Draenei: The Naaru Have Not Forgotten Us

Hello all!

The draenei are one of my favorite races in World of Warcraft. There is an elegance to them, and a sense of perseverance throughout all of the hardships their species has faced. I really love their story, and several of my characters are draenei. Oft times they are referred to as “space goats”, an accurate moniker.

 

(For anyone who's interested: This is one of my draenei characters, Velmaara.)

 

You see, the draenei in WoW are not actually natives of the planet of Azeroth. They come from another world – and in order to understand their religion, I need to give a little bit of a history of the draenei first.

The draenei were originally known as the eredar, and they dwelt upon the planet Argus. They had a great civilization there, and they pursued both peace and knowledge. In time, a being named Sargeras came to the three eredar who led their people. He offered them additional power, and knowledge of planets beyond their own, if in return they would open a portal to bring him to their world.

Unfortunately, Sargeras was not what he seemed. In fact, he was the leader of the demonic force known as the Burning Legion. He sought galactic domination and the destruction of all living things. The eredar, not knowing this, put it to a vote whether they should accept his offer of aid. Two of them agreed. The third, the prophet named Velen, was unsure.

 

An ancient artifact gifted to the eredar had showed him a vision of great darkness and despair, making him question the motives of Sargeras. He was unable to convince the other council members...but through the grace of the naaru Velen was able to save some of his people.

The naaru were the same beings who had given the eredar the artifact which granted Velen his vision. They are some of the oldest beings in the universe. In the beginning there was only Light and Void. From the Light formed the naaru, “benevolent creatures composed of scintillating holy energies.” The naaru swore upon their creation that they would safeguard all living things in the universe, nurturing the races that they found and spreading hope through the holy power of the Light.

 

 

This task put them into conflict with the Burning Legion, whose sole goal was annihilation of all things.

Knowing what Sargeras had planned for the eredar, one of the naaru – a being named K'ure – contacted Velen. He offered to help Velen and any eredar he trusted escape Argus before its doom arrived. Velen agreed, and with the help of the naaru a number of eredar boarded a space ship and fled Argus. From then on Velen and his followers would call themselves the draenei, meaning the “exiled ones.”

The Burning Legion's leader, Sargeras, was infuriated by Velen's escape. He killed or corrupted all eredar who had remained on Argus, turning many of them into demons to flush out his army's ranks. The anger of Sargeras was limitless, and he would continue to track the draenei for thousands of years, determined to kill them for their betrayal.

The draenei explored many worlds before eventually settling down and attempting to make their home on a planet called Draenor. Through all this time the naaru continued to aid and teach the draenei, including educating them about the Holy Light. The Light is not a being, and so cannot really be referred to as a god. Rather, it is something that is everywhere and within everyone, a power of goodness and righteousness. The draenei worship both the Light and the naaru.

(The best real-world example I can give for this is found in Christianity. Imagine if Christians worshiped both God and the angels – it's as close as I can come to the idea of the Light and the naaru.)

Unfortunately for the draenei, Sargeras eventually found them and sent the Burning Legion to destroy them. A great battle ensued, and the draenei once again attempted to escape via space ship. This ship, the Exodar, crash landed on the planet of Azeroth...adding the draenei to the denizens of the World of Warcraft.

Interestingly enough, the naaru are not incorruptible beings. There are two examples within WoW that I know of where the naaru have, for lack of a better term, “gone dark side.”

The first is K'ara. When the draenei first fled to Draenor, something went terribly wrong with their ship. To protect the draenei, K'ara sacrificed herself. However, the naaru was not killed. Instead, she became infected with shadow. The ancient enemy of the Light is the Void, and the naaru found herself serving that very thing. The orcs who found her named her the Dark Star, and her powers were used in dark necromantic rituals. Eventually K'ara was found by the draenei. To purify her, Velen sacrificed himself. It was enough to cleanse K'ara of the Void and return her to the side of the Light.

The second darkened naaru is M'uru. He was captured by the blood elves, a race with whom the draenei have long been in conflict. The blood elves crave power above all else, and saw in M'uru a source of power. They imprisoned him and siphoned off his energy for their own uses, including summoning a great demon. M'uru gradually became a force of darkness. In the game it is possible to fight him – he's a boss in one of the raids in WoW. When M'uru is defeated a great shadow appears, and he transforms into a terrible demon.

(M'uru and his demonic evolution.)

I'll wrap this up with one last example of the naaru.

