World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

As the World of Warcraft machine rolls on year after year it becomes easy to get swept in to a routine of daily activities that can obscure many of the layers that made the game so much fun when we first began.  One of the parts of the game that I enjoyed the most at launch was the feeling of living in a rich world steeped in lore and becoming part of the story.   Among the classes in the game, few have as deep or an interesting back story as the druids.

The first druid in the Warcraft universe was Cenarius the Forest Lord. Born of Elune and Malorne, the demi-god manifests with the body of a stag and the torso and head of a Night Elf. Richard A Knaak, writer of multiple Warcraft books described Cenarius’ entrance into the realm of mortals as follows:

Elune birthed Cenarius, but gave him up to Malorne because Cenarius was more a creature of the mortal world and could not be with her. Malorne, who had relations with both Elune and Ysera, knew that he could not properly care for his son, but Ysera's love was so great for Malorne that she took Cenarius as her own. Hence being his mother (or adoptive mother).

The Tauren claim that they were the first race taught druidism by Cenarius, however there is no proof of this and the timeline of Warcraft suggests that the elves were indeed the first druids.  The Tauren have the legend ‘Forestlord and the first Druids’ that can be read in World of Warcraft as an in game book. It resides behind Hamuul Runetotem in the Arch Druid's tent on Elder Rise, Thunder Bluff.

From ‘Forestlord and the first Druids’-

In time, the child, Cenarius, grew to the stature of his proud father. A brother to both the trees and the stars, the great hunter roamed the far places of the world, singing the harmonious songs of the dawning. All creatures bowed before his grace and beauty - there were none so cunning as the son of the moon and the white stag.

 Eventually, Cenarius befriended the Shu'halo and spoke to them of the turning world. The children of the earth knew him as brother and swore to help him care for the fields of life and the favored creatures of their great Earthmother.

Cenarius taught the children of the earth to speak to the trees and plants. The Shu'halo became druids and worked great deeds of magic to nurse the land to health. For many generations the Shu'halo hunted with Cenarius and kept the world safe from the shadows that stirred beneath it.

The first known mortal druid was Malfurion Stormrage, A Night Elf. He was instructed by Cenarius and called upon him to stand against Archimonde in the War of the Ancients.  Cenarius also aided Malfurion in imprisoning Illidan. Cenarius instructed the Night Elves in druidism and they soon became allied with most of Cenarius’ other faithful creatures, including the Hippogryphs.

Following the War of the Ancients the Night Elf druids were permitted entrance to the Emerald Dream, which is the home of the green dragon aspect Ysera. Druids can enter this plane through their link with nature and were rumored to have been required by Ysera to spend significant amounts of time inside of it in exchange for their powers.

Early reports from Blizzard developers mentioned that Emerald Dream would be a part of the game for druids along with Moonglade. As game design moved forward the idea was scrapped, even though significant development had been done on it.

Early Quotes from Blizzard’s Jeffery Kaplan regarding the Emerald Dream-

Tigole on Sat, 06 Dec 2003 06:01:04 PST

Actually, we have some pretty cool stuff planned for druids. They will definitely have a link to the Emerald Dream. There's also a zone on the way to the peak of Mount Hyjal called Moonglade that will be very core to druid characters. Our *master of Warcraft lore*, Chris Metzen, is never short on ideas when it comes to the druid class. I was running around the Emerald Dream last Thursday... you guys are in for a treat. The level designers are doing a killer job.

Tigole on Sat, 06 Dec 2003 22:01:05 PST

The Emerald Dream is shaping up to be extremely cool. We don't want to preview any of that content yet as it is *endgame* and we want some surprises for players. [...] The zone is massive and beautiful. And once the content team is done with it, it will be exceedingly challenging >=]

 
There have been rumors abounding in WoW about the Emerald Dream and future plans for it. Our own Xerin speculated that it may someday be the stage for a future WoW expansion. 

After the assault of the Burning Legion, the druids emerged from their slumber and left the barrow dens to help fend off the onslaught. They have remained in the world since then in an effort to help heal the scars left upon the lands.  Recently there have been whispers of a corruption in the Emerald Dream that has possibly trapped Cenarius and Malfurion inside of it. I suspect this disruption of nature will be the catalyst for future in game forays into the plane of Ysera.

 
Modern druid life has seen the rise of the Cenarion Circle, a group of both Night Elf and Tauren druids who watch over Azeroth. The main hub of druidic activity is from Moonglade but recent struggles have brought druids to many different fronts and the Cenarions have branched out with bases in both Northrend and Outlands as well as an outpost in Silithus. On a personal note, it would be nice not to have to build faction each time they build a new base.

Throughout the game world in WoW different factions of druids can be found.  Among these are  the Druids of the Claw, Druids of the Talon, Druids of the Wild, Druids of the Fang, Druids of the Antler, and Druids of the Grove. Each with their own agendas and beliefs and typically with their own unique shapeshift form to match the patron of their choosing.  According to the Player’s Guides from the WoW tabletop RPG, druids who specialize in multiple shapeshift forms and therefore all player created druids are known as Druids of the Wild.

Druid lore continues to build with several players from WoW becoming immortalized in game.  One of our alliance friends from Scarlet Crusade, and the owner of the popular blog site Resto4Life, was immortalized with an in game item “Phaelia’s Vestments of the Sprouting Seed”.   Also added to druid lore via the player base was a ten-thousand-year-old druid and questgiver, Xarantaur. He was an homage to  WoW Europe player, Xaran Alamas, who created quite a following with his roleplaying  threads centered around WoW lore.

Rich lore and a deep storyline are part of the broad appeal of World of Warcraft and the druid storyline is among the most developed and interesting.  Each new expansion both reveals more history and adds more backstory. The additions of player created content and naming items after members of the community further enriches the fabric of the story as it is woven. I look forward to seeing what else Blizzard has in store for the most dynamic class in the game.

Until next week, stay safe and have fun in Azeroth!