Cover (FINAL)

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REVIEWS

“As a personal opinion I recommend reading the comic, … even reminded me of Blizzard comics to which we are accustomed (Crematoria, Dark Riders, introductory stories of Legion, etc …).” – Adrian Da Cuña, Guiaswow.com

“[Grimsparkle] tells stories about Warcraft that feel like a player experience. Rather than focusing on a single lore character, the story is about a raid. I can imagine my character there, even when they aren’t.” – @SiccoThermaplugg

ONLINE GALLERY

– Act I
– Act II
– Act III

Offline pdf

Wonder Works PDF (150DPI)

ACT I [CHARACTER]

Summary: The Legion’s plan to overthrow Vol’jin and start a war with the Alliance has failed. As demonic invasions become more frequent the Ironwolf Clan is discreetly sent for assignment in Dalaran. The magical city is unsettled with this controversial invitation and since the Divine Bell incident it has been a more policed city. A goblin, Grimsparkle, turns in a broken heirloom for repairs at the Wonder Works toy store and sets a chain of events in motion. The heirloom is in fact a lost artifact, stolen from a secret facility rumored to be run by gnomes and goblins.  The reappearance of this crystal attracts the attention of a dangerous exiled Pandaren, Xiaoyin Xu. The toy shop owner is brutally murdered and blame points to Grim and the Horde sparking the gnomes of Gnomeregan Forever to avenge him. They attempt to kill Grim during a goodwill concert in the city provoking a riot between Horde and Alliance causing a lockdown and both groups imprisoned in the Violet Hold while Xiaoyin escapes to Gnomeregan for reasons unknown… [top]

Act II [ CRISIS ]

Summary: The Kirin Tor restores order and interrogates both sides to discover what is going on. Guldanna refuses to help, feeling betrayed by Khadgar, until he reveals they were able to resurrect Grim using his expiring soulstone. After reviewing new evidence at the inquiry, they send a team to Pandaria for more information on this mysterious Pandaren who disappeared.

They discover from Taran Zhu that he was the only criminal sentenced but not executed for the crime of practicing dark magic some twelve years ago. Taran Zhu shares the story of Yesheng Cloudbrew and offers to assist them in setting things right as a matter of honor. The team returns only to find both sides still accusing each other of treachery. Things seem at an impasse when Khadgar’s team is able to decipher a Legion communications crystal which they have been working on. It depicts Khadgar in the future warning about a Legion attack led by the Pandaren armed with a powerful weapon capable of transmuting elements into flesh and destabilizing the foundations of Dalaran. The message ends tragically with the fall of Dalaran and an urgent charge to work together or face a similar fate.

Steeled in the light of (future) events, Guldanna agrees reluctantly to work with Forbidra and form a raid into Gnomeregan to stop the Pandaren from reaching his goal. They fight their way past Ressa’s Leper gnomes only to find a new foe lurking near the reactor. Xiaoyin uses this to his advantage to gain access to the rainbow access level teleport and escape. The raid, surrounded, uses Guldanna’s unorthodox but effective ‘goblin toss’ to access the portal generator and pursue Xiaoyin into the Wonder Works itself. [top]

Act III [ CATHARSIS ]

The raid finds itself scattered on the lost isle of Malak’abim and full of danger. The very plant life is weaponized to kill the unwary and devoured by its fungal guardians. The teleport of the raid, however, managed to spare the life of Pal’a, one of the elders of the dreamvine guardians. In gratitude, he spares their lives while other members of the raid work on an antidote to neutralize the hallucenogenic qualities of the vine’s growing throughout the thick jungle.
Once reformed, the raid is taken to the edge of the jungle to the mysterious Wonder Works – a weapons factory and research lab apparently run by gnomes AND goblins together. They race into unknown danger to stop Xiaoyin and avert certain doom. [top]

 

Animated Teaser Video

SPOILERS

This story will involve Ironwolf Clan from Bleeding Hollow and several gnome-centric guilds including Gnomeregan Forever (G4), Tinkers Union, and a special appearance by Songhammer.

Who is Xiaoyin Xu?

A substory relates to the origin of a major villain, Xiaoyin Xu – the Silencer.

• The Fall of Yesheng Cloudbrew – Part 1
• The Fall of Yesheng Cloudbrew – Part 2
• The Fall of Yesheng Cloudbrew – Part 3
• The Fall of Yesheng Cloudbrew – Part 4
• The Fall of Yesheng Cloudbrew – Part 5

WHOA, WHOA, WHOA – PANDAREN WARLOCKS?

The villain, Xiaoyin Xu, is a Pandaren Warlock – not Blizzard canon, yet. The inspiration came from Lo Pan from Big Trouble, Little China and Sho Nuf from The Last Dragon. Pandaren Warlocks blending more martial arts into their spellcasting, similar to the original Mistweaver/Fistweaver design. There’s extensive discussion about philosophy in two sections of the story and along the quest chain I wrote as a lead into the Pandaren Warlock subclass, the Jing-Xi:

 

• Who Were the Jing-Xi?
• Jing-Xi Quests

EARLY DRAFT CONCEPT

An earlier draft concept was called Tales from the Laundromat. If you’re interested in reading what was written, click here: Tales from the Laundromat

How Does this fit into Legion or the other comic book?

Ironwolf Comic Shadows of the Legion takes place during 6.2 and before the Legion Invasions pre-event. This story takes place a few months later, as the invasions are becoming more frequent and worry leads to action. Dalaran is re-positioned from Northrend to Deadwind Pass during the story.

Additional Articles

• Arcane Prisons – How Do They Work?
• Message in a Throttle – part 02
• The Krasarang Wangliang (Demon of Krasarang) – Part 01
• Message in a Throttle – part 01
• Who is Songhammer?
• What is ‘The Underhand’?
• What is Gearlord?
• Malaka’bim Island (The Wonder Works)
• Artifact: Heart of Theradras
• Sal Sparkle

Summary of Story

As the threat of the Legion grows with sporadic invasions, an unknown artifact surfaces in the most unlikely of places – the Wonder Works toy shop. Its reappearance triggers a series of events that threaten to topple Dalaran and help the Legion sweep across Azeroth. Two bastions of their respective factions – the Ironwolf Clan and Gnomeregan Forever must work together to unravel the secret Wonder Works factory and amusement park.

RAID OVERVIEW (ACT III)

The Raid Bosses

• The Rustmaster
• Sihad the Efreet Lord
• Ghadar (Al Khaynin) and the Fel Rift Wheel
• The Tesseract (Hall of Mirrors)
• Xiaoyin Xu
• Sicco Thermaplugg
• IR-Tx Battle module