One of the most endearing new stories to be introduced into the Warcraft mythos by WoW is that of the Ashbringer, the blade of the Scarlet Highlord Mograine, which slew the Scourge by the hundreds and might have singlehandedly redeemed Azeroth, were it not for the treachery of his son, Renault. Unfortunately, beyond that and a little scene in Old Hillsbrad where we see the first steps of its creation, we don't really know much else of the story behind the fabled blade.

In September 2008, we'll learn a little bit more of it. On September 10th, DC Comics' Wildstorm division will release the first of a 4 issue miniseries that covers the history of the Ashbringer, both the sword and the wielder, Alexandros Mograine. The series is being written by Blizzard Creative Director Mickey Nielson, with art by Ludo Lullabi and Tony Washington. The first book will feature cover art by Chris Robinson, with a variant cover by Lullabi and Washington.

I know I'm excited. In fact, I think I'll call my local comics store now and make sure they'll carry it. Then again, I'm also a bit concerned. If this comic book gives us Ashbringer backstory that's important to WoTLK, does that mean they aren't releasing it until the series is done? I don't want to wait til 2009 to play a Death Knight, that's for sure!

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.

A Discussion of the newly dropped Thori'dal bought up a lively discussion on Legendary weapons in my guild chat the other day, which has in turn set my own mental wheels turning. Looking at the difference between the pre-Burning Crusade Legendaries and the Burning Crusade Legendaries, there's one big difference that stands out (beyond the level difference): The pre-BC Legendaries were quested, while the BC Legendaries have been drops.

The clear-cut off seems to suggest that at some point, Blizzard decided that creating long, involved quests in order to obtain Legendary weapons just wasn't the way to go, and they'd rather let the RNG take care of distributing Legendaries. But the question is, did they make the right choice? There's good arguments for both sides.

Welcome to Know Your Lore, where each week Elizabeth Wachowski and Alex Ziebart bring you a tasty little morsel of lore to wrap your mind around. Sweet, sweet lore. Mmmm.

This week on Know Your Lore, we're going to talk about the faction that manages to be one of the most beloved organizations in the game while also being one of the most hated. Whether you love them or hate them, the Scarlet Crusade remains one of the most interesting factions in WoW, and they're attached to the Ashbringer that the WoW community is so fascinated with. Better yet, they return in Wrath of the Lich King.

The Scarlet Crusade was founded during the fall of Lordaeron, shortly after the Knights of the Silver Hand had been decimated by the Scourge and largely disbanded. Though its founders did not necessarily have the most sane or noble intentions, many of the men and women who joined their ranks did have only one primary goal in mind. They wished to free Lordaeron of the Scourge in the name of the Light, and crush the undead utterly. Considering those undead brought their homeland (one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world at the time) to its knees and blighted it beyond belief, that was a pretty noble cause.

Here's yet another reason for me and all my roleplaying kin to tune in to the next Blizzcast: They will be discussing roleplaying in WoW, says Vaneras. It won't be a major topic, but there is some discussion about plans to continue development of "things that are for roleplaying."

So, I am certainly excited. I can't help but speculate where this could go. What could they have planned, development-wise? Will we see more reporting tools for RP server violations? Or will we simply see more character customization options to allow us to submerge ourselves more fully into the Worlds of Azeroth and Outland? I think my big problem is going to be holding back my expectations. They're running so wild, that I can't help but that think I'll be disappointed in what's actually said.

That said, Between this information and whatever we learn about the Ashbringer, this Blizzcast should be a great listen for all RP and lore buffs. There doesn't seem to be any word yet about when it will be released, but Vaneras' post makes me think it must be close. Stay tuned here and to the official Blizzcast page.

2.4's not out today, but Blizzard threw a nice little consolation prize our way: A new Fury of the Sunwell preview page, complete with a trailer and a very spiffy looking wallpaper featuring Kil'jaedan rising out of the Sunwell while Kael'thas looks on, as well as an in-game cinematic trailer in which Kael'thas tells the story of the destruction of the Sunwell and speaks of his plans to reignite it and summon Kil'jaedan. if you're a bit unclear on the Sunwell Lore, this page explains it succinctly as well.

