Trolltober2022/13 - Conflict Mazheek found himself so obsessed with the Bat Loa he wanted nothing else than to be able to turn into a bat himself. Unfortunately for him, shapeshifting requires worship of Gonk, who he ditched seconds after gaining his blessing of Shapes, and once more declared himself Hir’eek’s most loyal follower.  But the Loa are fickle and they don’t like to share - and Mazheek lost both Gonk’s and Hir’eek’s blessings. Vandalizing murals with painting one Loa over another isn’t exactly helping. 

I woke up today with an idea. What if there were troll dryads with raptor legs? I know that dryads are specifically descendants of Malorne and Elune but I could imagine that Elune or whatever other deity might have had a romance with Gonk or Rezan to allow such dryads. Anyway, I feel that what I came up with looks fun.

Teachable moments

((DWC November 2023, Day 2, Success/Sin, CW: none, @daily-writing-challenge ))

Several Years Ago...

"Papa, what's a sin?"

Ghorren looked over at his younger daughter, who had been happily humming as she used the new paints he had brought her upon his return from deployment. He lay sprawled on the bench, his body still aching from his and his beloved wife Yizbei's celebrations of his return the night before, but fatherhood did not wait for any nap.

"Sin? Well, a sin is when you do something that the universe is against. Or break a rule set by a loa that you agreed to obey. Why are you wondering about such things?"

Qirra continued to paint, her body focused on gently dragging the brush across the canvas. "Some of the girls at school were saying that leaving the island was a sin. That you were a sinner."

Ghorren closed his eyes and sighed. Of course. "Those girls got parents with very small minds. They think no one should leave Zandalar, that the rest of the world is bad. They're wrong. And the King and the Loa bless my journeys. I visit Gonk's shrine every time I make ready to leave, and he always blesses my hunts, both to be fruitful, and to find my way back to my cute daughters."

"So the girls at school are liars?" Qirra asked in a mischevious tone that Ghorren knew all too well. She and her older sister Anwé were more alike than different.

"Yes, but only because they been lied to. You just tell them that if they got a problem with me, they can take it up with Gonk. No need to start fights."

"Oh, I wasn't going to start the fight. I was just going to share my new painting for art class." the girl grinned, her little tusks framing her face as she held up her painting, still glistening with moisture. It depicted what looked like a zandalari knight on a raptor, tearing and devouring a number of angry looking trolls, scattering protest signs with the telltale colors of the movement demanding that Zandalar close her ports to all. Qirra's smile widened as Ghorren took it all in.

"You're getting better, Qirra, but perhaps that might be better on the wall in my training room, yeah? Give me encouragement."

"Oh alright" she replied, mimicking her teenage sister's cadence. "As long as you like it."

"Oh I do, almost as much as I like being possessed by Cosqui." Ghorren said, sitting up and stretching as his little girl gasped.

"No! Not the loa of tickles!"

"THE VERY SAME!" Ghorren roared and laughed, snatching up his daughter and tickling at her sides as she squealed and kicked, carrying her out of the room while her painting was left to dry.

Graduation

DWC November 2022 Day 3: Forest/Mortality @daily-writing-challenge

It was a very special day, and the amphitheater was full of families and friends of the young Zandalari who would leave the schools of their youths to choose their paths into adulthood, and officially swear themselves to a guiding Loa. Some would go even further than that, joining the priesthoods that served the Loa directly, and guided the Zanadalari through life. Ghorren sat up tall, trying to see if he could spot his girl among the crowd of lanky young trolls, but they all wore identical robes in preparation for the ceremony, and he was too far away for a good view.

"Not even her dyed hair lets her stand out in those damned things" he muttered to himself, slouching down in frustration. "When are they starting again?"

His sister-in-law Ulabi punched him and laughed. "Aw, look at the big soft papa, excited for his girl to become a woman. The ceremony should be starting soon." Ulabi sighed, then turned to him. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I know things have changed a lot since the horde came to Zandalar, but this..."

