Destiny

My employer is rather eccentric, and his morality can be dubious, but he still possesses great knowledge and experience. Experience with things we would normally never learn about. He has been to another reality, another timeline, where things went differently. And there he saw something. He saw me. He saw Yu Gwai, King of the Free Mogu, one of the major players in Lei Shen’s ultimate downfall. And I know most say alternate realities are something we should not concern ourselves with, that our reality is the only one of importance, but I can’t help but think. About the things that could have been. About how my life could have transpired. About the things I could still do…

I was born in the era of warring mogu warlord, clans that have nearly forgotten their Titanic legacy. All we knew about the Titans was that they were great gods from outer space who shaped all life on Azeroth, including the mogu. We knew we had a part in the Titans’ grand design, but no one knew what that part was and many of our ancient scholars sought that purpose and attempted to guess it. We knew we were meant to fight the creatures you know as Old Gods, the ancient entities of chaos that would unravel all of creation for no discernible reason, but we would never accept that was all the Titans meant for us – to fight and stay dormant. When the Curse of Flesh made us into mortals, we were lost.

And then, thousands of years later, Lei Shen came. He sought to unite the clans and claimed he knew our purpose – to continue the Titans’ design and create life as they once did, and that everything else under the sun, be it the pandaren or the jinyu, or the mantids, were only to bow before us, because we were superior. Many agreed with that, because it inspired their pride and arrogance. Many agreed because they wanted it to be true, and so decided to make it true. But some of us saw Lei Shen for what he was – a blasphemer, who would take a divine task upon mortal hands. A butcher who did nothing all his life but destroy but claimed to be the agent of creation. I opposed him, and I paid the price. I became fused with this turtle.

As you may know, after I assisted the pandaren princess thousands of years later, I began to live with myself and with what I’ve became. I stopped denying I was a turtle, and accepted my fate. I accepted that this is what my role in history would be – to tutor the young princess and help her fight her enemies. When she died, I departed. I decided I fulfilled my destiny and from now on, I would only observe the goings-on of the mortal world. I lived in the shadow and pretended to be just another turtle for generations. Thousands of pandaren ran by me, never knowing they met their legend, their myth. Some would try to hunt me like just a lowly turtle, but I always won.

And again thousands of years later by accident I found myself in the employ of this arakkoa. By pure coincidence I learned of this other timeline, other me, who did not live at ease with remaining in the shadows forever. Yes, it is important to accept what you are and live with yourself… but what if that acceptance limits you? What if that acceptance tells you to stop and never achieve anything ever again? Perhaps… you shouldn’t always just accept what you are. Perhaps you should always strive to be more than you already are.

So I left, for the time being at least. I am here, in Kun-Lai Summit once again, looking for wisdom, looking for the answer to all the questions that bothered me recently. Should I take upon the mantle that my counterpart did? Should I strive to unite the mogu under my banner, under the words of freedom, unity, honor and faith? Maybe it’s not my call, to decide what becomes of the mogu… but my name still has a certain pull among my people. If there is one person that can teach my people how to be again what they should have been, that person is me. But such a burden is not easy, and I am not sure I can bear it.