#draenor pathfinder

[memyselfandwow-blog]

Fucking finally! :D

[howmay-i-severyou-blog]

{ I decided awhile back that I was gonna get me an Alliance hunter and so I made my Draenei hunter! She’s a marksmanship hunter, and so far I have managed to level her all the way to 88!! }

[thekingdomofdong]

well today sucked but hopefully getting some extra sleep tonight will help if i am feeling better tempted to take a nice personal day and get some good food and watch anime or something cause its been too long since ive watched shit

[adamantinetower]

doin’ draenor stuff to get the pathfinder mount. just did the battle for shattrath city

god the cutscene where durotan and yrel take down blackhand together, using each others weapons, her having said “together” is.... really nice. narratively.

fuckin sucks i know what blizzard decided to do with yrel later and just.... threw that shit away. i hate this.

[lantsovdynasty]

rating wow expansions

7. warlords of draenor (unironically). honestly, i enjoyed the tanaan jungle introductory quests, but after i went through the wod introduction, it just kinda,, flopped? i just chilled in my garrison for most of the time and since it was such a bother to traverse through draenor, especially when i didn’t have a pathfinder, i literally just did dungeons in order to finally get to legion. i admit that it was a beautiful world, but that was all ruined by the fact that there were stupid orcs attacking every time i stepped out of my garrison. the dungeons were depressing and i didn’t enjoy them.  6. burning crusade. this was a cool world, i guess? my main problem with outland was that it was dismal. every time i stepped into shattrath i wanted to burst into tears. even nagrand was depressing! nagrand! yeah, the nice happy place with a blue sky and floating islands with the greenest grass you’ve ever seen? yeah, that was ruined by a bunch of freaking death and fear camps. even with flying, it was still a pain to traverse - it took me ten minutes just to get across zangarmarsh. the quests in hellfire penninsula were a bunch of forage and kill quests that made me hearth back to stormwind after two minutes. also, i don’t get the stupid thing with the draenei and blood elves in shattrath. can they just chill for a sec? gosh. 5. cataclysm. i actually liked this, i think? mount hyjal was a great zone and fun to quest through. deepholm and vashj’ir were cool too, but a menace to quest through. i much prefer nazjatar to vashj’ir, especially because swimming made it so annoying. i liked the dungeons and the firelands raid is one of my favorites. i think it kind of messed up in-gameplay lore - even today i’ll be questing and hear about a village that is “still being rebuilt after deathwing” with no evidence of being rebuilt. i don’t think this was a horrible expansion, and i enjoyed the caverns of time and dragon stuff. chromie is a cinnamon roll <3 4. battle for azeroth. i really liked the zones like nazjatar, zandalar, and stormsong valley. in game, i think this whole “fAcTiOn wAr” thing was unnecessary and the alliance and horde should just put on their big boi pants and do something about azeroth. the two sides fighting over azerite were reminiscent of two toddlers fighting over candy. i think the lore and art was good, though, and dungeons were awesome! except tol dagor. tol dagor can go die in a pit or something. 3. mists of pandaria. an april fool’s joke turned real, this is like my dream as a kid. who doesn’t want to go sit on a giant turtle and hug a bunch of fluffy pandas? the zones were beautiful and so were the raids, and the mounts and professions were awesome! i think that some stuff got a little repetitive and grindy, and daily quests got tiring fast, but otherwise it’s a top tier expanison. 2. wrath of the lich king. i was originally going to put this first, but i had to choose one for second place. wrath of the lich king was awesome. it was mostly consistent with lore, it had a pretty cohesive storyline, and the ambience was awesome. questing was fun and quests also had their own storyline - they also took you all over northrend, which may have been a bother sometimes, but if you knew the routes, it was great! also wotlk dungeons and raids were awesome, and if you didn’t cry during the cinematic after ice cream citadel then you’re probably a bot. 1. and finally we get to legion. legion was the bounce-back after WoD. the opening quests were fire (though i am a little mad they killed off my boi tirion). i loved the artifact quests, and if you don’t have respect for resto druids already, you will after having to complete the g’hanir artifact quest. the broken isles were beautiful and the quests were fun and easy, and the dungeons and raids were so fun! legion really makes you feel like a hero, and that’s great.

n e ways if you need to reach me i’ll be in my room sobbing because shadowlands isn’t here yet

[wrathfulclam]

Me: *leaning in to whisper sweet nothings in her ear*

Me: Flying in Draenor and Legion is now available without pathfinder achievements.

[importantlovecolor]

Riverbed Nightmare Pathfinder

It’s the find of a lifetime. A dried out riverbed, full of pre-colonial relics, untouched since it bore witness to a brutal battle sometime in the twelfth century. A team of Miskatonic University researchers are dispatched to Clayton River at once, and by July 10th, 1927, work is underway. Then the first people go missing. Riverbed Nightmare Quest During one of the night’s rests, the main character will have a nightmare with a noisy river. You should find the location called Nettle’s Crossing, which is located on the right of Old Sycamore. Head for this location, then go to the top right corner and talk to a ghost. Sep 30, 2018 Getting drawn into this stalemate starts the quest “Riverbed Nightmare”. If you pick the Neutral option you’ll just watch as both sides butcher each other, and Jaethal will show she’s a poor gambler, as the Nixie does not, in fact, have a better chance of winning.

These farming guides are designed to help you gather materials you may need for your chosen professions. All of these guides are up to date with patch 9.0.2

If you are like me, you have many times wondered where the best location would be to farm for certain items. Here I have compiled a list of the best farming places for most items.

