#Wrath of the Lich King fiction

[danniswrites]

World Of Warcraft Took Away Wrath Of The Lich King. They are changing Classic, a mode that is supposed to be like the early days of WOW. It's more challenging. People tend to be much older, and nicer! We who are signing this petition want our servers back, and we want the game not to be updated as the petition-writer explained so well.

Think of a video game as a novel with a very interesting plot. You'd be upset if a character you liked died for no reason, wouldn't you? I write young adult science fiction. So I am well aware of what makes a good story. A huge part of that is the characters you write about. Blizzard has good writers, but this decision to kill off characters we cared about, just to jerk our emotions around is beyond me. Like many other gamers on WOW, I couldn't understand how killing off dozens of NPCs who had backstory and were likeable characters, added in any way to the story of Cata. I didn't when the expansion was new. I still don't.

I went over to Classic because the servers are a lot less hostile, and because my favorite guild is there. A guild is like a club. You help each other out by doing quests together that you couldn't complete alone, or making things for them to wear or use through your professions.

I use the reporting function often when on World of Warcraft because players are so toxic. With a right-click of the person's name, I can send a report to a Game Master [GM] so one of WOW's terrific customer service reps can address the problem.

I know since COVID it's hard to get enough people to handle these positions, and I've seen plenty of complaints online in my social media from workers who feel overloaded and sexually harassed working for Blizzard. These reports distress me very much. There is a larger problem in our country of housing being too expensive for low-income workers, many of whom work for these large companies. So worker shortages are common, and WOW is suffering, too.

I also play Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, or SWTOR. This game is a lot more pleasant because chat is not as toxic. So, I spend more time over there. These games are similar in that the maps are huge, and quests have interesting stories. NPCs or Non-Player Characters, are the characters you interact with in the game who are not other players. They sell you things and buy your junk items. They open a window for you to use the Auction House where you can sell things to players [Galactic Market on SWTOR]. NPCs give you quests, they have a problem and ask you to solve it, either by gathering things, killing animals, or killing enemies, or doing other tasks. As you do these tasks, you learn things about that NPC, their backstory.

I was really enjoying Wrath Of The Lich King Classic. Really enjoying it. My guild had just moved to Myzrael server and I moved all 14 of my characters over there. I was actively working to level Viae from 65 to 80 so I could do dungeons with my guildmates and made a lot of progress across my toons with professions. I logged in one day and ALL of my characters are gone. All that work I put into them. All of those hours. Gone!

Retail is not as much fun! And, Cataclysm was traumatic. Those NPCs Blizzard so casually destroyed were a part of my game life. I cried over their deaths. It still hurts not to be able to go to Auberdine. And that was years ago. It is a rule of good storytelling, you don't kill off characters without a very good reason. Blizzard just broke our hearts without a thought as to whether it made good sense to the story to kill off these NPCs. A lot of us were very fond of these characters.

I wish Blizzard would listen to us gameplayers and give us back all the expansions of Classic without making it into Retail. And don't force us into Cataclysm. Didn't you learn anything from that awful experience, Blizzard? Your subs dropped like a rock. It was the most unpopular expansion in the history of World Of Warcraft. And you want to force it on me.

Keep in mind that almost half of all games' player bases are women. I can't understand other players' insistence in Trade Chat that there are no women players. There are a lot of fellas who play female characters because they like to look at them. Okay. I have some male characters because I like to look at them. I prefer fully-clothed characters. Dress my characters as I would myself. That can be hard with some of the armor you get in playing the game! World Of Warcraft has always been plagued with costumes that are scanty and embarrass me. I consider this a form of sexual abuse.

When Microsoft acquired Blizzard, I had high hopes that maybe, their toxic workplace would turn into a safe place for employees of color and women. That they would truly listen to their gamer database. I am female and a gamer. I do not enjoy immodest armor. Thank goodness, I don't have a boyfriend to push me into dressing my characters immodestly and I consider that a form of abuse and domination over women. I am happy to see more choices over the way our characters look. I'm white, but I think there should be characters of color in games, and adaptations for disabilities, a lot more than we have access to now. My disabilities get in the way of my gaming. A quarter of people globally have a significant, life-limiting disability. ADA doesn't help me as much as I think I need. We should have a bigger voice, but that's a story for another blog post.

So, why do I still play WOW? Because my friends are there. Granted, I mostly play alone, but I am working on things that will make me a more useful guild member. I want to level up my characters to do some of the harder things my guildmates are doing. I often chat on Discord with my fellow guild members while I am playing alone. A lot of work goes into leveling a character, so most of that has to be done during the time I am not playing with guild members.

Will Microsoft turn this situation around where all of us players have a voice about the games we play? I've been playing since 2007. Other players can be nice, but chat [text chat for those who don't play] is divided into categories. Trade Chat is the most active, and the most toxic. People will get on there and troll players over politics and religion and say very offensive things. Common attitudes are things like, 'women don't play WOW' and insults to women like Trump says.

If you are a parent and just turn your kid loose in these games, shame on you! You should play with your kid and see just what toxic mess is spewed in Trade Chat and how players doing holiday activities can be persecuted by the over-aggressive Player-vs-player people. For those of you who don't know, PVP [Player Vs Player] is when teams of players face off against each other in dungeons. A few years ago, Blizzard made it so PVP mode can be active in a lot more of the game, not just in battlegrounds. I have suffered a lot when I'm trying to gather materials for professions, to make myself armor or potions, and had people jump ahead of me to get that herb or mine that ore when I was headed to it. There are things in the game to help stop some of that misbehavior. But, when I used to go in dungeon groups [5 people who join a dungeon group to fight powerful bosses for good loot], I got traumatized by people who fussed me out for doing the wrong thing. When in a dungeon I like to take the quests and do extra things while in it. But, too many times, whoever ends up being the leader often won't let us take time to loot before rushing to get the dungeon done, and they won't wait for someone completing quests. It has made me cry so much, I don't do dungeons unless it's with my very understanding guild. WOW can be very bad for your mental health! So I mostly play alone or with my daughter.

My daughter Maggie and I were so angry over this, we tried to cancel our active subscriptions and demanded a refund on the new expansion. We couldn't. So, I am signing this petition with much anger and frustration.

I don't often talk about my gaming life. When I get stuck working on my latest novel, I'll hop on a game and do something mindless while I work out the plot. Often, that's fishing in World Of Warcraft, or just riding a mount on a road through a pretty area. Or flying someplace. The music and pretty scenery makes it easy to just go into my universe in my head and figure out what my characters are going to do next. Then, I'll log out and go write it. Or, if I'm really frustrated, I'll do something in game to get my mind off it that takes all my attention. I spend a lot more time writing that gaming, but gaming gives me an outlet for writing frustration, and writing gives me an outlet for Real Life [RL] frustration. I do talk things out, and my daughter is very helpful with that, but I have a lot of traumas, and talking too much about them equals bad depression or just a really rotten mood. So, there's a balance that I keep. Gaming is a nice hobby--when I'm not as frustrated as I am right now!

I hope we get enough signatures to convince Blizzard that those of us who enjoy Classic enjoy it for reasons that this petition poster clearly expresses. We don't want Cata, thank you. We want to keep all our Classic servers as they were. I like Wrath Of The Lich King, but think players of Vanilla and Burning Crusade deserve to keep their servers, too. We are all united in this cause. I hope everyone who plays WOW will see this and consider adding their signature.

#worldofwarcraft #gaming #petition #classic #blizzard @microsoft @activision-blizzard #rant #wrathofthelichking #vanillawow #burningcrusade #players #femaleplayers #cataclysm

Video to come later. The one I made is 15 min and too big!

[wearerunecaster]

Runes of the Warcraft RPG

So! It’s been a while since I said I was going to start doing some in depth write ups on this blog. Well, life got a bit in the way and I was pretty busy, but today is the start of a new series “Runes: Fact but mostly Fiction”. Someone had asked me to talk about the runes from the Warcraft RPG, so that’s where I’m gonna start. Now, the runic system in the Warcraft RPG is pretty different from what we see in any of the video games. In the original Warcraft games, Runes were only a vague concept. They were used as traps or to empower heroes. In World of Warcraft they have a myriad of uses, but weren’t solidified into a strong concept until Wrath of the Lich King at which point they became one of the bases for the Deathknight class. In the games we don’t really know much about the runes themselves, how they’re formed, where they came from, what they represent. In the RPG the runes were delved into and two unique classes emerged: the Runemaster and the Inscriber. Runemasters write runes onto their flesh and in doing they empower themselves. Runemasters are monk-like characters who forgo armor and use their fists in combat. Inscribers are mages that utilize the spellcasting of other caster classes but also seek to add the power of runes to their repertoire. They cast the same spells you would find a mage or possibly even a warlock casting, while utilizing runes where appropriate. 

I’m not gonna get too much more in depth here, but I do want to take a look at what makes the runes of Warcraft unique. In the Warcraft RPG, runes are drawn representations of ley lines that cross the planet of Azeroth. A runecaster inscribes the pattern then imbues magic into it much the way they would cast a spell. Each rune represents a set of ley lines, and as such represent the fundamental magic and will of the planet itself. What makes them truly interesting to me though, is the idea that a rune can be more or less complex. Essentially, the runes are pictographs, and you can add to them. They start simply, appearing as a symbol, and they grow outward until they become a picture. Take for example the one I’ve posted here that takes the form of a turtle. Each rune builds up, and in doing so becomes more powerful as more of the natural energy of the planet is given representation. Other than the interesting way that the runes are formed, these runes act much in the way that they do in other RPGs. A rune is essentially a spell set into a material or person. 

