Ruins of Lordaeron

(Update May 1, 2010 - putting this at the top of the Blog since it's the video I created.)

One of my favorite tourist destinations in WoW are the Ruins of Lordaeron just outside the Undercity. If you walk through it with the music off and the environmental sounds on, you can experience the ruins and echoes of a former capital city.

Well, I finally documented those sights and sounds in a video clip. You might want to turn up the sound to hear the ghostly whispers.



When I brought the Ruins up to a friend of mine, he suggested I would enjoy the ambience ten-fold if I had played the human campaign of WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. So I did.

Wow, was he right. If you don't know what Arthas went through to "save" his people, I would recommend either playing the campaign or reading about it (Arthas Menethil in WoWWiki or Wikipedia).

In short, Arthas was the prince of Lordaeron who would do anything to save his kingdom, even slay his own people - eventually setting his sights on revenge against his father, the king, for trying to stop him from doing what he felt had to be done. But of course, his chosen path corrupted him.

This video is the ending cinematic of the Human campaign. Arthas returns home to Lordaeron to see his father:

Warcraft 3: Human Ending Cinematic


Voila, context.
Those are Arthas's words that whisper in the royal chamber. Cross the same bridge in the courtyard. The hall is littered with the rose petals that welcomed home the tragic hero. The bells still toll for his return.

Perhaps the citizens wouldn't have welcomed him so heartily if they had known what he had done. Or that their graves and ghosts would litter the courtyard today.

Much appreciation to Blizzard for the tie in to the Lore. Thanks also go to Emp for suggesting I play the campaign. And kudos to this video creator who remixed the cinematics and added a great piece of music to really give Arthas's story the epic feel it deserves:

Arthas destiny - Loreena McKennitt by Ohkami

Pandaren

I was strolling through Stormwind and came across these boys and heard this Pandaren reference:

It got me to thinking. I wasn't a big warcraft fan so I don't really have the history of Pandarens. So I decided to do some research. (It's what I do.)

Apparently they started as something a Blizzard Artist thought was cool. Then it was used as a joke in warcraft 3. Then a Pandaren Brewmaster was actually added to Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne.

Fast forward to WoW. In 2005 Sony set up a command in Everquest II for players to order pizza from Pizza Hut from within the game (conveniently it was "/pizza"). It has since gone away, but it didn't mean Blizzard couldn't spoof it for April Fool's day with /panda. (As far as I know there was no actual relationship with Panda Express, an actual Chinese Food restaurant chain.)

Check out the spoof because it's pretty funny. When I did I saw this picture:

Pandaren Express:


Doh! Seriously - I had never before seen this picture when I did my 2006 April Fools:

My April Fool's Picture Copied Here:


I'm not feeling so creative now, eh?

More Links:

• Pandaren at Wowwiki
• Wikipedia History of Pandarens in both Lore and in game.

Reading Fiction for Lore

Someone on the forums asked what Lore book they ought to read first? Nethaera responded with suggestions including these books:

I'd start with Day of the Dragon (Warcraft Book 1), Lord of the Clans (Warcraft Book 2) and The Last Guardian (Warcraft Book 3). Then move on to the War of the Ancients Trilogy to get more of the background on the Burning Crusade and some of the key characters.

For more information on Lore, here are some links from this blog.

The Epic History of the Blood Elves (Part II)

In Part I we learned a little bit about what we might expect of the "Burning Crusade." In Part II I want to share with you some excerpts about the Blood Elves.

Night Elf Queen - "Azshara, the night elves' beautiful and gifted queen, built an immense, wondrous palace on the" Well of Eternity.

Has her priests study the "Well" - "Sharing her priests' curiosity towards the Well of Eternity, Azshara ordered the Highborne to plumb its secrets and reveal its true purpose in the world." "The heedless Highborne had stumbled upon primitive magic and were now resolved to devote themselves to its mastery."

Transformed by the Magic - "As their powers grew, a distinct change came over Azshara and the Highborne. The haughty, aloof upper class became increasingly callous and cruel towards their fellow night elves."

The Magic was felt by Sargeras - "The Highborne's reckless use of magic sent ripples of energy spiraling out from the Well of Eternity and into the Great Dark Beyond. Sargeras - the Great Enemy of all life, the Destroyer of Worlds - felt the potent ripples and was drawn to their distant point of origin. ...Sargeras was consumed by an insatiable hunger. The great dark god of the Nameless Void resolved to destroy the fledgling world and claim its energies as his own."

