The Lore of Hearthstone edition for the Witchwood expansion, released earlier this year!
__________________________________________
The Worgen of Gilneas!
The Witchwood itself takes place in Gilneas, the land of the worgen. For a primer on Worgens, click
Episode Three of my Lore of Hearthstone series, in which I cover the backstory of the Worgen as a whole. Long story short...
In the distant past, a bunch of night elven druids end up unlocking a "Pack Form" with a powerful artifact known as the Scythe of Elune in order to battle the Satyrs during a war. However, the form proved to consume the druids with so much anger and rage that they became uncontrollable, and Malfurion ended up putting these Druids of the Scythe into deep slumber.
Fast-forward a couple thousand years into contemporary Azeroth, and the First and Second Wars happened. One of the human nations that formed the Alliance, Gilneas, ended up seceding from the Alliance and building a gigantic wall to separate themselves from the outside world. During World of Warcraft, an archmage known as Arugal (more on him later) released the sleeping Druids of the Scythe into the wild, causing the Worgen curse to spread. During the events of Cataclysm, so wildly spread was the Worgen curse within the secluded nation of Gilneas that it crumbled under the combined forces of a Worgen assault as well as the forces of Sylvanas Winrunner's Forsaken fleet, intent on claiming Gilneas for the Horde. Practically the entire population of Gilneas was transformed into Worgens, but a combination of alchemy and help by night elven druids, the Worgen of Gilneas ended up retaining their sanity and has the ability to freely transform back and forth between worgen and human forms. (And thus, became a playable race during Cataclysm).
And now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the Witchwood itself. There is an actual area known as "Witchwood" in World of Warcraft, specifically a very minor sub-area of Highmountain populated by Harpies. However, the Witchwood in Hearthstone is actually based on a region of Gilneas known as the
Blackwald, a wide expanse of dreary, dead forest located in Southern Gilneas, south of Greymane City. The Blackwald was where the Druids of the Scythe originally lived, and where they were originally transformed into Worgen. Worgen adventurers would journey through the Blackwald during Cataclysm, both in a journey to control their bestial forms and to push back against the forces of the Horde led by Sylvanas.
In Hearthstone's Witchwood expansion, a vile orc witch, Hagatha, has moved into the Blackwald and spread a large amount of corruption, transforming it into the titular Witchwood. We'll cover a lot more about the actual named characters -- the Greymanes, Darius, Crowley and Arugal in particular are extremely instrumental in the story of the Worgen.
_________________________________
The Gilneans!
King Genn Greymane
King
Genn Greymane is the King of the human kingdom of Gilneas, and was one
of the original founders of the Alliance of Lordaeron during the Second
War (i.e. Warcraft II). When the kingdom of Stormwind fell at the hands
of the orcish Horde, the kings of several human kingdoms, Gilneas among
them, was gathered in order to discuss forming a coalition -- the
Alliance of Lordaeron. This Alliance would come to include the high
elves, dwarves and gnomes. Due to Greymane's intense pride (as well as
the whispers of his advisors) Gilneas only sent in a token force instead
of committing their entire army. After the conclusion of the Second
War, Greymane bristled at the thought of using Gilnean taxes to pay for
the orc internment camp. Refusing to pay for the wars of other nations,
Genn Greymane become hateful and isolationist, withdrawing Gilneas from
the Alliance and secluding his kingdom from the rest of the world. To
this end, Greymane spearheaded the construction of the Gilnean Wall, a
gigantic wall to separate Gilneas from the rest of the world. This act
caused the nobleman Darius Crowley to instigate a civil war known as the
Northgate Rebellion.
This
would come to bite Greymane in the ass when the Third War came, and the
undead Scourge ran rampant throughout the continent of Lordaeron. The
encroaching forces of the Scourge threatened the kingdom of Gilneas, and
without allies, Greymane sought to find other avenues. He commissioned
the royal archmage, Arugal, to summon feral wolf-man beings called the
Worgen from their slumber to aid them in protecting Gilneas from the
threat of the Scourge. While the Worgen were intensely powerful against
the forces of the undead, they turned upon the Gilneans as well,
spreading the curse of the worgen and causing Gilneas to face an even
bigger threat.
Between the time of the Third War and
the Cataclysm, the worgen threat has grown so large that the Gilneans
were forced to evacuate Gilneas City. Genn Greymane and his son Liam
assisted in the evacuation of the citizens to Duskhaven. Despite the
valiant efforts of the Gilneans, as well as the assistance of the
released rebel Darius Crowley and some new worgen heroes (i.e. player
characters) Gilneas would suffer even more as multiple threats arrived.
Elsewhere in another corner of the world, the dread black dragon aspect
Deathwing erupted from the elemental plane of earth, causing the mighty
event known as the Cataclysm, collapsing the Greymane wall and a huge
chunk of the Gilnean coast. The forces of Forsaken, loyal to the Horde,
were led by Sylvanas Windrunner to take advantage of this and claim
Gilneas for the Horde. Genn Greymane himself succumbed into the worgen
curse as well, although like many others who were infected during the
fall of Gilneas, he retained his sanity due to the efforts of alchemists
among the Gilneans who managed to create a potion to control the
transformations. While fighting the forces of Sylvanas Windrunner,
Genn's heir Liam would take a poisoned arrow meant for Genn and die in
the process, and his son's death broke Genn.
Finally
humbled due to his son's death and the devastation of his kingdom, Genn
Greymane accepted outside aid -- a group of night elven druids,
representing the Alliance, who offered to relocate the Gilnean survivors
to the night elven city of Darnassus. The night elves, having been
responsible for the original creation of the worgen millennia ago, also
helped the worgens of Gilneas control their newfound feral forms.
