Thrall

So the new model for Thrall in Cataclysm intrigued me:

http://www.wowhead.com/npc=45042

Not so much because it's Thrall wearing robes, but because its basic structure is incredibly similar to the orc player model.  The intriguing part is that he has a higher polygon count and higher resolution skin that the orc player models.  Made me wonder if they were going to update the orc player models to match (since they've been talking about it).

In patch 4.2, Thrall is getting yet another model update:

http://us.media1.battle.net/cms/gallery/MAP0RX8NCYAS1304014972748.jpg

Well, this is new, Daraman thought as he stared down at the brain.

It wasn't the fact that it was a brain that was new, he had seen plenty of those before.  It wasn't the fact that it was still in the skull, he had seen that before, too.  No, it was the fact that he was inside the skull, and this brain was still alive!  He was standing inside Nespirah, a giant...crusteacean, of sorts, with another tauren, this one of the Earthen Ring, staring down at the largest brain Daraman had ever seen, alive or dead.  The brain was covered in arcs of lightening that danced and played across it's massive, wrinkled surface, adding a strange light to the room, and for the thirtieth time that day, the death knight wondered why he didn't just use his hearthstone and leave this madness behind.  With a heavy sigh, he knew exactly why he stayed.  His Warchief had called him to action.

I was numb when I made the “show of faith”.

With the weight of my master’s betrayal, and the days of grueling combat still heavy on my soul, I did as ordered; I rode through the streets of Orgrimmar to deliver myself into the hands of the Horde.

The 28th day of the seventh month of the year 27

“I found the Spirit of the Air. But I wasn’t able to get its blessing.”

No… it threw you from the Colossals.

“I didn’t answer its questions right. I didn’t convince it that I had a real purpose.”

Foolish child.

“But I think I know what I did wrong.

(( Thrall, Warchief of the Horde, dies))

Act VII: The Calm Before the Storm

Late night, on the border of Ashenvale and Azshara

Morning over Desolace.

The sun's rays crept over the eastern mountains that sheltered Shadowprey Village, bringing the fishing village to life. The orcs, trolls, and few tauren that lived here rose to meet the morning, and the work that it brought. One orc in particular was studiously avoided by the rest of the inhabitants of the village. This orc was larger than most, and from it's armor, obsessed with the colour red.

Gorguutz 'ead'unta sniffed the air and stretched his arms, hearing a sickening yet satisfying pop from his shoulders. He looked around, smiling a toothy grin at the town he'd adopted as his own, for the time being at least. It had everything an orc like Gorguutz could want. Fresh air, plentiful meat, hostile forces nearby just begging to be slaughtered on a daily basis, and best of all...

Funny how with traveling companions, the longest journey seems to pass so easily. 

“Welcome to Orgrimmar, have you come to serve the Horde?”

“No, you green-skinned savage, I have come here to murder you and exterminate your species and remove all evidence of them from my world!  You are the cause of all our suffering, and the reason I am an outcast monster!”