This was supposed to be a comment on Critical QQ’s blog post, but as it was getting a bit large already, I’ve decided to make a whole post out of it. This is written from Saithir’s point of view - my other characters are not so much shapen story-wise, and not as experienced.
A new danger is drawing near – the horror that the Titans imprisoned so many centuries ago is about to break free. Yogg-Saron, the Death God. Who will defend Azeroth from him? We, the heroes of the Alliance? Are we even worthy of such title, given that some of the things we do, we do just for gold? Or does that makes us just a mercenaries, ready to take on whatever enemy, as long as it’s profitable?
Well I don’t know about you (and I would gladly listen to your tale as well), but I know I am a hero. What, ya don’t believe me now? Just sit down and let me continue…
There’s a conversation between two NPCs in Wintergarde Keep – about the Lich King’s powerful armies, futility of the 7th Legion’s efforts to battle them, and the powerful heroes, blessed by A’dal himself, coming to help.
And there’s a very first Alliance quest in Borean Tundra, where you get to skip a long line of peasants and craftsmen, because you are a well known hero.
And there’s even a young Wolvar warrior that asked me to blood his blade, cause it’s their custom to have a blade bloodied by an experienced warrior – and for some reason he decided to choose me before all the Wolvar warriors of his clan. Granted, it’s a daily quest and he asked me for the same thing about 20 times more, but still.
I smiled when I saw these events for the first time, and they still make me happy every time when I see them again.
Then there was an epic questline that was removed with reappearing of that jerk, King Varian (I’m a dwarf, so my allegiance is to the Bronzebeards. If Brann says we should stop pointless fighting and prepare for battle, then that’s what we dwarfs do, and this crazy human can take his big ass sword and fortify in Stormwind Keep himself for what I care. ). I’m talking about the attunement to Onyxia. Walking through streets of Stormwind besides Marshal Windsor really made me feel like a real hero, and if you didn’t do it before the patch, you have something to regret.
Yes, I might sometimes act like a mercenary, but it’s just because my ‘Champion of the Naaru’ title won’t feed me, give me beer or let me repair my gear for free. All these folks think of me (and countless others as well, but it does not matter) as the Hero of the Alliance, and I AM one.
When others call you a hero, what do they mean? What do they value? And when you claim the title, do you deserve it?
Even though I’m a rogue (and on a PVP realm at that), I don’t gank lowbies and wipe whole towns. I could, sure, but why would I? There’s no honor or fame in killing ones that can’t do much more than look at me in a nasty way, and wish that I would be already somewhere else.
Of course, I did my share of dirty work here and there, including torturing and killing enemies of many different kinds, be them Twilight Hammer cultists, Scourge, Burning Legion, thousands of animals or just some lowly Defias bandits. I won’t deny it, but these aren’t things I’m very proud of either. These were the things that had to be done, as unpleasant as they may seem.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a hero if anything of the above two was different. But that alone still does not make one a hero by itself, and neither has killing the bosses – it only makes you a soldier.
You have to do better than that if you want to deserve being called a hero.
You have to not be afraid of facing the enemy, don’t hesitate to risk your life and go out of your way – in order to save that little squishy mage or a priest that were just a little bit too reckless and grabbed some attention of a heavily armored enemy. I see a lot of other rogues that wouldn’t do that. They wouldn’t run around the room to grab Kel’Thuzad’s minions and bring them to the tank, when there’s no hunter or an offtank around. I would, and in fact, I just did this very thing yesterday.
I get no gold or anything for this, apart from some happiness for doing the right things. Of course, I might run off and do the same repetetive things as the other guy, but as I said before – my title alone does not give me gold nor beer, and there are only so many bad dragons and undeads to kill.
The other rogues, they are just soldiers following simple orders. I can call myself a hero, for not only following orders, but also for being able to react quickly when the brown things hit the spinning things.
So when a real battle is in order, you will find me standing in the front line, along with the powerful, plate-clad and shield-wielding warriors. I belong there. So, what about you?
Popularity: 18% [?]
