Spooncraft

This is it folks, the last part of my Burning Crusade summary. Obviously there’s been a lot of omissions as the story has many different elements that can branch off in themselves so for the sake of argument, this entire deal has just been a summary of the major points and goings on in the expansion pertaining to the main story.

To recap really quickly:

• The Burning Legion is essentially held at bay pretty securely.
• The Illidari are pretty much beaten except their main base of the Black Temple.
• Vashj and her naga are defeated (dead).
• Kael’thas’ Sunfury Blood Elves are defeated.
• Your group, Akama, and Maiev Shadowsong (Illidan’s longtime stalker/jailer) are entering the Black Temple and will eventually get to the rooftop and engage Illidan.

Things you learn along the way regarding their motives are quite interesting. Illidan was building massive forces in Outland for the sole purpose of fighting off Kil’jaden. He pissed KJ off when he failed to destroy the Lich king then ran and hid in Outland. He’s got tons of demons, broken, naga, blood elves, fel orcs, netherdrakes, the works. Good news being you’ve pretty much castrated his forces.

In the Netherstorm, it’s assumed that Kael’thas is syphoning the arcane magic from the nether itself in order to power his forces, tempest keep, and Illidan’s army. In reality, he’s switched sides and isn’t doing a single thing to help Illidan at all.

The Scryers discovered that Kael’thas had turned his back on Illidan and entered into an alliance with the Burning Legion.

Kael’thas, aware of Illidan’s insanity (brought on by his defeat at the hands of Arthas Menethil at Icecrown, nearly four years earlier), “switched paymasters accordingly”, according to Magister Theledorn. Kael’s decision to ally himself with the Burning Legion not only led him to betray Illidan, but also the Horde and his own people - the many blood elf pilgrims and adventurers traveling from Azeroth. At Manaforge Ara, agents of the Burning Legion bearing orders from Kael mingle with his Sunfury servitors. This also justifies how blood elf players are able to battle against Kael’thas in Tempest Keep.

The Scryers, recognizing that Kael’s mad bid for power will lead the blood elven race to doom, continue to fight against Kael’thas and his Sunfury fanatics in the hope of saving their people. This is the primary reason for the Scryers’ defection.  (taken directly from the Wiki)

So Kael is with the Burning Legion and more specifically, Kil’jaden (who Illidan is affraid of and so on). What’s really neat is that when you kill Kael in Tempest Keep, he will drop a sphere that you turn in to A’dal in Shattrath. When you see Kael again in the new 5-man instance (Magister’s Terrace) he only has two of those little orbs floating around. Kael will shout in Shattrath as part of the quest when you turn in his orb to A’dal.

Kael’thas Sunstrider yells: Your monkeys failed to finish the job, naaru! Beaten but alive… The same mistake was not made when we took command of your vessel.
Kael’thas Sunstrider yells: All for what? Trinkets? You are too late. The preparations have already begun. Soon the master will make his return.
Kael’thas Sunstrider yells: And there is nothing you or that fool, Illidan, can do to stop me! You have both served me in your own right - unwittingly.
Kael’thas Sunstrider yells: Lay down your arms and succumb to the might of Kil’jaeden! 

So now you know what his motives are. I hate to mention it as a side note but Illidan is kind of a loser. I’ll get hate mail for this but he’s never really come across to me as anything other than an emo little pissant who got served when the chick he was trying to hook up with chose his brother instead. The whole love triangle bit involving Malfurion, Illidan, and Tyrande is worth looking into on your own as there’s three books and countless online content that explains it in extreme detail.

Long story short, Illidan has no game. So sad.  Let’s put the punk out of his misery and get those purple pixels. So you break through to Illidan’s little patio where he’s fiddling with his pet skull, you beat him around a bit with Akama then Maiev shows up and Illidan gets his ass handed to him by all 27 of you. The end!

