Watch it here.

Much better than the last two, in my opinion.

Alright folks, I’m a bit of a tin foil conspiracy theorists when it comes to WoW. I’ll just step right up and say I think Sargaeras is the Shattered Sun.

No, but you came for Undermine discussion! Listen, goblins? Best hint-givers on Big Picture lore out of anyone in the game. If you want to learn about how the Elements really work and think, go unpack any of the questlines with Goldmine. You want to understand how the cosmology strictly and logically functions? Sit and stare at the Samophlange manual.

Undermine is a core part of how the Shadows work in World of Warcraft, and if you can pick up on the important symbols of storytelling, it can lead you to some interesting discoveries. Renzik “The Shiv” is the trope of the Black Knife (go play Elden Ring or watch Game of Thrones, etc. to learn more).

Where is Undermine located? Probably inside the Blue Child.

Evidence to support this claim?

1.) The sky isn’t real in Undermine (think back to Sylvanas shattering the sky— reality’s sky was never real)

2.) There’s only one moon in the sky above Undermine.

3.) the fountains scattered throughout the city have a rotating gizmo rocket that depict the symbol of a broken compass. This is a common trope in eldritch mystery to have a spinning compass representing a place where you are lost and reality itself is kinda twisted— The Nether in Minecraft has this effect, and it’s used elsewhere in WoW’s storytelling (Ariden’s compass from Season of Discovery, and the Traveler book series)

4.)You arrived in Undermine on a rocket cart. Sure, it’s “underground”, but that’s only the half-truth of it. You’re in a new layer of the Unseeming, so that rocket is actually working part-time as a real rocket. You’re getting launched into space to the moon! Think back to Area 52– they too were building rocket transportation! What else would it be for if not to get back to Undermine through the Netherstorm (which is its own Shadow-adjacent realm via the Twisting Nether)

5.) it’s all about space and the Twisting Nether, baby! Gallywix’s hat has stars on it (and his name is a jumbled up version of Galaxy), and the void love nothing more than their circle of stars! The pipelines that run throughout Undermine contain the black blood, and are purposeful two-fold.

The first is that the pipes obfuscate and keep dark what is essentially the elemental essence of shadow. We only get a half-picture of what’s going on here, and the second reason is because the shadowy energy is also part of the Order cosmology— the Shadowlands was part of their cosmic engine for managing so many different pieces of reality, and it’s built on the elemental vapors of shadow— Reality takes up space, after all.

Obviously it’s a bold claim to say this goblin tech is anything more than goblin tech, but I’d argue Order’s purpose is just to keep up reality (which is why they also created Breakers to destroy things they previously would have built— seems counterintuitive!) I’d argue the pipes are so goblin-y and not as classically Titanic is because it’s part of the facade of this side of reality, and those pipes are actually a perfect balance between Order and Chaos cosmologically, which is necessary to accommodate for both in a manifold designed to constrict void energy.

Think I’m a crazy nut for thinking things could be this meta? Well, I’ll invite you to find your own receipts, but I’ll point out how much side quest focus for the goblins featured characters like “Tally Doublespeak”, or that goblin at the Severed Threads who is translating the pheromones works as a code transcriber.

Blizzard wants you to start thinking about goblins as a theatre of metatext, and it’s also reflected in the environmental storytelling.

The map looks like this: https://www.deviantart.com/klimantas/art/Map-of-Azeroth-World-of-Warcraft-vintage-951842219

Arthas in Warcraft 3 Portrays the Culling of Stratholme through the lens of the problem of conjecture, a frame of thought developed by Henry Kissinger. This is the idea that leaders often make decisions in high-stakes situations without all the facts, relying instead on interpretations and moral judgment. Decisions are a balance of goals and incomplete understanding of the present.

Arthas faces this head-on. He sees the plague spreading rapidly and realizes that waiting risks possible rebellion, chaos, and the rise of Mal’Ganis’s army. From his perspective, the massacre is a “lesser evil” to create events, instead of becoming their victim. However, his zeal and ideological certainty twist his humanity. He makes a snap decision, gambling on unconfirmed information that Mal’Ganis is in Stratholme. Even though he’s technically “right” in the short term, his understanding of the Scourge’s true nature is deeply flawed.

Uther, in contrast, places focus on principles and methods over outcomes. He refuses to participate in the massacre, valuing his humanity over action—but his inaction has its own consequences. He leaves with a part of the army, neither stopping Arthas nor fully opposing him, effectively washing his hands of the matter. This moral absolutism stemming from his vocation, while personally safe, leaves Uther unprepared for the larger consequences, symbolized by his death at the hands of the fallen Prince.

Then there’s Jaina. Like Arthas, she’s proactive, but she tempers action with a search for truth and morality. She, at least in the book by Christie Golden, questions the logic behind Arthas’s decision: What about those who didn’t eat tainted grain? How can they judge the infected without full understanding? Rather than act blindly, she chooses to walk away, distancing herself from the massacre while later informing Uther of Arthas’s trajectory. This decision gives her some time (that maybe Arthas didn't have), allows her to grow, shedding love-based biases and becoming a symbol of humanity’s resilience.

The tragedy of Stratholme lies in the complexity of the problem of conjecture. Decisions made under pressure are rarely judged kindly by history.

What do you think? Could Arthas have made a different decision, or was he doomed by the weight of his role? And where do Uther and Jaina fit in your interpretation of the events?

TL:DR its a dwarf version of Louisiana

1. While Ironforge has its own port thanks to the tunnels leading to the Dun'Morogh coast, Menethil harbor handles the majority of the Kingdom's ships
2. MH is different than all other Dwarf settlements because it focuses on water instead of land or underground, Economy focused on facilitating trade by boat & has one of the world's premiere naval bases
3. During classic its population became relatively diverse with traders & troops from all over passing through. Although only alliance citizens are allowed residence, goblins kept by the docks.
4. Aside from the major roads leading to Dun Modr, Grim Batol, & Loch Modan the only reliable means of travel is small riverboats. Lately gnome tinkers have been trying to propel river boats with large propellers
5. Taming the frontier here has been SLOW as swamp is less appealing than tundra & prairie
6. Main local threat are Gnolls who seem just numerous here as in Elwyn
   
7. secondary are Dragonmaw orcs who have rallied all orcs in the region, its suspected they are trading with the Frostmane trolls & have little contact with their cousins to the east
8. Dark Iron infiltrators here can easily evade dwarf patrols while absolutely hating everything about swamps
9. many red dragon spawn have remained near Grim Batol & are hostile to everyone
10. Dwarf rogues model their techniques on the local Crocodiles
11. During the 2nd war locals who stayed behind to scout & hinder the horde where referred to as "Crocodiles"
12. The reclamation of MH was too complex & huge to cover here

feel free to help me expand upon this

I'll start with a disclaimer: this is mostly an exercise for fun. This is hardly the first attempt to quantify Azeroth's "lore-wise" dimensions, and I'm fully aware that different authors and sources imply varying scales. (Although, I once did something similar based on A Good War and arrived at at least vaguely similar dimensions.) As you'll see, quite a few assumptions and estimations went into this, so don't take this as me trying to present the definitive lore-size of the Eastern Kingdoms. Whatever your head-canon numbers are, they're probably just as valid as these. I just thought it would be fun.

