#rpg lore

LOCATION: Internal Interview Room Gamma-3, Observation Subnet Active SUBJECT: Agent [REDACTED] INTERVIEWER: Delta Green Division – VELUM DATE: October 25th TIME: 03:19 AM

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

VELUM: Last time you spoke of memory as a battleground. This time, I want specifics. Where were you when it happened?

AGENT: (pauses) I don’t know. That’s the point.

VELUM: Then explain what you mean by "the event."

AGENT: You ever walk into a room... and freeze? Like you were about to do something, but now it’s gone? Like the universe hiccupped and dropped your thought behind a locked door?

VELUM: Yes. That’s common.

AGENT: (leans forward) No. That’s deliberate.

VELUM: You’re suggesting... intentional memory erasure?

AGENT: Not “suggesting.” I’m remembering trying to remember. Which means something’s still there.

VELUM: (quiet) Describe the sensation.

AGENT: Imagine holding a photo you’ve never seen. A family you don’t know. And still—your chest tightens. Your eyes water. You know them. But someone has torn their names out of the caption.

VELUM: Is this related to Carcosa?

AGENT: Carcosa is just one infection vector. It’s not about where. It’s about what you’re allowed to retain. You think you’ve never seen the King in Yellow? You have. But you called it something else. A panic attack. A dream. Static on an old VHS tape.

VELUM: So what did you forget?

AGENT: (whispers) That I screamed. And no sound came out.

VELUM: …Agent?

AGENT: They don’t erase to protect you. They erase to keep you useful. Because if you remembered what you saw... You’d stop being able to see at all. Your sanity wouldn’t break. It would evaporate. Like sugar in rain.

VELUM: And yet here you are.

AGENT: Am I?

(long silence)

VELUM: What would you tell other agents reading this?

AGENT: (a smile like rust) When you walk into a room and forget why… Check the ceiling. There might be a camera. Or worse— A mirror that wasn’t there yesterday.

END TRANSCRIPT

I’ve compiled a small list of many, if not all, of WoW’s non-calendar holidays below. 

Alliance Holidays

Rain Dance (Night Elf, RPG) The Rain Dance, as it’s known in common, is one of the largest festivals the night elves hold. Although details of the celebration are somewhat vague, it involves dancing in heavy rain [RPG: Lands of Mystery, pg. 11].

Remembrance Day (Human) Remembrance Day is a yearly memorial celebration that commemorates the heroes of humanity. While typically celebrated by humans, this holiday can bring in large numbers of pilgrims and other races from afar. As part of the festivities, civilians buy flags and streamers to wave in the air while children dress up as their favorite heroes. Remembrance Day officially ends with a spectacular magic fireworks display and the Honor Ceremony, during which the King of Stormwind formally gives a speech in the Valley of Heroes. The king is also accompanied during the ceremony by an Honor Delegation made up of a selection of human nobles and politicians from a variety of kingdoms across Azeroth. Jaina Proudmoore, who was the leader of Theramore at the time, was selected to be on the Honor Delegation on the Remembrance Day immediately following the Cataclysm. It is customary to greet one by saying, “Remember well” on Remembrance Day [Short Story: Blood of Our Fathers]. A more universally practiced version of this holiday could be Harvest Festival, in which members of both the Horde and Alliance honor the memory of fallen heroes [Page: Harvest Festival].

Feast of Scribes (Human) Very little is known about the practices of this holiday, assuming it even is a holiday in the first place, but it does appear to be a significant event for the mages of Dalaran in some way [The Last Guardian, Chapter Nine].

Festival of the Lake (Human, RPG) The residents of Lakeshire celebrate Festival of the Lake twice a year, once in midsummer and once in midwinter. During the summertime, the town’s inhabitants go swimming and fishing, while in the winter they ice fish, skate, and partake in hot wine [RPG: Lands of Conflict, pg. 51].

Hordefall (Human, RPG) The people of both Hillsbrad and Kul Tiras, among others, are known to celebrate Hordefall, a holiday that marks the end of the Second War. During Hordefall, locals usually engage in singing, drinking, and incinerating small orc dolls as a way of celebrating their triumph against the orcish Horde many years prior [RPG: Lands of Conflict, pg. 97, 101].

Planting & Hunting Festivals (Human, RPG) The denizens of Elwynn Forest throw rather large celebrations when they plant and harvest crops. In fact, most of the region’s holidays are organized around the planting calendar [RPG: Lands of Conflict, pg. 48].

Horde Holidays

Kosh’harg Festival (Orc) The Kosh’harg Festival, which first began somewhere between 600 and 800 years ago, is a biannual gathering in Nagrand that all orcs, both young and old, attend [Rise of the Horde, Page: Kosh’harg]. This festival has come to be known as the time when the disparate orc clans meet, put aside their rivalries with each other, and engage in friendship and revelry [World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume II, pg. 44]. The Kosh’harg is also when orc clans convene and discuss issues facing all of orckind. Very few Krosh’hargs have passed without the mention of one problem or another [World of Warcraft, Chronicle Volume II, pg. 57, 69].

The disparate tauren tribes celebrate three significant celebrations annually: Dance of the Earth Mother, Renewal of the Sun, and Kodo Drum Circle.

Dance of the Earth Mother (Tauren, RPG) During this holiday, which occurs at the start of every season, the tauren burn scented grass and herbs to help the Earth Mother ease into her new form. At this time, the tauren also consume what remains of the previous seasons’ food to usher in the new season [RPG: Horde Player’s Guide, pg. 149].

Renewal of the Sun (Tauren, RPG) Renewal of the Sun, which is held at the height of summer, celebrates the never-ending sun cycle. This holiday is considered auspicious for fresh starts and new possibilities, motivating many tauren to initiate change in their lives over the following year. During this festival, all tauren dress in shades of red and orange and even eat similarly hued foods [RPG: Horde Player’s Guide, pg. 149].

