TIDES OF WARCRAFT
DEV DIARY 9: WAR OF THE THREE HAMMERS
Today I'll talk about the War of the Three Hammers bookmark, in particular its titular event chain. Keep in mind for screenshots that parts of the map are being reworked, which includes pretty much all of Khaz Modan. Further, all character names are placeholders.
The event chain starts when the then reigning Anvilmar ruler of Khaz Modan dies for any reason, be it of old age, poor health or even murder. Since he was considered a weak and ineffective ruler by his vassals, the three great clans of Bronzebeard, Wildhammer and Dark Iron would rather see one of their own number in the throne rather than another Anvilmar. Of course, each clan is also not very keen on letting the others take the throne, so a civil war is inevitable.
This particular civil war, however, is on a timer. Take too long, and an uneasy ceasefire will be established. But don't worry if it ended without you controlling Ironforge, you'll get the opportunity for a second go at it. It may be harder, though, because the third clan, assuming it is still active, may decide to either launch their own claim to Ironforge, or to rush to its defence.
During this bookmark, the Dark Iron queen Modgud holds the dread Blade of the Black Empire, Xal'atath. Should Grim Batol be sieged down by the Dark Irons, she, or any holder of the blade, can choose to turn the mighty mountainhome into a place of nightmare and living shadows.
Once the war is done, the ruler of the Wildhammer clan can choose to leave their cursed home behind and migrate north, to new lands. This will launch a war for the province of Aerie Peak and, on success, will cause you to migrate there, leaving your old holdings behind.
Finally, there is the canon outcome of the war (which you can, of course, avert). Faced with defeat, Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan sought to summon an elemental army from deep within the earth. What he did summon, however, was something far more terrible.
Of course, Khaz Modan is not the only playable region in the bookmark. The Seven Human Kingdoms are at the height of their power at this point, long before the ruin brought to them by the Horde, the Scourge and the Burning Legion. Meanwhile, in the far southern jungles of Stranglethorn, the jungle trolls are shattered into many tribes, feuding and raiding each other among the ruins of the Gurubashi Empire, destroyed in a civil war slightly over a thousand years before. To the north, the Amani still try to reclaim their old glory by raiding Quel'Thalas, though never again in the numbers seen during the Troll Wars. Finally, the grip of the Zandalari on their Goblin slaves on Kezan is weakening, and thus the agressively mercantilistic race may yet visit the shores of the Eastern Kingdoms.
And that's it for today. Again, there is no expected date for the next one, but we are very much hard at work.
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