(( Cross posting this from wow-tng.net ))
Ages ago, a young Gurubashi troll aspired to be something great. Too weak and clumsy to be a warrior, and passed over to become a shadow priest, he received no training. But the young troll was sharp minded and eager to learn, and took up studying the shadows on his own. Mindgames, trickery, deceit, they were all so exciting and fun, amplified by the power of the shadows. Over the years as the troll grew into young adulthood and expanded his powers, an old witchdoctor took notice, and called the young troll into her tent.
"Aderlee... Don' squandah joo gift on tricks and games. Remembah... Knowledge is powah. Bring me t'ree tings, and I will teach joo true powah."
Aderlee, the young troll, jumped at this opportunity to learn and set off to find three things worthy, to prove his worth as an apprentice. He left the village to begin his quest, but found it to be more difficult than he first imagined. Hours turned into days, days into weeks, weeks into months. Aderlee traveled far and wide, learning of the world in his search for items. Finally confident, he returned to the witchdoctor. A vial of spider venom from the Witherbark tribe, a stolen kal'dorei scroll of alchemical recipes, and a drakkari fetish.
Upon returning, the witchdoctor scrutinized the three items with a frown, "Aderlee, wat makes dese tings so special?"
Aderlee flourished his hand over the items, "Notting. Any mon could 'ave gotten ju dese tings. Wat dey show is dat I traveled far and wide, saw many tings, learned many tings about de world. Like ju said, knowledge is powah. I learned from my quest."
The old witchdoctor grinned, swiping at the items and scattering them across her floor, "Okie! I see joo 'ave learned, let's begin."
Thus, Aderlee began his apprenticeship as a witchdoctor. His master's first lesson, "A witchdoctah is expected tah 'eal. Joo will learn tah 'eal. Wield not de powah of nature and spirits, but blood and life. Feel de energy inside, de flowing blood, and bend it tah joo will." Aderlee learned to manipulate the body's life force. Using the body's own natural functions, he could speed up the rate of self healing, or cause the body to fight and injure itself. He learned to control the flow of adrenaline, to give a boost of energy and pain tolerance, or to slow down the body with fatigue. He learned to harden the skin like iron to protect against attack, or weaken the flesh to make it soft and vulnerable. This magic held no advantage over traditional healing, but Aderlee would eventually learn why his master healed this way.
As Aderlee learned, the witchdoctor's life faded, nearing death without completing Aderlee's training.
As she lay on her deathbed, she weakly handed Aderlee a small book which she kept close to her at all times, "Aderlee... My biggest regret is not finishin' dis... My body is dyin', but my mind isn't ready. Take it, and finish my work. Joo can do it." As the last breath escaped her lips, Aderlee flipped through the pages, his eyes widening in surprise at what was written on the pages.
"Dis... Shouldn't be possible." He eyed over the dead witchdoctor, contemplating his choices. He spoke to the dead body, "If ju be right, den dis means immortality... I'll finish ju work." Aderlee gathered his things from the witchdoctor's hut, and immediately set out once again, this time instead of hunting three objects, he was in a hunt for knowledge.
"If I don't finish 'er work, I 'ave ta pass on dis knowledge, like she did." Aderlee's first goal was to find an apprentice of his own, recruiting a young Hakkari troll to assist Aderlee in his quest, and to learn everything he knows. For decades, the two traveled far and wide, Aderlee collecting knowledge in his pursuit of finishing his master's work, the apprentice learning from Aderlee and becoming a renown healer. Aderlee never revealed the true purpose of their hunt for knowledge, simply stating his master's words, "Knowledge is powah. De more ju learn, de more powerful ju become."
Finally, in the 11th hour, the research was complete and Aderlee was ready. Frail, old, weak and near death, Aderlee prepared the ceremony with his apprentice. Lines of blood were drawn on the floor, incense lit, and potions imbibed. As the apprentice waved his hands and danced around the circle, Aderlee spoke six words for the first of hundreds of times.
"Bound by flesh. Freed by blood!" A dagger plunged deep into Aderlee's heart and his blood spilled into the circle. The aging troll fell to his knees, wiggling his fingers to work his magic of manipulating life forces. His blood and life force seeped across the floor as his spirit left his body, with only one place to go. The apprentice let out a scream and fell to the ground flailing as Aderlee's spirit invaded his body. As Aderlee's life force weaved into the apprentice's, their spirits, minds, and life forces became one. Quiet minutes passed by after the short bout of chaos. Aderlee slowly rose to his feet, looking upon the old and withered body he had cast aside. He patted himself down, checking the young body of his former apprentice, almost surprised that the ritual had worked.
"Sorry boy, my body was finished, but my mind wasn't. It 'ad tah be done. Knowledge is powah, hehe." For the first of hundreds of times to come, Aderlee gathered his things and left his old body behind. There was more knowledge to learn, and life had just begun anew.
Knowledge is power
Re: Knowledge is power
The report left Khorvis skeptical of his agent's sanity. He set the parchment down on a stone sill and rubbed his temples, his good eye having been strained in the dim candlelight of the mailroom. It was not uncommon for the High Inquisitor to open the missives even before returning to his office, and this one in particular had stopped the orc in his tracks.
"A ritual killing do not be so odd in the circles of the Gurubashi," he growled at the night air. "May be the jungle has gone to this one's head..."
And yet, the letter was adamant, frantic even. His agent's father had been murdered in an identical fashion, some decades before. Now the same killer had returned and left a bloodless husk of a corpse just outside the walls of the fort. 'Taunting' him with paternal loss, the report claimed.
"If there do be a hunter of Horde on the loose to the South, it had best bear watching. Phaw, just want I do need..."
"A ritual killing do not be so odd in the circles of the Gurubashi," he growled at the night air. "May be the jungle has gone to this one's head..."
And yet, the letter was adamant, frantic even. His agent's father had been murdered in an identical fashion, some decades before. Now the same killer had returned and left a bloodless husk of a corpse just outside the walls of the fort. 'Taunting' him with paternal loss, the report claimed.
"If there do be a hunter of Horde on the loose to the South, it had best bear watching. Phaw, just want I do need..."
