Event Series: Unruly Spirits And The Shamanic Elf (Or Orc, You Pick.)

[Xerxes_XIII 2 200]

 

Among long reeds and sulphuric fog stands an elf. He wears simple garbs of red and white, which flow and move with every gust of air. Mushrooms, moss, and mold of all sorts covers the ground at his feet, and he kneels to slowly run his lithe fingers over the flora; seeking the presence of the spirits within. With a dull stare originating from pure white eyes, the elf’s gaze shifts to one of the many hanging vines as he rises. He grasps it in one hand, tugging upon it idly as his gaze casts backwards. Behind him is a group of others; mostly humans, but a few orcs intermingled with them; curious of the elf’s abilities. In a voice that is both heavily accented, yet so soft that if it weren’t carried by the gust of stagnant air they could not hear it, he speaks “Dah spihrut is cloze…”

 

Moving with a distinct grace, the elf uses the vine in his hand to steady himself as he moves to a different spot of ground in the swampland, eyes flicking this way and that to seek the spirit that he has heard rumor of. His gaze settles upon a point in the south, where only the keenest of eyes could detect the twisting of nearby flora towards a central point. “It eez… Huhr…” he mumbles, advancing forwards with the group following behind.

 

Once the elf and his companions had drawn close enough, he would stop and place a hand to a tree at his right, long nails digging into the bark. “Bregthar, mi callz upon latz. Keep diz spihrut within uhr reech, suh daht wi may return eht to dah Starguzh.” his voice echos gently as a creature begins to rise from the mud at it’s feet. A miniature shur’dru of earth and stone stands before the elf after a few short moments, eyes of pure obsidian observing him with a wise stare. The elf gives a grunt towards the spirit in thanks.

 

 

Speaking again as he kneels to set a hand to the murky water at his feet, the elf’s voice echoes once more “Aqathro… Latz rize tu help latz kin. Keep dah spihrut in uhr reech, und keep eht sayfe…” The elf watches as the water ripples and writhes, rising to his feet.

 

 

As before, a form begins to rise, though this time from the water. A fish of iridescent blue forms, seeming to swim upwards through the air and gaze at the elf who, once again, gives a grunt of thanks. “Rulg.” he utters, to which the spirits respond by simply sinking back into the ground and water.

 

“...Did they just leave?” asks the nervous voice of a human in the elf’s company, to which the elf responds simply, “Dey hav hurd uz.” and moves forth. Under the elf’s feet, mud would rise; creating a pathway towards the unseen entity within the swamp. He approaches, and draws a vial of a dark black liquid from a pouch upon his hip. As the group approached, the entity lingering in the swamp would come into view. Mud would rise in a sphere around the now visible form of the air spirit, which twists around to face the approaching people with a sound similar to that of a sigh. The mud closes in around it, the spirits working together to trap their demi-kin so that the shaman may work.

 

The elf stops in front of a small opening in the sphere before him, gazing idly towards the entity, “Dis nub dah plaze fur latz. Tuu clozed, tuu stihll.” he utters. His company of humans and orcs gather near the opening, knowing that their job is to halt the spirit if something goes awry, which he knows from experience... Something will.

 

 

With a hand extended, the elf holds the vial of liquid, voice echoing louder and with more authority now, “Latz wihll gu tu dah Starguzh, whur latz belung.” At this, the spirit emits a buzzing shriek of anger, sounding much as wind through reeds. This is the shriek which has earned the creature it’s name, and brought it to the odd elven shaman’s attention.

 

The being charges the elf, it’s shriek sounding again. The elf would respond with distinct calm, crushing the vial within his hand and throwing the incredibly light fluid towards the oncoming creature. This mixture becomes trapped in the current of air that is the being’s form, staining it with a black haze to make it visible, “Gehd eet.” speaks the elf to those behind him as the spirit rockets itself off into the swamplands; shrieking all the way.

 

“Noizeh.” he mutters as the people charge after it, “Nu wundahr dat dey cahll eet dah Bansheh uhf dis zwamp.”

 

-END-

 

So I was recently asked to create an event concept and get community feedback on it. After a fair bit of debate as to whether I wished to post this or not, I’ve decided to do so.

