Winter Veil is a bizarre force in the WoW cosmology beyond any of our understandings that seemingly transcends time, space, and even the forces of life and death.
At first, Winter Veil seems like nothing more than a WoW version of Christmas, complete with goblin commercialization thanks to Smokywood Pastures: this is couldn’t be further from the truth. I believe that Smokywood Pastures is working on behalf of the real Greatfather Winter to ensure that the holidays aren’t disrupted by holiday anomalies and that all can partake in the holiday spirit.
Every year around this time, Smokywood Pastures sets up shop in Orgrimmar and Ironforge and provides quests to take down the Greench in the Aterac Mountains and save Metzen the Reindeer. At first, it could be thought that the Greench is canonically just a yeti who is a parody of the Grinch, but for a while now he utilizes Winter Veil themed attacks AND has his own “Rotten Little Helpers” to counter Greatfather Winter’s own helpers.
If the Greench was too easily dismissible, Draenor has Grumpus, another antagonistic seasonal force who ALSO seemingly permanently cannot die, an association with gifts and the Winter Veil season, and whose origins are unclear.
Another anomalous event that most likely dismissed as non-canon are dungeon and raid bosses wearing Winter Veil hats, however we have already established two anomalous entities with additional forces helping them on two different planets, are hats randomly appearing on enemies too much of a leap?
Again, this proves nothing on it’s own, but even Greatfather Winter himself is an anomalous being, being represented as an Orc, a Dwarf, or a Tauren (depending on either who is telling the story or who Smokywood Pastures is marketing to); but as seen in the comics, there is a real Greatfather Winter.
But then again, of course there is: the Winter Helper’s literally tell you that they are busy when you summon them outside of Winter Veil. It should be noted that these are seemingly the real deal, are in gifts under the tree as a part of Smokywood Pastures’ celebrations, and despite this aren’t goblins, but rather gnomes.
So now we have a clear link between Greatfather Winter and Smokywood Pastures, meaning the Tauren in Orgimmar complaining about people missing the point of the season is wrong and doesn’t realize what’s really going on here.
But if Greatfather Winter is this powerful being who looks over this magical season, what IS he? My best guess is some type of “Eternal One” being like Elune, something in that vein that allows them to write him as this mysterious being with an unexplained background while not having to directly tie him to anything.
Alternatively he is beyond the First Ones’ grasp and the Spirit of Winter Veil is the true 7th force on the cosmology chart, something so powerful that it manifests itself through anomalies throughout the cosmos every Winter season.
Aye, ye be a sad one if ye think that be the case. While ye are nae wrong there is a being known as Great-Father Winter, it is actually believed that he is a titan construct by Dwarven lore. Something ye left out in ye Horde Bias rendition of the season.
The helpers supplied by the gifts are nothing more than pets of the Smokeywood Pastures corporation. You could argue that they are no more allied with the real Great-Father than the elves and Santas surrounding the stores on Earth are to the real Saint Nocholas of Christmas tradition.
It would not surprise me at all if the Goblins had mass bred the Greench for their little charade or simply brainwashed local yetis to fill the spot with their spotty technology only for the beast(s) to go rogue and possibly actually steal one of the reindeer.
From “The Fiest of Winter Veil” Book itself.
The Dwarves
Ever consumed with the research of their origins, the dwarves choose to celebrate the season as a recognition of Greatfather Winter himself. They consider him to be the personification of one of the ancients of Azeroth - the titans. Much as they claim lineage in one degree or another to these mystical beings, they consider their snowy home of Dun Morogh as the prime example of Greatfather Winter’s blessings.
Which Titan/Keeper eludes me at that moment but there was one that many believe is the actual Greatfather Winter due to his association with snow and ice. That being Hodir in Ulduar. One of his lines as per Wowhead even leans to this even more with him stating: “The Veil of Winter will protect you Champions.”
Coincidence? Possibly.
I am not quite sure on Crampus of Draenor if he is a construct of our interference or was a native before the Iron Horde invaded Azeroth. If it’s the former then what I suggested about them greedy Goblins could hold true here if he’s associated with Smokeywood Pastures. However, if it is the Later then it could be equally possible that he is just the Anthesis of Hodir as we know from lore that the Orcs, and Ogres are actually themselves Titan constructs it wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility that Grumpus is too. Similarly, to how Christmas has a Santa for the good children and Crampus for the naughty ones.
And getting all the adults to buy little tokens of materialism wrapped in s*ittons of plastic and paper that is probably gonna end up on the streets or in an ocean somewhere with everyone hoping they get something much better than the crap they decided to give away.
Ah! The great Christmas giving spirit! Just so long as I get something nice(r) in return.
