A new Standard year means brand-new expansion lore to talk about!

The Year of the Gryphon is upon us, and its first expansion, Forged in the Barrens, kicks off the year-long storyline of the ever-growing conflict between Warcraft’s Alliance and Horde.

The Barrens, the dry steppe in Northern Kalimdor, lies within the heart of Horde territory — however, the region is still full of dangerous threats and mystical places to explore.

We take a look at the lore behind Barren’s legendary cards and how they depict the epic storylines of one of the most iconic World of Warcraft zones.

P.S. The article was written before we’ve learned more about the lore of Mercenaries in a recent blog post, so it contains some speculations. If you want to learn more about Mercenaries, refer to the aforementioned post!

Demon Hunter

Death Speaker Blackthorn

This particular quilboar is one of the dungeon bosses in the Razorfen Downs, one of two 5-player instances located in the Southern Barrens.

Blackthorn directly serves Charlga Razorflank, matriarch of the local quilboar, and also leads the Death’s Head cult. This cult has once been formed under the deceased lich Amnennar the Coldbringer when the quilboar allied with the Scourge to resurrect their god Agamaggan, the Great Boar.

Once players slay Blackthorn in the Razorfen Downs, Amnennar is being resurrected thanks to the vile magics of Blackthorn’s necromancy and serves as the final boss of the dungeon.

Kurtrus Ashfallen

Kurtrus Ashfallen is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon. The card’s flavor text tells us that Kurtrus once served under Illidan in the Black Temple, but left the side of the Betrayer to follow the path of revenge against Anetheron.

The Warcraft universe knows Anetheron as one of the named nathrezim — the dreadlords — who are said to be loyal to Sargeras and the Burning Legion. It will be interesting to see which business Kurtrus had with this powerful servant of the Legion, and how he wants to take revenge.

Druid

Plaguemaw the Rotting

Plaguemaw is a quest boss in the Razorfen Downs dungeon and part of an interesting story around a human called Belnistrasz.

Players have to follow Belnistrasz throughout the dungeon to clear the Razorfen of all that is evil. At the end of path waits Plaguemaw, an undead quilboar, which shouldn’t be too much of a threat to a full group of five Azerothian adventurers.

At the end of the quest, Belnistrasz unveils his true form as a member of the red dragonflight. It looks like he was in charge to restore balance within the Razorfen after the quilboar had allied with the Scourge.

Guff Runetotem

Guff Runetotem is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon.

Guff’s flavor text shows a very generic quote, not telling too much about his possible storyline. However, his last name tells us everything we need to know.

The Runetotems are one of Azeroth’s most famous tauren clans, and their leader Hamuul Runetotem still has tremendous impact on the history of the tauren people up to this day. Looking at Guff’s young appearance, he could very well be a son of Bashana, Hamuul’s daughter, and therefore Hamuul’s grandson.

Hunter

Barak Kodobane

Barak Kodobane is a centaur located in the Northern Barrens. He is a lieutenant of the Kolkar clan that has been terrorizing the Barrens for the longest time. It is said that these creatures are direct descendants of Cenarius’ son Zaetar and a gargantuan earth elemental called Theradras.

Collecting his head is part of one of the most known Barrens quest chains, and defeating him as a solo player was not easy. What was the most annoying part of killing Barak Kodobane, however, was his respawn timer.

Tavish Stormpike

Tavish Stormpike is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon.

Similar to Guff, Tavish’s flavor text in the form of a quote about serpents doesn’t tell us a whole lot — but his last name does.

The Stormpike dwarves of Azeroth are mostly known for their appearance in one of WoW’s most popular battlegrounds called Alterac Valley. Vanndar Stormpike and his dwarves try to defend what they think is their homeland close to the dwarven main city Ironforge.

And guess what — we predicted this very battleground to become the setting for 2021’s third Hearthstone expansion, so the release of Tarvish could be a good sign that we were right with our speculation!

Mage

Mordresh Fire Eye

Not much is known about Mordresh Fire Eye and his past. Death Speaker Blackthorn, leader of the Death’s Head cult, seemed to resurrect Mordresh. In return, the undead who was an orc shaman in life has been bound to protect the Razorfen Downs from intruders.

Mordresh’s encounter in the 5-player dungeon was a memorable one — mostly because he kept dancing on his bone pile while attacking the player party.

