The Lightbound Alliance is one of the next major expansion threats

Lore Story Forum
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"The Golden One claims a vacant throne… the Crown of Light will bring only darkness…" -Il’gynoth

Turalyon has been made the interim king of Stormwind, in Anduin’s absence… even if Anduin survived and somehow came back, time passes differently in the Shadowlands, or at least in the Maw…

When we last saw Yrel, she was committing genocide on Draenor, forcing others to convert to the Light… much like the Scarlet Crusade did, and even they could end up coming out of hiding…

And from various unsettling dialogues by certain Naaru, we know they are not exactly benevolent beings either…

If anything, we know to not implicitly trust the Light and its forces…

With our absence in the Shadowlands, Stormwind is ripe for being taken over, and in some ways it already has been… the nobles of Stormwind, those same nobles who started the whole Defias situation, have put Turalyon in his position of power…

If we could cross over into alternate Draenor, who is to say Yrel and her Lightbound cannot cross from alternate Draenor into Azeroth? If and when she does, one of the first places she will most likely go to is Stormwind… to create a new Alliance with Turalyon, the Lightbound Alliance… one of lawful-evil, that commits terrible acts towards what it perceives are good intentions…

We will return from the Shadowlands to find that Stormwind has been taken over by zealots… the Scarlet Crusade have come out of hiding, and have also joined with the Lightbound Alliance in Stormwind… the Light-infused dreadlord Lothraxion and certain Naaru have also taken up residence within the Cathedral of Light, bolstering their forces even further, making them a true threat…

Their zealotry has become so atrocious that even Velen himself has distanced the Draenei of the Exodar from the now corrupted Stormwind, having gained perspective from the events of Legion… The Exodar (and other Alliance capitols) has thus been made a safe haven for those seeking to escape the atrocities of the Lightbound Alliance… with the situation in Stormwind having reached the ears of the Horde, knowing their own history with Garrosh and his Iron Horde – and how much it mirrors the current crisis – the Council of Warchiefs have agreed to assist the true Alliance in retaking their capitol from the Lightbound Alliance, but the situation becomes more dire, as Thunder Bluff is about to be destroyed by Lothraxion and his Naaru forces… thankfully, the devastation is not so terrible that it cannot be rebuilt, and Silvermoon City has – in the meantime – taken in the refugee Tauren who have survived and evacuated…

Stormwind, a city we once called home, is now hostile territory to our characters… we have been branded as wanted fugitives with a bounty on our heads, but all is not lost… a local resistance, under Alleria Windrunner’s leadership, has regained a foothold within the city… this foothold for the resitance becomes a quest hub with dailies in what is now a max level zone…

Alleria is trying to make her family see reason, and believes that rescuing Arator from the grip of the Lightbound will help Turalyon change his mind… but will it?

The initial raid of this expansion is The Scarlet Stronghold, a new basement wing added to the Scarlet Monastery in Tirisfal Glades, where the most heinous atrocities done by the Scarlet Crusade have been kept a secret… until now…

The Scarlet Halls have also been revamped (again) into a max level dungeon – along with other new dungeons – complete with a Mythic Keystone difficulty, its final fight being against none other than a resurrected Herod…

Another raid of this expansion takes our characters into a part of the Plane of Light itself, known as Light’s Forge, where we attempt gain allies in our battles against the Lightbound Alliance, and to discover the reasons why the Naaru – who have historically been our allies – would side with genocidal maniacs…

The final raid of this expansion culminates in The Siege of Stormwind, where we begin in Dun Morogh to save the forces of Ironforge from an assault by the Lightbound Alliance, boarding the Deeprun Tram and fighting forces of the Lightbound Alliance within its tunnels, and taking the fight into the heart of Stormwind itself… where we will encounter the likes of Arator, Lantresor of the Blade (Lightbound), Grommash Hellscream (Lightbound), Lothraxion, Yrel, the Council of Stormwind Nobles, various Naaru, and Turalyon himself, in no particular order…

What was it that drove the once benevolent heroes of the Light into such a frenzy? Can any among the Lightbound be made to see reason? Was it merely their faith turned corrupt? Or was some other cosmic force pulling the strings of this conflict? These are answers that must be discovered in World of Warcraft: Lightbound…

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Nah, if you’re going to do this you need to let it cook for a few expansions first. Let us Lightbind half the Horde into our ranks and THEN get the baddies 3 expansions later (we keep all the converted Horde ofc)

