Kaskala in Borean Tundra has no Mist. They're coming out of the Mist to attack the Tuskar. You can see the Kvaldir at any distance. Riplash Strand on the other hand is fully within Mist. You can only see them on the Strand if you have entered the Mist itself.

So they can survive outside Mist. Their exact relationship to it (and it to them) is unknown. It's still a neat effect and vaguely creepy, in the same way as anything that could be present, yet unseen.

The same is true even in describing the initial forces we consider polar opposites. For example, even the Burning Legion is not wholly chaotic and destructive. They have an organizational hierarchy, they build devices and structures to further their goals, and they arguably are at the forefront of demonic magic research and development. Similarly, the Titans aren't purely creative either. Their "re-origination" of planets involves utterly destroying whatever existed before.

It's fun to think about forces so powerful and central to lore as pure, but in the end there are fuzzy edges to everything.

It almost sounds as if the Mist is some sort of warp-gate/portal for them. Either that or it's done to shroud their movement.

Apparently in 3.3 Varimathras will be getting a replacement in Undercity for anyone who has completed the Battle for Undercity quest chain.

World of Warcraft - English (NA) Forums -> Dear Lady Sylvanas

The signature "- B" screams out Balnazzar in my mind, despite the fact that there's absolutely no logical reason he would be accepted in Undercity after what Varimathras did. The only reason I can think of would be because going from one Dreadlord to another makes sense from the perspective of the people who designed the Sylvanas encounter in regards to Alliance vs. Sylvanas raids (which is not very compelling from any other perspective).

So, who is a logical replacement for Varimathras and has a name that starts with "B"?

Bonus points for being connected to the Bronze flight, but not required because that could easily just be a reference that the note comes from the future (3.3).

Nathanos Blightcaller, Champion of the Banshee Queen. It would be great to see him come out of the wilderness the way Rexxar did in Burning Crusade. If Sylvanas was to relocate to Icecrown for the events in 3.3, he could even serve as the hub for her quests as well.

It can't be Balnazzar, unless Sylvanas can find a way to actually enslave him. And even that wouldn't make much sense, since there's no reason for her to want another dreadlord by her side again.

Blightcaller would make sense, yes.

Blightcaller makes a lot of sense when you consider the coming addition of forsaken hunters.

I'm fine with it as long as he gets some better-looking gear. That T8 hunter gear with a green tinge should work wonders on him.

I wonder what Sylvannas' part in Cataclysm will be. We know (I believe it's been dev-confirmed) she's been ordered to attack Gilneas and we can assume Garrosh is the source of such command. But will she end up siding by him if/when the Horde get's all civil-warring?

And this leads us to another subject: how could Thrall not only put an inexperienced folk like Hellscream Jr. in command, how did he not replace him with Saurfang when his actions got all martial-lawy? It's common sense (yes, I may be speaking as if Thrall's a living being) that when you let something wrong sink for a long time, it turns into a normal thing, part of the routine, hence getting harder and harder to change.

Kind of strange seeing as Thrall is, all things considered, still a pragmatic guy.

Yes, perhaps. But wouldn't he sign his letter with "N" and not "B"? After all, the Blightcaller is just a nickname or added title. His name is Nathanos.

That kinda makes it unlikely, especially since Nathanos would probably be on a first name basis with Sylvanas. But it doesn't really matter who will be Sylvanas' new majordomo, does it? I doubt it'll be anyone we already know, and even much more so, I doubt it'll be anyone vital to a new major lore plot. Otherwise, the whole lieutenant of the Banshee Queen position becomes a running gag.

True, but in Warcraft, it's the nicknames and surnames that shine. "The Blightcaller" is certainly better than "Nathanos" in terms of causing fear and gaining respect.

You have to remember we know these characters on an almost intimate level. Most "NPCs" don't, so they'll refer to them in a more respectful manner.

Overlord Hellscream

Overlord Saurfang

Thrall (it is a nickname, as he knows his real one)

The Alliance is more adept at using the first and real names

King Varian/Wrynn

Lady Jaina/Proudmoore

High Priestess Tyrande

There are, of course, exceptions, but to the general populace, most characters of the Horde prefer to use their nicknames or surnames.

I'm not convinced it'll be Nathanos - despite it being a good guess and obvious choice. The follow-up post in that thread seemed to hint that guesses so far were off.

That makes zero sense. I killed your dad, want to come work for me? The tiny bit of lore on Baine suggest he is as moderate and level headed as his father anyway. More likely Magatha Grimtotem is in cohorts with Garosh.

Well, I'm not saying he'll be carrying Warsong flags around. But he'll have to obey if he doesn't want to end up like daddy. Plus, the little we've seen from Baine doesn't speak too highly of his courage, I'd say. Though he rescued him in Warcraft 3 as a youngling.

Wowwiki informs me that the Blood Elf who replaced Sylvannas as Ranger General is called Halduron Brightwing - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft

Blightcaller is still my first guess though, with Bolvar as the wild-card entry.

Ha, Bolvar? Why not Brann Bronzebeard!

Blightcaller would be a nice move, I think all Hordies remember those quests fondly. Kind of like the Forsaken's Saurfang, which makes even more sense if Saurfang is biting it in Icecrown.

