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Know Your Lore: Stormrage and the Emerald Nightmare, part 2
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The events of the novel Stormrage may not have happened in game, but they still have an effect on upcoming events. While the book was released much earlier this year, the events in the book hadn't really played out until now; they occur sometime after the defeat of the Lich King yet before Deathwing shatters the world in Cataclysm. Unfortunately, we will not directly see the events presented in Stormrage occur in World of Warcraft. Despite the lack of events regarding the resolution to the Emerald Nightmare storyline in game, things have been resolved -- to a point. On top of all of this, not only does the novel The Shattering by Christie Golden make several references to Stormrage, but certain events we see in the upcoming expansion also reference key elements to the novel. Yesterday, we began to delve into what exactly happened between Malfurion's time in the Emerald Dream and present day; read on for the conclusion of the story and its effects on the Azeroth the characters we play know and love. Please note: The following post is all about Stormrage and contains spoilers for the majority of the novel as well as the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. If you're planning on picking up the book, turn away now, lest ye be spoiled for eternity!
Breakfast Topic: Your character's quest
I like quests. I like reading quests. Sure, every now and again it's a straightforward "Please go kill x animals for y body parts and I will give you z gold," but sometimes the stories involved with the quests or the quest NPCs themselves are tremendously entertaining. Take Ragged John, for example -- while the little weirdo no longer gets to tell his epic tale, listening to his story while working on the Onyxia chain was a ... rare treat. Or one of my personal favorites, Jenal over in Darnassus. There's not much to Jenal, but the tiny bit of character interaction when you speak with him always left me wondering what exactly Jenal's full story was. As for the Horde, I always loved Valormok out in Azshara and the story of the little band of Horde that had been sent out there, especially Jediga and her little, uh, side business of stealing artifacts for people. I have to admit while I'm looking forward to seeing the "new" Azshara come Cataclysm, there's part of me that is going to miss the little wayward band. One of the other things I like are the realm forums. Sure, there's an unending supply of depressing drama and whining. But sometimes you end up with a little chunk of gold in the middle of it all, and those gold moments make it worth trawling -- well, to me, anyway. The gold for the day today is from Nozz over on US Sisters of Elune, who brought up an old topic from way back that ties my love for quests together nicely with my love for playing the game in general: If your character were a quest giver, what would his/her quest be? The thread already has some interesting answers, but I'd love to see some answers from you guys. Would it be a straightforward "Kill 20 zhevras and pray they have hooves?" A simple request to listen to a story? A long chain sending players all over the world? Or a simple "I'm hungry; go get me some bread"? What would you give as a reward, if anything? Have at it, readers!
[1.Local]: What's all that morrowgrain for, anyway?
Reader comments -- ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week. You know, Archdruid Fandouche Toolhelm Fandral Staghelm sure does ask for a lot of Morrowgrain ... So what's up with that? Shade: He constructed a World Tree without the blessing of the dragon flights, causing a tree that is warped and corrupted enough that it's being invaded by harpies, grell and grelkin, and corrupting the furbolgs that are supposed to be living happily on it. A tree that invites the invasion of satyr -- and the satyr are referenced in the War of the Ancients trilogy as being products of Sargeras, warping some dude with a god complex. Silithus? He defended Silithus once, yes -- and watched his son ripped apart before his eyes in the process. That broke him. He shattered the Sceptre of the Shifting Sands, the key to opening the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, when the dragon flights asked him to keep guard over it in the event that the Qiraj returned. He said he was done with the dragon flights and done with protecting the place. His last words upon leaving the scene were as follows: "My son's soul will find no comfort in this hollow victory, dragon. I will have him back. Though it takes millennia, I will have my son back!" You want to know what he's doing with the morrowgrain? He's trying to find a way to use it to bring his son back from the dead. He may have been a "leader" at some point, but after the War of the Shifting Sands, everything -- and I mean everything -- that man does is somehow related to his son's death. ... well, at least, that's what I'm putting my money on.
Ask a Faction Leader: Fandral Staghelm
WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak to major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask A Faction Leader! We recently spoke to Nexus-Prince Haramad, leader of the ethereal Consortium, and he shed light on several key issues, including goblin rearrangement, investment opportunities, bad business practices, proprietary bandage technology, and static cling. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Archdruid Fandral Staghelm of the Cenarion Circle. Our first reader question: Dear Fandral Staghelm, Over the years, I have many times assisted your morrowgrain research. I have found many weird plants in my quest for that elusive herb. I have been awarded many (useless but, I am sure, heartfelt) scrolls and pieces of food by your research team. My question is: Where is all this effort ending up? What end does all this morrowgrain research lead to? Sincerely, Bowjób-Lightbringer EU Staghelm responds: Look, pal, when I send you on an errand, you say "how high." You don't ask "what exactly do you need all of this eldritch herb for." I need it, you need to get it for me. You know the saying? Yours is not to question why, etc? Oh, wonderful. See her, over there? My handler is signaling me. I guess that means "answer the poorly-named hunter's (yes, I know you're a hunter) question, you magnificent king among kaldorei." I guess it's just as well, I got a dozen emails about what I was doing with morrowgrain. Fine. The big reveal. What am I doing with morrowgrain?