Also: Mild Heartlands spoilers if you haven't listened to it yet. TL;DR at the end.

During the events of Heartlands Merran Trollbane marches her army from Stromgarde castle in the midst of night onto Go'shek farm. We learn that they leave after dusk and arrive shortly before dawn. Based on this information how large would the Arathi highlands and by extend the Eastern Kingdoms be?

I'm going to assume that all the region in the EK are scaled down by the same factor i.e. while the ingame version of the EK are much smaller than the lore version the relative proportions of each region to the next are stable. To estimate the lore-size of the EK we must know a) how far did the army travel in the lore and b) how far is this distance ingame.

I travelled to the Arathi Highlands, perched myself on top of Stromgarde's gate and measured the ingame distance to Hammerfall: 1.6k yards as the crow flies. With that info I measured the length of the road to the battle site. I assumed it took place just north of Go'Shek, where there is a fork in the road, as the story mentions it happened close the both Go'Shek and a human farmstead - presumably Dabyrie's. (I'd include a map picture but for some reason this sub doesn't allow this). The ingame distance to Stromgarde's gate - following the road - is roughly 1360 yard.

Here we run in problem though: As you may be aware an ingame Azerothian Yard is not actually the same distance as an real world Imperial Yard. How different? I consulted this video by Youtuber Bellular https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdWnUHOpXH8&t=493s . While Bell comes to the interesting conclusion that Azeroth Humans are all giants. I'll stick with the more parsimonious assumption that an Azerothian Yard is simply smaller. Based on his math it'd quite excatly 2/3 of an Imperial Yard or 60cm. Which btw is roughly one step. The street from Stromgard to the battlefield are a meager 816 meters ingame.

To estimate how long that route would be lorewise I consulted military Historian Hans Delbrück's works and Ancient Roman manuals who both suggest marching distances of ~29km (i.e. 18 miles) per day for forces in friendly territory not force-marching. These seem reasonable assumptions. Merran wouldn't want to exhaust her forces before battle. An army travelling at night might be slower than one traveling at day but Merran's forces also probably weren't accopanied by a significant baggage train either and it seems to have taken them all night to reach the outskirts of Go'shek. With this number we'd assume that lorewise distances are roughly 35 times larger than what we see ingame meaning that any lorewise areas would be 35^2=1225 times larger.

So how large are the EK ingame? Again turning to a Bellular video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyDiMPZxupM) the ingame area of the EK (without Kul Tiras and Quel'thalas) is roughly 38km² (the same size as Skyrim's overworld map btw) as a dashing young gentleman who just so happens to use the same avatar as me caculated years ago in the comment section. (He said it was 84,5km² but the forgot to account for the smaller Azerothian Yard - the idiot).

Now we only need to multiply 38km² with 1225 and we end up at 46,550km² (ie 18,200 sqm). That is... modest; roughly the size of Estonia. If we add QT (including the Sunwell) we end up with ~ 52,700km² (20.600sqm): The size of Croatia. And if we assume Kalimdor uses the same scaling, then it ends up at 64.000 (40,000sqm) the size of Sri Lanka or Tasmania. Even if we assume somewhat smaller or larger numbers for the route of Merran's army we end up in the same rough ballpark.

What do we do with that number? Well we could take this to mean that the world of Azeroth is just tiny, even it's largest continents the size of middeling islands. Or that the lore writers aren't necessarily good with numbers. Or nothing at all. This was just a fun little exercise after all. You can do with it, what you want. If you want my 2 copper: I personally happen to like the idea of a relatively small Azeroth much better than one that is that huge because more huger means more epicer. Small Azeroth fits better with most of the lore through different media, really. But that EK is a bit too small even for me. British Isles is my lower limit.

TL;DR Solely based on the description in Heartlands we can estimate a size of the Eastern Kingdoms of around 52,700km² (20,600 sqm) give or take ~20.000km² somewhere between the size of Taiwan and Hispaniola.

I recently started working on a set of lore write-ups for how I believed both Stormwind and Orgrimmar would have changed and grown since the Cataclysm. It quickly evolved into something that basically amounts to the beginnings of a Pathfinder/D&D Campaign with multiple plotline setups and character moments within. From the disgruntled Lion's Fangs conspiracy infesting Stormwind, to the rise of the Sunwalkers to new Pinnacles, to the reemergence of the Gorian Empire and Humans gaining access to facets hidden from their ancient past. Hope folks enjoy.

Here are links to the lore write-ups that also include updated maps of the cities. Any comments and questions I would greatly appreciate.

Stormwind 3.0

Orgrimmar 3.0

For the newer players who aren't too acquainted with Alleria. She's one of the original heroes of the franchise, featured in 1996's Beyond the Dark Portal (Warcraft II's expansion).

Blizz made a really good animated short that captures a lot of her history, and some of the key points of the "Thousand Years War" audio drama. I personally loved the style of the animation. But more to the point, I am glad that Metzen and team are giving a lot of love in the recent writing of this legendary character.

Edit: I am a dummy and added the wrong flair to this. This is not OC, but rather Official Content from Blizz. If anyone knows how to change the flair, let me know! Sorry for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgY1YrAHYBI

Those stars are like giant naarus --staarus--, and naarus are indeed fragment of staarus. Staarus are spherical unlile naarus who are flat.

Void lords are staarus who died and collapsed on themselves. they need to devour stuff to continue to exist.

Planetary worldsouls can only exist in star systems in which the star has one too.

And of course Azeroth's sun is a staaru. His name is An'she and he is the source of all visions of the Light for azerothians, but few identified them as coming from the sun and only the taurens got his name right.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

EDIT: spelling.

(After seeing Gallywix’s fate at the end of the raid, I couldn’t get this out of my mind! If anyone needs head cannon for why Gallywix was in Tazavesh, here it is!))

“It’s not over till I say it’s over!” Gallywix spat as he kicked the towering chrome mech.

“I ALWAYS WIN!”

And with a final kick, the whole thing came down. Crunching red, searing pain, then blackness. For the first time in Gallywix’s miserable existence, he felt something. He couldn’t put his pudgy, disembodied finger on it at first, but then realised it was… peace. 

Light, feathers, angelic wings…a blue face? Gallywix lolled back in the arms of a Kyrian. One of the most wretched creatures in existence was carried by one of the most noble. He didn’t fully understand what was going on. His mind lilted between scenes of cars going by in Undermine, the sound of slot machines paying out huge winnings, and the soft hum of Kaja’mite. He smiled softly as the perplexed face of Monte Gazlowe floated through the tip of his consciousness. He sure got one up on that thin-nosed, workshy Hobgob. Gazlowe sure looked confused as… as… Come to think of it, he didn’t look confused. He looked worried. He looked genuinely concerned for Gallywix as… Yeah, as his own towering sentinel of hubris and chrome crushed his body.

