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Know Your Lore: What does not kill us
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 test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. - F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Crack-Up" While I make no claim to being even a second-rate intelligence, I am occasionally capable of holding opposed ideas. I wrote last week that the destruction of the Vale was going to happen. That it was necessary, to end the reign of the Sha of Pride over Pandaria itself and the stagnation it allowed to fester in the heart of the island continent for over ten thousand years. I still believe that to be true. But something can be necessary and still be horrific, and moreover, still someone's fault. What happened in Pandaria, the escalation of the Horde and Alliance conflict that led to the Vale's destruction, may have been necessary. That doesn't excuse us for having helped make it happen, for failing to find a better way. For failing to even try to find a better way. One of the arguments advanced after the Siege of Orgrimmar is over is the concept that the Alliance and Horde strengthen one another, that if one side were to utterly win and destroy the other, it would be weakened for the loss of that which it tests itself against. To this I make a counter response - there are many ways to strengthen one another.
Know Your Lore, TFH Edition: Heroes of the Storm
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. Since The Dark Below was unveiled as a hoax -- or at the very least, a trademark that hasn't actually been filed -- players are still curious about the question of the next expansion. And now we have a new trademark supposedly filed, titled Heroes of the Storm. Let's face it -- we still don't know if this is real. We don't know if it's Warcraft, or if it's tied to some other franchise. We don't know if it's an expansion title, or perhaps some new thing that simply hasn't been announced yet. But let's put all that aside for a moment and take a look at the title and what it means in relation to Warcraft. If this is, somehow, the title for the next expansion, what exactly would that expansion entail? The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria -- all of these titles seemed to straightforwardly suggest what the expansion itself was going to be about. So what does Heroes of the Storm imply? Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on how it happened. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
Know Your Lore: This Was All Necessary
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. You pandaren tried to bury your hate and your anger, but such power cannot be contained. It must be unleashed! - Garrosh Hellscream to Taran Zhu The more I think about it, the more I believe it. This was all going to happen, with or without the presence of the Horde or Alliance. In fact, the presence of those two warring forces may have ultimately saved Pandaria from complete destruction. When Garrosh Hellscream defeated Taran Zhu and hurled the Heart of Y'Shaarj into the waters of the vale, he mocked the Shado-Pan's leader first about the pandaren and their tendency to suppress violent emotion. It's an understandable tendency in a land where emotions like doubt, anger, fear, and hatred can give rise to the Sha, but it was a tendency mired in one crucial error - there was always one Sha who wasn't imprisoned when Emperor Shaohao freed himself of the burdens of the others. For over ten thousand years, Pandaria dwelled in isolation, believing itself special among all the places in the world, believing that it had nothing to gain and nothing to learn from the outside. And in its special exceptionalism, its beautiful but stagnant isolation, the people of Pandaria settled into an eternal and endless cycle that allowed nothing to change it. But a thing that does not change is not alive. It's painful to look upon the Vale of Eternal Blossoms after Garrosh's actions, to see the blasted, corrupted land where waters flowed freely, to see the destroyed and defiled beauty. Taran Zhu blamed all those who came from outside Pandaria, and he's not wrong - it is because, at long last the mists have parted and new peoples have entered Pandaria that the Vale was destroyed, just as it was because of the same outsiders and their foreign war that the Sha of Doubt erupted and the serpent pillar fell. Destruction had indeed followed in our wake.
Know Your Lore: Requiem for innocence lost
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. Two households, both alike in dignity (In fair Verona, where we lay our scene), From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. I have to admit it -- Siege of Orgrimmar is one hell of a raid. Not only is it full of epic encounters, but there are little moments of lore sprinkled throughout the raid, for those that pay attention. In this, the final raid of Mists of Pandaria, we see our fair share of loose ends wrapped up, and learn the fates of many of the cast of characters that we've helped throughout our journeys in Pandaria. Of course we have Lorewalker Cho, there for the last raid just as he was there by our sides in the first. And we find out what happened to Taran Zhu after the Siege of Orgrimmar cinematic, in which he confronted Garrosh Hellscream. Yet there are other pandaren involved in Alliance and Horde affairs -- pandaren played by people like you and I, who came from a Wandering Isle, not so long ago. And that story, too, reaches an end of sorts ... and not the kind ending we might have hoped for. Please note: This post contains spoilers for events that take place within the Siege of Orgrimmar raid.