One of my favorite story lines in WoW showcases the tenderness and mercy of the naaru. There's a quest chain in a zone called Icecrown that revolves around Crusader Bridenbrad. Bridenbrad was a brave and noble fighter who contracted the plague, which gradually turns one into an undead monster. Not wanting to risk infecting anyone, he went into self-imposed exile far in the snowy wastes of Icecrown and waited to die. A commanding officer sends the player's character to try and find Bridenbrad.

When you find the Crusader and bring word back to the officer of his condition, you are sent on a quest to try and find a way to cure him of the plague. Such a good and noble man cannot be allowed to die. The player is sent first to the dragon Alexstrasza, the Aspect of Life in Azeroth. She attempts to cleanse Bridenbrad of the plague, but is unable to rid him of it entirely. Next you go to a being named Cenarius, a demigod who is revered by the druids. He too is unable to cure Bridenbrad of the plague.

At last you are sent to visit one of the naaru, a being named A'dal. When you go to him he says that he knows of Bridenbrad already. “The Light will take care of its own. I will extend my blessing to Bridenbrad and he shall not endure the corruption of undeath.”

Upon returning to the Crusader, A'dal and two other naaru appear above him. “Fear not, young one, for this crusader shall not taste death. In life, Bridenbrad was the bearer of great deeds. Now, in passing, he shall taste only paradise. The Light does not abandon its champions.”

As the naaru speaks, Bridenbrad's body rises into the air. He is taken by the naaru to a better place, and the plague is defeated.

I do the quest chain on every character I have. It never fails to bring me to tears. Even more touching is the fact that Crusader Bridenbrad is actually based on a real person – one who died from cancer.

The Light – and the naaru – take care of their own.

What did you guys think?

Intro to Warcraft Mythology

Hello all!

For this series of posts, I thought I'd try something a little new.  I've looked before (briefly) at some of the mythology in Star Wars, and at the way mythology has influenced pop culture.  Now, for the first time, I'm starting a series of posts on the mythology within a video game.  Let us turn now to the wonderful:

Some of my readers have likely figured out that I play World of Warcraft (given my oh-so-subtle references to it in a number of posts).  I've been a WoW gamer since 2008, and part of what's made me stick with the game is the story.  World of Warcraft has a hugely intricate and diverse backstory, explored not only in WoW itself but also in the precursor games (e.g., Warcraft) and a large number of books.  One of their most recently released books, called Chronicle, was a comprehensive backstory for the world, beginning with the creation of the universe.

As both a Warcraft and mythology nerd, I totally geeked out over that.

The more I've explored it, the more I've come to realize that the mythologies found within World of Warcraft are every bit as rich as their real-world counterparts.  Part of this is because most of the myths and gods of the various races in WoW are based upon real-world religions - a theme I intend to explore in my posts.

So, since the Warcraft movie is coming out soon, I thought I'd start a series of posts about the mythology within World of Warcraft.  I'll be taking a look in the next several weeks at the deities and practices of several of the different races in the game - both Horde and Alliance.

I'll do my best to make sure these posts are interesting for WoW players and non-gamers alike.  I have a few friends in WoW who haven't known about some of the lore I'm discussing, and I'm running all of my posts through a non-WoW playing beta reader before publishing them (thanks Mom!).  If you have questions, please shoot me an email or comment below!  I'd love to clarify or discuss anything you'd like to know.

Interestingly enough, several of the races in WoW worship the same deities, just under different names.  This is true of the night elves and the tauren, who worship the moon goddess.  To the night elves she is known as Elune, whereas the tauren know her as Mu'sha.  Mu'sha and Elune share the same stories and powers between the two races, despite their difference in name.

Other races within World of Warcraft worship beings from the same general family.  The night elven druids revere the Wild Gods, ancient and powerful deities who take the form of animals.  The trolls perform rituals to members of the loa, their own name for the Wild Gods.  Even the pandaren worship a group of Wild Gods, though they know the four beings they devote themselves to as the August Celestials.

Then there's the interesting dynamics between the draenei and the human religions.  Draenei worship both the Light and the Naaru (who are servants of the Light).  Humans, on the other hand, learned about the Light through the Naaru but devoted themselves solely to worship of the former.

All of this and more will be talked about in my posts.  I'm super excited for this, guys, and I hope you are too!  I'll see you next week!

Monster In My Pool

Hello all!

So, back in February I realized that I would become quite busy with school this semester.  I began a stockpile of posts, and expanded that stockpile for as long as I could before homework swamped me.  For the past several months, those have been the posts that I have been posting.

Unfortunately, I misjudged how long my semester would be.  My last post was the final post I had written ahead of time, and I'm still in the middle of finals.

So this week, we're doing something a little different!
The following is a short story I wrote that took first place in my college's writing contest in 2014.  I'd be very interested to hear what you guys think of it.  It's title is Monster In My Pool.

