The Story of Yeapu the Sunwalker Tauren

Part 1: The Rite of the Brave

To be able to be seen as an adult by his people Yeapu would have to complete the Rite of the Brave. Thus, he found himself traveling to Mulgore and Camp Narache in the Red Cloud Mesa to take the trial of a Brave, and be considered an adult to his people.  However, it seemed that Mu’Sha and An’She would begin Yeapu’s trials with more tribulations. He knew the situation was not good, he had heard in his travels of Garrosh’s blood thirst, and the death of Cairne. He heard of the new found boldness of the Quillboars and Grimtotems but it wasn’t until he saw it firsthand that he began to understand how bad things had truly gotten. He approached the camp only to find a funeral stand set and grieving faces. It seemed that the Quillboar of the Razorback clan had become so bold as to attack the test of the Brave, not only that but they managed to kill the Greatmother in an ambush. Though duty guided his words, vengeance burned in the belly of Chief Hawkwind as he set Yeapu to my first task, The Rite of Strength. To the east he found Grull Hawkwind who gave him his test, to free their imprisoned kin and thin the numbers of the invading Quillboar. This was the first real fight Yeapu had ever been in, and he uttered a quiet thanks to An’She that he fought along side fellow potential braves for it.
The Quillboar were small, but their numbers and foul magic made the fight fierce all the same. After some time Yeapu managed to help push back the Quillboar some, and free some of the imprisoned Tauren as well. Grull appreciated the aid and granted his blessing for Yeapu to move on to the next trial, and though it pained him to leave his fellow Tauren in the grasp of the Quillboars and a fight left unfinished he had to have faith in his fellow braves and move on. Next, he visited Adana Thunderhorn for his Rite of Courage.  The Rite of Courage would usually call for the Brave in question to hunt a dangerous pray and master the fear of it to avoid become prey themselves.  Though the Rite stood, the usual prey had been replaced by more Razorback Quillboars. Not only had they stolen rifles from the hunters o Camp Narache but their Thorncallers were trying to corrupt the land scape with the great thorn brambles Quillboars call home. Yeapu knew that if he rushed in, he would be overwhelmed and killed by sheer numbers if nothing else. However, Yeapu knew that if he was careful the Quillboars that stole the guns would be too busy playing with them like toys and the Thorncallers would be absorbed with their work, so if he was careful and quick, he could thin their numbers and retrieve the rifles safely. Though the plan was sound Yeapu still nearly met his end when a Cabal of Thorncallers noticed him while he dealt with a thieving Quillboar.  Once back to Adana she would ask Yeapu for another favor to help cull the Quillboar incursion. Apparently the Quillboar had been capturing local boar, torturing them, and feeding them the carrion of felled Tauren and Quillboars alike to drive them to bloodlust. Yeapu was tasked with slaying some of the tortured beasts and burning the feeding troughs full of offal. Luckily this task proved much easier for Yeapu as the boars were exhausted from the mistreatment and had full bellies, making them complacent for the slaughter that was needed. Yeapu thanked An’She for the ease of the task, his muscles screamed in protest and his legs grew weary from the constant fighting, but his hardest to trial was still so come. Adana had one final Rite for Yeapu to pass, the Rite of Honor. Yeapu had to choke back a groan of exhaustion as Adana told him his last Rite, to kill Chief Squealer Thornmantle, the leader of the band of Quilboars and the one who killed Greatmother Hawkwind.
Yeapu dragged his weary and exhausted body to the West to the warren Thornmantle called home. Outside it stood two well-armed and armored Thorn Guard, the elite of the Quilboar tribes. Yeapu sighed and spent a silent prayer to An’She to guide his hand so justice might be done and then pressed forward once more into the fray.  After a bloody and brutal fight Yeapu looked through exhaustion blurred eyes at his last foe, Chief Squealer Thornmantle himself. He called upon the light of An'She to bring down the hammer of justice so the Greatmother’s honor could be reclaimed. When the beast finally fell Yeapu fell to a knee panting, never in his whole life had he pushed his body this far, but finally, at long last, it was done. He set about butchering the Quilboar chief and taking his mane and heading back to where his trials began; Camp Narache.  After returning the Chief Hawkwind Yeapu kneeled for the funeral service of Greatmother Hawkwind, though he was incredibly thankful for the chance to rest. After it was done Yeapu placed the Mane of Thornmantle on the Greatmothers grave and finally, was recognized as an adult. He quickly sold some of the trinkets of value he had gathered, bought a meal, and found somewhere to rest for the evening. As he ate the pitiful meal, stale near molded bread, overcooked tough jerky, and clean fresh water from the well, it was the most delicious and filling meal Yeapu had ever eaten. As he laid his head down to rest he smile with content, he had done it, and in the morning his true journey would begin.