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Hello everyone, this is Alie, and this video is the fifth episode of WoW Versus, my Youtube
channel where I analyse the lore of characters from the Warcraft and World of Warcraft series
of games, and oppose them to decide who would win in a dual to the death.
The point is to know who’s the best of course, but the main purpose is to share my view of
interesting what ifs.
I’m from France and english is not my native language, please tell me if you hear any mistake
and tell me in the comments. Liadrin and Nobundo appeared at the same time, with the release
of World of Warcraft’s first expansion, the Burning Crusade.
At the time, Shamans could only be played by rolling as a Horde race, and Paladin by
rolling as an Alliance race, and the inclusion of Blood Elves and Draeneis into the game
changed that.
The lore of the Blood Knights was added to allow Blood Elves to roll as Paladins, and
that of the Broken Shamans to allow the Draenei to play as Shamans.
The stories of Liadrin and Nobundo were meant to reflect this, as they were both the first
to offer these opportunities to their races.
As such, their stories are quite similar and they were directly opposed by the war between
the Blood Elves and Draenei, until the defeat of Kil’jaeden and the resurrection of the
Sunwell.
Since then, they were often paralleled as the leaders of their respective class orders
in their respective factions, and their stories of lost faiths and renewed hopes are very
similar.
Which is why I want to make them fight to the death.
Yup.
For Liadrin, I’d assume that her current peak is right now, during the course of the
sixth expansion of World of Warcraft, Legion, having acquired a great deal of battle experience
and the legendary sword Quel’delar.
It’s a bit more complicated to determine the part of his life when Nobundo was at his
best, but since we’re definitely taking his Broken version into account, it appears
clear that his peak is at the same time, during the Legion expansion, so that he may have
as much battle experience as possible.
Liadrin was an adult female Blood Elf born at least
decades before the First War, in the thalassian capital of Silvermoon.
Orphaned early by Amani Trolls who murdered her parents, she was raised and educated by
High Priest Vandellor, developing a strong relationship with the Light and a intense
hatred against the Amanis.
A close friend of Lor’themar Theron and Dar’khan Drathir, she became a priestess
of the Light herself and took on an apprentice, the young Galell.
She notably came to clash against Warlord Zul’jin himself at the side of Ranger-general
Halduron Brightwing, before and during the Second War.
She was a part of the squadron which captured Zul’jin, and strongly opposed the tortures
the rangers inflicted upon him, trying to convince Halduron to kill him quickly without
being needlessly cruel.
Before they could resolve their debate, the group was attacked by the Amanis, and Zul’jin
managed to escape.
The true start of Liadrin’s story came with the Third War, and the collapse of her civilization.
As a high priestess, she witnessed the fall of Silvermoon, the slaying of her master and
her king, and participated in the battle in which the Scourge corrupted the Sunwell.
She survived with her body unscathed, but not her mind.
She considered that the Holy Light had fully abandonned and betrayed the Elves, and abandonned
it herself.
When Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider returned to Silvermoon and secured the Sunwell, she
fought once again for her land, but with a weapon in hand.
She had become a Warrior, and for years, she lived a solitary life of destroying the taint
of the Scourge in Quel’thalas and struggling with her addiction to the arcane energies
of the lost Sunwell.
She was eventually summoned to Silvermoon by Grand Magister Rommath and Astalor Bloodsworn,
to whom Kael’thas had sent M’uru, the Naaru the Prince had captured in Outland,
so that they may drain its magic.
The magisters had a different plan however : offering to Liadrin the opportunity to reclaim
the power of the Light again by forcefully taking it from M’uru, to be both the Priestess
and the Warrior, and be an entirely new kind of soldier.
Liadrin agreed and became a Light infused fighter, a Paladin of sorts, thus founding
the Order of the Blood Knights.
The Blood Knights became a powerful yet distrusted force in Silvermoon’s power.
They reclaimed large parts of Quel’thalas, and had to fight the efforts of Dar’khan
Drathir to destroy and turn them into Death Knights of the Scourge.
Liadrin’s former apprentice, Galell, notably joined the Order in an effort to quell his
magic addiction, but this only made things worse, as he became completely mad and turned
into a Wretched Liadrin had to kill, much to her dismay.
