Happy Easter!
We offered Original Post Chick an opportunity to guest-post during our behind-the-scenes conversations, but instead of answering hunter-questions, we thought she would much more enjoy seeing some of her writing “published”.
If you can consider being on BRK “being published”, that is. We’re a WoW-blog, not Newsweek.
Be that as it may, it is our humble honor to present Danielle for your Easter-reading pleasure.
Ferocious Inspiration
by Danielle
Within the hush of the looming twilight, the bright sun begins it’s covert retirement into the horizon. The dancing shades of coral and gold waltz tranquilly with the impending dusk as it flickers eloquently on the trees and mountains of Bloodmyst Isle.
In amongst the labyrinth of trees and hills, an elegant and statuesque Draenei Hunter steadies her crossbow. Hidden stealthily behind an ancient stone, she aims strategically at an Elder Brown Bear lumbering through a nearby meadow. She momentarily pauses, wistfully thinking of her beloved Shaman beau, training afar at the Exodar. She’d rarely attempted any expeditions without him by her side.
The hunter’s eager sidekick, a translucent pearl white saber. Remaining still, he salivates with anticipation of the impending meal, loyally awaiting the kill command from his beloved master.
Steadying her shot, pulse racing, the hunter begins her quest by firing unrestrained at her prey.
The arrow narrowly grazes the bear’s chest, missing the critical strike. Alarmed and angry, the bear turns, now charging his aggressor. The novice hunter quickly releases her eager pet to prevent the beast from ravaging her. The loyal young cat is brave and fierce, but is no match for the immense, vicious bear. The young saber stumbles and falls, lying helplessly in the meadow.
Abandoning the wounded cat, the bear turns and furiously charges at the young hunter, who has frantically been firing her weapon to no avail. Flailing her sword wildly at the beast seems now only to be in vain.
The Draenei, now realizing the errors of her ways, turns and desperately attempts to run from her impending death. Her hooves tremble beneath her, beads of sweat bleed precariously down her lavender brow. Her glowing silver eyes sting with tears of regret as she curses herself for not heeding the wise advice of the elder hunters of her tribe.
The bear’s paws pound forcefully along the terrain, occasionally swiping his large claws at the petrified Draenei. Just as it is within reach of thrashing the young hunter’s delicate leather bodice, an enormous and ferocious red cat bursts boldly and magnificently through some nearby bushes.
The crimson beast growls and lowers his head with intimidation, strategically taunting and distracting the bear from the Draenei. Swiftly he begins an assault on the bear with the precision and prowess of a trained assassin.
Bewildered, the frightened Draenei quickly seeks shelter beside a nearby cave, glancing sadly at her painfully injured saber lying helplessly on the ground.
She observes in awe the advanced fighting techniques and talents of the huge crimson feline, provoking and clawing the bear with flawless delivery.
Then, from above her, on the side of the mountain, a gunshot could be heard echoing triumphantly through the cool air. She turns her head toward the shot and sees a stout and sturdy red-bearded Dwarf, firing at the bear with such agility and ease of effort. Immediately she is amazed at his flawless and masterful predatory skills. Gaping at his astonishing weapons and armor, she realizes with disbelief the identity of this lone gladiator.
Was this the legendary red-bearded Dwarf of Dun Morogh? Her people had often told tales of an epic lone hunter and his feline companion that morphs into a large, red tank when angered. It was rumored that the duo were to have soloed all the lands of Azeroth, unmatched in talent and spirit. Killing evil elites effortlessly where ever he dared to tread.
He relentlessly fires his longrifle at the raging beast. Within mere moments, the great bear staggers clumsily and falls pitifully to his death, releasing one final exhausted growl as he succumbs.
The Dwarf leaps gracefully from his perch on the mountainside, his cat returning quickly and faithfully to his side. His war axe clinging proudly to his back. Removing his chain helm, he respectfully approaches the crouching Draenei, smiles kindly and offers her his hand. She warily accepts and stands.
For the rest of the evening, they sit around a campfire, eating bear stew and drinking heartily. He tells amazing tales of terrifying instances and raids in far distant lands. His voice booming as he recounts battles with enormous monsters in the black depths of the underworld. Occasionally, he would curse loudly and condemn all murlocs. Then, quietly and tenderly speaking of his loving wife back home in Dun Morogh.
Telling tales well into the night, he offered the young, inexperienced hunter precious insights into the craft of hunting, which she graciously accepts from the wise, old master.
The heat of the campfire barely reaches the great slumbering cat, his large, muscular body resting contentedly after a hard day’s battle. His paws tinged red from the recent onslaught, he purrs peacefully, dreaming of glorious future crusades. His chain collar flickers hypnotically along with the dance of the flames of the campfire. Imprinted on a small truesilver tag, an affectionate inscription can faintly be read, “Big Red Kitty”.
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37 Responses to “Happy Easter!”
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That is a magnificent story. Very well done. I hope it is only Chapter One
Sweet story.
I hope BRK told her to send her pet before she started shooting.
Nice story, well written.
