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Alliance and Horde Forces in Khaz Algar - New NPCs in the Max Level Campaign
The War Within
Опубликовано
24.06.2024 в 17:08
Portergauge
In our campaign to unite the Earthen, familiar faces from the Alliance and Horde have arrived in Khaz Algar to help train our new allies for the fight ahead.
Warning: War Within Spoilers
Arrival to Khaz Algar
At the end of
The War Within
's leveling campaign, we return from our adventures underground just in time to welcome the fleets of the Horde and Alliance to the shores of Khaz Algar. After a brief cutscene showing off their triumphant arrival, we are greeted by Thrall and Jaina, who left at the start of leveling to rally the factions, as well as notable faces of the Sons of Lothar from the days of
Warcraft 2
such as
Danath Trollbane
, the leader of Stromgarde,
Kurdran Wildhammer
, the former leader of the Wildhammer clan, and
Turalyon
, the Lord Commander of Alliance Forces and acting leader of the Alliance. Additionally, we see Thrall joined by
Geya'rah
, his alternate-universe self who acts as leader of the Mag'har from Draenor, as well as
Gorgonna
, chieftain of the Warsong Clan. These characters operate as our main points of contact for the first few chapters of the max level campaign as we integrate ourselves into the Isle of Dorn.
From there, we work to establish faction hubs within the new capitol city of Dornogal, before beginning our efforts to train the Earthen in the arts of war in order to better defend against the forces of Xal'atath. It is there that we find the fleets of the Horde and Alliance anchored near an open shoreline, ferrying soldiers to the beach to aid in teaching the Earthen in martial combat, and among those soldiers we find a few familiar faces.
Forces of the Alliance
The Alliance forces host a fair number of familiar faces, as well as a large number of updated outfits for regular soldiers from various races. Instead of the typical cohort of soldiers in blue and gold Stormwind plate, we see a diverse array of soldiers donning armor befitting their culture, including those from the nation of Stromgarde.
Alliance forces being ferried to the shore by Kul Tiran tidesages.
The assembled Alliance army, sporting modern outfits and boasting a notable number of Stromgarde soldiers.
Most notable among the forces of the Alliance is the distinct presence of the humans of Stromgarde, led by
Danath Trollbane
. As a member of Stromgarde's ruling family, Danath was once a simple commander of Stromgarde's armies before the onset of the Second War. After aiding the newly formed Alliance against the Orcish Horde, Danath joined the Sons of Lothar alongside his right hand
Officer Herrick
in the Alliance Expedition. Alongside his new allies, Danath and Herrick journeyed to the orcs' homeland, the planet of Draenor, in an effort to ensure that the orcs would not inflict the same conflict they did on Azeroth upon other planets. While they were successful in stopping the orcs, they did not manage to stop the spells they cast that resulted in Draenor's near-destruction and collapse into what is now known as Outland. Stranded beyond the portal they entered through, Danath led the forces of the Alliance Expedition from Honor Hold until the events of
The Burning Crusade
finally saw the portal re-opened some twenty years later, where he was greeted of news that his homeland and the remainder of his family were in ruins, leaving Stromgarde an abandoned kingdom.
Much later on, Danath would later work under King Anduin Wrynn and the Alliance to reclaim Stromgarde during the events of the Fourth War, and while the kingdom and its surrounding regions in the Arathi Highlands became a significant warfront in their fight with the Horde, the Alliance would ultimately win and lay full claim to the kingdom, leaving Danath as its current leader. His presence in Khaz Algar has particular note due to the appearance of half-elven 'Arathi' who hail not from his homeland, but from a distant empire that diverged from his people millennia ago. Given these connections, it's almost certain that Danath will play some sort of role in interacting with the residents of Hallowfall in future stories during
The War Within
.
Present among the fleet are two rather fitting men to be leading the ships,
Brother Pike
and
Captain Tandred Proudmoore
. We met both of them in
Battle for Azeroth
during the events of Kul Tiras' story. Pike was crucial in returning the nation's vaunted fleet from the mysterious storm it was trapped in, a fleet that was led by Tandred. In Stormsong Valley, we aided Pike in exposing the corruption of his fellow sea-worshipping Tidesages and their leader Lord Stormsong at the hands of Azshara, who was posing as their goddess the Tidemother. After traveling through the Valley and witnessing his people transformed into monstrous void entities called k'thir, we joined him in freeing the Tidesages from the yoke of the void at the Shrine of the Storm. Amidst this, it is revealed that their fleet was being kept at sea by Azshara herself, and harnessing the power of the true Tidemother that they pray to, Pike dispels Azshara's enchantments and frees the fleet, which is later called home by Tandred's sister Jaina in their time of need.
