WoW Fanfic
Yeah, I know.
Well, I've been playing it for a while now. I started on the Alliance side, and I've had this story in my head since I rolled my first human character (fyi, my first EVER character was a Gnome). It's the sad story of a family called the Lamarcks (after the naturalist and early evolutionist) who were split apart by war.
The Lamarck Family
When Alaan Lamarck of Stormwind took Maeris Amerli of Strom to wed, it was the happiest day of their young lives. Not so for the Amerli family, who had always regarded young Alaan with suspicion and distrust. Alaan should have stayed in the south, where he belongs, they told her. She wouldn't listen, nor could he have stayed put had he wanted to. Alaan had the soul of a wanderer, and the heart of a minstrel. That was part of the problem, had he been a knight or a soldier, or better yet, a noble they wouldn't have complained as much. Maeris' family were rich and titled, Alaan's were not, and the young man showed no hint of real ambition in their eyes, in truth he was much sought after as an entertainer and a very talented singer.
It was partly the desire to be on the road once more, and partly to escape the disappointment of his new family that Alaan took Maeris, now quite pregnant, to Stormwind Keep and his own family. They were greeted with open arms, and Alaan's parents gifted the couple with a small parcel of land in Northshire where Alaan enlisted the help of friends and built a house. The remaining land he turned into an orchard. Maeris wrote long letters to her family describing the wooded vale where they'd settled, the occasional problems with wolves and kobolds, and her happiness. Her parents did not reply until she had given birth to their first child. They demanded he be named Debono, after her grandfather. She complied, and asked if her family might visit to see the baby.
When news of banditry on the outskirts of the swamps to the east reached Stormwind, it didn't trouble the small towns of Northshire and Goldshire. The swamps were far off, and across a deep valley and mountains. A wizard lived there, overlooking the swamps, and some soldiers were sent to investigate. Alaan decided to join them so he enlisted, took arms and went east. Maeris did not take well to the separation but Alaan reassured her that it would only be a few weeks at most, his parents had agreed to stay with her and young Debono, who was now six, until he returned. It was hard for him to leave her, but it was hard for him to stay too. Constantly, at the back of his mind, there was the need to move, the need to see everything and write about it. Making poems and songs was as dear to his life as his love for Maeris and Debono and Garcy, little Garcy, who he would be a year old on the day he returned from the swamps.
Alaan never returned to Maeris. The soldiers travelled east with a caravan bound for the wizard's tower. The found a legion of strange and hostile creatures lying in wait, and had to fight their way out of the pass, barely escaping death. It was clear that the problem was more than just a few bandits, and that "the problem" was marching on Stormwind. It took them months, not weeks, of skirting around the edges of Orc camps, narrowly avoiding capture several times, before they reached Stormwind. The valley was devastated, it was apparent that the army of Orcs and Ogres had fallen upon the city and the surrounding villages. Very little remained of Northshire, the orchards and little farmsteads were in ruins, and here and there were pits containing the bodies of the dead. The keep still stood, the first assault had failed and the Horde turned to the surrounding country while the humans rallied their defences. Distrought, Alaan searched for his family among the survivors but could not find them. His parents and his brothers and sisters were dead, their home had stood at the mouth of Northshire valley. Of Maeris and the children, there was no sign. Alaan, his voice thick with grief, sang one last lament for the dead of Northshire, then he took his lute and the notes for poems and songs he had penned on the road and burned them. He was a singer no more, not since the light had left his world. He volunteered to join the vanguard, knowing that death was certain, and marched along with the army to face the Horde.
Garcy Lamarck's earliest memory of his mother was of her standing in a field and hugging a tall man with straw coloured hair and laughing. The man, his brother told him, was Alaan, their father. He went to fight to protect them from the orcs, but he died. Then, when the orcs came for them, their mum took them to Stormwind (before the orcs blew it all up) and went to find an inn. Instead she found a distant cousin, who was the captain of a ship out of Gilneas, who vouchsafed them passage on a now overburdened vessel heading for Lordaeron to escape the war. Garcy remembered that day too, the day his mother finally realised that Alaan Lamarck was dead, and gave up their dream of raising the children by an orchard, to be healthy and happy. It was the last time his mother smiled. It was the last time Garcy smiled too, a little over a year old and already so solemn. One of the sailors on the Ocean's Pride called him "Little Glumchops" a name that stuck with the other passengers, who began to call him Glummy.
They disembarked at Southshore, Maeris was unwilling to face her parents so soon after losing her husband so she wrote to them instead. Weeks later she received the reply she was looking for in the form of a promissory note for enough gold to ensure they would be able to flourish in the town. She bought a small house on the outskirts of the town and hired someone to look after the children. She spent most of her time near the docks, quizzing the refugees who made it north, hoping for news of Alaan. There was none, but the situation in the south was grim. While Anduin Lothar and his band of survivors fled to the north to regroup, the Horde built upon their position in the souths. Even though the humans had dealth a heavy blow to the Horde leadership with the death of Medivh, they themselves were scattered and weak, Lothar took it upon himself to beseech Terenas of Lordaeron for aid before the Horde regrouped and marched after them.
