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Know Your Lore: A second look at Maiev Shadowsong
Welcome to Know Your Lore, where each week Alex Ziebart brings you a tasty little morsel of lore to wrap your mind around. Sweet, sweet lore. Mmmm. Have suggestions for future KYL topics? Leave a comment below! As I mentioned previously, Maiev Shadowsong is one of my favorite characters in all of Warcraft lore. When I said that, the statement was quickly met with the cries of people calling her all sorts of unpleasant names. And you know what? That's the beauty of the character. Sometimes, not all good characters are people you would sit down and have a beer with. In fact, some of them are downright nasty people. I wouldn't go that far with Maiev, but I think it's okay that she's not a peaches and sunshine sort of character, especially considering what's been done to her.Yes, Know Your Lore has covered Maiev before, but now it's my turn. Elizabeth and I have pretty substantial differences of opinion on the Warden, so I don't think you'll mind too much.
Two Bosses Enter: Anub'Arak vs. Elder Nadox
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.INSECTS! We're getting close to the end of our first bracket of bosses for this season of Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves, featuring five-man bosses from Wrath of the Lich King. (We're sure you can all guess who's in the last fight of the bracket, just as we're sure you can all guess by how large of a landslide he'll win.) Last week's tussle with King Dred and Jedoga Shadowseeker went down with a chomp and a gulp, leaving us with two more player favorites for the week ahead: Anub'Arak from Azjol-Nerub versus Elder Nadox of Anh'kahet: The Old Kingdom.Remember the basic ground rules: Assume that the opponents and their minions share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output. This deathmatch takes place in neutral territory. All the usual minions will be available to each boss. Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter. Focus on the three S's: style, story and scale. It's minions versus minions in this buggy battle. Join us after the break to cast your vote for who you think will emerge this week's victor.
One Boss Leaves: Dred devours Shadowseeker
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.King Dred demonstrated how he earned his title in this week's Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves, shredding Jedoga Shadowseeker with nearly three-fourths of the reader vote. Delightfully, quite a few fans stepped up to the plate this week with their own versions of how this deathmatch would go down. Let's look at a few of the more entertaining narratives.Blasterion: The face-off: Jedoga calls for her minions, while Dred calls one raptor to combat. Dred Grievous Bites Jedoga, as well as puts up his other debuffs. Jedoga calls for her first minion to be sacrificed. Dred uses his fear; the minion runs around while the raptor minion and Dred pick him off. DELICIOUS. Jedoga comes down, irritated how her minions were weak. She casts Thundershock and kills the raptor. The minions to their masters are different; to Jedoga, her minions are tools, but to Dred, his raptors are loyal subjects. Enraged, Dred savagely destroys Jedoga and the rest of her minions. DELICIOUS.
Two Bosses Enter: Jedoga Shadowseeker vs. King Dred
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.While last week's Two Bosses Moorabi/Trollgore matchup was downright gory, this week's battle appears no less likely to end up in a bloody mess. This week, we'll see King Dred of Drak'tharon Keep tear into Jedoga Shadowseeker and her minions inside Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom.The ground rules: Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output. In order to give Jedoga access to her minions, we'll set this deathmatch in her stomping grounds in Ahn'kahet – but we'll provide that King Dred arrives on the scene with a raptor posse of his own. Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter. Focus on the three S's: style, story and scale. Can a ruthlessly bloodthirsty priestess hold off a rampaging Devilsaur? Join us after the break to cast your vote for who you think will emerge this week's victor.
Finding Blizzard's Cataclysm
The other day, we posted that Blizzard had trademarked the name "Cataclysm," and right after that, the community exploded with speculation: is it the name of WoW's next expansion, Blizzard's next-gen MMO, or some other project? Nothing is guaranteed yet (is it ever with Blizzard?), but the Internets have pretty much landed on the new expansion as the answer. "Cataclysm" actually means "a momentous and violent event marked by overwhelming upheaval and demolition," but it also has a pretty specific relation to water, and that's got lots of people thinking that it's the name of the Maelstrom expansion. In fact, The Sundering, or the world event in Azeroth's history where the Well of Eternity was destroyed and the Maelstrom (that swirly thing in the middle of the map) was created, was referred to as "the Cataclysm." So there you go -- pretty solid evidence, even though, as I said, nothing is guaranteed until we hear it from Blizz.Stropp's got an interesting piece of speculation that says though "Cataclysm" is still probably the next expansion, the event the word refers to has yet to happen. He claims that if Blizzard really wants to speed up the 1-50 leveling process, they should just destroy Old Azeroth as we know it, and just have all the new characters start at level 50. That would be pretty nuts, but then again, Blizzard's never shown a real affinity for the old content, and by the next expansion, we'll be heading up to level 90 or even 100.
