Truth, much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
Through the Eyes of a Hordie is a series published twice per month exploring Alliance lore as, you guessed it, from the eyes of a Horde player. This is not meant to be an attack against the other faction, but rather serve as a discovery process. Perhaps even Alliance players might rediscover a bit of their lore when observing it from this side of the conflict.
Today’s subject: the newest race to join the Alliance, the Worgen.
The first time I went through the worgen area I was in the halls of Blizzcon ’10. Since you are limited to fifteen minutes of gameplay, I just tore through the quests without really paying attention to the things going on around me. So it came as a surprise to find out that the timeline from the moment you create your character to the moment you leave Gilneas isn’t really a span of hours prior to the Shattering. Instead it is a rather long time span where the quests are designed to give you a crash course in Gilnean history.
Prior to the creation of my lovely worgen priestess, Gilneas was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. If asked what the story was I could explain the basic things.
When things went south in Lordaeron, old pops decided it was time to bid Terenas farewell and close off his kingdom. Oh… and some of them were turned into werewolves by Arugal. Why you ask? I’m not entirely sure, my precious time cannot be wasted by reading quests.
Ah yes, those were the days when my one-track mind was more concerned about capping levels than actually getting immersed in the story. But back to the worgen!
Note! The character selection screen can be a bit tricky with worgen, since not only are you shaping the human form but the worgen form also. Keep in mind that they cannot be changed separately. For suggestions on names for Worgen take a look at Ellorah’s article “What’s in a name?”.
Part I: Who let the worgen out?
The second the cinematic finishes you are thrown right into the action. Prince Liam Greymane informs you Gilneas is in lockdown, and new intruders have stepped into the city. Through the next series of quest you discover that Arugal’s worgen are attacking. It is up to you to help hold back the worgen while the king and prince evacuate the people.
Alright, so you’re in a city full of flea infested worgen that will not hesitate to rip your toon’s head clean off its shoulders. The king’s army is clearly overrun and you just said you would help. What kind of trouble did you get yourself into?
But never fear. Just like any other story you get help in the form of Lord Darius Crowley. There is a slight catch to this story, however. The king explains he and Crowley aren’t exactly in the best of terms. Remember when I explained that the kingdom was closed off? Well, Darius was one of those who was opposed to this. Now through the quests alone you only learn that they didn’t see eye to eye, a little digging on Wowpedia reveals a few motifs to the disagreement. Crowley’s lands lay just outside the wall. If Greymane went through with this, Crowley’s people would be abandoned. So like any other man faced with a difficult decision, Crowley decided to take arms against his king. And just like anyone who’s ever risen against the figure of power, he was branded a traitor and tossed into jail.
So now that the small history lesson is over, Greymane gives you the not so small task of convincing Crowley to help evacuate the city. Yep, you can just picture that conversation, can’t you?
Player: Top of the evenin’ to you Crowley. Would you care for some tea and biscuits? Perhaps-even-saving-the-city-of-the-man-that-imprisoned-you? You like Earl Grey?
Lucky for us, this awesome character understands that in order to overcome this conundrum both sides will have to leave all differences aside and work together. But perhaps the most redeeming quality this character has is the fact that he can cleave with his BARE FISTS.
Now that Crowley joins the team, you tag along with his group and help round up the worgen while Greymane leads the survivors out of the city. Along with Crowley and his men you lead hordes and hordes of worgen to the cathedral where a group is already waiting to make a final stand.
Through the Eyes of a Hordie is a series published twice per month exploring Alliance lore as, you guessed it, from the eyes of a Horde player. This is not meant to be an attack against the other faction, but rather serve as a discovery process. Perhaps even Alliance players might rediscover a bit of their lore when observing it from this side of the conflict.
Today’s subject: the newest race to join the Alliance, the Worgen.
The first time I went through the worgen area I was in the halls of Blizzcon ’10. Since you are limited to fifteen minutes of gameplay, I just tore through the quests without really paying attention to the things going on around me. So it came as a surprise to find out that the timeline from the moment you create your character to the moment you leave Gilneas isn’t really a span of hours prior to the Shattering. Instead it is a rather long time span where the quests are designed to give you a crash course in Gilnean history.
Prior to the creation of my lovely worgen priestess, Gilneas was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. If asked what the story was I could explain the basic things.
When things went south in Lordaeron, old pops decided it was time to bid Terenas farewell and close off his kingdom. Oh… and some of them were turned into werewolves by Arugal. Why you ask? I’m not entirely sure, my precious time cannot be wasted by reading quests.
Ah yes, those were the days when my one-track mind was more concerned about capping levels than actually getting immersed in the story. But back to the worgen!
Note! The character selection screen can be a bit tricky with worgen, since not only are you shaping the human form but the worgen form also. Keep in mind that they cannot be changed separately. For suggestions on names for Worgen take a look at Ellorah’s article “What’s in a name?”.
Part I: Who let the worgen out?
The second the cinematic finishes you are thrown right into the action. Prince Liam Greymane informs you Gilneas is in lockdown, and new intruders have stepped into the city. Through the next series of quest you discover that Arugal’s worgen are attacking. It is up to you to help hold back the worgen while the king and prince evacuate the people.
Alright, so you’re in a city full of flea infested worgen that will not hesitate to rip your toon’s head clean off its shoulders. The king’s army is clearly overrun and you just said you would help. What kind of trouble did you get yourself into?
But never fear. Just like any other story you get help in the form of Lord Darius Crowley. There is a slight catch to this story, however. The king explains he and Crowley aren’t exactly in the best of terms. Remember when I explained that the kingdom was closed off? Well, Darius was one of those who was opposed to this. Now through the quests alone you only learn that they didn’t see eye to eye, a little digging on Wowpedia reveals a few motifs to the disagreement. Crowley’s lands lay just outside the wall. If Greymane went through with this, Crowley’s people would be abandoned. So like any other man faced with a difficult decision, Crowley decided to take arms against his king. And just like anyone who’s ever risen against the figure of power, he was branded a traitor and tossed into jail.
So now that the small history lesson is over, Greymane gives you the not so small task of convincing Crowley to help evacuate the city. Yep, you can just picture that conversation, can’t you?
Player: Top of the evenin’ to you Crowley. Would you care for some tea and biscuits? Perhaps-even-saving-the-city-of-the-man-that-imprisoned-you? You like Earl Grey?
Lucky for us, this awesome character understands that in order to overcome this conundrum both sides will have to leave all differences aside and work together. But perhaps the most redeeming quality this character has is the fact that he can cleave with his BARE FISTS.
Now that Crowley joins the team, you tag along with his group and help round up the worgen while Greymane leads the survivors out of the city. Along with Crowley and his men you lead hordes and hordes of worgen to the cathedral where a group is already waiting to make a final stand.
