Recruitment #1

Admin Antall Innlegg : 244 Join date : 2012-06-27

Aldant a Esarus no'Darador!

Recruitment #1 Stromg10

By Suxen's love and Phelgas' shadow we pray.
Ancient fathers. We serve Arathor, shield Arathor, honor Arathor.
We never falter, we never disrespect and we never retreat.
Our home is strong in your Holy Light.
We ask you to watch over us and by your wild rage, Arathor will never end.

Ancestor's will be done.

-------------------------

To all scattered sons and daughters of Stromgarde!

The time has come for the last of the crimson banners to be unfurlled, for bold men and women of our kingdom old, to rise up and Remember...

Honour! Is the mark of the warrior of Arathi, and Honour binds us to our King's oath.

Duty! Compells our people to Fight to the last, proud and resilient in that act!

Courage! Have the Courage to Return to us once more! Fight with that trait we value the most!

Though we have suffered much these years since the Death of our great King Thoras, We endure. We have always endured, and fought, and prevailed. Though now we are faced with the most daunting of challenges we remember those three peerles traits that are the mark of our peoples hearts. Danath shall return to us one day, his duty keeps him in outland, his courage shall see him prevail, his Honour will return him home, our King.

Until then the Lord Seiken Lionmane calls all Men and Women of Arathi home to serve their kingdom. Scattered and few though we may be, there is always a chance of victory as long as we hold true to what we are!

Mercenary's are hereby welcomed to join our glorious fight against the undead tides and the Dispicable Horde! Bring your blade and your magic, but forget not your valour and honour!

Return to stromgarde as she rises once more! Order, Justice, Courage, Truth. A warriors way may be simple, but our kingdom rises from the ashes and Endures.

Stromgarde Rises!

-Lord Seiken Lionmane, Lord protector of Stromgarde.’

The Kingdom of Stromgarde has long been one of the strongest human nations, but following the third war a lot went wrong. Today we see a noble Highland, the Arathi Highland. The plains green and reaches as far as the eye can see. The capital city of Strom, Stromgarde City, however stands in ruins from the recent Shattering.

Notably the nation was entirely evacuated following the Forsaken expansion of Lordaeron.
After many battles and scars gathered with those who went home, still today the nameless, faceless warriors who protect the northern border for the south to carry their peace stand, ready for the times ahead. Times littered with fights against those who fell.

Our ancestors look down upon us with pride! The Great Suxen, first of ancestors grants us his never ending love. Arathorian or not, we all grew in the same womb, Arathi, and we all share the same ancestors so honor them, brothers and sisters! Honor them and fight for Arathor! For the Crown! And your Ancestors! Ah-hoom!

Admin Antall Innlegg : 244 Join date : 2012-06-27

Who do we accept?

As of the new regime we currently accept all classes except Death Knights due to religious reasons and Humans of all Nations, Worgen, Gnomes and Dwarves.

Who fights for our lands?

Recruitment #1 Beastm10

Admin Antall Innlegg : 244 Join date : 2012-06-27

Admin Antall Innlegg : 244 Join date : 2012-06-27

The Ancestral Faith

The Ancestors are Arathorians who are long gone, passed away in battle, sickness, or of age. They await us in their halls to raise a mug to us, to let us join their grand feast. We ask for their guidance, for they have seen more in their final moments than we ever can in life. We honor them, for they gave their life's for our land. -Saihna

This brief summary of what the ancestors are is key to understanding how you as a player; be you Arathorian, Stormwindian, Dwarven or Gnomish would react and interact to the faith. The Ancestral Beliefs are not like any other religions per sei. The Ancestral beliefs hold true to the fact that all the Ancestors were and are men. Flesh and blood that ascended to the halls in glory and honour. They hold the power of any spirit; sometimes this is more and can be granted to the still living but we do not revere these ancestors as Gods.

The Commandments

The Ancestral Faith like Judaism holds true to a very strict code of ethics, straying from such is frowned upon harshly by the community. Whilst Stromgarde like any other city-state became civilised and modern it held true to it's core beliefs, this makes the city more tribal and their code of ethnics faultless in their eyes. Arathorian society is dictated majorly by Honour therefore many of the commandments are dictated by the same. The Commandments are as follows:

One: Trifling audience with enemies - Plainly this means that if you look upon an enemy of the state and do not kill them this is viewed as cowardice. However such a vague commandment obviously has it's 'loopholes'. No Arathorian should be expected to charge an army of the horde alone as this is foolhardy and sacrificial. This also brings into your head the idea of 'honour'. Arathorians as a race of people are honour-bound; therefore they cannot kill a child or unarmed woman, nor a man who is unarmed. They cannot kill the sick and infirmed and they cannot kill an advisary who has met them in good faith. These are all murder in the eyes of their fellow Arathorian. In short this commandment is focused solely on turning from a fight and being a coward or plotting with the kingdom's enemies without the intention of destroying them.