To tell the truth, I’m not the biggest fan of the system here. I think it’s pretty interesting that the runes are actually representations of the planet itself, but I think that misses the point of runes. Runes are written languages, made powerful not just because of the concepts they represent but also because of the endless fascinating ways the human mind is capable of wielding them. For example, the letters E, A and T all mean individual things. But when you put them together they become foods, names, ideas. That being said, runes build off of each other and that’s what I think Warcraft got right. A lot of RPGs have runes that increase in power, but how is never exactly explained. There’s just low level and higher level runes. In the Warcraft RPG you build, until what you’re trying to tell the universe takes on a precise image. They represent an idea, and they show how the world itself conforms to that idea. Their power is in how well you, the reader, can interpret their intent.

[swampgallows]

Chapters: 19/? Fandom: World of Warcraft Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Garrosh Hellscream/Reader Characters: Garrosh Hellscream, Varok Saurfang, Saurfang, Thrall (Warcraft) Additional Tags: Wrath of the Lich King, Gender Ambiguous, POV Second Person, POV Third Person, POV Alternating

Summary:

An Alliance envoy airship crashes in the Geyser Fields of Borean Tundra. In your critical condition, you seek the help of the Warsong Offensive to deliver you to Valiance Keep.

Content advisory: physical illness, mental illness, bodily injury/mutilation, self-harm, abuse/trauma, medical abuse, vehicle accident, death, mortality, emetophobia, sexual content.

i want validation please read my fanned fiction ia m working hard i have less than 10 chapters left

[breadknight-likes-things]

Bread’s Game Journal 06/01/20: Wrath In The Frozen North: A Northrend Retrospective, Part 3: Dragonblight

I remember the early buzz around Wrath Of The Lich King, and the worry that any expansion pack set in Northrend would just be a collection of snow covered zones with little to no variety.  Dragonblight serves as both a confirmation of those early fears, alongside a complete and utter refutation of those same worries.  Is this a zone covered in snow?  Yes.  Does that define it?  No.  Nor does snow cover define the other zones it’s present in around the rest of the continent.  The snow covered wastes of Dragonblight also served as the first time in the leveling experience of Wrath of The Lich King that everyone was crowding into one zone, as opposed to having the choice between two.  What followed is such an abundance of content there’s absolutely no way i’ll be able to cover it all in this post.

I think that aforementioned convergence explains why this zone is so unbelievably massive.  Even among the bigger than normal zones present in WotLK, Dragonblight is really big.  I honestly think the breadth of content, story-lines, and sheer landmass in this zone would comprise something more akin to three zones in a modern expansion pack.  The design is just as varied as well, though most of the zone is indeed covered in snow, the various dragon sanctums scattered around the area give us everything from a thick green forest, a peaceful glade (albeit, kind of on fire at the moment), lava flow caves and even a sandy desert.  Even on top of that variety there’s the coastal woodlands, the (literally) haunted seashores and the large, flat tundra plains where, in this universe, Dragons to go die.

Dragon bones litter much of the area north of Wyrmrest Temple, and given that we know full well the scourge can bring back to life....it’s something to worry about.

Dragons, are of course, the biggest story line present here.  Much of the questing revolves around visiting the various sanctums and completing tasks there, and while nobody really thinks about the dragon storylines in Wrath at this point, all of them were extremely engaging.  From the central hub of Wyrmrest Temple you were given all sorts of hands on experience dealing with these hugely powerful immortal beings.  There’s some standard “Horde Vs. Alliance” stuff off to the side, and a couple of Scourge storylines, but the vast majority of the focus in this zone was on the dragons and it lent a lot of weight to the, frankly distressingly undeveloped as a whole, blue dragon storyline that always seemed to get shunted off to the side during this expansion.

Just seeing this old thing brings back some good memories...

I mentioned before some Scourge storylines though, and hoo-boy did Dragonblight have one of the biggest ones, and one that absolutely blew my mind in 2008.  I’m talking of course about The Wrathgate, the disastrous assault on Icecrown Citadel, and subsequent attack on the Undercity that followed.  At the time this whole quest chain felt like the single most epic thing World of Warcraft had ever done.  Helped along quite a bit by the presence of the first in-game cutscene, the Wrathgate told the story of the Horde and Alliance briefly teaming up to tear down the front gate of the Lich King’s fortress, only to both be betrayed by Grand Apothecary Putress launching a chemical attack on all three parties to gain his revenge.  This was huge because, at the time, it was the culmination of quite a few different story threads that a lot of people had long since assumed had stalled out.

Finally, we had some solid information for what exactly the Apothecaries of the Undercity had been doing,  We finally understood what Varimathras had been plotting this entire time, instead of just standing next to Sylvanas acting casual, and this was the first time we actually saw a lot of the bigger characters in the lore suffer an actual loss.  The Wrathgate is still thought of, in fiction, as one of the greatest failures in the history of both The Horde and Alliance, and set back relations between the two factions almost to zero.  It was a huge moment at the time, I remember a lot of forum debate over the whole thing, some people loved it like me, others hated it and thought it made no sense (they were wrong).  In the sixteen year history of World of Warcraft, it still stands out as one of the coolest moments they ever put in the game, and it’s still a damn shame you can’t actually do the questline anymore.  I hope maybe, one day they add it back in and we get to re-live it, if only because it’s a piece of Warcraft History that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Bread’s Coveted Best Town Award: Wyrmrest Temple

It was always gonna be Wyrmrest Temple, while the Horde and Alliance settlements in this part of the game don’t do much of note, this huge imposing structure has been so enduring with the game and the lore that it’s constantly brought up and re-used and nobody even complains about it!

Random Screenshot Of The Day:

Just as a little lore treat, Dragonblight is also where you can find this iconic sight to all the people who had played and loved Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos as much as I had.

Stray Notes:

- Can you even believe how much I didn’t even write about in this long as hell post?  Naxxramas?  The Venomspite questlines?  The re-introduction of the Scarlet Crusade?  Dragonblight is ridiculously stacked with content and it would take multiple posts just to talk about half of it.

- I didn’t even mention the Azjol Nerub dungeons either!  Those are some of the absolute best in Wrath of the Lich King, and, imo, WoW as a whole!  Help, I can’t hold all this extremely good content!

[the-house-of-the-nine]

In Depths Below: Midnight Hour, Part 4

(In an effort to promote talented writers and the amazing characters created here, HoTN has the pleasure of sharing an original work by certainly my oldest and also one of my dearest friends.  Someone who not only roleplays the twin sister of Lazarius, but in turn has become like a sister to me in real life, @pyravari-kashebahl ,  with a bit of additional completion by my own hand.  I truly hope those of you who follow our work enjoy this chapter of our tale.  Thank you  )

In the third week leading up to Lazarius being taken by the mercenaries and House Kash’ebahl falling into ruin, it would be the coordinated efforts of the members of the Nine leading the charge to extract a carefully planned revenge on the parties responsible.   Magister Dawnseeker had begun this assault by taking from them their precious Inquisitor, whether he realized it or not he was declaring open war on not only the house in question, but the Nine.  Each of the members of the order had their mission.  They were to deal with a particular member of the eleven magisters in question, leaving together but toward different places they would carry out their plan to eliminate the threat.  This was their Midnight Hour, on the hypothetical doomsayer clock, they were four minutes til…

“Magister Sunfire...”.

The name alone was something that was more than likely renowned along the nobility circuit of Quel’thalas.  Like most Magister types who were involved with a bit too much of the court politics and rubbing of important elbows, Sunfire was very secure within the community.  Despite the fact that his fortune and fame were fairly recent; so recent that his lineage could be traced back only a few generations to being among the poverty of the lower class.  Sunfire was now holding a metaphorical trump card with his agreement to join Dawnseeker, eliminating House Kash’ebahl was a key victory to procuring trade lines and a rather large sum of benefactors that depended on them.

He came from nothing, achieving his influence and prestige by utilizing deceit and control grabs throughout the years. And like his ability to scam his way into his seat of authority, so too was his command over his magic.  The Sin’dorei was a master of illusions but far too gluttonous on his own power to know when discretion was needed in his operations.

He’d surrounded himself in the general area of where he’d believed a man of his power and stature should be, Northrend.  A place where another once very powerful ‘king’ once ruled a frozen landscape with an army of the dead.  And like this ‘king’, Sunfire would rule his small encampment with an illusion army of elves and orcs alike; he saw himself as more a dominant force of magical authority, than a magister with keen powers.

Even as fictional creatures, they were still overwhelmingly powerful in their deceit, created by a true weaver of deceptions as he controlled them with his very mind.  They could inflict damage, they could overpower and consume the forces who dared to disturb this powerful mage, but most importantly they were endless.  He could create them as he needed and buy himself necessary time to either flee or cause more damage. 

Sadly though, they were only as intelligent in their ability to wield arms as their creator.  And even more sadly, Magister Sunfire was no soldier.  He was not a fighter at all, and commanding was not a job for the weak minded or petty at heart.  He barely masqueraded about as though he was in command.