Know Your Lore: Delenda est Orgrimmar
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. An analysis of the aftermath of the Siege of Orgrimmar by SI:7 operative <name redacted> - contains top secret information about the aftermath of the Siege, including details on the new warchief - read only if you are cleared to know these details Jaina Proudmoore was right. The greatest threat to the people of Azeroth, the greatest obstacle to peace, the greatest impediment to a unified world capable of defeating the Burning Legion is the Horde. The original core of the Horde, the orcs of Draenor, have proved time and again that all they respect is military force and that they prefer to live by theft and conquest rather than trade or diplomacy - whether it be their sacking and burning of Stormwind at the end of the First War, their defeat at Blackrock Mountain at the end of the Second, or their uprising and flight that led to their arrival on Kalimdor, the orcs have always and will always choose conquest and war to achieve their aims. Leaving any and all morality out of the question, it's simply foolish to allow the Horde to continue to exist. Does King Varian Wrynn think Sylvanas Windrunner cares at all about the defeat of Hellscream? Why would she? Why should she? In defeating Garrosh and his Kor'kron, Varian has done her a favor - he's removed the only oversight capable of detecting and halting her more genocidal plans. This is a ruler who has repeatedly displayed that she is able and willing to dump plague on living populations - the writhing oozes of Southshore and the disease clouded streets of Gilneas City stand testament to her aims and means. Are we to believe that the new Warchief will have either the time or the motivation to pull Sylvanas back? It would make more sense from Vol'jin's perspective, as ruler of a weakened Horde, to let Sylvanas draw as much attention away from Kalimdor as she can - to draw Alliance attention away from him, and his crippled Horde. Letting the forsaken do whatever they want will give him time to rebuild and retrench. No, it's clear enough to even the most jaded observer - as long as the Horde exists, it will seek dominion over all the world of Azeroth. The Horde must be stopped. Furthermore, it is my opinion that Orgrimmar must be destroyed.
Know Your Lore: The future of the Horde
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. It's been an interesting couple of expansions for the Horde. Cataclysm saw Warchief Thrall step down from the leadership role that players were accustomed to, and appoint Garrosh Hellscream as Warchief in his stead. Mists of Pandaria saw Hellscream take that leadership role to an extreme that resulted in all-out war between Alliance and Horde, with the pandaren and the continent of Pandaria unceremoniously chucked into the middle of it all. Hellscream's reign has been brought to an end in patch 5.4 -- but where does this leave the Horde? Warchief Hellscream's notorious visions of a new future ended up dividing the Horde, and his caustic treatment of the non-orc races drove a wedge into the faction that ultimately culminated in the events of 5.4. The end of his stint as Warchief brought about a new leader ... but what comes after the dust has settled? Will the Horde recover from the damage done by Hellscream? And what does the future of the Horde hold, now that Hellscream's reign is over? Please note: There are spoilers for patch 5.4 immediately following the break. If you are avoiding spoiler content for the Siege of Orgrimmar, run away!
A day in the life of Blizzard Historian Sean Copeland
If you've spent any time at all on the Timeless Isle, you may have noted and even completed the daily lore quiz from NPC Senior Historian Evelyna, a member of the Timewalkers who is accompanied by Historian Llore and Historian Ju'pa. What you may not have known is that these NPCs represent three invaluable members of the Blizzard Creative Development team: Senior Historian Evelyn Fredericksen, Historian Justin Parker, and Historian Sean Copeland. Together, the three represent a powerhouse of encyclopedic knowledge from each of Blizzard's franchises. That's all well and good, but what exactly does a Historian at Blizzard do with their day? What does being a Historian entail, and what do they do with all that knowledge they've crammed in their brains? The folks over at Blizzard Entertainment were kind enough to let us find out. Read on as we pick the brain of Historian Sean Copeland about lore, historians, and the unusual job of keeping track of all things Blizzard.
Know Your Lore: The History of the Warchief
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. This post exists because of the massive spoilers in this link, but the post itself will be spoiler free. As long as you don't click on that spoiler-heavy link, you will not see any spoilers in this post. (Edit - actually, there's one spoiler at the very end of the post - it's clearly marked as such, and it is a minor spoiler at best, but it is there. Let that guide your actions.) Instead, we're going to talk about the position of Warchief - how it came to be, how it evolved and then devolved, and how Garrosh Hellscream's reign as Warchief set the stage for what could be a completely new direction for his successor (whose identity I will not discuss). The position of Warchief actually began as a complete figurehead, and the first orc to hold that position, Blackhand the Destroyer, was placed in that position due to his combination of physical fearsomeness and egocentric self-aggrandizement - so easily was he misled and directed by Gul'dan, head of the Shadow Council and architect of the Horde, that he never once proved himself a threat sufficient for Gul'dan to ever consider replacing him. It's not that Blackhand was either a fool or an idiot, he was in fact a canny tactician and a respected warrior. He simply believed his own hype - so convinced was he in his own superiority that when Gul'dan presented to him that he would be a respected equal and his position as Warchief would be one of real power, he believed it, because he believed in himself. Throughout the war with the draenei and later, the invasion of Azeroth, Blackhand ruled as Warchief and allowed himself to listen to Gul'dan's words - allowed himself to listen because they were telling him what he wanted to hear. Even as the humans balked the orcs, and Blackhand's series of victories became defeats, he continued to listen to Gul'dan. This would be his downfall.
