Hi! First of all I’d like to give credit where it’s due to Kopt/Holyfur. I started to write Morverne’s belief system and preachings a few years ago but having read their efforts towards the whole Duneblessed concept, I’ve felt re-inspired to finish up the manifesto of a Wild God devoted wolfman.
But first, a quick note on what this is meant to be: Morverne’s manifesto is one character’s viewpoint. It is not meant to be taken as a canon belief system depicted by Blizzard - instead the intent of this is to give other worgen, kaldorei, or possibly other characters with either a connection to nature, wild gods or the Loa a path into Goldrinn reverence that exists in parallel and as an alternative to what’s already shown in-game.
It should also be noted that Morverne’s views are that of a zealots; plenty of worgen (and other races) hold Goldrinn close as a patron deity while still living relatively normal lives. The manifesto, by comparison, is meant to be from the perspective of someone who has obsessed over what it means to do right by a deity, including some extreme and sometimes violent options.
Tenets of the Great Wolf,
A manifesto by Morverne.
Part I: The Gift of Goldrinn.
Many amongst the Alliance, including those with the gift, wrongfully regard Goldrinn’s blessing as a curse. Those who do either seek to tarnish the reputation of the Great Wolf’s gifted, dismissing the strength that comes with Goldrinn’s ferocity, or live in fear of the power Goldrinn’s blessed children possess.
These views are to be disregarded - the worgen form should always be referred to as a blessing, a gift, and a privilege, and never as a curse or burden.
As with any gift, the devoted who have received Goldrinn’s blessing should forever cherish their gift, and forever hold it with the utmost of respect;
- Goldrinn’s gift is to be seen as an honour. To hide it is to disgrace it.
- Goldrinn’s gift is to be shielded by faith. To wear armour is to disgrace the gift.
- Goldrinn’s gift is to be strengthened by His form. To wield a weapon is to disgrace the gift.
- Goldrinn’s gift is enlightenment through heightened senses. To intentionally dull the mind, sight, hearing, or smell is to disgrace the gift.
- Goldrinn’s gift is to be sheltered by nature. Clothing must be minimal, only to allow the devoted of the Great Wolf to address the unenlightened, and clothes must be comprised of the hunt, or hunts, of the devoted. To dress otherwise is to disgrace the gift.
Most important of all is to see the gift used as it was intended. The Great Wolf’s blessing offers strength, stamina, and speed. To grow complacent, and wear the form merely as decoration while doing nothing to enact Goldrinn’s will is to utterly disgrace the gift - it is a form that is made to hunt, made for conflict, born in a time of war. To choose pacifism, then, is not only to go against Goldrinn, but to all who wore His form millenia before Gilneas’ fall.
Part II: Embodying the Great Wolf.
In addition to wearing Goldrinn’s form, His devoted must see themselves as an extension of the Wild God’s will. Above all else, these three rules must be abided by:
- Those with the gift must be courageous. Goldrinn’s tenacity is unwavering, and so too must ours be. Those who fail to embody the Great Wolf’s courage must atone for their misdeeds through selfless acts of devotion.
- Those with the gift must protect the wilds. Goldrinn’s lands are our lands, thus we shall protect them. Those who fail to protect the wilds must atone for their misdeeds through selfless acts of devotion, while those who actively harm the balance of nature in life, shall instead serve it in death.
- Those with the gift must offer it to the worthy. Not all in Gilneas were bestowed with Goldrinn’s blessing, and few outside that kingdom have received it. It is a privilege to experience, and thus a privilege to offer.
Though all of Goldrinn’s children should strive to be as devoted as we, not all of the worthy will revere the wild god as we do. Should they still show traits Goldrinn would look upon favourably, such as strength, courage, and tenacity, and should they share an indirect goal of aiding the lands, such as ridding Azeroth of the Horde, then the gift may still be offered. Should they reject it, it is a display of cowardice, thus they are unworthy of the gift, and should not be offered it again.
Those who would see the Great Wolf’s domain corrupted and befouled with the fel, the void, or the arcane, are unworthy of his gift, even if they possess the strength and fortitude . Those who wear his blessed form, act in such ways, and refuse to cease their wretched behaviour should be returned to the earth and serve nature’s cycle in death.