Pike was also rather notably involved in the leadup to the Crucible of Storms raid, where after the player character frees Xal'atath from the blade in which she is trapped, we are gifted an eye upon our forehead by N'zoth and given a choice. Alliance players can go to Pike and either accept his aid in cleansing the Old God's corruption, or you can refuse and keep the Gift of N'zoth on your head. This gift has yet to bear fruit as of now, but the presence of both Xal'atath as our primary antagonist and now the presence of Brother Pike may indicate its potential to blossom into relevance in future story.
Presiding over the Alliance's soldiers is the
Sentinel Commander Lyalia
, a character that some might recognize from their travels in Krasarang during the recent
Mists of Pandaria Remix
event. She was drawn to the shores of Pandaria by a vision at the hands of the night elven leader Tyrande Whisperwind, who saw a light in need of defending on the newly discovered continent. Appointed by the High Priestess as the leader of their forces, she journeyed there with her father, a Highborne mage named Lorekeeper Vaeldrin. Unlike his daughter, Vaeldrin was searching not for the source of Tyrande's vision, but for a font of immortality to restore their people's eternal lives. What they found instead was a pool of water that
transfers
life, and after a mogu assault robbed Lyalia of her life, Vaeldrin sacrificed himself to resurrect his daughter and allow her to make a home for herself in Pandaria.
Lyalia would later find the Vale of Eternal Blossoms alongside the Alliance, and after realizing that it was the light that Tyrande saw, pledged to protect its sacred waters as well as the continent on which it stood. It seems she's given herself a leave of absence from her new home in the name of safeguarding more of Azeroth, with her first appearance since the events of Pandaria's war.
Lyalia is not the only night elf present on the shoreline. She is joined by two notable night elves,
Thisalee Crow
and
Delas Moonfang
. While these women stand together, they have rather different histories. Thisalee's is a simple one as the most notable long-standing member of the Druids of the Talon, a Cenarion order of druids dedicated to the Wild God Aviana. She has appeared in many expansions since her debut in
Cataclysm
, and is well known for her sharp personality (and claws, which you should definitely check out).
Delas, meanwhile, has a much more significant presence as
World of Warcraft
's first night elf paladin. We first met her on alternate Draenor as a Priestess of the Moon, an order of bow-wielding night elven women led by Tyrande Whisperwind, who dedicate themselves to their moon goddess Elune and often act as commanders and healers alike for night elven forces. Like many other priests of Azeroth, Delas joined the Conclave during the events of
Legion
, but unlike them, she felt a lack of complete experience in her role as a priestess.
After traveling with both the priest and paladin player character, she eventually finds herself in the Sanctum of Light, the paladin order hall. It is there that she realizes her true calling, and pledges herself to the Order of the Silver Hand as the first night elf to join the order and take up the status of a paladin. In her role as a knight of the Silver Hand, she still worships Elune, but has taken on a path distinct from her sisters in the Priesthood of Elune, one that many players have wished to take for themselves over the years.
Also present near the Alliance forces are two faces most familiar to new players, those of the Garrick family.
Captain Garrick
is the leader of the Alliance's new player introductory questline to Exile's Reach, where she has been sent alongside her unit to rescue Alliance forces shipwrecked on an ogre island, including her son
Henry Garrick
. These two are later seen again on the Dragon Isles, where they collaborate with their Horde counterparts and show a bout of friendly faction interactions much in the same way we are seeing here in Khaz Algar.
While not nearly as recognizable or notable characters themselves, both
Vindicator Jaelaana
and
Grand Vindicator Sorvos
serve as a good reminder of Turalyon's role not only as leader of Stormwind and the Alliance's forces, but as the leader of the Army of the Light, the interdimensional force of Light-infused draenei that served as our allies in our fight against the Legion on Argus. While Sorvos has not appeared since his exploits against the Legion, Jaelaana acted as the quartermaster for the 7th Legion in Boralus during
Battle for Azeroth
, and is fulfilling a similar role in Khaz Algar as the distributor of weapons to new trainees.
