Lore of Hearthstone, Episode #21 - Kobolds and Catacombs [Legendaries]

For the first time in Hearthstone, Kobolds & Catacombs introduced Legendary weapons. While several older weapon cards (Ashbringer, Gorehowl, Frostmourne and Doomhammer in particular) probably deserve the legendary moniker as well, eh. Mechanics versus lore and all that. This part of the Lore of Hearthstone series will cover both legendary minions and legendary weapons in Kobolds & Catacombs, as well as a brief, quick rundown of the mostly-game-original bosses of the dungeon run.
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Legendary Minions:

King Togwaggle:

King Togwaggle, original to Hearthstone, is the king of the kobolds, and he's a right bastard. He embodies all the qualities that make a kobold, well, kobold-y. He's skittish, he loves treasure, he taunts his enemies, yet he's also cowardly. Perhaps Togwaggle's most striking feature is the lantern he keeps on top of his head -- securing the candle that kobolds keep on top of it and serving as a crown of sorts for the King of Kobolds. As revealed in his final boss fight in the Dungeon Run, Togwaggle keeps a powerful fire sprite elemental called Rakanishu (its name is homage to a classic and iconic Diablo II enemy) within the lantern, which provides Togwaggle his power.

Togwaggle commands all the kobolds living in the dungeon where Kobolds and Catacombs takes place, and presumably has to contend with fighting against the furbolgs, dragons and other denizens of the deep. Togwaggle has engaged in battle with Marin the Fox at least once, although he prefers simply sending his minions and their wax golems into battle in place of him. The battle between Togwaggle's kobolds and Marin was interrupted by a swarm of feral gibberers, and Togwaggle fled the battle heedless of his charges. Togwaggle is also prominently featured in the expansion trailer as well as being the 'narrator' taunting you throughout your Dungeon Run. While visibly different, another Kobold King appeared in World of Warcraft: Legion, called the Candleking, who rules over the Bluewax kobolds of Highmountain.

Geosculptor Yip:

Geosculptor Yip is original to Hearthstone, although obviously Kobolds have had much experience in geomancy, the art of transforming the Earth. There's... not really that much to go on for Yip beyond that. She's just one of the many kobolds that live in the dungeons. (I've only just realized how Togwaggle and Yip are the only collectible legendary kobolds. Huh.)

Temporus:

Considering the large amount of Hearthstone-original characters in this set, Temporus is actually a character in World of Warcraft! Temporus is a member of the Infinite Dragonflight, a corrupted, evil version of the Bronze Dragonflight, the keepers of time. Infinite drgaons are characterized by having a jet-black skin with cracked veins glowing with pale blue energy, and are led by Muruzond -- a psychotic possible-future version of Nozdormu, the bronze dragon aspect. The Infinite Dragonflight operate from beyond time, and seek to send their agents into historical events throughout Azeroth's timeline and change the flow of time for their own benefit, in clear defiance of the Bronze Dragonflight's charge to merely observe and protect the flow of time. Basically, it's an excuse for the WoW developers to create events that show the events of Warcraft I through III and the War of the Ancients, because the Bronze Dragonflight will send adventurers in raid parties to stop the sinister agendas of the Infinite Dragonflight in the past.

Temporus (WoW)

Temporus is one of the members of the Infinite Dragonflight, and the second boss in the 'Opening the Dark Portal' scenario added in Burning Crusade, where the infinite dragonflight went back to when Medivh opened the Dark Portal in the Black Morass, attempting to destroy Medivh and prevent the Dark Portal from ever happening, thus altering the course of one of the most significant events in Azeroth's history -- the First War. Assisted by bronze dragons led by their commander Sa'at, adventurers would face wave upon wave of infinite dragonspawn and whelps. The mighty Infinite drake Temporus was the second boss of the dungeon. Temporus is apparently responsible in identifying the Infinite Dragonflight's prime targets despite his youth, although he has scant personality beyond that. Temporus and his allies Aeonus and Chrono-Lord Deja are slain by adventurers, preventing the Infinite Dragonflight from changing the timeline.

Ixlid, Fungal Lord:

Ixlid is unique to Hearthstone, and one of the more powerful denizens in the dungeon that Kobolds & Catacombs takes place in. Ixlid also features as one of the bosses in the Dungeon Run. While superficially resembling bog beasts like Fen Creeper, Ixlid is given the elemental tag by the game, which is odd considering that Hearthstone has been consistent in making all plant-based creatures like ancients and bog beasts non-elementals (something that WoW does for simplicity's sake). Designers would later go online and inform us that Ixlid is an earth elemental spirit that animates the rot and decay... and then retcon Ixlid's Elemental tag away. So...okay, then? So Ixlid is just a regular, standard bog beast with an extra dose of fungus, then? Not really that much to talk about him beyond that, really.

