#89

Pictured are a selfie of Eish, looking festive and ready for Winter Veil, and the picture of an orc dressed in neat scale mail while looking friendly. Under the photo of the orc, Eishona writes, “Bok’shani Hardeye, Mulgore” By the look of things, both photos were taken in or around Bloodhood Village, Mulgore.





Well I did it. I took some time off for holiday. The whole team did! We’ll meet back up in a week or two to reconvene in Vol’dun to resume trading after the holidays are done. It’s a well deserved rest for us all. Ginja herself is traveling to Winterspring for a spa treatment - I might join her there with Vik’wa for a few days of pampering myself. But I went right to Mulgore first after taking the portal back to Kalimdor out of Dazar’alor.

It took a few days of planning to get this to work - but it’s a designated downtime for us, so instead of sitting around doing  nothing, or denuding the landscape of more creatures, we opted for a break. Our stocks are good - we have plenty of bones, hides, teeth and scales to trade with, as well as general goods. Our big markets have been for animal parts lately - the Zandalari really like their totems and charms, and many will accept a hunted piece for a fair price, in particular from Nazmir and Vol’dun. We keep hunting and gathering to a minimum in NAzmir, only with three to four members in safer areas - if any part of Nazmir can be called safe that is.

Brutosaur scales are hugely popular, but impossible to hunt by our modest team. They are prey to the largest of the devilsaurs - and even then being brought down by them down is rare. Misadventure or the occasional illness are the main downfalls to those massive beasts.  So we gather from the fallen or shed scales - they are a huge beast, used by the Zandalari as beasts of burden as well as war beasts. They are a strong totem, symbolizing massive strength and patience, as well as determination. An elder Zandalari told me they wait a long time to grow so tall to reach the best feeding, and all can learn from this. Children seem to love them the most, often gathering in great crowds to watch the caravan brutosaurs go by in the city.

One thing we don’t deal in are pterrordax parts. It’s rare we have to kill any, and give them a wide berth - myself and several of our team have dealings with Pa’ku and take pains to keep from offending her or her devout followers. I have never seen a Zandalari slay one, and the only totems I see made from them are from beasts that have passed from age or illness, reserved for the wealthy or high ranking priests and devoted. Pa’ku blesses her followers with special totems in the city and I have seen one person earn her disfavor - she snatches them up and drops from high up - no thank you. His transgression? He wore a pterrordax bone charm he stole from a priestess that the Loa deemed him unworthy of wearing. So.. so we are very careful. I don’t take anything these Loa say or do lightly - it’s rude (and foolish) to take them for granted.

Goodness I got distracted didn’t I? I landed in Kalimdor easily, taking my hyenas to Thunderbluff for lodging while I made my way down to Bloodhoof Village for a night of rest. I found my Winter Veil sweater hidden in my belongings I store in Thunderbluff and immediately changed. It felt nice to change in to loose, comfortable clothing that aren’t made of leather or metal!  I walked to Bloodhoof in the late afternoon, enjoying the snap in the air - Winter will start soon, and with it the holidays!  Maybe I will see if the Broken Horn Tribe will be doing anything for holiday - it’d be nice to spend it with friendly people. If not, Elder Wooshy or Vik’wa should be have some time. I left letters for them both before I left for the village, hopefully I hear from them soon. Both of them are busy, our letters are not too frequent - between my work and their own work. I lost my little scrying gem from Vik’wa, so I haven’t spoken to her directly in weeks. Im hoping to get a new one from her soon.

Bloodhoof was blessedly quiet - just what I needed. Zuldazar is lovely, but there is rarely a quiet moment there - around every corner it seems there are devotees to a Loa preaching it seems, or singing their praises. Which is great! don’t get me wrong! But mixed with that there are general noises of trading,  bantering, work of all types, beggars looking for handouts, countless people walking or eating - it’s a lot on the senses. The quiet of Bloodhoof is so soothing. The first thing I did was visit a quiet little copse of trees and make an offering to the Spirits and the Earth Mother. I felt so at ease doing this, it’s all Loa and spirits in Zuldazar, but here, the Earth Mother calls me here.

I don’t keep a shrine to her, or have much in the way of charms. Elder Wooshy said she needs no such things, being that she is in and of everything - the good earth, the air and the water all the way to the flesh of the kodo or plainstrider we might hunt. The only thing close to a charm I have is a small carved bit of bone my brother threw at me once, stating it came from our mother. It’s the only thing I have of my parents - it’s dense kodo bone, carved with the sun and moon - Her eyes, according to our stories.  I have a feeling Elder Wooshy could do a vision with this charm, but I am afraid to ask him for such a service. I have gone this long without really knowing much about my parents - maybe it is better to let those spirits rest. I suppose it;s normal to wonder though.

What were they like? who were they? Is Dusthoof really my name? That’s what Weylo and I went by.. and I can’t think I’ve earned a name otherwise. I don’t go in for huge hunts or heroic deeds. Ginja calls me Wise-Ear because I’m really cautious when it comes to new business opportunities.. We’ve had some greedy people trying to buy our services and I’ve caught a few in some lies or bad practices that have saved us a lot of trouble. Sometimes that caution bothers Ginja, but I’d rather we not get started in shady dealings. But I don’t introduce myself as Wise-Ear. It’s usually just Eishona Dusthoof.

I’ll get answers and names someday. For now it’s all about relaxing. Which led me to meet an orc here in Bloodhoof. I got a huge (Portions in Zandalar are troll sized, remember) mug of herbal tea from the inn here and we bumped in to each other on accident - neither of us were paying attention. She spilled her stew, and I spilled my tea. Thankfully, no one was hurt. After replacements were acquired and messes tidied, we actually sat together. Her name is Bok’shani Hardeye, a Mag’har orc that is a recent arrival to Kalimdor. A frostwolf in origin, she’s in Mulgore to learn from the Tauren their hunting skills. She keeps beasts as I do, though with a focus on wolves and boars to my kodo and hyena. We spoke a while about our travels - she says she spent a month in Durotar before making her way here to Mulgore. She found Orgrimmar as I did - noisy and smelly. She had to earn coin to travel here and says she’s staying here and working where she can. I told her if she can manage, there is work in Winterspring - as I did when I first set out. The trading circuits still work there, running the routes along Kalimdor. It got me thinking that it’s been a year or so since I started out like this.

I hope her journey is a good one - Kalimdor has so much to offer to the aspiring traveler. We eventually parted ways as she left for the comfort of her bedroll. I ended up staying up late to join a drum circle in the shaman tent, getting caught up in the ceremony. Tea and corn mush were shared, and stories were exchanged. Several calves were present, eager to be seen as bigger sorts, and learn from their elders. I ended up with two in my lap, sharing blankets and tea as the elder shaman Zarlman Two-Moons shared stories of the Earth Mother. It was a lovely evening. Many of us fell asleep there in the tent, myself included.

I woke up before dawn, alone - the calves were taken by their mothers sometime in the night. I took a long walk in the dark, enjoying the silence, ending up in the inn. That’s where I’ve been writing, in the early morning as the village slowly wakes up. The inn is nice at this time of day. The keeper tends to light incense before dawn, lending a lovely scent to the air. It’s warm and cozy here - he keeps the fire going all night. I have a mug of tea, a blanket on my lap and really, everything I need.

I feel like I am home here.