Bringing a notable backing of mech tanks to the shores of Khaz Algar,
Tinkmaster Overspark
and his assistant
Gila Crosswires
are a suitably bombastic presence on the shores of Khaz Algar. We first met Overspark in Ironforge as the Chief Architect of Gnomish Engineering and advisor to gnomish leader Gelbin Mekkatorque, but his first notable appearance was in
Legion
alongside Sky-Admiral Rogers and their efforts against Sylvanas Windrunner in Stormheim.
He would show up again in
Battle for Azeroth
with his new assistant, Gila, and embark on a mission to discover the origins of the gnomish people. Despite his and Gila's extreme embellishment of his own accomplishments, he led Alliance forces to discover the mythical lands of Mechagon, where the last gnomish king of the same name was enacting a plan to rid Azeroth of the Curse of Flesh by turning everyone into mechanical beings. Allying with the Rustbolt Resistance led by King Mechagon's son Prince Erazmin, Overspark (begrudgingly) worked alongside Monte Gazlowe and the Horde to defeat the king and save Azeroth, with the credit of leadership in the effort going to him, of course.
Between the forces of the two factions, we see the leaders of the pandaren,
Aysa Cloudsinger
and
Ji Firepaw
. As respective leaders of the Tushui and Huojin philosophies, their budding romance found them as star-crossed lovers during
Mists of Pandaria
when the Alliance and Horde came crashing into the shelly shores of their homeland, the Wandering Isle. Opting to join the factions, their ideologies found themselves split across faction lines as Aysa pledged herself to the Alliance, and Ji to the Horde. Later in the expansion, we would later find Ji in chains and beaten near-to-death at the hands of Garrosh's Kor'kron forces during the Siege of Orgrimmar, and after saving him alongside Aysa, the two distanced themselves their respective factions and returned to the Wandering Isle.
They would later find themselves split between unity in times like the demonic invasion during
Legion
and bloodshed in times like the faction war during
Battle for Azeroth
, but it seems the two have finally found themselves again at each others side, and are embracing the chance of unity between their allies to train the Earthen in the ways of the Monk.
Forces of the Horde
The Horde too hosts their own plethora of recognizable characters, and their own updated outfits as well. Though the Horde has never had quite the same issue with their grunt armor compared to the Alliance's footmen, the new outfits add just as much diversity to a crowd sporting a plethora of Horde races.
Horde forces being ferried to the shore by Darkspear witch doctors.
The assembled Horde army, sporting modern outfits and a diverse array of soldiers.
Beside the forces of the Horde, we see characters such as
Aponi Brightmane
and
Tahu Sagewind
, two tauren who were introduced in the Argent Tournament. These two would later go on to found the Sunwalkers in the Cataclysm, a tauren force dedicated to the worship of the sun god An'she as a counterbalance to the Cenarion Circle's focus on their moon goddess Mu'sha, also known as Elune. These two stand as respective leaders of the tauren's paladins and priests, forces that have seldom been seen since their roles during
Legion.
Also present near the shoreline are three Forsaken members of the recently formed Desolate Council. While
Lilian Voss
plays a more prominent role in Azj-Kahet during later chapters of the max level campaign, she is joined by her fellow council members here in the Isle of Dorn. The two standing with her are
Deathstalker Commander Belmont
, the long-standing leader of the Forsaken's spies and assassins, as well as
Dark Ranger Velonara
, the current leader of the Horde's darkfallen elves, who show a notable presence among the Horde's troops in Khaz Algar.
Sitting amidst the Horde fleet itself is the Zandalari troll,
Captain Rez'okun
. First introduced in
Battle for Azeroth
, Rez'okun served as the Horde player's companion during Island Expeditions as counterpart to Flynn Fairwind. In previous builds, this spot was taken by the more decorated High Warlord Volrath, a troll with a notable history of leading the Horde's forces against those of the Alliance since the days of Vol'jin's leadership, achievements that are probably correlated to his honorable discharge from this mission.
Rez'okun's place in the current version of the fleet.
Volrath's presence in older versions of the fleet.
Beyond their martialed forces, we also see members of the Horde training the Earthen to fight in sparring circles. Most notable of these is the arrival of a new character that some may recognize from their time in Krasarang during the recent
Mists of Pandaria Remix
event, where
Sunwalker Dezco
led the Dawnchaser Tribe in search of healing waters that would save his pregnant wife Leza from death. Despite his efforts, Dezco's wife dies in the act of giving birth to twin sons Cloudhoof and Redhorn.
