Velen is pretty devoted to the cause of the Light. His entire shtick is that people can grow and change. But sure, u can take that away from his character if your readings are that shallow.
3 Likes
The Light’s the bad guys
The Draenei are allowed to be a bit more understanding to what happened to and with the Orcs.
It happened to their own people on their home planet, the Legion influenced and turned even them against them.
Would be pretty shallow of them to not see that happening to another race, and to not be able to distinguish that not all of them are bad, because they were the “not bad ones” of their people…
4 Likes
I’m just waiting for part two of Gentarn’s headcanon.
1 Like
I think my favorite part about the Draenei/blood elf conflict is that it was all planned from the start. The naaru and Velen planned to sacrifice their old city and one (1) naaru as per a vision saying it’ll eventually redeem the blood elves. And it worked!
So yea, out of all the alliance races, I feel the Draenei are the most Willing to parley with the horde
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I regret posting a joke to the forums. I’ll be more literal and humourless in the future.
I think all that’s needed for them to create an interesting faction conflict are to provide valid reasons for the conflict that don’t inherently villain bat one side or the other. But the catch is, faction conflict doesn’t mean a full blown war. Imagine the conflict between the Alliance and Horde was over method of how to handle a situation rather than outright racial hatred or alternatively a matter of making the Alliance and Horde have mutually exclusive goals at times.
For example, suppose there is a monster that when it stings you it is almost definitely causing death unless you can get the anti venom. As it turns out there are members of the Alliance and Horde(and or key allies of either) who have become victims of said sting. You could make doses of the antivenom from the beast, but there wouldn’t be enough doses for everyone on both sides, You might even have to accept losses on your side even if you had every dose. None of the victims are “expendable”. What do you do? Well fight over it if it comes to it of course. Both sides have valid reasons for wanting it and fighting over it and neither side is “evil” in this conflict.
It could also be more simple and it be over resources. Imagine outposts far from supply lines for both the Alliance and Horde saying “Our side needs these resources to survive the harsh conditions” answered with “So does ours” and sharing leading to the resources being spread to thin for either to survive.
3 Likes
Oh, God. Well, I guess I’m in this now.
10 years from the beginning of WoW, the end of the Legion’s last invasion.
Alliance:
Stormwind-
With the High King dead, presumably from Horde treachery, Genn going off on a tear to avenge his personal vendetta against the Horde, and Anduin shakily taking up the reins, there’s an undercurrent of fear in the last remaining Human kingdom, but there’s also hope. Anduin is a priest, a true Champion of the Light, and his courage and devotion to peace and the good of all people, not just his own ‘kind’, creates an atmosphere of anticipation, that better days lay ahead.
The Court of Nobles schemes but finds themselves thwarted not only by Anduin, who is surprisingly ruthless in the political arena, but by Shaw and SI:7 who are equally surprisingly ferocious in their defence of the new High King, and having a returned Champion of the old days, Turalyon, coming back at the head of an army of augmented Light-empowered Draenei and likewise throwing his weight behind Anduin, stymies their plans to puppeteer the throne to the point many of the Court of Nobles just give up and capitulate rather than keep pushing on.
Despite this, the rebellion in Duskwood and Westfall remains strong, even with the Legion continuing on as in the Main Timeline, this time their ‘coup’ in Duskwood, amongst the Nightguard there, is aimed more at turning all of the Defiant into a weapon against Stormwind. Thankfully, the Champions thwart this plan and expose the Demons who were riling up both sides to create a situation of mutual destruction between Stormwind and the Defiants, but the revelation of how easily they were infiltrated and their grievances manipulated does rattle Vanessa VanCleef and her new ‘Court’ enough that when Anduin reaches out, not to reclaim their lands but to invite the Defiant into the Alliance and offer aid to help ease the drought and engage in trade, they agree with a suitable amount of grumbling to satisfy the hardliners on their side.
Anduin’s refusal to use military strength to retake Stormwind’s old territories does raise eyebrows, but everyone is exhausted, their economies are in shambles, their armies depleted and retaking a cursed forest filled with feral worgen and the restless undead, and a drought-plagued dustbowl riddled with gnolls and thieves through force is generally agreed to be a stupid idea.
Despite this hopeful atmosphere, however, the shadow of the Horde, and their new Warchief, the dread Banshee Queen, casts a pall of anxiety and dread over all. Many whisper than Anduin is too trusting, too busy trying to befriend and connect with everyone that he’s blind to the fact that some people just simply can never be trusted …
Ironforge-
Despite the Goldfeathers sapping many proud and skilled Dwarves from Ironforge, their refusal to acknowledge or accept a Dark Iron claim to the throne still echoing through Dwarven society, Ironforge thrives, with her forges churning day and night to produce tools, weapons, components and armor for the Alliance as a whole, and the Council of Three Hammers working well together to prepare the Dwarven people for Dagran’s inevitable ascension to the throne.
