Ask a Lore Nerd: The Evil-o-Meter
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 15th 2008 at 8:00PM
Travis asks...
What can you tell me about the other portals around Outlands (the only one that springs to mind right now is the one in Zangarmarsh)? They look just like the one you get to Outlands through, but are just standing there doing nothing.
Answer: Those portals were once used by the Burning Legion and their lackies to travel between Outland and various other worlds. Those portals were also used to send Legion reinforcements to Outland. Before Illidan and his posse usurped Magtheridon, they went around shutting down these portals to prevent Magtheridon from being reinforced. Further, they've been kept closed so Kil'jaeden can't come stomping back into Outland to punish Illidan for not being able to kill the Lich King.
skoll asks...
Answer: For one, the Orcs are not as happy-shiny as they like to think they are. I mostly refer to the Warsong Clan, who continue to chop down and destroy one of the last bastions of Night Elven culture and society: Ashenvale. The Warsong Clan isn't even using the lumber they cut down in Ashenvale. They're essentially just clearcutting the area, which is an absolutely massive taboo for the Night Elves. For two, Undead are also an abomination to the Night Elves. They're a big F U to Night Elven culture and beliefs, what with trying to destroy all living things, and being unnatural creatures themselves.
Despite the pretty large differences between the Night Elves and other Alliance races, the Alliance generally doesn't destroy nature just for the sake of destroying nature. The gnomes might, but the Dwarves and Humans usually just take what they need and leave it at that. The Dwarves also have a very natural side, with being attuned to the earth and having a plethora of hunters in their ranks. The Alliance not being unnatural abominations really helps their case, too.
When you need to pick an ally, you usually pick the one that pisses you off the least.
Sephie asks the following...
Q: Is there any chance Naga could become a playable or even allyable race? (I guess with Murlocs becoming allyable anything is possible.) Mostly I just want to know more about the Naga and why they are so cranky? Would they be horde or alliance?
A: I guess technically it's possible for there to be friendly, playable Naga, though it would not make sense in the current known storyline. Chris Metzen has made it pretty clear that he's wiling to make changes to the story if it improves things, so one day that could happen.
However, the current story pretty much axes a large faction of friendly Naga. The Naga are Highborne mutated by Neptulon and the Old Gods, and they serve under Queen Azshara. Night Elves basically see them as the same as demons, and pretty much everyone they serve is pretty high on the Evil-o-meter. Azshara caused the Sundering that split the world in two, and the Old Gods are jerks in every sense of the word.
The Alliance would likely never accept Naga unless there was a massive change to their backstory. The Night Elves hate them with extreme prejudice. The Horde might take them, but that's also pretty unlikely. Kael'thas was willing to work with Lady Vashj out of necessity, but I doubt all of the Blood Elves in Silvermoon would be as open to the idea.
Q: Up in Hinterlands there is a bunch of elves that are alliance friendly. Did they used to have the nelf model and now have the belf model? Are they high elves? Why are they friendly to Alliance?
A: They used to use the old, hideous High Elf models. Ugly. Ugly ugly ugly. You're right that they're High Elves, and they're friendly to the Alliance because the High Elves have almost always been friendly to the Alliance. Not all High Elves became Blood Elves, and only the Blood Elves have beef with the Alliance. The Blood Elves largely blame the Alliance for the destruction of Quel'Thalas, their homeland, but the High Elves have remained loyal.
Ruva asks...
Why is there an instance portal deep within Dark Whisper Gorge?
Answer: That was likely originally intended to be the entrance to Mount Hyjal, had it not become a Caverns of Time instance instead. It's possible we'll still get a current day Hyjal instance in the future, but for now it's blocked off.
Reese asks...
Who is technically the biggest and most important villain in all of Warcraft history (like, the reason for all the chaos), and what are Illidan's and Arthas' relationship to him? Also, what is the deal with the Lich King, where did he come from, what does he have to do with the story, who was the original, and how did Arthas become him?
A: Sargeras is the biggest baddy that we know by name, but even his origins point at something more evil, something a notch higher on the Evil-o-Meter. To make it easy on both you and me, we'll stick with him to answer this question.
Sargeras is a former champion of the Titans, and he snapped and lost it after dealing with the evil-as-crap Old Gods for so long. He's the founder of the Burning Legion more or less, and is on a mission to purge all of existence. He met Illidan on his first visit to Azeroth, when Queen Azshara summoned him through the Well of Eternity. He gouged Illidan's eyes out during Illibeans' first steps down the road to being a power-hungry egomaniac, and his 'rise' to Demon Hunter status.
