Sunday, June 16, 2013

Epilogue


I spent much of the return trip poring over the snapshots Daj’yah had taken of Zul’gurub, wishing very keenly that I’d been there to see.  She was in a much better mood on the return trip; receiving tribal sanction for her position in Booty Bay came as an immense relief to her.

“Mala’ha is still wanting me to start a family there or something.  At least the city gives me more choices than the tribe.  Not sure if that will help, but it’s something.  Besides, she said I had to try; I don’t have to succeed.”

“Do you want to succeed?”

“Not so sure.  Maybe I’m needing to figure that out before anything else.”

Lines of mold greeted us when we opened the door to our apartment, green thickets of the stuff cascading down around a window open to the tropical air.

“Who left the window open?” demanded Daj’yah.

Neither of us could remember who was last in the room, so we satisfied ourselves by blaming the warchief. 

The Bay Dispatch had not been entirely pleased with my request for time off so I volunteered for a week without pay to make up for it.  I had enough money stored up to pay for the rent, and satisfied myself with conjuring my own food and drink.  Given Daj'yah's status and ability, the Steamwheedle Cartel had been more willing to give her the free time (the information and opportunities she brought back with her served to sweeten the deal).

Life resumed as it had before our countryside sojourn, time seeming to pause in a contented blur of work followed by relaxation.  Many nights saw Daj’yah and I simply reading in the apartment, occasionally reciting a particularly choice passage but largely enjoying the quiet.  We weren’t total recluses; the city still beckoned with its lights and excitement, occasionally pulling us out from the Portview Arms to wander its streets, unburdened by any urgency or destination. 

Others drifted in to this pleasant milieu from time to time, Felya being the most frequent visitor.  She often came by unannounced, telling us the latest about the city’s life, the endless ups and downs, the novel cabarets that popped into existence only to vanish the next night.

Felya always tried to wheedle us out of the apartment and succeeded on occasion.  Daj’yah and I made an arrangement for these situations—as someone still alive, she could plead exhaustion, giving us a quick exit in case Felya’s adventure of the night turned out to be more involved than expected. 

I kept up on news regarding the world, both on and off the job.  The Horde stiffened its resolve in Kalimdor, setting up formidable bulwarks across Ashenvale and the Southern Barrens.  The Horde’s depleted forces made further advances impossible, but the surviving warriors vowed to consolidate that which they still held.

However, fresh troops and big guns have a way of dislodging even the most honorable of fighters.  Stormwind’s vanguard had already made landfall in Dustwallow Marsh, uprooting the few pockets of Horde resistance still in the wilderness. 

Ugliness emerged from within the Alliance as it inched towards victory.  Though distrustful of the Horde, the Dispatch did not hesitate to cover stories of Alliance privateers setting alight the coast of Durotar, the partisan crews seeing all orcs as fair game.  The overstretched Horde navy rarely reacted in time, their slow ships finding only the bloody aftermath of such attacks.

The Lordaeronian front remained curiously quiet after the Stromgarders repelled the last Forsaken advance.  Though some hailed their gallantry as a turning point, cooler heads pointed out that they’d be unlikely to survive a second full-on assault.

Some of the delay came from the Alliance’s understandable (if perhaps overcautious) insistence on securing the shipping lines to Lordaeron’s southern coast.   The Alliance probably wishes to secure Tol Barad and the Twilight Highlands before launching a full-scale assault.  The former gives its owner a great deal of air coverage over Gilneas, while the latter still hosts a large Horde fleet.

It is a peculiar situation that Warchief Hellscream would choose to invest so heavily in the Twilight Highlands.  He is, in effect, acting as a bulwark for the Forsaken even as his own defenses crumble.  His forces in the east have been effective, but they are unlikely to make any significant inroads, and will eventually be worn down by Alliance pressure.  

I will admit a certain relief at being so distant from such events.  Perhaps I should not be so hasty; distance no longer means as much as it did in the past.  Nonetheless, I have found a wondrous respite from the Horde's exhausting and self-destructive conflict.  I truly do not know if I am still considered a part of that faction.  

If I am no longer able to travel the world, Booty Bay at least offers a place where the world might travel to me.  Nowhere else in Azeroth can one find such a teeming and cosmopolitan multitude, free to talk and to trade as they see fit.  One needs only to walk down the street to see visitors from a hundred different lands both on and beyond our world.  No one here cares that there are no eyes in my face.