As for Baine, one of the RPG books says that he successfully negotiated with the Dwarves digging in Mulgore and Barrens to have Tauren Shaman overseeing their operations to ensure that the damage to the nature around was minimised and the place returned to normal after the ores had been extracted. Doesn't sound like one of Hellscream's followers really.

It depends how they handle Cairne's death, assuming he does actually die. If its common knowledge it was an assasination I think Baine won't take over. If its disguised as an accident/Alliance donig that could galvanise him into supporting Hellscream. But given the nature of Magatha and the fact we know she wants Cairne assassinated and control fo the Grimtotem, I think she is more likely a candidate for orchestrating both the assassination and either taking over the leadership role or trying to control Baine in it.

Unless the Blue is screwing with us, and the B = Blizzard. I wouldn't be too terribly surprised.

Also, for some reason, Bolvar was my first thought. Though this would mean that the 'replacement' would not show up until *After* the Icecrown events, (assuming that is where we find him and then kill/retrieve him). Hell. It could be Baron Rivendare. (Would be nice to see him in what, the 4th place in game?)

I've got bets with a couple people that Bolvar comes out of 3.3 as a Forsaken because of Alexstrasza's text at Wrath Gate and what his being Forsaken would mean for the "war" between the factions, but I don't think he's the one lined-up to be at Sylvanas side.

Bolvar as a high ranking Forsaken should, in theory lessen the tensions between the factions. It wouldn't do much for Hellscream's fits of rage, but it should at least ease Varian's mind. Still, I thought there were legitimate reasons why Forsaken couldn't be revived from paladins.

Whoa, let's not get too far on this Varian = Garrosh thing. First of all, that's not really how Varian works, assassination plots and all. He's as racist as Garrosh, but much more ponderate. He's a king and he knows how that carries some responsibilities. He likes battle. But he also likes his people (although sending his champions to die at the Argent Tournament is dubious, as is the whole thing) and fulfills his leading duties.

Plus, even if he went berserk, why target Cairne first? His main quarrel is against the orcs - we can assume trolls and undeads are 2nd - but the tauren are, he should know it, less warlike than the other races. Killing Cairne, even more than killing Garrosh itself, would take even the more moderate elements of the Horde to new heights of hostility. Even Thrall would go berserk! Not that Varian cares about who hates him, but as any general knows, if your enemy is divided among itself, you don't give them a reason to unite against you. You capitalize on that division and act "normaly". Any strike needs to be surgical or seem "routine", like some skirmish in neutral territory.

What I can see happening (though it's improbable) is Cairne being assassinated by order of someone inside the Horde and the act made to look like it was the SI:7 or some Night Elf assassin. It would unite the Horde against the Alliance and eliminate an obstacle. Still...it isn't Garrosh's way of acting, either.

The Garrosh we know would fight Cairne mano to mano and make it seem like some honor dispute or something cerimonial. Sure, Thrall and Saurfang would want to tear Hellscream's head from his shoulders, but he'd argue he'd done everything openly, that no one had interfered, hence people accepted Cairne's defiance to be punishable. So if the Horde population doesn't act, why would you (Thrall and Saurfang) risk incurring their wrath?

On the subject of Cairne's successor. It has to be Baine, no matter who kills the old bull. Magatha's nomination as leader of the Tauren would make the whole thing look like a political coup. Baine, on the other hand, is perfect. No matter how angry he is at his father's death, he doesn't have the authority (even among the Tauren) nor the experience to oppose Garrosh. And if the son of Cairne obeys...who are the Tauren to argue? In fact, if they end up seeing Baine as weak, so much for the better, it may be they who in the end choose Magatha to lead them.

These are really plausible political actions, but the problem is, I don't see long term plans (such as setting up Baine to look like a fool) being implemented in the game. We're already aware that we have no idea what the reaction of the Alliance and Horde commoners is towards the events unfolding in the world. We can assume that most of the Horde living in Orgrimmar, away from the war, likes Garrosh better than Thrall, or that the Alliance citizens of Stormwind would support Varian's quest for revenge... ahem... war effort rather than live in relative peace. But that's just it. Assumptions. Just like we assumed that Blood Elves were all debauched maniacs based on the fact that they still maintained contact with Kael'thas, back when they launched the Burning Crusade. We base our speculations around them, but if Blizzard wanted to develop the plot based around, say, a civil revolt against Varian (or better still, Magni, or Velen, or whoever), we would have no way of knowing it, because the game just isn't built in a way that could convey the actual political climate accurately.

No one says Varian knows what the SI:7 are up to though. Or hell, it doesn't even need to be Varian or humans. Although, assassinations don't seem like something any Night-Elf, Dwarf or Draenei would condone, and Gnomes seem to inept and incompetent to pull it off. I'd say it does sound like something Genn Greymane would do, but picking a fight with the Taurens while he's being pressed by the Forsaken is just loopy.

But as I said earlier in the thread, it's also plausible agents of the Black Dragonflight could do it.

This is a far off hail mary, but, I wouldn't be at all surprised if agents from Kul Tiras were involved. Their marines were attacking Orcs, maybe they redirected and attacked the Taurens. Certainly the Alliance would be blamed for Kul Tiras' actions.