Tess Greymane

Tess Greymane
Title	Queen of Gilneas, Shadow Formerly: Princess of Gilneas
Gender	Female
Race	Human (Humanoid)
Class	Subtlety Rogue
Resource	Energy
Affiliation(s)	Greymane clan, Kingdom of Gilneas, Alliance, Uncrowned, Dream Wardens
Occupation	Queen of Gilneas, Shadow and Champion of the Uncrowned, Assassin
Former occupation(s)	Princess of Gilneas
Location	Various
Status	Alive
Relative(s)	Genn & Mia (parents), Liam (brother), Archibald (grandfather)

“Our people are not merely worgen. We are Gilnean, as we always have been, and always will be, cursed or not.”

— Queen Tess Greymane

Tess Greymane is the Queen of Gilneas, and a member of the Greymane clan as the daughter of King Genn and Queen Mia. Once the princess of the kingdom, Tess became the rightful heir to the throne after her brother, Prince Liam, was murdered by Sylvanas Windrunner during the Battle for Gilneas City. In the course of the invasion of Gilneas, she and her people were exiled to the Howling Oak in Darnassus with the help of the night elves, until she moved with the royal family to Stormwind City. With her brother gone, she was searching for answers to questions she never thought she would ask.

By the time of the third invasion of the Burning Legion, Tess fought the demons as a member of the Uncrowned and joined the Council of Shadows, the leaders of the secret rogue organization. During the Fourth War, she and Lorna Crowley headed to Darkshore on behalf of King Genn, where they led the Gilnean forces to help the Army of the Black Moon in reclaiming their land during the Battle for Darkshore.

Over a decade after their exile, King Genn declared that the time had come to reclaim their kingdom and gave command of the operation to Tess. At the head of the Gilnean troops and their allies of the 7th Legion, she also appealed for support from the Desolate Council, the Forsaken being experts in fighting the Scarlet Crusade. Following the Reclamation of Gilneas and its capital, King Genn reaffirmed his faith in Tess and abdicated as the ruling king of Gilneas, declaring that his daughter would henceforth reign as the new queen of Gilneas, ready to lead their people towards a better future.

History

Childhood

Tess was born to Queen Mia and King Genn before Gilneas left the Alliance of Lordaeron after the Second War. Her life was later saved by a potion made by the Royal Chemist Krennan Aranas; if not for him, she would have died soon after she was born. When she was a little girl, her father told her that she was to find one beautiful thing every day and that it would make the hard days easier. Genn was also gruff with his children, and rarely told them he loved them.

Curse of the Worgen

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft manga or comics.

Tess in Curse of the Worgen.

After the Cataclysm destroyed the town of Duskhaven, Tess ventured up to her father's observatory in Greymane Manor with a single peacebloom flower. She reminded Genn the words he would tell her as a little girl, and that even among the ruined Gilneas she was able to find an unharmed peacebloom, which gave them both hope.

Cataclysm

This section concerns content related to Cataclysm.

Due to Prince Liam Greymane's death, Tess became the heir to the Gilnean throne. With her brother gone, she was searching for answers to questions she never thought she would ask.

Lord of His Pack

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

During the exodus to Darnassus, Tess and her mother, Mia Greymane, were aboard the Elune's Radiance while her father was on another ship. The fleet was hit by a powerful storm generated by the Cataclysm, and the ship started to sink. Having a leg broken during the storm, Mia could not move and Tess remained with her refusing to leave, so they both risked to drown. Genn, refusing to lose the last two members of his family, assumed the worgen form and joined the rescue efforts of the night elf sailors from his ship. After the storm, both the women reached Teldrassil safely.

Legion

This section concerns content related to Legion.

Princess Tess and Lord Darius Crowley during the prestige ceremony in Stormwind Keep.