However, Genn was still a stubborn man, initially refusing to join the
Alliance, and later his attempts was rebuffed by King Varian Wrynn, who
was still furious at Greymane's cowardly acts of seceding after the
Second War. However, after spending some time with Greymane, Varian
relented and allowed the worgens of Gilneas entry into the Alliance.
Acting
as an atoner for his past sins, Genn Greymane was a staunch supporter
of the Alliance, and the Gilnean people had come to view the worgen
curse as their newfound strength, embracing it instead of shunning it.
While initially leading his people in Darnassus, Genn would later move
to the capital city of Stormwind to advise Varian Wrynn. While Genn did
not participate in any major battles, he was present during the events
of Mists of Pandaria among the Alliance leaders in witnessing the power
of the Sha, and later the capture and trial of Garrosh Hellscream.
In
Legion, Genn Greymane would have a lot more spotlight, having grown to
essentially Varian's closest confidant. Genn Greymane was among the
warriors on the frontline during the Battle for the Broken Shore,
fighting in his worgen form alongside other Alliance leaders Varian
Wrynn, Jaina Proudmoore and Gelbin Mekkatorque. The combined
Alliance-Horde forces headed in to kill the mad warlock Gul'dan.
However, Genn witnessed the Horde forces suddenly pull a retreat
(unbeknownst to the Alliance forces at the time, it was due to the
mortal wounding of their then-warchief Vol'jin), an act that Genn viewed
as treachery. Pinned down by way too many enemies due to the lack of
Horde backup, Genn urged Varian to order a retreat. The Alliance forces
did so, retreating to their gunships, but Gul'dan summons a gigantic Fel
Reaver who grabs onto the airship and threatened to crash it. Genn
despereately yells for Varian Wrynn, hanging on to a rope bridge, to
grab his hand, but instead Varian passes on a letter he wrote to his
son, before bravely jumping off to slay the massive Fel Reaver to allow
the Alliance forces to escape -- and eventually dying as he had a
valiant last stand against the forces of the demons.
After
Varian's death and the Horde's retreat, Genn held the Horde personally
responsible for the disaster, and resolved to avenge Varian. Genn did
not attend Varian's funeral because he could not bring himself to face
Prince Anduin, and asked an adventurer to deliver a letter to the new
king. Genn would then head off to the Broken Isles, personally leading
the Alliance forces there and leading the Gilneas Brigade to establish
Greywatch in the island of Stormheim. While on a mission to aid Alliance
heroes in obtaining the Aegis of Aggramar, Greymane interception
intelligence that Sylvanas Windrunner, the Forsaken Queen and
newly-minted Warchief of the Horde, was on the a group of Horde ships.
The vengeance-thirsty Genn charged in to attack, and instead merely
found one of Sylvanas's lieutenants, Nathanos Blightcaller. Genn's
reckless fight allowed Nathanos's minions to sabotage the Alliance
flagship
Skyfire and cause it to crash. Genn would send off
adventurers to recover the Aegis of Aggramar, while Genn remained behind
to stop Horde attempts to plague Greywatch. Genn's agent, Lorna
Crowley, would discover that Sylvanas meant to create more Val'kyr by
subjugating the leader of the Val'kyr, Eyir, which would allow her to
resurrect the dead and bolster the Forsaken's ranks. Genn Greymane
personally goes into Skold-Ashil to confront Sylvanas. Seeing that
Sylvanas was using a magical lantern, the Soul Cage, to bind Eyir, Genn
charges in and swearing vengeance for Liam and Varian, attacked Sylvanas
and knocks her down. Sylvanas seemed to have the upper hand, shooting
Genn with a poisoned arrow that turned him back into his human form, but
Genn reveals that his target was the Soul Cage all along. Smashing the
magical lantern upon the ground, Eyir was freed and disappears. Genn
walks out and rips out the arrow from his shoulder, noting that since
she had stolen his son's future, he has likewise taken hers, leaving the
anguished Banshee Queen behind.
Genn would also
instruct an adventurer to sneak around and spy on Anduin to make sure
the new king's mental state is all right. Genn and the draenei leader
Velen would then talk to Anduin near the site of his father's death,
trying to help muster the young king's confidence. Genn encourages
Anduin, telling him to never let fear prevail. Genn would continue to
act in a mentoring manner to Anduin throughout the rest of Legion.
During
the Battle of Azeroth, Genn and Anduin led the Siege of Capital City,
personally battling alongside Anduin. Horde forces overwhelmed Genn
Greymane for a while, but Anduin unleashed a massive healing wave that
rejuvenated Genn and the other fallen Alliance soldiers. Genn would
return to Stormwind and lead an army to drive out a group of Horde
infiltrators -- although they did manage to free two Zandalari troll
prisoners. Despite his reservations about the plan, Genn would accompany
Jaina Proudmoore to the human naval nation of Kul Tiras and attempt to
get it to join the Alliance.
Princess Tess Greymane
Princess
Tess Greymane is the daughter of King Genn Greymane, and, unlike her
father, she was made of calmer stock and nowhere as war-hungry as her
father, taking after her older brother Liam instead. Tess was seen in
various locations in Gilnean territory during the Worgens' introduction
in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, but neither she nor her mother Mia had a
major role. Unlike most Gilneans, Tess was one of the few to not be
afflicted with the curse (as far as we know).
Tess
Greymane rose to prominence during World of Warcraft: Legion,
accompanying her father in various conflicts against the return of the
Burning Legion to Azeroth, particularly stationed abroad the Alliance
airship Skyfire after the first battle of the Broken Shore. Tess and
Darius Crowley's daughter Lorna would discuss the bloodlust consuming
Genn Greymane, fearing that it would lead to a lot of deaths in the name
of vengeance. To most other members of the Alliance, Tess Greymane
seemed like a mere princess and a royal, but Rogue players would find
out that Tess Greymane is actually one of the rogues that were part of
the Uncrowned -- a secretive organization of Azeroth's most powerful
rogues, the "unseen blades that write the true history of the world".
