Lore of Hearthstone, Episode #14 - Whispers of the Old Gods [Non-Legendaries]

The Faceless Ones:

"Spellcaster" Faceless One

First among the races we'll be talking about would be the Faceless Ones, or, in their own tongue, the N'raqi. They were the minions that rose from the organic matter that seeped out of the Old Gods' forms during their rule over Azeroth, and they serve their masters with fanatical loyalty. The Faceless Ones exist only to serve their masters, and waged battle for them first against the Elementals, and later against the Titans. Many Faceless Ones were slain and imprisoned deep beneath the Earth when the Titans arrived to order the world, but during the events of the Third War, the Faceless Ones were revealed to be unleashed from their slumber by nerubian excavation projects when they were attempting to escape Ner'zhul's Scourge. During the events of Frozen Throne, the Death KnightArthas would encounter these Faceless Ones and slay them and their master, a creature known as the Forgotten One. That would only be the beginning of the Faceless Ones' presence in Azeroth, for as their Old God masters awakened, so do they. Faceless Ones guard the interests of their Old God masters, and many are dispatched to assist other minions of the Old Gods. Many Faceless Ones were seen in Northrend during Wrath of the Lich King due to the presence of Yogg-Saron in the frozen continent, and many more were seen at various spots in Cataclysm, assisting Deathwing's forces both in the Abyssal Maw, Grim Batol and Wyrmrest Temple. In Legion, even more Faceless Ones are unleashed from their prisons by Legion assaults all over the world, and, revealing the Old Gods' hand in the corruption of the Emerald Dream, many Faceless Ones fought alongside the Nightmare Lord Xavius in the Emerald Nightmare. Faceless Ones are fanatical, speak in their own language, and carry with them strange magics that cause madness and corruption whenever they touch.

Faceless One (WC3)

The Faceless Ones vary in shape, function and size. Throughout World of Warcraft, at least three variations of the n'raqi have been observed, in addition to the Faceless General, identified later as a member of the similar-but-different race called C'Thraxxi (which we'll cover below). The three main types seen in WoW are the 'standard' version, first introduced in WotLK, which have an armoured-like carapace at the front of their face, and have no discernible eyes. These standard faceless have one arm larger than the other. The second type of n'raqi are introduced in Cataclysm, and are often called 'aquatic' Faceless Ones, and more accurately resemble the Faceless One model from Warcraft III, with eyes and three tentacles as a lower face. A third type, known as a spellcaster, wear masks, are far thinner and have a thin tentacle jutting down from their faces.

"Aquatic" Faceless One

To use Hearthstone card art as a reference, Herald Volazj and Darkspeaker are examples of the 'standard' Faceless One. Faceless Manipulator, Master of Evolution and Flamewreathed Faceless are examples of the 'aquatic'/WCIII Faceless One. Demented Frostcaller and Eater of Secrets are examples of the 'spellcaster' Faceless One.

Zealous Initiate: No real lore behind the Zealous Initiate, beyond being, well, a Faceless One. In Warcraft III, Faceless Ones are always carrying around cudgels, though, just like this dude. 

Spawn of N'Zoth: No real lore behind Spawn of N'Zoth, although it (and Shifter Zerus) are the first-ever depictions of n'raqi young, something that has never been seen in World of Warcraft before. Neither do we know if n'raqi hatch from eggs or not.

Eater of Secrets: No real lore behind Eater of Secrets. It appears to be based on the 'spellcaster' model, but with the mask removed.

Demented Frostcaller: No real lore behind the Demented Frostcaller.

Faceless Shambler: No real mob corresponds to the Faceless Shambler in WoW.

Erudax

Eldritch Horror: The Eldritch Horror isn't actually a n'raqi, but a member of a variant of the race known as the C'Thraxxi. The C'Thraxxi (sometimes known as Faceless Generals) are gigantic variants of the N'raqi, with massive serrated claws in place of arms, a far more armoured and hulking look, and wing-like protrusions made up of crab-like claws. The C'Thraxxi are few in number, but are some of the mightiest of the servants of the Old Gods. The full artwork for Eldritch Horror shows that he's guarding a bunch of purple dragon eggs, identifying him as possibly being based of Erudax, Duke of Below, a boss in the dungeon Grim Batol that was sent by Deathwing to corrupt the red dragon eggs and turn them into twilight dragons.

Faceless Behemoth: No real lore behind the Faceless Behemoth.