Contact me if you have other great farming spots!

Shadowlands Farming

Herbs

Death Blossom Rising Glory Marrowroot Vigil's Torch Widowbloom Nightshade

Leathers

Desolate Leather Pallid Bone Heavy Desolate Leather Callous Hide Heavy Callous Hide

Ores

Laestrite Ore Solenium Ore Oxxein Ore Phaedrum Ore Sinvyr Ore Elethium Ore

Meat

Creeping Crawler Meat Tenebrous Ribs Raw Seraphic Wing Phantasmal Haunch Shadowy Shank Aethereal Meat

Battle for Azeroth Farming Guides

Leathers

Dredged Leather Cragscale Coarse Leather Tempest Hide Shimmerscale Mistscale

Meat

Briny Flesh Stringy Loins Meaty Haunch Thick Paleo Steak Moist Fillet Rubbery Flank

Herbs

Zin'anthid Anchor Weed Akunda's Bite Winter's Kiss Sea Stalk Riverbud Siren's Pollen Star Moss

Ores

Osmenite Ore Monelite Ore Storm Silver Ore Platinum Ore

Cloths

Gilded Seaweave Tidespray Linen Deep Sea Satin

Old World Farming Guides

Cloths

Linen Cloth Wool Cloth Silk Cloth Mageweave Cloth Runecloth Netherweave Cloth Frostweave Cloth Embersilk Cloth Windwool Cloth Sumptuous Fur Lightweave Cloth Shal'dorei Silk

Meats

Lean Shank Leyblood Fatty Bearsteak Wildfowl Egg Big Gamy Ribs

Ores

Copper Ore Tin Ore Iron Ore Mithril Ore Thorium Ore Fel Iron Ore Adamantite Ore Cobalt Ore Saronite Ore Obsidium Ore Elementium Ore Ghost Iron Ore Blackrock Ore True Iron Ore Empyrium Felslate Leystone Ore

Rare Ores

Dark Iron Ore

Leathers

Light Leather Medium Leather Heavy Leather Thick Leather Rugged Leather Knothide Leather Borean Leather Savage Leather Exotic Leather Raw Beast Hide Fiendish Leather Stormscale Stonehide Leather

Rare leathers

Heavy Hide Fel Scales Blackened Dragonscale

Elementals

Vanilla

Essence of Fire Essence of Water Essence of Earth Essence of Air Essence of Undeath Living Essence

Outland

Mote of Fire / Primal Fire Mote of Water / Primal Water Mote of Earth / Primal Earth Mote of Air / Primal Air Mote of Shadow / Primal Shadow Mote of Life / Primal Life Mote of Mana / Primal Mana

Northrend

Crystallized Fire / Eternal Fire Crystallized Water / Eternal Water Crystallized Earth / Eternal Earth Crystallized Air / Eternal Air Crystallized Shadow/Eternal shadow Crystallized Life / Eternal Life

Cataclysm

Volatile Fire Volatile Water Volatile Earth Volatile Air Volatile Life

Pandaria

Spirit of Harmony

Herbs

Vanilla

Silverleaf Peacebloom Briarthorn Mageroyal Stranglekelp Bruiseweed Grave Moss Wild Steelbloom Kingsblood Liferoot Fadeleaf Goldthorn Khadgar's Whisker Sungrass Firebloom Purple Lotus Blindweed Ghost Mushroom Gromsblood Golden Sansam Dreamfoil Mountain Silversage Icecap Sorrowmoss

Outland

Felweed Dreaming Glory Terocone Ragveil Nightmare Vine Netherbloom

Northrend

Goldclover Tiger Lily Deadnettle Talandra's Rose Adder's Tongue Icethorn Lichbloom

Cataclysm

Cinderbloom Stormvine Azshara's Veil Heartblossom Twilight Jasmine Whiptail

Pandaria

Green Tea Leaf Rain Poppy Silkweed Snow Lily Fool's Cap

Draenor

Frostweed Fireweed Starflower Gorgrond Flytrap Talador Orchid Nagrand Arrowbloom

Legion

Astral Glory Aethril Dreamleaf Foxflower Fjarnskaggl Starlight Rose

Home >Magic >Spells (Paizo, Inc.) >N >

Schoolillusion (phantasm) [mind-affecting, evil]; Levelalchemist 5, bard 5, sorcerer/wizard 5; Domainmadness 5; Subdomainsleep 6

CASTING

Fangberry For Bokken

Casting Time 10 minutes Components V, S

Pathfinder Kingmaker Shrike River

EFFECT

Range unlimited Target one living creature Duration instantaneous Saving ThrowWill negates; see text; Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

You send a hideous and unsettling phantasmal vision to a specific creature that you name or otherwise specifically designate.

The nightmare prevents restful sleep and causes 1d10 points of damage. The nightmare leaves the subject fatigued and unable to regain arcane spells for the next 24 hours.

The difficulty of the save depends on your knowledge the subject and the physical connection (if any) you have to that creature.

Riverbed Nightmare Pathfinder Dnd

KnowledgeWill Save ModifierNone*+10Secondhand (you have heard of the subject)+5Firsthand (you have met the subject)+0Familiar (you know the subject well)-5ConnectionWill Save ModifierLikeness or picture-2Possession or garment-4Body part, lock of hair, bit of nail, etc.-10

*You must have some sort of connection to a creature of which you have no knowledge.

