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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsSpoilers: Wrath of the Lich King's peek into Druid lore
by Alex Ziebart 
Sep 29th 2008 at 12:30AM
Recently in both Ask a Beta Tester and Ask a Lore Nerd, Druids have been asking a lot about their class. Not class mechanics and things like that, but their quests, story, and background. Will the old quests go away? (They won't.) Will we see more of Druid lore in Wrath?Yes, yes we will. And there's video! If you don't want to be spoiled about upcoming Wrath of the Lich King quests and storylines, I would advise against reading the rest of this post and the video within. Like that cinematic-that-shall-not-be-named from last week, watching it could really spoil an awesome game moment, so consider that your final warning. Oh, and it's long, so free up some time for yourself.
Okay, so it's not an incredibly amazing cinematic like the last big video we posted, but it's still way cool if you geek out on stuff like this like I do. If you aren't quite sure what happened (since I am confident you couldn't read the quest text), I'll give you a rundown since I ran out and did this questline myself.
One of the Paladins of the Argent Crusade put his life on the line to rescue many, many others and pull them out of the line of fire. In the process, he became infected with the Plague. He quarantined himself off in an empty corner of Icecrown Glacier, but Tirion Fordring refuses to let him rot. Literally.
Tirion Fordring is not the type to give up on one of his men, so he sends you to talk to some of the most powerful benevolent beings in the world on his behalf. This video is only a fragment of that questline, so I won't spoil it all, but what you see above is the Emerald Dream, and its Nightmare taint. Remulos himself (you know, that guy in Moonglade) allows you to enter. Everyone is allowed to do this, by the way. Not just Druids. It's a pretty big deal for Druids though, the Dream is sort of important.
You don't spend a lot of time there, nor do you get to explore very far, but it's the first opportunity we've had to actually enter the Emerald Dream and see what's going on there. If you missed it: The Nightmare Figments are identical to you. They are actually supposed to represent your nightmares.
[ Video via Blizzplanet ]
Filed under: Druid, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Ametrine Sep 29th 2008 12:41PM
Well, it does say in lore that the Dream is the uncorrupted version of Azeroth, untouched by mortal hands - no Sundering, no cities, just a vast and blessed wilderness...
Grimgore Sep 29th 2008 2:22PM
I've always assumed that because Druids exist naturally in the Emerald Dream, that the Moonglade would be the same in both realms. It's the druids haven on our version of Azeroth, and it hasn't really been affected (that I know of) by any of the goings-on from the Burning Legion or Scourge or even the encroachment of other races. I picture the Moonglade being the same, and the 'slumbering' NE Druids using it as their main base while in the Dream, while the rest of the world remains untouched by mortal races. It's the closest thing Azerothians have to the ED on our plane. You speak with Eranikus and Malfurion while in the Moonglade, and I'm guessing Omen probably exists in the Dream as well but it able to manifest in the Moonglade. Also, the druid epic flight form questline has a part towards the end where you go down in one of the Barrow Dens in Moonglade and you can actually see the Emerald Nightmare seeping into our reality. It's total speculation on my part, but I really do think that the Moonglade exists in nearly the same form on both planes of existence. It would make sense for the Druids visiting the Dream to establish some sort of shelter while they are there, and what better place than the Moonglade?
Jack Spicer Sep 29th 2008 4:45AM
I feel really sorry for the female tauren in that illustration. I know that druids are shapeshifters and all, but geez, she must be using a combination of anorexia and extreme bone carving plastic surgery to achieve such a figure.
I guess the emergence of Blood Elves has really had a terrible and unexpected impact on how female taurens feel about their own body image.
Brucimus Sep 29th 2008 4:56AM
I'm not suprised on the look, the emerald dream is supposed to look the same, just untouched by people. Here's a quote from wow wiki
"One could say that Azeroth and the Emerald Dream are quasi-duplicates of each other — the Emerald Dream is Azeroth as seen through a magic lens, untouched by the hands of mortals. The Emerald Dream is the Azeroth that would not have been split by magic into the two landmasses of today — within it is the original greater landmass of Kalimdor, covered in the hazy emerald green forests of aeons past."
So in essence the Emerald Dream is just a phased version of azeroth.
kabshiel Sep 29th 2008 11:20AM
And yet the Night Elf architecture remains.
atree496 Sep 29th 2008 6:59AM
This is the Emerald Nightmare. Not the Emerald dream
Evi Sep 29th 2008 11:22AM
I haven't watched the video yet (I'm at work), but I hope it is indicative of more cut scenes and cinematic interludes in WotLK. I really think they add a lot of flavor and fun to quests.
Elzam Sep 29th 2008 12:43PM
It's a very short portion of the question; I'm talking that you can complete it without even fighting one mob. It all takes place in the Shrine of Remulos as well. One thing that you probably can't notice in the video is that the nightmare mobs are amorphous; they have no shape until they are engaged. When they are engaged they actually turn into a dark copy of yourself, minus any abilities.
Besides, this is really Paladin-lore. Back off Druids, you had an entire epic quest line in BC, this expansion belongs to the Paladins and the Death Knights. ^_^
hereticrick Sep 29th 2008 4:34PM
....is the video broken now or something? I didn't see squat of the Emerald Dream. Just some horde guy flying around Northrend talking to quest npc's ...and then the video ends...no Moonglade, no Nightmare, no Dream...
Zep Sep 29th 2008 6:42PM
The druid epic flight form quest leads you to the caves in moonglade which are also a part of the Emerald Dream, *breaking through* into the real world.