One Boss Leaves: Moorabi outgores Trollgore
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.It was a bloody job, but someone had to do it – and that someone was Moorabi. The High Prophet of Man'toth made a mammoth mess as he gored Trollgore in this week's Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves. Sixty-five percent of readers handed this week's deathmatch to the Ice Troll. Spectators Heilig, Rowan and Grinton mulled it over from the stands:Heilig: You're all forgetting the adds. Moorabi has no way to deal with the adds. If he ignores them, Trollgore gets buffed dramatically as the adds stack up and the Consume stacks to ridiculous levels. If he kills them, he gets raped by Corpse Explosions. There's a reason you tank Trollgore away from the person handling the adds, you know. Moorabi has no way to deal with this. Trollgore wins by a mile.Rowan: He has Quake and Ground Tremor -- that's two AoEs! With adds being non-elite, he can easily pulverize them before they get too close to Trollgore. Moorabi wins this, hands down.Heilig: Ground Tremor is close range, and Quake is primarily a stun. The adds wouldn't die until they got to Trollgore, whereupon he would explode the corpses right into Moorabi's trunk. Game over.Grinton: What this fight comes down to is a battle of tusks. And though Trollgore would start off with the upper lower-bite, it's hard to beat what that pachyderm is paching (badum-tish!). Also, to respond to Heilig, Moorabi has two abilities to control adds. So between the stomping and the tusks, Moorabi wins by a long shot.
Patch 3.2 PTR: Tauren Druid conversation may reveal lore and expansion secrets
Reader Chad forwarded us this screen shot of a conversation that takes place over on Elder rise in Thunder Bluff between two Tauren on the patch 3.2 PTR. Apparently it actually begins with a new quest by the Dalaran Portals, as pointed out in this thread at Scrolls of Lore, and while the quest leads nowhere, you do get to hear the linked dialogue. In it, Aponi Brightmane, a wounded warrior who wishes to return the front lines in Northrend, and Tahu Sagewind, a Druid, speak together about the history of Druidism, the moon, and the sun. They speak of Elune, whom they know as Mu'sha, one of the eyes of the the Earth Mother. They mention that it seems strange that if Tauren were the first Druids as their legends claim, that all Hamuul Runetotem teaches is the moon power of the Night Elves. Tahu wonders if Druids themselves, because of this, are out of balance. The idea segues back into the idea of the world out of balance due to the influence of the Scourge, wondering if sitting idle in Thunder Bluff is really a good idea when the Northern front is so bleak, wondering if balance must needs to be returned by action.
Two Bosses Enter: Moorabi vs. Trollgore
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.Charging ... goring ... exploding ... cannibalizing ... This week's Two Bosses Enter deathmatch is ugly, ugly, ugly. In the ring: Moorabi of Gundrak versus Trollgore of Drak'tharon Keep. It's going to be rough, and it's going to be bloody. The ground rules: Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output. This match takes place in neutral territory, although the usual waves of Undead will come from ... someplace ... to accompany Trollgore. Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter. Focus on the three S's: style, story and scale. What's your theory on how this fight goes down? Leave your comment, then cast a vote for who you think will be left standing.
One Boss Leaves: Chrono-Lord Epoch stops time for Volkhan
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy deathmatches. This season's bosses hail from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King. It was indeed the day that time stood still: Chrono-Lord Epoch (The Culling of Stratholme) shattered the Halls of Lightning's Volkhan in this week's Two Bosses Enter deathmatch. "Honestly, Chrono-Lord Epoch should be able to destroy pretty much any boss in the game," observed kabshiel. "He can stop time, for Pete's sake! All Volkhan does is make little robots and break them. Manipulating the space-time continuum > Toy making."The only dissenting opinion this week came from Kar On E: "Although it's pretty obvious at this point that Chrono-Lord Epoch is going to win, I'm going to make the case for Volkhan. In this, I'm presuming that neither has read any strategy on the other and that each is going about it on wits alone."
Two Bosses Enter: Chrono-Lord Epoch vs. Volkhan
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy deathmatches. This season's bosses hail from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.It's the day that time stood still: Chrono-Lord Epoch (The Culling of Stratholme) versus Volkhan (the Halls of Lightning). Who'll stop who (/snicker) in this week's five-man Wrath boss deathmatch?Here's the setup: Assume that the Chrono-Lord and Volkhan share similar levels, health pools and a comparative overall damage output (including Volkhan's golems). Prince Arthas Menethil is not a part of this encounter. This match takes place in neutral territory (although we'll allow Volkhan an anvil to create his golems). Don't get caught up in game mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter. Focus on the three S's: style, story and scale. What do you think would happen during this battle? Post your theory on how the action will go, then cast your vote for who you think will be left standing at the end.
