MMO-Champion is reporting that Lord Jaraxxus is an Eredar.

Surely the Argent Crusade wouldn't be stupid enough to restrain an Eredar and use it in the Coliseum, but if that's the case why the hell does he appear as a boss in the raid instance? Could he be part of Mal'ganis' army?

As far as cold weather flying 2.0 in the expansion.. why flying even? What about an epic water riding/form (for druids) in the works assuming it really is a water based world.

We recently received mounts that do not dismount when entering water, even though I reflexively jump over every stream I come to. We have a new mount that has increased swim speed. I'd imagine, and this is just me hypothesizing, that the next expansion has a higher version of riding skill (master for normal water mounts, grand master for epic water mounts) that allows for faster water travel. Or even take it as far as not getting fatigue in certain deep water areas.

The fatigue-override situation would set up Master Riders Only! areas of the next expansion, much like the flying only zones of Outland and Northrend. All of this of course is the idea that flying mounts cannot be used in the expansion, for reasons such as huge storms in the ocean keeps the flying mounts for being able to be controllable.

EDIT: Just read the previously linked post about leaks from the next expansion and it had a lot of the same ideas I just hypothesized about. Doh. All the same, good for discussion purposes.

On Lord Jarthus: To be honest I'm losing my quite considerable faith in Blizzard doing anything other than throwing some bosses in for the fun of it. Maybe he will turn out to be a captured left over from the Sunwell or a Burning Legion exile. The only demon prescence in Icecrown is Mal'ganis at the Scarlet Harbour so maybe he is another Eredar disguised as a Scarlet (though so far it appears a Nathrezim ability, not an Eredar one) and one of MG's servants. If the Legion could strike at Icecrown when the Scourge and Horde/Ally three way is at its peak they may be able to accomplish an invasion but they have no way in at the moment other than the smaller demons. It also goes against the Maelstrom expansion as Azshara is an agent of the Old Gods, not the legion, and as far as we know they have different aims. I think it will turn out that it is just something the Ebon Blade captured in the aftermath of Onslaught Harbour. The problem with keeping an Eredar around is you face not just him alone, but the legions he commands.

If they add more water mounts I better be able to have a Dolphin mount called Sonar that can do flips out of the water.

Other signs of the Maelstrom expansion I found interesting was one of the new dailys in 3.2 involved slaying a Krakken from a ship I think, which could be setting up tech to fight Sea Monsters. I'm also excited by the idea of the Maelstrom Old God being more than just an immobile blob of flesh with teeth and eyes, but a more sea monster mobile giant squid/krakken thing.

I found the swimming mount change pretty mysterious. Was there ever any request or need for that ? Perhaps there was a request for it but if so I find that change utterly meaningless and coming out of a sudden. The current game simply poses no real need for that. Sure, there are a few quests on or most often below water, but they are so few and far between that I can hardly see any strong need for that change.

But it suddenly came in out of the left field and here we are. I look at it as a preparation for more things or tech to come for swimming/diving.

That was purely annoyance sake. It was really really really annoying to get dismounted when running through a puddle. Was probably in part aimed at levelling and specifically the new mount level changes.

Or did you mean the Sea Turtle mount?

No generally. Though I seem to recall there was something with the character model involved. Didn't Gnomes dismount earlier / faster than other races or something like that?

We don't like to talk about that, it was a very dark time for Gnomes.

I think we already have a good idea from the Arthas book of how Maelstorm would be handled.

I agree with this 100%. First in that Varian couldn't do anything to Thrall. In the latest issue of the comics (#20 I believe), you see Thrall take down a whole necropolis, and Varian couldn't do anything to it. Jaina also took out a necropolis herself, that'd be a hell of a fight (Jaina/Thrall).

The focus on a couple of leaders is frustrating. Tyrande is a huge deal and yet, she has done nothing in this game. I would've thought the whole killing Illidan thing would've brought her story out more but of course, nothing happened. Maybe we'll get her and most certainly Malfurion in a Night Elf intensive Emerald Dream/Maelstrom. Even Staghelm will have something to do. Not to mention Vol'jin with the Maelstrom.

