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Do you mind if I post something here, Systar? I think it's a good exposition to some occult folk-lore around the Blackwald I want to explore.

Email me. I hope you're open to writing about other zones too. Lots of worgen zones out there.

Like I said, I'm up to write about other zones if need be. I generally am going to want to focus more on humans then the night-elven Worgen. I suppose here's a list of all possible zones I'd be willing to write folk-lore about:

-Gilneas.
-Silverpine.
-Tirisfal.
-Arathor.
-Alterac.
-Ashenvale.
-Hyjal.
-Mulgore.
-The Barrens.
-Un'goro Crater.
-Feralas.
-Felwood.

That sounds like a very diverse list. Also, feel free to post whatever you would like.

Also, I should add that there will be lore discussions within Google Docs INSTEAD OF in-game chats that I hope everyone in this group will participate in.

I do not want this to be a group where we're pressured to be places at a certain time. That's TOO constraining.

10/16/2012 03:45 PMPosted by Solinii

Hm, in that case I might be able to join, I'll be able to give you an answer within a few hours or so if I feel like dedicating myself to this project.

I will keep an eye out for your post. :)

This will probably serve as the foundations for my folklore, and will certainly not be the folklore itself!

((Preliminary note: The use of the word ‘druidism’ does not denote Kaldorei Druidism, or communion with the dream, ancients, or the ability to shapeshift. Druidism is used to refer to the ancient system of nature magic Gilneans practiced in old times.))

Gilnean Occultism: The Foundations.

Gilneans are a people that hold traditions and customs rarely seen within other nations. The reasons for this are wide and varied, but primarily are a result of the relative isolationism of Gilneas, the influence of the Old Ways upon modern institutions and beliefs, as well as the varied elements of culture that exist within Gilneas itself, the reconciling of various aspects often producing wholly new systems of thought.

The occult is the odd and the mystical, explorations of the supernatural that don’t necessarily correspond directly with mainstream beliefs. The root of Gilnean occultism lies in the long and distant past, before even House Greymane dwelt upon Gilneas. It was the time that Gilneas was dominated largely by the Old Ways themselves in terms of spirituality; and of course, it had a very different name at the time.

Yet Gilneas was for the most part split between two tribes. There were other segments, offshoots, and splinters of course, but the tribe that dwelt in the Northern Headlands and the Northgate Woods stood in stark opposition to that which stood in the South. It was the tribe in the North that was far more willing to forgo tradition and ceremony to further explore the methods by which one can converse with nature.

Druidism was of course embraced in the South, for they had embraced druidism for some time. Yet they had not yet shed the shadow either, and a portion of them still worshipped the beings of great terror that dwelt beneath the earth itself, incorporating them into what rituals they practiced. Indeed, it is of importance to know that the tribes of both the Northern and Southern Gilneas was once one. And at a time, they both ventured through Silverpine woods, in which many of their tribesmen began to worship the eldritch beings, until it eventually became something widely spread across the entire tribe.

When those in the South settled, many of them shed such beliefs, as if they were cursed into having them. Yet many of the rituals involving the beings remained, even as they became the first to slowly learn and begin to practice druidism, partially from the rediscovery of even more ancient beliefs from the pre-Old God worshipping era of the tribe, that were primarily shamanic.

The druids and worshippers of the shadow would largely live along-side one another, the druids of a far more darker ilk than any other. Some were known for forcing nature to their will, and many of the ‘druids’ were rumoured to simultaneously be practitioners of shadow magic. In times the traditions seemed to converge into one, and the South stubbornly held to them.

Their vicinity to the Blackwald led to a dark mythology to surround it, primordial horrors supposedly being summoned by the most practiced of the shadow-users and twisted druids. It was believed that such forests held dark and terrible secrets; dark and terrible secrets that could readily be learnt by those who were willing to brave them.