And so, Pyravari Kash’ebahl; twin sister of the illustrious Inquisitor, who’d gone missing at the hands of these pestilent vermin, sat along the high ridges of the tundra with her very real army. She observed, planned, and began to take action, but more importantly she was allowing her rage and desire for battle slowly build.

Guntram soared high above, feeding information to his mistress by their very intricate connection, allowing her to see with his eyes what exactly they were up against.   The exalted raven had been her companion for many years now.  Taking up a role as her protector, and her friend when times had been rough or she was on her own.

But, this army was stationary, silent, and above all else fake. The elves and orcs stood there in the billowing winds of frost and snow without a single shiver, without a single humid breath, their cloaks and tabards shifting with the currents of the vicious weather.

Guntram had spotted Sunfire in the part of the camp along a northern ridge, several miles away from the Bastille’s entrance.  Thankfully for her, Pyravari would not require a reason to strike first.  Being this close to the entrance of Azjol Nerub was something that rattled her dead, lithe body.  Using the surviving Nerubians as a buffer to keep wanderers away was one thing.  But literally having them parked on-top of their base of operations, well this was all the motivation she needed.  That and the man still acted against her brother.  He would die just for that reason alone.

For the past week he had been closing in, but she couldn’t understand exactly… how. At the moment, it didn’t matter for she’d investigate such things later. With a single wave of her hand, her elite she’d brought with her began to fan out along the ridge they perched upon, their typically dark-colored armor now melding in with the atmosphere as they were all clad in sharp white and grays, creating their own illusion along the ridge line.

Vari hoisted herself over the ledge she perched along, her own stark-white armor blending in to the surroundings while her hoarfrost reached its tendrils out to create a sort of ice-slide she would skate down. Upon reaching the base of the cliff face, she would begin the trek toward the camp, taking caution to remain well out of sight of the illusion army.

She’d spent hours upon hours observing them, noting they never moved or seemed to care that anything stirred nearby. It was as if they were waiting for something, for a command that would spark them to life like a toy soldier needing to be wound up before setting it free.

As the camp came into view, Vari’s elite would shift around the perimeter and take up residence in their camouflaged cover. Heavy steps would be met with ice and snow as Vari seemingly passed through something. She halted, her lich-fire hues boring into the very tent which her target would be within, and for a moment she felt a fleeting feeling of unease.

She lifted her arm to reach for her runeblade along her back, curling her fingers around the pommel and feeding off its power before withdrawing it and bringing it forward. That was when she heard Guntram’s sudden warning caw pierce the air.

”Seems you came to me rather than me having to go to you. Ah yes, Pyravari Kash’ebahl. I know of you. Once a prestigious warrior in the High Elven army. Slain and raised by Arthas himself. Blah blah blah.... Tell me, where is your brother?”

The nasally, taunting voice belonged to a brown-haired elf who suddenly appeared directly before her, his form shimmering out of nothing. Furs and majestic colors of reds and golds adorned his body, shielding him from the wild winds of Dragonblight.

Sunfire, that was certainly him.

The entire camp shifted then, disappearing into nothing but more frozen tundra and discarded dragon bones long since past.

”Thank you for saving me the trouble. We get to play now, yes?”

A sneer erupted over Vari’s cracked lips, her lich-fire hues still burning hot with anger as her obsidian locks of hair whipped wildly around in a vortex of cold she’d exude.

”I am not a good sport when it comes to games…” she retorted in her own dry witty way.

Vari struck then, a hand thrusting outward as she attempted to asphyxiate the magister within a shadowy grasp, but it was useless. Her death magic bounced off the magister and came barreling back toward her as she moved just in time lest she became struck by her own spell.

”What is this?!” she bellowed as the magister cackled with his unbound glee.

”Oh, oh-ho, my dear girl. It is your end, finally. Isn’t that what you want? But…not so soon, no. I’d much rather play with my toy until it breaks.” he responded with that shrill, annoying tone.

A plated fist slammed forward with a deafening roar that resounded from the woman's throat. She shrieked in her fury, realizing he'd somehow shielded himself, but not only that, she was entrapped in some sort of... force field.

“I will see you dead, Sunfire...” she hissed in hatred as she stood as solid as the invisible wall around her. “Where is my brother!  You and the filth you associate with, I will cut you down one by one until I get my answer!”

“Oh, I highly doubt that, dear. As it is...” He waved his gloved hand toward the edge of where the camp had once been, where her elite now suffered the same fate as they pounded fists and slammed weapons and shot spells at the same sort of force field, struggling with all they had to reach their Harbinger.

“You will pay dearly!” she snarled.

“Oh yes, and I will forever fear your wrath.  Yes, yes.  Oh and the topic of your brother. . . had we actually been worried about you, we would have put the bounty on your head just as we did your other siblings.”  Sunfire snicked, in fact taking a shot at her undeath, as if she didn’t matter.

“You will leave Siida alone!” Vari hissed pounding on the illusion that surrounded her. “She has nothing to do with this!”

“She has everything to do with this.  Dawnseeker will either get what he wants or continue to chip away at your families foundation until it is as dead as you are.  A reminder, the deceased cannot claim fortunes and heirs.  So. . . don’t bother complaining to the courts.”  Sunfire said as he cackled again.

The illusion army had been commanded now, moving like robots through the tundra's terrain toward her own forces, creating a wide arc several rows in depth with the opposite ridge line as a barrier.

“It seems you are rather out numbered, wouldn't you say?” the man quipped as he watched her struggle.

Vari shrieked again, this time slamming her runeblade into the ground as ice and bone erupted from the earth, spraying outward and up as jagged pieces stuck into the shield. The magister laughed a nasally cackle, his head tilting back slightly in glee as his eyes burned with intense excitement.

"Come then... let's play."

Without warning, Vari was brought to her knees in excruciating pain as a scream ripped from her throat, her body barely held up by her weight leaning along her speared blade. The magister's gaze was locked to hers and alight with such fire.

"Feels so real doesn't it? The effects of the Light along your skin. It's only an illusion, mind you. But to you... I imagine it feels quite like it would if it truly touched you, hm?"  The brain is a marvelous tool.  So easily changed when accurately motivated.

The hatred in Vari's gaze was palpable, unable to be hidden and it was unhinged, unbridled, ready to roll from her and shatter the man's very soul. Her blade hummed it's agreement, starved for the fulfillment the man's death would bring it.

“I've... had... worse...” she bit out, the pain taking its time to travel through the veins she held beneath her skin. “All... you’ve... got?”

His chipper response was grotesque, filled with more intrigue and excitement.

“Oh-ho! Is that so? Magister Dawnseeker told us all about you, a fiery one. I wonder- if I some how kept you alive... the irony of that statement is not lost, by the way.... I wonder, would he reward me handsomely? For capturing the very twin of the one he extorts? I bet...” Sunfire gasped, a mocking noise riddled with sarcasm.

He bent low, bringing his face level with hers as she struggled against the pain the illusion of light bestowed upon her body.

"I bet... you would make a nice token of my loyalty. A way for me to be farther up on his graces. Perhaps then... then he will see what sort of ally I really am to him. And then I will have garnered the power that I truly deserve."

Even though she was incapable of breaking the force that the Magister had placed on her, she was not without her sass.  Nor would she shelter such a ridiculous idea as she drew a woad of spittle into her mouth and expelled it directly into his eye.  The result would be a fantastic relief of his close annoyance.

“You’d be... better off killing me, because so.... help the gods below if you do anything but. . . I will mount ....your head on a pike ...and leave it frozen... here with a... stupid look of shock you will most certainly regret!”  she said struggling through each word as the pain grew.  A sense she was not used to given her undeath.

With a slow draw after backing away from the lich, Sunfire would run his finger tips across the bridge of his nose and rim of his eyelid as he removed her disgusting display of angst.

“Daughter of a Lady of the Court, Varina would be rolling in her grave, had she ever  been put in one, your manners are atrocious. Perhaps you need a lesson in etiquette before I ship you off to my lord.” 

Sunfire would raise his hands upward and like a puppet master calmly dangling strings, he would begin to play a symphony of magical notes that conjured the manifestations of his craft.  Several large hulking orcs would appear around the struggling Harbinger.  They were wielding large crops and floggers. 

“Remove the armor.  I’d like to see how dead flesh reacts to lashes.”

“Fuck you! Don’t touch me!” Vari began to rise from the ground as the illusion of light energy bore down on her.  From the depths of her tortured soul she would belt out a scream that rivaled even that of the Banshee Queen herself.  But it was useless.  His power, and his over amplified magic were just proving to be too much for her.

“Tsk tsk tsk Pyravari.  I told you. . . you’re not getting out of this.”

“They will release . . . me. . .” she hissed back.

“They? Oh who? Your soldiers?”  the magister said as he began to snort and cackle. “How long do you think they can go at it? Thirty? Fourty minutes tops?”

As the magister continued to rant, the large orcs would begin to paw at the saronite plate that surrounded her body.  Piece by piece they would begin undoing and plucking the armor from her well preserved frame beneath.  She would fight them any chance that she could with minor struggles and snapping bites but in this state of suspension and pain, how could she resist.

“Let them fight.  Kill six and a dozen will appear.  Have you never heard of the Hydra formation?”  The magister said to her as the orcs continued their rip chunks of her plate armor from her body.  He was certainly filled with information, useless and annoying to her, she hardly listened.

