Graan vs Altruis... the fight for cleansing.

Graan walked quietly, but his thoughts were far from silent. Nagrand was always the place in which he could think freely. He couldn't stop thinking about his situation, about what he needed to do, about what he decided to do. He pulled his hat lower over his face as finally found his old mentor.

“I've been expecting you, young Graan,” Altruis said, keeping his back turned to Graan.
“Altruis, there is one thing that I need to ask you,” Graan paused for a moment before asking, “Is there a way to turn back? To get 'cured'?”

The elf turned around sharply as he heard that and spoke, “I see. I thought that hatred wouldn't break you, but apparently I was wrong. You really are just a weakling.”
“No,” he replied, “Not a weakling.... I just finally have a reason to live. The powers that I possess thanks to the Fel are magnificent, but if I can't fight without it, then I truly am weak. It shames me that I had to rely on it just to fight.”
“It -shames- you? Is that it?” the elf asked with anger in his voice, “You are wrong. It is -you- who shames the rest of the demon hunters. A mistake that was never supposed to be a demon hunter. A demon spawn. I will show you what it really means to be a demon hunter.... and then you might see some sense.”

As Altruis finished speaking, his warglaives burst into Fel flames and lunged at Graan at an amazing speed. The orc barely had enough time to draw his hellreaver and he just barely managed to block the incoming attack, but the weight and power behind the attack was more than enough to push Graan a few yards backwards. Then the elf disconnected his warglaives from Graan's hellreaver and spun to the left, making fast wide-arc attacks. The orc finally had the opportunity to grip his weapon with both and hands and managed to deflect the attacks by pure reflexes and a bit of luck. The elf was simply faster than Graan.

Instead of allowing himself to be pushed back, Graan roared with anger and slashed out at the elf instead of blocking. The elf was almost caught off-guard and had to use both of his warglaives just to block the incoming attack. The brute force behind the attack sent Altruis backwards through the air. He spun while in mid air and landed in a crouched position, his burning warglaives on either side of him, apparently ready to lunge himself again.

This time, Graan didn't allow him to do that, instead, he gripped his weapon in his right hand and charged at the Altruis in a wide arc manner, instead of charging in a straight line. Altruis grinned and lunged forward, slashing with both of his warglaives in large arcs, meeting the orc's hellreaver with a deafening impact. Quickly, the Altruis landed and started spinning, slashing out at Graan with extremely fast wide-arc attacks, using his warglaives to their best capacity. The orc took a step back and gripped the handle of his hellreaver near the blade with his left hand and at the very end of its handle with his right hand, turning his left hand into a fulcrum and his hellreaver into a lever. Quickly, he moved the handle with his right hand and the blade of the hellreaver matched the speed of the elf's warglaives without a lot of effort. Their blades met at an alarming speed, the deafening sounds of metal meeting metal were only rivalled by sparks that emerged from his contact.

Then they broke off from the flurry of attacks, only to start sprinting in the same direction and and opening up another insane exchange of blows while running at a high speed. Neither of them was capable of getting past the guard of the other, the elf being too fast for Graan to get through and Graan being too strong for the elf to risk making an opening in his own guard. They ran south on a road and when they neared the Sunspring Post, a few of the Murkblood that were raiding the settlement charged at them. They disengaged and moved a bit apart, cutting down whatever came at them, only to slam their weapons against each other and resuming their combat when the attackers lay in pieces.
Graan then took a gamble. He abandoned speed and slashed at the elf with brute force, forgetting his own guard. The elf had enough time to open two shallow wounds on Graan's chest before bringing his warglaives together and blocking the attack, but once again, the force of the attack sent his through the air and straight at Lake Sunspring. Acting quickly, he cast a spell on his feet while falling and managed to land on the surface of the lake, thus standing up on the water. He looked up and quickly jumped to the right, barely avoiding the orc's attack, but just like the elf, the orc landed on the surface of the water. While in mid air, the elf quickly kicked out at Graan, hitting him in the ribs and knocking him off his feet. When he landed a few yards away, his opponent had already recovered.

