Posts tagged Lore
Thorium Brotherhood
Aug 4th
The Thorium Brotherhood are a guild of elite craftsmen and women who originally resided in Ironforge, but during the War of the Three Hammers sided with the Dark Iron Dwarves. When the Dark Iron Dwarves were enslaved by Ragnaros, the Thorium Brotherhood broke free. Afterwards, they resided in Searing Gorge close to the materials they needed for their branch of crafting, and able to overlook the enslaved Dark Iron Dwarves of the quarry.
These days, it seems that the Thorium Brotherhood is one of the most pointless factions to be exalted with, giving no achievement, although, it’s also probably one of the easiest, and therefore you may find it useful to gain reputation with if you’re aiming for the Exalted.
If you’re looking for the rewards you can receive from Thorium Brotherhood reputation, Lokhtos Darkbargainer, an NPC within Blackrock Depths, sells a few recipes and patterns which are available at various reputation points. Of course, I believe, the main “useful” item you can receive from this reputation is the Blacksmithing plans for the Sulfuron Hammer, which is required to make Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros. You can receive them by completing this quest, which gives 1000 reputation with the Thorium Brotherhood.
Today, I decided that I’d finally throw all of the cores I’ve been collecting during our weekly Molten Core rep clears at some Dwarves and see what happened. In short, I’ve been aiming for 40 exalteds for a while, I’ve just been slacking a little bit. This one gets me upto 39, so that I can get my 40 achievement when I get that last 1000ish rep with the Ashen Verdict! It also satisfies the completionist in me, because yes, I could also have finished off my Consortium rep for the same result.
To finish this one off from 0/3000 neutral, I started by completing every quest at Thorium point. After that was done, I handed in Restoring Fiery Flux Supplies via Iron 30 times to get to friendly. I chose Iron Bars because they were the cheapest on my auction house and I didn’t fancy farming 120 Iron Bars/Kingsblood, do check the prices of Iron Bars/Ore, Kingsblood, and Heavy Leather on your server before making your decision.
From friendly, I needed to hand in 960 Dark Iron Residue. This can be pretty cheap on the auction house so you may want to check there first, if not you can farm that much in a couple of BRD runs, easily. I did 9 Gaining Even More Acceptance hand ins, and Gaining Acceptance hand ins until I hit honoured.
Then the fun begins. Well, it depends on how easily you can get your hands on Fiery Cores and/or Lava Cores. These drop from trash and bosses in Molten Core. Personally, I’ve been collecting them for a fair few weeks but if you haven’t been you could start farming the trash, or check the auction house, I believe on most servers they will sell for around 40g each, more or less, it depends on how much you’re willing to spend and how much time you can put in. From honoured to exalted, you will need 30 cores.
As I had all of the cores (and then some), all I had to do was finish the quests, which also netted me the remaining Incendasaur Scales, and farm 460 Dark Iron Residue, as the auction house didn’t quite have enough, and overall it only took a few hours.
A Little Exploration
Mar 26th
Pilf’s Grand Tour is an excellent response to the Explorer Task! I think she is a wonderful writer, do read them all. Mine is a little different and you can see I’m pretty terrible at taking decent screenshots. The first one is Jaedi speaking, the last two are Fae.
Undercity: The Throne Room
This was actually a suggestion from Erc, to go sit in the throne room of the Ruins of Lordaeron and turn up your Ambience and listen. I did.
“Have you ever stopped to listen to the whispers of the past in Lordaeron? The cries of pain, of betrayal.. It brings a tear to my eye. The horrible events that occurred here, in this very room, are the very reason I can’t bring myself to care for or believe in humanity. There will always be betrayal, sadness, and often without reason.” – Jaedi.
It’s easy to forget when you’re going about your daily routine, that Lordaeron was once a thriving kingdom, ruled over by King Terenas Menethil, Arthas’ father. It is haunting when you stop to look around and listen. You can hear different echoes of the past in the various parts of Lordaeron and the bloodstain where Arthas killed his father can still be seen.
Searing Gorge: The Cauldron
“We have encountered and defeated Ragnaros in the past, yet the Cauldron remains as a reminder to us of the evil that is the Dark Iron Dwarves. They surround themselves by lava and worship a God who is too powerful to control? Madness. These are dark times..” – Fae.
