DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD OF WARCRAFT, SAVE MY OWN EXPERIENCES WITHIN IT, AND MY REACTIONS TO IT, INCLUDING MY IMAGINATION BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER MY INTERACTION WITH IT AND ITS LORE. If anything, the World of Warcraft owes many a nod and bow of acknowledgement to Tolkien, Lovecraft, Carrol, GRRM, Monty Python, the folklore and mythology of at least five world cultures, certain well-written schoolbooks, and a plethora of other literary sources that was the joy of adventure for children and adults of all reading ages, everywhere, which is why we love it even more.


She was flying high above the once-golden Vale of Eternal Blossoms aboard her silken, undulating carpet she had made, when a thought pierced through her mind. It was a mental communication from one of her friends.
'Tell me a story!' he had demanded out of the blue.
She stopped for a second, startled by the request.
'Tell me a bedtime story,' the demand returned.

She smiled to herself, and replied with a thought, 'Very well, then.'


THE FIRST TALE

In a time before Time, in a place we all know, the world had begun.

Earth was molten fire, the skies ablaze with its light. Nothing could breathe yet, for Fire ate Air with a terrible appetite, and left nothing of it.

Such that one day, there was no Air left, and Fire had to eat Earth.

Earth could only boil, and in its great heat, could neither quench Fire's thirst nor feed its hunger, so, eventually, Fire died down. Earth gradually froze into solid rock, cooling until it cracked. Cold and hard, the only warmth it had was from the Sky, who always watched Earth lovingly with two burning eyes. But that warmth was not enough to keep Earth from breaking further and further, its cracks getting deeper and deeper. If left in this state, it would eventually break completely, and be no more.

The Sky had no other companion in the vast Universe, and grew sad that Earth would die and leave it alone. They would disappear together.

Dumb, mute Earth knew nothing of this. It was simply happy that silly Air and angry Fire had left it be, and thought of the cracks as scars of battle, showing them with pride to the Sky. Sky could see, deep inside the cracks, sleeping traces of Fire. It could see what Earth refused to feel.

Sky, who touched the world outside Earth, and spoke with the stars, knew the truth was different.

Earth was choked, burnt, and dried. It would soon be no more.

Sky wept for sorrow, its tears falling on Earth, filling its cracks.

The tears were Water, a newborn.

Water laughed as it ran through the cracks of Earth, hissed and roiled with pain when it came across the traces of fire, jumping up to Sky, then falling back down again.

It repeated this so often, that it forgot why it had begun, and continued this dance. Rain.

The dance moved the space around Water. Wind.

Air was reborn.

Soon, Earth's wounds healed, and it softened in some places.

It turned upwards, but could not see. It had no eyes. It could only feel warmth and cold.

Sky had wept so much, it had all but lost the light of one eye, which was now pale silver.

Also, Sky could only keep one eye open at a time, so Light took turns in coming and going between them.

Earth knew something was wrong.

Earth shook.

It shook, and reached up to Sky, trying to soothe it. Mountains were born.

Water was thrown from side to side as Earth moved, and complained.

Feeling this, Earth stopped.

Earth had never shown recognition of anything before. Sky was so happy, it began to sing.

Its song was of colour and Light.

So beautiful was the song, that neighbouring stars came to see what was the matter.

So happy were some of the stars, that some of them decided to stay.

So long did the stars stay, that they forgot their place in the heavens, and made a new home on Earth's back.

They spoke to every mountain, every valley, every bit of Water, in the Language of Light.

Air listened, and repeated the language in Sound.

Hearing Sound, the earth-bound stars knew this was a new language, Speech.

Words spoken by stars forged light, sound, earth air and water into Life.

Things that had Life could move, could think, could speak.

All things.

Soul was born.

It lived in all things.

And thus the world began.

All that lived, from the very small to the very large, from insects to trees to rocks had self-awareness, could move and communicate. Among them, there were those that took upon themselves 'The Singing', and all who heard it understood.

In time, some of the larger things began to settle, and, having chosen the best resting-places, went into a long, long sleep. Mountains, who had reached to Sky in friendship, and Trees, who were born of the stars' Speech. Always dreaming, never fully awake.

The smaller things, seeing that their movement was now impeded by new barriers of rock and forest, eventually settled down as well, but they did not sleep. They roamed, but within the new borders that divided the face of Earth.

The only ones who could traverse all distances regardless of what stood in their path were The Singers. They sang to all living things, both Dreamers and Wakers, keeping the flow of awareness as one. This flow sank deep into the memory of Sleepers, but the Wakers, who were impatient and constantly moving, did not listen for too long at any one time, eventually forgetting all but the deepest flow of Life in all things. They forgot the skill of Speech, or, rather, changed it from the long, complex Words of the Stars to simpler sounds: grunts, squeals, noiseless sounds.

The Singers could still understand all, and speak with all. Thus were born the first Shaman, of many different forms. They roamed Earth and bound all Life and Matter till they, too, settled into different Aspects of the living world.

Later descendants of the stars would call themselves the Kaldorei, or 'Starborn'.

Earth itself would calm and flourish, working hand-in hand with Air, Water, and even Fire, and be known as 'Az-Eroth', 'The Great Earth'.

..and here it is we stand, my friend.