Alaan had opted to stay behind, he and a few other groups staged small raids upon the Horde flanks, with some success. They managed to harry their supplies and remained a minor nuisance until at last they were recalled by Lothar, who was preparing a decisive strike into Blackrock.
Around this time the kingdoms of Gilneas, Arathor, Strom and Alterac were making their deals with the remnants from Stormwind and King Terenas of Lordaeron. Alterac's eventual betrayal let the orcs in the back door while the bulk of Alliance forces marched on Blackrock Mountain. Tarren Mill and Southshore were annhilated, and that's when the Lamarck children were separated. Debono, who was nine, spent his time people-watching on the docks, since his mother had no time for him or his brother, he skipped school as often as he could and made up rhymes with sailors and stole trinkets and things from soldiers, which he traded with other children. Garcy, or Glumm, as he was now known, was seven years old when the Orcs came across the mountains and attacked Tarren Mill. The elves who lived there took refuge in Southshore, and everyone knew that the waiting was over.
In the years since the first war, Southshore had grown in size to encompass the refugees from Stormwind and it was impossible to evacuate them all before the Orc army fell upon them. Debono was near the docks when a sailor grabbed him and took him on board the Merciful Deep bound for Gilneas. He fought tooth and nail to get back to his little brother, who was still in the school house when the burning arrows fell from the east. A soldier held him down, and someone knelt on his chest until his rage and confusion subsided into racking sobs. In the meantime, Southshore burned.
Maeris had aged so much in the six years since she'd last seen Alaan. Her hair was brittle and grey, and she'd grown silent and grim. She loved her boys, but could barely stand to see them. The townsfolk kept away from her, and the boys' nanny ran the household. When the orcs came, she woke up as from a deep sleep and her first thought was for her boys. She realised that for everything that she had lost, she still had them, and with all the strength of will that was left to her she intended to keep hold of them. She reached the school yard when the battledrums sounded, soldiers had marshalled at the town gates and were preparing to meet the foe. The air was thick with arrows and the smell of burning. She was jostled by other parents and older children eager to find shelter in the building, something gripped her around the middle. It was her little Glummy, who looked up at her with his beautiful deep eyes, a grim expression on his face.
She took charge over the chaos, holding onto Glummy with one hand, she directed people with the other. A soldier or two took a moment to help the Maeris and the people following her get to the docks where hopefully a ship would be waiting. The streets were filled with people as the buildings closest to the walls began to go up. Glumm saw the tall spindly figures of elves dart past clutching slender bows. From beyond the gates was a wall of sound, savage shouting and the echo of drums, and the sky continued to rain arrows.
Well, I've been playing it for a while now. I started on the Alliance side, and I've had this story in my head since I rolled my first human character (fyi, my first EVER character was a Gnome). It's the sad story of a family called the Lamarcks (after the naturalist and early evolutionist) who were split apart by war.
The Lamarck Family
When Alaan Lamarck of Stormwind took Maeris Amerli of Strom to wed, it was the happiest day of their young lives. Not so for the Amerli family, who had always regarded young Alaan with suspicion and distrust. Alaan should have stayed in the south, where he belongs, they told her. She wouldn't listen, nor could he have stayed put had he wanted to. Alaan had the soul of a wanderer, and the heart of a minstrel. That was part of the problem, had he been a knight or a soldier, or better yet, a noble they wouldn't have complained as much. Maeris' family were rich and titled, Alaan's were not, and the young man showed no hint of real ambition in their eyes, in truth he was much sought after as an entertainer and a very talented singer.
It was partly the desire to be on the road once more, and partly to escape the disappointment of his new family that Alaan took Maeris, now quite pregnant, to Stormwind Keep and his own family. They were greeted with open arms, and Alaan's parents gifted the couple with a small parcel of land in Northshire where Alaan enlisted the help of friends and built a house. The remaining land he turned into an orchard. Maeris wrote long letters to her family describing the wooded vale where they'd settled, the occasional problems with wolves and kobolds, and her happiness. Her parents did not reply until she had given birth to their first child. They demanded he be named Debono, after her grandfather. She complied, and asked if her family might visit to see the baby.
When news of banditry on the outskirts of the swamps to the east reached Stormwind, it didn't trouble the small towns of Northshire and Goldshire. The swamps were far off, and across a deep valley and mountains. A wizard lived there, overlooking the swamps, and some soldiers were sent to investigate. Alaan decided to join them so he enlisted, took arms and went east. Maeris did not take well to the separation but Alaan reassured her that it would only be a few weeks at most, his parents had agreed to stay with her and young Debono, who was now six, until he returned. It was hard for him to leave her, but it was hard for him to stay too. Constantly, at the back of his mind, there was the need to move, the need to see everything and write about it. Making poems and songs was as dear to his life as his love for Maeris and Debono and Garcy, little Garcy, who he would be a year old on the day he returned from the swamps.
