I am going to detail my levelling experience written from the point of my actual toon, as I like writing I thought it might be nice to make a diary of sorts of her encounters, the places she visits and the activities she takes part in. I am aiming to do this every Wednesday, or possibly every second Wednesday, in addition to my usual Friday blog, the Friday blogs may contain information about the guild in general/activities, achievements, that sort of thing, but the Wednesday posts from now on will be Nynaevê's posts. Hopefully they will be enjoyable, I'm not RP'ing her on the server as it's just a normal server but I will be making notes as I level and taking LOTS of screenshots!!
A little background info....
Ok, first things first, a little of her lore, now, please bear in mind that I have made this up myself, I have done some research into Draenei so that I could tailor my own story idea to not sound too crazy, as I personally knew nothing about Draenei lore before I started this! In any case, I apologize in advance to any lore fanatics that may find holes in my story, please feel free to let me know if there are any!
The name Nynaevê is one that I favoured from the Wheel of Time book's characters. I suppose I have based her a little on that, though my Nynaevê will have a more uplifting outlook on life in general and more of a fun personality. I did not want her to be grumpy and bad tempered. She will when she reaches 90 become a healer, at the moment she is a tank/healer for levelling purposes, but I will integrate that into her story. It's no secret that I have a love for the Pandaren race, initially she was going to be a Panda but I thought it would be nicer to level as a different class, and Draenei had always been of some interest to me, however in keeping with my own interests there are Pandaren involved with her lore, even though it may seem a bit far fetched, this is a story after all ;)
Early life.
Nynaevê's family fled from Draenor when the Elves overtook Tempest Keep. As part of a group of refugees they took to the sea's in an effort to find a new home when theirs was overrun. Nynaevê spent her early years at sea. She watched her parents and the other adult Draenei begin to lose hope that they would ever find a safe place to live. After first attempting to dock in Silvermoon, they were greeted only by Blood Elves, a fight broke out as the ship was leaving, and some of the Draenei lost their lives, Nynaevê's own Father, Lucan, lost his right hand in the skirmish, and the mood was low as they struggled to carry on. With food and supplies running out, it seemed as though all hope had been lost. The group of refugees was substantially smaller than when they had first left Draenor, they lost members to ill health, fights with Elves and Orcs, it was even believed that one of the female members of the group had died of a broken heart when she lost her husband to a storm at sea.
Despite the struggles and seeing the pain and suffering at such a young age, Nynaevê blossomed into a helpful and friendly young girl, who was always kind and ready to aid anyone else in any way she could. As her mother, Nerese, was often weary from the toll the events had taken on her, she helped care for her father, who was having problems with his missing hand. Day after day she re dressed the wound and cleaned it. She became more and more interested in helping others, and there were days where she would gaze out to sea, having daydreams of being a wise and powerful healer, returning to Draenor to help rebuild their broken homes.
Into the mists.
After nearly 6 years at sea with few successful ladings to restock supplies and recuperate, and many losses of life, the ship ran into a vast patch of mist. The air was damp and they couldn't see much past the bow, they spent two days huddled together wondering what misfortune had befallen them now. On the third day one of the young male Draenei shouted that there was land in sight. Most of the others were too tired to even get up and look but Nynaevê jumped to her feet and ran to the bow, her keen eyes saw the silhouette of an island, appearing like a ghost from the swirling mists that surrounded the ship. She shouted back to confirm that there was indeed land, and some of the others rose to their feet and joined her. For the first time in what felt like forever there was excitement among the refugees aboard.
The ship ran aground before it reached the actual shore, the group had dwindled to around ten to fifteen of the original forty or so Draenei that had left many years before. Tired, cold, hungry and now soaking wet they made their way into a lush green forest, they marveled at the beautiful waterfalls, and picked tasty fruits from the trees. They set up a camp with what they could salvage from the ship, the place was so warm they slept under the canopy of trees. Nynaevê led on her back and looked up to see clear black sky with twinkling stars through the leaves and branches above, the forest smelled fresh and she felt safe, and before long she closed her eyes and slept.