Dear Jaina Proudmoore
Dear Jaina, I'm not in the habit of writing letters to fictional characters, but in the face of what we've all seen yesterday, it seemed like as good a time as any to start. Look, I realize this is going to be hard to accept, but your fate isn't exactly in your hands. What you want, and what you'll get, are two entirely different things -- and it might not be fair. It might not be particularly right. It certainly isn't going to feel very good, but the influence you hold only goes so far. And in this case, you can't exactly order around a king. But let's look beyond that for a second, all right? Because honestly, you seem to be more than a little irritated, justified or not. And I remember who you used to be, a long time ago. I remember a lady who was a bastion of rational thinking, one who looked before she leapt, made sound judgments, and realized that in this big, wide, crazy world of Azeroth, things aren't always black and white, good and evil. Sometimes, most of the time in fact, they lay somewhere in between. So I'm wondering, Lady Proudmoore -- who are you? This post contains huge spoilers for patch 5.4, including the end cinematic for the Siege of Orgrimmar. Reader beware!
Green light for villain short stories
There was an exciting announcement for lore fans yesterday on Twitter from Micky Neilson, the publishing lead at Blizzard Entertainment. Over the last few years Blizzard has been working on various series of short stories, all available for free on their website, exploring different aspects of World of Warcraft. Micky has confirmed that the next short story series will revolve around the villains of WoW. Had to go through proper channels, but it's official: we'll be doing Villains short stories. AND... I'll be doing a Kael'thas story. - Micky Neilson (@MickyNeilson) September 10, 2013 If you've been following Micky's twitter feed, you may remember that he took an informal poll a little while ago, asking for fan preferences on which direction to take in the next collection of WoW shorts. Specifically, did we want leader updates that expanded upon the existing leader series, or something completely new featuring WoW's antagonists? It looks like the antagonists have won out. Personally, I voted for the villains, so I'm chuffed by the announcement. It's always a good writerly exercise to dig into the perspective of an unsympathetic, and even actively malicious, character. I think these stories have enormous potential and I can't wait to see who they choose to feature. We know at least this much: as it says in the tweet, Micky himself will be tackling Kael'thas Sunstrider.
Know Your Lore: The legacy you will leave behind
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. Mists of Pandaria is the story of an outsider, washed upon foreign shores, who changed the course of destiny for herself (or himself) and the world entire. Pandaria and the rest of Azeroth shifted on the fulcrum he (or possibly she) provided - the mogu, the mantid, the sha all fell before her (him) and even the Thunder King himself lies dead at his feet... or hooves, perhaps. Also, it hay have been her feet. Because in the end, Mists of Pandaria is the closest any MMO has ever come to being a single-player campaign and an multi-player experience at the same time. Mists of Pandaria is about you, your choices, the impact you have had and will have on the world. There have been tragedies. This isn't about those tragedies or what they might mean in the larger picture. Gods and dragons and celestials can worry themselves about what may be and what might happen - heroes live and act in the now. Given a bad situation, they take action to make it better. It can hurt, absolutely, but finding that balance between contemplation and action, to know what to do and then to do it, is all the difference. Let's tell that story, of one figure who landed a vagabond on a new shore. There will be spoilers for Patch 5.4 and the legendary quest chain in this post.
Enter to win World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn
Patch days full of new content to play are always good, but why don't we make this patch day just a little bit better? We've got not one, but two copies of World of Warcraft: Bloodsworn to give away, and today seems like the best day to do it! This brand-new graphic novel from DC Comics follows the adventures of a motley group of individuals brought together under the banner of the Horde. Written by Doug Wagner and featuring artwork by Jheremy Raapack, the book clocks in at a solid 152 pages jammed full of action. Thanks to Blizzard Entertainment, we've got a couple of these graphic novels to give away. Take a look at our spoiler-free review if you'd like more information on the graphic novel -- while the events in the story take place shortly after Cataclysm, the book is very much worth the read and an even better addition to your bookshelf. Interested? To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m. ET, Tuesday, September 17, 2013. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). You can only enter once. Two winners will be chosen at random and we will contact you via whatever method you've used to comment. Official rules here.
