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Know Your Lore: The Burning Legion

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Burning Crusade, Lore, Know your Lore

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Know Your Lore: A look at the lore of Diablo

Matthew Rossi — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Lore, Know your Lore, Diablo 3

This special edition of Know Your Lore presents an overview of the lore of the Diablo games and their setting, the world of Sanctuary. Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Enjoy this week's diversion into the world of Diablo III.

The Diablo games are very different from anything in the Warcraft setting, a far more black-and-white morality played out in endless cosmic war between absolute forces of order and righteousness opposing evil and chaos. This war, the Great or Eternal Conflict, is so massive in scale and scope that it can almost be said to be endless. The war predates the world of Sanctuary, the realm where mortal men and women are born and live out their lives. Indeed, Sanctuary itself was created by a rogue angel and his demonic lover and ally as a place to find an end to the war.

But before the conflict, before the universe itself existed, there was only Anu. Anu existed as a pearl, a central point which contained all evil and all good, all possibilities and all dualities contained within its mirrored surface. Yet Anu felt imperfect in its duality and sought purity in the rejection of its negative aspects, casting them aside to become a being of glittering diamond -- a perfected warrior. Yet what Anu rejected, his cast-off impurities themselves became perfection of a dark bent, forming the monstrous Tathamet. This seven-headed dragon declared war on the glittering Anu, who in turn sought to destroy that which he had cast out of himself.

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Know Your Lore: A look at the lore of Diablo originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: 5 potential new warchiefs for Mists of Pandaria

Anne Stickney — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

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Know Your Lore: Otherworldly mysteries

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Burning Crusade, Lore, Know your Lore, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm

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.

Draenor has always interested me. Note that I didn't say Outland, which is a part of the former world Draenor. While Outland itself is very interesting in its own right, one of the things I find fascinating about Draenor is that we do not know what it looked like. While we have a good understanding of one large continent (of which most survived as Outland), we don't know the entirety of that continent, nor do we know whether or not any other pieces of the lost red world survived.

What we do know is that Draenor died when Ner'zhul, the former elder shaman and de facto ruler of the Horde remnants that survived Gul'dan's treachery and Doomhammer's defeat, tried to use stolen magical artifacts to open portals to new worlds, hoping to find one to lead his people to settle on. He did this because the warlock magics taught to Gul'dan by Kil'jaeden had effectively rendered Draenor unlivable.

While Draenor was the homeworld of the orcish people, who evolved there, it was not named by them. Rather, it was the draenei fleeing the Burning Legion who gave the world its name. Draenor means "exile's refuge" in the eredun language. In addition, it was the arrival of the draenei and the naaru that led to the entrenched ancestor worship of the orcish people, as K'ure's tomb in Oshu'gun (the remains of the draenei vessel) attracted the spirits of the deceased to it. In turn, these spirits deliberately created a religion among their own descendents that would venerate K'ure's resting place, weaving orc and draenei together spiritually.

Draenor was a world of its own, and we barely knew it. And it's not the only world we know about in the Warcraft cosmos with strange, unexplained mysteries.

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Know Your Lore: Otherworldly mysteries originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: The evolution of Azeroth's creatures

Anne Stickney — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

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Know Your Lore: The evolution of Azeroth's creatures originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 06 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: Fire stolen from heaven, fire stolen from hell

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Burning Crusade, Lore, Know your Lore, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria

