Post by Adamsm
So, realized should finally add it in here.
World of Warcraft: Sunwell Trilogy by good ole Knaak.
Book 1: Dragonhunt
In which we meet our cast of characters: Kalecgos, Anveena, Tyrigosa, and Jorad Mace...oh, and the team pet Raac. We also meet the big bad Dar'Khan and his army of Scourgelings. Alright, anyways; Kalec is sent south from the realm of the Blues to investigate a new magical source that is causing interest in Malygos. En route to finding it, he is attacked by a group of Dragon hunters: A dwarf known as Harkyn Grymstone who saw his family killed by a dragon, and has the scars to show it, as well as an Orc by the name of Groth, and a pair of Trolls named Snee and Voll. The amigos fail to capture Kalec at first and he is rescued by a young human woman named Anveena Teague, who takes him home, seeming undisturbed that her guest is really a dragon.
The four hunters attempt to ambush Kalec again, and fail as the Teagues keep them busy. While fleeing, Kalec is injured again, and crashes down into a lake, and somehow is forced to change into his half-elf form. From the lake, we jump to the memories of a grizzled Paladin, hearing Arthas mocking him in his dreams(more about him in a bit). The damsel, our dear Anveena, even though she has just met Kalec, finds him and tells him to be alright, and that everything will be fine....../snort Attempting to go home, the two are attacked by an Abomination, and after Kalec cuts off the head with his magic sword...the body attacks him, bad move hero. After the fight, the two end up at Anveena's house...which is in ruins, seemingly burned down, and at first the fair maiden thinks it was the Hunters, but Kalec says otherwise as they are attacked again bu more Scourge. Kalec puts down some more Scourge and then suddenly the hero and damsel are attacked from behind, and a pair of collars placed on them....and a horde of Scourge rise up, with a well dressed Elf leading them.
The Elf, deciding that now would be a good time to reveal all about himself, tells the two he is Dar'Khan, the one responsible for allowing Arthas and his forces into the Elf lands and gave him the key to the Sunwell....on the assumption that he would get the power as Dar is a very power hungry type(blood elf in training). But, something went wrong, and instead of drawing the power into him, the Well exploded(as magical bodies of water seem to do in Azeroth), and only by the grace of Arthas, was Dar able to survive. Deciding that after Dar threatened to kill the two was a good time, a Blue dragon(okay, the manga is black and white so it's really a dark coloured one) attacks, and seeming obliterates the annoying elf. Kalec, having had his thunder stolen, looks over as he hears a familiar voice..... the voice of his intended, Tyrigosa who enjoys pretending to be a High Elf when she's not a 25 foot dragon of doom.
So, Scourge gone, time to dig through the destroyed house of Anveena, trying to find the bodies of her parents; instead they find a golden(guessing here) egg, and within it, is the little dragonlet that becomes known as Raac. As Kalec refuses to leave Anveena behind with that collar on her for the rest of her life, as while Maly could remove it for Kalec, he wouldn't do it for a human; so Tyri agrees to fly them both to Tarren Mill where they could possibly find someone to help them...a man known as Borel. Their first day of searching is useless and Tyri shows just how useful she is: She makes gold out of thin air so that the group can get a room at the inn. Kalec, being dead tired, falls asleep quickly....and wakes up to a blunderbuss to the face from our old friend Grymstone. In the town, Groth and the two trolls capture Tyri and Anveena flees to the forest where she runs into the Paladin from earlier, Jorad Mace, who advises her not to return to the town to help the Blues....as the Scourge is there.
And here, in the final act of book 1, we learn that Dar'Khan was the one who set Grymstone on the hunt for Kalec, as the Blues would be drawn to the power of the Sunwell, which is somewhere in the nearby area. Of course, right then, Anveena and Raac race into town, and spying Raac, at first Dar think he's found it...well, sorta right. Then from out of nowhere, Jorad pulls a big damn hero moment, and knocks the head off a Scourge. Grymstone, realizing just how much he's been played for a fool, let's Dar'Khan have it with his rifle, blasting the elf backwards and orders his partners to attack the Scourge; which Groth, Snee and Voll are just too happy to do. Dar, showing that he is actually a Scourge, pops back up, intending to destroy them all....and Tyri let's loose a full blast of flame, reducing him to cinders, and the Scourge escape. In the after math of that little play, Grymstone advises the companions that his cousin could probably remove the collars, sending them north into Alterac.