The Queen Lets Him Through - "Queen Azshara, overwhelmed by the terrible ecstasy of her magic, fell victim to Sargeras' undeniable power and agreed to grant him entrance to her world. Even her Highborne servitors gave themselves over to magic's inevitable corruption and began to worship Sargeras as their god. To show their allegiance to the Legion, the Highborne aided their queen in opening a vast, swirling portal within the depths of the Well of Eternity."

The Invasion - Thus "Sargeras began his catastrophic invasion of Azeroth. The warrior-demons of the Burning Legion stormed into the world through the Well of Eternity and laid siege to the night elves' sleeping cities." "As the night elves' allies converged upon Azshara's temple and the Well of Eternity, all-out warfare erupted. "

The Queen Awaits - "As the titanic battle raged around Azshara's capital city, the delusional queen waited in anticipation for Sargeras' arrival. The lord of the Legion was preparing to pass through the Well of Eternity and enter the ravaged world. As his impossibly huge shadow drew ever closer to the Well's raging surface, Azshara gathered the most powerful of her Highborne followers. Only by linking their magics together in one focused spell would they be able to create a gateway large enough for Sargeras to enter."

The Well Collapses - "As the horrific battle between the Legion and the night elves' allies raged around and above the ruined capital city, the surging Well of Eternity buckled in upon itself and collapsed."

New Society - "As the centuries passed, the night elves' new society grew strong and expanded throughout the budding forest that they came to call Ashenvale. Many of the creatures and species that were abundant before the Great Sundering, such as furbolgs and quilboars, reappeared and flourished in the land."

Yet some Desired Magic - "However, many of the original Highborne survivors grew restless." The Night Elves "decided to exile the reckless Highborne from their lands...and warned the Highborne that any use of magic would be punishable by death."

"High Elves" Exiled - "The Highborne, or Quel'dorei, as Azshara had named them in ages past, would eventually set shore upon the eastern land men would call Lordaeron. They planned to build their own magical kingdom, Quel'Thalas, and reject the night elves' precepts of moon worship and nocturnal activity. Forever after, they would embrace the sun and be known only as the high elves."

Renamed the Blood Elves - A perfect lead in to Blizzard's intro to the new Horde race where we learn that some would later rename themselves from the "High Elves" to "Blood Elves."

These excerpts give you the general story, but I recommend reading the full Well of Eternity Lore so you can get the whole picture. The betrayal by a brother; the dragon that went mad during the battle; the blotting out of the skies; the creation of the Naga... good stuff!

The Epic History of the Burning Crusade (Part I)

WoW Lore - Some of the WoW Lore is truly epic. And it greatly enhances my gameplay experience to know a little bit of it. When the Burning Crusade was announced it had immediate meaning for me because I had done a little research into the history.

Here is a great resource for you to have the same context. Warcraft History by Blizzard on the WoW Site.

Here are some excerpts which describe the genesis of the Burning Crusade:

"The Titans, ...gods from the far reaches of the cosmos, ... shaped the worlds ... They breathed skies and raging atmospheres into being."

Sargeras: Over time, demonic entities made their way into the Titans' worlds from the Twisting Nether, and [the Titans elected their] greatest warrior, Sargeras, to act as its first line of defense [against the demons]."

Doubts: "Though Sargeras' nearly limitless powers were more than enough to defeat the vile eredar, he was greatly troubled... Incapable of fathoming such depravity, the great Titan began to slip into a brooding depression."

Conversion: "...he lost all faith not only in his mission, but also in the Titans' vision of an ordered universe. Eventually he came to believe that the concept of order itself was folly, and that chaos and depravity were the only absolutes within the dark, lonely universe...he resolved to form an unstoppable army that would set the physical universe aflame."

Betrayal: "In his fury, Sargeras shattered the prisons ...and set the loathsome demons free. These cunning creatures bowed before the dark Titan's vast rage and offered to serve him in whatever malicious ways they could."

The Army: "Once Sargeras saw that his armies were amassed ... he launched his raging forces into the vastness of the Great Dark. He referred to his growing army as the Burning Legion. To this date, it is still unclear how many worlds they consumed and burned on their unholy Burning Crusade across the universe."

And this was just the beginning... Read the full version and much much more.

WoW Lore

The history and loreof WoW is epic to say the least and it really brings a lot to the table in terms of enjoying the content. I had collected a bunch of information and coordinated it for my own purposes. Here are some of the resources I used, plus a ton more I wish I had had at the time:

Find WoW Lore:

• Blizzard's Site
• What's written in the books by blizzplanet.com
• 5 part series by gamergod.com
• Warcraft 3 Character Guide
• WoWWiki Lore
• Stratics - Heroes, Race History