Post by Ehran on Apr 7, 2006 1:23:58 GMT -5
(Yeah yeah, I know it belongs in the story section...but nobody looks at anything other than this one 
My name is Tinea. And I am annoyed.
Every so often, I am amazed at the intolerance and animosity of my comrades. This ‘Alliance’ is tenuous at best sometimes, and it simply burns me up that just because I chose to face certain facts head-on I am branded as a danger. No, not always a danger…I’ve even been called a traitor, or a betrayer.
Now listen. I’m just as reasonable as the next gnome, probably a lot more reasonable than most. I understand that the darkness, the shadow that hangs over this world is frightening to many people – and it ‘should’ be. But ignoring it and hoping that it will go away? Insisting that all we have to do to be rid of the gathering darkness is to shine more of this vaunted ‘Light’ upon it? Please. The dark might be banished by light, and Darkness by the Light, but they also feed off each other. Shadows are never more distinct than when they are created from a brilliant light.
Anyways. Instead of trying to destroy this encroaching evil head-on, I chose to face it, and to learn it. Now unlike many of my profession, I don’t really expect to ever master the darkness and make it my own. That way tends to lead to mega maniacal self-destruction. I’ve seen it happen…you should have seen my Uncle Berchak when he tried to bind three Doomguards at once – but I digress. My goal is simply to understand the darkness well enough to properly combat it. Going in blind, so to speak, is a fool’s task.
I am no fool.
And yet, here I stand once again, being belittled by my own people. They are eager enough to take the stones I can craft, to have me store even their soul via my ‘wicked arts’. But when the victory celebrations begin I am shunted aside and told that were it not for the divine grace of the Light: if the paladins and priests had not been keeping a close eye on me, that I would have betrayed them all.
So you tell me, is that fair?
It is true, I can call up demonic beings to serve me, and have even done so on occasion. But I consign their spirits back to the nether immediately, thus strengthening my own skills and ensuring that these demons cannot harm anyone. So explain to me why my weapons of shadow are more evil than those of the priests. Yes, I said it. Priests. The best of them see the duality inherent in Light and Shadow, and accept both sides of their powers without hesitation. And yet somehow the ‘pain’ caused by a priest’s shadow magic is less evil than the agony cause by mine. I don’t get it.
Maybe I’m not supposed to get it. Even allies need scapegoats, and perhaps the warlocks are simply filling that role. We’ve had our cruel and wicked ones, but the same can be true of any profession – even Arthas was a Paladin, remember, the rising star under Uther’s tutelage.
I think that is where I’ll leave you then, on a cautionary note. Remember to judge your allies on their own merits, and skills – not on those flaws and fears you project onto them. We all have our dark sides, our hidden shadows. Some of us are simply willing to let ours come forward so we may control it, and ensure that it does not harm ourselves or those we have come to love.
Wherever there is light, there is shadow – and whenever the Shadow stirs, darkness can be turned back to smother it. That is my role in this ‘grand adventure’…what’s yours?
--Tinea, Disciple of the Darkened Flame.
My name is Tinea. And I am annoyed.
Every so often, I am amazed at the intolerance and animosity of my comrades. This ‘Alliance’ is tenuous at best sometimes, and it simply burns me up that just because I chose to face certain facts head-on I am branded as a danger. No, not always a danger…I’ve even been called a traitor, or a betrayer.
Now listen. I’m just as reasonable as the next gnome, probably a lot more reasonable than most. I understand that the darkness, the shadow that hangs over this world is frightening to many people – and it ‘should’ be. But ignoring it and hoping that it will go away? Insisting that all we have to do to be rid of the gathering darkness is to shine more of this vaunted ‘Light’ upon it? Please. The dark might be banished by light, and Darkness by the Light, but they also feed off each other. Shadows are never more distinct than when they are created from a brilliant light.
Anyways. Instead of trying to destroy this encroaching evil head-on, I chose to face it, and to learn it. Now unlike many of my profession, I don’t really expect to ever master the darkness and make it my own. That way tends to lead to mega maniacal self-destruction. I’ve seen it happen…you should have seen my Uncle Berchak when he tried to bind three Doomguards at once – but I digress. My goal is simply to understand the darkness well enough to properly combat it. Going in blind, so to speak, is a fool’s task.
I am no fool.
And yet, here I stand once again, being belittled by my own people. They are eager enough to take the stones I can craft, to have me store even their soul via my ‘wicked arts’. But when the victory celebrations begin I am shunted aside and told that were it not for the divine grace of the Light: if the paladins and priests had not been keeping a close eye on me, that I would have betrayed them all.
So you tell me, is that fair?
It is true, I can call up demonic beings to serve me, and have even done so on occasion. But I consign their spirits back to the nether immediately, thus strengthening my own skills and ensuring that these demons cannot harm anyone. So explain to me why my weapons of shadow are more evil than those of the priests. Yes, I said it. Priests. The best of them see the duality inherent in Light and Shadow, and accept both sides of their powers without hesitation. And yet somehow the ‘pain’ caused by a priest’s shadow magic is less evil than the agony cause by mine. I don’t get it.
Maybe I’m not supposed to get it. Even allies need scapegoats, and perhaps the warlocks are simply filling that role. We’ve had our cruel and wicked ones, but the same can be true of any profession – even Arthas was a Paladin, remember, the rising star under Uther’s tutelage.
I think that is where I’ll leave you then, on a cautionary note. Remember to judge your allies on their own merits, and skills – not on those flaws and fears you project onto them. We all have our dark sides, our hidden shadows. Some of us are simply willing to let ours come forward so we may control it, and ensure that it does not harm ourselves or those we have come to love.
Wherever there is light, there is shadow – and whenever the Shadow stirs, darkness can be turned back to smother it. That is my role in this ‘grand adventure’…what’s yours?
--Tinea, Disciple of the Darkened Flame.
