World of Warcraft®

The earth spirits will be the first to say that what exists now is not what it was. Even the Cataclysm, though perhaps not at the forefront of most people’s thoughts, is a prime example. In the blink of an eye, what was is no longer. Thaettir contemplated this as he swept the floor of the lodge. A far cry from the longhouse of older times, it was not what was. Like the winds that blow the dust of the Barrens up and away, so had the Homeland been scattered by the winds, to who knows where. With the exception of Greatmother Arjah, whom the winds had carried to a new adventure with the Royal Library, Thaettir was a lonely relic of a bygone era.

He did not let this dismay him, though. As he swept the last of the dust out of the lodge, he took a moment to rest, and to think. His memory was prone to being difficult now and again, but still the credo of the Homeland remained in his ears, if not word-for-word, then at least in spirit:

We are the Homeland. We are sisters and brothers to any who wish them. We are bound by love and respect, not by authority and rank. We are governed by consensus, not by static laws. We are free people. We are a home.
No purpose greater.

No people humbler.

In this time where everyone declares a war on everyone else, there are so many whose homes are destroyed, whose families are taken from them long before the ancestors would have called them. More than ever, people would be in need of a place, of people, to call home. He was only one Tauren, but by the Earthmother, he would do what he could to provide that place to anyone who would need it.

He re-entered the lodge, and took a seat on a mat near the hearth. This lodge would be the first step. Even if people only passed through, rested for a moment, or perhaps even stayed a night, he would make sure that it would be available to anyone who needed it. Should anyone wish to reside, there were plenty of rooms available to house any and all.

Thaettir closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the fire in the meantime. While a house full of life and family was all one could ask, a little time alone to recover from cleaning is always well-deserved.

(("New adventure," indeed. "Peaceful retirement," was the goal, punctuated with the occasional lover half her age...but Arjah will still help the Homeland out if it ever needs, so don't be shy!

If you wanted the full charter from the founding, it was this:

We are the Homeland.

We are mothers and fathers to the children of the Horde.

We are daughters and sons to the parents and childless of the Horde.

We are sisters and brothers to any who wish them.

We are bound by love and respect, not by authority and rank.

We are governed by consensus, not by static laws.

We are free people.

We are a home.

No purpose greater; no people humbler.

Hope to see more from the Homeland in the near future!))

((Thank you, Arjah! I knew I was missing something, but I couldn't remember what, and I didn't want to bother you, what with the poeticising and the throwing of stuff against walls ;) ))

The lodge was finally ready for guests.

Thaettir sat himself down at the hearth with a bit of parchment, and mulled things over slowly. How could the Homeland reach out to those who needed it? How could it reach out to others in order to secure a network of friends?

This certainly wasn't as easy as he had anticipated. It seemed, back in the day, that there was no shortage of people entering; most would move on as they discovered who they were, but it was always a full house, full of life and camaraderie.

"We used to welcome new adventurers at the beginning of their journeys," he mused to himself. He was not sure if this was still as viable an option as it once had been. With war tearing across many of the proving grounds, and races wary of one another, the tenuous balance that held the Horde together might not be strong enough to support it. Not only that, Thaettir realised, but the resources available to provide for the young ones had dwindled away to what he himself could procure; one individual, no matter how dedicated, can almost never support an entire village.

Half an hour passed, and the parchment Thaettir had taken out for listing ideas was still blank. He gazed into the fire for a moment, unsure whether the sound of laughter was slowly waving out at him. Fire would burn away all that was old, and the wind would carry it off, leaving the earth and water to bring life again from what had been burned away. Perhaps he was not asking the right questions of the right entities.

It seemed a journey was in order. If nothing else, it would at least allow him to see people out in the world. Perhaps being alone for so long was what held him from the answers he sought...