Know Your Lore: Warrior Artifact lore in Legion

There was a lot of lore revealed via the Artifact descriptions on the official site, and as we go into Legion we’re apparently not just going to learn about the Burning Legion and the Broken Isles but about the past and the history of many different parts of the world of Azeroth. This week I’ll be covering some of that lore, looking at the Artifacts of a specific class. This is all based on the Legion Artifact previews, and may be subject to change as we get closer to game release.

Warrior Artifacts

Yes, I’m sure we’re all amazed I went here first.

Stromkar, the Warbreaker

From the official site:

This greatsword was borne into combat by the barbarian warlord who first united humanity under a single banner, founding the nation of Arathor. A master tactician and strategist, King Thoradin went on to play a critical role in ending the Troll Wars. Later the sword was lost while it was being used to subdue a C’Thraxxi monstrosity in a forgotten tomb beneath Tirisfal. Abandoned and all but forgotten, Stromkar has been slowly drinking from the shadowy power there over thousands of years.

So okay, first off, what’s a C’Thraxxi monstrosity? What was it doing in a forgotten tomb beneath Tirisfal? What was Thoradin doing in that same tomb? As we’ll see with later Artifacts we’ll discuss, Tirisfal is now confirmed to be the resting place of Watcher Tyr, so what (if anything) does this mean in terms of Stromkar and its last adventure? Also, Thoradin, dude, you dropped your sword? Or is it possible that Thoradin himself died there? We know little of Thoradin’s life, ultimately — he unified the Human tribes against the Arathi, joined forces with the High Elves during the Troll Wars and gained their promise of aid that ultimately led them to enter the Second War as part of the Alliance, and eventually created Arathor, the first united nation of Humans. Tirisfal would have been in his kingdom, and so it’s possible he and Stromkar were in that tomb at the end of his life, one last battle to protect his people. Perhaps the quest to attain the Artifact will reveal this lost part of Human history for us.

The rise of the kingdom of Arathor dates back to the earliest period of Human history, more than 2800 years before modern World of Warcraft, and it’s not a period we know a lot about.

Warswords of Valajar

From the official site:

In ages past, the titanic watcher Keeper Odyn betrayed the sorceress Helya, killing her and twisted her spirit into a spectral Val’kyr. He forged this pair of swords for the mightiest of his storm-forged Valarjar, but Helya stole the swords and infused them with a portion of her rage. She then gave them to her own champion, who used them to hunt the greatest of heroes and drag their souls away to serve in Helheim. These swords stir their owner into unrelenting and punishing attacks that overcome a target’s defenses and leave no opening for counterattacks.

Well now, first up, we now know there was a titan watcher named Odyn, and he wasn’t up in Ulduar where you might expect him to be. Was Loken the first Prime Designate? We’ll again hear more about Odyn and Helya when we talk about other Artifacts (and they pop up in Stormheim and Helheim, respectively, as part of the Vrykul story in Legion) so what interests me here is that we here have Artifacts that are a key part of a struggle for power between an ancient titanic watcher and a sorceress (potentially also a titanic watcher, or a powerful Vrykul) named Helya, as well as potentially the origins of the Val’kyr entire. Was Helya the first Val’kyr? Why would Odyn do this to her, and how did he lose control of her once he did? How do we get our hands on these swords?

Scale of the Earth-Warder

From the official site:

An impenetrable shield crafted from a scale of the black Dragon Aspect, Neltharion the Earth-Warder, before the Old Gods’ corruption overcame him. The formidable vrykul king Magnar Icebreaker carried this shield into combat and won victory after victory in the face of grim odds. When he finally fell in battle, it was due to treachery by servants of the Val’kyr Helya. The shield is now entombed with King Magnar’s body in the Path of Kings in Stormheim.

So here we are again with Helya and the Val’kyr. It’s interesting to see that the Val’kyr seem to be opposed to Odyn and the Vrykul who serve him, most likely rooted in that Odyn/Helya conflict we saw above. This one’s pretty straightforward — one of Neltharion’s scales, so likely dating back at least 11,000 years if not more. Since Neltharion’s old lair is on the Broken Isles it’s not surprising that this Artifact is here, but I do wonder how the Vrykul got their hands on it. Perhaps the Aspects once worked much more closely with the Titanic Watchers than we’ve seen? We know Watcher Tyr was the one to empower them, so perhaps before Loken’s corruption they worked closely together.

Also, this touches upon other Artifacts we’ll look at later, such as the Paladin ones, but one thing is clear — some time in the distant past, Tyr made his way what today is known as the Eastern Kingdoms. Did he do this before or after the Sundering? We know the origin of the first Human nation is some 2800 years ago, but how long ago was Tyr’s journey? How long were humans a group of tribes warring among each other?

Just in case you missed them, don’t forget to check out our coverage of the other Artifact weapons we’ll be seeing in Legion:

• Death Knight
• Demon Hunter
• Druid
• Hunter
• Mage
• Monk
• Paladin
• Priest
• Rogue
• Shaman
• Warlock