I leave them to their task and head north, traveling among the frost-encrusted bones of other mighty dragons while those who have been successfully reanimated by the Scourge circle overhead. Soon I arrive at the Court of Skulls, which lies between Fordragon Hold and Kor’Kron Vanguard, where the Alliance and Horde have established their respective bases. At the top of the Court’s two enormous flights of steps sits Angrathar the Wrath Gate, entrance to the Icecrown Citadel, where Arthas the Lich King sits on his Frozen Throne and commands the Scourge to do his bidding. (He wasn’t always a bad guy; read “Once There Was a Prince Named Arthas…” to learn more.)

Shore Leave. A new Death Knight teleports to the ground from a floating necropolis, ready to do Arthas' bidding.

Realizing that Arthas’ efforts could doom them all, the Horde and the Alliance have set aside their differences and joined forces to battle the Scourge on the Court steps, trying to soften their defenses. The ultimate goal is to assault Icecrown Citadel and defeat Arthas, but I have a bit more questing to do before I’ll be able to join that fight. In the meantime, I thought this was the perfect spot to meet production director J. Allen Brack and discuss the latest World of Warcraft expansion pack.

“Arthas makes his presence felt from the beginning, so players know why they’re in Northrend.”

- J. Allen Brack, production director

“Northrend was always planned as part of the game,” Brack explains. “Before it shipped, we had Northrend zones that were cut, but we wanted to go back to it in the future. We know fans will be excited to see what has happened to Arthas.”

Welcome to Dragonblight. Overlord Agmar is in charge of Agmar's Hammer, a key refuge for Horde players.

He’s Always There

Right now, there’s no sign of Arthas, although the Wrath Gate is a formidable reminder of his unseen influence. Complete the Return to Angrathar quest, available at the end of both Horde and Alliance quest lines, to see the Gate open and catch one of several glimpses of this impressive enemy.

“Arthas makes his presence felt from the beginning, so players know why they’re in Northrend,” Brack remarks. “That came out of player feedback from The Burning Crusade, where we made Outland ruler Illidan Stormrage a major boss, but few players got to interact with him.”

Court of Skulls. Don’t get too close to that reanimated dragon, unless you’re really, really high level.

But will the combined Horde and Alliance forces be able to defeat Arthas? Brack can only respond: “He will be in a future content patch, where you get to fight him. We don’t know if he will die or get away, or what will happen, but players know we don’t mind killing off our boss characters.”

In the meantime, Northrend offers 11 zones full of quests, creatures, and treasure for characters level 68 and higher, although anyone can travel there and explore its forests, hills, fire-blasted wastelands, and frozen tundra. You’ll also come across several five-, 10-, and 25-character raids full of epic battles and major monsters, such as Azjol-Nerub, home of the Nerubians, a spider-like race was last seen in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

“We want to build off the established lore to create a seamless world. This world is so rich that there’s never enough time to tell all the stories.”

- J. Allen Brack, production director

Not Just Another Death Knight

Wrath of the Lich King also introduces the game’s first hero class, the Death Knight. Arthas was a human paladin before he became a Death Knight and later merged with the previous Lich King, Ner’zhul, and now you can experience the first part of that journey, as long as you have a character at 55th level or higher. Your newly-minted Death Knights can be members of any race.

Arthas Isn’t Available Right Now. Fearsome creatures guard Angrathar the Wrath Gate.

While Death Knights begin their careers “doing Arthas’ bidding and doing terrible things,” says Brack, “eventually you throw off his yoke and become your own character.” At that point, you become aligned with either the Horde or the Alliance, depending on the race you originally selected.

Thus even the Death Knights’ exploits tie into the expansion pack’s theme: with great power comes great responsibility. “The Lich King is a guy who got power and became corrupt through it,” Brack says. “Players work toward defeating that.” He also points out that each of Northrend’s zones has a story with a beginning, middle, and end — “We did a better job of that this time around,” he says.

Beware the Nerubians. When Horde players first arrive in Northrend, they undertake many quests around Warsong Hold.

Ways For the Story To Go

Azeroth is a place with a rich history, one that the developers at Blizzard have only begun to explore, despite creating a trilogy of real-time strategy games and their two expansion packs, as well as the original World of Warcraft and its two expansions. “There are ways for the story to go,” says Brack, “but we wait for player reactions to the new content first.”

He adds: “We want to build off the established lore to create a seamless world. We’ve dropped hints about bosses or events that players haven’t experienced yet, so there’s a lot we can do. This world is so rich that there’s never enough time to tell all the stories. We have characters from Warcraft II and III who we haven’t revisited yet.”

If you liked this game, check out:

• Fable
• Neverwinter Nights 2
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online