Grumble, Worldshaker:

Grumble is unique to Hearthstone, and his appearance suggests that he's some sort of a mix between an Earthen (primitive pre-flesh dwarves) and a large variant of earth elemental like a Stone Lord or a Gemstone Colossus (though neither really match Grumble's design beyond being big bulky rock dudes), although the developers have noted that Grumble is simple a giant earth elemental with a unique design. He apparently wakes every few millennia or so, and the act of doing so sends tremors throughout the kobold empire.

Zola the Gorgon:

Zola the Gorgon, her name a pun on the cheese Gorgonzola, is unique to Hearthstone. She is a naga sea witch (which we covered in League of Explorers), which is the Azeroth equivalent to the mythological gorgons. The term 'gorgon' is very rarely used in the lore of Warcraft, and even then beyond the design the naga sea witches tend to have very little in common with real gorgons.

Rin, the First Disciple:

There's not actually much to talk about Rin the First Disciple. She's a gnome warlock with a Voidwalker minion who's clearly trying to summon the mightier demon, Azari the Devourer. She's unique to Hearthstone. Rin is, at the moment, the only character who speaks in Eredun, the demonic language of the Eredar. The minions that her ritual seals summon are all increasingly powerful Felhunters, which we've covered in... Un'Goro, I believe? The flavour text for Lesser Amethyst Spellstone noted that Rin was the wielder of the Amethyst Spellstone, who 'embraced the darkness, slew her kin'.

Azari the Devourer:

Azari the Devourer is a particularly powerful Pit Lord original to Hearthstone. While seemingly just a powerful Pit Lord (which we covered back in Classic), various flavour text tell a story of Azari the Devourer, which is cool -- flavour text tend to be jokes, so it's cool to see them actually tell a story for once. Azari is responsible for the creation of the nine Spellstones during the War of the Ancients, sending them to tempt mortals in order to devour their souls. While possessing great power, the spellstones would devour those who used them. While many of the spellstones corrupted those who sought to wield or fight against them, a 'nameless caster' used the Ruby Spellstone to undo Azari, sealing him back into the Twisting Nether until presumably unleashed by Rin's rituals. Azari also serves as one of the possible final bosses of the Dungeon Run.

Note that initial sketches for Azari apparently exclusively depicted him with two roaring heads and tentacles, although the final art piece adheres to standard Pit Lord anatomy.

The Darkness:

The Darkness appears to be a particularly massive Shade or Voidwalker variant, although judging by the fact that it wears armour, it might be a Voidlord of sorts. The fact that the Darkness does not have the 'demon' tag suggests otherwise, though. The Darkness is a homage to multiple things, chief among them being the manifestation of the scary, scary 'darkness' that the kobolds are so deathly afraid of and why they are so protective of their candles. Between the candle gimmick that the Darkness employs, and his own voice-lines in Hearthstone, it does appear that the darkness that the kobolds are so paranoid of is indeed real after all. The Darkness might also be based after a massive Voidwraith (which doesn't have any armour) introduced in Legion called Devouring Darkness, a former prisoner of the Wardens. Demon hunters are sent to kill the Devouring Darkness, which is summoned by extinguishing the flames of a circle of kobold candles. The Darkness has, of course, received a far greater lore as one of the biggest threats in the kobolds' dungeon, and even one of the possible final bosses in the Dungeon Run. Judging by his power to summon the Sha-like darkspawn, it might have some connection to the Old Gods?

From a more 'meta' sense, the Darkness is a homage to an old, once-memetic D&D video where in response to a dungeon-master's description of a room with nothing but darkness in it, one of the players says "I cast magic missile at the darkness!" Older Blizzard games like Warcraft III also liked to insert joke lines if a unit is clicked too many times, and many of those parody generic evil-bad-dude lines, notably Demon Hunters and Dreadlords, like "darkness calls..." (which they actually do say in their normal non-joke lines) by describing or interacting with 'darkness' as an actual person.

Marin the Fox:

Marin the Fox is an original character to Hearthstone, and is apparently the 'face' of the unnamed Guild that would go and delve into the depths of an also unnamed dungeon (the Guild and the dungeon that Kobolds and Catacombs are purposely unnamed to give it a sort of a nondescript vibe). Marin is a greedy rogue with a heart of gold. He has a four-part text story released in the Hearthstone official blog where a bard tells of a story of how Marin entered a dungeon after being informed by Oakheart of the existence of a large chest in the same dungeon that the legendary axe Wocleaver is found in. Marin was beset by many enemies, among them King Togwaggle, a candle golem, Candlebeard and Vustrasz the Ancient, and barely managed to escape a rampaging Vustrasz without any loot to show for it. The Master Chest and all its contents are original to Hearthstone (so far no characters are named Tolin or Zarog either), although the Golden Kobold is obviously a pastiche on the Golden Monkey from an earlier expansion, League of Explorers.

Marin is totally not a pirate, guys. Marin is also the first name of the goblin mayor of Gadgetzan, Mayor Noggenfogger, but it's likely a coincidence. For the proper, long story of Marin's exploits, read Tale of the Fox or the comic Up Comes Down.

