Guild Canon: The contents of this page are considered canon within Cobalt Company's "RP bubble". Guild canon may go beyond official WoW canon and is usually inspired by and extrapolated from it. However, guild canon will not contradict official canon.
This page includes guild lore regarding worgen, as well as Gilnean history and culture.
Physiology
Worgen are not truly a race, but humans who have been afflicted with the Worgen Curse. This alters their biology significantly. In their human forms, worgen are almost entirely like other humans, with all the weaknesses and frailties they would normally possess. They are also susceptible to the wolfsbane plant, which is deadly to worgen even in human form.
Worgen in their bestial form gain many significant advantages over humans. They are stronger and faster, even able to match horse speeds. They gain a youthful vigor and the pains and ailments of age seem to vanish. Their senses of sight, smell, and hearing grow incredibly sharp. They can see and hear much farther than they ever could before. Perhaps their strongest sense is smell, as good as (if not better than) any canine's.
Reproduction
There are only three known ways to create new worgen. The Scythe of Elune can deliver the curse, but possibly only to druids who have already embraced the Pack Form. The most common method is through the bite of an existing worgen. This used to cause near instant transformation, but in contemporary times the curse has become diluted and transformation can take hours or days. Finally, a lesser known means is by drinking the blood of a worgen.
Being worgen is a curse, not a genetic trait. A worgen siring or giving birth to natural offspring would not pass on the curse. Such a child would be born a normal human.
History
The Travelers
Among the peoples of the Arathi existed a tribe that had never truly integrated into Arathorian culture. They were Travelers: nomadic clans sharing a similar commerce-based culture that lived primarily in caravans and boats, moving from place to place but never calling any of them home. To the Travelers, home was where your family was. This made them a tight-knit people without must trust to spare for outsiders. That lack of trust usually went two ways, as the Travelers were typically viewed as parasites, taking what they wanted and moving on before facing consequences. All the same, they often brought exotic wares with them wherever they traveled, so there was always someone willing to pay and put food in the Travelers' bellies.
After the Trolls Wars, the Empire of Arathor began a period of expansion over the next few centuries. New city-states were established, among them Lordaeron and Dalaran. It was also during this time that the new faith, the Holy Light, was spreading and changing the world. The Travelers were firm adherents to the Old Ways, valuing their ties to the land and waters that sustained them on their journeys. To them, the Light threatened to seduce their people away and strip them of their cultural roots.
Many of the clans came to feel roots might be the solution to their problem. There were new lands being settled, full of resources that the outsiders would undoubtedly keep for themselves, leaving the Travelers to scavenge and haggle just to survive. But if the Travelers had their own land, they wouldn't be so vulnerable. The problem was how to prevent any land they claimed from being taken from them.
The Founding of Gilneas
No one knew the land like the Travelers, and it wasn't long before they determined an ideal place to settle: a peninsular region south of Dalaran. Being a peninsula, they could more defend entry by land. There was plenty of coastline, but only so many useful coves and bays, and the waters around the land were full of treacherous reefs. More than a few seafaring Travelers already knew how to navigate the dangerous coast. Their mistrust of the outsiders meant that, even in settling down, they enjoyed their isolation and only fully trusted their own.
They built a series of harbors, quickly establishing their importance as a major center of trade with the rest of Arathor. Many new villages and hamlets appeared as the Travelers left their nomadic ways behind, building permanent settlements. Their holy people turned their affinity for the natural world toward aiding the farmers, further bolstering the prosperity of this new nation of Gilneas.
Not all Gilneans were able to fully give up their traveling ways. Plenty remained traveling merchants, both within and beyond Gilneas. Their maritime presence grew strong, and many of their sailors developed an even stronger affinity for the sea. While the land gave Gilneas harvest-witches, the sea offered its own whispered promises: a mystery that would only be solved by the Gilnean explorers that eventually founded the island nation of Kul Tiras.
An Independent Nation
When Arathor fractured, Gilneas remained strong and was more than happy to claim its independence. By that time, Kul Tiras was no longer a Gilnean colony, and had come to dominate the seas. Unable to compete with their cousin nation, Gilneas focused on developing its mercantile and military capabilities. Only Alterac to rival their strength, but the two kingdoms were allies, frequently combining forces to explore the south, which eventually led to first contact with the dwarves and gnomes.
Unlike with Alterac, Gilneas maintained a constant rivalry with Lordaeron. Many Gilneans felt that Lordaeronians looked down on them, and tried to spread their Light-worship were it wasn't wanted. In time, the worship of the Light gradually did spread into Gilneas, but they never abandoned the Old Ways, many Gilneans following both religions.
When King Archibald Greymane came to power, Gilneas stepped into an industrial age that launched them forward as a formidable power in the Eastern Kingdoms. Even as smoke filled the air, darkening the land, the heart of Gilneas beat stronger than ever.
Strained Alliances
When the Second War came, Gilneas initially resisted calls for forging an alliance. They valued their independence and feared losing it by unifying with other kingdoms. But a desire to maintain good trade relations led to King Genn Greymane committing some token forces to the war effort. In the aftermath of the war, Gilneas called for the extermination of the orcs. The Alliance of Lordaeron's decision to intern them in camps soured relations. When Gilneas refused to fund the construction of Nethergarde Keep, tensions reached a turning point that slowly drove Gilneas away from the Alliance.