In the aftermath of the Battle for the Broken Shore, Tess appeared on the Skyfire gunship that brought the adventurers and other wounded back to Stormwind City. If the adventurer chose to ride a gryphon to Stormwind Keep, she and Lorna Crowley would escort them on their own gryphons. While flying on the way, Tess confided to Lorna her concern about the lust for vengeance consuming her father, and Lorna stated that all Gilneans suffer from that rage, her father more than most. Though Tess concurred with her, she feared more deaths were sure to come, and Lorna grimly replied that such was the cost of vengeance and that Gilneas had waited for it long enough. When arriving at Stormwind Keep, Tess told the adventurer to give High King Anduin Wrynn their condolences for the death of his father, Varian Wrynn. The two then quickly returned to the gunship as they were needed. While Tess was then dressed in armor, it is unknown if she actually had a military role, or if it was due to formal reasons.

Afterward, Tess was seen as one of the Shadows of the Uncrowned, within the sewers of Dalaran in the secret Hall of Shadows. She sent the newest Shadow of the Uncrowned after Garona Halforcen, who had gone to Stormwind City to assassinate members of a Burning Legion cult and obtain the The Kingslayers.

She was also present alongside Lord Darius Crowley, and without her armor, when King Anduin commended the Alliance adventurer during a prestige ceremony for their battles against the Horde.

When the Uncrowned received word of a large cave at the Broken Shore, where the Legion was plotting against the Armies of Legionfall, Tess and Fleet Admiral Tethys formulated a plan to stop them. With fel-infused gun powder taken from the Blacksail Crew, Tess and the Shadowblade sneaked their way into the Lost Temple and blew the cave up. Afterwards, Tess explained that she had not yet pledged service to the Shadowblade because, while all rogues stepped into the shadows, it had been especially important that her status remained truly secret. But with the Legion's threat too great, Tess wanted to have a greater role in taking them down.

Before the Storm

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

After High King Anduin Wrynn returned from his trip to Ironforge and Netherlight Temple, he had dinner with Genn Greymane in Stormwind Keep. During the conversation, Genn urged Anduin to search for a queen to bear him a successor and suggested his own daughter, since Tess was close to Anduin's age and not some complete stranger. However, Anduin found the idea of an arranged marriage abhorrent and noted that Tess was a strong-willed woman with her own life, and who would likely not be particularly interested in the prospect of an arranged marriage either. Anduin internally reflected that he had heard all kinds of rumors about Tess' actions, suggesting that she had "taken a page or two" from Mathias Shaw, but he was unwilling to bring them up to Greymane, let alone after just having her be suggested as a bride.

Elegy

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

During the War of the Thorns, when discussing who would head to Darnassus to represent the kingdom of Gilneas, High King Anduin Wrynn suggested that Tess should go and aid their people. While her father King Genn agreed, he then stated that he did not know where she was at the time; instead leading to Queen Mia being sent instead.

Battle for Azeroth

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

Tess as a worgen in the Gilneas City version of the Emerald Dream.

During the Fourth War, Tess, alongside Lorna Crowley, headed to Darkshore on behalf of her father. There, surrounded by Gilnean Royal Guards, she aided the night elves of the Army of the Black Moon in reclaiming their land, acting as a co-commander with Lorna as they led the Gilnean forces in the region. She later stated she would not just stand by while the kaldorei needed their help, citing how her mother nearly lost her life; as well as claiming that some atrocities cannot go unanswered.

During the battle at the Gates of Orgrimmar, Tess followed her father when his forces were tasked by High King Anduin Wrynn to flank the city alongside the western gate. After they successfully captured the Orgrimmar's entrance from the Northern Barrens, she could be found sneaking on the roof of the bridge.

Following the end of the conflict, Tess wished to become a worgen so she could better know the plight of her people to better rule them when she becomes queen. While her parents were against it, they asked the night elf druid Vassandra Stormclaw to help Tess understand the worgen's plight without becoming a worgen herself. In Duskwood, Vassandra called on Goldrinn at the Twilight Glade and the Wild God put Tess into a dream scenario within the Emerald Dream. In her dream, Tess was a worgen at the time of the Forsaken Invasion of Gilneas, where she and the Gilnean champion relived the battle for Gilneas City. While she managed to kill the apparitions of Nathanos Blightcaller and Dark Ranger Thyala, she was unable to save her brother from his death and fell into the rage of the curse. After the champion defeated the Essence of Rage that she manifested, and with Goldrinn's help, Tess realized that she did not need to be a worgen to understand her people, for it was being Gilnean in spite of the curse that defined them. She later promoted the Gilnean adventurer who aided her in this journey to a member of the Greyguard, in thanks and as recognition of their contribution to Gilneas.

