Thread by @BaalTheWarlock

Alliance time!

Likewise a Parliamentary Body, 1 Vote per Seat, and High King likewise elected unanimously or removed by majority.

i.imgur.com/7vFb1aS.png

Gonna start with Humans.

Note: Most of the Human chart is actually already canon, and occupies ALMOST A THIRD OF THE ENTIRE ALLIANCE CHART.

CURIOUS, ISN'T IT? INTERESTING, ISN'T IT?

Whereas for Horde I had to pull shit out of my ass left and right.

FASCINATING.

Anywho, with the expansion of the Alliance to include non-Human races, in the wake of Varian's death and the return of First War Veterans into the Alliance, they forced Anduin's hand in establishing a Human (and Vrykul) unified Holy Arathian Empire.

I'll explain Pan-Human stuff first and then go into details of each Kingdom.

Yes, an obvious Holy Roman Empire reference, and similarly it is
-neither Holy (no Naaru or Light Pantheon members involved),
-nor Arathian (it is centered in Stormwind),
-nor an Empire (each Kingdom is autonomous).

But it sounds cool, doesn't it?

The foundation for the Humans for me are:
-Arthurian Legends
-Western European Historical Myth Building (e.g. "Holy Roman Empire" discourse)
-Medieval/Early Modern European Royalty/Nobility Political Intrigue
-Catholic Church History
-Western European Folklore/Myth

So this "HAE" is a sort of "Knights of the Round Table" of the 7 Kingdoms + the Vrykul
-Anduin = Stormwind
-Danath = Stromgarde
-Jaina = Kul Tiras
-Genn = Gilneas
-Jaroch = de facto Alterac
-Turalyon = de facto Lordaeron
-Khadgar = Dalaran
-Sigryn = Vrykul (Stormheim)

Reminder, the Vrykul and Valajar (now led by Thorim) went Alliance as the Helajar/Kvaldir (and Helya) went Horde.

The High King is elected "democratically" from among the Monarchs of the Empire by the Courts of each Kingdom.

Stormwind's Court is led by Count Remington Ridgewell, as an example.

Due to Stormwind being the largest, moster powerful, and safest of the Kingdoms nowadays, that is where the majority of the forces are concentrated, and where the majority of the power is concentrated. An embassy for each Kingdom throughout the city.

Another aspect of the Humans I wish wasn't missing is the whole Bloodline-Geneaology melodrama of IRL royalty that we all love from Period Dramas.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT ANDUIN AND JAINA ARE FOURTH COUSINS TWICE REMOVED and such.

So I created a hypothetical attempt:

So for example:
-Jaina is a super lit mage because she's DISTANTLY, like 1/1000th High Elf.
-Katherine is a descendant of Meryl Felstorm
-Tiffin Ellerian was a cadet branch and cousin of the Menethils (ergo Anduin looks like Arthas)
-Proudmoore is a cadet branch of Greymane
-etc

All my favorite historical/fantasy tropes:
-Distant elven blood (like in Lord of the Rings)
-Descent from Viking Rulers
-King's Wife is sister of Local Noble Best Friend or Sister Of Rival King
-Defunct Dynasties go to nearest Cadet Branch
-Undead/Immortal Ancestor
-etc

I'll start with Stormwind later!

Stormwind for me should be *heavily* relying on Arthurian Legend, Church History, and Nobility Intrigue (especially wrt the Defias Brotherhood, being a Class Struggle Metaphor)

So Stormwind.

Obviously while Lothar and Arthas are the "real" Arthurian allegories, I think giving the throne of Stormwind the "anxiety" from this past is important.

So formalize that House Wrynn is a cadet branch of House Arathor.

As I mentioned in the above "Human Geneaology" attempt, giving "distant elven blood" to Meryl Winterstorm (now Felstorm) allows him to serve as the "Good" half of the Merlin persona that Medivh serves as the "Dark" half within the canon.

Relatedly, borrowing from IRL Medieval History, have the Church of Light be necessary in validating who is the Emperor of the Holy Arathian Empire.

I would *not* think making the Church of Light "Catholic" would make sense, i.e. no Popes.

I think I would add a history that there *was* a "Pope" who was First Among Equals, the Patriarch of the Church of Light whose Episcopal Seat was Lordaeron City, but with the Fall of Lordaeron by Arthas, there is no longer any Patriarch of Light.

EXCEPT PLOT TWIST, the last Patriarch of Light Alonsus Faol, did "survive" but he is Undead.

And so the Human Church of Light, all the remaining Archbishops, reject him entirely, 100%.

So while traditionally the Patriarch of Light (of Lordaeron City) would crown the King of All Humans (in Strom), the "second" Archbishop of the Septarchy was Stormwind.

And the Wrynns are cadet of the Arathor after the Lothars died out.

So the "Septarchy of the Church of Light" was:
- Patriarch of Light (Lordaeron)
- Archbishop of Stormwind
- Archbishop of Stromgarde
- Archbishop of Gilneas
- Archbishop of Dalaran
- Archbishop of Kul Tiras
- Archbishop of Alterac

Of the Septarchy, the only ones who remain are:
- Archbishop of Stormwind
- Archbishop of Stromgarde (post reclamation)
- Archbishop of Gilneas
- Archbishop of Kul Tiras

The Kirin Tor banished their bishop, Alterac defunct, and Lordaeron's Faol was excommunicated and anathema.

Under the Church of Light would be:
-Silver Hand (ie majority of Azeroth Paladins), Turalyon
-Argent Dawn (more general armies of the Church, led by the Silver Hand), Maxwell, Eligor
-Ivory Shield (the DK defectors who are against new Death Knights), Bolvar/Alexandros

If we recall, Thoradin established the Arathor Empire at Stromgarde because he saw a Black Wolf there.

So lets build on that.

Goldrinn was intrigued by this Thoradin Arathi, and so gave a blessing to his bloodline (ergo the Lothars and Wrynns).

Similarly, to borrow from Tolkien's mythos where Aragorn is descendent of Elrond's brother, have a later descendent of Thoradin marry Anasterian's sister, maybe "Themisaren"

Older sister, specifically.

At the same time, in order to "explain" why Stormwind and Lordaeron were so close recently, have the Ellerians be a branch of the Menethils, ergo why Anduin and Arthas look alike.

And forcing yet another inherited "burden" on Anduin.

Similarly, the Nobles of Stormwind want the armed forces to annihilate the Defias Brotherhood, who continue to not only exist but grow, recruiting from disaffected peasantry of every kingdom but primarily Stormwind's peoples.

But the Nobles control both the land and resources, and the peasants due to lack of organization repeatedly fail against the Nobles.

Tiffin tried to help the people and move against the nobles, so the nobles killed her, paying an assassin to be amongst the peasantry.

Because of his INCREDIBLY DISTANT High Elven heritage, some (minority) of the Dalaran High Elves want Anduin to claim the throne of Quel'thalas.

After all, he is descendent of the older sister, who should have inherited the Sun Throne.

This radical minority of Dalarani High Elves are disgusted with their people having sided with the Horde, and not only that, but collaborating with the Amani Trolls to boot, supporting Talanji's reunification of the Zulian Empire!

The horror!