It is a very heartfelt story of the awesome and beloved BRK
Well done, bravo!
oh no, what happened to her pet? D: I hope it got better
10/10 IMO. Well written
Bravo, very well written! A pretty neat take on starting Hunterism, too.
ROFL BRK got called old.
*smile*
Loved it, hope there are more chapters to this story.
Epic
Well written and highly symbolic as well. I love the metaphorical handshake between the two of you, BRK & OPC.
Well done, both of you!
gasp, entertaining lady hunters! does Mrs BRK know about this?
Very enjoyable read, thanks for sharing it with us!
Very nicely written, well done.
>_<
Thanks everyone, it means the world to me that you like my writing. C:
Oh, and the cat, Mr. Bigglesworth, was fine, he just needed to hit the stables for a bit to mend. Darn bear, don’t gnaw on the kitty!!
I’ll think seriously on making another chapter, hmmm, The Chronicles of Big Red Kitty, sounds like a plan!
BRK, do you realize what this is? you have…. a fanfic!
/declarephenomenon BRK
Someone-ly really-ly went-ly overboard-ly with-ly flowery-ly adverbs-ly.
I think you have a good story here, but this has more adverbs and adjectives than it needs.
Combining WoW-speak with eloquent words = epic win!
Nick S. - you’d be surprised how often BRK is linked to in comments on the WoW_Ladies LJ community =P People usually beat me to it, even.
Must be the beard.
haha, Rotseh, i’m a composition teacher and i immediately said to myself upon reading, “cardinal sin - flowery adverbs!”
it’s okay, though, still a great read.
i’ve fought my way through a couple of the novelizations of WoW, and i think they could benefit from bringing you on as a consultant.
has anyone found a WoW novel that’s decent, by the way? i’d love to read novels set in the WoW universe, but the two or three i’ve picked up have been real disappointments.
@Original Post Chick
*****
ACTUALLY 000 This is WRONG…. 000 So wrong.
*****
I have seen the BRK’ videos and he will watch the noob hunter die then laugh..
He will not save you from your mistakes!.
Maybe he will toss in a Arcane shot or something.
He will not save you from your misfortune.
I often enjoy toons taking on too much,.. running around asking for help then.. poof they bite the dust. Kinda funny IMHO.
He will not save you with his Big Red Kitty.
Set this woman straight.. and tell her to stop fantasizing about being saved when she has all the tools save herself.
So, OPC - get yourself a HOG, and use it wisely.. not that your story wasn’t good… but can you not hear BRK laugh at you in his video’s….
Da’Master
Longtime listener, first time caller (as the saying goes).
I dug the story…good, fun read. Things were so detailed & descriptive that I could totally picture the scene in my mind, right down to the red tinge in the air.
The only problems I had were the uses of the words “elite”, “instance”, “raid” and “solo”…maybe it’s just me, but these are words that I consider to be modern shorthand used in out-of-character chat. Seeing them in an otherwise immersive, well-written RP piece kind of jolted me out of the moment.
Maybe replacing “soloed” with “single-handedly conquered”, “elites” with “elite foes”, “instances” and “raids” with “dungeons”, “keeps”, “fortresses”, “battles”, etc. would help maintain the mood/tone.
Other than this very small issue, I found this to be an enjoyable RP read…it greatly appealed to my lore-geek side
It’s sweet that you’ve written a story “novelizing” your encounter with BRK and this lunatic tribe of Hunters who sit around his virtual campfire e-peening all day. Sure your language is a little excessive — “covert retirement” ?!? — but your story has a nice central theme, a nice main action sequence, it unfolds well, and it is easy to visualize from your description.
8/10 for substance, 6.5/10 for style — a nice little piece of fanfic, and with a little bit of CONSTUCTIVE criticism and workshopping, well, you show much more promise as a storyteller than I did back when I was taking some Creative Writing courses in college, a million years ago.
It’s always easier to edit (or critique) than it is to invent, so take the comments of these critics (myself included) with the appropriate portion of salt.
As others have commented, I’m much more interested in what happens next. Will this fledgeling Dranei Hunter venture out solo again, when pressing events draw her Shaman companion from her side? Alone but with her eager, ghostly tiger by her side, will she sight some prey…
Pulse pounding, the memory of her earlier misfortunate encounter with an Elder Brown Bear still fresh, will she take that leap of faith and try a different tactic? “Go get ‘em, kitty.” And as the tiger dashes after the prey, growling threateningly, perhaps she’ll cast the incantation that she learned that magically heals some of her pet’s wounds over time. “Good job, kitty, you’re doing great. Keep them occupied.”
And before too many seconds have passed, when she feels she can wait no longer, I suspect she’ll step from behind her cover and start doing her part, raining down arrows on the prey, missing some, hitting some, but never drawing the prey’s attention from her poor embattled kitty. Kitty’s health may already be flagging despite the Hunter’s Mend Pet incantation, but now… now her arrows are doing their job. Her prey is losing health fast.
A critical hit! Kitty somehow senses, despite its bestial nature, that an arrow struck home, and with a fierce growl focuses for another clawing attack on the prey. The hunter will be able to tell, now, that this is fight they will win, that Kitty is going to be able to easily outlast the prey.
