#tidesages

What are Tidesages?

Tidesages are essentially priests of the Sea, that speak to the sea, are influenced by the sea, and use the powers of the sea. Their dominion as a whole concerns water, storms, and winds. They specifically revere an entity called the ‘Tidemother’. Her personality is not especially clear, but it is interesting to note that Lord Stormsong was noted to be a very kind and gentle man before the void and Azshara got to him.

Tidesages do take oaths, to protect and guide their people, sustain them, and make their ships strong.

They serve the Kul Tiran people in a variety of unique ways, but essentially are to Kul Tiras what Priests of the Light are to Stormwind, except they’re far more concerned with water than they are with the shiny light. They’re the only real serious religious order on Kul Tiras for that matter, barring the (rare) mention of the Light on Drustvar by random citizens, which suggests that the majority of Light worship has died out.

Where did the Tidesages come from?

The ancestor of House Stormsong was the first to hear the ‘gentle whispers of the Tidemother, imperceptible to all but him’, which taught him the power of the seas, and guided the then Gilneans to their new home. Presumably, other Tidesages cropped up, and the new Kul Tirans sent them out to find other lost sailing souls and guide them to their new home. It should be noted this happened roughly 2,700 years ago. Interestingly, by the way this is phrased, it seems like Tidesages are chosen by the sea, they do not choose the sea.

The other bit of evidence for Tidesages being chosen instead of choosing, is that there is a children’s legend about a brother and sister pair, the brother seemed fairly unaware that he was hearing the sea and was rather shocked when it responded to his call. After saving the ship, his sister called him ‘Tidesage’.

Who leads the Tidesages?

The senior Tidesage is whoever is in charge of House Stormsong. (The current Lord Stormsong is very dead, but his nephew is still running around.) The Lord Stormsong has a council, in which the most senior tidesages that each apparently specialize in being the best at one unique ability, advise the Lord Stormsong, carry out his wishes, and help train new Tidesages.

Occupants of the Tidesage Council apparently include a Runecarver, Windspeaker, Galecaller and a Wavespeaker, as well as Ironhull. The last one is interesting, as the NPC with it in the dungeon is called ‘Brother Ironhull’, which sort of implies it’s a last name. However, there are Ironhull apprentices running around, which suggests it is an actual position. Further inspection of the title beneath Brother Ironhull calls him ‘Master of the Hull’, which suggests that perhaps when one becomes master of a specific aspect of being a Tidesage, they adopt the last name.

However, Wavespeaker Reid, the senior Wavespeaker, was not called thus, so it is a matter of debate.  

It is noted by Brother Pike that the Wavespeaker is the oldest position on the council, implying it’s perhaps the first and most important of the Tidesage’s capabilities.

However, any ‘good’ Tidesages left that aren’t corrupted by the Void seem to be under Storm’s Wake and Brother Pike. It is currently unknown if the traditions of their order will be reinstated at a later date.

In general though, Tidesages are called Brother or Sister if they’re full Tidesages, or Initiates if they’re training.

What are the Tidesage disciplines?

Now, this isn’t exactly confirmed, but due to the above, it is heavily implied Tidesages specialize, and each specialization is under a particular umbrella or overall discipline. Information from this section is drawn from titles referenced by Brother Pike and names of NPCs in Stormsong monastery, Shrine of the Storm, and Stormsong Valley.

Of course, despite these specializations, most Tidesages seem to be capable of the basics of their magic - calling the water, talking to the water, etc, that is listed below in the ‘what do Tidesages do?’ section.

DISCIPLINE: Tempest

Galecaller - Abilities include swiftness ward, slicing blast, gale shear, slicing hurricane, tempest.

DISCIPLINE: Hull (It should be noted that this discipline seems to favor physical harm and attacks, and is probably favored by Tideguards)

Ironhull -  DEBATABLE. There is an argument this is just Brother’s Ironhull last name, though the apprentices seem to argue that. Abilities include Hindering cleave, reinforcing ward, lesser blessing of Ironsides, sundering blow.

Runecarver - Abilities include carve flesh, minor reinforcing ward. It is interesting to note that beyond Kul Tiras, Runecarvers are common among Vry’kul.

Hullwarden - This is not confirmed to be a member of this discipline, but theoretical. Hullwarden might be under some other discipline, but it seems most likely that they are under Hull, considering the name and ability set. Abilities include - Run Through, Runic Blast, and Tidesage’s swiftness.

DISCIPLINE: Wind

Windspeaker - (Abilities include galewinds, minor swiftness ward, windblast.) These abilities seem to highlight some overlap  with the Tempest Discipline, it is possible Windspeaker is a part of Tempest, but the senior Windspeaker is called ‘Disciple of the Wind’.

SPECIALIZATIONS WITHOUT KNOWN DISCIPLINES:

Wavespeaker - Likely has a discipline, and is probably the senior of whatever discipline it is a part of, because Pike notes that this is the oldest specialization that the Tidesages have, and Reid, the former Wavespeaker, was something of a right-hand to Lord Stormsong.

