10-19-2011, 06:45 PM
At an early age, Tragga Walks-The-Path had shown and inexplicable affinity to fire. The more it raged, the brighter her smile would be, even as an infant. The elders mused that she would make a fine shaman, but Tragga simply giggled. Elderly men trying to calm the world? That was not how she saw fire.
It cleansed the spirit, but was more often the bringer of destruction, death that brought about a fertile landscape from the ashes. It was anything but calm. She toyed with it because the risk made it seem fun, not because of some spiritual connection. A small burn was something she could live with if it meant that she could learn more about how fire worked; what it could, and could not burn.
You can imagine her delight, then, when she discovered the joy of gunpowder. Already deployed by her kin for hunting purposes, she took to the idea quickly, modifying her own weapon often - mostly just for a more dramatic effect. She toyed, often in secret, with explosives; in her hands, dynamite was a precise tool, effective for herding prey into a trap. More than once, she had caused a rockslide on accident during one of her late-night 'experiments'. Many times, she found herself in front of the tribe elders, being scolded for almost blowing up her home.
True, she was not an average child, but she was still a Shu'Halo. She did enjoy the gift of flowers and herbs from the Earthmother. However, it quickly became clear to many that she and plantlife were not the best of friends, considering how well she liked fire. To this day, Tragga considers picking herbs to be more of a guilty pleasure than a chore to be done.
Soon after coming of age, she attended to her duties as a hunter; Gathering food from the noble kodo, defending her home from vicious harpies, and creating a peaceful wilderness for her tribe. The elders told her that what she did was a gift to her people, though they often disapproved of her more explosive methods, and said it was a type of worship to the Earthmother. How much more, then, would it help if she were to create a peaceful wilderness for all of Azeroth? How much more would it please the Earthmother? A lofty goal, but a noble one, she surmised.
With this in mind, she left Mulgore on what the elder shamans kept calling the 'Great Hunt'. Confused and slightly irritated by their tone, she left to the Barrens, hunting much more than tallstriders. Lions and hyenas, even raptors - every dangerous beast was her prey. She had heard of the dangerous beasts in the Wailing Caverns, but that was a matter for the Druids, and was best left in their wizened hands. Instead, she went south to Thousand Needles, hearing of a hyena called Steelsnap. As she came nearer to the Great Lift, she was accosted by a large patrol of Quillboar, and was forced to turn back. Seeing that south was no longer an option, she thought of her choices. Durotar, populated by the Orcish Horde and their Troll allies, was not where she felt she should go. True, her kind were friendly towards them, but Tragga saw no love for the Earthmother in their actions, and so north was the only option left - the Goblins of Ratchet, she felt, wanted money more than anything.
Traveling north for some time, she found herself in beautiful Ashenvale. The beasts there challenged the extent of her knowledge of hunting, often exhausting every resource she had. Running out of ammunition more often than not on these speedy and agile creatures, she was practically forced into the employ of the Horde so that she could afford the simplest of amenities. A week there, she thought, was tantamount to suicide, the tasks they gave her more dangerous than any single beast. And when she was asked to head into the ruined moonshrine now known as Blackfathom Deeps, she gave up the idea of working for the Horde and instead sold furs and leathers. After all, surely it was no sin to making a living from her path in life.
As north from here was no option, considering the immense dangers of Felwood and Azshara as well as Darkshore being Kal'Dorei territory, a vast change of scenery was needed. Heading to the small port of Ratchet in the Barrens and overcoming her dislike of the greedy creatures called Goblins, she found a vessel headed to Eversong Woods. After that journey, she found a lush forest of strange creatures, especially the Dragonhawk. However, she had learned of the taboo of hunting the Dragonhawks, and set out southward, to lands where she found none. The Ghostlands, so she heard it called, proved a somber region of spiders and lynxes. There, she first encountered the Scourge, and the abomination of nature called undeath. Though she found the Forsaken repugnant in looks, smell, attitude, and how they exist, she felt a small kinship with the Sin'Dorei of Tranquillien, as they once were the Quel'Dorei, who hunted in much the same manner as the Shu'Halo. In a sense of urgency to help them, as well as end the undead threat, she snatched up a wanted poster for two creatures called Knucklerot and Luzran. As she left, a man warned her that the beasts were recreated every week by some dark force. To this, she replied, "Then the Earthmother will rest easier for a week!"