There is no such thing as a perfect place, and Booty Bay is still rife with the sin, callousness, and vice of Steamwheedle society.  For now, in the company of friends, I am content with its imperfections.

*********

((Thank you again for sticking with me through these entries. It's been a great deal of fun, but I simply have to prioritize other matters.

Again, for those who would like to read the unpublished Eastern Kingdoms material, please email me at destron@live.com. The content will cover the Tainted Scar and most of Stormwind, though it does end quite abruptly.

I will continue to write, but will focus on stories that I can publish. In case you missed the earlier update, you can find my first published work here, at Bewildering Stories.))

25 comments:

  1. I've been reading stories of Destron's travels for the last several weeks. From the very first entry to the epilogue, I was absolutely fascinated by the amount of thoughts and details you have put into your writing.

    All the people and their personal stories, cultures, countries, economics, politics, legends, everything that doesn't fit into MMO narrative... They blend together and create an unforgettable living world. I couldn't tell where official canon ended and your own ideas began, though I suspect that if I subscribed to WoW again, I would find it incredibly bland.

    Thank you for writing this travelogue! This is without a doubt one of the best stories I've ever read!

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  2. Why, oh why did you have to leave? Your stories were so awesome, and without new ones comming in I just cant enjoy WoW any more. Can you pleaseeeeeeeeeee do a few more? at least finish of Cataclysm for the love of cookies?

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  3. Send me an email at destron@live.com, and I can give you the unpublished material (it goes up to the islands above Vashj'ir, though it ends very abruptly). I also have some notes on what would have come after that, if you're curious.

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  4. ivanradisic@hotmail.com Please send me everything Destron related and I hope to see your work on the bookshelves one day. To bad you did not write the upcoming Warcraft movie

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  5. Hey, Ivan, I sent you an email but it was sent back to me with a delivery failure notification. Could you just email destron@live.com directly? I'll send the unpublished materials in my response.

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  6. A brilliant end to a brilliant story, thank you for putting in so much work into this travelogue over the years it's truly a sight to behold! I also found Age of Reception to be a fascinating read, filled with the incredible world building and excellent descriptions that first drew me to this series.

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  7. So sad... Now I have to go back to playing WoW. So much more effort than just seeing someone else's made up experience in the game. I will ALWAYS remember the way you depicted the Draenei. One of the in Azure Watch is an exception, swearing about the awful state of the buildings. 'By the foul teat of Kil'Jaeden's rotted torso! The entire backside is blown out! How can people be expected to live in this thing?' is my favorite. It is so different than EVERY way I have ever seen Draenei portrayed before or after. All my characters have a short temper, especially the pandaren, who hates my little brother's character bor being so annoying. My other characters are a little more forgiving.

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  8. Destron, I just wanted you to know that what you did here with this travelogue, is by far the most EPIC thing I've experienced on the interwebz! :) I've spent months reading tru all your posts during this years winter, feeling like I am 12 again, reading LoTR or some other epic fantasy themed mega-book for the first time. :)

    Thank you for all your work and efforts and I wish you all the best in the future mate!

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  9. I've been reading most of the articles and I find them to be nothing short of marvelous, the characters, the way you describe the atmosphere and blend it with the actual gameplay transported me to my old gaming days with a fresh and very interesting view.

    I'm sad to know that you will no longer be publishing the travels of Destron so I can only wish you the best of lucks! And thanks for bringing back the joy of discovery into an already explored universe!

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  10. Come on man, you have to continue the travel loge, mists of pandaria introduced the mantid and the sha, as well others. Please, I really like your writings.

    Pd: If you do something to Daj’yah in the Sigue of Ogrimmar i promise to live a coment complaining xD.

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    1. Aw, thanks!

      I wish I could, but I just don't have the time. I'm trying to get some more original fiction off the ground. Hopefully I'll be able to make a career out of it someday.

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  11. I started reading your travelogue back in 2009 and I've always loved the depth, character and culture you weave into the zones. It makes Azeroth ten times as immersive as it is, and it's a shame Blizzard don't learn from you!

    I consider you an inspiration as I have taken up spare writing in my spare time. I've played through Warlords, and am considering producing my own travelogue. I wish you all the best in your writing endeavours and I'll send you my own work if I get around to it!

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    1. Thanks, and good luck!

      WoD's got a lot of interesting content in-game, so there's plenty to write about.

