Proverb: Druids of the Sun?
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Heartbourne on Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 42 Comments Tags: Druid, Lore, Shaman, druid of the sun, hero class, lore, patch 3.2, proverb
Heartbourne on Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 42 Comments Tags: Druid, Lore, Shaman, druid of the sun, hero class, lore, patch 3.2, proverb 
Proverb is a column discussing the lore of Warcraft. Comment and let us know what you would like to see in future columns!Many lore-minded players have likely heard about the new Druid quest in patch 3.2 for Horde players. It starts in Dalaran, and it involves a badly injured warrior by the name of Aponi Brightmane who wants to return to fight the Scourge. When players arrive in Thunder Bluff, Aponi speaks with Tahu Sagewind, a Druid. Their conversation touches on the history of Tauren druidism, notably Mu'sha. The full text is provided below, with what I think are the important parts in bold:
Aponi Brightmane says: Talk to me, Tahu. Something. Anything! I'm going stir-crazy.
Tahu Sagewind laughs softly.
Tahu Sagewind says: All right, Aponi. I've enough on my mind to share. Have you ever spoken to the elves of Moonglade?
Aponi Brightmane says: Not much.
Tahu Sagewind says: The elves speak of a moon goddess, did you know? They put great stock in the light given by the moon.
Aponi Brightmane says: Like Mu'sha.
Tahu Sagewind says: Just like her. The parallels I've heard are interesting. And it's no secret all druids, Shu'halo and elf alike, can call upon Mu'sha's light.
Aponi Brightmane says: Where are you going with this?
Tahu Sagewind says: I wonder. Hamuul has guided us well, and I've learned so much from him. The legends sasy that our people were druids when time began...
Aponi Brightmane says: I hear the "but" in your voice...
Tahu Sagewind says: ...but what Hamuul teaches is what the elves know. The night elves. They put such stock in their moon goddess, as creatures of the night.
Aponi Brightmane says: Do you think his teachings are wrong?
Tahu Sagewind says: No! No, nothing like that. He is an elder for good reason, sister. Mu'sha is one of the Earthmother's eyes, and she watches over us. That isn't sinister.
Tahu Sagewind says: But we're nothing if not people who strive for balance. Our warriors fight only when there is need. Our hunters take only what the tribes require to live, and use all they can when they do. The shaman stand as guide and mediator to the elemental spirits.
Tahu Sagewind says: And while we, as druids, are guardians of nature, I wonder if we've overlooked a key aspect of balance in all things.
Aponi Brightmane says: So are you going to bring this up to the elder?
Tahu Sagewind says: No, no. No need for him to trouble about a student's idle philosophizing while he entertains a friend.
Aponi Brightmane says: I suppose so. It's not silly, though, what you said.
Tahu Sagewind says: Well, it isn't exactly a new thought, sister.
Aponi Brightmane says: I see that thoughtful frown, Tahu.
Tahu Sagewind says: Sorry, sister. Its nothing to worry about.
Aponi Brightmane says: But something is on your mind, right?
Tahu Sagewind says: I'm thinking about the front to the north. The one you're so eager to return to.
Aponi Brightmane says: What about it?
Tahu Sagewind says: I know I'm counseling patience, Aponi, but I don't like remaining here any more than you do. Times are bleak, and failing to act only makes me worry that my idle hand may have been the one to turn the tide.
Tahu Sagewind says: Still... there is balance in all things, even death. I simply hate the concept that such destruction and darkness might be necessary.
Aponi Brightmane says: There's a phrase... "Its always darkest before the dawn." The dawn will come, though, Tahu. The sun will rise. The balance will shift back to where it should be.
Aponi Brightmane smiles and gestures to the north.
Aponi Brightmane says: Even on the glacier itself, the sun manages to peek through the gloom. I have hope, Tahu. I think we'll make it through this, no matter how dire it looks.
Aponi Brightmane says: But I'd still rather be there on the front lines helping it happen rather than trying to placate myself with belief. We can't just sit around and hope it happens.
Tahu Sagewind says: I know, sister. I know. We'll return to fighting one day. For now, though, maybe it's best to spread the word to others... give them the hope you have.
Aponi Brightmane says: And through that hope, strengthen our side in the fight?
Tahu Sagewind says: That's the idea.
The quest is unfinished and we don't know if it will be extended before patch 3.2 goes live. However, there are LOTS of references to the sun and "a new dawn" in there, even when they aren't talking about An'she. It is generally accepted that Malfurion Stormrage was the first (mortal) Druid, and the druidism that the Tauren speak of that they claim predates Malfurion is false or in a drastically different form from Cenarius' teachings. In fact, the latter might be the case, with the Tauren originally practicing an entirely different form of druidism focused on some form of the light. It could be that An'she and/or Mu'sha (Elune to the night elves) are actually Naaru, and Tauren could come to wield the holy light through the worship of the Earth Mother. Tauren mythology claims that An'she, the goddess of the sun, was an eye of the Earth Mother, ripped out and tossed through the cosmos, perused by the Earth Mother's other eye, the goddess Mu'sha/Elune. We could see all of this develop. Currently the only Horde race capable of being Paladins are blood elves, and it could be that Blizzard would like to expand that to give Horde players more of a choice.
