Posts with tag knowyourlore

I've talked to Alliance players, read WoW comics, surfed the forums, and seen raids on Darnassus, and one thing is clear: Pretty much everyone hates Fandral Staghelm. He's rude, snotty, argumentative and dismissive. In other words, perfect for a Know Your Lore feature! I'm sick of the generic faction leaders that have no flaws whatsoever, like the saintly Uther or the noble Thrall. It's like all the Warcraft politicians are Lincolns -- we need an occasional Nixon in there to spice things up.

So here's the guy you love to hate, the guy that Alliance encourages Horde to kill, the guy that greets you by making fun of his co-leader -- Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm!

Who: Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm.

What: Night elf druid.

History: Fandral Staghelm is 9,000 years old, which oddly enough makes him one of the younger night elf lore figures. He was born after the War of the Ancients, so he's significantly younger than Malfurion, Illidan and Tyrande, and didn't have to witness the terrors of the first Burning Legion invasion. Nevertheless, when Malfurion called for a new generation of night elves to learn the ways of the druids, Staghelm answered and rose to become one of Malfurion's top students. But he was more impetuous and easy to anger than the night elf leader, and they often quarreled. Luckily, Malfurion chose not to solve this disagreement in the manner to which he was accustomed. ("Hey! Let's blow up the world again!") The druids slept through the millenia, guarding the Emerald Dream and occasionally waking to help the night elves and possibly spend time with their angry, angry wives.

Most classes in WoW have some sort of lore hero that signifies everything that is good about their class. Druids follow Malfurion Stormrage, mages can look up to Jaina Proudmoore, and even the brutish warriors have Grom Hellscream and his axe. But what of the poor, misunderstood rogues? Where is their WoW hero? Dead? In hiding? Waiting for a raid invite? Stealthed somewhere and AFK?

The truth behind Azeroth's most famous rogue may be stranger than you can imagine. So quickly, before she kills you, meet ...

Who: Garona Halforcen.

What: Half-orc, half-something. We'll get into this more later.

History: Garona came of age before the First War, when the Burning Legion was beginning to form the orcs into an army to attack Azeroth. As a young woman, Garona traveled throughout Draenor and learned much about the local culture. The warlocks of the Burning Legion-controlled Shadow Council realized that they could have a use for an intelligent, well-versed orc, and they inducted her into the Stormreaver Clan. She quickly rose through the ranks to become a prominent member of the Shadow Council and the personal spy of its leader, Gul'dan.

Rexxar's a bit of an oddity in WoW. Prior to the Burning Crusade, he and his bear Misha wandered through Desolace and Feralas, with nothing to identify him but the title "Champion of the Horde" and no way to pass his time but to help Horde players with their Onyxia keys. As a player new to the Warcraft universe, I always wondered who he was and why he was a hero to the Horde. It was only later that I found out about his past, his true race, and his connections to the rest of the Horde. Oh, and so Big Red Kitty doesn't yell at us, we'll cover Misha and his other "pets" too. Ready? Let's go.

Who: Rexxar, Last Son of the Mok'Nathal, Champion of the Horde.

What: A Mok'Nathal, which is a tribe of half-orc, half-ogre humanoids.

History: Officially, Rexxar was "born of a union of orc and ogre" -- but since we get to meet his dad and his dad is also a Mok'Nathal, he's probably the son of two half-ogre parents. He grew up in a Mok'Nathal village in Blade's Edge Mountains. He was a happy child with a peaceful life, but as he grew older, he realized that there was no future for him in Draenor. So when the local orcs came calling with their plan to go through a portal and invade a new world called Azeroth, he joined up with the Old Horde against his father's wishes.

But after going through the Dark Portal and seeing the activities of the Old Horde in the First War, he decided that he would be better off on his own. He took off and wandered through the wilderness and communed with nature, kind of like a hippie but with less weed and bad jam band music. He made friends with several animals while he roamed, most notably Misha, an enchanted bear who he became fiercely attached to. But the wilderness of Azeroth was still too close to civilization, and he could not escape the fighting between the Alliance and the Horde. Misha and Rexxar set sail for Kalimdor, where they roamed the Barrens for fifteen levels until they were finally able to finish their quests and go to Thousand Needles.

