Kashu
Information
Player: ghaskan
Character Full Name: Kashu Dawnseeker
Character In-Game Name: Kashu
Nickname(s): N/A
Association(s): Thunder Bluff
Race: Tauren
Class: Druid
Age: 109
Sex: Male
Hair: Reddish Brown
Eyes: Amber
Weight: 282 KG
Height: 2,67 Mt
Appearance
Usual Garments/Armor: Kashu wears tribal clothing made out of the skin and fur of animals, which were also hunted for their meat, crafted by him. Around his neck hangs a necklace made of a simple brown string and many teeth, claws and feathers. Even though he is not one who will use extravagant adornments, Kashu permitted himself to sport a ring of gold on one of his sun-beaten horns. The tauren is always seen with a staff, generally of simple design, to help his tired body move itself.
Other: Kashu is less tall than what is his real height, due to his increasingly hunched back. His current sedimentary habits made his belly become rather swollen, and his muscle lines, on his arms, have become pretty smooth. The tauren's reddish brown snout is dug with wrinkles. In contrast, his amber eyes have a juvenile shine on them. A pleasant fragrance of flowers and herbs, reminiscent of spring, is always about him.
Personality
Alignment: Lawful Good
After years of conflict, one would think Kashu would have grown bitter and irritable. However, the tauren's positive and energetic temperament, as well as the satisfactory outcome of years struggling against the Centaur, melted him down to a gentle and affectionate soul who seeks to respect all living beings. Still, the cruelest of the Centaur's raids as well as the fights against the Burning Legion left him marked for life, and he is often haunted by inner ghosts related to these terrible fights. These ghosts mostly trouble him when sleeping, but it is not impossible for it to happen when the tauren is awakened. Despite his advanced age, Kashu is still the curious bull he used to be...perhaps too curious, in fact, as he often gets carried away and enters the swamp of gossiping. He is also always willing to share what he knows with others. Kashu is extremely stubborn when someone tries to change his ways, mostly because they are so integrated into him already. The tauren loves to tell stories, which he either heard from the elders before him or are fragments of his past. In fact, Kashu enjoys doing this so much that, it can lead him to hours of talking, without bothering too much if people really want to listen or not. In the end, he just wants to spread the word about the Tauren's heritage. Kashu likes to help others whenever he can, but he can get extremely irritated if they try to assist him. The elder is proud of what he endured, and, despite his difficulties brought by age, he tries to do things by himself no matter what. He even refuses to be carried on a Kodo's back, even though the clear advantages it would offer him. He often says that such a magnificent beast should not be used as a pack mule.
The Horde versus Alliance war does not matter much to the bull. For him, all races from these factions are fascinating in their own way. Like most Tauren, Kashu wishes that they would put down their old hatreds and work together for a better future.
Even though Kashu tries to treat everyone fairly, he has reservations for all other races: he finds orcs and humans interesting young races, but who are too eager to fight; trolls and their old ways of sacrifices and discrimination confuse him; dwarves and gnomes' curious natures are welcomed, but Kashu dislikes how they defile the Nature; Blood Elves are, for him, extremely complicated and manipulative; Undead are simply outrageous from the natural point of view; and, while Night Elves and Draenei are the Alliance races a Tauren can identify with the most, their stupendous life spans make interactions a little awkward, especially for one who is seen as ancient by his breather but is nothing but a kid in these races' point of view. Still, Kashu tries not to jump into conclusions too quickly, so he attempts to give everyone a chance (usually much more than one) to prove themselves.
History
Long ago in the Barrens a male calf was born to the warrior Tarku and his mate Ba'leh, from the Dawnseeker tribe. The joyous couple named their offspring Kashu and raised him with utmost care: they made sure that Kashu trained for long to learn how to survive alongside his nomad tribe in the Barrens.