The breaking point came when Quel'thalas left the Alliance and Thrall liberated the orcish internment camps. Gilneas severed its ties with the Alliance and King Greymane ordered the construction of a mighty wall that would protect Gilneas from future attack.
[MORE TO COME]
Culture
Language
While the primary language spoken in Gilneas is Common, there are certain words and expressions that originate there.
- light of the new moon — Gilneans do not outright worship the white moon as night elves do, but it still figures prominently in their ancient traditions and rituals. Curiously, the most common expression related to the moon refers to the new moon, when it is dark. The "light of the new moon" is a symbolic reference to hope and having faith in that which may not be obvious.
- stubborn as a Gilnean rose — The Gilnean rose does not grow from a bush, but as a ground cover plant with its thorns buried underground in the root system. This helps to protect the plant from burrowing animals, and also makes them nearly impossible to uproot. To many, the Gilnean rose is a symbol for Gilneans in general: stubborn, rooted in place, with no interest in anything outside their own habitat, but able to endure storms and survive most anything. To call someone "stubborn as a Gilnean rose" is an expression of mingled annoyance and respect.
The Old Ways
In the days when humans were grouped into various tribes, most followed belief systems rooted in nature, their holy people practicing primitive forms of druidism and shamanism. In time, the worship of the Holy Light and the use of arcane magic would replace these ancient religions. However, Gilneas was relatively isolated and clung to many of its ancestral practices even as the Light spread among the population. These practices would become known as the Old Ways.
The holy persons of the Old Ways became known as "harvest-witches". This term originated from Lordaeronians who viewed their "primitive" religion disdainfully. Gilneans defiantly adopted the term, using it with affection for their Old Ways priesthood. (See below for more details on harvest-witches).
Despite the prevalence of the Church of the Holy Light, the Old Ways persevered. Gilneans generally see no incompatibility between the teachings of the Light and the Old Ways, and many follow both. However, over time the Old Ways became less of a religious practice to most and more of a cultural one.
The Old Ways are fairly practical in nature, teaching about the symbiotic relationship between the people and the land. One should respect the wilds both for their danger and the sustenance they can provide. Followers of the Old Ways also learn the importance of tending to the earth under their care.
Herbal lore is an important part of the Old Ways. Many followers are skilled herbalists and botanists, as well as farmers, foresters, and other people of the land. Plants are used to create medicines and charms. An Old Ways practitioner can often be identified by simple talismans woven from plant fibers.
Harvest-witches
Harvest-witches are the spiritual leaders of the Old Ways religion. In the earliest days of the tribe that would eventually become Gilneas, this priesthood learned the ways of the wilds and the spirits that resided there, particularly those of the flora. They would coax the spirits to provide greater bounty for the tribe's gatherers. When they discovered agriculture, the harvest-witches became essential to ensuring farms thrived.
Harvest-witches organize into covens — groups of varying size that look after the land where they reside. Most covens stay in contact with one another, understanding that what affects one region can easily affect others. The most inter-coven blending occurs during religious celebrations like festivals and sacred rites.
After the coming of the Light, harvest-witches gradually lost much of their previous social standing. Some even started to view them as relics and the witches largely retreated to secluded covens. But after the Greymane Wall was constructed, Gilneas suffered a famine that could have decimated the kingdom. The harvest-witches emerged and called on the earth's blessings to restore the harvest. They quite literally saved Gilneas from starvation. This act restored the reputation of the harvest-witches in the public's mind, and reverence for the Old Ways has been on the rise ever since.
Harvest-witches possess some limited magical power over nature, especially plants. Not only can they encourage their growth, but they have a form of communication with them as well. Harvest-witches can commune with nature as a kind of divination, especially in places of dense flora such as a forest. Their gifts are essentially a meager form of druidism, though they lack any shapeshifting ability or the greater powers of kaldorei druids.
Rites & Festivals
There are many rituals and celebrations in the Old Ways. Major holidays of particular importance are Hallow's End, the Midsummer Fire Festival, the Feast of Winter Veil, Pilgrim's Bounty, and of course, the Harvest Festival. They value celebrations of community, union with the land, and honoring the changing of seasons. The Equinoxes of Spring and Autumn, and the Solstices of Summer and Winter are especially sacred days, each with their own associated traditions.
The influence of the Old Ways can be seen even in smaller celebrations, especially among country folk. Most fairs and festivals will have at least one merchant selling charms and talismans (which may or may not have actually been created by a harvest-witch). Harvest-witches officiate many weddings, and are often called upon when a child is born to offer blessings of the land. Similar blessings may be asked for at funerals as a deceased loved one returns to the land.
Worgen Packs
Worgen have a powerful pack instinct, much like wolves. Feral worgen will almost invariably come together to live and hunt in packs. Those bonds remain strong even after their human minds are restored, leading to formerly feral packs remaining together. Some sapient worgen are left without a pack, either because their packmates were killed, or they remain feral.
The bond with one's packmates is a powerful one, reinforced by a magical curse. The pack becomes a special kind of family. That said, not every worgen feels this need to the same degree; many have strong human inclinations toward solitude or have already formed a potent bond with non-worgen and see them as a kind of surrogate pack.
Due to the prevalence of worgen packs, they have quickly become a part of wider Gilnean culture. Individual packs have gained recognition (or notoriety) for their collective actions. The Gravehowl Pack, for instance, earned an heroic reputation, as it was instrumental in aiding King Greymane and Darius Crowley during the Forsaken invasion and evacuation.