The Lich King was once an Orc Shaman named Ner'zhul. The Legion took Ner'zhul and twisted him into the Lich King, to use him as a tool to weaken Azeroth for an invasion. He did not like being used as a tool by the Legion, so he called out to Arthas. You see, The Lich King didn't have a physical form of his own. He was a spirit tied to a suit of armor. Arthas would be his vessel, and through Arthas he would tell the Legion to GTFO and become a supervillain on his own.
Syme asks...
Where is Snowsong?
Answer: I assume you refer to Thrall's wolf, but I may be wrong there. If so, she's probably the wolf that Thrall rides in Nagrand, but there is no specific mention of her in WoW.
That's about all the time we have this week, ladies and gents. If I didn't get to your question this week, never fear! Ask a Lore Nerd will be back next week Sunday, answering as many of your questions as possible. Remember, don't be afraid to ask us your questions, no matter how large or small. Post them in the Comments field below, and I'll get to them as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!
Ask a Lore Nerd is here to answer all of your questions about the lore and story of the Warcraft universe. From the backgrounds of raid bosses to the lifespan of your favorite race, everything is fair game. If you want more in-depth answers to some of your questions, you may find what you're looking for in Know Your Lore or the WoW Insider Directory.Filed under: Horde, Alliance, Night Elves, Analysis / Opinion, The Burning Crusade, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King, Ask a Lore Nerd
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
microx Jun 16th 2008 5:37PM
I have a question
What's inside Uldum? Wowwiki doesn't say much about it other than it could be an instance for later, but it doesn't seem to do much.
magicswordking Jun 17th 2008 1:13AM
Uldum is the third Titan "fortress" as it were. If you complete Uldaman, you receive the discs of Norgannon, and a quest to go to the gates of Uldum. The discs are a key, so to speak, but they are incomplete. Uldum is likely a Titan research facility and base of operations that they used during the Ordering of the world.
Ulduar, the second of the three Titan fortresses has been confirmed as a dungeon in Northrend. My guess is that Uldum will be implemented sometime during Wrath's life-cycle, or the next expansion, with Ulduar providing the missing elements of the Discs of Norgannon.
SKuling Jun 15th 2008 8:25PM
Sargeras is a former champion of the Titans, and he snapped and lost it after dealing with the evil-as-crap Old Gods for so long.
Correction, he did not snap after dealing with the Old gods, he snapped on a mission to purge the early demons. The Ederar and Dreadlords (now only the dreadlord). After he locked them away he was all like "Exsisting sucks" then freed them again, and created the burning legion.
Alex Ziebart Jun 15th 2008 8:34PM
Actually, the official site says Sargeras was already going down that path when he met the Nathrezim. That was just the point where he said 'screw it.'
Atros Jun 15th 2008 9:29PM
Hrmm... actually, wasn't Sargeras the one who presented Kil'Jaeden, Archimonde with their path, which Velen saw through and split apart from the rest of the Eredar to become the Draenei?
Fauche Jun 15th 2008 10:32PM
However, Sargeras never really met the Old Gods...or at least the ones from Azeroth.. >_>
It's explained that DURING Sargeras' rampage through space, the Titants discovered Azeroth and the Old Gods and dealt with them.
This would mean that if something evil did turn Sargeras, it would have to be akin, if not stronger, than the Old Gods of Azeroth. My guess is that there's, like the Titans, a pantheon of Old Gods, who themselves travel through space to bring CHAOS to all. Chances are the Titans and Old Gods just happened to meet on Azeroth as the Old Gods were working on the planet, causing a ruckus.
Mind you this is all speculation, that I just came up with, but it would make sense, and be pretty cool. A group of Anti-Titans.
Three Godly factions: One to bring destruction, one to bring chaos, and one to bring order. Seems pretty epic.
Medros Jun 16th 2008 2:53AM
I agree here, Sargeras never met the Old Gods, he only came to know of Azeroth when Azshara started messing with portals and the well.
magicswordking Jun 17th 2008 1:59AM
Welcome to the world of Retcon. In the original lore, Sargeras was corrupted by the Eredar, who were always demons. In creating the Draenei, the good Eredar, they had to change this, so Sargeras was corrupted by the Nathrezim and then sought out and corrupted the Eredar to be his champions.
Also, it is interesting to note that Sargeras was not originially intended to be the big-bad, that was always Kil'jaeden's spot. However, through a series of retcons, Sargeras ended up becoming the big bad, founder of the legion, and all.
thethirdmoose Jun 15th 2008 8:29PM
Why are the horde and alliance even fighting with each other? What is the root of the conflict?
