Ezra Phoenix Chatterton 1996-2008

I've written about Ezra, before. He's the young man who went to Blizzard Entertainment and made a World of Warcraft Non Player Character in Bloodhoof Village through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

I just saw that Ezra has passed away. www.ezrachatterton.org

My thoughts are with his father and the rest of his family. 4 hankies

Journey to the Undercity

This is a quest in World of Warcraft. Players fighting certain mobs in the Ghostlands can get a amulet drop that starts a small quest chain. I know the back story of Sylvanas Windrunner from Warcraft III and The Frozen Throne, and evidently the amulet is a long lost gift to Sylvansas from her sister, Alleria. You take the amulet to Sylvanas and the script has her pretending that it's unimportant and tosses it aside, but as soon as you complete the quest, she does an emote:

"Lady Sylvanas Windrunner looks down at the discarded necklace. In her sadness, the lady incants a glamour, which beckons forth Highborne spirits. The chamber resonates with their ancient song about the Sin'dorei...

Then the game starts playing a rather haunting song in the High Elf language while banshee Highborne Lamenters materialize around her, and glowing effects streak around her chamber.

At the end of the song she kneels back down and picks the amulet back up and whispers, "Belore," which is High Elf for "the Sun."

I found it quite touching. 2 hankies

(As always, if you take the time to look, there's bigger fan out there. I found a write up with lyrics (and translation!) here.)

Gromm Hellscream

I play of World of Warcraft. I play quite a lot. I've read 4 of the Warcraft novels, and I bought Warcraft III after I started playing WoW so I could see more of the Warcraft lore. You could say that I'm fairly invested in the Warcraft universe. Recently, my son started playing Warcraft III and has been doing fairly well with it.

Today, I was in Orgrimmar with my shaman when my son came into my office. He got excited.

"Show me where Hellscream is buried!"

I said, "He's not buried in Orgrimmar, but there's a memorial here. Let me show you."

So I rode over to Grommash Hold (named, of course, after Hellscream), and showed him Mannoroth's skull and armor. I read the inscription aloud:

"These demon plates were worn by the creature that first cursed our people with Bloodlust. By the heroic act of one brave orc - he was defeated. Mannoroth the Destructor is no more. Let these plates always remind us of how far we've come and how hard we fought to regain our honor."

- Thrall, Warchief of the Horde

Of course I started choking up at the "by the heroic act," part.

He looked at me closely, "Are you crying?"

"Yeah." I said.

"This makes you sad?"

I explained, "Well, Grom Hellscream died to save his people. He's a hero. He gave up everything to save those he loved. When people do that it makes you kind of sad, but also kind of proud."

He chewed on this for a moment. "Show me where he died."

So we left Orgrimmar and rode across the Southfury River into Ashenvale and Demon Fall Canyon. We rode up to the monument and I read it for him.

"Here lies Grommash Hellscream, Chieftan of the Warsong Clan.

In Many ways, the curse of our people began and ended with Grom. His name meant "Giant's Heart" in our ancient tongue. He earned that name a hundred-fold as he stood alone before the demon Mannoroth - and won our freedom with his blood.

Lok'Tar ogar, big brother. May the Warsong never fade."

- Thrall, Warchief of the Horde

Naturally, I teared up, again. My son, however, was dry-eyed.

"That makes me sad, but without tears."

I laughed, wiping my tears. "There's nothing wrong with crying," I said, "but being sad doesn't always have to make you cry."

Except, that doesn't really seem true for me, anymore. Most people can weather emotional turbulence without breaking into tears. Why can't I? There are times when I'm glad that I'm able to have such depth of feeling, but other times it just leaves me feeling slightly foolish.

I mean, come on - a video game?

World of Warcraft (Ahab Wheathoof)

I was wandering around Mulgore, today, and Ahab Wheathoof started muttering about his dog as I crossed the Stonebull Bridge. Ahab always makes me weepy because I know the story behind the character. 1 hankie

The Instance #109

"The Instance" is a World of Warcraft podcast that I listen to, and this week, they dedicated the episode to a man, a father of a listener and a WoW player, himself, that had recently taken ill and passed away. 2 hankies.

http://www.myextralife.com/wow/