So the elder shaman have a bunch of meetings (oh look... BUREAUCRACY!) and make a bunch of pacts and create what we now know as the Earthen Ring. But even at this point and for a long time after, they stay pretty low key.
So... the Earthen Ring is not really the nemesis of Twilight's Hammer, which is faction we fuck up in Cataclysm, like, constantly.
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No, the Earthen Ring was founded by a shaman who had a premonition that his class would be vital in keeping the chaos that nature and the elements could unleash from getting out of balance. Azeroth would be in deep shit if the shaman couldn't keep things in check.
And we kill them. On the regular. Ask Ragnaros. Or Al'Akir. We fuck up their shit if they step outta line...
ATURE is chaos. Especially in a world like Azeroth, where the elements LITERALLY have physical forms.
N
THE EARTHEN
RING
So along comes the Cataclysm (I'll get to that in a later post... actually fuck that. Watch this trailer. It's bad ass) and everything has gone to shit. Deathwing fucked it all up. The barriers between the elemental world and our world are weak and destructive elementals are making hell all across Azeroth.
At this point, shaman are mostly tauren. They've been practicing shamanism since, well, there were tauren.
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But now the Horde is a thing and Orcs are joining the Earthen Ring. Then we meet the Broken and the Draenei and they join the ranks. Big happy fam.
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But this is Warcraft. And shit has to hit the fan from time to time.
Damn that's a good trailer. Makes me wanna play Cata. And then I remember Cata kinda sucked... oh well.
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About this time, Magni Bronzebeard, the dwarf guy that became a big crystal under Ironforge, awakes from his petrification as a living diamond and speaks with the voice of the Mountains. He said that he spoke for the land and was a part of the Earth itself. He warned of the coming Legion, basically saying that the Alliance needed to get its shit together and defend Azeroth from the coming threat.
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Oh, and now dwarves join the ranks of shaman too. YAY! ZIYAN doesn't have to be a spacegoat!
So now we actually KNOW about the Earthen Ring, We have their tabards and everything. They're fighting the Twilight's Hammer in the Twilight Highlands. We kill Al'Akir in the Throne of the Four Winds (man, fuck phase 3). Shaman are bad ass. Dwarves rock.
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And then... the LEGION.
Oh, so I didn't talk about Nobundo. I feel as if that is a major oversight on my part... oh well. Easily fixed.
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So the first Farseer of the Earthen Ring relayed a prophecy of a new Farseer who would bring the Earthen Ring through a time of crisis and unite the elements. Nobundo thinks it's you. And by YOU... I mean your shaman. If you have a shaman. It's complicated.
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Nobundo is a former Farseer and tragic hero who lost his ability to wield the light when Shatt fell. After being banished, he walked the earth and took to the ways of shamanism.
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Now he's lending his skill to the Earthen Ring and is one of the few survivors of the Broken Shore. And he thinks you're the chosen one. He gives you artifact weapons. He's kickin' it in your order hall in the Heart of Azeroth.
So now you're the Farseer. It's a lot of responsibility. Don't fuck it up.
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Oh... and by the way. THRALL. DROPPED. THE FUCKING. DOOMHAMMER. Fuck Thrall...
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This IS a bad ass pic tho...