SKuling Jun 15th 2008 8:36PM
The First War? The Totally uncalled for orc invasion. Witch actually wasent the orcs fault, it was the demons, but thanks to grom we no longer have to worry about that. And the alliance havent forgiven the horde for that. Then theres a bounch of other stuff like fight over land, trees, opinions and... stables? Also its been discovered that both the balck dragon flight and he lich king is fueling the conflict. So theres a lot of stuff, but when it comes down to it, its mostly the hate between orcs and humans. (cuz humans used orcs as slaves and gladiators, witch was not nice at all)
Jason Jun 15th 2008 9:00PM
@ SKuling
Imprisoning enemy Orc armies in camps instead of extermination like the Orcs were sent to do/were doing, I consider it very merciful. Besides the random individual's abusement inside a camp (Blackmoore) it's peaceful.
Reddeth Jun 15th 2008 11:38PM
@6 - Because they keep stealing our ore nodes while we're fighting off a mob!
Oneiroi Jun 16th 2008 10:25AM
Humans are mad because orcs came to destroy them. Orcs are bitter because they were slaves to humans. Night Elves are fighting for their forests. Undead are trying to kill everything, but since they're allied with Horde that leaves Alliance and the Scourge.
Blood Elves hate the Alliance for allowing Quel'thalas to be destroyed. Draenei is mad because blood elves took tempest keep, and consider orcs evil.
And then the races have other races who are helping them out due to alliances (dwarves, tauren, gnomes, trolls), who may not have a specific animosity. And everyone is still angry about past wars.
Thus Horde and Alliance fight, even if they're supposedly at a "peace" right now.
magicswordking Jun 17th 2008 2:07AM
The Horde and Alliance are currently in a state of cold war. They aren't allies, but they aren't explicitly enemies, save for a few distinct factions in a few distinct areas of conflict, the battlegrounds. However, both the Horde and Alliance know that neither one power has the strength to stand alone against the Scourge or the Legion, so they end up forming alliances against major threats, as they have during the Ahn'Qiraj war and during the Burning Crusade's storyline.
Part of Arthas' plan in Wrath, it would seem, is going to be to pit the Alliance and Horde against each other in a far more active fashion, so as to deprecate their efforts against him. He's always been the smartest and most cunning of the villains. Combined, the actions of Arthas and Ner'zhul have led to the defeat of the Burning Legion in the third war (by leading Illidan to the Skull of Gul'dan, and depriving Archimonde of his reinforcements at the Battle of Mt Hyjal), the fall of Illidan (See above, plus defeating him in single combat in Northrend and putting him on the outs with the Legion), the fall of Lordaeron (Killed daddy personally), he even out-decieved the Deciever himself (ruined all his plans, killed all his lackeys directly or indirectly, eventually forcing Kil'Jaeden to appear in Azeroth, only to be predictably defeated).
AK Jun 15th 2008 8:37PM
I too have a question: What new bosses will we see in Wrath of the Lich King either when the expansion is first released or through patches that will soon follow and what do they have to do with everything?
-Kunai
magicswordking Jun 17th 2008 2:13AM
There are a number of things I can't guess, but we do know that Kel'Thuzad will be back, as Father Inigo Montoy did not destroy his Phylactery. Sapphiron, as well, the Alpha-Frost-Wyrm, both in Naxxramas 2, and I suspect Kel'Thuzad will have an appearance in the Arthas fight.
Anub'arak, the guardian of the Lich King, an undead Nerubian Crypt Lord, formerly the King of the Nerubian empire is sure to make an appearance as well.
We know Malygos will be a boss encounter. Also, I'd expect a show-down with the dreadlord Mal'Ganis in the Caverns of Time, along with the Infinite Dragonflight in some capacity.
I fully expect to see some boss related to the Black Dragonflight in the expansion, as well, if only to further that storyline. Also, one of the Old Gods is confirmed to be a boss in Azjol-Nerub.
SKuling Jun 15th 2008 8:38PM
Really.. huh, dident know that
Well, "The more you know" ^^
SKuling Jun 15th 2008 8:40PM
was suppose to be a reply to alexs reply to me
Ignore these two comments!
Glorim Jun 15th 2008 8:43PM
Another Portal would be in the far west of Nagrand, as well as in Blade's Edge Mountains
(http://www.wowwiki.com/Dimensional_gateway)
ILikePvPbuthatePvPers Jun 15th 2008 8:40PM
I'm sorry but you are wrong. The Warsong Clan isn't cutting down those trees just for the sake of destroying it! They ARE using it to build things. The Taurens, and the Earthen Ring, and the Shamans not part of the Ring would object to needless destruction of nature. They don't cut those trees just to destroy it. THEY NEED THOSE LUMBERS.
You also have to remember that the Silverwing vs. Warsong thing isn't officially sanctioned by their respective governments, with the leaders trying to keep all-out war from breaking out. That's why both groups recruit adventurers to fight for them.