That said, the Dwarves are still owed a staggering amount of money for their previous efforts, and while Ironforge’s coffers are deep, further strengthened by the addition of Shadowforge city’s own riches, they’re not inexhaustible, so the Council of Three Hammers is having to make up the shortfall from their own pockets, but is leveraging this by buying up land and businesses in Stormwind, Arathai Highlands and even a few choice plots of land in Kalimdor, also enraging the Goldfeathers, who were trying to set up Bael Modan as the only ‘true’ source of metal and stone goods on Kalimdor to the Kaldorei, Goblins and, to the derision of the Dwarves of Ironforge, even the Horde, through middle-men.
So much for the ‘pride’ of the Goldfeathers, who would not join hands with estranged kin, but would sell to hated enemies.
For their part, the Goldfeather ‘Clan’ has deeply entrenched themselves into Bael Modan and actively burning the thorn-studded brambles of the Quillboar to the ground, trapping the Quillboar to their ancestral fortresses of Razorfen Kraul, and Razorfen Downs, and building extensive farms and ranches to feed their growing population, which now includes Goblin and Gnome visitors from the Speedbarge, and Humans who survived the bombing of Theramore. Carefully selected merchants from the Horde are permitted to make trades and sales at a neutral point between Desolation Hold and Bael Modan, but overall the region remains intensely controlled by the Alliance, with Gryphon Riders patrolling the skies and skirmishing with the occasion wild Wyvern or migration of flying serpents, and Bronzebeard Steam-Tanks patrolling alongside heavily-armored mounted Dwarven warriors.
The Tauren have, at this point, given up on retaking this ground and instead try trade as another way of convincing the Dwarves that Bael Modan is cursed and nothing good can come from continuing to excavate it, but between the insults from their kin from the Eastern Kingdoms, their own nettled pride from having to trade with the Horde and Goblin Cartels to sustain themselves and stubborn Dwarven wills, the Goldfeathers insist they are here to stay and will never stop digging for their heritage.
Despite the belligerent atmosphere, the Explorer’s League is ‘permitted’ entry to help catalogue the findings, but attempts to claim the relics for return to Ironforge only further inflame tempers, since the Goldfeathers intend to keep everything they find, cursed or not, and the Explorer’s League claims a charter to take possession of any and every Titanic relic they find, regardless of who has it.
Gnomeragon-
Little Gnomer, as it is affectionately called by its inhabitants, or New Gnomeragon if they’re being proud, thrives in the aftermath of the Legion invasion. With Gnomish technology now entering a renaissance phase after recovering a host of Legion technology, and access to the Light-Forged Draenei, the difficulties in getting resources have become a non-issue. Teleportation technology was always within the grasp of the Gnomes, they simply lacked the resources, but now, with Legion schematics and access to Draenei teleportation pads, New Gnomeragon doesn’t need to worry about supply lines stretching across a war where the Horde, thieves, bandits and monsters prowl every back-road and mountain range.
Lumber from the Goldfeathers, Ore from Ironforge, food from Stormwind and the Defiant League, all of it is packed in Gnomish crawlers, taken to secure sites, and teleported crate-by-crate into the designated silos to be taken, inspected and sorted further. Other engineers, technomancers and even some mages also gravitate to New Gnomeragon, eager to establish another site of advanced knowledge, and for the first time in years, Gelbin feels … relief. The Dark Irons nearby are rebels, and the G.E.A.R. squads are quick to use their technological superiority to disrupt and demoralize these Dwarves, as well as bamboozle and terrify the Troggs from the nearby Titanic ruins into a state of permanent trauma, giving the Troggs a phobia of anything smaller than themselves by this point in time.
Hydroponics farms produce all the food they’ll ever need, and a humble dock fields experimental aquatic vehicles built to explore the depths and exploit the untouched reefs for fish to add necessary protein and omega-3 fatty acids to fuel the enormous brains of the Gnomes, but New Gnomeragon has hit a slight snag in terms of power, as their geothermal plant is indeed powerful, but its energies are not limitless, and this many Gnomes all running experiments together, powering their robots that do the heavy labour and dangerous manual tasks, and fueling their flying machines and combat drones, is putting a drain on the system that will inevitably cause a total system collapse.
The distancing of the Gnomes from the Alliance did not go un-noticed, and for the first time since the formation of the Grand Alliance, the Gnomish requests are treated as priority requests, their orders for gold, special alloys and access to experts and specialists met as quickly as possible. Gelbin and Anduin in particular hit it off, with Anduin asking Gelbin for advice on how to deal with Westfall’s drought and if it would be possible to set up some sort of barrier or disruption system to keep the incorporeal Undead out of Duskwood so the Nightguard can handle the more mundane versions. Genn grumbles about the Gnomes not being there when the Alliance needed all hands on deck and gets soundly drubbed by Gelbin for that hypocrisy, and it becomes very clear that Gelbin is not only back, but punching well above his weight, both politically and verbally, in this new era of fragile hope.
Teldrassil-
Tensions between the Silverwing Devotees and the Kaldorei under Tyrande and Malfurion continue to deteriorate after the Demon Hunters are permitted to rejoin Kaldorei society, with even the Wardens splitting over the decision of Maiev to re-awaken these accursed champions. Furthermore, Maiev’s psychotic break that started her attempt to assassinate anyone who would welcome or support the re-integration of Mages ended up with her siding with the Silverwing Devotees and taking a large chunk of Wardens to their side long before the Legion invaded for the final time.
