Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, the column that answers your questions 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! Travis asks...
What can you tell me about the other portals around Outlands (the only one that springs to mind right now is the one in Zangarmarsh)? They look just like the one you get to Outlands through, but are just standing there doing nothing.
Answer: Those portals were once used by the Burning Legion and their lackies to travel between Outland and various other worlds. Those portals were also used to send Legion reinforcements to Outland. Before Illidan and his posse usurped Magtheridon, they went around shutting down these portals to prevent Magtheridon from being reinforced. Further, they've been kept closed so Kil'jaeden can't come stomping back into Outland to punish Illidan for not being able to kill the Lich King.
So it's Father's Day, the time when we all pay homage to the fathers or father figures in our lives, and thank them for all that they do. While we can't say for sure if they celebrate Father's Day in Azeroth, too, there's a lot of people in Azeroth and Outland who have reason to think back on their dads today. Many dads of Azeroth have affected their children's lives or been affected by them. The ramifications of the interactions of these fathers and children have then in turn affected the lore and story of Warcraft in ways great and small.
Therefore, in honor of the holiday, let's look at 10 famous and not-so-famous dads of Warcraft lore (listed in no particular order).
Welcome to the first installment of my new column series, Illusionary Tactics. Each episode will bring you the full intelligence on an item or quest that disguises you, enabling you to better carry out those secret missions -- or at least confuse your friends and guildmates.
What does it do? It turns you into a furbolg for three minutes, with a one-minute cooldown. Unlike many disguises, you can still fight while in furby form, although the form is removed if you are damaged, so it's possible (and I've seen it done) to furbolg-heal and furbolg-ranged-DPS. Just right-click the item in your inventory to activate.
So I've been thinking a bit about questing lately as I traverse Outlands on my latest project, a level 61 Blood Elf Paladin, working on the Outlands quests. I think my favorite part of playing a lowbie hordeling is how many quests there are to "stumble upon" in the oft-malignedBarrens. Technically, they're all very basic "find and kill these dudes" quests, but the presentation is such that I always get a big rush from doing them. They really do make me feel like a mighty hunter.
We're a good part of the way through our first day here at HKO Insider, so we figured now might be a good time to get some feedback from the community about what you think of the new focus of our site. Do you miss the green forests of Ashenvale or are you sold on Sanriotown? Is class QQing sounding pretty good to you right about now or are you krazy for Keroppi?
Our overlords at AOL directed us this morning to switch focus to a more popular MMO (since Wrath of the Lich King doesn't even have a release date yet), and some of our readers (and, frankly, writers) are a little uncomfortable with the change. But what do you think?
Choose your opinion in the poll above (and post a comment below, if you like), and let us know what you think about the changeover to cover Hello Kitty Online 24/7 instead of our usual World of Warcraft coverage.
In today's Know Your Lore, we're going to take a look at something that has been requested by a few readers(and a blogger). It's not a very well known topic, it comes from a quest line tucked away in the far corners of Ashenvale that sends you running all over the world as if you had absolutely nothing better to do with your time, much like any other quest line in Kalimdor. Regardless of the annoyance of the quest line, it is probably one of the more intriguing side stories in the Warcraft universe.
It begins shortly after the destruction of the World Tree. Archimonde was gone, but a great number of demons remained. Like the Scourge, the Legion doesn't simply stop when you tear the head from the beast. Priestess and Sentinel Velinde Starsong was the Night Elf in charge of leading the forces of the Kaldorei in these regions, assaulting the Legion and pushing them back as far as they could. This held up well for quite some time, pushing the demonic hordes as far back as the borders of Felwood. Unfortunately, the Night Elves were only level 20-something at that point, and the mobs in Felwood are like level 50, so things stopped going so well.
In all seriousness, the Kaldoreian advance was slowing more and more as they pressed into Felwood, their numbers being utterly decimated. Velinde grew desperate as so many of the Night Elves fell to the Legion, and called out to her final hope: The goddess Elune. She begged the goddess for strength and power, the ability to avenge her fallen comrades.
Reader Slyde, an Alliance Hunter on the Magtheridon server, arrived at the border of Ashenvale. But as he prepared to cross the bridge into Azshara, he spotted these two visions of horror carved from wood. Eldritch blue smoke emanated from their eyes, giving their twisted visages an even more horrifying effect. Though they served as a warning to all who travel in search of adventure, it was a warning Slyde ignored as he ventured ahead into new lands.
Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing. And please, no more sunsets. No, really.
Some older players might remember when all those empty huts and farms in The Barrens received a new infusion of life, with orc families inhabiting them and acting out stories both humorous (That poor kid being chased by a swarm of bees) and heartfelt (That poor kid waiting for his dad to come home from Warsong Gulch). A forum post by player Lalluna of the Darkspear server pointed out that, quite a few patches later, that liveliness may be spreading to other zones in Kalimdor!
Ever since patch 2.3, over in the far west of Ashenvale, just northwest of the Shrine of Aesinna, you'll find a rather lovely looking Night Elf abode, complete with a garden. Inhabiting it is the night elven Edune family: Benjari, Becanna, Elenna, and Aleanna. They seem to have visitors in the form of two humans, William and Sulan Dunadaire, a brother and sister. It's not just a silent tableau either, there's definitely stuff going on, as I'll show you after the break.
Intrepid reader Mike submits this shot for our perusal. If you travel along the river that runs between Ashenvale and Azshara, you will encounter this lonely boat (of Night Elf design, unless I miss my guess). What is it doing here and where might its owners have gone to? The sight of the little boat raises a number of questions that we may never find answers to! (Though am I the only one who looks at it and thinks Lord of the Rings?)
Do you have a screenshot that captures an Azerothian mystery? We'd like to puzzle over it here on Around Azeroth! All you have to do is e-mail aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com with a copy of your screenshot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could find your pictures and story featured next!
Reader Lurthaar sends in this shot taken of one of the many Furbolg camps in Ashenvale. Like all Furbolg camps, they're guarded by these creepy totems. I've tried to ask them what these figures represent, but surprisingly none of the Furbolg in the area are very chatty...
Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth.
And so, in my quest for a cross-racial mount, I took my level 36 Draenei priest to Ashenvale.Now, this is a zone I really don't enjoy playing in.The map discovery is very difficult, the terrain is tough to traverse, and everything is so spread out it takes forever to complete quests.I have not quested in this zone for about a year or more.All of my Night Elf alts I have leveled in human lands because I know the quests so well.But, like I said, I am on a personal quest to get my priest a palomino at 40, and so I trudged on into Ashenvale with a heavy heart.
In Astranaar I met up with Vindicator Palanaar (whose name seems an odd coincidence, don't you think?) who sent me on to Forest Song.Here is where I roll my eyes and groan, but travel out to Forest Song I did. What I was expecting to find was one random guy with two quests and a whole vacant ruin to himself.What I did find was something completely different.The Silverwing Sentinels are there, as is an ancient protector, not to mention a whole heap of Draenei.They even added a flight point. The area has been fixed.
So it's Father's Day, the time when we all pay homage to the fathers or father figures in our lives, and thank them for all that they do. While we can't say for sure if they celebrate Father's Day in Azeroth, too, there's a lot of people in Azeroth and Outland who have reason to think back on their dads today. Many dads of Azeroth have affected their children's lives or been affected by them. The ramifications of the interactions of these fathers and children have then in turn affected the lore and story of Warcraft in ways great and small. 
So I've been thinking a bit about questing lately as I traverse Outlands on my latest project, a level 61 Blood Elf 
Subscribe