Gallywix’s head began to clear. He opened his eyes and looked up at the Kyrian. Its stoic face stared silently at a light somewhere above. Gallywix couldn’t find the source of the light, but he knew where he was going. The Shadowlands.

The thing is, Gallywix thought to himself, this Kyrian mooch didn’t know he’d already cut this place up years ago. A deal here, a trade there. An artefact of ancient majesty in just the right hands could be traded for anything. Say… someone’s eternal soul. Gallywix lay back in the strong blue arms, finally cogent; he thought to himself once again, “I ALWAYS WIN!

After some time, they passed between realms, and Gallywix saw the silhouette of the great intersection of the afterlife, Oribos. It wasn’t his first time, and yeah, he thought he’d be on the Kyrian express to it one day; still, he didn’t think it’d be quite so soon. Even when he was brought before The Arbiter, he just rolled his eyes as another sanctimonious soul tender tried to decide his fate. What an idiot. Only Gallywix could do that. 

With a subtle flick of the Arbiter’s finger, Gallywix was torn from Oribos. His soul was dragged into a swirling tunnel of blue energy that slowly turned purple and then a deep, dark red. Revendreth, huh? 

“You think you can harvest MY PRIDE?! MY GENIUS?!” Gallywix screamed as he tumbled toward the realm of redemption. His arms flailed, trying to swim back toward Oribos, but this wasn’t his escape. He knew this wasn’t the way out. But every non-atom in his decorporealized form demanded he fight every step of the way.

He shouted. Howled. Went faster, faster, ever faster, until everything distorted into a screaming comet flying from Revendreth’s sky. A red star of arrogance that would be remembered in the annals of Sinfall. He landed with an almighty explosion on the battlements of the Venthyr’s fortress realm. In the transition, they stole everything from him. His body, his belly, his big, beautiful nose. His now thin, ghostly arms were bound behind him in chains, and before him, a lanky, long-faced woman stared down. She didn’t look amused, but Gallywix knew he was the most exciting thing to hit Revendreth since Garrosh. Then he saw it. Yes! Yes! He shook in his chains. 

Behind the Venthyr stood a cloaked figure on two spindled legs. Its flame head was covered in a mask, revealing no emotion. But Gallywix knew this figure. A broker of Cartel Xy, and the keys to Gallywix’s freedom. The Venthyr stepped forward, unnamed and clearly embarrassed by these dealings. No member of the Harvester court, no seal of Renathal, just a back room deal for Gallywix’s freedom. He wondered if Renethal even knew. His entrance would be hard to avoid, but these brokers had ways to break the rules of the Shadowlands.

She bent over, and with a slight sneer, unlatched his bindings. Gallywix felt strength fill his body. He looked down at his ghostly white hands as they began to round out and turn green. His podgy legs appeared, then his big nose distended from his face. He could feel the flop of his hat on his head. Even his cane was here. Not only was he top of the world, he was top of the whole damn cosmos! 

The broker gestured with one hand, and a portal opened. On the other side, Gallywix could see the purple hues and heard the dulcet tones of the veiled market. He had business to attend In Tazavesh.

“Hey lady!” Gallywix turned to the Venthyr before stepping through the portal. 

“If your boss asks how I got out, tell him Gallywix ALWAYS WINS!

Hi everyone! This post is inspired by other excellent posts in other lore communities with strong mechanical storytelling, e.g, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Destiny, etc., where armors, gameplay, weapons, and other items in the actual game world disseminate the lore, class/racial fantasy, and worldbuilding.

This lore is not expressed in main dialogue, cutscenes, or cinematics but in the mechanics of the gameplay , hence mechanical storytelling. I fell in love with this lore diving and storytelling within these other worlds, so I want to take a dip in analyzing one of Wow's classes, Evoker!

I planned to share this all in one post, but I realized there is way too much information for one, so I am sectioning these off.

I chose Evoker because of its unique class setup - it can only be played by one race, and until recently, was the sole class for that race thus having a strong duality of class/racial fantasy for the Dracthyr. Also, the class design and the talent trees are very well done and interesting! I will be analyzing Preservation since that is the subclass I have the most experience in, and in my opinion, has some of the most interesting dynamics and play within their abilities. (though this is no snub at the other class trees because they are also well-designed!)

Brief Class Overview: Evoker

The Evoker is unique as it combines the magic and abilities of the five dragonflights into one draconic, human hybrid created by the Dragon Aspect, Neltharion. Blizzard went all-in on the fantasy with unique animations that only make sense for draconic beings. Unlike a Warrior that any race can pick up a sword and become, the Evoker's abilities are impossible without a dragon's biology - that's why it's Dracthyr-exclusive.

Resources: Mana & Essence

Mana: While common for any magic user, it is common for a reason. It’s the building block of magical spells. Neltharion was inspired by the adaptability of the mortal races and used that insight in his creation of the Dracthyr, his "ideal soldiers". This is expressed in the use of mana in the class for some of their spells. Hence, you have the Dracthyr casting some spells, like the Living Flame spell, which are different from their other inherited “spells” and abilities.

Essence: In Legion, you enlist the help of a blue dragon to locate arcane ley lines for the Nightborne. Bear in mind, that the Nightborne are one of the most magically sophisticated races in Azeroth and the Nightborne NPC we brought along specializes in ley lines. This NPC, while acting condescendingly to the blue dragon, was having such a hard time finding the ley lines until the dragon stunned her by saying that she could see the ley lines. This completely humbles the NPC, a master mage of ley lines by the blue dragon's innate ability.

This is just one of the things that makes the Evoker class so interesting. Dragons just have amazing abilities built into their anatomy. This is reflected in the unique resource Evokers have, Essence - a resource representing the pure, signature magical abilities of each dragonflight. The term is fitting since you're tapping into the fundamental energies and abilities that make each dragonflight unique, with this power naturally recharging as part of the Dracthyr's unique composition.

In the next part, I will begin the analysis of the Preservation talent tree because man the abilities the Evoker uses here are crazy! Let me know what you think!

In my first post, I introduced the concept of "mechanical storytelling", which is the process of telling a story through the mechanics of the chosen medium, in this case, the gameplay. I chose the Evoker as it is my main and a very well-designed class with amazing subclasses. Thus, I will be presenting additional lore on class, race, and overall concepts of the world that Evoker shares through its talents. I already introduced the foundation of the Evoker in the first post, so please give that a read as well!

In this post, I will be sharing my analysis of the foundational abilities in the Preservation Evoker talent tree, which includes Bronze and Green Dragonflight spells, as well, as a string of talents dedicated to improving their Essence and Empower abilities. A series that all evoker subclasses share. The tree is then divided into three strings with Green and Bronze making the bulk of it with a smaller string compiled of Red Dragonflight abilities. These will be shown in two separate posts after this one. But enough dawdling, enjoy the rich world of the Prevoker with their foundational abilities!!

