Project Lore

Blizzard blue Zarhym revealed yesterday that Onyxia would be making her gallant return to World of Warcraft in celebration of the title's fifth anniversary.  Following last year's random non-combat pet that players got for the four year mark, we'll be granted a Black Dragon Whelps to go along with the our bear.  Obviously I am in favor of nostalgia, adding more vanity pets and content to the game.  I did have one reservation upon hearing the news.  I instantly thought, and entered into numerous discussions about, "how is Blizzard's creative team gonna pull that off lorewise?" The lengthy brainstorming session caused much WoWWiking and some heated discussion.  Believe it or not the mind melds came up with some well-crafted ideas, and of course, not so good ideas.

• The "Who Cares" Approach - More than a few people I have talked to spouted this defense.  Simply put, many players, hardcore and casual, don't feel that the lore is important.  They claim that they won't care how she went from a head displayed across Stormwind (read dead) to a level 80 boss (alive).  While I personally believe the lore holds more water than this group realizes, it's possible that Blizzard will just retune the encounter and ignore everything else.
• Retcon - Retconning is the fine art of changing a storyline after it has already taken place (meaning absorbed by the audience).  It's a popular mechanic in today's large franchises (Star Trek, Star Wars, too many comics to name), and Blizzard has employed the technique themselves.  Considering that Onyxia's quest chain has been removed, and her human disguise vanquished from the halls of Stormwind, a retcon with a new storyline is entirely plausible.
• Infinite Dragonflight - I posited this as my little baby.  We know very little about the Infinite Dragonflight.  We do know that they are messing with the timeline, but that's all we have.  Their actions could be at the request of Nozdormu himself, but it could just as easily be another flight created by Deathwing for his own nefarious purposes.  Assuming it is Deathwing's latest scheme, then the new encounter can be explained as an alternate timeline's Onyxia making her triumphant return.

It should be quite obvious what I want Blizzard to do, the Bronze Dragonflight.  Just think of how cool it could be.  First off, the process can be explained in the lore easily.  It'll also offer the encounter designers a chance to experiment with new moves for Onyxia (she's different after all).  Perhaps a Really Deep Breath?  She'd have to perform her asthmatic move more often of course.  Lastly, and most importantly, it'd offer a perfect time for Deathwing and his Black Dragonflight to rear their ugly heads. The overall consensus is that Blizzard may very well take the "Who Cares" approach.  After all, it's just a bit of added content to effectively pat themselves on the back for sticking around a half decade (has it really been that long? *checks /played*).  Unlike the rest of the Internet, I am not a pessimist, and I expect the developer to deliver something to us.  Retconning seemed to be as equally likely from the poll.  You'll recall that Blizzard said Onyxia's chain would be modified to fit into Wrath's timeline upon its removal.  That little diddy fits my Infinite Dragonflight hopes even more than a retcon.  Hmm. Which scenario is most likely in your mind?  Have any other ideas as to how Blizzard can write in the retune?  Do you think Blizzard will remove/replace the old encounter with the new one?

