The Zul'Ympics

Snicka has learned a lot about troll culture on his journey to Zandalar. He listened to the stories the zandalari lorekeepers told him about the Old Days, before the Sundering. It was the first time he heared about the extinct traditon of the Zul'Ympics, and he thought it would be great to restore it.
The city of Zul'Ympic used to be not far from Zuldazar, the capital of Zandalar. Now only ruins remained of it in the deep jungle. In the Old Days, it was the location of a great event every four years. It was a challenge of the body, the mind and the soul: the Zul'Ympic Games. Champions of every troll tribe from all around the world have arrived to Zul'Ympic, to compare their strength, agility and spirit. There were sporting competitions of all sorts: running, jumping, swimming, raptor-riding, axe-throwing, wrestling, boxing and spear-fighting; as well as a competition of rethorics, poetry and music: each champion had a herald, who had to make glorifying songs, poems and speeches about their champion. Both the victorious champions and the best heralds were awarded at the end of the competition. The whole event lasted seven days, and on the seventh day they had a large feast.
Snicka thought that when he returns to Durotar, he'll introduce this event to the Horde. It would be a fantastic task for the Heritage to restore this old troll tradition.

(( Zul'Ympics! XD Awesome! I love the idea ))

(( Rip-off! ))

The Arathor Run is a running event featured in the Zul'Ympic Games since the victorious battle of Arathor.
According to the legend, the Amani trolls waged war against the humans of Arathor and their allies, the high elves. The trolls fought bravely, but couldn't overpower the massive army of the Alliance. The tides didn't change until the famous Battle of Arathor.
The battle took place at the still war-torn battleground of Arathi Basin. Although the trolls were outnumbered by the humans, their desperate situation multiplied their strength... and the Alliance soldiers finally had to retreat to Stromgarde Keep.
The trolls were victorious, but exhausted. Yet, their fastest runner, Fey'dip said: "I run to Zul'Aman, and tell da Warlord 'bout our triumph!" And he began running. He ran up to Thoradin's Wall, ran through Hillsbrad, Silverpine, then he entered Lordaeron and restlessly ran through Tirisfal Glades and the area now called the Plaguelands. He didn't stop until he reached the gates of Zul'Aman. There, he stopped in front of the guards, and said: "We be victorious!" Then he collapsed, and died of exhaustion. The guards carried his corpse to the Warlord, who was very happy with the news, and gave Fey'dip a glorious funeral.
To conmemorate Fey'dip and the victory of Arathor, each Zul'Ympics involve an Arathor Run since then, where the contestants have to run from Hammerfall to Zul'Aman on Fey'dip's path, without rest.

(( Marathon, nice convertion though... my ancestors are from that area ))

(( I'm happy you got the reference. And Fey'dip is based on Pheidippides, the greek messenger who ran from Marathon to Athens.
Actually the whole Zul'Ympics is the adaptation of ancient greek traditions to the Warcraft universe.
If you like the idea, I'd love to hear your ideas about what other competitions can we make.))

Strangely enough, in the UK the 'Marathon' chocolate bar was renamed 'Snickers' many years ago . . .

That's almost an amusing coincidence!

((Now that was 100% unintended... I am from Hungary, and when "western" chocolate bars arrived here, it was already called Snickers.
Although I remember Lyranne and Zanick mentioning it while they were teasing my name. (And no, I didn't name Snicka after the Snickers bar; the name came into my mind because when I created him I thought of a thief, who sneaks and nicks) ))

(( There's far too much name changing going on with sweets here.. I'm just old enough to remember the bar as Marathon, though I know not why they changed its name... Opal Fruits became Starburst, Treets became M&Ms... Hmm, and they're all made by Masterfoods. And Snicka, I'm just a sucker for word association, which is why I joked about your name ( and many, many other words and names ). In fact, Whraenyyr, to me, reminds me of the jungle, because of Ray Mears and his TV programme Ray Mears Bushcraft, so it's not limited to other peoples characters *grin*. And Yes, the whole Marathon idea sounds intriguing, though how are you going to deal with certain advantages that some races/classes have? If this is an open invitation to other Guilds (which would make it even better) almost all Sin'Dorei classes have some way to increase their speed, or at least reduce a journey length ( only the Priests can't ). In that regard though, Paladins, if Retribution, would win because it's a talent to increase their speed, so they'll always be travelling 15% faster. Also, I'm guessing there should be a dress code, because currently, Lyranne's helm gives her a small speed bonus because of the socketed meta gem. Of course, if it's limited to either just the Heritage, or even just trolls, all of this is somewhat irrelevent.))

(( Sounds like a good idea, anyway, and that's the point, post the winner when/if you do this ))

((I imagine the whole Arathor Run as an event for all guilds within the Horde; all races, all classes. It would be really hard to check if people use any speed increasing bonuses all the way, so I think all of them should be allowed except for mounts. So Ghost Wolf Form, Travelling Form, Aspect of the Cheetah, Sprint, Blink etc. can all be legal, as well as Swiftness Potions. Or else, we can compensate the classes that lack speed increasing skill by actually giving them Swiftness Potions. On such a long distance, so many things can happen that might modify the results - including terrain, etc. -, that it's not sure at all that the classes with the best speed bonuses will win. Of course, using Flight Paths or shortcuts will be illegal. But we can decide on the exact rules when this race will be more than a mere suggestion.))