"I'm sure, Ulabi. This is not something Anwé chose in a moment of frustration or moodiness. Losing her mother, growing up through all the changes that have come to our people, all of that chaos, and this is what she found to ground herself. What helps her make sense of it all. We may have thought the forsaken fashion was a phase, but we were wrong."

"Still, the family has never had a priestess of Bwonsamdi before," Ulabi muttered, clearly unconvinced.

"He may be a trickster, but I know he cares about us just as much as the other Loa. He protected our people from the terrors of the shadowlands at great risk to his own divine being, Yizbei included. I think that is a big part of what resonated with our dear Anwé." Ghorren smiled, then looked to his other side, where his younger daughter Qirra was humming to herself and drawing another picture of the family, more seriously than usual. Peering over her shoulder, he saw the whole family in the portrait, and she'd saved her big sister for last, and was putting a great deal of effort into the detail. "Hey there little raptor, you excited to see your sister wearing your handiwork out there?"

Qirra looked up at him in grinned, her cheeks finally starting to narrow as she entered her adolescence. "The tattoo lady said my designs were 'inspired'! Anwé is going to look so good!" she beamed, proud to be part of her sister's big day.

A ringing gong announced the beginning of the ceremony, as Queen Talanji stepped forward to give her speech, speaking of the importance of Zandalar's youth, and continued unity both among the trolls and with their horde allies. With that done, the young trolls stepped forward one by one, to swear to their Loa, and announce their intended profession. As they did, the Loa emerged from the jungles, Gonk and Pa'ku, Halazzi and Krag'wa, and of course Bwonsamdi, the loa of death and patron of the Queen. Others were represented by their most devout followers, unable to make the journey, or in the case of Torga and Gral, unable to leave the ocean. Each would receive their new followers in time, as the young trolls would go forth in Pilgrimage. Half an hour later, the moment Ghorren awaited finally arrived.

"Anwé, daughter of Yizbei." the priest called, and his daughter stepped forward, pulling down her hood, and revealing her black and purple hair, and the tattoo'd bones worn proudly on her face.

"I, Anwé, daughter of Yizbei and Ghorren, hereby devote myself to the Loa of Death, Bwonsamdi, and intend to serve among his priests!"

Ghorren's heart soared to hear his daughter take this step, her confidence and purpose found after years of difficulty in the wake of all the changes. The priests of Bwonsamdi congratulated her as she went to stand among them for the rest of the ceremony, and prepared to begin her true calling.

Where is Jiroki's raptor tattoo from?

"This was my first tattoo actually. Minus the markings on my face." Jiroki runs a hand over her raptor tattoo, it residing on her forearm. "Truth be told, this is actually a dedication to the Loa Gonk. During the final invasion of the Burning Legion, I met a Darkspear troll who bested me in a spat we had on Argus, but he also saved my life. After the Legion's fall it felt like Azeroth as a whole finally had a chance of peace, and so I swallowed my pride and sought him out to learn more from him. One thing led to another, in more ways than one, and he ended up teaching me his ways of worship for Gonk. Though I do not get blessings from Gonk like some trolls devout to him, I hunt in his name at times." (( Thanks @trixcuomo !))

Echo Isles Reimagined, Pt. 5 - Shrine of Shango

Welcome back, friends! It's been a long while since I posted a new look into my updated Echo Isles project, and I thank you all for being so patient!

Today we'll be looking at the Shrine of Shango, the Loa of Storms.

As the inhabitants of islands, Darkspear trolls would be intimately familiar with the terrifying and violent power behind this force of nature, and both admire and fear the destruction they can cause. Heavy winds can wipe out villages, while flooding can ruin food stores. Lightning strikes can destroy objects, kill people, and cause devastating wildfires. So it's no surprise that the Darkspear would want to worship (or at the very least appease) the being who held such power.

