Friday, May 27, 2016

Major Legion Lore Reveals

This isn't really organized or part of some particular recent Beta build. But it's information that has come to my attention recently, and we've got some pretty big whoppers. This is, of course, all big spoiler territory, dealing with at least the Paladin Order campaign (though given the gravity of the information, I wouldn't be shocked if all classes get in on some of these plot developments.)

Anyway, now that there's enough of a buffer for people reading on an RSS feed, let's do a cut and deal with spoilers.




It all starts with a report of some kind of powerful, non-demonic relic falling to Azeroth. You recover it in the waters south of the Broken Isles and discover that it is the core of a Prime Naaru - presumably meaning the first generation of these beings.

You're told to go talk to Prophet Velen in order to figure out what to do with it. However, when you arrive at the Exodar, it's under attack by the Burning Legion. Kil'jaeden of course has it in for Velen, feeling that the latter betrayed him (and the two had considered each other brothers - though we don't know if that's by blood or just a deep platonic friendship) for not joining the Legion.

As you fight to secure the Exodar, Velen tells you that this core belongs to one of the prime Naaru, Xe'ra (I could have the name slightly wrong.) Velen informs you that O'ros, the Naaru who lives at the Exodar, is the last of that prime's line. O'ros will be able to decode or commune or whatever the information or message within the Core. However, as you descend to O'ros' chamber, you find that the Eredar leader is there, ready to destroy the Naaru. You fight to rescue it, but you're too late, and the demon, whose name translates to "Butcher" in Eredun, shatters the holy being.

You begin to attack the Butcher, but as he taunts Velen, the Prophet suddenly has a realization, and cries out for you to stop, that they cannot kill the Butcher. You continue the fight, and Velen actually begins to interfere, growing hostile. Yet you persist, and ultimately you lay the demon low.

Velen bends down, lamenting the death of his son.

This is one of those stories about the Draenei that I was always surprised they had not done. The Manari Eredar are not just monsters bent on their destruction - they are former friends, neighbors, and family. After 13,000 years (apparently they retconned that down from 25,000,) Velen's son was killed (though as a demon, he shouldn't technically be dead.)

His Vindicators arrive, and Velen, who refuses the title of Prophet, asks if their chief engineer is still alive. He orders that the Exodar be prepared for flight immediately - that they are going home.

That's the lesser news, if you can believe it. Still, let's take a moment to reflect on this - after over ten thousand years of fleeing, Velen has decided that it is time for the Draenei to go and take back Argus.

What does this mean for WoW? There's often been speculation that we'd have to go to Argus eventually. Could this be the expansion that follows Legion? Could it be a major patch that comes within Legion? Or are they simply laying the groundwork for some development in the future?

As much as I loved getting serious Draenei content in Warlords, there was always this problem that it wasn't really our Draenei. Maraad dies halfway through the leveling process, and after that what little Draenei stuff we get (to be fair, we just didn't get much story post-6.0 in general) was all about the alternate-universe Draenei.

This, however, feels pretty huge because not only are we seeing a more relatable, "human" side to Velen, but we're also gearing up for one of the most epic stories WoW has always hinted at.

Moving on:

You eventually discover that this prime Naaru was created by...

Elune.

Yes, that's a big freaking deal. Elune has always been enigmatic - we know that she's worshipped by and grants magic to the Night Elves. But it the grand cosmology of Warcraft she doesn't really fit into familiar categories. She's described as the only true god of the setting, but that's in old material that might not still be canon. Given that the Tears of Elune is one of the Pillars of Creation you're tasked with finding in Legion, it seems possible that she's a Titan. But it would seem that she escaped the slaughter of the Pantheon way back when the Burning Legion was first created. Perhaps she was an independent Titan, never contacted by the Pantheon? But why is she associated with Azeroth's larger moon?

Anyway, it appears that she created at least some of the Naaru.

You use the Tears of Elune to commune with the Core, and you wind up experiencing a vision in the Great Dark Beyond (the physical outer space in Warcraft) where a Naaru (not sure if it's Xe'ra) talks to you.

It appears that not everyone whose world has been destroyed by the Legion has been wiped out. In fact, the survivors of those worlds have banded together to form the Army of the Light. But there's a boy on Azeroth who is fated one day to lead them.

And it ain't Anduin Wrynn. It's Illidan Stormrage.

Considered a "Child of Light and Shadow," somehow Illidan is going to lead this army against the Legion. There's one problem, though: he's dead (see: us, almost ten years ago.) Thankfully, we've got a body and possibly a soul? Or maybe Gul'dan has him.

This is all kind of fragmentary, but these are the kinds of really enormous lore reveals that I've been hoping for in Legion. I'm sure there's a ton more, and I'm certainly very excited to get my hands on the expansion.

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