by Chris Ware on Jun 20, 2009
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:
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’-
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.
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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
Tigole
on Sat, 06 Dec 2003 22:01:05 PST
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.
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!