Whilst charging around, getting a little more of Loremaster done on my Hunter I had to venture into ‘the Cauldron’ where I can see mechanical structures built into the rocks and a deep quarry. I have to say, though generally I’ve tended to hate this place in the past because it reminds me of BRD wipes and dust, the lore behind it has really won me over. So much that I took my Rogue here to level. The slaves of the Dark Iron down in the Slag Pit have been driven mad by their masters, and we don’t know for certain what they are digging for, it is thought to be Old God or Titan artifacts, but we can’t be certain.
Arathi Highlands: Faldir’s Cove
“I have to swim to this place called.. *checks soaking map* Faldir’s Cove. I’m told that I’ll be able to find a chunk of knowledge I didn’t previously know.. and I have to swim there. My hair’s getting wet, and NomNom really doesn’t like the water. Like there’s going to be anything there anyway, I’ve never heard any talk of… My God, that’s a pirate ship? In Arathi Highlands?! That’s beautiful!” – Fae
I had to check Faldir’s Cove for quests while I was doing Loremaster, because I didn’t believe there were really quests there, I’d never heard of it. Lo and behold there were a few, all granted to you by a crew of treasure hunting pirate gnomes and an ogre. The fact that this place is fairly difficult to get to means that you wouldn’t think about going there unless directed (which you aren’t unless tracking quest givers on Wowhead), which implies that this little spot is forgotten about almost. There are naga to kill and Blackwater Raiders in search of Elven Treasure, not to mention maps from their sunken ships to be able to navigate away. The solitude alone is quite beautiful.
Link Love: The Drama Week
Mar 21st
This week has been pretty drama filled, and there are a fair few response posts I could link to, but I don’t want to link to anything related to the posts and blogs that have caused the huge discussion that has taken place this week, that needs to be left alone now. Rather, I would like to link to a couple of blog posts discussing the topic, not the bloggers, in a mature and adult way. First of all, Byaghro of Diabolical Minds wrote a post on Social Responsibility and Blogging, I respect how objective he remained whilst raising some excellent points. Windsoar equally wrote an awesome objective post, or in her own words a Rambling Commentary on Recent Events. Both posts give you something to think about, whether you agree with them or not.
Not everything has been about the drama this week, thank God, in fact, there has been a string of blogging related topics. One which actually originated from a Blog Azeroth discussion: Why do you blog? Both Gypsy and Dristanel decided to respond in post form and I loved reading both responses, and I can honestly say that there is a little of my own reasons in both posts. Saresa has written a wonderful guide for people who are thinking about starting their own blog but may perhaps need a few tips, So, You Want To Blog?
I know I don’t blog too much about hunters these days, but I still read the hunter blogs and I find this guide on using FemaleDwarf.com from Rilgon absolutely awesome. I wasn’t aware that it is basically the same as the Excel Spreadsheet, so now I don’t feel quite as bad for using it myself!
Daily Quests is a web comic which I find to be quite unique with its blog sections, and I’m particularly fond of Vas’ lore section. I’ve learnt quite a lot about lore from reading his column and this week has been no different in his discussion of The Half Breed and the Human, Med’an, the son of Medivh.
There have been many levelling guides around this week and here’s just a handful of the few I found particularly informative. Windsoar posted her guide on Druiding it Up: 1-10. Okay, so, Tarinae’s guide to levelling a healadin may have technically been last week, but I felt I should include it as I read it this week *stomps* my blog, my rules! Also, I particularly enjoy levelling Death Knights. I’m not entirely sure why, I already have one at 80 and I don’t really intend to level more, but I find them pretty damn fun and Skeleton Jack’s introduction guide to levelling a DK is a very good starting point. All in all, whatever you level, try to have some fun, go against what everybody else tells you is best if that’s what you want to do, but tips and guides are always nice to get you started, especially if you want to level efficiently.
Last but not least, what is a week’s round up without a few fun posts? The wonderful Zalduun has informed us of a few things that we may not know about Dalaran. I didn’t know there was a shoe shiner, and I haven’t been able to find the lighting up Dalaran guy since the very beginning of Wrath! I love little tidbits like this. Something quite interesting from Arioch, clearly she has a WoW Model Viewer addiction at the moment (prove me wrong), but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Take a look at the different models, do you sleep the same way your character does? Looking at it, I do sleep like the female Blood Elf. How did you sleep last night? Have you checked your horoscope this week? What’s your sign? I think I have a little of the Overachiever in me, but I’m mostly an Altoholic.
Worst attempt at hacking ever!
Dranosh Saurfang (the Younger)
Feb 3rd
“The son is the father.” – Farseer Corhuk.