They both and lunged at each other, their blades meeting while mid air with enough force that the impact moved the water beneath them without touching it. Their blades disconnected and their momentum made their bodies carry on, thus landing behind each other. Graan turned quickly, slashing out at the elf, but he dodged it by bending forward. He then almost copied the orc's attack but he aimed at the head instead, forcing Graan to bend backwards to dodge it. He then kicked out at the elf's shoulder, but he spun avoiding the foot and using the rotation to slash at his opponent. This time, he bent forward, the warglaives coming so close to his flesh that he could feel the disturbance of air caused by them. He then slashed upwards, forcing the elf to side-step in other to avoid it, but this time, Graan didn't give the elf the chance to counter-attack, instead, he brought his hellreaver down in such a wide-arc, that the slash ended up being horizontal and not vertical. His opponent vaulted over the orc, dodging the attack and landing with his back touching the orc's back.

Quickly, Graan spun around and horizontally slashed out at the elf, but his blade only cut through air as the elf jumped up again and half-spun, bringing his warglaives down at the orc. He just barely managed to dodge the incoming warglaives before the elf landed and slammed his foot into the orc's chin, kicking backwards through the air and out of the lake.

The elf jumped after the orc, apparently intending on finishing the fight but the orc recovered in mid-air right before the elf got to him. This completely surprised him, giving Graan enough time to swing his hellreaver downwards with great strength. The elf just managed to block it but the impact forced him to fall down at a greater speed. He managed to recover and land on his feet, barely giving him enough time to bring both of his warglaives together, blocking the incoming downward slash from the falling orc. But it was no ordinary attack. The force behind the attack was enormous.. at the moment of the impact, both Graan and Altruis completely burst into Fel flames. The ground beneath the elf cracked and compressed, leaving a small crater. Their blades were locked and the their flames intensified with each passing moment. Discharges of Fel were visible all around and at place, their Fel energies collided, causing the great impacts and rushes of air.

Graan pushed harder and harder until his blade started to slide to one side, slowly at first, but then the orc's strength eliminated any friction between the blades and his hellreaver quickly slid off of the warglaives. Then they both blurred and the blades met again and again. Powerful discharges of Fel followed almost very move they made at this blurring speed. When their blades met, the impacts forced the air to rush out at a great speed. The elf made his attack wide-arced in other to get the best out of his warglaives, while Graan switched between holding his hellreaver with one hand and two hands depending on how much force he needed, swinging it quickly and in mostly-straight lines.

Then they started moving while their weapons clashed, slowly at first but then they picked up speed. The elf shot into the air and Graan was quick to follow. Their blades met with enormous force, but neither of them was forced back through the air any more. Then the elf dropped like a stone but landed lightly and charging direction in the direction of Forge Camp Fear. The orc landed a short moment afters and lunged himself through the air and straight at the elf, forcing him to jump to one side in other to avoid the blow. Their battle resumed, but it took a different light. Instead of parrying the orc's attacks, Altruis dodged them by always jumping up or over Graan, while the orc parried each of the elf's attacks. Their movements were blurry but neither of them noticed it due to their lack of physical sight.

This exchange of blows continued for some time before a nearby Felguard finally realised that these aren't two demons fighting, but two demon hunters. It charged just as Altruis dodged yet another attack and was in mid-air. It brought its massive sword down on the elf, attacking from behind, but the elf spun around in mid-air, parrying the blow with his left warglaive and straight away be-heading the demon with his right warglaive. Seeing that they were too close to the Forge Camp, they both nodded and ran back to the road.

They both came to a sliding stop as they got to the road, their blades meeting before their bodies had enough time to come to a full stop. Their blades were locked together and once again, Fel flames started spreading across both of their bodies. When their entire bodies were ablaze with Fel, they nod and disconnected their blades for a short moment before opening up a massive flurry of attacks. With each contact, their flames intensified and powerful discharges of air and Fel were occurring all around around them. The impacts of each attack were enormous, the sounds of metal meeting metal were almost deafening. Their bodies were a blur within the flames, their blades almost hidden in barrage of movement and sparks. With each attack, their speed increased, until they both appeared like a whirlwind of Fel flames and sparks.

Then they both jumped back, landing in crouched down positions, Altruis with his warglaives on either side of him and Graan with his hellreaver resting on his right shoulder. For a short moment, they remained that way, just observing each other, before they simultaneously lunged at each other through the air. Graan roared as he gripped his weapon with both hands and slashed out at Altruis with all his might, the elf intending to put just as much force into his own attack. The moment their blades met, a large explosion of Fel took place, with its centre precisely where they met, sending earth and dirt up into the air, obscuring all vision.

When all settled, Graan and Altruis were standing several yards apart with their backs to each other. Neither of them was breathing hard and no severe injuries were seen. They both kept their weapons lowered, the fight was over.