She was completely crushed when Prince Kael’thas betrayed his people to ally with Kil’jaeden
and stole M’uru from Silvermoon.
Desperate, Liadrin travelled to Shattrath to humbly beg for the forgiveness and help
of A’dal, leader of the Naaru.
To her great surprise, it explained that Velen, the Prophet of the Draenei, had foretold of
M’uru’s fate in the following words : « Silvery moon, washed in blood, Led astray
into the night, armed with sword of broken Light.
Broken, then betrayed by one, standing there bestride the sun.
At darkest hour, redemption comes, in knightly lady sworn to blood. ». M’uru had let
itself be captured so that the redemption of the Blood Elves could come, as according
to the prophecy, and Liadrin understood how much the creatures she had fought and abused
had sacrificed for her people, out of pure compassion.
Accomplishing the last part of the prophecy, Liadrin and the Blood Knights joined with
the Shattered Sun Offensive, ending their conflict with the Draenei.
After the defeat of Kael’thas and Kil’jaeden, Liadrin was fully repentant of her treatment
of M’uru, and witnessed as Velen resurrected the Sunwell as a fountain of arcane and Light
by merging the Heart of M’uru with it.
Bathed in holy energy, Liadrin reformed a much more positive relationship with the Light,
becoming respectful and loving of it once again, now that she drew its power from the
Sunwell.
Following this, the Blood Knights fully joined the war effort against the Lich King, their
greatest enemy, and Liadrin eventually came to acquire the runeblade Quel’delar after
it was reforged the holy currents of the Sunwell.
She led her Paladins against the Burning Legion ever since, the greatest threat the Sin’dorei
had to suffer, participating in the destruction of the Shadow Council in the alternate Draenor
and the defeat of Gul’dan and Teron’gor.
Alongside Aponi Brightmane, Maxwell Tyrosus and other Paladin leaders from all around
Azeroth, she agreed to form a great Order of the Silver Hand and fight in the service
of its Highlord to destroy the demons.
She notably repelled the Knights of the Ebon Blade’s attack upon Light’s Hope Chapel
and participated in the Battle of the Exodar alongside Velen, before joining the great
conflict in the Broken Isles to save Suramar and her new-found Nightborne brethren, in
an uneasy alliance with the Night Elves against the Burning Legion, and participated in the
battle of Nighthold, which saw the death of Gul’dan and the return of Illidan Stormrage
on Azeroth.
She is quite likely to evolve again in the later years of World of Warcraft.
Nobundo was an aged male Draenei, born a long yet unknown time before the First War, in
an unknown world, the immortality of the Draenei preventing us from estimating his age, which
could be counted in decades, centuries, or tens of thousands of millenias.
A Vindicator for the first part of his life, Nobundo was a brave soldier of the Light,
ready to sacrifice everything, and when the Orcs started their genocide of the Draenei
race, he was one of the volunteers who remained behind in Shattrath City to delay the Horde
and fool it into thinking that they had wiped the entire race out.
At the start of the battle, an explosion of red mist was released upon the Draenei, poisoning
them with fel energy.
Nobundo was engaged in a fight against Grommash Hellscream, whose hand he managed to crush
with his hammer, atop the walls of the city.
Nobundo was actually winning, but started vomiting torrents of blood and found that
he was incapable of using the Light to fight or heal himself.
Grom pushed him off the wall, and Nobundo woke up to the screams of the innocent butchered
by the Horde, and the smell of blood and death.
His leg broken, sick and unable to call upon the Light, Nobundo fled north, away from the
battlefield, smothered by the guilt of having failed those he was supposed to protect.
Nobundo rejoined with the other survivors, but soon his body began to twist and change.
The red mist had corrupted it, transforming into a deformed mutant, called krokul by his
Draenei brethren, meaning « Broken ». This curse inflicted by the Orcish warlocks
prevented him from ever using the Light again, and worse, the healthy Draenei began to ostracize
and chase away the Broken, whose bodies and minds degraded further and further.
A former friend of Nobundo even confiscated his Hammer of the Naaru, the symbol of his
status as a Vindicator.
Many Broken degraded even further, turning into swamp-treading mongrels called the Lost
Ones.
Nobundo was plagued by nightmares, and yet climbed on top of a mountain every day to
pray and call upon the Light to return to him, without ever losing faith.
