Humans: Light Bless You

Hello all!

With the Warcraft movie coming out later this week, I wanted to take a look at the religions of some of the races in it.  The two most prominent are the humans and the orcs.  Because of this, I'll be talking about the human religion in WoW today and the orc religion next Monday.

The thing which the humans in World of Warcraft worship is known as the Light. I talked about it some in my post about the draenei, but the way humans interact with it is quite different from their space goat allies.

Knowledge of the Holy Light came later to the human culture in WoW, but when it did they embraced it wholeheartedly. It was introduced to them through a series of dreams, in which certain priests encountered geometrically shaped beings composed of pure light. These beings called themselves the naaru (the same beings whom the draenei worship). The naaru tutored the humans in the ways of the Holy Light, converting them to believers in the ancient universal force. With their belief came the ability to harness some of the Light's energy, allowing priests to heal others.

 

Unlike the draenei, the humans did not worship the naaru. They acknowledged that they were powerful beings who existed, but the humans devoted themselves solely to the Light.

The Light is interesting, because it isn't a being. It is not a divine entity that can be communicated with. It simply is. It dwells everywhere, in all things, and is an intrinsic part of the universe. Perhaps it would be best to think of the Light like the Force from Star Wars – not everyone believes in it, and not everyone can use it, but those who do and can are capable of performing extraordinary deeds.

Since the Light wasn't a god, per say, the humans created a religious movement which they thought was in keeping with the Light's ideals. Peace and altruism were emphasized, but so was justice. In roleplaying terms, their religious members were lawful good.

The main capital for the humans in Azeroth is called Stormwind. In the center of this majestic city lies the Cathedral of Light, their church.

While many believers of the Light became priests, there were also a fair number who became paladins. Paladins seek justice and retribution, and wield the Light to punish wrongdoers as well as heal the persecuted. In addition, servants of the Light are constantly at war with the enemies of the Light. In the beginning there was Light and Void, and the Void created servants every bit as much as the Light did. Those who devote themselves to the Light often find themselves pitted against the undead, who are creations of the Void.

A number of holy orders sprang up, filling their ranks with both paladins and priests – and their members were not just humans. Other races, including the dwarves and the blood elves, also believed in the Light and were able to tap into its power.

One of the first of these orders was known as the Knights of the Silver Hand. They drew their name from a famous being named Tyr who once walked Azeroth and defended it. Tyr lost his hand in a mighty battle, and it stood for a long time as a landmark in the land called Tirisfal Glades. Eventually, the humans found this hand. “The silver hand was a common symbol for the human tribes that inhabited the region. It appeared on clothing and pendants, worn to ward away evil spirits, protect warriors in battle, and cure disease. Many centuries later, it would come to represent a great order of paladins: Light-wielding warriors who placed self-sacrifice above all else.”

Unfortunately, some of those who worshiped the Light took their devotion into the boundaries of zealotry. One such organization was the Scarlet Crusade, who made their life's mission to destroy all undead.

There's an important distinction between two factions of undead in WoW: the Scourge, who are evil and seek to annihilate all living things; and the Forsaken, who were once members of the Scourge but broke away to seek their own path. The Forsaken are actually a playable race in World of Warcraft, and they are members of the Horde. In fact, some of the Forsaken have joined with other holy orders to try and stop the Scourge. A number of them worship the Light and seek to serve it.

The Scarlet Crusade cared not for this distinction. In its eyes, all undead were evil abominations to the Light. In their religious fervor they took things a step farther and decided to kill anyone who they thought might be undead, or infected and about to turn. They became racists and bigots, denying entry to any non-humans. The Alliance and the Horde alike turned against the Scarlet Crusade. Players are able to enter their various monasteries through quests and dungeons, attempting to destroy the order.

A far better order which arose was the Argent Dawn. The Argent Dawn made its mission to protect Azeroth from all threats from the forces of darkness. This includes the Scourge and the demonic army known as the Burning Legion. The Argent Dawn accepts all races, Alliance and Horde alike, including the Forsaken, into their ranks. Their sole mission is to use the Light to protect others.

These organizations changed when the Lich King arose – a mighty warrior who had formerly been a human prince named Arthas who served the Light. As the Lich King, Arthas controlled the Scourge. He sought to expand the undead's control and conquer the lands of Azeroth, beginning in the continent of Northrend. The threat was great enough to encourage the Argent Dawn and the Knights of the Silver Hand to band together. They formed a new organization composed of both orders, and dubbed it the Argent Crusade. The Argent Crusade took its greatest followers to Northrend to fight back against the Lich King.

However, that battle is a story for another time.

What do you guys think of the Light and the way the humans use it?

I'm super excited for the Warcraft movie, because they're showing Stormwind, including the Cathedral of Light.  It looks so pretty!

I'll see you all next week!

Draenei: The Naaru Have Not Forgotten Us

Hello all!

The draenei are one of my favorite races in World of Warcraft. There is an elegance to them, and a sense of perseverance throughout all of the hardships their species has faced. I really love their story, and several of my characters are draenei. Oft times they are referred to as “space goats”, an accurate moniker.

 

(For anyone who's interested: This is one of my draenei characters, Velmaara.)

 

You see, the draenei in WoW are not actually natives of the planet of Azeroth. They come from another world – and in order to understand their religion, I need to give a little bit of a history of the draenei first.