 

Regarding the Controversy of an Elven Shaman

I’ve heard from multiple sources that the idea of an elven shaman event character may be controversial, that it may even insult the orcish playerbase. If it does, I apologize. This said, allow me to explain my thinking regarding the character being an elf; and then we’ll talk about this event series as a whole.

 

My reasoning for making this character an elf is relatively simple; to show that it can happen. A common misconception amongst the community is that Shamanish is to Orcs as Runesmithing is to Dwarves. It is not; any race may earn the respect of the spirits and learn to call upon them, it is simply very uncommon for non-orcs to do so.

 

If the community would prefer, of course, simply say the word and I will edit this topic and event concept to be based around the Shaman being an orc. I’ve no reservations about doing such, I only think that it would be interesting to do it differently.

 

Now then, about this event series. The basic idea is that ET actors and builders will all work together at their leisure to create areas in the world that do more than simply provide an aesthetic. In this example, the concept is that an event team actor has been roleplaying as an air spirit in this swamp, shrieking like a banshee and terrorizing a nearby settlement.

 

To explain where the elf comes in; you can think of him as an exorcist. He has been tasked by the orcish shaman who taught him (An event character of HeeroZero) to seek out spirits in the mortal realm who are causing mischief, and return them to the ancestors. He keeps a close watch for rumors of haunted areas or unusual entities, and will hunt down those which he believes to be spirits gone awry. He would gather willing participants; likely from whatever settlement is being bothered, and venture with them to find the source of this rumor.

 

The events could range from PVE, to something akin to hide-and-seek. It all depends on the spirit that has been tracked down, and how it will interact with those who’ve found it. The goal of the event series as a whole is to bring events to more isolated groups, to enrich the atmosphere of the realm of LotC, and to bring one of my favorite styles of events into LotC; monster hunting, of sorts.

[excited 10833]

Mythras shudders.
[[i don't see why not.]]

[Supremacy 3357]

Spirits and Spectral Creatures are not the same. A shaman does not investigate hauntings.

[Xerxes_XIII 2 200]

Spirits and Spectral Creatures are not the same. A shaman does not investigate hauntings.

 

I say haunting using the term rather loosely. The Shaman wouldn't look into anything he didn't deem as being some sort of ancestral spirit. I'm not entirely clear on the lore for them, but my impression is that Tentoa tends to play elementals/spirits/atronachs of that origin; demi-spirits of the ancestors, something like that.

 

This is more of a rough draft than anything anyway, if the community enjoys the idea then I will flesh it out further, clarify this kind of stuff. ^^

[Lago 2569]

I’ve heard from multiple sources that the idea of an elven shaman event character may be controversial, that it may even insult the orcish playerbase. If it does, I apologize. This said, allow me to explain my thinking regarding the character being an elf; and then we’ll talk about this event series as a whole.

 

My reasoning for making this character an elf is relatively simple; to show that it can happen. A common misconception amongst the community is that Shamanish is to Orcs as Runesmithing is to Dwarves. It is not; any race may earn the respect of the spirits and learn to call upon them, it is simply very uncommon for non-orcs to do so.

 

Shamanism is definitely the orc magic. It used to be an orc subrace. While it is possible for orcs to teach others that they accept into their number (they had a dwarf once) that's for the orcs to do rather than the Event Team.

 

Likewise, you can't just use ET powers to spawn in a trained orcish shaman that proceeds to teach others any more than you could with golemcrafting, druidism or necromancy, especially if you've cut the orcs out of the loop.

[Ilikefooddude 414]

I agree with Lago mostly, though have nothing strongly against the idea. I believe

that this type of Event Roleplay is excellent and diverse, and that it is important

that it becomes more common in every playerbase, not just the Orcs'. However,

performing a series of events that will run on for a while that use Shamanism as

a base and 'excludes' Orcs would hold us from a great deal of quality roleplay

that we desperately need at the moment. Simply having a lone man, probably

played by an ET member, handling these events by himself is a massive waste

of the opportunities this type of roleplay can bring for normal players. Additionally,

as Lago outlined, having a player, knowledgeable staff member or not, using

Shamanism that isn't monitored could bring forth a plethora of complications and

conundrums that would best be avoided. 
Don't take this to be a selfish request, however- quite the opposite, in fact! Even

though the Orcs need this type of roleplay, keeping it from everybody else would

be extremely detrimental to our race anyway, as we'd become secluded, cut off,

and generally a playerbase living off events that won't last and will get boring quickly.