He did this for years, like a hermit lost in a desert, praying despite his complete
hopelessness, and one voice he didn’t expect to hear answered him : that of the Wind.
Having learned to listen to Nature itself, Nobundo traveled to Nagrand, guided by the
Elements, and there, the spirits taught him the art of Shamanism and the life teeming
in everything that is.
Nobundo returned to the Broken and taught them too, renewing hope, and eventually convinced
the prophet Velen, leader of the Draenei, of the worthiness of his path.
Velen accepted this and ordered his people to accept the Broken into their midst and
stop oppressing them.
From then on, Nobundo’s guilt was relieved, and his nightmares stopped.
Following this, Nobundo became the most prominent Shaman among the Draenei and the Alliance,
and a member of the Earthen Ring, making this circle of Shamans a place of peace between
the Alliance and the Horde.
Becoming a friend of Thrall and a frequent representative of the Alliance in international
efforts alongside the Horde, he strongly advocated for the destruction of the Sha during the
war in Pandaria.
Since then, he fought in the Battle of the Exodar, and helped the Earthen Ring make Prince
Thunderaan into the Elemental Lord of Air, so that the full force of Azeroth’s Elements
can be able to unleash itself against the invasion of the Burning Legion, in World of
Warcraft’s sixth expansion.
He is very likely to evolve again in the future history of the game.
Liadrin and Nobundo both symbolize the heavy struggles endured by their people, and the
drastic changes of paths that it took from them to find an impossible way to renew hope.
They both followed different paths and tirelessly sought redemption for their failures, and
their relationships to members of the other faction make them an important factor.
for the peace between the Alliance and the Horde.
They’re mirror images of what the Alliance and the Horde found to save themselves in
the culture of their usual enemy.
And that’s why I’m making them fight to the death.
Because, well, you know, fun.
And to know who’s the strongest between Paladins and Shamans.
Not gonna pick a side here.
Lady Liadrin is a Blood Elf, a Warrior coming from one of the most magically enhanced Elven
races of Azeroth.
Although smaller and less muscular than even Humans, the Blood Elves have kept from their
Quel’dorei ancestry a great longevity and resistance to disease, but they were considerably
weakened by the destruction of the Sunwell, which furnished them with magical energy to
sustain their bodies.
The withdrawal heavily weakened them, sometimes distorted them, and the Sin’dorei had to
live with that fear and that weakness until the rekindling of the Sunwell by the heart
of M’uru, which is now slowly inducing holy energy into the Blood Elves, slowly making
them better.
As a Blood Knight trained for battle and to recieve boons from the Sunwell and the Holy
Light, Liadrin is notably boosted physically by this, as well as strong and sturdy enough
to fight in heavy armor with a two-handed sword.
She is very likely to be one of, if not THE most physically poweful Blood Elf alive.
A notable fact about Liadrin is that after the reignition of the Sunwell, her eyes took
on a bright golden glow, unlike the fel green lingering in much of her brethren.
Nobundo is a Broken, a Draenei with a distoted face and torso, heavily swollen legs and arms
and hooves dividing themselves into grotesque toes.
Being Broken also means being at a high risk of suffering from physical and mental health
issues, and although Shamanism made him completely fine in the mental area, he’s still slumped
and slow like an old creature.
He can sometimes be seen wearing medium shamanic armor, but he’s usually clothed, and probably
can’t fight in plate anymore.
The scars of war will remain within his broken body until the day he dies, even if his connection
with Earth and Nature is likely to make him reasonnably sturdy and strong.
Although Draeneis are naturally much stronger physically than Blood Elves, Liadrin has been
made better by the Sunwell and Nobundo remained considerably weakened, even if his bond with
the Elements helps him mitigate the damage.
Even if he might be able to physically hold his own, he will definitely lack Liadrin’s
agility.
The comparison makes it clear : the physical edge goes to Liadrin.
Liadrin started being a Warrior after the fall of Quel’thalas, but she was exposed
to war long before, and thanks to this, her training into an able fighter was quick.
Having been both a Priestess and a Warrior, she was a extremely potent Blood Knight, likely
to be the finest of the Order.
When she is faced in battle by Alliance players attacking Silvermoon, she demonstrates impressive
speed and strength, and there are not that many in Azeroth and Draenor who could face
her one on one in direct combat, even among Warriors, even if she relies on her holy abilities.