Know Your Lore, TFH Edition: The haunting refrain of the Mists of Pandaria
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. This column had a different subject earlier today. I was going to talk about the Warchief situation leading into patch 5.4, as we'll be playing through that content on Tuesday. But as I was gathering screenshots of relevant questlines and information on my Alliance alt, I flew absently into the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and happened upon the above scene, coming to a full stop and simply sitting there as I took it all in. Refugees. Hundreds of them, happily filing into the Vale just after the gates were opened and talking excitedly about the golden valley that was certain to be a verdant new homeland for those that had suffered at the hands of the yaungol and Zandalari in Kun-Lai. And it hit me like a particularly vicious kick to the gut. It's been so long since I unlocked the Vale and leveled through that content last year that I'd forgotten this idyllic little scene, before all the chaos erupts. You, the player, are the hero of all of these pandaren -- you are the one who fought back the yaungol, the Zandalari, and offered these people a glimmer of hope. You're the person that single-handedly convinced the August Celestials to open the gates of the Vale and offer refuge to those that had lost their homes in Kun-Lai. And you're the one that allowed what's going to happen in patch 5.4. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on how it happened. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore. Please note: There are some spoilers for patch 5.4 content in this post.
Know Your Lore: Alea iacta est
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. This is it. This is the moment beyond which we cannot return. For both the Alliance and those members of the Horde in open revolt, there is now no longer any path but forward, and that path leads through Orgrimmar's iron walls, past her legions of defenders, and must inevitably lead all to the iron throne of Garrosh Hellscream in his subterranean fortress below Orgrimmar itself. The Warchief has declared his intent to lure the armies of the world to make open war against him on his terms, on ground he controls, and within a week that intent will have become reality. The die has been cast. For some, this is the culmination of a desired confrontation. Both Vol'jin and Jaina Proudmoore fall into this category - both want the Warchief removed and some measure of revenge for personal slights and injuries. Vol'jin's grudge is of longer standing, and his desire for retribution stems from an attempt to have him assassinated, but Jaina seeks redress of a loss of an entire city in the bombing of Theramore, the loss of an apprentice, of friends and colleagues and the last refuge of a refugee people. For others, like Thrall and Varok Saurfang, this is a conflict of brother against brother and they seek to avoid it even as they suspect that it cannot be avoided. Still others, like Lor'themar Theron and Varian Wrynn, were brought to this point reluctantly and only act now in the best interests of their people. Some reluctant, others eager, but in the end it all comes down to this - two full scale armies invading the most fortified, heaviest defended place on the planet Azeroth. The war that Hellscream began has finally found its way back to Orgrimmar.
Know Your Lore: The mysterious disappearance of Varian Wrynn
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. As a leader of the kingdom of Stormwind, Varian Wrynn's track record leaves much to be desired. Swayed by tragedy and the sneaky, manipulative claws of a particularly clever black dragon, Varian was completely out of the picture in vanilla, at which point the surrounding human territories began a decline from which they have yet to fully recover. Varian returned in Wrath, and promptly began the campaign to wipe out the Lich King, sending his best soldiers north. While the campaign in Northrend was successful, we also saw the beginnings of the clashes between Varian and the Horde -- clashes that would continue in Cataclysm, and ramp up with alarming speed in Mists of Pandaria. Or ... that's what we thought we'd see. In truth, Varian's spent much more of this expansion absent than he has being a driving force for the Alliance. Where has Varian been, and what has he been doing?
Know Your Lore: A Precarious Position Part 3
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. There will be spoilers for patch 5.4 in this post Part one covered the Horde, and part two covered the humans, dwarves, night elves and worgen of the Alliance. But what about the gnomes, draenei, and neutral factions? What about the pandaren, so new to both Horde and Alliance? How could these figures react to the new status quo (whatever it will be) and will they be a force to stabilize relations between the Alliance and the Horde, or will they make the situation more volatile? Both the draenei and the gnomes have an outsider's perspective in their own way - the gnomes missed the entirety of the Third War due to problems at home (problems they are still attempting to fix) and while the draenei have experienced much suffering at the hands of the orcish Horde they are dedicated to the Prophet Velen's vision of the mortal races coming together to oppose the Burning Legion. Although both races sent observers to Pandaria during Varian Wrynn's Operation: Shieldwall, their leadership has not been very involved in this latest struggle with the other faction. Individual members of these races have, but not the groups as a whole. So what, then, is their perspective after the siege of Orgrimmar?