Not really, Kael is still around. Despite his defeat in Tempest Keep, Kael’thas has survived the ordeal, and his plans remain unchanged. Having collected the necessary energies from his manaforges in Netherstorm, Kael’thas is returning to Quel’Thalas to reinvigorate the Sunwell - not as the source of his people’s magic, but rather as the mystic portal that will allow him to summon his new master, Kil’jaeden, much as the Well of Eternity was used to summon Sargeras ten millennia before (by Queen Azshara, which we will get into in another post I am working on ^_^)

Patch 2.4 begins the last part of this chapter in the Warcraft universe. Before settling in, Kael’thas and his “felblood” minions assaulted Blood Knight headquarters in Silvermoon and captured the naaru M’uru, the source of the Blood Knights’ arcane magic, taking the weakened naaru to the Sunwell Plateau. This has led the Blood Knight Order and its leader, Lady Liadrin, to break off ties with the House of Sunstrider and swear allegiance to the Sha’tar and the Shattered Sun Offensive, in an effort to take revenge on the treacherous Prince. Here is the dialogue you’ll see occur near A’dal once in a while when 2.4 is released.

General Tiras’alan: Why do you suffer the presence of this despicable Lady Liadrin? She and her followers distort the Light and make a mockery of all we stand for!
A’dal: Patience, general. The Light embraces all who enter Shattrath in good faith.
Lady Liadrin: Thank you for allowing me to speak, A’dal. I know many of your allies despise me and my knights for our treatment of M’uru.
Lady Liadrin: When he was given to us by ‘Prince’ Kael’thas, we believed his power would help lead our people into a new age.
Lady Liadrin: I’ve come to realize our path was a false one. We were betrayed by the man we called our prince. In his lust for power, he sent the felblood to attack us, and spirit M’uru away to the Sunwell.
A’dal: Both our peoples suffered greatly at the hands of Kael’thas and his agents, Lady Liadrin. Your people were not the authors of their own fate, but they will die if they do not change.
A’dal: M’uru accepted his role long ago, knowing full well what would happen to him. Will you accept your own?
Lady Liadrin: I… I don’t understand. You — and M’uru — knew all along that this would occur?
A’dal: It wasn’t I who fortold it, but Velen of the Draenei:
A’dal: ‘Silvery moon, washed in blood,’
A’dal: ‘Led astray into the night, armed with the sword of broken Light.’
A’dal: ‘Broken, then betrayed by one, standing there bestride the sun.’
A’dal: ‘At darkest hour, redemption comes, in knightly lady sworn to blood.’
Lady Liadrin: I see it clearly now. I renounce my loyalties to House Sunstrider and its false prince.
Lady Liadrin: I pledge the blades of my Blood Knights to the defeat of Kil’jaeden and the restoration of Silvermoon
Lady Liadrin: We will fight beside you, A’dal.
A’dal: The Shattered Sun Offensive will surely benefit from the addition of your knights, Lady Liadrin
A’dal: The battle for the Sunwell is but the first step on your new path, Lady Liadrin. Shattrath is open to you and all who follow you.

You are sent from Shattrath to the Sunwell where you and the Shattered Sun Offensive establish dominance over the island (which according to older lore, was where Dragonhawks were bred and raised).

You’ll undergo many different daily quests and missions or sorties into the Magister’s Terrace and the Sunwell Plateau respectively. Upon engaging Kael in the 5-man Magister’s Terrace he will say:  “Don’t look so smug! I know what you’re thinking, but Tempest Keep was merely a set back. Did you honestly believe I would trust the future to some blind, half-night elf mongrel? Oh no, he was merely an instrument, a stepping stone to a much larger plan! It has all led to this, and this time, you will not interfere!”

Through the help of Kalecgos and Anveena (characters introduced by Richard Knaak in the Sunwell Trilogy manga books) Kael is finally killed off, the Kil’jaden is stuck in mid summon and not fully manifested. Eventually (you win) Kil’jaden is defeated and through the discovery of many in game audio files there is a great deal of dialogue between Lady Laidrin of the Blood Knights, Velen, and yourselves but I’ll leave the specifics for you to find out yourselves through whatever means. I’m a big spoiler but not THAT big. 

So there you have it! The Burning legion’s main leaders are dead and gone except the head honcho himself SARGERAS! Illidan and his forces are gone. There really isn’t much left to fight as far as evil goes… except Arthas and many more I’ll let you know about in another Loregasm! Until next time…