Those of the North had largely shed any belief in the Elder Gods, the only reference to them being found in a few tales. They had in time come to establish a distinct and thriving druidic vision, one which had connections to the Arathi Shamans that once were in far more clarity than the South would ever have. The North were quick to grow proud, and due to their more progressive philosophy in regards to druidism they would develop a more advanced, complex, and powerful form of druidism.

They still held fear for those of the South, though. In times gone when the rivalry between the two tribes was not quite as fierce, the blackwald was a shared haven for them both, but since then the North had failed to visit it, and the South did not welcome it any longer. Nonetheless, the South largely kept to themselves, having little to no interest in trading or warring with those in the North. They were essentially isolationists.

As the North grew though, their druids eventually came to denounce those of the South as heretics for practicing the shadow along-side druidism. When the Greymane’s eventually came with their belief of the Light, the Headlands proved a ripe breeding spot for such ideals to be integrated into their culture. Despite the nature-based tradition that existed, the Light largely fell in harmony with the North’s practices, and so too did it give them another reason to believe that their hated rivals were heretics.

In the years following a campaign of brutal genocide was unleashed upon both the peoples and the culture of Southern Gilneas. Their dark mythology and knowledge of the shadow would largely fade into mere oblivion. In the North, the tribesmen celebrated the victory; and created tales of Propaganda that would give way to thousands of years of intolerance to shadow-worshippers, and practitioners of the dark arts. It served as a bridge to the Clergy of Gilneas and the Missionaries of the Light as well, giving them a common enemy.

Gilnean Occultism: The forgetting.

The remnants of the South’s culture were in tatters. The various villages in the South would be part of Royal Demesne, and firmly set in Worship of the Light, Stormglen serving as the head of worship for the Southern towns. The largest source of knowledge on the Old Ways in the South was now the Northern Headlands, the home of the tribe that previously dominated all of Northern Gilneas. And of course, what information and stories to be told from them was extremely skewed.

There were sparse people in the South that were members of the old tribe and tried to keep the myths and stories. They were persecuted relentlessly, first by Headlanders who the King gave the honour of beheading as a diplomatic tie, and then by clergy on witch-hunts after the power of the Headlanders waned.

Any whom entered the Blackwald were shunned, and it was a tightly policed area at first. Those of the Headlands were allowed to enter it at first, again as a diplomatic gesture from the King. And of course, those of the Headlands had little interest in recovering or trying to find more of the South’s forgotten culture. Indeed, there are tales of Headlanders who want to the Blackwald for the sole purpose of burning what little remained of it.

As time proceeded, Headlanders too were denied the right to go into the Blackwald, and the area was considered completely off-limits. The persecution of the Southerners was largely forgotten, and a few of the keepers of the old tradition were allowed to live onwards. By now most of the druidic elements had been forgotten, lending itself to a sort of nature-based shadow worship.

The first occultists:

The first occult society in Gilneas that is known of today sprung up approximately 450 years ago, 300 years before the industrialization of Gilneas. It was begun by a man of the name Isaac Hutchinson, a man whom was widely considered brilliant for his time. Born the third son of a minor noble, Hutchinson was to gain an almost immediate fascination with the Occult.

He learned of the Southern Traditions through a few choice items in his Father’s house: His family had been one that participated in the war with the Southern tribe many years ago, and had kept artifacts gained from the spoils of war. With his Father’s permission he took them North to the Headlands, where it was said people had knowledge of such things.

Hutchinson was almost immediately greeted with disgust, both by what Lords dwelt in the Headlands, but the common people as well. The Northgate Woods did not bear any better luck, but Hutchinson was nonetheless intrigued by the degree of disdain the people had for the mere artifacts. He eventually heard of some of the wandering bard-poets, whom were said to speak of the Southern tribe in their own tradition.

He did indeed find one of the the bard-poets, and what he learned only drove his lust for knowledge to greater heights. A few of the bard-poets had grudgingly admitted that there was an entire culture that once existed in the South, and that the artifacts were connected to them. The man quickly set off to the South itself, first to Stormglen. Those who inhabited the town bore almost the same hostility to his plight as the Headlanders did.