Finding the beasts was an easy task, and Knucklerot, a dim-witted and simple foe. Traps and a well-timed ambush were enough. However, Luzran proved much more intelligent of a monster. He called upon gargoyles and shades, dropping back behind them with a deceptively idiotic laugh. As quickly as Tragga could reload her weapon, she had to fire and repeat the process, each shot having to hit its mark or else she would be swarmed. The Earthmother augmented her aim, dropping each beast with one shot a piece. The shades, though insubstantial, fell as well, for the extravagant light from the blasts of her weapon were bright enough to disperse their shadowy forms. With easily two-score of Luzran's minions downed, the three-armed creature lunged forward at the exhausted Shu'Halo woman - but exhaustion would not stop a member of the Wildmane tribe.
Planting a hoof in the beast's chest, she jumped over him, lodging a bullet into his skull. The beast roared with pain, and soon found a lit stick of dynamite in down its gullet. Tragga dove behind a tree in time to hear the sickening sound of gore splattering the area. Completely drained of all energy, she nodded off. Waking the next morning was a surprise to her, but found that her wounds were only surface scratches, and she thanked the Earthmother for her safety. Once again nearly out of ammunition, she headed back to tranquillien victorious but feeling as if she needed a true hunt instead of hunting bounties. One of the Sin'Dorei men toldher of Booty Bay, on the far southern tip of the continent; and of the vast wilderness to its northern side.
Feeling that this was exactly what she was looking for, she set out by boat with much of the bounty money left. Once there, she found much more than she bargained for - a single white tiger kept sabotaging her hunts. The beast would set upon her just before the killing blow and drive her back, depriving her of her prey; but not to protect the beast, or for its own nourishment. Each time, it would rake into her prey's flank, leaving it to bleed out unto a painful and undignified death.
Soon, Tragga decided it would be wise to have a partner on these hunts, and so stole a raptor egg from an abandoned nest, so that in time she could raise it to hunt beside her. To her surprise, it hatched before she reached Booty Bay, and let out a cry to her as if she were its mother which sounded like a mocking laugh. Using a name usually reserved for hyenas, she dubbed him Snik'ka, roughly meaning 'Laughing One'. She found it to be a natural-born hunter, helping her with ambushes almost on instinct, and even staving off the great white tiger.
She built a fair life for herself rather quickly, cleaning the Stranglethorn wilderness of excess beasts and selling their hides. The white tiger still lurked about, becoming bolder with each hunt Tragga made. Soon enough, it ventured from the brush and attacked Snik'ka, nearly killing him. Tragga could stand the beast's presence no longer, and sought medical assistance in Booty Bay. While there, she saw a terrible sight - A Death Knight by the name of Kraine was assaulting two Sin'Dorei men for no reason she could fathom; and Kraine was also a Tauren. Disturbed by this, she quickly gathered what she needed and left to start her hunt for the white tiger, and the Earthmother sent her aid.
Along the road, she met a Shu'Halo by the name of Gramen upon a large kodo and they conversed. She asked for help, and together the three of them - Tragga, Snik'ka, and Gramen - slew the raging beast. She took his fur, and burned his corpse, for such a great hunter was to be respected regardless of how tormented its spirit is. The fur would be taken as a sign that she had indeed set it upon the spirit world, and that was her burden to bear. However, on the fur were burns and strange scars, likely the cause of his rage. It saddened Tragga, feeling as if she had done a great wrong by slaying the beast before finding how she could ease the beast's anger. Gramen however brought her wisdom. "The hunt has been carried out," he said, "and the hunter has slain the prey. There is no sadness in this, only great honor. You will still be able to soothe his spirit if you end the worldly source of his anger."
Emboldened by Gramen's words, Tragga set out after a quick farewell, searching for the 'worldly source'. She came upon the camp of a Dwarf called Nesingwary and his companions.They questioned her skills of the hunt, and gave her tests against tigers, panthers, and raptors. She bested the tests easily. Afterwards, the Dwarf Nesingwary whispered close of their hunt's true intent: a great white tiger. They had tried to set traps all over the jungle for it, with fire and bear traps, all for its fur. With his story complete, Tragga's eyes shown rage and tears.
"How dare you sully the Earthmother's hunt with such games! I know no why the tiger disrupted my kills before I met you. He thought I was party to your disregard for its spirit!" With this, she drew the fur from her satchel, tossing the white fur to the Dwarf. "Here is your prize, Nesingwary. I have slain the beast, and with help only from Snik'ka and a fellow Shu'Halo. You are no hunter, dwarf. You are a poacher, despised by the Earthmother. I take my leave of your camp, but give a warning. If I ever see you again, I will hunt no beast; I will hunt you."