Shadowlands

This section concerns content related to Shadowlands.

Following the armistice of the Fourth War, Tess was present in Bashal'Aran and witnessed Tyrande Whisperwind's speech about the Horde's defeat in Darkshore.

Dragonflight

This section concerns content related to Dragonflight.

Lilian Voss, Tess Greymane, Calia Menethil, Queen Mia, and King Genn meeting in Keel Harbor.

During the war against the Primalists, Tess was amongst those who came to Alexstrasza's aid when she was attacked by Fyrakk the Blazing. In the battle that followed, she fought alongside Cenarius, Shandris Feathermoon, Maiev, and Jarod Shadowsong against Fyrakk's forces at the Field of Flames. After the death of Fyrakk, she attended the gathering at Amirdrassil when it bloomed on the Dragon Isles and could be found alongside some faction leaders, including Thrall, Baine Bloodhoof, Mayla Highmountain, Tyrande Whisperwind, Lilian Voss and Jaina Proudmoore.

As per their agreement with Calia Menethil, the Forsaken had pulled out of Gilneas. However, in their absence, the Scarlet Crusade moved into the area. Knowing precious little of the Scarlet Crusade, Tess made the choice to turn to the Forsaken for aid. In response, Lilian Voss and Calia Menethil answered and the trio devised a plan in which the Forsaken army would serve as a distraction for the Crusade, while a small strike team sneaked into the city and opened the gates for the Gilneas army. Though initially outraged at the Forsaken presence, Genn Greymane gave command of the operation to Tess, which allowed for the plan to move forward. While Tess and Voss joined the strike team, Calia gathered the Forsaken forces.

Knowing that Voss served the Crusade in life, Tess asked if she was truly all right with clashing with her former comrades. In response, Voss thanked her for asking and admitted that the Crusade meant nothing to her and that at the moment of her death, she meant nothing to them. While clashing against the Crusade, Tess had the team gather the explosives the Scarlets had gathered in order to turn the Crusade's own weapon against as a means to need to clear a way for their forces to advance. After clashing against the Crusaders within Gilneas City, the strike team was successful in opening the gates for the Gilnean army. As the Alliance forces surged forward, Tess used the explosives against the Crusades within chapel courtyard within the city. Following this, Tess was amongst those that faced off against Inquisitor Fairbell within the Light's Dawn Cathedral. With Fairbell's death, the Forsaken departed from the area, the Alliance successfully claimed Gilneas.

Tess and Genn after the Reclamation of Gilneas.

In the aftermath, Tess revealed that she noticed how Genn always hid from his pain and that she was always there for him, even though he never noticed. After acknowledging this and apologizing, Genn admitted that he found it hard to change as the world did, and that Tess had proven herself a thousand times over. Thus he made the decision to abdicate his throne in favor of making his daughter queen. While taking the time to process that her father handed the kingdom to her, she directed Alliance champions with ensuring that he was all right as he visited Liam's grave.

Locations

Location	Level range	Reaction	Notes
Greymane Manor, Gilneas[28.2, 50]	1-30	Alliance	During the worgen starting experience.
Hall of Shadows[42.8, 76.6]	10-45 Elite	Alliance Horde
Stormwind Keep, Stormwind City	10-45 Normal/Elite	Alliance	During the Legion intro and  [10-45] A Royal Audience.
Azsuna;[57.6, 63.4] Broken Shore	45 Elite	Alliance Horde	As part of the max-level Rogue Campaign.
Battle for Darkshore	50 Elite	Alliance
Bashal'Aran, Darkshore[47.6, 34.2]	50 Elite	Alliance Horde	When the Alliance controls the zone and during  [50] A New Hope.
Stormwind Keep, Stormwind City; Twilight Grove, Duskwood; Gilneas City	50-70 Elite	Alliance	During the Heritage of Gilneas.
Field of Flames, Emerald Dream; Amirdrassil	70 Elite	Alliance Horde	As part of the max-level Guardians of the Dream campaign.
Silverpine Forest; Ruins of Gilneas; Gilneas City	70 Elite	Alliance Horde	During the Gilneas Reclamation questline.

