Loremaster Innervate - World of Warcraft - Zone: Tirisfal Glades

Welcome back to Loremaster Innervate where every week we go through a piece of lore inside of the video game world. This week we move over to the Undead starting area of Tirisfal Glades to see what the mischievous walking corpses are up too.

As we learned in the Ghostlands blood elf area the High Elves of Kalimdor first made landfall in Tirisfal Glades after they were exiled by the Night Elves. After making camp they slowly began to go mad after a few months which caused them to move farther North into Eversong Woods. Tirisfal Glades has always been home to extremely powerful magics and before it became the home of the Forsaken it was once was a beautiful scene filled with towns and farmlands. When Arthas, the Lich King, marched on Lorderan and slaughtered the citizens to raise them as Scourge. Shortly after the Third War however, the Lich King began to lose power over the Scourge due to a spell cast by Illidan Stormrage. During this lapse of power, a band of Undead broke free of his control and formed the Forsaken which was eventually able to take back Tirisfal Glades and make it their main base.

You start off as an Undead being raised as by a Valk'yr under the orders of Sylvanas which changed in Cataclysm. There has been some speculation about Sylvanas having taken the shattered pieces of Frostmourne from the Frozen Throne when Arthas died and is using it to control the Val'kyr to raise more Undead since we currently aren't aware where the pieces of Frostmourne are. However, we quickly learn that since the Val'kyr have began to rise the new Forsaken that there are more and more that have left the Forsaken and there are a few reasons for this.

When the Scourge were originally risen and then broke free of the Lich King they had a common goal because they were angry at one person, the Lich King for killing them and the Lich King for raising them to kill others. Now that the Lich King is gone and Sylvanas is the one raising them now they have no one to be angry at except for her. Also, Sylvanas is raising her enemies such as soldiers of the Scarlet Crusade. When Undead that are sentient rise fully they will remember their lives they had before so when Sylvanas rises those of the Scarlet Crusade they instinctively want to rebel against her.

Sylvanas is raising Alliance war casualties from Southshore and other areas near Tirisfal that the Horde took in Cataclysm, even having them shipped in to be raised in Tirisfal and Silverpine Forest. It is not explained why exactly Sylvanas is bolstering her numbers so greatly in Tirisfal but we assume it is for the war against the Alliance. But knowing Sylvanas she most definitely has an ulterior motive. A motive that must matter enough if she is willing to risk having the new resurrected undead rebel against her.

And so begins the story of Lilian Voss whom we meet at the beginning of the area. Lilian Voss was raised and immediately ran from the surroundings, including when you show her her own reflection; screaming that she can't be an Undead. Humans that are raised sometimes rise without enough consciousness, which is when they become ghouls, or they rise and they had a predisposition against undead to not be able to cope with the fact that they are now risen dead. This can either cause them to rebel or go insane, the Forsaken refer to these individuals as sick. Lilian runs off and is not seen again until the end of the zone but she is mentioned when we are told that the Scarlet Crusade has a bounty on her head. We find a camp of dead Scarlet Crusaders and learn that Lilian Voss has been spending her time killing as many as possible after she returned to her father, the leader of the Scarlet Crusade, who then promptly wanted her executed. Lilian asks you to take her back to the hold where you slaughter an army and kill her father and his lieutenants. This ends most of the Scarlet Crusade in Tirisfal once and for all.

The other large plot to cycle through most of Tirisfal is that of the plague. Although we will go into more detail once we get to Northrend, the plague was used to slaughter both the Scourge and the living armies of the Horde and the Alliance by Professor Putress at the battle of Wrathgate (which subsequently allowed Bolvar Fordragon to be captured and tortured by the Scourge). Although it is a mighty weapon, for unknown reasons since this seems right up his alley, Garrosh has banned the production of the Plague. We learn however that the Forsaken are still making it and making it even more deadly than before.

Other Interesting Notes

• Gold is scarce in Lorderan in general and there are very few gold mines in the area to harvest from. Coincidentally, spiders love gold as every mine you come across is generally infested with them.
• You can chase tadpole Murlocs around until they are so scared they pass out.
• The Forsaken believe that they should be in control of all of Azeroth.
• Bolvar Fordragon (the new Lich King) is losing his grip on the Scourge. The Forsaken are theorizing that with enough experimentation it would be possible to completely break the hold of Bolvar.

The story of Tirisfal is not yet over as it continues next week with Silverpine Forest, which also continues the Alliance story of Gilneas oddly enough. And maybe next week I'll actually release it on Friday like I'm supposed too instead of Saturday.

The Weekly Innervate - World of Warcraft - Expansion Theories: What Races Could Druids Be?

Welcome back to the Weekly Innervate where every week I talk about something healing related going on in the video game world! One tiny little announcement, the Weekly Innervate is going back to Thursdays starting this week because I realized that I sleep through the maintenance and have too much to do on Tuesdays to actually get any serious work done. With that out of the way, we're going to start a month long series of what could be fun to have in the next expansion that will end with Live Blogging Blizzcon 2014. And this week it is all about Druids!

I've played a Restoration Druid since the launch of the game and it will be a class that I always stride to be in all things that I do now. Even in other games I tend to lean towards Nature classes or plant like races. Druids as the game stands right now currently have the shortest stick when it comes to Race/Class combinations. For nearly 6 years we only had one race to choose from depending on the faction we chose. In Cataclysm we received two more races for a total of four yet we still have the smallest number of races we can be across all 11 classes. The highest number is Warrior which can be all 13 races and the median is 9 race/class combinations. We all know why it takes Blizzard longer to put out new races that Druids can be, and that's the Druid Forms which have to be unique for the race that they do.

I'd like to personally thank Kittlore who had about a 2 hour conversation with me which brought up this series in the first place! There will be a few things we looked into when it came to coming to a consensus. Lore trumps all - if it is not supported by the lore or couldn't be then it's a no.

So let's go down the list shall we?

Human Druids? - Survey Says: Yes!