Members of the Uncrowned familiar to Hearthstone players include Valeera
Sanguinar, Marin Noggenfogger, Lilian Voss and Vanessa VanCleef. The
Uncrowned would welcome powerful rogue adventurers into their fold, and
would venture in missions unknown to most of Azeroth's population in
battling the Burning Legion's attempts at infiltration and incursion
into Azeroth. Tess in particular would send the Rogue Champion to
recruit the mighty veteran of the first war, Garona Halforcen. During
the events of Legionfall, Tess engineered a plan to stop a large army of
Burning Legion demons attempting to ambush the Alliance/Horde forces
with fel-infused gun powder taken from the undead Blacksail pirates.
Tess and the Rogue hero sneak into the Lost Temple and blow the cave up.
In
Witchwood, Tess has apparently been spending her time hunting down the
mysterious ghostly pirates that have been plaguing Gilneas's coastlines,
and has taken a far more active role as a tracker and a rogue. She is
one of the four heroes that venture into the Witchwood to hunt down the
dread Hagatha and put her down.
Prince Liam Greymane:
Prince
Liam Greymane was the son and heir to the Greymane throne, and a major
character in the Worgen starting experience. As a child, Liam was
perhaps one of the staunchest detractors of his father's isolationist
regime, but his words fell on deaf ears. When Gilneas fell due to the
combined forces of the Forsaken and the wild Worgen, Prince Liam was
instrumental in leading his people. Aided with adventurers and the
Gilnean Royal Guard, Prince Liam helped to combat the feral worgen as
best as he could, notably securing Merchant Square. Liam comforted the
daughter of the rebel-turned-ally Darius Crowley, Lorna Crowley, when
Darius was presumed dead after holding the line against a Worgen army.
Liam would continue to aid his people as they settled in settlements
around Gilneas, and assisted adventurers struggling to control their
newfound worgen forms, being absolutely fine with it. Liam and the
adventurers managed to help the evacuation by luring a large local Ettin
into fighting the Forsaken. However, during the climactic battle
against Sylvanas Windrunner's Forsaken forces, Liam Greymane took a
poisoned arrow meant to claim the life of his father. The death of Liam
shook Genn hard, and was the impetus for his decision to retreat for the
sake of his people instead of fighting and dying for his own pride.
Liam's death would prove to be one of the main catalysts for Genn
Greymane and his conflict against the Banshee Queen in subsequent
conflicts. In Hearthstone, Liam apparently has returned as a ghost to
help assist his people in this time of need -- he's not done so in World
of Warcraft. Yet.
Darius Crowley
Darius
Crowley is perhaps one of the most important characters from Gilneas.
Lord Crowley was a nobleman who was very vocal during the time of the
Second War, and preached nobility and courage. While other older
noblemen like Vincent Godfrey would have Gilneas put the interests of
profit above honour and loyalty, the younger Darius Crowley beseeched
King Greymane to honour the terms of the Alliance and send in the entire
Gilnean army to participate in the Second War. While the Alliance would
prove triumphant during the Second War, Crowley would be unable to stop
King Greymane from seceding from the Alliance. Further conflict came
when Greymane built the Greymane Wall, a massive barrier that would cut
off Gilneas out from the rest of the world. However, due to influence
from Godfrey, the Greymane Wall would cut away Darius Crowley and his
land from the rest of Gilneas. This caused Darius Crowley to lead the
Northgate Rebellion, an uprising that resulted in a civil war. Darius
Crowley was eventually arrested on the grounds of treason, and held at
Stoneward Prison. During the Third War and prior to the Scourge razing
Lordaeron, Darius was responsible for sending a not insignificant amount
of Gilneans as part of the Gilneas Brigade to join Jaina Proudmoore's
exodus from Lordaeron to Kalimdor.
Darius
remained imprisoned throughout the Third War and much of early World of
Warcraft, but during the Cataclysm, the Greymane Wall fell, and the
worgens attacked Gilneas city
en masse. Gilnean adventurers would
release Darius Crowley from imprisonment, and convince him to assist in
evacuating Gilneas. Darius Crowley's charisma quickly caused his own
rebels and the reset of the Gilnean forces to work together, and in
order to draw the worgen's attentions away from the bulk of the Gilnean
evacuees, Darius Crowley and a group of brave worgen heroes (i.e. you,
the player) led the feral worgen towards Light's Dawn Cathedral. They
made a brave stand, but the worgen overwhelmed them and Darius Crowley
became a worgen. A
badass worgen with eye-patches and Wolverine claws.
Darius
would later assist the worgen hero in retrieving the Scythe of Elune
from the hands of the Forsaken, and would be reunited with his daughter
Lorna. The worgen hero would convince King Greymane to ask Crowley's
faction of rebels and worgens in uniting against the threat of the
Forsaken. The negotiations nearly fell apart due to Godfrey's influence
and prejudices, but when King Greymane revealed that he, too, was a
worgen, Darius would agree. Darius Crowley would participate in other
battles, including retaking Gilneas City, and led the defense of Keel
Harbour to once more buy time for the Gilneans to escape to night elven
territory.
