Hail to the Lich King?

I mentioned in a previous post that Sylvanas Windrunner is travelling a dangerous path in Cataclysm, one that may lead to her becoming the next racial leader to be a raid boss. She seems determined to be the new Lich Queen. Her use of the Apothecary-engineered Blight in the battle against Gilneas is causing concern from both the Horde and the Argent Crusade, concern which she and those under her command are trying to soothe away with bald-faced lies. The Frostwolves refuse to help the Forsaken in the Hillsbrad Foothills because of what she’s done. She’s raising her own new army of (ostensibly free-willed) undead humans to bolster the Forsaken’s army using creatures who were previously willingly loyal to the Scourge despite clear opposition from the new Warchief. The Dark Lady has gotten out of control.

I also posted about the Horde’s Gilnean Envoys and their Scourge tabards. Taken at face value, this is an even bigger statement than anything else she’s done, openly embracing the symbolism of the Scourge from whom the Forsaken spent so much time trying to distance themselves. It’s a step short of actually calling herself the Lich Queen.

But let’s think about it from a behind-the-scenes standpoint. Blizzard is clearly leading up to something with Sylvanas. There’s Garrosh’s anger at her use of the val’kyr, Drek’thar’s outright rejection of the Forsaken’s request for aid, the Argent Crusade’s murmured disapproval, and the big cliffhanger with Koltira. She isn’t just doing terrible things, she’s doing terrible things and other characters are noticing. There may be a few content patches between now and when this all plays out, but it can’t be left dangling forever. So maybe these Scourge tabards aren’t because of Sylvanas. Maybe they represent whoever will be replacing her.

The most obvious candidate would be Bolvar Fordragon, the new, benevolent Lich King. Rather than command the Scourge as his army, he merely seeks to keep them under control. With Sylvanas gone, would the Forsaken be willing to follow a Lich King who isn’t Arthas and join a Scourge that allows them free will? It’s entirely possible. The question is whether Bolvar would be willing to lead a nation so opposed to his beloved Stormwind. He might view the Forsaken claim to the Plaguelands as justified and be willing to continue fighting the Alliance for it if the Forsaken become his people, and if his identity became known he might more easily convince Varian Wrynn to leave Lordaeron to them, but he also might side with the humans. He showed a willingness to work alongside the Horde at the Wrathgate, but that wasn’t against the Alliance. He could be effective at forging a truce in Lordaeron but might be less convinced of the need for war between the factions. And there’s the little fact that the Forsaken killed him in the first place. The Forsaken could be absorbed back into his Scourge and start using that crest as their own, but would Bolvar care to lead them?

Another possible replacement is Koltira Deathweaver, but his soft stance on the Alliance is what got him in trouble in the first place. That softness, however, is really only tied to one person, a person who has his own strong ties to the kingdom of Lordaeron. With a vacuum of power in the Undercity, Thassarian might decide the Forsaken, as fellow undead “survivors” of Lordaeron, are his people more than the humans of Stormwind. It would make sense, but wouldn’t fit the idea of Koltira and Thassarian representing their respective factions. But with the war against the Scourge over and the Ebon Blade’s storyline finished, do they still need to serve that purpose? I can’t see either of them taking up the Scourge’s livery, though. There’s a lot of baggage there that I don’t see either of them wanting to carry.

It is also possible that Sylvanas has quite simply gone off the deep end, and these Scourge tabards are the latest symptom, but I stand by my belief that something dramatic is in the works for her. We just have to wait and see what Blizzard has planned.

Undead at the End of the World

This was originally posted to Tumblr on 11/24/10. It contains SPOILERS for the new Forsaken starter quests.

I love the Forsaken. They’re angsty, they’re posthuman, they’re less vanilla fantasy than some races in WoW (though that’s an argument in favor of most of the Horde), they’re inherently evil but able to seek redemption - or not, they’re just all-around awesome. I also like hunters. They’re the class I have half a dozen of (almost all Draenei) sitting at level 12 on random servers here and there. I love the customization options of their pets, I love their ranged fighting style that’s still more active than a caster, I love their general solo OP-ness. They were the first class I got to any significant level, but they were left by the wayside due to not being available to Forsaken.

Oh, but that little issue has been resolved.

But what I’d really like to talk about is the changes to the Forsaken starting storyline and the area of Deathknell. My new hunter Anders is just the driving force that brought me there on the first night of 4.0.3a. There was always some question of where exactly all these new Forsaken were coming from, especially several years after the moment during the Frozen Throne when the Lich King’s power over his minions was interrupted and Sylvanas was able to break away with the first Forsaken. Most of us just fudged things a little, saying that Scourge were still breaking away here and there and joining the Forsaken. The new Deathknell gives a more solid answer for new Forsaken: Sylvanas has tasked her new val’kyr allies with raising every corpse they can find to join the Forsaken ranks. Your first “quest” is to be raised by the val’kyr hovering over your prone, immobile form. According to Deathguard Saltain they’re shipping bodies in from “Silverpine, Hillsbrad… hell, anywhere we can get them from.” He even sends you - and your new guardian buddy Darnell - to bring back the corpses of the Scarlet Crusaders who used to harass Deathknell. The Forsaken are serious about bolstering their ranks, and that’s where you as a new Forsaken character come in.