Dispel evil cast on the subject while you are casting the spell dispels the nightmare and causes you to be stunned for 10 minutes per caster level of the dispel evil.

If the recipient is awake when the spell begins, you can choose to cease casting (ending the spell) or to enter a trance until the recipient goes to sleep, whereupon you become alert again and complete the casting. If you are disturbed during the trance, you must succeed on a Concentration check as if you were in the midst of casting a spell or the spell ends.

Riverbed Nightmare Pathfinder Character

If you choose to enter a trance, you are not aware of your surroundings or the activities around you while in the trance.

Riverbed Nightmare Pathfinder Armor

You are defenseless, both physically and mentally, while in the trance. (You always fail Will saving throws, for example.)

Pathfinder Kingmaker Feather Tokens Quest

Creatures who don’t sleep (such as elves, but not half-elves) or dream are immune to this spell.

[korkrunchcereal]

WoW Q and A

(Red shirt guy asked the first question) Heritage armor for allied races is neat, not as interesting as heritage armor for regular races. Will there be a change to it with the leveling changes? Can still get your heritage armor as allied race. Just have to reach max level.

Did the Jailer in the Maw see the legion as a threat? Explains why Sylvanas worked with Varian? As we go into the Shadowlands we’ll find out Sylvanas’ motives, her relationship with the Jailer and when it started. Hint: It started during Edge of Night (her short story from after Wrath). Sylvanas helped Varian to bide her time so not everyone would attack her.

New progression of covenant abilities + Legendaries affecting PvP. How does it affect world and instanced PvP? knobs can be turned to affect and work with PvP. Covenants shouldnt be “whats better a mage or a warlock?” Active abilities + Soulbinds and trait trees. Starting point is should work in PvP, but can turn off if need be. War mode enabled in Shadowlands.

How will flying work in Shadowlands? Same as it’s been in every expansion. If its a little annoying for everyone its probably better than alternatives.   

How will pathfinding work in past expansions with the level changing and scaling? No answer yet. 

In WoW classic, will we receive a toggle for the HD models? Current plan is no.

Will legendaries ever be transmoggable? Short answer: Yes. Can’t say when, but very soon. Tmog your sulfuras, thunderfuries and others.

What is the creative process to choose an expansion theme, specifically Shadowlands? Begin process of brainstorming 2 expansions ahead. Sets some of the plot points that are now unfolding. Weekly meetings to brainstorm. The world/environment is something to consider. Where do we want to go next? Often story will twist and turn to get us there. Example of WoD from MoP: “Wouldn’t it be awesome to go there? Let’s find a way to get there.” Sometimes it’s not quite the time. Legion was an idea after MoP, but decided to do it after WoD. Digging up old ideas they discarded / had for past expansions for Shadowlands. 

Have you ever named an expansion before developing it? All future expansions have code names. Legion was a placeholder name, decided to just keep it.

Free Hong Kong shouted on the stream and asked in question. 

The Jailer’s identity? Not someone we know, but he’s a mysterious new figure of a cosmic importance. His conspiracies, things he wants to do etc. driving the core of the story. He’s the centerpiece villain.

With Heart of Azeroth scrapped, what happens to the tier 4 HoA cosmetics? Not going to deplete it like artifacts. As you move into the Shadowlands, they’ll weaken and won’t have the effects is current plan.

 Other customization options?  More than 40 additional customization options for blood elves. Examples shown at Blizzcon, such as human, are just a small selection.

Any more realm merges/connections? Yes it’s planned. 

New expac comes out, we get the Soundtrack. New patches add new zones and new music that’s not on the Soundtrack. Considered releasing additional digital tracks for the added music? Short answer: Working on it. Before Shadowlands, capturing the BfA music that came out post launch.

Lorewise, who won Stromgarde and Darkshore? Alliance won both of them. 

With Faction war dying down, will faction borders loosen. Raid with friends cross faction? Alliance and Horde separation mechanically is a pillar that makes Warcraft Warcraft. That division is part of why we have the “For the Horde/For the Alliance” shouts. Uniting is not in the cards right now.

Eye of N’zoth: Do you get anything for having it post 8.3? Be yourself, see what follows. 

Classics based on BC, WotLK etc. Is that something being considered? Got to be careful how it proceeds. 

What happened to AU Draenor, and the Lightbound like Yrel? Will we see them again post Mag’har recruitment? That AU Draenor is still out there and the light still has a place on it. It’s something they’re keeping in the back pocket. Shadowlands is first step exploring the large concepts of cosmology. 

Is Chronicles canon? Whose point of view was this written from? Titans PoV is the narrative. Things hinted in chronicles expanded in Shadowlands. 

If Shadowlands is where the dead go, what happens when we die in the Shadowlands? The experience is very different for the Corpse Run. Different screen effect, experience etc. Spirit healers are the Kyrian covenant. Watchers in the mortal realm to watch for souls and decide if they’re ready to die. Player Character is tethered by the need of Azeroth so don’t perma die (yet).

How much of the tower do you envision being part of max level gameplay? Most of your end game? Varies from player to player. Some will casually do it, others will super grind it. still deciding if you can “win”, aka maximum value/maximum height.

With mechagnomes wearing armor “leglessly”, will there be playable races with more/less than 2 legs? If it’s appropriate to the story / expansion, “maybe”. 