Depthbringer - Debatable? These are NPCs in Shrine of the Storm that are called drowned Depthhbringers. The name composition is similar to a specialization of Tidesage, however. These might have only popped up after the Tidesage corruption, or possibly were the root of the corruption - those who looked into the depths found the K’thir.

Seacaller - Another NPC Title that isn’t expounded upon much but the name has the construction of a specialization.

There are likely other specializations beyond these, but these appear to be the only named ones in game.

Where do you find Tidesages?

They have a monastery in Tiragarde sound, called Stormsong Monastarery, that you are traditionally only allowed to leave and enter on via boat. It is also noted to have the greatest archives of Kul Tiras, which are not generally accessible to outsiders.

There is the Shrine of the Storm, which is the seat of House Stormsong, and in general it seems most towns in Tiragarde Sound and Stormsong Valley have their own Tidesages. It should be noted there doesn’t appear to be as many Tidesages in Drustvar, though if that’s incorrect, someone please correct me.

Tidesages are also found on the more senior of Kul Tiran ships, in order to guide and protect them directly.

[It is interesting to note that the Shrine of the Storm was once protected by three ‘gifts’ from the Tidemother (Which, prior to that, were used to protect the flagships of Kul Tiras.) These were Tidemother’s Pride, Tidemother’s Radiance, and Tidemother’s Wrath. They are promptly destroyed in order to assault The Shrine.]

What tools do Tidesages use?

They have several! They are noted for using some sort of runes to mark objects with various properties.

They have a Tidal Kris - a small, sharp blade. Brother Pike notes that a sharp blade is a safe blade. The Tidal Kris seems to be used to channel a Tidesage’s abilities, much like a staff or wand, and is also used in minor blood magic, where the Tidesage may cut themselves to sacrifice a drop of blood to calm the sea, or for other uses in complicated (and rare) rituals.

Abyssal Beacon - Apparently the mists of the Sea are hard to penetrate, this lantern allows them to do so much more easily. They have been shown to penetrate or pierce through illusions and illusionary magic.

Wavecaller’s Mantle - A mantle that has rolls of incarnations on it. It isn’t said what the incarnations are, only that it helps increase a Tidesage’s power.

It should be noted that it is explicitly said that Initiates can’t use these implements easily.

Tidesages can also carry a Dead Ringer, which is rung to collect the souls of the dead, and later used to release said souls into the sea.

They also use wands to help control elementals, what looks like some sort of totem, which is used to bind things. (In that specific case, people.)

It should be noted they also seem to have cauldrons in several places, presumably for helping them create tonics or scrying in places where sea water isn’t easily accessible.

What’s up with the Tideguard?

The Tideguard are to Tidesages what Paladins are to Priests - that is to say, they likely hear the whispers of the Tidemother, are fully capable of wielding Tide magic, but do so on a more physical, combative level. Unlike Paladins, however, Tideguard do not occupy separate orders, and seem to be the militant arm of the Tidesages,  and are likely subservient to the Tidesages. Tideguards are referred to by the title of ‘Tideguard <Name>’, for example, Tideguard Victoria in Stormsong Valley.

They take Oaths, much like the Tidesages, to guard and protect the people of Kul Tiras and the valley.

A Tideguard’s responsiblities seem to be to protect the Tidesages, guard the Shrines, monasteries, and general places of worship and wherever Tidesages might be found, as well as overall protecting Stormsong Valley and the people of Kul Tiras. Currently, the sane Tideguard also protect and are the main combative arm of Storm’s Wawke.

They also are responsible for the Rod of Tides, a rod which is the key to access the Shrine of Storm, and can ‘open the way’, via summoning a bridge of water.

Tidesage Victoria, before dying, is capable of impressive defensive water magic, summoning a huge water barrier to defend the player while she fights off attackers. Tideguard abilities also include things like ‘Tidesage’s Swiftness’. So it safe to say they manipulate the sea and everything that comes with that.

They also likely specialize like Tidesages, as Hullwarden’s abilities are all in perfect line with the Tideguard abilities in game, which suggests Hullwardens as a whole, or at least the majority, were Tideguard. As stated earlier, The Hull Discipline seems to favor physical attacks, which is in line with the Tideguard being the more physical, defensive side of tide magic.

What’s with the whole void thing?

It seems like the majority of Tidesages (And Tideguard) fell to the void, after they began to ‘mix up’ the Tidemother’s whispers with the whispers of Azshara/N’zoth’s minions. The whispers are described as ‘violent’ and demanding. Lord Stormsong in particular strongly believed that the nobility of Tiragarde did not appreciate his efforts and were harming the people, and it was up to him to change things.

As such, all the Void corrupted Tidesages got together and locked up the entire fleet in a massive storm, somewhere in the ocean.

It should be noted that the Tidesages were somewhat aware of the Void prior to this, as there are legends of ‘K’thir’. K’thir were legends of dark things in the depths, thought to serve only as mythical warnings to peering too deep with Tidesage magic.

