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The Story of the Druids of the Flame with Nobbel87
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Criado
01/10/2023 em 17:00
por
DiscordianKitty
The story of the Druids of the Flame takes us back to the
Cataclysm
period, but to understand it properly, we’ll have to go even further back and talk a little bit about the history of the Night Elves.
Night Elf Wars
So let's dive back, over 10,000 years ago, where the Night Elves and their allies of dragons, wild gods, time travelers and others have managed to save the day against the Burning Legion. To contain the powers that had drawn the Legion in to begin with, the Aspects decided to plant a World Tree.
Nordrasill they called it, "Crown of the Heavens", and to reinforce their connection to the Night Elves, several enchantments were placed upon the tree: Strength and vitality, immortality, and easier access into the Emerald Dream so that Malfurion and those that decided to follow his path of druidism would have an easier time walking the many paths of Ysera’s realm, or the "dreamways".
Named in honor of the wild god Cenarius, this so-called "Cenarion circle" would slumber and help nature to heal and grow while Tyrande Whisperwind led her people into the future, wide awake and with challenges all of their own.
Fast forward a bit to the War of the Shifting Sands, a war that played out in the sands of Silithus, and once again Night Elf and dragon united for the sake of Azeroth. On the battlefield was Fandral Staghelm. He was a beast leading the charge, something that the enemy knew, something that the enemy needed to break.
Valstann Staghelm was taken captive and brutally executed in front of his father by General Rajaxx. While this war would ask for more sacrifice, it was eventually won with a big wall surrounding Ahn’Qiraj, but no real victory was felt by Fandral. He’d already lost his wife when she gave birth. Now his beloved child had been taken away. He was done with it all and yet the torment had only just begun.
Since the Legion had no intention of letting go of Azeroth and would try to invade several times. The war that played out during Warcraft III would once again have the Night Elves make a massive sacrifice. Malfurion decided to destroy Nordrassil, detonate those magical enchantments, sending Archimonde and the Legion back to where they came from. A decision, not easily made.
Malfurion Stormrage: We are its protectors, and through it we were granted immortality and power over nature. Now, at last, it is time we gave that power back.
Tyrande Whisperwind: You realize that we will age as these mortals do. Our powers over nature will wane in time.
Malfurion Stormrage: If pride gives us pause, my love, then perhaps we have lived long enough already.
The day was saved, of course, but the Night Elves lost a lot. While we might look at it as a great heroic act, not all of their people were happy with the decision made for them. Giving up your immortality is no small price to pay.
Fandral Staghelm and Teldrassil
Fandral came up with the idea of planting a new World Tree, but Malfurion was fully against this. Past attempts at doing this had not exactly worked out and even worse, none of them were aware that Staghelm was being manipulated from the shadows by Xavius the Nightmare Lord.
To spread his influence, turn more of the Emerald Dream into the Emerald Nightmare, he had approached Staghelm under the guise of his lost son, whisperd in his ears until there was very little of the archdruid left. He would do anything to get his boy back, including going against the wishes of his Shan’do.
With whispers in his ears he made sure to keep Malfurion trapped within the Emerald Dream which had now been turned into the Emerald Nightmare. Then he took their circle and worked on getting Teldrassil up. A brand new home for their people, one that would surely fare better than Nordrassil did. He even expected the dragons to bless this one once again, restoring their immortality - but the dragons refused his request.
This one was called Teldrassil, and despite Fandral asking them personally, the Aspects flat-out refused. Nozdormu, Lord of Time, saw the druid’s arrogance. In agreement with Nozdormu, Alexstrasza also refused Staghelm, and without her blessing, Teldrassil's growth has been flawed and unpredictable...
Seeking to regain their immortality, a number of wayward Druids conspired to plant a special tree that would link their spirits to the eternal world. Despite Malfurion’s warnings that Nature would never bless such a selfish act, the Druids planted the great tree Teldrassil off the stormy coasts of northern Kalimdor. Within the twilight boughs of the colossal tree, the wondrous city of Darnassus took root.
...And full of corruption through Staghelm and the Emerald Nightmare - but that wasn’t known at the time. You might remember actually helping him out in classic, gathering morrowgrain which he in turn used to keep Malfurion in his slumber.
