Salthier, A Day in the Life

Salthier looked down into his hands as he gripped the mace firmly. The handle was long and wrapped with tough leather for easy handling. The head was rectangular and glowed a feint green, probably imbued with the essence of nature by the Night Elves who had crafted the weapon. Spikes lined the handle right below the head, as deadly as they were decorative. It was a well crafted weapon, made even more unique in that it was only given to those who proved themselves worthy to the Cenarion Expedition by helping their fight against the Naga within the Coilfang Reservoir. It truly was the Earthwarden. It was a shame he would never swing it.

Long ago, Salthier had been knowledgeable of weapons, but now as a Druid he had know practical use for it, other than the magic it was created with. He would wear it with pride, a visible depiction of his rank and dedication to the cause of his people, but when it came to battle, the claw and the tooth would be his weapons. These things had never failed him as he bonded with the spirit and form of the bear and the cat.

Salthier left the calmness of Zangarmarsh in a flash of feathers and flew to the center of activity in Outland, Shattrath City. He set down in the heart of the Scryer tier and became himself once more, the mace easily visible on his back. He made his way to the inn and checked for any recent correspondence from home. Lal had sent him some spicy crawdad, his favorite, magically preserved so as to not spoil and be available to use while out adventuring. He chuckled as he read her note, chiding him for not taking his lunch with him that morning. Sadly he would not see her until later today, as the Shattered Sun kept her busy running around Outland. He had another letter too, this one from Elionene.

Elionene often sent letters to Salthier informing him of her efforts in Karazhan. Some time ago, after she had gained the favor of the druids as well, she had turned her attention to the assistance of the Kirin Tor. She had some sort of fascination about Medivh and his tower and sought to learn all she could. The wizards were impressed, and Veritas saw it fit to have her begin leading a team into the tower weekly. The letter he had received was about the tower, as most of the letters tended to be lately. It was attached to a package with some weapons and armor obtained from the tower. Most of it junk with which he could create enchanting materials from. After briefly looking through the items in the package, Salthier began to read the note.

Hello Uncle,

We continue to have success in our research of the Ivory Tower. We have not yet found a way to completely neutralize the spirits within as they return week after week, but we have started to master their tactics and send them fleeing faster each time. The Kirin Tor are quite impressed, and have seen fit to bestow on me the highest rank possible without actually being an actual mage. However, I think the wizards from Dalaran are starting to turn their eyes to other problems. Recently they have called more of their brothers and sisters back to the ruined city in the Hillsbrad Region. I have not been privy to what they are doing, but I have heard rumors of dragons and the northern lands. It almost appears that they are preparing for another battle. It saddens me to see them leave the area around Karazhan. They may think they have discovered all they can from the tower, but I continue to grow more namored with it. Medivh kept a large number of notes on so many things. He has a whole section devoted to Kaldorei culture. Much of it has been lost to age and vandalism, but there is still much to learn. How did he know so much of us when we had not even encountered the humans until more recently?

Even as they leave, they have promised to let me continue my research in the tower at least for now. I plan to make good on that. There is one room that we have not yet ventured into. It is an observatory of some sort, but within is a Nether Dragon. How he got there, I am unsure, but he guards the access. He also appears to have lost his mind, as most all things that have dwelt too long in Karazhan have. Perhaps Mordenai would know who he is. I will have to ask him when I am next in Shadowmoon Valley.

I'm sure you found the package that accompanied this letter. Do what you can to make those items more useful. Hopefully in my next letter I will be able to tell you what the wizards are so anxious about. My attention is still with the tower, but I can't say I'm not curious about these whispers.

Love,

Elionene

Salthier folded the letter and placed it in his pocket. Strange that she would mention rumors of dragons and the north. The druids themselves had been discussing strange feelings on the wind and in the earth coming from a northerly direction. None of them knew for certain what it mean, but it was certainly an omen of things to come. Salthier was ready for it.

He walked towards the center of the City of Light and took the portal to Stormwind. Leaving the mage quarter, he made his way for the Keep of Stormwind to meet with several other ambassadors. There was to be a meeting among the Alliance about these rumors. Adjusting to the new weight on his back, Salthier strode quickly into the keep, eager to personally volunteer himself to be one of the first to discover the true face of these rumors.

Lessons in Lore - Varian Wrynn

If you've not done the Onyxia key quest chain, or wish not to be spoiled on the events surrounding the return of the king to Stormwind, you may want to skip this post.

I think I've mentioned before that I'm reading the series of WoW comic books available from Wildstorm Comics. The focus of these books is on Varian Wrynn, the rightful king of Stormwind. If anyone has done The Missing Diplomat quest line, you know how the story starts. The Defias Brotherhood, those disgruntled city builders turned bandits, kidnapped an important Diplomat from Stormwind, and whisked him away to the Dustwallow Marsh, where there seems to be Naga and the Black Dragonflight involved. I haven't done this questline, although I want to and plan to with my gnome rogue soon. The gist of it is that the Diplomat was actually the king of Stormwind, Varian Wrynn, and he dissappeared after the kidnapping, from the kidnappers as well as everyone else.