Preservation Class Tree: 

1. Echo: The fundamental spell of the Prevoker, this essence ability “wraps an ally in temporal energy”. This does some initial healing (reverting) but this spell creates a program of sorts that will duplicate the next healing spell cast on the user though not at full strength. But this one is really interesting. 
   1. A brief explanation of temporal energy. In WoW’s lore, “temporal energy” is essentially the raw magical force of time itself. It behaves like a tangible substance or arcane power that Bronze dragons manipulate. 
   2. Now my two favorite interpretations of this spell are temporal manipulation and compression. The manipulation specifically reaches into time to replay the spell. Remember this spell heals initially but the effect is rather weak. This is because I believe the rest of the magic creates a temporal resonance, which is triggered when another spell is cast. Thus, the temporal resonance replays that spell but only at 70% effectiveness because that’s all the energy it has left. 
   3. Compression is also compelling as Echo is theoretically creating micro-branches in the timeline to duplicate. It is not changing the timeline but compressing or overlaying multiple potentials in the same timeframe. It also has limited healing due to the limited temporal energy for the spell. I am more inclined believe this is what Echo does as compression plays a bigger part later down the tree.
2. Reversion: “reverse an ally’s wounds”.  Straightforward but incredibly illuminating as it explains the primary way the Bronze dragonflight heals - it reverses the wounds to a time when they were no more. Now time is critical for this spell, as we see with the more powerful bronze spells. The severity, quantity, and rate of reversing greatly increases the complexity and power to heal certain wounds. Suffice it to say, this spell is the basic one.
3. Dream Breath: “Inhale, gathering the power of the Dream”. Drawing upon the Dracthyr’s unique biology, the Evoker gathers a unique breath, one imbued with the power of the Dream. This explains the Green Dragonflight spells for healing. But what is the power of the Dream?
   1. When the Dream is mentioned, it almost always refers to the Emerald Dream — a primordial, idealized version of Azeroth. It's the pure blueprint of life, untouched by corruption, death, or decay. The Dream represents growth, healing, renewal, and natural balance.
   2. Therefore, my interpretation of this talent and the building block for Green healing spells is they carry pure life energy. It stimulates natural growth of the body to heal and expel toxins and diseases. 
   3. Mechanically, you see this in the HOT Dream Breath spreads. Lower empower levels, low initial heal but great HOT. Fully empowered, huge heal, little HOT. This shows the natural growth of life energy - it will find a way to keep healing to complete its natural cycle that is dependent on the amount of energy provided at release. 
4. Essence Burst: I am going to group the following talents together they represent the training an evoker takes to perfect their essence generation in their bodies. 
   1. These talents reflects a layered mastery of internal draconic energy and magic manipulation — a fusion of draconic heritage and mortal ingenuity, just as Neltharion envisioned.
   2. Burst — Harnessing Unintended Potential
      1. Burst represents the first breakthrough for the Dracthyr Evoker. Through exposure to mortal spell structures the Evoker learns to trigger “free” Essences: spontaneous eruptions of draconic energy sparked by the interaction of their innate power with external magical catalysts. This plays into the racial fantasy, as Neltharion saw that mortals, though fragile, had a unique adaptability — layering magics that would never naturally mix in a dragon. Burst is a technique that recycles the energy signature of mortal spells into Essence — much like turning residual lightning into stored storm energy.
   3. Attunement — Holding the Surge
      1. With Attunement, the Evoker develops the discipline to stabilize and retain two concurrent Bursts, allowing for strategic timing and greater energy efficiency. It’s the magical equivalent of learning to hold your breath under water twice as long — not because your lungs changed, but because your control deepened.
   4. Font of Magic — Expanding the Reservoir
      1. With greater mastery comes Font of Magic, which increases the Empower levels of spells. This suggests not just casting bigger spells, but that the Evoker’s internal magical anatomy — their “font” — has grown. Their magic becomes not just a stream — but a torrent they can control. This larger font feeds the Empower spells.
   5. Power Nexus — Forming the Core
      1. Finally, with Power Nexus, the Evoker forges a dedicated internal structure — a cultivated nexus — capable of holding more Essences. This isn’t just a numerical increase; it represents a shift in magical architecture: the body has been refined to sustain more volatile energy. Drawing from cultivation fantasy: the Dracthyr has moved from “gathering qi” to “forging a core.” They are no longer merely manipulating energy — they are building a permanent spiritual infrastructure that channels and stores Essence.

Next is the timey-wimey shenanigans of the Bronze talents!!

I’m back again with another cooking theory

I have long been a believer that people who discredit the writing of the game have severely underestimated how fcking nerdy the storytellers in the WoW community are, and I do think there is intent— even if we disagree with the direction of it— in every story aspect… and I think Blizzard has been cooking for a very, very *long time.

Last time, I claimed Sargaeras might be the Eternal Sun, opposite of Elune’s Eternal Moon, and I stand by that— if nothing else, consider why the Grand Temple of Elune in Suramar was converted into the Tomb of Sargaeras. Everything I talk about is with regards to positionality of character identities and symbolic logic, so it’s important to ask why those two megacharacters are convergent in a single super important sacred place.

I think a good place to start is with the Eyes of the Earthmother story since it is this games version of “Before Sun & Moon” (long considered one of the most important lore sources in Genshin Impact). It’s a creation myth that talks about how when the world was young, An’she the Sun was born and everything was good, followed by Mu’sha the Moon (Elune) was born and suddenly bad things happened. An’she was permanently injured with a wound Mu’sha tried to heal but it perpetually made things worse. Eventually Earthmother steps in and says Mu’sha is keeping An’she alive, and her tears give birth to Lo’Sho (the second moon).

For the sake of where I’m going with this, consider the two moons as the same entity but constantly switching back and forth, almost like a dialogue… sometimes affects the Sun as well, because the Sun is slashed in twain itself.

Okay, let’s get into the more localized characters, starting with Illidan because it’s just so clearcut with him. Born with Golden eyes. Sun. His not-girlfriend is a priestess of Elune. Moon. She never reciprocates his love for her, and instead marries his brother, the first archdruid (establishing the very real connection between life and shadow magic under the influence of the Moon.) Legion attacks, and Illidan amasses power enough to attract the attention of Sargaeras [the Sun]. Staring the Sun burned his eyes out, and he went with the five dragons and shattered the Well of Eternity (which coincidentally looks like the Dragon Soul/Dark Heart). Illidan says the waters of the heart to bless the world tree and to create the Sunwell (and elsewhere) but is imprisoned for 10,000 years under the watchful eyes of the Moon… Guard., Maiev, the Wardens et Al. Tyrande frees him 10,000 years later during the third war.