“Are they really worth it? Is -she-?” Altruis asked calmly.
“Yes,” Graan answered simply.
“You should abandon your search for a cure,” the elf paused before continuing, “you should look for a cleansing instead. I believe that your shamans are the ones that would know the best about that.”
“Thank you, Sufferer,” Graan said and smiled, his expression finally relaxed.
“You know... you would have been a good one. It is a shame that you choose this path but I suppose that I have no right to stop you. Farewell GraanShaKuun, and good luck.” Altruis finished speaking as he started to walk away.

Graan looked up and kept on smiling. Finally he had a lead, finally he might find a way. Now just to find a way. He lifted his hellreaver onto his right shoulder and started to walk away, already seeing a way.

The scout pushed his wolf faster and faster. There was no doubt about what that was. -He- was here. This had to be reported straight away, the Blademaster would be extremely pleased. He grinned as he though of the possible promotion. This time, he hit jackpot. The scout pushed his wolf a bit faster as he made his way to the Warsong Hold.

Very nice Graan. I'm interested to see how the Blades respond to this

((copied from the WSB forum: reply by Nazrug - Vyp ))

The young shaman watched Nazrug with interest. The thick leathery skin on the old orc’s hands showed his age, the youngling knew that the old man did not have many years left in him, so he listened intently to everything Nazrug said. Best to listen to the old shaman now than to wish you had heard his words after he was gone. He didn’t agree with alot of what the old orc said, but he guessed that any orc that was forced to live through the period that he did would carry the same hard attitude and presence.

A vision journey, is what Nazug called it. He was only here to observe, to learn from the old man. Nazrug had placed a single bowl ontop of an Ashenvale rock, it sat in the middle of the small clearing, smoke streaming from the incense inside. Nazrug’s eyes had been closed for some time, he had not moved and the young shaman had taken this time to inspect the old man closer.

Everything about him carried the essence of savagery, the beads and bones in his braids. The old brittle fangs that had been sharpened into crude chiselled spikes in his days of youth. The lines on his face told stories of conflict with blades and fire. His scarred hands that held the bowl were strong, his fingers rivalling in strength with even that of the greatest warrior of the clan.. but the claws, his sharp fingernails that almost resembled talons.. they were a feature that the young shaman would never forget. Then, the most distinguishing trait of them all, his eyes. They carried fury and the rage of a horrific past combined with a strange calmness that could only be described as restraint. They flared red during intense situations, the remnants of the past taint still visible within them.

Nazrug was an animal, a savage. He was the type of shaman that would soon die out, survivors and bearers of the deeds committed during wars and of the atrocities committed against the orcish people. They had their place in time and a right to be the vessels of anger that they became, he though. But their place in the future is being replaced with the modern day shaman. Once again the shaman would be used to guide their people in pleasant times, for spiritual aid. But until that day comes, where the Orcish people are once again at peace, this old orc and the many like him would be needed to tear apart the enemies of the horde.

The young shaman’s concentration was broken then, by Nazrug’s voice. At first it was a mumble, his eyes remained closed. The youngling leaned forward peering at the old orc trying to catch the words.

“It is as you predicted, he will been found. But I fear that when the time comes the corruption will be beyond my experience alone to cleanse.”

Nazrug paused as if listening for something. The young shaman was about to respond, was he talking to me? He thought. But he was interrupted by Nazrug once again.

“That is true old friend, however, our people have suffered against the taint for as long as I can remember. Sacrifices have been made in the past, but our clan has nothing more to give. I am at a loss on how to approach this. It has never been done before.”

The young shaman sat back down, his thoughts running away with him, if this old orc was unsure of how to cleanse the fel one, then who was? Drek’thar? Bah... He knew Nazrug would never call to the frostwolf pacifists for help. Reading poems to the elementals was something Nazrug publically despised, his pride and warsong tradition would see that they were never involved.

A small smirk spread across Nazrug’s face.

“I shall try my best, His body is where the taint lies, should I fail I shall make sure his spirit is at least saved. I have promised this to young Xenya already and do the same to you old friend. May your spirit find peace oneday, a blessing, Aka’magosh.”

Nazrug’s eyes opened and met with the young shamans.

“Prepare yourself, we will have work to do soon.”

The two shaman gathered their belongings and headed off into the forest.

So Graan is now getting "cured" from fel energy? He really doesnt need that does he? he could just stop using it.. just like a mage that swears to stop using Arcane or like a rogue who swears to never touch a sword