Friday (21 Sep) - The House of Wild Evolves

Friday (21 Sep) - The House of Wild Evolves

[Ok, it's a pretty elaborate tale, but hey, MoP is almost here!]

Once upon a time the House of Wild was a family of two - Wildshard and Rheebah, Wild's sister. Wild was the adventurous one, and his story is well documented. The sister, Rheebah, showed some early daring in an attempt to keep up with Wild. Ultimately, though, she chose a different path, deciding to stay in Mulgore, the land of her birth, and live in the only place she called home, Bloodhoof Village. In time she became a revered Earth Mother, both protector and wielder of great nature powers. Rheebah and her flock survived the great cataclysm that rocked all of Kalimdor. As a result of Rheebah's great power, the Bloodhoof Village of today is exactly the same as it has always been. Rheebah lived quietly, tending to the tauren people. She loved her family. Despite the remoteness of the Village, Rheebah kept a close watch over all of her family through her benign power as an Earth Mother. She did not meddle in their affairs and let them live their lives as they wished ... but she was always open to those who sought her council.

Rheebah had a special interest in Naithipe. All death knights must live with the special curse they carry. It's not an easy burden, but most death knights find ways to cope with it. Naithipe, however, seemed unable to get past the horrors she had faced. Rheebah went so far as to offer Naithipe her own Earth Mother healing powers to close the wounds of her soul, but Naithipe would not accept it. She held on to that pain, remaining broken, and cut off from all help.

Time passed, and Naithipe took to staying at the village when she wanted solitude. Wrestling with her demons, Rheebah would tease her. Avoiding a world of idiots, Naithipe would reply. One such visit was different from the others. Naithipe came to the village not just for solitude, but to talk with Rheebah. They sat in the cozy hut where Rheebah stayed, and drank herb tea. Well, Rheebah did. Naithipe stared moodily out the open flap of leather that made the door. Rheebah listened to the children playing outside, and the whack of axes making firewood for the evening meal. Eventually, Naithipe spoke of what she called "her project." Naithipe asked for no help, but asked how such a thing might be done. "Why?" Rheebah wanted to know. "For what purpose?" Rheebah doubted that Naithipe could put into words what was driving her. Rheebah knew. As an Earth Mother it was plainly obvious, though Naithipe would have to find her own way to that revelation. There was little Rheebah could do for Naithipe, however. Rheebah alone did not have the power, and Naithipe herself was not ready. Despite the bad news, Naithipe had proceeded with her plans, making every preparation she could and determined to find a way to overcome the impossible stuff when she had to.

The first slim hope Naithipe got that the impossible might indeed be possible was the arrival of the delegation from Pandaria. This was still days before the launch of the war. Rheebah had always sensed a presence to the south, but the mists that lay between were deep and impenetrable, both physically and spiritually. However, the Pandaren delegation practically oozed the mystical power of their race. Rheebah and the head of the Pandaren delegation were able to communicate, and Rheebah asked if the Pandaren could help in Naithipe's quest.

The Pandaren agreed to speak with Naithipe. If Naithipe was known to be inscrutable, so were the Pandaren delegates. In what amounted to a very long conversation for Naithipe, very little useful was actually said from Naithipe's point of view. The delegation had no authority to help, and whatever help might be possible could be found only in Pandaria. Naithipe angrily ended the meeting. The stoic Pandaren bowed in regret and waited patiently until Naithipe stormed off to steal her ship - setting in motion all that followed in the wake of Naithipe's great disappointment. Rheebah never gave up on Naithipe, though, even after Melasahnd. As terrible as that battle had been, it quickened a change in Naithipe buried so deep she could barely name it - remorse.