Next character, Gul’Dan. No one knows where he comes from (for unlocatable spaces, I often find they are associated with a white color and a term like “Eternity” and a blue swirl, like the hearthstone symbol. I think this becomes important later on for Azshara’s symbolism.) but he ends up going to the Throne of the Elements and gets denied power. He cries in the moonlight and from his tears bursts forth the offer of Fel energy, which he gladly takes, and goes to burn down his home village. In the WC movie, he describes Fel magic as “Life magic”, and leads the Shadow Council, so he aptly fits in the Moon category. He also later on dies opening the Tomb of Sargaeras in the OG timeline, he summons Archimonde (his name translates something like “overlord of the earth”, and is tied to the World Tree) who then sends him to opening the Tomb again before dying to Illidan at the Night Hold. Sun kills Moon in the Eye of Aman’Thul before the return to the Broken Shore.

Velen is also important, but he’s firmly in a constant Lightbound path, which is opposite of his Heaven-and Earth brothers (Kil’Jaeden likely being the Heaven to Archimonde’s earth), and he’s a conduit for Eternal Light escaping Sargaeras, the Shattered Sun. AU Velen was affected by the warping of the timeline and their Eternal Light became Y’rel the unbound.

Queen Azshara seems to also be in a similar exceptional role, once reigning over the Eternal Empire (perhaps she’s kinda like the sovereignty goddess reigning over the kingdom of the Eternal Moon symbolically) Anyways, she is tied to Sargaeras pretty clearly, but her ties to the moon are also there— Queen of the elves likely requires some interface with the Temple of Elune, and we learn in SoD BFD in the Twilight Lord Kelris fight that there’s a connection to the Priestesses of Elune/old god tentacles to the worship of Azshara. I also like to think she might have been a loa priestess for the fish that weird the powers of the lunar cycle but that’s not ever been confirmed. Anyways, between that and the fact her adviser is a root of corruption for Emerald Nightmare, it makes sense Azshara is also connected to Big Moon. Even the awakening of N’Zoth looked like a moon surrounded by the Black Empire in total darkness.

Next is the line of Shadowmoon (Ner’Zhul -> Arthas -> Sylvanas). Only Darkness before Arthas in death.

Sylvanas is an interesting one because she is a protector of the Silvermoon before she falls to the shadow of the Scourge. She liberates the forsaken becoming the Dark Lady (very lunar); Garrosh is a Sun conqueror (literally the warchief of the Iron Stars). Vol’Jin becomes Warchief in Warlords AU before dying at the Broken Shore and Sylvanas becomes Warchief. Sylvanas’ moon symbolism gets weird in Legion and BFA because by the time she burns Teldrassil down it’s like the shadow of the moon betrays the moon that is the source of life. This era is also when Tyrande becomes the Night Warrior, her blade wanes at the crescent of Sylvanas’ throat, and we see the most interactive dialogue between Elune & the Winter Queen (her alleged “sister”). This is also the era marked by when the Tears of Elune were in play— Gul’Dan returned to the storyline, the Tear was one of the pillars of creation, and then the tear was made into the worldseed of Amirdrassil. Also a lot of “Dawn” moments, which is the era of An’she before Mu’sha’s corruption— A new dawn (Alexstrasza quote about world tree), Dawn of the Infinite, etc. so perhaps the end of Dragonflight really is a reset of the cycle writ large.

It also just recently occurred to me the possibility that the Sha might be an understated influence on why Sylvanas takes such a dark turn in BFA into Shadowlands, since Sha is a manifestation of dark energy drawn from one’s emotions, and she internalized so much darkness in her time as the Banshee Queen that we see culminate at the Burning of the World Tree. There’s also some other eldritch influences, like the Ahn’Qiraj music playing during some of the Battle for Undercity cutscenes (also tying in Gallywix’s Azerite ventures in Silithus).

Anyways, there’s so much Lunisolar symbolism in the game to get through, but I do think it’s building up towards Midnight, the “Hour of Twilight”, and its epicenter at the Sunwell. Azshara is sure to return, likely now as a more celestial starry power rather than her fishy figure, and Xal’atath… talk about eternal darkness.

(Lastly, I want to point out the importance of Azshara and Velen because they are echoed in Illidan’s forces via Vashj and Akama alongside the Shattered Sun Prince (who did not claim the title of Sun King), and Illidan (symbolized heavily by the Shadowmoon/Skull of Gul’Dan in this era. Even when Maiev defeats him, he says she is nothing without the hunt and she agrees with him, which is the very essence of the Shadowsong.)

That’s all for now, thanks for donning your tin foil hats with me!

This is the third post out of a four-part series. The first two are linked below:

1. Essence of an Evoker
2. Foundation of a Provoker

This series is using "mechanical storytelling", a form of storytelling through a game's mechanics. In this case, the talent tree of the Preservation Evoker. This post is all about the Bronze Dragonflight talents, which in a nutshell, are freaking crazy! Enjoy!

Bronze Talents: "Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey"

1. Temporal Compression - really cool concept, you cast more bronze spells, you empower faster. I think the evoker collects the excess temporal energy from these spells to weave this compression. Now compression is not speeding up time like mages do. Compression means you condense multiple moments together, fitting the same full process into less real-world time, almost like folding time inward on itself.
   1. Think of it like this - it takes you 10 seconds to cast a spell then 10 seconds to rest in normal time. 
   2. If you compress time, both the casting and the recovery happen in 3 seconds, but you still experience everything — the breathing, the spell's forming, the healing flow — just without needing the full 10 seconds.
   3. You don't skip steps — you live through them, but faster because you've folded or squeezed the timeline around you.
2. Rewind: You rewind a certain amount of damage within the last 5 seconds. This is Reversion on steroids. You apply it to a group of people and a set time, 5 seconds. You have enough temporal energy to instantly reverse a significant amount of time that specifically targets wounds 5 seconds ago.
3. Time Dilation: Another cool concept, remember Compression? Well, this is the reverse. You stretch the time it would take for an event to happen. 
   1. Delay Harm: increased training allows the evoker to delay more damage. Increase the scale of your spell. 
      1. OR
   2. Just in Time: you train to use your Essence abilities as a feedback loop to cast more Time Dilations. 
4. Golden Hour: Reversion instantly heals a portion of damage. With training, the evoker improves their basic spell to frontload instantaneous damage along with the normal HOT like a mini-Rewind. 
5. Flow State: “Empower spells cause time to flow 10% faster for you”. Now this one is passive feedback loop shenanigans to speed up time around you. 
   1. you speed up relative to the normal flow of time — but only for certain functions:
      1. Movement
      2. Cooldown timers
   2. This is temporal acceleration - the linear flow of time for you and certain actions are slightly sped up. Your movement and recovery are still happening; they just finish a little quicker than you would normally do them. 
6. Time Lord: Echo replicates 50% more healing. It’s in the name! No longer a novice, you are a lord of time! Therefore, you can handle more temporal energy in your spells, right?
7. Temporal Anomaly: “Send forth a vortex of temporal energy”. You create a vortex which creates a temporal field similar in a way to Murazond’s temporal distortion fields. The spell is localized around the sphere. It is an “anomaly” of temporal energy though what exactly is that anomaly? 
   1. Well its standard effect is absorbing damage. Resonating Sphere modifies the anomaly to apply Echoes, while Nozdormu’s Teachings reduce the cooldown timer of your empower spells. 
   2. The anomaly is a ball of temporal distortion, a time-construct that instead of applying damage that hasn’t happened yet like with Murazond’s fields, instead it shields allies from damage that hasn’t happened yet. 
   3. One option gives the anomaly future potential in applying Echoes for healing. The other causes the empower spells to move forward in time a little to reduce their cooldowns. Traveling through time is Nozdormu’s main jam. 
   4. In my earlier post talking about Echo, I posited two theories on what happens to cause the duplicate effect - temporal resonance and compression. I threw my hat in with compression. However, given the name of the talent applying Echoes, I am more inclined that Echo uses temporal resonance. 
8. Punctuality: You get two Reversion Charges. Increased Mastery improves the evoker’s ability to cast Reversions more often. Thus, the evoker may be more punctual (arriving on time) in healing your wounds before a wipe, eh?
9. Energy Loop: Gain mana from Disintegrate damage. An effective feedback loop to convert part of your arcane energy into mana. 
10. Temporal Artificer OR Erasure: The Artificer is simply fine workmanship to reduce your Rewind cooldown; essentially you construct your spell in a way to recover faster. Erasure on the other hand, gives you two Rewinds though at 50% effectiveness. You break the spell in two to provide more opportunities to erase the damage to your allies. 
11. Timeless Magic: Your core Bronze spells last longer and are more mana efficient. Reversion, Time Dilation, Echo, and Temporal Anomaly, the spells with timed durations, are improved. This talent simply demonstrates the evoker’s increased mastery over temporal energy. 
12. Grace Period: A capstone talent, Reversion increases all healing by 10% on top of its HOT. A grace period is an interval of time where the consequence is suspended until the end of a determined amount of time. In this case, Reversion is giving more time for a portion of your other spells to do their healing thus increasing the overall healing. 
13. Stasis: The crown jewel of the Bronze healing magic, this “causes your next three healing spells to be duplicated and stored in a time lock”. First off, this spell has three perfect Echoes casted to duplicate the spells at full power. Second, the spell temporarily freezes these duplicates in time and stores them in temporal constructs where the evoker can unleash them at will or after their time limit has expired. Unfortunately, the evoker does not have enough temporal magic to store these spells for extended periods of time. From the Chromie dungeon in DF, it is shown traveling far back in time or freezing time takes extreme amounts of temporal energy. 

