Medivh

Medivh was the last Guardian of Tirisfal, the most powerful human mage of his age, and the man who opened the Dark Portal and let the orcs into Azeroth. Possessed from before birth by the spirit of the fallen titan Sargeras, he set the First War in motion and was killed for it by his friend Anduin Lothar and his apprentice Khadgar. Years later he returned as a nameless prophet and brought orcs, humans and night elves together to defeat Archimonde at Mount Hyjal. In Classic, his legacy shows up in the cursed tower of Karazhan in Deadwind Pass and in the legendary staff Atiesh.

Biography

The Guardian

The Guardians of Tirisfal were mages chosen by a secret council and given great power to fight the Burning Legion. Medivh's mother Aegwynn held the office for nearly a thousand years. During that time she defeated an avatar of Sargeras in Northrend, but the titan's spirit hid inside her and passed into her unborn son. Medivh inherited her power, and with it a passenger.

As a teenager, Medivh's power woke in a violent surge that left him in a coma for years (sources disagree on how long). When he recovered, he settled in the tower of Karazhan and grew more erratic. Under Sargeras's influence he reached out across the stars to the orc warlock Gul'dan on Draenor. In return for the location of the Tomb of Sargeras, Gul'dan and his Shadow Council would bring the Horde to Azeroth. Together they opened the Dark Portal in the Black Morass, in what is now the Blasted Lands.

Death in Karazhan

Aegwynn came to Karazhan to confront her son and lost. While the orcs pushed north out of the Black Morass, Medivh took on a young apprentice from Dalaran, Khadgar, and spent time with the half-orc emissary Garona. Khadgar was the first to learn the truth. He, Garona and Anduin Lothar, the King's Champion of Stormwind, led a small force into the tower. Khadgar drove Lothar's sword into Medivh's heart and Lothar struck off his head. Gul'dan, who was searching the Guardian's mind at that moment, fell into a coma.

Medivh was buried at Morgan's Plot in Deadwind Pass. The violence of his death left a curse on the tower and the valley around it.

The Prophet

Medivh's spirit, now free of Sargeras, drifted beyond the world. Aegwynn eventually brought him back, and in the years before the Third War he appeared as a cloaked prophet who could take the shape of a raven. He warned King Terenas and Archmage Antonidas, who dismissed him, and then convinced Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore to sail west to Kalimdor. There he stopped the orcs and humans from fighting each other, revealed who he was, and helped forge the alliance with Malfurion Stormrage that held Mount Hyjal until Archimonde was destroyed. Then he left, saying he would take his place among the legends of the past.

In World of Warcraft

Medivh himself does not appear in the original game, but his traces are everywhere in it.

Karazhan and Deadwind Pass

Karazhan towers over Deadwind Pass, between Duskwood and the Swamp of Sorrows. In Classic the tower is sealed. Players could wander the haunted ravine around it, but the tower itself did not open until The Burning Crusade. The Dark Portal stands silent in the Blasted Lands to the southeast.

Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian

Medivh's staff came back in patch 1.11 as a legendary weapon for mages, warlocks, priests and druids, assembled through a long quest line tied to Naxxramas:

1. Monsters in Naxxramas drop the [[forever:item:22726]]. Forty of them combine into the [[forever:item:22727]].
2. The frame starts [[forever:quest:9250]], which leads to Anachronos at the Caverns of Time in Tanaris. Players must be at least neutral with the Brood of Nozdormu to speak with him.
3. In [[forever:quest:9251]], Anachronos asks for the [[forever:item:22733]] from [[forever:npc:15990]] and the [[forever:item:22734]] from [[forever:npc:15727]] in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj.
4. The last step, [[forever:quest:9257]], sends the player to Stratholme to set the staff on consecrated ground and defeat [[forever:npc:16387]], the demon that has lived inside the staff since Sargeras possessed Medivh.

The finished staff can open a portal to Karazhan, which in patch 1.12 led to a tower no one could yet enter.

Medivh's library

Medivh's books survived him. [[forever:npc:16116]] of the Brotherhood of the Light, at Light's Hope Chapel in Eastern Plaguelands, says that as a Watcher she was allowed access to the Guardian's personal effects. One of his tomes gave her the design for the Frostfire armor, which she crafts for mages who bring her pieces of Naxxramas loot, starting with [[forever:quest:9095]].

Later history

The Burning Crusade opened Karazhan as a 10-player raid, with Medivh's echoes and memories throughout the tower. In the Caverns of Time, players defend a younger Medivh while he opens the Dark Portal in the Black Morass. Legion's Return to Karazhan dungeon revisited the tower and its memories of him. Medivh is also a playable hero in Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm.

Trivia

• His name means "keeper of secrets" in Thalassian.
• A black raven circles Karazhan endlessly, a nod to the shape he took as the Prophet.
• Medivh is an avid chess player, which is why Karazhan has a chess board in its Gamesman's Hall.
• Different sources describe his death differently: the first Warcraft game simply has the player slay him in his lair, while the novel The Last Guardian sets the version with Khadgar, Lothar and Garona that later sources follow.

Sources

• Medivh - Warcraft Wiki
• Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian - Warcraft Wiki
• Karazhan - Warcraft Wiki