The Journey - Lessons Learned

I am Maralah, Elder of Pack Spirit, once known as the Den Mother. I survive to tell stories of the past, the most important of these to me are the stories of the Pack. Sit now and listen.

Elder Onatam Bloodtotem was not always an Elder. When the Pack was still young we made our first few journies as a pack to the cave of Artan and on the second of these the group was led by Onatam. During this time there was nearly outright war with the Alliance and traveling near any Alliance town was very dangerous.

Our journey took us through Hillsbrad, on a path that went near Southshore. It was here that our group was taunted by a group of Alliance; among the humans were a few night elves and gnomes. Onatam immediately went into a blood frenzy and took up pursuit, assailing the Alliance with the Elemental power at his command.

Caught up in the furor several of the more seasoned Pack mates followed to support Onatam in the conflict... leaving behind the much less experienced Demelza and Karnig, both new hunters to the Pack. Neither even had the companionship of an animal to help protect them so when an Alliance patrol came upon them it was swift. Both fought valiantly, Demelza with quiet fervor many tauren display and Karnig with the rage and battle cries common to the orcs.

Onatam and the others finished their own bloody battle and turned to rejoin the two left behind. The Alliance patrol had moved on, leaving the corpses of Demelza and Karnig perhaps as a message or, more simply, it was not the job of Alliance soldiers to deal with the bodies of their enemies. Either way, when the triumphant Pack returned it was to the bloody remains of those left behind.

After a moment of shocked silence, Onatam cried out in rage... and something else. He called on the powers of the elements, grasping the life force of his fallen companions, bringing them back. Onatam knelt beside the two he had left unprotected and made a vow, a vow he repeated the day he accepted the mantle of Elder of the Soul, to forever protect the Pack from harm.

On that day Onatam, and those he led to the cave of Artan, learned that bloodlust must not always be heeded... that sometimes it is best to ignore an insult and readdress it in your own time.