#zovaal

[kottkrig]

Redesigning the Jailer on the side cause why not I wanted his shackles/armor to look very unhuggable and cumbersome for him

[skymagpie]

I often think of a rewrite of Zovaal, one that would've made him more enjoyable. Perhaps it wouldn't actually fix the issues people have with Shadowlands, but I feel like it could've raised interesting points.

Instead of having set everything we as players went through in motion (retconning many things), what if he observed us through our failures from his prison? Watched how, time and time again, mortals acted in unpredictable ways, something that felt so foreign and yet so familiar to him. How they could break the system so that he may rebuild it in his image. Did he not disobey his purpose, his role, suffer betrayal by his siblings for what he stood for? He realized that this is the kind of disruption he needs for his plan to work, inspired by the actions of one mortal defying the machine of Death she was so forcefully thrust into.

That is how he ends working with Sylvanas, and how they would set their plans in motion. He still needs power, so he would ally himself with Denathrius and use the Mawsworn - though Denathrius, unlike him, understands manipulation far better. Instead of trying to be purely like Thanos, he would veer off into that "fallen angel" archetype. A being made by Order, made to uphold it, to embody it, who now seeks to undo the very purpose he was created for. There would be the constant tension of whether he truly sees his partnership with Sylvanas as equal, or if he believes he can learn all he needs from her and the mortals, and will no longer need her in the new version of his universe.

Both he and Sylvanas would believe in this plan and seek to see it to the very end - until she realizes that he cannot escape his own nature. He, too, is part of the system that needs to be broken. No matter how much he tries, the admiration he has for mortals' unpredictability and their essential role in his plan is something he himself could never have. And it is the thing that, in the end, turns on him as well. He betrays the idea of freedom, because he can never be free. He will always be bound to his programming, and thus he could not offer Sylvanas what she needed. When she realizes that he would stop at nothing to become just the new Jailer of the souls, no different from the rest of the system, she betrays him and the heroes of Azeroth take him down. In his final moments we see the reveal of his mechanical vessel underneath. There is an aspect of a Greek tragedy in all this, how in the end he is no different from the Arbiter he tried to transcend. For everything Zovaal was, for everything he tried to become, he couldn't be more than just another part of the death machine.

[cursedbeasts]

Zovaal the Jailer

2021

Commissions info - Prints* - Merch*

*might be domestic only!

[parkinglotgrackle]

“Once We Get Up There” from Hazbin Hotel but Vox is Zovaal, Valentino is Denathrius, and Velvette is either Helya or Sylvanas depending on whichever is funnier to you

[raguonmynieceandnephew]

FIXING SHADOWLANDS: WHAT IF DENATHRIUS WAS THE ACTUAL BBEG OF THE EXPANSION INSTEAD OF ZOVAAL

Everyone already knows that Shadowlands sucks ass. And I say this as a certified Shadowlands enjoyer. I am one of the few people that i've ever seen publicaly state that they legitimately loved playing through the expansion. Everyone also knows that The Jailer = trash. Zovaal is a uncharismatic, tasteless, tactless aberration spawned from the creative minds of an overinspired team of writers that frequently bit waaaaay too much more that they could chew, adding more crazy shit into a lore that was fresh from BFA, which was crazy and questionable by itself. Everyone also agrees that Denathrius is a much better character, and is remembered as one of the few good things in that expansion's story.

Therefore, i come to thee with my ideas of how the expansion should have been, and how the story and the progression of the content would make more sense to me. I am not gonna go too deep into how these changes would affect the mechanical side of the game (gameplay systems, in game activities etc.) because I am not a game designer. Just focusing on lore here.

Well, just to get it out of the way. I would not TOUCH. OLD. LORE. I don't know what the fuck they were thinking when they decided to retcon the fuck out of ARTHAS AND WARCRAFT 3 to make the Jailer as the mastermind behind it all. Like, that's just insane. Arthas one and only appearance in this expansion should've been that cinematic with Uther and Devos and that's it.

Anyways, in this version Sylvanas would still have abandoned the Horde, killed Saurfang, broken the Helm of Domination, and everything that took place in the cinematics with Devos and Uther throwing Arthas in the Maw of the story everything up until BFA would remain unchanged. Part of this exercise is focusing only on Shadowlands, and while BFA's story and that whole N'Zoth stuff was... certainly a choice, it honestly wasn't THAT bad, and ppl wouldn't bat an eye if Shadowlands payed off and delivered all that BFA promised.