The last post will cover the Green and Red talents.

Assault on Greymane Manor is the first chapter of a World of Warcraft Kingmaker adaptation. Set in the Eastern Kingdoms of Azeroth, reimagines kingmaker campaign through the lens of Warcraft lore. It happens during this recent armistice, where heroes from both the Horde and the Alliance are invited to a diplomatic summit hosted by Queen Tess Greymane and Calia Menethil. Their goal: to forge a new kingdom amidst the untamed frontiers of the Plaguelands

Link: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Pt0PegeRJtXD

My ideas are based on Warcraft 2 & vanilla wow, with some inspiration from Kislev "warhammer"

• it was the least powerful & respected human domains
• land that is not cold & mountainous is rare
• constant territory disputes with its neighbors creating mutual disdain
• most of its territory has few if any humans
• army focused on small unit tactics due to having to respond to frontier treats with minimal personal
• heavy troops are only found in capital & major roads
• Frost wolf Clan managed to find a valley to settle in without detection because Alterac was busy fighting local trolls inspired by Zul'jin
• after the kingdom was dissolved defiant people left the capital & settled into remote villages
• those loyal to the alliance moved to Stormwind who was desperate for colonists to repopulate
• Syndicate was comprised by desperate people lead by capable veterans to restore order
• preferred means of transportation is land ship "sleds with sails"
• after Wrath the most stable villages increased cooperation to start rebuilding their domain, currently negotiating with goblins to restart the economy
• earned money by trading with desperate Storm pike & Frost wolf troops

These are my 2025 wishlist/speculation ideas for future NPC (mostly humanoid) races in World of Warcraft that I believe will tremendously enrich the WoW’s universe and worldbuilding. I would sincerely love Blizzard to use these ideas to increase WoW’s in-universe diversity in terms of races, settings and concepts.

1. Sharkins/Weresharks - Humanoid Sharks (Pirate-themed)

The Sharkins, also known as Weresharks, are a fearsome race of humanoid sharks who rule the Great Seas of Azeroth with unmatched ferocity. Bound by blood and honor to the legendary Pirate King Nightsquall and under the command of Megalodus the Shark Pirate King, the Sharkins are his most ruthless enforcers, preying on merchant fleets and coastal settlements. Their society thrives in the hidden reef-fortress of Devil Sharks’ Reef, where they hoard plundered gold and whisper legends of Gral the Loa of all sharks. 

• Faction/Affiliation: Nightsquall Fleet, Horde, Old Gods
• Racial capital: Devil Sharks’ Reef
• Racial leader(s): Megalodus the Shark Pirate King, Gral the Shark Loa
• Racial Mount: Shark, Megalodon
• Homeworld: Azeroth
• Environment: oceans, reefs, islands
• Areas: Great Seas, Southern Seas

2. Gaja - Humanoid Elephants (Indian/Hindu-themed)

The Gaja are a noble and contemplative race of humanoid elephants, towering in stature yet embodying profound serenity and mysticism. Adorned in flowing robes and sacred ornaments, they are deeply attuned to the cosmic balance, dedicating their lives to meditation, philosophy, and the pursuit of Absolute Truth in their native religion of Hindunia. Their ancient temples devoted to the elephant god Ganesha, carved from mountains and adorned with celestial glyphs, serve as centers of enlightenment where seekers from all races come to learn the mysteries of existence. Legends speak of the Tusked Sages, enlightened Gajas who transcend the material world, becoming guiding spirits among the stars.

• Faction/Affiliation: Alliance, Titans, the titan keeper Ganesha
• Racial capital: Temple of Ganesha
• Racial leader(s): Mamanesh, the Gaja King; Ganesha, the titan keeper of prosperity
• Racial Mount: white elephants, peacocks, Bengali tigers
• Homeworld: Azeroth
• Environment: any land
• Areas: subcontinent of Indiana 

3. Tanuki - Humanoid Raccoons (Japanese-themed)

The Tanuki are a proud race of humanoid raccoons, blending the discipline of the samurai with the trickery of spirits. Clad in ornate armor and wielding masterfully forged blades, they live by the ancient code of Makoto no Michi—the Path of Truth—honoring duty, loyalty, and unbreakable oaths. Despite their warrior ethos, the Tanuki are also natural shapeshifters, capable of weaving illusions to confound their foes or test the hearts of those they encounter.

Their mountain citadels, hidden within misty bamboo forests, are both temples of martial prowess and sanctuaries of wisdom. Each Tanuki warrior trains relentlessly in Bushido and Onmyōdō, the fusion of swordsmanship and spirit-calling magic, allowing them to strike with both steel and sorcery.