As he waited for his brawn to develop, he was taught by his mother, Ba'leh, the finest Tauren arts: leather crafting and sculpture. With this knowledge, he was able to help making clothes out of the animals' leathers and furs to dress up his tribe, as well as create totems to appeal the Earthmother. Besides, the young tauren learned how to cook, mostly simple meals as the tribe rarely had time to stand by and wait for the meat to roast; they usually dried it for later consumption.
When he hit adulthood (biologically; Tauren weren't considered adult until much later), Kashu began to train to become a warrior and hunter for the tribe. Although Tarku wished to train his son himself, their way of living implied constant patrols and few stops, and, as such, Kashu was trained little by little, by all the capable Tauren of the tribe.
At last, the day the young bull had been waiting for came. Kashu had hit the age when Tauren were considered fully grown, both physically and mentally, and able to participate in the Great Hunt. With his father's blessing, Kashu departed, hoping to honour the Earthmother by excelling in his rites.
First were the Rite of Strength and Courage. The tribe's elders had told Kashu to find and kill a beast he found the most suitable for his skills, using only his brawn, courage and a spear. Kashu decided to chose a Kodo, as he was confident of his abilities. With what he had learned from the Dawnseekers, he knew Kodo had a nomadic behaviour not all that different from Tauren themselves, as their routes always included the Barrens' oasis. Determined, Kashu wandered for a day until he found an oasis, and settled down, waiting for his prey. His loiter paid off. After sleeping under Mu'sha's caring gaze thrice, Kashu spotted a single Kodo bull resting close to the waters. The young tauren was thankful for not having to face an entire herd alone, but the beast was still a very powerful one. Kashu summoned all his courage and strength, and fought it, dodging attacks the best he could while trying to hit the Kodo's heart with the spear. After being struck by the mighty beast's horn once, Kashu surprised the Kodo by getting up and charging towards it, effectively piercing its heart.
Tired and ragged from the fight, Kashu rested for a couple of days, occupying his time with skinning the Kodo, drying its meat and preserving its horn before progressing to the next rite: the Rite of Honour. For this rite, the elders had ordered Kashu to kneel down and thank everyone and everything he knew, that had helped him, no matter how long it took. After packaging all the goods he had gotten from the Kodo, Kashu knelt down and thanked all those who and which had helped him grow and live long enough to be able to attain his first kill. It took him two days and one sleepless night, but, in the end, Kashu felt refreshed and matured.
The tauren rested for a while, and soon came the time for the last rite: the Rite of Vision. As oriented by the elders, Kashu drank the Water of the Seers he had brought with him. Kashu was astonished to see the vision in front of him: there was a talking ghost wolf in front of him, who offered to guide the tauren back to his tribe! The young bull accepted promptly. While carrying the Kodo parts in a large sack made with some of the beast's skin, Kashu ran after the ghostly wolf. As hours upon hours boiled under the unforgiving sun, between blank-minded periods, Kashu reflected on his deeds, and hoped they had been fulfilled as expected by the elders and the Earthmother herself.
When Kashu found his tribe settling a temporary camp, he was greeted warmly and welcomed back with open arms by his brethren. Kashu wanted to thank the wolf for its help, but when he turned to do so, the ghostly animal was gone.
The elders congratulated Kashu on successfully fulfilling the tasks and honouring the Earthmother, and his parents, Tarku and Bal'eh, were very proud, though they strangely looked slightly older in Kashu's eyes.
As an adult on his own right, Kashu had to join the patrols both for hunting down prey and threats, namely the Centaur. Kashu soon learnt the weapon was as important as strength and cunning, and asked the tribe's most talented weapon crafter to make him one suited for his battle style. Under Kashu's guidance, the weapon crafter made a polearm with two spearheads. On their turn, the spearheads were double edged, perfect to slice and rend, and each of them had an independent prickle to pierce. The handle was made of metal, making it possible to smash bones using it with some ease. The grip was made of tough leather, to make it static, and shaped to fit Kashu's fingers in perfection. To make the grip even more efficient, a strap of leather was utilized to hold the hand so the spear could not be easily dropped. Kashu named the weapon Isham.
