Greetings everyone! Due to current circumstances and the rather strange amount of free time I’ve been given due to corona outbreak in my town, I thought of trying to write up a few short stories about my character’s adventures over the course of Battle for Azeroth, and I thought I’d share it with my fellow roleplayers here! Hope you’ll like it! As always, criticism is appreciated!
(Keep in mind that this is merely the start of the story, and that I’ll update the post in the coming days. ^^)
Kotur in Vol’dun
Chapter 1: A Cold Welcome
Kotur looked ahead at the horizon, watching the sun slowly set down into the sea. It was a thing he did each day since the boat left the Orgrimmar harbor. He couldn’t explain why, but it seemed to soothe his spirit somewhat. A welcome thing, considering all the recent events. He sighed and turned his back to the sea before entering the ship and going below the deck, slowly walking towards the resting room and his hammock.
“How long…?” He thought to himself. “How long until this burden disappears? The pain has numbed somewhat, but it refuses to go away…”
He slammed his fist sideways into the wall in frustration. For weeks he has been tortured by the memories of what happened in that fateful battle at the ruined human city. He could still see his comrades’ faces and hear their screams. The horror of the blight unleashed. No matter what he told himself, the pain he felt from that day continued to haunt him. He had hoped that joining the rest of the Horde warriors on a boat to help support their base in the human land of Stormsong would help get his mind off of it, but the days spent at sea only served to reinforce those accursed thoughts.
He sighed and slowly took off his armor before slowly lying down into his hammock. He didn’t bother closing his eyes. He knew that even in his sleep he wouldn’t be free from this burden. It was an uncomfortable thought that even his dreams wouldn’t grant him the peace he so desperately craved.
However, this day would not end like those before it.
Stirred from his half-conscious state, he soon realized that something was wrong. He felt the ship sway violently from side to side, almost falling out of the hammock, gripping the rope as hard as he could to keep his balance. He swiftly jumped out and instinctively put his armor on before running out of the cabin to see what was going on. Outside he saw the other soldiers run around in all directions, many of them with panicked look on their face.
“What is going on?” He asked one of the orcs passing by him.
“Storm.” Replied the orc. “I’ve never seen one this strong before. Better hold on to something. Or better yet, see if you can lend a hand at the deck.”Kotur nodded and ran upstairs, soon reaching the deck.
He met with a hellish sight: The sky was dark from the heavy clouds, which poured rain in a powerful downpour, lightning occasionally setting it ablaze as the lighting bolts struck down into the raging sea. The waves were enormous. It was as if the sea wished to swallow them all up, the waves carrying the boat like a puny piece of wood at their crest, only to send it falling down their length and into the clutches of new waves. The water was green and foamy. In a brief moment, Kotur thought he saw a whirlpool in the distance, not far away from them.
He knew they were on a brink of certain death.
“Ey, Highmountain! Ya be a shaman?!” He heard the captain yelling from behind. Upon closer look he saw that it was the captain of the ship. Even in such a dim light, he was an imposing figure, clad in sturdy spiked armor with a large gun in his hand and a spear on his back. Kotur nodded at him and gave him a brief salute.
“I am, yes!” He bellowed back.
“Good! Join up with da other shamans at da back! They be needin’ all da help they can get to calm down dis blasted weather!” The captain replied and pointed towards the back end of the deck, where three shamans have already started chanting, their totems placed next to them.Kotur nodded again and quickly ran towards them, trying his best not to lose his footing from the swaying of the ship. Once he reached them, he swiftly placed down his air totem and assumed his place in the circle. He raised his hands upwards towards the sky and started chanting in the language of the elements: “Spirits of the sky, I beseech you! Let calm reign in your relentless fury! Let my voice soothe your rage! Spare this vessel and those upon it, so that we may safely get out of these treacherous waters!” He kept focusing and chanting alongside his fellow shamans, their totems glowing brightly with elemental power and sending it through their bodies toward the sky above and the water below them.
However, despite their best efforts, the weather only seemed to grow even more violent, the rain now being accompanied by powerful winds that were threatening to turn the boat over into the sea at any moment. Kotur’s heart sank. He doubled his efforts, but he knew that it would make no difference. He tried focusing on directing the wind to push the boat eastwards instead, hoping to help it reach any nearest shore before it was too late.