I also wouldn't change the inactive arbiter plot and the anima drought. The leveling campaign and 9.0 would suffer some major alterations.

To me, one of the main problems with the expansion is Denathrius being dealt with way too soon. So I suggest pivoting to another crisis happening in the Shadowlands:

The Drusts in Ardenweald.

We focus on the invasion of the Drusts in Ardenweald, where our 9.0 raid would be located. The leveling quests would be altered, in fact, we could put the plot points fo the Night Fae covenant campaign, such as the fall of Ara'lon, to the leveling campaign, have it switch places with Revendreth or something.

However doing so bring us to the first road block:

Without Nathria and Denatrhius as the 9.0 main antagonists, how do we resolve the drought and all the anima being sent to the Maw? We need to justify putting

I have an answer:

THROS, THE BLIGHTED LANDS! What if Gorak Tul and Gorak Zhar were working with the Jailer? What if part of all that anima the corrupt Venthyr were funneling to the Maw was going to the Drusts?

"But wait, isn't Thros a place in Azeroth? How can it be in the Maw?" Well, Thros is a foreign dimension, and if they were able to invade Ardenweald, it wouldn't be farfetch'd if they were being helped by someone as powerful as The Jailer to be able to walk around the Maw and the realm of death easily. I mean, I think at this point in the story we have encountered monsters of the Maw roaming about in Shadowlands, or at least some derivative of them.

Denathrius would still be built up as an antagonist in the leveling campaign, but instead of him being the one causing the drought he would be neutral, and Renathal would sic the player onto him just because, well, he doesn't like the guy. Denathrius would just be locked in his castle, being indifferent to the chaos happening, which would justify the rebelions against him. The changes would be appearing in the Covenant campaigns, and the story as a whole: The 9.0 covenant campaign for the Venthyr would have the player and the convenant collecting intel for the cause, uncovering the corruption happening with the vampires and stuff, and we wouldn't be going into the castle yet.

The raid would have 10 bosses, and half of them would be in Ardenweald, like, the zone, and the rest would be in Thros itself. In the Ardenweald half we would face corrupted members of the Night Hunt, one of those tall lanky dudes, a Drust general, and the fifth boss, the one before going into Thros, would be Ara'lon himself and his fight would involve the seeds, like the ones from his cinematic. As soon as we enter Thros we'd face Gorak Zhar and the final boss we would get aid from the Winter Queen against be Gorak Tul, the big boy himself.

The raid would justify the sheer ease Sylvanas had to snatch the Winter Queen's emblem and all that stuff with Tyrande and Elune, provided we justify it. How, that's for the team of writers to figure out.

9.1 - LET'S GO TO KORTHIA.

This is where this starts to get juicy. We save the Primus, we learn about the existance of Dreadlords here, everything with Korthia remains unchanged (reminder that i'm only talking about story here), and then, finally, we go to the Sepulcher of Domination, which also remains mostly unchanged. We wouldn't see Ner'zhul nor Kel'thuzad, and Kaelthas would be down here with Garrosh. Anyway, we go and beat the shit out of Sylvanas but she is NOT the final boss of this raid, she is the penultimate because the final boss of Sanctum would be:

The Jailer himself. Yes, we would be facing the supposed BBEG right now in 9.1. We defeat him before he can claim the Arbiter's sigil and then we would have a little surprise:

The cutscene that plays when we defeat him in Normal and Heroic would be the same as the canon one we have, where he would turn into a robot and wither away. However, that ending would not be canon. The canon ending comes in the Mythic difficulty, where in the mythic only phase we learn that what we thought to be the the Jailer is none other than:

MAL'GANIS BABYYYYYYY! As it turns out, the person we thought to be the Jailer and who we defeated after sooooooooo many wipes is Mal'Ganis!

To be fair, it can be any dreadlord, but I'd throw Mal'ganis here because 1) we need a big name so the twist can land and be super impactful and 2) Mal'ganis appears in the campaigns and is a raid boss on sepulcher anyway. What matters is, as I said, he Zovaal has been a dreadlord all this fucking time. And what are the dreadlords? They are called NATHREZIM! And who do the Nathrezim serve if not the master of Castle Nathria, the one and only: SIRE DENATHRIUS, who shows up, reveals himself, puts Sylvanas in a coma, takes the fifth sigil himself and bamfs away with Anduin, but not before killing Mal'Ganis for good this time.