A few years passed. Kashu's father had died fighting the centaur and his mother became a venerable of the Dawnseekers. During this period, Kashu finally found a lifelong mate among his tribe. From this union, two offspring were born: a male and a female. They were Kashu's joy and pride, and both he and his mate raised them as well as they could, with a small helping hand from the tired Ba'leh.
Time rolled on again, uneventful and merciful for the Tauren. Ba'leh passed on meanwhile. Her face had been peaceful when they found her in the morning, as she had been summoned by the Ancestors themselves to join them at last. The tribe grieved her departure from the physical realm, but accepted it well.
Not everything was so serene and tolerable, however. As of late the Centaur attacks had become more and more frequent, as well as deadlier, and one by one the brave Dawnseekers were being murdered by the half humanoid, half horse brutes. Even though the Dawnseekers were managing to survive, their numbers were being hindered, and Kashu feared a large Centaur attack would wipe them from the face of Kalimdor. Unfortunately, that fear became a reality.
Under the cover of the night, the dishonourable Centaur attacked. Kashu fought as well as he could, but his mate was murdered and his son and daughter disappeared. Along with those great losses, several Tauren from the tribe were killed or kidnapped. Only a few Dawnseekers were left, and helpless, they searched for another tribe willing to aid them. On the verge of death, a desolated Kashu as well as the tired remnants of his tribe found the noble Tauren from the Bloodhoof tribe. After helping them recover, the Bloodhooves told the other tribesmen they were fighting alongside a strange new race of greenskins to fend off the Centaurs and reach the greenlands of Mulgore, where they could settle and live in harmony. Fascinated, the Dawnseekers agreed to tag along with the other tribe. Ultimately, the Tauren, aided by the Orcs, managed to drive the Centaur off. To repay their debt, one thing the Tauren did, and the only one in which the Dawnseekers participated, was the battle of Mount Hyjial. Kashu was overwhelmed by the terrors, the demons, and, although still in grief for his losses, he did what he could to fight alongside his tribe, to extinguish that evil from the face of Azeroth once and for all.
Following the defeat of the Burning Legion, the Tauren had peace at last. They travelled to Mulgore, where they settled, building the marvellous city of Thunder Bluff, as well as some villages, namely the Bloodhoof Village. The Dawnseekers still had vigour to fight for the Horde, an alliance of races the Orcs had forged, but Kashu did not long for battles any longer. He had grown old; he felt weaker and more pragmatic. The elder understood the youngsters and their yearning for action, but the fight against the Alliance made no sense to him. While the Burning Legion and the Centaur had been real threats, the Alliance was just an union of rightful races, led by the Humans, who shared a foolish history of old hatreds with the Orcs. It was a fight for domination, a fight for selfish interests, and that did not bode well to Kashu. Instead, the tauren decided to stay in Thunderbluff, and call it home. There, he would finish his grieving in peace, and try his best to help younger Tauren preserve their old ways, as they were overwhelmed by new customs brought in by their allies.
Since the city is open to all the Horde's races, Kashu taught a lot about the basic principles of Tauren life to other races, and has moreover learnt a lot about the outside world, even if he has never left Northern Kalimdor. Fascinated by all the intricate stories everyone seemed had, Kashu became a self-proclaimed storyteller, using stories he heard from the elders before him, as well as experiences from his life, to teach the Tauren's beliefs he sought to preserve, as well as listen to others' both to feed his own curiosity as well as to understand their racial points of view, to improve his technique employed to approach each individual.
Recently, Kashu still mostly dwells in Thunder Bluff, doing what he does best: speaking, be it simply to converse or to tell a story.
Skills and Abilities
A veteran hunter and warrior, Kashu knows a lot about these crafts, although his current lack of strength makes it merely theoretical. Being an outgoing talker, Kashu is pretty handy with languages, having almost perfected his Orcish and Common. He is also a pretty good leatherworker and sculptor, at least by Tauren standards. In addition, he is a storyteller.
