It's occurred to me that I should perhaps be a bit more active on this forum, so I thought I'd start this thread to answer any quick questions people might have about the backstory elements of any cards they are curious about. Some questions can't be answered in a full lore guide-- at least not at this point in time-- so you can just ask me hear and I'll give as concise an answer as I can. Go ahead, hit me with some questions :)
Are there any color blind characters in World of Warcraft or Hearthstone?
How many characters in World of Warcraft or Hearthstone have disabilities?
How many different stories does world of warcraft or hearthstone pull from? (Red Riding hood would be European Folk tales and "the Old Gods in general draw heavy inspiration from the writings of H. P. Lovecraft." (Wowpedia))
The above comment assumes a Hearthstone Wild perspective.
- In BoH adventure, we (as Jaina) crushed Thrall before having Kalec stepped in and allowed Thrall to go free. While I think its likely an exaggeration of what happened, is this version at least sightly real in WoW lore?
- It always makes me think when Illidan cries 'Alas poor warlock' when Skull of Gul'dan is played, since I dont recall this in Warcraft III, or when Illidan kills off the alternate Gul'dan (I believe he also crushes Guldan's skull after that in hand). Has he ever mentioned this line in WoW history?
That depends on what you want to define as "disability". There is an old orc blind named Drek'Thar who is the only WoW character in a wheelchair, but that's more to the fact that he's old and weak than him being paralyzed.
That's the only example I can think of off the top of my head. I'll let you know if I remember more.
About Jaina's and Thrall's case, these events come from the book about Garrosh's trial. Basically Jaina used "Focusing Iris" to summon huge tidal wave made entirely from water elements to drown Orgrimmar, and Thrall was using all his power holding the wave back. So there's been no fight really in the book since Thrall was in no position to fight, but he was saved by Kalec when Jaina tried to kill him, that is true.
As for Skull, i think it simply homage to "Alas, poor Yorick".
Yes, Jaina did attack Thrall when he tried to stop her from unleashing that tidal wave. She sent the wave at him, and attacked him with arcane blasts and fireballs. Thrall mainly used the wind to try and hold them back while doing his best to talk her out of it, since he didn't want them to fight. She would have overpowered him, but Kalac arrived and was able to convince her that taking vengeance in this way wouldn't help anything. So, yes, the fight is actualy a pretty good representation of what happened in the story. You can read it in the novel Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War if you're ever interested.
Illidan's line of "Alas poor warlock" isn't actually a WoW line. It's a reference to Hamlet's famous line of "Alas, poor Yorick" when Hamlet is meditating on death and holding the skull of a jester he knew in life.
Why yes I do :) Hallow's End is a holiday celebrated by both the Alliance and Horde, but for two very different reasons. On the Alliance side, Hallow's End was celebrated in Lordaeron with several smaller festivals leading up to the big day. It started as a present tradition in the distant pass and became a larger kingdom tradition where it was believed that the barrier between the living and the dead was thin, allowing the dead to be sensed by the living. The traditional way it was celebrated was by having a straw effigy be erected right outside the palace at the end of the harvest season, before the winter set in. At sunset on the night of the ceremony, it would be lit on fire. Anyone who wished could approach the fiery effigy, toss a branch into the cracking flames, and in so doing metaphorically “burn away” anything he did not wish to carry into the quiet, deep reflection time provided by winter's enforced inactivity, such as emotions (fears, sorrows, old loves, new hates).
On the Horde side, Hallow's End is a holiday celebrated mainly by the Forsaken to celebrate the anniversary of the day they broke free from the Lich King's will, and would feature speeches by Sylvanas and their own version of wickerman burning. It's unknown exactly how the holiday will develop on this side, now that Sylvanas has abandoned the Horde and appears to be trying to force everyone into hell. We'll just have to see in Shadowlands, I guess.
It's unknown exactly how the holiday will develop on this side, now that Sylvanas has abandoned the Horde and appears to be trying to force everyone into hell. We'll just have to see in Shadowlands, I guess.
I think Calia Menethil will be the Forsaken's new leader. They've been building her up as the moral version of Sylvanas since Legion. It would also be a nice bookend to have the throne of Lordaeron be claimed by a Menethil.