For today's Know Your Lore, we have the tale of a spoiled rich blonde girl with special powers who saved the world, despite her propensity for dating guys that suddenly go evil and decide to destroy the world/another world/all life on the planet. Yes, we'll be discussing Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Okay, fine, it's about Jaina Proudmoore. But we're going to do Buffy later.

Who: Jaina Proudmoore.

What: Human sorceress.

History: Jaina was born in the kingdom of Kul Tiras, a seafaring kingdom that has mysteriously disappeared from Azeroth in WOW. Her father was Admiral Daelin Proudmoore, the ruler of the land. When Jaina was young, she discovered that she had talent in the magical arts and was sent off to the mage kingdom of Dalaran, where she badgered her way into becoming an apprentice of the sorcerer Antonidas. During her studies, she met and became friends with another privileged blond, Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider, who was then serving the Kirin Tor wizardry. Kael'thas developed a bit of a crush on Jaina, but postponed acting on his feelings because she was a teenager and he was a few hundred years old. That actually doesn't make a lot of sense. Was he planning on waiting until she was a few hundred years old too?

Anyway, by the time Kael'thas finally got the nerve to ask her out, Jaina had her eye on another prince -- Arthas Menethil, the heir to the throne of Kul Tiras's longtime ally, Lordaeron. The two met and began a relationship. But according to the lore, Arthas's duties in Lordaeron as a prince and a member of the Silver Hand and Jaina's commitment to Dalaran caused them to end their relationship and be "just good friends." And just like on Earth, their post-breakup "good friendship" was doomed to disaster.

If you ran the Azeroth orphanage quests Hordeside this past week, your orphan probably asked you for the autograph of "one of the greatest heroes the Horde has ever seen." But it's not Rexxar, Thrall or even the shifty Sylvanas. No, he wants to see the quiet, unassuming, elderly leader of the tauren -- Cairne Bloodhoof. And when we polled the members of It Came From The Blog last night, that's who they wanted to see in today's KYL. So, straight from the home office in Thunder Bluff, here's Cairne!

Who: Cairne Bloodhoof, Tauren Grand Chief of the Confederated Tribes of the Tauren.

What: Tauren, as you may have guessed.

History: Not much is known about Cairne's early life. When he comes into the story of Warcraft, he was a fully grown tauren chieftain, leading the Bloodhoof Tribe by the shores of the Great Sea in the Barrens (kind of near Ratchet.) The Bloodhoofs had once been a happy, peaceful tribe, but lately they had been facing attacks from the local centaur. Plus, the centaur had been hunting the same animals the tauren had, leading to fierce competition for food. Cairne came up with a plan to relocate his tribe to Mulgore, but he knew the centaur would wipe them out as they crossed the Barrens. So they were kind of stuck.

Then one day, Cairne noticed some weird, green-skinned creatures fighting off a band of centaurs. Intrigued, he took two other tauren and approached the leader of the "greenskins." He told the new creature that they fought with savagery and valor. The greenskin told Cairne that he was Thrall, and his people were called the orcs. Thrall said that the orcs had come to Kalimdor to seek their destiny. Cairne told him that there was an oracle in the north that might help him, and Thrall casually noted that he'd noticed a big centaur army heading that way. Cairne wisely freaked out at this, and the two heroes formed up an army and headed off to fight the man-horses.

The Burning Legion are probably the villains that we fight the most in WoW. Sure, the Scourge put up a good battle in a few instances, and the spawn of the Black Dragonflight dominated the level 60 raids, but the Burning Legion has really come into its own in the (duh) Burning Crusade. From Hellfire Peninsula to Shadowmoon Valley, we're constantly fighting demons. But who's leading the Crusade? We never see any of their higher-ups, unless you count Balnazzar (the secret mastermind behind the Scarlet Crusade) and Kazzak, who doesn't really do much but sit on his new throne and yell.

With that in mind, allow me to introduce the current Lord of the Burning Legion and a hell of a guy, Kil'jaeden!