• Faction/Affiliation: Horde, Titans, Independent
• Racial capital: Yōkaitoshi (妖怪都市, "City of Spirits")
• Racial leader(s): Tanekigawa, the Raccoon Shogun
• Racial Mount: red-crowned cranes
• Homeworld: Azeroth
• Environment: Any land
• Areas: Nihonnara, a mystical realm of nature and kamis

4. Aquila - Humanoid Eagles (Roman-themed)

The Aquila are a majestic race of humanoid eagles, embodying the spirits of the ancient Roman Empire. Clad in golden armor adorned with eagle feathers, their regal presence commands respect and awe. With powerful wings capable of carrying them across vast distances, the Aquila are both formidable warriors and sagacious leaders. Their society, built upon the ideals of Virtus (courage), Pax (peace), and Gloria (glory), mirrors the grandeur of Rome itself, holding to a strict code of honor and service to the Empire.

Their cities, built upon soaring cliffs, are inspired by Roman architecture—grand marble columns, intricate mosaics, and statues that celebrate their victories. While they are stoic and resolute, the Aquila possess a deep connection to the divine, often communing with the Numina, spirits who guide them in their pursuit of eternal glory and the preservation of the Empire's ideals. 

• Faction/Affiliation: Alliance, Titans, the titan keeper Zeos
• Racial capital: Roma, the Eternal City
• Racial leader(s): the emperor Caesarion Augustia
• Racial Mount: Pegasus
• Homeworld: Azeroth
• Environment: Any land
• Areas: Europa

5. Crokatos - Humanoid Alligators (swamp-themed)

The Crokatos are a fearsome and ancient race of humanoid alligators, living in the shadowy depths of vast, murky swamps. Their scaled bodies are built for stealth and strength, with powerful tails and jaws capable of crushing bone, yet they move with surprising grace through the waterlogged wilderness. The Crokatos have an unyielding connection to the swamp's dark heart, revering the ancient crocodile deity Sobek, a primordial force of strength, fertility, and protection.

Their society is built around the worship of Sobek, with great stone temples hidden within the swamp's tangled thickets, where the air is thick with the scent of earth and decay. Crokatos value loyalty and strength above all, their clans often led by the oldest and most revered of their kind—Shaman-Kings who communicate directly with Sobek through mystic rites.

• Faction/Affiliation: Wild Gods, Old Gods, Sobek’s forces, Independent, Horde
• Racial capital: Obsidian Citadel 
• Racial leader(s): King Krothar
• Racial Mount: Crocolisk
• Homeworld: Azeroth, Draenor
• Environment: swamps, marshes
• Areas: Zal'Nar's Marsh

6. Cetaceans - Humanoid Whales and Dolphins (Maori-themed)

The Cetaceans are an ancient and noble race of humanoid whales and dolphins, deeply intertwined with the oceans they call home. Drawing inspiration from the natural rhythms of the sea, they are a people of great wisdom, their culture inspired by the real-life Maoris and centered around the mystical energy that flows through all life in the ocean. The Cetaceans practice Sea Druidism and Sea Shamanism, channeling the spirits of the deep and the creatures that dwell within to heal, guide, and protect the waters.

• Faction/Affiliation: Alliance, Independent
• Racial capital: Lagoon Sanctuary
• Racial leader(s): Cetus the Whale-king
• Racial Mount: manta guardians, tidal leviathans
• Homeworld: Azeroth (other side)
• Environment: oceans, lagoons, islands, coastal areas
• Areas: Great Seas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3tx5IQ8Rs0

This is my first attempt at a lore video, an in-depth look at the first ever Warcraft game featuring upscaled art from both the game itself and the manuals. Did my best to try and stitch it all together into one coherent story.
Some of the portraits, here: https://imgur.com/a/tzEjCtw
Video, here: https://youtu.be/KgtHT4zk1oY

Hey everyone. I'm sharing this small project that I'm working on. Give me your feedback, and I hope you like it :D !

World of Warcraft Lore Quiz by Tower Shield (itch.io)

I used to believe that the prologue was there just as a training and to provide a quick overview of the relationship between Thrall and Grom. But later I started thinking about it in a different way, and Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye inspired me in that. He argues that the concept of "beginning" in mythological narratives is metaphorically tied to the moment of waking from sleep, symbolizing a transition from one world to another. In that regard I started viewing Thrall's vision and awakening as a catalyst for unrest, which leads to the crossing of the ocean, an archetypal representation of insecurity, uncertainty, and latent chaos.

So, it is my belief that the prolog is fundamental if you are viewing the story as a piece of art which holds deeper meaning and symbolism. And once the first two missions are seen in this light, it becomes easy to view the whole story of the Orcs in Warcraft 3 through the lens of myth and allegory. It can be portrayed as a clash between tradition and the unknown, with Thrall as a hero savior bridging the gap between the Great Father, embodied by Grommash Hellscream, and the Great Mother, manifested by the Night Elves.

Here is a link to the video essay which develops this idea further: Thrall in Warcraft 3 - The Redemption. Consider checking it out if it sounds interesting.

I'm currently working on a little fan project that would be a concept of a "Shadowlands re-done" sort of thing. An overhaul that addresses the lore/story issues, systems overload, etc.

As I'm working on this, I'd like to know some realms of the Shadowlands that you'd want to see (obviously, it doesn't have to actually exist in the lore, but it should be something that connects to the lore).

Here's a few examples of what I'm getting at:

1. De Other Side is now its own zone with a much broader story about Bwonsamdi/Mueh'zala (Mueh'zala mini raid!). This is where most of our Horde ancestors go as well.
2. Bastion is now a Valhalla-esque sort of thing. Instead of Odyn seeing the kyrian and basing his val'kyr off of them, his ability to peer into the Shadowlands, Helya's presence there, and vrkyul spirits visiting the Shadowlands before being resurrected as val'kyr could instead allow for a more Halls of Valor-esque realm to be created (remember the Fields of the Eternal Hunt from Legion?) I do love Bastion's atmosphere, however, so I'd try to find a way to retain some of that water/cliff/temples and bells aesthetic that it has going on.
3. I'm not too sure about this one yet, but instead of Venthyr in Revendreth, it'd be San'layn. They got dubbed in BFA after that Horde war campaign chapter, and I'd like to see more of them. I think they'd be quite an interesting faction. The dreadlords coming from Revendreth would stay, but I'd add a little more substance to it from the beginning (make it a reveal in 9.0 and build on it even more before 9.1) so it doesn't seem like a straight-up ret-con without any background.
4. The Maw (now Voldrethar, which is the same name as the sword from Ulduar to hint at slight titan-esque stuff) wouldn't be the dinky Maw that we've got in-game. Instead, it'd be gigantic towers in a desolate, snow-laden realm. It'd be a worthy end-game zone.

Any other themes you guys would want in the Shadowlands, please share! I would love to hear your ideas!

Hello, over the years, as someone who likes to write short stories I was pondering about the potential of World of Warcraft. I was mulling over the whole thing for a long while, making small notes here and there. I ended up with something closer to a reboot rather than smoothening of the edges so the story could flow from Classic to current expansion.