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I mean, they did that same thing with WoD and Legion, some parts of which extended into BFA and now Shadowlands… all the expansions kind of build on each other, so it HAS been cooking, far as I can tell…

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If the Alliance is going to become evil expansion villains then you need to let us reap the benefits of our villainy for at least 4 expansions. We call it the “Sylvanas Rule”

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Garrosh didn’t exactly have that many though, and Sylvanas has had more than 4… Turalyon is gonna become the new Garrosh…, either him or Yrel, or both… I’m calling it…

There have been two “Evil Hordes” – the Dark Horde in classic, and the Iron Horde in WoD – and far as I can tell, not ONE “Evil Alliance” that has explicitly called themselves an Alliance…

I like playing Alliance just as much as the next person, but our faction is too “perfect” compared to the Horde… I honestly don’t buy for one second what Anduin said in BFA about the Horde having no exclusive claim to regrets because of Arthas and Daelin, simply because both villains didn’t make their own splinter Alliance, in the same way Garrosh did with the Horde…

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You are going to get a LOT of resistance to this idea, but it … is possible at the very least. I get the feeling that if it did happen a lot of the settup is actually going to happen while we’re all locked away in the SLs. With so many peaceniks from both sides being away, and the Horde central government being in a pretty unstable shape, if something is going to happen … it would be the time. Especially since the Alliance has no real reason to be wary of the Lightbound should they arrive; unless the Lightbound themselves start giving them reasons to.

The Lightbound also would dramatically shift the balance of power on Azeroth to the point where conceptually they would massively offset any Alliance potential costs for smashing up the Horde for good while we’re all gone. And by the time all us peaceniks and PCs get back, the Horde is near the breaking point, but things are getting REALLY shifty with the Alliance’s new Ally. With Turalyon getting a bit of a Ner’zhul treatment, realizing too late his deal with the shiny devil in Yrel and the Lightbound (and being “bound”). Its a reasonable enough concept.

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That’s part of the danger… Turalyon is too trusting of those who are of the Light… and that book, “Enemy Infiltration - A Preface” found in Revendreth says as much… if you convince those of the Light that you are of the Light, they will trust you implicitly… the other leaders of the Alliance, possibly including Velen because of his experiences in Legion, would resist such tyranny of their own eventually…

Which is why the Horde, and those in the former Alliance who resist the Lightbound Alliance, would have no choice but to join forces and take back Stormwind… just like they did to take back Orgrimmar when Garrosh drastically upset the balance of power with the Heart of Y’shaarj…

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Honestly, I also just like the idea because of which PC races such a “Spectrums of the Light” expac could get some shine. The Forsaken, the AU Mag’har, the Void Elves, and the LightFORGED/Draenei. With Voss, Geya’rah, Alleria, and Captain Fareeya really having a lot of opportunities for development and shine. And the first 3 races being given chances to subvert the very negative expectations of them (and latched upon them), and show their capacity for grit and heroism; while the last can create some SUPER fascinating ideological battles between those FORGED by the Light … and those BOUND by it. Which would be amazing!

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"T’PAARTOS!"

Make him the Gamon in the Siege of Stormwind raid!

:scream: :scream: :scream: :sunglasses: :sunglasses: :sunglasses: :fire: :fire: :fire:

It would be one of the most epic things ever…

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Well, I dunno. If the Lightbound can really “Bind” people to the Light, then the opportunities for those who could resist in a Gamon way is limited. BUT, there can be a lot of emotional weight invested in trying to save those bound by the Light; by the group who’s dogma is “Saving them from themselves”. With even Turalyon and AU Grom being big names amongst those who need to be saved.

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Except you’re forgetting that T’paartos is a LightFORGED and NOT a LightBOUND… key difference…

Limited, but not impossible… Gamon was limited too, but overcame that…

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True enough. Still, there are a lot of cool opportunities in a such a concept.

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Lots of cool concepts, not just one… imagine getting a Light-infused Gorehowl to drop from Grommash Hellscream… or having to dodge Herod’s BLADES OF LIGHT while other nasty affixes are up in a +15… or fighting on a train in the Deeprun Tram while Lightbound forces are trying to stop / board your train, almost like an ironic reverse of the Grimrail Depot instance from WoD…

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I kind of agree with this, if you’re going to make any one of Alliance characters some type of big bad I think they really need to do some serious damage to get the point across that they’re worth taking seriously as a potential threat.

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Concerning we’re gaining more attention on the dreadlords, we could go for another wrathgate event but have Lothraxion backstab Bolvar this time.

