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Naoki, the Slime, and the Legend of AshbringerFollow

#1 Apr 14 2006 at 1:12 AM Rating: Good
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I just stumbled across a story so huge, I can't believe I hadn't known it up until this point. Get ready for some Warcraft lore, and the history behind what is quite possibly the next legendary item in the game, come 1.11 ^_^

My background:

For reasons I choose to keep secret... oh hell, I'll come right out and say it. Next patch, 1.11, prices on Living Essence are going to skyrocket. New recipes for plate and cloth Nature Resistance gear are coming out, and the AQ popularity will demand a response... end result being we're going to see Living Essence pull an Arcanite change, and skyrocket. Buy low now, people!

Any way, for these reasons, I decided to try out a new place to find these essences. Using allakhazam, I noticed the highest drop rate off normal enemies is in the Weeping Caverns (Caves?) in the Western Plaguelands. I had never been there, and was quite interested. The entire cave system is invested with slimes and elementals. That's all good and well; the slimes come in two flavors: red (easy, they die fast) and purplish (harder; then they die, they spawn 3-5 level 40 oozlings. They pack a bunch for level 40s!). In one cavern in the caves, I noticed som purplish ones surrounding a red one. I dispatched my would-be dispatchers (what is that a reference from? Name it for a rate up!), and went to take on an "easy" red slime.

And was hit with arcane bolts o_O. The jerk got close to me and arcane explosioned me! Hey! Bad slime! I killed it and got nothing, but noted the experience to my guild.

"Ah, blame it on good ol' Timolain." Said Isura, my guildmate.

Now, I consist myself knowledgeable in WoW lore, but for the life of me, I have NO idea who Timolain is. Isura told me to get to a safe spot, it was story time. For the most part, the tale of Timolain can be found in this quote (from the "Remains of Timolain" entry here):

Quote:
For some time now I have casualy been investigating one of the most interesting mysteries in Azeroth.

It all started when I was exploring a cave in the Western Plague lands long ago and I recived a bizzare item from one of the many silmes there: [Timolain's Phylactery] (http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=15886).
phylactery: a scroll or roll (made of parchment), usually shown unfurled, sometimes containing lettering, signifying the Word of God.

Now this interested me because no one I asked had the slightest clue what this was. The single piece of information I mannaged to gather was that Timolain was an Archmage of some power.

Armed with this information I set out to discover more about Timolain. Considering that I had found the Phylactery in the Plaguelands, that was the place to start looking. A quick stop at the Bulwark for suplies yielded instant results! It seems that there is a Tauren there who has something interesting to say...
He talks about an Archmage who worked for the Scarlet Crusade by crafting them magical bows and guns of power. However before any of them were put into service he crated a special weapon of incrdible power for the Scarlet Highlord. Without warning he was killed by the crusade, and nothing more is known of him.
Now this REALY peaked my intrest as I had also been following the story of Ashbringer.

Timolain > Crafted a powerful weapon for the Scarlet Highlord
Ashbringer > Sword of the Scarlet Highlord

It seemed that my own investigation was tied to the tale of Ashbringer...

That had me excited and I made haste to the Scarlet Crudade's stronghold in the Western Plaguelands, Hearthglen, to look for more clues. After much searching the only thing I discovered was a small shack behind the barracks with an alchemy lab and a forge. Knowing that Timolain was an Archmage and a weapon crafter, It seemed logical that this was his home. Unfortunatly there was nothing there that could help me figure out what happened to him.

Out of ideas I returned to where it all started, the cave full of slime to look for anything I may have missed. Imidiatly unpon ariving I noticed something that had been overlooked on my last visit. At the entrance to the cave there was an old overturned mining cart and some tools and skelatons. The tools and cart reminded me of the same ones that I had seen at the mine in Hearhthglen. It would seem that the Crusade had buisness here, dumping Timolain's remains I assumed, yet they had been killed while doing so.