She awoke to voices the next morning, some creatures had been sighted in the bushes and once again fear took hold of the Draenei. Her father calmly rose to his feet and stepped out in front of the frightened group, "Greetings" he said in his deep voice. "You need not hide, we are here in peace. We are Draenei from Draenor, we left our land several years ago when it was overrun by Blood Elves. We have spent all this time looking for somewhere new to live, and have suffered many a loss on the way. If you do not want us on your land we shall respect that, but please allow us a few days grace to repair our ship, and resupply before we move on." There was silence, apart from a few rugged breaths from the terrified Draenei, then a rustling sound, from the bushes near the camp came a black and white bear creature, he stood on two feet, like a person would rather than an animal. His face was covered in most part by a huge round hat, upon which was an imprint of a paw. His eyes twinkled from underneath, the rest of his face was covered with a red scarf of sorts.
"We left our shores with forty or so in our company. Through battle, illness and the sea itself we have lost many of our kin. We are tired, and weary, I have no idea how we came across this land, and in truth I have no idea where we are. We have been to other lands and were turned away, sometimes violently, I suppose we are hoping that this is not just another dead end."
The bear looked at Lucan curiously, his face set like a stone, showing no emotion at all.
"Very well, Draenei, as long as you bring no threat to my people and these shores you are welcome here, I am Taran Zhu, lord of the Shado-Pan, we are Pandaren and you have landed on our home, Pandaria."
Lucan allowed himself a sigh of relief. "Thank you most graciously Lord Zhu, we shall not be a bother to your people, though I fear some of us may need medical aid."
Taran motioned for them to follow him, "Come, I will take you to the Pawdon Village nearby, there, you may find food, rest and any aid you need."
The pandaren led them through the forest until they came to a small path, leading up to an archway into a village with brightly colored rooftops, lit up with red and orange lanterns. Another Pandaren stood in the archway to the village.
"Lord Zhu, you have returned!" He said with a kindly smile upon his face, "We were beginning to wonder what had happened to you."
"All is well my old friend" Zhu replied, "These Draenei are to be aided in whatever way necessary, they are tired, and hungry, could you find Yalia for me and tell her we need her and her healers?"
The Pandaren bowed his head, turned, displaying a wonderful yellow cloak and went into the village.
"Do you need any medicine child?"
She looked up into piercing blue eyes, slightly hidden by a black fringe, the female Pandaren smiled down at her, her face was warm and welcoming. Nynaevê managed to stammer "N, n, no, thank you, I am not injured, however my father..."
"Ah yes, do not worry child, I have taken care of his poor hand, he tells me that it was you who cared for his wound, is this true?" Nynaevê was quite in awe of the Pandaren,
"Well, no, I mean, yes, I tried, I wasn't sure how to do it, I..." eventually curiosity overcame her, "...did I do something wrong?" The Pandaren gave a chuckle, and her eyes sparkled.
"My dear, if it hadn't been for you, your Father may have died from the injury, you cleaning it and dressing it has kept the wound healthy and it has already started to heal. Had you left it, it could have become infected." She grinned now, and showed off shiny white teeth, "Nynaevê, is that your name? My name is Yalia Sagewhisper, you seem to have an aptitude for caring for others, all of your company that I have conversed with so far have told me how kind and helpful you have been." Nynaevê was stunned, she had never even thought that it had been noticed, with all the horrors that they had witnessed, it struck her as strange that anyone would have noticed simple kindnesses. Yalia turned with a flourish of green mist and walked away, taking a small glance back to the dumbstruck Draenei. She smiled kindly at her and hurried off.
Nynaevê wandered through the village, peering at the little houses, and gazing at the beautiful pink blossom trees. They were in full bloom so she supposed it was spring, though she had not known any seasons for some time now.