One Boss Leaves: General Bjarngrim commands the field
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.Well folks, we've had some tight battles lately -- and this wasn't one of them. In a rather predictable display of superiority, the Hall of Lightning's General Bjarngrim outclassed Sjonnir the Ironshaper from the Halls of Stone in this week's Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves.Loyal Two Bosses fan Siaperas is always good for a fair recounting of the battle."If I knew nothing else about them, I would wage my bet on General Bjarngrim based on how Loken assigned these men," he wrote. "Loken would want somebody who could handle himself but have good managerial skills to oversee an operation like the Forge of Wills. However, he would want to protect himself with some of his most dangerous servants. I'm not saying that Bjarngrim is just muscle and Sjonnir is all brain -- they're both very intelligent and powerful opponents -- but in Loken's eyes, I suspect he sees Bjarngrim as the more dangerous opponent in a fight. And I would agree. "I do not think this would be so one-sided as Bjarngrim winning without Sjonnir getting his licks in. The adds would bring some nice flavor, but between Whirlwind and Chain Lightning, they're not going to be much help. What's going to win the day for Bjarngrim is his ability to think on his feet, to put the most hurt on his opponents. Sjonnir puts too much reliance on his minions. He'll be able to kite Bjarngrim around a little and buy himself time, but still he won't do too much between Bjanrgrim's Spell Reflect, Intercept and Pummel. In the end, Sjonnir just can't deliver the same amount of hurt to Bjarngrim as he will be receiving, and Bjarngrim wins."
Ask a Lore Nerd: Of Nerubians, Dwarves and Titans
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. I'm going to get this out of the way right off the bat since I know I'll get a dozen people asking again this week: Yes, Know Your Lore will be coming back, it is not gone forever. I promise. I will pinkie swear on it, even. Come on, who wants to pinkie swear? Anybody? Anybody?Aler asked..."On the topic of the Nerubians and the Qiraji, is there any relation in the lore between the two? Or are two insect civilizations coincidental?"There's absolutely a relation between the two. They hold a common ancestry. Both the Qiraji and the Nerubians are offshoots of an even more ancient race, the Aqir. Way back when Azeroth was still very primal, and Trolls were the top dogs. There were three major players in the world: The Amani Trolls, the Gurubashi Trolls, and the Aqir. They warred for thousands of years. Thousands. It was a war of attrition on the grandest scale possible, and all involved more or less broke under the weight of their losses.
Two Bosses Enter: General Bjarngrim vs. Sjonnir the Ironshaper
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.This week's electrically charged boss battle is a real shocker: General Bjarngrim from the Halls of Lightning versus Sjonnir the Ironshaper of the Halls of Stone. There'll be adds and sparks galore in this deathmatch between two Iron Vrykul.The ground rules: Assume that these foes share similar levels, health pools and a comparative overall damage output. This match takes place in neutral territory. Both bosses will get their usual adds, but Brann Bronzebeard is out of the picture. Don't get caught up in game mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter. Focus on the three S's: style, story and scale.What do you think would happen during this battle? Leave a comment explaining what you think will go down, then cast your vote for who you think will be left up.
One Boss Leaves: Anomalus comes up short
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.For the second week in a row, the victor of Two Bosses Enter ... One Boss Leaves was determined by a margin of fewer than 100 votes. Anomalus fell short of his task of protecting Brann Bronzebeard throughout the Hall of Stone's Tribunal of Ages event, falling to the combined forces of the Tribunal's defenses."Anomalus wins this one without a sweat," wrote Saravok for the dissenters. "Anomalus engages the adds while moving around to avoid the mobs. When he opens a rift, his own adds join the fray. Soon enough, having lost about 25% of his HP, he shields himself. The Tribunal adds now fight Anomalus' adds. Anomalus' adds are losing -- but BAM, the AoE evens up the contest, and the fight rages on."Anomalus retakes the battle, with the Tribunal kicking it up a few notches to boot. Once again, our elemental hero takes a beating, pops up some rifts and hides in his shield. The multiple rifts now attack the adds, with lots of AoE. The Tribunal adds are quickly slaughtered."
Breakfast Topic: Is your class missing out on in-game lore?
When it comes to lore, Druids, Mages, Death Knights and Paladins have it covered. Druids have the Emerald Dream, Mages the Kirin Tor and Dalaran. Meanwhile Paladins and Death Knights' lore revolve around this chap called Arthas who did bad things and became one of the biggest bads in all of Azeroth. But what about the other classes? When was the last time you heard of a decent bit of Warlock or Warrior lore? And I'm not just talking a class quest here, but actual lore with a capital L?Shamans got a bit in The Burning Crusade but only if you were a Draenei. What about Hunters, Rogues, and Priests? So I want to know, dear readers, do you wish there was more lore specific to your class? Do you feel neglected as a sub-group within Azeroth? What kind of lore would you like to see associated with your (insert class here)? Speak up and drop your thoughts in the comment box below.