“That is the benefit of an illusion army.  I can just keep producing more.  Conjure them as I need to.  Eventually, your soldiers will tire.  They will weaken and make a mistake, which they most certainly will, and when they do. . .cut them down like little paper dolls.”

“You. . .talk. . .too much.”  Vari hissed as she was stripped bare to her thin chain undershirt with her lower plate armor still intact. “Windbags normally. . .deflate with a little prick...”

The magister snarled.  He was the type who’d more than likely appreciate a stroking of his ego.  But Vari was having nothing of it.  She would fight him despite her prison.

“Remove the mail.”  he hissed as the orcs ripped the light chain link from her body.  Beneath that, the Harbinger wore only her basic under garment.  Enough to keep her pride in tact, lady like and hardly as flashy as some of those who dwell in and around the dark corners of the city.

Vari lashed and hissed.  Her body was burning from the illusion of light magic being used on her.  Her mind innocently being played with by the masterful mage who was doing so with hardly any effort.  All while she was being prepared to be whipped and beaten for his pleasure.

“I am going to enjoy this.” He said as his whiny voice made its way toward her ear in the most disgusting of manners.

“Get it over with, any more. . . talk and I’d just assume you . . .can’t get it up.” The Harbinger baited as she struggled through the pain.

It was enough to cause the Magister to lower his guard for only that brief second.  His hands waved away in order to dismiss the two orcs who had served there purpose.  They faded into obscurity like a distant memory.  And as he brandished a light based illusion whip, his arm rose up into the air.  He was going to cause her pale, beautiful skin to be ripped to pieces.  He’d had enough of her gloating and back talk.

But what he had not accounted for was the swift vengeance of a watchful wing.  The protector that had been soaring over head all along.  Guntram swooped in right as the Magister was about to crack down on her and in one violent action planted himself directly over the twisted elfs face and began his onslaught. 

One clawed talon latching to his cheek and the other his receding hair line.  The blood dripping from the mans face as the majestic raven drove his sharpened beak directly into the eye socket of the miserable man.  This would be met with several horrible screams of blood curdling pain.  The eye was plucked directly from the comfortable position it was in and dangled just above his cheek, as it was still attached by the ocular stem. 

Guntram quickly flapped his wings and startled the mage even further, though not before taking a swift hand to the back.  The dark raven was large enough to take such a beating, but was also smart enough to know when to back down.  This was only to cause distress and distract the magister from his conjuring.  He was magically superior when it came to combat and taking damage, but the assault from the omnipotent raven was certainly not an expected result.

Many of the soldier that were out in the field stopped moving during this attack.  This allowed Vari’s own force to cut them down and begin working their way closer.  But not only that, it gave her that one moment of freedom.  She let loose another banshee wail, and as the light forced illusion subsided just enough in the confusion of his pain, she acted.

Her fist curled into a ball and she drove it; gods willing through his scrotum, directly into his crotch.  She had wanted to make sure that if she did in fact rupture a testicle that he’d surely be in enough pain before she hurt him further.

“Fucking hell. . .”  she wheezed after slamming her fist directly into him.  But this only left her more confused.  He was gone, reappearing several feet away after blinking to try and get distance between them.

“Oh no, get back here!” she said as her voice cracked in angst.

She scrambled from her knees, trying desperately to get footing in the slippery snow.  Despite her pain and insane amount of anguish that only an illusion like this could have caused her undead body.  She would not let him escape; or for that matter gain any quarter of solace before pummeling him to death. 

She clawed and grasped at the tundra, getting only enough leverage to stumble toward him.  Her hands were frozen from the cold but this was only to enhance her ability.  She’d forged a blade of pure ice on the back of her forearm and with a swift thrust would plunge it directly into the mans stomach as she fell forward.

Or had she? 

Sunfire stood there with the blade nearly bent over in a ninety degree angle.  It had not gone through, or even caused him to have a single scratch.  Though his eye was still dangling in a gross way spilling little droplets of blood along his cheek, and the claw marks from her faithful friend still doing enough damage to leave him permanently scarred.  That and his manhood was more than likely in a serious bit of pain.

“W-what the. . .”  she stammered out as her lich fire eyes blazed with a mixture of fury and confusion. “H-how can you. . .”

! ! !-S L A P-! ! !

Directly across the face.  He would back hand the Harbinger like she was a common bar maiden or some subservient house worker.  He certainly had a large amount of gall even after having his lower bits pummeled.  But if you are going to poke a hornets nest you should make sure that you destroy them all.  Slapping the woman did nothing but anger her more.

Her bladed weapon was abandoned and instantly summoned once more as she took to a last ditch effort of thrusts and swings.  Each time she would connect with a part of the mans flesh it would either shatter her ice blade or cause it the dull and break.  And every swing she would produce another, freezing the flesh of her arms and creating weapon after weapon to try and somehow cut him to pieces.

The pair were locked in this dance for quite some time.  Her own strength was just the pure anger and fury she had built up during the brief moment of his holding her in prison.  Even though she was a killing machine, and would not tire easily, she was injured.  Not physically, but mentally.  The pain she felt for the first time, in a very long time, was beginning to tire her out. 

Sating her need for battle and actually winning were very large differences.  She would have to eventually rest or run the risk of damaging her already decayed tissue further.  After all, she may have not been fully forsaken but she was undead.

The magister would deflect an ice blade, mock her by blinking away, appearing behind her and giving her a jab to the back, or a burning sensation with another light based lashing.  He would be nearly unstoppable at this point, shimmering and bolting from location to location.  She could try and hit him but no matter what she did; it seemed like she was unable to break through his power. 

Even her army was starting to falter.  The soldiers she had brought; despite their masterful training and abilities, were tiring as well.  Several had fallen to the blades of the illusions and even more were being forced back into a defensive position because they could not continue to cut them down due to their fatigue. 

“I...” she began to scream as she slammed her blades against the mans deflecting arms making only glancing blows.

“Will. . .”  She would swing again and lash at him with the anger of ten Harbingers.

“Not. . .” 

Another swing.

“Be. . . “

She’d dart to the left, spin and lunge at him with a piercing jab at his chest.

“Defeated!”

The final overhead slash would cause the entire tundra to burst in a shock wave of power.  It was so fatal to the world around them that even the illusion army would begin to fade away.  The whirlwinds of snow and ice that were trying to crush the mortals around this area would stop all together, and the silence that crashed down on the battlefield soon became overbearing.

“Do you think I would ever be so foolish to put myself in a position to be beaten by a lower class miscreant like you!”  Sunfire sniveled as he spat in her direction. “The Kash’ebahl family will die and you will continue to witness my power grow and grow!  And in the wake of our success; live on as a slave to my lord. . .witnessing how truly pathetic your clan really was.”

“Keep talking. . .” she huffed and puffed as she tried to regain her stamina.  The only thing she wished to do was kill this man.  And so she would conjure up a small blade of ice in her palm and when he had stopped paying attention to rant, her wrist flicked forward and sent the dagger whirling through the air directly at his thigh muscle.

It was nothing more than another deflected strike.  The blade wouldn’t pierce him, it wouldn't even be a hard object to. . .

Sunfire suddenly felt something begin to sting against his body.  Warm liquid running down his knee, staining his beautiful robes.  The crimson liquid seeping out sent a shocking notion into his brain.

“Sinefel. . .my orb. . . “

Vari watched on with a slow turning grin.  She knew something had changed; whatever it was it didn’t quite matter, he was in fact bleeding. 

“…what have… you done… my … .power… . . “

Unbeknownst to the Harbinger at that very moment, on an entirely different continent all together, at a time that could have not been any more fortuitous; Westley P. Whistletorque and Brox Sulfin had accidentally stumbled into the ambush of the Alliance against Magister Sinefel and his mages in the Searing Gorge. 

She rushed at him like a blizzard wind suddenly becoming a strong gust.  Shards of ice would blister on her bare feet as she used them as little snow picks and dig into the frozen tundra.  She charged like a vicious animal, hungry and on the prowl.  Her wild blue blazing eyes were leeching a strong frozen aura and the piercing shrill voice of her banshees wail was causing the frozen water collected on various objects the begin shattering.

The little gnome at that exact moment had accidentally toppled over an orb that was sitting in the tent where they were supposedly supposed to assassinate Magister Sinefel. 

In an effort to preserve a foothold and bolster his own magics; Sunfire had asked Magister Sinefel to retain the orb in his possession.  The odds of someone stumbling upon both of them and some how working out that it was in fact a power generating device were astronomical.  But never tell a gnome the odds when it came to such things.

The orb itself was a basin of power.  It amplified Magister Sunfires power to near infinity.  With it in tact, any person trying to inflict harm would be met with the same result.  Time and time again, glancing blows and deflections.  It would have been entirely certain that the crotch punch she administered was also shielded.  But what was not expected, was the innocent mawing of a faithful bird.

Vari had balled her frozen fingers into the tightest fist she possibly could, rounded it back behind her body, and let loose a punch that launched its way directly into his jaw.  As it sailed toward him, she’d absorb as many of the wet molecules in the air that she could; creating an ice like fist encasing her own. 

The resulting smash would send another wave of energy barreling through the landscape, killing off whatever remained of his imaginary army.  Her soldiers; at least those who survived, were safe at this point.

