I know one already exists but I can’t find it and I don’t wanna necro an old thread. But I’ll start.
Orcs evolved a much larger and more active adrenal gland than other races due to the hostile environment of Draenor. This is what causes things like the blood rage or whatever you call it. That thing Durotan does in the Warlords promo video where he murks his pet wolf.
Night Elves have hollow bones like birds.
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Mechagnomes retain a desire for neutrality due to the lack of Horde aggression and have a hopeful hesitance to Gelbin’s leadership.
And troll mojo isn’t what we all fear it is.
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Blood Elf mages use conjured food in the same way that people on Instagram love to share glamour shots of their meals.
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(Sorry in advance: It’s a slow workday and I had more than I thought!)
I like to imagine Suramar as having a lot of commonalities with the Neath in Fallen London. Before the Legion even got involved, the Nightwell was churning out all kinds of arcane evolutions of rats, weasels, frogs, spiders, and more that we don’t get to see. When the Legion set up camp, there was, of course, the violent occupation that we see in the streets, but I also imagine Legion-aligned aristocrats monopolizing their families’ trades using demonic coercion and resources similar to the Masters of the Bazaar (Just significantly less cool).
I also imagine the number of noble houses diminishing at first as lesser clans are absorbed into more powerful or loyal families and given roles as courtiers.
Last Suramar headcanon: Many expats leave Suramar to escape the traumatic memories they faced in the confines of the city. Many stayed out of routine. Some, however, stay in the city out of agoraphobia. Many have developed a conditioned fear of being away from the Nightwell and in an open space without the protection of their bubble.
Since the Plague of Undeath, I picture rat catcher as a very viable career for novice adventurers in the Eastern Kingdoms. Still wary of the threat of plague, many cities, partnered with the Argent Crusade, have a modest bounty for the killing or capturing of rats for study.
Ironforge and Dark Iron Dwarves both have a ceremony for a Dwarf child’s first time venturing outside of their home mountain. This has become less common as Dwarves become more cosmopolitan.
The domestic cat and dog are traditionally disliked by Orcs. Both are associated with Humans and internment camps. While Orcs may want to sympathize with dogs, it’s hard for them to look at them as being remotely related to the hulking frost wolves they’re bonded with. Dogs might even have been used as evidence that Humans were weak/inferior/ cruel to have domesticated once proud wolves to such a level. Cats are seen as bad luck and are associated with the Kaldorei. More suspicious Orcs may even worry that they’re spies.
Venture Co has tried at least once to sneakily harvest wood from the base of Teldrassil.
Kezan Goblins have school (opting in, as opposed to opting out, and accompanied by a hefty fee of course). Their coursework is dictated by an aptitude test that culminates in either “Mad Scientist” or “Mogul”.
Despite retaining a Medeival aesthetic, Stormwind is actually quite “modern” and Gnomish technology at least is relatively commonplace, if a little too newfangled for some. Draenic technology would be more common if it were more intuitive to non-Draenei users and were it not for the high tariffs involved. Draenei aren’t quite ready to share and feel that they’re the best keepers of their crystaltech. Even if Anduin wants the Alliance to stand as one, more conservative Draenei have manipulated the Stormwind port authority to demure at importing fragile, unmarketable cultural artifacts. Finally, Goblin technology is highly controlled, if not illegal due to questionable safety and the possibility of being used by spies.
Outside of Stormwind, Goblin technology has a greater presence due to lesser regulation, however, in more rural areas, the technology is too expensive and mistrusted to be used by commonfolk.
Horde technology is largely of Goblin origin, with a minor Sindorei presence. Use of either is more of a personal choice than it is amongst members of the Alliance, although Goblin technology is significantly more intuitive and less regulated. Sindorei technology is favored by organizations rather than individuals, requiring a certain level of arcane knowledge.
Gnomes are actually very shrewd business people but feel guilty negotiating, as to avoid comparison to their hated rivals. As such, they save it for things that matter to them.
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It has been 17 in-game years since the beginning of vanilla (same as real time).
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I headcanon that night elves actually have some of the most advanced engineers in the Alliance. While their engineering isn’t comparable to Gnomish or Goblin robotics, night elf engineering incorporates an array of several different elements. Examples of their work include their perfectly balanced bows and arrows, siege weapons (glaive throwers), launchers for fireworks, music boxes, mechanical trinkets, lens crafting for spectacles, telescopes or scopes. I like to imagine that night elf engineers also like to make use of common magics within their society, such as druidic magic. They might make a device that’s powered by rays of sunlight or moonlight.