Despite this bitter fragmentation, the removal of so many staunch traditionalists has allowed Kaldorei culture on Teldrassil to flourish. New mages, trained in sorcery but with Druidic sensibilities, tap the leylines and build Way-Gates to allow the Kaldorei of Teldrassil to travel instantly to outposts, separate from the Dalaran network and with minimal harm to the surrounding environments, albeit such gates cannot be used constantly as a result. Kaldorei spread out further than ever before, making great strides into Felwood and using a mixture of their Moonwells, Gnomish anti-Blight technology and assistance from the Light-Forged Draenei to purify much of the areas held and kept tainted by the Satyr and their Demon masters, and Kaldorei Druids stand alongside Dwarven and Draenei Shamans to try and ease the droughts crippling Westfall’s ability to produce crops and livestock.
Druidic gates link Teldrassil and other Kaldorei territories to Duskwood, Westfall and even Elwynn Forest and Hearthglen, and a surge of other races come to Teldrassil as a result, seeking trade, knowledge, advice … and hope. Druidism is a very physical form of magic, something earthy and divine at the same time, and slowly, painfully, Humans, Dwarves and even a smattering of Draenei join the Kaldorei novices learning the natural magics of Azeroth, and more and more Kaldorei study along with Delas Moonfang in Hearthglen, learning more about the ways of the Paladin and how this can be married to their faith in Elune.
Gilneas-
Genn struggles to deal with the fact his most hated enemy now commands one of the two greatest forces on Azeroth, and his new High King is not only a third of his age, but peaceful and seeks tolerance, even with the Forsaken. Despite this, the events of the Desolate Council and the murder of Caulia Menethil plays out, and Genn seems to age decades in the space of a few months. More and more the duties requiring the Gilnean Monarch to take to the field fall on the shoulders of his daughter, Tess, and more political duties are split between Genn and his more disciplined wife, Mia.
Despite having rejected their position within the Alliance and thrown in with the Argent Crusade instead, Crowley and his ‘Kingdom of Crows’ finds themselves forced to petition for assistance as Sylvanas and her Forsaken spill out into the Plaguelands, fighting the Alliance for control of the region, and the Argent Crusade refuses to take sides. Forsaken saboteurs prowl their defences day and night, and while separating from Genn certainly saved the Kingdom of Crows from the wrath of the Horde when there were biggest threats on the table, now, with peace on the table and the Kingdom having no real political connections left, they’re a loose end that Sylvanas wants tied up.
Ironically, it is a sealed letter given to the Highlord bearing a Horde seal that causes the Argent Crusade to rally to Crowley’s side and force a cease-fire. The Forsaken begrudgingly agree to acknowledge these Worgen as the legal claimants to the Scarlet Enclave, and the Kingdom of Crows, humbled and embittered after nearly losing their homeland again, petition for the right to join the Alliance, and are begrudgingly allowed entrance, as the Alliance needs every ally they can get, and bad blood between Genn and Crowley or not, with the Alliance controlling the Western Plaguelands, having the Kingdom of Crows pushing to claim all of the Eastern Plaguelands in time can only cement the Alliance’s growing iron grip on the northern regions of the Eastern Kingdoms.
Despite this, the Worgen of the Kingdom of Crows remain stubborn and self-reliant, preferring to trade only sparingly, and Alliance high command quickly learns that while these Worgen will work with most of the Alliance’s forces, putting Gilneans and Crows in the same unit is a terrible idea and results in large amounts of ‘inexplicable friendly fire’ reports.
Exodar-
With working farms and ranches, the Draenei and the Humans who came seeking salvation and teachings on the Light have built a sizeable community, engaging in trade with the Kaldorei and even going so far as to establish a trading hub in desolace with the Horde, much to the consternation of the Alliance and the irritation of the Goldfeather Dwarves.
Heartbroken and yet at peace in the aftermath of the Legion invasion, the end of Kil’jaden and the shattering of the Legion with the imprisonment of Sargeras, Velen partially steps down as leader of the Draenei, instead serving as a mediator and counselor to the Council of Exarchs, who now represent the needs of their people and their roles in society, which now includes Humans who are adapting well…ish to the socialistic society of the Draenei on Azuremyst Isle.
Despite this, there is tension as the Army of the Light expected the Draenei to want vengeance against the Orcs, but the Draenei for the most part simply want to heal, move on and keep themselves safe. The same illusory barriers that once shielded their cities on Draenor are now used to obscure reefs and other dangerous in the ocean, and flights of Nether Rays patrol the skies and keep watch for Legion sabotage from the still-blighted northern regions of Bloodmyst Isle. Ships sail from a more robust series of docks, scouring for more wreckage of the Exodaar and schools of fish, while other carry trade goods of fine Draenish make for Teldrassil and the trading post in desolace.