After sharing this new information with my friends, one of them mentioned that he had been in the cave before and noticed that the very same slime I recived the Phylactery from was for some strange reason, a caster. This was bizzare as slime are not known for thier magical skills. It was very aperent that Timolain was brought to this cave, and likely fed to the slime to hide his remains. However the slime that absorbed him took more than just his body.

Now it seemed that I had solved the mystery of Timolain's death... however the mystery of what had happened to the weapons he created was still unsolved. Rumaging around the cave some more I remembered a passage from a book I had read, talking about Ashbringer and fishing.
Now this cave is right next to a river, so I left the cave and went down to the river beside it. I found nothing there. Seeing as how this had all happened a while ago, I thought it might be plausable that anything in the river had been washed down stream by the current. Following the river south I found exactly what I wanted to find: the smashed remains of a wagon and crates agianst a bridge. Could it be that this wagon was carrying the weapons Timolain had created, intending to dump them in the cave with him?

I have spent many days fishing at that river now, hoping to reel in some clue. But my resolve is fading with no results, so I bring this story to you. Perhaps another can carry on where I left off and uncover these weapons, or even the Ashbringer it's self!

[ post edited by Gorath ]


Wowwiki.com has this to say about the Archmage:
Quote:
Archmage Timolain
A powerful enchanter in the service of the Scarlet Crusade, Archmage Timolain is said to have crafted many weapons and spells for use against the creatures of the Scourge. He is believed to have been the creator of the Crusader enchantment, as well as having crafted the Ashbringer for the Highlord of the Scarlet Crusade.

Rumors say that after creating the Ashbringer, Timolain was executed by the Scarlet Crusade for some unknown reason. However, the discovery of a phylactery attributed to Timolain raises the possibility that he may have fallen to the lure of undeath and become a lich - which would explain his death at the hands of the Scarlet Crusade.


If Timolain could create the Crusader enchant, you KNOW we want whatever his most powerful item is!

However, the tale of Timolain, and Ashbringer, continues! In the book, Nat Pagle's Guide to Extreme Anglin', we get but a taste of Ashbringer's current location. More information can be found on other NPCs...

Prince Tortheldrin seems to be a likely place to start. While the prince says nothing, his subjects in Dire Maul's Library speak of his knowledge of Ashbringer, and his hatred of Nefarian. Oh, if someone could only destroy him and his servants, the tale might loosen the Prince's tongue!

Thus, according toAshbringer.com, multiple attempts have been made to do this! These include comign with Nefarian's head, and achieving various reputation ranks. Isura informed me that one individual actually reached Revered reputation... and STILL the Prince said nothing. To give you an idea of this insanity, the only way to get rep is to turn in your quest book... again... and again... and again. The Prince does not talk.

But others know of Ashbringer! Narain Soothfancy says "Don't tell me! Shhh! You are here about the Ashbringer?!? Yes...Yes...No! My bad. What can I help you with, <race>? ". Not much to go on.


Conclusion: What of the Ashbringer now? The most popular theory is that it somehow handed up in the hands of Kel'Thuzad, the leader of the Naxxramus above Stratholme. Why? Because hopefully it will come out soon, dammit! Other reasons include the proximity to the plaguelands, the fact that the Scarlet Crusade is controlled by Balnazzar in disguise (this has never been fully explained), and that I have no other way to end this presentation. Time will tell!

Last comments... the item from the Large Vile Slime is no longer in the game. The sword itself is in the directory (and has been for a long time), but it is GM-confirmed to NOT be attainable right now.

Aaaaaaand, here is Ashbringer.


PS: I found a Greater Nature Protection Potion recipe and 2 Living Essences in the 2 hours I farmed today :). No oozling yet!
#2 Apr 14 2006 at 1:22 AM Rating: Good
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Someone got exalted in DM through books looking for Ashbringer.

If they put another melee legendary in the game before giving casters something of the sort, I'm gonna be seriously pissed.