Kathrena Winterwisp:

\Kathrena Winterwisp is a night elven NPC introduced in Cataclysm, located in the Grove of the Ancients in the region of Darkshore. The character was introduced to World of Warcraft as a tribute to a character in the webcomic 'Flintlocke's Guide to Azeroth', which was made by Dave Kosak before he became a developer for WoW. We're not going to discuss the (non-canonical) webcomic, though, just Kathrena as she appears in WoW... and I actually remember her, because I played through the Darkshore storyline around the time that Kobolds & Catacombs was announced. She asked Alliance adventurers to investigate strangely feral bears in Darkshore, eventually asking adventurers to help find magical items to create a cure for the malady. However, the source of the animals' infection turned out to be something far more sinister than just a disease or the elemental unrest, as adventurers would fight Faceless Ones, including a large one called Yoth'al the Devourer. Kathrena would inform he adventurers about the nature and brief backstory of the Old Gods. The adventurer and Kathrena would later go on a hippogriff to launch the cure from the air to protect the remaining animals in Darkshore from the corruption, and pass through the Master's Glaive, the remains of one of the mightiest minions of the Old Gods -- Soggoth the Slitherer (which made it into Hearthstone back in Whispers of the Old Gods). Seeing that the Twilight's Hammer cult are swarming over the giant being's remains, Kathrena implored the adventurer to investigate further. Kathrena made an unexpected return in Warlords of Draenor, where she is one of the NPCs who could become a garrison follower, and is recruitable from the Lunarfall Inn, although beyond that she doesn't actually do much.

Dragoncaller Alanna:

Dragoncaller Alanna is blood elven fire-mage that apparently has an affinity with the red dragonflight? Creator comments note that she's proud and aloof, and often on odds with Kathrena, but secretly loves her team. There's... not much to go beyond that. There is a female blood elven minor NPC in Zul'drak called Alanna, but it's likely a coincidence and WoW's Alanna is a member of the Argent Crusade and not a cool fire-dragon-summoning mage.

Master Oakheart:

Oakheart is a dwarven member of the same guild that Marin, Kathrena and Alanna are in. Oakheart was apparently in search of the legendary axe, the Woecleaver (which is actually depicted in Oakheart's card art), and asked Marin and several others to join him in undertaking a quest to delve into a dungeon. There's... not much else beyond that. Oakheart shares his name with a corrupted Ancient boss in the Darkheart Thicket, but it's likely a coincidence.

Lynessa Sunsorrow:

Lynessa Sunsorrow is original to Hearthstone, and one of the many adventurers to enter the nameless dungeon that Kobolds & Catacombs takes place in. Her backstory is given by the Hearthstone developers as being a former Blood Knight who left the order after the blood knights stopped draining power from the naaru, thinking the Blood Knights weak for reverting to drawing power from the Sunwell. She shares her last name with Ambassador Sunsorrow, a male blood elf that acts as an ambassador to the Forsaken of the Undercity, but it's likely to just be a coinidence.

Sonya Shadowdancer:

Sonya Shadowdancer is a human rogue unique to Hearthstone. There's really not much to go on about her. She's presumably in the same non-descript guild that Marin and the others are in, but unlike the rest, Sonya's not mentioned in any of the pre-release material. Oh well, enjoy the full card art, I guess.

For legendary weapons and the Dungeon Run... click after the break!
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Legendary Weapons:

For the first time in Hearthstone, we get legendary weapons! While it does bring into question how previously 'legendary' status weapons like the Doomhammer and Gorehowl are available in epic rarity... eh.

Twig of the World Tree:

Twig of the World Tree (WoW)

The Twig of the World Tree is a rare two-handed mace weapon from the classic era of World of Warcraft that is a global drop from monsters within the level range of 58 to 62. It's unclear which World Tree that these twigs snapped off of, though, and so far there are four World Trees over Azeroth's existence -- Nordrassil, the longest-running World Tree that was created at the end of the War of the Ancients and destroyed at the end of the Third War; Teldrassil, the new World Tree located on an island, grown by Fandral Staghelm prior to WoW and serving as the night elves' new capital city; Vordrassil, a corrupted early attempt that Fandral created on Northrend prior to planting Teldrassil and eventually corrupted by Yogg-Saron (and the way that the Old Gods gained access into the Emerald Nightmare -- way to drop the ball, Fandral) and Shaladrassil, the very original World Tree located in the ancient night elven city of Val'sharah. Note that the Twig of the World Tree was apparently a notoriously broken card in the old WoW TCG. The actual WoW version of Twig, being a relatively low-level weapon, was a very generic-looking mace as opposed to the more awesome-looking, night elven-y artwork it got in Hearthstone.

Rhok'delar:

Rhok'delar (WoW)

Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers is an epic, unique bow in original World of Warcraft that was the reward for completing a long, epic quest chain in WoW. The entire questline has since been removed in Cataclysm, however. Rhok'delar was paired with the staff Lok'delar, Stave of the Ancient Keepers, and hunters are able to transform one weapon to another prior to a patch that removed the ability. Hunters were, as part of the epic quest, given the task to seek revenge against the Burning Legion for destroying and corrupting the mighty Ancients of Felwood, and once specific agents of the Burning Legion (Simone the Seductress in Un'Goro Crater, Klinfan the Crazed in Burning Steppes, Solenor the Slayer in Silithus and Artorius the Doom-bringer in Winterspring) were defeated, the surviving Ancients will create a bow, which, according to them, 'the likes of which has not been seen in ten thousand years'. Rhok'delar is living, and is able to sprout blossoms spontaneously.

