History Fanfic / TravelsThroughAzerothAndOutland

* {{Alchemy}}: The arakkoa claim to have been masters of this during their glory days.

''Travels Through Azeroth and Outland'' can be found on our list of [[{{FanficRecs/Warcraft}} fan fiction recommendations]]. But it's actually hosted [[http://destron.blogspot.com here.]] There's also a [[http://s4.zetaboards.com/Destron/ discussion forum]].

''Travels Through Azeroth and Outland'' can be found on our list of [[{{FanficRecs/Warcraft}} fan fiction recommendations]]. But it's actually hosted [[http://destron.blogspot.com here.]] There's also a [[http://s4.zetaboards.com/Destron/index/ discussion forum]].

''Travels Through Azeroth and Outland'' can be found on our list of [[{{FanficRecs/Warcraft}} fan fiction recommendations]]. But it's actually hosted [[http://destron.blogspot.com here.]] There's also a brand new (as of August 15, 2010) [[http://s4.zetaboards.com/Destron/index/ discussion forum]].

''Travels Through Azeroth and Outland'' can be found on our list of [[{{FanficRecs/Warcraft}} fan fiction recommendations]]. But it's actually hosted [[http://destron.blogspot.com here.]] There's also a brand new (as of August 15, 2010) [[http://s4.zetaboards.com/Destron/index/ discussion forum]]. Those who want to read or participate in the discussions regarding the fanfic in question must first register. Registration is free and simple.

* AgreeToDisagree: Destron and an old tutor end up doing this after debating the merits of draconic elitism.

In this WorldOfWarcraft FanFiction epic, begun in October of 2007 and completed in April of 2011, Destron (a [[TheUndead Forsaken]] mage who can still pass for a living human) sets out to explore. As he does so, he keeps a journal, offering wryly insightful commentary on each region and culture that he happens upon. The author attempts to stick with the setting's established lore as much as possible, while at the same time expanding and embellishing upon it.

* AChatWithSatan: Due to his powers of disguise and simple good timing, Destron is frequently able to meet with his enemies, outright villains, and characters who come in all shades of grey. Most notable are his encounters with Dark Iron commanders in the Badlands, a demonic Dreadlord in the Blasted Lands, and a Twilight's Hammer cult leader in Silithus, as well as many {{KnightsTemplar}} around the world. The narrator occasionally bemoans his inability to speak with other, greater villains.

In this completed work of WorldOfWarcraft FanFiction, Destron (a [[TheUndead Forsaken]] mage who can still pass for a living human) sets out to explore. As he does so, he keeps a journal, offering wryly insightful commentary on each region and culture that he happens upon. The author attempts to stick with the setting's established lore as much as possible, while at the same time expanding and embellishing upon it.

''Travels Through Azeroth and Outland'' can be found on our list of [[{{FanficRecs/Warcraft}} fan fiction recommendations]]. But it's actually hosted [[http://destron.blogspot.com here.]] There's also a brand new (as of August 15, 2010) [[http://s4.zetaboards.com/Destron/index/ discussion forum]].

In this ongoing work of WorldOfWarcraft FanFiction, Destron (a [[TheUndead Forsaken]] mage who can still pass for a living human) sets out to explore. As he does so, he keeps a journal, offering wryly insightful commentary on each region and culture that he happens upon. The author attempts to stick with the setting's established lore as much as possible, while at the same time expanding and embellishing upon it.

It's a very lengthy work (and new chapters are added every month), but is constructed in such a way that you don't have to read the whole thing, or even read it in order. If you do decide to read it in order, take care to pace yourself.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Vizier Merun’khet, a nerubian brain in a Forsaken body in the third Dragonblight entry. The Shadowsworn [[spoiler:and their dreadlord]] in the Blasted Lands also stand out, as do Lady Tsavrash in Azshara and the Auchenai in Terokkar Forest. And then, there are a few entries—Silithus, for one, and all three sections of Zul'drak—that are just creepy overall.