Book 2: Shadows of Ice
The book opens above the mountains of Alterac....and the action starts right away as something huge attacks Tyri, sending the group scattered across the mountain. Anveena wakes up face to snout with a massive tauren, who offers her a drink(that's nice of him). Kalec wakes up...with a face full of snow, and a gaggle of undead after his arse(think Anveena got the better wake up there); while fleeing, he falls in a crevice, after a very talkative corpse orders his death. Switch back to the beauty and the beast, and we learn that Trag Highmountain(three guesses who that is), saved her but didn't find her friends as he was trying to get her away from Ichor(that would be the talkative corpse), and while speaking on that, we meet the mysterious owner of the ruins that Anveena is in: Baron Valimar Mordis; who declares that he will stop Ichor no matter what.
From there, we flash quickly to Jorad and Tyri....frozen in giant blocks of Ice(and I mean giant, they had Tyri in Dragon form at this point....). Flash back to the Baron, who, as expected, is amused by the question of 'Why is a Tauren with a 'human'?'; and we learn about the back story of Mordis...who's not a human at all, but a member of the living impaired(read as Undead). It's a happy story...till the Scourge kills him and raises him up, where he goes on a rampage killing things till his own disgust at himself snaps him out of the brainwashing and he flees. At this point, he meets up with Trag again, and the two head north to stop the Scourge as best they can, mainly Ichor. It's then we learn that the creature that attacked Tyri was a Frost Wyrm, raised up by Ichor with the help of an Orb of Ner'zhul(alright I'll wait for you stop laughing at the idea of Ner'zhul's orbs....come on that's enough, let's keep it moving). The Baron makes a cryptic remark about Anveena being a way to finally stop Ichor, then we flash off to Kalec, who was buried except for his nose in the snow, which Raac, being Raac, licks to wake him up. From there, the dragon and dragonlet head across the snowfields, looking for the allies and find a cave. Walking down the cave, they find it getting warmer and warmer...and emerge into a cavern where a group of Dwarves are working on excavating the frozen body of a Mammoth from the earth.....
So the dwarves, understandably, are angry finding a half-elf watching them work on a giant elephant, and Kalec takes yet another shot to the head(good thing his skull is strong as titanium eh?), and from there, we find Anveena, still in her standard clothing, standing on a balcony while snow blows past, discussing the beauty and the plan with Mordis, till Trag steps out to tell him to let her go inside, as she feels the cold even if the Baron doesn't. Again, after Anveena walks past, we get more cryptic comments about how useful she will be. Yet another flash, and suddenly we're back with Jorad and Tyri, and a voice is telling the Paladin to wake up...who does so by bashing the ice with his hammer! Then he tries to break Tyri free, and tells her that she has to change, which she does....and Jorad, seeing her for the first time, finds her beautiful. The two half-frozen Popsicles, leave the cave and strike off for somewhere(I blame the brain freeze on poor planning), and run smack dab into Ichor and his Scourge pack.
So Kalec wakes up...bound again...man he has bad luck. And he tries to convince the Dwarves to let him go, then Trag shows up and we learn that the Tauren wants to help Kalec save all of his friends. From there, we're off to watching Jorad and Tyri facing off against the Scourge, and doing good, till someone hit's Tyri from behind and Jorad stops fighting so she doesn't end up with a case of the deads. Bound, the two meet Ichor's very first prisoner..cousin Grymstone. Another flash and we're back at the Baron's, and we learn the start of his plan for Anveena, as he has her look deep into an Orb he possess...wait, that's the same Orb that Ichor had earlier! Could it be...could this nice Undead really be evil!....Okay, sarcasm over: Trag watches from the shadows as the Baron puts Anveena under a spell, and the last page of the chapter is simply the words "....Wouldn't you?" after he asks her if she would do anything for her friends.