Nobundo used to be a Vindicator, a heavy armored fighter wielding a Hammer of the Naaru, who
was talented enough to crush Grommash Hellscream’s hand while poisoned by the red mist released
upon Shattrath.
As such, he must have been an extremely able combattant, but this talent of his was destroyed
when he turned into a Broken.
Ever since then, he became a wise Shaman, more keen on meditation, calling and healing
than on physical fighting, even if Broken Draenei remain heavy enough to inflict a great
deal of damage.
He should be able to do that, if necessary, and despite his body and his lack of practice,
he must retain his extensive knowledge of battle.
It’s difficult to assess the exact amount of training and practice either combattant
has, but one clear thing is that prior to his transformation into a Broken, Nobundo
would have been completely competent to face Liadrin, with a good chance of being superior
to her.
At that stage, they’re a match.
However, he has completely degraded afterwards, and not merely because of his physical transformation,
while Liadrin kept fighting at close range since she ceased to be a Priestess.
It must appear that Nobundo, despite his merits, is inferior to her in terms of direct battle.
The battle capability edge goes to Liadrin.
It is unclear exactly which pieces of
equipment Liadrin uses, since she is depicted in various sets of armor in artworks, and
since the items she uses in World of Warcraft are not confirmed to cannonically belong to
her, it’s hard to state that she possess this item or that item.
What is certain is that she is trained in the use of staffs since her Priestess days,
and now knows how to use spears, maces and greatswords, as well as simply joining the
fray with her fists.
Blood Knights were first issued with Blood-Tempered Ranseurs, Elven spears tempered in the blood
of demons, were symbols of the Blood Knights, and Liadrin used one when she became the first
of them.
In the game, she is most often shown wearing the Redemption armor, the third tier of Paladin
raiding sets, recovered and purified from the desecrated armors of the fallen heroes
of Naxxramas.
This pure armor notably increases the healing power and mana regeneration of a Paladin.
Although she might possess one, Liadrin is never depicted wearing a helmet, and that
won’t be the case here.
She also owns a pureblood Thalassian Warhorse named Redemption, too.
The most notable piece of equipment she is depicted with though, since her appearance
in Warlords of Draenor, is the legendary runeblade Quel’delar.
This greatsword was one of the High Blades enchanted by Night Elves with the assistance
of dragons, tempered in dragon blood and forged with dragon fire, and in World of Warcraft,
Quel’delar is the Sister Blade of one other Quel’serrar whose remains were left in Kalimdor
and recovered only recently by adventurers.
Quel’delar was inherited by the High Elves after the War of the Ancients, and went to
one Elf named Thalorien Dawnseeker, who wielded it against the Amanis, and later the Scourge
during the invasion of Quel’thalas.
He died doing so, and the blade went Lana’thel, one of Kael’thas’s followers who fell
to the might of the Scourge, and left it broken, hating the weapon.
When facing the Scourge, an anonymous adventurer reforged the blade with saronite, the blood
of the Old God Yogg-Saron, infused it with souls and purified it in the holy energies
of the Sunwell.
In the game, you receive another weapon instead of Quel’delar if you play as a Priest, Druid
or Shaman, since Quel’delar will not choose you as you are not trained in its use.
Since it was relinquished to the Sunreavers and the Silver Covenant for holy purposes,
we can assume the quest was fulfilled by a Blood Elf Priest, and now that the blade has
been empowered by the holy Sunwell, it would make sense for Liadrin to receive it.
Here, we will assume that she is indeed wielding Quel’delar, which appears to highly increase
the offense and defense of Paladins such as Liadrin.
It should also be infused with holy energy, the perfect weapon for a Blood Knight.
She has also been depicted with a shield, but not in-game.
It can be added that she has a habit of wearing tabards, and change them according to the
faction she is fighting for (notably the Blood Knights, the Shattered Sun Offensive and the
Silver Hand).
A Paladin armor set from the Argent Tournament is notably named after Liadrin, but she doesn’t
appear to be wearing it.
Prior to his transformation into a Broken, Nobundo was equipped with a standard Vindicator
armor and a crystalline Hammer of the Naaru.
The latter was taken from him by a former friend for being Broken, and the former was
destroyed in the siege of Shattrath.