The other obvious conclusion would be that a new type of druid may be in the works. Druids already come in many flavors in the Warcraft mythology. Druids of the Sun could be a real possibly, and this could be a new hero class in the expansion. Most players agree that "Arch Druids" would simply be "super Druids" and would leave no room for regular druids in the game. Current druids are "Druids of the Wild" and are focused on shapeshifting, while Druids of the Sun could be something completely new. Blizzard has stated that they don't want new classes to simply be hybrids of other classes. I don't know what precisely a Druid of the Sun would do. They could come up with a whole new resource system outside of mana, like they did with Death Knights, to make the class very unique. In addition, it makes sense for Death Knights to be any race, but most other classes that players theorize about should have race restrictions, so I don't think this idea is too far out.
With most players looking to the Maelstrom and the Emerald Dream in the theoretical new expansion "Cataclysm", its likely that Night Elf and Druid lore could play a major role. I think either or even both of the conclusions I discussed could happen.
As for other races, we could also see Dlood Elf Druids. There were high elf druids prior to the second war who erected the Runestones which hid the elven magic from the Burning Legion, as well as protected Quel'thalas from attack from Arthas during the third war. They wielded the powers of nature through the arcane, and many of them became high elven rangers. Some half-elven druids became more feral and turned into savagekin. The high elven rangers that we raised by the Scourge became Dark Rangers, who turned to shadow magic instead of natural magic for their powers. It seems that some blood elves kept up the practice, such as High Botanist Freywinn and many of the Bloodwarder and Sunseeker blood elves currently (previously?) in the Botanica of Tempest Keep. It could be that from their redeemed light-given powers from M'uru and A'dal and the revelations of the Tauren studying the light, blood elves players could see druidism in their future. The line from the dialog "strengthen our side in the fight" really makes me think this may be the case.
As for the Alliance, Wildhammer Dwarves are sort of back in the Alliance with an Alliance friendly base in Aerie Peak as well as their gryphon riders in Outland. Wildhammer dwarves are known to often worship nature and the elements and become druids and Shaman. Allowing Alliance players to create Wildhammer Dwarves of these classes would open up the number of races able to be Druids and Shaman in the Alliance to two, a perfect analog to Blood Elf druids and Tauren Paladins.
Finally, perhaps this means we will see the Cenarian Circle join the fight in Icecrown. It would make the Icecrown Citadel fight even more epic.
What do you think? Is this a red herring, or are these clues to a bigger development?
As the Tauren NPCs say, may the eternal sun shine upon thee!
Reader Comments (42)
FIRST
Hmmmm interesting
that was cool
kept me reading
Speculation day at PL?
I gotta admit, I did not know that there was A) that much of a difference between Tauren or NE druids and B) they had such different lore. But I guess the surprise of B follows my lack of knowing A.
Either way, I <3 the lore topics the blog offers, speculative like this and iTZKooPA's or not.
Damn, cool post! I really like how it sounds "Druids of the Sun"=)
Very good intuitiveness. Reading between the lines like that is what Blizzard wants. It is quite reasonable to say that from what you've gathered. Now, as I've said before, we can speculate all we want before even BlizzCon '09, but things could be totally different come BlizzCon '09.
To your statement, Yes. It would be all that more epic in ICC. Lore wise, it could be like how the Wrath Gate was with the two major forces in Northrend come together to fight the force. Maybe they'll have it where every faction in Northrend comes together into one giant seige to take down Arthas and the ICC. That's what I'd like to see. Every person in the world, besides the Burning Legion and Scourge, to come together as one attack force, one people, to take down a common goal.
Anyway, great post. Thank you for reminding me that there is some intelligence from people who look into next patches other than "oh mah gawd, new this or that as soon as patch comes out".
Very interesting.... if Blood Elves could become druids, I'd reroll ASAP.
Quite an interesting take, and hopefully the upcoming BlizzCon will clear a lot of things up.
On a sidenote, you may want to add a spoiler tag to the quest dialogue.
Interesting indeed. Of course, if they did introduce Druids of the Sun, I'd prefer it to be kept to Tauren only. however, isntead of ot being a new class, just make some changes between Tauren and Night Elf druids:
Nature Spells will remain the same for both sides
Some key example. Besides name changes, the only real changes between the two druids will be damage type and animation
1) Starfire----------->
2) Starfall----------->
3) Moonfire--------->
I am not sure about it will happen as "druid of the sun" might feel to much alike "druid of the wild" (in some area) or maybe a bit to much afar from the other. Just remember that every hero class have to feel different then the other classes
I've always hoped BElfs could one day become druids. ^^
It can only be a good thing to open up pre-existing classes where your options are limited to 1 race. I like druids, but I don't want to play as a giant cow, even if I'll spend the majority of my time shape-shifted. And if I were to ever play alliance the fact I'ld have to roll a goatsquid to play as the ass-kicking shamen class.... *shudder.