Faceless Summoner: No real lore behind the Faceless Summoner, although, of course, Faceless Ones, as servants of the Old Gods, tend to be heralding or summoning greater beings of their kind.

Servant of Yogg-Saron: The Servant of Yogg-Saron is clearly, well, a servant of Yogg-Saron, but it's not super-clear just what he is. He looks like a Faceless One made out of... smoke? Slime? Goop? He also has wings, which no Faceless One has, but he's also too skinny (and goopy) to be a C'thraxxi. Oh and his arms are far more tentacly than usual. Well, it's just like Yogg-Saron to throw chaos into all our lore discussion, huh?

Darkspeaker R'khem, a "standard"
Faceless One

Darkspeaker: Darkspeaker is a reference to the NPC called Darkspeaker R'khem. Darkspeaker R'khem is captured and chained up by the vrykul serving the Lich King in the Saronite Mines in Northrend, and offers adventurers to assist in freeing him, slaying the vrykul that have chained him within the Saronite Mines. After freeing him, the Darkspeaker will reward adventurers before teleporting away, leaving a voice that translates as laughter in the adventurer's mind. R'khem's name is, of course, a reference to the city of Arkham that is a setting for many of the Lovecraftian works that the Faceless Ones and Old Gods are inspired by.

Southsea Squidface: Needless to say, there isn't a WoW counterpart to Southsea Squidface. I do have to point out that the Squidface's parrot is also mutated and has three adorable beaks. 

Flamewreathed Faceless: No real lore behind Flamewreathed Faceless, but his attack quote, "fry, fool!" is such a hilarious perversion of Gandalf's iconic quote that I love mr. 4-mana 7/7 just for that.

Master of Evolution: No real specific lore behind Master of Evolution, though presumably it refers to how those corrupted by the Old Gods get stronger due to partaking in the forbidden power, but also lose their original sense of self as well. Something poetic about that, maybe. The flavour text is a reference to Pokemon, but it's not quite the best Pokemon reference in Hearthstone at all. 

Children of the Aqir:

The Aqir is a race of insectoid creatures that served the Old Gods during the primordial ages alongside the n'raqi, working as the builders and slaves of the Old Gods, creating the buildings of the Black Empire. They would fall alongside their masters, and those that were not slain would be scattered to various places in Azeroth. They would split into three distinct colonies -- the ones in Northrend would found the city of Azjol-Nerub and become the Nerubian empire. The ones that went to Pandaria would found the city of Manti'vess and become the Mantid. The ones that settled in Ahn'Qiraj, the prison of C'Thun, would be transformed by C'Thun into the Qiraji. We've talked about the Qiraji somewhat in the legendary minions section for Whispers of the Old Gods, so I won't repeat myself too much here.

Silithid Swarmer: The Silithid are race of insect-like creatures that serve the Qiraji, and multiple rapidly and, well, swarm over their enemies with their superior numbers. Acting as the shock troops and workers for the Qiraji hives, there are multiple kinds of Siltihid, with the Silithid Swarmer being of the 'worker' caste, a type that resembles six-legged spiders. Silithid Swarmer is a mob found in Southern Barrens. The term 'swarmer' is also used for a caste that resemble scorpions. 

Prophet Skeram

Skeram Cultist: The Skeram Cultist is a Qiraji of the 'prophet' body type, which are relatively few. Standing tall and towering, with multiple spider-like legs as its lower body, most famous among these Qiraji prophets is the Prophet Skeram, a religious leader of the Qiraji colony in Ahn'Qiraj, and the first boss in the Ahn'Qiraj dungeon. Skeram will often talk about how his dread master is coming, and the ancient ones will walk the earth once more. Presumably the Skeram Cultist is a student of Skeram himself. 

Eternal Sentinel: Eternal Sentinel is original to Hearthstone, although it seems to be a mutated, tentacled version of the Qiraji prophet body-type.

Mantid

N'Zoth's First Mate: No, N'Zoth doesn't actually hire pirates in WoW, or Qiraji, which are C'Thun's thing. He's an Old God! But while pirate minions of the Old Gods are original to Hearthstone, the N'Zoth's First Mate is a Qiraji gladiator riding a Silithid wasp. 