A sad and angry trip to Booty Bay awaited Tragga and Snik'ka, and though many predators saw them, none dared get close. They all saw the Earthmother's blessing on her, as well as her righteous fury. As she reached the seedy port town, her rage subsided. What she needed was a stiff drink, and found it in the tavern at the southern end of the town. She also found Gramen there, conversing with an obviously fascinated Human by the name of Emily (which made Tragga chuckle considering how close the named was to the Taurahe word for excitable).
An eventful night it was, for she found a flyer for what seemed to be a matchmaking service. In her native land, she would likely be subject to the same thing, being paired with a mate that would make her happy. She felt, however, that she had gone mad. Who would want someone as average as she? Hunters in Shu'Halo society were a silver a dozen, she thought; every Shu'Halo knows how. Feeling down, she was approached by a Gnome who had set out to cheer her up. Caravan Fairwinds, she was called, and kept trying to reassure Tragga of Tragga's beauty - which only embarrassed the Tauren woman. Caravan accosted a passerby, insisting the Sin'Dorei male tell Tragga how pretty Tragga was. Already feeling better just by Caravan's peppy attitude, she was almost set to go and seek out the matchmaker. However, the Sin'Dorei man stated that he thought the livestock would have no problem with Tragga, and so she stood in anger. However, Caravan was already up and challenging the man to fisticuffs.
The ensuing fight was quick, and humorous, putting Tragga back into a pleasant mood. The Gnome won, much to the Sin'Dorei's chagrin, and Tragga prepared to leave. The man, though, challenged Tragga to the same terms as Caravan, stating that only Tragga could restore her own honor. Another quick bout, and nearly even in skill, but Tragga lost. Her head hit the ground, and moments after she started laughing. She took her loss in stride, and shook the man's hand, who introduced himself as Ciaphas. They parted on uneasy terms, but with a skip in her step.
Her hopes and spirits up, Tragga followed the flyer to the matchmaking service, and had an interview to put up a 'profile' which would be placed on a bulletin board and - it was all very confusing to her. She was told she could look at the board, and pick a possible mate for herself, or the matchmaker could suggest a match.
Stranglethorn Vale was a foreign land to her, but it seemed to become more like her home every minute. From the poacher's camp to the seedy tavern, the barbaric Troll tribes and even the Mosh'Ogg Ogres, Tragga felt it was meant to be her home. If that was true, then she had much work to do in its wilderness to bring it peace - and the thought passed through her head as she relaxed, bringing rest to her each time she closed her eyes. It was as if the sun and moon shined upon her, just as in the saying - and for the first time in years, Tragga was happy.
It cleansed the spirit, but was more often the bringer of destruction, death that brought about a fertile landscape from the ashes. It was anything but calm. She toyed with it because the risk made it seem fun, not because of some spiritual connection. A small burn was something she could live with if it meant that she could learn more about how fire worked; what it could, and could not burn.
You can imagine her delight, then, when she discovered the joy of gunpowder. Already deployed by her kin for hunting purposes, she took to the idea quickly, modifying her own weapon often - mostly just for a more dramatic effect. She toyed, often in secret, with explosives; in her hands, dynamite was a precise tool, effective for herding prey into a trap. More than once, she had caused a rockslide on accident during one of her late-night 'experiments'. Many times, she found herself in front of the tribe elders, being scolded for almost blowing up her home.
True, she was not an average child, but she was still a Shu'Halo. She did enjoy the gift of flowers and herbs from the Earthmother. However, it quickly became clear to many that she and plantlife were not the best of friends, considering how well she liked fire. To this day, Tragga considers picking herbs to be more of a guilty pleasure than a chore to be done.
Soon after coming of age, she attended to her duties as a hunter; Gathering food from the noble kodo, defending her home from vicious harpies, and creating a peaceful wilderness for her tribe. The elders told her that what she did was a gift to her people, though they often disapproved of her more explosive methods, and said it was a type of worship to the Earthmother. How much more, then, would it help if she were to create a peaceful wilderness for all of Azeroth? How much more would it please the Earthmother? A lofty goal, but a noble one, she surmised.
With this in mind, she left Mulgore on what the elder shamans kept calling the 'Great Hunt'. Confused and slightly irritated by their tone, she left to the Barrens, hunting much more than tallstriders. Lions and hyenas, even raptors - every dangerous beast was her prey. She had heard of the dangerous beasts in the Wailing Caverns, but that was a matter for the Druids, and was best left in their wizened hands. Instead, she went south to Thousand Needles, hearing of a hyena called Steelsnap. As she came nearer to the Great Lift, she was accosted by a large patrol of Quillboar, and was forced to turn back. Seeing that south was no longer an option, she thought of her choices. Durotar, populated by the Orcish Horde and their Troll allies, was not where she felt she should go. True, her kind were friendly towards them, but Tragga saw no love for the Earthmother in their actions, and so north was the only option left - the Goblins of Ratchet, she felt, wanted money more than anything.