Tier sets not coming back next expansion? It depends. 16 armor sets for the covenants (Cloth, leather, mail, Plate x4). Class themed armor coming back at some point post Shadowlands launch. People started going so fast with getting tier that it made getting it almost like a prison. Set bonuses is something they want to embrace, but not in the form of a box you tick. Satisfaction in getting gear in Shadowlands will come from things like Legendaries, smaller tier sets etc. 

[tyrian-sexual]

Welp time to suffer its Draenor without pathfinder time

[diguerra-moved]

̗̀  world of warcraft player stats  ̖́-

A Q&A meme for World of Warcraft players! Fill in your information (or add an N/A if you don’t want to look up the answer!), bold the relevant answers where applicable, and tag your friends! Please copy and paste the meme into a new post.

MAIN

Faction: Alliance Race: Night Elf Class: Demon Hunter Favoured Specialisation: Havoc Primary Professions: Herbalism is the only one I’ve ever done lol Secondary Professions: --

ALTS

Number of alts: 8 kansdjfkf that are mostly just there forgotten. The only 120 alt I have is my Nightborne Race/Spec of alts: Night Elf Rogue (which was my first but then I dropped it rip), Nightborne Mage, Void Elf Priest, Night Elf Demon Hunter, Blood Elf Death Knight, Blood Elf Hunter, Night Elf Death Knight and a Troll Druid bc I was bullied into making something that wasn’t an elf

COLLECTIONS

Number of mounts: 22 Favourite mount: The Lucid Nightmare Number of toys: 14 Favourite toy: Dark Ranger’s Spare Cowl Number of pets: 34 Favourite pet: Emmigosa or Lil’ Nefarian Favourite title: the Light of Dawn Rarest item: I have no idea Do you still have an item that is no longer used? (ie. sigils, spellstones, etc.): I begun playing like, yesterday, so nope Mount/toy/pet you are trying to get: Ashes of Al’ar ... Kael’thas pls... I just want the pretty phoenix...

ACHIEVEMENTS

Achievement points: 2,695 Achievement you are most proud of: None really, I don’t even have that many so Double Agent aksjdnfakjnsf Achievement you have that can’t be acquired anymore: Only the Birthday ones probably Achievement/s you are currently working on: Battle for Azeroth Pathfinder pt 2 rip Number of exalted reputations: 2 asdnfjkasnfdkjadsn

PVP & PVE

Favourite battleground: I haven’t done PVP at all lol Least favourite battleground: -- Favourite brawl: -- Least favourite brawl:  -- Favourite dungeon: I like Legion dungeons... Black Rook Hold and Cathedral of Eternal Night... and Seat of the Triumvirate.. idk... Least favourite dungeon: Violet Hold or Gnomeregan or Utgarde Pinnacle Favourite raid: I’ve never done raids because I’m afraid of people lol But from soloing or watching people do it, Black Temple and Nighthold Least favourite raid: I did 1 small part of it in the Anniversary event but I hated it so Hyjal Summit Favourite quest/quest chain: Suramar is probably my favorite questline c’: I really love Sylvanas’ quest chain in Silverpine Forest too  Least favourite quest/quest chain: Right now I have to say Mechagon because it’s the worst and I have to go there everyday to fly Favourite zone: Suramar... I really love Suramar... Did I mention I love Legion and Suramar? Least favourite zone: Silithus... I didn’t like most BC zones when leveling either... or stuff that’s reminiscent of Classic akjfnjkfnskn 

LORE

Favourite expansion: Legion bless Favourite moment in canon: this is difficult rip Maiev telling everyone Tyrande died is gold though Favourite 5 canon characters: Tyrande, Alleria, Illidan, Sylvanas, Thalyssra and Alex are tied I couldn’t decide on only one of them Least favourite 5 canon characters: Malfurion, Turalyon, Calia, Saurfang, hmmm idk who else probably an orc I don’t like orcs rip Expansions played live: Warcraft I | Warcraft II | Warcraft III | World of Warcraft | Burning Crusade | Wrath of the Lich King | Cataclysm | Mists of Pandaria | Warlords of Draenor | Legion | Battle for Azeroth Encyclopedias: Chronicle Volume 1 | Chronicle Volume 2 | Chronicle Volume 3 (I’ve read bits of them, but haven’t read any entirely) Novels: Dawn of the Aspects | War of the Ancients: The Well of Eternity | War of the Ancients: The Demon Soul | War of the Ancients: The Sundering | Rise of the Horde | The Last Guardian | Tides of Darkness | Beyond the Dark Portal | Day of the Dragon | Lord of the Clans | Of Blood and Honor | Arthas: Rise of the Lich King | Cycle of Hatred | Illidan | Night of the Dragon | Stormrage | The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm | Wolfheart | Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects | Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War | Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde | Traveler | Traveler: The Spiral Path | War Crimes | Before the Storm Short stories: Death From Above | Apocrypha | The War of the Shifting Sands | Road to Damnation | Cut Short | Code of Rule |  Blood of the Highborne | Trade Secrets of a Trade Prince | Unbroken | The Judgment | The War Effort | In the Shadow of the Sun| Glory | Heart of War | Lord of His Pack | Fire and Iron | Seeds of Faith | Edge of Night | As Our Fathers Before Us | Prophet’s Lesson | Blood of Our Fathers | The Trial of the Red Blossoms |  Li Li’s Travel Journal | Charge of the Aspects | Over Water | Quest for Pandaria | Bleeding Sun | The Strength of Steel | The Blank Scroll | The Jade Hunters | The Untamed Valley | Hellscream | Dark Mirror | A Good War | Elegy Comics: Blackhand | Blood and Thunder | Ashbringer | Death Knight | Dragon Hunt | Shadows of Ice | Ghostlands | The Sunwell Trilogy | The Comic | Legends | The Shadow Wing | Mage | Pearl of Pandaria | Shaman | Dark Riders | Curse of the Worgen | Bloodsworn | Gul'dan and the Stranger | Twilight of Suramar | A Mountain Divided | | Fault Lines | Son of the Wolf | The Speaker | Reunion | Three Sisters | Mechagon Audio dramas: A Thousand Years of War | The Tomb of Sargeras

