Stomphoof’s Shiny Stuff

How did it come to this?

Wait, I know the answer to that…  I know because I did this to myself.

It all began, I guess, with my birth.  My mother was a Tauren of the Birchorn Clan, followers of Cairne.  My father, a Grimtotem.  I had an older sister, and eventually a younger brother.  My father left after that, and we never really knew him.

I was a bit of a strange Tauren, prone to fits of anger and rage.  My strength was massive, and I was known for getting into fights and really hurting the other kids.  My temper was hot, and I was prone to flying off the handle at the slightest thing.  My mother tried to calm me constantly, and I guess she is the reason I tried to control myself.  After a year I finally was able to maintain control to an extent.

Then, one day while my Mother and little brother were out, the Grimtotem came with my father, and they took me and my sister away.

They found my boundless rage and strength to be an assest, and they nurtured it, as was thier goal.  They wanted a killing machine, a creature who would feel no pity.  They trained me in the arts of war, the use of armor and weapons.  I was not a stupid Tauren then, so they taught me tactics, and how to fight an opponent, to exploit his weaknesses.  I became what they wanted, a merciless killing machine, one who enjoyed causing pain.  I did this to please them…  But in truth a part of me hated it.  They trained my sister, who had a connection with nature, in the druid arts.  I was not privy to her training so I have no idea what happened with her.

However, the camp we were at was eventually found by a group of Tauren, and, recognizing us, took us back from the Grimtotem.  I was kept on a short leash, for while I was generally pleasant, I could snap at any moment.

They took us back to our mother, who was overjoyed to have us, and I was happy to see her again, for I had missed her dearly.  Everything went fine, until one day.

I killed my mother.

I remember it now, that I am trapped in my own mind.  I killed her, in a fit of rage.  I had broken another childs jaw and collarbone in a fight, and my mother was scolding me.  I couldn’t control myself.  I did what the Grimtotem had trained me to.  I struck out, and slayed her.  Stabbed her in the chest with a knife.  No one was around but me and her at the time, so no one knew…

I fell to the ground.  Grief and guilt overwhelmed me.  How could I do this?!  WHat had I become…

I disposed of the body by flinging it over the edge of the bluff, and it landed on some jagged rocks.  And then I sat down, and thought.

I would remove anger, rage, my intelligence.  I wanted to be stupid, and to forget everything.  I wanted to be nice, like my mother always wanted me to do.

I locked it away.  Everything about myself that I didn’t like:  My anger, my temper, my hatred, my intelligence, and all that, locked away in the back of my mind.  ALong with it, my memories of what I had done.

I became an idiot.  A friendly, kind, and bit off idiot.  Warmhearted, and caring.  My sister had no idea what had happened to me, and it seemed to confuse her.  I trained as a warrior then, again, this time because of the shinies, as I called them.  I became obsessed with shiny objects.  Heh, in retrospect, here in this prison of my mind, I guess it was another way for me to forget.

Years passed, and I trained.  My sister with me always, guiding my poor addled mind.  We joined with the Dragonflame Order, and I had a good time, and made some friends.

Then my sister left.  She was called off, and she put in the care of a kind old troll lady named Lopa.  I called her Mama Lopa, and treated her as the mother I never had.  I became very protective of her, and thats when it began to happen.

I began to feel rage again.  I didn’t know it, I had erased my memories of what I had done, but that other side of me was breaking through.  It happened in battle, and most notably the events at Fray Island.  WHenever I became stressed, or angry, a little bit of my rage, and my intelligence would leak out, and I would become focused.

The months passed by.  I followed Lopa to the tribe of Xirdan, and then she joined the Poor Sages of Lordaeron after that tribe dispersed.  I joined the group called Eardstapan, and joined in the defense of the Horde lands.  Thats where I met what I began to consider my real family, with them and thier Coalition.

Anhaga, Vitruvius, Oreet, Malcho, Magyar, Inruki, Sesobael, Mellan, Fidez, and many more.  They became the family I never had.

Everything was going fine until today.

Khattab had been kidnapped, by Fidez and Zeelatani, and something was going to happen to her.  I raced to Grom Gol, along with a large number of others.

When I arrived, I saw them.

Fidez, Zeelatani, Khattab, and…Puppet.  Puppet, who had threatened my life.  Puppet, who had given me fear…

The anger came again, and I threatened him this time.  I swore I would slay him.  I should have known better.

A huge fight broke out, and I felt Khattab and Puppet working in concert to kill me.  My soul was removed, and darkness took me.

In that Darkness, the other side took control.  Next thing I know, I am trapped behind the very barriers I had built that long ago.  And I remembered everything.  From here, in my mind, I now sit, the other me now in control.  A being of pure rage and pure power… a creature I created.  And really, I can only think of one thing…