At least I hope they do that, and not something stupid like stick Lillian Voss in that role because she's popular. She also apparently is acting as the interim leader of the Forsaken right now, which is already too much.
A man is lying on the street, some punks chopped off his head
I completely agree. I don't like Voss either, personally. The good news is that story-wise, she dosn't even want to lead and is just stepping up because there's no one else. That's why she wants Calia to come and relive her of the responsibility.
It's unknown exactly how the holiday will develop on this side, now that Sylvanas has abandoned the Horde and appears to be trying to force everyone into hell. We'll just have to see in Shadowlands, I guess.
I think Calia Menethil will be the Forsaken's new leader. They've been building her up as the moral version of Sylvanas since Legion. It would also be a nice bookend to have the throne of Lordaeron be claimed by a Menethil.
At least I hope they do that, and not something stupid like stick Lillian Voss in that role because she's popular. She also apparently is acting as the interim leader of the Forsaken right now, which is already too much.
I dont play WoW. Why is she so popular again? And why all the hate?
The extent I know of Voss is that she used to be human then revived as a forsaken, which drove her mad. Thats about it.
I dont play WoW. Why is she so popular again? And why all the hate?
The extent I know of Voss is that she used to be human then revived as a forsaken, which drove her mad. Thats about it.
(Sorry to muscle in on Goliath's thread, but since there's a degree of opinion over lore on this one, I thought it might be good to get multiple answers.)
Voss is really just a normal forsaken that goes through a lot of the same things most forsaken do: confusion, anger, rejection etc. What sets her apart is really just:
She's a highly skilled rogue who has done several notable things in her undeath (e.g. dealing the Scarlet Crusade, Scholomance, and being one of the Uncrowned);
She happened to be a character used in WoW to actually tell the 'normal' forsaken story, and hence she's a bit like a focal point of sympathy towards forsaken.
I personally like her character a lot because it is so normal. In a world full of super powerful heroes and villains, it's good to have a few prominent characters that are more relatable.
Of course that means she's a bad candidate for being a leader, and the WoW writers have wisely made her not even want the job. Calia is arguably a terrible forsaken leader too as she came out of nowhere and doesn't really know what it is to be forsaken due to the very different circumstances of her undeath. I know a lot of Horde players don't want her suddenly appearing and taking that role, especially as she has stronger ties to the Alliance than the Horde.
Really, the failure here is not in Lilian or Calia's characters, but in the lack of prominent forsaken characters. There simply aren't any that have the right experiences to fill the role once Sylvanas and Nathanos left.
It's occurred to me that I should perhaps be a bit more active on this forum, so I thought I'd start this thread to answer any quick questions people might have about the backstory elements of any cards they are curious about. Some questions can't be answered in a full lore guide-- at least not at this point in time-- so you can just ask me hear and I'll give as concise an answer as I can. Go ahead, hit me with some questions :)
Official Lorekeeper and Spinner of Tavern Tales
If you are bored here are some questions:
Are there any color blind characters in World of Warcraft or Hearthstone?
How many characters in World of Warcraft or Hearthstone have disabilities?
How many different stories does world of warcraft or hearthstone pull from? (Red Riding hood would be European Folk tales and "the Old Gods in general draw heavy inspiration from the writings of H. P. Lovecraft." (Wowpedia))
The above comment assumes a Hearthstone Wild perspective.
Here's a few that I had in mind:
- In BoH adventure, we (as Jaina) crushed Thrall before having Kalec stepped in and allowed Thrall to go free. While I think its likely an exaggeration of what happened, is this version at least sightly real in WoW lore?
- It always makes me think when Illidan cries 'Alas poor warlock' when Skull of Gul'dan is played, since I dont recall this in Warcraft III, or when Illidan kills off the alternate Gul'dan (I believe he also crushes Guldan's skull after that in hand). Has he ever mentioned this line in WoW history?
That depends on what you want to define as "disability". There is an old orc blind named Drek'Thar who is the only WoW character in a wheelchair, but that's more to the fact that he's old and weak than him being paralyzed.
That's the only example I can think of off the top of my head. I'll let you know if I remember more.
