Another thread worth saving.
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Really should go back to writing down tidbits from the Chronicles and Exploring Azeroth books.
The book Exploring Azeroth: The Eastern Kingdoms sheds some more light on the Gurubashi Arena. According to Matthias Shaw, a goblin named Short John Mithril (also the NPC in-game) oversees several arena matches a day. There are legends about the arena’s chest, too: if you find a blood-red amulet within the chest, it is said that “a demon will devour your soul by daybreak”.
More interestingly, perhaps, is the fact that the Arena is (was?) used once a generation by trolls from all over Azeroth, to perform an ancient rite in which the trolls challenge each other to no-barred fights. God-King Rastakhan resides over it all, and to win in this rite is considered one of the greatest honours for trolls. Shaw seems to wonder whether the tradition will continue after Rastakhan’s death.
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That is a pretty awesome lore tidbit and a shame nobody made it into a server event yet!!
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Yeah, literally Rastakhan’s Rumble from HS made canon.
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Venthyr have a common allergy to garlic but consider garlic breath pleasant.
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Dal’rend Blackhand was not killed in canon until the Cataclysm. While there was a quest from Thrall to assassinate him in Vanilla, it was mentioned in the WoW comic with Varian (which occurred after the events of TBC) that orcs under were wreaking havoc beyond Grim Batol at Dal’rend’s command. It was only during the Cataclysm when the red dragon Acride tasked adventurers to kill him was he finally slain.
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There is a quest in Maldraxxus, triggered by picking up a treasure, where you return a canteen to Overseer Kalvaros (the guy managing arena contests outside the theatre of pain).
Once you’ve completed it, he says this: “All this talking often leaves these old bones quite parched, and one must stay hydrated when wrangling all of these combatants.”
I don’t know how much we should read into this single line, but it seems like at least some of the denizens of Maldraxxus require water. It may not serve the same purpose as in living mortals, but this guy is clearly thirsty.
That would explain the whole Lake in the bottom of Maldraxxus tbh.
That’s like the biggest body of water in the Shadowlands, which means that Maldraxxus might actually be the afterlifes’ number 1 producer of fresh rot-water
https://tenor.com/view/drwho-ladycassandra-moisturize-skinlady-doctor-who-gif-5808910
Honestly, this is WoW, so it’s just as likely to be some pop culture reference to the hydro homie ‘stay hydrated’ memes.
Not saying you’re wrong, but this is the same game that has a character, in in-game dialogue, say that the dead mother trope is bad writing.
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From The Last Guardian, dwarves developed the techniques for riding a gryphon without a saddle.
“He did know now, how to properly harness a gryphon, and to ride one as well, both with saddle and, in the dwarven style, without.”
I’m re-reading the book atm so may post a couple other tidbits I find.
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Another one, regarding what happens if a spell fails;
“When a hand-motion changes, or the type of incense used is deleted, the result is most likely complete failure, where the energies are dissipated harmlessly.”
“In his studies, Khadgar discovered that if a spell fails in spectacular fashion, it indicates that the failed spell is very close to the final intended spell. The magics are trying to close the gap, to make things happen, though not always with the results intended by the caster.”
So, basically, if you try to cast a spell and it’s utterly wrong, the most you might get is a small fizzle, but if you’re close to success, that’s when more drastic effects (explosions) happen.
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In another example of worldbuilding expressed by quest rewards, the fae of Ardenweald pluck leaves from the stag creatures to make into armour, apparently as a leather substitute preserving the lives of the animals.
On the flipside, Ardenweald has the same ecological problem as Teldrassil did with the occasional population boom of giant cats that need culling.
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The heart of a veilwing* is a source of great magical power, particularly in necromantic rituals.
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Veilwing
In a wider cosmology, if we’re considering the afterlife realms as tops of hills and mountains in a larger context, Maldraxxus is “down there” to Revendreth.
Is there actually a bottom to the shadowlands? Are we dealing with a groundwater reservoir?
Yes.
The shadowerlands.
Oh also to contribute to the lore tidbits, The Skardyn are a race of cursed Dark Iron Dwarves that live deep under Grim Batol, they were originally meant to be in the instance but they didn’t have a model made in time, and on test versions they were using Trogg models. They also smoke clay pipes.
Weird.
You assume more thought went into the Shadowlands beyond “death, sort of”.
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Oh, my bad…
Hellfire Citadel, when seen by Maiev, was described as being made of red rock and “the bones of creatures that must have been as large as mountains.” It is likely that these bones were of the colossi that once roamed Draenor, and perhaps such bones may still be found on Outland if they survived its explosion.