OR

Alliance or Horde? Alliance PVE or PVP? PvE Raids or dungeons? Dungeons Battlegrounds or arenas? Neither kasnjdfakjsndf Classic or retail? Retail Ranged or melee? Melee Tank, heals, or DPS? DPS Search for spoilers or wait for things to unfold? Look for some spoilers, as anyone who’s followed me during datamining time knows lol Sell items on the AH one-at-a-time or in a stack? Stack

UNCATEGORISED

When did you start playing? By the time BFA begun, but I wasn’t playing BFA yet Owned memorabilia: Illidan’s funko pop Favourite world event: Hallow’s End Add-ons you can’t live without: I have no add-ons Things to do to kill time: Achievements | Reputation grinds | PVP | Mount hunting | Pet collecting | Play the auction house

Tagged by: @fatesblades​ c: Tagging: @aen-consilium @perspicacicus @legendariia and idk who else to tag aksdfjkasndf steal if you want!

[tanadrin]

Notes on the Taurahe Language

by Loremaster Surazh Sher'an, of the Royal Society of Silvermoon

Published in the Journal of the Royal Society, in the 6853th Year of the Sun and 5th year of the Regency (619 K.C., 27 A.O.D.P.)

Since the Third War and the reestablishment of diplomatic and trade contacts with the peoples of the western continent of Kalimdor, several new frontiers in natural philosophy have been opened up to the scholars of our Society, in areas botanical, historical, thaumaturgic, and, not least of all, linguistic. Though the tongues of the Eastern Kingdoms have been well-covered in the scholarly literature, and even those of Draenor have had several monographs published on them since the Second War[1], the languages of Kalimdor remain woefully understudied. The most tentative work relating Thalassian to the Darnassian languages has been undertaken[2], but of the other Kalimdorean tongues, nothing substantial has been written.

In the interest of attempting to make my own modest contribution to the study of the Kalimdorean tongues, I would like to offer the following preliminary analysis of a language entirely unstudied by our loremasters at present and, I believe, spoken nowhere in Quel'Thalas, and in precious few places in the Eastern Kingdoms. I refer, of course, to Taurahe, the tongue of the Shu'halo, or, as they are known to outsiders, the Tauren. The Taurahe language is most interesting, being related neither to the tongues of Draenor nor of the Easter Kingdoms, and seeming to have no antecedent in any of the ancient mother-tongues of Azeroth, like Proto-Troll, Proto-Vrykul, or Ancient Kalimdorean. Furthermore, it is a language currently in flux, insofar as the way of life of the Shu'halo has changed enormously since the arrival of the Orcs in Kalimdor and the incorporation of the Tauren into the Horde. Although I cannot capture either the complexity or dynamism of this language in a brief article, I hope to pave the way to more extensive future analysis.

1. Taurahe in Context

The Shu'halo are a tauroid race of bipeds, native to eastern Kalimdor. First encountered in the dry coastal regions around Bladefist Bay, in what is now Durotar, an alliance was formed between Warchief Thrall and Chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof of the Bloodhoof Tauren in 6833 YS, during the Third War. At that time, all Tauren clans[3] were nomadic; after the tumultuous events of the war and the defeat of Archimonde at Mount Hyjal, the Bloodhoof Tauren and a portion of the other clans settled at Thunder Bluff in Mulgore, with several satellite towns like Bloodhoof Village being founded nearby. Many seasonal Tauren campsites have been converted into permanent settlements, like the Crossroads and Camp Taurajo, facilitating trade with Durotar and supporting a larger population of Tauren.

Despite the adoption by some of a settled lifestyle, many Tauren remain nomadic or semi-nomadic, some for political reasons[4], others simply out of tradition[5]. Because of the hunting lifestyle of the Tauren, and the number of rites and rituals which center around hunting, the creation of permanent settlements and urban centers has not been widely welcomed in Tauren society. Much of the shift in Tauren culture is down to the charismatic leadership of Cairne Bloodhoof; though his authority nominally extends only over the Bloodhoof Tauren, he is highly regarded by the other Tauren clans, and holds considerable influence in Tauren society at large. It remains to be seen whether these new developments in Tauren society, and the importance of Thunder Bluff as a political and economic center, will outlast their chief architect.

As is to be expected, Taurahe vocabulary centers primarily around the historical Taurahe way of life: terminology of the natural world, of geography, travel, hunting, and hunting- and pathfinding-related technologies is quite extensive. The Tauren have traditionally been a shamanistic people, like the Orcs, and so have an extensive vocabulary of shamanistic and natural thaumaturgy. Lacking an understanding of the arcane, or of other planes, their vocabulary for arcane thaumaturgy is limited, and most of their vocabulary around these kinds of sorcery has been borrowed from Orcish and, more recently, Thalassian. Of some influence also has been the Night Elven tongue[6], since the Tauren have a long history of intermittent contact with that people. Almost all vocabulary related to metalworking, alchemy, wheeled conveyance, shipbuilding, and large-scale warfare is directly borrowed from Orcish, with a small subset of loanwords from the language of the Darkspear Trolls.

