I found out that I’d be writing for Pix – who I don’t know very well, but through some careful sleuthing have discovered at least two things:

1) We both like food (I’m guessing from involvement with Nourish, here)
2) We both like draenei.

This post begins and ends with one and has plenty of the other in the middle.

Accordingly, here’s a gingerbread Lelissa.

Yes, Christmas at my house included Ginger Draenei, and one of them customized for Pix. I have no regrets!

(Pix’s Note: I MUST HAVE ONE. This is by far the best Christmas present I have EVER received.)

There was a question asked at Blizzcon for those of us who especially enjoy draenei and their lore, and I’ve been thinking about it since. Basically, the question boiled down to this (I’m paraphrasing, here)

“We haven’t seen or heard much about the draenei since TBC and they were hardly visible in Northrend at all. Is Cataclysm going to remedy this, and can we expect to see more of the draenei?”

When I heard this question, I cheered, because I’ve asked it myself on many occasions. Unfortunately, the answer was essentially: “There isn’t much more about the draenei in Cataclysm, but we’re aware that they’ve been a bit neglected.”

I have been inclined to complain about lack of draenei involvement in the events of Northrend, but since giving it some thought, I’ve been realizing that it actually isn’t all that bad.

The Burning Crusade
For someone making a fresh draenei character in TBC, the opportunities were boundless. In my opinion, draenei have had the best starting zone for years. The quests do an excellent job of laying out the adversity the draenei have faced, establishing their opposition, and culminating in a series of quests that actually pit you against elite enemies. Even though you’re only level twenty, you leave the draenei starting zone with resolve and a very clear goal: you must go to Outland and defeat the Burning Legion. These quests are only available to draenei characters, and they reward you with a unique tabard.

Throughout Azeroth the draenei presence is low – despite the player population, they really aren’t supposed to be a high-population race, but there are subtle nods to them in many places. Ambassadors are working with the kal’dorei in Forest Song to help rebuild. There is a lovely (but tragic) pocket of quests in the Swamp of Sorrows that deals with an Anchorite trying to find a way to rehabilitate the Lost Ones there.

Of course, once you go through the Dark Portal, draenei are the primary focus. The main “hub” city for the expansion was Shattrath. Most of the zones are rich in draenei lore, whether giving an insight into the past (as in Hellfire), getting involved in helping the small community of Telredor (Zangarmarsh), forging an Alliance with the Kurenai in Nagrand, or helping the restless spirits of Auchenai.

Draenei are at the forefront of many initiatives, including the Sha’tari Skyguard, the Shattered Sun Offensive, and of course – The Aldor. They were central to the main conflicts of the expansion. At the risk of repeating myself here, this expansion was an awesome time to be a draenei, whether you were a roleplayer or just had an interest in the game’s lore. It’s natural then that when Wrath came out, we were a bit shell-shocked to suddenly be thrown into the back row.

A draenei in TBC also had many race-appropriate fashion and accessory options for bashing skulls or whatever else suited their purpose.

Wrath of the Lich King
The presence of draenei characters or stories was pretty low in Wrath, it’s true. There’s a small contingent of them at Valiance Keep in Borean Tundra. There’s a shaman in Howling Fjord who charges you with inhaling some pretty powerful incense that lets you walk around outside of your body. There’s good old Modoru at Star’s Rest – the Sentinels there are making fun of his extremely draenic clothing.

Hakmud of Argus can be found cruising around on the Traveler’s Tundra Mammoth (it’s a nice little bonus that you can purchase the robes Modoru is wearing from him for a mere 50 gold. Hand-sewn draenic silk doesn’t come cheap, you know!).

The infamous Jadaar and Asric made an appearance in Dalaran and later at the Argent Tournament grounds. If you haven’t listened to them it’s worth it – they have a history stretching back to Jadaar’s peacekeeping days in Shattrath. The two of them are hilarious.

Vindicator Maraad (from the comic series) is flying around on the Skybreaker, although he doesn’t have much to say, and I’m sure I remember a draenei Death Knight up in Icecrown.

It used to bother me that draenei had such a low-profile in this expansion. After all, they’d thrown their lot in with the Alliance. They came to Northrend to help with a common foe, and they’ve made Azeroth their home. Didn’t they deserve at least a little bit of screen time? The more I’ve thought about it, though, the more I am comfortable with them throughout this expansion. There were many NPCs present in the various Argent factions that were draenei. They didn’t have any major lore characters or major lore moments, but their presence was felt.

A story can’t have all major characters, someone has to play a supporting role. The draenei were playing this role as the native races of Azeroth fought an enemy that had devastated their world and their people – just as the Alliance helped the draenei strike back against those who had devastated their world. It wasn’t really about us this time around, and that’s okay.

While somewhat out of their element in Northrend, Draenei could still be equally badass.