9.2: Danny boy is crazy.

He goes to Castle Nathria and ravages the place around it and do just like Garrosh did to this panda zone, and we could have a maw-scarred Revendreth or something, maybe that light attacking Sinfall interferes. The bulk of the 9.2 story would focus again in covenant specific campaigns:

Kyrians have to deal with the Mawsworn and Uther, pushing Devos away (Yes, Devos. I fucking hated how she had all that build up throwing Arthas in the Maw and stuff just to be thrown as a meager dungeon boss and die uncerimoniously while for some goddamn reason her pupil, some random bitch without a drop of charisma, becomes the Kyrian's main antagonist. I think her name is Lysonia or something, yeah she should've been the Dungeon boss).

The Necrolords restitute the Primus and his power and Vashj, Emeni, Braka, and someone from the house of Plagues are promoted as Margraves. Marileth maybe cut for the job? I don't know. What I know is, it's bullshit to me that the House of Constructs wasn't a Dungeon. It should've been one with Gharmal as the final boss, but alas.

The Night Fae deals with all that Tyrande stuff and the Venthyr's campaign would revolve entirely around breaking into the castle. These campaigns could interface with each other so all the players could experience the lore.

Now, before we go further, I feel like I should explain Denathrius plan and everything:

When the four leaders had Zovaal arrested, it was because he really was a corrupted arbiter and he really wanted to fuck shit up and remake the cycle of life and death. And you guys probably remember Denathrius attitude was like "Dude! You gots to let me know!" So yeah, Zovaal was thrown into the Maw.

Denathrius then went down to the Maw to talk to Zovaal, but when he got there he was shocked with the raw power and potential from that cursed place. Instead of negotiating with Zovaal, he engages in a conflict and kills him, and takes the Maw's power for himself.

He then starts the manipulation and to execute his plan all the way back in Legion. Of course he wouldn't be the mastermind of everything ever like they did in the canon with the Jailer, (again, I wouldn't touch anything before Legion with a ten foot pole). His plan starts while we are leaving WoD and going to Legion:

He was the one who knocked out the arbiter with Argus, he was the one who made a deal with Muezahla to put Sylvanas as the Horde's Warchief. All of this is happening because he is pulling the strings while Mal'ganis, his servant, is posing as the Jailer. Does that mean everytime a dreadlord ever appeared in the Lore it was Denathrius? Yeah, but like, it's probably easy to figure out reasons why the Dreadlords are working with the Legion. I mean, Revendreth is the place where all the anima is harvested, the more people die the more anima.

The Arbiter being disabled while he is in control of the maw would also justify Revendreth still having power and all that anima. They could be harvesting the souls like Soulrender was doing to Garrosh. He kidnaps the Primus, orchestrates the downfall of the Maldraxxus houses and the conflict between them and Bastion, etc.

"But why did he do all that? What's his motivation?" It's quite simple actually, Denathrius is a very simple villain. He doesn't want to RESET THE UNIVERSE BECAUSE THE CYCLE IS FLAWED AND THERE IS A BIGGER THREAT COMING BECAUSE HE IS ACTUALLY A MISUNDERSTOOD GUY DOING BAD THINGS FOR THE GREATER GOOD, SUPPOSEDLY"

He wants the power. That's it. Denathrius is a stereotypical narcissistic vampire chud who only cares about himself and sees the rest of the world as nothing more than maggots whose only purpose in life is to kiss his feet. He doesn't need any motivation other than the desire of seeing the entire Shadowlands, nay, the entire cosmos bending the knees to his greatness. Clean, cut, concise.

And finally, for 9.2, we'd be raiding Castle Nathria. The raid would play out the same way except for the fight against the Hungering Destroyer because it's too late into the expansion for Destroyers to be relevant as raid bosses in my opinion. We would kill Devos, Vyraz and the last boss would be The Boy King, Anduin Wrynn, weilding Remornia instead of Frostmourne. In this raid, the Primus would try to face Denny solo, and so he would be the second to last boss before Anduin.

