style="font-weight: bold;">History and Lore of the
WoW Druid.
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.
style="">
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.
style=""> 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:
birthed Cenarius, but
gave him up to href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Malorne" title="Malorne">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 href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Ysera" title="Ysera">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.
style=""> 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’-
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. style="margin-left: 0.5in; font-style: italic;"> style=""> 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. style="margin-left: 0.5in; font-style: italic;">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.
style="">
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
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
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 href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/68644">speculated
that it may
someday be the stage for a future WoW expansion. style="">
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.
style=""> 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.
style=""> One
of
our alliance friends from Scarlet Crusade, and the owner of the popular
blog
site Resto4Life,
was immortalized with
an in game item “
href="http://www.resto4life.com/2009/03/22/phaelias-vestments-of-the-sprouting-seed/">Phaelia’s
Vestments of the Sprouting Seed”.
style="">
Also added to druid lore via
the player base was a ten-thousand-year-old
druid and questgiver, Xarantaur. He was an homage to
style=""> WoW
Europe player, Xaran Alamas, who created
quite a following with his roleplaying
style="">
href="http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=15211956&sid=1&pageNo=1">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.
style=""> 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!
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