The body of the magister was sent hurdling across the tundra end over end like it had just been ejected violently from a moving vehicle.  His rag doll like frame curling and cowering against a wagon wheel that allowed for light passage in this landscape.  He was huddling there whimpering like a scared animal. 

Vari was having none of this, she was a being who would not feel pity for such a self righteous, arrogant man.  Let alone pity for anyone who dared to stand against her.  She was not the type to turn that leaf.  She was not the type to feel remorse either. 

Every crunching step across the glacial frost land brought another sudden snap of disbelief into the brain of the magister.  He was truly and royally screwed at this point. 

In a last ditch effort, what little control over the basics in wizardry would be thrown her way.  And as if only swatting at bothersome insects, she would send the small fire bolts and shocking arcane missles aside. 

She towered over him, her blank face; expressionless.  She took no joy in killing a man who was so pathetic he would cover his eyes in fear.  But she did find great pride in knowing that one of those responsible for what had happened to her brother and family were going to get what they deserved.

“You need me!” he said in one last ditch effort to gain some sort of pardon from her. “I-I can help you.  I will tell you. . . I c-can tell you. . .”

“I can tell you. . .”  She said as she cut him off mid-sentence. “That I promised to remove your head and place it on a pike overlooking these lands with that stupid. . .shameless. . .gawking face left for the masses of the world to see.”

The mans eyes widened, and for the first time in the entire ordeal; and perhaps this year, Pyravari cracked the slightest of smiles.

“And I always keep my promises.”

The magister was beside himself.  A gaping mouth hung open as he peered up at her nearly in convulsions.  The sound of ice swirling around her hand once more and being shaped into a long, razor sharp blade was even unable to break his thousand yard stare up into those cold, dead blue eyes.

“That’s the one . . .”

After the battle had subsided. . . .

Standing atop the same cliff side that she had started on when she emerged from the depths of the Nerubian tunnels; Pyravari Kash’ebahl peered out against the frozen landscape with her valiant force gathered behind her.  Armor was replaced on her muscled physique and the runeblade she’d lost during the battle was once again strapped firmly to her back piece. 

A gust of cold air shredded the silent tundra once more and sensation of pure satisfaction slowly washed over the mighty Harbinger.  She flared her petite nostrils in a show of defiance, turning up her nose and letting out a huff.  She rolled her shoulders slightly and in a forceful about face; whirled her cloak of heavy furs and chain behind her, and then gave the signal to depart.

She marched her heavy plated boots through the fresh powder as she held the rear of the formation.  A small smile still tugging on her cracked lips when she peered back only one last time to see her success.

There, setting on a pike which had been impaled just below the jaw and directly splitting the center of the skull; was that of the head of Magister Sunfire.  His wide eyes and wispy brown hair collecting fragments of ice over them as they began to freeze over.  And even then; locked in a permanent face of sheer terror and stupidity for ever crossing the goliath, the pitiful mage would forever be remembered.  Not for his power or his success.  But for crossing the wrong enemy and never once comprehending how large a mistake that was.

To be continued in “In Depths Below: Midnight Hour, Part 5″ . . . .

@pyravari-kashebahl

@zalraazurestar

@suncrest-legacy

@siidaraykashebahl

@whatadarkbitch

@lady-dawnblood

@daltalah

@thebladeitself

@zandalaridruidofgonk

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Fail of the Lich King

by Wardog

Tuesday, 14 July 2009Wardog critical hits Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, the World of Warcraft tie in novel, for 4000 points of damage.Uh-oh! This is in the Axis of Awful...~

Here’s a confession, Ferretbrain readers: I’ve never read a tie-in novel. Truthfully, I have enough trouble getting invested in the world in original fiction, so there’s a pretty low likelihood of me wanting to read about a universe specifically designed to have movies or games or a tv show happening in it.

I do, however, play World of Warcraft.

And I am, secretly, a bit of a Warcraft loregeek – having played Orcs Versus Humans, and Warcraft II and Warcraft IIIback in the day, despite being abysmal at RTS games. Azeroth is basically Generic Fantasy Setting#3 but having been splashing about it in since the age of eleven, what can I say, I have a fondness. For anyone who doesn’t give a toss (i.e. the rest of you) lore has kicked off in a big way recently in WoW, with the release of the expansion Wrath of the Lich King. This is a big deal.

Arthas, Rise of the Lich King, a WoW tie-in novel by Christie Golden, is the history of that big deal.

The short version: There’s this Lich King, right? He’s wrathful. He needs to taken out by a bunch of PCs.

The longer version: I’m not going to go into the history of Azeroth, which has a long and detailed history. Arthas, later to become part of the entity known of the Lich King (like, whoops), was the son of King Terenas Menethil, ruler of Lordaeron, and a paladin of the Order of the Silver Hand. An impetuous but basically okay youth, hope of his people yadda yadda yadda, he boned the only girl in the entire Warcraft universe, Jaina Proudmoore, for a bit and then went off to do, err, war things.

It’s all a bit complicated and involves a plague of undeath caused by infected grain, evil wizards, demons and Arthas going off the deep end, culling infected villages and burning the boats of his own army so they have no choice but to fight for him. While making questionable military decisions (this is WCIII, by the way) Arthas also gets obsessed with the

deathly hallows

runeblade Frostmourne, a sword rumoured to give its wielder limitless power. This is, as anyone could guess, a plot. In this case, orchestrated by the Lich King Ner’Zhul.

Arthas nabs Frostmourne from its prison of ice, despite the “DON’T TOUCH THE SWORD IT COMES WITH TERRIBLE PRICE YOU STUPID PILLOCK” signage and heads off to save his people. Except, this apparently involves murdering his own father, because, of course, the sword has completely corrupted him, and the Lich King is whispering to him, and controlling him, through it. Way to go, Arthas.

So, now some gothylooking sub-human Death Knight, Arthas charges around the land, generally wrecking it and raising people from the dead for kicks. But it turns out the Lich King isn’t as powerful as he thought he was and things start to go wrong. Arthas is recalled to Northrend, which is currently attack anyway by some other dudes from the lore (The Burning Legion, don’t ask). Again, it’s insanely complicated but Arthas fights his way to the Frozen Throne, releasing the Lich King and consuming him or something or other in order to become the true Lich King. Mwhaahaha.

And, then, in true Lord Voldemort fashion he’s just … been … like … sitting on there on the Frozen Throne. Raising an army, or whatever. Although everybody knows that “raising an army” is fantasy-speak for “doing fuck all.”

This is the story told in Arthas: Rise of the Lich King.

What neither my summary, nor the book itself, quite encompasses is the fact that there is quite a bit of WoWlore that’s quite cool and interesting. The original Lich King, for example, is actually an ancient Orcish shaman, tricked by demons into betraying his people. His transformation into the Lich King was actually a punishment for defying his demonic masters. Arthas, of course, is Generic Fantasy Concept #5: uppity princeling is stupid and turns evil. But there is something iconic about him, it must be admitted. He’s one of the most popular and enduring figures of the Warcraft universe.

I think part of his resonance comes from the fact you actually got to be him in Warcraft III. That game blew my tiny mind when it first came out. Not only was it sweeping, epic, and sub-Tolkeinesque in the way that Blizzard does supremely well (here’s the scene of him murdering his father –

check it out

!) but the narrative arc is, well, a bit of a mindfuck. You start out playing Arthas in his whiny Prince incarnation and, even though the game is utterly linear, it’s hard not to feel some responsibility for all the messed up stuff he does. Or rather, you do on Arthas’s behalf, because it is a RTS.

Anyway, that’s the background and a little bit of justification as to why I’m reading a tie-in novel, an experience I don’t think I’ll be repeating any time soon. This is not, you understand, a dig against tie-in novels, I’ve had absolutely nothing against them at all and I suspect I found the right sort of universe and the right sort of writers I’d enjoy them. But Arthas: Rise of the Lich King is absolutely terrible.

Dear me, dear me, it really is.

The problem is, I’m not sure what extent its just plain bad and to what extent signs I am interpreting as manifestations of badness are merely the tropes and tools of the tie-in novel form. Obviously tie-in novels are operating on a different set of rules to those governing original fiction. I’m not entirely sure what they are, truthfully, but I suppose it’s about evoking characters and places that are already familiar to the reader. And since the writer is working within an already quite restrictive canon, I suppose I should have expected an element of sketchiness but … but … it still feels incredibly tepid to me. It’s simultaneously bland and over-written, if that makes any sense at all. There’s no depth or conviction to the narrative – I suppose, I’d say it’s supremely utilitarian.

Northrend was the name of the land. Daggercap Bay the site where the Lordaeron fleet made harbor. The water, deep and choppy, with an unforgiving wind, was a cold-blue gray. Sheer-cliffs were dotted with tenacious pine trees soaring upwards, providing a natural defense of the small, flat area where Arthas and his men would make camp. A waterfall tumbled down, crashing in a billow of spray from a great height.

Do you see what I mean? It’s like looking at flat image. The information is presented list-like – there’s very little connection between the introduction of the sea, the cliffs, the camp, the waterfall. No senses other than the visual are engaged, and no effort has been made to do anything with the scene setting other than present it as it is. The waterfall tumbles down from a great height? Oh come on. It’s a waterfall, obviously it moves from a higher place to a lower place. Dan has pointed out that we’ve all been to Daggercap Bay so the description doesn’t have to do more than sketch in enough of the details to remind us and, bam, we have a ready-made vivid picture of it. Now maybe I’m just failing to engage with the differences between tie-in fiction and original-setting fiction but is it wrong of me to want just a little bit more effort than this?