Despite the cultural divide that has grown with their separation, the Light-Forged Draenei and the Army of Light are still welcomed as heroes and long-lost kin, and a new settlement is build in the shadow of the cannibalized Void-Ship that carried the Draenei to this world, its shell now full of holes as it is slowly cannibalized to form a new capital …
The relative peace of the Draenei’s adopted homeland draws in more than just the faithful seeking spiritual guidance, but traders from many nations and races, as well as those seeking guidance and enlightenment on matters besides the Light and the will of the Naaru. Refugees from Outland, as unnatural droughts and strange events plague the floating landmass, also stream into the arms of the Draenei. Mag’har, Oshu’nei, Broken, Humans and Dwarves arrive, eager to find stability, safety and a place to call home, an eager if undisciplined surge of fresh recruits to help the Draenei and the Army of the Light expand into the last Legion holdouts on Bloodmyst Isle and finally secure these lands for the Draenei people to rebuild in peace.
Horde:
Orgrimmar-
Much has changed in the City of Spikes, and many leaders had passed onto and off the Throne of Hide and Bones. Goblin engineering had reshaped the city in new and often dangerous ways, and even years after his fall, the undercurrent of crime had never quite faded from the poorer citizens of the city. Despite this, under the Banshee Queen’s controversial leadership, much of the city’s bureaucratic infrastructure had been streamlined, the efforts of the Scorpoid Rebellion not having gone unnoticed, and a sizeable push was made to fix the damage to the city’s water-supply by the apothecaries.
This may have certainly endeared the Banshee Queen to the civilians of the Horde, but as with all her actions, it benefitted her in multiple ways. The apothecaries were able to study the water and isolate the heavy metals from it for their own use, as well as developing new ways to deploy the Blight in more subtle ways.
Trade with the Draenei, the Goldfeather Dwarves, and their own people has helped invigorate Orgrimmar, but the scars of past Warchiefs still linger on both the people and the city. The loss of Theramore stings still to this day, both in the fact that Orgrimmar lost a valuable trading partner, and the city’s name is invoked whenever a trade deal goes south because the whole world no longer trusts an Orc’s word as their bond anymore because of Garrosh’s efforts. Vol’jin’s attempt to heal and guide the Horde back to a place of honor was cut short by the Legion, leaving many wondering if their whole way of life is going to be upended again under Sylvanas’s stewardship of the Horde, leading to unease and anxiety amongst the common people, especially as Alliance spies flood the city to keep track of the Banshee Queen, and many come to fear that so long as the Banshee Queen rules, the Alliance will never stop harassing their people, even in the mightiest stronghold of the Horde.
Despite the increased oversight from the new Warchief, and the tightening of loop-holes in their orders, the Scorpoid Rebellion lingers on amongst the Orcs, Trolls and Tauren, and has even spread ‘cells’ out into the territory of Goblins, Sin’dorei and the Forsaken, a secret, now almost cult-like, society identified by the claw or stinger of a Scorpoid, either as an article of jewellery, a tattoo or a trophy carried on their person, forever watching for the next Garrosh, the next Blackhand, the next Prince Kael’thas or Gallywix who might threaten their friends and family and use the unassailable position of the Warchief to do more harm to the Horde as a whole.
Echo Isles-
Formerly emboldened by their Chieftain becoming the Warchief of the Horde, the Darkspear mourn the loss of their greatest champion and beloved leader, even as the Echo Islands thrive with the end of Zalazane’s corruptive magic.
Still Orgrimmar’s greatest source of fish and the other bounties of the ocean, the Darkspear have not forgotten how quickly their fortunes turned when Garrosh was the Acting Warchief, nor the bad blood that still lingers in quiet corners between themselves and the Blood Elves for the actions of Zul’jin’s Ghost took during the Zandalar Incursion during the Cataclysm, and have slowly and painstakingly made a fleet of small, fast double-hulled ships that are ostensibly for fishing and cargo-hauling, but in truth exist to quickly and quietly ferry the Darkspear away from the Echo Islands, and the Horde, should the new Warchief turn against them as well.
Never the most numerous people, the Darkspear did find, in the aftermath of the Zandalari Incursion and after the Zandalari Invasion of Pandaria, that many of the other small Tribes started looking to them, not the Zandalari, for aid. Revantusk, small families from within the Stranglethorn Tribes, even some Farakki from the Sand Trolls have defected, choosing a lower rank amongst a new Tribe rather than linger on to certain death with their pride intact, and in a move of rare foresight, the Darkspear leaders resettled these new ‘friends’ to areas more suited to their natures.
The Farraki were sent to aid and support the Darkspear’s outpost in Desolace, and took well to the region’s inhospitable deserts and wastelands, while also taking well to more inland tasks within the Barrens and Durotar, but always with Darkspear ‘guides’ when they did so.
The Revantusk already had a strong place within the Horde, and settled well into Feralas to aid and ‘assist’ the Horde-aligned Ogres and Tauren within the region, enjoying the challenge of a new territory to master and new threats to challenge themselves with.