There’s a monster in my swimming pool.

I love the water, and I love to swim. I always have. So my father and stepmother looked at me quite oddly when I left the water and announced that there was a monster in the pool.

“Sweetheart, there’s no such thing as monsters,” they assured me.

I shook my head, ignoring the amused glances they were trading. “I know that! But there’s something there.”

My dad sighed. “Don’t you think your mum and I would have seen if something was there?”

I groaned. Honestly, adults can be so dense sometimes. “I didn’t see it! But I can hear it singing to me!”

My father blinked. My step-mom coughed. They shared another look, and I knew it was hopeless – they just couldn’t understand.

“It…sings to you.” One of my stepmother’s eyebrows had disappeared beneath her bangs.

“Shhh…” my dad scolded. “Let’s all be quiet for a minute, and see if we can hear.”

The wind rustled in the plants. The neighbor’s dog barked. I heaved a sigh. “I can’t hear it here! It’s only when I’m underwater!”

My step-mom heaved herself to her feet. “Alright, enough! There is no such thing as monsters. If you’re hearing singing, it’s probably a neighbor’s stereo or something.”

My dad nodded sagely. “Besides, there’s just dirt below the pool. Or is the monster invisible?”

My lip began to tremble. “But the drains…” I whispered.

“Then go inside. The ‘monster’ can’t hurt you there.”
 

…
 

I looked up over my breakfast the next day to see my step-mom exit the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Her dripping hair left puddles on the floor as she walked over to my father.

Her voice was faint, but my ears perked up at what little I heard.

“Faint humming…washing my hair…maybe he’s right, Howard!”

My father harrumphed. “Nonsense. Must be the neighbors.”

“…like nothing I’ve ever heard!”

They whispered for a few more minutes before turning to look at me. I pretended to be engrossed in my cereal.

“Harry, dear, come over here,” my stepmother called.

I pushed back my chair and walked to them, wrestling to keep my curiosity off my face.

“Yes?” I asked, as innocently as I could.

They glanced at each other, and a moment later my father rolled his eyes. “Your mother and I think it might be best if you stayed out of the pool for a bit. The water seems a bit off – we’ll have it drained and refilled tomorrow.”

A bit of color returned to my stepmother’s face as he spoke, and I nodded. I wasn’t keen to return to the singing.

…
 

I hopped into the shower before bed that night and nearly screamed as the water covered me. The voice was there, the haunting melody whispering to me!

I backed out of the water and the voice faded. Maybe I could do without a shower tonight.

…
 

My sleep was uneasy, my dreams troubled. I woke with a start to see a strange light creeping through my window.

I looked at it for a while, my mind struggling to wake up, and slowly realized that I was hearing voices from outside.

One was my father’s. He sounded happy, speaking of the events of the past day, and I lay back and listened to his voice rumble. Hearing him always made me feel safe.

So when the next voice spoke, I froze.

There was a melody to it that reminded me of her singing, even though there was no rhythm to what she spoke. Her words were faint and mesmerizing, though they were too quiet for me to make them out.

I sat there for a moment, shaking as I tried to gather courage. It took me longer than I cared to admit, but finally I stood and crept towards my window.

My father lounged by the side of the pool, laughing in a carefree manner I hadn’t seen in years. The woman was inside the pool, arms crossed on the edge as her long hair flowed free behind her. She was beautiful, radiant – and terrifying. The strange light that dimly lit my room seemed to emanate from her, and I would swear I saw scales below the water.

The porch light flickered on suddenly, and I bolted as my stepmother called out, “Howard!”

I rounded the corner to the kitchen in time to see her recover from her shock. I made a noise that might have been a whimper as I darted forward, trying to catch her arm, but she was already stalking towards the pool – and there was no way I was following her there.

Peering around the corner of the door I saw the strange woman throw her head back and laugh, my father joining her.

“What is going on?” There was a tone of dismay in my stepmother’s voice.

My father stood. “Ah, Esme. I’d like you to come and meet someone.”

“I have no desire to meet anyone!” she replied harshly. “Though I’d thank you to entertain your female friends when I’m not at – is she naked!?”

The strange woman laughed as I took a second look at her, and I blushed to see that my step-mom was right – but at least the woman’s hair covered everything vital.

My father extended his hand. “Sweetheart, it’s not what you think. Come here, I’ll show you.”

His voice was rich, soothing, and though my eyes were seeing things that ought to make me panic, my ears were proclaiming everything right in the world.

My step-mom blinked and swayed, her voice unsure. “It’s alright?”

“It is,” my father replied, his voice becoming more melodious every second. “Come to me, my sweet.”

