Welcome to the Archivist's Lore, a recurring column where we explore the rich lore behind some of the most well-recognized cards in Hearthstone.

One of the main highlights of the Kobolds and Catacombs expansion was the introduction of legendary weapons in Hearthstone. Most of these legendary weapons had rich stories behind them that relate to the card's abilities, which will fascinate many upon reviewing them.

In the first part of this three-part series, let's delve into the lore of the legendary weapons that have been granted to the Druids, Hunters and Mages.

Druids - Twig of the World Tree

Twig of the World Tree Card Image

The World Trees are ancient, magical trees that are connected to the Emerald Dream, home of the dragon aspect, Ysera. They act as homes for the night elves as well. Nordrassil, one of the World Trees, was blessed by the Dragon Aspects to grant immortality to the Night Elves before it was destroyed in the Battle for Mount Hyjal. These trees were created by beings of great magical power, whether it be via the Dragon Aspects, or the druids of the Cenarion Circle.

It is unknown which World Tree this twig belonged to. 

From Lore to Card Abilities

  • 1 Attack - It's a twig.
  • Deathrattle: Gain 10 Mana Crystals. - Considering that the World Tree was created by great magical powers, and connected to the Emerald Dream, it only makes sense that it has a lot of magic in store within it.
  • Comments: It is a good interpretation of the lore on the initial design of the card.

Hunters - Rhok'Delar

Rhok'delar Card Image

Rhok'Delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers, is a living, magical weapon that was rewarded to players upon helping the Ancients in Felwood with their quests in their revenge against the Burning Legion for corrupting their lands.

From Lore to Card Abilities

  • Battlecry: If your deck has no minions... - In order to obtain Rhok'Delar, Hunters were required to undertake an epic class quest where they had to solo four demons and Onyxia, all without the help of pets and party members.
  • ... fill your hand with random Hunter spells. - Rhok'Delar is a  weapon that granted the user nature magic resistance. Other than making the user immune to spells, another way is to give them more spells!
  • Comments: Solid interpretation of the card using the questline and the weapon's mechanics as part of the design of the card.

Mages - Aluneth

Aluneth Card Image

Aluneth, Grandstaff of the Magna, was the weapon of choice for Aegwynn, Guardian of Tirisfal, during her fight with the Burning Legion. Most notably, she is the mother of Medivh, the Guardian.

Aegwynn retired the staff and passed it to the Kirin Tor, whom fearing its power, passed it to the blue dragonflights for safekeeping. It was locked in the Nexus Vault, before it was once again retrieved by adventurers on their quest to fight against the Burning Legion.

Aluneth gained its name from the arcane entity that was bounded to it. Its existence is an interesting one - the blue dragonflights, in their endless pursuit in research of arcane magic, accidentally summoned Aluneth into Azeroth. It was taken captive and was experimented with by the blue dragonflights before it was released.

Years later, a Highborne mage called Meitre learned about Aluneth from another blue dragonflight, where he learnt and mastered how to draw power from Aluneth. He utilized this power effectively in the War of the Ancients, such as mass teleporting a group of night elves away from the overwhelming forces by the Demons.

After the War of the Ancients, he turned into a recluse as he did not want to give up the arcane power that was outlawed by the Night Elves. He left behind many scrolls which was to be used for the study of magic, and it was through these scrolls that Aegwynn learnt about Aluneth.

Thus, to cut the long-story short, Aegwynn managed to summon Aluneth back into Azeroth, and managed to successfully bind it to a greatstaff after many attempts.

From Lore to Card Abilities

  • 0 Attack - It's a magical staff. Technically, it's not meant for beating people up with.
  • At the end of your turn, draw 3 cards - A possible interpretation of this effect is that you are drawing into your "knowledge" (deck) for great spells. When you run out of cards, you fall into madness and lose health...?
  • Comments: While a strong card, unfortunately, the fantastic lore behind this artifact weapon was simply underutilized for the card's effect.
  • Improvements: "At the end of your turn, add a spell that cost (5) or more to your hand. It costs 0."
    One possible way I would change Aluneth to match up with its lore, is to have Aluneth generate high-mana costed spells that could be used for free. This would tie into the great spell power that Aluneth provides.

That is all for the first three weapon in the set of nine legendary weapons in Kobolds and Catacombs.

Join us for the next part of the series, where we explore the Paladin, Priest and Rogue legendary weapons in great detail!