He did not find better luck in Duskhaven, either. There was not quite the same level of hostility, but instead indifference was showed towards the man, and the people in the town had little knowledge of the artifacts. His entire plight may have failed if it was not for his eventual contact with Samuel Grenne, a young, Burly middle-class man who had enlisted in the Royal Guard, and given the duty of protecting the Blackwald.

He did not come upon the man completely by chance. Indeed, he had recently been stripped of his position as a Royal Guard due to reports of ‘babblings’ and ‘unseemly proclamations’. They met at a bar in Duskhaven, and Grenne managed to catch sight of the relics that Hutchinson was carrying with him. Claiming he “had seen them in a trance’; o’er a demons dance” drew immediate interest in Hutchinson. Albeit, Hutchinson was skeptical at first, but was for the most part a man open to ideas.

Contrary to his actual orders, to patrol the Blackwald but never enter it directly, Grenne had plunged into it on one fateful eve. It was there that he claimed he experienced an apocalyptic scene , as his journal revealed succinctly.

“Visions of terrible beasts rising from the ground, O what horrors do confound.”

In time Hutchinson came to completely believe the man’s stories, and was ready to sneak past the guards and venture into the Blackwald itself. He quickly wrote letters to what compatriots he had in Gilneas, a small group who shared much the same interests as he. Hutchinson’s friends were not quite content with settling in Gilneas though, despite Hutchinson’s warnings for them to do so.

The Blackwald, formerly thought but a lifeless forest, was now seen as a place where the secrets of a lost civilization might be discerned by this small group. Hutchinson was outraged when they arrived in Duskhaven, once more ordering them to stay put. A man or two may sneak into the Blackwald, but an entire party had little chance of doing so.

Soon enough internal conflicts began to pull the group apart. A wily, middle-aged aristocrat by the name of Barnaby Claybrook was the one who ultimately staged a coup of sorts to take over control of the group, paying most of the other men out to murder Hutchinson and those who supported him. Claybrook was essentially driven by greed, knowing that the artifacts that might be found could easily earn him a fortune.

He took a small party of men into the Blackwald, intending to bypass the guards with ease. Yet a former surviving member of Hutchinson’s party had tipped the Guards off, and the aristocrat, as well as those he took with him, were quickly arrested and hung.

Yet all was most certainly not forgotten. In Sir Hutchinson’s time with Mr. Grenne, a series of esoteric writings had been created, based off the various visions that Grenne experienced while he was in the Blackwald. It ultimately came to be known simply as “Lore concerning the Blackwald of Gilneas.”

he book was only discovered one hundred years later, by the keeper of Duskhaven’s inn. At first the man, named Aldrick Middleton, intended to bring the book to what clergy existed in the town. But he had the temptation to open and read from it, peculiar symbols strewn across the entire text. The man grew attracted to the book and the hidden knowledge it held, largely because it allowed him to transcend his normally mundane living.

He was a largely selfish man, and a cowardly one too. He never ventured into the Blackwald, and the book only passed into the hands of another after he died. It was of course, left to his eldest son, John Middleton. He was already at the age of twenty-one when he received the writings, and his reaction was much the same as his fathers at first. Yet he received it at a far younger age, and so too wished to venture into the Blackwald in all his youthful vigor.

Enchanted by the words of the book, he sought to see whether they ‘rang true in its heart’. He prepared to go into the Blackwald, not telling a living soul of the journey of which he was go into. Men would likely label him insane, or even report him to the authorities. When Middleton reached the Blackwald, he reported:

“A force not of this world had gripped me: I was shaking violently in its grasp.”

He soon began jolting further into the Blackwald. All of his affirmations were confirmed. It was reported he went through violent visions himself, and he quickly began to report them. He stayed in the Blackwald for an extended period of time, even hunting what animals existed in that blackened forest. In it he devised another system of mythology and belief, one that elaborated greatly on the book he created.

