Creed Clan

Creed Clan

--by Sarobin

Myth Behind the Creed Clan

As told by Sarobin

"This myth is just that, a myth. There are many things about it that are unbelievable, impossible, improbable. However, this myth was a powerful one back during the days of the Arathi tribe, and did make my ancestors greatly feared. So although it is in reality, a myth, there is much truth in it about the essence of the Creed family.

Back during the days when humans were still made up of tribes, one such tribe remained isolated up in the hills in Tirisfal Glades. It was unnamed, violent tribe. Though it usually remained to itself, it had vicious backlashes against anyone who stepped too close to it. They were considered worse than barbarians to the elves, they were considered monsters for their inhumane treatment of any outsider captured, whether it be man, woman, or child. As humans became more civilized thanks to the high elves and formed a new culture surrounding Arcane and Light, this one tribe still remained in place. For awhile, it seemed to have no interest in magic or a more advanced way of living.

Human and elven parents told their children horror bedtime stories of this tribe of the woods. Stories that they would be whisked away, killed, and never seen again if they strayed too far from home. However, the most horrific story was of how they were named the Creeds.

It was said, there was once a small, new town in the Glades called Creed, named after a Church-inspired settlement. Its purpose was to have a base for missionaries and travel along the lands to any towns that hadn't been informed of the new Church yet. There, both holy men and women, and other crafters and their families resided. They heard rumor of this tribe living not far off, and their missionaries, led by a man called Victor Albright, ventured to the woods towards the tribe.

Victor Albright was an archbishop of the church, and was advancing the study of shadowmancy, particularly of the mind. Not many outside of the church knew about his study of shadowmancy, but inside, it was said that new priests and priestesses were secretly being taught abilities such as Mind Control, shadow words, and what-not, and Victor was one of the major supporters of such teachings.

When the tribe saw Victor and his holy men approach, they quickly reacted very violently. A small battle broke out, and during the process, one of the tribal women was killed. Victor was captured, and all the holy men killed there. About a month later, the tribe advanced onto the town of Creed in the middle of the night. What was reported back to the church was bizarre. The only survivors, children and women, reported to the messenger that the attack came in the night. All the men were slain and hung around the town, from posts, doorways, anything. The women were beaten and had their genitalia badly burned by torches, to the point of no healing. The children had it the worse. Every child was not only also burned at the genitalia, but also had their limbs cut off. The town of Creed was not only a massacre, but a massacre that left not everyone dead, but completely incapable of spreading future generations. When asked how the tribe managed to accomplish all this, everyone reported a euphoric sense of no self control, as if all were mentally forced to withstand this attack without any struggle.

And so, the tribe was called Creed.

Now, because of the attacks on Lordaeron and its church, I have been unable to find proof of any town that was called Creed, or information about this man called Victor Albright. However, what is true is that the Creeds today, which do exist, whether they be the tribemen in the Glade, or the remnants of the Stratholme branch, all are born with an inherent gift to mental shadowmancy, and this psychomancy is the core to their survival. What is also true, is that most Creeds have committed acts as greivous as those afore mentioned on that town."

The Stratholme Creeds

As told by Sarobin

"So, the Creeds remain a tribal clan up in the hills as humans civilize. Lordaeron becomes more of a country, kings rise, so forth. From my own research in the Creed Manor Library, I found out how a small part of the clan drifted over into civilization.

Sixty years before the First War, a man named Don came from the Creed clan. Nothing said why he came over, but he did. However, at this point, the Creeds are at war with another clan called the Malkins. Even though they are still based on the idea of a tribe community, they are very adept in their psychomancy, and considered a secret threat by both the Kirin Tor and the Church of Holy Light. Thankfully, to Lordaeron and Silvermoon, they have been pre-occupied by the Malkins. So Don comes over, bringing with him all the psychomancy he has learned, and he goes to Old Stratholme, back when oil was about to boom, and married a girl there.

Now Don wasn't quite a genius, he was powerful, but not quite a genius. He apparantly was psychotic. And even more psychotic than he, was his son, Syn. Now why he was stupid enough to call his son Syn, and just set down a pre-requisite of coming trouble, I don't know.

