Part 19: Grand Hamlet and Karazhan; Medivh throws a party!

Grand Hamlet and Karazhan; Medivh throws a party!

Let's start with our obligatory introduction...

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Grand Hamlet, a lovely town on the outskirts of Stormwind that got to see much of the fighting during the First War. Given that the all of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans is supposed to be somewhat canonical, the humans did send resources to defend the tiny town, but were overwhelmed in the end. Grand Hamlet, however, has a somewhat deeper storyline than that.

For those of you paying attention to the map in the OP, you may notice that Grand Hamlet it built perilously close to Medivh's Tower, Karazhan. At the time, this must have been a great idea: "Build close to the powerful wizard and remain protected from trouble, as well as attract powerful apprentices to the town." However, things don't always turn out well in the Warcraft universe.

It's unknown when exactly this happened (I want to guess before Grand Hamlet is destroyed, but before  Medivh is killed , but Medivh began to take in members of the citizenry for festive galas and opera shows, despite being a recluse by nature. It's possible that it was Sargeras's influence that caused him to host these events and the subsequent slaughter of the guests. It is said that after these horrific events, Grand Hamlet and the forest around it began to fall into darkness.

When the town was rebuilt, the place was changed forever, as the shadow of Karazhan fell across the town like a malignant cancer. Combined with the discovery of the Scythe of Elune, the surrounding forest became one of nightmares. The forest was now known as Duskwood, and the rebuilt Grand Hamlet as Darkshire.


A place of eternal darkness? Let's build a town there!

While we're in the general area of the subject: Karazhan! Karazhan, as mentioned many times already, was the tower that Medivh lived and studied in. The tower actually existed long before Medivh came to inhabit it, built by an unknown entity in the center of a magical explosion in Deadwind Pass. The explosion that shaped the land made the fabric of reality weak and increased magical potential there.

Medivh took up residence in the ancient tower after coming out of his 20 year coma, taking advantage of the weak ties to reality and strong magical connections. During the First War, Medivh studied there with his manservant Moroes and his apprentice Khadgar. Occasionally, even the half-orc spy Garona spent time in Karazhan as an emissary (this is also such a bizarre, semi-creepy retcon to me).

Thanks to the weakened ties to the world, many bizarre happenings took place in Karazhan. These occurrences were so otherworldly and frightening that Moroes took to wearing blinders around the complex. It's a surprise that Medivh's visitors didn't leave horrified.


Just another day at the rat race.

This lore update is... minimal at best. Alot of it is because there's little to be said on Grand Hamlet/Darkshire that isn't immensely vague. Medal time, anyone?