c0rzilla's Short and Basic Guide to Worgen

[c0rzilla]

c0rzilla's Short and Basic Guide to Worgen

I present a rather short guide to worgen! This is just a basic rundown, not too in depth. Someone else is welcome to elaborate for about fifty pages. Pretty much all the information here is gotten from WoWPedia, just condensed.

Enjoy! Hope it's of some use.

History
The history of the worgen begins right around the War of the Ancients.

Once upon a time, there was a certain type of totemic druid called the Druids of Pack (or Scythe). They revered the fierce Wolf ancient Goldrinn, known as Lo'gosh in Taura'he. This Ancient was respected as any other, but also feared. His revelry in violence and the hunt was well known, though he still possessed a noble spirit; he died defending Eldre'thalas. From this reverence of the Ancient, they attained the form of the wolf--or something close.

I must continue our discussion, shan'do...I truly do believe if we honed the pack form, experimented more, we could control it. I urge you to reconsider.
...Also, what am I doing with face markings? Those're for girls.

The first worgen was a night elf named Ralaar Fangfire, later known as Alpha Prime. Despite his insistence that the Pack Form could be mastered, it never quite worked. Eventually, he and his pack submitted themselves to the supposed tranquilty the Scythe of Elune would offer; a weapon constructed from a fang of Goldrinn, and a relic called the staff of Elune. Built by Ralaar Fangfire himself, and a priestess named Belysra. It didn't work--in fact it incurred quite the opposite, a shift into the worgen we know today. They tore through friend and foe alike during a battle with the satyrs, transferring the curse to their night elf victims. It was after this that Malfurion Stormrage banished them to the Emerald Dream. Sending them to sleep under a tree named Daral'nir--in the waking world, Tal'doren.

So, how'd that experimentation go?

Sometime later, Alpha Prime escaped through whatever shenanigans Arugal incurred during his research of the worgen. Once out and aware of the world, he recruited Arugal--a mage of Genn Greymane's that had been ordered to find a way to combat the Scourge. Through this alliance, Alpha Prime was able to start his wolf cult in Gilneas, and spread the curse again. The people unknowing of this corruption dubbed the Cult's initiation rites the work of a serial killer, the acts named the Starlight Slasher murders. Alpha Prime would later infiltrate Gilneas city by way of using tunnels underneath the wall in order to seek out the Scythe of Elune. This search for the Scythe had also extended to Duskwood--you can blame it for the wood's corruption.

Eventually, he would be banished yet again by Belysra herself. Though, his curse remained.

Factions
Greymane/Gilnean - These are the worgen of Gilneas city, those cursed behind the wall, and the basic playable worgen.

Bloodfang - Lead by Ivar Bloodfang, these are a group of feral worgen that lead the charge against Gilneas city during Alpha Prime's assault. They became independant following Alpha Prime's defeat. After witnessing the Forsaken's use of their kind, they allied with the Gilneas Liberation Front. They have established themselves in Hillsbrad, offering the curse to those not wishing to be raised by the Forsaken. The ones who took the offer are known as Hillsbrad Worgen.

Talonbranch Glade - A night elf outpost in Felwood, a number of the worgen NPCs there could be original Druids of the Pack, according to Denmother Ulrica.

Blackhowl - A group of Gilnean worgen lead by a black dragon in disguise, with the name Lord Hiram Creed. Though definitely repelling Forsaken, being a black dragon, his associations with the Alliance are likely temporary.

Arugal Cult - These are your death knights. Worgen enslaved by Arugal, then taken over by the Lich King when he decided Arugal would make a fine servant.

Pyrewood - Trapped outside the wall, these folk were cursed by Arugal to shift to worgen at night. The village was eventually destroyed by Forsaken, and Arugal slain by adventurers. The Gilneas Liberation Front routed the Forsaken in time, but not before they torched the village.

Feral or Sane? Neither?
I've seen many degrees of sanity and/or ferality on CotH, so I figured this should be mentioned.

There are two "cures" for Worgenhood, though neither are complete:

• The alchemical concoction brewed by Royal Chemist Krennan Aranas. This only grants temporary sanity in worgen form (we don't know how long it lasts, but it isn't permanent), not allowing a transformation back to a human form.
  
• Partaking in a ritual by eating a Moonleaf, and drinking the waters of Tal'doren, the waking world counterpart to the Emerald Dream tree the original Druids of the Pack were sealed under. This ritual grants a balance between rage and guilt, allowing a worgen to attain human form. Not all participated in this ritual.

It is popular thought that the longer a character has been a worgen, the stronger their feral instincts are. Be that is it may, the instincts are only a desire. Your character might really, really want to go run off and hunt, but they still possess the rational intellect to figure out that might not be a good idea in Stormwind City. Also, some NPCs shift to worgen form at night. There is little lore to support this, so my thoughts are the desire to shift is stronger due to seeing the moon (Elune) and wolves being nocturnal creatures.

Neither of these cures work on worgen death knights, since they're dead. Their sanity (a relative term) was given to them by the Lich King. They also cannot shift to a human form.

...Turns out, due to a team decision, worgen death knights can change form! How that balance is attained for such a tortured character is up to the player.