This doesn’t always work out, and that’s the main conflict in the starting zone. Undertaker Mordo is doing his best to sew people back together, but he can’t fix their heads. Some end up as mindless zombies who need to be culled, while others need to be coaxed into coping with their new unlives. Those who have minds but can’t cope try to form a revolt that has to be put down by force.

Deathknell incorporates phasing in a way that’s virtually unnoticeable when you’re playing through it. This significantly mitigated the overfarming of quest mobs in an otherwise busy area and made the whole thing flow as a story much better. The actual environment hasn’t changed much at all, but the quests and NPCs make it feel fresh. I haven’t played through any other starting areas yet - though I have a now-Horde-loyal Grimtotem druid planned - but I hope they’ve been overhauled as beautifully and thoughtfully as Deathknell.

Good Ol' Subtlety

I've decided, in the interest of having more to write about for this blog, I'm also going to talk about Forsaken in general here. Death Knights hooked me so completely because, in addition to being a plate-wearing melee class, they're also inherently Forsaken-like. The Forsaken are easily my favorite race to RP.

To that end, here is my first post that has nothing to do with Death Knights per se, but everything to do with Forsaken:

On the left there is a Gilnean Envoy, the PVP weekend NPC for the new "Battle for Gilneas" battleground.

SHE IS WEARING A SCOURGE TABARD.

GOOD JOB SYLVANAS.

Alas, Poor Koltira

This post contains SPOILERS for a quest chain in the Western Plaguelands. Consider yourself warned!

Lore-wise, Death Knights don’t get a lot of love in Cataclysm. Presumably, once Arthas was dealt with they all went home from the northern front and tried to find whatever place they could back in the land of the Living. Some very likely gave themselves back to the grave. For those of us who have carried on, our main story, the story of our vengeance against the man who turned us into the monstrosities we have become, is over.

I guess most of us found better things to do than stand around giving out quests, because there are only a handful of Death Knight NPCs outside of Northrend and Ebon Hold. However, there are two who play a significant role in the conflict over the town of Andorhal in the Western Plaguelands: Koltira Deathweaver and Thassarian. These two, introduced as BFFs during the Death Knight starting quests*, have often represented the Ebon Blade’s contribution to their respective factions. Rather than working directly with the Ashen Verdict in Icecrown, we see them commanding Horde and Alliance forces against the Scourge from their airships. But they’ve also represented the faction- and race-blindness of the Ebon Blade, as they are close friends despite this.

In Cataclysm, Koltira and Thassarian have each been put in charge of pushing the last of the Scourge out of the town of Andorhal. The Forsaken and the human forces of Stormwind are both trying to lay claim to the town, putting the old friends at odds with each other. After defeating the Scourge they declare a secret truce, but their peace is broken when a group of humans take it upon themselves to attack the Forsaken. When Sylvanas finds out, she promises a harsh punishment:

(Feel free to skip to about 4:45 for Sylvanas' confrontation with Koltira.)

What I find most interesting about this from a lore perspective is how much control Sylvanas has over Koltira. He’s not your average Forsaken, and he doesn’t owe anything to her unless there’s something we haven’t been told. It makes sense that he would have pledged loyalty to her rather than Lor’themar Theron or Garrosh Hellscream, but not so much that it could have been assumed. A woman who openly recruits former Scourge loyalists to her cause would surely be more than happy to give Death Knights a home in her army, but she can’t force them. Koltira made a choice to serve her and she treats him like property to be beaten into compliance if necessary.

There’s a lot going on with Sylvanas in this expansion that seems to be leading somewhere, and the cliffhanger nature of Thassarian’s declaration that he’s going to Tirisfal Glades to find out what happened to Koltira suggests they will be part of it. Blizzard has to have some resolution planned for that. There’s been speculation that the “Lich Queen” may not survive to the next expansion as her behavior continues to go above and beyond what even her allies consider acceptable. If Thassarian blows the lid off of what’s going on in the Undercity that may provide the catalyst. But if Sylvanas falls, who will lead the Forsaken? This is a plot thread that bears watching.


* Their close friendship - and possibly the fact that one of them is an elf - has led to Koltira and Thassarian being frequently “shipped” as a romantic pairing. I would be deeply amused with Blizzard if they made such a badass gay couple canon, but I’m leaving that opinion out of this.

Art by Altana on DeviantArt