With the territory of Gilneas ultimately
lost to the Forsaken, Darius would lead the Gilneas Liberation Front
against the Forsaken in Silverpine Forest, and managed to gather allies
from the previously neutral Bloodfang and Hillsbrad packs. With help
from other Alliance forces, Darius's campaign through the Silverpine
Forest seemed successful until the Forsaken revealed their trump card: a
resurrected Lord Godfrey. Knowing all about Darius's weaknesses,
Godfrey and a group of Forsaken agents kidnapped Darius's daughter Lorna
and held her hostage, forcing Darius to surrender Silverpine Forest in
exchange for his daughter. However, treachery from Godfrey -- who killed
Sylvanas (she got better) -- ended up allowing Darius and his forces to
leave Silverpine unmolested.
Darius
would figure greatly during the Legion expansion, where Darius and
Lorna would be among the forces that accompanied Greymane and the rest
of the Alliance in battling the Burning Legion in the Broken Shore.
Darius's participation in the battle is mostly unseen, and it would
later be revealed that he was felled in battle and taken captive by the
Naga on the broken shore. Alliance warriors would free him, and Darius
would assist the Alliance heroes in defeating the Naga. After his
rescue, Darius would be inducted as a champion in the Warrior
organization, the Valarjar. In Battle for Azeroth, with all the
increasing hostilities between Alliance and Horde, Darius Crowley would
return to Gilneas, leading a renewed Gilnean assault into the
Forsaken-controlled territory of Hillsbrad.
In
Hearthstone's Witchwood expansion, Darius Crowley has apparently gained
a high appreciation of cannons and is one of the four heroes sent to
brave the Witchwood alongside Tess Greymane, Shaw and Toki. Crowley
would venture into the Witchwood and defeat multiple bosses, eventually
battling and slaying his old nemesis Lord Godfrey before joining the
other heroes in battling Hagatha.
Lord Vincent Godfrey
Lord
Vincent Godfrey is one of the Gilnean nobles that was active during the
Second War, and, while ambitious, was wholly loyal to protecting
Gilneas. Godfrey was one of the nobles who suggested Genn Greymane to
send a mere token force instead of the whole Gilnean army, in stark
contrast to Darius Crowley's request to commit Gilneas's entire army to
the war. Godfrey was cunning and calculated. Between the Second and
Third Wars, the Greymane Wall was constructed to seal Gilneas off from
the rest of the world. Godfrey was the one responsible to give Greymane
the idea of constructing it through Crowley's lands in order to make a
more secure natural barrier, despite cutting off part of Crowley's
lands. This was all a ploy in order to make Godfrey's own lands the most
strategically valuable.
In World of Warcraft:
Cataclysm, Lord Godfrey would still act as Greymane's advisor during the
Worgen crisis, assisting the king as best as he could regarding the
dual threat of the feral worgen and the Forsaken fleet besieging their
lands. Godfrey scoffed at the idea that Greymane wanted to set up a
curfew, instead demanding that he be allowed to bring a small hunting
group to the Blackwald to hunt down the worgens. This dismissive tone
caused Greymane to dismiss Godfrey from the meeting. Despite his big
talk, Godfrey was one of the first to take up arms against the beasts,
assisting the Greymanes and other Gilneans in shooting down the Worgen
during the evacuation of Gilneas. However, Godfrey argued strongly
against the rescue of his old rival, the former rebel Darius Crowley.
Godfrey was extremely dismissive of anyone afflicted with the Worgen
curse, heartlessly gunning down any fellow Gilnean afflicted with the
curse. Godfrey was particularly insistent that the worgen hero (a.k.a.
you) be executed after his/her transformation, something that Genn
Greymane refused to do. As the worgen hero regained control of his/her
form, Godfrey begrudgingly assisted the hero in fending off the Forsaken
dark ranger.
As
the conflict between the Gilneans and the Forsaken reached a tipping
point, Godfrey ended up chafing over Darius Crowley being accepted back
into the fold, as well as the revelation that even King Greymane has
been afflicted with the worgen curse. Godfrey ended up holding Greymane
at gunpoint, believing that he could negotiate with the Forsaken by
handing over the king (while, of course, simultaneously ensuring his own
place as a candidate). However, the worgen hero was alerted to
Godfrey's treachery, and he/she kills Godfrey's allies, Baron Ashbury
and Lord Walden. The Worgen hero and Genn Greymane demanded that Godfrey
surrender, but Godfrey instead leaped to his death from the edge of a
cliff, with his last words telling that he'd rather die than have a
worgen for a king.
However, that would not be the end
of Vincent Godfrey. The Forsaken queen Sylvanas Windrunner would realize
what has transpired, and sent his own agents to recover Lord Godfrey's
body. Her Val'kyr would resurrect Lord Godfrey and his two allies,
Ashbury and Walden, as Forsaken. Godfrey is accompanied by several Horde
heroes in battling against the enemies of the Forsaken, and Godfrey
would succeed in kidnapping Lorna Crowley, Darius's daughter, holding
her as ransom. Darius Crowley ended up surrendering, but Lord Godfrey,
refusing to be a pawn of anyone, shoots and kills Sylvanas Windrunner,
before escaping. Sylvanas would be resurrected with the sacrifice of
some of her Val'kyr, but this crime has caused Lord Godfrey to be wanted
by the Horde as well. Now wanted by both Alliance and Horde, Lord
Godfrey and his remaining allies made a run for the nearby Shadowfang
Keep, formerly the base of the mad archmage Arugal. Lord Godfrey would
be the final boss of the revamped Shadowfang Keep (circa Cataclysm), and
both Alliance and Horde would send heroes to slay the treacherous
undead noble. Godfrey would eventually meet his end at the hands of
these adventurers. His Hearthstone card effect is based on his iconic
'pistol barrage' ability in World of Warcraft, a devastating
area-of-effect blast of bullets.
