Worgen

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The recent increase in Worgen activity is quite disturbing. I got some reports from Grizzly Hills that I first did not believe in, but they were delivered by Jennie Nowind herself.. And in person.

It is not the first time I hear about worgen in Grizzly Hills, I have battled them myself from time to time but it seems that Arugal is back again.

I have decided to compile a paper on what we actually do know about the worgen.

The Book of Ur

The magician Ur, one of the best researchers that Azeroth has seen, wrote a research paper about worgen back when Dalaran still was in its former glory. May his soul rest in peace.

As a first step in his research he comes to the conclusion that even though folklore is full of wolf-men, the Worgen are real, they are not just something that we have imagined. He also states that the Worgen are not from our world, but that it is possible for a powerful magician to bring them here. Ur's research also tells us that the home world of the Worgen is a dark and nightmarish place, and that if their own mages would attempt to reach Azeroth they would become an unstoppable force here as well.

Quite a grim report. Let's move on to Arugal

Arugal, a former mage of Kirin Tor that deserted during the Scourge invasion. He fled into Shadowfang Keep that is located close to the border of Gilneas. I can only speculate of why he started to use Ur's research to summon Worgen to our beloved Azeroth. Arugal himself says it was to even the odds against the scourge. As the Worgen drove the scourge in front of them, the ones closer to the mages started to turn on them instead. At this point Arugal started his decent towards madness and locked himself firmly into Shadowfang Keep with the Worgen that he now called his children.

So we have a crazed wizard, using his magic to bring the Worgen to our world. But, if that wasn't enough, another story unfolds in Kalimdor.

Kalimdor
Velinde Starsong, priestess and sentinel of the Night Elves had been given the task of cleansing the forests of Ashenvale and Felwood from demons. Reports say that Velinde had prayed to Elune to help her with the task that was assigned to her. I do not want to double guess my own Goddess choice, but it turns out that Velinde's prayer was granted and Elune handed her the Scythe of Elune.

From Velinde's own journal: 
"By focusing on it, I became able to communicate with the worgen. It was not speech I used to contact them, however. It was something different... I could not describe it. What mattered was that the worgen heard and understood me. ..... By further channeling the energy of the Scythe, the barriers weakened more, and I was able to draw the worgen into our world."

So Velinde used the Scythe to summon Worgen to her aid, later in the same journal she describes how she is starting to loose control over the summoned creatures. But even as she stopped summoning more, the Scythe continued on its own. When she finally realized that she had lost her control, she decided to travel to consult Arugal, that she had heard rumors about.
Her journey goes from the port in the Barrens, my guess would be that she means Ratchet.

Duskwood

The next we hear about Velinde is actually not of her but of the Scythe. It was found by some Defias supporter in a mine in Duskwood. Velinde must have passed through there on her way from Booty Bay towards the north and Shadowfang Keep.

Jitters, the fellow who writes about the event in his journal, says that the whole mine rippled with change when he touched the Scythe and that the Worgen had attacked his group from hidden holes all around them. Jitters was the only survivor of this incident, but he managed to loose the Scythe when he fled.
Later, he was visited by dark riders that were asking around about the Scythe of Elune. The riders killed the wife and children of the farm where he was staying when they found out that she did not know about the Scythe. How this Jitters managed to survive this meeting is unknown, and what troubles me is that this is the only time that I've heard about these dark riders. Could they be from Kharazan, or maybe agents of Arugal.

Conclusion so far is that Worgen where pulled into Azeroth from their home world by two different people that did not work together. The Scythe of Elune summoned worgen during Velindes journey to meet Arugal.

So back to Arugal
I think it was some agents of the Horde that finally killed Arugal in his keep. But in reality it did little good. The Worgen still roam the villages around the keep and Arugal, well he was resurrected and his ghost serves the scourge.

He was sent to Grizzly Hills, to convert the populations of the small trapper villages into worgen. Nowind reports that he succeeded with Solstice Village and Silverbrook, if not more. He has his operations in a tower that he calls Shadowfang Tower. I guess that his ghost form lacks imagination, but the tower is located on a small island outside the east coast of Grizzly Hills.

This is where Nowind was on her way after she left me last night.. I do hope her the best of luck…

Banker on vacation..

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I heard that my banker has geared up and picked up her sword again after a long time in close proximity to the auction house.

I heard that she is bound for Dragonblight and Grizzly Hills in Northrend and I do hope her good luck on her vacation. She also told me that she will try to enter some of the dungeons that she hasn’t been in since she came back to fight for the Alliance…

Loremaster, in depth…

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So as you may know. Last I finally managed to complete my Loremaster studies a few nights ago. It has been a long journey covering visits to many places all around Azeroth and even Outland. A look at some golden moments from each continent is the least I can do, now that I can call myself a Loremaster.

Kalimdor
One of the more fun encounters in Kalimdor occurred during a research trip to Maraudon, we had been led there by stories of one of Cenarius offspring being trapped there and that five of the centaur tribes in Kalimdor are of his blood. And we truly found the spirit of Zaetar, one of Cenarius children deep below ground level. Always fascinating to meet the legends.

Eastern Kingdoms
Andorhal, or more precisely the Ruins of Andorhal, in the Western Plaguelands has pulled me back from time to time to thrive into the lore of the city. Once one of the central cities of Lordaeron, and thus the center of distribution of goods like grain in the country. But the city was laid in ruins by the scourge and is now populated by the undead and lead by Araj the Summoner, the former headmaster of Scholomance.
This region has always been the place that I have traveled to when I start to research something new of the Scourge. It has proven a good strategy so far.

Outland
The Kirin’Var Village in Netherstorm has an interesting story behind it that started when the Alliance ventured beyond the dark portal to end the threat from the Horde once for all. The wizards of Kirin Tor built this village before the world was torn appart. The surviving wizards have been trapped in the village since then.
Later Kael’thas destroyed what was left of the village with a Mana Bomb. To make things worse, many of the wizards that died have had their spirits brought back by the necromancer Naberius.
The Kirin’Var Village has a lot of history hidden in the ruins about what it was like to be trapped in outland during the years when the Dark Portal was closed.

Northrend
The Frosthold in Stormpeaks is the home of the Frost Dwarves, most of the city is inside the mountain and not open for outsiders. Their friendship with the Alliance is all thanks to the Explorers League. This is one place that I still frequently return to and I must say that it is very interesting to get to know another race of dwarves. So much in common with other dwarves but at the same time so much different.