Taurahe is not a unified language; each sub-clan has its own dialect, resembling most other dialects within their clan, as clans have historically tended to migrate together and to maintain close ties in marriage and trade. Any clear geographical distribution of the dialects has been substantially confused by many centuries of migration, and the spreading of various features and loanwords between migratory clans and sub-clans. Even so, not all forms of Taurahe are mutually intelligible; furthermore, the prestige form of the language has often varied according to the internal politics of the Tauren clans, with the emergence of a preeminent leader or tribe altering the lingusitic center of gravity of the Tauren people. Since the establishment of Thunder Bluff, the Bloodhoof dialect spoken there has been treated as the de facto standard, both among Tauren and within the rest of the Horde; therefore, it is the Thunder Bluff dialect that shall be treated here.

2. Writing System

Taurahe has not traditionally been a written language. Tauren society has historically been based extensively on oral traditions, which supply everything from legal and ritual formulae to history and mythology, which, based on the study of different versions among different clans, have remained remarkably constant over centuries or even millennia[7]. Although the Tauren have had contact with literary societies such as the Night Elves for many centuries, they have generally eschewed writing for most culturally significant applications, ascribing far greater prestige to orally transmitted traditions. Most Tauren elders have committed the equivalent of dozens of volumes of history and poetry to memory; some, such as Hamuul Runetotem, are said to be able to recite what would fill a hundred books in any Orcish library.

Nonetheless, Tauren have some knowledge and respect for runic sorcery, and have applied it to the totems they wield in battle and use for ritual purposes. These "runes" seem ultimately to be of Night Elven origin, despite no extant tradition of their use in Night Elven society. Potentially, they date from before the Sundering, given their similarity to arcane runes used in Quel'thalas and the contemporary aversion to arcane magic among the Kaldorei.

Almost all written forms of Taurahe found now in Kalimdor are, however, recorded using the Orcish writing system. Orcish uses a combination of phonetic and logographic symbols, having descended from an earlier logographic stage[8] some two centuries before the opening of the Dark Portal. Foreign languages, when recorded in Orcish, typically use only the most common logographs, relying instead on extensive use of the phonetic symbols normally reserved for inflection and particles. The syllabic nature of phonetic Orcish, however, renders it a poor fit for Taurahe, which has a completely different phonetic inventory. Therefore, in this article I have preferred to rely on the superior Thalassian alphabet to transcribe the sounds of Taurahe, which are in fact quite simple for the Elven tongue to pronounce.

3. Phonology

Taurahe forms generally CV syllables, making it at least phonetically one of the less vulgar languages of the Horde. It rarely admits consonant clusters, only occasionally permitting certain syllable-final glides and certain syllable-initial affricates. The fifteen consonants as transcribed into Thalassian are as follows:

p b t k m n s sh h ch (a velar or glottal fricative) l r w y (a palatal semivowel) ts (affricate)

Taurahe has five vowels, which may be either short or long; in most dialects, although not Bloodhoof, the long consonants are in fact diphthongs, and even when speaking Bloodhoof, Tauren tend to preserve those diphthongs if present in their native dialect. The five primary vowels are /a e i o u/; the long vowels are most usually realized as /a: ei i: o: au/. Less common are /au/ and /ai/ or /ie/ for /a:/ and /i:/. Grimtotem Tauren has a completely different system of long vowels, /ae ei ie oa ue/.

4. Noun Classification

The declension of the Taurahe noun is only for four cases--the nominative, the objective, the locative, and the relative--but is greatly dependent on the classification of the noun, based on what appears to be both an animacy and social-role hierarchy. The former is not unlike the animacy classification of some Zandali languages, while the latter bears a (passing) resemblance to the "gender" categories in human languages, but both should probably be treated on their own terms, as the Tauren system is both distinct and more regular than either. Roughly speaking, Taurahe noun classification is between inanimate or abstract, sessile or natural, dynamic-animate, fully sapient, and elemental or divine nouns on the one hand; and provider/loremaster, hunter/leader or shaman/spiritwalker on the other. The social role classification is somewhat more difficult to understand as a regular process among the less animate nouns, and is also not fixed: one noun may migrate between all three categories according to circumstance and usage, without the reclassified noun necessarily being considered a new lexeme. Inflecting a noun according to another animacy category is, however, a standard part of new noun formation.

There are at least six or seven distinct declensions of Taurahe nouns; my Tauren interlocutors have not been able to agree on the precise number, and it may be that comparison to the Thalassian system of declensions is in fact entirely inapplicable here.

5. Verb Nuclei

The Taurahe verb is formed from affixes attached to a single root, a "nucleus" which may be built up with both prefixes and suffixes and even, in some cases, infixes. Roots generally encompass a single semantic concept, which affixes may extend and alter in ways which would, in most other languages, necessitate the derivation of a new word. For example, "kuto," "fight" with the telic, transitive affixes forms the verb "karutoha," "to win [against sb.]", while with the impersonal affix forms "ukuto," "to fall into disarray." The impersonal form can be further modified by the personal, passive affix, "uma'ukuto," "to be routed in battle," which despite the presence of the impersonal affix alters the valency of the verb. All told, Taurahe has perhaps one-tenth the verbal roots of a language like Orcish or Common Human (to say nothing of the refined Thalassian tongue), but dozens, and possibly hundreds, of verbal affixes. Few of these affixes are truly exclusive of one another, and a deeper syntatic analysis is required to determine how, exactly, the valency, tense, and aspect of the final verb are determined.