I am of the opinion Blizzard has delayed developing certain leaders because there is already a plethora of information for them. Tyrande is actually well developed in the Warcraft Universe, so I see reason for Blizzard wanting to focus on other leaders during TBC and WotLK.

Of course, that really only works for Tyrande and Magni, but in reality no one loves/cares about [more] Trolls and Footb^h^h^h Gnomes.

But even in vanilla there was a lot of Elven love. Just look at the patched in instances for example, Maraudon (loosely, admittedly), Dire Maul, and Ahn'Qiraj have to do with the Night-Elves. We have books on War of the Ancients, and we've got the story for War of the Shifting Sands.

I agree there's no shortage of actual NE lore, I just want to see more of the leaders themselves, Tyrande in particular. Same goes for the trolls. We've seen millions of trolls, so much that a new troll zone is an every patch joke. However, Vol'jin himself hasn't really done anything at all.

Speaking of Magni, when is Moira having that little half-Dark Iron baby of hers? I don't know the gestation period for dwarves but it's been a good 3-4 years now.

Shape-changing is supposed to be academic for Eredar. There's no reason it couldn't be a Scarlet.

As to how anyone could be arrogant/stupid enough to think they can keep an Eredar imprisoned and use it in a gladiatorial tournament...yeah. They're as deceptive as Nethrazim, but way more powerful. The Argent Crusade absolutely would know better.

The only two explanations I can think of other than rank idiocy are (a) the Ebon Blade found it at Onslaught Harbor and beat it most of the way to death before imprisoning it in one of their nasty things or (b) it's been a member of the Argent Crusade (which would also be lame considering it is a retread of the Scarlets).

The voiceovers for the Colliseum have been added in today's build and Anub'arak is one of them as expected. The Eredar is summoned in by some gnome warlock who then gets killed by the Eredar. Garrosh then blames the alliance for summoning in a demon followed by Tirion saying the gnome acted on his own.

It looks like Thrall, Varian, Jaina and Garrosh all make appearances inside the raid and that things really fall apart between the 2 factions.

They added the voiceovers for the Battle of Undercity also and it was Sargeras that Varimathras was trying to summon in.

Very very interesting, can you post the entire conversation(s)?

And an Eredar is summoned in and Garrosh blames the Alliance? Nice, if not a little ridiculous.

That seems kind of inconsistent considering all the power it's taken to summon lesser beings than Sargeras into Azeroth. Was Varimathras really expecting to pull in Sargeras with so little time at his disposal?

Still, this does tell us that Sargeras is at least partially back in action, or ready to be.

There are a ton of conversations in here and I am not sure which ones to transcribe. I will make a /script list in a few that you can play on the PTR to hear them though. One interesting thing in here is that the Twin Val'kyr fight was meant to be one of the final battles. After that Tirion then tells the players they will need to best the Argent Champions to prove themselves but then Varian and Garrosh demand that their own warriors take the Argent Champions places which is then followed by a 'pvp battle'. After that Tirion speaks down upon both factions when Arthas makes a appearance. Tirion mentions how he is hopelessly outnumbered and that if he lays down Frostmourne he will grant him a swift death. I'd assume that is when Arthas makes the arena floor collapse. It does seem not all the voiceovers are in yet.

One funny thing also is that the Black Knight is a '3 phase fight' You first fight him normal and then he comes back as a skeleton remarking that the rotting flesh was getting in his way and he has no need for flesh. After that he comes back as a ghost saying he has no need for bones.

I am not sure what to fully make of the PvP fight also. It seems Varian attacks Horde players and that Garrosh attacks Alliance players but only Garrosh has a death sound file but it seems he doesn't die. Guess there are some sound files still missing or it's just one of those things we have to wait and see in game.

To add onto that, they changed the achievements for Trial of the Crusader

* Defeat the Beasts of Northrend
* Defeat Lord Jaraxxus
* Defeat the Faction Champions
* Defeat the Twin Val'kyr
* Complete the Trial of the Crusader


They also updated the Icehowl achievement (have two Snobolds alive). So I have no idea what's going on there. I'm also wondering about the Val'kyr part - if they were captured by the Argent Crusade, it would be a bit odd to fight them after we have a factional warfare.