At the end of the Raid, Denathrius would be able to flee to Zereth Mortis and the 9.3 patch would go smoothly with Zereth Mortis as the zone and the campaign would remain the same. Except maybe for Pelagos as the new arbiter cause wtf was that, and the Helm of Domination is restored to what it was before, because a Lich King is still needed in Azeroth to contain the Scourge. We kick Denathrius's ass in Sepulcher and we stick him into the sword, or idk he just dies. Also, one thing I dislike is Pelagos stating that he wont send anyone to the maw ever as arbiter, which like ????????????? Sir, that's your job? Instead of putting a Kyrian, the most biased bitches in this realm, as the Arbiter, we could just revive the one we have already and bring stuff back to how it was.

And then, Shadowlands cements itself as a pretty fine transitional expansion that brings Sylvanas closure and sets Anduin up for his role in the future.

10 years later, we have the events of Dragonflight and then TWW.

[wolfandwild]

World of Warcraft Characters as AO3 Tags - Part 5 Feat. Sally Whitemane, Zovaal the Jailer, Ysera the Dreamer, Remornia, Varok Saurfang, Varian Wrynn, Thrall, and Vol'jin.

[warcraft-lore-archives]

Sylvanas Novel Lore Facts

Verath and Lireesa Windrunner

Sylvanas’s father, Lord Verath Windrunner, was King Anasterian’s chief advisor (9, 122).

Though nobles, the Windrunners did not usually throw lavish parties like their kinsmen. Instead, they preferred to host small gatherings (9).

The position of ranger-general was passed down through the Windrunner family for thousands of years (21). Before Lireesa became ranger-general, her mother Alleria held the position (11).

Due to their status, the Windrunners were free to wander Sunfury Spire and Magisters’ Terrace at any time (105).

After the Second War broke out, King Anasterian asked Lord Verath to travel as ambassador to Lordaeron City and learn about the danger the Horde posed. Lireesa, reluctant to let her husband go alone, accompanied him (109).

Both Verath and Lireesa were ambushed and killed in Eastweald before they ever made it to Lordaeron City (117, 122). Unfortunately, their corpses were picked so clean by scavengers it was difficult to tell who had killed them, though the elves initially blamed their ancient enemy, the Amani (119). It was later revealed that it had been the orcs, working in concert with the trolls (127, 131).

Sylvanas brought evidence of the Horde’s involvement in her parents’ deaths before King Anasterian. Much to her surprise, he burned it, citing a reluctance to put the quel’dorei at risk when they were already well protected. She was sworn to secrecy regarding her discovery (133).

Though the elder Windrunners did not survive the trek to Lordaeron, their equine steeds made it back to Windrunner Spire mostly unharmed (130). 

Verath and Lireesa’s bodies were treated with a slight bit of illusion magic, covered in ceremonial palls, and set to lie in state for an entire day so those who wished could pay their respects to the fallen (134, 157)

The Windrunners’ colors are brown and gold (126).

Alleria Windrunner

Alleria took after her mother, Lireesa, in both appearance and manner (10).

Alleria was named after her grandmother (11).

When Alleria came of age to start training with the Farstriders, Lireesa bestowed a formal test on her. In front of her future peers, Alleria was tasked with hunting and killing a lynx using just a single arrow before the day’s end. She was permitted a knife with which to skin the lynx as proof, though Lireesa explicitly warned her daughter not to use it to kill the animal (11).

After growing bored waiting for Alleria to complete her trial, Sylvanas ventured out into the forest, only to find the lynx chasing after her sister. Seeing that Alleria had tried and failed to fell the lynx using both her arrow and knife, Sylvanas slew the lynx herself with one of her arrows (16-17).

While Alleria technically failed the test, it is worth noting that it would not have affected her entry to the Farstriders given she was to inherit the position of ranger-general regardless. As Verath told Sylvanas afterward, the test was more about Alleria proving her mettle and skills to her future peers so they would accept her position as one born of merit rather than privilege (22). 

Feeling smothered by her mother’s strict expectations for her, Alleria told Lireesa many years later that she did not want to become the next ranger-general. On top of that, she also declared she was taking a small contingent of Farstriders and leaving Quel’Thalas to adventure across Azeroth (72-73). Perhaps embarrassed by this turn of events, Lireesa publicly informed the elven rangers that she was sending Alleria off so the Farstriders could “reclaim the meaning of their name” and explore the world beyond their borders (75).

Sylvanas, as the next eldest child, took up Alleria’s place as second-in-line (74-75). 