Tidesages were also capable of resisting the nastiness of the whispers, as Brother Pike and all the remaining Tidesages did. Brother Pike noted that the Sea was very difficult to read while this is happening.

What do Tidesages Do?

Tidesages fulfill a variety of necessary functions for the stubborn, sea-faring people of Kul Tiras. This is often done by communicating directly with the sea itself, which is said to ‘gently whisper to them’. These duties are included, but not limited to…

Healing. This can be done directly with water, or can be done by creating potions, tonics, and antidotes for plagues or rampant illnesses, as well as just general weariness. Such tonics usually include blessed seawater, seaweed (which is cited as being particularly important), and blubber.

They bless monster hunters, fishermen and their boats and equipment before they head out to sea. This is apparently done for many fishermen and is not something reserved in the least for ‘important people’.

They inform the fishermen of the best spots to hunt fish.

They call to the souls of the dead and guide them out to sea, though this is not clear if this is only for Stormsong residents, but it’s probably not a far fetch to say this is at least done in Tiraguarde Sound. They call the souls via a bell, and then release them in a ritual that is, fittingly, called the ‘Ritual of Release’.

On ships, they fill the sails with wind, navigate for them via understanding the tides, guide them through storms, and guide fish and freshwater to the sailors, and allow the ships to withstand heavy seas. They are also capable of outright lifting the ship directly out of danger, as told via a old tale where a brother saved his sister’s ship from a kraken by creating a water-kraken to lift the ship over the rocks. (the actual flesh kraken tried to follow them, the water receded, and the flesh kraken was impaled on the rocks. Whoops.)

On ship building, they bless the ships themselves so their hulls are impenetrable to the denizens of the deep, as well as blessing the precious storms silver that is used in the creation of ships, before burying said storm silver in sea water for a year. All Kul Tiran ships go through this ritual.

They read the sea for ‘Omens’. This isn’t clarified much beyond that, but presumably it allows them to predict things that might or might not occur to their sailors at sea.

They read or ‘scry’ the waters, again for whatever knowledge the sea can impart. This isn’t clarified much, but the general rule of thumb should probably be ‘if the sea could have born witness to it, it can probably talk about it’.

They pray for the return of sailors.

They call rain down for the farmers.

From the looks of it in Tiragarde Sound, when things go poorly in town, people turn to their Tidesages to demand answers.

They are capable of talking directly with the Sea - this has been mentioned, but Tidesages are capable of feeling the Sea’s pain and confusion as their own.

Some Tidesages seem to work to map the currents and presumably the ocean, as seen in their Monastery in Tiragarde Sound. These people are called ‘Tidemappers’.

Other abilities include (and are used by various NPCS) - short range teleportation via water, frying your butt with lightning, manipulating souls of the dead beyond just releasing their souls to sea (Brother Pike is seen using them to explode a gate that was sealed), summoning and binding water elementals to do their will. Any sort of manipulation concerning water they seem to be capable of doing.

The portals in Stormwind are m

Using the abilities of Restoration Shamans, with some Frost Mage tossed in for good measure, as a good rule of thumb isn’t a half bad idea.

Misc/Theorycrafting

It should be noted that in Stormsong Monastery, that there appears to be a chapel of some sort, suggesting that Tidesages might give sermons. There is also a conversation between a Captain and a Tidesage in the middle of the chapel, as well as what seem to be Tideguard and Tidesages praying in the chapel.

Marriages in Kul Tiras - The one in Drustvar is performed by Lord Waycrest for his daughter. Before the ceremony is cut off, he says it is his ‘honor to wed these two in the presence of the land, the sky, and the sea.’ Likely that quote is the norm, and it is probably carried out by a Tidesage the majority of the time.

GENERAL TIDESAGE QUOTES

In Greeting

“Tides welcome you.”

“May the sea carry you swiftly.”

“Beware that which lurks in the depths.”

“I welcome those who honor the seat.”

“Tides bless you.”

“The depths spoke of your coming.”

“Tides preserve me!”

“Look always to the sea.”

Farewells

“Currents guide you.”

“Fear not the tide’s flow.”

“Look always to the sea.”

In Reference to the Dead

“The currents will care ye, oh fallen.”

“Ebb and flow, from shelf to shore, your spirit’s woes.”

“Fear not, brother. The waves judge not your surface.”

“Wonder not for whom the lighthouse shines. It shines for thee.”

“Hear the storm’s song, and know peace.”

“Let your soul wash away from it’s mortal shell, and flow into the waters.”

In Reference to the Dead Who Weren’t Nice People

“Let your heart know hatred no longer.”

“Hear our call, fallen. Your wicked deeds are forgiven this day. Return to the storm and know peace. Flow through the shrine so we might share your strength." (This specific quote is said during the Ritual of Release. The latter half of the quote might be standard, or the whole of it in general, but it is used specifically by Brother Pike for NPCs that were enslaving and hurting the citizens of Stormsong.)

Swears