One of the lines that Dan and I never tired of mocking in Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith is “from my point of view the Jedi are evil.” This is profoundly mockable from every conceivable angle but my favourite joke is that Lucas simply forgot to finish the line. He was sitting at his writing desk, thinking something like this: “what I want to do here is capture something of the moral ambiguity of this scene, the way morality is so often a matter of perspective. I suppose what Anakin is trying to say, from his point of the view the Jedi are evil.”

Writes down: “From my point of the view the Jedi are evil!”

And the entirety of Arthas: Rise of the Lich King reads like this to me.

For example, there’s scene in which Kael’thas, Prince of the Blood Elves, confronts Jaina Proudmoore over Arthas’s destruction of his entire race. This is naturally complicated by the fact Jaina, tastelessly, chose whiny Arthas over fabulous Kael. Now, I think the thought process behind the scene went something like this: “what I’d like to show in this scene is Kael’thas verbally attacking the woman he loves and cannot have because he cannot attack his real enemy, Arthas, and therefore feels helpless and impotent. In order to capture this quite subtle interplay of emotions and ruined relationships, Goldie writes:

Jaina felt quick tears come to her eyes as she suddenly understood. He was attacking her because he could not attack his real enemy. He felt helpless, impotent and was striking out at the nearest target – her, Jaina Proudmoore, whose love he had wanted and failed to win.

Everything about the way the book is written is as laboured as the scene above. There’s no hope of anything, or anyone, accruing any emotional depth because, Rowling-like, everything the characters say, think and do are mercilessly explained to us. Take this little discussion between 9 year old Arthas and Prince Varian, whose father has just been assassinated.

“He was assassinated,” Varian’s voice was blunt and emotionless. … Arthas stared. Death in glorious battle was difficult enough to handle but this- Impulsively he placed a hand on the other Prince’s arm. “I saw a foal being born yesterday,” he said. It sounded inane, but it was the first thing that sprang to his mind and he spoke earnestly. “When the weather lets up, I’ll take you to see him. He’s the most amazing thing.” Varian turned towards him and gazed at him for a long moment. Emotions flitted across his face – offense, disbelief, gratitude, yearning, understanding. Suddenly the brown eyes filled with tears and Varian looked away. He folded his arms and hunched in on himself, his shoulders shaking with sobs he did his best to muffle… … “I hate winter,” Varian sobbed, and the depth of his hurt conveyed by those three simple words, a seeming non-sequiteur, humbled Arthas.

Putting aside for a moment, young Varian’s impressive ability to communicate a range of complex emotions in a short space of time using only his face, for God’s sake, you stupid woman, there’s no need for you spell it all out for me. I get it. You don’t have to join the emotional dots with a crayon. A seeming non-sequiteur my seeming arse.

It doesn’t help that it lacks any sort of consistent narrative voice, swinging from an attempt at Tolkeinesque portentousness which inevitably just sounds lame (“long had he lived” or “tall he was”) to an incongruous modernity. Arthas, in particular, sounds like he’s voiced by Keannu Reeves:

“I destroyed your homeland … fouled your precious sunwell. And I killed your father. Frostmourne sucked the soul right out of him, Kael. It’s gone forever.”

Like, totally, duuuude.

As you can see, the dialogue is generally pretty shite (sorry, I’ve lost my objectivity now). Kael’thas, my favourite character in the entirety of WoW canon, is its most tragic victim. A beautiful elven prince, thousands of years old, bizarrely into Jaina Proudmoore (I think because, as we have established, she is the only woman in the entirety of Azeroth), cultured, sophisticated, tremendously intelligent, and, ultimately, terrible tragic as Arthas’s destruction of his people reduces him to utter madness. He spends much of the book pouting and sulking after Jaina, flouncing out of rooms in “a swirl of violet of gold” (way not to look gay, Kael), throwing hissy fits and bickering with Arthas. His dialogue encompasses such immortal gems as

“In Quel’Thalas, there are trees that tower over these in a glory of white bark and golden leaves, that all but sing in the evening breezes. I think you would enjoy seeing them someday” (take me now!) and, rather less impressively, while verbally and literally fighting with Arthas: “You’re good at killing noble elderly men.” All together now: whooooo.

Oh sigh.

And if all that wasn’t bad enough, it’s just somehow plain misjudged a lot of the time. From Arthas’s weirdly homoerotic consumption of the Lich King Ner’Zhul (just, no thanks) to lines like “long had he lived, the length and yellowness of his tusks and the wrinkles on his brown skin testament to the fact.” Yellowness?! What the hell?

Below is a picture of Illidan Stormrage, part demon, part night elf, blind and wholly mad, another of WoW’s iconic figures. Isn’t he kind of fabulous? Wouldn’t you just love to get together with a group of friends and kill him?

Would you at any point, if writing about him, use the phrase: “Sweat gleamed on his massive, lavender-hued torso?” Lavender-hued? LAVENDER-HUED? Lavender is for grandmas and bath oils. Not insane demonic night elves. Come on, Christie Golden, don’t you give a damn what you’re doing?

I could criticise the writing style endlessly but the problems with Arthas: Rise of the Lich King are even more substantial. Again, I understand that writing the story of a life of a character who was probably made up as they went along is probably quite a challenge but I don’t think it alters the fact that the one event constantly cited as the most traumatic and character-defining of Arthas’s entire life is… Actually let’s do a quiz. Is it:

a) That time he murdered his father?

b) That time he killed an entire town of innocent people because they’d been infected with the undead plague?

c) That time he burned the boats of his own army to force them to keep fighting for him?

d) That time the guy he was staying with offered him a serving girl to rape?

e) That time he was picking up Frostmourne and it directly caused the death his mentor and oldest friend?

f) That time he killed Sylvanas Windrunner, turned her into a banshee and rape/tortured her for kicks?

g)The death of his horse.

What the hell? He even has recurring nightmares about it.

(by the way, it’s option g)

Okay, this has degenerated into ranting now. By whatever standards you’re judging it, Arthas: the Rise of Lich King is a bad, bad book. Just because something is a tie-in novel doesn’t mean readers aren’t entitled to flair, conviction, a small scintilla of actual talent. Is there anything good at all I can say about it? Well, the commas are all in the right places.

Themes:

Books

,

Sci-fi / Fantasy

~

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Arthur B

at 22:37 on 2009-07-14

Dan has pointed out that we’ve all been to Daggercap Bay so the description doesn’t have to do more than sketch in enough of the details to remind us and, bam, we have a ready-made vivid picture of it. Now maybe I’m just failing to engage with the differences between tie-in fiction and original-setting fiction but is it wrong of me to want just a little bit more effort than this?

That laziness isn't a trope of tie-in fiction, it's a disease of tie-in fiction.

Games Workshop/Black Library, who seem to have a better batting average than most with this sort of thing, seem to work on the assumption that any tie-in novel is potentially someone's first contact with the franchise in question - that's is why they put the classic "laughter of thirsting gods" blurb at the start of all the

Warhammer 40,000

books, after all. This does mean that the authors have to explain who the Space Marines are every time they're introduced in a novel, but it also forces the authors to have some degree of discipline and not Christie Golden the place up.

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Rami

at 22:38 on 2009-07-14The fact that the other prince's name is the same as that of the author of one of my first-year textbooks just highlights the ridiculousness of it all to me; I couldn't take anything seriously past that point.

That having been said, I've read some pretty good tie-in fiction and there's lots of mediocre-but-not-actively-crap tie-in in campaign settings like the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance, so in my experience at least tie-in fiction's rules aren't that compromised by the rules of whatever they're retelling!

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http://serenoli.livejournal.com/

at 10:46 on 2009-07-15Studying Microeconomics, Rami?

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Shim

at 12:11 on 2009-07-15

Dan has pointed out that we’ve all been to Daggercap Bay so the description doesn’t have to do more than sketch in enough of the details to remind us and, bam, we have a ready-made vivid picture of it.

Actually, I

haven't

been to Daggercap Bay, in fact I know nothing at all about the Warcraft universe except what I've picked up via gaming conversations/blogs/comics. Maybe I should read this thing as a control sample?

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Andy G

at 14:03 on 2009-07-15

The fact that the other prince's name is the same as that of the author of one of my first-year textbooks just highlights the ridiculousness of it all to me; I couldn't take anything seriously past that point.

I misread that, I thought there really was an economics professor called Arthas.

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Rami

at 17:07 on 2009-07-15@serenoli: I'm pleasantly surprised anyone got the reference, although I don't suppose I should be as it's a pretty typical text, isn't it? Certainly everyone I met at my uni on an economics course used it.

I misread that, I thought there really was an economics professor called Arthas.

Well since I used to play Warcraft III I would have loved a textbook I could call the Book of Arthas ;-)

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Wardog

at 14:26 on 2009-07-16@Arthur & Shimmin

Since WoW produces far fewer tie-in novels than the Black Library (those things are taking over Borders, there are shelves of them!), I don't think there's any particularly need to make them "introductory." I suspect the thinking behind it is there's genuinely *utterly no reason* to read a Warcraft novel unless you're already hugely into Warcraft.