Eventually though, just before the
Cataclysm
, our archdruid would be saved by his allies, would wake up, confront and expose Staghelm, cleanse Teldrassil, and push the Nightmare back. The fallen archdruid was locked away within the barrow dens at Mount Hyjal, setting the stage for the introduction of the Druids of the Flame.
Cataclysm
So at this point we have a destroyed Nordrassil, which has been incredibly slowly healing but nowhere near ready. We have Teldrassil, recently cleansed and home of the Night Elves. We have a Staghelm and other Night Elves unhappy with the choices made for them, but he’s locked away. And then we have Deathwing the Destroyer, breaking out of the world and causing massive destruction and changes across its surface.
And all will burn beneath the shadow of my wing.
The corrupted Black Dragon Aspect was on a mission, working hard to bring about the so called Hour of Twilight. The moment in which the Old Gods would break out of their prisons and rule the world once more. More specificily, the Old God N’zoth was signing his paychecks, but he wasn’t alone in this mission either - far from it.
We saw for example forces like Cho’Gall and the Twilights Hammer, Al’akir the Windlord as well as Ragnaros the Firelord. They unleashed so many plans and schemes that surely one of them was going to succeed and, if it did, Azeroth would be theirs. Unfortunately for them, heroes of Azeroth rose up and stood united to push back the darkness - or in the case of Mount Hyjal, push back the flames.
This world and all that you hold dear exists only to burn. The end comes, son of Durotan. The final Hour of Twilight. And there is nothing you can do... to stop it.
It’s in Mount Hyjal where we took on the majority of Ragnaros’ invading forces, we even brought back some of the Wild Gods that we lost before. Meanwhile, the Lord of Fire also managed to recruit himself some new allies, with once again some accidental help.
Druids of the Flame
We were told that the Twilight's Hammer forces had set their eyes on a rather important prisoner, none other than Fandral Staghelm. The green dragon Alysra convinced us that it would be a good idea to move him preemptively, through the Emerald Dream and into her protective care. Little did we know that Alysra would soon enough be known as Alysrazor. Her reward for betraying us all and handing over Staghelm to Ragnaros.
Whereas she became a mighty fearsome fire hawk, our archdruid was offered the might of the Firelands. Offered to become Ragnaros’ new major-domo since, ya know, we kinda killed the previous one when we raided Molten Core. The first druid of the flame, able to transform himself into a fiery cat, hawk and scorpion. The gifts of nature now infused with the raw primal might of fire. If he could not live in a world with his beloved child, then he would bring ruin to all of Azeroth. Not alone, more were disgruntled with their leader's choices. More were turned to their flamey side.
Among them was Leyara, Fandral’s daughter-in-law. She had lost her husband just like Fandral had lost his son, but for the sake of their child, she found the strength to carry on. That flame of hope was snuffed out when the Horde pushed deeper into Night Elven lands. After losing everything to live for and seeing how her leaders did nothing to protect them, Fandral’s offer was too good to pass up on.
And what kind of power were they given? Well, at some point we came up with the idea of going through a ritual to speed up Nordrassil's recovery. Uber shaman Thrall, Aggra, Malfurion, and the Dragon Aspects gathered for this, but so did the new Druids of the Flame:
Ysera: Friends, we have gathered here today to heal this world that we’ve sacrificed so much to save. For the first time, the Earthen Ring and the Cenarion Circle will unite – to restore this great tree – thereby healing the whole of Azeroth.
Nozdormu: Time is precious, sister. Let us see to our ritual.
Mysterious Stranger: I’m sorry, are we interrupting?
Thrall: The Twiligh’s Hammer!
Mysterious Stranger: Not so fast, Son of Durotan! You and your allies have certainly set us back. but the Hour of Twilight CANNOT be averted!
Mysterious Stranger: The Twilight Prophet knows that YOU - and you alone - are our final obstacle. He's sent ME to remove you from the game.
Thrall: I do not fear death.
Mysterious Stranger: Death? Who said anything about death?
Mysterious Stranger: You may be this world's greatest shaman, Thrall - but you are only mortal. This is my master's curse upon you - turning your great bond with the elements... into your undoing!