Such items aren’t adapted to his new body and his new powers, though, and he hasn’t
been seen with them since.
Nobundo is mostly depicted as wearing traditional shamanic robes with a hood, offering little
protection, although some artworks show him wearing medium armor matching that of Shamans
in-game.
In World of Warcraft, he mostly wears blue shamanic clothing, but in the Battle of the
Exodar, he has been seen fighting on the frontline wearing the fourth tier of Shaman armor sets,
the Cyclone armor, indicating again his strong connection to the Element of Wind, for which
Nobundo seems to have a particular affinity.
This set notably enhances mana regeneration, swiftness and strength.
He is usually bare-handed and relies on his powers to fight, but bears a religious staff
on occasion.
There is a Shaman armor set from the Argent Tournament named after him, but he has never
been associated with it.
The question of what will be available to both combattants is a bit tricky, since there
are many weapons they can use.
Liadrin will be equipped with Quel’delar and the Redemption armor, while Nobundo will
wear the Cyclone armor and have a Hammer of the Naaru at his disposal, should he wish
to use one.
Even considering this, there is no way for Nobundo to overcome the legendary items Liadrin
gathered, especially without a mount he can ride.
Right now, it appears clear that Lady Liadrin must win the equipment edge.
Lady Liadrin has been active since at least before the Second War, having fought against
the Amanis and the Old Horde as a Priestess of the Light.
She faced the Scourge the same way, and led the life of a Warrior after the Third War,
until Kael’thas Sunstrider returned to Silvermoon with M’uru and led to the creation of the
Blood Knights.
Since then, she has fought in the War in Outland, liberated Quel’danas, sent her order to
war against the Lich King and later the Shadow Council in Draenor, before besieging Suramar
itself.
As such, she has vast and varied experience of battle, both in and out of a fight, and
it could be argued that this is all she has.
Extremely proud of the Blood Knights and her abilities, she tends to be more of a soldier
than a preacher, solving problems by the sword and not much else.
Although humbled by how the Sunwell was revived, she tends to be ruthless in battle, especially
against beings she percieves as enemies of her people – anyone fighting her, that is,
especially the Scourge and demons.
However, she remains a compassionate person and has a soft spot toward Draeneis, since
they were the ones to bring the Sunwell back to life.
Nobundo’s age is unknown, but he has been fighting for at least half a century, and
probably much more than that.
By the battle of Shattrath, he was already a very experienced Vindicator, able to face
Grommash Hellscream in battle – and maybe even defeat him.
Even with his entire body broken, he instinctively fled the battlefield with the future in mind,
that’s Nobundo : always anticipate, always think about the future.
He has survived in the shattered Outland for decades, even if his people should have been
all but wiped out, and despite being broken, nothing managed to make him give up.
The Battle of the Exodar proves his sense of tactics is intact, as well as his determination
to sacrifice for others if necessary, and he will always foresee the ways which will
best serve everyone’s interests.
Clarity about the future and what track needs to be followed is one of the greatest strengths
Nobundo acquired by becoming a Shaman.
Nobundo and Liadrin have comparable battle experiences, with continuous strife, great
determination, the ability to change and adapt, and having both rose up from shattering defeats.
Two factors set them considerably apart however : age, and vision about the future.
Liadrin is rather young for a Blood Elf, and even with her high lifespan, Nobundo’s is
even greater.
He must have had much experience of war.
Aside from this, Liadrin is but a soldier, she reacts to threats and fights what she
is assigned to fight, she doesn’t to foresee things beyond that.
Nobundo does it constantly, which is what makes him such a wise and respected Shaman.
The battle experience edge clearly goes to Nobundo.
Liadrin started out as a Priestess of the Light, one of the High Elves who had recieved
the worship of the Holy Light and its benefits from their Human allies.
These Elven Priests used to focus heavily on healing and so did Liadrin, although she
showed prominence in the ability to transfer her own pain to others.
After the Third War, her own doubts prevented her from accessing the Light again, and she
came to hate it and its principles.
As a Blood Knight, she forcefully stole the energy of the Light from the body of the Naaru
M’uru, in a brutal relationship that was painful to both, and made the Blood Knights
powers weakened with distance.