I mean I’m so past the point of caring about the gifts at this point. I’ll get something nice for my folks and if I see something neat for somebody I’ll like I’ll get that.
But otherwise the real gift is company. That’s what the real meaning of these sort of winter festivities are. It’s an objectively miserable season for most of the world. The earth freezes, the sun shines less if at all, and the wind is so cold it stops your breath in front of your face.
The reason we feast and party around the dead of winter is because back when, it was a guarantee not everyone was going to make it to Spring. So best get everyone together and celebrate now, because you’re not getting another chance to. Not with all of them at least.
That’s the actual reason for the season. A celebration of life in defiance of a world very pointedly reminding us it desperately wants us dead. We string up lights and sing songs during the most miserable time on Earth in the hopes of making it the best time of our lives. And that, to me at least, genuinely is quite beautiful.
I have to do it because it’s expected of me and if I don’t somehow create magic out of nothing then I am ruining my kids forever even if I get burnt out in the process. I spent all weekwend wrapping and hiding presents. I even made a special replica bell from The Polar Express for each kid because it might be the last year they both believe in the big lie.
Update: I may have been onto something; WoW was down for maintenance when I posted this, but I just went back in and checked a bunch of the lore in game about Winter Veil and here’s what I found:
[The Companion Pets]
Let’s start with what I didn’t mention before: Lumpy’s pet description literally states that it was a stowaway from Greatfather Winter’s workshop that was in a gift stolen by the Greench. Assuming we take the pet journal as canon (with it being a direct source in-game), this confirms that not only is Greatfather Winter real (something confirmed in the comics), but also that there is some form of antagonism between the Greench and Greatfather Winter.
This is backed further by the Rotten Little Helper’s description which states that they …fled their magical workshops to join up with the Abominable Greench. This correlates with Lumpy’s pet journal entry while further establishing the Greench vs Greatfather Winter narrative. Additionally, both of these pieces of information confirm that the Winter’s Little Helper and Father Winter’s Helper are in fact the legitimate helpers of Great Father Winter.
Now this brings us to something VERY interesting, the Globe Yeti, who as we all know comes from the Snow Globe’s set up by Smokywood Pastures in both Ironforge and Orgrimmar. It’s description states Who makes them? How did they get there? No one knows, except maybe Greatfather Winter. Now this isn’t much at the moment, but it establishes another link in the growing connections between the REAL Greatfather Winter and the Smokywood Pastures company.
[Turning Green]
I want to preface this by saying I have no idea how close my crackpot theory was to being true but I may have been closer than ANYONE realistically could have expected.
Greatfather Winter’s helpers appear to be normal gnomes, however as mentioned in the pet section, the Rotten Little Helpers of the Greench are nothing more than Little Helpers who rejected working for Greatfather Winter and chose to aid the Greench, so here’s a question: WHY ARE THEY GREEN?
Furthermore, with a clear link established between Smokywood and Greatfather Winter, it should be a fairly simple assumption that the Winter Yeti’s are in some way associated with the way that Greatfather Winter is having things run, however the Greench is also seemingly a yeti of some kind, so again: WHY IS HE GREEN?
The only clear indicator here is that both the Greench and the Rotten Little Helper’s intended to ruin Winter Veil for all of Azeroth, and while the Rotten Helpers are confirmed to have aided Greatfather Winter previously, with the subtext from the Globe Yeti’s, we can potentially deduce that the Greench may have some link to him as well.
In Warcraft lore, it is basically common knowledge that magic types can have an effect on the physical appearance of a being, and if that impact is not immediately seen, it can be noticed when that source of magic is taken from something that normally heavily uses it.
My argument for why the Greench and the Rotten Little Helpers are green is because they have cut themselves off from the Spirit of Winter Veil in their attempts to ruin the holiday season. This has an effect on them because they are magical beings created by Greatfather Winter, something hinted at by the phrasing in the Globe Yeti’s pet journal, after all: Who makes them? How did they get there? No one knows, except maybe Greatfather Winter.
But this brings up a point: THE LITTLE HELPERS ARE NOT GNOMES. They are magical creatures created to aid in the spreading of holiday joy by Greatfather Winter, they only RESEMBLE gnomes. This means that they are in fact not Titan constructs in any real way as far as we know, also explaining why they too, would turn green.
[Conclusion and Thoughts]
The Spirit of Winter Veil in some way, shape, or form seems to be a fundamental force that is spread and utilized by the entity known as Greatfather Winter; a benevolent being who creates Little Helpers, Yetis, and other magical beings to aid in the spreading of Winter Veil Spirit during this seemingly literally magical time of year.
The Greench and the Rotten Little Helpers are examples of these beings who were made by Greatfather Winter but rejected their purpose and chose to attempt to ruin the season and Greatfather Winter’s plans.