Official Lorekeeper and Spinner of Tavern Tales
About Jaina's and Thrall's case, these events come from the book about Garrosh's trial. Basically Jaina used "Focusing Iris" to summon huge tidal wave made entirely from water elements to drown Orgrimmar, and Thrall was using all his power holding the wave back. So there's been no fight really in the book since Thrall was in no position to fight, but he was saved by Kalec when Jaina tried to kill him, that is true.
As for Skull, i think it simply homage to "Alas, poor Yorick".
Yes, Jaina did attack Thrall when he tried to stop her from unleashing that tidal wave. She sent the wave at him, and attacked him with arcane blasts and fireballs. Thrall mainly used the wind to try and hold them back while doing his best to talk her out of it, since he didn't want them to fight. She would have overpowered him, but Kalac arrived and was able to convince her that taking vengeance in this way wouldn't help anything. So, yes, the fight is actualy a pretty good representation of what happened in the story. You can read it in the novel Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War if you're ever interested.
Illidan's line of "Alas poor warlock" isn't actually a WoW line. It's a reference to Hamlet's famous line of "Alas, poor Yorick" when Hamlet is meditating on death and holding the skull of a jester he knew in life.
Official Lorekeeper and Spinner of Tavern Tales
Got any lore on Hallow's End since it's coming next week?
Why yes I do :) Hallow's End is a holiday celebrated by both the Alliance and Horde, but for two very different reasons. On the Alliance side, Hallow's End was celebrated in Lordaeron with several smaller festivals leading up to the big day. It started as a present tradition in the distant pass and became a larger kingdom tradition where it was believed that the barrier between the living and the dead was thin, allowing the dead to be sensed by the living. The traditional way it was celebrated was by having a straw effigy be erected right outside the palace at the end of the harvest season, before the winter set in. At sunset on the night of the ceremony, it would be lit on fire. Anyone who wished could approach the fiery effigy, toss a branch into the cracking flames, and in so doing metaphorically “burn away” anything he did not wish to carry into the quiet, deep reflection time provided by winter's enforced inactivity, such as emotions (fears, sorrows, old loves, new hates).
On the Horde side, Hallow's End is a holiday celebrated mainly by the Forsaken to celebrate the anniversary of the day they broke free from the Lich King's will, and would feature speeches by Sylvanas and their own version of wickerman burning. It's unknown exactly how the holiday will develop on this side, now that Sylvanas has abandoned the Horde and appears to be trying to force everyone into hell. We'll just have to see in Shadowlands, I guess.
Official Lorekeeper and Spinner of Tavern Tales
neat! thank you!
I think Calia Menethil will be the Forsaken's new leader. They've been building her up as the moral version of Sylvanas since Legion. It would also be a nice bookend to have the throne of Lordaeron be claimed by a Menethil.
At least I hope they do that, and not something stupid like stick Lillian Voss in that role because she's popular. She also apparently is acting as the interim leader of the Forsaken right now, which is already too much.
A man is lying on the street, some punks chopped off his head
I'm the only one who stops to see if he's dead.
Hmm. Turns out he's dead.
I completely agree. I don't like Voss either, personally. The good news is that story-wise, she dosn't even want to lead and is just stepping up because there's no one else. That's why she wants Calia to come and relive her of the responsibility.
Official Lorekeeper and Spinner of Tavern Tales
I dont play WoW. Why is she so popular again? And why all the hate?
The extent I know of Voss is that she used to be human then revived as a forsaken, which drove her mad. Thats about it.
(Sorry to muscle in on Goliath's thread, but since there's a degree of opinion over lore on this one, I thought it might be good to get multiple answers.)
Voss is really just a normal forsaken that goes through a lot of the same things most forsaken do: confusion, anger, rejection etc. What sets her apart is really just:
I personally like her character a lot because it is so normal. In a world full of super powerful heroes and villains, it's good to have a few prominent characters that are more relatable.
Of course that means she's a bad candidate for being a leader, and the WoW writers have wisely made her not even want the job. Calia is arguably a terrible forsaken leader too as she came out of nowhere and doesn't really know what it is to be forsaken due to the very different circumstances of her undeath. I know a lot of Horde players don't want her suddenly appearing and taking that role, especially as she has stronger ties to the Alliance than the Horde.
Really, the failure here is not in Lilian or Calia's characters, but in the lack of prominent forsaken characters. There simply aren't any that have the right experiences to fill the role once Sylvanas and Nathanos left.