Not a lot of fan art for human druids sadly. Regardless, we think that Human Druids are possible. I originally said no when it was first brought up because I remembered reading somewhere that the only reason that Gilneans could be Druids (since they are technically human from the start) was because of their Worgen Curse and could only shapeshift after they were cursed. However, it is pointed out that the Gilnean Druid Trainer, Gwen Armstead, is human and not afflicted by the curse of the Worgen. We have never seen her change and there hasn't been any instances of other humans shape shifting but she is a keeper of the old Druid religion which differs from the Night Elf teachings of Druidism. So to say that a Human could not learn to shape shift with extensive training isn't entirely clear but there are obviously humans who study the religion.

Dwarven Druids? - Survey Says: No!

Yes, Dwarves can be Shaman but Shamanism and Druidism are almost nothing alike even though sometimes it seems like they are. Dwarves are very much tied to the Earth and spend much of their existence underground. We don't feel as though Dwarves should be tied to Priests or Paladins either as they don't seem to be tied to the Light however Shamans do make some amount of sense. But Druids definitely are more tied to Nature than the Earth and it just doesn't feel like it fits the motif.

Gnome Druids? - Survey Says: No!

Don't get me wrong, Gnome Druids sound super cute in theory as their models would no doubt be small animals like cubs or kittens instead of full ground forms and I would definitely roll one. But Gnomes just don't make sense as any healers and we're still confused as to why Gnomes can be priests. Gnomes are the same as Goblins in the way that they have no Nature, Elemental or Holy Light ties and their strengths come from their engineering. If they wanted Gnomes/Goblins to be able to be healers then a class that heals using healing concoction bombs and healing lasers (which would be awesome). Gnome Priests make absolutely no sense to me other than to give Gnomes a healing class and nothing else makes sense (Priests don't make sense either).

Draenei Druids? - Survey Says: Yes!

Draenei are the liberalists of World of Warcraft. They have shown to have been able to learn outside views from other philosophies since coming to Azeroth. They came into Burning Crusade being able to be all of the healing classes aside from Druids and also able to be Monks as well. It was also learned in Cataclysm that the lands of Exodar were open to any stranded Gilneans who landed there similar to Darnassus. Which means that Draenei have been exposed to the Gilneans (including Gilnean Druids) for as long as the Gilneans have been in the Alliance. With how open to learning other cultures and religions to understand them they are it wouldn't be surprising that some of them picked up on Druidism.

Orc Druids? - Survey Says: No!

This one was a pretty difficult one in all honesty. I originally said yes but later changed my mind the more that I thought about it. To me, Orcs are extremely savage and have very low intelligence as a general population. They are the race that picks up the closest heavy weapon they can find and start bludgening things with it. They do not seem the nature loving, peace keeping kind. Even if they went into a form of Dark Druid I still don't see them as Druids based on just their general base nature. However, they can be Monks which surprised me in all honesty but if they can be Monks then that leads me to believe they might be Druids because Monks are very much about inner peace and serenity. I still say no in general however.

Undead Druids? - Survey Says: Yes!

Now before we start the hate, let me explain my reasoning and how they could do this. First, my reasoning behind this is that when you die and rise as a Foresaken you retain your free will as well as your memories. Which makes me believe that if you are a Druid and are killed and resurrected as a Foresake wouldn't you still be a Druid? The only thing would be that Gilneans cannot be ressurected but all other races of Druids could be. Also, if Undead could be Druids then I don't think they would be the same as a Night Elf Druid, they would have their own kind of Druidism. The would become Dark Druids that instead of harmonizing with Nature they would twist and control it. This would make their forms also be twisted and deformed.

Blood Elf Druid? - Survey Says: Yes!

First and foremost - the Lore supports it. It begins all the way back in the Warcraft 2 Game Guide where Elven Druids (note this is separate from Night Elves) are mentioned but are never followed up on or mentioned again. Also, when Blood Elves were introduced in Burning Crusade the Botanica was filled Blood Elves that used Restoration Druid spells and one of them even shape shifted into a Treant. This shows that we have back lore that supports not only Druidism in Blood elf culture but also the ability to shapshift as well.

Goblin Druids? - Survey Says: No!

Pretty much the same reason as Gnomes. They don't seem to be particularly tied to any elemental/natural spells and I feel like they are only Priests/Shamans so that they can have healing classes and so that people would race change to them during Cataclysm. They're definitely more like Engineers and not focused on harmonizing with the Elements.

Pandaren Druids? - Survey Says: Yes!

I feel like Pandaren makes the most sense out of everything else and if Blizzard does decide to give Druids another race it would be Pandaren. I feel like the only reason they weren't Druids in the first place was because they had no instruction on how to be Druids and now that they have influence from the other Druid races they could be Druids. Very similar to Draenei they seem very open to learning new things.

All in all that gives us five classes for each faction that can be Druids out of a total seven. Which makes class balance for Druids even which is always a good thing because Druids have always been super balanced when it comes to having the same amount for both factions. Personally, I'd really like to see at least two new races (one for each side) that could be Druids. However, I feel like Blizzard would go with the easy way and go with Pandarens which would disappoint me. I really don't like Pandarens for my main race, they're just too chubby which makes gear look terrible since they're so compact (which is why I generally just don't like short races because the gear patterns end up being squished and look bad. I would never race change my main to a Pandaren Druid but I would consider rolling an alt. I would really like to see either Blood Elf or Undead druids for Horde. I don't know if I would race change my main to an Undead because it's just not my style unfortunately but I would change to Blood Elf in a heart beat and never look back. I would be happy with either Human or Draenei but would like Draenei more because Humans are just boring in general in a fantasy MMO.

What do you think? What do you think will be the next race to receive the pact of the Druid? Would you race change your main to something particular or would you keep your main the same and maybe roll an alt? Next week on the Weekly Innervate I go over what a cool race would be for WoW and how it could work.

Monday Morning(?) Musings - World of Warcraft - Blizzard Patch 5.5 Raid?