Aluneth:

Aluneth! In Legion, one of the biggest features of the expansion was Artifact Weapons, where each class specialization obtained a permanent, legendary weapon that grew stronger as the character went through questlines from their class order hall. While some classic weapons like Ashbringer, Doomhammer and Frostmourne (well, blades crafted from the shards of Frostmourne) make an appearance, there were several weapons that were created for these Artifact Weapon stuff. Aluneth, Greatstaff of the Magna, is the artifact for arcane-specialty mages, and is a particularly powerful staff that was formerly wielded by Aegwynn, the mother of Medivh and his direct predecessor as the Guardian of Tirisfal. Aluneth was no mere staff, however, and contained a particularly powerful arcane entity from an otherworldly dimension within. Legend said that Aegwynn would face Aluneth-the-entity, which was accidentally summoned by blue dragons to Azeroth, in combat and trap it within Aluneth-the-staff. It took some time for even a magus as powerful as Aegwynn to control Aluneth, and apparently during Aegwynn's climactic battle against the Avatar of Sargeras, Aluneth refused her commands and Aegwynn was forced to use her backup greatstaff, Atiesh, instead. Aluneth was also apparently the original source of the enchantments that warped the fabric of space around Aegwynn's tower, Karazhan. Aegwynn would entrust Aluneth to the Kirin Tor of Dalaran around the time of the First War, and it was sealed within the Nexus Vault, to remain undisturbed until the events of Legion. An Arcane-specialty Mage (i.e. player character) would travel within the Nexus Vault with the aid of the mighty blue dragon Azuregos, and claim the staff. Aluneth would whisper words to the mage, however, who would be forced to use Aegwynn's scrolls and spells to bind the entity within. Aluneth considered his current wielder nothing but a child, but as Aluneth traveled with him/her, he would grow relatively fond of his current wielder, sometimes encouraging them to unleash the full power against ally and enemy alike. As with all other Artifact Weapons, there are multiple possible appearances for Aluneth, recorded here. Aluneth also has a crapton of voice lines, and a mere twelve -- albeit re-recorded with a new voice actor -- are used in Hearthstone. 

Val'anyr:

Val'anyr (WoW)

Val'anyr, the Hammer of Ancient Kings, was added in Wrath of the Lich King. and is a mace that could be wielded by druids, monks, paladins, priests and shamans, targeted particularly towards healing classes. Creating Val'anyr was a massive task where adventurers would have to gather Fragments of Val'anyr from the bosses within Ulduar, requiring thirty fragments to form the legendary mace. All bosses had a very slim chance to drop a fragment, with only Yogg-Saron guaranteeing a drop. Adventurers will be able to use the Archivum Console within Ulduar to identify the nature of the fragment. Val'anyr was apparently a hammer created by the Titans themselves, and given to the first Earthen king, Urel Stoneheart, who used Val'anyr to create and give life to other Earthens. (Earthens were dwarves made out of rocks, and the precursor to modern-day dwarves before they were afflicted by the Curse of Flesh) The legendary hammer was apparently shattered during the first war between Earthen and Iron Dwarves, and the Archivum Console instructs the adventurer to, um, throw the fragments within the maw of Yogg-Saron to reforge the weapon, essentially using the stomach acids of an eldritch Old God as a forge to re-create the hammer. Insane. Insane but awesome. Val'anyr as a weapon in WoW allowed healing spells to cause a buff on the target of the healing spell, casting a shield that would absorb damage equal to a percentage of the amount healed.

Dragon Soul:

The Dragon Soul is perhaps the single most important weapon or artifact in Azeroth's history. Alternately known as the Demon Soul, it was first created by Neltharion (the black dragon aspect who would become Deathwing) during the War of the Ancients, when the Burning Legion first invaded. Neltharion was well descended into corruption at this point, but none of his brothers and sisters knew this. The Dragon Soul could only be damaged by a scale of Neltharion's own hide, and he presented the artifact to the other dragon aspects -- Alexstrasza, Malygos, Ysera and Nozdormu. Neltharion spoke of the need to create a weapon to use against the Burning Legion that would unify all the five great powers of the Aspects. However, after gaining the powers of the four other aspects, Neltharion turned against his comrades and used the Dragon Soul to unleash blasts of energy upon demons and mortals indiscriminately. In horror, the other dragons attempted to intervene, and Neltharion would wipe out nearly all the entirety of the blue dragonflight (notable named deaths at this point would be prime consort Sindragosa), severely wounding Malygos and flinging him to Northrend, driving the blue dragon insane. Neltharion, was eventually driven back by the other dragons. The other dragons named Neltharion 'Deathwing', and the Dragon Soul as the 'Demon Soul'.