Yeah yeah, C'thun has a caster legendary, or at least the quest for one. Have you seen it? Why would I want an item that has a CHANCE to proc when I die... seriously, I don't care, because I am already dead. 20 seconds isn't enough either, wanna do it right? make it closer to 45 seconds, a full minute? I would want it. Until then, it sucks.
#3 Apr 14 2006 at 1:28 AM Rating: Decent
Quote:

Yeah yeah, C'thun has a caster legendary, or at least the quest for one. Have you seen it? Why would I want an item that has a CHANCE to proc when I die... seriously, I don't care, because I am already dead. 20 seconds isn't enough either, wanna do it right? make it closer to 45 seconds, a full minute? I would want it. Until then, it sucks.


Faked item. Datamining may be broken, but the tooltips for all spell effects are all still in the game's data files... and nothing even approaching that effect exists, not even the name of the buff.
#4 Apr 14 2006 at 1:30 AM Rating: Good
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Ya that's the rumor. But even if it was real, it still sucks.
#5 Apr 14 2006 at 1:50 AM Rating: Good
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Quote:
If they put another melee legendary in the game before giving casters something of the sort, I'm gonna be seriously pissed
Yeah, a CM, Equinox or whatever his name is said that Ashbringer will not be added until a caster Legendary is added.
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Rehuhu of Kujata
#6 Apr 14 2006 at 3:28 AM Rating: Default
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psht, caster legendary, melee legendary, what ever happened to ranged legendary? and ashbringer, so a hunter sword. /discuss
#7 Apr 14 2006 at 9:29 AM Rating: Good
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Nice research Locke. Very interesting read.
#8 Apr 14 2006 at 9:32 AM Rating: Good
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Pffft, Hunters can get Thunderfury Smiley: laugh
#9 Apr 14 2006 at 9:47 AM Rating: Good
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Bam.
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Rehuhu of Kujata
#10 Apr 14 2006 at 1:52 PM Rating: Decent
Uh... OK?
#11 Apr 14 2006 at 2:00 PM Rating: Good
Damn. Wicked cool.

#12 Apr 14 2006 at 2:05 PM Rating: Good
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A Paladin on Detheroc, Aemaeth I think is his name, has Exalted with the DM Book people faction, brought them Nefarian's head as proof that he was "dealt with", and the guy said the exact same thing. Also came back after turning in the head in Stormwind and was told the same thing.

Blizzard reps have said that there "may" be a new legendary in the 1.11 dungeon, and have said that the next legendary will be for casters, not melee.

All I can say is I hope they nerf the caster legendary as much as they've nerfed Thunderfury.
#13 Apr 14 2006 at 5:04 PM Rating: Decent
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If we're lucky Blizzard will give us a two-for-one and add both the caster legendary and Ashbringer into Naxx Naxxramis as incentive to get people to really delve into it faster.
#14 Apr 14 2006 at 6:53 PM Rating: Decent
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The scarlet crusade is lead by a dreadlord... do you think he is the one with the sword? Apologies if he already exists in game, my highest toon is 40.
#15 Apr 14 2006 at 8:43 PM Rating: Decent
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I haven't been "tracking down" the sword but I have kept my eyes open for any hints of it. I know it's not in the game but I like taking guesses at where it could appear.

The Graveyard Caretaker in EPL also talks about Ashbringer. When I heard him mention that I also noticed the "graveyard" looked more like a pit where they burn down corpses, it's full of bones, trash, ASHES, and some emerging SMOKE. Like he "brings ashes", or he's somewhat connected to the whole ashes deal. This may sound stupid but remember Thunderfury is connected to Thundering elementals, to Thunderaan. You'd probably find more tracks of ashes in other places too, but this item has to be very connected to the Scarlet Crusade.

I didn't want to ***** up my Argent Dawn rep, but I wanted to see what would happen if I attack him. His weapon is a 1-hand mace, the mace looks like a skull with horns. For as much as you want that wouldn't seem the kind of weapon of a an anti-undead Paladin-like faction. Maybe he is some scourge agent in disguise, can't tell, don't know.