All of that was the past now. After leaving Jocey at Sunstrider Isle, Naithipe worked her way back to the ship she'd paid for in blood. The pirate crew was in place, and the plan was to pick up Gamon and his cutthroats at a secret cove in Dustwallow Marsh. From there, they intended to take sail for Theremore and raid both alliance and horde shipping. Naithipe's private intent was to hunt down Warlord Garrosh's ship. She did not much care whether she survived the encounter. Melasahnd weighed on her with a kind of pain strange to her, but it was a small wave compared to the tsunami of loss she felt when the Pandaren had turned her down.

Naithipe sailed into Dustwallow Marsh and anchored in the cove, but Gamon was late in arriving. Despite the anger and pain that drove her, Naithipe could sense the bright warmth of Rheebah just a few leagues away. Before she could change her mind, Naithipe offered the pirate captain double the spoils if he would ensure the ship would still be there when she returned. Then Naithipe headed for Bloodhoof Village. If there was any chance at all, Naithipe meant to have it.

Naithipe's arrival did not disrupt the quiet, industrious village. Naithipe was well known here. Naithipe sat with Rheebah, and Rheebah offered tea, but Naithipe dispensed with the civilities, her patience long past it's end, bouncing between hopelessness and desperation, willing to seize on the slimmest of chances at whatever the cost, but afraid to trust in it. Naithipe spoke. "Tell me there is no hope, Rhee."

"That you do hope, that makes hope all the more possible," Rheebah replied. Whatever nasty impression Naithipe had thought she'd made on the Pandaren delegation, it had not kept them from further studying such an interesting challenge. Rheebah wasted no time, but did not hurry her words. "We have made a bridge melding together the powers of the Earth Mother and Mystic," Rheebah explained. "There is, now, for a short time, power to make what you ask for possible."

Naithipe would not allow the iron control she maintained to slip, but she knew there was more to come. "And?" Naithipe bit off the word.

Rheebah stared intently at Naithipe. "There is a part you must play in this, Naithipe. You must be the bond that unites the two powers." Naithipe was already shaking her head. "No."

Rheebah suspected this would be her answer. "Naithipe, you have said many things about your "project," coming at it like a blacksmith crafting a helm. Useful, even elegant, but inanimate. But is it not more like growing a seed into a beautiful, flowered shrub?" Naithipe set her jaw and said nothing. Rheebah tried again. "Tell me what you want, Naithipe. What is in your heart?"

Naithipe made a wrenching sound, stumbled to her feet and scattered cups. She paced. "You know what I want!" Rheebah did know. Naithipe wanted something that only the gods could provide her - a child. After so many disappointments the impossible gift seemed almost in her reach, yet immeasurably far away. Faced with real hope, Naithipe quailed. "I cannot ...  do ... this."

Naithipe, like any mother, wanted her child to be perfect. Naithipe, far from perfect, fresh with a new wound of self-loathing, did not want her child to be burdened with any part of her. The Earth and Mystic powered birth should be pure, in Naithipe's eyes, and that meant leaving her out of it. Ridiculous? Certainly, but Naithipe believed she was not worthy of such a gift. Rheebah saw a deep darkness descending on Naithipe, ready to swallow her whole. Naithipe would sail for Theremore, and die there.

Rheebah could not let that happen. A way was found.

Naithipe left the village and returned to her ship. Gamon never arrived. In fact, Gamon had sailed with the Warlord's fleet, getting passage on a ship in the confusion of the early launch. Naithipe's pirate captain had only enough crew to man the ship. Naithipe offered the captain a bigger prize than the spoils of raiding ships. Naithipe promised the captain he would see sights no horde had ever seen, and that when they returned the ship would be his.

Naithipe sailed back up the Kalimdor coast, making one stop in Ratchet to pick up a Pandaren delegate who had agreed to accompany them. With the Pandaran as a guide, they were able to navigate the dissipating mists surrounding Pandaria. They were not allowed to land on Pandaria proper, but did allow the ship to anchor off the beach of the northernmost island.

Naithipe was met by a young mystic still learning her craft. "My name is Mewgoogaipan," she said softly," and I am honored to be Mother Mew to your future daughter."