Saturday, September 27, 2014

Who's Not Going to Be in Draenor?

WoW's first expansion took us to Outland, the shattered and broken remnants of our universe's Draenor. Unlike the world we're visiting in Warlords, Outland literally is the place where all that Warcraft history took place. If you play a Draenei character, then you lived on the world that became Outland, and you were a witness to the genocidal slaughter of your people at the birth of the Horde. If you play an Orc, you might remember Outland as the place of your youth, though there's also a very decent chance that your character was born on Azeroth, much like Thrall, and Outland is just effectively the "Old Country" your parents or grandparents talk about.

We visited Outland and found a world that had been twisted and ruined by both Warlock magic and a less malevolent, but far more destructive collapse into the Twisting Nether. Draenor began its transition into Outland with the birth of the Horde. Warlock magic utterly ruined the once-beautiful Shadowmoon Valley when Gul'dan (who one might forget was once a shaman) severed the elemental bonds to both his people and the world, flooding the area with Fel energy (which is why Outland's SMV is all blackened earth and bright green lava.) The real coup de grace on Draenor, however, was when Ner'zhul panicked and opened up several portals to other worlds - ones we still haven't been able to identify. Some of these portals still exist, and can be found in Nagrand and Zangarmarsh, but this is really what ruined the planet. Today, Outland is really just the Orcs' native continent floating in the Twisting Nether, preserved only because of the strange arcane energy that flows all around it.

We met a lot of people in Outland, but one has to remember that Outland was connected to Azeroth for over thirty years when we first arrived there. The Draenor we're going to has only had any contact with our universe for a year at most, and until Garrosh showed up there, no one on Draenor had ever heard of Azeroth. Other than Garrosh's small band of cohorts, we're really the first Azerothians to show up. As you step through the Dark Portal, if you're not an Orc or a Draenei, you will be among the first of your race to ever set foot on that world. (Come to think of it, though, I think Garrosh had a some Goblins and a Blood Elf along with him as well, not to mention a Bronze Dragon.) It's a land that you know, at least to some extent, but to everyone that meets you there, you are an utter stranger, and in many cases a bizarre-looking alien.

Many of Outland's denizens were similarly alien when they first arrived. So who is not going to make the cut?

Illidan Stormrage:

Illidan took over Outland during the aftermath of the Third War. After having consumed the energy of the Skull of Gul'dan, he became a half-demon, and was thus banished by his brother Malfurion, despite having used that power to help secure victory during the Third War. Illidan was chased my Maiev Shadowsong, who intended to bring him back to the prison that had been his home since the War of the Ancients ten thousand years earlier. Illidan instead managed to capture her on Outland and hold her as his prisoner instead. He then gathered some allies and defeated Magtheridon, a Pit Lord who served effectively as the Burning Legion's regional governor there. Taking the Black Temple from Magtheridon, Illidan declared himself the ruler of Outland.

But given that Warlords sort of takes place before the First War, we can assume that on the alternate-Azeroth out there, Illidan is probably still in his prison, or is at least still on Azeroth at any rate.

Naga:

The Naga led by Lady Vashj were one of Illidan's primary allies while he took Outland. Their whole water-pumping operation in Zangarmarsh didn't start until well after they arrived there, and so you won't see any Naga on Draenor, or even any dry land in what is still the Zangar Sea.

Blood Elves:

Other than the ones from our universe who come with us, like Lady Liadrin, you're not going to see any Blood Elves who aren't part of our Horde in Draenor. Much like Lady Vashj, Kael'thas took his people to Outland as part of his coalition with Illidan, and so presumably Kael'thas is still a much happier and less crazy prince back in alternate-Quel'thalas (I think his father is still alive, too.)

