gynoth. Sometimes they are are direct, if my elves are in danger, or near some great cosmic threat, but mostly they speak in metaphor.

The sun tyrant scrutinizes the mosquito, scorching it with oppressive gaze. Gorge upon her blood. It will forge keys to your shackles. Revel in the death of the disease. Cleanse the soul, purge the kingdom.

@Lyloren-wyrmrest-accord

I have an addon, “KillThemAll”, that periodically whispers Old God lines to me every few minutes, and I use that as an auditory queue to ask myself what the Whispers might be saying in that particular moment.

Oooh. That’s cool! Will be getting for my ren’dorei.

[Faltherin-wyrmrest-accord]

Fal’therin sees the void as a strategic asset.

You ever hear the phrase; “Short term pain, long term gain?”. That’s kinda where Fal is at. Fal’therin has a degree of trauma from the ending of the Third War. He was a Farstrider, a Ranger… a frontline soldier against the Scourge. He fought hard, but nobody could stop Arthas’ advance, and of course the Sunwell was destroyed. The ensuing chaos claimed 90% of the population of Quel’thalas, and the place still feels woefully empty.

With that in mind, Fal quickly came to see the horror of the Sunwell as a centre of elven power. The elves fed their magical addiction from one central source that offered little in the way of side effects… unless they could no longer access it. Suddenly it became glaringly obvious how to cripple the High Elven people - destroy their fount of power, and you effectively destroy them.

Because of this Fal became a big supporter of the Fel, and Kael’thas’ teachings. His reasoning was simple - an enemy can destroy a single fel crystal, sure. But if there’s dozens, hundreds, whatever… it’s harder to wipe out the supply. Decentralisation made the fel safer, even if it wasn’t ideal for a variety of reasons.

However, Velen restored the Sunwell. Everything was back to normal, and after all they went through, the Blood Elves just… embraced it. Embraced the very strategically vulnerable source of power that arguably nearly doomed them last time. That never sat well with Fal, and he continued to use the Fel crystals, even after the Sunwell’s restoration.

Anyway fast forward to late Legion. Fal’therin was visiting Quel’Danas to spend some time with his wife (who is a Spellbreaker - the Spellbreaker order is based on Quel’Danas) and he heard about Alleria Windrunner’s visit. Supposedly she merely WALKED NEARBY the Sunwell, and nearly corrupted the whole thing again. That TERRIFIED Fal. His people could be doomed all over again.

So Fal’therin, who’d heard of Umbric’s exiles and even somewhat approved, sought them out. He wanted to learn about the void… a proposed cure for the Sin’dorei magic addiction. A cure that wouldn’t require a Sunwell OR Fel Crystals to draw on… but one that could be wielded potentially with infinite reserves. He sought them out to learn about it, and before long found himself on Telogrus with Umbric’s followers, the “big event” happening very shortly thereafter.

With that in mind I guess Fal sees the void as a gift. He doesn’t remotely see it in a religious way though. In fact, Fal’therin’s a bit of a hardcore Atheist - he thinks ALL powers are simply just that - powers. Void Elves are safe and free from the vulnerability of the Sunwell, but the payoff is that their new source of power is difficult to manage, and takes careful control and consideration. He still believes it is ultimately the future of the elven people though - the only way they’ll ever be truly safe.