So Anduin Wrynn is caught between:
-The Arathi heritage and "lost glory"
-Pressures to claim Quel'thalas (from Dalaran High Elves)
-The inherited guilt because his mother is Arthas's cousin
-Pressures from the Church
-Dealing with Noblility's evil
-His own personal beliefs

Now that's what I call an Arthurian-Tolkien-Medieval Tragic King.

Otherwise Stormwind is as-is: SI7, Navy, Army

Next up, Gilneas!

Some changes to how the Worgen Curse works incoming :P

And more development of what the Howling Oak (and trees like it, like Gol Inath, are!! aka Fairy Trees, which will later shape Kul Tiras)

So unlike the diversity of Stormwind, with an enclave for every other Human Kingdom and every other Nation of the Alliance, Gilneas is very much rigid and traditional in part because of its isolationist but also they're just a stiff people.

So in this set up, the House of Greymane was originally a cadet branch of Dukedom of the House of Menethil.

Eventually during a moment of political instability (noble uprising, etc), the Duke Greymane separated from Lordaeron and established his own kingdom.

The Menethils could not bring themselves to kill their cousins during the Silverpine War (WIP) and while they had won the war, they allowed Gilneas autonomy.

However they built the Greymane Wall just in case all the same.

Now, the Howling Oak of the Blackwald is a Fairy Tree.

"The fuck is a Fairy Tree Baal"

tldr, will explain when talking about Reality/Death metaphysics, but:

-The Court of Day (Summer Queen Fairies) plant Dream Trees on each world that serve as anchors between the World, the Dream, and the Gardens of Life, e.g. G'hanir

-The Court of Night (Winter Queen Fairies) plant Fairy Trees that serve as anchors between the World, the Veil, and Ardenweald

-Each world's Fairy Trees (WIP) are tied to a specific Tirna or two in Ardenweald, Azeroth's are Tirna Glayn and Tirna Marwol

-Additionally, children of Wild Gods go to Ardenweald on default, because they are inherently servants of the Wilds, Wild Children = "Therians"

-Mortals who are permanently magically changed by Wild God Blessing/Curse are called "Garbets"*

-Garbets from ye olde French "Gar" as in Man (eg Loup-Garou) and "bet" as in "beast", so Man-Beasts.

-both the "Saberorcs" and "Worgen" are Garbets

-Garbets obviously give you animal power BUT ALSO protect you from Evergrowth corruption (Evil Pantheon Of Life member evil stuff)

-So while Normal Mortals get ferried by Kyrians, Therians and Garbets are taken to the Fairy Trees, guarded in the veil by the Wild Hunt.

-Tirna Marwol has a high concentration of Garbets, while Tirna Glayn has a lot of Therians.

So there are three ways to become a Garbet:
1. Wild God Blessing/Curse, e.g. a Gnome could ask Goldrinn to make them a Gnome-gen
2. Bitten by a Garbet who has lost their rationality *AND* you are NOT Undead or a "Botani" (Garbet bite is lethal there due to Wild God Life magic)
OR

3. Born to at least one Garbet parent.

However, I made a Punnett square

G = non-Garbet person, or curse isn't activated
g = Garbet
e.g. "Saberorcs" and Human/Elf Worgen

G x g = Gg, person is born with Garbet curse, but does not activate until they kill another living thing for the first time, the Blood Cursed



g x g = gg, person is born a Garbet, triggering during puberty during the first full moon of their 15th birthday, the Moon Cursed

GG = Normal Human

If a person manages to conceive a child while being "Gg" without their curse activated (ie do not kill anyone), their children are NOT Garbets.

So basically in Gilneas's case:
- Malfurion traps Thas'dorei (Elf Worgen) at Tal'doren, the Night Fae watch over them
- During the Silverpine War, some Worgen are awoken, bite Gilneans
- Genetic cascade of Worgen curse ensues

This is the triple purpose of the Grey Wall:
1. Keep invaders out
2. Keep Wild Worgen inside
3. Deter possible war that would trigger the Worgen Curse in many carriers in a given generation

While the majority religion of Gilneas remains the Church of Light since the early days, and the Church of Light tracks the geneaology of the Worgen curse to know who is Blood Cursed (Carriers) and who is Moon Cursed (Full Garbets) and summons a Wolf Hunt when a Worgen goes wild.

The Wild Hunt members stationed at Tal'doren include fairies, however.

And fairies love being messy.

So long ago, these fairies revealed themselves to the Gilnean humans and taught them some of their magic. Not full Death-Druidry, but a little Witchcraft.

However, these practices were enough to help the Harvest Witches learn how to help the Wild Worgen regain their sense of self.

So tension exists within Gilnean society between the Church of Light's Wolf Hunters (men only) and the Harvest Witches (women led).

The Wolf Hunters believe that even when a Witch is successful, the risk of relapse into beastial bloodthirst is too great. And fairies are terrifying monsters who corrupt souls!

No, the Wild Worgen must be killed, and the Church obeyed.

The Witches believe the Wolf Hunters are the real bloodthirsty monsters!

The Fairies are servants of the Great Cycle, and have saved Gilneas during times of famine by magically restoring crops and helping the Wild Worgen regain their humanity!

The Church is murderous!

The Gilnean Military is led by the Crowleys, Mia being Darius Crowley's sister, and thus Lorna Crowley and Tess Greymane are cousins.

Lorna was Mooncursed (full Garbet), while Tess was Bloodcursed (only when she kills will her curse activate).

The Wolf Packs of Goldrinn are the Gilnean elite forces:
- Bloodfang Pack
- Nightbane Pack
- Talonbranch Pack
- Blackhowl Pack
- Havenswood Pack

However long ago, when the Worgen Plague was just discovered, some of the un-cursed Human "purebloods" fled Gilneas entirely to find a new home, horrified at this werewolf nonsense.

What they found was Kul Tiras (next!)

So first, brief TLDR of the landmass that is Kul Tiras today:
-contains a Fairy Tree and a Dream Tree
-settled first by of N'zoth's Aqir, then one of Mimiron's labs, then some elves (small Elune shrine), then Eisenkul (Winterskorn War) that served Tyr, then they became Vrykul

House Proudmoore was a branch of House Greymane, but once their cousins informed them of how they were planning to accept the Worgen curse, they said fuck no and left.

With them was house Waycrest, Ashvane, and Stormsong.

Proudmoore was their leader but the Lord Obed Stormsong had been hearing strange whispers, especially during Full Moons or when inside bodies of water, and was the one that led them to Kul Tiras.

(Obed Marsh from Shadow Over Innsmouth reference)

The Lord Stormsong eventually kept listening to these whispers, and eventually the whispers became stronger, teaching him how to control the water (Wavespeakers), the air (Galecallers), sea animals (Tideguards), and use moonlight to empower runes to protect ships (Hullwardens).

The Lord Waycrest had insisted on bringing a priest from the Church of Light, but he died during the first winter. Nevertheless, the Lord Waycrest was a firm believer in the Church of Light and his personal guard were likewise holy men of the faith.

The Lady Waycrest however, outwardly she was also a strict woman of faith, but in truth, she was one of the coven leaders of the Harvest Witches, and all her servants and maidens were likewise learning the Wild Arts from their mistress.

Due to the death of the Priest and the material, practical success of Lord Stormsong's disciples, eventually the Sea Church was formed, and Lord Stormsong was both Tidebishop and retained his Lordly title.

The gentle whispers claimed to be of the Tidemother.