Who: Kil'jaeden the Deceiver, acting Supreme Commander and Lord of the Burning Legion, former Special Operations and Recruitment Manager for the Burning Legion. Much like evil organizations everywhere, the Burning Legion has tons of bureaucratic titles.

Kalimdor, the ancestral home of the Night Elves and the current home of the New Horde, is at once both the oldest and newest part of Azeroth. Ten thousand years ago, the remnants of Night Elven society swam there from their sundered city to build a new world for themselves. And only five years past, Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore heeded the summon of the prophet Medivh to come to Kalimdor. Today, Kalimdor stretches from the forbidding slopes of Mt. Hyjal to the creepy bug caves of Silithus. And, as always, the land tells many stories ...

Sometimes you don't have to slay a dragon, topple a kingdom or save the world to be famous in Azeroth. Sometimes you can just be a total bastard. So today we're featuring Teron Gorefiend -- Death Knight, deceptive questgiver, Black Temple boss and all-around badass.

Who: Teron Gorefiend.

What: Formerly an orc warlock, now an orc warlock's spirit in the body of an undead human knight, aka a Death Knight.

History: Teron Gorefiend was a member of the Shadowmoon Clan of orcs, based in Shadowmoon Valley. Along with his clan's leader, Ner'Zhul, he turned from the shamanistic legacy of the orcs into the dark teachings of the warlocks. Eventually, Ner'Zhul broke a pact he had made with the Burning Legion demon lord Kil'Jaeden and went on to a bright future as the Lich King. His apprentice, Gul'Dan, took up where he had left off and organized the orc clans into a single entity with a council of powerful warlocks supporting it, known as the Shadow Council. Gorefiend joined up with the Council.

During the first war against the Alliance, Gorefiend and the Shadow Council manipulated events from behind the scenes, including the assassination of King Llane Wrynn. But Gul'Dan overreached when he tried to gain secrets from the mind of Medivh, ending up trapped in a coma when Medivh died. Orgrim Doomhammer, chief of the Blackrock Clan, figured that it was time for a coup. Doomhammer killed the Shadow Council's puppet warchief and slaughtered as many Shadow Council warlocks as he could -- including Gorefiend.

In a video game, Easter eggs are hidden features or areas that are meant to please the game's serious players. So it's only appropriate that on Easter we explore the biggest Easter egg in WoW.

The point of the Caverns of Time: Durnholde instance is to go into Durnholde Keep, free Thrall, and fight off some dragons. You can get some pretty nice mid-60s items there. But for those of a more explorative mindset, the real gem of this instance is Old Southshore. If you wander off the beaten path, you'll discover the Alliance stronghold hasn't changed too much in seven years ... and you may just meet some familiar faces.

Read onward for a guide to the Easter eggs of Old Southshore.

The second fellow in this week's Know Your Lore is one of the most influential figures in the Burning Crusade expansion. An entire zone, Netherstorm, is twisted around his plans and his personality. The blood elves practically worship him as a god and the draenei see him as their most bitter foe. And yet, no one knows quite what he's up to in his suspiciously pink floating ship. So quick, before someone kills him, meet ...

Who: Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider.

What: Blood elf. Yes! Finally! Someone who has stayed one race without being turned into a fish/corrupted by demons/etc.!

History: Kael'thas Sunstrider is the last of a dynasty of high elf kings that date back to Dath'Remar Sunstrider, the old leader of the Highborne. As a young man, he studied magic in Dalaran and became an accomplished mage. While in Dalaran, he met a human mage named Jaina Proudmoore and fell for her, even though she was a teenager and he was an ... immortal-type guy, so probably pretty old. But she decided that her studies were more important, and didn't respond when he courted her. Then Jaina started seeing Prince Arthas, and Kael'thas was devastated. Wow, Jaina kind of got around. I guess that's what comes from being one of the few female characters in an RPG. She's single now, though, unless you believe those rumors about her and Thrall.

Anyway, Kael was studying in Dalaran when Arthas went nutzo. Arthas marched his army of undead into Quel'Thalas and defiled the Sunwell, killing many blood elves and sickening more. Kael's father was among the dead. He hastened back to Quel'Thalas from Dalaran and took command of the remaining high elves. The bitter Kael renamed them the Sin'dorei, or blood elves, in honor of the dead. He and his troops joined the Alliance to fight against the Scourge.

