July 20th, 2008

Tags: adventurers, death, resurrection Current Music: Strangely silent at the moment. Current Location: Lower City Subject: Immortality? Time: 10:48 pm Current Mood: concerned

Something I've been thinking about has been the relatively recent advent of the ability to resurrect fallen friends. While this has been invaluable to those deemed "adventurers" in their travels, as well as my personal quest against those who would threaten my people, I fear some of the more...psychological effects of this newfound ability. Death has always been the greatest fear of mortal beings, but now we have effectively removed this...barrier. I, myself  have "died" many times. In fact, death has become a common enough occurrence that I hardly think about it anymore. We "adventurers" are effectively immortals walking among the populace. We fear not death, disease, or injury. I fear that this will spawn a dangerous egotism within us. The sheer power wielded by the average adventurer is a dangerous force in itself. Death provided a sense of restraint upon our actions. We would not push ourselves to the point that we now can, and I fear that the loss of this restraint could lead to terrible mistakes and horrific actions. I also worry about some of the longer-term effects this brings about. It is still a relatively newfound ability. Sure Resurrection spells have been around for a long time, but it has been relegated to only a handful of elite priests scattered throughout the races. Now there are hundreds, if not thousands that have access to this power, and the ability now seems restricted only by one's will to use it. This phenomenon has not been around enough to answer some rather important questions. Will it be possible to continually resurrect someone endlessly, or will the spell eventually stop working? Will one's mind be able to handle such an everlasting life, or will the trauma of countless deaths take their toll upon one's sanity? What about our spirits? If the natural cycle of one's spirit returning to the elements is broken, what will it do to the balance of the world? While I certainly see the benefit of such a powerful spell, and will continue to both resurrect others and be resurrected myself, I have many trepidations about the potential negative side-effects. I urge caution to anyone who would use the spell, and I can only hope that we collectively should be willing to lay this power aside if the signs begin to point toward disaster.

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Tags: broken, earth spirits, lower city, rest Current Music: A Mag'har boy is singing an old spiritual chant nearby Current Location: Lower City, Shattrath Time: 02:36 pm Current Mood: rejuvenated

I've been resting the past few days. I feel I've been overextending myself. I know the Burning Legion continues to gather strength, and the call to protect my people, friends, and home has lost no strength over time. However, the stresses of long days fighting and preparing to fight have begun to wear on me. At this point I feel I would be better preparing myself to continue the fight by not preparing, as it were. Instead I have been wandering the Lower City, talking and sharing stories with those displaced from their lands. This has been a good exchange, I feel. The refugees have loved to have someone to talk to, and they are a relatively untapped fount of knowledge and stories. I've even learned a few things about the spirits and elements from an elder Broken. He was apparently a shaman himself before he was displaced from his home in Nagrand, and had a rather deep and personal understanding of many of the earth spirits there. The time spent with him and the other refugees has been enriching, and one I hope to repeat some time in the future.

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July 18th, 2008

Tags: dreaming glory, mana thistle, nagrand, sha'taal Current Location: Floating ship between Hellfire and Netherstorm Time: 08:09 am Current Mood: frustrated

I found myself quite frustrated recently over the position of an herb I would like to collect. You see, I've developed a great path through Nagrand in which I can collect the ingredients from the Dreaming Glory and Felweed plants I require for my mana potions. This new path requires a trip up to a rather demon-infested plateau I can only reach while riding Sha'ataal (my Windrider companion--I named him after my Grandfather, whose name is roughly "Sun Chanter"). This plateau also hosts Mana Thistle, which comes in handy for some of my more powerful potions. I usually find the Mana Thistle in out-of-the-way locations where I can sneak past their patrols and collect my ingredients, but there is one plant I've come across that has proven difficult. At first glance it looks far enough away from one of their warlocks that I would be able to swoop in, collect my ingredients, and fly off, but every time I've tried to get close enough, I end up alerting something to my presence and having to make a hasty retreat. I generally try to avoid unnecessary confrontation, but I may have to consider a more martial approach to collecting from this wayward herb.

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July 17th, 2008

Tags: kara, keepalive, spanish Current Music: Draenic Folk drifting from down the path. Current Location: Shattrath, Lower City Subject: Recent changes, new friends. Time: 09:47 am Current Mood: hopeful

Things have been changing recently, and due to new responsibilities, I have found it difficult to impossible to coordinate with my usual friends. While this is unfortunate, it has opened opportunities to meet new people while accomplishing my goals. Just yesterday I was asked to come along with a group of friends who spoke in a different dialect from the norm. I have actually studied their dialect extensively, but have had little time to actually practice it with native speakers. The experience was rewarding for both sides, I feel. I was able to brush up on my usage, and they were excited to find someone who knew and was willing to learn their dialect, which has precious few practitioners. In all, they were very open and friendly, and they have expressed a high degree of interest in meeting again. I hope I will be able to oblige.

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