Klaxxi Amber-Weaver: The Klaxxi Amber-Weaver, like Xaril, is a mantid. The Klaxxi are a group of mantid elders that are untouched by the corruption caused by the Sha that plagued the mantid empress, and seek to rebalance their race's cycle by putting a new Empress in the current one's race, and as such has made themselves into allies of the Alliance and Horde. While no specific mob is called the 'Amber-Weaver' or has the title of such, the mightiest of the Klaxxi are preserved within amber and put to rest until their talents would be required by the rest of the mantid people, known as paragons -- Xaril was one such paragon. There are non-Klaxxi allied mobs, such as the Sik'thik Amber-Weaver, with that title, however. 

Nerubian Prophet: No real lore behind the Nerubian Prophet, and no mob corresponds to the name Nerubian Prophet.

Other Minions of the Old Gods:

A Sha

Possessed Villager: The Possessed Villager himself is original to Hearthstone, but the Shadowbeast is actually a Sha, a race of malevolent spirits native to Pandaria. Created by the final breath of the Old God Y'Shaarj, the Sha manifest and feed on negative emotions, and there are seven primary Sha -- anger, despair, doubt, fear, hatred, pride and violence. There are also many different physical variations of the Sha, but the Shadowbeast represents the most basic and weakest version of the Sha. The Sha would prove to be one of the most dangerous and main antagonists of Mists of Pandaria. Presuming that a Pandaria-themed expansion will show up somewhere down the line, I won't really talk that much about just what the Sha did there beyond, well, generally menacing the natives of Pandaria

Cyclopian Horror: The Cyclopian Horror is a Mistlurker, strange creatures that lurk within the mists of Pandaria, introduced, of course, in Mists of Pandaria. They appear to be a variant of the Bog Beasts of Azeroth, albeit with a ganglier form, a constant shroud of mist around it and a single eye. While they don't exactly have a specific revealed tie with any Old God (the Sha and Mantid take up that role throughout Pandaria), maybe the Cyclopian Horror is a corrupted Mistlurker? While no mob called 'Cyclopian Horror' exists in WoW, ones called 'Mist Horror' and 'Cave Horror' do exist. 

Scaled Nightmare: While they don't look exactly like the artwork here (which is far more tentacly than their WoW counterparts), the dragons of nightmare are corrupted green dragons that have succumbed to the influence of the Emerald Nightmare, the corruption within the Emerald Dream. The original dragons of nightmare were four of Ysera's mightiest lieutenants -- Emeriss, Lethon, Taerar and Ysondre, and they would appear in vanilla WoW as some of the first world bosses. In Legion, where the story of the Emerald Nightmare is expanded, the nightmare dragons got their own unique model (instead of just green dragons put through a filter) and are major antagonists of the Emerald Nightmare storyline. They are way less tentacly and eye-bally than the Scaled Nightmare, though.

Blood of the Ancient One: The Ancient One itself is a creature original to Hearthstone, but the Blood of the Ancient One refers to how the blood of powerful Old Gods or minions of the Old Gods such as Deathwing tend to take a life of their own and act as enemies to thwart adventurers, although they tend to use ooze models, whereas the Blood of the Ancient One uses a more unique model. 

Wingless Arakkoa

Dark Arakkoa: The Arakkoa are a race of bird-men that are native to Draenor. Prior to the rise of the ogres and orcs, the Arakkoa were a dominant species are the mightiest and most advanced racce on all of Draenor, ruling the mighty Apexis civilization. However, multiple inner war and a caste division from Anhari (who worshipped the light-giving wild god Rukhmar) and the Skalaxi (who worshipped the shadow-wielding Anzu) came to blows over how to rule their race, and the resulting war between the two shattered the Apexis empire. Many Arakkoa, particularly those from the Skalaxi tribe, were turned into wingless Outcasts, and devoted themselves to mastery of shadow magic, and would eventually heed the call of an unknown Old God (whether it's an Old God from Azeroth, or one residing in Outland, is unknown). The Dark Arakkoa depicts one of these wingless outcast Arakkoas. 

Shifting Shade: We've talked about Shades in Curse of Naxxramas. No mob is called 'Shifting Shade' in WoW, so it's kind of original to Hearthstone. Its quote, "I go unseen", is a homage to one of the voice lines of the Shade unit from Warcraft III. 

Giant Sand Worm: The Giant Sand Worm is, well, a big-ass sand worm. Sand worms are giant burrowing worms with little insect legs native to both Azeroth and Outland, though they are relatively rare. They live underground and burst out to kill their prey with astonishing prey. The Giant Sand Worm's inclusion here is likely a reference to Ouro, an ancient sand worm and the first to be seen in WoW, created by C'Thun to serve him in Ahn'Qiraj. Ouro (which looks identical to the Giant Sand Worm art) is the penultimate boss in Ahn'Qiraj, the final creature in Ahn'Qiraj before adventurers can face the mighty Old God C'Thun.

