Forum:Hooded Figures

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I consider myself a lore buff, but in all the time I've played WoW something's always bothered me- the hooded figures scattered throughout Azeroth and Outland. At the Dark Portal, Western Nagrand, the Altar of Storms in the Burning Steppes...They seem to be part of a dark ritual and in one way tied to either the legion or the order/guardians of Tirisfal. If anyone knows, I'm more than curious. --Oakpack4 (talk) 00:53, June 16, 2010 (UTC)

I have wondered about this since I first saw them (actually I didn't, because I oddly assumed that they were Ner'zhul). Rise of the Horde says Medivh showed Gul'dan a vision of them like that from the beginning. Medivh was the only robed figure involved here, but he uses Atiesh, not a sword. Discounting Rise of the Horde, Teron Gorefiend, another Horde being with a similar body-shape, still does not use a sword like that. I do not know.--SWM2448 01:15, June 16, 2010 (UTC)

The body structure does seem to suggest it's not an Orc, but it could be Gorefiend as the Altar of Storms is where the Old Horde's Death Knights came to be. The Last Guardian also discusses a similar appearance for Medivh, Medivh's eye color also being significant to the vision, although I can't seem to find my copy of it and I can't remember his eye color off the top of my head. I'm also colorblind, but aren't most of the statues with glowing green eyes? Oakpack4 (talk) 01:18, June 16, 2010 (UTC)

I'm not sure if the Altar of Storms is where the death knight were made, unless it was mentioned in the Tides of Darkness book. I'll have to check on Medivh's eyes, but the statues' eye color varies.--SWM2448 02:25, June 16, 2010 (UTC)

And whether it was or not, the statues at the Dark Portal predate the creation of the Altar of Storms by an entire war and several years. They're not representative of Teron Gorefiend. -- Dark T Zeratul (talk) 03:32, June 16, 2010 (UTC)

Can't I pretend that Ner'zhul retooled the portals when he rebuilt them? --SWM2448 03:36, June 16, 2010 (UTC)

LOL I remember when the dark portal was just some large rocks resting against each other, not this ellaborate design... anyways, I'd be inclined to think that they are related to the Dark Riders which god only knows needs more lore, hopefully with the coming of the Worgen...  Max Krist (talk contribs) 03:01, June 17, 2010 (UTC)

7 colons now? I hate to put it so bluntly, but bump. Worth mentioning Original DKs used human bodies and warlock spirits, so body structure would be like humans, yet it seems they wouldn't place importance on the physical aspect of their new bodies except for the pride of accomplishment which I don't think would apply to these things.Oakpack4 (talk) 01:06, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

Unindent then. The death knights came about long after the portal was built, making that unlikely in the current lore.--SWM2448 01:23, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

Actually, Sandwichman, if you look at Laughing Skull clan it mentions that, when Ner'zhul was rebuilding the Portal, he "required the knowledge of a specific order of death knights who knew how to rebuild the original Dark Portal." So, when they rebuilt the Portal, the Death Knights could have either designed it to look like them, or the Horde could have designed it to look like them to scare off the Alliance.--Signoftheend (talk) 00:31, June 27, 2010 (UTC)

While that's true of the AZEROTH side of the portal, which was destroyed at the end of the Second War, the Draenor side is still the original structure. All we know about the figures adorning it is that Gul'dan (I believe) saw it in a vision from Medivh and hd the portal built according to what he saw. -- Dark T Zeratul (talk) 01:05, June 27, 2010 (UTC)

Can anyone explain to me where in the in-universe timeline the cover of The Last Guardian fits in?--SWM2448 03:53, June 27, 2010 (UTC)

Beyond the Dark Portal, maybe? Orcs pouring out of the rebuilt portal structure... -- Dark T Zeratul (talk) 05:28, June 27, 2010 (UTC)

The Last Guardian was about the First War, correct? Then why would they depict the portal like it was in the Beyond the Dark Portal era?--SWM2448 05:51, June 27, 2010 (UTC)

Basically, what it boils down to is that the cover artwork was taken from a pre-existing piece of art rather than being made specially for the book, probably because a picture of a bunch of orcs emerging from the Dark Portal was "close enough." -- Dark T Zeratul (talk) 08:54, June 27, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, the Last Guardian was about Khadgar's arrival at Karazhan (During the earlier skirmishes that, depending on your source of lore, preceded or were at the beginning of the war), through the slaying of Medivh (which in turn knocked Gul'dan unconscious, allowing Doomhammer to kill Blackhand, and push the attack against Stormwind). Anyone happen ot have anything concrete, or are we coming to the conclusion that Medivh is in fact being depicted at several Orcish ritual sites? Other than the Altar of Storms (Burning Steppes), the Dark Portal, and that encampment of Fel Orcs in far west Nagrand, are there any other places these statues are at that might give us some clues? Are there and in Blade's Edge or Shadowmoon? If so, where, and what significance did those places hold? It seems sort of strange Orcs would go all the way out to Blade's Edge to make statues of Medivh...and what rituals would even require that? Oakpack4 (talk) 23:45, July 9, 2010 (UTC)

I see no reason to assume the statues are depictions of Medivh. That being said, those locations are where other portals were opened before the destruction of Draenor. -- Dark T Zeratul (talk) 23:06, July 9, 2010 (UTC)

Acknowledged, but it would seem out of the blue to have a ritual in those mountains Oakpack4 (talk) 23:45, July 9, 2010 (UTC)

I remember you... in the mountains. Sssssssssssssssssssssssss For Pony! (^Sssss/_Slithered) 23:48, July 9, 2010 (UTC)