Cataclysm
So how is the presence of the draenei shaping up in the latest expansion? Despite the developer’s answer to the question above – that there isn’t much about them in the Cataclysm – I have to admit that I’ve been pleasantly surprised! The Earthen Ring is playing a prominent role in recent events, and there are draenei and Broken representatives among them, many of them high-ranking. That is primarily the extent of draenei involvement so far in Cataclysm. They aren’t central to the story, but they are around, and that’s actually about right. It’s not about the draenei any more, except that they are invested in the world the same way that all of the other races are. They’ve been integrating all this time, a notion that is borne out by the new Draenei cinematic. Here is a transcription for you:

Empowered by the Holy Light and the undying strength of their convictions, the draenei led the charge against the demonic Burning Legion in Outland.

Now, with the Legion’s defeat, they have completed the desperate mission that first brought them to Azeroth. Though some draenei were sent back to Outland to revitalize their former civilization, the majority have vowed to remain and uphold their sacred commitment to the Alliance.

Driven by a powerful vision, the immortal Prophet Velen believes that a great war between the darkness and the light is fast approaching, and that Azeroth will be its principle battleground.

As one of Velen’s chosen you must stand bravely against the shadow and ensure that your people are ready for the war to come.

I like that the starting cinematic was actually updated to reflect the events of the Cataclysm. Unfortunately, the zone itself wasn’t – new draenei are still stuck in a “time capsule” of sorts, where the questgivers are all in awe that you survived the crash and have been in stasis all that time (a really long time at this point, considering the events of the Burning Crusade are concluded and most other draenei helped defeat the Lich King in the meantime.) Can you imagine that conversation?

“Sooo, while you were pulling a Rip Van Winkle, we found a new world, but we crashed on it, then we defeated the Burning Legion on our old world, but then some undead threatened this one…but we killed them, except there’s this dragon, fire, flood thing going on here now…”

Hey, it’s not called World of Settle Down and Open A Bakery-Craft, right? Although at least one of my characters would love to do just that. So the draenei are a small part of the story again; Outland suffers from similar continuity issues but Blizzard has said that it’s not high on their priority list to fix and change it. I can’t really blame them, either – overhauling Outland to make sense with the current story would be no small task, and they’d rather put that effort into developing new content to attempt to appease the insatiable appetite of players.

Speaking of Outland, one very nice addition is the inclusion of draenei artifacts in the archaelogy profession. I won’t spoil them here, but if you have any interest in Archaelogy and/or draenei and orcs you’ll know that once you hit “Outland” levels you can find some interesting lore items. It’s a small thing, but I know I appreciate it greatly. In fact, generally when it comes to draenei lore I’ve been counting my blessings. It’s not as if other races like gnomes and dwarves had an entire expansion more or less dedicated to them. Many races play bit parts in the overall story and have few major lore representatives, so it really isn’t that bad. Meantime, those of us who are draenei fans will continue to play our characters, roleplay our characters (if that’s your thing) and/or make baked goods in their likeness.

The only problem with character-shaped cookies is bringing yourself to actually eat them.

That might just be me though. What do you do to celebrate your love of draenei (if you have one?) What do you think Blizzard could have done differently in Cataclysm? I would’ve actually liked the Stormwind Jewelcrafting contingent to be draenei. It wouldn’t be tough to do, it’s not implausible that some draenei would be living in Stormwind, and we do have a racial bonus to Jewelcrafting, after all!

Poor Pixie Stix has been whalloped with RL aggro, so I offered a “guest Friday Fiction”. It’s a silly and short stand alone story, but I hope it’ll tide you over until the next official instalment. Enjoy!

The problem with startling a shaman like Ilarra is that she tended to react explosively-which was to say, with lightning.

The problem with not startling a shaman like Ilarra was that her partner Malina was a rogue, and she tended to do it without meaning to. Let’s face it, a draenei is not used to dealing with stealth. Hooves just make noise on things in a way that human feet do not.

The issue that plagued their career together (oh Light, that time in Scarlet Monastary!) had ironically, also been the one to start it…

Ilarra and Malina had both been hired by the same woman, a notoriously tempermental mercenary named Lyestra. “I need you to do a few things for me,” she’d said to Malina. “There’s a particular regular in a particular tavern in Stormwind that carrys out some shady deals I need information on. He passes off an identical packet of papers every time. Do you think you could exchange his papers for a similar, but blank, set even in the middle of a bunch of people?”

Malina snorted. “What, do you think I only pick the pockets of solitary people in empty rooms? Of course. It’s easier that way, actually, but why not get him out on the street?”

“He comes in a different way every time-and has guards with him. They stay outside the tavern, though. The owner hates weapons in his bar.”

Malina frowned. “I should be able to handle it. What the hell is she here for?” The human woman jerked a thumb at the pale, willowy draenei.

“Ah, she’s a shaman I picked up. I’ve yet to meet a rogue who wasn’t damned near suicidal, so she’ll be along with to make sure you don’t die. Somehow.”