Now, in this cosmology, Amphitra the Tidemother is a member of the Pantheon of Life, the Sea Mother, Mother of all Aquatic Wild Gods.

All of them. On every planet.

And thus she was beloved particularly by the Elementals of Water and Air.

So the Lord Stormsong was being favored by Amphitra the Tidemother (after all, her siblings Bochica and Cerunas had already meddled with the Trolls and Elves, why not her too?), and thereby also the children of Al'Akir and Neptulon (WIP).

As they continued growing on the island, they realized they were not alone.

They shared the island with the Drust.

Similar to the Gilnean Harvest Witches, the Drust Vrykul had developed practices with the Night Fae in their Fairy Tree of Gol Inath (minus the Worgen problem).

But unlike the Witches, the Winter Queen Morigana took notice of them.

For eons so many "Druids" came to her realm in death, having learned the magic of life from Wild Gods, the children of Amphitra, Cerunas, and Bochica.

Was she not also important? Would these Wild Gods not return were it not for her?

If they could teach mortals, why can't she?

Malorne and Cenarius with the elves, Rezan and Gonk with the trolls, even Goldrinn was meddling with the humans.

Who should she approach? Her fairies taught some Gilnean Humans yes but... no.

So the Winter Queen had taken to reality through one of the Fairy Trees that connected to her Tirnas, and arrived at Gol Inath, the home of two Wild Gods she adored, Athair and Athainne.

The Drust Vrykul were astonished as she emerged on Full Moon.

A queen of skin as blue as frostbite, her eyes shining like moonlight, her fangs peeking through her lips, great wings of a moth stretched behind her, and majestic antlers casting great shadows.

Only one Vrykul approached her: Ulfar. "What do you need of us, my queen?"

So the Winter Queen taught Ulfar what would then be Death Druidry, and made him deathless, and from then on the Drust were part of the Wild Hunt.

But this was not enough for Gorak Tul, the Drust King who had cowered in fear before Morigana.

Eventually, tldr, Gorak Tul was tempted by Zovaal, and tried to wage war in Ardenweald, jealous of what Morigana gave Ulfar alone.

Morigana, enraged, gave Gorak Tul what he wanted. Immortality and an empowered form, but trapped him within a prison realm bound to Gol Inath.

So the Drust and the Wild Hunt watched Gol Inath, but in their duties to dead Wild Gods and dead animals/plants, but also to make sure the doorway to Thros stay locked, constantly being reinforced.

During the skirmishes between Humans and Drust, their numbers dwindled, and eventually Gorak Tul broke out.

Lord Arom Waycrest was approached by Ulfar, as Arom had saved Athair from hunters and so vouched for him, and together they slew Gorak Tul and banished him once more.

The Drust Thornspeakers then integrated into Kul Tiran society, and intermarried over generations. Likewise, the deathless Ulfar recognized the Fairy touch in the Gilnean Witches, and taught them true Death Druidry.

Arom's elite guard of Holy warriors formed the Order of Embers.

Eventually, the Order of Embers would re-integrate with the Church of Light, while the Lady Waycrest would secretly continue being a Coven Leader, for the commoners of Drustvar clung to the Church of Light in fear of Wild Gods and Death Druidry and Witches.

While Lord Edward "Blackbeard" Ashvane was the wealthiest, he was the most hated of the original lords. He knew he could not rule, or else be likely murdered eventually.

So he supported Proudmoore be their true leader, along with Arom and Obed.

Thus the Admirality of Kul Tiras was established, with the Signoria of Boralus (Ashvane, Stormsong, and Waycrest).

Eventually, while the Proudmoores retained control of the legal, formal Navy, the Ashvanes were allowed to operate secretly as pirates and privateers.

Eventually the Lord Ashvane was secretly the Pirate King of the Alliance, rivaling Baron Revilgaz the Pirate King of the Horde.

Together serving on the Court of the Sundered Seas with the other Pirate Kings.

The Lord Stormsongs had been warned by the Tidemother to never use their powers of water-sight to look too *down*. Keep their eyes on the horizon, on the waters they tread and the skies they depend on.

Never the depths.

The Lord Stormsong did not listen.

The Lord Stormsong began to hear whispers, not of the Mother of Tides, but of the Father of the Deep, N'zoth Log'lo, the favored Shath'yar child of N'zoth hoq Thoq of the Shadow Pantheon.

The Deepthseers were added to the Abyssal Council.

Similarly, Ulfar had warned the Lady Waycrests to never try to use their Thornspeaking to try to raise the dead.

The Lady Waycrest did not listen, and began hearing whispers of Thros.

And eventually, the Loyalty of House Ashvane faltered. They had betrayed the Proudmoores.

While Katherine loved her husband Daelin Proudmoore, she knew there was evil on the island and his heart, and so when her daughter showed magical promise after being tested by the Tidepriests, she was immediately sent to her Winterstorm family in Dalaran.

In the wake of all these events:
-Lady Jaina of House Proudmoore, Archmage of the Kirin Tor, became Lord Admiral
-Lady Lucille Waycrest restored the Order of Embers and became a student of Ulfar

-The Sea Church was separated from the Lord Stormsong title, and so Lord Bannon Stormsong and Tidebishop Pike work together with the renewed Abyssal council

-a new Pirate King was needed for the Alliance, and so Flynn Fairwind, the Fairwinds being the 10th cousins 7 times removed of the Ashvanes by his great great great great great great etc grandmother, was Lorded and given control of now Fairwind Trading Company (begrudgingly)

oh yeah I'm dumb forgot to explain the inspirations of Gilneas and Kul Tiras in terms of IRL culture:

Gilneas's root for me is:
-Victorian Penny Dreadful (a sort of parallel to the Forsaken)
-Tradition European Folklore (especially werewolf myths)
-"Traditional Witchcraft" and Celtic Pagan Reconstruction movements

So werewolves, fairy trees, some Church vs Witches drama, etc

Kul Tiras, since it is a colony of Gilneas originally, should have all of the above but additionally:
- Golden Age of Piracy + Naval Regency Aesthetic
- Lovecraft Horror motifs
- Salem myth elements (especially such as the Salem TV Show stuff)

Next up: The Magocracy of Dalaran, home of the Dalaran High Elves (descendent of the founders of the Kirin Tor), some Quel'Thalas High Elves, and the Tirisgarde (reformed Tirisfal council led by Meryl Felstorm)

So Dalaran is the basic magical floating city in Western Fantasy.

Some Harry Potter Hogwarts, some Kingkiller Chronicle's University, some Sword of Truth's Wizard Order in Aydindril, and some Lunar Legend's City of Vane, etc

However in terms of internal politics, I'd complicate things a bit by relying on its two main population: Elves and Humans.

First off, I think it makes sense for WoW to use "Elven blood makes you better at magic".

I think likewise, like any Human Kingdom, the "elite" are the founding noble families. So while there is no "peasantry" and no nobles retain titles, there is still the prestige of family.

So for example, the Winterstorm Family, being mixed human and elf as I mentioned previously, is known in Dalaran to produce excellent mages, such as Meryl Felstorm and Jaina Proudmoore (on her mother's side).

Likewise, the Dalaran High Elves are divided into two camps: those are retain loyalty to Quel'thalas, and those who reject joining the Horde.