This is the first in a Know Your Lore twofer this week, since we missed it last week. We also have to get these two lore figures down quickly, before someone kills them and makes us all look like fools. FOOLS I TELL YOU! Anyway, first up is a slimy, wily maiden with a deep sense of loyalty and devotion to anyone who commands her.

Who: Lady Vashj.

What: Formerly a Night Elf, now a Naga.

History: Vashj was born over 10,000 years ago in the city of Zin-Ashari at the height of the Night Elves' power on Azeroth. She was of the Quel'Dorei, or the Highborne caste of Night Elves, who would eventually become the High Elves and then the Blood Elves ... I think. It's kind of confusing. As a Highborne, she quickly rose through the ranks of public service and became a handmaiden of Queen Azshara. Unfortunately for Vashj, Azshara liked the High Priestess of Elune -- Tyrande Whisperwind, future ruler of Darnassus and love object of Illidan and Malfurion Stormrage -- better than her, and offered to make Tyrande her majordomo. (No, not the guy with the adds in Molten Core. Read!)

Azeroth is a beautiful world. From the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale to the bucolic fields of Westfall, from the deserts of Tanaris to the icy peaks of Winterspring, Azeroth is jam-packed with stunning scenery and, just as important, a deep sense of history. But sometimes it's hard to connect the Azeroth of WoW with that of the previous Warcraft lore. Where did Zin'Ashari sink into the sea? Where did Arthas kill his father? Where did Thrall and Grom Hellscream defeat Mannoroth?

That's why Know Your Lore is presenting a special guide to the geography and history of Azeroth. Zone by zone, we'll go through important historical events and landmarks for both the Horde and Alliance. Today we're doing the Eastern Kingdoms, the center of human civilization on Azeroth. Ready? Okay!

Arthas Menethil is a relatively new addition to the Warcraft Series -- he only appeared in Warcraft III and its expansion. Nevertheless, Arthas's impact on Azeroth is so profound that he remains one of the biggest names in WoW, even though he's never appeared in the game itself ... yet.

Who: Prince Arthas Menethil, Crown Prince of Lordaeron, Knight of the Silver Hand, and Lich King.

What: Human at first, kinda undead later.

The second installment in the Know Your Lore series features the last guardian of Tirisfal, Medivh. Medivh isn't found hanging out around World of Warcraft like Illidan is, but his life and actions reverberate throughout the game, from the his tower of Karazhan to the Dark Portal itself.

Who: Magna Medivh, the last guardian of Tirisfal.

What: Medivh is a human by birth, but since he was possessed by Sargeras while still in the womb, he could probably be considered some kind of hybrid.

History: Medivh's mother was Aegwynn, the previous guardian of Tirisfal. Aegwynn had been granted powers by the Council of Tirisfal to fight the Burning Legion on Azeroth. Against the Council's wishes, Aegwynn decided to have a child with the court conjurer of the nation of Azeroth, and named him Medivh. She passed on her powers to her young son, and set it that they would awaken when he reached maturity. Unfortunately, the titan Sargeras had planted his essence (ew) in Aegwynn in a previous battle, and he possessed young Medivh before his birth. This all occured 70 years prior to World of Warcraft.

It has come to our attention that there are quite a few people out there who don't know anything about the Warcraft universe. Considering that the Burning Crusade expansion is chock-full of major lore characters, this is somewhat disturbing. While it's definitely not necessary to play the previous Warcraft games to enjoy WoW, this is an online roleplaying game set in a particular universe, and understanding a little bit of the history behind the game can make your time in Azeroth more enjoyable. Sure, it's not exactly The Wheel Of Time in complexity, but there's some cool stuff going on in the world that you can only "get" if you know who's who.

With that in mind, the new Know Your Lore feature will present quick and dirty biographies of some of the most famous names in Azeroth. Our inaugural article showcases someone you've definitely heard of, and will be hearing much more from in the near future -- Illidan Stormrage, the ultimate boss of the Burning Crusade expansion.