Thing from Below: Thing from Below is original to Hearthstone, as it doesn't actually resemble anything from World of Warcraft. Its four legs and posture seems to imply that it might be a corrupted makrura or lobstrok, but those have pincers instead of the scythe-like arms that Thing from Below has.

Vilefin Inquisitor: The Vilefin Inquisitor is obviously original to Hearthstone, but it borrows its name from the Vile Fin tribe (parsed with a space), a tribe of murlocs found in Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest, and are involved in several Forsaken quests. 

Blackwater Pirate: The Blackwater Pirate is original to Hearthstone, as no mob corresponds to that name, but she is clearly a member of the Blackwater Raiders, a faction of pirates that operates in Booty Bay, led by Baron Revilgaz, and are rivals with the Bloodsail Buccaneers. Since they operate out of Booty Bay, a town of Goblins, a large number of the Blackwater Raiders are also goblins.

Bloodsail Cultist: The Bloodsail Cultist is obviously a member of the Bloodsail Buccaneers that has taken up to serving the Old Gods. Not much else to say about that -- we've talked about the Bloodsail Buccaneers in the Classic set. 

Forbidden Ancient: We've talked about the Ancients back when discussing Classic cards, so I won't repeat myself. No specific mob called the Forbidden Ancient exists in WoW, but various Ancients do have succumbed to the Emerald Nightmare, so perhaps this one is meant to represent one of those corrupted ancients. 

Addled Grizzly: The Addled Grizzly's artwork and voice lines tells us that this isn't just a corrupted bear, but a shapeshifted night elven druid. Presumably, like many other creatures in this set, the Addled Grizzly has been corrupted.

Tentacle of N'Zoth: N'Zoth himself hasn't exactly made an appearance in WoW as of the moment of writing, so neither has his tentacles. Various Old Gods and minions of the Old Gods in WoW do summon tentalces as their minions, and in particular C'Thun and Yogg-Saron's boss fights involve many, many tentacles.

Squirming Tentacle: No specific mob is called a 'Squirming Tentacle' in WoW.

The Twilight's Hammer [and other humanoid minions of the Old Gods]

While not all servitors of the Old Gods obey the Twilight's Hammer, it's far easier for it to be a catch-all for most humanoid minions of the Old Gods. We've already talked about the history of the Twilight's Hammer and its founder, Cho'gall, in Cho'gall's entry.

Beckoner of Evil: No real lore behind Beckoner of Evil beyond being a minion of the Old Gods.

Twilight Geomancer (WoW)

Twilight Geomancer: Twilight Geomancers are based on mobs of the same name found at Firewatch Ridge in Searing Gorge, and is a target of several quests that pit players against the Twilight's Hammer cult. The Twilight Geomancer reflects the fact that the Twilight's Hammer do have some power over the elemental magic of earth.

Disciple of C'Thun: Disciple of C'Thun is original to Hearthstone, since most minions of C'Thun tend to be of the Qiraji variety, and no pandaren are known to be members of the Twilight's Hammer cult. Any corrupted pandaren tend to be under the influence of Y'Shaarj's sha as opposed to other Old Gods.

Twilight Elder: Twilight Elder is obviously a gnome that's a member of the Twilight's Hammer cult, and presumably a high-ranking member. He might be meant to represent our old friend Millhouse Manastorm, who spent a brief stint as a member of Twilight's Hammer.

C'Thun's Chosen: No real lore behind C'Thun's Chosen, beyond, y'know, being a minion of C'Thun. A lot of these don't have direct counterparts in WoW, so enjoy some Old Gods artwork!

Twilight Summoner: The Twilight Summoner isn't based on any actual mob, but is clearly a troll summoning a minion of the Old Gods, which appear to be some kind of rock elemental infused with faceless tentacles.

Crazed Worshipper: No real lore behind the Crazed Worshipper beyond being a dwarven servitor of the Old Gods. 

Cult Apothecary: No real lore behind the Cult Apothecary. The Royal Apothecary Society is a Forsaken organization, but the Cult Apothecary is clearly a worgen (a member of the Alliance) and a worshipper of the Old Gods. 