But both grups *are* Dalaran High Elves. Aethas Sunreaver, though a member of the Convocation of Silvermoon, prefers being in Dalaran.

I think the Council of Six should be composed of one Archmage per School of Arcane Magic.

Remember Dalaran is essentially Hogwarts. It's a university town.

Much like I did with Scholomance in the Horde thread, the Council are also "Deans".

I'd change the schools up a bit:
1. Remove Necromancy, change it to Martial Magic
2. Fuse Abjuration into Conjuration
3. Transmutation, Illusion, and Enchantment the same
4. Change Divination to Astromancy

So.
1. Khadgar = Archmage of Martial Magic (Wizard/War Wizards)
2. Ansirem = Enchantment
3. Vargoth = Illusion
4. Karlain = Transmutation
5. Modera = Conjuration
6. Kalecgos = Astromancy

The Six Schools of Arcane Magic.

For anyone to be a certified Mage, they must pass EVERY SINGLE ONE of the Magical Aptitude Graduation Exams (MAGE).

Otherwise, they can only claim the title of what exams they have passed.

Archmages are such because they have advanced research in one of the six schools. A PhD.

So if you only passed your Martial Magic MAGE so far? You're a War Wizard Harry!

-Enchanting? Enchanter
-Illusion? Sympathist
-Transmutation? Artificer
-Conjuration? Conjurer
-Astromancy? Astromancer

Two of these are borrowed from Kingkiller Chronicle's University.

For added depth, part of Martial Magic is not just Arcane Magic as weapon, but also the art of healing with arcane magic, and also traditional herbalism and alchemy to produce medicine.

Each school of magic has complexity and depth of study.

So Archmage Jaina Proudmoore's research was combining conjuration, enchantment, transmutation, and martial magic into an application for maritime combat (flying boat + arcane canons; freezing the ocean).

Archmage Kael'thas Sunstrider's magical research was in still-experimental inter-planar portal magic, which Kael'thas theorized is the extremely advanced portal magic that Medivh had used in opening the Dark Portal.

In his time as Archmage of the Six, Aethas Sunreaver was the Archmage of Illusions, or Master Sympathist.

Archmage Jaina was naturally Master War Wizard, Archmage of Martial Magic.

Another note: metaphysics wise, Arcane magic DOES NOT summon water/ice and fire as elements.

Arcane magic alters time, space, and molecular structure/energy.

Firebolt = air heated, producing flame
Icebolt = water condensed, energy taken, producing ice

Mages have since figured out how to conjure a water or fire elemental to help empower their spells, however they use arcane sigils to *bind* the elemental temporarily.

Mage elementals do not serve willingly, unlike Shaman.

If a Mage passes their MAGEs, they get an amulet of the Eye of Dalaran, which historically was designed by Meryl Winterstorm after becoming fascinated with the Eye of Aman'thul he read in the books the Elves gave the humans in founding the Kirin Tor.

So as I said, Human, Half-Elves, and Elves:
1. Khadgar keep human
2. Modera keep human
3. Ansirem change to elf
4. Karlain keep human
5. Vargoth change to half-elf
6. Kalecgos stays Dragon with Half-elf disguise ofc

The leader of the Council of Six is always the Archmage of Martial Magic ie Master War Wizard.

There is... displeasure among various peoples regarding Kalecgos's revelation that he is a Blue Dragon, and now Dragon Aspect at that.

This is because while Kalecgos achieved his Archmage status the old fashioned way, well, if Elven blood makes Magic easier for you, what does that say about being a whole damn Blue Dragon?

Nevertheless, nobody dares raise a hand against him, of course.

While Dalaran is host to both the Silver Covenant (Pro-Alliance Dalaran High Elves) and the Sunreavers (Pro-Horde and embassy of Quel'thalas in Dalaran), and while the Tirisfal Council is firmly dead and there will never be a guardian, Meryl Felstorm did request the Tirisgarde.

Reminder from the above Stormwind section that some of the Dalaran High Elves put pressure on Anduin to claim his distant royal elven descent to claim Quel'thalas for the Alliance and out of the "false" Regent Lord.

Tirisgarde would be in the spirit of the Council of Tirisfal minus the Guardian.

Elite group recruited by Meryl himself or by recommendation from any of the Council of Six from each year's graduating mages that are firmly neutral.

So next up, and this is probably the shortest kindom, would be the Fallen Kingdom of Alterac, de facto represented by Lord Jaroch Ravenholdt in the Holy Arathian Empire.

Will get continue another day.

So the Kingdom of Alterac! Hot mess. In ruins. Absolute garbage. The House of Peronholde is super dead.

However, the two cadet branches were House Falconcrest and House Ravenholdt.

The people of the Kingdom of Alterac split four ways:
- minority went to Lordaeron pre-Arthas, and are now Undead
- another minority went to Stormwind and survived
- but the majority stayed and joined either Falconcrest (Syndicate) or Ravenholdt (Uncrowned)

For me, Alterac represents:
- Imperial Decadence, the total loss of what was (even less continuity that the Forsaken)
- Bitterness As Politics (wrt the Syndicate)
- Hassan al Sabbah of Alamut, aka the Master Assassin Old Man on the Mountain who created the "Assassins"

So if you recall from my Neutral Thread, the Shado-Pan are the "fathers" both Forsaken and Human rogues. Both House Belmont and House Ravenholdt's lords trained under the Shado-Pan's Master long ago.

The Belmont Deathstalkers and Ravenholdt Uncrowned are rival Assassin Leagues.

In this capacity, Lord Ravenholdt continued the tradition, creating a league of Assassins from his family's mountain estate.

Think Ra's al-Ghul mixed with Batman.

He is more than willing to get his hands dirty, and so goes where Shaw's SI:7 are unwilling.

This allows for complexity: Stormwind's enemy human group are the Defias, because of the treachery and abuse of the nobles. Vanessa is part of the Pirate Council and still sides "for" the Alliance sometimes.

The Syndicate are just bad. No just cause.

So while the Defias may occasionally serve as Alliance Human anti-heroes, the Syndicate will always be bad and are just evil mercenaries for hire.

Doesn't matter if it's Old Gods, the Scourge, Demons, a Stormwind Noble being shady, the Horde, whoever. If they can pay, its aight.

So Lord Jaroch Ravenholdt is playboy bachelor noble by day, and an assassin operating under alias "Ravenlord" by night, being heir to the techniques of the Shado-Pan by his ancestor.

Rejecting all suggestions to rebuilt Alterac.

It is gone. Period.

King Danath Trollbane however, violently disagrees with Lord Ravenholdt's opinions about fallen kingdoms.

Next up: Stromgarde - the imperial capital that was, with its rightful king that lacks imperial blood

So similar to Alterac and Lordaeron, Strom is a Fallen Kingdom. Fundamentally.

Different from Alterac and Lordaeron, it was the capital of the Arathorian Empire, established by Thoradin who had unified all the Human Kingdom.

Different too from Lordaeron, its culture didn't survive via undeath, but rather a large diaspora and one of its imperial leaders established Stormwind.

As such, Stormwind and Stromgarde are unique "sister cities", similar to Kul Tiras being founded by Gilneans, or Dalaran's being founded by Arathi mages (but not by anyone of Arathorian dynastic blood).