Ragnaros the Firelord, ruler of the Firelands and mastermind behind the invasion of Mount Hyjal and power behind the Molten Core, has been ultimately defeated in his own demesne, and the fire elementals are now scattered and leaderless. They pose little threat to the world for some time to come.
Likewise, Al'Akir's servants can call for his aid, but he's not likely to answer, having himself been deposed and slain alongside his son Thunderaan and even powerful servants like the Conclave of Wind and Prince Sarsarun. The air elementals are even more disrupted than those of fire.
Neptulon the Tidehunter may not be dead, but he's currently missing, having been seized by Ozumat and taken elsewhere, his ultimate fate as yet unknown. The naga invaded the elemental plane of water itself and may well still be there alongside the faceless ones.
While Therazane the Stonemother herself endures (the only elemental lord to still rule a plane), Deepholm itself has suffered much throughout the Cataclysm. Not only did Deathwing shatter the World Pillar (it was repaired, but for a time the Maelstrom threatened to collapse into Deepholm and Azeroth along with it), but wars broke out between the Twilight's Hammer and the servants of Therazane as well as the stone troggs and the earthen. Meanwhile, a titan designed waygate leading directly to Uldum was found.
With all of this, one might almost forget that the Destroyer himself, Deathwing, has met his own end at last. In addition, the four remaining dragon aspects (Nozdormu, Alexstrasza, Ysera and Kalecgos) have lost some measure of their former titan-bestowed power -- at least their immortality, and possibly more. With Deathwing's death, the Twilight's Hammer cult (the main instrument of the Old God's will on Azeroth) has also suffered greatly, their forces destroyed, their leaders such as Cho'gall, the Twilight Prophet and lesser lights like Warmaster Blackhorn.

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Know Your Lore: Fire stolen from heaven, fire stolen from hell originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 02 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore, TFH edition: Sargeras was right

Anne Stickney — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

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.

Imagine if you will a perfectly nice little wooded area, teeming with wildlife. Here, there's a bird's nest; there, a small group of deer peacefully grazing on the grass. Over the hill lives a small pack of coyotes that will eventually hunt the deer, but it helps keep the deer population down. Circle of life and all that. Some years, the wildlife flourishes; other years, water is scarce and so is food. Those are the lean times, but somehow the little wooded area continues to thrive on its own, waxing and waning its way through the years.

Now imagine that little wooded grove gets targeted for development. All woodland creatures are systematically driven out of the area or killed. The lovely trees are ripped from the ground one by one. The grass is torn up, dirt and earth moved and leveled out. And one by one, houses pop up where the wooded area used to be. Clean and tidy paved roads, white picket fences all in a row, pretty if bland houses plunked into symmetric lots carefully designed for the maximum use of space. Those who live in the houses may occasionally see a deer out the window, a remnant of the wood that no longer exists.

Which is better?

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 and what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore. But they're interesting!

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Know Your Lore, TFH edition: Sargeras was right originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: Rexxar, Champion of the Horde

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

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 a few years since we caught up with Rexxar, hasn't it? Despite the fact that he hasn't gotten any new screen time since he showed up to save Orgrimmar from the elemental invasion, Rexxar is on my mind of late. In truth, I pretty much covered Rexxar's life in broad strokes during the interbellum pieces The coming of Rexxar and Rexxar saves the Horde. This won't be a post rehashing all of that. We will discuss it, but in terms of what it means for the Horde right now and the Horde in the future.

With what we know about what's coming, the office of Warchief of the Horde will be contested. It's likely that Thrall may return to assume the mantle of Warchief again. But frankly, his time as World Shaman means that he has assumed a far greater and more demanding responsibility, that Thrall has Azeroth as his responsibility and his charge. Can he truly be both? And more importantly, should he? Whether or not you believe Thrall is the ultimate choice for Warchief of the Horde, I posit that he never would have endured in the role without the help of others, those who could be the mailed fist he could never truly be.

Before Varok Saurfang and Garrosh Hellscream led Horde forces to Northrend, one figure strode across the face of Kalimdor and beyond it, and through his actions defeated Theramore and saved the Horde. That one figure was Rexxar, born to the Mok'Nathal clan, a beastmaster of half-ogre descent. For his actions, he was named Champion of the Horde.

And the Horde sorely needs its champion again.

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Know Your Lore: Rexxar, Champion of the Horde originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: Velen, the Prophet

Anne Stickney — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

I failed long ago to turn my brothers from their course. And creation has paid the price.

How must it feel to be ageless? To watch as millennia tick by, each century the span of a breath and gone in an instant? To the draenei, the lives of humans must seem incredibly short-lived. To the Prophet Velen, who is at least 25,000 years old, we must seem like motes of dust, winking in and out of existence so quickly that we can scarcely be recognized as entities before we cease to exist. Velen has led the draenei through terror and triumph, from world to world, always gently spreading the benevolent message of the Light to any who wish to hear.

