The story of the Ashbringer sword

[Rukopashka]

The Ashbringer is a powerful sword that was created by the Scarlet Crusade, an organization dedicated to eradicating the undead. The sword was originally wielded by Highlord Alexandros Mograine, the leader of the Scarlet Crusade.

However, after Mograine was betrayed and killed by his own son, the sword became corrupted and was used by the Scourge, the undead army of the Lich King. Eventually, the sword was purified by Tirion Fordring, a Paladin who sacrificed himself to destroy the corrupted crystal inside the sword.

After Tirion's sacrifice, the Ashbringer was reborn as a powerful weapon of the Light, and was wielded by a number of heroes, including Prince Arthas, who would later become the Lich King himself. The sword played a major role in the defeat of the Lich King and the restoration of order to Azeroth.

[Kefke]

You know, one thing that always saddened me with Blizzard's incarnations of WoW was that sword. You could get the Corrupted Ashbringer from Nax, and there was a special interaction if you just so happened to take this weapon from the final and hardest raid, and bring it back to Scarlet Monastery, a dungeon that would have been well under your level for ages at that point. At which point you would be charged with seeking out a secret heir with the power to restore the sword, who...wasn't in the game. At all. Even before that, there were a bunch of hidden clues and secret lore scattered to the winds, hinting at some epic, hidden quest that would give you the Ashbringer - which was indeed in the game's files - and none of them led anywhere. It's hard to tell if Blizzard was trolling, or if they kept adding in things that were supposed to be for some epic secret to get the sword, and then not finishing/cutting the actual quest.

[Galendor]

After Tirion's sacrifice, the Ashbringer was reborn as a powerful weapon of the Light, and was wielded by a number of heroes, including Prince Arthas, who would later become the Lich King himself.

Huh?...

[Rat2156]

You know, one thing that always saddened me with Blizzard's incarnations of WoW was that sword. You could get the Corrupted Ashbringer from Nax, and there was a special interaction if you just so happened to take this weapon from the final and hardest raid, and bring it back to Scarlet Monastery, a dungeon that would have been well under your level for ages at that point. At which point you would be charged with seeking out a secret heir with the power to restore the sword, who...wasn't in the game. At all. Even before that, there were a bunch of hidden clues and secret lore scattered to the winds, hinting at some epic, hidden quest that would give you the Ashbringer - which was indeed in the game's files - and none of them led anywhere. It's hard to tell if Blizzard was trolling, or if they kept adding in things that were supposed to be for some epic secret to get the sword, and then not finishing/cutting the actual quest.

A lot of stuff in WoW never had time to be finished or simply got overshadow by "more important" content.

I'd assume that they didn't finish the Ashbringer storyline because they were too busy working on TBC instead, which does make sense, but it's genuinely a shame that it never went further than that, as those secrets were genuinely what made vanilla special, especially before the age of internet guides being omnipresent

[Copycat665]

I do appreciate lore write ups. However, the 2nd half of the post is completely wrong. Tirion never sacrificed himself to cleanse the Ashbringer. Arthas never wielded it.

Also, perhaps keep lore write ups at classic+ lore?