Even the well-intended can disrupt the balance of nature, however, and so these tenets shall ensure that Goldrinn’s domains will always obey nature’s balance.
- In nature, the strong survive, and the weak perish. We must ensure that the weak only perish to a natural and expected source of strength, and that the strong are not killed off by some unnatural occurrence.
- That which we kill, we must use entirely. Whatever we cannot feast upon or fashion into attire, must be returned to the balance.
- It is a privilege to use the Great Wolf’s gift to hunt, yet it is not a given right. We must show restraint and respect for the lands, and thus act only to benefit nature’s balance.
Part III: The Kaldorei.
Goldrinn’s children should not forget the actions of the kaldorei in Gilneas. Without their aid, none of us would have been able to gain the clarity needed to see past the Wolf’s fury.
Gratitude and servitude are not the same thing howeverrs, and the intent of some kaldorei should be called into question. Many have accepted the worgen of Gilneas as allies, respecting Goldrinn’s children for their loyalty and willpower, but there are those in night elven society who fear us.
It is said that long ago, when the Great Wolf still roamed Azeroth’s wilds, that Elune frowned upon Goldrinn for his rage, to which he responded with an even more unbridled fury. As such, it would be fitting of us to act as He once did, and any kaldorei who would dare to try and limit our potential shall incur our wrath. Cowardice is unbecoming of us, and just as unbecoming of any we would consider allies.
Part IV: The False Believers.
The orcs of the Horde know of Goldrinn, or Lo’Gosh, in their vile tongue. They claim to revere him as we do. Yet Goldrinn has not bestowed his gift upon them, as he has for us. The Wild God may acknowledge the orcs ferocity and courage, yet he clearly does not favour them compared to his children. Their fel-corrupted bodies and destructive behaviours make them a clear enemy of nature, thus making them an enemy of the wild god.
Goldrinn’s true disciples should put the lesser followers down. In life, they defile the land, but in death, they shall serve it as any true follower of the Great Wolf should, and it is an insult to be compared to their disrespectful and heretical ways.
Though more directly devoted to Goldrinn by embracing their bestial visage, worgen who deem themselves as ‘alphas’ or refer to themselves in similarly blasphemous terms cannot be considered truly devoted to the Great Wolf - the divine is the authority that we answer to, not mortals.
Part V: The Fall of Gilneas.
In nature, the strong survive and prosper off the weak. Prey that cannot run, hide, or fight, is prey destined to meet it’s end by the predator above it. So too was this true for Gilneas. For the most part, those we see today who have inherited Goldrinn’s gift are the Gilneans with the bravest hearts, unbreakable wills, and undeniable strength.
Those who perished, on the other hand, were those who lacked the courage to act bravely and fight against the maddened worgen. They were those who lacked the willpower to endure Goldrinn’s trial, or were otherwise not strong or swift enough to survive. This too is true for those who perished as feral worgen. Those who died to cannonfire, failed to return to lucidity either during the administration of the apothecary’s elixir, or did not survive the Ritual of Balance were the cowardly, weak-willed, or otherwise unfit of Greymane’s nation.
What happened at Gilneas is undeniably cruel, but so too is nature. His devoted would do well to recognise the strength within themselves that led them to survival.
Part VI: Conclusion.
Since Greymane’s nation fell, we have both triumphed and suffered loss alike. The Crown of the Earth was as much our home as it was the kaldorei’s, and while we have since won the war that followed, many worgen now reside in the capital - a prison of stone and steel, detached from nature, encouraging complacency through comfort and drink while the dream suffers a direct assault. But what is true is that our gift has allowed us to prosper and flourish amidst the difficult times, and it will continue to be our greatest boon in the hardship that is soon to follow.
If you’ve gotten this far, then thank you very much for taking the time to read all of this! Most of this was written midway through BFA and has sat in a Google Doc entirely unused for just over three years, and I thought it was a shame to never actually publish this fictional belief system created by a somewhat unhinged Gilnean man. I’m open to critiques and suggestions regarding it, or to hear from other people who maybe have similar character concepts, and again - thank you for reading!
