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by Alex Ziebart 
May 17th 2008 at 1:00PM
I'm a lore nerd. Plain and simple. Nerdy nerd nerd. Thus, my kryptonite is questions such as, "Who is Aran's son?" and "Why are Blood Elves in Mount Hyjal anyway?" These questions make me weep and wish Know Your Lore was more than just weekly.I've decided to draw a little inspiration from these questions instead of seethe with nerd rage. I ask you, WoW Insider readers, ask me your lore questions! I'll follow them up with nice and easy explanations tomorrow afternoon. If you have a more complicated, more involved questions, maybe I'll take it over to Know Your Lore.
I don't mind getting questions we've answered on the site before, it's pretty easy to miss posts that fall off of the front page, so ask pretty much any lore-related question you'd like, and I'll do my best to answer you! Not everything is as epic as Azjol-Nerub and Oshu'gun, so even small questions are just fine. Don't be afraid!
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Ask a Lore Nerd
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
4STR4STALeatherBelt May 17th 2008 3:28PM
"Why does Warlord Najentus say "You shall die in the name of Lady Vashj" when you KILLED her for the attunement? im guessing its in vengeance or something"
2 possible answers there. A/ As you say, it's a cry of vengeance. B/ He/Illidan don't know Vashj is dead yet. Certainly possible, you know they are like inside a sealed temple and we (the players) kill pretty much all of Illidan's lackeys pre-raiding. (IE: His messengers, bodyguards, etc)
"Who is considered higher ranked by Illidan? The crimson Sigil or the Illidari council?"
I've no source to give you a crystal clear answer, however I would say the Illidari Council. They seem, based on location and quotes, to answer only to Illidan. Quite possible the Sigil have some freedoms from the Council, such as Darth Vader had certain freedoms over 'Moffs' in the Galatic Empire of Star Wars.
"What was the deal with the captured Naga that started the SSC attunement quest? He was working for Neptulon, AFAIK? Was there a larger force at play beyond Vashj and the Cenarion druids?"
Based on what that Naga said, I gather as follows:
Vashj and her Naga have utterly sworn themselves to Illidan.
Therefore they've betrayed Lady Azshara and their gods. Now as you may or may not know: The naga were mutated from Highborne by the Old Gods.
Said gods have/had 4 elemental commanders, and Neptulon is one of them. (Also known as the most evil of the 4) It's possible Neptulon is the Naga's ruling god/demigod on behalf of the Old Gods still trapped deep within Azeroth.
4STR4STALeatherBelt May 17th 2008 3:33PM
"Where is Sargeras originally from?"
Can't leave that unanswered, being a huge fan of the Legion.
Sargeras was, long ago, the "Champion" of the Titans. He was the one tasked with guarding the Titans works. He alone battled the demons who saught to harm the works of the Titans. Eventually, he lost all belief in the Titans ideals of "Order". He formed the Burning Legion and set out to destroy everything. (In other words a "If nothing exists, then everything makes sense!" type of folks.)
Therfore in origion, he is a Titan, one of the strongest. I won't go into further detail because your question didn't ask for his full story, this is simply his origin.
4STR4STALeatherBelt May 17th 2008 3:35PM
"A quick summary about what happened to Ner'zhul would be lovely. Was his body and spirit ripped apart by Kil'jaeden? And, for that matter, who crafted the armor? Or the first Runeblade, as an aside?"
It's never revealed if Kil'jaeden or the Lich King created the armor inside the Frozen Throne. I would say Kil'jaeden personally, perhaps as part of his spell to hold Ner'zhul's will to the throne/lich king persona.
Frostmourne, I have read somewhere from a Blizzard source, was NOT created by either, and has deeper roots. I can only assume Kil'jaeden armed the Lich King with it to help him better with his task: Prepare Azeroth for the Legion's return.
Bakuryu May 17th 2008 3:41PM
Hmm... So, Frostmourne wasn't created by either? Interesting. And the armor speculation does make sense. Danke, much!
KLRMNKY May 17th 2008 11:27PM
After the events of WCII Ner'zhul left Draenor through the rifts and ended up in the tender mercies of the one guy he was running away from, Kil'jaeden. Ner'zhul was then torn apart piece by piece until he agreed to serve Kil'jaeden unconditionally and fulfing the Blood pact that they had earlier. Since he no longer had a body his spirit was encansed into a specially made armor, believed to be made by the Burning Legion, to hold his new powers. Once he was put into this armor, Ner'Zhul ceased to be and the Lich King was born.
According to Tichondrius it was the Lich King who created who created Frostmourne, however according to the RPG it was created by demons, AKA The Burning Legion, in order to hold the powers of the Lich King, which allowed the blade to steal people's souls and place them under the total control of the Lich King.
