User:CCRyder95/Heruli (Playable)

The Heruli are an allied race affiliated with the Horde in World of Warcraft: The Waking Dream. They are available after completing the Troupe of Osier faction campaign.

Background
(WIP)

The Heruli were once a simple race of no particular standing within the Dream. The spawn of the Wild God Wodan, the Heruli are tall, lean anthropoid figures with bestial traits; long claws, wolfish teeth and piercing eyes, their heads crowned by regal antlers. They are apex predators, having hunted the wild beasts of the Dream for countless years in the beautiful struggle of life and death. They themselves are hunted by the Wild Gods, so great is their skill. Attuned to the primal energies of the Dream, the Heruli are instinctively drawn to areas of great spiritual power, and when these powers reach a crescendo, the Heruli and all nearby are swept into a Wild Hunt, a crusade of tooth and claw emboldened by natural magics that tears through the primordial landscape. Inseparable to the point of symbiosis, the Heruli instinctually coordinate their hunts to maximize releases of spiritual energies, hastening the next great Wild Hunt.

However, a spiritual affliction has gripped the hearts of these once simple folk. Within the woods of Tal'Theril, The Wake has emerged, a mysterious energy that instills "mortal-like" characteristics and desires within the afflicted. The Heruli's eyes have been opened and their wisdom increased tenfold, none more-so than their most revered hunter, Gwynn. Embittered by the eons spent in primitive stagnation and wary of the both the Nightmare and Emerald Vanguard, Gwynn has rallied forth his newly-awakened brothers and sisters in a cultural and industrial revolution. They reap the bountiful lands of the Dream of stone and lumber and turn their eons of hunting experience to war, crafting a gothic empire in the shape of what they believe a nation resembles.

Recent History
Following the storming of Wakefall Bastion and the death of Gwynn, the Heruli dwell in the husk of their newborn kingdom. They may have been gifted with insight and the capacity to grow as a people, but Gwynn's dictatorship tore the heart from their culture. From the rebels of the Troupe of Osier to those who were once part of the Waking Empire, the Heruli did not know where to go from here. The other races of Azeroth made it clear to them that the world could not support another tyrannical power like the one Gwynn envisioned.. but perhaps it would support something different. The Horde was born from fractured cultures and readily accepted the wayward hunters.

Classes

 * - The Heruli trace their lineage back to Wodan, Wild God of the Hunt. The timeless eons spent in the Emerald Dream, honing their skills, have made the Heruli the most capable hunters in all of Azeroth. The tracking, taming and slaying of beasts is more than just survival to them, it is their cultural identity.
 * - Historically, Heruli warriors were usually the most capable hunters of their troupe, leveraging their skills against a much more savvy form of prey. An empire needs an army, and to that end High King Gwynn fostered the growth of martial pursuits among his people. The ranks swelled with capable soldiers, adept with the use of polearms and mounted combat.
 * - To monitor the growth of his kingdom, the High King ordered the creation of the Suil, or "Eyes of Gwynn". Handpicked from his most covert soldiers, the Suil were a force of spies and secret police, dedicated to the High King's vision. Their natural skills at stalking prey were said to be tempered with teachings from the Autumn Sidhe, whose assassins move through the forests as silently as a falling leaf.
 * - The Wake has opened the hearts and minds of the Heruli to new forms of magic and spellwork. To this end, they have reaped the Ivory Gardens, pockets of the Dream's underlying circuitry as built by the Titanforged. Through this knowledge, they have quickly developed the skills necessary to weave arcane magic.
 * - Shamans were historically the wisest of all Heruli. While their skills at elemental manipulation were praised, they were most known for their spiritual augury, delving into the manyfold facets of the Emerald Dream for knowledge and guidance. In the infancy of the Waking Empire, these traditions fell by the wayside, but many still hold fast to the path of the shaman.
 * - While it was the pandaren who made the first move in teaching the path of the monk to the Heruli, it is believed that a similar tradition had been in practice by them for generations. While gracious, they have taken to adapting some forms of the monk to suit their history, including substituting the revitalizing mists with the primal energies they channel for their Wild Hunts.

Possible

 * - While the Death Knight is a necromantic warrior whose origins lie with both Gul'dan and the Undead Scourge, the Heruli have used spiritual knights for generations. These Witchlords are those who have crossed the veil of death and returned as arbiters of spectral energies. When the Wild Hunts begin to course through their people, it is the Witchlords who rally forth the armies of ghostly hunters who dwell within the Dream. In recent times, the High King forced the creation of many new Witchlords to govern his legions of disposable spirits. In the wake of his death, they lie listless, trapped between life and death and sworn to a fallen king. Perhaps the Knights of the Ebon Blade could have a place for these wayward souls.