Ancient Harbinger: The Ancient Harbinger is clearly a minion of the Old Gods. There is a mob called Ancient Harbinger in WoW, added in Warlords of Draenor, but it's an infernal that is summoned by the boss Tyrant Velhari.

Doomcaller: Doomcaller is original to Hearthstone, although a set of Warlock armour is called the 'Doomcaller Attire'. It doesn't really have anything to do with Old Gods, though. Note that C'Thun himself shows up in the artwork for Doomcaller.

Cult Sorcerer: No real lore behind Cult Sorcerer, she's just a mage in service of C'Thun.

Twilight Flamecaller: Twilight Flame Callers (parsed with a space) are mobs found in Blackrock Caverns, members of the Twilight's Hammer cult allied with Deathwing's forces, and they attack with fire spells, many of them dealing damage to multiple enemies at once.

Hooded Acolyte: No real lore behind the Hooded Acolyte. We've talked about how 'Acolyte' is a rank held by human members of the Scourge or the Forsaken, but the Hooded Acolyte is clearly in service of C'Thun.

Twilight Darkmender: Twilight Darkmender is based on the Twilight Dark Mender mob, found in the Bastion of Twilight dungeon and are, obviously, members of the Twilight's Hammer Cult. In addition to that, the term dark mending refers to the usage of shadow magic to heal, and various other mobs have the ability or the title, although it's not a skill accessible to playable characters in WoW.

Bladed Cultist: No real lore behind the Bladed Cultist beyond being a cultist.

Blade of C'Thun: Blade of C'Thun is original to Hearthstone, although he's obviously a crazed minion of the Old God. 

Undercity Huckster: No real lore behind the Undercity Huckster, beyond the fact that he seems to be a rogue black market salesman living in Undercity, capital city of the Forsaken. However, blog posts in the official Hearthstone website do identify Undercity Huckster as a minion of N'Zoth. So... yeah. Oh, and the Huckster takes up the torch of making jokes about funnel cakes from TGT's Refreshment Vendor.

Darkshire Librarian: The town of Darkshire is a bit of a sub-theme within the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion. Darkshire is formerly known as the town of Grand Hamlet, located in the region of Duskwood. Grant Hamlet was destroyed during the First War by the Horde, and the area around Duskwood began to slowly be corrupted by the magics of Karazhan. Grand Hamlet would be rebuilt as Darkshire, but the land itself was cursed. Between the forces of the Scourge, the lack of guards from Stormwind and the enroaching feral worgen, Darkshire in Hearthstone seems to have became a seat of corruption for the Old Gods' influence. There aren't any libraries in WoW's Darkshire, however. The Darkshire Librarian appears to be holding a Cabalist's Tome, but with different-coloured tentacles.

Darkshire Councilman: The Council of Darkshire is the ruling body in the town (named council members include Mayor Ello Ebonlocke, Role Dreuger, Ambassador Berrybuck and Councilman Millstipe). The Council members are quest givers that recruit adventurers to help them against the enroaching darkness of the Scourge, although this one is clearly an agent of the Old Gods. In Legion, the Council of Darkshire actually is revealed to be evil and alongside the Night's Watch have joined an evil cult, the Veiled Hand... except instead of serving the Old Gods, the Council of Darkshire now serves the Burning Legion, a completely different group of evil entities. The Uncrowned, a rogue organization, would venture out and dismantle the cult and the members of the Council of Darkshire.

Darkshire Alchemist: The Darkshire Alchemist is clearly an alchemist that resides in the town of Darkshire, although WoW's version of Darkshire doesn't actually have an alchemy trainer or vendor of any sort.

Usher of Souls: No real lore behind the Usher of Souls beyond, again, being a cultist. Note that C'Thun himself is depicted in the card art glowering behind the Usher.

Validated Doomsayer: The Validated Doomsayer is obviously a corrupted version of Doomsayer, but like the Doomsayer himself, has recently showed up in World of Warcraft's Legion expansion, where Validated Doomsayers would appear as NPCs in Dalaran once the world of Argus appeared on the skies over Azeroth (long story). The Validated Doomsayers will hand out pamphlets, with one of the possible pamphlets that they hand out having the Hearthstone Validated Doomsayer's quote "I was right all along."