Aggra: Go'el! NO!
Mysterious Stranger: Even now, the elements are tearing you apart - and they shall feed upon your doubts and fears 'till the last spark of life on this wretched world has been snuffed out.
Malfurion Stormrage: You'll regret this, stranger!
Mysterious Stranger: Will I?
Fandral Staghelm: Come, shan'do - certainly you recognize your former pupil?
Malfurion Stormrage: Fandral - what have they done to you?
Fandral Staghelm: Naive as always, I see. Your pet orc cannot save you now, Malfurion.
They managed to confine some of the biggest powerhouses that we had during the Cataclysm while splitting Thrall into different elements and scattering him across the elemental planes. Heroes would join Aggra in putting Thrall back together, better than he ever was. They had a wedding and off-screen finished their ritual. Still, quite an incredible display of power right here, and not the last time either.
Firelands
As we teamed up with the wild gods and tried to fight our way into the elemental plane of fire to take the battle into Ragnaros’ home domain, we needed to open up some portals and, of course, Ragnaros was not just going to let us in. Leyara, probably one of the more zealous druids of the flame out there, was right at the forefront. She had set her sights and hopes on taking out Malfurion, but when Hamuul presented himself as a target, she didn’t say no.
Hamuul Runetotem: You... you're the one from the portal... the druid of flame...
Hamuul Runetotem: You killed dozens of my students. You will pay for what you've done.
Leyara: Enough of this!
Hamuul Runetotem: What is this? I...can't move! Someone, help!
Leyara: Burn, tauren! BURN!!
Leyara: Have you had enough yet? Have you felt enough pain?
Leyara: Now, look before you! One of Azeroth's most powerful "druids", reduced to nothing but a charred husk. Such is the will of Fandral Staghelm. Such is the will of the flame!
Expecting to burn the life right out of him, she severely wounded the poor Tauren, but the druid would recover, eventually gaining enough strength to stand with us and end her suffering.
Leyara: I'll kill your companion just like I killed Hamuul. And there is nothing you can do about it.
Malfurion Stormrage: You did not kill Hamuul, Leyara. He lives.
Leyara: I don't believe it! I seared the life from your body!
With many battles across the Molten Front, the united might of Azeroth, the Guardians of Hyjal were able to battle their way into Ragnaros’ lair. Alysra - or well... Alysrazor - as well as several other mighty forces of the Firelord were slain. The bridge was created and just before we could take care of the big elemental lord himself, there was his major-domo.
Majordomo Staghelm: Very well. Witness the raw power of my new lord!
Finally doing what Malfurion could not, ending the threat of Fandral once and for all. Cenarius, Hamuul, and Malfurion banded together to make sure that Ragnaros did not escape our wrath.
Being slain within the Firelands meant his true demise, but even back then we knew that a new Firelord would rise up. You can’t get rid of the element of fire after all, and shamans of the world helped Smolderon take up position as the new Firelord. Uniting their power against the might of the Burning Legion during the expansion
Legion
, Smolderon’s fate has been a little bit unknown since then. We’ve seen a cult trying to revive Ragnaros but no sign of Smolderon.
Time is going to tell what happened to him, I suppose, and the same goes for our Druids of the Flame. We’ve taken care of some of the major players. We’ve saved Mount Hyjal, helped progress the healing of Nordrassil, even defeated Deathwing, and prevented the Hour of Twilight... but time has not exactly been kind to the Night Elves.
They’ve made great sacrifices and yet had to witness the Burning of Teldrassil at the hands of Sylvanas and the Horde. Their leader Tyrande fell deep into the powers of Elune and the whole Night Warrior path, who knows what others might do in the wake of losing their home, friends, and loved ones...
Archdruid Fandral Staghelm: Time passes, yet the sting of his death will not fade.
Leyara: Valstann, my dear husband. You left us too soon. Our child has been born. It's a girl! A beautiful baby girl. I named her Istaria. She has your eyes.
Archdruid Fandral Staghelm: Leyara: The two of you are all I have left. I swear to you, on my life, you and my granddaughter will ALWAYS have my protection.
Time is going to tell.
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