Welcome once again my friends to the lore that never ends, we’re so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside Know Your Lore.
When last we got together over the nonexistent campfire to share stories of Azeroth and Draenor and the peoples of both, our heroes were either fleeing the destruction of Stormwind or destroying Stormwind, depending on who you think of as the heroes. Once again, the ‘canonical’ nature of these events has shifted somewhat from the time they were first presented to now, so bear with me if you see any inconsistencies as I attempt to work several disparate accounts together. Also, wow, did a lot happen in the Second War, so please forgive anything I miss or merely allude to from the Alliance and Old Horde KYL’s.
We know that following the loss of Stormwind (and by following I mean that they could probably see the buildings burning as they sailed away) the survivors, led by Anduin Lothar, sailed north for Lordaeron and the court of King Terenas Menethil. It was this journey and Lothar’s arrival that led Terenas and Lothar to begin the diplomatic work that created the Alliance of Lordaeron. It’s important to keep in mind that, at the time, not many people actually knew much about the orcs aside from the survivors of Stormwind. King Llane Wrynn had an adviser who knew a lot about the orcs but that ultimately ended in Stormwind’s destruction as we covered last week. Still, Lothar was the one person both connected enough through his descent from the ancient Arathi bloodline and knowledgeable enough about the enemy to command the military of this new Alliance.
Meanwhile, the Horde was not idle, but it was also not able to immediately pursue the Alliance forces north: Orgrim Doomhammer, known by some now as the Backstabber, had betrayed and killed Blackhand the Destroyer and seized control of the Horde, but in so doing then had to clean house by purging Blackhand’s supporters in the Shadow Council. He’d been able to take these steps because Blackhand’s puppetmaster Gul’dan had nearly gotten himself killed trying to invade Medivh’s mind when the Last Guardian was being killed by his apprentice Khadgar and childhood friend Lothar. Comatose, there wasn’t much Gul’dan could do while Doomhammer killed his acolytes and supporters. Unfortunately for the future of Azeroth, Doomhammer didn’t just walk over to Gul’dan’s unconscious body and bash his skull in with the Doomhammer. (It’s kind of awkward the way the guy is named Doomhammer and carries the Doomhammer, but at least the hammer doesn’t look like a smaller version of himself.)
That doesn’t mean we can’t revisit some more old favorites, though! Maybe it’s just nostalgia, but I’m really excited for rumors about an Orphan Pet Rock that “looks sad.” If Blizzard is listening, I’m very interested in finding a companion to my prized Lucky Rock. Perhaps a Luckier Rock?
Whatever the future may hold, I am on the edge of my seat.
So, to all the pack rats out there: Blizzard has stated they plan to improve upon the backpack next expansion. What do you intend to fill it with? If you’re not a pack rack, are there any quirks or fun pastimes you’ve assigned to yourself in the game?