Corruption of the Old Gods:

In WOTOG, many minions are basically corrupted versions of previous cards, and we'll just acknowledge their existence. There really isn't much else to them otherwise. (Validated Doomsayer is placed above because he actually has lore)

Ancient Shiedbearer: Despite her name, the Ancient Shieldbearer has less in common with the Shieldbearer card and based on her appearance and effect, she seems to be a corrupted version of the Shieldmaiden from GvG. Either way, Ancient Shieldbearer is a minion of C'Thun that apparently has that shield with an eye fused to her arm.

Duskboar: A corrupted version of... Huffer? Stonetusk Boar? Maybe? Looks angry, though.

Twisted Worgen: A corrupted version of Worgen Infiltrator.

Am'gam Rager: A corrupted version of Magma Rager. Ironically, the Am'gam Rager is actually a Shade, not an elemental like the Magma Rager. Which is why it didn't get the elemental sub-type when it was given to other older minions.

Aberrant Berserker: A corrupted version of Amani Berserker.

Evolved Kobold: A corrupted version of Kobold Geomancer.

Infested Tauren: A corrupted version of Tauren Warrior, although the flavour text references the 'Infested Terran' unit from Blizzard's other IP, Starcraft.

Midnight Drake: A corrupted version of Twilight Drake. Note how the ridges on the Midnight Drake's head resembles that of the vanilla-WoW variant of the Faceless One. 

Polluted Hoarder: A corrupted version of Loot Hoarder.

Corrupted Healbot: A corrupted version of Ancient Healbot.

Psych-o-tron: A corrupted version of Annoy-o-tron.

Bilefin Tidehunter: A corrupted version of Murloc Tidehunter. Bilefin isn't the name of any murloc
tribes in WoW.

Corrupted Seer: A corrupted version of Coldlight Seer. 

Bog Creeper: A corrupted version of Fen Creeper. Or, based on the art, it's honestly just a bigger version of Bog Creeper. Maybe it's the little gnome on top of the Fen Creeper (Nemsy?) that's corrupted?

Grotesque Dragonhawk: A corrupted version of Young Dragonhawk.

Mire Keeper: A corrupted version of Keeper of the Grove.

Ravaged Ghoul: A corrupted version of Unstable Ghoul.

Defenders of the Realm & Other Beasts:

This is for everything else that doesn't exactly fit on any of the upper categories. Among them are the paladin minions that defend the realm against the Old Gods as opposed to fighting as their minions, a bunch of neutral-looking dudes, as well as a bunch of hunter beasts.

Selfless Hero: No real lore behind the Selfless Hero beyond being a flavourful Paladin who uses her own death to empower her allies.

 Steward of Darkshire: No mob corresponds to the title Steward of Darkshire, and it's likely to be original to Hearthstone, simply representing a valiant paladin who helps the citizens of Darkshire fight against the horrors of the Old Gods. She may be a member of the Night's Watch, an organization of guards in Darkshire that fight against the undead and worgen of Duskwood.

Shadowcaster: No real lore behind the Shadowcaster, although various mobs (including Twilight Shadowcaster, which is the only one that is really affiliated in the Old Gods in any way) do bear the title Shadowcaster. They all tend to be shadow priests instead of rogues, though. The character does look a lot like Valeera herself. Maybe this is her shadow, casting spells for Valeera?

Bloodhoof Brave: While no mob with the title 'Bloodhoof Brave' exists, the title 'Brave' is a title held by many tauren, identifying their prowess as a fighter. Tauren player characters would go early in their journey to earn the right to become a brave. The Bloodhoof tribe is the main tauren tribe that is represented in the Horde, led by Cairne and later Baine Bloodhoof. The Bloodhoof Brave's summon quote, "I have an axe to grind", is taken from the Tauren Chieften hero unit's summon quote from Warcraft III, whereas the card's attack quote, "start running", is taken from the generic Tauren unit's attacking quote.

Forlorn Stalker: No real lore behind the Forlorn Stalker, beyond the fact that he's a worgen hunter.

Fiery Bat: Fiery Bat is the first representation of bats in Hearthstone. Bats in the world of Azeroth are far larger than they are in the real world, and are ridden by members of the Horde as air mounts. Notably, troll batriders are a major component of the Horde during the Third War, and during the World of Warcraft era, the bats are the air transport for Forsaken-controlled areas. The Fiery Bat depicts the Draenor variant of bats, which have noticeably different wing (with noticeable bone-finger things on the wings) and fur compared to the Azerothian bats. The name of Fiery Bat is a reference to the real-world player Firebat, who is the first-ever Hearthstone world champion.

