So per the orc heritage armor quest chain we know that the Frostwolf, Blackrock, Warsong, Bleeding Hollow, Shattered Hand, Dragonmaw, and Burning Blade (albeit not many in number) are with the Horde. It is unclear if the Rageroar (created in Cata and active in BfA) are still a thing as they are not represented at the festival. Regardless that’s 7 or 8 orc clans within the Horde, and it got me wondering if their were ways to bring other clans back into the fold.
Like in regards to the fel orc clans, an easy story that can be told is that one of them simply reaches out to the Horde for help. Either seeking a cure because they are mutating further or simply want to break the shackles of their demonic masters. In that regard, their are actually two routes to take. One option is have Bleeding Hollow dissidents reach to Jorin for aid and have the story end with the Bleeding Hollow as the first orc clan in the Horde to contain regular orcs, mag’har orcs, and fel orcs under one banner. Another option is to have the helpful fel orc clan be one without a modern Horde counterpart, like the Laughing Skull or Shadowmoon, and establish them as the loyal fel orcs to the Horde.
Now I must admit that I do have an idea for the Thunderlords. While the Burning Crusade established the clan as a dead clan, either being amongst the Fel Horde as a minor clan or dead alongside the last chieftain Garm Wolfbrother, Fenris was nowhere to be seen. Now as the portals shattered Draenor into Outland, Fenris and a group of Thunderlords could have easily made the decision to enter one as the planet was falling apart and thus the Thunderlords could establish themselves somewhere new, to be apart in the universe somewhere being potential awaiting allies of the Horde.
I think it’s fine to keep some MU clans defunct. The corruption brought by Gul’dan and the transformation of Draenor into Outland were disasters the likes of which AU Draenor has never known, so Orcish nations can’t just be reverted back to their pre-shattering state like nothing happened. Modern-day MU Orcs were born from physical and mental devastation. That’s what makes them interesting.
However, I’d very much like to see both 1) the creation of a brand new clan made up of Fel Orcs retaining some sanity and formerly hailing from various clans, willing to gather in order to forge themselves a place in the world and a new identity emerging from the pain and misery that unites them ; 2) the Rageroar step up as an actual clan in its own right, one heavily conditioned by its Azerothian origins (made up of young Orcs born on Azeroth and largely ignorant of Draenor and their ancient traditions, and even non-Orc members : in other words, a clan that reflects the New Horde).
Rageroar is honestly kinda funny. Some random quest designer in Cata made the typo of referring to Rageroar’s troops as a “clan” instead of an “army” and now we all have to pretend that they’re somehow a real clan.
If Blizz actually put the work in as Kohnila suggested it could be interesting, but as-is it doesn’t hold up.
Personally, I think it’s fine for the Thunderlords to stay dead. Part of what makes the passing of time feel real is things going away. If you desperately try to hold on to everything it makes it feel like nothing has actually happed. (Corollary: The Scarlet Crusade should be dead.)
That would be neat to see. And I can already picture a funny scene with them trying to establish their clan name by merging various clan names together (ex: Shadow Skull, Bleeding Moon) before their chieftain puts a stop it and declares "We are the insert clan name and everyone agrees.
Agreed.
I get that and do agree thst the Scarlet Crusade should be dead. Though with how Tagar and Bovan were MIA until DF brought back into the story, I do question if the Thunderlords being gone will be a certainty since Fenris is MIA and the door is there for a potential return. Albeit not necessarily as a Horde character, especially if Blizzard ever updates Outland and wants to retain the Fel Horde.
I heard they had a presence/cameo at the festival but sadly only learned about it after I completed the quest chain.
Thinking about it, I’d be much more reluctant to let the MU Thunderlord, Shadowmoon and Laughing Skull go defunct if their AU counterparts didn’t already exist in the Horde currently. That way their identities and the flavor they bring to the Orcish culture are preserved.
The MU Burning Blade HAVE to survive though. I want to see them flourish as a clan that had a complete shift in their identity, trying to blend together their traditional blade mastery + their modern affinity with the Fel inherited from their recent history. Dual legacy stuff. That would be awesome. Just like the modern-day MU Shattered Hand are a result of both their roots as an Orcish clan and their development as a shady intel organization.
MU Orcs are so interesting because they look forward to reclaim their cultural heritage but they can’t avoid developing very hybrid practices and mindsets because of the hardcore rupture they experienced
The Shadowmoon being defunct was jarring considering in BC Outland in Shadowmoon Valley we have Shadowmoon orcs living in their husk of a village and they have peons as well as regular NPCs. Warlocks etc.
I know the Mag’har orc from Outland mentioned they are dead, but I want my orc to be of that clan. I felt for a roleplay perspective it was unfair to kill off one of the most important clans in Orcish culture.
Curious about that. I don’t remember NPCs specifically identified as Shadowmoon in Shadowmoon Village (outside of the Shadowmoon spirits from that one questline) and I can’t find them on Wowpedia and stuff. I always believed the Orcs in Shadowmoon Village were just regular Horde troopers. Got any link to see what they’re about ?
They were labeled as Shadowmoon if I remember correctly. I always felt they were the last Shadowmoon orc clan holdouts, the exiles, and the very last finally supplied by the New Horde when Thrall sent reinforcements.
I feel as if Shadowmoon Peon is more of a reference to location rather than Clan, just like Thrallmar Peon, Stonard Peon, Hammerfall Peon, etc.
So when Relka says she is the last known Shadowmoon, she is the last known Shadowmoon. Of course ‘known’ implies there could be others, in exile, hiding, fallen to fel corruption, or have forgotten linage but thats it. I remember some point wowpedia inferred that Overlord Or’barokh could be of Shadowmoon linage but nothing was ever confirmed so it was removed at some point.
They could do a 180 and say Shadowmoon Village, at the non-Kor’kron orcs there are Shadowmoon, but I think its safe to say the clan is a dead end unless Relka has a come to orc jesus moment and decides to lead the new orc priests and reforms the Shadowmoon almost as a racial class hall similar to the Burning Blade and their warlocks.
Just as a possibility, she was seen with Marud and Kashra at the end of the event, two Arcweavers from Garrosh granted amnesty by Thrall, so two who also don’t have the most stand up history. Kashra is a Frostwolf but Marud’s clan is never stated. So a reformed clan of Arcweavers and could be established. She does look forward to speaking to you again if you are a priest so there is room for the possibility.
I mean, Relka does describe herself as the “last Mag’har of the Shadowmoon clan”, so a bunch of green-skinned Shadowmoon being out there in Outland is still a possibility, though I suspect here “Mag’har” is to be understood literally, that is to say as “uncorrupted” (meaning with a sane mind, so non-Fel) rather than “brown-skinned”. I guess if there were still green-skinned Shadowmoon who had retained their sanity, they would’ve been present at the Kosh’harg
Given what we saw during the Mag’har recruitment questline combined with the Dark Star incident It would be 100% believable that they were “purified” by Yrel so it makes sense that they’re effectively dead.
Shadowmoon Village uses Thrall-era Horde architecture instead of the clay dome buildings the older towns in Outland like Garadar use, so I’m pretty sure it was built recently.
Worth noting that there’s no village in the equivalent spot in WoD. It’s where the Alliance garrison went, which before you build the garrison is just an empty forest except for a few Shadowmoon standing stones. (Tangentially, Wildhammer Fortress is over Anguish Fortress which matches with a quest in BC saying the dwarves inadvertently built on sacred spiritual land).
