User:Sussemilch/Bag of sticks

Bag of Sticks A tribute to the Shaman

Waiting for war in wintergrasp A mage of pedigree select Cast a spell of arcane might And granted me intellect

A priest in robes of whitest silk (a very righteous looking dude) Raised his staff and shouted out And I was blessed with fortitude

My mind was filled with extra thoughts My body was bursting with life I'd never felt so strong and sure - But still more allies arrived

Two paladins on their chargers rode Rallying us for the fight Cheered out fearsome battle cries And blessed us with wisdom and might

From the shadows to my left A beast of cunning and guile Transformed into a tall, wise druid And Marked me with the Wild

More mages gestured and muttered words And conjured a feast for us all And warlocks gave us each healthstones And anchored souls, should they fall

A rogue whispered "I've got your back" And twirled daggers in his palms "Relax friend, I'll clear the road," A death knight said with icy calm.

A row of hunters checked their guns, ammunition, arrows and quivers And their beasts let out hungry growls That gave me frightened shivers

A warrior strode out to the front His face was full of scars His muscles thick, his armor clawed From the fight of a hundred wars

"The enemy approaches!" he shouted out "Prepare to match their rage!" And a dozen more with axes and shields Charged out onto the stage

The warrior smiled at his fortified crew And when he saw me, his smile died He walked close and grunted through his bulk "Exactly what help do you provide?"

Surrounded by these adventurers With their formidable spells and tricks How was I to match their might With a simple bag of sticks?

"Nothing." I said honestly "There is nothing I can give, But if you trust in my abilities Then those who would die will live."

The warrior leered and banged his axe And growled to the other men "You wear a robe, and provide no buffs Tell me, what good are ye then?"

Put on the spot and doubted thus I was about to try and explain When beyond the walls there came a sound Like a steam tank gone insane

A crashing sound, deafening The front gate splintered forth And into the courtyard spilled the enemy Bearing spell and sword and torch

"To war!" we shouted and rallied forward Driving the enemy back The mages summoned storms of ice And the hunters launched their attack

The warriors charged and cleaved their axes Cutting the enemy down The healers closed their bloody wounds And shielded them from harm

From off to one side a warlock cast A spell of certain doom Towards a hero fighting in our ranks Who was destined for a tomb

Pulling a totem from my bag I stamped it in the ground The warlock's spell was pulled into it And it disappeared without a sound

Just then a rogue appeared from out of sight Behind our wisest caster Raised his dagger to end his sagely life - But my hex was slightly faster

Two more totems I pulled from my bag And planted them in the path My allies were graced with renewed energy And an inherent sense of wrath

I spied a rogue suffering From a deadly poison shot I cleansed the ailment from his body And healed him on the spot

Three of the enemy broke through our ranks And charged towards our back I stamped a totem in the ground And entangled them in their tracks

Just then I felt a stunning blow That sent me to one knee A paladin struck me twice again And I was dead before I could plea

But to a shaman, death is temporary And I called on an ankh of power To restore my life and give me strength So that we could yet win the hour

The paladin charged on towards the healers And prepared to kill the lot But lightning arced out from my fingers And fried him on the spot

I sat with a drink to quickly recover Next to the paladin, his hair fried crispy-curly And the warrior spied me sitting down And yelled "make yourself useful girlie!"

Chagrined, I rose to my feet And chanted a mystic call That infused a bloodfury in my allies And empowered one and all

I planted another totem into the ground And the ground itself came alive A monster of rock charged into the enemy And scattered them like bees from a hive

We pushed them back and cut them down And it was clear the day was ours, We lost only the gate and very few men And defended all our towers

The celebration was bright and merry And rewards were spread around, The dead were carried away and buried And debris cleared from the ground

I had collected my totems and cleaned them all And bound them with a leather strand When the warrior approached with a pair of flagons And thrust one into my hand

"There's more to you than meets the eye" He said with a nod and a wink "And the next time I head into battle, I'll be looking for a shaman I think."

It was generous praise and I accepted it And courtseyed deep and quick, "I won't have any buffs for you - But I'll bring my bag of sticks."

-Sussemilch