Abilities

Please add any available information to this section.

•  Shadowstep — Attempts to step through the shadows and reappear behind your enemy.

Reclamation of Gilneas

•  Greater Healing Potion — The caster hurls a vial of healing salve at a nearby ally's location, restoring health to all targets within 5 yards of the impact.
•  Shadowstep — Teleports to a location.

Quests

•   [45] Champion: Tess Greymane
•   [10-45] Codebreaker
•   [10-45] Finishing the Job
•   [10-45] No Sanctuary
•   [45] False Orders
•   [45] Jorach's Calling
•   [45] The Pirate's Bay
•   [45] What's the Cache?
•   [45] Rise Up
•   [45] This Time, Leave a Trail

Objective of

• Needs to be spoken with in   [10-45] A Worthy Blade.

Age

Tess in the Reclamation of Gilneas's cinematic.

• A range of her age can be discerned from several details in books and comments in game:
  • In Day of the Dragon, Daval Prestor (Deathwing) remarks that Calia Menethil and Jaina Proudmoore were the only daughters of reigning monarchs who were both single and beyond infancy.
  • Calia states that Tess was "very young" when Gilneas left the Alliance. As Gilneas left the Alliance potentially before Anduin was born, there is only a range of about two to three years in which Calia could never have known of her.
  • She is noted as being near Anduin Wrynn's age, placing her at least in her mid twenties as of Dragonflight. It explicitly states she is 'a few years his senior'.
  • She appears in game during year 28, using the human female model rather than that of a child. At this point, Anduin was only thirteen, for her to be near Anduin's age, she would at most be a teenager. Vanessa VanCleef also uses the human female model, despite only being a teenager by the time of Cataclysm.
• For her to be near Anduin's age, within several years, she could not have been alive during Daval Prestor's hunt for a bride, as that would be year 8. This would place her well out of range of Anduin, who would only be born nearly ten years later. As Anduin would come to use a modified version of an adult model around his sixteenth year, Tess using the human female model is not out of place.
  • With a generous estimate of 'near Anduin's age' and 'a few years his senior', likely around 2-3 years, she would have to have been born around year 13, as Anduin was born in year 15.
    • This would have made Tess anywhere from two to five years old when Gilneas left the Alliance; giving little reason for Calia to need to meet a toddler.
  • Using this estimate, she would have been around 15-16 in Cataclysm.
  • With this estimate, she would have been 19-20 in Legion.
  • She would be roughly 27-28 years old when she was made Queen of Gilneas; only two to three years older than Anduin.

Quotes

Gossip

Battle for Darkshore gossip

My mother nearly lost her life trying to save the people of Darnassus. I will do everything in my power to stop the Horde here in Darkshore.

Some atrocities simply cannot go unanswered.

In Stormwind Keep during the worgen heritage questline

I cannot remain idle, not after my people have lost their second home.

In Gilneas City during the Reclamation of Gilneas

• Stay silent, stay efficient.
• We will retake our kingdom.

On-click

Greeting

• Speak your mind.
• There's a potion for everything.
• Let's talk.
• How can I help?

Pissed

• I'll have my people talk to your people. Sound good?
• Aha! Hmm. Yup. Totally paying attention.
• Oh, your one of THOSE rogues.

Farewell

• The jobs not done yet.
• Look to the shadows.
• Take care.
• Stay alert out there.

Dialogue

Tess in a dress in Stormwind Keep.

Main article: A Worthy Blade#Notes

Main article: The Shadow of Gilneas#Notes

Main article: Into Duskwood#Notes

Combat ally

Spawn

• Seems you could use my help.
• Do you need a little more... Subtlety?
• Get stabbing or get going!