The archdruid Malfurion Stormrage and a group of time-travelling heroes from the present day (Korialstrasz, Broxigar the Red and Rhonin) would use the Demon Soul to create a portal within the Well of Eternity in order to reverse the effects of the portal, pulling large swathes of the Legion's army out of Azeroth. It was at this point that the Dragon Soul was 'borrowed' from the future by Nozdormu, and returned to this exact moment in time (we'll talk about it later below). After the War of the Ancients, the night elves and four remaining dragonflights cast a spell upon the Demon Soul to prevent Deathwing from using it again, then hid the disk in a place within the Redridge Mountains.

Ten thousand years later, during the Second War, Deathwing begun his machinations to exact his revenge against the other four dragonflights, especially Alexstrasza, the dragon queen. Unable to wield the artifact himself, Deathwing influence the orc chieftain of the Dragonmaw Clan, Zuluhed the Whacked, to the artifact. A great battle happened between the red dragons guarding the Demon Soul and the Dragonmaw orcs, but Deathwing's instructions to the Dragonmaw's mightiest warlock, Nekros Skullcrusher, allowed them to seize control of the mighty artifact and use its power to enslave Alexstrasza herself. The Demon Soul allowed the Old Horde to enslave the red dragons. Alexstarsza's youngest mate, Korialstrasz, used his human guise as Krasus of the Kirin Tor to send his own champion, the maverick mage Rhonin, to free Alexstarsza. Krasus himself would go and seek to recruit the secluded aspects to assist him, but Malygos was crazy, and both Ysera and Nozdormu were cryptic. They eventually agreed to help, but Deathwing overpowered them due to losing their power to the Demon Soul. Rhonin was initially seemingly manipulated by Deathwing, but he instead managed to use one of Deathwing's scales to slice through the Demon Soul, destroying it completely and returning the other four aspect's power to them, allowing them to defeat Deathwing.

The fragments of the Demon Soul was used by Sintharia (a.k.a. Sinestra), prime consort of Deathwing, to create the twilight dragonflight. A fierce battle between Sintharia's forces and a group of heroes led by Rhonin's wife, Vereesa Windrunner, caused the destruction of the Dragon Soul fragments. During Cataclysm, Deathwing resurfaced and threatened to tear Azeroth apart. The dragon aspects discussed how to properly end Deathwing once and for all, prompting Ysera to suggest using the Demon Soul. Nozdormu would then pop back in time with a couple of adventurers, and borrow the Dragon Soul from the War of the Ancients. In the final battle against Deathwing (a.k.a. the Dragon Soul raid), the forces of the four remaining dragonflights and the orc shaman Thrall would face off against Deathwing and his massed armies of black dragons, twilight dragons, faceless ones, elementals and Twilight's Hammer cult. Thrall would wield the Dragon Soul, unleashing the power of the Dragon Soul to injure Deathwing while the heroes of Azeroth battled against the gigantic twilight dragon Ultraxion. The heroes of Azeroth would jump atop Deathwing's back and rip off his adamantium scales, giving Thrall the opportunity to fire a second blast. This caused Deathwing to plunge into the Maelstrom, ripping his form apart and transforming him into a massive amorphous creature of magma and dragon parts. The heroes of Azeroth and the dragon aspects had to delay Deathwing long enough for the Dragon Soul to be charged, and a final blast from the artifact obliterated Deathwing. After Deathwing's death, Nozdormu would return the Dragon Soul to the moment in time from whence he plucked it out of.

Kingsbane:

Kingsbane (WoW)

Kingsbane is a one-handed dagger that was added in Wrath of the Lich King, dropping from the Old God Yogg-Saron in Ulduar. It's apparently the blade that the half-orc Garona Halforcen used to assassinate King Llane Wrynn of Stormwind during the climax of the First War, or a copy of it, at least -- Garona's assassination of Llane Wrynn was one of the visions that Yogg-Saron showed to adventurers fighting him. In honour of the blade, an ability for Assassination Rogues with the same name was added in Legion to enhance the Kingslayers... which we'll talk about below.

Also in Legion, it's retconned that apparently Yogg-Saron was just fucking with us, and the blades that Garona used to kill King Llane were Anguish and Sorrow, two blades that form a set called the Kingslayers, which were the Artifact Weapons for Assassination Rogues. Crafted by the warlock Gul'dan, the Kingslayers are said to drink blood and inflict traceless poison, leaving little sign of their work and being the perfect tools of the assassin. The artwork for Hearthstone's Kingsbane is that of the basic form of the Kingslayers. Assassination Rogues would be accompanied by Garona Halforcen to re-acquire the blades for their own.