Associated Tropes
Cursed With Awesome

Hulking Out

Fully Embraced Fiend

I Just Want To Be Normal

Involuntary Shapeshifter

The Mind is a Plaything of the Body

Monster Progenitor

My Instincts Are Showing

Resist the Beast

Stages of Monster Grief

VanHelsing Hate Crimes

Voluntary Shapeshifting

Was Once a Man

Dos and Don'ts
Note, these are my recommendations. I cannot tell anyone how to RP, or what to do, but it is my belief these will help RP.

DO read your lore and history.

DON'T pick out one favorite bit, and stick with it, ignoring other factors.

DO research how wolves act in a pack, and their behavior in general.

DON'T play your character like it is a wolf, or a lapdog. They had two cures shoved at them, and they are the latest in a line of proud peoples from various backgrounds.

Timeline
10,000 (10,030 years ago) - War of the Ancients
-Goldrinn, the wolf Ancient, fights and dies/vanishes.
10,000-9,000ish - War of the Satyr
-The first Worgen come into being, with the Druids of the Pack unintentionally forced into the violent form via the Scythe of Elune, an instrument intended to calm them. Malfurion seals them under Tal'doren/Daral'nir
6 (24 years ago) - Second War. 
-Greymane Wall is built not long after, separating Gilneas from the rest of the world in response to the internment camps being constructed, and Genn not wishing to sacrifice more Gilnean lives to wars not his nation's.
21 (9 years ago) - Frozen Throne.
-Arthas becomes Lich King.
-The Scythe of Elune comes to Southern Elwynn Forest. After becoming overrun by Worgen and other demonic threats the region becomes known as Duskwood, with the town of Grand Hamlet becoming Darkshire.
-With the threat of the Scourge present, Genn orders Arugal to find a solution. Arugal finds the Worgen, and Ralaar recruits Arugal.
-The Northgate Rebellion sets off the Gilnean Civil War.
25 (5 years ago) - World of Warcraft begins.
-The Scourge begin training Death Knights in Acherus for an assault on the Scarlet Enclave.
-Sometime between here and WotLK, adventurers kill Arugal, Arthas' san'layn raise him as a ghost, and take his worgen as his own servants. Some become Death Knights.
27 (3 years ago) - Wrath of the Lich King.
-3rd Generation (playable) Death Knights lead to the fall of the Scarlet Enclave, and are later freed of the Lich King's influence at Light's Hope Chapel.
-The Argent Dawn and the Knights of the Silver Hand merge to form the Argent Crusade, and with the Ebon Blade, overcome the Lich King.
30 - The Shattering. Cataclysm begins. CoTH Present Day.
-Gilneas city is wrecked under the combined attacks of Alpha Prime and the Forsaken, though the Civil War is ended.
-Krennan Arannas concocts the alchemical solution to restore sanity to feral worgen.
-The Night Elves arrive to aid the worgen in overcoming their curse, teaching them how to shift between human and worgen form.
-The Gilneas Liberation Front remains in the city, defending.

[Scar]

That moment when you read all the tropes in addition with the rest and then you wonder why you did it.

No, but with more honesty now. It's a good guide, although the trope of Monster Progenitor does not seem to fit at all, the rest is 'lright, gonna double check it just to be sure, well done.

[Ural]

This doesn't apply to non-worgen Gilneans. I suppose I should of read the title.. Guide to Worgen. Though I really appreciate the different factions section. Those were quite confusing while sifting through the history-lore.

[Edgar]

Nice and simple.

Good read.

[McKnighter]

B-B-But I want my worgen to be cute and adorable. :c What is this savage feral curse you speak of?

:P

[c0rzilla]

although the trope of Monster Progenitor does not seem to fit at all,

Ralaar Fangfire. ;p

I added a couple things--a note about Pyrewood, and worgen turning furry at night.

[Scar]

although the trope of Monster Progenitor does not seem to fit at all,

Ralaar Fangfire. ;p

Oh, right, my bad. But I really do believe you should mention that I honestly doubt a player can use this style for his worgen. It's more of an NPC-Lore-character thing.

[Anski]

I myself think it would be a nice addition to see a timeline, so that worgen age can be a little less muddy to figure out. Sort of like how an Orc's age can determine whether they were born in an internment camp (assuming they aren't a part of the free orc clans such as the Frostwolves), or before it all started, or free. It's the hardest part, in my opinion, of determining a worgen's past life.

[c0rzilla]

Updated with a timeline! Hope it's correct. Pulled dates off the general timeline on the Wiki.

[Vladdy]

I had considered remaking Paulton as a Worgen. Soon as the torrent loads and it's extracted I do believe I'll work on it. (Of course, I suppose that means I'll have to start over on my original profile of him.) Either way c0r, I find it intriguing to find out more about the curse. Thanks for posting the guide! (I won't lie and say that I knew all about it before, either.)

Enough rambling!



Hope to see you in-game soon!

[Anski]

Sorry I'm behind, but now that this has a timeline it's everything I ever wanted it to be. +1

[c0rzilla]

Could I get this moved to the Guides, please?

[Krilari]

Moved as requested.

[c0rzilla]

Edited the note about death knights, and fixed the pictures.

[Notaris]

This was extremely helpful working out the finer touches to my Worgen character! Thank you very much!