The village itself was quite breathtaking, the waterfalls ran clear and sparkling, there were birds singing everywhere and the smell of the flowers filled the air. She took rest under one of the giant pink trees and closed her eyes. She opened them with a snap as she heard a noise, it sounded like footsteps, too many to be one person, whatever this was had four feet! The footfalls came closer, slowing down as they approached her, she looked around, and could not see a soul. The footsteps stopped. A low growl made her turn swiftly, she gasped, a ginormous four legged creature with bright orange fur, black stripes and VERY sharp teeth was staring right at her!
"Now now Summer, you will scare our guests, put away those teeth and be nice!"
Nynaevê turned to see the Pandaren that had greeted them at the village entrance, he was a little larger than some of the others, and had a huge smile on his face. His beard was fuzzy around the edges and ran to a small point in the middle of his chin, he had a small tuft of hair pulled back with a band on top of his head. He wore a brightly colored tabard with strange symbols on it.
"Fear not, young Draenei, Summer may look fierce but she is gentle at heart, come, stroke her on top of her head, she will not harm you, I promise."
Nynaevê got up slowly and walked toward the creature, she gingerly reached out a hand and touched the soft orange fur on top of it's head. The animal nuzzled against her and made a rumbling sound, seemingly one of satisfaction.
"Excuse me" She said softly, "But, what creature is this?" The Pandaren threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.
"You hear that Summer? The poor girl does not even know what you are! And here you are yawning at her and scaring her half to death!" The animal looked almost sheepish. "Summer here is a Tiger, she is a large cat, and like I said, despite her rather ferocious appearance, she will do you no harm. She has been my companion for many years now. Make no mistake though, other Tigers like her may not be so friendly, so always be on your guard if you should see one". Nynaevê looked around quickly, the Pandaren saw her and smiled once again. "Do not worry yourself young Draenei. There are no other Tigers here in the village, you are quite safe!" The Pandaren sat down heavily on the grass and motioned for her to join him. "Now then" he began, "let us be properly introduced, I am Lorewalker Cho, tell me, what name do you go by?"
"I am Nynaevê"
"Ah! What an interesting name you have!"
"Well, thank you" She wasn't sure what to say to this jolly fellow, she hadn't ever met anyone like him before. They talked for an hour or so, the old Pandaren seemed to have story upon story of Pandaren history and legends. Nynaevê listened with awe as he told her about monks and their fighting abilities, how they managed to rise up against the Mogu, an ancient race that made them captive many years ago, with little more than their courage and their fists. She went to sleep that night in a comfy bed, Yalia came by and spoke with her parents in low voices, but she was too tired to try and listen. She drifted off into a sleep full of dreams of monks and mogu and Tigers and waterfalls.
The Way of the Monk.
Over the years Nynaevê and the remains of her kin lived in harmony with the Pandaren. She grew particularly close to Yalia and she loved spending evenings with Cho, listening to his endless stream of tales, and learning more and more about monks. She learned to protect herself in the monk style, she meditated, and grew up into a brave and kind young woman, loved by the Pandaren and Draenei alike. She had much respect from both races, and dreamed of one day becoming a healer. Eventually, sadly, her parents passed on, and a grief stricken Nynaevê was taken in by Yalia. She taught her the healing arts, and sent her to Brewmaster Boof for defense training. Gradually, she became more and more knowledgeable. Although she loved her life in Pandaria, she yearned to return to her homeland, and help her kin that still remained there. She became an Elder in the village, a high honor for a non-Pandaren female, yet she still wished to travel.
"I have to help my kin, but I promise Yalia, I will return"
The Pandaren smiled at her, bestowed a kiss upon her forehead and whispered;
"You have many things yet to do, some of them will be great, and some will cause you more toil. You will return to Pandaria one day Nynaevê, and I will be here waiting for you."
She took one last look back at Yalia, and saw that Cho had appeared behind her, he bowed to her with one of his beaming smiles. She smiled back to both of them and stepped into the portal.
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