The Runespear:

The Runespear is based on the Bloodhoof Runespear, the ancestral weapon of the Bloodhoof tribe. It was passed down from one chieftain of the Bloodhoof Tauren tribe to the next, although it was last wielded by Cairne Bloodhoof. Each owner would carve his own major history onto the shaft before passing it down to the next generation. The Runespear was said to be blessed by the ancestral spirits of the tauren, and was able to strike incorporeal enemies. Prior to Cataclysm, Cairne engaged the young brash warchief Garrosh Hellscream in a trial of combat, the mak'gora. Cairne wielded the Runespear in combat, but due to the treachery of Crone Magatha Grimtotem, Garrosh's weapon was secretly laced with poison, causing an unwitting Garrosh to poison and kill Cairne dishonourably. During this fight, the Runespear was shattered by a mighty blow from Garrosh's own axe, Gorehowl. The shattered remains of the Runespear was collected and burned in Cairne's funeral pyre, although at least a shard was kept by Cairne's son Baine, as well as Cairne's old friend Thrall.

Skull of the Man'ari:

The Skull of the Man'ari is, well, the skull of an eredar (man'ari being another term they use for their race) used as an Artifact Weapon for Demonology-spec warlocks. Let's just stop right there. How utterly metal is it that warlocks get to rip out a skull of one of the most powerful demon races in existence and use it as a little spell-casting spell? As I read up on it on wikis and stuff, the Skull of the Man'ari comes with a dagger on the warlock's other hand, called... Spine of the Man'ari. There is some seriously insane overboard metal-ness with it all, and that's without getting to the fact that Skull of the Man'ari, like Aluneth, talks to its owner a lot. As shown here, in addition to a lot of lines for a crapton of other situations, the damn thing has a line of dialogue for every single named demon commander that you can meet in the Legion expansion, mocking them or generally providing a hilarious apathetic commentary about them. Also, the Hearthstone version of the card uses the "Valorous: Pride of the Pit Lord" skin.

Anyway, backstory! The Skull of the Man'ari was the skull of the eredar Thal'kiel (there's even a skill that lets you turn the Skull to have a ghostly, permanently-locked-in-a-dying-scream flesh version of Thal'kiel's face). Thal'kiel is a powerful eredar sorcerer and teacher of Archimonde (one of the three leaders of the eredar, and the Big Bad of Warcraft III and Warlords of Draenor) that had unprecented skill with summoning and binding magics, as well as the study of skull shapes (haha irony), and prior to the Eredar joining the Burning Legion, Thal'kiel experimented and reached into the Void, being greeted by the knowledge of dark creatures that the Eredar has never encoutered before, driving Thal'kiel insane and causing him to apparently install himself as sole dictator of Argus. He showcased his newfound fel powers to the other eredar, who were horrified. Rejected by the other eredar leaders, Thal'kiel gathered an army of demons in secret. Thal'kiel's student Archimonde tattled on Thal'kiel to the other Eredar, who banded together, shattered Thal'kiel's army and executed Thal'kiel. The skull is placed on display as a warning for all other eredar to not fuck with dark forces. Of course, this would prove ironic as Archimonde and the other leaders who had executed Thal'kiel would readily embrace Sargeras's vision, turning the eredar race into the highest-ranking and most powerful among the demons that comprise the Burning Legion. Give or take a couple of millennia, the skull eventually fell into the hands of the dreadlord Mephistroth -- a.k.a. that one Dreadlord who showed up in a cutscene of the highest-ranking dreadlords in Warcraft III but never showed up in the game proper -- to empower the demons under his command. A demonology Warlock that was a member of the Council of Black harvest (i.e. an adventurer) would set off to hunt down Mephistroth after learning of the Skull's existence from a tome. The warlock summoned Thal'kiel's spirit, and after a brief exchange where the warlock promises vengeance and making the Legion bow before them, Thal'kiel's spirit agreed to work with the warlock. The warlock would travel to Felsong Hold in Suramar, defeat Mephistroth and claim the Skull for their own.

Woecleaver:

Woecleaver, our last weapon is... actually unique to Hearthstone. Huh. Which means the only backstory around Woecleaver is the one included in the Hearthstone blogspots, where Woecleaver is a legendary axe guarded by the dragon Vustrasz the Ancient, and Master Oakheart commissions Marin to get it from the dragon. Judging by Oakheart's card art, the dwarf ends up finding the legendary axe sooner or later.
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Dungeon Run Treasures & Bosses:

Quel'Delar:

Before we start off with the bosses, let's quickly talk about Quel'Delar. Among the many (mostly original or just generic) treasures able to be found in the Dungeon Run, although it's been shattered into two and adventurers must get lucky and find both pieces of Quel'Delar to assemble the legendary sword. Quel'Delar the Sister Blade is a blade that was forged by night elves and the dragonflights alongside its partner, Quel'Serrar. Quel'Delar was shattered prior to the start of World of Warcraft, being broken when used by the high elven champion Thalorien Dawnseeker during the Third War where he fought Arthas's forces in Icecrown. Lana'thel, once blood elven champion, now one of the Lich King's mightiest generals, took the blade to Icecrown, eventually defiling it before the living blood elves. Adventurers can go through a quest chain to recover its pieces and eventually restore the sword, returning it to its glory.