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Proverb is a psuedo-weekly column discussing the lore of Warcraft. It is spoiler heavy for all Warcraft games, novels, and other media. Comment on this post or send a tweet to @Heartbourne and let us know what you would like to see in future columns! The last post on the Vials of Eternity stirred a lot of discussion about Nozdormu, so I thought this week I'd take the opportunity to outline a biography of Nozdormu and the history of the bronze dragonflight. When the Titans were shaping Azeroth, they created the five dragonflights from the great proto-dragon, Galakrond. The leaders of the dragonflights, called the Aspects, were each gifted with different powers by the Titans. Nozdormu and the bronze dragonflight were imbued by the leader of the Titans, Aman'thul, with the power to travel through time at a whim. To humble Nozdormu, and remind him he was not invincible, Nozdormu was also revealed the exact moment and method by which he would perish. The bronze dragonflight were tasked with making sure that everything in the world transpired according to fate. Dragons and mortals existed peacefully together until the War of the Ancients, which the dragons participated in after some coaxing. Neltharion betrayed the dragons and tricked them into pouring much of their power into an artifact called the Demon Soul, which was used against them. Neltharion, now known as Deathwing, banished the bronze, red, and green dragonflights from the battle and decimated the blue dragonflight. Ultimately, all of the dragonflights lost great numbers and the Demon Soul was captured from Deathwing. Nozdormu, Alexstrasza, and Ysera placed an enchantment on it so that it could never be used by dragonkind again and hid it far below the earth. They were still severally weaker from contributing so much of their power to the Demon Soul, and would be until it would be destroyed ten thousand years later. Following the reinstatement of the Well of Eternity, Ysera gifted the night elves with the World Tree Nordrassil. Nozdormu, The Timeless One, blessed the tree so that night elves would never age past their prime, giving the night elves effective immortality. The bronze dragonflight was largely reclusive for the next nine thousand years, keeping to themselves in the Caverns of Time below Tanaris desert. Nine thousand years after the Sundering, the bronze dragons were approached by the night elves, who were concerned by the Qiraji's expansion. The bronze dragonflight didn't much care, until the Qiraji began approaching the Caverns of Time. The bronze dragonflight and many other dragons assisted in what became known as The War of the Shifting Sands. The Qiraji were sealed behind The Scarab Wall, and the world was again at peace. It was only another thousand years before the bronze dragonflight was again roused to interfere in the world's events. An orcish warlock by the name of Nekros was able to recover the Demon Soul and used it to enslave Alexstrasza, the red dragon Aspect. Korialstrasz was able to find the highly reclusive Nozdormu and begged him to help. Nozdormu was less than happy, and refused on the basis that this was the way events were fated to unfold. It wasn't until the green dragon Aspect, Ysera, called upon him did Nozdormu and the bronze dragonflight decide to intervene. Malygos, who also refused at first, also joined. At the great Battle of Grim Batol, the Demon Soul was destroyed, restoring the power to the Aspects, and Deathwing was chased into hiding. With their power returned, the bronze dragonflight began to venture into the world once more. After the third war and the destruction of Nordrassil, the night elves attempted to form a new world tree, Teldrassil. Unlike the first world tree, none of the Aspects would bless the selfish request of the night elves to regain their immortality. Without Nozdormu's blessing, the night elves would begin to age again. As for the events starting with World of Warcraft, Nozdormu has been missing for some time now. In his stead, Anachronos leads the bronze dragonflight and a subfaction of the bronze dragons known as the Brood of Nozdormu. When the Qiraji began to arise again, Anachronos sought out a champion to assemble the Scepter of the Shifting Sands to reopen the gates of Ahn'Qiraj. The bronze dragonflight again helped the mortals fight the insects, and the Qiraji were defeated. Additionally, Chronormu, also known as Chromie, was assisted by players at Andorhal investigating how the Scourge was meddling with the flow of time there, as well as helping them rewrite the events of The Battle of Darrowshire to prevent the corruption of Redpath. Once the Burning Crusade started, Soridormi, Nozdormu's consort, called upon mortals to stop a mysterious band of dragons known as the Infinite Dragonflight from intervening in past events. A faction of bronze dragons, known as the Keepers of Time, have helped ensure the outcome of the opening of the dark portal, Thrall's escape from Durnholde, and the culling of Stratholme. A third faction of bronze dragons, the Scale of the Sands, help ensure the outcome of the Battle of Mount Hyjal. As of Wrath of the Lich King, Nozdormu is still on some secretive mission. Players who visit the Bronze Dragonshrine where the bronze dragons are battling the Infinite Dragonflight throughout time use an item to reveal the leader of the Infinite Dragonflight, but surprisingly, Nozdormu appears. There are several implications of this. It could be that Nozdormu is the leader of the Infinite Dragonflight. His motive could be to change events so that his demise, of which he knows the when and how, is prevented. Upon zoning into The Battle for Mount Hyjal, the bronze dragon Indormi comments: "Do you think the rumors about the Infinite Dragonflight are true? I've sensed it...the familiarity." This may be evidence that some bronze dragons may become infinite dragons in the future Additionally, during Children's Week, a blood elf orphan by the name of Salandria visits the Caverns of Time and nearly gets attacked by the dragons there. Zaladormu stops the dragons, saying that the orphan should not be held responsible for "things she might do or fail to do in the future". Salandria gets a toy dragon and says "someday I plan to own a real one" as players see the quest text "you can see the wheels in the small girl's head turning". She is taken under the "wing" of Lady Liadrin, leader of the blood knights, to train as a paladin. She may have some role in Nozdormu and the Infinite Dragonflight's scheme. The Infinite Dragonflight could also be an experiment of Deathwing, who engineered both the Chromatic Dragonflight and the Twilight Dragonflight. Deathwing is still in hiding, after all. Perhaps we will have to face off with Nozdormu as the leader of the Infinite Dragonflight, and maybe Soridormi will use her Vials of Eternity in some way. Only time will tell.

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