Deep breath. Deep breath!
Ok, starting to get used to the shifted weight-point. Feel the body. Hooves are normal, nothing to worry about. Now try to mouth some words, that’s it. You have to get this right if you don’t want every tauren in the village to freak out and get yourself caught possessing bodies. I hear those taurens can be quite cruel when they feel offended and something tells me them finding out you’ve possessed one of their rookies is not going to be seen as a good thing. Deep breath. Deep breath! God I really should not have stayed in one body for so long, I get so rusty every time that happens!
Ok, now walk a bit. Just over to that tree there, they won’t pay too much attention to you for a little while longer, good. Ok, getting better, not perfect, but better. You can always go for the “I’m from the neighbouring village” story, that works for every race.
Now relax. Loosen up. Let go a bit and let the subconscious take care of the trivial stuff. This body knows how to breath, walk and talk like a tauren, you just have to let it. The trick is for the brain to stop telling the body it’s a Bloodelf.
You are not a Bloodelf. You are… relax, your brain knows who it is… you are Serga Mistrunner, of the proud Mistrunner line, yes. Your people are druids, menders of the earth, blessed by the Earthmother with her power and wisdom. You’ve come here to Redrock Mesa to start your basic druid training. (Ha! I knew that all that research about taurens I did while walking with Cow with Guns would some day pay off!)
Ok? Ok, I think I’ve got it. Now, let’s see what that tauren over there can tell us, he looks to be the one in charge around here.
~~~
The tauren in charge turned out to be Grull Hawkwind, a seasoned tauren, who had a long list of assignments he needed help with. I played my part of the obedient apprentice and did all the little errands he and his colleagues had for me. All from finding chief Grull’s poor old mother who got lost not ten feet from the village its self, to killing Bristlback Quillboears and their Battleboear pets and other odds and ends the chief needed fixed.
Now this might all sound very nice and easy, but let me tell you something: it isn’t when you’ve had about ten minutes to adjust to a new body and schooling. No teleportation spells, no conjuring water, no nothing. After the first task, the chief was all pleased with me and handed me a staff. I thought Yes! Finally, something I know how to work with. Bah! It turns out, this staff wasn’t magically enhanced to help you focus while channelling a spell, no, it was a plain wooden stick. Apparently you access it’s great powers… by hitting the opponent on the head with it. It seems even at my age, I learn something new each day.
Ok, I’ll admit things got easier as I kept going. Once I started to get the hang of me deciding what to do, but letting the tauren brain order out how it should be done, it went alot better. The drawback turned out to be the most annoying urge to graze and moo every five steps. But I guess that’s good for my credibility.
After spending a few hours running errands for chief Grull and his team, he finally felt comfortable enough with me to send me on to the Bloodhoof Village by Stonebull Lake.
Now since I already have some experience with “being” a tauren from when I spent time with Cowwithguns (yes, that’s the names i use. Cowwithguns. Cowwithbark. I can’t pronounce those tauren names and I don’t care to learn how to either!). As I was saying; having had some first hand experience with the Mulgore region and its settlements, I chose to pass by Bloodhoof Village and go straight to Thunder Bluff to enlist with the Profession Guilds. Since the major Profession Guilds have this policy that you may only learn the trade of two Guilds at a time and since I’d had the urge for grazing nagging at me all day, I chose to learn the trades of the Herbalists and the Skinners. The Earthmother knows, there is more then enough “material” to work with in Mulgore for these particular professions.
I also went by the Bank of Thunderbluff and opened up an account to keep the herbs and hides I collect in.
After that, it was back to Bloodhoof Village to see if they would hire me there.
It turned out they were in need of more people and I got sent out on several errands right away. I then spent the rest of the day travelling trough Mulgore hunting wild cats, sabotaging the dig-site of a dwarven expedition, gathering feathers from the Harpies of the East and delivering the tauren’s message to the uninvited Venture Co. people of the area. I also had to feed the village dog.
At the end of the day, I was just happy to head over to Thunder Bluff, get up to date with my class and profession trainers and then pass out on one of the hammocks in the Thunder Bluff Inn.
I had forgotten how exhausting it is to be a new recruit, and in a body you’re not used to on top of that. Tomorrow will be easier though. Every day spent with a new vessel makes it a little easier, the trick is just to not get too accustomed to only one body…
Voodoo Ventures 