Since the restoration of the Sunwell, Blood Knights have been getting their powers from
it, giving them a much more harmonious relationship to the Holy Light, especially for the former
Priestess that was Liadrin.
Clearly a Retribution Paladin, Liadrin is able to attack offensively with the Light,
all around her in one go, and empower each and every of her strikes with, essentially
making her a high powered-up warrior.
Each and every of her strikes will be massive, and she gains more and more holy power as
she fights, which she can suddenly spend to highten her damage output.
She can of course heal herself, heavily slow her enemies down, absorb attacks.
Quel’delar notably enhances her strength further, and the Redemption armor leave her
healing abilities at the same level she had when she was a Priestess.
Liadrin can be considered a model for all Retribution Paladins there are, and has more
faith than most Blood Knights.
You could also add that she, like all Blood Elves, can absorb surrounding mana for a limited
extent, and she in particular must be highly attuned to the absorption of holy energy.
Nobundo was a Vindicator, a Paladin of the Draenei, but all of his connection to the
Light was lost when his body was corrupted the red poison vaporized on Shattrath by the
Orcish Horde.
Despite this, he never lost faith, maintains trust in the Light, and a complete knowledge
of it.
Damage coming from it isn’t likely to disturb him, he would basically shrug the pain off
effortlessly.
Disregarding this, Nobundo is a Shaman, one that was trained directly by the shattered
Elements of Outland, which removes the usual connection of such mystics to the spirits
of their ancestors.
Nobundo is a bringer of peace, believing that everything that is, is alive.
He is described as a Farseer, a highly trained Shaman who has come to a degree of wisdom
ableing him to foresee the future.
Given his personality, his methods and the healing buff granted by the wrists armor called
Nobundo’s Redemption, he appears to be a Restoration Shaman, talented in the use of
Water, although his greatest talent is his natural connection with the Wind.
Unlike in-game Shamans, he doesn’t seem to be using totems and doesn’t belong to
a totemic culture.
He is most likely to be an expert at the cleansing of his mind and those of others, is likely
to fight at very high speed thanks to the power of the Wind and free himself from movement
impairments.
His healing talents imply various abilities to regenerate himself and others, both in
health and mana, making him hard to kill and a great asset in a group.
He should notably be able to cast spells while moving.
The benevolent power of Life and Wind allow him to propel himself in the air, convert
damage into healing, and in case of emergency, ascend into a Wind being able to surround
himself in a protective and offensive storm.
He should also be able to reduce the damage on himself by shifting into the astral plane,
see from any distance and disturb all of his enemies with wind gushes.
His Cyclone armor only enhances all of his abilities.
Nobundo and Liadrin both have a very strong mystic bond with the forces empowering them,
but while those forces are very different, we can notice clear differences : first,
Liadrin is a much more physical fighter than Nobundo, and despite her great talent in the
Light, he is more of a magical combattant, despite being from a hybrid class too.
He has been a Shaman for a longer time than Liadrin has been a Blood Knight, and he has
one great advantage against her : having been a Paladin himself, he knows how her powers
work through her, what she can do, the nature of her abilities, and how to counter them.
She doesn’t have the same advantage against a Shaman.
Because of his experience, proficiency in magic use and spiritual knowledge, Nobundo
wins the magical edge.
In the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde, the Elements and the Holy Light have
often been violently opposed, as the religious backbones of both factions.
The four Elements are the fundamental components of the physical realm, to which a fifth, common
in all things and in all the universe, can be added : Spirit.
The Holy Light is the very first fundamental force to manifest into being, and it is basically
love and compassion made into spiritual energy.
Its an emotional fluid, which can exist in a solidified form in the ethereal beings known
as the Naaru – in the case of Liadrin, the arcane fount that is the Sunwell furnishes
her with the Light, ever since the Heart of M’uru, a Naaru, was plunged into it to purify
it.
It would be interesting to compare the Light and the fifth Element of Spirit, but nothing
makes one more efficient against the other.
Even being a Broken, Nobundo is not corrupt enough to be more damaged by holy attacks
than anyone else.
No edge can be gained from a magical comparison.
Liadrin has had a traumatic life.
Her talent and her faith were shattered, and then she lived in darkness until a brutal
rekindling of her relationship with the Light was offered to her.