My stepmother took a slow step forward, then another, reaching out to take my father’s hand.

He grinned as she grasped it, and she returned his smile tentatively. “Esme, my dear,” he said slowly. She nodded, as trusting as a sheep being led to the slaughter.

She was still smiling as he threw her into the water.

“I’d like you to meet my first wife!”

I screamed as the strange woman threw back her head, her eyes suddenly glowing red as her teeth extended into fangs. The light that trailed around her became more sickly and hostile as she turned and pounced on my step-mother.

My father turned at the sound of my scream, positioning his body so I couldn’t see anything in the water – but nothing could stop me from hearing it. I turned to run, to escape the awful sounds, but his voice caught me mid-step.

“Harry,” he called out. “Oh, Harry!”

I couldn’t move; his voice held me in place.

“Haven’t you ever wondered why you love the water so much, Harry? Come to us. We’ll show you.”

I fought his control, desperate to move. I couldn’t let them do – do –

            The strange woman’s voice joined his own. “Come, my son. I’m ever so anxious to meet you!”

Son.

Suddenly I couldn’t remember why I’d been so desperate to run. It was silly, really – my mother wanted to meet me.

I turned with a grin. “Hello, mummy,” I exclaimed.

She and my father grinned at me. Her lipstick was a bit off – well, quite a bit, really. Red from the nose down. But she had such a pleasant smile.

“Come into the water, son,” my father called. “It’s a lovely night.”

I raced to join them.

 

(This picture was drawn specifically for this story by an art student at my college named Georgia.  She was absolutely amazing, and generous enough to give me the original.  I have it sitting in my bedroom.)

 

What did you guys think?

 

I've already got most of my research done for my next series of posts, and am getting started on writing them.  Tune in next week when I delve into something I haven't really explored before - the mythology of a fictional universe!

 

I'll see you then!

Lucretia: Honor At All Costs

Hey all!  Today we're going to be taking a look at the story of Lucretia, one of the most important women in Roman mythology.

Please note that today's post is in no way supposed to glamorize suicide.  I actually struggled with writing this post because, while I love the story, I didn't want to send the wrong message to people.  The woman I'm discussing lived in a different time with different social mores.  She chose what she deemed the best option given her gender, her circumstances, and her sense of duty and honor.

Lucretia is actually not a mythological character.  She was an actual woman who lived in ancient Rome when it was still a monarchy.  Her story is so important that it has been told and retold until it became a part of the Roman myths - I first heard about it in a mythology college class, in fact.  Various embellishments and variances have been added to her story throughout the years, granting it the status of a legend, but the core history of it remains true.

Shall we begin?

I've mentioned before that the traits which were most valued in ancient Rome were duty and honor.  One had a duty to Rome, to their family, and to themselves.  Both the country, the family, and the person also had a sense of honor which they were expected to uphold at all times.  A lot of focus is put upon the male side of this; sacrifices made by military men for the good of Rome, politicians who chose to step down for the sake of their family's honor, things like that.

What doesn't get talked about often is the fact that the women were expected to do their duty and preserve both they and their family's honor every bit as much as the men were.  That is the primary theme of the story of Lucretia.

When our tale begins, Rome is ruled by a king.  She is also at war, and many of her men are on the front lines.  A group of these men, officers and nobles, begin to boast one day of their wives.  They each claim that their wife is the best, a paragon of virtue.  This goes on for a bit before the prince of Rome, Sextus, suggests that the men take a brief break from the front lines.  Why not return to the house of each man, and see what their wives are really up to while the head of the household is gone?

The men agree, and they ride back to the city straight away.  As a group they visit one another's homes.  Each man's wife is found to be unconcerned with the war, or their husbands' safety.  They are instead hosting parties, drinking, and in general being frivolous.

All, that is, save for Lucretia.

When Lucius takes the men to his house, he finds his wife Lucretia with the house lights dimmed.  By candlelight she and the servants are weaving bandages to send to the front lines.  (What she's doing varies depending on the version of the story, but this is my favorite.)  She greets her husband and his friends and serves as hostess to them, and everyone in the group is impressed by her.  After a while the group takes its leave, with Lucius' wife having won the bet for him.

Unfortunately, Prince Sextus was very impressed by Lucretia.

Within a few days the prince rides back to Lucretia's home, this time without anyone else present.  He enters her bedchambers and begins to make advances on Lucretia.

She refuses him flat out.  Sextus threatens to rape her, and Lucretia swears that she will die before allowing him to dishonor her husband's name in such a way.