The frown deepened to a scowl, but the shaman just shrugged. “Hey, don’t screw up and I’ll be getting paid for nothing. This works for me.”

Malina glanced up at the Kaldorei warrior and debating arguing about it. On second thought, arguing with a woman who looked like she could snap you in half might not be wise, even if she could get in a good cheap shot first. She may have enjoyed a risk or two, but she wasn’t that suicidal.

The problem wasn’t with the initial switch-they’d come in the night before and watched the guy’s switch, so Malina knew what she needed to do. For all the man’s paranoia outside, with the shaman’s help it had been easy to set up a ruse. Ilarra had drunkenly stumped into Malina, and Malina had drunkenly fallen into his lap. “Well hello there. I don’t know how I got here, but I’m not complaining!”

But the time he had irritably shoved her out of his lap, the switch had been made. He didn’t notice. They lingered for a few minutes, pretending to flirt with the bartender. They may or may not have both done a poor job of merely pretending to drink, which may have had an impact on the events that followed.

Malina, ever the opportunist and possessed of a petty streak, decided to lighten the pocket of a man who’d leered at her too hard. He didn’t catch her at it-no, he just noticed that she was close, and decided it was a brilliant idea to grab her. “Hey there, pretty thing.”

“Don’t touch me,” she said coldly, jerking her hand away and stalking off.

Or she tried to stalk off, anyway. Ilarra had been hovering nearby, unused to this kind of work, leery of hanging around their mark, and quite frankly disturbed by the drunken stares she was getting. Malina walked straight into her, causing the draenei to yelp, jump and…

…send chain lightning everywhere.

This went over about as well as could be expected. “Oh, fuck me,” Ilarra said. Cuss words in a foreign tongue always came so easily to her lips.

Malina did what most panicked rogues tried to do, which was vanish out of sight. She bolted for the door, a wide-eyed draenei behind her as patrons jumped up angrily. “Slow them!” She hissed.

Ilarra snatched a chair right out from under someone and flung it at the angry, drunken fools stumbling for them.

“Not that way!”

“Oh,” came the belated reply. She glanced over her shoulder and made a strange gesture with her hands. Somehow or other, the people behind them slowed, and they escaped out the door together.

“Split! Meet you at Ly’s!” Malina bolted one way, Ilarra the other. The shaman actually had to leap clear over an innocent gnomish bystander, who hollered something at her and to all appearances set the draenei’s tail on fire. Literally.

When they reconvened, Ilarra was unhappily looking at a healed but tender tail. Lyestra was taking swigs out of an unmarked bottle of…whiskey, from the scent of it. “What the hell, you two,” she growled.

“What?” Malina blinked innocently. “I didn’t do anything! It was her!”

“Because you startled me!”

“Enough!” Lyestra took the packet and handed it to a man behind her-Malina’s eyes met him briefly, and one rogue acknowledged another. Hey, why couldn’t he have done it?

She’d never have an answer to that question. Small pouches of gold were handed over and the Kaldorei shooed them away. Malina pocketed her gold with a shrug and carried on her merry way. She was used to not having the answers, really, and it was fine by her. The answers were sometimes dangerous.

After awhile, she wondered why she heard the clicking sounds of hooves on cobblestones following her for several turns. “Can I help you?”

“I thought you’d need the company,” Ilarra flashed her a smile.

“Need the company? You damn near ruined it all back there!”

“But I got us out of it!”

Malina rolled her eyes. “I don’t need some lightning bolt happy shaman with me.”

“I’m not just lightning bolt happy. I can heal!”

“I don’t. Need. You.” Malina growled and decided to ignore the tag-along. She
managed this for halfway to the Auction House before the clicky-clicky-clicky noise made her snarl over her shoulder, “I told you, I don’t need-oompf!” She ran into a particular burly guy and almost bounced off.

“Hey, hey. What was that for?”

“Sorry,” she muttered. “I was telling the over-sized farm animal there that I don’t need her around and wasn’t looking where I was going.” The guys eyes narrowed and Malina started to get the sense that her apology wasn’t quite working. She started to dip into an awkward curtsy, murmuring more apologizes, when a couple of lifted wallets fell out of her inner pocket. Fuck. Hadn’t she fixed that thing?!

The guys eyes narrowed further. She scooped her her ill-gotten goods and started to book it down the street. The rogue heard, rather than saw, Ilarra scurry off down the road herself and the man’s frustrated outburst.

“I slowed him down again! See, you do need me. You can’t blame me for that.”

“Sure I can. I wouldn’t have run into him if I hadn’t been trying to make you go away.”

“Obviously it’s easier to just let me tag along rather than to try to get rid of me!” Ilarra beamed.

Malina’s palm quietly met her face. How was she possibly going to manage her work with this seven foot tall goat tagging along?

“I can use the element of air to make you attack with greater speed! You’ll be far more efficient that way!”

…she’d figure out some way.