She fully embodies the trope of the usual Retribution Paladin, consumed with a self-righteous
need for revenge, which blinded her and prevented her from seeing what was happening to her
apprentice Galell.
She’s been driven by a mixture of hope, rage, guilt and pride, all of which could
have led her to a very dark path had M’uru not sacrificed himself for the redemption
of the Blood Elves.
Ever since then, Liadrin is a troubled individual, who has been lost for a very long time and
just found her own path again.
She is a good person deep down, filled with compassion, but ruthless against anyone she
percieves as a threat, and very distrustful of anyone except other Blood Elves – although
she is now filled with sincere gratitude toward the Draenei.
When she is set on a warpath, anything other than agressive and prideful action will make
her fearful of making a mistake, and distrustful of anyone suggesting it.
After seeing the world crumble so many times, she is simply very unsure of herself, except
when she can solve problems by being a shining hero.
She is both fragile psychologically, and strong beyond belief.
Nobundo has been a Broken both in mind and body.
When he was left in the ruins of Shattrath, crushed and unable to reach the Holy Light,
he had lost everything and might as well have been dead.
He kept going on however, he kept on living for a hope without form.
He just did.
He prayed for years, he opened his heart and mind and despite the broken thing he had become,
his faith accomplished a miracle.
His newfound power was first used to reunite all of his brethren, and it appears that he
is incapable of hate or anger.
His mind is the perfect exemple of a holy Draenei, completely pure, selfless and compassionate
even with those who are crual and unfair to him.
His ability to foresee what even Velen cannot predict, not by knowing but by feeling, pushes
him to always do the right thing even when not knowing why it is right.
He is far from immune to suffering, and until he understood what was going on, he was plagued
with depression and horrible nightmares, but no amount of suffering seems to be able to
bring him down.
Nobundo has one of the most stable psychological states of Azeroth and Draenor.
Even in their behaviors and mental states, Liadrin and Nobundo share strangely common
traits, having gone through similar experiences and found unlikely forms of redemption by
choosing, despite their hopelessness, to keep going on a new path.
However, it is very clear that Nobundo is much more stable and sure of himself now,
Liadrin still being prideful and rather unstable.
Nobundo is the reverse of that.
Furthermore, she’ll have a hard time harming a holy Draenei such as him, her good will
will hinder her rather than protect her.
Nobundo wins the psychological edge.
The fight would occur in the Eye of the Storm, the chaotic battleground of Outland near Netherstorm
where Draenei and Blood Elves were often opposed for the control of the raw energy just lying
there.
It’s hard to imagine what could draw Liadrin and Nobundo to oppose in a death match, but
I think one possibility could be their refusal to see anymore lives from the Alliance and
the Horde lost for control of the Eye.
They would have agreed on a one on one, definitive dual by Orcish traditions so that the matter
could be settled with only one last death.
Always ready to sacrifice themselves for others, Liadrin and Nobundo would have agreed to put
their lives at stake.
The winner will have gained control of the entire place for their faction.
Liadrin would enter the field with the Redemption armor, her Blood Knight tabard and mounted
on her Thalassian Warhorse, Quel’delar in hand.
Nobundo would have come with the Cyclone armor and a heavy Hammer of the Naaru he wields
slowly.
Both would slowly walk up to the center of the battleground, at the edges of the central
rock bridge, and then at each other without saying a word for a while, unwilling to kill
someone they know is honorable, but ready to go all the way through if necessary.
Liadrin would clearly be the first to attack, charging on her horse to hit Nobundo in full
force and end it quickly.
Before the Broken would make a move, she would strike his head through the Light and hold
from a distance, in order to force him to stay in place and be struck down.
This was exactly what the Broken would have anticipated however, since this is obvious
Paladin strategy, and would wait for the last moment to use the power of the Wind to free
himself from the Light’s hold and propel himself forward, slightly to the side, while
setting the head of his Hammer on the path of the horse’s legs.
Liadrin would understand the trap, but too late.
Redemption’s legs would be shattered by the hammer strike, breaking under his own
force and that of the Wind.
The horse would collapse and slip into the Nether with a horrible cry of pain, her mistress
landing brutally on the ground, on the other side of the bridge.
Liadrin would be dismounted but safe, and extremely angry.
Nobundo would turn around, Liadrin would rise up, and the opponents would face one another
again for a second, before moving again.