Furious, Sextus becomes even more of a scumbag than he already is.  He tells Lucretia that if she will not allow him to have sex with her, he will kill her.  He will then also kill a slave within the house, and arrange the two of them in bed together to make it look like they were having sex.

Adultery was a terrible crime for women in ancient Rome, particularly with a slave.  To be found in such a way would bring great shame to Lucius' name and household.

To avoid this, Lucretia agrees to Sextus' demands.  She lets him rape her, and he leaves in the morning.

Lucretia then rises and sends a messenger to the front lines of the army.  She requests that her husband and her father return home, and that they each bring one man with them as a witness.  Concerned, the men do so.  When they arrive she tells them everything that occurred.  The men are horrified, and swear revenge for her.

Now, Lucretia earns my respect just for this.  Talking about sexual abuse is terrifying, and many victims (sadly and wrongly) feel a sense of shame.  To tell your husband and father immediately after the rape took place takes a lot of courage...but it is Lucretia's next actions for which she is famous.

Lucretia is a smart woman.  She knows that the tale will make its way around Rome.  She also knows that a lot of attention will fall on her family because of what happened to her.  If no punishment is dealt out for the adultery, Lucretia worries that women will use her as an example in the future.  Perhaps a woman will meet willingly with a lover, and then call it rape and point out that Lucretia went unpunished.

Because of this, Lucretia draws her dagger.  Before the eyes of the witnesses, she plunges it into her heart.  Her dying words are "Let no unchaste woman plead Lucretia's example to outlive her dishonor."

It seems horrifying in this day and age.  However, for that culture, Lucretia's suicide satisfied both her personal honor, the honor of her husband's, name, and the honor of Rome.  Her death served as punishment for her adultery.  No woman in the future would be able to cheat on her husband, brining dishonor to his name, without consequences.

This was what the Romans considered the ultimate duty of a woman to her family and to her country.

Lucretia's death makes those in the room weep and mourn...and it strikes a fire in the hearts of one, the witness brought by Lucretia's husband.  His name is Brutus, and he is a politician.  He stands and declares vengeance upon Sextus for his actions, and upon all of the royal family.

Following Brutus' lead, the other men all also swear to tear down the monarchy as justice for Lucretia.

Under Brutus' watch, the armies of Rome rise up against the royal family, who are eventually driven out of Rome.  It is in this way that the monarchy of Rome is abolished, and the Roman Republic established.

And all because of Lucretia.

It's a pretty depressing story, but it's also quite interesting to me that the overthrow of the nobility and the rise of the republic are all attributed to the actions of a female.

I found out while looking at images for this post that Shakespeare wrote a poem called The Rape of Lucrece about these events.  I haven't read it before, but I'm definitely planning on checking it out.

What did you guys think?

Janus: Looking Ahead and Looking Behind

Hey guys!  Today we're going to be taking a look at yet another character on the Roman pantheon: Janus, a god with two faces.

Now, calling someone two-faced in today's culture is definitely an insult.  It implies that they're liars.  It might bring to mind Harvey Dent, or perhaps Voldemort and Quirrell.  Because of this, one might assume that a god with two faces is a deity of liars, or at least a somewhat duplicitous god.

That is not the case with Janus.

In fact, Janus is one of the good gods.  He's also one of the most powerful within the Roman pantheon.  Because his two faces look in opposite directions, Janus is believed to be able to see both the beginning and the end of all things.

And I do mean all things.  As such, the name of Janus was traditionally invoked during all religious ceremonies, regardless of what was being prayed for or which other gods were receiving sacrifices.  You could go to the temple and pray for Juno's blessing on your family, but Janus would receive an offering at the beginning of the ceremony.  Want victory in war?  You'd go and pray to Mars, but in the process would also offer something to Janus.

Besides being a part of all of the religious rituals, Janus also had a few things associated with him specifically.  Doors and doorways were especially tied to the god, for it was believed that one of his heads saw through the front of the door and one through the back.  As such, he could see what lay ahead and what lay behind.  This applied to every doorway, ranging from the entrance/exit of your home to the main gate of Rome.

Other things associated with Janus included the beginning and end of a day, the transitions between peace and war, and life and death.  All of these things had one thing in common: change.

Perhaps most interesting (at least to me) was Janus' association with time.  His heads were said to allow him to see both the past and the future.  He had witnessed the beginning of all things, and could see ahead to the end.

I'll end with this: Though the term two-faced has nowadays come to be very negative, remnants of Janus can still be found.  There's a type of birth disorder called diprosopus, in which a creature is born with two faces.  When this occurs in a cat, the cat is termed a 'Janus cat'.

I hope you guys enjoyed the post!  I'll see you next week when we wrap up this series on Rome with a story about Lucretia.