“LAND AHEAD!” He heard one of the sailors at the front bellow as hard as she possibly could. He resumed his focus and kept directing the wind to push them in that direction. Soon the land was getting closer and closer, the land being covered in darkness from the weather. After what seemed like an eternity, the boat finally came close to the shore. From the closer look, it seemed as if it was actually a harbor of some kind, three long piers stretching out from the darkness.
However, now another, even more dangerous issue had emerged. The waves were carrying them fast towards the shore between two of the piers, threatening to crash the ship upon it. Despite the shamans’ best efforts, they were unable to calm the waves fast enough, and the boat hit the stony walls of the frost pier before crashing down on the small, sandy beach next to it. Thrown out of balance, Kotur tumbled down the deck and was barely able to grab the nearest iron spike before he could all down into the water below. Dangling like a wet blanket, he grunted in effort and lifted himself up.
He looked around for the rest of the crew. Most of them seemed to have survived the impact, but he saw two of them lying on the beach in a pool of blood, clearly dead. He frowned at the sight before turning towards the others.
“Is everyone alright?” He managed to ask before panting heavily from the effort it took to keep himself standing in this angle.
“ Most of us are.” Replied one orc nearest to him with a dry voice. “But captain’s dead.”
Kotur frowned at these news and gave a short nod before pointing towards himself. “Everyone gather at me and bring the wounded. Grab all the weapons and supplies you can carry. The ship will not hold out for much longer. We need to get off before it falls apart.” The other soldiers nodded and started doing as they were told. It was clear that these soldiers were well trained, as soon all of them were at Kotur’s side, ready and armed to teeth, few of them carrying bags with essential supplies on their backs.Satisfied, Kotur turned his attention at their surroundings. The place they crashed in seemed to once have been a large and imposing harbor, but even with what little light there was, he could see that the place was ruined and ancient, many of the building having crumbled away long ago. The piers and the walls of the buildings were decorated with skulls and bones, or in some places the entire skeletons. “Blessed ancestors…what is this place?” He wondered quietly, the sight filling him with worry and dread.
The crew all drew their weapons, looking around for any sign of anything moving. Four of them lit up their torches, which cast a depressing light onto the beach and the ruins around them.
“I don’t like this, Highmountain.” One of the orcs said with a grave tone. “These ruins look like troll ruins. And those are rarely abandoned from my experience.”
Kotur nodded and summoned his elemental blades in his hands. “Agreed. This quiet is eerie. Be prepared for a possible ambush.”
He could feel the chill in the air. An unnatural chill which clawed his way into his very being. Something was definitely wrong about this place. “Magic.” Kotur thought to himself. He could feel malevolent magic permeating the air around them, but its source eluded him. He pondered the possible course of action out loud.
“We could barricade ourselves on what is left of the ship and wait for this storm to pass and perhaps even for the dawn to break out before trying to move through the ruins and get out as fast as we can. Or we could try and use the cover of night and the storm to our advantage to slip through unnoticed. Either way, we cannot idle. We are far too vulnerable here.”
The rest of the crew pondered his words for a short time before one of the tauren answered:
“ I suggest the first approach. It’s too hard to see anything in this storm. It would be easy to ambush us from the buildings, or even from behind those arches and pillars.”
Kotur pondered his words before replying. “Still, there is a strange magic about this place. I do not like the idea of staying here for any longer than we must.”
“Agreed, but we aren’t without any magic of our own. I don’t doubt your power, shaman, but it is clear that this weather takes far too much concentration to manage, and we can’t have you unable to fight if we are ambushed. And without your aid, fighting in this downpour could easily be disastrous.”
The majority of the crew seemed to agree with him as they nodded at his words.
“So be it then.” Said Kotur. “Let us not waste any more time then. We must set up the defenses as fast as possible.”
As they started salvaging the remains of the ship and hauling them to the back, Kotur kept watch on the ruins, focusing his sharp sight on any sign of movement. He hoped that the ruins were abandoned, or that the storm had managed to somewhat muffle the sounds of the crash, but he knew that neither was likely to be the case. Aside from the darkness, his sight was impaired by the heavy rain, which only seemed to grow stronger as the time passed.
Fortunately, his comrades were almost done setting up the defenses and securing the back of the ship. He couldn’t help but feel satisfied. For all their faults the Horde soldiers were expertly trained and organized.
“It will not be long now…” He thought. “Soon we should be safe.”