u/Aeon_Mortuum

Are the Loa Mueh'zala and Zanza the Restless potentially ex-mortals?

Mueh'zala elevated Bwonsamdi into his station as a Loa, but this begs the question: was Mueh'zala himself also originally a mortal troll who ascended?

Likewise, for Zanza the Restless.

They're the only 3 that are visually humanoid trolls, unlike the others.

And yeah, we could assume that Loa could potentially choose any form, so they appear as mortal-like visually, but I strongly suspect that Bwonsamdi still remaining clearly troll-like post-apotheosis is a hint at Loa origins, or at least their preferred forms.

The majority of the Loa are Wild Gods and appear as animalistic which makes sense for that group. Hakkar as well (From my research, he IS classified as a Wild God, despite his proclivity for blood and sacrifice, lol?).

And then you get kinda humanoid-looking Loa like Kevo ya Siti and Lukou, though they don't appear as trolls.

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u/Aeon_Mortuum — 4 days ago

So... Who the heck is Sur'jan?

In BFA in Nazmir, there's an interesting and peculiar Zandalari troll named Sur'jan who isn't explained and I haven't seen many people discuss, I suppose because his appearance is pretty brief.

Sur'jan - NPC - World of Warcraft

He's crazy and talks to himself, which is explainable enough I guess since it's Nazmir and there's Old God corruption, but it seems like he does actually live in Nazmir and isn't a new arrival from Zuldazar, while at the same time, he isn't the average brainwashed blood troll like we see in the Nazmir villages.

We help him to "get his power back" by hunting down different creatures that he drains the power from (using blood magic, no less, if we go by the visuals in the rituals and by what he says) and find his armour, in exchange for him killing the undead dinosaur Urok (who Sur'jan knew when he was alive) that stalks the swamps so that he can finally be put to rest.

He actually keeps his word instead of double-crossing us once he's souped up on power and helps us, and then mentions another troll named "Krugah" that he wants dead and runs off.

Krugah doesn't exist on the map, but apparently is in the game files, which might be a sign that there was more story planned, but it ended up on the cutting room floor Krugah - NPC - World of Warcraft

There's also this item that never made it into playable content: Sar'jun's Torch - Item - World of Warcraft

>Use: Use Sar'jun's "purifier" to purge tainted corpses. (5 Sec Cooldown)

"Sar'jun's "special torch" seems fairly normal, aside from the dried blood covering its base."

And similarly, this spell that would summon him: Call Sar'jun - Spell - World of Warcraft

>Call Sar'jun to force a skyterror down from the skies.

The only other time Sur'jan appears again is as a background NPC later on in the Nazmir campaign, helping us + Talanji + Rokhan fight the blood trolls, so he's clearly on the same side as us.

Sur'jan makes some comments during the quest progression about watching over the life-death cycle (I'm struggling to find the exact quotes online, and it's been a while since I've done that quest chain) in Nazmir, which made me think of him as effectively being a Druid, probably native to Nazmir, but focused more on the Death aspect of rebirth than Life and being skilled in blood magic?

I haven't played on Alliance side, but I did read some on the Drust Thornspeakers, so it could be similar?

He's apparently labelled as a Shaman ingame, but he seems more like a Druid, even going by his armour. It's either that or he's a Witch Doctor, as there can be some overlap there with his practices.

u/Aeon_Mortuum — 11 days ago

Is Blizzard just incapable of writing trolls?

Every single time they do troll lore it just boils down to "so anyway, the trolls killed their Loa and apparently hate their gods and just want to use them for power".

It already started in Vanilla with the Hakkari (they captured the priests of other Loa and drained their power to fuel Hakkar), then needless to say Zul'Jin and the Amani trolls in TBC, then the Drakkari in WotLK.

BFA: Same thing again with the Blood Trolls and converted Zandalari following Gh'uun (and my girl Shadra dying AGAIN a second time??? Did they forget the player kills her in Vanilla where she's a random Elite lol?)

ShadowLands reversed the roles and Mueh'zala condemned troll souls to the Maw for the Jailer instead. Wow, peak plot twist!!!

Now in Midnight it's again trolls throwing Loa under the bus for power.

I'm a lifelong troll fan and it just grinds my gears a little bit, like there are no other stories to tell or to focus on the positive relationship with their gods for once.

Surely reusing the exact same plot line 1000 times has an end, right? RIGHT???

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u/Aeon_Mortuum — 2 months ago
▲ 32 r/DotA2

Dota 2 Merch Idea: Huskar life-sized body pillow

I think it's a good idea, will make Valve lots of money and will increase the competitive integrity of the game.

Can maybe also make it stain-resistant in case I spill coffee on it.

Thoughts?

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u/Aeon_Mortuum — 2 months ago
▲ 35 r/DotA2

Doom should have a set that removes his armour and shows as much skin as possible

He's clearly ripped, but all that clunky armour is hiding it.

Look at Night Stalker, for example.

The time of himbo Doom is long overdue. Please and thank you.

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u/Aeon_Mortuum — 3 months ago