Oh, the other thing, before I start up more about the rest of Don's children. The Creed clan, apparantly, is very inbred. Considering how isolated they are, they believe heavily in keeping the family pure. This is what leads me to believe that Don was kicked out of the Clan. Despite marrying an outsider girl, he still forced his children to marry each other. I know, gross, not like I practice it myself, but whatever. Explains why all us Creeds are so crazy.

Anyways, so Don has three children, Syn, Lussia, and Lute. Syn marries a Stratholme girl, and Lussia and Lute marry each other. Syn has a son of his own, Solus, and Lussia and Lute have twins, named Lilith and Lisa. Syn, as psychotic as his father, ends up murdering near everyone. He murders Don and Don's wife, he murders his own wife, and he almost murders his son.

But this is the salvation of the Creed family. Somehow, his son, Solus, survives his father's rage, and later he kills Syn, taking on the head of the family. Solus was the savior of the Creed clan. All the new children marry, save for Lilith. Solus, as head of the family, starts actions that make this small, crazy family into one of the head noble families of Old and New Stratholme.

First, he gets back in touch with the Creed clan, in secret of course. Second, he looks into the oil industry. Within months, Solus made his family filthy rich from the oil industry, over at Darrowmere Lake. Then, he starts buying land. Well of course, this attracts attention. Still a bit isolated from the Church, and that being the only stigma left, Solus donates huge amounts of money to the Church.

And thus, how the Creeds became a noble family. Brilliant political and economical manipulation.

But it goes on.

So the First War begins. By this time, Solus's son, Sydial is an adult, and also just has his own child, Sabidan. Solus and Sydial fight in the war together, while the women at home practice their own politics.

Finally, the Silver Hand forms. Solus and Sydial become two of many of the first paladins trained. The Creeds of Stratholme are not only a powerful political family of Old Stratholme, but also allies of the Church, while hiding very well their clan-psychomancy secrets."

The Downfall

As told by Sarobin

"So its the middle of the First War, the Creed Family is bigger than ever, and Solus and Sydial still have many plans left.

Of course, as big as the family is, so is the scandals kept secret. One scandal not many knew about was Sydial's mistress, Marie. And of course, this coupling made myself, Sarobin. However, my birth was not so much out of the throes of passion. Not at all, it was planned.

And this plan was formed by Lilith Creed, one of Solus's cousins, who was not so secret of a scandal. Lilith was called Mad Lily by all of Old Stratholme. She had visions, crazy visions, and would go into seizures spouting off in strange tongues. Some even said at times she spoke Orcish or Thalassian in these fits.

And of course, as crazy as Lilith was, she of course, would be recruited by one of the craziest men in history, Feyrin Raventalon. Wanted for her visions, Feyrin recruited her during the First War as a priestess, but secretly tried to focus her scrying into intelligible predictions. The only prediction that came through was that of the Dark Portal opening, which led Feyrin and his troops to the Dark Portal. However, Lily did not follow.

Mad Lily was not loved by much of her family. Solus' wife, Patricia, couldn't stand her. And shortly before the departure to the Dark Portal, Lily stopped home to tell her family of this new vision. Now for once, Solus quietly considered this story about this Dark Portal, and Patricia noticed, and she became furious. At the dinner table, Patricia stood up and began screaming of how Lily was insane, and full of stupid stories, such about this Dark Portal. Lute, Lily's father, stood up and argued back at Patricia. The fight continued until it became violent, Patricia lashing out and destroying Lute's mind in an effort to show that as Solus' wife, she was not to be questioned. Lily, who was.. mad, but gentle, and who loved her father and mother very much, was torn apart. She lashed out back at Patricia, but was easily over-powered, and rendered completely insane, left nothing but a mumbling, frightened, lone, and fatherless woman.

So Feyrin went onto the Dark Portal, leaving Mad Lily behind, disgusted at how mentally disturbed and child-like she was. Lily begins having random visions again, and unfortunately for her, she just had to have a vision about Sydial. Lily predicted that Sydial would turn into a horrific monster, leading not only the Creed family, but all of Lordaeron into a new country of disfigured, monstrous beings. Solus at this time had been trying to be very patient with Lily, recognizing her gift for scrying. However, his plans were very stressful.

Solus and Sydial had retracted from the war, and were now focused on a new city being build, called New Stratholme, settled up across the mountains from Lordaeron City, and not far from the road to Silvermoon. Solus had plans to utilize his position of power to hopefully become the new baron of Stratholme.