Varden Dawngrasp

Varden Dawngrasp is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon. Unlike other mercenaries, Varden’s flavor text already tells a great story: Looking at the pronouns used, it looks like Varden Dawngrasp is the first non-binary character in the Hearthstone-Warcraft universe!

There have also been rumors that Varden, Guff, and Rokara are the adult versions of the children seen together with Elise Starseeker in one of the Journey to Un’Goro trailers — however, after some confusion, there has been no confirmation coming from Blizzard officials.

Paladin

Cannonmaster Smythe

Cannonmaster Smythe, or Cannoneer Smythe, as he is called in original World of Warcraft, is a named NPC located in Northwatch Hold, an Alliance outpost on the central east coast of the Barrens.

For many Horde players, entering Northwatch Hold was the first contact with non-Horde NPCs, and it was certainly a sight to behold for level 15 characters. Once inside the keep, you had to collect medals and kill the three Alliance lieutenants. One of them is Smythe, who controls one of the cannon towers of the keep.

Cariel Roame

Cariel Roame is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon. 

Through her flavor text, we have learned that she left her outpost — Northwatch Hold, most likely — and is looking for her sister. It is highly likely that Tamsin Roame, the Warlock mercenary, is that sister, so we are definitely in for some Alliance-Horde family drama!

Priest

Serena Bloodfeather

Serena Bloodfeather is the matriarch of the Witchwing harpies. They have been terrorizing the Northern Barrens for ages, and Serena in particular has always been famous for defending her breeding area in the far northwest. A quest giver in Crossroads asks Horde players to bring her head.

Xyrella

Xyrella is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon.

Xyrella’s flavor text foreshadows an interesting story coming up with her edition of Book of Mercenaries. It says something about a naaru, a holy entity of light, and that she should find its broken body in the Barrens.

In common Warcraft lore, only few naaru are known by name, and none of them had any major points of contact with the Barrens or its history. Looking at recent Hearthstone lore and its place in the Warcraft universe, we could very well be in for a surprise in terms of canonical lore!

Rogue

Apothecary Helbrim

Helbrim is a Forsaken NPC in Crossroads, the main Horde hub in the Barrens. He is most famous for brewing up mysterious potions including local fungi spores and other exotic ingredients — which the adventurers of the Barrens usually have to bring to him.

Scabbs Cutterbutter

Scabbs Cutterbutter is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon.

It is safe to say that Scabb’s story is the most mysterious one among the mercenaries. Bandits and rogues are a rare sight in the Barrens, and his very general quote as a flavor text doesn’t give away too much as well.

Maybe the gnome rogue is in for a dirty job involving the goblins of Ratchet? We’ll only find out once his Book of Mercenaries has been released!

Shaman

Firemancer Flurgl

Firemancer Flurgl, out of all the non-mercenary legendaries, seems to be a Hearthstone-exclusive character. Most players will know this crazy murloc as one of the Battlegrounds heroes (or even a Dungeon Run boss if you look back far enough) — however, he seems to have changed professions from fungalmancy to pyromancy!

Bru’kan

Bru’kan is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon.

It looks like the old shaman plays a vital part in the general mercenaries storyline. For example, the information that Rokara is his student doesn’t only show through flavor text, but also through card art such as Conditioning.

Warlock

Neeru Fireblade

Neeru Fireblade is an orc warlock and the leader of the secret Burning Blade clan.

He played a major role in the storyline of Ragefire Chasm, the low-level Horde dungeon. The players help Thrall to thwart Neeru’s evil plans which basically involved betraying the New Horde.

During the Mists of Pandaria expansion, Neeru alongside other warlocks of Orgrimmar get executed and hanged because the mad warchief Garrosh wanted to get rid of any Horde members who worshipped demons in any way.

Tamsin Roame

Tamsin Roame is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon.

We already know that Tamsin is the sister of Cariel, the Paladin mercenary — or should we say “was”?!

Her flavor text as well as her card art hints at the fact that she is a Forsaken and member of the Horde now, which guarantees an interesting storyline between Tamsin and her sister.

Warrior

Overlord Saurfang

High Overlord Varok Saurfang is a Horde warrior and one of the greatest veterans in the long history of the Horde. He mostly resided in Orgrimmar alongside his warchief Thrall, but also fought defending Kalimdor and the Barrens.