And in another few shots it is over, kitty cheerfully rushing back to the Hunters side for a band-aid and maybe a treat, and Hunter trotting forward to see what spoils she’s able to loot from her dead prey. And something else, something new… a flutter of new confidence making her slightly giddy, a thought that maybe this is how it is supposed to work, a slight swelling of new pride in what she might be able to accomplish…
“Just wait ’til that man o’ mine gets back from that Shammy quest he’s on!” she may think. “I’m gonna DO this. I’m gonna MASTER it. And together we’re going to see and do incredible things.”
See, I told you I sucked at writing. But seriously, YOU tell ME… what’s next for our heroine?
Um, am I the only one who thinks this is pretty bad? OPC, I respect you immensely for putting your writing out there - it’s really brave to expose yourself like this - but for the love of all that is literary, please please read some classic short stories and try to cut back on the descriptive words. Nick S. could advise you better than I, but merely as a reader I found it overwrought and difficult to get through. This has “first draft” written all over it, and lots of work left to do to make it really evocative. The use of present tense is also really hard to pull off, and you’d have been better off sticking to past tense. In fact, it sneaks in there in at least one spot, which can be jarring.
I’m not a fanfic reader at all and I haven’t looked at any of the pre-existing WoW novels, and despite that and what I said above I do admit to feeling an interest in a good, high-quality prose description of the WoW universe. Looking beyond the adjectival overload, the image of the Draenai hunter in the woods caught me for a sec. I also really loved the concept of BRK in-character dispensing advice and tales of Azeroth around the campfire in Gimli-esque fashion, colorful language and all.
Wow! An amazing read, well done. Indeed…touching.
Mostly though, and from my perspective, this is the final resolution (with compromises on both sides) to the onslaught of petty bickering (from both sides) that started a couple of weeks ago. Kudos to both of you!
And as long as we are all “sharing”, here it goes…
I recently made my *first* video. It is by no means “epic”, but I learned so much and had fun along the way. And THAT, my friends, is what this is all about.
The video can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjxUgdbMGt0
Peace,
FWIW
Considering that this was my first fantasy piece, I’m quite proud of myself. C: I normally write in the paranormal genre. I purposefully added in as much WoW vocabulary that I could, meant to be a mild attempt at adding WoW humor and interest. Also, not being a typical fantasy reader, I struggled a little to reflect the appropriate tone.
Quite honestly, since writing this piece (as sort of a literary gift to BRK) I have found myself pondering the idea of delving into the fantasy realm. I’ve never meandered far from the paranormal writing, so this has certainly peaked my interest into another direction.
I do tend to add extreme emphasis to my sentences, but I tend to prefer that when I’m reading. I enjoy reading books that are very descriptive in nature and not bland. I myself am very descriptive when speaking, so it naturally merges into my writing. The greatest writers have always broken the molds, I have never and will never conform to any molds that society places before me. The feedback is appreciated though, it helps me to see what changes could be made.
I have several novels in the works, some close to being finished. Maybe I’ll aim my pen at the fantasy arena next. Sounds intriguing!
OPC - if you want to publish, the best advice i can give you is DO IT! do lots and lots of writing, and have people read and offer criticism - it requires a thick skin at first, but enemies are a writer’s best friends. when anonymous internet trolls start changing their tune to “eh, it’s okay,” you’re probably ready for the big leagues.
good luck with your novels, and keep at them. no one is born a natural writer, but everyone’s born able to get themselves there with practice and determination.
Great story, but I was a little disturbed that Hobbes needed help killing that bear :p.
So, I guess this is how they say “L2P, Nub” on an RPG server.
OK, /maybe/ a little heavy on the adverbs, but I liked the image that your story painted. It pulled me in. Very nice.
That was just terrible.
There certainly is a lot of %$&hats in here lately! As a ‘gift’ to BRK, it wasn’t meant to be critiqued. So grow up!
It’s pretty ignorant to bash someone’s writing work when I’m sure none of you naysayers would be so bold as to put forth your written works.
I loved it!! I, for one, as a publisher would certainly more than consider it!
Just because it’s the internet and you’re anonymous doesn’t mean you have to be complete jerks.
10/10 from me my dear!
@ Publisher Guy
…surely you don’t mean me?!? As you can see from my post above, I was perfectly willing to put my drivel out there for public review.
Rip apart my writing as much as you please, but challenge my integrety?!? DEM’s FIGHTIN’ WORDS!!!
Yes, I used THREE — count ‘em — THREE punctuation marks. Take THAT.
If you have a guilty conscience, that’s your problem.
…and Integrity not Integrety.
Heh heh.
E’m not getteng ento et weth you. “Guelty conceence”, heh. E’ll allow that my wretten communecateon skells are not flawless, and et’s posseble that what E thenk of as support for Daneelle can be read as cretecal or desmesseve. Such was not entended. But E semply hoped to poent out that, contrary to your accusateon, E was not only welleng to put my ersatz “wreteng” out there, E had already done so. Ef you had taken the teme to read.
But mostly, E WAS ONLY PLAYENG, so E’m not goeng to take your flame sereously.
Have a nece day. Left you some spelleng to correct.
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