Prior to Alleria’s departure from Quel’Thalas, Lireesa gifted her daughter with an ornate necklace. It was set with three gemstones - a ruby, sapphire, and emerald - each meant to symbolize one of the Windrunner daughters. The chain holding them all together represented Lirath, their brother (81). At some point, Alleria broke down the necklace and gave each of her sisters a piece (258). 

Lirath Windrunner

Lireesa went into labor with Lirath the day of Alleria’s test, weeks before the baby was due (25).

Both Vereesa and Lirath’s names were amalgams of their parents’ names (28).

Lirath was quite the musical prodigy. He demonstrated exceptional skill with instruments such as the flute, pipes, mandolin, and harp. Lirath was also known for his beautiful singing voice, as well (29-30).

Though skilled with instruments, the young elf was rather clumsy when it came to weapons (42).

Lirath impressed Lord Saltheril so much with his musical talents that the noble had him perform regularly at his parties (32).

Just six months after his debut, Lirath was invited to perform for Prince Kael’thas. Given that the prince spent most of his time in Dalaran and hardly ever ventured to Silvermoon City, this was seen as an exceptionally high honor (33).

At Prince Kael’thas’ behest, Lirath eventually moved to the Artists’ Quarters in Silvermoon City and began a formal apprenticeship (55). Some time later, he officially became the royal musician, making him the youngest ever to have received the title (76).

The denizens of Windrunner Village were all killed during the orcs’ invasion of Quel’Thalas during the Second War. Among the casualties was Lirath (159-161). 

Lirath was buried beside his parents. Though the Windrunners held a public funeral for their parents, Lirath’s was much more intimate and private (166). 

Sylvanas Windrunner, the Ranger

Sylvanas was named for the woodlands of Quel’Thalas (53).

Sylvanas named her hawkstrider ‘Snap’ (21).

The young ranger did not particularly like Silvermoon City and showed remarkable disdain for court politics as a child (23).

She was banned from Lord Saltheril’s parties after an unfortunate incident in which she snuck into one and spiked some glasses of punch with numbing woundwood powder to get back at young nobles who were insulting her brother (45-47).

Sylvanas, Lor’themar, and Halduron spent so much time together in and out of archery practice that they became known as “the Trio” (54). 

She once accidentally spilled wine on Prince Kael’thas at a Remembrance ball (62).

Lireesa took Sylvanas to an Amani territory marker when she was a child and warned her that the trolls were their enemy (91). 

Sylvanas and Nathanos shared their first kiss atop Sungraze Peak, only a day before she found out her parents had been killed (115).

Sylvanas Windrunner, the Banshee Queen

As a banshee, Sylvanas could only see the world in shades of black and white (180). Upon reuniting with her body, she was able to see in color once again (194).

Sylvanas struggled to remember much about herself and her life after Arthas raised her into undeath (180, 182).

Sylvanas’ body was magically preserved and locked away in Deatholme, where it was guarded under the watchful eye of Dar’Khan (193). 

The arrow Sylvanas used to paralyze Arthas was coated in a mixture of woundwood and troll poison (195, 196). It was also fletched with some of the Dark Eagle’s feathers (197). 

Just before Sylvanas began tormenting the paralyzed Arthas, the shade of a young human girl appeared and distracted her long enough for Kel’Thuzad to intervene (198).

As undead, Sylvanas remarked that she was unable to feel emotions like joy, passion, or love (218, 226, 273). Later, though, she admitted the truth to herself: she was actually unable to let go of those feelings (344).

Seeking protection for the Forsaken, Sylvanas initially made moves to join the Alliance. The Banshee Queen handpicked four of her undead to send as emissaries: one from Southshore, two from Lordaeron City, and one from Stormwind - Sarias Colton - who had a living sister in the city. All had been soldiers in life and were so well preserved in death they almost looked as if they could pass for living. Unfortunately, the emissaries were killed on sight before they ever had a chance to parley with the Alliance (232, 233).

With no choice but to turn to the very people that had massacred her family, Sylvanas sent spies and eventually emissaries to the Horde after learning they had come a long way from their murderous past. Cairne Bloodhoof was the first to welcome her, inviting her to visit Thunder Bluff (235).  

Sylvanas met with Thrall, Cairne, and Hamuul in the taurens’ capital city. After she pleaded her case for the Forsaken, all parties formally agreed that the undead could join the Horde (240). 