Grubs/larvae

Carrion Grub: Carrion Grub in WoW is the name of a mob found in the Eastern Plaguelands, and agents of the Argent Crusade note that the Carrion Grubs, unaffected by the plague of undeath, makes them ideal as uninfected food sources for the Crusade, as questionable as they are. Carrion Grub is a type of maggot (or larvae, as it's sometimes called), specifically the type that doesn't have prominent fangs on its maw.

Infested Wolf: No real lore behind Infested Wolf, although it's clearly a wolf that's been infected with the eggs or young of spiders.

Abilities:

Mark of Y'Shaarj: Mark of Y'Shaarj is original to Hearthstone, although its naming scheme is consistent with other druid 'mark' spells and those touched by Old God influence tend to have extra spikes and tentacle growths.

Feral Rage: No druid ability is called 'Feral Rage' in World of Warcraft, but Feral Rage is the ability of the druid class in Blizzard's other game, Diablo II. Rage itself is the form of resource expended by warriors and bear-form druids, whereas feral is a likely to one of the four specializations of druid.

Wisps of the Old Gods: Apparently spells can be corrupted, because this is obviously a corrupted version of 'Dark Wispers' from Goblins vs. Gnomes. Again, like most of the corrupted cards, no real lore behind this. (I've just now realized that Yogg-Saron is on the background of the card art for this)

On the Hunt: On the Hunt is original to Hearthstone, although it is pretty cool, symbolizing how hunters tend to use both arrow and pet to attack simultaneously.

Infest: While no Hunter ability is called 'infest', the flavour behind the card seems to reference how in WoW some spiders lay their young onto other unfortunate beasts or humanoids. The Forsaken in particular have been known to do this, using bears to incubate spider eggs. The term 'Infested' is also used to refer to the orcish thralls of the plant race Botani seen in Warlords of Draenor, where the orcs are subjugated and turned into mindless minions by the fungus growing on their body.

Call of the Wild: The Call of the Wild seems to be based on how many hunter NPCs in WoW tend to refer to such a thing. No real Hunter ability is based on it (though conceptually it is similar to Stampede, which would get its own card in Journey to Un'Goro), although obviously it's summoning all three of Rexxar's faithful companions. The Call of the Wild is a pet ability that was removed in Mists of Pandaria, and recently, in Legion, a legendary-rating hunter wrist armour.

Really love this art

Forbidden Flame, Forbidden Shaping, Forbidden Ritual & Forbidden Healing: We'll talk about the Forbidden spells all in one go, because, again, there's no real lore behind them beyond the general Old God flavour of how the more you give, the more power you receive. Presumably, they are based on the rituals done by the Twilight's Hammer cult and other minions of the Old Gods. Out of those, only Forbidden Flame has any kind of counterpart in World of Warcraft, added in Legion, being a priest artifact trait.

Shatter: In World of Warcraft, Shatter is a Frost Mage ability that has been around since the original World of Warcraft, and while there have been some revisions over the many expansions, Shatter's effect is constant, increasing the damage dealt by frost spells. In its current (Legion) iteration, Shatter is a passive ability which will multiple the critical strike of spells against frozen targets, as well as multiplying the chance of getting critical hits itself.

Cabalist's Tome: While the Cabalist's Tome is original to Hearthstone, it may be based on the Twilight Canticle, a book written for Cho'gall containing the teachings about the Old Gods and the Void, used as essentially the bible for the Twilight's Hammer cult. It doesn't have a maw with a tentacle on it, though.

Divine Strength: Divine Strength is one of the original paladin abilities, and its effect increases the paladin's strength status. Divine Strength has since been removed in Cataclysm.

A Light in the Darkness: No real lore behind A Light in the Darkness beyond depicting a group of paladin facing against tentacles of the Old Gods.

Stand Against Darkness: No real lore behind Stand Against Darkness, although it certainly is something that the paladins will do, being paladins and all.

Embrace the Shadow: Embrace the Shadow doesn't really have any counterpart in WoW, beyond Shadow Priests in general. It is known that the Old Gods use the power of the Shadow (also known as the Void), the direct opposite to the healing powers of the Light. A significant portion of Legion's lore explores the fight between the Light and the Void, which, while initially seeming like it's good versus evil, is more order versus chaos. Shadow Priests in particular channel the powers of the Void in order to power their spells, although most priests tend to just try and control the power of the Void and understand the balance between Light and Shadow. Obviously, Embrace the Shadow's effect and art is obviously based on Auchenai Soulpriest from Classic.