Dranosh Saurfang, the son of Varok Saurfag, also sometimes known as Saurfang the Younger. His name, ‘Dranosh’, means ‘Heart of Draenor’ in Orcish. Although his mother is not known, she is mentioned in Icecrown. His father says that he made a promise to his mother before she died, that he would leave Outland alone and leave Dranosh untainted.
We first meet him in Nagrand near the Sunspring Post, set out to seek revenge after a Murkblood raid on his home. However, it doesn’t go so well and he gains severe injuries, as well as being only one of a handful of survivors. He decides to go through the Dark Portal to find his father and follow in his footsteps.
Upon meeting his father in Northrend, he is given one of the highest tasks, his father knowing he was the only one who could keep a level head, that he was worthy enough, so he also gave him his armour. This task was to head to the Wrathgate for battle. He sadly fell to Frostmourne just before Putress betrays them, releasing his plague.
Of course, having fallen to Frostmourne, his soul is taken by the Lich King, and he becomes Deathbringer Saurfang. Guarding the Citadel from any champions who may seek to enter. After the Gunship battle, depending on your faction you will meet with differing introductions and endings to the fight, needless to say, the final result, for either faction, was possibly the saddest moment in WoW. The father carrying his son’s body for burial.
Varok Saurfang (the Elder)
Jan 28th
“I am Saurfang. Brother of Broxigar. You know me to be the Supreme Commander of the Might of Kalimdor. An orc – a true orc warrior – wishes for one thing: To die in the glory of battle against a hated enemy. Some of you have fought in battles. Peace has been with us for many years. Many years we sat idle but many years we battled. In those years – where strife the land and Legion and Scourge sacked our homes, killed our families – these insects dwelled beneath us. Beneath our homes – waiting. Waiting to crush the life from our little ones. To slay all in their path. This they do for their god. And for our gods? We defend. We stand. We show that as one. United. We destroy. Their god will fall. To die today, on this field of battle, is to die an orcish death. To die today is to die for our little ones. Our old ones. Our… loved ones. Would any of you deny yourselves such a death? Such an honor?”- addressing the Might of Kalimdor during the Second War of the Shifting Sands.
High Overlord Saurfang serves as the Supreme Commander of the Horde. He is the brother of Broxigar, who died trying to stop Sargeras, and was the only known creature to wound the Dark Titan. He is also one of the orcs who drank from the blood of Manneroc.
He is currently found helping the Horde forces in Icecrown Citadel, though has previously stood in Orgrimmar, and was Supreme Commander during the Second War of the Shifting Sands.
Along with Garrosh Hellscream, Varok Saurfang is one of Thrall’s most trusted advisors. When news of the Wrathgate tragedy reached Thrall, it was Varok who reminded him that it is his duty to lead his people.
A few facts you should remember about this particular orc:
- Every night before he goes to bed, Sargeras checks under his bed for Saurfang.
- Archavon is Saurfang’s Pet Rock
- Saurfang does not have to wait for Arthas to come in CoS timed. The prince will run like hell.
- The real reason the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor split is because that was the day Saurfang cut his very first birthday cake. Afterwards, Saurfang decided that Thrall should cut the cake instead.
- Saurfang once killed 53,297 zombies with a single cleave attack.
After Arthas
Jan 23rd
As usual I’m late to the party, this shared topic is one I wanted to get involved in and in all my IRL stuff, managed to forget. Ringo from Flinthammer Hall suggested the following topic:
What now? What happens to the world of Azeroth? What happens to the people, the factions. How does this affect the relationships between the Alliance and Horde? What does your character think happens next? Is this the end for you, as a player, especially if you started, as I did, with Warcraft III? Is this the “end of history?”
Other responses from: Zan, Littlebark, and Ophelie.
What happens to the world of Azeroth?
Arthas is dead. Not too soon after, Deathwing breaks free. The world of Azeroth is once again torn asunder (the first time by the destruction of the Well of Eternity), races are left stranded (goblins), entire zones changed by the extreme power of Deathwing. That’s for a different topic, another time.
Looking at the undead armies and the Lich King, as Uther said in Halls of Reflection, Azeroth needs a Lich King. If we didn’t have a Lich King, there would be nobody to control the scourge and stop them from swarming Azeroth. Somebody will need to replace Arthas, and my money is on Bolvar Fortdragon. They don’t necessarily have to be evil, in fact, it’s going to be a huge sacrifice, but a necessary one. For the future of Azeroth.