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That’s actually a really cool idea. I imagine that they have hollow bones since it would allow them to perform all the acrobatics they do.
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The Army of the Black Moon, the sect of the Kaldorei containing those who have been changed similarly to Tyrande, are unnerving to their allies and enemies, being freakishly strong and agile due to Elunes blessing, but also being deeply apathetic and lacking in emotion, with a deep, burning rage being the only emotion they feel with any regularity. Elves that someone might have known well seem like complete strangers, obsessed with a singular desire to carry out Elune’s justice.
Shandris searching for a way to lessen the symptoms of the blessing is for the swathes of her people literally boiling away in peacetime with a lack of an obvious enemy to be directed at as much as it is saving Tyrande, who suffers the worst from it. Many Black Moon elves alleviate the rage by disobeying the truce; Horde colonies in Ashenvale keep disappearing, caravans are raided mercilessly and being near Night Elf territory is considered ever more dangerous.
Horde with a darker sense of humour sometimes suggest tying a Forsaken or two to a post as an offering. The Forsaken, still reeling from Sylvanas’ betrayal, do not appreciate it.
Much of the Alliance leadership has also placed a great importance on Shandris’ mission; the Black Moon present a particular difficulty in peace talks with the newly formed Horde council. While Alliance leadership is generally eager to follow in Anduin’s footsteps and make peace with the Horde, the Black Moon are greatly supported by the general populace of the Alliance, seeing them as the enactors of the justice that Anduin refused to allow.
Because of this, Alliance leadership is loathe to condemn them outright, even if that’s what the Horde council would prefer; doing so would risk igniting the simmering resentment between the general populace who suffered greatly from the Horde’s aggression against the relatively comfortable aristocratic class, whose relationship to the war mostly concerned profitability and border security.
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I wish it were this simple. Makes a heck of a lot more sense.
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It’s considered rude between Huojin and Tushui to fight each other if they come across each other in travel. Not unforgivable, merely not polite.
Rather, Pandaren between the factions frequently meet to compare notes about their experience and trade recipes and ingredients. Cheese dishes in Orgrimmar became very popular after a Huojin received a new recipe from Stormwind. Likewise, Stormwind enjoyed a brief spicy curry craze after Tushui brought it over from the chefs in Orgrimmar.
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Time for more headcanons! Since it hasn’t been addressed yet, my head canon is that since the Legion had sent a bunch of Fel damaged souls to the Shadowlands that there’s protocol in place to help ailing souls that differs with each covenant. Bastion soaks those souls in their healing waters until the pain subsides, Maldraxxus sends them to either the house of Plagues or Constructs to patch them up to get then battle ready either through alchemy or fleshcrafting, Ardenweald is the best equipped to help these souls since the pods eventually heal just about any ailment, and Revendreth? Well they’ll send you off to one of the other places through their connections depending on how badly a soul is damaged.
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I headcanon it that Kul Tiras and Zandalar are rebuilding their navies. Not so much to dominate but because island nations do need those and both have invested interest in laying smackdowns on pirates who probably have been running amok since 8.2.
Outside that, I imagine that with the Horde’s current politics in the Council, the Zandalari actually align more with the Sindorei and Nightborne than they do the Orcs and Tauren. Darkspear I imagine are the ones essentially playing ‘bridge’ between the EK/Zandalar Horde and Kalimdor Horde. Goblins I imagine are also just raking in tons of dough as they likely are commissioned to help Zandalar’s modernization efforts.
I also imagine that Zandalar in the Horde is probably something the “never again” orcs who don’t want villain batting part 3 view with caution. Zandalar being jolted out of Isolation as it was, but not mortally wounded, probably has led to a decent degree of militarization and more aggressive rhetoric towards the EK Alliance. I imagine there was probably one guy who passed a suggestion to Talanji to act aggressively to the Kalimdor Alliance, but since Kaldorei role was minimal in the invasion of Zandalar, I just imagine she folded it and everyone just sort of dropped the matter since being mad about the Kaldorei conquest of the Twin Empires is sort of hard when literally no one from it is alive to be super mad about it.