So big reveal time...Mordis, our friendly neighbor hood undead Scourge fighter is really a Forsaken, and he plans to do the same to Anveena, Kalec and the rest after he uses her up for his grand plan. We see Trag and Kalec plotting something as the scene changes to the prisoners of Ichor; and we learn that it wasn't Ichor who raised the Wrym, but the Baron, intending to destroy the other walking deads. Grymstone and his people had been fooled by the Baron's good acting skills as well; and they were digging up the other behemoths of the ice to help him stop the evil one. Ichor, deciding he wants some fun, heads for Tyri, but even nearly unconscious, she burns like a sun and blasts a few dozen Scourge who get too close. Threatening Jorad next, Grymstone finally breaks and tells the Scourge leader he'll lead him to the Baron if he spares the other two. Back to the Ruins, where Kalec, Raac and Anveena have a quick reunion before fleeing, then back to the Scourge forces are approaching the cave. And we go to Trag, who is intending on striking down the Baron...and get's hit from behind as the Baron looks down in contempt.
The final act of book 2 opens with a war between Scourge and Dwarves, and the Baron joins in for the fun of it. All three groups: The companions, the Scourge, the Dwarves are fighting, and the Baron takes control of Anveena, using the Orb to strengthen his Wrym, that goes on a rampage. Ichor, seeing the spell around the girl, tries to kill her, but Kalec get's in the way; and we get to see him make two ghoul's heads explode and fountain gore! Woo! Kalec, being the hero he is, heads off to take down the Baron, with Ichor in hot pursuit, wanting the orb, while Tyri and Jorad go after the Frost Wrym. Above the battle, The Baron watches with cruel amusement, enjoying it all....till Trag appears behind him, wraps him in a bear hug, and shatters the Orb of Ner'zhul as well as shattering the Forsaken's hand, breaking the spells and causing the ruins to come crashing down, seemingly killing them, while Ichor is caught in a rock slide and dies again, and the Wyrm falls to pieces. Kalec falls, but Anveena catches him with magic. We see our new friend Grymstone happy that the Baron is dead...wait, what's that behind him! LOOK OUT! Ooo, too bad, dead dwarf, as Dar'Khan makes a reappearance, grabbing Anveena and fleeing on a Wyvern that somehow got teleported out of Kyrnn. End of book 2.
Book 3: Ghostlands (also known as
Sylvanas' Hooker vacation...no, seriously, this is her
armour apparently, both as a Forsaken Queen and a Ranger General....I think Jae-Hwan Kim has necro tendencies....)
So, the end of the series opens with Anveena and Dar flying across the Ghostlands, Jorad telling how he met Borel the mage who told him about Anveena, and we see Lor'themar and his fellow Blood Elves moving across the lands, trying to cleanse it of the Scourge once and for all. When one of the scout's see Dar, they sound the alarm, and we get a flash back to the end of the Sunwell from Lor's perspective...and by that, the damn thing goes off in his face(explains the eye at least). He's not real clear on how he survived, but he knows he'll chase Dar to the ends of the Earth! The final page has Borel landing in the elven lands; a cloaked and hidden figure.
The companions trek across the Ghostlands on foot, forced to do so by the pure crap in the air screwing with the weather, and swearing to take down Dar. We see Dar'Khan still gloating to Anveena, when he's attacked by the Blood Elves, and he summons an army of undead Elven Scourge, that chase the living ones off. Anveena takes off during the fight and flees, running into Borel who tries to get her away. From there, we go back to the companions, where Tyri is complaining and saying she was the most powerful....and of course, Karma existing even in Azeroth, has her attacked by a pair of tentacles......(I wish I was making that up heh).