Sylvanas brokered an allegiance between the blood elves and the Horde a year later for three reasons: 1) to use them as more “arrows” against Arthas, 2) to strengthen her position in the Horde by bringing them another useful ally, and 3) out of a sense of loyalty to her former people (245, 247).

Lor’themar initially refused Sylvanas’ offer, afraid that the Horde had done too much harm for the elves to see them as allies. Months later, however, he capitulated and agreed to a meeting between emissaries with one stipulation: that it happen in Quel’Thalas. Cairne, Thrall, Vol’jin, and Sylvanas all attended (248, 249). The meeting took place at Farstrider Enclave in what is now known as the Ghostlands (250).

Sylvanas gave Putress leave to experiment with and concoct a weapon powerful enough to kill the Lich King (214-216). She informed him that if they ever had the slightest chance at destroying the Lich King, he was to deploy the blight. That said, Putress utilized the weapon at the Wrath Gate without her knowledge or explicit approval (263, 268). 

Though the Banshee Queen did not orchestrate the events at the Wrath Gate, she believed that all of the sacrifices would have been worth it if Arthas had died (270).

Sylvanas was initially against the idea of experimenting on Forsaken, but Putress convinced her it was much easier than capturing one of the Scourge. She agreed to his terms, so long as the Forsaken in question were criminals and deserving of such a fate (261).

Sylvanas Windrunner, Harbinger of Death

According to the Jailer, the Arbiter sent Sylvanas to the Maw upon her death at Icecrown (287). She was enraged to discover that the Arbiter judged beings far more monstrous than her, like Zul’jin, worthy of redemption while she had been condemned to the Maw (293). 

When Sylvanas asked the Jailer’s Val’kyr if they saw any souls reunited with their loved ones in the Shadowlands, they said no (297).

The Jailer told Sylvanas she’d know he was not deceiving her after she experienced five signs to come: 1) the return of a fiery darkness, 2) her ascension to leadership, 3) a blade piercing the world, 4) the blood of the world, and 5) the toppling of a king and shattering of the sky itself (301).

While the Banshee Queen believed what the Jailer told her was true, she had not yet decided as of Warlords of Draenor if she was willing to take the final step and fully commit to his cause (314). 

Sylvanas noted Anduin resembled her younger brother in appearance, but it was really his mannerisms and inherent gentleness that reminded her of Lirath (323, 365, 368).

Sylvanas chose to pull the Horde forces back at the Broken Shore in order to save them, as continuing to fight would have surely doomed both the Horde and Alliance (325, 334). Even though this technically meant betraying her newfound allies in the Alliance, it was a risk she considered worth taking (334). 

Sylvanas finally decided to accept the Jailer’s offer and join forces with him after Vol’jin’s untimely demise (326). That said, she continued to harbor some slight doubts for a time (339). 

Sylvanas sought out Saurfang as an ally, believing that he would be amenable to the Jailer’s goals in time (331, 354).

As part of her first official assignment under Zovaal, Sylvanas was responsible for meeting with Helya and procuring an item from her known as a Soulcage. With it, she was supposed to compel Eyir into delivering the souls under her command to Helya, who was to then give them to the Jailer (332). 

After the breaking of the Arbiter and the redirection of all incoming souls to the Maw, Mal’Ganis came to the Banshee Queen and told her of Zovaal’s new mission for her: to kill as many as possible (339).

Nathanos Marris

Nathanos Marris, a ranger captain from Lordaeron, was sent to Quel’Thalas sometime early in the Second War. He’d been tasked with studying the Amani trolls - given concerns that they were cooperating with the Horde - and bringing his findings to King Anasterian Sunstrider (94). 

While out on a routine patrol, Sylvanas and Lor’themar were saved from an Amani ambush by Nathanos’ expert marksmanship skills (93).

After delivering his findings to the king, Nathanos was given leave to explore Silvermoon City with one stipulation: that he be accompanied by a Farstrider. Sylvanas herself rose to the occasion (97). 

After he was freed from the Scourge’s thrall, Nathanos experienced long periods of forgetfulness where he could not remember who he had been in life (224, 226). 

Though she carried the secret of her deal with the Jailer for some time, Sylvanas eventually told Nathanos the truth shortly into the events of Warlords of Draenor (314).

Quel’Thalas & the Quel’dorei

The high elves used to be wary of a rather large and dangerous springpaw lynx nicknamed “Mauler”. Rumor has it that the creature actually developed a taste for elven flesh (17).