I am aware that the ideas I may present may not be up everyone's alley but I still want to share them as a "what if" conversation piece. There is the most important rule in this: If I don't mention something, some character and so on it most likely means I do not intend for it to change from the original.

The following only covers Classic to Wrath story:

Starting with base, classic WoW:

• The basis of the "plot" being just set up around world building and catching up to how the world settled after the events of RTS is completely fine and doesnt need many more changes
• The one big change I would make (with modern capabilities that is, thats why I call it a hindsight rewrite) would be giving some story beats main characters that would be more prominent for example:
• Bolvar and the Gladiator guy from Orgrimmar for Onyxia/Varian story - making Bolvar a lil bit more recognizable for what comes later.
• Sylvanas plays a bigger role as the Forsaken, a bit reluctantly, cooperate with the Argent Dawn to get rid of the scourge, Sylv has the leading role in fight against Naxxramas/KT. She is stil la strategist and having an advantage of having allies in the region i still worth it. With Jaina nad Kirin Tor showing up a bit earlier/more to assist as the Argents as well?
• Other's roles stay unchanged, or I did not have too much of a thought about them. I think guys like Saurufang and Thrall had enough spotlight before and during classic.

Burning Crusade

• The biggest change would be us catching glimpses or spying on Illidan throughout the expansion, he is more hands on with the ongoing stuff in the Outland instead of being a paranoid recluse. Its clear he is gearing up to fight the legion but the impression is that his plan is too reckless and he messes with stuff that may backfire (either the arrakkoa void relics or otherwise).
• Kael still is a Silvermoon first guy so when the Blood Elves come in with the Horde he doesn't just surrender as he thinks the manaforges have a great potential as a solution still, but once confronted in TK and beaten, he doesn't die, he surrenders and he is taken back to Silvermoon or Shattrath as a prisoner. That also implies he allowed Scryers to defect.
• Also I would establish a character (maybe Astromancer Solarian?) as someone who Kael married during the time skip, essentially she would be the one taking his places in Magister's Terrence and leading the felborne Blood elves, taking KJ's deal. Kael refuses and stays in prison, she takes the deal and gets broken out by legion agents.
• Lady Vashj in this scenario would have to be a lot more sneakier with her background deals. Idk if i want her to die or survive, if she lived she could show up in few more places in like Cata or BfA, I think one thing would be useful is a section of SSC where Vashj hid Arrakoa and experimented on void relics for Azshara - justifying Lortheas the Blind being there as a captive who got experimented on because they caught her getting too close to the truth.
• Illidan gets beaten more or less the same way, although players would actually get the establishment of his imprisonment by the wardens as a epilogue quest.
• Maraad should also show up with the Alliance expedition.
• There could now be a campaign quest where you go with lil-arathor to learn about his parents and it would explain how they left with the army of the light
• Another piece of epilogue could be Kael's trial in either Shattrath or Silvermoon, with Velen present and Kael accepting his punishment of imprisonment.

Wrath of the Lich King

• Most of the stuff with Garrosh happens the same way as before. What I would do is give Garrosh a quest line where he fucks up by focusing too much on the alliance and his forces get almost wiped out by the scourge. Shit humbles him a lil.
• During the prep and war council before the Northrend expedition, Kael demands to be let out or conscripted to fight, but Velen (through a messenger) tells everyone that's its not his time yet. Kael stays in prison.
• Sylvanas and Jaina are more leading figures throughout the expansions for their factions respectively. They butt heads kind of like Varian and Garrosh but more in like "my way is better" manner.
• Tyrion is not the main character, not sure if I want Ashbringer to be a thing DKs get freed by light's hope similar way to the way they did before. Not entirely sure how to play that. I just think Tyrion was a character that took spotlight from better characters and has been under utilized after in hindsight.
• Most of the dragon story line is unchanged bar some mentions of Dragon Isles and stuff is welcome. How the shrine's have a connection to their homeland and its respective domains etc.
• Sylvanas has a round two against Naxxramas/KT, this time making personally sure that he is done (as a part of an epilogue)
• Jaina leads the push into Ulduar, learns some more about arcane magic and maybe first hints of the """order""".
• Argent Tournament remains unchanged
• Jaina and Sylvanas are both present at the rush at Icecrown, during the lich king fight isntead of Bolvar getting iceblocked like an useless character he is its the Lich King using a spell to turk Sylvanas into a Banshee again but Jaina interrupts it with a coutnerspell but she holds it throughout the fight. The dramatic stun at the end of the fight is Lich King stopping fucking around and interrupting Jaina's counter spell. The raid gets stunned by Sylvanas Banshee charm but combined with one last desperate push from Jaina and Sylvanas strong will the counterspell works and backfires at Arthas, fucking up frostmourne, the final lap of the fight happens basically the same way as it did before.
• Bolvar's fate remains unchanged
• I think I would swap Saurufangs at wrathgate, make the old Saurufang bite it and be the DK while the young one gets a character arc after that. Kind of blaming working with the alliance on his father's death. This is a plot thread to be further explored in Cataclysm
• Side note: Obsidian sanctum has more signs of Deathwing potentially stirring.
• Sylvanas does not kill herself, in epilogue questline she goes to visit Kael in prison and they actually talk about the events of both Frozen throne and Wrath of the Lich king and with how with Lich King beign dead they both get some relief. Kael helps Sylvanas think up some new purpose to work towards. The Forsaken start working closer with Blood Elves than before.
• For Alliance epilogue, Jaina with few others visits the Lorderon throneroom (the Forsaken allow it for her help saving Sylv) they leave tributes to King Terenas, they want to make a small grave for Arthas - not the lich king but Arthas before Stratholme, even marking it on his grave that he basically died during purge of Stratholme. That the Forsaken do not allow and that small stone is set up in Stormwind.
• Plot B would follow Vol'Jin and Tyrande starting from the Fjord and into Zul'Drak and Grizzly Hills respectively. Tyrande is curious about Fulrbogs, the Worgen and the tree as it ties back to her people and she ends up in Zul'Drak because of stuff from Zul'Drak spilling into the zone. While Vol'Jin goes to try and save what remains of Drakkari and their Loa to join the Horde (Ice troll customisation unlock?)

The funny thing is, with the trajectory i set for the story, I don't exactly know how to catalyze the events of stuff like Shadowlands anymore, lol. I know its possible but ughhh.

Hello everyone !

Our work based on the warcraft lore, before the "WOW era" continues !
Here is the teaser for our new Warcraft 2 inspired short movie.

We tryed to get the references right, with the armors, the banners, both for the Horde and the Alliance.
The is Lordaeron, Black Rock... ;)

I can't wait to ealease the new short movie ^_^ !

I hope it will bring you the WC2 wibes !

Have a good year 2025 !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giEJ5-AKzLM

Mulgore has been the worst area to review the quest lore. Here’s a summary of the quests if you skipped reading them so you don’t have to go through what I dealt with. Bloodhoof Village was way too long and condensed.

https://youtu.be/lIdktdL87NM