In the wake of those events, Dezco would later go on to defend the Vale from the threat of the mogu, and amidst being told of a prophecy that would take one of his sons from him, ended up accidentally killing Cloodhoof in an effort to save both of them from a mogu commander. Redhorn was then taken to the healing waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, where he was revived by the Red Crane Chi-ji and subsequently inducted as a member of the region's protectors, the Golden Lotus.
Over a decade later, we now see Redhorn grown from his weaning name and taken the name
Kor Dawnchaser
, after his father's deceased companion from Krasarang. Taking after the members of his order, he is a monk, and helps to train the Earthen in the ways of martial combat.
Also aiding in the training of the Earthen are two faces most familiar to new players, those of the Grimaxe family.
Warlord Breka Grimaxe
is the leader of the Horde's new player introductory questline to Exile's Reach, where she has been sent alongside her unit to rescue Horde forces shipwrecked on an ogre island, including her daughter
Shuja Grimaxe
. These two are later seen again on the Dragon Isles, where they collaborate with their Alliance counterparts and show a bout of friendly faction interactions much in the same way we are seeing here in Khaz Algar.
Another character seen training the Earthen is
Gorgonna
, chieftain of the Warsong Clan. We first met Gorgonna alongside her sister Krenna, where they met Garrosh and taught him the plight of the younger orc generations as children raised in internment camps and suffering for the actions of their parents. While Krenna took to Garrosh's warmongering tendencies well, Gorgonna exercised caution against their recklessness, and after she was later forced to kill her sister in honorable combat, she took up Krenna's command.
She would not be seen again until recently during the Orc Heritage questline, where she reveals that in the wake of Garrosh's tyranny and later deposing, the Warsong Clan was left broken and bereft of spirit. Taking it upon herself to rally her clan, she fought her way through the orcish rite of honorable combat known as mak'gora and took up leadership of the Warsong, pledging to lead them in a way that would never allow them to lose their honor as Garrosh did.
Training the Earthen in ranged combat is the goblin
Volt
, of the Gob Squad. First seen in
Cataclysm
, the Gob Squad have a history as some of the Bilgewater Cartel's most dedicated operatives, frequently placing themselves in danger at the hands of their enemies as well as their own explosives. With their
new Trade Prince Monte Gazlowe taking up a prominent role in Azj-Kahet
and setting up threads for future stories with the Venture Co. and Undermine, it would not be surprising if we saw more of Volt's squad in future stories during
The War Within.
In one of the nearby buildings are two high-ranking generals of rather disparate backgrounds.
General Rakera
is a character we met during the leveling campaign of Zandalar, a low ranking officer at the time who spoke out against the corruption within the continent's leading Zanchuli Council. She was exiled to the sandy wastes of Vol'dun for this, and after being rescued, she aids Princess Talanji in repelling the threat of the artificial Old God G'huun. These acts earned her the title of General in the newly reformed Zanchuli Council, after Talanji's coronation as Queen of Zandalar in the wake of her father's death.
Likewise,
Halduron Brightwing
has a history to his ascension to the role of Ranger-General of Silvermoon. Once a simple ranger in the Farstriders he now leads, Halduron was close friends with Lor'themar Theron and Sylvanas Windrunner. After the latter's mother was killed in the line of action in her role as Ranger-General, Sylvanas took up the position, and when she too fell against Arthas' invasion of Quel'thalas, the role of leadership was left to the two men. With Lor'themar ascended to the position of Regent Lord for the entirety of their nation, Halduron took up the role of Ranger-General in the absence of Sylvanas.
Compared to his more stringently nationalist counterparts on the leading council of Silvermoon, Halduron has always had a stronger tendency towards pragmatic neutrality in the face of greater threats. It was he who supported their alliance with the now-undead Sylvanas and her connections to the Horde, and likewise when threats such as the then-hostile Zandalari Empire made attempts at world domination, it was he who proffered the aid of not only trolls like Vol'jin, but the high elves of the Alliance under Vereesa Windrunner as well. His place here at the side of Zandalar's most decorated general reflects his willingness to set aside his grudges for the sake of unity, a trait we'll almost certainly see on display in
Midnight
as we journey to his homeland to continue combatting the threat of the Void.
