Meethan asked...

What are Liches raised from? When encountered, Liches have sorceror and somewhat necromatic powers. Can they be raised from anyone or must it be a mage? Would you consider Kel'thuzad to be "Lord of the Lich"?

As far as Kel'thuzad goes, I believe the title that was given to him is "Archlich." Almost all liches were raised from necromancers, warlocks and mages, though the Lich King pretty much does whatever the hell he wants and can raise other people as a lich if he really wants to do that. That's probably rare, because turning someone that isn't skilled at spellcasting into a being that is built for spellcasting would just be silly. The Burning Legion used to employ a lot of liches as well, but they lost most of them when the Scourge betrayed them.

Let's start the week out right by diving straight into some juicy questions!

Gilgamesh asked....

With Hunters getting Exotic Pets and Warriors getting Titan's Grip, is the Rogue getting anything interesting?

Though I do know a thing or two about Rogues (in that I have one at level 70), I'm no expert (it's very much an alt). I don't personally find the new talents to be all that thrilling -- the trees seem to continue much the same as they are now, without any big talents that scream "pick me! pick me!" And I have to say, Rogues on the beta forums don't seem particularly excited, either. Beyond new talents, they're picking up only a couple of new abilities on their journey to level 80: Dismantle (which, by the way, is considered a "replacement" for the disarm mechanic currently in Riposte -- in the Wrath beta, Riposte slows your target's melee attack instead of disarming) and Fan of Knives. Yes, you'll get additional ranks of existing skills, but not much new. For a full rundown on the changes in store for Rogues in Wrath, check out our beta patch notes writeup.

I consulted our resident Rogue expert, Jason, who unfortunately has not made it into the beta, but has been analyzing what's what on paper, and from what he sees, "Rogues are doing just fine. I think the crux will be how the changes in Hunters, Mages, and Warlocks work out. PvE-based we still do crazy damage if we are spec'd right so that's not changing. But will we be number 1 or 2 on the meters? I don't know." For a more thorough rundown of changes, check out Jason's analysis of the Assassination tree -- Combat and Subtlety to come soon!

For more of your questions -- and our answers! -- read on! But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving a few things away.

Malygos the Spellweaver, Lord of Magic, is the fourth Dragon Aspect that we'll be looking at in Know Your Lore's series on the great dragons. Malygos was empowered by the Titan Norgannon, charged with guarding all magic and arcane knowledge. He calls the Nexus in Northrend, his home.

The Aspect of the Blue was one of the more wise of the Dragonflights, and described as the most friendly of them. He was close to his 'siblings' back before the War of the Ancients, especially Neltharion of the Black. You know, before Neltharion went loco.

Welcome to Know Your Lore, where each week Alex Ziebart brings you a tasty little morsel of lore to wrap your mind around. Sweet, sweet lore. Mmmm. Have suggestions for future KYL topics? E-mail us!

Last week we looked at Alextrasza, and this week we're going to continue the Dragon theme with the Aspect of the Green Flight, Ysera.

Ysera is a dragon that goes by many names. Ysera the Dreamer. She of the Dreaming. The Queen of Dreams. The Lady of Dr-- you know, forget it, I guess it's just that one name, really. Just take the word Dream and add a title to it and you can probably use it to refer to Ysera. Though, I guess Commodore of Dreams doesn't really work, does it? Hm.

Welcome to Know Your Lore, where each week Alex Ziebart brings you a tasty little morsel of lore to wrap your mind around. Sweet, sweet lore. Mmmm. Have suggestions for future KYL topics? E-mail us!

Know Your Lore has covered the benevolent dragons in Warcraft before, but I've decided to highlight a few of them in preparation for Wrath of the Lich King. I feel that saving the best for last is a bunch of crap, so I'm going to start with my personal favorite: Alexstrasza. Admittedly, it isn't terribly hard for her to seal that favorite slot right now. Deathwing and Alexstrasza are the only two Aspects we've been exposed to in a very direct way for a substantial amount of time. To make things even better, she's a headlining character in Wrath.

Alexstrasza is one of five Dragon Aspects chosen and empowered by the Titans prior to their departure from Azeroth. Each of the Aspects was given a domain that they would protect, and have the power to control. Alexstrasza's domain is perhaps the most broad: Life. While all of the Aspects are interconnected and have some sway over one another, Alexstrasza is perhaps the most connected to the others because of her connection to life. Many use this to say she is the 'leader' of the Aspects, but as far as we know, they don't really have one. At least, not until Wrath. Maybe.

In an amazing example of the nonlinearity I mentioned yesterday (and was discussed at the Raids and Dungeons panel at the WWI), we've been given a sneak preview of the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King dungeon, The Oculus. The Oculus is a wing of the Blue Dragon-centric branch of dungeons, The Nexus.