Shadow Word: Horror: Also no real lore behind Shadow Word: Horror, although it is consistent with the naming scheme of other Priest Shadow Word abilities.

Power Word: Tentacles: No real lore behind Power Word: Tentacles, although it is consistent in the naming scheme with other Priest Power Word abilites.

Journey Below: No real lore behind Journey Below, either.

Thistle Tea: Thistle Tea is a relatively low-level drink in WoW that can be crafted from the Cooking profession, and is specific to Rogue in that it restores a portion of the rogue's energy. It's meant for lower-level characters, and the effect of Thistle Tea decreases as the Rogue levels up.

Shadow Strike: Shadow Strike, while not present in WoW, does exist in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne as one of the night elven Warden's four abilities. When using Shadow Strike, the Warden will hurl a poisoned dagger that deals a large damage, and will slow the target while dealing damage over time to it. 

Evolve: While no spell is known as Evolve in WoW, Evolve refers to the transformation bequeathed by the Old Gods to their followers, empowering them and transforming them into something more powerful (or, y'know, just tentacle-y faceless ones), although obviously attuned to the Hearthstone mechanics. Evolve's artwork depicts the Abusive Sergeant from the Classic set being transformed into a faceless one.

Primal Fusion: Primal Fusion is an original spell to Hearthstone. No real equivalent of a spell that gets more powerful with the amount of totems really exists.

Stormcrack: Stormcrack is an original spell to Hearthstone. 

Renounce Darkness: Renounce Darkness is original to Hearthstone, depicting a warlock being purified by the Light and turning away from the fel magics and the demonic corruption and turning into another class. The only real documented cases of this happening is the orc race as a whole, which abandoned the necromantic and warlock arts in favour for shamanism -- although there isn't actually any named characters who did it.

Spreading Madness: No real lore behind Spreading Madness, beyond general Old God stuff.

DOOM!: While 'Doom' is an older name for the Bane of Doom/Curse of Doom Warlock spell we've covered in the Classic set, this one doesn't seem to have anything to do with it since it's, y'know, Yogg-Saron rampaging in the distance. One of Yogg-Saron's spells in his World of Warcraft boss fight is called Curse of Doom, though.

Blood to Ichor: No real lore behind the Blood to Ichor spell, at least not specifically an ability named that. Various other spells and abilities do involve blood or ichor, though. 

Blood Warriors: Again, no real lore behind Blood Warriors, although it's concept -- ripping out the blood out of wounded warriors to form clones out of their blood -- is amazingly fitting with what the card does. 10/10 for flavour. 

Weapons:

Varian

Rallying Blade: The Rallying Blade is actually depicting the blade Shalamayne, the legendary blade of King Varian Wrynn, a blade that can split into two smaller blades (Shalla'tor and Ellemayne) and had a cool glowing center on its blade. Varian, who was split into two beings at that time, received the two components of the blade from Jaina Proudmoore, and when both Varians were fused once more, the blade combined into Shalamayne. Presumably the 'rallying blade' moniker is a reference to how Varian himself is a powerful force that rallies the Alliance behind his back.

Tentacles for Arms: Many Old God corruption take the form of tentacles, and, well, this card just depicts the warrior's arm being replaced with tentacles. And the Faceless Ones do have actual tentacles for arms. Note that when Garrosh was corrupted by the Old Gods, he didn't actually sprout tentacles.

Hammer of Twilight: The Hammer of Twilight is the signature weapon of the Twilight's Hammer (see what they did there?) cult. It's the weapon of choice of the leader of the cult, the ogre-mage Cho'gall, and he would use the Hammer of Twilight in his boss battle. Cho'gall apparently had Wildhammer dwarven smiths forge the hammer, and it was imbued with the power of the Old Gods by Deathwing. It was discovered by Mathias Shaw, Garona and members of the Earthen Ring, and while they attempted to disrupt the creation of the hammer, it was successful and it was brought to Cho'gall, who now resides in the Bastion of Twilight. Those who defeat the ogre mage can loot the hammer as an epic drop (where it'll be called Twilight's Hammer). The Hammer of Twilight itself doesn't seem to be able to summon elementals, although Cho'gall himself does summon some Shadow Lords and Fire Elementals during his bossfight. The Twilight Elemental seems to be a unique elemental made up of... purple... goop?