The Stranglethorn refugees, long abused by the blood-mad chieftains and the power-hungry priests of Hakkar that ruled over the Jungle Troll Tribes, finally take a deep breath of freedom within the Horde and under the protection of the Darkspear, and set about learning how best to earn a living in this vastly more metropolitan society than they are used to, where a non-Troll is not an immediate threat, and a Troll from outside your Tribe is not immediately a challenge for supremacy.
Thunder Bluff-
Finding the Highmountain Tauren creates a certain mood of excitement within the Taura’he people of Mulgore, and encourages them to reach out again to the Taunka, and with some trepidation, the Yaungol to try and strengthen the bonds of kin between them, with mixed results, even as Baine quietly politics in the background with the Darkspear, the Sin’dorei and the Scorpoid Rebellion, keeping a calm and helpful facade in-front of the Banshee Queen.
Mayla, for her part, is simply happy to have new lands to see and explore and encourages those amongst her people to seek out new vistas and bring honor to their Tribes, and to the Horde, but she is not blind to the tension within the Horde, nor is Ebonhorn, who at this point still cannot leave Highmountain due to his curse, and offers wise counsel to both Tauren leaders, even as Mulgore grain is ground to flour and exported far and wide to a hungry, healing world.
Despite the relative ‘peace’ in the Barrens, the Tauren keep the great gate in good condition and trade hesitantly with the Goldfeather Dwarves, and more openly with the Draenei merchants in Desolace, turning their noses up at those who grumble about taking Alliance gold as anything other than battle-booty, but the growing ecological damage of the Bilgewater and Blackfuse Goblin Cartels as they struggle in the aftermath of Garrosh and the actions of the traitorous lieutenant, Helix Blackfuse, and how openly Sylvanas favors Gallywix over Midna the Tall, especially Gallywix’s ‘mining’ operations in Silithus, cause many Tauren to reconsider openly embracing the Horde again and keep a polite but respectful distance from this new Horde under the Banshee Queen’s cold stewardship.
The aftermath of the Legion invasion, the rise of ‘stranded’ Demons in the dark, forgotten corners of Azeroth, the terror of the spirits from where Sargeras’s sword struck deep into the earth keeps many Tauren busy and distracted from the politics of the Horde, but also keeps them spread out and constantly on the move, making it harder for the Tauren to respond for mustering calls for war as a result …
Undercity-
One would think, with their beloved Banshee Queen now the Warchief, the Forsaken would be delighted, but her constant travels to Orgrimmar, the loss of so many Val’kyr and the refusal of the Forsaken who left to join the Argent Crusade to ‘come home’ and assist their people in rebuilding weighs on many of the Forsaken who remain.
Even the Desolate Council cannot keep everyone’s hopes up that this new era will finally see their plight taken to heart, and as the Desolate Council starts to chart their own course with the Banshee Queen occupied and the beginnings of the Arathai Meet-Up with their living kin beginning to brew, more and more Forsaken beginning to realise that this is it, with the remaining Val’kyr constantly at Sylvanas’s side to keep them, and her, safe, that this Unlike of theirs is winding down and, inevitably, the last remnents of Lordaeron will return to the grave again, a kind of malaise grips the Forsaken.
Arthas is dead. Garrosh is dead. The Legion that created them is dead. They truly have run out of enemies to claim vengeance against and while for some, their ‘new’ Unlife has allowed them to go and do thing that would have been unthinkable while they were alive, many more simply … have nothing left. Without the Lich King, there’s no longer the mindless state constantly hovering over all their heads, but those Forsaken who have truly lost hope start to feel the beginnings of a ‘chill’ to their undead forms, and become obsessive avoiding the mindless state, even to the point of physical harm.
This also drives many Forsaken to travel, seeking to obtain new memories and new experiences, either to fill the time they have left, or to fulfill dreams that their Unlife cut short, driving a surge of Forsaken merchants and pilgrims travelling in large groups where it is safe for their kind to go, normally Horde territory but even into neutral territory, which causes alarm amongst the Alliance who fear this is some cunning gambit by the Banshee Queen to seed spies and agents across Azeroth. The Banshee Queen, for her part, finds herself in one of those rare moments where she is flabbergasted at this turn of events, finding the Undercity running on what could best be described as a skeleton crew of Forsaken, using mindless undead suck as skeletons, ghouls and zombies to keep the city functioning, her Liches and Death Knights hiding deep beneath Undercity at her command and thus unable or unwilling to emerge to keep the more delicate operations of the Undercity running at full capacity.
This both annoys and irritates the Banshee Queen, as she simply can’t order the Forsaken to come home and get back to work, their entire premise is built upon ‘Free Will’ after all, but it also leaves her with a deeply depleted force to protect her home and her secrets, and the whole point of the Val’kyr was to provide a bulwark against the Abyss to keep her safe, and the Alliance and its champions have been slowly but successfully whittling away her Val’kyr, and thus her ability to revive the living into more Forsaken. An army of mindless Undead might be useful, but after everything the Alliance and Horde have been through, it is hardly intimidating anymore.