(( Nah, get like some mounted followers, no cheating ))

((Of course, a few people will ride on mounts besides the track and check that everything is goin fair and nobody cheats (e.g. summons his mount, goes to a flight path, etc.) But I think the whole competition is more fun if some not-so-dirty tricks are allowed, like Sprint for rogues and Blink for mages. See it RP-wise; if your character is a rogue, he must be good at sprinting, he would certainly use it. Or hunters, who have been running around a lot in the wild, would surely become faster - so they can use Aspect of the Cheetah.
Anyway, this run would be only one day of the Games. I'll soon come up with a programme for the whole seven days.))

Aaaand... here is my plan for the seven days of Zul'Ympics:

Sunday: The First Day. The lighting of the Zul'Ympic flame. The introduction of the teams: each team (probably guild) introduce themselves by a performance.

Monday: The Day of the Three Trials (based on triathlon): Riding, Swimming and Running. The champions have to ride their mount from Orgrimmar to Sen'jin Village. There, they have to jump into the sea and swim to Ratchet. Finally, they have to run to the Crossroads. (We can do this with different checkpoints, this is just a suggestion) Before the competition, the heralds have to make glorifying speeches about their champions, praising their strength and stamina. In the end of the day, the winner is given an award; the judges will rate the heralds as well and the one who got the best score is awarded too (no matter if his champion won or lost).

Tuesday: The Day of Weapons. The champions take turns in duelling with a specific weapon type (such as spear, sword, staff, dagger etc.) Before the duels, the heralds have to praise their champion just like the previous day.

Wednesday: The Day of Relay. Teams of four compete. The task is to get a Leather Ball from the start to the finish (I chose Leather Ball because you can pass it on easily). Just like in a real relay race, the four members of the team stand up on the track in equal distance from each other; the first person runs to the second one, passes on the ball, he runs to the third one, and so on.

Thursday: The Day of Fists. The champions have to strip down to waist (which technically means strict dress code), and duel by fist-fight. No weapons are allowed. Instead of praising speeches, the heralds now have to mock the opponent of their champion in a humorous way.

Friday: The Day of Arathor. A massive running event, as explained above. The heralds have to make historical poems about Fey'dip.

Saturday: The Final Day. The winners of each competition in the last five days are introduced to the crowd. The heralds should make speeches of the ones who won. The day ends with a big party.

If you have any other ideas for sports, we can change the list above.

((THis sounds really great. But I must ask, am I the only one thinking of A Knight's Tale when Snicka mentions the heralds? ^_^ ))

You might do well to handicap druids for the Triathlon, seeing as it sounds too ideal for them ( 50% faster in water, and 40% faster on land, and the latter is not incluing the PvP set speed increase, which makes them faster than a level 40 mount ). Just a thought though.
Sure; allowing all classes to use bonuses is all well and good, but a druid - specifically a feral - can ran at the same speed as a level 60 mount for the duration of nature's swiftness, which they can activate every 6 minutes ( and again, that speed is not including the PvP set bonus ). Adding them all in, this event - and the marathon - are going to be too easy for them ( face it: Druids are the fastest class, and it's why we love them ).

Okey, well, we can say no shapeshifting is allowed during the race; the druids have to run the whole tournament in tauren form. (Plainsrunning, a speed increasing racial skill in tauren form has been removed from the game before the release.) But should we allow shapeshifting to shamans, then?

The idea for the herald is partly inspired by A Knight's Tale indeed, although the ancient Greek Olympics always involved a competition of poets and spokesmen (rethors). I think this event should be not only a trial of strength, but a trial of mind too; and I know, for instance, that Teohr from GwT roleplays his character as a bard; maybe some other people can show their poetic talent, too.

Well, without forms, Druids are one of the the slowest classes, along with Warriors, Warlocks, and Priests. Though Priests and Shamans can walk/run across water, so you'll have to prevent them doing so if druids can't use forms. Otherwise, it keeps things closer until the last leg.
Maybe two runs would be better: One with any and all abilities accessable, and another that is much fairer, with no skills/abilites, and normal forms only? Oh yeah: and mount trinkets should be banned for any classes with other speed advantages, regardless of what happens ( so maybe allow warriors, warlocks and priests access ). My guess is that a Retribution Paladin will be the only one to come close to beating a Druid in the Triathlon if everything is allowed ( Crusader Aura, then their 15% speed bonus, which effects mount speed, so not allowing them to use their Aura, will only make a 5% difference ).

I'd like this event to take place by the end of July, so it's time soon to carry it out to the "open plains" (first the We Are Legion forum, then to the official SSL forum) if we think it seriously. But let's do that after the rules were made more clear.

Jimar would probably be no good at any of the above..
But he could be on stand by for medical support.
or the night before for special enhancement mootie...

The traditional emblem of the Zul'Ympics is five rings, bound to each other.

These originally represent the five types of troll:
Blue represents the ice trolls of Northrend, their light blue skin and the cold area they come from.
Yellow represents the sand trolls of Tanaris, their sandy and sunny homelands.
Black represents the dark trolls of Mount Hyjal, the black caves they live in.
Green represents the forest trolls of Zul'Aman, their moss-covered skin, green hair and the woodlands they live in.
Red represents the jungle trolls of Stranglethorn, their red hair and the fact they usually devote the Blood God. (The emblem was created before Hakkar's malevolent intentions were noticed by the Zandalari. Despite the hatred the Zandalari now bear against Hakkar, the colour was kept.)

Now, that the Zul'Ympics is to be introduced to the Horde, the meaning of the colours may change:
Blue represents the Darkspear trolls, their blue skin, often blue hair and the fact they live by the sea.
Yellow represents the Tauren, from the sunny plains of Mulgore.
Black represents the Forsaken, a colour often associated with death and the dark places they dwell.
Green represents the Orcs; explanation not needed.
Red represents the Blood Elves, the colour of blood.