I Promise to Shut Up in a Sec

My last post was a dramatization of how the Curse of the Worgen might have taken over the isolated nation of Gilneas, as has been often suggested by lore buffs. However, the story was not finished- when we left off, the Curse had nearly consumed the country, but one with a wealth of knowledge about the Worgen, Velinde Starsong, had suddenly shown up, offering her aid. It is there that we pick up, and finish our story. And then, I promise, I will stop talking about this. I just think it's really cool, is all, and I love a chance to pop out a little fiction.

Brought before the meager remains of Gilneas's government, Velinde Starsong introduced herself, and explained that she had come because she sensed the Worgen's presence. After all her study into the Worgen, their nature, how to summon them, and personal experience with them, she had become attuned to their unique, magical signature- since they were not from this world, they stood out. But, she explained, it was really luck that she had found them... she had come to this part of the world in search of the Archmage Arugal in Silverpine Glade, and had she not been so close, she would have never noticed them.

The Worgen of Gilneas, she explained, were different. She didn't know why, but they were like a different species of Worgen... their unearthy signature far less pronounced, their forms more human-looking. A sign of some sort- whether of the Curse's adaptation to its new environment, of Gilnean resistance to the Curse, or of something else entirely, she wasn't sure. But for whatever reason, this breed of Worgen that had consumed their land was no longer alien, it was truly Azerothian.

She offers her aid, and convinces the remaining mages, paladins, and priests to work with her to find some kind of cure for the people. Tensions are high, time is short, and the wizards and the Light Bearers are at each other's throats constantly. Finally, the mages, with Velinde's help, theorize a way that would revert the minds of the Cursed to their old selves, but have no effect on the body.

The paladins and priests are livid. It is not good enough, they argue. They have to make everyone as they were- being forced to live as monsters is no cure at all. The mages try to convince them that such a cure is impossible- indeed, the Curse's mutation within the Gilneans is the only reason they can even do this much. But the believers are unshakable, unwilling to go through with a "half-cure". They press the mages for more time, for more research, but the mages have had enough. Over eighty percent of the nation are now Worgen. The curse's march has slowed in the face of protective measures, but it is still advancing.

And to the masters of the arcane, after the stress of repeated failures, watching their friends and family fall to the curse, living in a situation where at every moment, they could be swarmed by the Worgen, but they must continue their work anyway... finally having found a cure, and then not being allowed to use it is just the last straw. They accuse the Light Bearers of treason, of obstructing their noble efforts to heal their country, and demand that they be arrested. They appeal to the populous, and a mob seizes the worshippers of the Light, and locks them in a magically sealed prison. The priests and paladins are just stunned... too overcome with despair and shock to resist.

Velinde is deeply disturbed by this turn of events, but knows that they must proceed- they must cast the spell to heal the land at any cost. The mages prepare their runes, and the ceremony begins. They pour their magic into Velinde, and using the lingering magic of the Scythe of Elune, the traces of it that still cling to her, the Night Elf shapes the massive amount of magic, and casts. A wave of magic rushes over the land, and for the first time since the Worgen entered their lands... peace falls over the Gilneans.

The magic worked, the Cursed's minds are their own again... but the magic was not without its side effects. The wave of magic did not act exactly as intended... true, it helped the cursed, but it also turned those not cursed into Worgen. Now, it is truly an entire nation of wolfmen... save for the Light worshippers, protected from the spell by their magically warded prison, and Velinde Starsong, mysteriously untouched by the spell despite being at ground zero. And even beyond their physical forms, the Gilneans' minds have been changed. Their personalities and memories are once again those of their old selves... but their bodies are still those of Worgen, and as such, their bodies produce the same chemicals, causing them to be more aggressive and instinctual. Living in fear for so long, too, took its toll on their minds... they are more distrustful, independent, and suspicious. Certainly, they are still intelligent beings, but even mentally, it's hard to say that they are truly still human.

The paladins and priests, freed from their cell, are horrified. All their fears about the spell have been terribly confirmed. These are not their people, not anymore. Some of them sink into despair, but one young, bold paladin rallies the worshippers of the Light. Yes, he says, this nation has changed. Yes, this is its darkest hour yet, as one cannot say that they are even human anymore. But isn't it all the more the duty of they few, those unaffected by the Curse, those still human, those still bearing the Holy Light, to aid this country in a time of such need? Paladins, priests, the Holy Light, all are to bring hope and peace to places of chaos and strife. This is exactly where they need to be. And their country needs them now more than ever.

The Worgen are distrustful of the paladins and priests at first, but the humans manage to convince the wolfmen to send them as envoys to Stormwind. Through their passionate debate, especially that of the young paladin that rallied them, they convince the Alliance to accept their former brothers into the Alliance. The grateful Gilneans- for they were prepared to have to stand against a world that did not, would not trust them- appoint the young paladin as their new king, and the Church of the Holy Light works within them, helping them rebuild their ravaged land, and slowly opening some of the Worgen to the Light. And in the midst of all this, Velinde Starsong disappears, her heart lightened a bit to see the direction Gilneas is headed in.

Suggested classes: Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Warrior, Rogue. No DKs, because canonly, the Lich King would be beaten by this point.

There, that was a fun game of what-if, wasn't it? Now I'll shut up about Worgen and Goblins and all that, as promised.