Horn of Cenarius:

Horn of Cenarius is the horn (the trumpet kind, not the deer kind) of the demigod Cenarius, first sighted during the Third War, placed atop a pedestal in Moonglade Isle. During the fight against the Burning Legion, Tyrande Whisperwind went to retrieve the Horn, blowing into it to awaken Malfurion Stormrage. Malfurion would utilize the horn to awaken the Druids of the Talon and the Druids of the Claw in subsequent missions, and it was used in the climactic conflict, summoning the Wisp army that brought down Archimonde. In Cataclysm, Malfurion would utilize the horn to summon the wolf ancient Goldrinn and other ancient druids into battle.

Most of the other items are all either original to Hearthstone, or are references to iconic, recurring D&D items. Archmage's Staff, Vorpal Dagger, Robe of the Magi and Small Backpack all share names with World of Warcraft items, although they are minor and have little to no lore associated with them.
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Quite literally every single Dungeon Run boss is original to Hearthstone, and some are even just in-jokes to aspects of the game's history. For completion's sake, we'll blaze through all the 40+ bosses of the Dungeon Run, minus several (Togwaggle, Ixlid, Azari, Darkness) that we've already covered above. The bosses will be sorted based on their factions.

Russell the Bard;

Originally just another of the many, many original-to-Hearthstone characters among the dungeon bosses, Russell the Bard is one of the handful of Hearthstone characters to migrate to World of Warcraft during the Battle for Azeroth expansion, where he is an NPC performing in the Curious Octopus Tavern in Boralus, a town located in Kul Tiras. Russell the Bard also stars, essentially, as the character that is regaling the audience of the Hearthstone tavern with the tales of Marin the Fox's exploits and his meetings with King Togwaggle and the other denizens of the Kobolds' Catacombs, as seen in the official Hearthstone website's blog-posted stories. While Bards is a traditional class in pen-and-paper RPG's, particularly Dungeons & Dragons (which this expansion borrows heavily from), they were never a playable class or profession in World of Warcraft other than as an April Fool's joke. 

A Giant Rat:
The giant rat is, well, just a giant rat! We've covered rat before when talking about Rat Pack and Sewer Crawler (Giant Rat actually shares its art with the token summoned by Sewer Crawler). Again, while giant rats haven't actually been an enemy in World of Warcraft, they are critters commonly found all over Azeroth.

Wee Whelp:
The Wee Whelp re-uses the artwork for the black dragon whelps from the Leeroy Jenkins whelp token, and many of WoW dungeons feature dragon whelps as enemies, particularly Blackrock Mountain's dungeons.

Seriona:
Seriona is a twilight dragon. We've covered twilight dragons before in the classic set, and Seriona is apparently one of the twilight dragons that has survived the many battles against the adventurers throughout Cataclysm, where a vast majority of the flight were killed in battle against the Alliance and Horde. Her name follows the -ona suffix given to female twilight dragons such as Valiona, Desperiona, Xariona and several others.

Bink the Burglar, Graves the Cleric, Lyris the Wild Mage & Thaddock the Thief:
They all just represent different adventurers that have made their way into the dungeon. Well, Bink and Thaddock are criminals presumably burgling silly adventurers. I'm grouping them all together because there's really not much lore beyond that. The term 'thief' and 'cleric', while not exclusive to D&D and have certainly been used within WoW lore, do kind of veer more towards D&D territory.

A.F. Kay:
Adventurers with backstory, now! A.F. Kay is, of course, a reference to the phenomenon of being AFK (Away From Keyboard) in WoW jargon, and in Knights of the Frozen Throne, A.F. Kay is a joke minion during the first fight in the campaign, as one of the inept adventurers played by Tirion Fordring, representing a player that's AFK during the critical moments of a raid and thus doom their party to failure. Unlike her Frozen Throne appearance, A.F. Kay does return to her keyboard if you don't kill her fast enough.

Chronomancer Inara:
Inara is a Chronomancer, a mage that controls time, and I feel she has enough going on for her for a separate section. While in WoW only bronze dragons are able to cross through time, it's implied that Inara has had an encounter with them in some sort. Inara also makes references to the Timeless Isle, an island that drifts in and out of time located close to Pandaria, perhaps explaining how she managed to obtain time magic.

George and Karl:
George and Karl are actually a reference to the flavour text of Journey to Un'Goro, where the cards Lost in the Jungle and Vinecleaver both detail how two Silver Hand Recruits, George and Karl, were lost in the jungle and subsequently rescued (both those cards summon two Silver Hand Recruits). George and Karl's dialogue also makes numerous mentions of recognizing you from Un'Goro Crater. 