There's also a list of some of the new features, such as all the new daily quests, accompanied by screenshots. In what might be considered a bit of tease for WotLK, the screenshot for the Arena Tournament features a Warrior wielding the fabled Ashbringer (the corrupted version, but still!). It's also worth noting that we can add another Kralnor cookie to the growing list of them, the screenshot also features everyone's favorite staff-using Warlock.

Blizzard's done a great job with this page, although I have to wonder if this is a harbinger of more PTR time. It seems strange they'd only release such a well done preview page a few scant days before the patch goes live, but we shall see. It's fun to have some new eye candy to keep us occupied until the patch drops.

Our friend Boubouille over at MMO Champion has gotten a nice tip on Ashbringer appearing in Northrend (warning: I don't think this is a huge spoiler, as it probably happens within your first hour or so of Wrath of the Lich King, but if you don't want to know anything about what happens to Ashbringer, skip this post).

So apparently inside the Utgarde Catacombs (which is probably the lower section of Utgarde Keep-- I played the upper section), there is a cleric of the Silver Hand, the group led by Tirion Fordring that fought against the Scourge in Naxx, as well as other places. The cleric sends you on a timed quest inside the dungeon, to retrive a "Sacred Artifact." After you retrieve it, he sends you with his dying breath to someone back in town, who then tells you that the Artifact you just held in your hands is related to the Ashbringer, thanks you for grabbing it, and takes it away (as, Boubouille says, "the ret paladin of your party keeps crying"), promising to give it to Fordring in his fight against Arthas. How is it related to Ashbringer? Well, it could be the blade itself, except that the Corrupted Ashbringer was last seen in player hands, not at the bottom of a dungeon. Most likely, it's a mirror, or a copy, of the artifact seen in Old Hillsbrad-- a new holy artifact, meant to create a new, uncorrupted Ashbringer.

So that's kind of cool. It definitely shows how Blizzard is going to make good on their promise of involving us in the lore right away when you enter Northrend-- at BlizzCon, they said a few times that most players worried they would never see Illidan, so the idea with WotLK is to bring the lore to you (we're supposed to meet Arthas early on in this way as well). I like the way this is done-- even though you don't get to wield it, you're still able to interact with it. Should be very exciting to see how Blizzard incorporates other parts of the lore in this way.

Just so we don't take down MMO Champion's site with hotlinks, I've mirrored the three quest images after the jump.

Update: MMO Champion got it from Cydel, who also has video.

In another world first, the guild Risen has acquired the world's very first Corrupted Ashbringer as a drop off the Four Horsemen in Naxxramas. Now Risen has only to complete the quest to transform it into the legendary blade Ashbringer. If you've never heard of the Ashbringer, Ashbringer.com can update you on its history -- it was once the sword of the Scarlet Crusade's Highlord Mograine, and entering the Scarlet Monastery with it equipped provides one with this interesting scene.

It does seem as though I'm making a lot of posts lately about ultra-rare legendary items - but what can I say, I keep seeing news about them!  Community manager Eyonix made a post on the general forums today confirming that Ashbringer is not presently available in the game.  Hopefully this won't put an end to all of the creative and entertaining speculation that goes on at Ashbringer.com forums.

Everyone's heard of epic items - those purple colored goodies that fetch absurdly high prices on the auction house.  Epic items may be obtained from random world drops (if you're very, very lucky!), crafted items (the recipes will either be rare drops or require faction grinding to obtain, and the required materials to be time-consuming and difficult to acquire), or drops in raid dungeons like Zul'Gurub, Molten Core and Blackwing Lair.  However, more rare and desirable than even the best epic item is the legendary item - only two of these orange colored items are known to exist in Azeroth - Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros and Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker.  Acquiring these items is a task in itself - both require two very rare drops from Molten Core, as well as having long quests and materials involved in their creation.  However, there are rumors of a third legendary item known as the Ashbringer.