It Takes a Tribe- Erzulie’s open rp

This was an open rp thread started by Erzulie. Contributors include myself as the Kel’zhan’s, Erzulie as the In’ama’s, Zarjun as Zar’huda and Tokarn as…Tokarn. Posted here with their permission.

Last Rites- chat log

Killing a character you’ve become intimately familiar with is never easy, but I finally admitted to myself that it was time for Ganak to move on. Rest in peace, old friend. You deserve it.

Chat log posted with permission from Erzulie.

What Dreams Will Bring

Chizibi Willowspring bustled around the small hut preparing tea and setting things in order. “It’s so lovely to see you again, Sennara. Your father and I hardly hoped to hear from you again so soon.” She beamed matronly as her daughter left her pack by the door and seated herself to wait for the tea. “Is everything alright with the Tribe?” Sennara gave her mother a tight smile and placed her hands upon the table, fidgeting with them. “Yes, mother. All is well with the Tribe. Actually, I’m here because I had another dream.”

The elder Shu’halo woman settled the kettle on a hook over the hearth and bustled back to the den. “Another dream, so soon? The spirits must have much to say to you. What did they tell you to bring you back home so quickly?” Sennara fidgets some more as she begins to speak. “It was the same spirit as before. An old Shu’halo. He told me…well, he said that my father was…losing himself. I thought it a strange choice of words. He said that Father needed my help and to find him as quickly as I could.” The words blurted out, she sat back awaiting her mother’s response.

Chizibi wiped her hands and turned to face her daughter, looking more puzzled than concerned. “Dear, your father is quite well. He’s out gathering herbs at the moment, but there is no way he could get lost. He’s fine.” She sat down and put both of her daughter’s hands in hers. “Are you sure of what the spirit said? He hasn’t been wrong before.” Sennara looks doubtful and shakes her head. “That’s why it bothers me. I think I’ll stay tonight until I can see Father, just to make sure.” Chizibi nodded and got up to check on the tea. “How are you getting along, Sennara? Have you met any nice people in the Tribe?”

Senara nodded, willing for the moment to change the topic. “Actually mother, that reminds me. Do you have any of the herbs to make that tea you gave me when I had trouble sleeping? I spoke for a while with a nice Shu’halo in the tribe. Apparently he’s been restless lately.” Her mother turned around from the tea to give her a sly smile. “A nice young Shu’halo, hm? Tell me all about him!”

“Not like that, mother.” Sennara rolled her eyes dramatically. “For one thing, he’s much older than I am. And he’s…a death knight. His name is Ganak Frosthorn.” Her ears perked, startled at the sound of a teacup shattering against the floor. Her mother’s back was turned to her, staring into the fire. “Mother! Are you alright?” Chizibi swayed and reached out for her daughter’s shoulder as she was helped down into a chair at the table as she began to mumble to herself. “It’s not a common name…not Frosthorn, but if he is a death knight maybe he doesn’t remember…”

Sennara examined her mother with concern as she muttered. “Mother, speak up. What are you talking about?” Chizibi’s eyes focused once again on her daughter and with a trembling hand she gestured for her to sit down across from her. “My, I do wish this could wait for your father to return. But if what the spirit told you is true, and we have no reason to question his words…oh my, this could have come at a better time.” She sighed and continued. “You remember, dear, the stories we told you when you were very young? How your mother, Earthmother keep her, came to us and asked us to raise you as our own before she passed on?” She smiled sadly as she remembered. “My, it seems only yesterday but it’s so long ago now.”

Sennara looked at her mother fearfully, unsure of where the conversation was going. “Yes mother, of course I remember. My father was dead and she was dying, and you took me in and raised me.” She squeezed Chizibi’s hand lovingly. “What is it, Mother? What do you need to tell me?”

The elder Shu’halo sighed and squeezed the hand offered her in return. “Your mother didn’t want the name of your father known openly. It seems her father disapproved of her choice for a mate and kept them from being together. I do not know why, or who was wrong or right. But if Ganak is the Shu’halo I think he is, or was…” She took a deep breath to settle herself and continued. “Sennara, my dear child. Ganak is your father.”

The Guided Path

Sennara Rainsong stood at the crest of the hill overlooking the river, the lush forests of Feralas spread out before her. All was still and calm in the cool of the early morning. She sat and dangled her hooves over the edge as she breathed in and allowed the peace of the landscape to seep into her. Fully in tune with the forest now, she felt the wolfish form padding up the path and reached out her hand. In a moment a grizzled Shu’halo elder kneeled where the wolf had been and took his daughter’s hand in his own. “How does the day find you, my daughter?” He smiled as he eased himself down and pulled out an ornately carved wooden pipe and began to pack it.