With the king missing, Anduin, his young son, was made king. But being so young he needed an advisor. In comes Lady Katrana Prestor and Lord Bolvar Fordragon. Bolvar is sort of an acting king on Anduin's behalf and an all around good guy. Lady Katrana Prestor is actually tyring to manipulate things from behind the scenes as an advisor as well. Yes, Lady Katrana Prestor is actually that evil black dragon, Onyxia. But I digress, this is about the king.

This is also a little more about recent lore. The comic books start with a man (who we will learn later is Varian) being captured by an Orc Shaman somewhere in Durotar and put into the gladiator circuit to make money for the orc. Varian does not remember who he is. He is partnered with a Night Elf and a Blood Elf. Eventually, they make their escape from being gladiators and find their way to Dustwallow Marsh and Theramore, where Jaina Proudmoore, along with the help of Aegwynn, yes the mother of Medivh, help Varian remember who he is.

Now remembering everything, Varian and his friends rush off to the other continent to return to Stormwind where Lady Katrana Prestor, and an imposter King Varian are trying to pull the wool over Bolvar and Anduin's eyes. As the real King Varian heads to Stormwind from Menethil Harbor, they help the dwarves defend Thandol Span and also end up venturing to Blackrock Depths to free Marshal Windsor from the prison and the Dark Iron Dwarves. This is about as far as the comics have gotten. Obviously a lot more happens in the comics, but I don't want to give it all away. Go read them!

So the point of bringing all this up is that Varian Wrynn is basically just doing the Onyxia key quest chain. If you've done it, you know it starts by doing some quests in the Burning Steppes, which lead to freeing Marshal Windsor from Black Rock Depths, which leads to a huge revealing event in Stormwind, which leads to a raid on Onyxia in her cavern in Dustwallow. The comics treat all of this as if we, the adventurers, didn't have a part in it, but the King of Stormwind did. I feel a little used.

Anyway, with the new patch coming out in a week or two, the new and improved Stormwind Harbor will be open, and King Varian Wrynn will have returned. Hey, the King's back! The next comic comes out on the 15th, so I'm hoping that it details a little bit of what brings Varian from Ironforge to Stormwind. I'm curious to see what he'll look like and what he'll be doing once he is back, too. Will he send us to Northrend? And why? How does that relate to his return? I'm getting anxious for the next expansion!

Lessons in Lore - Malygos, The Spellweaver

Malygos is the Dragon Aspect of Magic, and the leader of the Blue Dragonflight. At the beginnings of the world, the Titans left the dragon aspects in charge of affairs on Azeroth. Alexstrasza, the life giver, of the red dragonflight. Ysera, she of dreaming, for the green dragonflight, who we talked about before in reference to the Emerald Dream. Nozdormu, leader of the Bronze dragonflight, keepers of time, and the ones in charge of the Caverns of Time. And lastly, Neltharion, the earth warder, master of the Black Dragonflight, who corrupted, is today known as Deathwing.

Back in the day, before the war of the ancients and the fall of Neltharion, Malygos and his blue dragonflight were most intent on the uses of, the science of, and the art of magic. They were the most knowledgeable of the flights. Neltharion and Malygos were very close, as like to each other as brothers. This made it all the worse for Malygos when Neltharion betrayed them. Neltharion created the Dragon Soul, perhaps influenced by the Old Gods, and sought to bring the whole of the dragonflight under his power. Malygos was tricked into believe in the Dragon Soul was beneficial, and helped to convince all of the other dragons to join in giving power to the Dragon Soul. Instead, it gave Neltharion, now Deathwing power beyond power.

Deathwing proceeded to attack the dragonflights, nearly eradicating the entire host of Blue dragons. Malygos, retreated to his abode in Northrend, rendered mad by the loss of his fight and the betrayal of the Earth Warder. It would be many years before he was heard from again. The dragonflight was eventually able to free them from Deathwing's control, but the Dragon Soul, now called the Demon soul, ended up in the hands of the Dragonmaw orcs, who used it to capture and enslave the red dragonflight. The tale of their internment at Grim Batol is told in The Day of the Dragon by Richard Knaack. Krasus, of the red Dragonflight seeks the aid of Malygos to free the Red dragonflight. Malygos is at first reluctant, still mad with his loss. Krasus is eventually able to convince him to help by explaining how Deathwing is still at large, and was not completely defeated during the War of the Ancients. In the end, Alexstraza is freed along with the rest of the red dragonflight and pledges to assist the humans in their time of need for their part in rescuing her from the orcs.