Traveling north for some time, she found herself in beautiful Ashenvale. The beasts there challenged the extent of her knowledge of hunting, often exhausting every resource she had. Running out of ammunition more often than not on these speedy and agile creatures, she was practically forced into the employ of the Horde so that she could afford the simplest of amenities. A week there, she thought, was tantamount to suicide, the tasks they gave her more dangerous than any single beast. And when she was asked to head into the ruined moonshrine now known as Blackfathom Deeps, she gave up the idea of working for the Horde and instead sold furs and leathers. After all, surely it was no sin to making a living from her path in life.
As north from here was no option, considering the immense dangers of Felwood and Azshara as well as Darkshore being Kal'Dorei territory, a vast change of scenery was needed. Heading to the small port of Ratchet in the Barrens and overcoming her dislike of the greedy creatures called Goblins, she found a vessel headed to Eversong Woods. After that journey, she found a lush forest of strange creatures, especially the Dragonhawk. However, she had learned of the taboo of hunting the Dragonhawks, and set out southward, to lands where she found none. The Ghostlands, so she heard it called, proved a somber region of spiders and lynxes. There, she first encountered the Scourge, and the abomination of nature called undeath. Though she found the Forsaken repugnant in looks, smell, attitude, and how they exist, she felt a small kinship with the Sin'Dorei of Tranquillien, as they once were the Quel'Dorei, who hunted in much the same manner as the Shu'Halo. In a sense of urgency to help them, as well as end the undead threat, she snatched up a wanted poster for two creatures called Knucklerot and Luzran. As she left, a man warned her that the beasts were recreated every week by some dark force. To this, she replied, "Then the Earthmother will rest easier for a week!"
Finding the beasts was an easy task, and Knucklerot, a dim-witted and simple foe. Traps and a well-timed ambush were enough. However, Luzran proved much more intelligent of a monster. He called upon gargoyles and shades, dropping back behind them with a deceptively idiotic laugh. As quickly as Tragga could reload her weapon, she had to fire and repeat the process, each shot having to hit its mark or else she would be swarmed. The Earthmother augmented her aim, dropping each beast with one shot a piece. The shades, though insubstantial, fell as well, for the extravagant light from the blasts of her weapon were bright enough to disperse their shadowy forms. With easily two-score of Luzran's minions downed, the three-armed creature lunged forward at the exhausted Shu'Halo woman - but exhaustion would not stop a member of the Wildmane tribe.
Planting a hoof in the beast's chest, she jumped over him, lodging a bullet into his skull. The beast roared with pain, and soon found a lit stick of dynamite in down its gullet. Tragga dove behind a tree in time to hear the sickening sound of gore splattering the area. Completely drained of all energy, she nodded off. Waking the next morning was a surprise to her, but found that her wounds were only surface scratches, and she thanked the Earthmother for her safety. Once again nearly out of ammunition, she headed back to tranquillien victorious but feeling as if she needed a true hunt instead of hunting bounties. One of the Sin'Dorei men toldher of Booty Bay, on the far southern tip of the continent; and of the vast wilderness to its northern side.
Feeling that this was exactly what she was looking for, she set out by boat with much of the bounty money left. Once there, she found much more than she bargained for - a single white tiger kept sabotaging her hunts. The beast would set upon her just before the killing blow and drive her back, depriving her of her prey; but not to protect the beast, or for its own nourishment. Each time, it would rake into her prey's flank, leaving it to bleed out unto a painful and undignified death.
Soon, Tragga decided it would be wise to have a partner on these hunts, and so stole a raptor egg from an abandoned nest, so that in time she could raise it to hunt beside her. To her surprise, it hatched before she reached Booty Bay, and let out a cry to her as if she were its mother which sounded like a mocking laugh. Using a name usually reserved for hyenas, she dubbed him Snik'ka, roughly meaning 'Laughing One'. She found it to be a natural-born hunter, helping her with ambushes almost on instinct, and even staving off the great white tiger.
She built a fair life for herself rather quickly, cleaning the Stranglethorn wilderness of excess beasts and selling their hides. The white tiger still lurked about, becoming bolder with each hunt Tragga made. Soon enough, it ventured from the brush and attacked Snik'ka, nearly killing him. Tragga could stand the beast's presence no longer, and sought medical assistance in Booty Bay. While there, she saw a terrible sight - A Death Knight by the name of Kraine was assaulting two Sin'Dorei men for no reason she could fathom; and Kraine was also a Tauren. Disturbed by this, she quickly gathered what she needed and left to start her hunt for the white tiger, and the Earthmother sent her aid.