Welcome to Monday Morning Musings, which incidentally does not happen in the mornings, where every week I talk about an opinion piece in the video game world. With Blizzcon and the new World of Warcraft expansion on the horizon there is a lot of expansion ideas going through my mind. So this week we are going to talk about how and why a Patch 5.5 might be implemented.

Siege of Orgrimmar Ending - Much to be Desired

The Siege of Orgrimmar raid is over and the ending leaves something to be desired but then again all ending cinematics generally do except this one more so than others in my opinion. There was an uneasy truce between the Horde and the Alliance as long as the Horde plays nice which will undoubtedly happen with Vol'gin in charge and not Garrosh. So a big part of our game, the war between the Alliance and the Horde has come to an end for the most part. But it also gave absolutely no elide to next expansion. However, we can argue that the ending raid cinematics generally don't.

Where Will We Go?

As the Lore stands right now, primarily from Wrathion's dialogue with players during the Legendary cloak quest line, it seems the Burning Legion is making a bee line for Azeroth but we don't currently know exactly how it's going to work. Is the Burning Legion going to come to Azeroth and we're going to get another Cataclysm like facelift? Or will we go off planet again to fight them? We've had the last three expansions on Azeroth and I personally don't think that Blizzard would Remake Azeroth again after just doing it with Cataclysm.

The other option is that we go to them like we have in the past. But we need a reason to go there. Unlike Pandaria, we can't just have Anduin randomly flying out in space and suddenly captured by Sargerus. This expansion would need actual prelude to make some sense. There are a lot of things going on in Azeroth such as negotiating peace treaties between the Horde and the Alliance, the Horde is rebuilding it's power infustructer and getting rid of all of Garrosh's Kor'Kron guards and reestablishing faith among it's people as well as helping the Pandarens rebuild the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

I personally believe we will go off planet again like we did with Burning Crusade and one of two things will happen. Either we will go to an entirely different planet from Outlands that we haven't visited before. Or we will return to Outlands with a second continent being discovered. With the BoA Weapons that drop from Garrosh on Flexible-Heroic difficulty we can assume that the level cap would be raised to 100 (no confirmation but it makes the most logical sense, I commented on it previously in my Resto Druid Best In Slot Article in the Weapons section) which means adding a few new pieces on the Outlands continent probably won't suffice. Having 10 new levels makes me think that we might go to a new planet but anything is possible. I also think we will get a revamp of the Outlands leveling content a well. After the new interesting Cataclysm leveling content we are thrown back in time to Outlands which every one complains about because the content is so dull. I know that when I start leveling new alts I get stuck around the Outlands area.

Mini Instance v World Event 

There's no denying that we need one of these two things to happen. As stated above it won't be as easy as just sailing into the sky and RANDOMLY BURNING LEGION RETURN OH MY GOD! We need something more than what we got for MoPs release and Blizzard could go about it both ways and to me it will depend on how long they need to release the new expansion because both ideas could work. Siege of Orgrimmar currently has 14 bosses which sounds like a lot but top guilds have been downing the content very quickly (and guilds who generally don't do Heroic Progression have switched to Flex raiding anyway). However, we learned yesterday that Method finally got World First Heroic Garrosh after 600 wipes and having to one heal it. This means we're getting another Heroic Ragnaros situation (who Paragon at the time actually killed in less pulls than that) where the final boss is going to be insanely difficult and most guilds probably won't even kill it. Probably not a good thing to have as your last tier as it makes people more likely to quit due to burn out when they know they're going to have to wait for an expansion anyway.

But that's an entirely separate topic! So we have a long instance that will be cleared quickly but stuck on the last boss for a while. This gives Blizzard some time to release their new expansion but eventually people will want new content even if they haven't finished the current content because they're sick of it. So which way Blizzard goes depends on how long it will take for the expansion to come out when the burn out begins to set in. If they're close to releasing the next expansion then we will probably get a World Event. Something involving the Burning Legion invading on the capital cities and lore leading us to our next destination after we drive them out. If the expansion is a long ways off then they will need to put in a mini instance, similar to Ruby Sanctum, to keep players from burning out on Heroic Garrosh. If this happens we might end up getting both as seen in Wrath of the Lich King where we not only got Ruby Sanctum but we also got the Tripping the Rifts world event. We don't necessarily need both, we just need some Lore reasons behind what we're doing.

I don't think Blizzard necessarily needs to put in a mini-raid to get us to the next expansion. However, a mini raid would be nice if it happened around the same time the item squish occurred so people could get a good representation on what their numbers might look like. It also could be used for transmog over actual gear since releasing a boss right before an expansion isn't going to do much since you're going to be replacing it so quickly anyway. As somebody who loves content, I hope it will be both because more content never hurt anyone. But if I had to go with one or the other I hope it's a world event because I feel like they have more impact in the game than mini instances. People still talk about how awesome the Wrath of the Lich King world event was and that has been 6 years ago now. People can barely remember the name of Helion or Ruby Sanctum. It also didn't help that Blizzard released Ruby Sanctum when 1/3rd of the US servers were down for a 24 hour maintenance for Cataclysm (and my server Garona was one of them at the time). They also have a lot to make up for since the last World Event was undeniably awful. Theramore anyone?

What do you think? Will we get a mini-instance, a world event, both or neither? As always thanks for reading, next week we're continuing on with the WoW Expansion theme and going over what I think the life cycle of the World of Warcraft expansions will be and some of the Lore behind it!

Loremaster Innervate - World of Warcraft - Zone: Ghostlands

Welcome back to Loremaster Innervate where I go over something lore related in World of Warcraft. This week we continue our Horde Monk's adventure through Azeroth with Ghostlands. Back when Burning Crusade first came out I went and did Ghostlands on a baby Blood Elf which was my first alt and I never got it past level 25 until Wrath of the Lich King but I really loved Ghostlands for some reason and it was the only area I finished to completion and got exalted reputation with. Doing it again in current content however, I have no idea why I thought that!