 
Sennara smiled at the old shaman. “I am well, father. All is as it should be.” Soon puffs of aromatic smoke began to drift upward toward the canopy. Kondar Oakhide looked at his daughter lovingly, some concern crossing his face. “Have you yet told your mother? She will be wanting to make preparations before you leave.” Sennara shook her head. “Not yet, father. I’ve been thinking of the best way to tell her.”

 
“Just tell her, child. Tell her exactly as the spirits told you. She will understand.” He smiles once again between puffs on the pipe. “You are your mother’s daughter. She will see that it is the right course.” Sennara squeezed his hand tightly as they both stood to their feet and looked out over the winding river. “But I am my father’s daughter too. I will not forget what you have taught me.” Kondar stowed the pipe in a puch at his belt and freed both arms to pull his daughter close, embracing her. As he pulled away he kept his strong hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. “Of course not, my child. Balance in all things, that is the way. Now, are you sure of what the spirits told you? Are you ready to take this journey?”

 
The young Shu’halo drew in her breath and released it slowly. “Yes, father. I must make my way to the Burning Tusk Tribe. In time I trust the reasons for this will be shown to me, but for now I must trust that this is the right course.” The old shaman nodded gravely. “Then go, my child. You have my blessing on this path. Go speak to your mother, and tomorrow you shall leave early in the morning and make your way to the Burning Tusk Tribe.”As Sennara walked down the path back to their small hut the elder Shu’halo wiped a tear from his eye and picked up his staff, planting it into the dark soil and looking out over the valley below.

Clouds

The mid-afternoon sun played on Ganak’s hammer as he fell into the rhythm of steady strokes against the anvil. His kodo stood entranced by the old tree nearby, watching the glint as the hammer rose and fell. Soon enough she grew bored and wandered off with a sniffle to find some grass to munch on. Ganak paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow and shake some from his mane. He looked around the low, rounded buildings of Garadar, his mind also beginning to wander. When he was doing basic smith work he could release his mind and let it roam where it willed, completely relaxed. Mentally anyway.

 
He looked down at the smoldering links he had just finished, fishing out his tongs and gingerly placing them into the water barrel as the steam blasted his face and left his fur a bit fluffy. He started to smooth it down for the sake of appearance but abruptly gave up. Fluffy or not, who cared? He had finished a good, hard day’s work and should be worrying about nothing but relaxing. He stretched his shoulders and strolled over to the tree where he had left the kodo.

 
She had abandoned any sense of nobility and lay stretched at length on the sun-warmed grass, staring at him upside down with her tongue lolling out the side. As Ganak approached she wiggled her massive club of a tail, anticipating a belly rub. He sighed and began to chuckle as he complied with her wish. “Kruga, sometimes I wonder if I should replace you with a dog and be done with it.” She snorted at this but remained in belly-scratching position until he flopped down to the grass beside her. She rolled over to face him, snout to snout, and stared intently. He laughed again, only the second time that day. There was nothing like a kodo with no self-respect to bring a smile to your face.

 
But as he scratched behind Kruga’s ears his mind wandered again, and he felt just as tense as before. He had worked so hard lately, too hard in fact. And he had taken too many chances and had some close calls in Northrend. On top of it all, despite working himself to death every day somehow he still couldn’t sleep until dawn when he passed out for an hour or two from exhaustion. When he could sleep he had nightmares, ever since that woman in the Undercity. Every night, faces and people he knew, things that couldn’t possibly happen haunted him. He was afraid he was on the verge of collapsing. If only he could get one night’s decent sleep…

 
But never mind all that, he told himself. Never mind that your body and your mind are fighting losing battles against each other, never mind that each day you work and struggle because you don’t know what else to do. Never mind that a past you can’t face has spit you into a future with no point to it but simply existing. Never mind all that, and just be here for a while. Be a stone, the grass in the wind, anything but yourself, and for a moment be at peace.

 
He perceived the faint wheeze of a kodo snoring next to him as he looked up into the clear, beautiful Nagrand sky. At the edge of his vision clouds rolled in and he felt the storm begin to build in the distance.

Bones

The shadowy, cloaked woman drew a nail, or maybe a claw along his face and muttered in his ear. “This is going to be…delightful.” Ganak shuddered on the table and stretched against the restraints to move his face away from hers. “What are you?” She drew down closer until their faces almost touched, though his eyes still could not penetrate the darkness of her cowl. She laughed, though the sound was entirely mirthless. “Didn’t you know?” She ran a finger down to the fresh blood from the open wound on his chest and lifted it to her lips. “I’m your Deus Ex Machina.”

Online

Posts, both old and new, will be coming in the next few days and will be categorized by main character. Not expecting page views, so this post is just for anyone I happen to direct here… just in case I don’t have anything up while I’m dredging through my archives to back them up on this blog.