So upfront I'll admit that all of this is my own personal headcanon. I heavily considered having Shango just be the Darkspear name for Akunda, seeing how there's not much in-game lore about Shango, save for a blessing used by a single shadow hunter in WoD. Akunda is much more fleshed out thanks to BfA lore, and I do think it would totally be possible for there to be multiple names for a single Loa among the various troll tribes. But the more I thought about it, the less that made sense to me. Nothing I found seemed to indicate that the Darkspear would have been familiar with thunder lizards as creatures prior to relocating to Durotar with the orcs, so it's hard for me to imagine that they would portray their Loa of Storms as one. Perhaps Shango was once a powerful shaman, one who could call down furious storms, who was deified after their passing. (That would be somewhat in line with this Loa's real-life namesake, and we know Blizz loves to cherry pick from Afro-Caribbean cultures.) So anyway, that led me to shy away from using too much imagery that would call to mind Akunda. Instead what I went for was more of an elemental shaman vibe and weather effects with a somewhat trollish spin:

You can see it actually rains inside the cave's micro-climate! Trollish wind chimes are charged with energy and gently sway in the breeze, while light in the cave is refracted into a beautiful rainbow. And the unique flora harnesses the power of the storm, occasionally spilling out as flashes of lightning.

(Close up of the rain stone in the center of the shrine.)

(Ceremonial carving above the entrance to the shrine, crackling with elemental energy)

Followers of Shango honor him by replicating the energy of a storm through vigorous dance. To the rhythm of thunderous drums, crashing gongs, and trickling rain sticks, they dance and chant and clap. There are also specific dances followers perform to call much-needed rain or to divert disastrous weather.

Priests of Shango can use their blessings from the Loa to harness his power, to call storms and fight enemies with wind and lightning.

So there it is! I hope you enjoyed this look into the Shrine of Shango on the Darkspears' Loa Isle. Stay tuned for more posts in the future. In case you missed any of the previous posts, you can find them here:

Part One - Loa Isle Part Two - Temple of Bwonsamdi Part Three - Temple of Gonk Part Four - Shrine of Lukou

Gonk Troll

Been a while. But I return!

Heya! Trust me, I've not stopped writing. I just do terribly with keeping up. BUT I wanted to get some ideas for the rumored expansion coming up. Because of boy do I have. TONS. Dont get me wrong. Dragonflights the best. For. Obvious reasons. BUT I GOT A THEORY ABOUT AVALOREN. A few. Actually. Because I highly suspect it's our new big zone(If we don't have legion issues. Because the fell stuff that's quietly stacking up is. Very interesting.) But onto the ideas. alright so Avaloren is absolutely tied to Elune in some way. The stormy seas, the things that have sought it out(Green dragon and Night elf in particular- In Nightsquall's case however it could just be hes made of badger energy. Pirates are like that.) So heres the deal, we know we're going to meet Khaz'algar dwarves almost for sure. But what about the other races in the area? Potential allied race options... I raise to you, the Dark Trolls, and the things that I believe have been implying their involvement with Azeroth's history as perhaps the original Night Warrior's upon Azeroth. First off, the lore behind them. They're supposed to be the bridge evolutionwise between trolls/night elves. put simply. As Night elves became more attuned to Elune and the arcane, others split off to learn from loa and the world around them. Okay. That's a summarized rundown. What makes me think this?

Q'onzu gives me mad "I know everything You WANT to" vibes and I love them for it. But they're a loa that the darkspear, nor the zandalari. Have dealt with? You'd think a "loa of change" would come up at least once. Secondly, the Zandalari's behavior around Elune/Those linked to elune. The Lun'Alai are treated as heretics for "not worshipping a true loa" All well and good- but Gonk presumably knows Balance Druids exist. Why so wary of the druids that are close to Elune? What's the cause. What if, perhaps. The dark trolls are the guardians of this mysterious island. For one reason or another the dwarves and anything else HERE dislikes the titans(And there probably is reason. To be fair. Idontlikeemmucheither.) The spell used to conceal the island is one I've seen mentioned in a non-game related book. So its possible. Anyway, my two cents. It's late. I may elaborate more but I truly think this could be an interesting event. Seeing as we will need a horde side ambassador to this mysterious area and there is one. Just as the alliance would have Stormrider Telmin.