In Hearthstone, it is
noted that Lord Godfrey has left his base of Shadowfang Keep and
journeyed close into the Witchwood and Gilneas for some nefarious (and
possibly treacherous) purpose.
Archmage Arugal
Archmage
Arugal started life as the royal archmage of the kingdom of Gilneas. So
skilled was he that he was also a member of Dalaran's Kirin Tor, an
elite organization of mages. During the events of the Third War, Dalaran
was razed to the ground by the undead Scourge, and Arugal returned back
to Gilneas. He returned to find his homeland besieged by the
encroaching undead. King Greymane asked Arugal to assist him in
protecting Gilneas, and Arugal had the idea of unleashing the worgen. He
had learned of the worgen -- ancient wolf-men sealed within the Emerald
Dream by night elven druids in days past -- from the Book of Ur, a tome
in Dalaran. Arugal did warn Genn Greymane of the worgen's strength and
ferocity, but Greymane decided to unleash the worgen to destroy the
undead. Arugal summoned the worgen with his magic power, unleashing the
worgen upon the undead. The worgen were extremely effective in crushing
the undead... but they proved impossible to control, and began to attack
Gilnean soldiers. This spread the worgen curse throughout Gilneas,
throwing the kingdom into chaos.
Arugal
was wracked with guilt for his role in unleashing the worgen, and
quickly went insane. Arugal ended up 'adopting' the worgen as his
children, and retreated to Shadowfang Keep, formerly belonging to the
noble Baron Silverlaine. Arugal lived there and ended up starting his
own worgen cult, using his magics to keep the worgen under his control,
but sending them off to spread the worgen curse to other places,
intending to turn the entire world's population into feral worgen.
Archmage Arugal was the final boss of Shadowfang Keep, a dungeon in the
original 'vanilla' iteration of World of Warcraft. Agents of the Kirin
Tor and the Forsaken would task adventurers to hunt down and slay Arugal
and his worgen army. Arugal's Hearthstone quote, "another falls!" is
taken from the original encounter with Arugal.
Arugal
and his worgen cult would be permanently driven out of Shadowfang Keep
prior to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, and Lord Godfrey would
move in as part of a revamped Shadowfang Keep dungeon in the Cataclysm
expansion. Arugal is canonically beheaded by Horde adventurers, and his
body was buried in a patch of land near Shadowfang Keep. Agents of the
Scourge, the Darkfallen Princes Keleseth, Valanar, Theraldis and
Atherann would resurrect Arugal as a powerful Shade, placing him at
Shadowfang Tower in Grizzly Hills. Under Theraldis's command, Arugal was
sent to Solstice Village and Silverbrook to convert the population into
worgen loyal to the Scourge, and converted others to join his
wolf-cult. Adventurers would besiege Arugal's attempt at revitalizing
his wolf cult, and slay the Shade of Arugal for good.
While
Arugal was never revived, his dark legacy remains. Worgen death knights
are noted to be former servants of Arugal, and during the Legion
expansion, the death knights of the Ebon Blade will venture to the
Shadowlands to do battle with the soul of Arugal to drain the darkness
from his soul as part of a series of Unholy Attainment quests where the
death knights would have to confront dead villains to drain their
essences.
Blackhowl Gunspire:
Yeah,
the Blackhowl Gunspire is actually canon! Sorta. The Gunspire is
clearly a cannon tower. Cannon Towers were first seen in Warcraft II,
where the help of gnomish and dwarven engineering allowed the forces of
the Alliance to upgrade their Scout Towers into Cannon Towers. The
Alliance forces in Warcraft III were also able to upgrade their scout
towers into Cannon Towers. Both Cannon Towers in WCII and WCIII are
extremely powerful, able to deal splash damage, but is unable to strike
flying units. In World of Warcraft, cannon towers are often seen among
Alliance architecture.
The Blackhowl title is a
reference to the Blackhowl, an organization formed by humans and worgens
of Gilneas that has fallen prey to the machinations of the black
draknoid Lord Hiram Creed, who disguises himself as a human noble and
fed the members of the Blackhowl his own draconic blood to enhance their
strength and keep them bound to his will. In Cataclysm, the uncorrupted
black dragon, Wrathion, sent a Rogue adventurer to assassinate Creed in
his quest to annihilate all of the other evil black dragons on Azeroth
-- something that the Rogue would succeed in doing. The Blackhowl was
never seen again after this mission, but in Hearthstone, apparently the
Blackhowl has thrown their lot in to help defend Gilneas after the
'retirement' of their leader Creed.
_________________________________________
Other WoW-Canon Characters!
Duskfallen Aviana:
We've talked about the Wild God Aviana before during
The Grand Tournament,
While other Wild Gods have been corrupted before (most notably Cenarius
and Ursoc), and the Twilight's Hammer Cult had tried to conjure up
corrupted copies of the wolf ancient Goldrinn and the tortoise ancient
Tortolla, Aviana has never been corrupted before, making this a form of
Aviana original to Hearthstone.
Emeriss
Emeriss
is a relatively important lore character, all things considered, but
has absolutely nothing to do with Worgens or Gilneas. Emeriss is one of
the four Dragons of Nightmare, four mighty members of the green
dragonflight that served as one of the world bosses in the original
World of Warcraft. The arrival of these four dragons, originally four of
Ysera's mightiest lieutenants, heralded the fact that there was
something seriously wrong to twist this mighty beings to madness
and decay. The four Dragons of Nightmare would appear outside of the
Great Trees of Azeroth, and would spread madness and terror throughout
the mortal realm if not stopped. Throughout the subsequent expansions
adventurers would reveal the existence of the Emerald Nightmare, a
corruption of the Emerald Dream caused by the Old Gods N'Zoth and
Yogg-Saron, and spearheaded by the Nightmare Lord Xavius.