6. Taurahe Words and Phrases

The following phrases are taken from interviews with my Tauren interlocutors. I traveled to Thunder Bluff and Bloodhoof Village for a period of eighteen weeks and interviewed approximately a dozen Tauren of four different clans. This is but a small sample of the corpus I used for my analysis, and with the aid of an colleague who has been transcribing Taurahe lore from Orcish to Thalassian script, I hope to soon begin work on a more complete grammar of the Taurahe tongue.

Vocabulary

-she/-sha: Affix denoting natural phenomena, celestial bodies, and the divine, cf. "An'she," the creator-sun. shu: Clan, tribe, political grouping. Cf. "Shu'halo," the Tauren people. halo: 1st person plural pronoun. We, ourselves. apaa: watch, guard ro: path, road apa'ro: the Waywatcher, Malorne -ah: augmentative affix por: lore, wisdom, custom, law por'aa: ancient wisdom, longstanding (and therefore inviolable) custom alo: within, inside ne[e]: to be (cf. "ishnee," "let be," or "ichnee," "to remain, to always be") pawne: spirit, soul owa: to dash, to bolt, to run tanekaa: blue; cf. Taunka "taunka," "winter," and the Taurahe idiom "bluest [i.e., coldest] of winters" manii: to shake laata: to shake; with the causative infix cf. "Laakotamanii," "the Earthshaker." isha: grave, serious, deep awaak: doom, ill fate, misfortune eeche: white ala: to walk mo: dream ala'mo: druid, i.e., one who walks in dreams haurakemani: the Earthmother shu'halo: a Tauren, the Tauren ahee: language; to speak

Phrases:

Pawne chi owako lehe "[May the] spirits guide you"

Ya shu'kushaa "For the Horde"

Namak'ehe shu "Victory or death"

Chi shu'ma'hewa "I've been expecting you."

Lehe shu'po'halo wota'ano kuu "May my ancestors watch over me"

Rek'ala'mo ya kusho'ake ne "Cat druid is for fight"

Notes:

[1] See especially Magister Thoradiel's "On the Orcish Tongues" and its follow-up, "The Draenei Dialects." Loremaster Harran of Dalaran's groundbreaking work, "The Eredar-Draenei Family" dissects the relationship of the demon-languages of the Twisting Nether to the Draenei tongue, but N.B. that possession of this volume is forbidden in Dalaran, Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, and Stormwind owing to its extensive analysis of demonic incantations; the nearest available copy is to be found in the Black Library of the Royal Apothecary Society, in the Undercity.

[2] Magister Gal'an's "Some Darnassian-Thalassian Cognates", Notes of the Royal Society, 6851 Y.S., issue no. 3.

[3] Taurahe "shu," variously translated as "clan," after Orcish usage, or "tribe." A "shu" is any extended kinship group, and the term is sometimes applied to large political groupings of any kind, e.g., "Shu'kaldo," the Night Elves, or "Shu'ekate," the people of the east, i.e., the Alliance.

[4] Most notably the Grimtotem who, while having diplomatic relations with Thunder Bluff, are not technically part of the Horde.

[5] E.g., most of the Wildmane Tauren.

[6] Now called Darnassian after its principal dialect, but functionally the same as Proto-Kalimdorean.

[7] The consistency of Tauren oral traditions is bolstered by analysis of their (admittedly scant) attestations in Night Elf histories. Several important entries are found in "The Annals of Kalimdor," vols. XLIV to LXX, currently held in the Sentinel Archives. The author acknowledges that the currently strained diplomatic relationship between Quel'Thalas and Darnassus may make consultation of these codices difficult.

[8] "Old Orcish Pictographs," Proudmoore, Jaina. Journal of the Linguistic Society of Dalaran, vol. 53, no. 2.

[lorerunner]

Do you agree with how Blizzard has implemented unlocking flying in Wow since Warlords of Draenor? Why or why not?

Yes and no.  On the one hand I don’t mind earning it.  On the other hand it’s been arduous as hell doing the rep grind.  But that’s more the fault of rep grinding than the Pathfinder achievement.

[kirlaan-blog]

I was searching for treasure in Draenor to get flying. I saw this really big building and thought it would be up there.

After long attempts of trying to get up here (and a leap of faith) I finally did it. Sadly, I could not find anything other than this soccer ball.

After a long and hard time of trying to get up there....I am having the same long and hard time trying to figure out why and how there is a soccer ball up here in the first place.

[justwarcraftstuff]

Me: Let’s get my hunter to 120 so I can tame Hati! Also, maybe work a bit toward Draenor and Legion Pathfinder so that the alts I’m leveling now can fly, at least, and make it less challenging to quest.

Also Me: Let’s start my billionth alt that I won’t play past level 20! Also, do an unrelated reputation grind to get a flying mount that would fit their personality and backstory well!

[mischievouswritingblog]

Warcraft Lore: Portal Lore & Ideas

Have you ever wondered: “If there are portals then why are gryphon masters and ships still a thing on Azeroth?” With something so convenient and easy, why bother with any other mode of transportation? When dealing with rp, fic writing, or something along the lines of a Pathfinder Campaign this may be a question you might hit a snag with. While some writers and roleplayers personally prefer that convenience, others may want things to be less convenient. So this bit is for the latter and those who are just curious. The first thing we have to remember is that what we see in the MMO version of Warcraft is different than how it would be portrayed in something like a book or movie. Things like portals all over Stormwind and the spells the player characters use are set up for convenience and playability. In a narrative, there’s a lot more to work with than a simple tap of a button.

