The Story of Talonclaw, Spear of The Wild Gods [artifact Lore]

Hello everyone! The Burning Legion has invaded azeroth once again and hunters are able to pick up 3 different artifacts to empower them in this war. For survival hunters it’s Talonclaw, spear of the wild gods, the spear wielded by none other then Huln Hihgmountain, but was lost in battle against a fierce nightsaber called Dakarr. Many have tried to retrieve it... all have failed. Apata Highmountain’s elders believe that recovering Talonclaw is the key to driving the Legion from the lands. She together with her brother Wuho are heading out to slay the beast and claim the spear. If we were to join them, we’d be sure to succeed so naturally we join her on this quest, but before we can begin, we must first obtain the blessing of Ohn’Ahra. “Let us be off. Follow me!” “Talonclaw has been lost for so long that many tauren have never even laid eyes upon it. The elder still tell stories of how our greatest hunters wielded the spear in defense of our land. These heroes slew terrible monsters and fought off countless invaders. Dorro Highmountain was last to wield it. His end came at the claws of a corrupted nightsaber that preyed upon our villages. We called the beast Dakarr. A once noble creature, driven to madness by a deranged vrykul mystic. Dorro fought it off, then tracked the beast back to Stormheim. He never returned and Talonclaw was never seen again. Every now and then, a brave hunter seeks Talonclaw. They commune with the Eagle Spirit, receive her blessing, and begin their hunt. Sadly, these pursuits have always ended the same way: death. Something is wrong. There is strange...look out!” Apata is plucked out of the sky as our gryphon manages to get us to safety, but we can’t just leave Apata behind and at the cave we find the source of the disturbed elementals and this strange wild growth assaulting the peak . “Why are you doing this? I know the peace has always been uneasy, but— Degar Bloodtotem: Your tribe had plenty of time to reclaim the spear, but failed. I will bring back Talonclaw...for the Bloodtotem! If only this stubborn spirit would obey!” “Another interloper? Do not meddle in Highmountain affairs.” Degar Bloodtotem tried to force Ohn’ahra to give him the blessing. He is unworthy so we put him down and as thanks, Ohn’ahra not only blesses our journey, she also offers us a ride down into hellmouth shallows. “Wuho! have you found the monster?” “Not yet, but it is indeed the foe we seek. The kvaldir here speak of a giant cat that made its lair in the deep swamps. They raised a wall of magic wards to keep it at bay. We must find a way through! Wuho, you and I should examine the wards while our friend searches the harbor.” Elder Runecarber: “Something stirs in the shallows. It may be the beast. Activate the wardstones! Mist Warder: Bah! I grow weary of your errands, old one!” We get to search for a way through the magical wards while Wuho and Apata hang out in the back. It turns out that the Mist Warders use wardstones and with these stones we should be able to break through their wall. As we go about killing everyone in the village, lets talk a little bit about the history of Talonclaw. Long before the War of the Ancients, tauren tribes roamed the sprawling wilds of ancient Kalimdor. The Highmountain tribe at the time, was led by Chieftain Moren Highmountain, who saved Ohn'ahra, a Wild God in the form of a giant eagle spirit from an attack by fire elementals. In thanks, the eagle infused a portion of her essence into Moren's spear gifting it with powerful magical abilities. Moren carved Ohn'ahra's name onto the haft of this weapon, which his people took to calling the Eagle Spear in her honor. To commemorate other heroes he encountered, enemies he bested, and events he witnessed, Moren carved their names onto the Eagle Spear as well. As the spear was passed down to his descendants, they, too, carried on this tradition. In this way, the spear became a living history of the Highmountain tribe. Moren's granddaughter Eruna was expected to become her tribe's leader. But before she could believe herself worthy of this responsibility, she took the Eagle Spear with her on a pilgrimage, a rite of passage to prove herself. In the northern lands, she rushed to defend a family of night elves from tentacled beings coming forth from a vast cave, wielding sinister magic--servants of the Old Gods who slumbered in dark places but were now awakening. She was joined in the struggle by a mighty bear, who revealed himself as an Ancient named Ursoc. Together, Eruna and Ursoc drove the strange creatures away and the colossal bear took Eruna's measure and judged her worthy. Ursoc told her that a great darkness was coming and that the world would need strong warriors and leaders like her to face it. To aid her, he blessed her spear, adding his might to its enchanted power. In gratitude, Eruna carved Ursoc's name into the weapon as well, continuing the living story of the Eagle Spear, and returned to her people, ready to lead them. Long after Eruna's passing, the spear was handed down to Huln Highmountain. Facing a devastating invasion from the Burning Legion, Huln unified other tauren tribes under his banner to join the night elves in fighting the demons. During one heated battle, Huln tried to protect the two-headed wolf Ancient, Omen, from the forces of the Legion, but the great beast was gravely wounded and poisoned with fel energy. Before he succumbed to demonic corruption, Omen gave his last breath of purity to the spear, adding to the powers of the other Wild Gods. Huln placed the Ancient's name on his spear so that his courage would always be remembered and those that have experienced the lunar festival, you might remember fighting against the corrupted Omen at Moonglade. The whole carving of names into the weapon was something already established in the war of the ancients trilogy. In that book we read about Jarod Shadowsong leading the night elf resistance and trying to get his people to work together with the