The
four Dragons of Nightmare -- Lethon, Ysondre, Emeriss and Taerar --
were the earliest and most notable victims, transformed from guardians
of nature and the Dream into beings of corpulent decay. These dragons
would spawn outside of four Great Trees, located in Duskwood,
Hinterlands, Feralas and Ashenvale. Lethon was transformed into a being
with the ability to suck in energy from his enemies with the aid of
shades. Emeriss was a being of rot and disease, transforming her victims
into erupting mushrooms that further wound those around him. Taerar was
a nightmarish creature who manifests in the physical realm as a series
of specters. Ysondre unleashes lightning blasts and puts her victims
into deep sleep, a perversion of her charge over the Emerald Dream in
the past.
During the Cataclysm
expansion, the Dragons of Nightmare were removed from the game. The loss
of two of these was explained in the World of Warcraft: Stormrage
novel. Emeriss and Lethon were two of the primary antagonists serving
under Xavius as the druids of Azeroth attempted to uncover the true
masterminds of the corruption tainting the Emerald Dream. Lethon was
slain by Eranikus, Ysera's primary consort, in an explosion of energies
that killed them both. Emeriss battled Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion
Stormrage, but when Tyrande attempted to channel the power of Elune to
heal Emeriss's corruption, the green dragon was so far gone that when
the corruption was removed, nothing remained. A questline in Cataclysm
would reveal the fate of the other two dragons, where Ysondre would
regain her sanity and ask adventurers to help slay the final Dragon of
Nightmare, Taerar, permanently.
However,
this didn't last very long, as in Legion, the Emerald Nightmare has
spread to consume nearly the entirety of the Dream. Ysondre was drawn
back in and transformed once more into a Dragon of Nightmare, while
Emeriss, Lethon and Taerar were resurrected. The Dragons of Nightmare
then served as the fifth encounter in the Emerald Nightmare raid, being
ultimately slain and put to rest permanently by adventurers. After the
Emerald Nightmare was cleansed, the spirits of the former Dragons of
Nightmare were apparently purified.
_________________________________________
Hearthstone-Original Legendaries
As with most of the
post-League-of-Explorers expansions, Witchwood contains a sizable chunk
of characters original to Hearthstone, notably the titular witch of the
Witchwood, Hagatha, as well as many of her creations. Many of the
legendary minions in this expansion are also featured in the Monster
Hunt story mode, either as playable heroes or as bosses.
Hagatha The Witch:
Hagatha
the Witch is the being whose moniker gave the Witchwood its name.
Hagatha is the being that is apparently behind the mysterious
transformation of Gilneas's Blackwald Forest into the Witchwood, and
it's not entirely clear whether the curse that transformed the Witchwood
and its inhabitants was solely Hagatha's doing, or if Hagatha is merely
another one of the Witchwood's victims. The Mysterious Missives, a set
of 'bios' apparently gathered by a mysterious organization and posted on
the Hearthstone website, give us some other possible origins for
Hagatha, speculating that she is "a survivor of some great battle who
dragged herself deep into the forest and fell prey to dark magic", "the
manifestation of the forest's anger" or an extremely skilled shaman
whose ambition and desires have outstripped normal sense.
Whatever
the case, Hagatha is a female orc shaman who resides deep in the
Witchwood. Dialogue from the Monster Hunt mode implies that she was
saved at one point by the monstrous bog creeper known as Groddo the
Bogwarden, and she is at least responsible for a good majority of the
monsters and bosses in the Witchwood. Waiting deep within the Witchwood,
every breath that Hagatha makes causes every evil creature in the woods
to listen, and her mere presence causes dead spirits to rise, the
plantlife itself to be corrupted into giant lumbering monsters and even
the sides of hills itself to lumber into the night. She is at least
directly responsible for the creation of the strange entity Shudderwock
and the monstrous dream serpent threatening to eat the moon.
And
while Hagatha is terrifying and a powerful being, she isn't just a
mindless force of nature. She is extremely sane, and she plots. No one
knows why she targets the Witchwood or Gilneas, but it might seem that
it's merely circumstantial -- it's an obstacle for a larger goal, and
only the brave monster hunters of Gilneas can take her down, defeat her
mighty monstrous minions, and return the Witchwood to what it was.
Eventually, after fighting through her hordes of minions, the brave
heroes Tess Greymane, Darius Crowley, Houndmaster Shaw and Toki the
Time-Tinker managed to bring the fight to Hagatha herself and finally
put the mad witch down, saving Gilneas and the rest of Azeroth from the
encroaching Witchwood curse.
Baku the Mooneater:
Baku the Mooneater shares the visual appearance with the
sea serpents of
Azeroth, which first made their appearance in World of Warcraft in
Cataclysm, native to the deeper oceans of Azeroth. But the visual
appearance is where the similarities end, for Baku is a land-dwelling
creature whose size is tremendous -- large enough to coil around the
town of Gilneas itself. The Mysterious Missives note that no being akin
to Baku exists in records that detail the likes of serpents, dragons and
dragonhawks. And Baku himself has not been seen physically by anyone,
but everyone in Gilneas is haunted and wracked with shared dream visions
of a gigantic kaleidoscopic serpent reaching up into the sky and
devouring the moon.
The author of the Mysterious
Missives theorize that Baku may be the tormented psyche of a dragon
whose physical form is trapped within the bounds of the Witchwood, and
the dream projection of this dragon's mind (remember that green dragons
are tied to the dream-realm of the Emerald Dream) is wraped and twisted
by Hagatha's own nightmares. This seem to be mere speculation, however,
and might prove true or false. Those affected by dreams of Baku descend
into a fugue state of neither waking nor dreaming, and develop the
ability to manifest their will in surprising ways, yet are haunted by
inexplicable dread as they all dream of fanged serpent jaws devouring
the moon. Baku's nature is a mystery for the moment, a mysterious dream
being that may be fully malicious, or merely yet another symptom of
Hagatha's curse over the Witchwood.