Yet for a being of such grace, purity and peace, Velen is also a creature of unfathomable sorrow. For Velen has been granted the gift of Sight, and with the gift he can see the infinite paths of futures that may not be, of worlds born and fallen in the blink of an eye. And despite that gift, Velen cannot prevent what is yet to pass. He cannot prevent that which has gone before, and will come again. And he could not prevent the path his friends chose, nor could he persuade them their new ally was in fact a monster so horrific that his hellish grasp would wreak havoc on immeasurable worlds.

For one that treasures life in the way only the Light can teach, it is a heavy burden to bear.

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Know Your Lore: Velen, the Prophet originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: What if Stormwind had won the First War?

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Know your Lore

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.

What if ...?

It's one of the most dangerous two-word phrases in the English language, my friends. What if leads us down roads strewn with nevers, could have and didn't after didn't.

This week, we're going to look at what would have happened if a few decisions had been made differently. What if Stormwind had never fallen? What if the Horde had lost the First War? On the surface, it seems like an easy question to answer. Stormwind never falls and Varian Wrynn's dad Llane gets to stay king with his heart inside his chest. Everyone's happy, right? (Well, everyone but the orcs.)

But the world would be vastly different without the rise of the Horde to prominence on Azeroth. Without the disastrous defeat of one of humanity's nations, there would be no Alliance of Lordaeron, no Thrall, no Second War, no death of Gul'dan at the Tomb of Sargeras, no Alliance Expedition, no destruction of Draenor by Ner'zhul's reckless sorcery -- the closer one gets to the present-day World of Warcraft, the more unrecognizable it becomes.

We can't answer for every possibility. We can't establish an absolutely canonical scenario for what would have happened, and we'd be fools to try. But we can look at the ramifications of the First War and consider their immediate implications and what would have come from them.

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Know Your Lore: What if Stormwind had won the First War? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: Algalon the Observer

Anne Stickney — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

I have seen worlds bathed in the Makers' flames. Their denizens fading without so much as a whimper. Entire planetary systems born and razed in the time that it takes your mortal hearts to beat once.

The Titans are creatures of myth and mystery to the mortals of Azeroth. While some Azerothians (most notably Brann Bronzebeard) seek to unravel their secrets, most remain blissfully unaware and uncaring of the origins of the world. But the mysteries Brann works so hard to uncover more often than not raise far more questions than they answer, and in some cases, create havoc that could reduce our world to ashes in the blink of an eye.

In Ulduar, Brann sought to uncover the further secrets of the origin of the dwarves, something that the Explorer's League has been working on since the early days of WoW and the first player steps into the Titan stronghold of Uldaman. But what Brann uncovered was a massive facility that wasn't just for the storage of information from times long past. The facility of Ulduar and its corrupt Titans weren't anywhere near as much of a threat to the world as what came after Loken's defeat in the Halls of Lightning. For it was the moment of his defeat that the failsafe was tripped and the signal was sent.

And it was Loken's death that heralded the arrival of Algalon the Observer and the end of the world.

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Know Your Lore: Algalon the Observer originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: Alleria Windrunner

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Know your Lore

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.

She was never Ranger-General of Silvermoon. She was bloodthirsty to the point of her own allies and friends fearing her. She was the first of her people in generations to leave Quel'Thalas behind, although she did so motivated to save it. She may have been the best archer and the fiercest warrior of her celebrated bloodline. She took her family's deaths so personally that she swore a blood oath of vengeance upon every orc and sent many to their deaths.

Alleria Windrunner's statue stands today in Stormwind, graced by the words of her sister Sylvanas. Alleria's legacy lives on both in the Horde (due to the presence of the blood elves and through Sylvanas as the Banshee Queen of the Forsaken) and the Alliance (thanks to her membership in the Alliance Expedition to Draenor and her sister Vereesa, head of the Silver Covenant). She was a force to be reckoned with during the Second War, the first of the high elves into the fray and leader of those of her people who traveled beyond the Dark Portal.