Kodo Drum Circle (Tauren, RPG) The Kodo Drum Circle pays homage to animals that the tauren have sacrificed in the last year. The tauren form a continuous drum circle that lasts a whole day and night. If the drum circle breaks before the end of the festival, it is considered a dire omen. The tauren drum to honor the animals they have slain and ask the blessing of living animals that will give their lives for the tribe in the coming year [RPG: Horde Player’s Guide, pg. 149].

Other Holidays

Rukhmar’s Grace (Arakkoa) Rukhmar’s Grace takes place during the time of year when the days are long and the sun is at its highest. At this time, all Arakkoa adherents are required to attend ceremonies and perform rites [Short Story: Apocrypha].

Based on Kalimdor population numbers from the RPG, there are approximately 20,400 night elves living on Teldrassil. Not including the World Tree and its inhabitants or the Broken Isles (since these numbers pre-date Legion lore), the population of Kalimdor and the South Seas is around 28,835. When added up, the entire night elven population of Kalimdor comes out to 49,235. Even though these numbers from the RPG aren’t canon, if they’re close to accurate, this means only approximately 41% of the night elf population on Kalimdor was lost when Darnassus burned [RPG: Lands of Mystery]. When compared to the near-extinction events the gnomes (80%) and blood elves (90%) faced during the Third War, it appears that the night elves may not have actually lost that many of their people [Website: World of Warcraft, Gnome, Website: World of Warcraft, Blood Elf]. Unfortunately, this estimate fails to take into account survivors who fled through the portal, any casualties of the war, or night elves living on the Eastern Kingdoms, which may mean that the overall loss of life resulting from the events of the War of the Thorns could be much larger or smaller than initially thought.

A short line from Elegy seems to imply that the loss of life on Teldrassil was very grave. The line reads, “The World Tree was more than a city. It was an entire land, home to countless innocents. How many night elves were elsewhere in Azeroth? Far too few. Now, they were all who remained of their people” [Elegy]. Given that the RPG is both outdated and not a source of canon lore, it’s more likely that night elves did indeed suffer very heavy losses during the War of the Thorns. However, exactly how many died is still unclear, leaving it something of a mystery.

Math and populations per zone below the cut:

In an early version of the game, Teldrassil was planted on an island off the coast of Darkshore called Kalidar [Page: Teldrassil]. The RPG, while non-canon, also indicates that there was an island there beforehand, but the island was named Teldrassil for the World Tree planted on it, not Kalidar [RPG, pg. 19]. Other sources additionally claim that Teldrassil was the only name given to the island [Wolfheart, Chapter One].

The rules of gods

1: Once dead, a god cannot live again as that is the price of such power.

(their was once a way to circumvent this but 2 Gods destroyed it and cast its pieces into the fathom)

2: Their power comes from belief.

Extra: their are four main kinds of deities.

-created: these are the gods that manafest due to mass belief in stories of powerful beings. Their power and temperament very wildly dependent on the stories that make them.

-The borne: usually the offspring of other gods these have always had their power

-forces of nature: these have some overlap with previous category but are often things that have existed for longer and are simply venerated as gods. These are some of the most potent but are also hard to reason with.

-ascended: these gods were once mortal and through their deeds and others beliefs they have gained their position. They are often the most flexible with the ability to choose Domains and even take on new ones at their whim. Though many prefer to stick with 2 or 3, some have been known to manage many more.

The rules of magic

1: magic is unpredictable and is the absence of nature's rules and consistencies, one can be the best of casters since creation and do everything right but still have a spell become horrid and turn upon its so-called master. This is why many prefer a simple sword or a big stick.

2: iron nullifies it. This is why it hurts Fey. As a result the stuff is artificially rare and highly coveted. Most metal items without specific traits to say otherwise will be made out of a non ferromagnetic alternative called Salk steel. The only source of magic to ignore this is fathom magic as it has yet to bend to the laws of this reality leading to it being the most unpredictable.

3: not a rule but instead an observation. In most cases the catalyst to turning magic into a spell or effect is intent. It's theorized that this is why magic can be docile till a thinking being is near.

P.S. The four kinds and their respective knowledge are: fathom/rune, aka unwoven under knowledge (Demonica). Given, under knowledge (Religion). Errant, under knowledge (Arcana). The oldest magics, under knowledge (Esoterica).

Fun bits of genre set dressing

it is believed that the universe and all in it wants to be lazy and balanced. The balance of a body and soul is a mind created through their union. This is why the soulless seek the sane and the bodiless seek to possess others

Shadows and reflections while linked to people are separate entities. the shadow is the hidden parts of someone and reflections are the only thing keeping you from entering the reflected world through its doors(silver backed mirrors)

Demons

In this setting demon is short for dimension traveler but most Don't get to finish introducing themselves as such before natives start freaking out due to the fact that they are often weird and wild appearances. The reason for this is that while they say they come from “other dimensions” they actually mean other realities entirely. They most often seep into these worlds from holes to the unwoven tapestry aka the fathom, the walkways between realities that are without reason and rules.

Then theirs..

The cycles of the cicada

This is a ritual cast in the 7th era that results in the fact that all dead not properly consecrated will reanimate every 3 cycles of the cicada, aka every 51 years. It is this and two other reasons why the 7th of anything is now believed to be unlucky.

As for areas there are 3 planes, each linked to one of the three aspects of being. those being, Materium plane of body, dream lands plane of mind, and Muldigulv plane of soul.

Each have their own worlds and realms within writen to be little pockets of the defined surrounded by empty space for writers to do with what they please.