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  12. Wow, I started reading this a few weeks ago and I've been reading 1 or 2 entries a day on bus to and from work. I love it, all of it. You've breathed so much life into WoW and really at times made me question certain thoughts and opinions I had not even pertaining to WoW. Are the unpublished parts still available for reading, I would love to continue to read about Destron/Talus.

    Do you still play? If so, do you still think in terms of your travelogue or do you take a more relaxed view on questing and adventure now?

    I'm certainly going to be reading your original fiction too.

    Finally, have you any suggestions for someone who wishes to write a story based in the WoW universe?

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  13. Destron, I've read your entire series over and over through the years. I think it would make a fantastic book. Hopefully someday you'll look into getting it published.

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  14. Nice blog. I read your post very nice. thanks for share with us.

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  15. Heya! I just finished reading this series from start to finish for the first time (Also the Legionfall/Island War stuff) and just wanted to say how much I absolutely loved it from start to finish! I'm an ex-WoW player without any plans to return, but this reminded me what brought me into that world in the first place-- and quite honestly, why I wanted to start writing fantasy in the first place.

    Not sure if you still have the unpublished Eastern Kingdoms stuff on hand after all these years, but if it's still around I'd love a chance to read it!

    And out of curiosity if you don't mind questions on the fic even years later-- do you have any ideas how Destron and Daj'yah might've fared during the end of the Fourth War to Legionfall and the Island War? Did they stay in Booty Bay or did Orgrimmar under Vol'jin bring them back? Suppose Sylvanas would've soured that to say the very least.

    Either way, thanks for all the time and creative energy you put into this! Reading this helped me get through some real crazy times.

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    1. Thank you! And sorry for the late reply.

      I do still have the unpublished work. Send me an email at destron@live.com, and I'll send it over to you. Just be warned: it ends extremely abruptly.

      I think Daj'yah would eventually settle down in Booty Bay, though she'd work closely with the Darkspear Tribe. Though her loyalty to her people is strong, she ultimately feels a bit more comfortable in the city, and likely becomes an integral part of the local arcane community.

      Destron would keep traveling, I'm sure. I wouldn't put it past him to have been involved in the Forsaken resistance, though probably in a relatively minor capacity.

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  16. Jacentus DirewoodMay 21, 2021 at 5:45 AM

    After almost a decade I keep coming back to this travelogue. I seem to keep falling through these spirals where I think of going back to WoW, read your travelogue, get excited, go back to WoW, get bored at how shallow the world feels now, try to get back into RP, get bored of WoW again, leave for six months to a year, rinse and repeat. In all honestly, I think I just want to play a TTRPG version of WoW based on your vision of the world.
    I might just take the time to make a custom map for NWN or something to see how it works and try to get a WoW D20 game started from it.
    Anyway, enough of my ramblings, I've been a long time follower and I just wanted to say thanks for all the hard work. (again?) I'm pretty sure one of the anonymous entries up there is me as well but I can't remember which one I am, that's how long ago I posted it, I assume one is me because I get those email updates every time someone comments in the thread.

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    1. That means a lot to me that you're still reading after all this time.

      A custom D20 game based on the travelogue does seem like it could work. The only problem is that the travelogue isn't really organized in a way to make that convenient (you'd need a travelogue wiki, almost). But you could get the gist of it down, I'm sure.

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  17. I don't remember how I came across Destron recently but I was so excited to see the stories again, having read them all a long time ago. Took a few months to read through it all and just wanted to say thanks for putting together such a great series, and creating a world with such depth and vibrancy, through the eyes/sockets of an incredibly compelling, conflicted, struggling, quick witted, entertaining character.

    I went back to the introduction again after finishing the epilogue now, and Destron asks himself "What was there for me, a walking corpse, in any place? At that moment, I resolved to find out." I bet he couldn't have imagined what he'd find outside the Undercity, what he would learn, and who he would become.

    Thanks again <3
    -Gnissa (Bloodscalp Alliance, though I haven't touched the game for almost 10 years)

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    1. Thank you so much for giving it another read! I'm glad it still holds up ten(!) years later.

      There was definitely a bit of autobiography in this. At times, especially when I was in college, it didn't feel like there was any place for me. But like Destron, I resolved to go out and see for myself (and writing this was a part of that). The resulting journey had its ups and downs, but I'm glad that I chose to embark.

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  18. I have a little headcanon that someday in the future Day'jah and Destron will be teaching that mag'har boy rescued from the wilds of Nagrand and the human girl nearly born at Icecrown.

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