The first night

We had recovered enough people who were in good shape that they began taking over the recovery operations, so, as night fell, I finally had a chance to sit down and recuperate.  Out back, behind the makeshift medical facility, which was actually a large broken part of our ship, was a small, shining lake and stream.  All the fires had been put out, and all the people had been found and rescued in that area, so I began heading that way to sit by the water.

I got farther and farther from the sights and smells of the building, meandering along, enjoying the crisp, cool breeze.  The moon began rising over the hill side, and I was greeted with a beautiful sight.  The tiny little crystal fragments from our ship, scattered throughout the valley, all began reflecting the moonlight.  They looked like little stars all over the ground and in the trees.  It was difficult to discern where the ground ended and the sky began.

I made it to the lake’s edge, water lapping at the bank.  The water was crystal clear and quite cool.  I put my hooves into the water and began to rest for a bit.  After a few minutes I moved up from the water and leaned against a large tree.  It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.  I began to dream, first about home, then our ship, and then I began to dream about birds.  These weren’t just any little bird though, these were big birds, too big to fly, walking around.

Suddenly I realized I wasn’t dreaming, there really were giant birds walking around.  They also had antlers on their heads.  I had never seen a bird with antlers, but who was I to judge, I’ve got horns and hooves.  It was all fine, I just sat on the bank of the lake watching the birds, which I later found out are Owlkin, walking around, eating, and tending to fires.  It was fine, that is, right up until one that was behind my tree came around and attacked.

My first brush with Azeroth

The heat.  It’s the first thing I noticed upon awakening on Azeroth.  This was partially due to my being used to colder environments, but mostly because I was surrounded by flaming debris.  As I laid there on the ground bruised and bloody, my eyes began to adjust to the light and I could begin to see the devastation and destruction surrounding me.  Bits and pieces of the ship were scattered around me, electricity arcing between some of the larger chunks of the hull.  The ground around me was on fire, spreading towards me.

I continued to lay there, beginning to think “This is the end, this is how I die,” when a hand suddenly pierced through the smoke.  I reached for it, grasping it as tightly as I could, and was quickly pulled out of the fire.

“Thank you,” I coughed, trying to breathe fresh air.

“You’re welcome,” said the man who pulled me from the fire, “now go down that hill and get bandaged, we’re going to need your help paladin.”

I have never found out who pulled me from that fire, as I couldn’t make out their face through the smoke, and they ran into the fire to find more survivors.  I turned towards the hill and began walking towards the makeshift medical building.  As I cleared the smoke, I could begin to see that many Draenei were spread throughout the valley where I had landed, several of whom were in the same condition as me, yet many weren’t even so lucky.  Once inside the building, I was greeted with the sights and smells of injured and dead Draenei, lying wherever there was room.  I was told to go meet Zalduun, that he would help heal me up and then give me new orders.  Since I was a young and strong paladin, after meeting with him, he told me to get out into the valley to find and heal as many as I could, and to bring back the ones that were beyond my abilities since, as a tank, my healing skills are not the greatest.

For hours we worked, healing and gathering as many as we could.  Some were just unconscious or still asleep in their stasis pods, others so injured that we had to leave them where they lie or risk harming them more.  It was a nightmare, a complete and total disaster.  What a way to start life on a new planet.