I also imagine that there would be Zandalari and Sindorei people drawing up plans to move cough at gun point cough the remaining Amani into what was once Forsaken lands to serve as the new buffer given the Forsaken are effectively hopeless currently.
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The citizens of Stormwind are sick of pumpkins and hate anything with pumpkin in it
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I can’t help but think there are some tauren separatists who are tired of being dragged into the wars of sociopaths because one time Thrall was in charge and helped them. Perhaps not willing to kill their own (yet) ala the Grimtotem, but seeing the Horde as a basket case that they’d be better off keeping at arms’ length instead of following blindly.
I don’t see any Huojin, mainlanders or otherwise, being all that thrilled by the addition of the Zandalari thanks to the MoP campaign. Hell, there are probably Horde vets of all races giving those tusky SOBs the stinkeye for the Isle of Thunder and whatnot.
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I wrote this one before but I like to imagine that there’s a sizable population of Forsaken refugees in Bilgewater Harbour. When the Forsaken began arriving in mass the Goblins were there to welcome them with open arms and ready to shake them down for every last coin.
However many of the vice and temptations deployed by the goblins don’t necessarily sway the dead as easily as the living. So there wasn’t much of a shake down nor do most of the undead have much interest in money.
So while that may have back fired, many skilled and talented apothecaries where quick to find work amongst Goblin entrepreneurs that may not have the greatest ethics. So who knows what great and horrible things are brewing when goblin and Forsaken scientists work together.
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I actually headcanon is that the orcs are in genuinely deep crap with their own allies politically right now and are having to get ready to bend in every direction to appease them.
I would say this for the Forsaken… but the Forsaken were sort of always like this and their leader is most recent, so anger will eventually pass. Orcs actually went through having Garrosh as a leader, acted like they would change, then reverted pretty hard since they aligned with Sylvanas pretty hard. Not even really a head-canon so much as canon since we pretty clearly see they are one of the main aggressing groups Sylvanas uses in BfA. So, Forsaken are in crap since Sylvanas and their previous behavior, but I imagine orcs are politically in deeper crap since if Thrall isn’t present there really isn’t many scenarios where orcs show they’re trustworthy.
Soooo… lets just put the tauren in charge of the Kalimdor Horde. Gonna rename Orgrimmar to Cairngrimmar.
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Alternatively, Stormwind is full of Pumpkin Spice People. You know the type.
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The upper echelons of Nightborne society, obsessed with remaining in vogue, have begun to seek out Sin’dorei partners so as to emulate the First Arcanist. This has lead the Sin’dorei to be in a perplexed state, as they’re used to being earnestly pursued for their beauty, but aren’t sure what to think about being used so cynically.
Of course, there are genuine elven relationships that have formed despite this “trend.”
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Some Dalaran HC:
Dalaran has remained over the Broken Isles and in close proximity to Suramar (headcanon since it has not been mentioned) so that the Kirin Tor may develop a relationship with the magical Shal’dorei and begin the extensive work of researching/cataloguing the extensive arcane knowledge, spells, artifacts that have remained hidden for 10,000 years.
Since not everyone can travel via portal, the Spires around Krasus Landing are actually docks for Zepelins. The Horde can send Airships to and from Dalaran this way, and also have a “ferry” service from a dock in Suramar, near Astrivaar Harbor, for tourists/visitors arriving by sailing vessel.
Finally, I’ve shared this one before: the hovering blue crystals seen all over Dalaran are Ley-crystals. Dalaran syphons ley-energy directly from a line underneath. The energy is directed inside the Violet Citadel. The Council decides how much power is kept and distributed within the Citadel, and how much is overflow and can be shared with the citizens of the city, via a network of energy, which uses these crystals. The Crystals thus create an “ambient energy” field throughout the city, kind of like magic-wifi, which any mage can tap into. This is the city’s power grid, so to speak.
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So, I know it wont happen because I know Blizzard is allergic to not rehashing…
but when Turalyon goes mental and the Alliance starts it’s expac of imploding, I think that rather than framing it as ‘Light bad, ruler insane!’ it should be framed as the reformation and 30 years war. Just imagine it all kicking off with Turalyon and Yrel forcing their doctrine, then a Draenei, human and dwarf nail a piece of paper to the cathedral’s door.
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