Alaan never returned to Maeris. The soldiers travelled east with a caravan bound for the wizard's tower. The found a legion of strange and hostile creatures lying in wait, and had to fight their way out of the pass, barely escaping death. It was clear that the problem was more than just a few bandits, and that "the problem" was marching on Stormwind. It took them months, not weeks, of skirting around the edges of Orc camps, narrowly avoiding capture several times, before they reached Stormwind. The valley was devastated, it was apparent that the army of Orcs and Ogres had fallen upon the city and the surrounding villages. Very little remained of Northshire, the orchards and little farmsteads were in ruins, and here and there were pits containing the bodies of the dead. The keep still stood, the first assault had failed and the Horde turned to the surrounding country while the humans rallied their defences. Distrought, Alaan searched for his family among the survivors but could not find them. His parents and his brothers and sisters were dead, their home had stood at the mouth of Northshire valley. Of Maeris and the children, there was no sign. Alaan, his voice thick with grief, sang one last lament for the dead of Northshire, then he took his lute and the notes for poems and songs he had penned on the road and burned them. He was a singer no more, not since the light had left his world. He volunteered to join the vanguard, knowing that death was certain, and marched along with the army to face the Horde.
Garcy Lamarck's earliest memory of his mother was of her standing in a field and hugging a tall man with straw coloured hair and laughing. The man, his brother told him, was Alaan, their father. He went to fight to protect them from the orcs, but he died. Then, when the orcs came for them, their mum took them to Stormwind (before the orcs blew it all up) and went to find an inn. Instead she found a distant cousin, who was the captain of a ship out of Gilneas, who vouchsafed them passage on a now overburdened vessel heading for Lordaeron to escape the war. Garcy remembered that day too, the day his mother finally realised that Alaan Lamarck was dead, and gave up their dream of raising the children by an orchard, to be healthy and happy. It was the last time his mother smiled. It was the last time Garcy smiled too, a little over a year old and already so solemn. One of the sailors on the Ocean's Pride called him "Little Glumchops" a name that stuck with the other passengers, who began to call him Glummy.
They disembarked at Southshore, Maeris was unwilling to face her parents so soon after losing her husband so she wrote to them instead. Weeks later she received the reply she was looking for in the form of a promissory note for enough gold to ensure they would be able to flourish in the town. She bought a small house on the outskirts of the town and hired someone to look after the children. She spent most of her time near the docks, quizzing the refugees who made it north, hoping for news of Alaan. There was none, but the situation in the south was grim. While Anduin Lothar and his band of survivors fled to the north to regroup, the Horde built upon their position in the souths. Even though the humans had dealth a heavy blow to the Horde leadership with the death of Medivh, they themselves were scattered and weak, Lothar took it upon himself to beseech Terenas of Lordaeron for aid before the Horde regrouped and marched after them.
Alaan had opted to stay behind, he and a few other groups staged small raids upon the Horde flanks, with some success. They managed to harry their supplies and remained a minor nuisance until at last they were recalled by Lothar, who was preparing a decisive strike into Blackrock.
Around this time the kingdoms of Gilneas, Arathor, Strom and Alterac were making their deals with the remnants from Stormwind and King Terenas of Lordaeron. Alterac's eventual betrayal let the orcs in the back door while the bulk of Alliance forces marched on Blackrock Mountain. Tarren Mill and Southshore were annhilated, and that's when the Lamarck children were separated. Debono, who was nine, spent his time people-watching on the docks, since his mother had no time for him or his brother, he skipped school as often as he could and made up rhymes with sailors and stole trinkets and things from soldiers, which he traded with other children. Garcy, or Glumm, as he was now known, was seven years old when the Orcs came across the mountains and attacked Tarren Mill. The elves who lived there took refuge in Southshore, and everyone knew that the waiting was over.
In the years since the first war, Southshore had grown in size to encompass the refugees from Stormwind and it was impossible to evacuate them all before the Orc army fell upon them. Debono was near the docks when a sailor grabbed him and took him on board the Merciful Deep bound for Gilneas. He fought tooth and nail to get back to his little brother, who was still in the school house when the burning arrows fell from the east. A soldier held him down, and someone knelt on his chest until his rage and confusion subsided into racking sobs. In the meantime, Southshore burned.
Maeris had aged so much in the six years since she'd last seen Alaan. Her hair was brittle and grey, and she'd grown silent and grim. She loved her boys, but could barely stand to see them. The townsfolk kept away from her, and the boys' nanny ran the household. When the orcs came, she woke up as from a deep sleep and her first thought was for her boys. She realised that for everything that she had lost, she still had them, and with all the strength of will that was left to her she intended to keep hold of them. She reached the school yard when the battledrums sounded, soldiers had marshalled at the town gates and were preparing to meet the foe. The air was thick with arrows and the smell of burning. She was jostled by other parents and older children eager to find shelter in the building, something gripped her around the middle. It was her little Glummy, who looked up at her with his beautiful deep eyes, a grim expression on his face.
She took charge over the chaos, holding onto Glummy with one hand, she directed people with the other. A soldier or two took a moment to help the Maeris and the people following her get to the docks where hopefully a ship would be waiting. The streets were filled with people as the buildings closest to the walls began to go up. Glumm saw the tall spindly figures of elves dart past clutching slender bows. From beyond the gates was a wall of sound, savage shouting and the echo of drums, and the sky continued to rain arrows.