furbolg, earthen and tauren. “Coming up on Huln, Jarod lunged at a demon seeking the tauren’s side. Huln noticed the action and gave the night elf an appreciative snort. “I will carve your name on my spear!” he rumbled. “You will be honored by generations of my line.” “I’d be honored just to live through this!” Jarod replied. “Ha, such wisdom in one so young!” so somewhere amongst the carved names should be the name of Jarod Shadowsong. During the vision shown by Spiritwalker Ebonhorn, we can see that Huln was responsible for sending the lord of the nathrezim Tihcondrius back to the twisting nether, while tauren elders still tell that the doomlord Xyburn made it his personal mission to eradicate their race, and that Huln swore to kill him. The two bitter foes finally clashed during the battle for the Well of Eternity, and their fight ended only when Huln, seemingly beaten, landed a near-killing strike to Xyburn's face with his spear. The demon narrowly deflected the weapon, which, imbued with spirit powers, nonetheless struck him in the left eye, blinding him on that side. Huln won his battle, but before he could slay the doomlord, Xyburn--along with most of the demons were sucked back into the portal they came from at the end of the war. As the land of Kalimdor shuddered and began to break apart, Huln and his people fled for their lives. The tauren tribes went their separate ways and with their ancestral land destroyed in the Great Sundering, Huln led his people on a quest to find a new home. They traveled far and saw many parts of the reshaped Azeroth before making their way to the Broken Isles, where they built the village of Thunder Totem in the shadow of the isles' tallest peak. Having led his tribe to safety, Huln Highmountain granted the Eagle Spear to his successor, and he went to join his ancestors. Legend has it that Ohn'ahra herself appeared to carry the spirit of the great chieftain into the sky. The tradition of passing Talonclaw to the greatest hunter of the Highmountain tribe was carried on for many generations. If there were threats to the tribe or challenges to be conquered, the spear would be brought into battle. When word came that a mysterious beast was stalking the wilds of Stormheim, Nalmus Highmountain took up the spear and set out to tame the creature--or destroy it. When weeks passed without any word from s, a search party was dispatched. Though they looked far and wide, no trace of the famed hunter or his spear could be found, and several party members were lost to the unknown beast that prowled the mists. Over the years, many other brave hunters would set out to find the creature. Most were never heard from again, and the treasured spear had not been seen since Nalmus disappeared. This story comes from the chapters you get as you gain more artifact research. As you might imagine, I didn’t have the time to wait for weeks to unlock all the chapters so this information is taken from WoWpedia. It’s possible that the information has changed since beta time as here it describes Nalmus to be the last wielding the spear, while Apata said it was Dorro Highmountain. So please keep that in mind, it’s possible that they’ve made a few changes since beta time. Either way, it’s Dorro that was the last one to be seen with the spear, time to change that fact as we’ve collected the wardstones required and we can make our way past the wall. “Calm yourself wuho our tribes greatest weapon and its ancient enemy are but a few strides away! I will not be stopped by some foul fog magic! Patience brother. To gaze upon Talonclaw will be a sigh to remember. Look! Our friend returns!” “Wonderful! I can just attach them here and... It is done. Let us go across!” take harpoon to cross the fogg whieeeeeeeeeee – “It is... eerily quiet. I cannot sense any beasts at all!” “And yet, I am certain we are being watched” Enter spirit beast cinematic The beast is there! AN’she protect us! Highmountain’s Bane – Dakarr Dakarr has shown himself and he and his kind have the ability to hide in the shadows. A well placed flare gives us the oppertunity to strike at them but Dakarr himself will be a little bit trickier to trap. “It went into that deep patch of mist. It could be hiding anywhere! Hero, do you have atrap strong enough to hold the beast? Perhaps something explosive to disperse the mist? We are right behind you, master trapper. We will stand guard as you set it.” The mists dissipitates, revealing Dakarr in the trap, but the legend of those lost while trying to track him down does not exist without reason and it’s Wuho that’s taken out first. “Wuho, No!” “Beloved brother...I should never have brought you! You shall be avanged! We must finish this. Follow the monster!” The wounds inflicted are not healing so we must finish this quickly before we bleed out. Another trap should do the trick and sure enough, Dakarr is revealed once more only to claim another life. Cinematic dakarr runs into cave: “It is ... over for me...you must...finish this. Slay... the monster. Find...Talonclaw...” It’s just us left standing, Dakarr and Hunter meet eyes. Talonclaw is resting in the back and nothing, not even this tormented beast will stand in our way of obtaining this legendary artifact. The beast goes down and we claim our price. “Talonclaw cinematic, ahaaaaaaaaaaaa” Dorro Highmountain: “At long last the monster is dead and our relic reclaimed. My spirit can finally move on from this place... hero, I sense your destiny lies with the ancient night elf who started you on this journey. Before I depart, I can send you back to the city in the sky. May Talonclaw serve you well.” Dorro will make sure that the spirits of Wuho and Apata will not linger and we have brought down the Bane of Highmountain and obtained Talonclaw. Imbued with the powers of the wild gods, hunters will wield it in the war against the Legion as they adventure through the broken isles. However, those are a story for another day so for now thank you very much for watching everyone. 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