If I remember right he was only melee, and weak at that, no casting anything. I just ran out of his aggro range because I wuss a bit about damaging my argent dawn reputation, I need the resistance enchants. There seems to be no recorded kills of him on Allakhazam, or maybe he's not lootable.

Looking further he gives 2 quests. But none of the two quests are related to fighting against the scourge directly. One is against the undead trolls, which don't seem to be part of the scourge, and the other is the Eagan's blaster quest. He only sends you against undeads that are not part of the scourge. Suspicious? Maybe not so suspicious.

...

But that probably goes way too far from the Scarlet Crusade.

...

Another thing there, the Scarlet Highlord is Taelan, son of Tirion (maybe it was the other way around). He actualy welds a big 2-hand sword that kills everyone like he's starring the Kill Bill movie.

His father was the previous lord of Hearthglen, but he seems to be more tied to his mace, as he references his mace and all as part of the quest, so his weapon probably is and always was his same mace.

Acording to the Fordring story, Tirion was condemned as traitor and "supposedly" executed when the son was a child. So there must have been another Scarlet Highlord after Tirion and before Taelan. There is no hint about which of the 3 (or 2) Scarlet Highlords was Ashbringer forged for. Could have been forged for Taelan, for Tirion, or for the other.

Interesting detail tough, upon his supposed dead, the place where the Scarlet Crusade burried the grave of he who would be their traitor highlord, was the undercroft, the same place where Caretaker Alen sends you for a quest. Hmm... Just who exactly is this caretaker Alen? He's a suspicious guy, his headgear and weapon are unusual to the Argent Dawn, he also happens to be caretaker of a "graveyard", vendor, and has his own suspicious wagon of unknown contents, I think he's a drugdealer too.

All in all, this "Ashbringer" ties up Hearthglen, Stratholme, The Fordrings, some suspicious argent dawn graveyard caretaker, and a small graveyard invaded by some undead trolls that resemble the Hakkari/Witherbark/Atalai undead. For all we know the plans could be burried in the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard next to the most powerful gnomish engineering weapon.

About the Phylactery. For all we know this Timolain might have been a lich from the start. It may be that the Scarlet Highlord that succeeded Tirion hired Timolain when he was already a Lich. Or maybe the Scarlet Crusade possessed knowledge of rituals of lichdom that they offered to Timolain as payment for his services.

Now, any clues about the Scarlet Highlord that succeeded Tirion and preceded Taelan would be nice. I never took the time to read those books in the Scarlet Monastery, Hearthglen, or Scarlet Stratholme, they may hold clues. I don't know much, the Scarlet Highlord in question could even have been Rivendare for all I know. If Prince Tort is connected to Ashbringer, it may be he's book-wise about Ashbringer, or that he has had some form of dealings with the unknown Scarlet Highlord.

#16 Apr 15 2006 at 12:52 AM Rating: Good
Quote:
I dispatched my would-be dispatchers (what is that a reference from? Name it for a rate up!),
Not sure if it is where you got it from, but that line is in Dogma, one of the best Kevin Smith movies imo...

Quote:
Bartleby (to Loki) -
Loki, don't you get it? It's the humans - it's
always the humans. They were given paradise; they
threw it away. They were given this planet; they
destroyed it. They were favored best among all His
endeavors; and some of them don't even believe He
exists. Their ego-mania corroded Hell and made it
dark and crimson.

I asked you to lay down your sword years ago -
why? Because I felt sorry for them. And where did
it get us? Thrown out.

We've paid our debt. Don't you think it's time we
went home? And to do that, I think we have to
dispatch our would-be dispatchers.


Don't really care about the rate up, I just like the thrill of the hunt. =3
Goodluck with your search, nice read btw. ^^
#17 Apr 15 2006 at 1:01 AM Rating: Good
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Quote:
Not sure if it is where you got it from, but that line is in Dogma, one of the best Kevin Smith movies imo...


Ding ding ding! Completely correct! I'm rating you up anyway, hehe ^_^
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