Aggro

• Time to put you down!
• Meet my dagger!
• Don't worry, you'll be dead soon!

Killed a mob

• Never cross a princess with a dagger.
• It seems your dead!
• Not even a challenge!

Defeated

• Finish the job...
• Keep going...
• I'm falling back...

Notes and trivia

• Tess is voiced by Elle Newlands.
• To her father Genn Greymane, Tess has always been what makes Gilneas truly special to him, and he regretted not having told her sooner.
• As a bodyguard in Legion, Tess rides a  [Ratstallion]. During the Heritage of Gilneas, she rides a horse.
• Her generic names are Uncrowned Assassin, Gilnean Alchemist, and Rogue Bodyguard.
•  [Tess's Peacebloom] is a reward from the Gilneas Reclamation storyline, and can be use by worgen adventurers to teleport to Gilneas City.
• Tess was initially planned to appear in Warlords of Draenor. She would have been located in Shadowmoon Valley, working on a cure for the illness affecting her people, including her father. Dave Kosak confirmed she and the questline were removed after a zone revamp, and that the story idea may come back later in some form.
• In the Battle for Azeroth alpha, Tess could be found aboard the Wind's Redemption docked at Boralus in Kul Tiras. She was also originally a champion.
• Tess appears as a legendary card for the rogue class in the The Witchwood expansion for Hearthstone. Her flavor text reads: "Those who cannot remember their card history are doomed to repeat it."
  • She also represents the "Tracker" class in the Monster Hunt single-player experience.
  • He greetings emote is: "The Uncrowned send their regards." which is apparently an homage to Game of Thrones's line "The Lannisters send their regards."
• Tess has several appearances. She originally showed up in a black dress, which she wore during the Gilneas starting experience and the honor level ceremony in Stormwind. In most other appearances she wears a brown and black recolor of the Assassination Armor. During the Heritage of Gilneas questline, she wears a unique dress, using an unused coloration of priest tier from Nighthold for the top and a custom armor set inspired by her appearance in Hearthstone.
• She has an invisible Follower recruiting spell with the following description:  Follower: Lilian or Tess — "Lilian, though undead, despises the Forsaken and all forms of necromancy. And while Tess may be the Gilnean princess by day, she is a master assassin by night." The spell is associated to a buff that says "Lilian and Tess are two extremely powerful forces to be reckoned with." Tess shares the spell with Lilian Voss.

Gallery

• 

  Tess in World of Warcraft.

• 

  Tess on the Skyfire.

• 

  Tess in the Hall of Shadows.

• 

  Tess in her armor in Duskwood.

• 

  Tess during the Battle at the Gates of Orgrimmar.

• 

  The Greymanes in the royal garden of Stormwind Keep.

• 

  Tess leading the Alliance forces during the Reclamation of Gilneas.

Hearthstone

• 

  Tess on the Monster Hunt card Exterminate.

• 

  On the Monster Hunt card Tools of the Trade.

• 

  Tess, Stormpike Assassin hero skin in Battlegrounds.

• 

  Venthyr Tess hero skin in Battlegrounds.

• 

  Riddling Tempest Tess hero skin in Battlegrounds.

• 

  Sorceress Greymane hero skin in Battlegrounds.

• 

  Veil Savior Tess hero skin in Battlegrounds.

• 

  Fanfic Tess hero skin in Battlegrounds.

• 

  Fanfic Tess hero skin in Battlegrounds.

• 

  On the Yoink! ability card in Battlegrounds.

• 

  In Mercenaries.

• 

  In Mercenaries.

• 

  In Mercenaries.

Videos

• Gilneas Gate Opens
• Tess and Genn

Patch changes

• Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Added.
  

External links

Tess Greymane	Champion
Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB

Generic names

Uncrowned Assassin	Uncrowned Assassin	Gilnean Alchemist	Gilnean Alchemist	Rogue Bodyguard	Gilnean Alchemist
Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB

Preceded by: King Genn Greymane

Position: Queen of Gilneas

Succeeded by: Incumbent