But of course, everyone knows that Sydial was not the baron of Stratholme, Rivendale was. So what did happen to the Creeds?

Lily's prediction of Sydial became an obsession, that eventually led her to confront Solus about it. In the middle of the new farmlands outlying New Stratholme, she and Solus went on a walk to discuss this vision. As Lily talked, she became more frantic, and eventually violent, paranoid. She and Solus engaged in a sudden shadowmantic battle, calling up so many shadows that it ruined a years worth of crops at that farmland.

The Church of Holy Light was absolutely furious. For years they had ignored the practice of shadowmancy in Creeds, as long as the Creeds hit it. But not only the loss of the farmlands to New Stratholme, but the scandal to follow, was unbearable to the Church. The Creeds entire political future was obliterated. The Creeds were asked to stay in the lands outlying Stratholme, to stay away from the politics, and Lily was taken into the Church's care.

Lily was hidden in the church for four years. What happened there, won't be said. When she came out of the church's care, she had regained some sanity, and was no longer having uncontrollable visions. But she was very focused. Focused on saving Lordaeron from Sydial. And so she returned to the Creed family with the intent to subtlely destroy Sydial before he destroyed Lordaeron.

Before, I mentioned Sydial had a mistress. Her name was Marie Horseman, and he had arranged a marriage with her to the Creed's horse caregiver. Sydial and Marie met in a tavern when they were very young, Marie having been a bar wench at the time. Sydial loved Marie's singing, and in turn for Marie helping Sydial in his bardism, Sydial taught her the Creed psychomancy. Even when Sydial married, he kept Marie in his life. Sydial had a son, Sabidan, with his wife, and Marie had a daughter with her husband, Sally. Marie was the Creed's nurse for Sabidan, and she nursed both Sabidan and Sally, who were best friends at the time.

When Lilith returned to the Creeds, she first focused on Marie. One day, at the stables, Lilith stopped by to speak to Marie's husband. Then shortly after leaving, Marie's husband had a fatal accident with Sydial's horse, as witnessed by Sally. Marie was now a widow, and soon to be too old as Sabidan's nurse. Lilith came to Marie and convinced her that she would have to renew her romance with Sydial to ensure not only her own financial future, but Sally's as well. And so Marie began seeing Sydial more often again, and soon, became pregnant. With none other, than me!

Marie's plan was to use me, as her bastard child to Sydial, to gain a bit of power in the Creed family. She also hoped to have Sally marry Sabidan, in order to hide me, her new scandal to the Creeds. However, Lilith had other plans for the baby.

I won't tell you what Lily's plans were for me, perhaps I don't know what those plans were. But what did happen, was.. an accident of sorts.

Shortly after my birth, Lilith was in the same room as my mother, discussing plans. There was an arguement. At the same time, Sydial's wife finds out from Sabidan and Sally, that Marie has had a new baby. Guessing it is of Sydial's, she is furious, and mind controls Sabidan and Sally to return to Marie. Over my own cradle, at nights, I sometimes dream of them hanging my mother. Lily dropped down, in a coma, and was declared dead a few days later.

The rest is history. I ended up an orphan in the streets of Stratholme. The Creeds continued their miserable, lonely existence. They were powerful, but forbidden by the Church to do anything. But then one day, luck came across them again. Stratholme was attacked by the New Scourge, and during the burning of the city, Sydial and his son, Sabidan, went out to protect the city among the Silver Hand. Sabidan ended up becoming one of the first Scarlets, and eventually one of the elite. But Sydial disappeared. He disappeared until rumors, started by myself, said he was in the ranks under Sylvanas, as one of her death knights.

And that is the current state of the Stratholme Creeds."

Living Creeds

Documented by Sydile Creed

Sydial Creed: Currently a high lord under Sylvanas, his intentions as reported by my mother and brother, is to dismantle the Alliance. He rarely presents himself in Alliance lands, though he has had battle with Kanta Wildsabre and Sharamoon. Although he expects high standards of us, he at the same time, seems to abandon any continuation of the family. He seeks power for himself, and not for the clan itself. He seems to possess many powers of a death knight, but also continues our icon of the family, bardism, which I have observed him use in necromancy.

Sasha Creed: Sydial's wife. Mother reported she found her among the Scarlets, though now her whereabouts are known. She was reported to be old and frail though still powerful in the arts of the Light. Her title among them is Bishop.