Christie Golden appears at Loveland, CO Barnes and Noble today
Here's a heads up to all our readers in the general area of Loveland, Colorado. Christie Golden will appear at 2 PM Today at your local Barnes and Noble to sign copies of her New York Times best selling book, Arthas. If you're in the area and don't need to be glued to your computer waiting for BlizzCon tickets -- or are lucky enough to get one of the first tickets -- this is a pretty decent use of a Saturday afternoon, I'd say.And whether you're in Colorado or California or anywhere else, if you haven't checked Arthas out yet, it's definitely worth a shot. If you have anything more than a passing interest in WoW Lore, you owe it to yourself to buy or borrow this book. Not only is it the best piece of non-game Warcraft fiction according to multiple members of the WoW Insider team, but it contains tidbits of lore and happenings that are almost sure to figure prominently in future patches and expansions. You can read our review of the book for more of my gushing on the book.But anyway, if you're in the Loveland area and happen to drop by Barnes and Noble, let us know if anything cool goes down, and happy reading.
Ask a Lore Nerd: Babies babies babies
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, the column that answers your questions about the story and lore of the Warcraft universe. Click the Comments link below (or e-mail us!), ask your question, and blogger/columnist Alex Ziebart will answer you in a future installment!Let's jump right in with Tom's trio of questions... We know what happens when a human and orc cross-breed, but what about elf/human intermingling? Is it possible for the other races on Azeroth to breed and are there any such results of that union? Elf/Human crossbreeds are definitely supported by lore, as well as a whole mess of other combinations. Arator the Redeemer in Hellfire Peninsula is a Human/Elf Hybrid, for example, and there are plenty more around. Other combinations are valid as well. Rexxar is an Orc/Ogre Hybrid. Gross, I know, but oh well. There are a lot more examples you can add to those that are scattered around the world(s). There are no hard rules in place dictating who can and cannot interbreed, but it's pretty safe to assume the races similar to one another are compatible. I would bet Dwarves and Gnomes can shack up and spawn, for example, but probably not a Gnome and a Tauren. That's just me talking, though. I could be wrong. Let's pray very, very hard that I'm not wrong.
Ask a Lore Nerd
I'm a lore nerd. Plain and simple. Nerdy nerd nerd. Thus, my kryptonite is questions such as, "Who is Aran's son?" and "Why are Blood Elves in Mount Hyjal anyway?" These questions make me weep and wish Know Your Lore was more than just weekly.I've decided to draw a little inspiration from these questions instead of seethe with nerd rage. I ask you, WoW Insider readers, ask me your lore questions! I'll follow them up with nice and easy explanations tomorrow afternoon. If you have a more complicated, more involved questions, maybe I'll take it over to Know Your Lore.I don't mind getting questions we've answered on the site before, it's pretty easy to miss posts that fall off of the front page, so ask pretty much any lore-related question you'd like, and I'll do my best to answer you! Not everything is as epic as Azjol-Nerub and Oshu'gun, so even small questions are just fine. Don't be afraid!
Know Your Lore: Sargeras
Hard to believe that this friendly soul over to the right stabbing what appears to be an entire planet was once not just a good guy, but indeed, the goodest of the good guys, huh? (Goodest of the good guys? What, am I a drunken five year old all of a sudden? Sheesh, that's just horrible.) But it's true: the ultimate big bad guy in the Warcraft Universe, the ultimate evil, the guy who comes up with plans that involve possessing babies was once the champion of the Titans themselves, before he started stabbing planets and possessing babies.I guess there's no evil, be it big or small, that Sargeras won't engage in personally. He's a real hands on villain.So what's the deal with Sargeras, exactly? How did he go bad? Why did he assemble the Burning Legion in the first place? And what's he up to nowadays? With the Legion running around being killed for loot and Marks of Sargeras in Outland (seriously, what is the big plan for Outland, exactly? So far all the Legion seems to be doing is being mad at Illidan because he promised to be Kil'Jaeden's BFF and then went back on it. Did they pinky swear? I bet they pinky swore. That seems like the kind of thing Kil'Jaeden would do) you'd think ol' Sargy would be in the thick of it, but instead his sidekicks are running the show and he's nowhere to be found. Why?It doesn't help that some of Sargeras' history has changed in the telling. (Hey, I like the Draenei a lot, but you guys really changed the lore around.)Well, you may have a hard time believing this, but it turns out that his whole baby possession scheme wasn't such a good idea after all. I know, I know, how could picking on an infant have gone so horribly wrong? But rather than dwelling on that, why don't we start talking about Sargeras' early days.