Loki talks a bit about the Jötuns in The Little Frost Troll but I'm curious to know more. Will Loki have heats? Are gems and dripping gold a part of the Jötuns' cultural wear?

Oh boy, Frost Troll asks are my favorite asks, and this one actually inspired a piece of character art that unfortunately I haven’t finished yet, but I hope to be posting it soon!

I’m rubbing my hands together and smiling like a villain because I assure you, Anon, nobody is more excited about getting into the detailed aspects of troll romance and mating than I am. (I’ve spent months building an entire world around this and I can’t wait to share it with everyone. I hope it will be as fascinating and enjoyable to you all as it is to me!)

Loki isn’t going to enter a heat in the classic sense (or a rut, being that trolls are intersex), with lots of panting and moaning and a primal, irresistible need to mate, but he is going to enter a subtle phase of sexual receptiveness that even he isn’t fully aware of (at first), and it’s gonna be coming up very soon in the story, like within the next two chapters or so… unless I go off on a rabbit trail and spend some time casually wandering around on a certain subject, which has been known to happen.

As far as cultural wear goes, the frost trolls—and most trolls in general—have relatively rustic, simple attire with only a little jewelry, if any. Think leather and carved wood and pieces of hammered metal. Royalty would of course be an exception, and I have it in my mind that all trolls possess an appreciation for gold and gemstones. Hunigmál, or “honeymetal”, is their word for gold, since honey is prized above any stone or jewel. Bracelets, armbands and anklets are popular pieces, as well as rings worn on the horns and fingers. Bee motifs are a common design in gold jewelry.

Trolls also like to decorate their navels, either painting them using plant dyes—most commoners choose this method—or wearing little jewels in them, such as royalty does. And before you ask: yes, you’re right, I totally yoinked the idea of bellybutton gems from the treasure troll dolls that were popular in the 90s. I thought the image of Loki wearing a jewel in his navel was outrageously cute. XD

But I headcanon that trolls wear navel jewels for more than just looks; to them, it’s a way of honoring their mothers, and a way for expectant troll-mothers to lovingly adorn their bellies and unborn little ones. Much respect is given to mothers in troll society, but because of his hard-nosed, unsympathetic father, Loki was never allowed the opportunity to honor or even mourn his mother after he died giving birth. But now that he’s out from under Fárbauti’s cruel thumb, he’s probably going to get his chance. :)

Thank you for the ask!I hope I answered your questions and didn’t spoil any surprises you might have been waiting for.

Reasons I Love Gonk

His name is Gonk.

He is the Loa of Shapes who taught the Zandalari to be druid.

Because of his title he is also speculated to be able to shapeshift like druids.

His name is Gonk.

He doesn't give a shit.

Like all the other loa were against the druids, but he was like nah stfu we gotta defeat Zelazane.

He is actually physically there, instead of there just being a fragment of him.

His NAME is Gonk .

Like how does anybody take a GOD with the name Gonk seriously.

ALSO

I made this meme in under 10 minutes so hes pretty much perfect.

Some Requested I did outfits for male zandalari and here they are 🌺

C and B have already been bought and I am very happy 😭❤️

Edit: All outfits have been bought thank you so much 🌺❤️

Garden of the Loa, Zuldazar

Lithe and soundless with padded paw, He's quick of mind, and sharp of claw. He fills de heart with honor and awe. He is Gonk! In defense or on attack, He de one dat has ya back. De mighty master of de pack. He is Gonk! Be it hoof or paw or hand, He roams de sea and sky and land. With dis loa we will stand. He is Gonk!

Tales of de Loa: Gonk

Gonk Loyal

Oathclaw Helm Bloodtusk Shoulderpads Tumultuous Cloak Wild Gladiator’s/Warmongering Gladiator’s Tunic  Wrathful Gladiator’s Wyrmhide Robe T’wansi’s Handwraps Wild Gladiator’s/Warmongering Gladiator’s Belt of Victory Leggings of the Pride Two-Toed Boots Hunter Blacktooth’s Ribcruncher

Garden of the Loa || Gonk