The High Elves originally made landfall and settled in Tirisfal Glades. However, the High Elves started to slowly go mad and it is theorized that there is something evil underneath the ground of Tirisfal however it has never been proven. Is there a possibility that there might be a chained Old God there? We still have three that are missing. High Elves who escaped the madness moved farther north and eventually settled in Quel'thalas which is a joint area of both Eversong Woods and Ghostlands.

The Ghostlands was originally as beautiful as Eversong Woods. However, it was renamed the Blackened Woods when red dragons first burned it down in the Second War. However, I unfortunately couldn't figure out why as it doesn't say that Orgrim Doomhammer was the one who burned it down and specifically that red dragons did it. There is no zone origin in the questing as well. If we read a little bit into the Second War lore we find that Orgrim Doomhammer burned his way through the elven forests and made it to Eversong Woods before any Alliance Reinforcements (the High Elves of Quel'thalas were allies of the Alliance at this time) could arrive to stop them. So, it's kind of miss leading to say the Red Dragons burned down the forest as it was technically Orgrim Doomhammer controlling the enslaved Red Dragons who burned it down. It was later burned down a second time during the Third War by the Blood Elves themselves to stop the Scourge taint from spreading to neighboring areas.

We are first introduced to Ghostlands when we discover an Undead Apothecary attempting to aid a Blood Elf Outrunner who has been infected with the Ghostlands plague. When we reach the capital city to deliver the Outrunner's message we are instantly recruited to help retake the Ghostlands. Only about halfway through the zone do we learn exactly what we're doing there. The Blood Elves have lost the Ghostlands to the Scourge lead by the traiter Dar'Khan Drathir and are currently fighting a three front war. It is your job, as the hero, to free up the Farstriders who are fighting the Amani Trolls and the invading Night Elves so they can join Tranquillian and you can launch a full on assault on Deatholme to the south.

The first thing we are instructed to do is go to a Spire that has been overtaken by High Elf spirits that have been risen by the Scourge. This shows that the Scourge leaders are smart, when your allies are raised from the dead to fight against you that not only free extra troops that your enemy lost but it also makes it harder for the enemy to fight against you since you are making them fight their friends. I believe this is the only place we have High Elf NPCs in abundance and they have a very interesting look. They have the hair styles, attack animations and eyes of Night Elves but the facial structure, body type and hair color of Blood Elves. All other High Elf NPCs I have found look exactly like Blood Elves except for their eye color.

The land is being covered with undead as the Scourge are still controlling most of the land. We learn a few things about the Scourge and Undead as a whole from this area. First, Murlocs retain their free will when raised from death very similar to some of the Foresaken. It is never fully explained why Murlocs are special exemptions to the rule of undeath but we do also learn that Dark Energy of the Reanimated come from the persons (or Murlocs) spine. Amani Trolls are also being raised from the dead, however, we find out that it is not the Scourge that are doing this it's their own Amani Troll Priests. They know that they are fighting Farstrider forces and do not have enough to fight them but they would if they rose their dead to fight them.

A few other pieces of Blood Elf lore learned in this area as well. Windrunner Spire was the original birthplace of Sylvanas Windrunner and was renamed in her honor. One of the undead is holding a necklace that once belong to Sylvanas that was given to her by her sister. This song is played when you give her the necklace. No further explanation is given inside of the game as to what the meaning of the necklace was, but through outside sources we learn that the necklace was originally meant to be given to Sylvanas by her sister Alleria before she went into the Dark Portal but she never received it. The necklace was split into three separate necklaces each one intending to go to one of the Windrunner sisters.

We also learn a little bit more about how the Blood Elves were able to control the elements around Quel'thalas. The Blood Elves would perform enslavement rituals by summoning an Elemental Lord and binding it to their will every year. However, tragedy struck one year when Aquantion, a water elemental, called upon an army of Murlocs and drowned a town of blood elves that were attempting the ritual so he could be free. The spirits of the blood elves now haunt the lake they died in.

Most of the lore comes from one small but important area in the Ghostlands known as Deatholme. Deatholme is the fortress of Dar'Khan Drathir the Blood Elf traitor that sold out his people to the Scourge. Dar'Khan was a very powerful magistre that used the Sunwell to craft cities for his people. However, he was extremely ego-maniacal and was frustrated with not receiving enough credit for helping build Silvermoon. Dar'Khan became obsessed with the Sunwell and wanted to power for himself so he joined forces with Arthas Menethil who he believed wanted to Sunwell for himself as well. However, after Dar'Khan let the Lich Kings forces into Eversong Woods and fought against the Blood Elves for control of the Sunwell, Arthas used it to raise Kel'thazad which corrupted it beyond use. Infurated by this, Dar'Khan attempted to betray the Lich King but was killed in the battle. After he is revivedby Arthas and tracks down what is left of the Sunwell that was destroyed by Kael'thas Sunstrider he is vaporized to dust but magically appears in Ghostlands as the Scourge offensive leader with no real explination as to how he survived or how he got there. Some believe that he is a Lich and can regenerate any wound as long as his soul remains in tact, however, since we kill him and do nothing special with his soul there's no concrete evidence that this is true.

Once we defeat his Lieutenants, free our scouts and kill Dar'Khan (which by the way, is still a bitch of a fight to solo, in full heirlooms at level 24 it took my Monk about 4-6 deaths to kill him on my own due to his obnoxious fear and four add army he keeps in the room with him) we are asked to meet not only the Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron but also Sylvanas Windrunner and Garrosh Hellscream so the Blood Elves can officially become apart of the Horde. Being able to retake the Ghostlands and defeat Dar'khan without any outside help shows the Horde that we are capable of solving our own problems and that we have assets we can provide.

All in all, I really enjoy Ghostlands as a zone because it is extremely pretty and you get lost in what you're doing. However, as it always seems to be in WoW most of your information comes from outside of the game and not the actual quest text itself. Next week, we will be moving to Tirisfal Glades (and randomly jumping several years into the future) to learn the lore of the Forsaken and Sylvanas Windrunner.