As players, we don’t really get to see what goes into spellcasting outside of hints in the narrative. We can’t feel the exhaustion of low mana or when the use of powerful magic can strain the body. In the case of portal magic, what is to us, a great convenience is actually a dangerous burden to the world of Azeroth.

Portals, Leylines, & The Economy Portal magic is actually quite complicated and can be risky. A lot can go wrong if the caster isn’t careful. When making portals, one is tearing holes in the fabric of reality and joins one place to another through the use of Azeroth’s leylines. These lines are basically the planets veins but instead of blood, raw, magic energies and mana course through them. Leylines are an important source of power and magic. They’ve been used to power cities, create moonwells, used to help with scrying, and are connected to nature. Without a doubt, they are an important part of Azeroth’s eco and magic systems. Unfortunately, overuse of portal magic and heavy traffic can break down the leylines. This leaves the likes of the Kirin Tor (and perhaps the Blue Dragon flight) needing to repair and perform maintenance on them. Until MoP, regents called ‘runes’ were used to perform the portal and teleport spells. This mechanic was removed for player convenience. But in lore, it might still require regents to use portal magic. Keeping up maintenance on the leylines costs time, effort, and likely a lot of money. So regents for portal magic get taxed higher to help offset the cost. This then leads to magi who are offering portal services to charge travelers for the spell’s usage (kind of like how mage players will port for tips). With the consequences of overusing portal magic and the costs it brings, it’s not ideal for general public transport. It can cause extensive damage to leylines which would damage Azeroth and can hinder a lot of magic. But what is to stop such abuse? How is such magic regulated and kept in check?

Dangers, Regulation, & Punishments One of the biggest dangers of portal magic is the sheer potential it has. Not only in the means of travel but also raw, destructive power. Queen Azshara used portals to try to bring Sargeras and his forces to Azeroth. The possessed Guardian Medivh and his Dark Portal led to the first three wars by bringing fel corrupted orcs. But the most terrifying example of portal magic’s destructive ability was by the orc shaman, Ner’zhul, in main timeline Draenor.

In ‘Beyond the Dark Portal’, Ner’zhul used the artifact ‘The Scepter of Sargeras’ to harness Daernor’s magic and open countless portals all at once. This was a huge mistake. Unstable portals opened across the planet to worlds unknown and tore Draenor to shreds. This is why Outland is basically a bunch of rocks floating space.

So take a moment to let that sink in. Too many portals can tear a location and even an entire planet apart. ( ‘Portal roulette’ is now ‘Portal-o-Death’. Tossing someone into rapidly shifting portals could be an effective (and gruesome) way to kill off a character.)

These may be extreme examples but the Kirin Tor won’t take that risk. Mages that want the ability to use portal magic have to have a license and extensive training. The classes would have to cover not only the magic behind portals but also on their many laws and regulations. Given all the potential dangers, if a mage doesn’t comply with these regulations they are executed. (Though this is obviously more lenient with the likes of Jaina, Khadgar, and other trusted Kirin Tor).

The Kirin Tor hold tightly onto the knowledge and development of portal magic. They try to keep that knowledge to who they believe are the most responsible. With this in mind, portal magic is likely not used nearly as often as we see in the game. Even the likes of portal technology that’s made by engineers are watched carefully. Such tech is close to being forbidden, save for emergencies.

How This Can Effect a Plot or Characters So when dealing with plots in fics, rps, or campaigns, you have more than enough reason to make travel a part of your story. In your version of the Warcraft universe perhaps most mages simply don’t have portal licenses or it’s restricted save for certain instances. The Kirin Tor would likely try to keep such magic out of the hands of the general public. It gives a good reason why travel by things like walking, horseback, boat, and gryphon are still relevant. You can also get creative with characters as well. It could be fun to play with the concept of a rogue mage or a hedge-mage that uses portal magic. An antagonistic mage could be a huge threat if they had portal magic in their arsenal. For example, they could drown places like Lakeshire with their own lake. Jaina, enraged with the fall of Theremore and betrayals, nearly did this to Orgrimmar herself. That’s a frightening concept and a reminder that mages are just as fallible as anyone else. Or perhaps you’d like to work with a hero or a side character that’s hit a bit of bad luck. Perhaps they’re on the run from the Kirin Tor over breaking one of the laws for portal magic. Perhaps they might be a hedge-mage that learned portal magic through something other than a Kirin Tor approved school. This could be a relative, some has-been mage, old spellbooks, there’s a lot one could get creative with.

There’s plenty you can play with, whether it be for a fic, an RP, or a D&D session. Get creative and see where you can go with it. But most importantly, have fun. That’s all from me for now, I’ll see you next time! ;D Author Notes: This has been a small project I’ve been meaning to do for quite a while. Despite the current state of WoW I love working with the lore and seeing the fic and rp community. I’ve been thinking about doing more stuff like this in the future. If you have suggestions for bits of lore you’d like me to delve into, feel free to pitch them to me. In game, there’s a couple of books in old Dalaran that pops up that lists some of the laws and regulations. I’ll leave a link to the wiki for reading: 

‘Thinking With Portals - A Memorandum’

‘Portals are NOT Garbage Bins!‘