* NightmareFuelUnleaded: Vizier Merun’khet, a nerubian brain in a Forsaken body in the third Dragonblight entry. The Shadowsworn [[spoiler:and their dreadlord]] in the Blasted Lands also stand out, as do Lady Tsavrash in Azshara and the Auchenai in Terokkar Forest. And then, there are a few entries—Silithus, for one, and all three sections of Zul'drak—that are just creepy overall.

* TearJerker: Readers have described having tears come to their eyes at two events (so far):
** The death knights in Zul'drak burying one of their own.
** [[spoiler:Destron's final farewell to Emette.]]

* PulpMagazine: Because of their busy lives, most goblins don’t have the time for lengthy or introspective literature. Instead, they enjoy serialized stories that are described as often being in the style of the pulps. Destron describes some of the serials as actually being quite thought-provoking.

* SenseLossSadness: This afflicts all Forsaken to some degree, though some are more bothered by it than others (the level of sense loss may vary for the individual). There are times when Destron is actually thankful for this, since it keeps him from having to smell something really bad.

* TechnoBabble: The attempts to explain the Exodar’s mechanics fall into this, as does some of the discussions revolving around magic.

* UndyingLoyalty: A sad case is seen in the Storm Peaks. [[spoiler:Tock, a mechagnome, is fulfilling the duties assigned to him by the Titan Watchers, fully expecting them to return. He’s been waiting for tens of thousands of years, toiling away as his companions broke down, leaving him totally alone.]]

* YeGoodeOldeDays: Averted. The narrator claims that many of the previous eras regarded as idyllic golden ages were just as chaotic and fearful as the present era. In cases where they weren't, they still had serious problems that would eventually lead to their downfall (like the ancient elven empire's dependence on magic). This is lampshaded by the tauren, who refer to the present era as the Age of Peace. Why? Because, for the first time in thousands of years, they aren't being massacred by the centaurs and quilboar.

* CliffHanger: The Blade's Edge Mountains (Part 1), the Howling Fjord (Part 2), and Dalaran (Part 1).

* ADayInTheLimelight: A curious example, in that what entire cultures, rather than individuals, get featured. These are aspects that can't really be covered in-game, and rely heavily on the writer's own interpretation, though they don't contradict the actual lore.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: This is seen a great deal in-game, especially with the dragons who frequently take human, elven, or gnomish form. The travelogue takes it a step further with Monkormi, a bronze dragon who prefers her gnomish form to the point of using a flying machine. Merun'khet, the nerubian vizier in a Forsaken body, might also be an example of this, though he would have been much happier in his previous form.

* AncientKeeper: Arkkoroc, a lonely sea giant in Azshara, is an example. He appears in-game, but Travels offers its own spin, [[spoiler:in which Arkkoroc who once controlled the tides but no longer does so, desperately wishes to be remembered by others, though he knows his time is long past. Destron agrees to tell others about him. One wonders what happened to Arkkoroc after Cataclysm…]]

* {{Arcadia}}: Elwynn Forest and Loch Modan, and Nagrand to a certain degree.
** Nagrand may be too violent to qualify as an {{Arcadia}}.

* ArtificialIntelligence: Destron learns about this concept from a gnome in the Borean Tundra, though it’s called Created Intelligence. The gnome concludes that, if a free-willed created intelligence equal to a sapient mind were ever created, it would have to be considered an equal to its living peers.

* TheAtoner: In the Swamp of Sorrows, Destron meets an orcish shaman named Thok'dan, who tries to help the mutated draenei living in the north. Back in the day, Thok'dan had been one of the first orcs through the Dark Portal. He feels great shame for the genocide that the orcs inflicted on the draenei, and wonders if his own actions against humans and draenic slaves in the past put him beyond redemption.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Both Orgrim’s Hammer and Skybreaker end up like this. [[spoiler:While powerful, they’re such a huge investment for their respective owners that they are basically forbidden from engaging each other in combat.]]

** [[spoiler:The Defias are near starvation after burning most of the farms.]]
** [[spoiler:The Illidari regime was basically broken from day one, and has no real hope of defying the Burning Legion or the armies of Azeroth.]]
** [[spoiler:The Burning Legion itself is incredibly cumbersome and inefficient, though nigh-unstoppable by virtue of sheer momentum.]]
** [[spoiler:The Scourge is steadily losing ground due to its aggressive policies turning the entire world against it.]]