Alleria Windrunner is many things. The most important of those things is that she is missing. With her may have gone the last chance for peace or an unending voice crying out for war.

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Know Your Lore: Alleria Windrunner originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The secret of Pandaria

Anne Stickney — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

"It's just possible that the curious race we're going to meet in this mystic land, may just teach us a thing or two about who we are, and why we fight." -- Chris Metzen, BlizzCon 2011

What do we know about Mists of Pandaria? We've been told that the major conflict highlighted in this expansion will be between Alliance and Horde. We've also been told that this will be one of the bloodiest wars since the days of Warcraft II. We've been told that there will be consequences for our actions, and we were told when the expansion was announced at BlizzCon that the pandaren have something to teach us. So what's up with that? And what's up with the crazy map making a reappearance?

That's the funny thing -- it's all interconnected, possibly. Today we're going on a Tinfoil Hat trip through Mists of Pandaria to talk about my favorite crazy map, some theories on Azeroth, and why exactly Garrosh needs to be removed.

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 and what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.

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Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The secret of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: Never to rise again

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Know your Lore, Wrath of the Lich King

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 the revamped Scholomance Mists of Pandaria heroic in this post.

Arthas Menethil is dead.

He's not just dead; he's really, most sincerely dead. He is no more. He has ceased to be. Bereft of life, yes, but as Sylvanas Windrunner saw during her own recent experience in Northrend, he does not rest in peace. The Lich King lives on in the form of Bolvar Fordragon, but Arthas? Arthas is dead. No king rules forever.

And yet Arthas' hand reached far across the world before he died. Even before he became a Lich King, Arthas forever warped the world of Azeroth. Even before his soul was blasted and rent asunder by Frostmourne and he became a servant of the then-Lich King, the former Ner'zhul, Arthas destroyed a city by his own hand and his own will. What Arthas did can never be truly undone. As much as they hate him, the Forsaken of Undercity owe their freedom from the Burning Legion to Arthas' move against the Dreadlords following the Battle for Mount Hyjal. As much as she hates him, Sylvanas owes not only her current existence but the val'kyr that have twice raised her from death to Arthas.

Unlike Tinfoil Hat KYLs, this particular post is speculation and rumination without a theory to support or prove. It's musing on the nature of undeath, the role of the Lich King, the discordant notes and unreliable narrators of this particular part of the story. It asks several questions and does not have any answers to them.

Does Bolvar Fordragon sit alone atop the Frozen Throne? Does Sylvanas Windrunner rule herself? Can we trust the val'kyr's word? And if Arthas Menethil still existed within the Lich King, holding the Scourge in check, then what did Tirion Fordring destroy in the Cathedral of Darkness? What of Matthias Lenher?

I have no answers but many questions.

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Know Your Lore: Never to rise again originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: The curious dissonance of Alliance leveling

Anne Stickney — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

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.

Back when I was writing up the five must-do Horde zones and five must-do Alliance zones articles, I decided to play through those zones again just for experience's sake. In beta and the early days of Cataclysm, I spent a lot of time going through the Alliance 1-to-60 leveling zones and experiencing the content. I remember being really pleased with how well the zones were laid out and how nice it was to see actual story instead of just, "I'd like six pig heads; go get them from the field next door." After that experience, I played through them on Horde side and was terribly pleased to see they were just as well done on the other side of the faction fence.

I didn't really think about it afterwards, and it wasn't until I decided to do these two articles that I took it upon myself to level through these zones again. And this time ... something had changed, a little. Perhaps it was because it had been so long since I'd played through the Alliance zones. Perhaps it was because I had just finished experiencing the Horde zones when I went back to Alliance. But there was something very, very different about the experience.

While leveling as Horde, I was having all kinds of lighthearted fun mixed with bits of serious story. While leveling as Alliance, I felt like there was an oppressive weight bearing down on me at all times, and that weight was never really removed. Odd, that.

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Know Your Lore: The curious dissonance of Alliance leveling originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: The hour of the king

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Know your Lore, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Worgen, 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.