Two: Forsake allies of Arathor -This is plain enough. Should you turn your back on an ally when they need aid is to forsaken Arathor's judgement which is above your individual mind. However again there are exceptions, for example if a Wildhammer dwarf is arrested in Ironforge you are not expected to aid the Wildhammer and incriminate yourself just because Arathor is closer to the Wildhammer Clan. This is an important commandment however as Arathor is all about Honour and forsaking an ally in one of the greatest dishonours.

Three: Cowardice in War - War is a major figure in Arathorian Society. Therefore to turn back in the face of the enemy when all your fellow Arathorians are taking to the field is a great dishonour to you and your family. This like the others has exception, if you are war-wounded then you are obviously not expected to go into battle, however you are expected to remain at the campsite/battle site and help in any way you can while you recover. Also should the day be lost and you are ordered to retreat to save loss of life this too is an exception to cowardice as it is wisdom from your superiors.

Four: Murder of an Arathorian - "To turn your blade on your brother is the greatest sin, to do so is to turn the blade upon your own soul." -Ysriel Mosstouch. Murdering of a fellow Arathorian is the last test to be a follower of Phelgas so this shows just how serious it is. To murder a fellow Arathorian earns instant banishment adn shunning from society and damning to the Void. Murder does not need to be by your own hand, it also counts if you were responsible or ordered their death. If an Arathorian is condemned to death the executioner is obviously absolved.

The Ancestors and other Religions

Most people who ask me about the Ancestors ask 'what about x religion in comparison with y do they clash?' It's surprising just how understanding the Ancestors are of other faiths.

The Light - The Light is one of the most misunderstood connections to the Ancestors. Stromgarde does have paladins, it has priests who wield the light including my own Anaei. The Light is a divine force, granted to us by an unknown source. This source is unknown to all races; even the Draenei do not have a source as the Naa'ru are 'of the light' not 'the light'. Going back and using the fact that the Ancestors are not divine means that the Light melds well with the Faith. The Ancestors too wielded the light and ARathor's descendants shall too. We simply do not revere the Light as an entity or a deity but a natural force like magic.

The Titans - The Titans are a touchy subject, obviously it is clear they created the world, therefore they created the Vry'kul who in turn were cursed with flesh and devolved once more into Humans. However the ARathorians do not put much stock in worshipping or aknowledging them as the dwarves have shown us proof that they are gone from the world and are not Gods themselves and cannot hear prayer. Therefore the Ancestral Faith does not quarrel with Titan beliefs however they do not go together.

I'm not an Arathorian.

I've been asked so many times, "Do I believe in this as a mercenary?" No. Of course you don't. Unless you were raised into this faith or convert you have no reason to believe it. However if you wish to be an Arathorian citizen you must convert to this faith and even then you must be human. Therefore when an ancestral event occurs in the guild and you are not of the faith you go simply to show support to your fellow soldiers without the need to worship.

I am an Arathorian, what should I be doing?

Arathorian worship is a lot like Nordic Worship. It was done via battle and feasting. We are not appeasing Gods, we are celebrating and fighting in the name of the fallen therefore we have no pomp ceremonies like those unto the light. However there is a Clergy of the Ancestors which venerates 'the High Ancestors' whom we believe hold the most power and deserve appeasement. Unless a priest as a normal Arathorian you are expected only to do your duty and follow the commandments to revere the Ancestors.

This sums up the Ancestral Faith for beginners. If you feel i've left anything out or have any questions please post ahead and ask!

Language

Stromgarde, like most of the seven kingdoms, after the split kept a unique dialect that developed into its own language over the centuries. In Stromgarde this is known as Arathorian, as the cradle of Human Civilisation the Arathorian people safeguarded artifacts from their ancient past which helped them keep their 'ancient tongue' from the Arathorian Empire.

Not many words are taken completely into the spoken language, but instead together with the northern accent most carry it becomes an odd mixture of the common and Arathorian tongue. These phrases are treated as 'old sayings' than proper linguistics. However the study of Ancient Arathorian still exists and many strive to speak it though not all the language is available. The Ancient language is mostly put to use during rituals and events, to honor that of the Ancestors and their true language. A few phrases are quite known even in the non Arathorian community, such as "An dornu kel Fodrig" and "Esarus thar no'Darador". The later phrase being written on the statue of Turalyon was the beginning of the initiative to create an ancient language.

Any Arathorian has the opportunity to study and speak the language. While the Ancient tongue presents itself in the form of 'old phrases', Ancient Arathorian is only known by scholars and nobles, this language is available to any Arathorian who wishes it or those who seek to study it within the guild, we feel it gives our members a unique feeling of humanity outside Stormwind. This idea dates back to the beginning of Arathorian roleplay on Defias Brotherhood, where Arathorian players wrote random words in /say to speak to one another, and then translated this in a whisper. To make it more simple we've taken it a step further and created a channel for this purpose. Joining /Arathorian, as a Arathorian character (or a character that has for some reason studied the Arathorian language) be part of this initiative. To prevent metagaming another channel is up where people roleplaying in Stromgarde speak their Arathorian. If you for some reason happen to come up to Stromgarde, wishing to speak Arathorian with the people there you can contact anyone within the guild.