* EvilVirtues: The Cabal, in Terokkar Forest and the Bone Waste. [[spoiler:Though cultists of the Burning Legion, they are quick to kill anyone who summons a demon without their permission, knowing full well the dangers uncontrolled summoning can bring. They’ve created a ruthless but organized state that is able to provide for its citizens. They also seek to develop their economy and infrastructure by importing experts from Azeroth.]]

* [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]]: Niddy and her brother, Yezz. [[spoiler:They survived debt slavery under a brutal owner with each others’ help. Niddy came through okay, but Yezz lost his sense of self-preservation. Like most mentally disturbed goblins in this fanfic, he was encouraged to become a sapper. Niddy followed her brother wherever he went, to keep him from blowing himself up.]]

* PatchworkMap: Attempts are made to explain Azeroth’s odd geographical arrangement. [[spoiler:For instance, Un’goro Crater has ancient Titan machinery that attracts storms, explaining why a jungle lowland is surrounded by deserts. The Titans did this because they presumably wanted to study a jungle rather than a rocky waste.]]

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: When writing about the Defias, the author took inspiration from various Maoist insurgency groups and the French Jacobins. The results, [[spoiler:(mass murder of villagers, societal collapse and total warfare)]] are not pretty.

* SociopathicSoldier: [[spoiler:Tends to appear a lot in Northrend, especially in Wintergrasp. The brutalized Kirovi survivors who try to torture a necromancer to death might be another example.]]

* UnwantedRescue: [[spoiler:Corboran, the son of important Dalaranese mages, is believed kidnapped and brainwashed by the Blue Dragonflight. Because of his familial connections, the Kirin Tor send a partisan group called Dawn’s Grace (who are accompanied by Destron) to rescue him. Turns out that Corboran was never brainwashed, and joined the Blue Dragonflight willingly.]]

** [[spoiler:Disagreements between orcs and tauren are difficult to resolve, since the two races use very different debating styles. Orcs are loud, brash, and even threatening, while tauren are self-effacing and polite. Basically, the orcs come across as fools to the tauren, and the tauren as timid to the orcs. In the end, neither side is convinced by the other.]]
** [[spoiler:A surprising example occurs in the Grizzly Hills, when gnomes and dwarves argue about how to handle some unwelcome information about their racial origins. An iron dwarf prisoner says that the regular gnomes and dwarves suffer from the Curse of Flesh, and have gone astray from the Titans’ intent. The dwarves regard this as blasphemy, but the gnomes want to do more research to find out if this claim is true. They reach a sort of compromise, in which the gnomes will study iron dwarf “myths.”]]

* TheDeadCanDance: Destron witnesses a macabre dance party in Undercity. [[spoiler:It ends with the revelers tearing realistic dummies of Arthas, King Terenas, and Archbishop Alonsus Faol to pieces.]]

** [[spoiler:He dismisses rumors of dragons being somehow responsible for the Defias.]]
** [[spoiler:He thinks that Illidan killed Magtheridon.]]
** [[spoiler:He recounts the official story of Arthas’ mercenaries destroying the human fleet during the Third War.]]

* FriendshipMoment: [[spoiler:Destron and Daj’yah get one after he gets back from his first trip to Northrend.]]

* HappinessInSlavery: Orcish peons are culturally conditioned to see themselves as worthless, and make no fuss with warriors casually abuse them. Peons who try to better themselves are condemned as not knowing their place by other peons. This really irks Destron. [[spoiler:Later on, in the Borean Tundra, this gets turned on its head when Destron encounters Krug, a peon who has inspired his fellows to take pride in their work, giving them a motivation outside of pleasing the warriors. Krug even gets his own short story, which can be found on the forums.]]

* HobbesWasRight: [[spoiler:Destron expresses this sentiment (though not in so many words) after finding the aftermath of a Defias massacre. Other times he seems more optimistic about the nature of sapient beings.]]
* HonorBeforeReason: [[spoiler:Vyldra.]]