Know Your Lore: The life and legacy of Lei Shen
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. Once upon a time, somewhere in the dawn of Azeroth's history, before the Sundering split the world in two, there was a race of warlords called the mogu. Violent and cruel, the mogu fought relentlessly against everything -- including each other. That is, until one day when one mogu sought out the history and secrets of his people's past, discovering that they were creatures of far more potential, far more purpose than any had realized. It was a secret long forgotten, and the mighty Lei Shen not only uncovered it, but brought that secret back to his people. For untold years after Lei Shen emerged from the depths of the Isle of Thunder, the mogu reigned supreme on Pandaria. They captured and enslaved the weaker races, forcing them into servitude. It was not until after the death of Lei Shen that the pandaren race finally rose up with the hozen, the jinyu, and even the grummles to disrupt and reduce the armies of the mogu to rubble, taking the continent of Pandaria back as their own and ruling in peace. In the waning hours of Lei Shen's inevitable downfall at the hands of Azeroth's heroes, we'll soon be leaving these relics of ages past behind, and instead focusing on the future of our world. But the history of the mogu, the history of Lei Shen is not a tale we should soon forget.
Burdens of Shaohao tops rich list of out-of-game WoW storytelling
Lorehounds are still licking their lips after a heaping serving of The Burdens of Shaohao, the six-part animated series released earlier this month that's earned resounding praise from players and lore fans alike. "The sweeping tale of the last emperor of Pandaria was unlike anything we'd ever seen before from Blizzard -- a stunning, gorgeous piece of animated, narrative storytelling featuring artwork by Laurel Austin," wrote Anne Stickney in our recent interview with the series' creators. "While we've seen narrative tales in the form of cinematic-style storytelling, this is the first time we've seen anything of this nature." It's not the only new storytelling tool Blizzard has recently introduced. In recent months, we've seen the announcement for a WoW children's book and the cryptic website Project Blackstone, a viral advertising campaign for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. These storytelling experiments come on top of an established collection of official and fan-created out-of-game lore resources that includes novels, graphic novels and comics, webpage resources, leader short stories, and more. (Where to start? We'll show you how to pick your way through chronologically.) Are you a fan of the many out-of-game story resources for World of Warcraft? Do you enjoy the opportunity to learn more about the world you play in, or do you prefer to absorb the story of Azeroth inside the game itself?
Micky Neilson, Doug Gregory discuss The Burdens of Shaohao
The Burdens of Shaohao, a six-part series released earlier this month, was met with resounding praise across the board from players and devoted lore fans alike. The sweeping tale of the last Emperor of Pandaria was unlike anything we'd ever seen before from Blizzard -- a stunning, gorgeous piece of animated, narrative storytelling featuring artwork by Laurel Austin. While we've seen narrative tales in the form of cinematic-style storytelling, this is the first time we've seen anything of this nature. We sat down with Lead Story Developer Micky Neilson and the director of Shaohao, Doug Gregory to discuss the piece and how exactly it all came to be. While we were originally supposed to have lead editor Lucas Merino on board as well, he was unable to attend the interview as he and his wife received a special gift shortly after the release of Shaohao -- a healthy baby boy! Despite Lucas' absence, we had a delightful time discussing the film, its development, and the possibility of future projects in the unique style of Shaohao.
Know Your Lore: A Precarious Position Part 2 - Alliance
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. There will be spoilers for patch 5.4 in this post If you remember last week's column, you know the basic premise of this series: covering the ways that the Horde and Alliance, post Hellscream's downfall, can mess things up and prevent an era of peace from coming about. On paper, things look to be about as promising in terms of Horde/Alliance relationships as they have been since the Third War - both the surviving Horde factions and those of the Alliance were united in an uneasy truce by their shared rage towards Garrosh, both worked together in the Barrens and in the invasion of Orgrimmar. If what we've gleaned from data-miners is true, then there will be a new Warchief appointed, with Varian Wrynn allowing it and withdrawing the Alliance from Orgrimmar. This doesn't, however, really deal with the issues that caused the war between the Alliance and Horde this time around. The Horde, in need of vital resources, invaded and conquered Azshara, pushed deep into Ashenvale, besieged Gilneas and used plague weapons to drive its populace into exile and totally annihilated the Alliance presence in Alterac. These situations haven't changed, and further, there are other problems among the peoples of the Alliance. So let's explore each of the nations of the Alliance and how they might react, or what they have on their plates to occupy them following the fall of Orgrimmar.