He fought in the First, Second, and Third War, a feat that only a handful of Azerothians have achieved. To tell his whole story would require a whole article on its own.

Over the years, Varok turned from a stereotypical Horde warrior into a father mourning for his son, killed by the Lich King, seeking honorable death as his final choice in life.

During the Battle for Azeroth expansion, Saurfang played a starring role by uniting Horde and Alliance against the terrible war criminal and Horde warchief Sylvanas Windrunner. In the end, he paid with his life for it, taken by Sylvanas herself, and turned into an immortal martyr for the whole Warcraft community.

Rokara

Rokara is one of the ten mercenaries introduced during the Year of the Gryphon.

She starred in the first Forged in the Barrens teaser and has been one of the first revealed mercenaries this year. She seems to embody the archetypical young Horde warrior full of pride and honor. She also seems to be a student of Bru’kan, the Shaman mercenary.

Neutral

Mankrik

Mankrik is an orc NPC located in the Northern Barrens. Players receive a quest called “Lost in Battle” from him that wants you to find his lost wife.

Over the years, this quest became one of the most popular WoW culture references. “Where is Mankrik’s wife?” was all over Barrens’ local chat room, because the given quest text was terribly general in its description, and the internet offered much less guides or database websites back in the day.

Players eventually find Olgra, Mankrik’s wife, dead.

A decade and a half later, and just a few months ago, Olgra has been reintroduced during WoW’s Shadowlands expansion as part of the Necrolord covenant.

Shadowhunter Vol’jin

Vol’jin was the leader of the Darkspear trolls and later on became warchief of the Horde.

For the longest time, Vol’jin was the closest advisor to Warchief Thrall.

His homeland, the Echo Isles, lie south of Durotar, and that is where Thrall first met Vol’jin. Together with Cairne Bloodhoof and his tauren, they turned the Barrens into one of the most important Horde regions within Kalimdor.

Decades later, Vol’jin became warchief himself after the defeat of Garrosh Hellscream.

During the Battle for the Broken Shore, the finale of the Legion expansion, Vol’jin got badly injured, and, on his death bed and to the surprise of every Horde member, named Sylvanas Windrunner as his successor.

Two expansions later in the Shadowlands, players found out that it was Mueh’zala, the loa of death, who, in the name of the Jailer, whispered into Vol’jin’s ear to name Sylvanas as new warchief.

It is rumored that the spirit of Vol’jin — who already interacted with players in the Battle for Azeroth campaign — will make an appearance in the Shadowlands storyline yet again, showcasing the true Horde spirit (no pun intended) in the story of Azeroth’s afterlife.

Blademaster Samuro

Blademaster Samuro is a blademaster veteran of the Burning Blade clan. He first appeared in Warcraft III’s Horde bonus campaign.

Later on, Samuro became the first playable hero in Blizzard’s MOBA game Heroes of the Storm.

What many Blizzard fans don’t know that Samuro as a character is an homage to Samwise Didier, one of the senior art directors of Blizzard.

He coined the look and feel of the Warcraft and Starcraft franchise from the very beginning and, together with Chris Metzen, created Blizzard’s artistic foundation that inspires millions of fans up to this day.

Kargal Battlescar

Kargal Battlescar is an orc NPC and located at the Far Watch Post on the eastern borders of the Barrens. He is one of the first named orcs that players will encounter after they’ve crossed the river between Durotar and the Barrens, as the “zone starting quest” will lead you to him.

Kazakus, Golem Shaper

Kazakus is a Hearthstone-exclusive character and has been introduced during the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan adventure back in 2016.

His inclusion in an expansion about the Barrens is intriguing, to say the least.

Lots of rumors are being told about Kazakus’ life and his story as a leader of the Kabal. One of the most obvious theories says that Kazakus is really a dragon in disguise.

However, we don’t have any confirmation on that, and the fact that Zandalari trolls have zero relations with the ancient creatures doesn’t really support that theory.

His entry quote “I’m lookin’ for a few good mercenaries!” implies that he will play a role in the general mercenaries storyline during the Year of the Gryphon.

Looking at his past, it is a valid possibility that — after the goblin city of Gadgetzan — the goblin outpost Ratchet located on the east coast of the Barrens could be his next target of interest revolving around his alchemical evildoings!