Blizzard Entertainment added Old Ironforge in WoW PTR 4.1, following canon continuity off the pages of World of Warcraft: The Shattering by New York Times Best Selling author Christie Golden.
In the novel, Brann Bronzebeard sent out an emissary to deliver the tablets found in Ulduar to his brother King Magni. The inscriptions on the tablets revealed a ritual to commune with the earth. With the tremors plaguing Azeroth, King Magni took upon himself the endeavor of foregoing the ritual to commune with the earth and learn from it what’s the cause of its torment.
The tablets, however, were very literal about communion with the earth or “becoming one with the earth”. King Magni Bronzebeard turned into diamond after chanting the spell.
World of Warcraft: The Shattering contains a few colored illustrations. One of these is King Magni turned into diamond. Now with PTR 4.1, the artists introduce a crystallized King Magni with a sobbing and troubled Advisor Belgrum caretaking his lifeless friend with the hope he might one day return.
While Old Ironforge is back in the game, since its removal a few years ago, the two rooms — fans care about — described in the World of Warcraft RPG: Lands of Conflict (by White Wolf Publishing) are not accessible yet: the Hall of Thanes room where the previous kings of Ironforge are buried and the Old Throne is locked at, and the Iron Forge artifact room given to the dwarves by the titan Khaz’Goroth.
There’s a possibility that when Blizzard is ready for an expansion focused on the return of the Titans, access to the room where the Iron Forge artifact lies within will be open.
In PTR 4.1, you can see three books around the crystallized body of King Magni. Each book has a unique and peculiar symbol. One has the keys of Uldaman (the keyring found at Archaedas’ treasure chamber), a tower resembling the defensive system of Ulduar, and a hammer within a mountain which refers to Ironforge.
Why wasn’t there a book with a symbol in reference to Uldum? What does the Ironforge symbol on this book has anything to do with Uldaman and Ulduar? Is the Blizzard’s Creative Team planting mysterious clues here?
Watch the Old Ironforge video (HD 1080p available) below from PTR 4.1, screenshots, and the Warcraft Books store to order World of Warcraft: The Shattering. (thanks for heads up, Handclaw)