The reason that this is important now is that we will be able to see Malygos at work in Northrend. It seems he has finally awoken from his madness, but he has seen what has become of the world over the last 10,000 years and is displeased. The humans are using arcane magic in greater amounts, and he fears that they will draw the burning legion to the world much like the High Elves did in Azshara many years ago, at the time Malygos lost his sanity. So he decides the best thing to do is wage a war against the humans, and especially against the wizards of the Kirin Tor. In response, the Kirin Tor move Dalaran to fight a double war against the Lich King, and against the Blue Dragonflight.

I'm actually a little upset by this development. First of all, I find it confusing that Malygos, who is one of the oldest and wisest of the dragon aspects, thinks that war with the Kirin Tor is a good option. For one thing, we've already beat down the Burning Legion in Outland and at the Sunwell. It's not like all the magic use is going to really cause them to be any more of a threat. On top of that, he's supposed to be coming OUT of his madness, but it seems like he's just jumping into a new madness, as the actions he is taking now have repercussions beyond just a typical war, such as the harnessing of ley lines and the effect that has on the world. So Malygos, who should know better, is creating new problems by trying to war against a single problem. On top of this, because of her oath to the humans, Alexstraza and the red dragonflight are helping the Kirin Tor fight against Malygos. I don't see how this can end well.

Malygos will be a raid boss in Northrend, similar to the Onyxia and Magtheridon now. Will we really be able to kill him? Is that the only way to handle the situation? And what will the repercussions of killing a dragon aspect be? I am at least looking forward to how these questions will be answered. And I'm thrilled that we'll be able to participate in these raids and the lore with 10 people.

WoW Fiction

I've read a few of the novels based on the warcraft games and really enjoyed them. From time to time I mention them here, such as when I did the lore post on Velen after reading about him in Rise of the Horde, by Christie Golden. On WoW Insider, they run a column every week called Ask a Lore Nerd, where people write in, ask lore questions, and the lore nerd answers them. This week, the column was partially about the fiction novels for Warcraft, and whether or not they were canon and which ones would be important to read.

First of all, I've really enjoyed all of the warcraft books I've read. They're all by different authors, so they each have different styles, but it's a lot of fun to read about places and characters and events and then to go and see those same things in the game. A prime example of this is Lord of the Clans, also by Christie Golden, which among other things covers the events of Thrall's escape from Durnholde Keep. After reading the book, you can then go and actually participate in the escape yourself. You actually know what the Keepers of Time are trying to preserve. When they talk about Taretha and her fate that is unavoidable, you'll know what that fate is. It provides another level of immersion, and lets you appreciate all of the work that goes into the lore of the game.

The Last Guardian, by Jeff Grubb will give you the history of Medivh and Karazhan. It's very well written and actually ties into a lot of other characters in lore, such as Khadgar and Anduin Lothar. The time period it takes place in is during the first war, AKA Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, so if you've been playing Warcraft since the first game, you'll appreciate it even more. You learn who Moroes was before just an undead boss in Kara, and there are some nice recognitions of events from the book in some of the items that drop.

Personally, I enjoyed the War of the Ancients trilogy, by Richard Knaak, but a lot of people dislike the way he writes, and the fact that his own characters seem to take the spotlight away from the more lore established characters. To some extent, I can understand this. However, the introduction to the Warcraft Archive, that includes several warcraft novels, is written by Chris Metzen, the creative director behind WoW who is responsible for a lot of lore behind the game we all play today. In that introduction he tells who Knaak, who was known for his Dragonlance novels, contacted Metzen to write a book about Warcraft. Metzen, who was a fan of Knaak's works, readily agreed, and together the hashed out a lot of the lore related to the dragon aspects. From this came Day of the Dragon, by Knaak.

Day of the Dragon would be a good read going into the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, as it deals with the Red Dragonflight, and the Kirin Tor, who will both be in Northrend for various reasons. War of the Ancients is all about the first battle with the Burning Legion and the Kal'dorei of Azhara, 10,000 years before current WoW time. What some people have issue with is that War of the Ancients involves time travel, placing characters from Day of the Dragon 10,000 years in the past, front and center with major players like Tyrande Whisperwind, and the Stormrage brothers, Malfurion and Illidan. It's hard because time travel always adds complications to a story, and it might have been better if just told from the point of view of the Night Elves rather than injecting Knaaks personal heroes into it. But I can't argue with it too much because Knaak and Metzen have worked together to create these stories and characters. And supposedly according to the Blizzard developers, all of the WoW fiction novels are to be considered canon, and part of the lore of the game.

I'm going to try and read Tides of Darkness, by Aaron Rosenberg next. It takes place after the second war (Warcraft II) and is about Anduin Lothar, someone I would like to know more about. There are a couple more books to check out too. But more than anything, I'm eager to see the next book from Christie golden.

Arthas.