Note that while Baku's artwork features the Moon prominently in the sky... Azeroth is supposed to have
two moons, so Baku apparently already ate one of them.
The Shudderwock:
The
mysterious Shudderwock is a bizarre entity unique to Hearthstone, a
rhyming being first seen in children's rhymes. The mysterious
Shudderwock seems to exist somewhere on the edge of reality, defying
description, physical and arcane laws, and some people even question if
the Shudderwock is 'real' in the way that one generally uses the word,
although it certainly exists. The Shudderwock appears to warp reality
wherever it walks, leaving those who meet it as mere jabbering wrecks,
turning those who meet it into rhyming lunatics -- which is the fate
that befell the agent who wrote the Mysterious Missive for the
Shudderwock.
The Shudderwock is, of course, a reference
to the Jabberwock, a creature featured in the nonsensical poem
Jabberwocky written by real-life Lewis Carroll in
Through the Looking Glass. Shudderwock's card illustration is an obvious reference to the
John Tenniel illustration,
and the Shudderwock's entrance quote is taken from a description of the
Jabberwock. The Shudderwock's hero power in Monster Hunt, Frumiousity,
is taken from another nonsense word in the poem.
Glinda Crowskin:
The
mysterious Glinda Crowskin is a witch living deep within the Witchwood,
and was apparently around in the Witchwood even prior to its
corruption. Before even the curse existed, there has been tales in
Gilneas of a sinister crone that can grant wishes for the modest price
of a human heart -- something that is reflected in the boss battle
against Glinda, where she is able to cheat death by using her minions as
extra hearts. As noted in various Mysterious Missives, Glinda Crowskin
is the mastermind behind the Crowskin Cult that has surfaced after the
advent of the Witchwood's creation. The Crowskin Cult has infiltrated
the population of Gilneas, and Crowskin and her followers believe that
Hagatha will grant them power in exchange for devotion. Breaking the
Greymane family's curfew, Crowskin's followers sneak into the forest in
the dead of night to perform profane rituals under the crone's
direction. Most disturbingly, more of the cultists return to the city
than has left -- a reference to how Glinda Crowskin is able to replicate
minions via the Echo mechanic in the game. The Crowskin cult is clearly
responsible for some of the bosses in the monster hunt like Cultist
S'thara and the treasure Cult of the Wolf, and Crowskin is noted in
various sources as being a mere pawn, she seems pretty happy with the
arrangement, all things considered.
Azalina Soulthief
The
enigmatic Azalina Soulthief is a mysterious night elf (who may also be
undead) who resides in the depths of the Witchwood. Azalina is described
by the residents of Gilneas as a vengeful spirit who knows their
thoughts, and "speaks lies in the voices of friends and allies". During
the boss fight against her in the Monster Hunt mode, Azalina, despite
being twisted by the Witchwood, is driven by a goal to 'protect' her
children, an army of Wisps, from the clutches of Hagatha. However, in
doing so she also seems to be lashing out against everything and
everyone, forcing the heroes to put her down.
Face Collector
The
mysterious plant being known as the Face Collector is one of the many,
many creatures corrupted and summoned from the depths of the Blackwald
by the curse. The Face Collector is apparently a being who 'steals the
faces of men', a strange swamp creature given sentience and power by
Hagatha. He clearly has a morbid selection of faces of many races on his
possession, and appears to be able to impersonate others. There are
apparently rumours that the Face Collector was once a bounty hunter,
with his past purpose twisted and transformed by the Witchwood. The Face
Collector
might be a plant creature similar to the Bog Creepers
and Fen Creepers? Hard to tell, though. During the boss fight against
the Face Collector in the Monster Hunt, he appears to be trying to
impersonate the hero he is facing.
Splintergraft:
Among
the many tree creatures (corrupted Ancients?) brought to unholy life by
the Witchwood's curse is the mighty Splintergraft, mightiest among the
corrupted treants seen in the Witchwood. Splintergraft is a being driven
by vengeance against the Worgens, angered at the huge amount of
woodcutting done by the Gilneans in their war effort, with the writer of
the Mysterious Missives citing Darius Crowley's cannon-making projects
as one of the biggest sources of woodcutting. Splintergraft is formed
from all the splintered stumps of fallen trees, assembling itself into a
humanoid form wielding a woodcutter's axe. Splintergraft is 'the
closest thing to an undead treant', and other than being a big tree
monster she is also able to infect other creatures, turning them into
wooden creatures -- it increases the victim's strength and toughness,
but makes them fall in sway to the Witchwood's corruption. This is seen
in both Splintergraft's collectible card effect and her boss fight.
Houndmaster Shaw:
Houndmaster
Shaw is one of the heroes of Gilneas original to Hearthstone. He and
his army of bloodhounds and mastiffs join alongside Tess Greymane,
Darius Crowley and the mysterious Toki as one of the heroes that venture
into the Witchwood to hunt down and put down Hagatha and her monstrous
minions. Shaw was born from humble roots, apparently rumoured to be
raised by a pack of hounds on the streets of Gilneas. While that story
is dubious, Shaw is a very skilled hound-master, ascending from a
thief-taker into Genn Greymane's master of hounds. Shaw doesn't get
along well with people, and prefers the companion of his hounds --
particularly his favourites, Princess, Butch and Bubba. All three of his
prize hounds are possible 'treasures' that players can pick up when
playing as Houndmaster Shaw. Renowned as a powerful force against
Gilneas's criminals, the unflappable Shaw has joined in the quest to
take down the evils of the Witchwood, and has particular beef against
the Crowskin cult -- which is why he has Glinda Crowskin as his final
boss in the Monster Hunt mode.
