Reliquary
- For the subzone in Scholomance, see Reliquary (Scholomance). For the subzone in Silvermoon City, see Reliquary (Silvermoon City).
 The Reliquary | |
|---|---|
 The Reliquary banner | |
| Main leader |
 High Examiner Tae'thelan Bloodwatcher |
| Secondary leaders |
 Tae'shara Bloodwatcher Remy Starminder Naleidea Rivergleam |
| Formerly |
Arlethal Sunwatcher † |
| Race(s) |
Blood elf  Nightborne  Orc  Tauren  Forsaken  Goblin  Zandalari troll  Pandaren |
| Character classes | Archaeologist, Mage, Paladin, Rogue,[1] Scout, Scholar, Warlock |
| Capital | The Reliquary |
| Base of operations | Dragonscale Basecamp, Camp Nowhere, Bloodwatcher Point, Dawnrise Expedition |
| Formerly | Sunveil Excursion, Reliquary Incursion |
| Theater of operations | Azeroth |
| Formerly | Alternate Draenor |
| Language(s) | Thalassian, Various languages |
| Affiliation | Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, Horde, Dragonscale Expedition, Algari Expedition |
| Status | Active |
| Reputation | |
| Tabard |
 |
The Reliquary is an organization dedicated to the acquisition of powerful magical artifacts and studying the past, serving as the Horde counterpart to the Alliance-aligned Explorer's League.[2] Under the leadership of High Examiner Tae'thelan Bloodwatcher, they have several archaeological dig-sites across Azeroth, while their main headquarters are located on the west side of the Royal Exchange in Silvermoon City. While predominantly a blood elven organization, the Reliquary also welcomes the other races of the Horde into its ranks.
Background
 |
This section is a lore stub. |
Foundation
The leader of the Reliquary, Tae'thelan Bloodwatcher, had spent a lifetime mastering the arts of sorcery and furthering his pursuit of magical knowledge. Gathering like-minded blood elves, he formed the Reliquary, a primarily blood elven (but nonetheless multiracial) organization to acquire powerful magical artifacts for the sin'dorei and their Horde allies. Tae'thelan maintains that such power not only should not be feared, but can be safely utilized with proper teaching, a creed he aims to instill in allies of the Reliquary. Through these moderate and controlled methods, Tae'thelan ultimately aims to free his people from their magical addiction and unite them as the proud, mighty race they once were.[3]
Accounts also make mention of an unknown council based in Silvermoon ordering the Reliquary's formal creation.[4]
Cataclysm
At the time of the Cataclysm, the Reliquary made its official debut under the leadership of High Examiner Tae'thelan Bloodwatcher. The organization sought to support its Horde allies, honor its past, and continue the task for which it was created - the acquisition of powerful magical artifacts.[5] As part of the delegation from Silvermoon City to Warchief Garrosh Hellscream,[6] Belloc Brightblade could be found as an archaeology trainer in Grommash Hold.
Opposing their dwarven counterparts of the Explorers' League, overt hostilities erupted at places like the troll ruins of Southmoon Ruins in Tanaris.[7] As the leader of the Dawnrise Expedition, Examiner Andoren Dawnrise tasked Horde heroes to kill several of the dwarf diggers[8] as well as Sandstone Golems in the Valley of the Watchers.[9] They were also interested in Ancient Hieroglyphs laying at Soutmoon[10] and in Sandstone Earthen's jewels from the Ruins of Uldum.[11] From the tablets, Andoren believed the ruins were an entrance and asked the adventurer to enter it and find anything valuable.[12] He was astonished when they recovered The Grand Tablet and described the antechamber covered in hieroglyphs.[13]
Under Tae'thelan Bloodwatcher's leadership, they discovered several titan artifacts around their dig-site in the Badlands.[14][15][16] The High Examiner later made his way to Uldaman, eager to claim the titans' secrets for his organization, and tasked Horde adventurers to defeat Ironaya and Archaedas.[17]
Interested in the demonic artifacts once hidden in the Tainted Scar, the leader of the Sunveil Excursion, Rohan Sunveil, led his subordinates of the Reliquary to practice an archaeological study in the Tainted Forest of the Blasted Lands, where they focused their work in the acquisition, cataloging, and preservation of any and all magical artifacts.[18] However, the unnatural forest threatened the Reliquary excursion's progress, as its trees' roots broke their picks, its moss grew over their excavation sites, and its animals attacked their men.[19] In order to halt the corruption and continue their study, they sent Horde adventurers kill those responsible for the corruption of the great tree Maldraz.[20]
In Deepholm, Reliquary Jes'ca Darksun uncovered the plot of the Twilight's Hammer trying to reach Uldum via the ancient titan gateway at the Twilight Terrace. She enlisted the Horde adventurers to stop them and kill their leader, Haethen Kaul.[21][22]
During Hallow's End, Delian Sunshade was involved in tracking down a mysterious crate which contained very powerful and dangerous artifacts belonging to the Reliquary.[23]
Mists of Pandaria
