Lore Tidbits #6

From the recent World of Warcraft: Folk and Fairy Tales of Azeroth we find out that spirit healers are fairly well-known to warriors on the battlefield.

I was never a fool. I knew what she was at a glance. Anyone who has fought in battle and seen her companions take terrible enough injuries has heard those tortured lips speak of the winged ones that stand between us and all that goes beyond.

Not to say that the reason why they wear white linen blindfolds is that they are “blinded” so that “nothing can distract them from their service”.

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As per Legion era lore, elves of Quel’Thalas are said to possess “something akin to immortality” due to their connection to the Sunwell.

(Another nugget on the mountain of vaguely defined elven lifespans.)

It is also mentioned in A Thousand Years of War, that demons typically cannot hide themselves (through invisibilty in this context) from paladins. When one does hide from Turalyon, it unsettles Lothraxion considerably.

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I really hate that. The night elves losing their immortality was supposed to be an important emotional moment in WC3, a sacrifice for the greater good. Turns out it’s not much of a sacrifice if they’re near-immortal without Nordrassil anyway.

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Where’s that from? Was under the impression all elves had the same rough lifespan (“a few/several thousand years”) post-Third War.

Similarly from the new World of Warcraft: Folk & Fairytales of Azeroth book, it’s mentioned in Vereesa’s short story that white roses either once grew, or quite possibly continue to grow, in the woods of Quel’Thalas. Bloodthistle also ‘glows’.

My sister dances up ahead of me, fearless through the long grass. The wild white roses and glowing crimson bloodthistle lick at her bare feet.

Mithril-head trout once swam in the rivers of Quel’Thalas, but were wiped out - presumably in the Scourge invasion.

and the river of our childhood games was a long-dead scar through a shattered city, and the little trout and all its descendants had gulped and twisted their last on the desolate land.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned before, but Light’s Hope Chapel (more accurately, the Light’s Hope Sanctum) houses a copy of ‘The Light and How to Swing It’, penned by Uther for Arthas, formerly held in the libraries of Dire Maul and now stored in the paladin archives. The mark of the Athenaeum has been removed from it, allowing all paladins to read the tome. Referenced in ‘Exploring Azeroth - The Eastern Kingdoms’ under the Plaguelands/Hearthglen entry.

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I might be contextual to the matter of human lifespans, more specifically Turalyon’s compared to that of his wife. And it might not. Again from A Thousand Years of War:

“Damn the Light. The Alliance expedition was a one-way journey. We all knew it. And yet I felt, in my heart, that we would see Arator again.”

Her love burned brightly, heating her words and warming Turalyon’s soul. But he didnot share her confidence.

“It might be a long journey back to Azeroth,” he said.

“We have time.”

“You do.”

That brought her head up. Turalyon met her gaze steadily. He knew she understood him: human lives were short. The elves of Silvermoon had the Sunwell and, thus, something akin to immortality.

“If the Light lets you die of old age here, I will be very, very angry with it,” she said.

Turalyon fought back a smile. “I’ll let it know.”

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From a short lived human’s perspective, a few thousand years could very well be something akin to immortality.

Indeed, but the way I’m reading it, the wording doesn’t make it clear whether it’s an in-universe perspective of Turalyon’s or more of an actual fact.

Turalyon’s not an expert on elves either way. He probably thinks they still sleep upside down hanging from tree branches, and they stopped doing that 5000 years ago.

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H-hah yeah… yeah it’d so weird if someone still did that.

:eyes:

Exactly, I mean, a few thousand years ago to us was literally so long ago that we basically have next to no solid evidence on what things were like back then.
Even a couple thousand year lifespan is basically immortality compared to regular ol’ people time

Keep them tidbits coming, my friend!

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Another little piece of new lore from the Folk & Fairytales of Azeroth book gave us, via “Eyes of the Earth Mother” a Taur-ahe name for the Blue Child.

Their name is Lo’sho and their origin comes from the Earth Mother’s single tear of sorrow that she wept at the sight of the Old Gods’ corruption of the Tauren.

Mu’sha is tasked to care for this new being, like she was to care for An’she. Personally, I connect this with the Night Elven aspect of Elune’s Mother Moon-side, since they are making Mu’sha into a kind of maternal figure with this new lore. (Also maybe her bow-action in battle is the Night Warrior aspect?) But, that’s just speculation!

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Except horny blue dragons apparently.

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The town of Strahnbrad, at least during the Fourth War, was taken over by the Forsaken lead by Dark Ranger Clea. Clea was known to be a Sylvanas loyalist, so it’s unknown if she vanished and left the town leaderless (and possibly in loyalist hands), or if she defected from Sylvanas and still holds some authority there as a true Horde outpost.

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So the Forsaken now hold Strahnbrad and Alterac City, which are the two major (and only?) cities and towns of the Kingdom of Alterac?

I’d say so. It’s unknown if they still do, but they likely do.

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Yeah. Let’s get a new Forsaken kingdom centred around Alterac / Strahnbrad and Andorhal.

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I’ve always wanted Alterac to become a Forsaken kingdom, even before they lost Capital City to the Blight.

Tho, now it’s switched from a vassal nation under an undead Prince Aliden Perenolde to their new capital city.

Exorcisms are a thing among the draenei. We see it in TBC’s Hellfire Peninsula as well as WoD’s Shadowmoon Valley.

The former is a case of a human by the name of Colonel Jules being possessed by a demon, which is then banished by a draenei Anchorite. Slimes and chaotic energies appear throughout the ritual.

In the latter case it’s performed on an already assassinated Exarch Hataaru, yet due to the blade killing him being fel enchanted he is beset upon by demons meaning to consume his soul. During the exorcism an Observer and several Imps appear to disrupt the ritual (though it is ultimately the treacherous Soulbinder Nyami who does so.)

I personally found it curious that demons can apparently lay claim to a soul, presumably interjecting their own influence over the dead before they can be taken to the Shadowlands. Unless of course I’ve missed something, in which case I welcome being corrected on the matter.

On a note related to fel, the draenei are able to craft focusing lenses that can reveal traces of fel energy. When placed on high ground they can highlight anyone tainted by the presence of demonic magic within an entire town. The crystal itself is roughly the height of a human.

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