The Oculus itself is not quite an indoors dungeon, not quite an outdoors dungeon. It is actually a series of tiered, floating rings, which you can see in the picture to the right. Which means you need a way to get between the rings, right? Right! How will we do that? Partway into the dungeon, you acquire a drake that allows you to fly within the Oculus! These drakes come in a few different flavors: DPS, Tanking, and Healing. You're allowed to pick and choose between them, too! Give your healer a break, and let them fly around on the DPS drake! They'll need to start healing again as soon as they're on the ground, so it'll only be a brief reprieve.

The dungeon will be, as I mentioned, nonlinear. All of the bosses will likely need to be killed before the dungeon is 'complete' but you're allowed to pick and choose which order you want to do them in. The simple idea of actually having a choice in that is exciting to me, especially after The Burning Crusade's linear, railroad dungeons. This drake mechanic also makes me curious about what other new features we'll run into in dungeons. Will we see siege vehicles in 5 man instances, like we're seeing in Lake Wintergrasp and the new battleground? What other challenges could be waiting for us, besides Stratholme-esque timed runs?

Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, WoW Insider's newest weekly feature column. Have a question about the story and lore of the Warcraft universe? Click the Comments link below, ask your question, and blogger/columnist Alex Ziebart will answer you in a future installment!

Let's leap right into things, and see what Tyler wants to know, shall we?

Question: If the Ashbringer is really the Light's answer to Frostmourne, then why isn't anyone trying to use it, or destroy it? Is it because that Tirion Fordring has it? If he does, in WotLK then, he needs our help to weaken the Lich King and let him use it?

Answer: Nobody is using the Ashbringer right now because nobody has the Ashbringer in its true, Light-blessed form. Last we knew, the Ashbringer was still in Highlord Mograine's hands in a Corrupted form. The latest Know Your Lore covers the events leading up to that in a little more detail. Currently, we either need to purify The Ashbringer or forge a new one to be able to use it against the Lich King.

Over the past week, particularly in the last few days, the crisp Internet air has been abuzz with news from the upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Fear you're out of the loop? Here's a quick round-up of all the information being released, along with analysis and opinion.

Don't forget to keep checking back, as this page will be updated as information becomes available:

Dungeons and raids

1. An analysis on Arthas as a ten-manned event, including its impact on the 25-man raiding structure, as well an exploration of its consistency with the lore.
2. Did you know that all expansion raids will have a 10-man setting, as well as a 25-man?
3. Read through some of our initial impressions on the 10-man raiding set-up.
4. We also wrote up a concise overview of the ins and outs of dungeons post-expansion, including a new token system, similar to [Badge of Justice].
5. The Nexus has been announced on the official site as one of the new dungeons.
6. The WoW Insider Show discusses 10-manning Arthas.

Zones, factions, and relevant lore

1. Alex has written an excellent overview of the Grizzly Hills, a soon-to-be zone for low to mid-seventies. With old factions reappearing, along with other surprises, it's definitely something to look forward to!
2. If news of the Dragonblight has intrigued you, you'll be pleased to know that more information has been made available.
3. While we're brushing up on our lore and learning about new areas and factions, Alex thought it fitting to illuminate the lore behind Azjol-Nerub, as the Nerubians will have their own role in the expansion.
4. Alex asks us about lore figures we'd like to see in the expansion.

I've examined the Dragonblight before when Blizzard first gave us the preview of the zone, but some other news about the region has come into the spotlight in the last few days. I'm sure you've noticed, the Wrath news is everywhere, especially here on WoW Insider. Below I have a little breakdown of what we know so far.

• The Dragonblight is both the beginning and the end of the dragon life cycle. The Titans granted the Dragonflights their powers here, and this is also where dragons go to die.
• This zone contains a shrine for each of the Flights which surround Wyrmrest Temple. These shrines are under siege by the Scourge.
• Alexstrasza herself is lending a hand in recruiting for the war effort in the Dragonblight.
• The Scourge has been twisting the remains of fallen dragons into Frost Wyrms and potentially other monstrosities.
• The Scarlet Crusade returns in this zone, renamed the Scarlet Onslaught.

With Wrath of the Lich King and the return of the Scourge to the spotlight, an old friend comes back along with them. The Nerubians! We haven't seen much of them in the World of Warcraft yet beyond being undead lackies, they have a long, quite interesting backstory. We saw a little more in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, but their story goes even deeper. In the big picture of Warcraft, their ancestors predate all but the Trolls, and maybe even them.

In the beginning there were the Silithid. Insectoid horrors that crawled forth from the Well of Eternity just happened to grab the interest of the Old Gods. The most notable of them so far being C'Thun. C'Thun crafted avatars of war from the Silithid, twisting them into humanoid soldiers. These avatars became known as the Aqir. The Aqir are best described as 'evil' though that is always in the eye of the beholder.