* BlackMarket: Actually plays a pretty big role. [[spoiler:The pirate base of Lost Rigger Cove is like a marketplace and networking center for every nasty group, where the Dark Horde buys lumber from the Venture Company, and the Defias Brotherhood hires Southsea Freebooters to ship goods. Later on, in Underbelly, Destron encounters the Red Market, which is the quasi-legal trade of demonic armaments. Partisans (read: players) kickstarted the Red Market after the events in the Burning Crusade, flooding Azeroth with corrupting materials. Governments look the other way, since these armaments can be useful. NiceJobBreakingItHero.]]

* BizarreAlienBiology: Frequently seen in Outland, especially with the sporelings and ethereals (to the extent that ethereals can be considered biological). While this is true in the baseline WoW setting as well, Travels goes into a lot more detail. Sporelings, for instance [[spoiler:utilize shared memories and are symbiotic with their spawning grounds, which are actually a separate life form. Each ethereal has multiple personalities, though this is not pathological in any way. The arakkoa, who can have two simultaneous trains of thought, might be another example]].

* BoltOfDivineRetribution: [[spoiler:More like a giant tiger of divine retribution. Surrounded by the god-killing priests of Zul’drak, the Zandalari priestess, Mumbwe, calls down an avatar of her god. In minutes, the sanctuary is drenched with the blood and shredded flesh of her enemies.]]

* MadScientist: Plenty of Forsaken apothecaries fall into this category, but a special place has to be given to Narotta Casca, [[spoiler:who transplanted a nerubian brain into a Forsaken body. She is weirdly reverent of her own creation, and seems to think that the nerubians would want the Forsaken as allies. The nerubian in question, Merun’khet, does not seem to agree.]]

* MartyrdomCulture: [[spoiler:The vrykul are this in spades.]]
* MasqueradeBall: Destron attends one of these in Silvermoon. [[spoiler:In the past, masquerades acted as social levelers, a release valve for the highly stratified elven society. By the time of [[FanFic/TravelsThroughAzerothAndOutland Travels through Azeroth and Outland]], however, the masks are removed towards the end of the party in order to reestablish the social hierarchy, which was threatened by the devastation of the Third War.]]

* MilitaryMoonshiner: Drin Bessard, who distills a foul-tasting liquor in the Westfall Brigade Encampment. [[spoiler:Though it’s against the rules, the officers let it happen so long as it doesn’t get out of hand. Drin’s also an unrepentant former Defias.]]

* NeverAcceptedInHisHometown: [[spoiler:Destron is pretty much an unknown in Undercity. While he has connections to important people in Orgrimmar, he’s still pretty far from the limelight (and to some extent prefers it that way). But he’s considered a hero in Stormwind for the good deeds he did traveling through there, especially in Redridge where he helped save the town of Lakeshire. Of course, none of them know he’s actually undead…]]

* SurrealHorror: For some reason, this appears a lot in the Stormwind zones. Sometimes it’s effective, [[spoiler:like the Morbent Fel encounter and the Shadowsworn]], but other times it feels more like weird for weirdness’ sake [[spoiler:like the night spent at the Slaughtered Lamb tavern in Stormwind City.]] YMMV, as always.

* TortureTechnician: The naga, Lady Tsravash, claims that her society is full of these, and is very proud of this. [[spoiler:The horribly mutilated orc she uses as her mouthpiece suggests she’s telling the truth.]]

* {{Unperson}}: [[spoiler:What is implied to have happened to Ulrecht, a Forsaken who helped the 7th Legion defend Wintergarde Keep from the Scourge. Destron also believes that this happened to Commander Stonefuse for implying that the Dark Iron supply lines were stretched, and thus indicating weakness. This is never confirmed, however.]]

* CompleteMonster: Some of the lore characters from WoW are presented or interpreted this way. [[spoiler:Edwin Van Cleef and Illidan both become this; whatever sympathetic motivations they might have had are outweighed by their horrific actions. Destron also considers Orgrim Doomhammer a CompleteMonster, and doesn’t think that Thrall should have named the orcish capital after him.]]