What happens to the people, the factions. How does this affect the relationships between the Alliance and Horde?
The Alliance and Horde will have to work together to not only defeat Arthas, but decide who the next Lich King will be. Bolvar has lost so much, he has nothing left to lose by making the sacrifice. This causes a temporary truce, though I don’t think it will last long. There will be issues leading upto Wrath which again will cause disagreements between the Horde and the Alliance, at the moment, we only know rumours, not facts.
What does your character think happens next?
My character figures that so much has happened, that it has to come to an end now. She expects that after Kil’jaeden has been defeated, the Lich King, Yogg Saron, and so on, that really, what else could happen? With this thought in mind, you can imagine she gets quite pissed off when Death Wing pops up, determined to give Azeroth some peace.
Is this the “end of history?”
No, of course not. There is still a lot to deal with. Deathwing, the rest of the black dragonflight. The Emerald Dream and what exactly is the nightmare. There are still Old Gods locked away, not to mention the Elemental Lords and Sargeras, if Yogg Saron and C’Thun managed to corrupt people from their prisons, I’m sure others can also. There are endless pieces of lore with loose ends, just because the RTS games haven’t shown it yet, doesn’t mean it isn’t being planned or written. This part is surely more exciting, not knowing exactly what’s around the corner.
A Hint of Lore – The Legendary Season – Thunderfury
Nov 25th
I’ve always been curious about the lore behind certain legendary weapons, and as such have been meaning to find out. From a non-lore interested player’s perspective, a legendary weapon is just something much more interesting to obtain than usual. I thought I would start finding out for myself and share my findings. Starting with Thunderfury, the second legendary added to the game, the first being Sulfuros, the Hand of Ragnaros.
Thunderaan, Prince of Air, was defeated by Ragnaros the Fire Lord during the Elemental Sundering. His essence was forced into a talisman of elemental binding and then shattered into two fragments, each given to Ragnoros’ lieutenants, Baron Geddon and Garr. After much time had passed the two halves found their way to one of Thunderaan’s followers, Demitrian, who crafted a sword to contain his master. This was Thunderfury, the remains of Prince Thunderaan’s essence.
Thunderfury itself is a 1handed sword, which these days can be obtained by any class, even those who can’t equip it. The quest starts after obtaining one of the Bindings of the Windseeker, which are of course the two talisman fragments kept by Baron and Garr.
To complete the quest you need both halves of the bindings, the Essence of the Fire Lord which is a drop from Ragnaros if you have the quest, and 10 Elementium Bars, which are very expensive and difficult to obtain. They require a book of smelting and ore, which can only be found in Blackwing Lair. 
Once you hand in the above to Demitrian in Silithus, he summons Thunderaan himself. You must defeat Thunderaan, back at 60 it required a 40 man raid, though Dan got his bindings a few weeks back and we 2 manned him easily enough at 80, though he still has a lot of health. When defeated, he drops the Dormant Wind Kissed Blade, which you hand in to Demitrian and he then crafts Thunderfury for you.
Thunderfury is basically a sword crafted from the Prince of Air’s own sword, and his essence. Whenever you attack with Thunderfury, you unleash the power of Thunderaan.
A Hint of Lore #1 Maiev Shadowsong
Nov 8th
NB: Sorry for the long rambly post, I’ve always been interested in lore stuff, I figure if I find them interesting some of you might too.
I’ve never really been a huge lore buff, this is probably why I never gave RP a go in the past, but Dan sometimes rants on about different aspects of the WoW lore, he’s read the books, practically lives on WoWWiki, and I’m pretty sure he listens to one of the podcasts.. Lorecast or something? I can’t remember, but I’ve learnt pretty much all of my lore through his random ramblings anyway. Once in a while, something in game grabs my curiosity. Recently, the Illidan fight, “Just who is Maiev Shadowsong anyway? And why is he so emo?” A little Wiki browse and I found that not only is it a she, oops, but also an interesting lore character.
The Basics
Maiev Shadowsong, and her brother Jarod, both played a large role in the War of the Ancients against the Burning Legion. Afterwards, she was Illidan’s jailor. When he escaped, she was imprisoned at the Warden’s Cage along with Akama. Together they escaped and infiltrated the Black Temple, along with a “band of heroes” and dealt the final blow. With vengeance gone, she became a shell of her former self.
