The Tribulations of a Megalomaniac Warlock

The Tribulations of a Megalomaniac Warlock is a thread originally posted on the French WoW warlock boards and later on the English WoW warlock boards. It is the story of a young human warlock, Synapse.

With over 3 million views and 200 pages, the English thread is one of the longest and most-read threads throughout the WoW forums.

The Tribulations of a Megalomaniac Warlock
The first chapter of this epic tale was posted on June 14th 2006 in the warlock section of the FR wow forums. Though already over 50 chapters and 280,000 words long, the story is still nowhere near over, and new chapters are added on a regular basis (about one chapter every 2 to 3 weeks).

Around late June 2007, over a year after the story had begun in its original French version, the first chapters of the translated version were published in the warlock section of the English wow forums.

As of september 2009, the French thread has close to 500,000 views 3,000 replies, and the English thread, thanks to a much broader public, is over 3,000,000 views and close to 4,000 replies long, making it one of the longest, oldest and most viewed threads of the entire WoW forum boards. The story is also published on the Warlock's Den.

About the story itself

The tale starts by Synapse's description of how she came to Azeroth, i.e. a description of the Stormwind starting area. Quickly enough, convinced she is indeed a Goddess, she takes off on ever greater adventures, going from the Dead Mines to Black Temple.

The story is divided into three major parts:
 * Part I is entirely based on vanilla WoW.
 * Part II is the Outland adventure.
 * Part III, only just started, is to be the Northrend adventure.

It is also interesting to note that most of the people Synapse meets, and who eventually team up with her, have a detailed and rich background story, each one being told sooner or later.

Who is Synapse?
Synapse, or The Great Goddess as she is often refered to by her readers, is a human warlock on EU server Kael'thas and the writer of the amazingly popular fan fiction Tribulations d'une démoniste mégalo, or as it is called in English, The Tribulations of a Megalomaniac Warlock.

Companions
Synapse is rarely alone in her adventures, and her followers form a rather eclectic group.

Demons
Unlike other warlocks, who only control one demon at a time, Synapse is followed by a whole array of very unusual demons, only one of which she actually summoned: her imp, Bizrot.


 * Bizrot : One of the more important characters in the Tribulations. First and only demon ever summoned by Synapse, Bizrot is uncommonly powerful and sly for an imp - not to mention very, very cynical.
 * Tangkath : Voidwalkers are generally known to be silent, resilient, obeying demons. Though blessed with incredible strength, Tangkath is a calm, pacifist, talkative voidwalker, more often than not used by Synapse as a luggage-carrier. He has, however, been known to pull people's arms out of their sockets when feeling insulted.
 * Cattnia : This peculiar succubus teenager ran into Synapse while running away from home. Daughter of a most powerful demon, she is nonetheless reluctant to actually show her own powers, though the wise say it would be best not to be on the other end the day she chooses to reveal them.
 * Zaz : Mages fear felhunters, but they dread Zaz. Poodle-sized, cuddly, adorable, he appears most unimpressive. One fireball, however, is enough to turn him into a frenzied monster with oversized teeth, which, coupled to the fact he is perfectly immune to fire magic, is enough to give even the firelord Ragnaros splitting headaches. His full but unused name is Zhaalum.
 * Xellos : Synapse's dreadsteed. Smart, strong-willed, he also happens to be the laziest demon ever, and is usually not there when needed.
 * Shaathun : A wandering felguard, Shaathun one day stumbled across Synapse's way, and being a very romantic demon, instantly fell madly in love with the young warlock. Though she didn't really care for a relationship with a spiky demon, Synapse did care for an extra bodyguard, and has kept him at her side ever since. Just another demon, right?

Undead

 * Ehmbittered : An undead warlock that Synapse met while looking for Cattnia. He's depressed, he's dead, and he doesn't want your pity. He is, however, a warlock with his head on his shoulders, and gives rather good advice. He is almost always referred to as "Ehmb", for short.


 * Livenlethdye : Also an undead warlock, whom Synapse met in warlock school when she was younger. Liven as she is usually called, blames Synapse for her death, and has sworn to kill her, by any means possible. She has yet to succeed, and has still not given up.

Others
Synapse's many other companions include part-demons, elves, humans, and even gnomes... Here are a couple of the more important ones.


 * Gaby : A human paladin Synapse met somewhere near Alterac. To everyone's utter astonishment, he and Cattnia eventually fell in love and got married.
 * Krull : A near-invincible fighter, who calls himself a "rogue barbarian". Very little is known about him, apart from the fact he comes from some northern barbarian tribe, who banned him for being too civilized.
 * Gurdan : A young satyr, with a rather interesting curse: whenever he comes up with a "good idea", it is bound to turn into a complete disaster, usually involving loss of life or limb. People flinch when they hear him say "I have an idea!".
 * Zek : One of the greatest hunters ever to roam Azeroth. One slight problem however: he's narcoleptic. Expect him to fall asleep without warning, especially when everyone is in great danger. Zek is also well-known for blatantly hitting on every woman he meets.
 * The Tribz : Synapse's guild. The aforementionned members all ended up becoming a part of it, one way or another. It is to be noted that, unlike most guilds, the Tribz do not have a guild master, but three co-guild masters: Synapse, Othon and Siona.

The Followers of Synapse
The Tribulations of a Megalomaniac Warlock are read by many, among whom some put a lot of effort into keeping the story on the first page of the WoW forums by "UGTGGSing" (Upholding the Glorious Tale of the Great Goddess, Synapse).

Also among her followers, but behind the stages, are:
 * Nävis of EU-Sargeras, who handles the official website.
 * Sheeza of EU-Vol'jin and Aethyc of EU-Arak-Arahm, who draw the comics.
 * Curufinwë of EU-Kael'thas, who translates the Tribz.