Sarobin Creed: The daughter of Sydial Creed and his mistress, Marie Horseman. Nothing is really notable to write about her, except she is currently a Templar of the Rose. She has dabbled in many magics, yet abstains from using any today.

Sydile Creed: This author, daughter of Sarobin Creed and Feyrin Raventalon.

Chance Creed: The son of Sarobin Creed and Glediran. Has been dead many times, and contains the unique ability to transfer his soul and mind to corpses. His current whereabouts is unknown. He is loyal to Sydial Creed.

Immortality

Written by Sydile Creed

The possibilities of immortality, or even godhood, in my perspective, is vast for our Clan. It is proven today that most if not all the surviving Creeds persist after death. Some have chosen an undeathly state, but many have "jumped" from body to body. Although I cannot pinpoint the scientific reasoning behind this, my theory is that the psychomancy practiced by so many has webbed that render a Creed's soul and mind unable to stay bonded to a body or afterlife. However, I have wondered if this renders them greatly vulnerable to Fel magics and curses. My mother told me that the origin of this gift was actually a curse, from the Church of Stratholme as punishment upon Lilith Creed for using shadowmancy. It has been passed that the Creeds are chained to the earth beyond death, the intention to keep them as ghosts to suffer an endless time. However, I have doubts behind this, as many of us have travelled to the Outlands and other realms.

In my own experience, in my first death, I remember mentally wandering among a shadowland. I cannot recall how time passed, but at first there was all darkness, then slowly, light-shadows of lifeforms, and eventually, I could recognize Azeroth from a "ghost" perspective. Souls, minds, and bodies were visible, but seperate and not meshed together. This enabled me to possess a body.

Although I seek to find a difference, I am still pressed to see many similarities between the Creed's gift and ghosts, with an additional ability to possess a body. It has been very successful for a Creed to possess a body of someone slain, and revive the system. Very successful, but very difficult and at times, impossible. Chance is the most skilled at this practice, and has even possessed a body already home to a soul and mind, which was my own when I was an infant, however, if he is able to do this with a more developed mind and soul, I do not know... If quickly healed, the body does not expire and does not become undead. Chance reported he uses the assistance of a warlock to steal a soul from a body, and then possess it, so he does not risk the expiration of a body.

However, does this practice cause insanity? I believe situationally, yes. My experience sharing the first fourteen years of my life with my brother was not traumatic, until he left. Just like gaining or losing a great portion of your memories, your morality, your personality, sharing one body between two souls can cause grievous consequences to stability. However, simply "jumping," I am unaware of any effects on the mind. Though my mother and myself have trouble adjusting in a new body at first, we seem to settle in time quite well. Are there any other consequences? I do not know. I shall wait and see, and expect in my own mother, who has taken many bodies, some signs of what this practice causes.

Bardism

As reported by Sydile Creed

I hope to write more on this subject when I am allowed training, however, for now, I can only report hearsay.

When Creeds began to practice bardism, I do not know, nor do I know how they developed it. I cannot imagine they learned it from another culture, as they did psychomancy, light magic, and shadowmancy. It may be a tribal ability. I believe the ability is simple and not as miraculous as some might believe. Bardism seems to be another form of casting, closely related to verbal casting, in which the caster uses the volume, rhythm, and emotional motivation to support their spell.

There are two types of spells I have heard bardism used for. The first is an environmental effect, similar to spells that effect many people, such as a Death Knight or Paladin's aura. Most commonly among the Creeds, a caster either increased the power of Light or Shadow magic in an area. Although they could cast a few additional spells while maintaining this effect, their constant concentration and singing was required for the effect to remain. The second type is a an alternative way to cast a common spell. I have witnessed Sydial Creed practice his necromancy with bardic casting, and did not notice any difference in the outcome if he had used another form of casting. It has been rumored that some of the priests and paladins of the family were able to cause mass-ressurections with their songs.

My ability to practice bardism alone, and with the use of other texts, have so far, been a failure. The closest I have come to it is simply raising the power of a spell with more volume, but this was not during song, but verbal casting. Although I have discovered songs written for the intent of bardism, it seems original and written songs are both possible. I have also found some research on the song of Elune, though have yet to find any links between the Creeds and the goddess.