Stromgarde should thus represent:
-"Retvrn to Tradition" Euro Fascism
-the worst of Human racism, both to the Horde, to the nonHuman Alliance races, and to the "fallen" Humans like Gilneas
-Church of Light fanaticism
-A people desiring an Imperial Glory they'll never have again

In the wake of the main Arathorian bloodline dying with Lothar, and combined with how in this AU, the Wrynns are formally recognized as a Cadet Branch of the House of Arathor, ergo Dynastic/Imperial heirs, the Trollbane bloodline claims Strom unchallenged.

The Imperial Human Capital is Stormwind, period. Strom will never again be that, unless Stormwind falls and Strom survives.

The Trollbanes are particular.

We know Thoras Trollbane is now a Horseman, and has no desire to claim the throne.

But Danath violently disagrees.

Danath is an old head. A bitter old man, angry and hostile from decades of war against other races.

Danath is the quintessential Alliance racist. The essence of all "Male Human Paladins".

Thoras and all undead? Disgusts him.
Orcs? Monsters.
Trolls? He is *proud* of his namesake.
Tauren? A meal.

Even the criminality of Ravenholdt, the Gilnean worgen curse, and the Kul Tiran consorting with vrykul witchcraft and worshipping fish, and the Dalarani human-elf half breeds revolts him.

No, Humanity should rule supreme to old Thoras Trollbane.

So when he tried to rally a repatriation effort to rebuild Strom, he believed many would join his cause.

Alas, only a few thousand. A fraction of what Strom was at its peak. No matter, he would rebuild!

It was Trollbane who encouraged the other Human leaders to form the Holy Arathian Empire, resembling the Human-only Alliance of Old.

It was Trollbane who recognized only Anduin Wrynn bears the legitimacy to be Emperor of Humanity, being the LIVING heir apparent to both Arathor by his Wrynn father and Menethil by his Ellerian mother.

Nobody would question Trollbane's loyalty.

In truth, it is Trollbane who helps sustain the Syndicate. It is Trollbane who assists the Defias periodically. It is Trollbane that helps arm the Scarlet Crusade.

Secretly. Discretely. Not even Shaw and Ravenholdt know.

Formally, the military of Stromgarde is the League of Arathor. A small but strong army. And they've rebuilt Thoradin's Wall have expelling every last Troll and Orc from Arathi.

He'd never raise a hand against Anduin, but he *will* be there should he die heirless.

Trollbane is loyal foremost to the Arathorian Heritage, then the Church of Light, then Humanity. Real humanity, not those Gilnean dogs or Kul Tiran fish kissers or Lordaeronean undead or Dalarni half-bloods.

The rest? They're lucky if they get genuine tolerance.

Essentially, King Danath Trollbane serves on the Alliance as Rommath, some Zandalari, and some of the Undead serve on the Horde.

Xenophobic, racist elitists who desire imperial glory they believe they deserve.

and last but not least of the Holy Arathian Empire, the Vrykul, led by God-Queer Sigryn of the Tideskorn and King Ymiron of the Dragonflayer Clan, with the loyalty of the Valajar

(literally a hundred tweets in of this alliance thread and I'm barely getting done with humans lmao)

So essentially, there aren't a lot of Vrykul left. Just a few clans in Stormheim and some in Northrend.

Reminder, in this AU, Odyn is Bad and was revealed to be Bad. So the Valajar are now under Thorim (part of the Alliance), and Helya was rehabilitated (Helajar Horde).

However, the Vrykul, Eyir, and Helya all agreed that the Vrykul must become part of the machinery of Death once more.

However, if a warrior is elite enough, they are approached by Eyir and Helya to see if they wish to be Valajar or Helajar.

Valajar maintain their original duty of fighting against demons and Old God cultists

Helajar primarily focus against the Naga but because of their nature can also help protect the Veil alongside the Wild Hunt, Shaman, and Ancestral Spirits.

Remember, the Primus "drafted" the Forsaken, and the Winter Queen "drafted" the Night Elves, in this AU.

So Helya/Helajar joining the Forsaken means they too are drafted by the Primus.

Valajar are relatively free.

So while King Ymiron had his body restored (but not Stormforged), he does not claim his former title per se. The ruler of all vrykul is Sigryn alone.

Thorim, Eyir, and Ymiron are more in charge of the Valajar.

The Vrykul were approached by Ulfar (being an immortal Vrykul himself), Anduin, Brann, and Mekkatorque, in the wake of Helya joining the Forsaken.

The fact Humanity comes from Vrykul and the shared Titanic heritage, as well as Odyn's use of Light and Elemental Magic to make his Valkyr convinced Thorim and Sigryn to join the Alliance.

And now I'm FINALLY fucking done with the Holy Arathian Empire lmao

Next up, Dwarves & Giants, aka The Council of FOUR (4) Hammers!

Before I start on dwarves, forgot to describe the IRL basis of the Vrykul.

It is fairly self-evident they are based on Vikings and Germanic tribes thereby, including their use of Futhark runes.

However, there is also an element of how Other People reacted to Vikings.

Take for example the antagonist role Drust take on for the Very Irish Ardenweald.

It is very much part and parcel a parallel to the war between the Fomorians and the Tuatha de Danann.

So I think we could easily borrow on Viking vs X People for greater development of Vrykul.

Now Dwarves. Lord. So brief history:

Dwarves are based on one of the other names for the "Dark Elves" in Norse myth that were described as Subterranean.

Those bug people in the latest God of War? Dwarves lol

Whenever Tolkien was creating the Lord of the Rings, being the linguistic he was, he based Dwarvish on Hebrew. He imagined Dwarves spoke as English Jews, with semitic type phoenetics.

This basis is also why "Greed" is the self-destructive fatal flaw of Dwarves.

Tolkien later came to regret his antisemitic and racist tropes he used in his world building, particularly the fact "salvation" was limited to "Good Races" when his intent for the world was to be a Catholic allegory, and thus there should've been redeemed/good Orcs.

Alas.

"How did Dwarves become Scottish in 20th/21st century media" I hear you ask.

The radio. During the 20th century radio readings of LOTR/The Hobbit in the UK, to differentiate between characters they used different readers.

Dwarves got the Scottish and Irish readers.

World of Warcraft sustained this principle of a Scottish/Irish element of Dwarves and also doubled down on it.

-Wildhammer blue paint? Picts.
-The alcoholic trope e.g. brewfest? Irish/Scottish 20th century stereotype (that survives somewhat).
-Names are mainly German or Irish.

So Dwarves have three/four IRL roots:
-Jewish motifs by way of Tolkien and Tolkien's adaptation itself
-German/Norse motifs by way of traditional folklore
-Irish/Scottish motifs because WoW doubled down on the use of Scottish/Irish themes in adaptation for radio and early TV

So I think Dwarves can use some of those themes:
-Dwarves like digging into the earth, regularly end up releasing ancient evils (Old God Stuff)
-use the anti-"light elf" (ie Quel'thalas) stuff from Norse myth and Tolkien in WoW

-Use the Irish vs "Fomorians" myths to have some tension between Vrykul and Dwarves (maybe a Vrykul/Dwarf war where the elves were supposed to help but instead abandoned the dwarves)
-etc

Lots of possibilities to be had if WoW just fleshed out its "back" history meaningfully.