Her Background
This is the part I found the most interesting, she was a part of the Sisters of Elune, and when High Priestess Dejahna was mortally wounded, Tyrande Whisperwind became the new High Priestess. With her being a novice at the time, and Maiev being fairly high up in the order, Maiev became jealous. She didn’t think that Tyrande would make a great leader during the time of war, however, she accepted it and moved on.
Around the same time, her brother Jarod became the commander of the night elf defenders. During a scouting party on Mount Hyjal, Jarod and his men came across Illidan trying to open up a second well of eternity, Jarod was attacked and injured in the process though Malfurion, Illidan’s brother, stopped the conflict. Maiev wanted to kill Illidan but Tyrande pointed out her brother wasn’t dead, so she agreed to be Illidan’s jailor.
Illidan Imprisoned
Maiev formed a group of priestesses to watch over Illidan at Malfurion’s request which became known as the Watchers, and she was the Warden. At this point, Illidan was still a night elf and claiming to be gaining powers from Sargeras to help defeat the Burning Legion, though his fellow night elves believed him to be a threat. After some time, their tasks included the finding and capture of dangerous criminals.
Illidan Escaped
While Maiev was out on one of these tasks, Tyrande and some of her sentinels attacked the Watchers and freed Illidan, hoping to use him against the Burning Legion, though he absorbed the Skull of Guldan and became a demon, being banished from Ashenvale. Once Maiev and her remaining Watchers caught upto Illidan they found him in the Tomb of Sargeras, he had found the Eye of Sargeras, an artifact used by the Dark Titan himself, with the aid of Lady Vashj and her naga. Using the Eye, Illidan collapsed the section of the tomb where Maiev and her sisters stood, wiping out all of the Watchers but Maiev.
Aid
Malfurion and Tyrande came over to help Maiev as fast as they could to battle off the remaining naga. Maiev tried to blame Tyrande for the entire thing but Malfurion reminded her that it was best to focus on the matter at hand. They followed Illidan to the shores of Lordaeron. Whilst Malfurion went off to talk to nature or something to find Illidan, Tyrande and Maiev came across Kael’thas and his blood elves. They offered to help him protect his people from the undead if he would help them track down Illidan. The bridge collapsed beneath Tyrande as she cast her Stars of Elune, sweemping her downstream. Maiev desperate to find Illidan didn’t save her, kept looking, where they eventually rejoined with Malfurion.
Deceit
Malfurion and Tyrande had been lovers for thousands of years, so the only way Maiev could perceive to get Malfurion to continue the search for Illidan was to tell him that Illidan had killed her. Stricken with grief and anger, he continued onwards, more determined than ever to find his twin brother.
Malfurion, Maiev and the blood elves managed to corner Illidan and his naga whilst channeling a spell through the eye which threatened to tear the very world apart. Illidan again, once the spell was interrupted, attempted to plead innocence but Maiev sentenced him to death on the spot. However, The truth about Tyrande came out, and with the offer of help from his brother and the naga, Malfurion rooted Maiev to the ground and set off to find Tyrande.
Illidan Free Once More…
By the time Maiev could release herself, gather her remaining soldiers and catch up with the others, Tyrande and Malfurion were wishing Illidan what seemed to be a fond farewell. They let him go! After all that he had done. He killed innocents, wreaked havoc upon the lands, threatened to tear them apart, and aside from that, he was a demon. He was no longer the brother Malfurion had once known, and they were letting him go free. All because he saved Tyrande’s life.
Maiev worked out that if her government would not avenge the deaths of her sisters, she would do it herself. So, her and her solders followed Illidan through a portal he opened, to Outland.
Capture and Infiltration
They almost succeeded in Illidan’s recapture with the naga, and none other but the blood elves who had previously helped them, emerged from the portal and attacked Maiev and her soldiers. They were outnumbered, and she was defeated and captured, kept captive in the Warden’s Cage, guarded by Akama and the Ashtongue Deathsworn. Though they join forces to infiltrate the Black Temple and defeat Illidan. Maiev realises as Illidan dies, that she is indeed nothing now.
My Review
A lady night elf priestess once, who became so full of vengeance after thousand of years of training, keeping watch and being deceived. I would like to see her return in a future expansion pack because it would be a shame for such a huge, interesting lore character to just disappear and go out with a whimper. Sargeras is still out there and I would be interested to see some further Maiev lore!
Zalazane's Fall
Brew of the Year
Isle of Conquest Victory
A-bomb-inable
Stocking Up
Operation: Gnomeregan
Master of Arms
Plenty of Pets
Looking For Multitudes
A Void Dance