Loremaster Innervate - World of Warcraft - Zone Lore: Eversong Woods

Welcome to the first article for Loremaster Innervate. This will be a weekly article where we go over the lore that we learn as we trek our way through Azeroth and beyond. For the Horde side of leveling, we will be following the adventures of Mishta, a Blood Elf Monk. And we begin our story in Eversong Woods as a new recruit eager to help rebuild the race.

Why are the Blood Elves in Eversong Woods? Why is half of their city destroyed? What is their story? Unfortunately, none of this is actually explained in the starting area as the blood elves expect you to know your people's history. So you have to go outside of the game for some background information. Essentially, Blood Elves used to be High Elves that were known as a race with great magical ability. Their source of power comes from the Sunwell which was created from a vial of water from the Well of Eternity. Arthas the Lich King amassed an army of Scourge and marched on Silvermoon so he could use the power of the Sunwell to resurrect Kel'thazad (the final boss in Naxxaramus) which tainted the Sunwell. During this attack, over 90% of the elven population in Quel'thalas was destroyed by the Scourge and those who survived became addicted to mana without the Sunwell. They changed their name to Blood Elves as a reminder of their fallen.

Source: Blizzard Entertainment Concept Art

There isn't a lot of additional information on the Eversong Woods area itself. It has always been the home of High Elves and where their Sunwell originally sat before it was corrupted and destroyed. An interesting fact however is that the region itself is meant to be snowy but the Blood Elves use their magic to leave it in a perpetual season of Autumn. If the Blood Elves ever left it is assumed that it would return to a winter climate. Also, in Tor'Watha there used to be a wooden gateway similar to Zul'Aman that was speculated to have either been the original entrance to the raid or another instance that was never released. It was later removed in Patch 4.0.3 and replaced by mountains.

The questing itself unfortunately is rather dull as the zone was not remade during the overhaul to the 1-60 questing experience in the pre-launch event for Cataclysm. There isn't a very distinguishable story to follow but there are some lore tid-bits that we can learn.

Blood elves, as stated above, are addicted to mana crystals due to their constant use of it. They constantly suffer from withdrawal symptoms since the destruction of the Sunwell. Blood elves that do not learn to curb their addiction and give in are turned into Wretched. Wretched are deformed creatures who only care about getting their next mana fix. They will steal and murder their own for the chance of them having a mana crystal on them. Once you have succumb to your addiction there to no turning back and your only hope is death. Wretched are a huge threat to most as they have no remorse for their actions and will kill any passing Blood Elf.

The first quests in the zone, as in most zones, are kill quests. You are ordered to kill Mana Wyrms and Springpaw Lynx because Blood Elves used the Sunwell magic to control them so everything in Quel'thalas lived in harmony with one another. Once the Sunwell was destroyed they could no longer control the animals and mana creatures throughout the land who then turned on them. This made their training grounds extremely dangerous.

We soon see our first look into faction differences and Blood Elf players are taught early to hate the Alliance. The only Alliance we see are either masked Darnassian spies who hold battle plans to the defenses of the outlying villages of Eversong and Prospector Anvilward who turns out to be a spy who sabotaged the Western Sanctums power conduits. Although you are a brand new recruit to the Horde, they ask you to assassinate the Prospector as it is to dangerous to keep him captive. We also see distinction between troll tribes with the Amani and the Darkspear. Although very minimal, we meet a dying Darkspear troll that explains that he is good and we help avenge his death.

Source: http://www.fanpop.com/fans/Chipettes33

The last creatures that we come across before we leave the area are woodland Treants, sentient trees who live throughout Quel'thalas. Treants in Eversong have been long time allies of the Blood Elves and most of the structures in Eversong Woods were either built by or repaired by Treants. However, the Treants were attempting to heal the burned down woods that border Ghostlands which forced the Blood Elves to begin killing them. This little bit of information intrigued me, although Blood Elves are more in tune with Arcane Magic than Nature based magic, it could be assumed that with the help of Tauren Druids and the Treants in Eversong, could it be possible for a faction of Blood Elves to become Druids? In the Warcraft II manual, it is explained that the Runestone on Caer Darrow in the Western Plaguelands was placed by "Elven Druids" but they were never mentioned again. In the Botanica 5-man instance, High Botanist Freywinn is a blood elf seen wearing Cenarion Vestments (Tier 1 Druid gear) and even transforms into a tree. Many of the other NPCs in the Botanica cast Restoration Druid spells but are not specifically called Druids.

The last, and possibly biggest piece of lore, comes from the Dead Scar and the Scorched Wood. The Dead Scar is a straight line that cuts Eversong Woods and Ghostlands almost evenly in half. This occurred when the Lich King marched on Silvermoon and the Scourge corrupted the land as it marched. After most of the Scourge army left, the corruption of their taint began to spread and the elves were forced to burn the land and the surrounding forest to stop the spread of the corruption. Unfortunately, the mark left behind by the Scourge cannot be reversed and any attempts to heal the land will simply cause the taint to continue spreading. The corruption also draws more stray Scourge to the area so the blood elves must always be on constant guard.

Overall, the zone felt as though there was very little accomplishment that occurred by the player as, again, the story line is behind on the current game lore and the story telling was not as well done. Most of the information had to be found outside of the game. Next week however, we will be covering Ghostlands which is personally one of my favorite areas. Join me next time as we explain the rise, fall and fall again of Dar'khan Drathir!

Monday Morning Musings - World of Warcraft - Ra-den Lore, Theories and Future Expansion Possibilities

Welcome to the first edition of Monday Morning Musings. Every morning when the dew is collecting on the trees I sit down and talk about an opinion topic about one of many opinion pieces that come to mind during my time in the virtual world. This week we're going to cover some lore in World of Warcraft that I feel went kind of overlooked in the WoW community overall. That is Ra-den, the Fallen Keeper of Storm, a Titan found hiding in a secret passage underneath Mogu'shan Vaults.