The Smokywood Pastures company works on behalf of Greatfather Winter by aiding in the spread of holiday cheer through their various methods shown throughout Azeroth.
I am not 100% sure where all of the other puzzle pieces fall in, such as the workshops/THE Workshops, Grumpus, Greatfather Winter’s origins, the purpose of celebrating the season with this level of dedication, the hats appearing in instances, and more, but with the amount that lines up that has been added over the years, while I don’t often think there is too much going on in terms of hidden lore and depth, I think there may actually be some hidden complexity to the very nature of Winter Veil.
Fun Fact the Gnomes originally didn’t look like Gnomes but small robots with Mustaches. The Curse of Flesh made them look like Greatfather Winter’s Little Helpers!
Fun Fact the Goblins are descended from the same common ancestor as the Pygmies yet the Pygmies retain normal skin color while the Goblins resemble the Greench…
Goblins are descended from Rotten Little Helpers in otherwords. Smokeywood Pastures is a group of descendants of the Rotten Little Helpers who returned to the fold in otherwords…
As for Grumpus: All that is mentioned of him is that he kidnaps Children who misbehaved to give them bad toys to fill the Kids with tears that fuel the creation of Grumplings I.E. more Yetis.
I’ve argued repeatedly that Scrooge epitomizes the current holiday more than anything else. Pre-Redeemed Scrooge.
Of course, he also has his faults. It’s specifically mentioned he pays his workers fairly, and does keep his business practices above board. He’s just absolutely miserly with all the money he collects. That would all have to be thrown out.
Ye are forgetting one major thing… Azeroth is a Magical planet along with Draenor. Goblins are a magical species. So it makes sense that Smokeywood Pastures would likely have some magical abilities. While Greatfather Winter is also a Magical being, if he created his helpers as you suggest yet alone the Yeti from the globe would that not make sense he was a titan or Titan keeper?
It would not be above a Goblin or their cartel to lie. I would argue the workshop mentioned could just as likely be where Smokeywood makes all of the toys and treats and passes them off as Greatfather Winter’s. They after all present both a Dwarf and an Orc as this great spirit.
When you talk to the Tauren about the season he mentions while they respect the Dwarf beliefs they choose to focus more on the renewal aspect of the season. Seeing as how the Tauren believe in the Earth Mother as a magical being and Baine mentions Azeroth is the Earth Mother in BFA. I forgot where I was going with that…
Anyway, while your Theory is interesting one major hole is that the Goblins of the Smokeywood Pastures could fabricate everything of their own accord. Remembering that we tell stories of elves and Santa to our children that we as adults don’t believe it anymore. Very few toys are made in a workshop these days as most are simply bought in a store.
No, the aspect of a worshop, Santa’s helpers, and all related “lore” is fabricated by the Goblins of Smokeywood Pastures. The Goblins are giving a “White Lie” where they are telling the truth from a certain point of view but it encompasses a larger lie.
While you are correct in your assumption that Smokywood COULD have made everything on their own (especially if you consider believe that it is all a marketing scheme to sell things such as decorations and holiday spirts/spices), I think the biggest evidence they are not (at least entirely) lying about this comes from how much you trust the pet journal as being a reliable narrator in the WoW canon.
Additionally, while I have no direct evidence that Greatfather Winter that is not a titan or titan keeper, if it is believed that Greatfather Winter did in fact create the Globe Yetis/Winter Helpers/etc., his general aesthetic (as seen throughout all of Winter Veil and its decorations) is very unique compared to any of the architecture or designs that we see in titan facility.
While the titans and their keepers are very distinct from each other, the general through-line is an emphasis on stone/metal and their utilization of non-flesh keepers (whether they be golems, dwarves, mogu, or others). If my theory is correct, the beings created by Greatfather Winter are magical beings made of flesh and Winter Veil Spirit; something that would be out of character for a non-corrupted titan or titan keeper as with the Forge of Wills, we can see that even as of WotLK the beings created by titan facilities are still made of stone or metal.
That said, you bring up a valid point in terms of Draenor being magical. I forgot that Draenor was a particularly wild planet in terms of its nature and elements before being destroyed (as seen with the primals and botanni in Gorgrond), meaning that Grumpus may in fact just be the manifestation of the same fundamental force that is Winter Veil.
This may mean that Grumpus is essentially Draenor’s Greatfather Winter and that the true cosmological state of Winter Veil is more complicated than I thought, as this seems more in line with how Elements work (unless Winter Veil is the manifestation of the spirit element on the cosmology chart, which makes some level of sense since we know that Water and Fire are the two closest to Spirit and that ice falls under Water, meaning that Winter Veil Spirit may fall somewhere between the forces of Water and Spirit).