The King of Stormwind wears the crown on a troubled brow. He inherited the mantle as a child, not through a peaceful succession but through bloody violence and the destruction of his home. He wore it in exile and only came home with the death of the man who saved him and carried him away from the sight of his entire world burned to the ground. His entire life has been shaped by violent loss, by tragedy and death -- his mother dead before he even knew her, his father murdered and butchered in front of him, his replacement fathers cut down, his wife taken from him in a moment's passing by an errant rock thrown from a mob.

His early rule was most notable by his lack of desire to actually do much rulership, busying himself by riding the land in search of his father's killer or drifting though a haze of loss after his wife's death, a haze seized upon and manipulated by someone who was supposed to be a close advisor. The circumstances of his disappearance from the throne and his return have been discussed in detail. For now, all we need to do is accept that they did little to encourage him to view the throne as anything but a responsibility to be maintained in the face of constant peril.

Following the Northrend campaign and its heavy cost both to King Varian and the kingdom as a whole (Bolvar's death, as well as the many deaths at the Wrathgate; the invasion of Undercity and the destruction of Putress; Horde troops ambushing Alliance forces engaged with the Scourge; the astonishing cost in lives and resources), it would have been difficult for either the King or the kingdom to quickly recover. The eruption of Deathwing and the Cataclysm he caused did not allow the luxury of time. Reeling from one blow, they suffered another and another.

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Know Your Lore: The hour of the king originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: The haunting legacy of Grom Hellscream

Anne Stickney — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Know your Lore

I chose Garrosh because he has the strength to lead our people through these trying times. For all my supposed wisdom, there have been moments that I've barely been able to hold the Horde together. The Wrath Gate and Undercity displayed that clearly.

The Horde cries for a hero of old. An orc of true blood that will bow to no human and bear no betrayal. A warrior that will make our people proud again. Garrosh can be that hero. I did not make this decision lightly, Vol'jin.

I know our alliances will suffer for it. I know the Horde will be irreversibly changed. But I made this choice with confidence that Garrosh is exactly what the Horde needs. I'm trusting you and the other leaders to not let this divide our people. You are stronger than that.

Let's just cut to the chase here: It was revealed in the press event information that Garrosh Hellscream, current Warchief of the Horde, will have his reign abruptly ended in Mists of Pandaria. The son of the great Grom Hellscream will no longer be Warchief, and it's not only the Alliance that will be participating in his dethroning -- it's the Horde as well. Though it may seem like a rash course of action, in all honesty, this has been coming for a very, very long time.

After all, he is the son of Hellscream.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: The haunting legacy of Grom Hellscream

Know Your Lore: The haunting legacy of Grom Hellscream originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Lore: The undead, part 3 -- the cold, bleak future

Matthew Rossi — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Know your Lore, 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.

One of the things I've most wanted to make clear in this series is that neither the Scourge nor the Forsaken have the monopoly on undeath now. The Scourge were joined by the will of the Lich King, and the Forsaken defined by their defection from the Scourge's ranks under Sylvanas Windrunner, but neither group created the state and neither has exclusive control over the creation of new undead. There are still vast numbers of Scourge in Northrend today, milling about under the control of the new Lich King, held in check but still a potential threat to the world. The Forsaken grow in numbers and might due to no small part to Sylvanas' deal with the val'kyr and her own experiments with the Plague of Undeath.

But both of these groups, for all their numbers, are not the only means to create more of those trapped between life and the sepulcher. The Risen (former Scarlet Crusaders from Stratholme and Tyr's Hand, now enslaved by Balnazzar), ancient and modern self-willed undead, and even those directly cursed by unfathomable forces (such as the continent of Kalimdor itself) have all existed over the years.

With the parting of the Mists of Pandaria, it would be easy to forget that the lands of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms will not be standing still. We know that both Scarlet Monastery, home of those remaining forces that did not make the trip to Northrend as part of the Scarlet Onslaught after the onslaught of Acherus, and Scholomance itself will see new developments, new stories. As we turn our attention away from these cold, chill places, the dead refuse to remain quiet.

Continue reading Know Your Lore: The undead, part 3 -- the cold, bleak future

Know Your Lore: The undead, part 3 -- the cold, bleak future originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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