What it Really Means to be Alliance
The ever-so awesome Saresa over at destructive reach made a post about what the Alliance means and I thought since lore isn’t exactly the most disseminated information out there I thought it would be a good post to let you all know a little bit more about this faction known as the Alliance, how it began, and what it is today. A lot of this comes from my memories by reading the books and playing the game, but some research on wowwiki always helps.
History:
The Alliance we currently are witnessing in World of Warcraft is the second attempt at an alliance of the races. For this UN there was a League of Nations before it. This was known as the Alliance of Lordaeron (for the real lore pups who are now wondering why the undercity would be the beginning of the alliance, I’ll point you here for a refresher of the events that led to the downfall of the one powerful Human kingdom, or just go play Warcraft 3). After the witnessed destruction of the kingdom of Azeroth by the newly unleashed Orcish Horde, the seven Human nations, The Khaz Modan and Aerie Peak Dwarves, the Gnomes of Gnomeregan, and the Elves of Quel’Thalas forged an Alliance to mutually defend against the Orcs, who had recently allied themselves with the Amani Trolls.
The Alliance was forged at that point onward by the King of Lordaeron, Terenas the Second. This alliance did give the nations a form of autonomy, but a unified military to fight the Horde in the second war. This alliance however ran dry rather quickly in peacetime. This can be linked to a lot of the Alliance’s failures when managing the threat of the Scourge a few years later. The Scourge invasion climaxed by the death of King Terenas and the fall of Lordaeron essentially killed this first draft at an Alliance.
The Third War and the Grand Alliance:
The third war led to a temporary reforging of the Alliance led by the three great factions at the time to unite against the might of the Burning Legion and defeat Archimonde. This Alliance consisted of the surviving Alliance forces from the Eastern Kingdoms led by Jaina Proudmoore, Thrall‘s newly forged Horde with its Darkspear and Tauren allies, and Tyrande Whisperwind commanding the Night Elves. This vast military alliance saved Azeroth, and came to full fruition at the battle of Mount Hyjal. This also explains the complicated relationship between Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore you see throughout the game.
World of Warcraft:
The events outlined in the book Cycle of Hatred essentially seem to point to a growing of tensions after the events of Warcraft three. The main ones I can foresee are the admission of the Forsaken into Thrall’s Horde and their claim to what was one Lordaron, the encroachment into Ashenvale forest by the Warsong clan attempting to fuel the growing infrastructure of the new Horde, and the racial tensions between Humans and Orcs that by this point runs very deep. This has evaporated the Alliance of the third war as the Horde became very much their own powerful faction and the Alliance is all that remain. There is not open war yet, but a lot of saber rattling and skirmishes which sets the backdrop for World of Warcraft.
The Burning Crusade:
The Burning Crusade expansion saw the introduction of a new race, the Draenei. This race has existed in the Warcraft lexicon for a long time surprisingly, but they were changed a lot for their introduction as a playable race. Now their joining of the Alliance is due to two major factors. One, The Exodar, a ship the Draenei used to escape Illidan‘s forces in Outlands, crash landed very close to Night Elf territory. The two seemed to have hit it off since. Also due to the events in the book Beyond the Dark Portal, we can see there is a situation present in which the Draenei might not be jumping for the chance to ally with the Orcs and Blood Elves.
Wrath of the Lich King:
Not much to add here, but the comic book arc has ended with Varian Wrynn reclaiming the throne of Stormwind and command of the Humans. He is a very shaky wild card in this already unsteady relation between the Alliance and the Horde. He hates the Horde, hates Thrall, and is dying to start open war. He has refused to play nice even when it was to save the entire world. This could be a sign of a future where the Horde and Alliance are no longer skirmishing over small areas or randomly picking each other off in unclaimed territory, but an all out open war between these two factions yet again. We will have to see.
Races:
The current Alliance has five main member races and I thought I’d add on a bit of history and let you guys know your characters just a little more.
Humans:
The Human race has almost been completely destroyed. Most of the great Human kingdoms are gone. All that really remains of Human Kingdoms are Azeroth and Dalaran. Dalaran has chosen to remain neutral, so all the current playable Humans are fromt he kingdom of Azeroth or Stormwind. You were the first peoples to take on the Orcs when they burst through the Dark Portal and despite all your hardships you survived and rebuilt. You are now the sole remaining bastion of Humanity left.
Dwarves:
Your people were created by the titans themselves. The Dwarves were once called the Earthen, and after the Sundering a few of the Earthen were freed from their underground slumber, they had become softer, made of flesh isntead of stone. Those that had come from Uldaman settled into the snowy hills of Dun Morogh and founded the empire of Khaz Modan. Your history is one of wars of faction and dominance as the Dark Iron Dwarves laid waste to a huge area of the Eastern Kingdoms during the battle of the three hammers.
Gnomes:
Known as the masters of technology, the Gnomes are the most deviously brilliant creatures on this world. The few Gnomes that remain are the survivors of the destruction of their city of Gnomeregan. The Gnomes used to be mechanical creations of the Titans, but through the curse of the flesh they are now alive.
Night Elves:
The Kal’Dorei, the children of the stars are one of the most ancient races of the Alliance. They are known for being very reverent of nature and for their long druidic past. They have saved the world many times fromt he might of the Burning Legion. They share a history with the Blood Elves and Naga that date back to their participation int he War of the Ancients.
Draenei:
The exiled from Argus. These people are descended from the same race as the reviled Eredar, great archons of the Burning legion. These humble people were saved by the grace of great light beings known as the Naaru. Their eternal partnership has made the Draenei a noble and humble race, devoted tot he light and values of virtue.
Conclusions:
So yeah, that’s the legacy and meaning of being part of this grand Alliance is very much deeper than just being the people in blue. Oh, and we’re pretty.
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July 16th, 2009 at 5:24 am
What it Really Means to be Alliance…
More than just the Blue in Red Vs. Blue, but there is something deeper to the Alliance. Here is a history of this faction….