The Lich King was given powers over the undead specifically because Kil'jaden didn't want a repeat of what happened with the Orcs in WC II. He wanted a army that was single minded in it's purpose, didn't require sleep or food and would be utterly and completly loyal to the Burning Legion. Thus the Scourge was born. It would be up to the Lich King just how the Scourge would be implemented.
Freehugz May 17th 2008 3:39PM
gnomes. wtf?
name! May 17th 2008 3:53PM
What is Tirisfal?
What is Grim Batol?
What is south of Silverpine forest?
What is Uldum?
Killah May 17th 2008 4:17PM
1. Do you mean Tirisfal Glades? It's the area where Undercity is located.
2. Grim Batol is a fortress located in western Wetlands, guarded by the Red Dragonflight because they think there is some magical power in there. The Wildhammer dwarves created it, but the fortress was taken over by some orcs.
3. Guarded area, covered by Greymane Wall.
4. A fortress located in southern Tanaris, where it is believed that the Titans has their Discs stored.
Hideaki May 17th 2008 4:48PM
Tirisfal is the region of Lordaeron which was home to the capital city, now the Undercity. It is supposedly the place where the Highborne landed when they traveled across the sea in exile. The Council of Tirisfal, a secret group of mages who selected the Guardian of Tirisfal to combat the Burning Legion, would meet here. There is also rumor that there is an Old God trapped beneath it.
Grim Batol was originally founded by the Wildhammer dwarves. At the end of the War of Three Hammers, the Dark Iron Dwarves attacked both Ironforge and Grim Batol. Even though they were defeated, the magic of the Dark Irons' sorceress Modgud left an evil taint, forcing the Wildhammers to find a new home in Aerie Peak. The Old Horde took control of the fortress during the Second War. After capturing the Red Dragon Aspect Alexstrasza, the orcs held her captive here and forced her to breed. Grim Batol would be the final military bastion of the orcs after the end the Second War. The book Day of the Dragon recounts the rescue of Alexstrasza. Now Grim Batol is guarded by the Red Dragonflight.
South of Silverpine Forest is the human kingdom of Gilneas. They were part of the Alliance of Lordaeron during the Second War, but withdrew from the Alliance shortly after from the bitterness between the human kingdoms. During the Third War, they locked themselves away from the world to defend themselves from the Scourge. Their fate is currently unknown, but some believe they were turned into worgen.
Uldum is an ancient Earthen city, much like Uldaman and the coming Ulduar. Not much is known about it, except for its potential of holding more secrets of the history of the Dwarves. Like Grim Batol, it is intended to be a future instance or part of a future event, but it has yet to be formally announced.
Mikel May 17th 2008 3:58PM
Alright, Who is The Lion of Azeroth?
Awlbiste May 17th 2008 4:20PM
Lothar.
Mikel May 17th 2008 4:22PM
Yeah, Anduin Lothar, The Lion of Azeroth.
Eternalpayn May 17th 2008 4:40PM
Where's Mankrik's Wife?
Zach Carson May 17th 2008 4:57PM
if the botanica is a zoo, mech is a factory of some sort, and arc is a prison, what did the exodar used to be? it doesnt seem to have a useful part of Tempest Keep
CvijaFaQ May 17th 2008 5:19PM
I'd say the Exodar would be a housing area and a training center by the look of things.
SKuling May 17th 2008 5:49PM
As far as I know the Exodar was a Information storage thingy. I belive thats the offical story,
Tyler May 17th 2008 5:57PM
If the Ashbringer is really the light's answer to the Frostmourne. Then why isn't anyone trying to use it, or destroy it? Is it because that Tirion Fordring has it? If he does, in WotLK then, he needs our help to weaken the Lich King and let him use it?
SKuling May 17th 2008 6:25PM
The Ashbringer, as far as we know was Corrupted by Kel'thuzad and been made pretty useless. So what you need to do is to take the corrupted sowrd and reforge it into a new Ashbringer. But onnlt Morains son can do this, and hes lost somewhere in outland. The testing in Wotlk Hinted that trigon would have it, since he was wielding it there, but that might change or just been blizzards way of messing with us :P
Cetha May 17th 2008 6:30PM
running around hinterlands the other day lvling up my mining, i saw a bit of unexplored map that I couldn't get to in the NE Corner on the other side of the mountains from Seradane. In the Wowhead map http://www.wowhead.com/?zone=47 it is also blank...is something important and hidden supposed to be there?
CvijaFaQ May 17th 2008 6:57PM
I tried to explore that place once, but you it's inaccessible. The shore is surrounded by mountains, so it was the most boring swim I ever had and only while I was swimming back I remembered I was on my shaman.