A chance encounter...

[Eigun]

It was just another day for the young druid. Time to do some chores on behalf of the Shattered Sun Expedition.

Eigun hovered near a mana forge in Netherstorm, before shifting into bear form and rounding up Sunfury Blood Elves so he could swipe them all down at once. It was nothing he hadn’t done before, with three or four attackers. But this time… this time, his appetite had gotten out of hand. He had gathered eight, nine, TEN Blood Elves, and then, along came one of their Arcane Annihilators. Eigun began to panic, and then lost hope… this would a be long walk from the graveyard. He didn’t even notice that several of his foes had developed little glowing seeds, quietly ticking away.

Suddenly, there was a massive explosion, which triggered another, which triggered another. Before Eigun knew what happened, a felguard had drawn the Arcane Annihilator off of him, and there was a pile of Sunfury corpses on the ground. A volley of shadow bolts slammed into the creature, and it, too, was dispatched.

Eigun released his bear shape and ran towards the source of the shadow bolts to thank his savior with a large hug. “WOW! That was great! Thank you so much for… um…” He stopped in his tracks, as he saw a Forsaken, ugly even by their standards, wet with fel energy, and bristling with hate. The cozy feelings had instantly disappeared.

“Sir, I appreciate the help. What is your name?” the druid asked the warlock.

“Good, boy. You’re polite enough to respect my power.” His Forsaken chest whistled and heaved as the decaying body breathed to speak. “You are only as significant to me as these demons I keep enslaved. Therefore, you will always refer to me by my full title, as they do. I will be called Lord Naz’thul-en’Ug’ee and nothing else. Remember this.”

The druid had seen plenty of arrogance before, but none such as this. Not even the Sin’dorei spoke so contemptuously to him. Nevertheless, he was in the warlock’s debt…

“What’s that, you said? Nugie? I like the sound of that. My name’s Eigun! We’ll be friends forever! Eigun and Nugie!”

“No, you idiot, that’s not my name at all. I told you, it’s Lord Naz’th…”

But before he could finish, Eigun interrupted by shifting into his cat form and yawning to bare his long fangs. “Goodbye, Nugie!” He quickly blended into the background, laughing as he disappeared.

“He can kiss my big Tauren backside before I refer to him as Lord anything”, thought the druid, before he padded away silently.

The warlock seethed with anger.

“Idiot. I’m going to follow him and make him respect me if it’s the last thing I do. I’ll go find those comrades of his, Clan Skullcrusher, and fight by their side. He’ll have no choice but to stop calling me that stupid name sooner or later.”

He straightened out his robes in an attempt to recover a small bit of his wounded pride, before he summoned his wyvern and flew off, looking for Clan Skullcrusher’s guild hall.

Edited December 20, 2008 by Eigun

[Eigun]

The warlock paused before entering Clan Skullcrusher’s guild hall. It had been a long journey, deep into Un’goro crater. He stopped for a moment to straighten his helm… after all, he wanted to make a good impression upon the Clan.

“Strength and honor to those assembled – I bring news and salutations. The rumors are true: the demons speak the name of Clan Skullcrusher with fear. And so, I have come to offer myself to the cause of those so mighty, that the Burning Legion itself has given pause to consider the strength of this noble clan. Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lord Naz’th….”

“NUGIE!!!! NUGIE NUGIE NUGIE!!!” Eigun shimmered, rapidly shifting between his forms, jumping around wildly in an ecstatic dance.

The warlock visibly shrank several inches.

“Majesty, give me strength… please… not this….”

“Hey, everybody! This was the warlock, Nugie, that I told you all about! Nugie is the one that saved me! Three cheers for Nugie!!”

The Forsaken shouted as loud as he could. “No, wait, please. That’s not my name.” But it was too late. He could barely be heard over the druid’s bestial roars.

“So, what do you think, Nugie? I promise, not everyone needs rescuing like I do. But you were just saying, you wanted to be a part of the Clan, right?”

“But… that’s not my name…” Lord Naz’thul-en-Ug’ee’s body seemed to weep as he began to understand the inevitable.

Eigun turned towards the rest of the elders.

“Firsthand I have witnessed Nugie’s commitment to the battle. Although his name is stupid, I will testify as to this warlock’s prowess, regardless of his name. What say you all?”

As the elders considered their options, Eigun laughed to himself. “Lord whatever-it-is. HAH! Unlikely. You want respect, time to earn it. Your titles mean nothing, now.”

The warlock raised his eyes, waiting to see if any of the elders would take him seriously after the druid Eigun had undermined him so.

[Rhoach]

Neat!