Ask a Lore Nerd: So You Think You Can Dance, Naxxramas edition

Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart answers your questions about the lore and history of the World of Warcraft. Ask your questions in the comments section below, and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.

Today's Ask a Lore Nerd is best read while under the influence of obscene amounts of caffeine and sugar, and while listening to catchy J-Pop (or similar music). Tsuguru is preferred, though most anything the Yoshida Brothers have created is acceptable.

Bjara asked...

When you are in the DK starting area, you can have a funny little chat with Noth at the plague cauldron and you find out he really, really hates Heigan from Naxx. Do you know why? I'm still trying to find a way to work "slime and crap filled dance studio" into conversations on a daily basis.

Like the previous question, I don't think this has any seriousness to it at all. It's just something silly. Heigan is a fight that polarizes raiders a lot. You either love it because it's so bizzare or hate it for the same reason. His fight has been called "the Plague DDR" or "The Heigan Dance." You dance back and forth across his room throughout the fight, dodging ooze splashing up from the floor. It is, indeed, a slime and crap filled dance studio. I think this is a nod to players more than any real character significance.

Although, I guess Noth could have a chip on his shoulder since Heigan's dance earned him a higher rank in Naxxramas than Noth holds, considering their places in raid progression. Think about it. You're one of the most powerful necromancers in the world, but you just can't top the guy who holds freaking dance contests with his enemies. You're good, but you're not as good as the ballerina of death. Yeah, I can see why Noth might be a little touchy about Heigan.

Steve asked...

I've wanted to know- how exactly do you kill an Undead? Can they bleed to death? Do they have blood? Or do you have to kind of hack them apart until their pieces can't fight back? What can you tell me about the physiology of the Forsaken/Undead/Scourge?

This is one of those things where you kind of need to shrug and say, "It's fantasy" when it comes to Warcraft. If you really want to get down into it, I suppose you'd need to look at how they were raised. Were they raised by the plague? You probably just make their body stop working. Cut off their head or break the body enough that it just... stops. Magically raised? I guess you beat the magic out of them. Yes, that's right. Beat the magic out of them. Are they still moving? Beat them harder.

It's one of those "a wizard did it" moments. It works because they say it does, it stops working because they say it does. It's safe to say that if Warcraft really did go into detail about those things, each brand of undead would have a different way of handling things. They haven't gone into detail though, so the answer is either "a wizard did it" or "use your imagination." Alternatively: Log onto your Paladin and turn them to ash in the name of the Light. I don't care how you became undead, being turned to ash will seriously ruin your day.

Mortallis asked...

OK, so I want to know about my axe's previous owner, Prince Tenris Murkblood and his other, apparently "royal" brothers, like Prince Taldaram (who we beat like a drum yesterday in our first Ahn'kahet run). Who are the Darkfallen? They are obviously royalty, but from where?

The Darkfallen, also know as the San'layn, are High/Blood Elf royalty that decided to throw in with the Scourge. They likely weren't Princes as powerful as Kael'thas, but rather from other royal families throughout Quel'thalas. They likely abandoned Quel'Thalas with people like Dar'Khan Drathir, or around the same time period. They seem to be really high ranking Scourge and retain quite a lot of sentience, so it's safe to say they joined the Damned willingly rather than being raised later. They revel in their vampire-ness, so maybe they were a bit deviant before joining the Scourge? We don't have enough backstory on them to answer all of the questions that come with them, but Quel'Thalas royalty is one thing we do know for sure.

Olicon asked...

I remember those 5 creepy kids in Goldshire. Now that there are more undead lore going about, has any light been shed about those events? Did anyone even notice them acting strange while the necropolis was hovering around, or had they made any kind of reaction since the Lich King starts rearing his ugly head?

I think those kids are there just to make you go, "Um, WTF?" rather than having any actual importance to the story. Elwynn Forest has a few other weirdo things like that, such as the crazy cat lady walking around with a bloody cleaver. I think the devs just wanted to freak out people that pay attention to detail. I've also heard that those weirdo kids are named after the kids of people who work at Blizzard, so it's just something fun and not something of significance. Nothing new has happened with them since we first found them.

Ask a Lore Nerd is here to answer all of your questions about the lore and story of the Warcraft universe. From the religions of the universe to the 'evils' of Azeroth, 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.