A Noob's Tale

The One That Started it All

Loktar ogar! I am Z, at least, that is the name by which this manuscript is signed, and the only name you will ever know. Where you read or hear this tale is unimportant. Perhaps you find it in the Dalarn library, or perhaps you hear it secondhand from the lips of a traveling minstrel in one of the many taverns scattered across the face of Azeroth. Whatever the case may be doesn't matter, all that matters is the story, and the spirit of the champions that wrote it with their words and deeds. As I mentioned, I am Z, and it was my charge to pen the manuscript so that future generations may know ~A Noobs Tale.~

It all began on a dark evening. I sat in the Ledgermain, nursing a tankard of Captain Rumsey's finest. Little did I know the chain of events that were about to befall me, or where they would lead me. I sat in the back corner, my tankard nearly empty, and I began to notice something. A strange number of adventurers were beginning to fill the room. Some of their faces were familiar to me, men and women who had made quite a name for themselves by lashing out at the Lich King's forces alone. Other's were faces that I'd never seen before, faces that were young and unscarred, faces of what some might call children. One man, a troll by the name of Grymnar rose, and with a nod to the barkeep lept atop the bar and began to speak, his voice strong. The words he spoke that night will forever be burned into my memory, and so too, I think, will they be into yours.

~Fellow members of the Horde, Loktar Ogar! Hail and well met! Few of you know the real reason you've been called here tonight, you simply responded to a letter carried to you by one of the many couriers that flit about this fair land, unseen and unheard. You responded to this call of adventure, yet you don't truly know what you're getting in to. Well tonight, I will answer all of those questions. For too long has the shadow of Arthas' been cast over the whole of Azeroth. And I know that each and every man and woman in this room who dares call themself an adventurer has done great things in the name of the Horde. Yet despite it all, none of us have found our place among the ranks of the Elite. None of us have been enlisted into the great teams of heroes who assault the gates of Icecrown Citadel itself! True, there are those among us who have temporarily joined forces with others for one goal or another, but always, when the dust settled we've gone our separate ways. I've seen many of you in action, even when you didn't know I was there. I've watched you, gauging you abilities, and gauging your ability to react to new situations, to new threats. Yet despite your talent, despite your fervor, I know that you've heard the words whispered as we walk past. Our small time achievements aren't enough for many of the great champions are they? How many times have we hear that dreaded term... the word noob as we cross the threshold of an inn? How many times has that word haunted our footsteps, stolen our glory for the acts of service that we have accomplished? How many times has the blood that we have spilt been devalued, simply because we've not been accepted into the great strike forces? Well tonight, I demand that change! Tonight I am issuing a call to arms, to noobs everywhere! Come forth, and show the world... show the alliance, the horde and show that damned cretin Arthas that we're rewriting the dictionary. Tonight, the meaning of noob changes, and in the weeks to come... the word noob will cause the minions of the Scourge, and the Lich King himself to quake with fear! For they will soon know our revenge!

A cheer filled the room, but still there were some whose faces bore doubt, bore trepidation. Grymnar hadn't finished speaking however, and his voice had gained intensity, had reached a timbre that had everyone's eyes fixed firmly upon him.

~I know what you're thinking, because I have many times asked myself the same question. The minions of the Scourge number in the tens of thousands, and they all respond without hesitation to the whim of their King. Indeed, this is their greatest strength, but it is also their greatest weakness. I swear to you my friends, that just as Arthas' forces can be like unto a sword in the hands of their masters, so too can we act as a weapon, of one mind and one strategy. But where the Lich King must think for thousands, we can think individually, adapt individually. We can pick up the slack where someone may fall, we can adjust for a change in situation, and we can out think him! Our naivete will be our saving grace, for we will be forced to rely on one another! We will be forced to forge an unbreakable bond of trust and friendship! How often have we heard tales from the medics of the fall of this raiding party or another, and upon further investigation learned that they were a slap together group of seasoned veterans, each with their own set ways of doing things? We all know the strongest bands of champions, are those that can work together without second guessing one another. It is my belief, that this group of noobs can do exactly that. We can, and will band together into one of the most deadly and powerful teams that Azeroth has ever seen. So I say unto you, who's with me?~

Never before had I heard such a deafening roar, and for one of the first times in my life I felt the fabled battlelust of the horde swelling in my heart. I knew that this group was destined for great things, and I intended to follow them, and to write the story. I made it my mission in life to pass along this tale, so that all may know what really happened when Arthas' and his foul minions endured the Revenge of the Noobs.