So within this AU, the "Four Hammers" are:
-Bronzebeard Clan = Muradin
-Wildhammer Clan = Falstad
-Darkiron Clan = Moira
-Frostborn Clan (with Frost Giants) = Velog Icebellow and Jokkum Hodirson

-Bronzebeard in Ironforge within Khaz'Modan
-Wildhammer here have retaken Grim Batol/Hanad Gathol and the Twilight Highlands, but retain Aerie Peak (Shathur'Zirak) (so the Alliance controls that pass north)
-Darkirons in Shadowforge in Blackrock (Narag'Modan)

-Frostborn in Frosthold aka Kibil Gathol
-Frost Giants in Dun Niffelem in Kibil Modan

The words I'm coming up with I'm straight up taking from Tolkien's Khuzdul (Dwarvish).

Notice, it is the Council of Four Hammers because it is purely dwarves but frost giants get a seat/voice

Each clan is largely autonomous via the Senate of each city.

In my chart I mostly lifted names from NPCs.

The Four High Thanes have to unanimously agree to war if it comes to Dwarves declaring war and a blood oath to mutually support.

Frost giants decide independently.

The idea is that Frost Giants ie the Sons of Hodir retain loyalty foremost of Hodir, but still participate in Alliance matters if need be, following Helya with the Forsaken in the Horde and Thorim with the Vrykul in the Alliance.

I think the Bronzebeard (because of Brann) should get the development of "constantly greedy and digging, end up unleashing Old God crap regularly), must to the frustration of the Frostborn who have deal with Yogg's crap for centuries.

I think it would make sense then if the Wildhammer had both the anti-Vrykul sentiment (some ancient war) and the anti-Thalassian Elf sentiment (because they failed to help against the Vrykul).

I like the idea of Darkirons retaining their Dark Shamanism element. Much like the Taunka for the Tauren (see my Horde thread), the Dark Iron subjugated the elements to their ends.

Much to the frustration of the Wildhammer, but the approval of the Frostborn.

Bronzebeard are thus the "most" Tolkien, light worshipping.
Wildhammer are the "most" Irish/Scottish, traditional shamans.
Darkiron are okay with darker magics and especially Dark Shamanism.
Frostborn are okay with Dark Shamanism but anti darker magics (especially anti Shadow).

Next up: Gnomes (& Mechagnomes)!

Here I once again used a lot of ideas developed by Ethenil from the Alt Craft discord (Guildmaster concept), because they are a genius and loves gnomes.

(Did come up with the Guild names tho!)

So IRL-wise, Gnomes have a strange origin as a modern concept:

1. The word itself is because a German alchemist/magician known as Paracelsus (Theophrastus von Hohenheim, which is where Fullmetal Alchemist Elric brother father "Von Hohenheim" comes from!) was absolute SHIT at Greek/Latin and miscopied/misread "Genomos".

He attributed "Gnomes" to be earth elementals, alongside Sylphs as air elementals and Salamanders as fire elementals (if you're a New Ager/Wiccan, you will be familiar with this concept, it comes from him)

2. During the 17th through 20th centuries, fiction developed Gnomes further to be a sort of "opposite" of the pretty, youthful, flying, feminine, care-free fairies.

Gnomes became short, generally ugly, highly intelligent, hard-working, occasionally obsessed with money (similar to goblins), and good at technology (mostly men).

3. Eventually, the phrase "Gnomes of Zurich" became a popular tirade against the (Jewish) bankers of Zurich.

Thus in the 19th and early 20th century, there was a fair bit of antisemitic propaganda against Jews based on gnomes, alongside the antisemitic goblin motif (see the Goblin section of the Horde thread), because of the fictional depiction of gnomes as technological bankers.

So you have:
1. Gnomes as "earth elemental spirits" because of a German alchemist.
2. Gnomes as technological, intelligent, short guys.
3. Gnomes as an antisemitic trope.

Within modern WoW we have Gnomes as the "opposite" of Goblins thereby.

So we have Gnomes as Titanic constructs given life (earth elemental spirits of a sort), firmly short, intelligent, and very tech obsessed (IRL fictional depiction), and serve as the narrative mutual foil to Goblins (the Other race based on an antisemitic trope).

I think the most fun can be had naturally by focusing on the Technologic and "Academic" nature of Gnomes.

To double down as the opposite of the Technologic and Criminal nature of Goblins.

Notice in-game, we have little idea of Gnomish internal politics.

Ethenil from the Alt Craft discord very brilliantly conceived that gnomish society should be run as a giant university and labor union.

Guildmasters rule society.

I adapted their principle! So every single gnome upon reaching a certain age (13 maybe?) takes the Seven Exams of Gnomish Operation (7EGOs) and you are put into one of the of the Seven Guilds of Gnomes.

Each Guild specializes in something, like a giant school.

Each Guild internally votes on a Director for the Guild.

However every year there's State Tinker Exams (borrowing from Fullmetal Alchemist State Alchemist Exams) where any member of Gnomish society may demonstrate their engineering genius.

The current High Tinker decides who are thus the seven Deans of the College of Tinkers, or the seven Tinkmasters.

All standing Tinkmasters *must* participate in the competition or else be disgraced to gnomish society.

The High Tinker = King of All Gnomes.

This includes Mechagnomes.

However, Mecha-Prince Erazmin will eternally be Prince, serving as secondary leader to the Gnomes, being the heir of King Mechagon.

Should Erazmin die, the Mechagnomes will determine their new Prince.

Should Gelbin die however, the High Tinker is chosen from among the College of Tinkers by the Guildmasters.

One of the standing Tinkmasters becomes the new High Tinker.

I had a lot of fun naming the seven Gnome Guilds:

1. Guild of Covert Operations and Planned Espionage (COPE), led by Kelsey Steelspark

2. Guild of Magical, Arcane, and Nethermantic Arts (MANA), led by Millhouse Manastorm

3. Guild of Nautical, Aeronautic, and Subterranean Transport Innovators (NASTI), led by Fizzi Tinkerbow

4. Guild of Biomedical and Agricultural Life Sciences (BALS)

5. Guild of Defense, Attacking, and Destruction (DAD)

6. Guild of Systems, Architecture, and Design (SAD)

7. Guild of Diplomacy, Organization, and Political Engineering (DOPE)

Thus the Seven Gnome Guilds:

COPE, MANA, NASTI, BALS, DAD, SAD, and DOPE

Each with a Guildmaster/Director and a Tinkmaster/Dean.

Tried my hardest to give it a Snow White feel. :P

I think for the most part, the Gnomes should be most partial to the Bronzebeard Dwarves, due to the proximity of Gnomeragan.

However, a permanent teleport has been set up between Mechagon and Gnomeragan, so it's functionally one city in two locations.

With the return of Mimiron, a third city is in the process of being built as an extension of Ulduar in Northrend.

The hope is to one day have a giant city connected via teleporters in all three locations.

Culturally, I think it makes sense for the Gnomes to be strict "atheists".

Any magic that requires belief (e.g. the Light, arguably Shadow too) is against their culture.

Ergo why MANA is named such: magic generally for study, arcane, and nethermantic (demonic and death).

This allows for a passive tension with a lot of the other races.

They reject Light worship, Shadow worship, Ancestor worship, Shamanism of any sort thereby, Wild God worship, etc.

They are firmly, strictly technocratic atheists.