I'm suprised there's not been any comments about tauren paladins though. Holy Cow people. :P
Though it would be quite a boost to the Horde having a race that has the opportunity to play as any of the 4 tanking classes and 3 of the 4 healing classes. The Horde has less choice than the Alliance when it comes to choosing races when it comes to being a tank or healer and this will hopefully address the balance a bit.
Tank-Horde
4/5 races can become Warriors
1/5 races can become Paladin
1/5 races can become Druid
5/5 races can become Death Knight
Tank-Alliance
4/5 races can become Warriors
3/5 races can become Paladin
1/5 races can become Druid
5/5 races can become Death Knight
Healer-Horde
2/5 races can become Priests
3/5 races can become Shamen
1/5 races can become Druid
1/5 races can become Paladin
Healer-Alliance
3/5 races can become Priests
1/5 races can become Shamen
1/5 races can become Druid
3/5 races can become Paladin
^sorry about the wall of text I just got a little more to add.
Admittedly it's not much of a difference between the 2 factions, but I've found while playing Horde there's a significant lack of tanks and healers, while the Alliance have plentiful amounts of both. I know part of the reason is probably due to the larger amount of players rolling Alliance, but I can't help but think that some of the cause may also be down to there being a slightly less amount of choice when it comes to choosing race and class combinations.
"Tauren Paladins" Okay if that ever happens, to me it only means one thing... The lore and everything that makes/made Warcraft, Warcraft, has passed and the game is on the verge of destruction
Tauren Paladins makes absolutely no sense no matter how I look at it, it's just simply insane, if they ever make Tauren Paladins as far as I care they would also completely take the class and race restrictions of and any race could be any class
^^
I completely agree, while there are some very interesting ideas in this article, Tauren Paladins is about the only thing that will NEVER happen in WoW, Lore-wise there is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING about the using the power of the light in Tauren Lore. Again, while there are a lot of other parts in the article that are very plausible and interesting I think there was little thought put into the idea of Tauren Paladins.... >.<
@Drya Actualy 3 horde races can be priests. Forsaken, Troll, and Belf.
tauren paladins lol that will never happen
@Drya
all five allience races can be warrior
now im a bit on the fence when it comes to Tauren palaidins. It seems inpossible but as said in the post:
"It could be that An’she and/or Mu’sha (Elune to the night elves) are actually Naaru."
If this were to be proved then it would be plausible to have Tauren palaidins lore wise.
I also agree with the idea of wildhammer shammans/druids and Blood elf druids of the sun. As they did have druids orignaly and did have a SUNwell.
Heartbourne this post is well thought out, keep up the good work.
I could possibly see tauren paladins, becuase theres some taurens in argent cursade.
Also hate to call you out on this...but there is a typo "Dlood elfs"
I can see Tauren pallies tho. Deathknights are fallen knights/heroes/palladins of Azeroth. As it is possible to roll a Tauren DK, pallies should be possible as well.
Well the first thing i remember i wildhammer dwarf saying to me when i first went to aerie peak was ''i wan't to make this clear: we are NOT part of the alliance'' so it's unlikely they would join the alliance any time soon.
i'd like to say something about the picture at the top. it looks like that Night elf is an undead, just look at her arm and hand
If they could some how show that Naaru were part of taruen lore then i would completely go with the idea of hamburger pallies, I would even roll one myself as each of my main characters is Taruen. So much speculation.. cant wait for the new content.
I highly doubt An'she and Mu'sha are Naaru. Why? THEY"RE MOON / SUN
Mu'sha is the Tauren name for the Moon. The Night Elves worship the moon and view it as the embodiment of Elune.
An'she is the Tauren name for the Sun. The Night Elves do not have any connection to the sun. The Tauren view both Mu'sha and An'She as the "eyes of the Earthmother" Their eternal goddess. Basically what the quest is saying is that question is being raised as to why, as Tauren, do their druids neglect the power of the sun that the Earthmother can bestow upon them, in exchange for the othe rhalf of their potential.
I have been seeing A LOT of Blood Elves becoming druids posts because of this quest. I doubt it more so. Why? Although there are FEW (VEry few. can only think of 1) BE Druids out there, it still doesnt add up to the whole of the BE. BE's "worship" the Sun to oppose the NE worshipping the moon. If you look at their cultures, they are opposites.
Sounds OP.
BE can never be druids just like NE can never be mages the arcane in their corrupts them according to the lore would never allove them to make the connection with mother nature that is needed to practise drudism and NE keeping in mind wajha happen to highborn would never alove arcane in their blood i dont play a druid so i cant comment on the subject but for teh zubject whear alliance has more opotunitys mor ehealers more tanks etc i say bunch of BS horde has just as many healers as the horde have just as many healers and tanks
horde
shamans 3/5
paladins 1/5
DKs 5/5
priests 3/5
warriors 4/5
alliance
shaman 1/5
paladins 3/5
DKs 5/5
priest 4/5
warrior 5/5
so thats 7 healer classes to 8 healer classes boohoo alliance has one more healer class 10 tank classes