King Anasterian bestowed quel’dorei steeds upon those of high rank or exceptional distinction. Both Verath and Lireesa Windrunner were given one each: Parley and Arrowflight respectively (21).

On the topic of whether Silvermoon City was predominantly red or blue before the Third War, Sylvanas once commented it was “very crimson” (23).

There are fireflies in Quel’Thalas (24).

The quel’dorei celebrate the anniversary of the trolls’ defeat in the Troll Wars every year. As part of this ‘Remembrance’ celebration, the nobles host a ball (31, 55).

There’s a species of bird indigenous to Quel’Thalas known as the Thalassian red songbird (40). 

Aeriah Sunfire wrote volumes five through seven of the troll histories. His grandfather, Sunfire the Elder, wrote volumes one through four (52).

Sylvanas assumed much of her extended family was dead, likely killed in the Horde’s attack on Windrunner Village during the Second War (212).

Three scions of the Salonar house - Belaria, Aravan, and Rendis - also perished at Windrunner Village (159). 

It took months after Arthas’ invasion for the blood elves to gather all the bodies of the fallen and burn them (202). 

The Farstriders

The Farstriders were considered above commoners purely on the basis of their skill and athleticism, though they were not strictly nobility (9).

The position of ranger-general is one of the only hereditary positions in quel’dorei society, next to the monarchy itself. It is traditionally passed from the ranger-general to their eldest child (11, 21).

During the inauguration of a ranger-general, it is customary to ask all Farstriders present if they will follow and support the new ranger-general (141).

Once sworn in, the new ranger-general is expected to prepare a small meal and offer it to every member of the Farstriders. This is a symbolic way of showing that the ranger-general will care for all those they are to lead into battle (144). 

Lor’themar Theron was a full-fledged Farstrider by the time Sylvanas was old enough to earn her own bow (14).

Lor’themar usually stepped in for Lireesa when she was unable to attend to Farstrider matters (34).

The leaves of the woundwood tree have certain properties that, when dried and mixed with liquid, form a numbing paste. Farstriders usually kept some on hand to use as an anesthetic in case of injury, though Sylvanas later mixed it with troll poison to paralyze Arthas (46, 195-196). 

The Farstriders maintained routine patrols near Amani territory in times of peace as tradition, a formality, and sometimes even as punishment (90). 

Lor’themar, the highest-ranking Farstrider next to Sylvanas herself, was responsible for swearing Sylvanas in as ranger-general (140).

Most all Farstriders have heard the tale of the “Battle of Seven Arrows,” a conflict in which a small group of elven rangers fended off some of the Amani’s finest warriors. The trolls, normally pacified, launched a surprise attack on a lone elven village. Though they would have been enough to pose a threat by themselves, the Amani commanded a terrifying beast twisted by magic known as the “Dark Eagle”. Lireesa Windrunner’s unit, which numbered just seven, was the nearest to the trolls and moved to intercept them. Though the rangers fought hard, they went through most of their arrows in no time. With just one arrow left herself, Lireesa turned to her six companions and asked each of them for one of theirs before ordering them to fall back while she stayed behind to face the trolls alone. Mere moments later, the elves saw Lireesa running toward them - no Dark Eagle in sight. She had felled it with the seven remaining arrows at her disposal: two for the eyes, one for its throat, and four for its heart. Her strike was so successful, not a single elf lost their life that day (140-141).

Nothing in the Farstrider code technically stated that one had to be a high elf to join the rangers. This allowed Sylvanas to make Nathanos a Farstrider, though her decision was met with much resistance from her peers (147).

Miscellaneous

Both dark rangers and San’layn are considered Darkfallen (184).

Dark rangers’ bodies, not unlike that of death knights’, are magically resistant to decay as a result of the way they are raised (192).

The Jailer spirited both Frostmourne and the Helm of Domination out of the Shadowlands with the help of secret allies. He wanted them on Azeroth so as to anchor the power of death to the young world soul (288-289). 

A race of serpentine, lava-dwelling creatures called aells live somewhere in the cosmos. In their culture, consuming their mates when they are near death is considered a supreme act of love (296-297).

[druidonity2]

(Zovaal, Elune, Khadgar, Garrosh, Mekkatorque, Emerald Nightmare)

Showing Tumblr my vast collection of World of Warcraft Flight Rising Fandragons because I love them and I need more ppl to see them. I have like 60 of them between the main den and the hibernal den.