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They can easily do this in the course of one expansion’s storyline, even at launch or in a prepatch if they wanted to… taking over Stormwind, possibly also leveling a Horde city, with the help of a Dreadlord AND multiple Naaru… is somehow not enough of a threat?! Garrosh had Theramore nuked with less… they have easily established over the course of several expansions now that certain agents of the Light aren’t only not to be trusted, they are also not to be trifled with…

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And here is sort of why I like the Lightbound. Its that A) The Alliance has no reason to be wary of them or Yrel till the Lightbound give them that reason; and B) They MASSIVELY tip the balance of power on Azeroth in favor of the Alliance, should the right catalyst appear to motivate the Blues to finally act on DECADES of old wounds. On top of the Lightbound dogma of “saving the evil races of themselves”, which I would really resonate with many Alliance at this point with how much the races of the Horde have harmed them. Like, truly, given the right environment its a tempting vision. As it is a viable (on paper more human) permanent solution to the Horde problem.

So, for a catalyst, say something like … the assassination of someone like Velen (who’s hit the end of his arc), or Foal (who’s a symbol of reconciliation for Undead and Humans), when one of them stumbles a little too close to the true nature of the “Light Mother”. With their death being pinned on one of two very easy targets; Geya’rah of the AU Mag’har (for Velen) or Belmont of the Forsaken (for Faol). Both are characters which Turalyon has a TON of respect for, and them apparently being killed by those contentious members of the Horde could truly push him into action. Convincing him we are what he should believe us to be. Evil monsters.

And should the Lightbound add their forces to the Alliance, its not going to be a very long war. The Horde can’t hold that line for long, but giving opportunities for our vastly underdeveloped leadership and council to get some stress testing. And the opportunity is here to do such a story with so many Peaceniks on both sides hidden away.

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Much as I really don’t want Velen to die just because his arc is supposedly over – Have you read the Son of the Wolf comic’s ending? It’s part of why I think Anduin might survive 9.1 somehow – I do think that if they go that route, it should be done in a meaningful way… like, the reason we end up thwarting the Lightbound should be because of something Velen did or arranged, pre-humously… it would also be an ironic way to end the original Velen’s story, having been betrayed by his own people – and one he mentored in another timeline – but from a different-yet-similar faction… as if Kil’Jaeden was laughing at him from the Twisting Nether, since Fel could not do him in, but Light did… even done well, it would still leave me with mixed feelings, as if such an important character’s death should have been more epic…

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Yeah, and I will admit that his death would be problematic for the Draenei as a PC race until other reps can get development (hence them being a central race of that story). But, Velen is also the single biggest obstacle to pulling off a Lightbound Invasion storyline, so his death or disappearance is almost a requirement for it too work.

But in short, my concept is sort of the Fall of MU Draenor twisted. Turalyon is Ner’zhul. Yrel is KJ. The Light Mother is Sargaras (a Light Cosmological entity of his caliber). And the death of Velen or Faol (and pinning it on the Horde) is the Bladewind incident. With the Alliance and the Lightbound absolutely ROFLstomping the Horde, with Turalyon realizing too late the deal with the Shiny Devil he’s made. Getting literally Bound by the Light. Making him a focal point for the Alliance (and his wife) at least to rescue him. With maybe AU Grom for the Mag’har.

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Even so, he cannot single-handedly stop that from happening… I can see him doing some initial groundwork, having seen visions of betrayal by the Lightbound for their own ends, setting up others to lead the Exodar against them should the worst befall him… so yes, you DO have a point regardless… there are LOTS of things Velen could easily do to stop them, but it would involve others… and meanwhile, the Lightbound would still run rampant for awhile against the Horde, and those in the Alliance who do not fall in line with them… as he and others would say, “In the Light, we are one”… except when others are Bound by it, as they’ll come to find out…

If and when Velen dies, if it’s by an assassin, it would be epic if he somehow confronted them first… he’s a PROPHET so he would still see it coming… but perhaps knowing that his death – which he would probably warn others in his circle about – would convince them that the Lightbound are not to be trusted, and inspire them to fight back…

I’m fairly certain that both Grom and Lantresor survived the encounter at the end of that questline, but are now Lightbound, either as prisoners or made to serve among Yrel’s forces… and part of why the Lightbound would be steamrolling over the Horde at the start of such a conflict, they don’t just have Draenei and Naaru – which are almost enough by themselves – they literally have ANOTHER ORCISH HORDE OF THEIR OWN…

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