Ra-den - Who He Is and How He Got Where He Is Now

Ra-den is first encountered after defeating Heroic Lei-Shen in Throne of Thunder. But his background isn't found within the instance itself, instead it is scattered around the Isle of Thunder on scrolls depicting the rise of the Thunder King. Originally, the Mogu were created by the Titans to help defeat the Mantid swarm who worshiped Y'Shaarj as a god (who was actually an Old God). When Y'Shaarj was defeated by a Titan who fell (we assume this to be Sargerus) the Mogu no longer had any orders to follow as their Keeper, Ra-den, fell silent and hid himself away inside of Mogu'shan Vaults. This left an army without a commander and they began to fight amongst each other. That was until Lei Shen came along and decided to unite all of the Mogu clans, began to speak for the silent Keeper and eventually ventured into the mountain Ra-den was secluding himself in and ripped out his heart to gain his power so he could rule the Mogu with an iron fist.

During his encounter with players however he says quite a few interesting things that can make us speculate somethings about both Ra-den and the Titans as a whole. Ra-den explains before he is defeated that he can see the determination in our eyes to save the world and that he doesn't believe that we can. Once he is defeated he changes his heart and says that he still doesn't believe that we can win because we don't understand the power of the Old Gods that are only getting stronger but we deserve the right to try. This is exactly the same thing that happened when we met Algalon inside of Ulduar almost to a T. This can be interpreted in a few different ways that is pure speculation until we meet with a Titan/Keeper that can clarify for us.

The first thought is that the Titans never received the Alpha Reply Code signal. We never saw Algalon again after he retreated from our fight and it was up to us to use the Alpha Reply Code in Dalaran. We're not sure if the Alpha Reply Code even worked, let alone if it reached any of the Titans. I would assume that it did because if it didn't then I would think a new Titan or Keeper would have come to Azeroth to see why they never received an answer from Algalon if he wasn't able to make it back to the Titans.

The second possibility is that Ra-den is secluded from the rest of the Titans and has no communication with them at all. Ra-den says that he has been in silence for a thousand years which suggests that he hasn't had any communication with other Titans as well. However, why would he have inclination to tell us about conversations with Titans to creatures he sees as corrupt and insignificant? If he has been completely secluded from the Titans then that also means that he doesn't know what happened in Ulduar and the Alpha Reply Code.

The third possibility, and the theory that I tend to agree with the most, is that the Titans received the Alpha Reply Code and are ignoring it and coming to destroy us anyway and Ra-den agrees with them. Ra-den is a Keeper, created by the Titans to oversee their creations on worlds. It has been thousands of years since the death of Y'Shaarj and the recall of the Titans and the Curse of Flesh which corrupted the rest of the Keepers on Azeroth. Ra-den had already gone into seclusion before the Curse of the Flesh occurred so it is unclear if Ra-den was corrupted at all. Ra-den is the voice of Amun-Thul, who is a Paragon Champion of the Titans, and was who he spoke for once the Titans left the world. This means that Ra-den must have still had connection with the Titans after they left. So either he mysteriously lost his connection to the Titans and had no desire to return to them to figure out what they wanted from him or he never lost his connection to the Titans and still listened to them.

Ra-den is the Keeper on Pandaria, similar to the Keepers within Ulduar who were corrupted by Yogg-Saron. Although it is unclear if Ra-den was ever corrupted by the Curse of the Flesh, if the Titans know what happened in Ulduar (which they did because they sent Algalon to assess the situation) then they must have a connection to all their Keepers even if they are corrupted and they must know what happened with the Mogu and subsequently what happened with Throne of Thunder with the player characters. However, this time they didn't send a representative. Or at least, they haven't yet. But all of this supports that Ra-den still have a connection with the Titans in some fashion.

What This Means For Us

What this says to me is one thing. The Titans are coming for Azeroth. If Ra-den and the Titans still had a connection and Ra-den still believed that the races of Azeroth have no chance against the Old Gods and they should be destroyed then that means that the Titans still believe they need to cleanse Azeroth which means that they ignored the Alpha Reply Code that Algalon sent. Since we have defeated several corrupted Keepers, killed two Old Gods and their strongest corrupted Aspect it is obvious if they simply send one watcher like they did with Algalon we will defeat them.

Either the Titans believe we are not strong enough to deal with the Old Gods. The Titans believe that the Old Gods are nearly as powerful as they are and cannot be killed without destroying the planet since they are so intertwined with the planet. This means that mere sub-species are not capable of taking the Old Gods down and we are corrupted as well and must be destroyed. Which is an odd way for them to think since we've killed or cleansed all of their corrupted Keepers and killed two Old Gods of the five that were imprisoned inside of Azeroth.

The other possibility is that the Titans believe that we have become too powerful. It has been shown by Lei Shen that it is powerful for mortals to gain the powers of Keepers by stealing them so it may also be possible for the Titans to instill those powers into us. This means that the Titans could come to Azeroth to destroy something they see as a threat or forcibley attempt to make us their Keepers or Champions to those who show enough power. This would force us to fight back to save our home or stop the Titans from taking us away.

The speculation that the Burning Legion is going to return for the next expansion and that we might attempt to defeat Sargeras (which would mean it is possible for us to kill/defeat Titans) would be a good reason for the Titans to make an immediate path for Azeroth. I have some more theories on what will happen will the next few expansion but that will come in a future MMM!

Either way, the Old Gods, Titans and Keepers is always an interesting topic to discuss because it is what shaped Azeroth in the beginning. And it is always fun to sit and speculate about what could be in the future. You know you're doing some really good story telling when people sit around and discuss possible different scenarios of what could be from what has been!

Next week on Monday Morning Musing I will go over what I believe the expansion lore cycle will be for the next three expansions and what I think could be the end of World of Warcraft!

Monday Morning Musings - Dragon Age 2 - Relationships of Dragon Age 2: Seas of Toxicity

Warning: This contains spoilers for the Dragon Age 2 story line. If you haven't finished the game (go do it it's awesome) then you may wish to stop reading.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@GGElaina) has noticed that the last week or so has been pretty much dedicated to Dragon Age 2. I first picked up Dragon Age in April but was unable to complete it because I skipped a lot of side-quests and was silly with my gearing so I wasn't able to actually complete the final event. I picked it up again to see if I could finish it this time and to also mess with modding. And something that was always a big part of the game for me (as it is with all Bioware games) was the relationships and I tried many different combinations during my two full game completions. Bioware has always been a company that is amazing at telling stories and making deeply compelling and flawed characters. And the possible relationships in Dragon Age 2 are no different.