So when the Banshee Queen learns that the current High King of Stormwind has been talking to the Desolate Council, she quickly interjects herself into the discussion and arranges for her best agents to be on standby. She will give her people their ‘free will’, their chance to meet the living … and she intends to make sure they know the truth, that just like her family rejected her, they will never know comfort amongst the living …
Bilgewater Harbor-
The constant struggling between the two Cartels within the Horde has never ended, with Gallywix constantly trying to bribe others to sign on with him, and Midna offering fair deals but harsh working conditions to keep the Blackfuse afloat. Despite this, Helix Blackfuse’s betrayal, continuing to side with the Acting Warchief, Garrosh, even after Midna swore the Cartel to Vol’jin’s rebellion, created a slow but relentless trickle of workers and skilled craftsfolk back to Gallywix, a drain that despite every attempt by Midna the Tall, never seemed to stay plugged for long.
With Bilgewater Harbor once again trading hands and the Blackfuse Company forced to work out of the Underbase beneath Orgrimmar, while Gallywix gloats from atop his Pleasure Palace and has regular meetings with the new Warchief, Midna fumes and plots, for the Blackfuse name has been tainted and they were never the most wealthy Cartel to ever be formed, and so new sources of revenue have to be found, and a more permanent method of stopping the loss of skilled Goblins defecting back to Gallywix has to be found.
Ironically, it is Gallywix’s own mining operations in Silithus that provides this, with all of his goons, his men, his mech-suits and his focus going to that goal, allowed the Blackfuse to take over contracts that the Bilgewater let slide in effort to focus on this mysterious operation. Confiding in the few contacts she has amongst the leadership of the Horde, namely Baine, Saurfang and Rohkahn, Midna mentions that whatever mineral they’re extracting from the site, it has more protection than anything she’s ever seen Gallywix put in place, and that includes on his own damn person.
Whatever is coming out of Silithus, it is not good, because Gallywix doesn’t personally oversee matters that deal in the mundane or the boring. If the Trade Prince himself is overseeing the project, it has to be big, and Gallywix only cares about the profit, not the consequences. Baine and Saurfang share a look of concern, and Rohkahn nods in understanding, fingering a Scorpid claw encased in amber, and says he’ll look into it.
Despite the Cartels’ squabbling, the Goblins within the Horde are thriving, fully accepted as equals, their technology and contracts dominating the Horde’s market, and with more than a few dabbling in ‘weekend’ roles within the Scorpid Rebellion, unable or unwilling to commit but seeing the wisdom in the society’s charter. Goblin merchants peddle goods from all over the Horde territories to anyone with the gold to spare, keeping the overall economy of the Horde ticking over as while Gallywix continues to pry for every dented copper coin he can get, Sylvanas, unlike Garrosh, is no fool and knows wealth inequality will rile up the common folk of the Horde just as quickly as openly raising their dead to serve her would, and taxes the Trade Prince on his estimated wealth, knowing she has the fat little greaseball by the nasties.
If he under-estimates his wealth, he’s shaming himself publicly in-front of every other Goblin and she can sting him for avoiding paying his ‘fair share’, which earns her points from the other races within the Horde.
If he over-estimates, she’s getting more money out of him anyways, and can show that the Horde is indeed profitable, and that she’s ensuring that every member of the Horde is treated fairly.
If he refuses to pay his taxes, she just gives the contract to the Blackfuse Cartel, who would be very eager to put one over on Gallywix and have a reputation for being hard workers and fair-minded by Goblin standards.
No matter how it plays out, Sylvanas wins, and Gallywix knows it, because nobody in the upper echelons of the Horde trusts him further than they can physically toss his corpulent self, and by now, most of the Goblins have probably told their story of Gallywix tricking them into selling themselves to him as slaves as their island burned down around them, and most of the common people of the Horde have a desperately low opinion of the Trade Prince as a result, and Gallywix would know Sylvanas can rig any trial or protest he starts to pay a lower amount, so that no matter what evidence he brings to the table, she’ll skin him alive anyways.
At least she’s not greedy with the taxes, its mostly for show and Gallywix is still making obscene profits, and as a Trade Prince, he salutes a skilled player of the game of Appease the Rubes, even if he’s currently holding a weaker hand than he’d like. But still … enough Azerite’s falling through the cracks, and into the hands of people who are so deeply in debt to him that their loyalty is absolute, that Gallywix is willing to play the long game.
Because if Azerite really does make you the best version of yourself that you can be, then a Winner like him will end up ruling the whole world … if only he can figure out how to make the Azerite just work, and not blow the imbiber up!
Silvermoon City-
The streets and promenades of Silvermoon buzz with excitement and intrigue, as the Shal’dorei, recent additions to the Horde’s roster of the maligned, the mistreated and the misfits, flood the Horde’s territories seeking to understand their place in this new world, 10,000 years separated from their own. And even more delicious drama floods the smoke-houses and thistle-dens over discussions about the obvious attraction between the Regent Lord of the Sin’dorei and the First Arcanist of the Shal’dorei, and how ‘certain individuals’ are going to react to it.