During the Alliance-Horde war, Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron brought the Reliquary with him to the myth-shrouded land of Pandaria, where they dispersed into multiple regions of interest. An excavation ventured to Kun-Lai Summit to discover more of the mogu, while other groups remained in Krasarang Wilds to make the most of the neighboring Explorers' League's missteps, overseen by Belloc Brightblade and Kaelis Sunsoar.[24] In the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, the Reliquary also uncovered the earliest information regarding the Divine Bell, a powerful mogu artifact Warchief Garrosh Hellscream took a deep interest in.[25]
On the Isle of Thunder, Lor'themar rallied his forces to move against the newly-returned Emperor of the mogu, Lei Shen. To this end, the Sunreaver Onslaught was formed as a Sunreaver-heavy alliance with support from the Magisters, the Farstriders, and the Reliquary, among others. According to Ryshelle Brightlock, it was imperative for them to understand the mogu's history, as the best chance for a successful offensive would come from knowledge of their enemy. In time, their researchers found more relics to study and catalog,[26] however, several runeseekers were also killed by the Korune mogu in the area.
Warlords of Draenor
During the war in Draenor, a few members of the Reliquary eventually made their way to the alternate alternate Draenor. Examiner Remy Starminder and his excavators were tasked with using this once-in-a-lifetime chance to acquire the lost artifacts of power on the continent, though this brought them into conflict with the Steamwheedle Cartel, who sought to monetize them instead.[27]
In Ashran, Examiner Rahm Flameheart and Illandria Belore discussed Harrison Jones's mission, hoping to seize the artifact before he did.
When the Ironmarch entered Azeroth through the Dark Portal, the Reliquary deserted the Sunveil Excursion in the Blasted Lands.
Legion
During the third invasion of the Burning Legion, the Reliquary set up camps all across the Broken Isles, with High Examiner Tae'thelan Bloodwatcher going to a new camp every two weeks for archaeology. At some point, Tae'thelan commissioned goblins to help the Reliquary, using a new explosive way of uncovering the artifacts.[28] The working theory was that depending on the amount of gunpowder used, it would only produce a small shock to whatever the artifact had been encased in, which proved to be efficient and sped up their process tenfold.[29]
The High Examiner also tasked Dariness the Learned to send anyone able to help him find long-lost Highborne artifacts in Azsuna,[30][31] such as the Key to Nar'thalas Academy[32] and the Starlight Beacon.[33] He later moved in Suramar, where he pursued the Orb of Sciallax, a lost relic presented by the demon lord Sciallax to the elves during the War of the Ancients,[34] and the Crown Jewels of Suramar, once used by the ruling princes and princesses of Suramar during the most formal events.[35]
Battle for Azeroth
“To think the trolls may have been sitting on the archaeological find of the millenium!”
During the Fourth War, the Reliquary arrived on Zandalar after the Horde was granted sanctuary by King Rastakhan. The expedition, led by the high examiner's daughter, Tae'shara Bloodwatcher, was a joint blood elf-nightborne effort to excavate the bones of Xibala, first of the devilsaurs and mother to the great loa Rezan. The Zandalari did not object to the elves' activities, having ceded the area to local wildlife long ago.[36] The Reliquary's blood elves have been teaching their nightborne allies the art of the dig, but some of the shal'dorei – particularly their cloistered leader, Astrandis – were rather out of their element.[37] Astrandis eventually came into conflict with the Dark Iron dwarves over the relics in the area.[38]
In Vol'dun, Nerin Solvis, a Reliquary financier, was funding and overseeing the Bilgewater Cartel's mining activities for Azerite in the region. He made it clear to his goblin associate, Merd Archfeld, that neither he nor the Reliquary was interested in Jastor Gallywix's political standing with Warchief Sylvanas Windrunner.[39]
The Reliquary's agents were later targeted by the Alliance in Vold'un. On the Cracked Coast, High Examiner Arlethal Sunwatcher was notably killed by the Alliance on Halford Wyrmbane's orders after he was considered a priority target.[40][41] At their camp near Atul'Aman, Elisa Veilsong and Daxx Bombhand were assassinated by Shandris Feathermoon and an Alliance adventurer in order to obtain Elisa's map of Reliquary sites in Vol'dun.[42] In Bonetrail Gulch, Nazlara was killed by the Alliance agents in order to obtain the orders from Arlethal Sunwatcher she was carrying.[43]
Exploring Azeroth
Following the Fourth War, the Reliquary was still present and active in the Badlands, more precisely in Uldaman, where they continued to unearth the ruins in search of ancient treasures.[44]
Dragonflight
“Explorer's League. Reliquary. These petty divisions are rendered laughable by the sheer volume of the knowledge that is to be found in these lands.”