Along the road, she met a Shu'Halo by the name of Gramen upon a large kodo and they conversed. She asked for help, and together the three of them - Tragga, Snik'ka, and Gramen - slew the raging beast. She took his fur, and burned his corpse, for such a great hunter was to be respected regardless of how tormented its spirit is. The fur would be taken as a sign that she had indeed set it upon the spirit world, and that was her burden to bear. However, on the fur were burns and strange scars, likely the cause of his rage. It saddened Tragga, feeling as if she had done a great wrong by slaying the beast before finding how she could ease the beast's anger. Gramen however brought her wisdom. "The hunt has been carried out," he said, "and the hunter has slain the prey. There is no sadness in this, only great honor. You will still be able to soothe his spirit if you end the worldly source of his anger."
Emboldened by Gramen's words, Tragga set out after a quick farewell, searching for the 'worldly source'. She came upon the camp of a Dwarf called Nesingwary and his companions.They questioned her skills of the hunt, and gave her tests against tigers, panthers, and raptors. She bested the tests easily. Afterwards, the Dwarf Nesingwary whispered close of their hunt's true intent: a great white tiger. They had tried to set traps all over the jungle for it, with fire and bear traps, all for its fur. With his story complete, Tragga's eyes shown rage and tears.
"How dare you sully the Earthmother's hunt with such games! I know no why the tiger disrupted my kills before I met you. He thought I was party to your disregard for its spirit!" With this, she drew the fur from her satchel, tossing the white fur to the Dwarf. "Here is your prize, Nesingwary. I have slain the beast, and with help only from Snik'ka and a fellow Shu'Halo. You are no hunter, dwarf. You are a poacher, despised by the Earthmother. I take my leave of your camp, but give a warning. If I ever see you again, I will hunt no beast; I will hunt you."
A sad and angry trip to Booty Bay awaited Tragga and Snik'ka, and though many predators saw them, none dared get close. They all saw the Earthmother's blessing on her, as well as her righteous fury. As she reached the seedy port town, her rage subsided. What she needed was a stiff drink, and found it in the tavern at the southern end of the town. She also found Gramen there, conversing with an obviously fascinated Human by the name of Emily (which made Tragga chuckle considering how close the named was to the Taurahe word for excitable).
An eventful night it was, for she found a flyer for what seemed to be a matchmaking service. In her native land, she would likely be subject to the same thing, being paired with a mate that would make her happy. She felt, however, that she had gone mad. Who would want someone as average as she? Hunters in Shu'Halo society were a silver a dozen, she thought; every Shu'Halo knows how. Feeling down, she was approached by a Gnome who had set out to cheer her up. Caravan Fairwinds, she was called, and kept trying to reassure Tragga of Tragga's beauty - which only embarrassed the Tauren woman. Caravan accosted a passerby, insisting the Sin'Dorei male tell Tragga how pretty Tragga was. Already feeling better just by Caravan's peppy attitude, she was almost set to go and seek out the matchmaker. However, the Sin'Dorei man stated that he thought the livestock would have no problem with Tragga, and so she stood in anger. However, Caravan was already up and challenging the man to fisticuffs.
The ensuing fight was quick, and humorous, putting Tragga back into a pleasant mood. The Gnome won, much to the Sin'Dorei's chagrin, and Tragga prepared to leave. The man, though, challenged Tragga to the same terms as Caravan, stating that only Tragga could restore her own honor. Another quick bout, and nearly even in skill, but Tragga lost. Her head hit the ground, and moments after she started laughing. She took her loss in stride, and shook the man's hand, who introduced himself as Ciaphas. They parted on uneasy terms, but with a skip in her step.
Her hopes and spirits up, Tragga followed the flyer to the matchmaking service, and had an interview to put up a 'profile' which would be placed on a bulletin board and - it was all very confusing to her. She was told she could look at the board, and pick a possible mate for herself, or the matchmaker could suggest a match.
Stranglethorn Vale was a foreign land to her, but it seemed to become more like her home every minute. From the poacher's camp to the seedy tavern, the barbaric Troll tribes and even the Mosh'Ogg Ogres, Tragga felt it was meant to be her home. If that was true, then she had much work to do in its wilderness to bring it peace - and the thought passed through her head as she relaxed, bringing rest to her each time she closed her eyes. It was as if the sun and moon shined upon her, just as in the saying - and for the first time in years, Tragga was happy.