The Aqir were one of three super powers in the world at the time, roughly 16,000 years prior to the Orcish invasion of Azeroth. The other two came in the form of the Troll Empires of the Gurubashi and the Amani. The three clashed repeatedly, and the Trolls only managed survival by forging a loose alliance between their empires. The Aqir civilization of Azj'Aqir held up quite well, their war lasting thousands of years, and no ultimate outcome ever came to fruition.

I don't think this is new news (though Blizzplanet has a note about it at the New York Comic Con a week or so ago, so maybe it came from there), but Richard Knaak is apparently working on a new World of Warcraft manga comic, called The Dragons of Outland. While Amazon still has the release date at June 17th, the date given for release at NY Comic Con is Fall 2009 (though that may be for Volume 2). Apparently the book will feature Jorad Mace, a Paladin who can be seen in Netherstorm right now, will touch on Malygos' insanity (which we may see firsthand in Wrath), and it will also be the continuation of the Netherwing quests storyline (which some fans aren't really excited to see in Knaak's hands).

It does sound interesting, though, and it might be fun to see something in the books that's a result of player actions. In other WoW graphic novel news, there is another book planned as well, called Warcraft: Legends, that will have two stories in it. One will be called "Fallen," about a Tauren Hunter who's been featured before in The Sunwell Trilogy, and another story called "How to Win Friends and Influence People," written by Dan Jolley about a Gnome of some kind (who knew they were important enough to write about?).

Legends is due a little sooner than Dragons of Outland -- Blizzplanet says it's expected in August of this year. So WoW graphic novel fans have a lot to look forward to.

The Gnomes are revolting on the official forums! Also, some of them are mad. Lead by Gnomium of the Aggramar server, they are demanding that they be included in the opening cinematic for WoTLK. It is certainly true that they haven't really had their chance in the sun for the past 2 major cinematics, although to be fair, the Trolls didn't get much more than a quick flash across the screen. Still, I can get behind this, and not just because I like my ankles non-bitten. Give them some Gnomish love, eh Blizzard? Maybe even let one use an engineering trinket without backfiring! Or, you know, just give us a tableau of Lake Wintergrasp with Gnomes being loaded into catapults and flung at the advancing Horde, either way.

Of course, we can't really have the WoTLK Cinematic be all Gnome all the time, so how do they fill the rest of it? I have to say, there's potential here. We'll probably need a massive army of Scourge, seething masses of ghouls dotted with the odd abomination or meat wagon. Perhaps we could see a group of adventurers descending into Azjol-Nerub only to be set upon by a platoon of vicious Nerubians. For the amazingly, unbelievably epic win, we could even feature a Blue Dragon vs. Red Dragon battle, since apparently Alexstraza herself will be helping us stop Malygos' mad plans to control all magic in the world. We'll probably also need at least one or two scenes of a "rebel" Death Knight fighting the scourge or breaking free of Arthas' control.

What do you think? What other scenes would you like to see in assuredly soon-to-be-released (We hope) FMV cinematic for WoTLK?

Bornakk plays it super safe on a question of whether there will be new mounts in Northrend (sometimes I think Bornakk is just a script that is programmed to post "There are no plans to do that at this time" periodically on the forums), but I can tell you for sure: there will, no doubt, be new mounts found in Northrend.

The question, however, is what they'll be. We've also heard that Blizzard won't be allowing flying mounts at least in the early parts of Northrend-- they claim that flying allows players to skip content, and they don't want anyone skipping content. But we will be able to use them eventually, and considering the steps that Blizzard has taken (in changing the riding/mount prices), it is almost assured that we'll see a few different mount options come out of Northwind. We've already seen dragons there, and the Blue Dragonflight will be there as well, so that points toward another type of dragon (other than Netherdrakes).

Of course, there's another type of vehicle we'll be riding around on in Northrend-- those siege weapons. It may be that, as Bornakk says, we don't get another riding skill rank to train, but there may be training purchases involved in letting players drive and use siege weapons as well.

Once upon a time, cavemen roamed the earth, great volcanic eruptions disrupted the cavemen's gaming time, and I wrote an article called "Know Your Lore: Good Dragons." Now it's time to cover the "bad dragons" - the Blue, Black, Chromatic and Infinite Dragonflights. And yes, I know you're all going to complain about the blue dragonflight being "bad", but unless you really want to run every dungeon at level 80 without a mage, you're gonna have to fight them.

Blue Dragonflight

• Leader: Malygos.
• Characteristics: The blue dragons may be the most intelligent of all the dragonflights. They're the masters of magic, the weavers of the arcane, and the guardians of icy areas. Of course they're going to be villains at some point! "Arcane magic corrupts" is one of the primary lessons of WoW, along with "elves are jerks" and "never get involved in a land war in Kalimdor."