With the re-emergence of the Dragon Isles, at the behest of the Horde, the Reliquary worked alongside the Explorer's League to form the Dragonscale Expedition,[45] respectively led by Naleidea Rivergleam and Toddy Whiskers. Despite their joint mission on uncovering various secrets and artifacts across the islands, rivalries between the Explorer's League and Reliquary endured.[46] They gathered various explorers, artisans, and scholars[47] and despite not bringing any soldiers, they were permitted to bring bodyguards, who had strict orders to assist members of the Expedition regardless of faction.[48] Some members of the expedition even brought their families with them.[49]
At the Life Vault Ruins in the Waking Shores, Examiner Tae'shara Bloodwatcher worked with both Elementalist Taiyang of the Earthen Ring, and Acadia Chistlestone of the Explorer's League, on entering the titanic vault.[50] Inside, they found several artifacts, including a draconic tablet guarded by a watcher. Once the adventurer defeated the watcher, Tae'shara and Acadia brought everything back to their camp and agreed to translate the whole manuscript together.[51]
In Azure Span, Lilial Dawnburst and her team came to Shiverweb Vale to study the ice spiders but found Primalists behind the new species. She wanted to study their corpses instead[52] as well as have her captured colleagues freed,[53] including her Explorers' League counterpart, Grungir Ironspout.[54]
In Zaralek Cavern, Aelnara and Examiner Rowe, along their companions, surveyed the Shimmering Towers with their geoscanner. They tasked heroes to take down Agitated Crystalines so they could study the material they were made of.[55]
The War Within
Following the decision to teleport Dalaran to Khaz Algar, the Reliquary continued their partnership with the Explorers' League and formed the Algari Expedition as a successor to the Dragonscale Expedition.[56]
Organization
“Those of the Explorers' League and The Reliquary are very much alike: Archaeology is our religion, yet we have both fallen from the pure faith. Our methods have not differed as much as they pretend. We are but a shadowy reflection of them. It would take only a nudge to make them like us. To push them out of the light...”
The Reliquary owns a physical vault (named the Grand Vault), though its location is a closely-guarded secret which only the highest-ranking members of the organization are privy to. Some believe it is not even on this plane of existence.[57]
According to Doranir, the Reliquary concern themselves with the immediate, and perhaps the future, rather than history and culture, which are the realm of scholars and scribes. They discover, acquire, and amass lost artifacts, wealth, and lore so that it cannot be used against them.
The Reliquary may have had a bad name in the past, but they now consider it important to maintain appearances and focus on performing acts of heroism from time to time.[58]
Most of the Horde's archaeology trainers are members of the Reliquary.
Notable members
- Main article: Reliquary members
| Name | Role(s) | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
 Tae'thelan Bloodwatcher
|
High Examiner and leader of the Reliquary | Various | Alive |
| Arlethal Sunwatcher
|
High Examiner | Cracked Coast, Vol'dun | Killable |
| Tae'shara Bloodwatcher
|
Examiner and daughter of Tae'thelan | Various | Alive |
| Belloc Brightblade
|
Archaeology trainer | Various | Alive |
| Rowe
|
Examiner | Various | Active |
| Andoren Dawnrise
|
Leader of the Dawnrise Expedition. | Various | Alive |
| Rohan Sunveil
|
High standing member of the Reliquary.[59] | Sunveil Excursion, Blasted Lands | Alive |
Notes and trivia
- The
[Reliquary Tabard] is sold by the bronze dragon Kiatke in Stormwind City and Orgrimmar. - The [Reliquary Banner] is a Dragonscale Expedition renown reward sold by Cataloger Jakes in the Waking Shores.
