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Varian Wrynn is the King of Stormwind, son of King Llane and father of Anduin Wrynn. In Classic he is the most important character who never appears: he has vanished on a diplomatic voyage, his young son wears the crown, and the dragon Onyxia rules the court in disguise. Several of the Alliance's longest quest chains are built around the hole he leaves behind.
Biography
Varian was a boy when the orcs of the First War sacked Stormwind and his father, King Llane, was assassinated by the half-orc Garona. Anduin Lothar carried him to safety in Lordaeron, where he grew up at the court of King Terenas alongside Prince Arthas Menethil, who became a close friend. After the Second War Varian returned to rule the rebuilt kingdom of Stormwind.
His reign went badly. Stormwind's nobles refused to pay the Stonemasons' Guild that had rebuilt the city, and in the riot that followed Varian's wife, Queen Tiffin, was killed by a thrown rock. Varian punished the masons harshly, and the survivors fled to Westfall to become the Defias Brotherhood.
After the Third War, Varian set sail for Theramore to meet Jaina Proudmoore about relations with Thrall's new Horde. He never arrived.
In World of Warcraft
In Classic, King Varian is gone, and the game treats his absence as a mystery players slowly uncover:
- The empty throne. In Stormwind Keep, the boy king Anduin Wrynn sits with the regent, Highlord Highlord Bolvar Fordragon, and the royal advisor Lady Katrana Prestor. Low-level players who finish the Defias quests in Westfall are sent to deliver a report to King Varian in An Audience with the King, only to be told that the king is "away on a diplomatic mission."
- The Missing Diplomat. This level 28-38 chain begins with a rumor that a diplomat bound for Theramore has disappeared. In Menethil Harbor a Defias informant finally tells the truth in The Missing Diplomat: the Defias did not take a diplomat, they took the king of Stormwind, and others were involved too. The chain ends with Jaina Proudmoore in Theramore after players unmask a traitor among her soldiers.
- The Great Masquerade. At level 60, the Onyxia attunement chain reveals who benefited from Varian's disappearance. Marshal Windsor, rescued from Blackrock Depths in Jail Break!, walks into Stormwind Keep in The Great Masquerade and exposes Lady Prestor as Onyxia, the daughter of Deathwing. She has been using magic to control Bolvar and keep Stormwind from acting against the black dragonflight.
The game's data does include a Varian Wrynn with the subtitle "King of Stormwind," but in Classic he has no spawn point in the world.
The Onyxia plot
The full story was told in World of Warcraft: The Comic (2007-2009). The Defias delivered Varian to Onyxia on Alcaz Island off the coast of Dustwallow Marsh. There, her magic split Varian into two people. One half kept his will and fighting skill but lost his memory. The other kept his memories and manners but was easy for Onyxia to control.
The amnesiac half washed up in Durotar, was enslaved as a gladiator by the orc shaman Rehgar Earthfury, and won fame in the arena under the name Lo'Gosh, "ghost wolf." With the druid Broll Bearmantle and the blood elf rogue Valeera Sanguinar he worked his way to Theramore, where Jaina helped him learn who he was. Meanwhile the other half was "ransomed" back to Stormwind, where he proved a weak and agreeable king who doted on Lady Prestor.
Lo'Gosh, with help from Magni Bronzebeard, Bolvar and Marshal Windsor, exposed Onyxia in Stormwind Keep. The dragon kidnapped Anduin and retreated to Onyxia's Lair, where the two Varians fought her together and merged back into one man. Varian killed Onyxia himself. Prestor's legacy shows up in Classic loot too: [Prestor's Talisman of Connivery] drops from Nefarian in Blackwing Lair.
Later history
Varian returned to the game with a new model in patch 3.0.2 (October 2008), just before Wrath of the Lich King. In that expansion he leads the Alliance's attack on the Undercity after the Forsaken betray both factions at the Wrath Gate, and he joins the war against the Lich King in Icecrown.
He carries the sword Shalamayne, made from two blades, and mistrusts the Horde for most of the next several years, though he slowly comes to respect Thrall and later Vol'jin. At the start of Legion (2016), Varian leads the Alliance at the Broken Shore and dies holding off the Burning Legion so his soldiers can escape. Anduin becomes king after him.
Trivia
- "Lo'Gosh" is the name of an ancient wolf demigod. The tauren elder Hamuul Runetotem tells Varian the legend in the comic.
- In Classic, the Defias quest An Audience with the King still names Varian as the recipient of the report, which is often the first time low-level Alliance players learn that the king is missing.
Sources
Categories: Characters