He ventured north to Gilneas City as a prophet, still one hundred and twenty five years left until the coming of industrialization. Not foolish enough to reveal himself to the authorities directly, the man nonetheless came to make himself known in the darker circles of Gilnean society. His preachings and words seemed to be of another world, one quite different from the simple, material one in which men lived. He gained a small band of followers, and they eventually committed themselves to the group of ‘prophetic writings’ which both he and Hutchinson had written.

___

Well that's that. I'd love to see what other fanon that we might be able to work off folk-lore from other people might have!

Fere, that's wonderfully written. I cannot wait to get started on this. Please make sure to email me so I can give you the access to the Google Docs information and discussions. It has a lot more information about the project on there.

I dont know if it counts as anything, but my troll warrior once spent a whole nite spinning tales to his companions...I just went and cobbled together freaky troll themed versions of Uncle Remus like stories. I made an elf laugh so hard she couldnt breathe with his rendition of a 'tar baby' story.

Fun sounding project--i wish I had time to throw my hat in on it. Cant wait to see what people come up with.

10/16/2012 04:56 PMPosted by Systar

Fere, that's wonderfully written. I cannot wait to get started on this. Please make sure to email me so I can give you the access to the Google Docs information and discussions. It has a lot more information about the project on there.

You're e-mailed!

I just want to say this is an absolutely wonderful idea. I tried to do something like this for Gilneas, and it ended up being too constricted because it was primarily in-character and didn't make sense from that sort of standpoint. Not to mention confining it to one zone is rather narrow! I love to see what sort of Draenei and orc folk-lore people come up with. :D

Fere, haven't gotten the email yet. Sure you sent it to the right email?

Also, am looking forward to seeing other people step up. The Google Docs is set up for some pretty cool stuff.

So long as you don't loose touch of reality.

Systar.

Oops. Try now.

So long as you don't loose touch of reality.

Systar.

Totes going to include magical realism in my stories just because you said this. ;D

I'll send you an email later.

So long as you don't loose touch of reality.

Systar.

Oh, I touch reality on a daily basis.

10/16/2012 05:15 PMPosted by Everen

I'll send you an email later.

I will keep my eyes open!

I don't want to overcommit myself but I can shoot some of Shennae's children's rhymes and tales (mainly based off the Chivalric Romance era of English lit) your way.

10/16/2012 05:16 PMPosted by Shennae

I don't want to overcommit myself but I can shoot some of Shennae's children's rhymes and tales (mainly based off the Chivalric Romance era of English lit) your way.

We're going to be working on submitting stories written specifically for the grimoire, so I'm asking only for new submissions. The point of the group is to discuss and create a congruent fannon in which the stories may exist. There isn't much to commit to. Just two stories a month and make sure to check the discussions. You would be very welcome to join.

This is a good plan

10/16/2012 05:19 PMPosted by Systar

I don't want to overcommit myself but I can shoot some of Shennae's children's rhymes and tales (mainly based off the Chivalric Romance era of English lit) your way.

We're going to be working on submitting stories written specifically for the grimoire, so I'm asking only for new submissions. The point of the group is to discuss and create a congruent fannon in which the stories may exist. There isn't much to commit to. Just two stories a month and make sure to check the discussions. You would be very welcome to join.

I'll step out for the meantime at least. Too much going on right now.

Blah, I so want to be a part of this but I just checked all my syllabuses and I have like four papers due within the next 3-4 weeks. That's enough writing on top of the palate of the two pages that I have to do every other day for my literary analyses as well.

10/16/2012 05:38 PMPosted by Solinii

Blah, I so want to be a part of this but I just checked all my syllabuses and I have like four papers due within the next 3-4 weeks. That's enough writing on top of the palate of the two pages that I have to do every other day for my literary analyses as well.

That's a shame, but understandable.

10/16/2012 05:20 PMPosted by Brutaria

This is a good plan

Thank you. :)

To everyone else, please consider joining. There is very little constraint on how you schedule yourself and we wish to have a variety of writers involved. The lore discussions should be interesting.