Turn the page...and oh thank god, it's just a Felhound the size of a tracker trailer. The two men attack the beast as it drains Tyri's life and magic, and their attacks; a pitiful hammer and a magic sword, do nothing but make it mad. Wait...what's that up on the hill? Is it a bird? Is it a gryphon? No, it's SUPER #$%^! Sylvanas starts screaming at full speed as she begins to pepper the creature with arrows, causing damage to it to make it drop Tyri, who Jorad saves while Kalec goes ginsue on it, as apparently the scream of a banshee stops felhounds from healing, who knew? With the felhound dead, it all seems good...till someone points a sword at Kalec. From there, we go back to Borel and Anveena, the mage still trying to get her to run. We learn that her parents were never real, that they were constructs designed to protect Anveena, and that Raac was their replacement after they were destroyed. Pissed off and possibly on the rag, Anveena let's loose a burst of magic, sending Borel, who has a dragon shadow, flying. Still stunned, the girl sits there as Dar'Khan walks up to her, and we find out the collar can be used to control her as well. He looks over at the fallen Borel, who was really a dragon(yeah, who didn't see that coming/sarcasm off) and an evil plan takes root.
So, back to the companions and the sword; oh it's Lor and his people, pissed that a half-breed is on their lands, same with humans. The group, has a few arguments before Kalec shuts them all up by saying the Sunwell is still around. From there, we go back to Dar and Anveena, the elf still gloating(he has a problem with that), and Sylvanas steps out of the shadow to challenge him. He taunts her, and forces her to really look at Anveena, to see her true essence...which makes the Banshee Queen have an anguish attack which opens her up to 'SURPRISE! DRAGON FOOT TO THE FACE!' and follows it up with a blast of Sunwell magic. Back to Kalec and Lor, who explains about Sylvanas and what happened to her....and we get to see yet another view of the death of Sylvanas, including the removal of her soul and her original Banshee transformation. Lor of course, automatically thinks Sylvanas has plans of her own for the Sunwell(yeah, like that's hard to believe....) Back to Dar who has Sylvanas held against a piece of a ruined wall, her mouth closed with more magic.
From here, it's the standard charge toward the big bad, fighting through his mooks(Scourge), and the group splits up as the Ascension spell starts up, which will pour all the power of the Sunwell into Dar'Khan. Tyri, trying to gently pluck Anveena from the spell, is sent flying again(damn Knaak and his violence to dragons!), and Kalec, getting up first, goes for Dar on his own...only to have the Undead Elf use his magic to make the collar activate blasting him. Dar begins to gloat some more, stating that one day Arthas, then all of existence will bow to his new Godhood. Of course, this opens him up to an attack, as Sylvanas starts to scream, staggering him for a minute...till he casually swings a hand and nearly squashes her like the bug he feels she is(sorry, had to cheer for Dar'Khan at this point). Tyri, still not learning, steps up...and Dar'Khan pulls out his big guns: Borel.
Que battle of the dragons, while all around, the others rush to stop Dar'Khan; and fail miserably(and you see the half-dragon thing that was mentioned before, and Kalec still get's zapped). Raac, being the brave little thing he is, takes over to get in front of Borel...and with merely a murmur, wakes the other dragon out of his brainwash. Thinking quickly, Borel sends Raac at Anveena, realizing her memories were what important and that she was a real girl and not the construct he had made originally..or at least, not anymore. Anveena snaps out of it, draws her power out of Dar'Khan...then obliterates him(least till he comes back again). She tells Kalec to sleep and rest. When he wakes up again, he sees her and Borel speaking about her future, and she tells him that she will stick to her decision. Borel reveals who he really is(and not a real surprise); Good Ole Krasus, still at it as always. From there, the party splits: Anveena, Kalec and Raac are remaining in the Elf lands to help them regrow, while Tyri returns home to Maly to let him know what happened(then heads off Outland a few weeks later) and Jorad goes north to hunt for Arthas. End of series.
As my slightly off-topic comments state, I do enjoy the book, but even I know it's 'bad'. Still, it's a good piece of lore to let us know what happens during the Four Year period, and we get to see one of the big reasons why Sylvanas lobbied for the Blood Elves to get accepted into the Horde; she helped to 'save' the Sunwell and knew it would be a good ally at some point.
Beyond that, feel free to comment as you like, and know that I'll be re-reading the Legends stories and updating the second post as I do.(##RESPBREAK##)12##DELIM##Gnub##DELIM##Locking thread, per request of the OP, to use
this thread in the future.
