When the Lich King, seated upon his Frozen Throne, first devised the spellwork with which he and his necromancers would be able to raise his champions - the Death Knights - he understood that his warriors would not have time to devote decades to magical studies like mortal wizards do.
Therefore, the dreaded spell with which such warriors are raised is a unique creation. When a Death Knight is risen, a connection to dark magics - frost, blood and unholy - is forged into their very flesh and bone, and laid bare to their very soul. This connection is so deep that it would put even the innate magical attunement of the elves to shame, had their pride not protected them from such things.
As such, upon creation, every death knight can use magic. They only need to be told what gesture to make, what thought to concentrate on, and then they can begin. While some do choose to focus and further enhance their magical ability, even the most brutish and melee-focused of their number is a potent spellcaster, which the Lich King planned to ensure their superiority over mortal warriors for who(/m?) such full ânaturalâ attunement is simply not possible.
Extra headcanon: The above spellwork is a closely guarded secret by both the Scourge and the Ebon Blade. Sylvanas has always desired more death knights to serve her, for their power is very useful, but she has been forced to rely on pre-existing death knights joining her instead.
Perhaps the Shadowlands will reveal the secrets she desiresâŠ
Amber eyes on Kaldorei are actually a sign of great magic potential, not Druidic.
It would explain how Illidan; switched from Druidic-magic to Arcane and excell at it; he outclassed even the Moon Guard, who had been practicioners for far longer then him. And eventuelly he just as easily mastered the demonic Fel magic.
It would also explain how Queen Azshara became the greatest mortal mage.
And it would also explain how ever since Dathâremar, the Sunstrider-dynasty had such strong mages in their familyline.
Malfurions eyes eventuelly turned amber due to his overly-strong(er then average) connection to the Emerald Dream and the natural-world. And he is the only known one to date who have had that happen to him. Why they suddenly turned Emerald, nobody knows and no answer has been offered, some suggest his eye color actually reverted back to their pre-WoTA color, others that its just another sign of his great potential.
As for great Druidic-potential; this is often seen with Kaldorei born with antlers, or those that grow them later on in their training. Both are extremely rare cases; but its a sign that signifies only a great druidic-potential, whilest those born with Amber eyes can become just a great a Druid as those with Antlers, those with antlers are âstuckâ with the druidic powers, and almost unable to excell at other magics, or otherwise have to learn it in exact the same way as the other Elves.
Due to the nature of Azerothâs turbulent times, the Alliance and Horde make attempts to honour those whose bodies could not be retrieved.
In Alliance settlements, stone plaques bearing the names of local men and women who died, and the war they died in, are common; they serve as communal mourning points and a reminder of the regionâs identity. In wealthier regions, such as Elywnn and Stormwind, these plaques are short and to the point. In places like Moonbrook or Duskwood, these plaques may extend for several feet, or simply be painted signs thatâre touched up every now and again. Flowers are often left at these memorials.
In the Horde, the unknown soldiers are often remembered in a more vague manner - mourning is left to be a more personal, spiritual affair between the mourner and departed, and their unknown dead are usually marked with a nondescript shrine in honour of the fallen. These shrines are relatively common throughout the Barrens, nestled in secluded nooks in the high rises, sheltered from the wind.
In Undead territories, these plaques are often sanded down and smoothed out following the change of hands between the living and the dead; the latter seeing no use for the sentimental affair, though some see it as a reminder that their communities in life were afforded a peace they denied. The latter sentiment is especially common from the original undead faction who were once scourge, while the former is more common among those raised by the Valâkyr.
For both factions, the reality is often that the unknown, unrecognisable casualties are simply piled high, granted simple funeral rites, and either incinerated, or buried. These sites are purposefully lost to avoid drawing unsavoury types and necromancers from using the parts, though they are not always successful in keeping the location of these mass graves unknown.
Siegemaster Marâtak from the two first encounters in the Hellfire Citadel raid in WoD is actually the alternative universe version of Martek the exiled. Both of them share a very similar name, namely Martek and Marâtak. And both of them have expertise when it comes to engineering; where Martek was famed as the only person who could make a special engine piece for the racing carts in the Shimmering Flats; and Marâtak is in charge of the defenses and likely had a part in the creation of the fel reaver she herself controls; as well as the two massive cannons that protect the citadel.
Itâs an amusing headcanon that turns her from a no-name NPC that for some reason is part of two boss encounters, into the alternative version of an already established character. Similar to Geyaârah being genderbent alternative version of Thrall ( technically ), then Marâtak might be the same to Martek.
And if that isnât enough to convince you⊠there are only two characters in the game to be part of two consecutive boss encounters in a raid. Namely Marâtak (Hellfire Citadel first two bosses) and Deathwing (Spine and Madness in Dragon Soul).
âŠAnd who fought against Deathwing in a knife fight? Yup, Martek the Awesome.
In the game, undead are immune to mind control effects (unless it specifically targets them, ie Control Undead), as well as polymorph effects.
Headcanon: This is because of the way undead are raised. Even the ones raised post-Wrath were still raised with the same spellwork intended to make for someone susceptible to the Lich Kingâs overriding will, and his alone. Having your soul not be completely attached to your body could also be part of the reason - the mind-magic simply does not âreachâ the mind.
As a consequence, undead are essentially immune to other mind-affecting magic. Oddly enough, polymorph spells do not work on them either - it is said that such spells only work on the simple-minded, so this mental barrier could be what prevents the polymorph from taking effect, but it remains a controversial topic.
This is part of why Shadow worship is primarily found among the undead, despite them being relatively rare among the Twilightâs Hammer. They can use Shadow magic freely due to being resistant to the maddening effects, but that also means that only undead who actually choose to end up serving the Old Gods - it is rare for them to be corrupted into doing so.
Sort of. Itâs vague and I name it headcanon because there is no conclusive lore (for example, one could argue that immunity is only present because of the Lich Kingâs overriding will, and he is gone now).
Thereâs a lot of headcanon on saronite in general as not a lot is confirmed.
For example, itâs not clear whether forged saronite is corrupting like raw ore is - are the multitudes of saronite crafted armour from Wrath-era blacksmithing considered canon? If it is, is it also still as indestructible as the ore? Were the living Cult of the Damned members driven to insanity in Icecrown proper? We donât really know for sure.
High Elves are vegetarians. Or at least⊠they should be if they donât want to be hypocrites. Eating an animal is okay but sucking magic out of it not? PfffâŠ
I prefer to think Fel (or any other magic fueled by souls) just traps them in endless agony, their soul shredded for eternity to power whatever magic it was used for (like summoning a level 10 Voidwalker).
If souls can be permanently destroyed, that has some⊠disturbing consequences on how the afterlife works.
Feranosâs old metals & minerals guide covers up everything from vanilla to WoD, and saronite has probably most lore about it after thorium.
Ore saronite is indeed impervious to almost anything and actually completely nullifies both nature and elemental magic and reflects light based attacks violently. It also does give whispers.
However, forged saronite seems to come in two forms: wrought iron esque very hard, but very brittle material which is fashioned on ghouls, buildings and alike, and the tempered kind, which is then forged into both proper armor and weapons (oftentimes crafted with other metals like titanium/titansteel to get the best results). They are described to be of good quality, but neither this tempered or wrought saronite seem to hold any of their ore qualities (whispers, magic resistance).