Well, posters above were talking about speeches occuring when Arthas showing up after the PvP fight -- perhaps he does that and leaves behind those two Val'kyr to keep us from pursuing him?

It's looking alot more interesting. At first I thought it was just going to be abysmally boring... now, I know I get to beat the snot out of Garrosh. And that's a heck of a thing to look forward to.

I wasn't aware of the order before but most likely Arthas appears after the Twins if the order is like that.

Val'kyr Fight:

Tirion: "Only by working together will you overcome the final challenge. From the depths of Icecrown come 2 of the Scourges most powerful lieutenants, fearsome Val'kyr, winged harbingers of the Lich King.

Twins Aggro: (in unison) "In the name of our dark master, for the Lich King! You will die!"

Twins Death: (in unison) "The Scourge cannot be stopped!"

When they die:

Varian (Alliance): "Not even the Lich Kings most powerful minions can stand against the Alliance. All hail our victors!"

Garrosh (Horde): "Do you still question the might of the Horde paladin? We will take on all comers!"

Tirion: "A mighty blow has been dealt to he Lich King. You have proven yourselves as able bodied champions of the Argent Crusade, together we will strike against Icecrown Citadel and destroy what remains of the Scourge. There is no challenge that we cannot face united."

PvP Fight

Tirion: "The next battle will be against the Argent Crusades most powerful knights. Only by defeating them will you be deemed worthy"

Alliance Battle

Garrosh Alliance Intro: "The Horde demands justice. We challenge the Alliance. Allow us to battle in place of your knights paladin, we will show these dogs what it means to insult the Horde."

Varian Alliance Intro: "Fight for the glory of the Alliance heroes. Honor your king and your people."

Varian Alliance Wins: "Glory to the Alliance!"

Horde Battle:

Varian Horde Intro: "Our honor has been besmirched, they make wild claims and false accusations against us (I think Varians confused). I demand justice! Allow my champions to fight in place of your knights Tirion. We challenge the Horde."

Garrosh Horde Intro: "Show them no mercy Horde Champions. Lok'tar ogar!"

Garrosh Horde Wins: "That was just a taste of what the future brings. For the Horde!"

Tirion: "Very well, I will allow it. Fight with honor."

Tirion: "A shallow and tragic victory. We are weaker as a whole from the losses suffered today. Who but the Lich King can benefit from such foolishness, great warriors have lost their lives and for what? The true threat looms ahead, the Lich King awaits us all in death."

Anub'arak

Intro: Ahhhh our guests have arrived just as the master promised.

Aggro: This place will server as your tomb!

Submerge: (starts with Nerubian language) Rise minions! Devour!

30 percent: The swarm shall overtake you!

Death: I have failed you master...


5 Man stuff

The Black Knight

Intro: You spoiled my grand entrance rat. Did you honestly think an agent of the Lich King would be bested on the field of your pathetic little tournament. I've come to finish my task!

Aggro: This farce ends, here!

Skeleton: My rotting flesh was just getting in the way!

Ghost: I have no need for bones to best you!

Death: No! I must not fail.....again.

Eadric

Intro: Are you up to the challenge? I will not hold back!

Aggro: Prepare yourselves!

Hammer: Hammer of the righteous!

"Death": I yield! I submit! Excellent work... and run away now

Paltress

Intro: Thank you good herald your words are too kind. May the light give me strength to provide a worthy challenge.

Aggro: Well then, let us begin.

Memory: Even the darkest memory fades when confronted.
Memory 2: Take this time to consider your past deeds.

"Death": Excellent work.

Heh, and it was said that this patch would be filler without any lore...

I have a feeling there will be a lot of people with a lot of words to eat.

That said, we don't actually fight Varian/Garrosh, do we? We fight the "Champions of the Horde/Alliance" correct?

The Champions of the Horde/Alliance are most likely the "Grand Champion of _____" NPCs from the pavilions. I don't think you're fighting Varian/Garrosh just because they wouldn't be cheering themselves on.