Toki, Time-Tinker:
The
Time-Tinker Toki (Toki means time in Japanese) is a little happy gnome
who is apparently able to travel back and forth through time, apparently
via "bargaining with Nozodormu" according to the Mysterious Missives.
Toki is one of the four heroes that brave the Witchwood alongside Tess,
Darius and Shaw, and while nominally on the side of good, she is also
rather erratic and unpredictable. She apparently channels her powers
through arcane devices of her own dimension instead of casting spells,
which is why she can turn back the time (as seen in Monster Hunt) or rip
out beings from the past (seen in her collectible card). Toki is noted
by Genn to be 'extremely lucky', and this willingness to brave risks due
to the ability to manipulate time to make events favourable to her make
her particularly useful as a hunter. Her disregard for the consequences
that her magic has on the fabric of time might just cause her undoing,
however, because apparently her future self (see Infinite Toki below)
has appeared in the Witchwood, intent on stopping her. Toki herself
isn't
actually aligned with the Gilneans per se, having a
cheerful apathy towards both Gilneas and the curse, and only helps
Gilneas because she wants to stop Hagatha from influencing a certain
event in her own future.
It is possible that Toki is a
bronze dragon in disguise -- the most notable bronze dragon other than
Nozdormu is Chronormu, who often materializes as a little bronze-haired
gnome girl called Chromie. However, it's really just conjecture and she
might just be just a gnome with time powers, because unlike Ashmore or
Kazakus, we don't really have any real evidence to say otherwise. Who
knows?
Dollmaster Dorian:
Dorian's
really weird, yeah? He's ostensibly on the side of the 'good guys', but
he clearly goes about it in a different direction. An agent sent by the
writer of the Mysterious Missives that investigated Dorian's possible
association with the Crowskin cult ended up going missing, and a
doppelganger created by Dorian returned with the simple report off how
"Master Dorian is a very nice man." Due to him not appearing anywhere in
the Monster Hunt, it's hard to say whether Dorian is actually evil,
working for a different organization or just good-but-creepy. He''s
clearly responsible for the creation of the Voodoo Doll and Clockwork
Automaton, as well as seemingly the Mute, a boss in the Monster Hunt. I
also really like his artwork -- look at how the green eye on the doll is
the same shade of green as Dorian's one single eye. Like some of the
other legendary cards below, Dorian's story is still mostly a mystery at
this point, one of the many mysterious characters in the Witchwood.
Countess Ashmore:
The
enigmatic Countess Ashmore is an enigma. It's not clear on whose side
she is on, but one day, all the records of Gilneas show a noble Ashmore
line stretching all the way to Pre-Alliance days, written in a hand none
of the royal scribes recognize. Countess Ashmore has taken up residence
in an old manor that has been abandoned since before the first battle
of Gilneas, and witnesses tell tales of many voices coming from the
manor... but the Countess is the only one who has ever been seen leaving
or entering it. Countess Ashmore seem to be investigating the curse for
her own goals, and seems to have a vested interest in the appearance of
dragons in the woods. Countess Ashmore's entry animation in the game is
heralded by a dragon descending and folding into the Countess card. Of
course, we know that dragons in humanoid form don't have the dragon tag
(as evidenced with Wrathion and Kazakus), and Ashmore's dress appears to
be a colour-swapped version of Alexstrasza's human form's clothes. This
leads credence to Ashmore being a disguised member of one of the
dragonflights -- either black, blue or twilight based on her clothing.
As mentioned in the entry for Blackhowl Gunspire, it's not the first
time a dragon's infiltrated Gilneas as a noble. Time will tell if the
mysterious Countess's story will be explored in future Hearthstone
updates.
The Glass Knight:
The
Glass Knight is a unique being to Hearthstone. In life, she was a human
paladin who was grievously injured in battle, and instead had her
spirit imbued into a glass golem on a Gilnean church, preferring this
altered state of living as opposed to being unable to protect Gilneas at
all. The Glass Knight normally remains in stasis as part of the Gilnean
church's stained glass windows, but when the city needs defending, the
Glass Knight will wake up and take up arms against it. There are no
golem model in WoW that visually resembles the Glass Knight.
Lady in White:
The mysterious Lady in White is a ghostly apparition original to Hearthstone. While there are a
lot of
undead spirits risen from the dead due to the Witchwood curse, the Lady
in White is mysteriously not as evil as the rest of the spirits, one of
the few alongside Prince Liam's ghost to not be malicious to Gilneas's
inhabitants. The Lady in White is treated as a symbol of hope, but her
identity in life remains a mystery. The Lady in White appears only to
those in deepest despair, and to each of them she appears in the visage
of someone that they know well, seemingly to offer comfort from beyond
the veil. This has led some people to doubt that she's a 'mere' ghostly
spirit due to this strange aspect. One thing is common with all of her
sightings -- she is always wearing white (even if the dress changes) and
her expression is always kind yet sad. The Lady in White appears to be
searching for something, but she takes her time to help out those in
need that she comes by.
Chameleos:
Chameleos
is clearly a chameleon... which is a creature that has never been seen
in any Warcraft material. While some references to chameleons are made
in the ability "Aspect of the Chameleon", actual chameleons have never
appeared. Chameleos is thus unique to Hearthstone, and his
shape-shifting ability is based on real-life chameleons' ability to
change colour.
For monster run bosses, and the rest of the expansion, go click on the break.