Preface: My Hawke

I played through Dragon Age 2 from start to finish twice over the last week. And with most RPGs my character varied very little between both playthroughs, once my character is made in my mind she tends to stay that way. My Female Hawke was an Apostate Mage with a polite/compassionate disposition who favored freedom for all including mages but was heavily against blood magic and slavery. So my relationships with my companions were as follows:

• Anders: Friend
• Fenris: Rival
• Sebastian: Friend
• Merril: Rival
• Isabella: Friend
• Varric: Friend
• Aveline: Friend
• Carver: Rival (Templar/Dead)

My first playthrough my Hawke slept with Isabella, slept with Fenris (who left) and stayed in a relationship with Anders and my second playthrough she slept with Isabella, slept with Fenris who left and ended up alone (although I headcanon an ending beside Sebastian). So these are the relationships I will be touching on in this article. I have never fully completed a playthrough with a relationship with either Merril or Isabella so they may be a better partner for Hawke as a whole.

Anders – Selfish, Deceitful and Uncompromising

Anders' character introduction is one that is completely opposite of his true nature at the end of the game. He is seen as a cat loving healer who is risking his life to heal the poor refugees of Kirkwall. It is later revealed that he made a deal with a spirit of Justice who was corrupted by Anders' hatred for Templars and the oppression of mages. Anders openly flirts with Hawke whether or not you choose flirt options during conversation but pushes her away if she flirts back saying that he will break her heart.

After being in love with Hawke for nearly six years (and dating her for three) Anders asks Hawke to help him do something that involves deceiving the Grand Cleric. Any attempt to ask Anders what he plans to do is met with hostility and deception. He even prays on Hawkes love for him saying “if you love me, you will do this for me and not ask questions”. Anders' relationship with Hawke has suddenly become one that is extremely toxic for her as she is being pressured to do something that she doesn't want to do to please Anders. He claims on several occasions that he loves Hawke to other companions but everyone can see that he is planning something (Varric and Sebastian attempt to warn Hawke and Fenris threatens Anders' life if he hurts her).

We find out at the end of the game that his task for Hawke was to distract the Grand Cleric so he could plant a bomb to destroy the Chantry (the universes church) and kill all of the priests and the Grand Cleric while they were inside. Anders does this because he wants a war between the Templars and the Mages so that mages could be free of the tyranny of the Templar Order. The Chantry was the only hope of compromise and unification between the two sides and Anders destroyed it.

Anders uses Hawke's compassion and love to fuel his own needs whether she agrees with his choices or not. He does not give her a choice to side with him on the issue because he was afraid that she would not agree with him. Relationships where one party feels the need to lie is not a healthy relationship and the outcome is a very difficult choice for Hawke. In my Anders romance playthrough I sent him away forever leaving Hawke alone and heartbroken over the betrayal of her partner. Anders not only was a mass murderer but he made his love an unknowing accomplice and sparked a war that made her fight against friends and her own brother.

Fenris – Unwavering, Unsure and Abusive

Fenris is first introduced after he tricks Hawke into an miscalculated ambush and then silicates her help to clear out a mansion that could contain his old master. He is an escaped slave running from his blood magic wielding master who branded Lirium into his skin to give Fenris special powers so he could act as a powerful body guard. Growing up in a city where blood magic is commonplace gives him a hatred for magic and makes him strongly believe all mages should stay inside their Circles.

The Fenris and Apostate Mage Hawke is a very toxic relationship that isn't very good out of the gate. Fenris is very pron to outbursts if Hawke does not agree with him (specifically on Pro Mage fronts) and will storm off or yell at her when she attempts to explain her opinion. A relationship where one person cannot express their opinions for fear of their partner is not a good relationship to be in. Having a difference of opinions on a political issue is perfectly healthy if it can be discussed rationally and without either party feeling the need to threaten or insult their partner because they are frustrated.

Fenris will eventually sleep with Hawke but leave shortly after the encounter exclaiming that they were moving too fast and that he wasn't ready. There are many different theories as to what could have been going through his mind when this situation occurred. To me; Fenris is extremely selfish and cares little for Hawkes feelings in this instance. She just slept with someone she cared about and offered to help him through his ordeal but instead he ran off because he couldn't handle it. If he wasn't sure he was ready for a committed relationship (even without the extenuating circumstances of what happened while they had sex) he should have made it clear so as to not hurt her if she was looking for something more than just a fling. Fenris claims to have left Hawke because he was seeing his life before he was a slave while he was with her but this didn't stop him in the middle of sex. He wanted to be there for the pleasure but once that was over he was no longer sure about staying.

My playthrough was probably extremely unique because after he left I was not able to romance him back. I kept him in my party throughout the entirety of the game and was never able to completely max out his Rival points because of my distaste for Blood Magic (which gave him mixed Friend/Rival points) and so when the final battle came he did not side with Hawke and fought with Meredith on the battlefield. This also showed to me the fact that Fenris is not loyal to Hawke even after everything that she did for him (including helping him track down and kill the master who had been hunting him for more than ten years). Having an opinion of his own is justified since it contradicted what Hawke believed but he says something right before their fight. “I should have never let you get so close. Primary rule of survival.” This shows that Fenris truly only cared about himself and would rather kill his close friend (and ex-lover) than stand beside her. Hawke was forced to kill Fenris and be left alone after the fight with Meredith.

Sebastian – Compassionate, Religious and Pressuring

Sebastian is also introduced in a way that really doesn't depict his character much at all. He is seen posting a notice on a bounty board to hire mercenaries to clear out a gang who killed his family. After Hawke takes care of them it is discovered that he is in fact a prince who recently lost his family to a coupe for their throne and he is the only surviving member. He is a Chantry boy who is extremely religious and has been a priest for over 10 years.