Instead, I believe that the best way to do this is to indeed have these events open

to all races, but to somehow directly incorporate the Orcs into it so they don't miss

out.
With the public release of the new Farseer Shamanism lore, a few changes to the

current Farseer Shamans, and a few other surprises our current Head Shaman

has whipped up, within the next few weeks I can guarantee that we'll see a massive

increase in the 'Spirit Realm Blanace' type of roleplay for everyone which should

help to maintain the Orc's playerbase's members for a long while to come.

 

Sorry if something's not worded out right, or I didn't explain myself quite right. It's

pretty late for me, so i'll get some sleep and sort anything out in the morning.

[Tentoa 1991]

Shamanism is definitely the orc magic. It used to be an orc subrace. While it is possible for orcs to teach others that they accept into their number (they had a dwarf once) that's for the orcs to do rather than the Event Team.

 

Likewise, you can't just use ET powers to spawn in a trained orcish shaman that proceeds to teach others any more than you could with golemcrafting, druidism or necromancy, especially if you've cut the orcs out of the loop.

I think the intention is more to create an event character to lead others around and have them fight rampaging spirits. I don't think the intent is to exclude any certain race but to add a spin to the event in the form of an elf having the magic. He did bring up the concern that it is a flexible concept and that the small twist there in could change to suit the community's opinion on the matter.

I think (or rather after heavy discussion with the author of the idea) Know that the intention is to present an interesting task for humans, orcs, dwarves, and elves alike to participate in.

From what I hear as well speaking to my fellow ET member,HeeroZero I learned that Gojira'bar was indeed a shaman and has been recycled for the purpose of this event and that if this event is to go through that it will be a branch off of an already existing and in progress event. The kind of thing that adds organic continuation and actual consequence into the small section of storyline trying to be weaved.

[Xerxes_XIII 2 200]

All very valid points, thank you for the feedback ^.^

 

In more specific regards...

 

 

Shamanism is definitely the orc magic. It used to be an orc subrace. While it is possible for orcs to teach others that they accept into their number (they had a dwarf once) that's for the orcs to do rather than the Event Team.

 

Likewise, you can't just use ET powers to spawn in a trained orcish shaman that proceeds to teach others any more than you could with golemcrafting, druidism or necromancy, especially if you've cut the orcs out of the loop.

 

I agree of course that it's the orcish magic, I could perhaps have worded my statement better. What I meant was that it is possible for other races to learn Shamanismm whereas no race other than dwarves even has the capability to learn Runesmithing. As far as I'm aware, at least.

 

In regards to the random spawning of a trained orcish shaman, I'd recommend you speak with Heero in regards to that. The concept was for Heero's event Shaman character to have taught the one mentioned in this idea. I believe he had some lore regarding how his character came to be, and lore regarding a blank period of time in which the character could have taught another. Not, of course, that I don't see the potential issues with that idea in itself.

 

Anyway, thank you fellers for posting your thoughts on the idea. 

[Xerxes_XIII 2 200]

I agree with Lago mostly, though have nothing strongly against the idea. I believe

that this type of Event Roleplay is excellent and diverse, and that it is important

that it becomes more common in every playerbase, not just the Orcs'. However,

performing a series of events that will run on for a while that use Shamanism as

a base and 'excludes' Orcs would hold us from a great deal of quality roleplay

that we desperately need at the moment. Simply having a lone man, probably

played by an ET member, handling these events by himself is a massive waste

of the opportunities this type of roleplay can bring for normal players. Additionally,

as Lago outlined, having a player, knowledgeable staff member or not, using

Shamanism that isn't monitored could bring forth a plethora of complications and

conundrums that would best be avoided. 

Don't take this to be a selfish request, however- quite the opposite, in fact! Even

though the Orcs need this type of roleplay, keeping it from everybody else would

be extremely detrimental to our race anyway, as we'd become secluded, cut off,

and generally a playerbase living off events that won't last and will get boring quickly.

Instead, I believe that the best way to do this is to indeed have these events open

to all races, but to somehow directly incorporate the Orcs into it so they don't miss

out.