I can has macro-enconomics joke?

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Arthur B

at 16:27 on 2009-07-16

Since WoW produces far fewer tie-in novels than the Black Library (those things are taking over Borders, there are shelves of them!), I don't think there's any particularly need to make them "introductory." I suspect the thinking behind it is there's genuinely *utterly no reason* to read a Warcraft novel unless you're already hugely into Warcraft.

That's precisely the sort of thinking that tie-in franchises get stuck in, of course: they don't write for newcomers because they don't expect any newcomers to buy the books, and as a result no newcomers buy the books, which discourages the publishers from producing more and discourages the writers from writing for newcomers, and you end up with a vicious circle which results in the novel line ghettoising itself. (It gets particularly bad when the authors and/or publishers also believe that the audience for the franchise is too stupid or too loyal to care about quality, and so can't be bothered to write well.)

I think Black Library managed to become huge in a way that the previous Games Workshop book line never was at least partially because they were able to rid themselves of that thinking, and made a conscious decision to a) try their damnedest to be accessible to newcomers without patronising hardcore fans, and b) not regard the fans as morons who will buy anything with the Warhammer logo on the cover. I strongly suspect that the later volumes of

Konrad

didn't match the potential of the first one at least partially because neither author nor publisher really gave a crap about what they were producing.

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http://fightsandtights.blogspot.com/

at 07:05 on 2009-09-30

That's precisely the sort of thinking that tie-in franchises get stuck in, of course: they don't write for newcomers because they don't expect any newcomers to buy the books, and as a result no newcomers buy the books, which discourages the publishers from producing more and discourages the writers from writing for newcomers, and you end up with a vicious circle which results in the novel line ghettoising itself. (It gets particularly bad when the authors and/or publishers also believe that the audience for the franchise is too stupid or too loyal to care about quality, and so can't be bothered to write well.) I think Black Library managed to become huge in a way that the previous Games Workshop book line never was at least partially because they were able to rid themselves of that thinking, and made a conscious decision to a) try their damnedest to be accessible to newcomers without patronising hardcore fans, and b) not regard the fans as morons who will buy anything with the Warhammer logo on the cover. I strongly suspect that the later volumes of Konrad didn't match the potential of the first one at least partially because neither author nor publisher really gave a crap about what they were producing.

You raise an excellent point here, and it's one worth considering. Despite WoW's massive fanbase (as well as the fanbases of their other universes), Blizzard just really focuses on writing novels for the existing fans, not in bringing in new ones. A good deal of their tie-in fiction are simply novelizations of the games in some capacity or prequels to upcoming stuff, and unlike Games Workshop, they rarely give the writers a chance to produce original stuff within the confines of these worlds they have created, though they are getting a bit better at it. As well, one of the things that Games Workshop really excels at with their tie-in fiction is that they take more risks and allow the writers to investigate and play with their creative properties much more frequently.

This also leads to a greater depth of genre material, for example, you can find Warhammer stories that involve big quests and swash-buckling adventures (Gotrex and Felix), detective stories (Zavant Konniger), horror (Vampire Genevive), etc. Now Blizzard is expanding a bit, particularly with their manga works, but they are still a long way off from getting anything close to the Black Library's level of quality, range and depth.

One of the major problems I had with this story was the lack of epic scope that I would expect for a novelization of much of Warcraft III, and it's a problem that Blizzard's novels seem to be running into frequently these days. Part of that is simply the transition from an interactive visual-based medium to a non-interactive text-based one (unless you count throwing the book against the wall a point of interaction), but honestly, Golden could not seem to capture the intensity and the epic nature of the many of the events she was writing about. Take the Siege of Hearthglen, for example. In the game, it's a mighty 30-min last stand against an overwhelming horde of flesh-eating nasties, and about a third of the way through, you're faced with the choice to save a series of nearby villages, possibly gaining an expansion town and preventing the undead from massing even more troops with the risk of possibly losing your main base because your forces are stretched too thin. In the novel, Golden doesn't bother to show it, beyond transcribing the start and end cutscenes to novel format. It's like the writers Blizzard has hired to write these books say to themselves, "I have to write battle scenes, intense drama, and make the reader feel like this stuff matters? Fuck it. Let's talk about Arthas' horse." I'm half-expecting when the inevitable novel chronicling the Exodus to Kalimdor and the events of the second half of WCIII comes out, the Battle of Mount Hyjal will be reduced to a schoolyard slapfight between Archimonde and Stormrage. Perhaps not the biggest problem with the book overall, but one of many, and as a major Warcraft fan, one that really stuck in my craw.

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Wardog

at 12:19 on 2009-10-05Hello there - welcome to Fb.

I don't much to say really except: yes, I agree with you entirely :)

The novel really does feel, and read, like a cutscene - I think because she makes no attempt to engage with the interactive elements of the game. So what you end up is a book that's basically a string of cutscenes. Wheeee.

It's a shame becaus the Arthas story does have a lot of potential, as you say, for drama and intensity.

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http://fightsandtights.blogspot.com/

at 13:39 on 2009-10-23

Hello there - welcome to Fb. I don't much to say really except: yes, I agree with you entirely :) The novel really does feel, and read, like a cutscene - I think because she makes no attempt to engage with the interactive elements of the game. So what you end up is a book that's basically a string of cutscenes. Wheeee. It's a shame becaus the Arthas story does have a lot of potential, as you say, for drama and intensity.

Many thanks for the warm welcome, and glad to hear I had something useful to contribute.

One of the things that really struck me when I was reading this novel was that Golden's writing skills seem to have dramatically declined since she wrote Lord of the Clans. That was a pretty good tie-in novel that worked both as a Warcraft story and a general high-fantasy one, and I'm considering doing a review of it for this site. Reading Rise of the Lich King, I had a uncannily similar feeling when I read the sixth Harry Potter book, namely, "Who is this woman and where has she stashed away the writer I had come to love?" Or just like, in this case...

[little-drops-of-happiness]

My Chilly Opinion on Blizzard Story Telling

I recently picked up the book Starcraft Evolution. I’m not sure what possessed me to do so, since books based on video games have rarely been anything more than a cheap popcorn book. To be fair, it was mildly entertaining, if somewhat hollow. More importantly, it made me want to replay Starcraft 2…or at least the Protoss campaign.Around this time I was also resubbed to World of Warcraft, as well going back and replaying Diablo 3. So here I am, neck deep in Blizzard games, and it made me really realize something about them as a company.

I should preface this by saying that I love Blizzard. I’ve put countless hours into Warcraft 2, Warcraft 3, both Starcrafts, and have been subbed to Wow since 2005 (although granted I just unsubbed again but my point remains.) They produce gorgeous games, with wonderful character designs, incredibly deep, intricate gameplay, and they have produced, without a doubt, the best looking cinematics in gaming history. That being said, they tell some of the most bland, generic stories since Bubsy 3D.

Playing all three of these games around the same time really showed me just how lackluster the stories are. In the original Starcraft, you had a number of interesting, diverse, and multi faceted characters. Mengsk may have been a bastard, but he was a man on a revenge mission who would do anything to right the wrongs done to him. The Protoss were an enigmatic race, and while they were xenophobic and prejudice, but they also had a side of honor and strong sense of justice. We had varied characters and races with their own motivations. It was interesting and it was fun.

Beating Starcraft 2 was a very melancholy experience for me. Firstly, with all three campaigns, I would say close to half of the missions felt like filler. They did little to actually push the plot along, and I couldn’t find myself invested in the objectives. I wasn’t placing a Psi Emittier to wipe out a planet, I wasn’t protecting a chrysalis that housed the soon to be queen of blades, I wasn’t hunting down the traitor Tassadar. Each mission in the sequel may have made sense in the frame of itself, but in the overall picture, they were very flat.

My biggest problem however, comes at the end of Legacy of the Void. Gone are the intricacies of character growth, development, and motivation. Instead we are greeted with a very generic “big, bad, powerful guy wants to destroy the universe” plot. I remember the emotion that went into the final battle of the original Starcraft, and while the Overmind may have been similar in it’s motivations, looking deeper it did go beyond the destroy the universe trope. In addition, we went from Starcraft to Magiccraft. It felt like we had gone beyond the loose science that the universe had established to something much more steeped in magic and fantasy. I like fantasy as much as the next guy, but this is not where it belonged. Science Fiction is, in my opinion, not the place for prophecies and chosen ones.

Next I’ll take a much briefer look at Diablo 3. The game is fun as Hell, pun absolutely intended. They story however, after a full playthrough, leaves much to be desired. Let me start by saying that I’m not asking for Diablo to have a tragic backstory where his mother never hugged him, and a stranger stepped on his favorite flower, but when every villain in the game spouts the same “I will destroy you! I am Evil!” rhetoric, they all blend together, and the threat becomes that of a whimpering child. The story boils down to little more than, “here are these totally evil people who say generic evil things, go kill them.” It gets old. I may be over simplifying parts of the game, but this, I feel, encompasses the majority.