Sure some may have adopted beliefs, but larger Gnomish society rejects it.

You can talk about it, it's not shunned or criminalized, but it is frowned upon and you will be viewed as an odd eccentric (quite a feat within Gnomish culture, to be sure).

Next up, Night Elves! (Or well, Moon Elves/Moonborne in this AU, see my Linguistic Rant Thread lol)

https://twitter.com/BaalTheWarlock/status/1449661471424663552?s=20

So tldr linguistic thread, I think it makes more sense narrative of "Kal'dorei" (Starborne) to be the umbrella term for *all* elves, and for the original culture to have centered on moon worship (Elun'dorei, Moonborne) but the Magocratic caste arose (Quel'dorei, Highborne).

All Highborne and their branches (Sunborne, etc) believe they are the "true" Kal'dorei, while the Elun'dorei are the ones who are legitimate the true, original culture.

AU nonwithstanding I'll use Night Elves for the thread.

Night Elf basis is fairly straightforward.
-Architecture uses Byzantine+ East Asian (esp Korean and Japanese) inspiration
-the women-moon-worship and the symbols used in-game are a nod or IRL Wiccan movement
-likewise the use of the term "Druidry" taught by a Horned God, Celtic

So essentially
-some Mediterranean antiquity elements
-some East Asian traditional elements (Moon festival etc)
-Modern Neopagan Moon Goddess themes
-Celtic Pagan Reconstructionist druidry themes
-Traditional Irish and Greek Folklore

In this world, the Winter Queen out of deference of Elune's sacrifice (remember, Elune is a First One here, and was mentor/mother-like figure to Morigana the Winter Queen rather than sister) restored *all* Night Elves.

In the wake of the events of Zovaal almost succeeding, the Primus Nergul drafted the Forsaken, Kyrestia drafted the Valajar and Helajar, and the Winter Queen likewise asked the Night Elves to help protect Azeroth and the veil in this capacity.

So the Night Elves are fully revived and Teldrassil is restored by the Winter Queen, and is magically bound to also be a Fairy Tree.

So Teldrassil is both a Dream Tree (bound to the Gardens of Life and the Dream) and a Fairy Tree (bound to the Shadowlands and the Veil).

The Wild Hunt alongside the Fairy Dragons both protect Teldrassil thereby.

Additionally, some of the Night Elves are taught the Death Druidry that the Winter Queen had taught the Drust and the Fairies had sorta taught the Gilnean Harvest Witches.

Now, tldr Life Pantheon stuff I'll cover deeply in a later thread:
-The Ancients (tree guys) have the same origin as the Botani, both coming from Sporemounds who are the children of Demetria of the Flowers (evil member of the Pantheon of Life)
-Sporemounds exist to spread life on

worlds, but Demetria grew profoundly frustrated with how her plants were killed to sustain the food chain established by Wild Gods and mortals otherwise. Think DC Comics Poison Ivy but cosmic.
-The Dream is like the Veil, the cosmic bridge between planes.

-Much like the Veil is bound to each world via the Fairy Trees (see the Gilnean section above), the Dream is bound to each world by Dream Trees.
-As the Fairy Trees are guarded by the Wild Hunt, the Dream Trees are guarded by the Draconads (Fairy Dragons, Dream Nymphs)

-On Azeroth, the Sporemound created the Ancients, the Lashers, the plant hydras, and more.
-The Ancients as a group are loyal to Night Elves, led by Onu the Ancient of Lore.

Here Tyrande retains her Night Warrior power, and thanks to the magic of the Winter Queen the power will no longer kill her, but whenever Tyrande uses the power too much such that it would kill her, she consumes the life energy around her.

Normally this would be a problem, but the double-blessing of Teldrassil, bound to both Isealfeld and Ardenweald, allows Tyrande to be restored whenever she uses her power.

So long as she returns to it after extensive use.

it is a *First One's power* after all

Also because of this double blessing of Teldrassil it is also literally indestructible and incorruptible, because it is a permanent state of Life and Death.

Even if you blow up Azeroth, you'd just have a magic tree floating in space.

As mentioned in the neutral thread, the Cenarion Circle is 100% Alliance under the Night Elves, and likewise Cenarius & the Ancient Guardians (Nelf Wild Gods) are 100% exclusive.

I took the liberty of adding Blaithe the Crow King, Athair and Athainne of Drustvar, Redhoof the Stag, and Renard the Fox as Ancient Guardians.

I'm still not sure *who* I want to have been taught Death Druidry by the Winter Queen, but given the Gilnean/Drust aspect, I think it would make the most sense if Ralaar Fangfire was restored to life for this end.

So the Nelf "Garbets" (see Gilnean section) guard the veil while the normal Nelf Druids guard the dream.

Both the Shen'drelar Quel'dorei and the Moonguard Quel'dorei join the Night Elves here because duh.

Mordent Evenshade and Lothrius Mooncaller don't get along tho lol

And of course Tyrande is in charge of the Sisterhood of Elune, the Army of the Black Moon (with whom she shares a fragment of the Night Warrior power, not enough to be lethar), the Watchers, and the Sentinals.

Additionally, I altered the family tree a bit:
-Malorne is born of Cerunas, parent of all land Wild Gods
-Malorne & Elune have Cenarius
-Cenarius & the Night Elf Haidene (first Priestess) give birth the Keepers and Dryads
-Zaetar & Theradras have the Centaur

Malfurion looks as he does because secretly within the Dream, Cerunas the Wild Monarch (Land Wild Gods parent), Amphitra the Tidemother (Water Wild God mother), and Bochiku the Shaper (Air Wild God father) all "touched" Malfurion.

So he's *uniquely* tied to the Wilds.

*Additionally*, same way I made Al'ar the son of the original Phoenix created by Belore of the Light Pantheon by An'she fire, Hekatis of the Light Pantheon created Strixes (Moon Owls) by Elune's light.

First Phoenix = Helibenu, whose son is Al'ar who loves the Blood Elves (Sun Elves/Sunborne in the AU)

First Strix = Selehani, whose daughter is Dori'thur, who loves the Night Elves (Moon Elves/Moonborne in the AU)

All in all using more fantasy/mythological elements for meaningful development, power ups, and undoing the harm the narrative has caused.

Next up Draenei (including Lightforged! Minus Turalyon because his ass is doing Human shit instead of usurping Draenei shit 😌)

So the inspiration behind the Draenei and Lightforged is mixed:
-some of it is referencing Roman Empire stuff (e.g. the Triumvirate and Duumvirate)
-some of it is Jewish themed (e.g. Exodar vs Exodus, their people "falling from grace", divine intervention via Naaru)

-some of it is Greek themed (e.g. naming conventions)
-some of it is South Asian themed (e.g. other names, or the riding of elephants first used in South Asia)
-arguments could be had of Islamic motifs, what with the race led by an eternal Prophet with divine whispers

-of course with the Naaru, who as per TBC dev videos were inspired by "angels", there's an element of Abrahamic religions more generally

All in all fairly inconsistent, recognizing that the Eredar being non-demonic is a TBC retcon.

So within this AU, Draenei are like the Humans/etc in that they are Titan constructs.

Similar to what I did with Goblins, I added a new Titan Keeper named Naraya (referring to Narayana aka Vishnu) created by Norgannon on Argus, created a "Forge of Self".

