I knew I was going to end up writing about it at some point, I just didn’t think it would be this soon. Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK from here on) came out this week, the new expansion for World of Warcraft (WoW from here on) and unfortunately I was unable to acquire a copy as of yet, will not be able to until next week. I am a geek at heart, and WoW is really the only MMORPG that I have ever gotten into or really even still like. Why? Well, this is a blog about writing, so of course it’s not about the battles. I have always loved to Role Play. I began playing D&D when I was eleven and have played a lot of table top games since then; everything from Whitewolf to traveler and Shadow Run. Hell, I even beta tested the Serenity tabletop game while the movie was in production. Currently I am in a D&D game with some other local geeks. While dice and combat are usually a big part of all RPGs, of course I would be the one who is in it for the story. That’s what drew me to RPing. The stories. It’s like a table of co-writers working together to create your own world, and your own adventures. It stirs the creative senses and helps you open up to other points of view, the one of your table-mates. You can get great ideas for characters of your own or plot twists in your own writing that you never thought of prior to that. It is a great social gathering and usually involves food, drinks (sometimes alcohol) and a lot of good laughs along the way. It was because of the social gathering aspect that I am very disheartened that I wasn’t able to attend the three day long LAN party my boyfriend is currently at. Most of that is due to finances and the horrid quality of the god forsaken Compaq that I am currently typing on (400 ms of latency just doesn’t cut it for me). Regardless of it being on a computer, I enjoy the game a lot more when I play it with my friends.
I began playing WoW in ’05, and while I’ve been in and out of it for the past year, I have never ceased to enjoy the massive amounts of lore that has gone into the creation of the game. WoW is based off of Blizzard’s Real Time Strategy game series, and is truly and EPIC. Of all the points of view I always loved Thrall’s story line. The Horde are steeped in so much fantastic background that I can’t help but love the Orcs, Trolls Blood Elves and so on. The common misconception here is that because the Humans, Dwarves, Night Elves and Gnomes are on the Alliance side (what I call the “pretty races”) that the Horde are Evil. In reality, the Humans and Night Elves have done more to screw the world of Azeroth than all the other races combined.
But this is about Thrall. Oh, how I love this story. Since there is so much Lore to go on, I will not fill 200 pages, just give a little background on it.
"Born on the world of Draenor, the orcs were brought to Azeroth through the dimensional gateway known as the Dark Portal and waged war on the humans while under the influence of the Burning Legion."
Thrall is currently the Warchief of the Horde. When he was young he befriended the spirits of the Elements, Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, thus becoming the first new Shaman since the corruption of the Horde. When he returned home he fully accepted his role as the son of a chieftain and began work to build on the Shamanic ways of the tribe. It took time, but eventually his work lead to the Spirits of the elements to forgive the Orcs for their fall into the darker powers. They recognized Thrall, then, as the first of a new line of Shamans.
Thrall built up the reputation and the morale of his Frostwolf clan with his new found power, and in a sense really turned the fate of the Horde around. He spent so much time renewing the Horde, and fighting for his own land, where those under his eventual rule could live freely, sans oppression due to their diversity from the Alliance. After a long life of Battle, and through visions brought on by the Prophet Medivh, he managed to convince the races of the world to stand together against the Burning Legion, and bring about the always important concept of ‘divided we fail’.
He eventually founded Orgrimmar, the Capitol city of the Orcs, and an excerpt of Thrall’s Wiki page says this:
“Despite Thrall’s open acceptance of visitors into his society, the Orcs have not yet relinquished all of their old hatreds and preconceptions about other races. Still, they honor his leadership and will treat visitors to Durotar fairly, albeit somewhat roughly. He takes individuals at face value and treats them with respect until their actions prove that they should be dealt with otherwise. Even when crimes are committed, the harshest punishment that Thrall will mete out is exile — banishment into the almost lifeless wastelands of the Barrens, where the elements judge who lives and who dies. However, if someone under his leadership causes dishonorable and unnecessary bloodshed, Thrall's policy is clear: a death sentence carried out with the help of the Doomhammer.
“To friends, Thrall is warm and generous, freely swapping stories and information. Hospitality is extended to everyone, but Thrall expects all visitors to contribute in some way to Orgrimmar’s survival. Visiting hunters often bring meat or fur in exchange for refuge from the elements, and human traders from Theramore Isle periodically bring casks of salt ale and seed for crops. While in Orgrimmar, visitors are under Thrall’s protection and he will not tolerate any threats or violence against them.”
Thrall brought about immense transition and the foundations for the essential rebuilding of civilization in my eyes, while still fighting endless battles for his kind to stay free. There is so much more storyline behind this character that I just cannot fit into a simple blog post. If you want to know more about The build-up of the Horde (and there is a lot of it) or any of the Warcraft Lore, read the books, check out Blizzard’s page, and lose yourself in it.
I do it on a daily basis, and I can't wait to get WotLK to see what other glorious storyline they added about Arthas, Crown Prince of Lordaeron.
FOR THE HORDE!!!
Cheers,
~Hoshi
(Image Copyright Blizzard Entertainment)
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