In the aftermath of Garrosh, the rise and fall of Vol’jin, and the ascension of the Banshee Queen, the Sin’dorei’s place within the Horde has, for better or worse, cemented in place, with every attack and counter-attack, upset and reversal only making it more and more apparent that the Blood Elves truly can never return to their old allegiances anymore, and so trade and diplomacy within the Horde will have to sustain them, so the admission of such kindred spirits as the Shal’dorei is a welcome reprieve for the Sin’dorei culture.
Sin’dorei ships and Shal’dorei mage-portals ferry goods to and from the ever-golden boughs of their homeland to the haunted reaches of Lordaeron, and Sin’dorei mages are at the forefront of efforts to build a separate Portal Network, outside of Dalaran’s influence and potential Alliance sabotage given the aftermath of Garrosh’s disastrous ploy with the Divine Bell, and such Portals allow a flow of trade between the capitals undreamed of beforehand, although the size of the portals, and the demand for access, does make such trade limited to smaller items that can be carried … thankfully, the Elves have long ago mastered the art of making Bags of Holding in bulk, even as they eye the Gnomish portal-network to New Gnomeragon with avid interest.
Though Lor’themar is leery of the continuation of the Scorpoid Rebellion in his lands, he understands the importance of a ready-made insurrection machine should any current or future Warchief drag the Horde down the wrong path again, and after all that happened in Suramar, the First Arcanist, Thalyssa, is more than ready to give clandestine support and aid to such an organisation, even arranging for her Dusk Lily agents to discreetly offer assistance and training to those they deem suitably ground in reality, and not the ‘thrill’ of being part of such a group.
While Thalyssa is quite impressed with Sylvanas, the wariness and fatigued respect Lor’themar has for his former Ranger General and current Warchief quickly clues her in to the fact that Sylvanas is not all necrotic hugs and undead kittens, but a hard and cold leader who will use her people, all of them, to their full potential, regardless of the cost if it will achieve her goals, a not unsurprising revelation for a political leader of such a diverse coalition of peoples, cultures, traditions and religious beliefs.
Suramar, for its part, slowly rebuilds and finds itself dominating the alcohol market for a few solid months before the Brewmasters re-assert themselves in some fields, leading to a good-natured rivalry between Goblin cocktail mixologists, Pandren brew-masters and Shal’dorei vinters for the hard-earned coin of thirsty Horde drinkers, while the rest of Shal’dorei society spreads out into the surrounding regions around their city.
Some end up taking in the Withered that ended up being so instrumental to ending the Legion’s choke-hold on their people and trying to cure them, with mixed success, but mostly the Withered who have been so for a long time cannot be ‘cured’, only cared for, rendered passive with the juices from the fruit of the Arcan’dor tree, and naturally enough, this ends up as a spirit that is given to these ‘guests’ at the sanatoriums with their meals, and in this, another facet of kinship is found with the Sin’dorei, who have their own sanatoriums where the Wretched that arose after the destruction of the Sunwell, who are in turn kept passive and healthy with regular infusion of magic from the Sunwell and small, soft magical items to play with. This leads to a number of enchanted toys being produced, ‘cats’ that purr when held, ragdolls that resemble young children for Wretched and Withered who might remember lost children or young siblings, and more, something calming and soothing for the inhabitants of the sanatoriums to while their days away with without hurting themselves or each other.
And as time passes, and a seed is found in one of the larger fruits from the Arcan’dor tree is discovered, Sin’dorei and Shal’dorei scholars seek out the Moon Guard in the mountains to the north-west of Suramar, asking advice on if such a miraculous tree could survive being in the presence of a nexus of power such as the Sunwell …
It took far longer than I hoped for to finish this because I had to keep going back and double-checking stuff, and I just realised I’ve completely forgotten the Pandaren on both Mega-Factions.
URK!
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Thank you! I have been saying this for years!
But people still wanna hold hands and be fraynds!
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I think there’s a difference between being palsy-walsies, and agreeing to be polite and not kill each other on sight. There’s also the issue of there being just as many periods of peace as there were of war, and while the war certainly went places no sane person though were good … there’s also just as many incidents of people charging in to save their enemy in the name of the greater good.
I’d argue that individuals can be great friends, we’ve seen this play out before, with Varian and Valeera, Tirion Fordring and Eitrigg, there’s Grizzek and Saffy if you want to get really friendly with each other, the list goes on and on.
The Dragonscale Expedition is built more by civilians who have suffered under the constant war-economies of their Mega-factions, or former soldiers who saw a better life other than hitting each other with sharp pieces of metal, by actively working together while being several steps removed from the politics of their respective Mega-Factions, and a lot of folks might be side-eyeing how at ease they can be around each other, but you’d also be surprised how easy it can be to work with somebody if you’ve got a shared goal that forces you to play nice, and given enough time, supportive leadership and a good enough incentive, you’d be surprised who can become good friends or, at the very least, work well together under most conditions.