With the public release of the new Farseer Shamanism lore, a few changes to the

current Farseer Shamans, and a few other surprises our current Head Shaman

has whipped up, within the next few weeks I can guarantee that we'll see a massive

increase in the 'Spirit Realm Blanace' type of roleplay for everyone which should

help to maintain the Orc's playerbase's members for a long while to come.

 

Sorry if something's not worded out right, or I didn't explain myself quite right. It's

pretty late for me, so i'll get some sleep and sort anything out in the morning.

 

The goal of the idea was to make it as wide-spread as possible, not limiting it to any particular playerbase. By the nature of it involving Shamanism it would involve the orcs no matter what; be that in the event character seeking advice from other shamans, or simply mingling with the Orcs as would be his nature. As Lago said, Shamanism is the orcish magic. Where one is, so too must be the other. 

 

As far as the use of shamanism by an uninformed ET member, that does of course pose some issues. I, to be entirely honest, hadn't thought of it. However I do think that it could be relatively easily fixed by requiring the ET member chosen to play this shaman character to be taught OOCly of it's workings. Perhaps the shaman may even bring along others of his discipline to assist in these pseudo-exorcisms; providing both roleplay for the other shamans and by extension the orcs, and giving a safety net of someone more experienced who is able to correct any potential mistakes.

[Lago 2569]

Or just get an existing orc shaman to play the lead.

[hellfiazz 878]

Also, according to lore, spirits cannot physically enter the mortal realm, unless they are an ancestral spirit in the body of a muyakelg or being temporarily summoned by a Lutauman. A spirit may only influence the mortal realm from the spirit realm.

 

Perhaps something better than a "rogue spirit" (such as thing doesn't really exist, just differing levels of apathy towards mortals) would be a rogue muyakelg, whereby the shaman who created this muyakelg has died, and as such this muyakelg has nothing stopping it from rampaging around the Fringe. To add to this, the muyakelg could have been created by a relatively poor Lutauman, and as such it is very bestial and primitive-minded.

[Heero 4077]

Also, according to lore, spirits cannot physically enter the mortal realm, unless they are an ancestral spirit in the body of a muyakelg or being temporarily summoned by a Lutauman. A spirit may only influence the mortal realm from the spirit realm.

 

Perhaps something better than a "rogue spirit" (such as thing doesn't really exist, just differing levels of apathy towards mortals) would be a rogue muyakelg, whereby the shaman who created this muyakelg has died, and as such this muyakelg has nothing stopping it from rampaging around the Fringe. To add to this, the muyakelg could have been created by a relatively poor Lutauman, and as such it is very bestial and primitive-minded.

I spoke to Benji recently and he actually had a fair amount of inspiration come from this relating from BoogerBuster's little series on Shamanism that he was producing during his time on the MAT as well as BrandNewKitten's elemental Imps that were manifestations of elemental spirits in the mortal planes. Whilst I can't locate the solid lore on these Imps Kitten brought forth (even after scowering the ET forums) I did come across Booger's Shamanism series which even I look to as inspiration to when I've done my few Shaman/Orc related events. Just something to take into consideration.

 

Booger's phenomical and sadly incomplete Shaman series:

http://www.lordofthecraft.net/topic/91351-the-tales-of-green-smoke-wip/

 

Edit: I did recently discover these three posts/threads that breifly touch on Kitten's Imps;

http://www.lordofthecraft.net/topic/94627-delver-artifact-auction-a-source-of-infinite-power/#entry846895

http://www.lordofthecraft.net/topic/90471-mythological-creatures-creaturewip/?view=findpost&p=799937

http://www.lordofthecraft.net/topic/95219-imps-lore/#entry854145

 

There was also Tentoa's ET character that was some greater/immortal spirit of justice that manifested for a short time in the Fringe to counter the Wraiths and Necromancers;

http://www.lordofthecraft.net/topic/110038-to-avenge-peace-broken/?view=findpost&p=1036430

 

[hellfiazz 878]

I imagine in the past that such things were the case, but that was before the Lore Team got on our arses about shamanism lore. As of now, spirits can't exist in the mortal realm. Though I do like the idea of each greater elemental having a mortal avatar that shares their consciousness, so maybe at some point I could ask the Lore Team about it.

 

With the Imps, if they were accepted lore, then they obviously could be present.

[HuskyPuppy 255]

The feedback from this event is noted.