Ask a Faction Leader: Open call, volume one

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

Ask a Faction Leader has a storied history of presenting feature-length interviews with your favorite faction leaders, but today we're taking a slightly different approach. We asked you to send in questions for the leader of your choice, and today we'll -- err, they'll answer a smattering of those very questions.

Dear Regent-Lord Lor'themar Theron:

I noticed that, during the recent scuffle in Undercity, the armies of the Sin'dorei were not involved or invited to the conflict. It concerns me, what with the recent power struggles in the Orgrimmar, that it may seem as though we are not pulling our collective weight as members of the Horde. Do you happen to know why we were not represented as members of the task force set to retake the Undercity from the Scourge?

Sincerely yours,
Tejor Quel'Dalen, <Dark Guard>, Priest
-Somewhere in Northrend

Lor'themar responds:

Honestly, I couldn't tell you. We simply weren't asked. I did extrapolate a few possible reasons ... One moment, I wrote them down in my journal ... Ah, here we go.

The most likely scenario is simply this: It's possible that an elven heart still resides within the cold shell of the Dark Lady, even if it doesn't beat as it once did. No leader of the Horde, save for myself, understands the plight of the sin'dorei more than Sylvanas. It's due to her aid that we managed to secure the Ghostlands and drove the remaining Scourge out of Quel'thalas. She knows that the prolonged war with Arthas' forces weakened us, and perhaps considered it prudent not to send our fresh recruits and Northrend wounded into the Undercity against a plague that, I'll remind you, was designed not to harm the forsaken.

There are other scenarios, of course. I might have just lost the requisition form she sent. Losing a form! That would be the most exciting thing to happen to me personally in years. Besides growing this soul patch, anyway.


Hi,

I was always curious what Thrall personally thinks of the individual faction leaders for the Alliance. Not as a group, but rather what does he think of King Varian and the rest of them as individuals.

Thanks!

Thrall responds:

I have not personally met many of the Alliance's leaders; however, those orcs among us who avoided or survived the blood craze have spoken highly of Prophet Velen's wisdom, despite the horrors we wreaked upon the draenei before going through the Dark Portal.

As for King Wrynn, I'm afraid I don't yet have a full opinion of the man. We've yet to have a meeting that wasn't punctuated by swordplay, bravado, epithets or mass teleports. And I fear we never will.


To the ever-radiant Lady Proudmoore,

I write to you with a question that has been on my mind since the colossal failure of that half-sized half-wit Fizzlebang. I must know -- what is your opinion of warlocks?

Fondly awaiting your reply,
Tomokei, Sin'dorei Arcanist of the Maelstrom

Jaina responds:

Thrall and I have had long discussions about warlocks, but we tend to come out on the same side of the argument: It's better to know who among your ranks is using fel magic and monitor it than to outlaw it completely. Making someone an outlaw is the first step to making him a hero for his peers, and making him a hero is the first step to making him a martyr. Even when we're surrounded by the walking dead, one human death can still mean something. Better to have that kind of energy on our side, even if we consider it unsavory. It's far better than the alternative.

Besides, though we triumphed at the Sunwell Plateau, the Burning Legion threat still lives on in the vastness of the Nether. Who better to understand the workings of demons than demons themselves? Knowledge is key, and Light knows that all I've been trying to do this whole time is study.


Dear Alexstrasza the Life-Binder.

There's a been things that I've wondered for some time now.

On some occasions, I've heard you refer to the other Dragon Aspects as siblings. For example, when I helped you bring down Malygos in Eye of Eternity, you referred to him as "brother."

I do know that Lady Ysera is your younger sister, but what about the other 3 aspects: Nozdormu, Malygos and Neltharion (or Deathwing,as he is seen these days) ... do you really have a blood-tie to them? It's been quite confusing to me...

Also, please do greet Lord Krasus for me ;)

Sincerely,
Meijju Sabermoon
Agent of the Red Dragonflight

Alexstrasza responds:

All of the Aspects share a bond that reaches beyond blood; though Ysera is indeed my younger sister by blood, she would be no less my sister otherwise. I shall always consider Malygos and Nozdormu my brothers, regardless of heritage or circumstance.

Neltharion ... Deathwing .... gave up any claim to the title millennia ago.


Your majesty, King Magni Bronzebeard,

As a concerned dwarvish citizen, I want to know how you plan to sustain the Ironforge economy should Operation: Gnomeregan succeed. I am a leader in explosion damage repair, and fear for my small business.

Regards,
Nairarbil.

Magni responds:

Ah, ye needn't worry, Nair. So long as gnomes are flittin' about, they'll always need our help to patch up walls, floors and more often than not, themselves. Some things gnomes how to do best: makin' wee gadgets, fer example, and blowin' 'emselves up. I'm just glad to see they're finally takin' back their city. Not that I mind 'em bein' 'round, mind ye. But such a big operation might put some o' that energy they normally put toward blowin' holes in Ironforge to good use!

But, ye know. Learnin' of our ... how did Mekkatorque put it ... "lithogenesis," I think it was, has put a lot into perspective for us dwarves, and knowin' that the gnomes were wee automatons once makes their odd behavior a bit more reasonable. They can't help the tinkerin'. Maybe the explosions we could back on a wee bit, but then, ye wouldn't like that very much, would ye?

That's all for this week's Ask a Faction Leader. The open format will likely continue for another week or two, so feel free to send your questions in to sacco@wow.com with the subject line "AAFL" if you'd like your question answered in the column. Got an idea for a faction leader that'd make a great full-length interview subject? We take requests!