Overseeing the training grounds is the Matriarch of the Blood Knights,
Lady Liadrin
. Once a priest of Quel'thalas, Liadrin lost her connection to the Light in the wake of Arthas' decimation of her people the high elves, as well as their font of power known as the Sunwell. After years of exile as a light-bereft warrior, Liadrin was approached by the leader of the Magisters, Grand Magister Rommath, and offered a place of power among their newly-renamed blood elves. She accepted, and founded the Blood Knight order as a force of paladins who harnessed their power not from faith, but from forcibly draining it away from a holy naaru name M'uru that their leader Prince Kael'thas had captured.
Though she would lead this dubious order through the events of
The Burning Crusade
, they would later have their source of power stolen from them, and after much deliberation against their now-corrupt Prince, would later take up arms alongside the naaru and their draenei allies, resulting in the restoration of the Sunwell into a font of holy magic thanks to the sacrifice of the very naaru they once enslaved. It is from this now-holy Sunwell from which she now draws power from, and dedicates herself to more noble aspirations in the name of her people.
Alongside her is a much younger knight named
Salandria
, a character whose past is defined by her interactions with the player character. Once an orphan in Shattrath, the player takes her on adventures across Outland and Azeroth for Children's Week, where she not only meets a bronze dragon that speaks of her potential dark future, but meets the naaru M'uru and displays an ability to drain its magic. After taking her back to the orphanage, we learn that Salandria is to be adopted by Liadrin as her daughter, under whom she is mentored in the ways of the Light. We don't see her again until after the events of
Shadowlands
, where she has grown into a trainee among the Blood Knights, and aids her mother in combatting renegade Scourge forces. She also takes a trip of her own into the Shadowlands itself to briefly meet Liadrin's own adoptive parent Vandellor.
While her potential for a dark future has no defined date, given our upcoming travels to Quel'thalas in
Midnight
, it is possible that Salandria may make a crucial choice in our fight against the Void in future chapters of the Worldsoul Saga.
The Factions of Azeroth: United, but Distinct
A frequent critique from the community since the events of
Battle for Azeroth
has been the notable lack of faction presence. While such an absence made sense in the realms of Death, their absence as distinct entities was felt during our time on the Dragon Isles, where groups like the Dragonscale Expedition played a minor and ultimately neutral role. Likewise, the presence of organizations with long-standing preferences towards Alliance races such as the Kirin Tor and Cenarion Circle led to an absence of relevant Horde storylines for much of the expansion's main story, especially given the notable lack of a group like the Earthen Ring against such an obviously elemental threat.
These were fears echoed by the community often going into
The War Within
, where the only notable Horde character seemed to be that of Thrall, who during testing was revealed to leave almost immediately into the leveling story of Khaz Algar. As a result, we're left with characters like Moira and Dagran Thaurissan, Anduin Wrynn, and Alleria Windrunner as our main characters for the four leveling zones - a cast distinctly lacking in any Horde presence. This led to the fear that, like with many other expansions not explicitly featuring faction conflict, Horde stories would take a backseat to the stories of Alliance characters, ones that have their own frequent issue of being posited as neutral and lacking in a uniquely faction-oriented focus.
Thankfully, the max level campaign of the expansion seems to be dissuading those fears, for the moment. Not only do we see the factions present here, we see them shown as distinct entities amidst their unity against Xal'atath. Rather than forming an external organization like the Dragonscale Expedition, the Horde and Alliance are present as their own groups here, fighting for the same cause but helping our new allies amidst Khaz Algar in distinct ways. While these beachside training exercises are taking place, Thrall trains the demoralized Stormriders of Dornogal how to harness the power of the elements while Kurdran Wildhammer teaches them how to ride their gryphons, and in the depths of Azj-Kahet, Lilian Voss takes a role alongside our nerubian allies in understanding the tactics of Xal'atath and her allies.
As we head into a new expansion and begin speculating on its patch stories, there is hope that the factions which so uniquely define the
Warcraft
setting will continue to play a notable role in the fights ahead, beyond the premise of active conflict with one another. Quests like these show that in the modern era, the factions can be informed by their presence
alongside
each other without needing to jeopardize their unique identities for the sake of faction-neutral stories. Hopefully this presence will be felt not only in the future zones awaiting us in Khaz Algar, but into our adventures in
Midnight
and
The Last Titan
as well.
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