Sebastian is personally my favorite male companion in the entire game. He is extremely religious and strong in his faith but he does not use it to pressure people. He does not judge others for the way that they live their lives nor does he preach at them if they do not believe. He instead allows them to come to conclusions of their own but is also able to give calm and peaceful discussions if asked. Many accuse him of being ready to scowl and preach at them but are surprised when he does not.

He also one of the few companions that actually seem to care about Hawke's well being above their own (Varric being the only other consistent one). Whether you side with his decision to stay with the Chantry or pressure him into taking back his home and becoming King he sticks to what he believes in but values Hawkes friendship above all else and promises to stay beside her. He even attempts to warn her about Anders (telling her he is selfish and will never put her above his own needs) without ulterior motives (Anders will do the same with Fenris but he does this because he wants Hawke to be with him instead) and is truly looking out for Hawke when no one else (besides Varric) will.

However, Sebastian also has a deep character flaw of peer pressuring Hawke in the final Act to do what he thinks is best. After Anders murders the Grand Cleric (his guide and mentor) and destroys the place he has called home for the past thirteen years he calls for Anders death. If Hawke chooses to let Anders go Sebastian will threaten to return to Starkhaven, gather an army and come back to destroy all of Kirkwall to get to Anders. He does not even offer to kill Anders himself, he makes Hawke personally kill a friend or a lover to prevent a war that would slaughter thousands of innocent citizens inside of the city. Whether he would have actually done so is unknown but that is the ultimatum that he gives Hawke. This shows that Sebastian is not above being selfish and using his authority to get what he wants and pressure others into siding with him by giving them un-winnable scenarios in times of crisis.

His saving grace is that if Hawke chooses to kill Anders he will side with her no matter which side of the war she chooses to fight on. At the end of the game before the final battle, he expresses his love for her (not outright but it is thinly veiled) and wishes that things were different so that he could be with her. Out of all of the companions in the game, in my opinion, Sebastian would have been the healthiest relationship for Hawke to be in but it is ironically one of the few she cannot have (I do not count the chaste marriage as a relationship and neither does the game achievements).

Bioware has always made games that get people thinking about complicated issues in the form of Role Playing. The tones and themes of their games (Geth v Quarians in Mass Effect, Mages v Templars and Racism against Elves in Dragon Age) are extremely powerful and their characters are built with such depth that they are able to live on forever. Dragon Age is one of those games where there really is no happy ending for the hero. You defeat the big bad at the end but are left with the heartache of death, destruction and lose of loves or loves never loved at all. Games that make you think beyond the final credits are games that will last throughout the generations.

- - Mod Links - -

Hawke Armor Mod - SilverX10

Hawke Hair Mod - SG's Beauty Shop

Eye Color Enhancement Mod - Bidelles Cosmetics II with Eyes

Fenris' Black Coat Mod - Fenris as Dante

Loremaster Innervate - World of Warcraft - Initial Reactions to Mists of Pandaria Trailer

I woke up this morning at about 11:00 am (about 2 hours after the trailer was released) and immediately got on to see if like the big nerd that I am. I didn’t get on Twitter, Reddit or any other WoW news site so that I wouldn’t be biased to what anyone’s thoughts were.

I have to say that I like and dislike the trailer for a few reasons. The cinematic was absolutely gorgeous, I like it when Blizzard goes for the more realistic style of the art even though the game has a distinct cartoon style art while playing. It was easy to get immersed and the idea behind the cinematic was easy to follow. Horde v Alliance navel battle, Orc and Human get stranded on desert island, find each other and insue in life or death battle, Pandas stop them and give them a common enemy.

One of the reasons I didn’t like the opening cinematic is because those who don’t necessarily know the details of the opening story line that was given to us at Blizzcon will have more ammo that this expansion is going to be a comedic relief expansion with no dark elements to it at all.  The Horde and the Alliance are finally having their big battle to end all battles and it is once again ruined by an outside force. The introduction to the Pandaren is completely comedic relief in the opening cinematic. He stops the life and death battle, takes back the ornament the Orc broke off of his temple and fixes it, Human and Orc give their best WTF face and the human hands the Orc a weapon so that they can fight the panda together.

The cinematic from there on out no longer has any heavy themes to speak of. They fight for another two minutes, the Pandaren has a quiet monologue, and then it is over. There’s obviously much more to the story that we already know about but all of the heaviness disepated once the Pandaren arrived which makes me worry. I’m sure I’m in the small minority who actually knows the beginning lore to MoP and the heavy themes that surround it but none of that was shown in the trailer for a larger audience to view. Instead of a tranquil view of Pandaria at peace I feel it would have been better if the Pandaren had panned to a group of Pandaren monks fighting a large Sha of Anger that had manifested from the Orc and Human fighting each other. Only a handful of people might have recognized or understood what it was but at least it would have given us something.

I also think it was a bad idea to have the Humans and Orcs both fighting against the Pandaren with no resolution to the battle other than defeat for both of the factions. If no one knew anything about the upcoming expansion, it’s lore, or any over arching story to World of Warcraft in general, they would think that the Horde and the Alliance were going to band together to defeat the Pandaren. No outside enemies were shown in the cinematic (when the opening cinematic generally feature or surround the antagonist of the expansion) other than the Pandaren. Although we are uncertain what exactly the enemy (other than the Sha and a few other woodland critters) is in MoP and who the final boss battle will be, it would have explained much more of the Orc, Human and Pandaren were standing side by side in awe at a Pandaren army taking down a large Sha to show the Pandas are not the enemy.

Although I have a lot of criticism I did like the cinematic overall. I understand that you can’t put everything into the opening cinematic and that some of the story had to be cut out or they want the quests to bring that lore to the eyes of the viewers. I also understand that not everything can be explained in a 5 minute video. I’m just concerned that our fears of a Pokemon and Pandas fluffy childrens expansion may be being realized here. Hopefully, I am proved wrong!