Candlebeard, Mushhuckster Max, Pathfinder Hamm, Voodoomaster Vex, Waxmancer Sturmi & Whompwhisker:

Kobolds now! All the kobolds here are original to Hearthstone, although obviously they've taken a lot of liberties regarding the types of skills that kobolds are able to do. Whompwhisker is a simple barbarian (he shares his artwork with the collectible Kobold Barbarian) and Pathfinder Hamm is just a kobold who likes explosives, and those two are the only ones with equivalents in the WoW world. Max is a kobold who, like the collectible Fungalmancer and fellow boss Flurgl, has grown mad with power thanks to all the mushrooms in the dungeon. Apparently, according to dialogue between the two, Max and Kazakus know each other. Voodoomaster Vex is stated to be a kobold who 'lived among trolls and wants to be a troll'. Waxmancer Sturmi is presumably similar to Geosculptor Yip, except she makes her minions out of wax -- something that Hearthstone kobolds are stated to be able to do, and Waxmancers are presumably responsible for the likes of Wax Elemental or Wax Rager. Candlebeard is a kobold who's found a pirate hat and leads a pirate crew throughout the waterways of the dungeon, and in the story of Marin the Fox, Candlebeard encounters Marin, who defeats him in combat and takes his crew hostage in the journey to reach Vustrasz, the ancient dragon.

Blackseed, Bristlesnarl, Elder Brandlemar, Elder Jari & Frostfur
These five are all furbolgs, and are all original to Hearthstone. Brandlemar's a druid, Bristlesnarl's a hunter and Jari's a shaman, all of whom are classes that furbolgs tend to fall into in both Warcraft III and WoW. Frostfur is a frost mage, a class that I don't think furbolgs have ever utilized in WoW canon. Blackseed's the only one unique to Hearthstone, representing an Old God corrupted furbolg similar to the corruption seen in Whispers of the Old Gods. While various factions of Furbolgs have certainly been corrupted various times by the Emerald Nightmare, none have manifested the corruption as drastically as Blackseed has.

Battlecrier Jin'zo & Spiritsinger Azun
Jin'zo and Azun are both troll witch doctors. There's... there's really not that much beyond that, really.

Brimstone Warden
Brimstone Warden is an Earthen, the Titan-forged precursors to dwarves, which we've covered in League of Explorers. He's original to Hearthstone, and like many other Earthen, guards Titan Sanctums and is assisted by other titan golems.

Kraxx
Kraxx is an original creature to Hearthstone. He shares his artwork with the Mithril Golem summoned by the collectible Lesser Mithril Spellstone card.

Gutmook & Overseer Mogark
Gutmook and Mogark are both troggs, which we've talked about in previous sections, particularly in the GvG and LoE sections. Both of these bosses are original to Hearthstone.

Fungalmancer Flurgl & Tad
These two are just murlocs with names. Flurgl, like Max, seems to be corrupted by all the fancy fungus around the dungeon, and is particularly corpulent for a murloc.

Jeeru
Jeeru is a djinn, a type of wind elemental first seen in Hearthstone during League of Explorers. Like the collectible Benevolent Djinn card, Jeeru is a female djinn which is never seen before in WoW. There's really not that much about her.

Gnosh the Greatworm
Gnosh is a particularly large worm, seemingly a far larger version of the Violet Wurm minion. Since giant worms are a common enemy in D&D and a running theme in Kobolds & Catacombs, with Violet Wurm and Corridor Creeper, Gnosh seems to be the 'boss' of them.

The Mothergloop
The Mothergloop shares her artwork with the Corrosive Sludge minion, and seems to be the 'boss' of the ooze-type minions in Kobolds & Catacombs like Carnivorous Cube, Corrosive Sludge and Green Jelly. In the words of Togwaggle, The Mothergloop is the "gloop from which all gloop is glopped."

Lava-Filled Chamber, Trapped Room & Treasure Vault
These three bosses are just rooms, all playing into the staple rooms often found in a generic D&D dungeon. Entire rooms haven't been a proper boss fight in WoW exactly.

Vustrasz the Ancient

The mighty Vustrasz the Ancient is a powerful and old red dragon. Among his treasures is the legendary axe Woecleaver, which Marin the Fox was commissioned to obtain by Master Oakheart. During Marin's adventurers, he and Togwaggle's forces came into Vustrasz's chamber, fighting over the dragon's treasures. While initially thinking that Marin is an ally, Vustrasz became alerted to Marin's true nature, and went into a rampage, attacking both Marin and kobolds alike. Marin, despite losing all the loot he's gathered, manages to escape with his life, making use of the catacomb's smaller tunnels, but has earned the eternal ire of Vustrasz. Vustrasz's name follows the naming scheme of red dragons in Azeroth, which has the suffix -asz. He's presumably also the dragon seen in various other card arts in K&C like Dragon's Fury and Cheat Death.

Xol the Unscathed

Xol the Unscathed is a mighty Observer-type demon (a.k.a. Floating Watchers, a.k.a. Beholders), with an array of multi-coloured eyes that unleash different powers depending on which eye is shooting it. She's also female, one of the rare times that the enigmatic Observer demons identify by a gender. Of course, her inclusion as one of the final bosses is a reference to how the Beholders in Dungeons and Dragons is one of the most iconic original creations from that game, particularly memorable for the wildly different abilities their eyes have. Xol's boss fight references this, with her hero power giving her skills with wildly differing effects.