RP Spotlight: Inadra's tale
by David Bowers 
Sep 5th 2008 at 2:30PM
RP Spotlight highlights little things people do to deepen their experience of the story of World of Warcraft, whether they are roleplayers or not.Inadra's voice chills you from the very outset of her story: "I have walked on the bones of my people," she begins, "on a path so long that I could not see where it ended, or where it began..." So have you. You remember walking on those same bones, on the Path of Glory in Hellfire Peninsula -- where the corpses of the draenei people that were killed in a genocide by the Old Horde paved the way for the orcs' march to the Dark Portal and into Azeroth. (For more on the background of this genocide, find out how the orcs became so bloodthirsty.)
If you've done the quest called "Path of Glory" at Honor Hold, then you will have seen a glimpse of the tragedy in this story. Perhaps, like me, you felt touched at the cleansing of some draenei bones, reminded of real people who had suffered similar ends at the hands of merciless enemies.
Phaedria, of the Venture Co. realm, must have been touched too. She drew on this element within the Warcraft lore to craft a beautiful and heartbreaking tale of her own, set on Draenor just as the genocide against the draenei was beginning. It's about how the draenei in families such as her own faced such a terror with bravery and sacrifice, and how a few managed to survive with hope alive in their hearts. Phaedria narrates her tale in the voice of her main character, Inadra, and sets the mood perfectly, with background music, and subtle changes in her tone of voice.
It's a great piece of audiodrama; so give it about 10 or 20 minutes of your time. After listening to it, you may never see draenei, or the World of Warcraft, the same again.
[Thanks Tyche, for letting us know!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
D Sep 5th 2008 2:40PM
For the Horde!
Raze Sep 5th 2008 2:40PM
In before Anaughtybear making stupid comments about Roleplayers.
Raze Sep 5th 2008 2:53PM
On the note of the actual subject....
Wow. Kudos to the author and voice actress. I wonder if a wide number of players would take audio dramas Blizzard released seriously? They do occassionally release short stories and video to flesh out the lore, and there was that silly audio show last Christmas.
Selserene Sep 5th 2008 3:23PM
That was well done, I enjoyed it.
Elionene Sep 5th 2008 3:20PM
That was beautiful.
Having just read Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden, which is about the time that the audio events take place, it really brings it down to a personal level. The sacrifices made to keep the Draenei race alive were huge. Even with some of the retcons and inconsistencies, I really do enjoy the lore of Warcraft more than any other aspect I think. Thank you for sharing this.
Dru Sep 5th 2008 3:26PM
Go, Go Midnight Reveries. Congratulations on the RP spotlight Phaedra.
Blackhorn Sep 5th 2008 4:00PM
Very nice.
Shame about the mouse-clicking though. Distracting.
scotttopic Sep 5th 2008 4:17PM
i noticed that too. hard copy ftw. but regardless it was very nice.
Rosoe Sep 5th 2008 6:40PM
That was incredible. I dearly hope someone with money picks up on her talent and gives her a fine recording studio and pays her large sums of money to continue producing such beauty.
Trilynne Sep 5th 2008 9:27PM
Wow. Amazing, heartrending, beautiful, chilling... there aren't enough words for it. Shame about the mouse-clicking, but it was easy to overlook. And kudos to her for using Firefly soundtrack music! :D
Phaedria Sep 5th 2008 9:48PM
Oh my gosh! I can't believe my dumb little story was featured here. Thank you all so much... I truly don't know what to say...
A million thanks!
-Phaedria of Venture Co.
Bunraku Sep 10th 2008 11:52AM
Of course! That was really good. I just listened to it at first because I find lore interesting, but that was amazing. Please make more!
Phaedria Aug 26th 2009 2:53PM
It is uploaded here, since the link is broken.
http://www.kismetdesignco.com/WoW/Inadra.mp3
Phaedria Aug 26th 2010 2:46AM
Aaaand the link has changed, again: http://www.kismetdesignco.com/misc/Inadra.mp3
Sküld Sep 6th 2008 5:22AM
That was amazing! Well acted, nice accent, great story. Background music was perfect. It made me cry. I loved the description of Nagrand, I like the place even more now.
Shep Sep 6th 2008 9:27AM
It was a beautifull and touching piece of work, she told her story well, I ignored the mouse clickings as I didn't hear them overly much but comming from someone who has seen war and lost friends to it.
It was very powerfull for me, it really made it personal for me
Shep
Amaretsu of Black Dragonflight Sep 9th 2008 10:26AM
Very touching and compelling. The voice actress did a wonderful job and the mouse clicking was barely heard or noticed as her voice and story held all of my attention. Her accent was impeccable, her emotion believable and heart-wrenching. The background music was well chosen and strengthened her prose. Everything was so descriptive that I saw the scenes she described in my head so vividly as if I were watching a movie. I cried and was deeply touched. Wonderful work!
Rosa Sep 13th 2008 4:30AM
This was absolutely mind-blowing. This girl deserves to be winning Oscars with this level of acting, and this is from someone who has theatre exprerienced. I'm also a writer, and I have to say, the writing here ... every single word was perfectly chosen.
There wasn't a single flaw in this. Up until now, I've HATED the draenei, their over the top nobility and indisputible righteousness, but THIS ... this has reshaped so much of my perception.
I'm just ... amazed. Blown away. Overcome with emotion.
Thank you so much for this.
Zurond Matius of The Grim Covenant Sep 18th 2008 1:11AM
My god...I cried as I listened to this. Wonderful, amazing work!!! Words can't say how much I loved the story.
Axolotl Sep 19th 2008 8:11AM
To put in in the words of my Bloodelf Paladin:
The only good SpaceSquids are dead ones or enslaved ones we can drain for mana... and erm ... FOR THE HORDE
For Orcs, the best way to forget the genocide of the Dranei would be to finish te job and erase them from memory alltogether (btw. they were a bad indea in the first place, should've been pandaren that were added in stead of these)
Trolls, Tauren and Undead have no previous bussiness with these, so they'd probably relate to some extend to the story of the Dranei, but still would take them out on sight (if only to help the Orcs forget the shame of demonblood)
The Alliance loves this kind of sobstories, and they'll probably be reminded over and over for years to come (should not be forgotten kind-a-thing ... how come this stuff has a high WWII-feel to it?) so they'll try to contain the Orc-threath as much as possible)