Pre BFA of course. Not for shadowlands. How do you write this to make it work. Could it be done?
Pretty easy to make Zandalari alliance, Volâjin was attacking them all during Cataclysm and they are supposed to hate undead. Also Blood Elves use blood magic like the blood trolls.
Kulâtirans not so easy.
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Hmm. Itâd start by both introductory questlines having failed.
The Horde would fail to rescue Talanji and Zul. Anduin, since heâs the king, would come and see personally who the Horde would risk breaking into Stormwind to rescue, and would bond with Talanji over the nature of the light. There were pretty much zero positive relations between the Zandalari and the Horde, and frankly Iâd say that the relations were worse with the Horde, since they tried to recruit Volâjin back in Cata. So, thematically and logically, it checks out.
The original Alliance introduction would have to have failed: Jaina gets executed then and there (perhaps Ashvane is being especially pushy?). The Horde champion, likely to the most intense chagrin of Nathanos, will be sent to KT to play up the whole being the enemy of Jaina thing, somehow convince them that Daelin was wrong and that they are changed, and that they are the key to securing the safety of the continent because the Alliance surely would retaliate against them executing Jaina.
Thatâd be an interesting world. A fun exercise.
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(Disclaimer): Unit Exacitor makes no promises of quality for this.
(Commentary): For the Zandalari, I feel that Volâjinâs snubbing of them back in Cataclysm would have to be combined with a Horde campaign to commit genocide against the Amani. Following this, Velen would live up to his title as a Prophet and see a future in which the Zandalari joined the Alliance. He personally leads the endeavor and the entire Alliance experience in Zandalar is essentially a game of 5D chess between him and Zul trying to out-Prophet one another, with Velen winning in the end. As the Draenei never did anything personally against the Zandalari, and very little against troll kind, combined with an endorsement by Rezan, Rastakan decides to act on Velenâs prophecy of the Zandalari joining the Alliance.
(Commentary): Meanwhile, on the Horde side of things, Thomas Zelling approaches the Forsaken, dying. He reveals that over half of Kul Tiras is currently suffering a terrible plague, and that the kingdom is doomed. Learning that the Royal Apothecary Society has the worldâs foremost alchemical geniuses, he seeks them out, only to find them in Orgrimmar. Initially there is great mistrust between the Horde and Kul Tirans, which is slowly mended by the Blood Elves and Forsaken drawing on their connections to influential figures from the Second War, such as Cyrus. The plague killing off Kul Tiras is stopped, saving the Kingdom, while those who fell to it are optionally brought back as Forsaken. The cherry on top is bringing back Derek Proudmoore, which confirms Katherineâs decision to bring Kul Tiras into the Horde.
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Sure they are.
Have them pull a Blood Elf and join the Horde because theyâre mad about a singular incident.
âJaina let Daelin die and the Alliance did nothing so now we fight for the Horde, Lokâtar Ogar!â
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Why would I subject the Horde player base to garbage playable race? Can I give them something else instead? Like actual Ogres instead of trashy cockney accented rip offs?
Consider perhaps making a thread similar to this, but replace X and Y race with ones of your choosing.
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Considering the idolized fallen leader of KulâTirias embodied the phrase âGrab your sword and fight the Hordeâ, and that the Zandalari (up until Bfa) hated just about everyone and everything that wasnât a Troll, and with the Night Elves being AllianceâŠ
Iâll be honest, I canât see it being done. While the there have been a couple of fun suggestions in this thread, it would tear apart the core identity of these too factions way too much.
Zandalari in the Alliance:
Push the fact that the Zandalari have particularly bad blood with the Darkspear and thus distrustful of the Horde.
Anduin, being the good little egg, goes to see Talanji and Zul after they are captured. Being a fellow priest, the two unexpectedly bond, and she invites Anduin and a few others (namely the player) to Zandalar to discuss the up coming war. On the way, they run into the Horde fleet who were on their way to Zandalar and a battle ensues. During the battle while clearly not as prestigious as the glory of Zandalar Talanji sees that the Alliance is getting there and invites the Alliance to meet Rastakhan.
KulâTiras in the Horde: This is going to be the longest as itâs way way more of a stretch.
Push the fact that the Kul Tirans blame the Alliance, and in particular Jaina for Daelinâs death.
Jaina is still sent to Kul Tiras to convince them to join the Alliance, but this time the Horde makes their way there as well and both factions meet Katherine Proudmoore. Katherine is having none of Jaina because she blames her for Daelin. Jaina points out that the the Horde should then be responsible Daelinâs death as well. To which Nathanos points out that it was Thrall who is no longer their warchief. He naturally leaves out Rexxar, who is also on the boat. Katherine seems perceptive of this, but demands both of the factions back to their ships while she comes to a decision the next day.