- Prior to Cataclysm, the Reliquary's headquarters had been unused, being simply an empty building with a few objects.
- It was initially believed that the Reliquary would hold a major presence in Uldum (early screenshots of the zone included a blood elven fleet arriving on its shores), but ultimately only Belloc Brightblade had any visible involvement.
- According to World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Game Manual, the organization was to be a reputation faction.
- Fittingly, "Reliquary" is often defined as a container of sorts for hidden and holy relics.
Speculation
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This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.
|
- Early archaeology information stated that the Reliquary's creation was at the behest of an "unknown council" based in Silvermoon. This could refer to a number of things, such as the "council" of sorts that Lor'themar Theron, Halduron Brightwing and Grand Magister Rommath hold within Sunfury Spire - or perhaps even a reborn Convocation of Silvermoon.
- Due to her title and occupation, Examiner Alerinda is presumably a member of the Reliquary.
Gallery
Old Reliquary banner in Uldaman.
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References
- ^ Belloc Brightblade
- ^ World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Game Manual, pg. 21
- ^ Tae'thelan Bloodwatcher gossip text
- ^ Archived page
- ^ http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/features/archaeology.html;jsessionid=FA7274CA6BBCD3BC32B6C97320D51603.blade24_02
- ^ Orgrimmar Grunt's gossip
- ^ [15-30] Laying Claim
- ^ [15-30] Laying Claim
- ^ [15-30] Ancient Obstacles
- ^ [15-30] Fragments of Language
- ^ [15-30] The Crumbling Past
- ^ [15-30] The Secrets of Uldum
- ^ [15-30] The Grand Tablet
- ^ [15-30] It's Not About History, It's About Power
- ^ [15-30] The Sentinel's Pawn
- ^ [15-30] The Warden's Pawn
- ^ [15-30D] The Chamber of Khaz'mul & [15-30D] Archaedas, The Ancient Stone Watcher
- ^
[Reliquary Papers]
- ^ [15-30] The Downfall of Marl Wormthorn
- ^
[15-30] The Downfall of Marl Wormthorn
- ^ [30-35] Fight Fire and Water and Air with...
- ^ [30-35] Fly Over
- ^ [1-80] Taking Precautions
- ^ [15-35 Daily] The Ruins of Ogudei
- ^ [15-35] Voice of the Gods
- ^ [32-35 Daily] Into the Crypts
- ^ Examiner Remy Starminder's negotiations with Bing Zapcrackle
- ^
[45] Goblin Archaeology
- ^ [45] Explosive Results
- ^ [45] The Reliquary Calls
- ^ [45] Echoes of My Ancestors
- ^ [45] The Keys to Success
- ^ [45] A Beacon of Hope
- ^ [45] Unspeakable Power
- ^ [45] Sifting Through the Rubble
- ^ [10-60] The Bones of Xibala
- ^ [10-60] The Bloodwatcher Legacy
- ^ [10-60] A Dark (Iron) Tide
- ^ Nerin Solvis' conversations with Merd Archfeld
- ^
[60] Full of Arrows
- ^ [60] Overseas Assassination
- ^ [60] Classic Reliquary
- ^ [60] Dirty Work
- ^ World of Warcraft: Exploring Azeroth: The Eastern Kingdoms, pg. 51
- ^ 2022-04-20, WORLD OF WARCRAFT: DRAGONFLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH JACKIE WILEY AND TINA WANG. Blizzplanet, retrieved on 2022-04-22
- ^ 2022-04-20, World of Warcraft Developers Break Down the New Dragonflight Expansion. IGN, retrieved on 2022-04-24
- ^ [10-70] Expeditionary Coordination
- ^ [10-70] Give Peace a Chance
- ^ Tyrgon#Gossip
- ^ [10-70] Let's Get Theoretical
- ^ [10-70] Beyond the Barrier
- ^ [10-70] Eight-Legged Menace
- ^ [10-70] Icy Webs
- ^ [10-70] Grungir the Explorer
- ^ [70B] Crystalline Survey
- ^ [68-70] Meet the Team
- ^ Aelnara's gossip text
- ^ [15-35 Daily] We're Not Monsters!
- ^ [Reliquary Papers]