The Forge of Self created the Rishanei, and similar to the Orcs they became flesh via Sporemound corruption, but on Argus there was no Botani infestation trying to conquer the world.

This produced the mortal Argunei, who then renamed themselves the Eredar.

Eredar on Argus had two groups:
-Light worshipping Eredar (led by Velen)
-Arcane-centric Eredar (Kil'jaeden, later also Archimonde)

Society had four "castes": Vindicators, Artificers, Auchenai, Rangari, and Augari

(not in the hierarchical sense, societal divisions)

Each caste had a leader:
Vindicators led by a High Vindicator
Artificers led by the Chief Artificer
Rangari led by Rangari Prime
Auchenai by the Speaker for the Dead
and Augari led by the Grand Vizier

The Light was introduced to Argus by Xe'ra visiting the world, leaving behind various Naaru, and taking various Draenei.

These initial Draenei who went with Xe'ra are the basis of the Naaresh Army, and are led by the Council of Exarchs led by High Exarch Fareeya + 5 Exarchs.

In the wake of Sargeras corrupted Kil'jaeden and Archimonde and the fact the near totality of the Augari sided with Sargeras, the practice of arcane magic being de-centered and became primarily a research necessity for the Artificers when developing weapons or structures.

Turalyon left the Naaresh Army (aka Army of Light, part of Xe'ra's forces) because he felt that as a human, lightforged though he is, it is not his place to lead a Draenei group.

In this AU, Xe'ra is the "opposite" of Dimensius, the leader of the Pantheon of Light.

Xe'ra was forged by An'she, and Dimensius was spirated by Shub-nanet, but together. An'she Light forged Xe'ra and cast the shadow Shubnanet used to base Dimensius, and the breath of Shubnanet to create Dimensius also breathed life into Xe'ra.

I'll get more into it in a future Light Pantheon thread, but essentially all Naaru are "reflections" of Xe'ra (in turn a reflection of An'she's Light), while all Voidgods are "extensions" of Dimensius (in turn an extension of Shubnanet).

Void God <-> Dark Naaru <-> Bright Naaru <-> Light Gods

This is the Naaru cycle. Think of it like Mania vs Depression, oscillating between Xe'ra and Dimensius.

The cycle is triggered by emotions. Bright Naaru suffering makes it Dark. Dark Naaru feeling joy makes it Bright.

This is important because the Auchenai understand thus the need for balance. Unlike the Human Church of Light or the Forsaken Cult of Shadow, the Auchenai firmly are "Disc Priests", firmly strictly centered on balance between Light and Shadow.

The Naaru of the Draenei include both Bright and Dark Naaru.

This also creates a point of disagreement between the Lightforged Draenei, who have forsaken the Shadow entirely like the Humans do, and the General Draenei.

However in both Argus and Dra/Draenor (reminder, Dra is the Orcish name for the world), the fel corruption led to Krokul existing.

Argussian Krokul went pure Shadow (again, contention)

Draenor Krokul went elemental thanks to Orcish intervention (changing that)

I think the idea that Orcs and Draenei coexisted is important. I would have them unify because they helped deal with the Botani Farahlon invasions, and in the wake of Gul'dan causing fel contamination, the Orcs help the Krokul with their state.

Reminder from my Horde thread:
-Klaus von Batoresh visits Dra/Draenor before visiting Azeroth, slaps some Vampyr curse on some Orcs and Draenei
-The Laughing Skull worship Kedi the Jaguar (mother of Saberon) and become Saberorcs, which the Draenei reject

so tldr
-Shiva-themed Norgannon Keeper created Constructs
-they were Life-"corrupted" into being mortal
-then Xe'ra visited the planet and dropped off some Naaru
-Sargeras showed up and demonic corruption ensued
-Draenei land on Dra, call it Draenor
-escaped to Azeroth

So under Velen there are:
-9 naaru
-Normal Draenei (Vindicators, Artificers, Auchenai, Rangari, Aldor)
-Naaresh Army (Lightforged, when Xe'ra doesn't need them)
-Krokul (both elemental, and "Voidforged")

Lots of internal tension, and possibility for external synergy and tension!

Next up, the Thalassian Quel'dorei exiles!

Both "Void Elves" and Dalaran Highborne. Doing both at the same time to unpack my narrative frustration with how both situations are handled by Blizzard.

Had a busy af week so finally getting around to this.

So, reiterating what I've mentioned repeatedly the linguistic construction of WoW sucks.

Additionally it's SUPER wack the Velves are a Kylo Ren reference. It'd tedious as fuck.

https://twitter.com/BaalTheWarlock/status/1449661471424663552?s=20

In terms of IRL reference, it's obviously the same as the Belves lol

https://twitter.com/BaalTheWarlock/status/1449180332884959234?s=20

So I've already discussed the Dalaran High Elves at length in the Dalaran section, but to briefly recap: Dalaran HElves are the descendants of the original Magisters who trained the original Kirin Tor, and when Quel'Thalas went Horde, they stayed in their "second home".

Recap pt 2: Dalaran in this AU has a meaningful population of Normal Humans, Half-Elves (which includes both literal half elves and distantly elf humans), and Elves (race changed some of the council of six to Half Elf or Elf)

Now the Void Elves present a political problem. If a Quel'thalas Elf wanted to do void investigations, why would they be *exiled*?

After all, "warlock magic" (Shadow, Death, Fel) is acceptable for study and use in Thalassian society.

The fact Darkhan developed what they were studying is pointless; Forsaken use the same magic and are experts of the Void given Natalie Seline, as well as the Void-based Necromancy of the Shadowmoon Clan survivors from the Main universe.

The *only* thing that makes sense is if these Void Elves, led by Umbric, had planned to SABOTAGE the Sunwell intentionally in order to illicit a political crisis in Silvermoon.

Thus leading to their POLITICAL exile.

Thus, when Alleria visits and has the Voidwell incident, she learns this almost happened before.

So Rommath accuses her of conspiring with Umbric.

So Alleria looks for Umbric, rest is normal.

So Dalaran Elves accept these Void Elves because of Alleria (and her siding with the Alliance).

So "culturally" Dalaran Elves and Void Elves are:
-Pro Alliance
-Pro Arcane
-Anti Fel (bc Kael)
-Anti Death (bc Arthas)
-Pro Void (bc Alleria)

While Dalaran Elves are a long-standing community of Dalaran led by Veressa for a VERY long time, Void Elves are primarily Dalaran Elves and Silvermoon Defectors who want more power.

Last but not least, the Alliance Pandaren and Pandarians.

Pretty straightforward:
Jinyu go Alliance, including Ankoans (who are the elite military of the Jinyu here)

In the wake of Azshara's defeat, Jinyu take up residence in Nazjatar to keep an eye on everything, having experience with Titan technology as Jinyu

This is to counterbalance that the Gilgoblins expand an underwater metropolis (think Rapture) in Vashjir.

Jinyu led by Lusshan the Jinyu Sanzang (and achieved Wild God status, is one of the August Celestials too, same as Wukon the Monkey King)

Tushui Pandaren still led by Aysa.

Chi'ji the Red Crane leans Alliance, serves as August Celestial master to the Tushui Pandaren (parallel Niuzao leaning Horde because his children the Yaungol/Tauren/Taunka/Tuskar and the Huojin Pandaren).

And I think I'm done for now!