Broken/Lost Ones:

While Akama - the third of Illidan's major lieutenants, and the one that betrayed him - is certainly on Draenor, there is no subset of Draenei who were mutated into Broken or Lost Ones. As a quick recap, the Warlocks of the Old Horde used some horrible red mist in their attack on Shattrath City. Those Draenei who survived the assault, but were still in the city when that attack was launched (presumably Maraad had gotten out of there beforehand,) were dosed with this magical chemical weapon. Those hit hardest were turned into crazy, horrible creatures called Lost Ones (mostly found in Zangarmarsh and the Swamp of Sorrows,) but those who were less affected became the Broken. The Broken were still horribly changed, though, and they lost their direct connection to the Light that is so central to Draenei identity. Many turned, desperately, to darkness, but some attempted to move on, such as Nobundo, who was able to develop a Draenei version of Shamanism, which Velen encouraged him to teach to others.

Again, though, since the Iron Horde rejected Warlock magic, the Broken never came to be. While Gul'dan and the Shadow Council certainly could create some similar weapon, it's unlikely they'll have the same opportunity to use it on such a large population.

Ethereals:

The Ethereals were once the native people of a world called K'aresh. K'aresh was also targeted by the Burning Legion, and was taken over by a Void Lord named Dimensius. When K'aresh was destroyed, its people were heavily dosed with arcane radiation, turning them from physical beings into Ethereals. In the aftermath, they traveled through the Twisting Nether and found themselves on Outland, which was slightly less destroyed than their native world. Given that Draenor has never gone through that, and is presumably still an ordinary planet orbiting some star in the Great Dark Beyond (aka normal Space,) whatever happens to K'aresh is unlikely to affect Draenor. Thus no Ethereals.

Sporelings:

This one's actually a bit surprising, as the Sporelings are a native species to Outland. However, there are a few possibilities as to why we haven't seen them there. One is that there's still an ocean. Zangarmarsh in Draenor is actually the Zangar Sea (and not a zone in and of itself.) All throughout the ocean, the mushrooms that are so familiar to Zangarmarsh are just peaking up through the ocean depths. There are areas in most of Draenor's zones where the mushrooms are poking up, but they're still just barely coming up from out of the ocean.

There are a couple possibilities. The Sporelings might simply be down in the ocean. The other is that the Sporelings might be some kind of mutation of the Podlings. Unlike the Sporelings, the Podlings are vicious little plant-creatures who lull people into thinking they're friendly because, well, they're kind of adorable, but then brutally kill the unwary with a barrage of darts. There is one rare ("vignette") guy in Shadowmoon Valley who seems to be a Podling Prophet, and is projecting an image of a Sporeling to the other Podlings watching him, but it's unclear what that means.

Black/Netherwing Dragons:

During the Second War, Deathwing traveled to our Draenor and hid several Black Dragon eggs there. When Draenor became Outland, the eggs were irradiated with raw Arcane or Fel Energy, and the result was the Netherwing Dragonflight, who, despite their lineage, seemed to have the Old God corruption purged from them. Before that, however, the dragons made an enemy in Gruul, the oldest remaining Gronn, who became famous for killing them, which is why parts of Blade's Edge Mountains are littered with dead dragons. (Their presence is also why the Wyrmcult is there as well.)

Surprisingly, though, there are Fae Dragons. The Draenei use the Fae Drakes as their primary air-transportation. I'm not sure what the lore behind this is, given that I always assumed the Fae Drakes were associated more with Night Elves and, you know, Azeroth.

Alliance Expedition:

There's actually a fair presence of the Alliance expedition in Outland. Honor Hold, Alleria Stronghold, and the ruined Kirin'Var Village were all built there in the aftermath of the Second War. But of course, no one from Azeroth but Garrosh's small crew has been to this Draenor, so none of that.

A Younger Draenor:

The biggest influx of new people to this Draenor is us. Tons of different races with their own strange natures will be arriving in this savage world. I don't really know if we can expect to see any of the aforementioned iconic Outland denizens, but the good news is that there are things we had died out and disappeared in Outland that are still alive and well in Draenor. It's the same world, but it's also a very different world.

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