World of Warcraft. Man, I could write thirteen articles about this game alone. I’ll try to keep it brief and focus on, what I feel, is the major problem here. Lack of tonal stability. Lack of consistency. Lack of following its own rules. The game and it’s story was fine up through Wrath of the Lich King, and even parts of what I consider one of the worst expansions, Cataclysm. I, more than anybody, am all about character development. It’s what makes a good character, and a good story. But the Blizzard writing has been so inconstant, that you can’t wave it off as development but just bad writing. This is most prevalent in the characters of Jaina and Garrosh, both of who follow similar arcs. The key point is that they change characteristics drastically and suddenly. Yes, I understand that Jaina had to deal with the bombing of Theramore, but to see her fight so hard for peace between the two factions through thick and thing, only to have this be the turning point is frustrating. Not only that but the extent to which she changes spectrum felt very out of character and very forced. Garrosh too, went from a coward, to a leader, to a homicidal, xenophobic maniac very quickly, with seemingly little provocation.

The feel of the story itself has changed drastically. This is a story that started off as Orcs versus Humans. Then it went to fighting the undead, then to demons, old gods, extraplanar beings, entire worlds. It exploded too big too fast. The problem with telling a story through and MMO medium is that the developer may feel the need to make bigger and badder threats, but by doing so in the way that Blizzard has, the story, I feel, has suffered greatly. We don’t feel like heroes on the battlefield anymore, but rather super powered laser Jesuses flying through space. As I said, tonal change.

I could say much more about each game and their story failings, but I don’t want to beat a dead horse, or I may take a more in depth look in future articles. I just want to repeat that I by no means think that Blizzard produces bad games. I love their games. They make some of the most enjoyable gaming experiences available today, and I hope they continue to grow and flourish. I just hope that as they do, they work on bringing their stories to the same level as the rest of their experiences.

[harrietrawls20-blog]

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[swampgallows]

just to be clear, whether you have been following me for five years or for five minutes: i have written literally thousands of words of analysis on garrosh hellscream as a character and my affinity for him comes from the fact that i, as a mentally ill person, developed a great attachment for the character back in burning crusade and wrath of the lich king, as his storyline gave me hope that there was yet a greater destiny for me to fulfill and therefore i should continue fighting to not kill myself

my further affinity for him stems from the loss of his potential and a morbid smack in the face from reality that all of my fears were realized when blizzard converted him to a villain. they did everything in their power, going as far as to literally and blatantly go full-blown fascist on him, just to be entirely sure that he would be unanimously hated and deposed by both factions. after a 5 year hiatus from wow where i endured even more trauma and my mental illness got even worse, coming back to this character “development” rocked me to my core. 

it inspired me to create a zine (@puzzleboxzine​) which I organized back in April and is in the process of being printed into full color paperback books as we speak. my entire piece is about how i, as a mentally ill and suicidal person, relate to garrosh’s “deep depression” and suicidal tendencies depicted in burning crusade and how his mutation into the villain he became crushed me emotionally and made me feel like the fate of this hero who i so deeply empathized with over the course of the last ten years was further proof that my demise is inevitable. just as garrosh feared he would repeat his father’s mistakes and would be better off dead, so do i fear i only exist to be a burden; and garrosh ended up being right, so what chance do i have?

so, yeah, seeing the fucking cop out of writers unable to create a compelling storyline for the fall from grace of a major character in an already delicate situation and instead cement this character as evil by making transparent and tasteless lunges for “nukes and nazis” is not only pathetic but also incredibly disheartening. the vast tonal shift between the events of theramore and the book war crimes are downright jagged when juxtaposed with the comic book pulp storyline of magic dragon alternate universe time travel in the following expansion. warcraft didn’t want the kor’kron to be hydra, they wanted them to be fucking gestapo, and it panned out as horribly and tone deaf as everybody with a brain in their heads and a smidgen of experience outside their own personal bubble would have expected. 

garrosh hellscream is an irredeemable piece of shit fucking asshole. he is the worst outcome for any conceivable event or character. the game itself fucking acknowledges this in the mag’har scenario (which i still have not done yet but i have been, um, dutifully informed :\ by many followers); maybe knocking on the fourth wall a bit, but maybe not. but i don’t hate the character garrosh hellscream for what he did; the writers didn’t give me an opportunity to. they were too busy publicly festering this promising character into an actively offensive loot pinata and having the nerve to pat themselves on the back about it the whole way.  

i am allowed to be upset that the character who previously represented someone like me was instead contorted into becoming the polar and exact opposite, going as far as to use the real life suffering of real life people like the real life me to buttress this paper thin 180° inversion of his characterization. the character who used to be like me, who used to give me hope, was turned into a character who actively sought out the death of people like me. players spent literal years of their lives helping garrosh and watching his character grow until it curdled before their eyes. they felt betrayed. 

that’s not fucking fun for me or anybody else involved, and the author bragging on their twitter to make themselves sound like an informed and well-rounded and serious author is at the expense of literally millions of players’ comfort and entertainment. it is not enriching or immersive. it’s fucking insulting and alienating and contributes to real life violence. it implies that depressed and suicidal people like me are on a slippery slope toward fascism (despite its desire to cull us) and perpetuates a stereotype that the mentally ill are inherently violent. it also, in the author’s own words, “directly” correlates the character with nazism. 

shoddily incorporating half-assed nazi references to make your characters edgy or bona fide “evil” suspends the sense of disbelief and fantasy in the existing fictional universe by lazily and jarringly drawing parallels to real life catastrophe and genocide from which millions of real people are still suffering today. that’s not even writing; that’s superimposing and appropriating tragedy for shock value. azeroth is not a world where the nuremberg trials, and all of the cultural context that led to them, are applicable. and it shouldn’t be.

[breadknight-likes-things]

Bread’s Game Journal 05/30/20: Wrath In The Frozen North: A Northrend Retrospective, Part 1: Howling Fjord.

Like I mentioned in the prelude post to this series, you actually get to choose what you’re starting zone is in Wrath of The Lich King.  At the time, I remember this was a huge deal!  Before sharding, before any real way to stop everyone from existing on the same server blade at the same time, starting zones in new expansions were nightmares.  Everyone (and I do mean everyone) was trying to complete the same five quests at the same time.  It was hard enough doing that with people on your own faction, but when those quest objectives with mixed with the other faction it got even harder to get literally anything done!  That’s all something of a long way to say that it was a great idea to spread people out over two zones to make it a little bit easier to deal with questing.

When I first played Wrath of the Lich King, I originally choose to go to Borean Tundra (remember when people called it “Boring Tundra”?  They’re still wrong that zone rules), leaving Howling Fjord for second because I thought the hype surrounding it would lead to more people clogging up the questing zones.  I was correct, Howling Fjord was head and shoulders more popular than Borean Tundra and it’s easy to see why.  This zone has one of the strongest identities in Wrath of the Lich King overall (Honestly this is a trait all of Nothrend shares), and I can defintely see why it would draw in the vast majority of the players in the beginnings of their new adventure.

I mean come on, doesn’t that just scream epic viking adventure?

I feel like saying “it’s Vikings” is a bit too much of a simplified way of explaining the general atmosphere of Howling Fjord, but, you know, it’s Vikings.  From the huge nordic bluffs, the gigantic keep full of the half giant Vykrul, even the way the forests blend into the snowy mountains in the north, it all screams viking fiction.  Norse mythology and fiction, of course, would be a huge influence on Wrath of the Lich King’s background lore, and it’s at it’s most obvious in this starting zone.  It works to great effect!  Wrath of the Lich King was really the first time in WoW that you could actually trace a clear line through zone storylines,  quests weren’t as disconnected as they were in Vanilla Old World or Outland, everything at least felt like it was leading up to something.  In this case it was the assault on Utgarde Keep, an excellent dungeon that would frankly make for it’s own post in this series (and I might do as a bonus!  Been mulling that over!).

Seriously though, Utgarde Keep was one hell of a instance, probably the best possible intro they could have done and easily in the top 3 of Wrath of the Lich King in general.

The quests are uh....pretty brutal!  This was our first real taste of the Forsaken working with their new plague and, frankly, a lot of the Horde questing experience in this zone is just war crimes.  Hell, a lot of the Alliance questing in this zone is War Crimes.  You know what, most of Northrend questing that isn’t fighting the scourge is just War Crimes.  Lots of war crimes in this expansion....but then again that’s probably why it ended up being so fun!  The initial introductions to the zone are pretty standard Horde Vs. Alliance stuff, and it only moves into the actual fight against the Lich King near the end!  If you wanted to get right into fighting the scourge proper, Borean Tundra was there, if you wanted to melt a bunch of people alive with chemical weapons....well, this was the place to do it!

Bread’s Coveted Best Town Award:  ( I always like the towns the best in a lot of World of Warcraft Zone, so in this section I thought it’d just give a dumb little award to the ones I love the most in whichever particular zone I’m working with!)

It’s not the most elaborate settlement in the game, but I’ve always really liked Camp Winterhoof in the northern part of the map.  There’s a lot of fun quests that spawn out of here and it was probably most players first introduction to the Tuanka.  How the Tuanka aren’t playable yet is still something of a mystery to me!

Random Screenshot Of The Day:

Fun Fact: It’s harder than you’d think to get a good screenshot of the interior of an instance while also actually contributing to the progression of said instance!

Stray Notes:

- Well that was a long one!  Are all these retrospective posts gonna be this long?  Yeah likely!  But that’s the fun right?!

- Seriously though, eff off with this “Boring Tundra” hate, I can’t wait to gush over that zone tomorrow (or whenever I end up writing that entry!)