Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered

Disclaimer - The following was a work of fiction I cooked up to give Russ some back story for Rayda and his life and is in no way a complete tale. I wouldn’t normally feel like posting this one in TripleB as even I think this crosses into total nerd territory, however it occurs to me I haven’t done any real writing in a very long time and I do miss it.

So the following is set in a time around twenty years prior to the events of World of Warcraft, though not entirely as their lore time line is really all over the place. Suffice it to say, Rayda believes he was in his twenties when the following happens however his way of life has probably effected his memory somewhat as it actually takes place in the early days of the Second War. At this time Rayda is in fact a Warrior and not even Russ has been able to get his head around quite how the Dwarf managed to get himself blessed enough to become a Paladin in later years. Many hardcore role players will hate this aspect and no doubt want to stone me.
Also bear in mind this is a ‘first hand’ account, written as if Ray is recounting the tales to someone.

Ah remember it were my twenty-second year when the creatures came, them things the Humans were calling Orcs. Ah weren’t that clear on what exactly were happening at the time, news from the South didn’t travel so far as Dun Morogh at tha time but it were a bleak winter when the call to arms came.

Mah Daddy and his Daddy before ‘im were Paladins so they ad given me a fair good amount of training in tha ‘art of war’ as they liked ta call it but til then I’d had no real experience. A year earlier ah’d heard news that us Bronzebeards were now a part of some Alliance which were about to take the fight ta these Orc creatures, yet at tha time they was confined to the Southern land, occupying tha human city of Stormwind. Ah were tryin to enjoy a quiet drink in mah favourite Inn in Dun Morogh on one of them winter evenings when the word came that tha vile forces were sweeping in from the South-East, cutting a bloody swathe through Khaz Modan. Ah was by now a part of a detachment as all Bronzebeards were by now, a path ah’d chosen cus ah couldn’t go missin’ out on such an important fight. These ere were my lands, my Daddy had very strict ideals he wanted me to follow but ah weren’t interested. Ah’ve mah own way of dealin’ with things, or so ah thought at the time.

So with tha damned greenskins layin’ waste to our towns I joined up with mah detachment and we stormed off to go ‘ave some fun and show them there Orcs who’s really the boss ‘a these parts.

It dinna quite go that way owever. A week in and we were failin’ fast when the order ta’ retreat and regroup came. We was makin’ our run back toward Dun Morogh when mah Captain got it in the back, some damn sword ‘ad gone and bin chucked right into his spine, ‘e didn’t stand a chance. His second in command were a fast one it ‘as to be said, he took the field promotion in an instant and chose me ta’ be his number two, God knows why. Ah tried ta aid him as best ah could with decisions and the like, our tactical withdraw really went our way in the end…he and ah cooked up some really nifty traps in our wake an’ all, them Orcs didn’t know what hit us.

We ended up back in Ironforge soon enough, we couldn’t even hold Dun Morogh and had to sacrifice our lands in favour of our lives. That really stung. Ironforge remained solid tho, we went and sealed ourselves in nice and tight, them damn Orcs tried mind you. Ah learnt they were called Bleedin’ Hollow Clan, nice fierce name and all but they weren’t ‘alf pansies when it came to a siege. They kept comin’ up to tha’ door goin’ “Ooooh, we be strong, let us in, let us in” and we’d be like “Mwahaha” and smack ‘em about, douse ‘em with hot tar and smack ‘em with crossbows and all. Were much fun. Helped tha’ siege pass nice and quick, though tha’ funerals got to be a bit wearing. There’s only so many friends you can say goodbye to before…

Ah remember it were summer when tha Alliance arrived, ah think them Elves had some’t to do with all this. It took time but we soon found our perimeter clear, allowing us to venture out. Mah squad moved out and we quickly found a lackin’ in greenskins, the rest of the Alliance apparently ‘aving broken their will. With talk of folk heading North to retake areas of Lordaeron, mah squad made slow progress toward Blackrock Mountain. Word got back to me of some kind of conspiracy to break us all from within…apparently the bastard was leading Alterac and got his bum handed to him, quite rightly an’ all.

We were feelin’ the strain by now of course, this ‘ere fight was almost a year old and them damned Orcs never seemed to run out of warriors. We got ourselves some kind of break though, ah’m not too clear on the details but ah heard that they lost some’t like half their force to some weird treasure hunt and then the rest of the force decided to go an’ kill them instead of us. We was all renewed by this, we blocked all ‘em nancies into Blackrock and set to getting ‘em all killed. We was bein’ led by some Paladins by this part and our leader was Lord Lothar and damned if he didn’t even blink when the Orc’s leader came thundering out of the Mountain with his forces. Ah was a bit fuzzy on what ‘appened here as ah was a tad busy but apparently we lost Lothar, though his number two gave the Orc leader a good kicking. Ah had just received an unexpected promotion, old Cygni my boss and sadly by now something of a friend were ambushed. A group of Orcs tore him to pieces…ah sure showed them why ya just don’t mess with me, ripped ‘em all a new one. Ah had a job to live up to, Captain an’ all now so ah led my squad, now somewhat lessened against them Orc scum. They were a bunch of nancies an’ all, they ran! It were a fun chase, we ran them down through tha’ Swamp of Sorrows before laying waste to ‘em all at tha’ Portal. This were the first time ah’d been this far South and seen this Portal everyone were talking about, it were an awe inspiring sight but ya’ needed a strong stomach, the lands were bloody and mangled by now.

Ah’d be lyin’ if with all this jest and all I said I didn’t feel any ill effects. Mah Daddy met ‘is end on them fields outside the Portal, he never told me with all his war talk that it could drain ya’ so much. Ah enjoyed tha fighting, it’s what got me through but ah were about done by then. Ah was honourably relieved of duty afterwards, given a nice medal an’ all which I still carry with me, you know, just for tha memories. Ah never totally gave up the fighting, that bit were fun so I started travelling, lots of hunting and ah found it paid quite well doin’ the old mercenary work. Find someone what done some bad and you find someone what’ll pay you to be rid of the first someone, so that’s what ah went off and did.

Then again, that were another story.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Literature, Rayda Skaldensen, Dwarf Paladin, World of Warcraft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.