Spooncraft

Welcome back to part 2 of my Burning Crusade breakdown. You can catch up with the first part here.

So we adventurers and powerful heroes of the Horde and Alliance are spreading through all of Outland with the Dark Portal taken. Eventually we make it to Shattrath city where A’dal leads the forces of the light in many campaigns against the Burning Legion and Illidan respectively, this is the old capital of the Draenei in Outland and it’s story can be learned from Khadgar’s assistant during a quest. This quest explains the origins of the Aldor and Scryer that play a massively vital role in this chapter (the Burning Crusade):

When the Burning Legion turned the orcs against the draenei, the fiercest battle was fought [in Shattrath]. The draenei fought tooth and nail, but in the end the city fell. The city was left in ruins and darkness…until the Sha’tar arrived. The Sha’tar, or “born from light” are the naaru that came to Outland to fight the demons of the Burning Legion. They were drawn to the ruins of Shattrath City where a small remnant of the draenei priesthood conducted its rites inside a ruined temple. [...]

The priesthood, known as the Aldor, quickly regained its strength as word spread that the naaru had returned and reconstruction soon began. The ruined temple is now used as an infirmary for injured refugees. It wouldn’t be long, however, before the city came under attack once again. This time, the attack came from Illidan’s armies. A large regiment of blood elves had been sent by Illidan’s ally, Kael’thas Sunstrider, to lay waste to the city. As the regiment of blood elves crossed [the] bridge, the Aldor’s exarchs and vindicators lined up to defend the Terrace of Light.

But then the unexpected happened. The blood elves laid down their weapons in front of the city’s defenders; their leader Voren’thal stormed into the Terrace of Light and demanded to speak to A’dal. As the naaru approached him, Voren’thal kneeled before him and uttered the following words: “I’ve seen you in a vision, naaru. My race’s only hope for survival lies with you. My followers and I are here to serve you.” The defection of Voren’thal and his followers was the largest loss ever incurred by Kael’s forces. And these weren’t just any blood elves. Many of the best and brightest among Kael’s scholars and magisters had been swayed by Voren’thal’s influence. The naaru accepted the defectors, who would be known as the Scryers.

The Aldor are followers of the light and forgiveness and redemption are values they understand. However, they found [it] hard to forget the deeds of the blood elves while under Kael’s command. Many of the priesthood had been slain by the same magisters who now vowed to serve the naaru. They were not happy to share the city with former enemies. [..] The attacks against Shattrath continued, but the city did not fall, as you can see. On the contrary, the naaru known as Xi’ri led a successful incursion into Shadowmoon Valley - Illidan’s doorstep. There he continues to wage war on Illidan with the assistance of the Aldor and the Scryers. The two factions have not given up on their old feuds, though. Such is the animosity that they vie for the honor of being sent to assist the naaru there. Each day, that decision is made here by A’dal. The armies gather here to receive A’dal’s blessing before heading to Shadowmoon. (src wowwiki)

Essentially, you pick either to be aligned with the Aldor or with the Scryers. It really doesn’t matter from a lore perspective which faction you choose, as both are motivated with the same goal of defeating the forces of evil. Even a lot of the quests you do for each faction are the same as for the other, only the names of the quest are different and some of the elements of the quest chain differ ever so slightly.

Both Aldor and Scryer are fighting alongside the Naaru against Illidan’s forces and both of them send you at some point to make nicey with Akama and the Ashtongue Deathsworn; a group of broken Draenei that helped Illidan when he firts came to Outland but now know the folley of their ways and seek retribution and atonement for their actions. There are tons of demonic forces throughout all of Outland with many Eredar leaders running the show at their individual camps or bases. Even reaching out as far as Karazhan itself is an Eredar named Prince Malchezaar who’s motives for being there are still a mystery, but it is Medivh’s tower after all so that alone might be reason enough to control it.

Back to the story at hand though, so you’re fighting for the Scryers or the Aldor at this point in time. You’re mixing it up with Naga and demons and Blood elves all over the place, destroying this force and that force trying to wage an all fronts war against Illidan’s forces as well as the demons of the burning legion in order to bring peace back to Outland and drive off the forces of darkness. Hopefully this next part isn’t a spoiler for you but, you will go into Serpent Shrine Cavern and you will (hopefully) kill Lady Vashj thus gutting one third of Illidan’s forces. Your next sortie would be to fight your way through the Nteherstorm and deep into the main control sector of the Naaru fortress of tempest Keep which has been completely overrun by Kael’thas and his blood elves.

Guess what, you win. Kael’thas lays bloddied and dead on the floor as your raid collectively hearths out or takes some fancy portal. Just before you all leave your master looter snags one of Kael’s floating spheres (the little green deals that hover around him) as a trophy and disappears hopefully to Shattrath to spread the good news. Suddenly Kael’thas’ finger twitches and he drags himself to his feet where he then teleports himself to some unknown location to rest up for round 2.

Now Illidan’s army is pretty much cut in half again and he’s outnumbered and betrayed from within as his Ashtongue Deathsworn are with you as you lead the charge through the Black Temple through a hole the collective Aldor/Scryer/Naaru forces have broken in the outter wall. The forces of the burning legion are scattered and beaten throughout all of Outland as their factories are being gutted from the inside by ninjas and their warp gates are being bombed every few minutes by Skyguards. The stage is set for the climax of this expansion.

Tune in next time for the grand conclusion; Illidan’s demise, the Sunwell’s rebirth, and the culmination of the Aldor/Scryer story arc.