During the night, both factions are attacked by Cultists. Jaina believes the Horde set this up but before they could come to blows, Nathanos sends the Horde champions and Rexxar to find Katherine. They find she too is being attacked by Cultists and they defend her. Rexxar explains that yes, he killed Daelin he acknowledges that at the very least, Daelin fought to defend his people just as he had. He wonât apologize for killing him, but the Horde is willing to extend an olive branch, and should she refuse theyâll simply leave Kul Tiras alone. Just then Jaina busts in and starts shooting ice at the Horde characters. There is a brief fight between the players+Rexxar vs Jaina before Katherine shuts the entire battle down. She demands that Jaina and the Alliance forces leave Kul Tiras, stating they will not waste their people on their wars again.
The Alliance leave, but Katherine turns to the Horde and in particular Rexxar. She offers him and by extension the rest of the Horde a choice; stay here and help her clear out the cultists, and then theyâll consider peace talks.
Both of these are stretches, but in the case of a giant what if it would have been far more interesting if we suddenly had Alliance Trolls and Horde Humans. In particular I remember in other fantasy games there would be a tribe of human characters on the âevilâ faction, which this would be a call back to, which the bigger more âsavageâ humans being on Horde. While for the trolls, it would be a case the taller âmore refinedâ trolls siding with the more regal Alliance as opposed to their savage Darkspear cousins, as far as appearance and culture goes.
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Zandalari in the Alliance:
Instead of throwing Talanji and Zul in the dungeons, Anduin has moved them placed in more diplomatic type cells benefiting the station of royalty. Talanji is reluctantly impressed by this gesture of respect from a human. Meanwhile Zul decides step forward and suggest building relations with the Alliance knowing that Rastakhan allowing the Alliance into the Zandalar would neat him more support over the Horde being invited to Zandalar.
Unknowing of this and simply wanting to protect her people Talanji agrees to speak with Anduin and come to a deal with him because she doesnât exactly trust Sylvanas. Anduin recognizing this a chance to strengthen the Alliance and rid the Horde of a possible ally agrees to aid the Zandalari.
Velen feels that something is off with Zul but canât place it due to NâZoth shrouding Zulâs actions in shadow. When the Horde invade Stormwind Zul subtly helps them escape, so that Rastakhanâs decision to allow them into Zuldazar would be a seen in a worse light as the Alliance couldnât even stop enemy agents from invading and escaping their own capital.
In gratitude to not harming his daughter, believing that her capture has taught her humility, and being intriguingly amused at the idea convinces Rastakhan to allow the Alliance into his empire. Genn is rather wary but seeks to play up how the Horde trolls (Darkspear, Revantusk) rejecting the Zandalari in order to help bind them to the Alliance.
KulâTiras in the Horde
Upon learning that the Zandalari have partnered with the Alliance, Nathanos seeking to turn this failure into a victory orders for the Horde strike team to wait in the shadows near KulâTiras, correctly anticipating that the decision to accept the Zandalari will cause descent, that would cause someone within the Alliance to seek out KulâTiras as a more traditional dependable ally.
To his shock when he captures the Alliance ship he ends up taking Jaina Proudmoore prisoner. Thus his original mission in trying to prevent the Alliance form gaining control of two fleets changes to a bold plan to bring the KulâTirans into the Horde. So when the Horde arrives to KulâTiras Nathanos is able to negotiate safe entry by delivering the infamous Daughter of the Sea for judgement.
Katherine is wary but Ashvane pushes her to accept this as a matter of honor, as she plots to use the Horde presence for her own ends. For his part Nathanos remarks that the Horde has greatly changed since the days Warchief Thrall led it, as has the Alliance which has aligned with the Zandalari Empire.
Any claims of this being a deception are foiled by Jaina admitting that itâs true due to being shocked and disgusting at the idea of the Horde being allowed in KulâTiras. Jaina is subsequently taken to away to face judgment per canon as Katherine reluctantly enters into negotiations with the Horde, at Ashvaneâs advice.
Sylvanas is rather surprised at these developments and upon arriving she orders Nathanos to develop a bond with Ashvane. In time they came to an agreement where Ashvane will do what she can to aid in gaining the allegiance of the KulâTirans if they help her in becoming Lord Admiral of KulâTiras.
I feel like the way Sylvanasâ Horde would get Kul Tiras to join them would be by inverting what the Alliance does and working to put Ashvane in a position of power over the Proudmoore family and going from there rather than doing some complicated negotiation with the current ruling powers.
Zandalar as others have said is much easier given they already didnât like the Horde all that much, just keep driving that wedge in.
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As Head Lore Writer I would throw such an idiotic premise in the wastebasket where it belongs.
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