Temple of the Damned
- For the Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Human campaign mission of the same name, see The Temple of the Damned (WC1 Human).
Temples of the Damned are unholy structures used to channel necromantic[1] or demonic energies,[2] first used by the Horde and later the Scourge. The Horde constructed their temples, known in Orcish as Grombolar ("bowels of the giant"), from the skeletons of the extinct colossals of Draenor.[3][4]
First War
- Main article: Temple (WC1 Orc)
Temples served as the unholy places where orcs came to make sacrifices to their gods, and where the necromancers of the land gathered to invoke the will of their dark masters. They were the only places where necrolytes could be recruited, which originally required a blood offering that was later replaced by one of gold. The immense, sacrificial altars used in the necrolytes' rituals had to be built of blackroot, which in turn had to be located and specially prepared at lumber mills.[5]
A specific site called the Temple of the Damned was a walled orc base mostly composed of temples constructed deep within the Black Morass. It served as one of Blackhand's darkest seats of power until it was destroyed by Stormwind during the First War.[6]
An orcish temple.
The Temple of the Damned (upper center) on the Azeroth map of the First War.
The region of the Temple of the Damned during the First War.
Second War
- Main article: Temple of the Damned (Warcraft II)
During the Second War, Gul'dan created Temples of the Damned from the petrified carcasses of colossals to house his blasphemous death knights. These cabalistic dwellings of the dead contained subterranean labyrinths and fetid halls where the death knights dwelled and studied their necromancy on fallen warriors reaped from the battlefields above.[3]
On Draenor, some temples were used as seats of power for orders of death knights.[7]
Third War
- Main article: Temple of the Damned (Warcraft III)
Once used by the Orcish Horde to channel demonic energies, the Scourge reclaimed this powerful edifice. From the Temple, the insidious necromancers emerge to animate fallen corpses and the tormented spirits of the banshees are called into service.[2]
Considering the orcish Temples of the Damned were all destroyed during the Second War,[4] it is unknown how the Scourge reclaimed these edifices and if they are still made from colossal skeletons.
World of Warcraft
The Undercity's Magic Quarter has a Temple of the Damned[1][8][9] which houses most of the city's mage and warlock trainers.
Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans
In the canceled Warcraft Adventures, a Temple of the Damned was situated in the abandoned ruins of Grim Batol. The bottom of the pitch-dark temple was occupied by a sleeping death knight. Thrall defeated him by teleporting him to a nearby swamp where a tentacled monster ate him, allowing him to steal a scroll of Decay from the temple.
Notes and trivia
- On Draenor, the Thunderlord clan constructed their settlements from colossal skeletons,[10][11] which can be viewed as a precursor to the Temples of the Damned.
- One such settlement, Colossal's Fall, was named "Grombolash" during the Warlords of Draenor beta, which is similar to the word Grombolar. Out-of-universe, the Temple of the Damned backstory from Warcraft II likely inspired the design of the Thunderlord cities in Warlords of Draenor.
- One of the boulders of the Warcraft II temple features an easter egg in the form of a Triforce symbol from the The Legend of Zelda series.
Gallery
Grim Batol in Warcraft Adventures, with the Temple of the Damned on the left.
Entrance in Warcraft Adventures.
Interior in Warcraft Adventures.
Interior in Warcraft Adventures.
Interior in Warcraft Adventures.
Warcraft III alpha screenshot.
A temple in Warcraft III: Classic.
Interior of the Magic Quarter's temple in World of Warcraft.
References
- ^ a b Ultimate Visual Guide, pg. 142: "[The Magic Quarter] also features a Temple of the Damned—an unholy structure used to channel necromantic energies."
- ^ a b Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Game Manual, Undead Structures, Temple of the Damned
- ^ a b Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, Orc Buildings, Temple of the Damned
- ^ a b World of Warcraft: The Magazine Volume 2 Issue 1
- ^ Warcraft: Orcs & Humans manual, Orcish Horde of the First War, Temple
- ^ The Temple of the Damned (WC1 Human)
- ^ Slayer of the Shadowmoon (WC2 Orc), The Heart of Evil (WC2 Human)
- ^ Lands of Conflict, pg. 107
- ^ World of Warcraft: Game Manual, pg. 189
- ^ Warlords of Draenor Zone Preview: Frostfire Ridge: "Thunder's Fall and Colossal's Fall. These two cities are home to the Thunderlord clan and are formed in the bones of dead colossi."
- ^ Characters of Warcraft: Fenris Wolfbrother: "Fenris and the rest of the Thunderlords claim the icy expanse of Frostfire Ridge as their territory, constructing their hunting halls from the gigantic bones of long-dead colossals."