The draenei were originally known as the eredar, and they dwelt upon the planet Argus. They had a great civilization there, and they pursued both peace and knowledge. In time, a being named Sargeras came to the three eredar who led their people. He offered them additional power, and knowledge of planets beyond their own, if in return they would open a portal to bring him to their world.

Unfortunately, Sargeras was not what he seemed. In fact, he was the leader of the demonic force known as the Burning Legion. He sought galactic domination and the destruction of all living things. The eredar, not knowing this, put it to a vote whether they should accept his offer of aid. Two of them agreed. The third, the prophet named Velen, was unsure.

 

An ancient artifact gifted to the eredar had showed him a vision of great darkness and despair, making him question the motives of Sargeras. He was unable to convince the other council members...but through the grace of the naaru Velen was able to save some of his people.

The naaru were the same beings who had given the eredar the artifact which granted Velen his vision. They are some of the oldest beings in the universe. In the beginning there was only Light and Void. From the Light formed the naaru, “benevolent creatures composed of scintillating holy energies.” The naaru swore upon their creation that they would safeguard all living things in the universe, nurturing the races that they found and spreading hope through the holy power of the Light.

 

 

This task put them into conflict with the Burning Legion, whose sole goal was annihilation of all things.

Knowing what Sargeras had planned for the eredar, one of the naaru – a being named K'ure – contacted Velen. He offered to help Velen and any eredar he trusted escape Argus before its doom arrived. Velen agreed, and with the help of the naaru a number of eredar boarded a space ship and fled Argus. From then on Velen and his followers would call themselves the draenei, meaning the “exiled ones.”

The Burning Legion's leader, Sargeras, was infuriated by Velen's escape. He killed or corrupted all eredar who had remained on Argus, turning many of them into demons to flush out his army's ranks. The anger of Sargeras was limitless, and he would continue to track the draenei for thousands of years, determined to kill them for their betrayal.

The draenei explored many worlds before eventually settling down and attempting to make their home on a planet called Draenor. Through all this time the naaru continued to aid and teach the draenei, including educating them about the Holy Light. The Light is not a being, and so cannot really be referred to as a god. Rather, it is something that is everywhere and within everyone, a power of goodness and righteousness. The draenei worship both the Light and the naaru.

(The best real-world example I can give for this is found in Christianity. Imagine if Christians worshiped both God and the angels – it's as close as I can come to the idea of the Light and the naaru.)

Unfortunately for the draenei, Sargeras eventually found them and sent the Burning Legion to destroy them. A great battle ensued, and the draenei once again attempted to escape via space ship. This ship, the Exodar, crash landed on the planet of Azeroth...adding the draenei to the denizens of the World of Warcraft.

Interestingly enough, the naaru are not incorruptible beings. There are two examples within WoW that I know of where the naaru have, for lack of a better term, “gone dark side.”

The first is K'ara. When the draenei first fled to Draenor, something went terribly wrong with their ship. To protect the draenei, K'ara sacrificed herself. However, the naaru was not killed. Instead, she became infected with shadow. The ancient enemy of the Light is the Void, and the naaru found herself serving that very thing. The orcs who found her named her the Dark Star, and her powers were used in dark necromantic rituals. Eventually K'ara was found by the draenei. To purify her, Velen sacrificed himself. It was enough to cleanse K'ara of the Void and return her to the side of the Light.

The second darkened naaru is M'uru. He was captured by the blood elves, a race with whom the draenei have long been in conflict. The blood elves crave power above all else, and saw in M'uru a source of power. They imprisoned him and siphoned off his energy for their own uses, including summoning a great demon. M'uru gradually became a force of darkness. In the game it is possible to fight him – he's a boss in one of the raids in WoW. When M'uru is defeated a great shadow appears, and he transforms into a terrible demon.

(M'uru and his demonic evolution.)

I'll wrap this up with one last example of the naaru.

One of my favorite story lines in WoW showcases the tenderness and mercy of the naaru. There's a quest chain in a zone called Icecrown that revolves around Crusader Bridenbrad. Bridenbrad was a brave and noble fighter who contracted the plague, which gradually turns one into an undead monster. Not wanting to risk infecting anyone, he went into self-imposed exile far in the snowy wastes of Icecrown and waited to die. A commanding officer sends the player's character to try and find Bridenbrad.

When you find the Crusader and bring word back to the officer of his condition, you are sent on a quest to try and find a way to cure him of the plague. Such a good and noble man cannot be allowed to die. The player is sent first to the dragon Alexstrasza, the Aspect of Life in Azeroth. She attempts to cleanse Bridenbrad of the plague, but is unable to rid him of it entirely. Next you go to a being named Cenarius, a demigod who is revered by the druids. He too is unable to cure Bridenbrad of the plague.

At last you are sent to visit one of the naaru, a being named A'dal. When you go to him he says that he knows of Bridenbrad already. “The Light will take care of its own. I will extend my blessing to Bridenbrad and he shall not endure the corruption of undeath.”

Upon returning to the Crusader, A'dal and two other naaru appear above him. “Fear not, young one, for this crusader shall not taste death. In life, Bridenbrad was the bearer of great deeds. Now, in passing, he shall taste only paradise. The Light does not abandon its champions.”

As the naaru speaks, Bridenbrad's body rises into the air. He is taken by the naaru to a better place, and the plague is defeated.

I do the quest chain on every character I have. It never fails to bring me to tears. Even more touching is the fact that Crusader Bridenbrad is actually based on a real person – one who died from cancer.

The Light – and the naaru – take care of their own.

What did you guys think?