Furthermore, both the Horde and Alliance’s economies collapsed in the aftermath of the War of Thorns/Battle for Azeroth, and the armies were utterly gutted of troops, hence why people were so willing to saddle up and ride together against Sylvanas, because there was simply no way for one side or the other to win after all the losses they’d suffered at this point. The two years we spent in the Shadowlands, we probably missed riots, food shortages, rationing, whole industries collapsing, wide-scale bankruptcy and probably lynchings of money-lenders and tax officers, and the three years after we returned were probably spent painfully building everything up to the point it could survive, but would also likely be so fragile that a single bit of sabre-rattling could make both houses of cards collapse.
Hence the Dragonscale expedition and the Alliance and Horde, despite only having a cease-fire at this point, turned a blind eye to their civilians mixing and creating a cross-faction alliance of their own because its propping up the economy, shut the hell up, I’m paying my soldiers in gruel and promises, this is the only way we’re getting the gold we need to pay off all our debts and I.O.U.'s.
I am 100% against holding hands of any kind. The 3ft of personal space rule is definitely not enough. Should be more like 3000 miles unless there is good reason to get any closer like a decades long border dispute or genocidal events that require immediate action.
Now, can I offer anyone a hot beverage?
Cheers.
Factions are not a monolith. Sarsi herself is very anti-war and she even has an Orcish name from when she helped at Siege of Orgrimmar against Garrosh.
Lots of individual people have lots of individual reasons for the friends they make and political actions don’t really forbid that. Sarsi has horde friends, and many of my horde have alliance friends.
I think it’s cool to explore that.
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5 years is not long enough to heal the wounds left by what both sides have done in the past. It’s just not. I hate drawing comparisons between WoW and real life, but even in a fantasy world it does not suspend my disbelief. A tenuous cease fire to avert the end of the world, sure. But not on the level of cooperation Blizzard is forcing into the story. I am all for players being able to play together across faction, but the way it’s reflected in the game is dog water.
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It comes down to Blizzard realising they drastically over-reached with the whole story of Legion/Battle for Azeroth where we went from Alliance and Horde throw stones at each other and the events of the Wrathgate, Theramore and the Siege of Orgrimmar are seen as events of abject horror and aberration by both sides, to “Hey, let’s burn down cities full of civilians and make the players watch!” and both sides being down for genocide because there’s no coming back from what the Banshee Queen did for anyone, regardless of which side you were on.
It does throw me a little bit out of my immersion too, but if my options are “Genocide again? Must be a Tuesday, innit?” and Everybody hugs it out and plays nice, I’m gonna take the hug it out story because I’ve already had far too much of people hating each other for the sins of their parents, their faith, their ancestors and the rest in my real life to want to spend $15 a month to be that person.
If I wanted that, I’d play Warhammer instead.
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The frustrating thing is how broad the factions are, I guess.
Does it make sense for Orcs and Humans to have enduring animosity for each other? Sure, they’ve got some bad history. They’ve got some stuff to work through.
Does it make sense for Nightborne and Draenei to permanently be on opposite sides of a race war? No, not so much… I was helping Thaly get over her magic addiction just a few years ago, we should be relatively cool!
If we could distill it down to a core conflict that made sense the factions wouldn’t feel so arbitrary. But neutral characters still aren’t an option, so everyone has to join the race war on some side. I haven’t played TWW so idk what justification is presented for some Earthen deciding to join the Horde and vow permanent racial hostility to all other dwarves but I have my doubts that it is written in a compelling manner.
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For me the whole “let’s burn a city” was the best part of BFA and technically happened before the xpac launched. I think if Blizzard had stuck to their guns and kept up the HvA theme BFA would have been alot better than what we got in the end. But then I play WoW for the WAR in Warcraft (the conflict of adversaries on a massive scale) not strictly HvA… though I do enjoy that aspect immensely. I just wish it was handled better.
This is very very true. It’s really a failure on Blizzard being able to add nuances to the story. I was saying the other day in another thread that there’s so much potential in the world that Blizzard has made that they could tell some amazing stories if they put in more than just the bare minimum effort in storytelling.
Looking at you Arcane season 2 (so far). You are a gem of faction storytelling (if you don’t ruin yourself trying to cram too much in one season) . 2 seasons is not going to be enough (please don’t ruin yourself!).
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Fortunately Velen and the Draenei are typically irrelevant in the story unless a human is leading them or an elf needs a new magic source. 
Also agree about the points the Draenei super hating on the orcs don’t make a ton of sense given they too are victims of the Legion.
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Being recently brought out of a very long slumber, I am quite confused by both the Alliance and Horde.
lets just be real its a lot easier for them gameplay and story wise to send us on a singular path and not have to add nuance for all of us.
Game has not had faction specific quest hubs since BFA, and I dont think we ever will again.
Even Gilneas and the new Night Elf capitol became neutral quests to do.
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Would you guys be okay with a proxy war that we could all support one side or the other? Maybe not even tied to the horde and alliance, but like how you could support Wrathion or Sabellian, or the two runty animal guys in sholazaar, or whatever they came up with next. Maybe we don’t need a faction war. Maybe we all need to fall in love with a strange creature boyfriend / girlfriend, fight for their cause, and bemoan the death of our new companions and the tragedy of it all after the final battle
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