Gnoll Discussion (campaign spoilers, development)

[Tommi]

This the thread for discussing gnolls and their future and the past. What we know about gnolls at the moment is the following (City of the Seven Mithril Golems, Temple of the Old Gods):

When the undead attack to Khaz Modan begun the gnoll tribes had to flee to the safety of underground tunnels. They were captured by the Faceless Ones and used in terrible rituals as sacrifices. Some of them were taken to the Temple of the Old Gods for some sinister purposes. One of them was Thorp Blackpaw, the King of the gnoll tribe, who also had the sacred artifact Howling Flail with him. After the events in the Temple, Bark Sharpnose has been acknowledged as the heir of Isignol and the true king of gnolls. His mission now is to unite quarreling gnoll tribes and refound the gnoll kingdom.

Gnoll Kings, who do not belong to the noble bloodline of Isignol, are Gnoll Usurpers (such as Thorp Blackpaw). They are leaders of gnoll tribes.

What will happen next to the gnolls? Do they remain allied with dwarves, or do they embark on their own quest? Something completely new? Most likely at this point would seem that they would need the undead threat removed first, and thus they will collaborate with dwarves. One possibility is that they will deal with (edit: negotiate with) dwarves to gain an area of Khaz Modan for their help to fight the undead, but I don't know how plausible that is considering what is in the World of Warcraft. We would like to keep our work as consistent as possible with Blizzard's work, too.

From the game perspective, Thorp and Bark are now NPCs and not playable characters anymore. Their story will continue, though. New gnoll heroes will be other characters, yet unknown at this point.

 

[SeaGull1723]

I would think the gnolls do not attack the Dwarves yet they still fight the undead and the Faceless Ones (if there are any). Later in the chapter, the undead gather to destroy the dwarves, yet the dwarves are easily outnumbered. So, the dwarves send in an emissary to Bark Sharpnose for reinforcements.

Then later on, when the dwarves use the well of corruption's powers, the powers fireback and destroy much of the dwarven kingdom along with Bark Sharpnose. That is when the gnolls hate the dwarves very much later on.

Remember, this is just an idea from me. You have the right to post your own ideas too

 

[Tommi]

Changed "dealt with" in my post to "negotiate" to make my idea clearer.

I don't think dwarves and gnolls are going to attack each other, unless something really strange happens. After all, they need each other. They also are in debt to each other: gnolls are in debt to dwarves for rescuing them and dwarves are in debt to gnolls for helping them in the moment of dire need (the undead attack; the negotiation for help and land would happen in Chapter 4). Thus, I believe their collaboration would continue (at least with this gnoll tribe), although it would be shunned by outsiders: "What kind of dwarves ally with filthy gnolls?"

 

[Tommi]

Wow. I misread your idea the first time! :? Sorry about that. Now I read it more carefully.

Well, the Well of Corruption's powers are not safe at all, and it is possible that they backfire in a way or another. However, I don't think they destroy THAT much of the dwarf kingdom, especially considering the World of Warcraft will happen after the chapter. Some scale of destruction might be possible, but more central question is how they should use the powers to destroy or incapacitate the undead army. No easy task, especially considering that Tollusek is no longer using the Rod.

And everybody loves Bark. I think he's going to make it alive but we'll see how it turns out.

 

[00173hsj]

i have a problem:
at the final cinematic of 'temple of the old gods', all the other heroes teleported almost immediately after tollusek got zapped. so wouldn't the wand thingy charged with the well of corruption's power remain with tollusek's body instead of reaching azeroth?

 

[Tommi]

Erogdin teleported Tollusek and the Rod out, too.

 

[houstondragon]

*heavy spoilers for those unwary below*

Don't make me unleash squirrly wrath... you have been warned... =)


Anyway... my 2 cents worth:

It's clear from Episode 3 that there will surely be a struggle between Bark and the other Usurper kings, and a civil war could easily be brewing in the Gnoll kingdoms. Personally, I'd foresee Bark having a "Thrall" style of uprising, being forced to complete certain tasks and sway those Usurpers that would be willing to follow him. The remaining ones would be loyal to Thorp, viewing Bark as nothing more than a pretender.

In between this, you would still have the Dwarves fighting against the Undead, but also having to deal with raids/uprisings/sabotage/etc from various Gnoll forces. Another twist (although, probably a bit more difficult and extensive to plan =) would be the ability for the Dwarves to choose between Bark and Thorp.

Whichever side they pick would have different goals (Thorp would be looking to get rid of Bark, and restore order to his kingdom. Bark would be looking to win over the other Usurpers, and kill Thorp), and ultimately end up with different allies in the end (maybe throw in some more of the other "creep" races: ie. Furbolgs, Kobolds, Murlocs, Lizards, Centaurs, etc) towards fighting the Undead.

 

[SeaGull1723]

About the Bark and Thorp choice idea? That probably wouldn't work out. Tommi already said that previous heroes will not be used in the next episode.