The Draenei knows that Liadrin completely dominates him physically, and now she knows
that the spells she can use to hold him in place won’t work.
This means she’ll try to get to him as fast as she can.
This means fleeing.
When the Blood Elf starts gleaming and walking ominously toward her enemy, a threatening
shine in her golden eyes, the only thing Nobundo can do is turn around again and dash away
thanks to the power of the Wind, his feet barely touching the ground.
His plan is to stay at a distance and attack from afar with spells, but Liadrin, as a former
Warrior and a prominent physical combattant, is much faster than the Broken would expect.
She would dash across the bridge like a lightning and reach the other side in no time : not
faster than Nobundo, but too fast for him to quickly get away.
The Broken would find himself confronted with a pissed off Blood Knight and would owe his
life only to the sturdiness of his Hammer, able to parry and deflect a violent strike
from Quel’delar.
The crystal would hold, but not the shaft, and under Liadrin’s sheer holy strength,
the Hammer of the Naaru would break, leaving Nobundo with only a staff to defend himself.
Ready to strike down judgement upon her enemy, Liadrin would raise her sword and aim for
the head, screaming.
Her hand, however, would be pulled back at the last moment by a strong gust of wind.
Nobundo, in an effort to save his life, would have unleashed the wind against her to loosen
her grip on Quel’delar and disarm her, in order to even the fight.
Liadrin would hold on to the sword with all her strength, an unnatural wind trying to
pull it away from her, and Nobundo would land heavy thrusts of his staff in her face and
gut in order to make her drop the sword.
He could be way more offensive if he wanted too, but this is not his specialty, and the
Shaman still has the hope of subduing his enemy to end the fight without bloodshed.
His blows are heavy, but Liadrin can take it with only her patience being damaged, and
would end up grabbing Nobundo’s staff with her other hand.
Both held up against each other, Liadrin would use her superior agility to kick Nobundo to
the gut and face while holding onto the weapons, and while this would hurt, he can take much
more than that.
This would be a battle of patience, obviously lost by Liadrin, who would, well… let go
of her sword, and bury her heavy-armored fist in the Broken’s face, who would be thankful,
for once, that he doesn’t have a nose.
Dismayed, Nobundo would be held to the ground and viciously beaten by Liadrin, with only
his swollen arms to defend himself.
A broken bone later, he would do the only thing he can still do.
Thinking she has proved herself superior with nothing but her physical strength, Liadrin
would be rather overconfident.
She would not raise her defenses, and be surprised when Wind suddenly come hurling from all sides
and shake her violently, while entering Nobundo’s flesh and briefly making him into an Air Ascendant.
The twirling silhouette of the Draenei would rise up in the air, lifted by pure elemental
power.
Liadrin would refuse to let him go, but would hardly do more than holding on without being
hurled away into the Nether.
While Nobundo is healing himself, in a half state of meditation, she would rely on her
last and greatest weapon : the Light.
Illuminating her entire body, her renewed strength would allow her to oppose the power
of the Elements and grab onto the enemy, screaming and making holy fire rain upon the both of
them.
They would turn for a second under their own combined powers, and then the explosion of
their spells would propel the both of them away from the other.
Nobundo would be thrown away onto the edge of the Eye, risking a fall, while Liadrin’s
armor and greater resistance would leave her falling at the entrance of the bridge.
Both would be heavily wounded, maybe a broken limb or two, with scars on Liadrin’s face
and burns all over Nobundo’s body.
He would barely be able to move, and would not attempt so, his focus would be to heal
himself rapidly, fix his limbs and mend his flesh.
Liadrin, still bathed in a sacred halo, would be rapidly regenerating herself and would
not fail to seize the occasion while her opponent is weak.
Her hair detached and her tabard gone, the Blood Elf would run to Nobundo and use her
full knowledge of the Light against him, transferring her own pain onto him.
This would be enough to make anyone howl in pain, but Nobundo has seen worse.
Without fear, he would remain close to the edge, chanting to the Elements to mend his
body and slow Liadrin’s advance with Wind.
The angry Blood Knight would get closer and closer nonetheless, showering Nobundo with
holy judgement.
The Broken however, is completely used to the pain, and the horrific burning and regrowth
of his flesh would only leave him in a worryless state of trance.
Since he’s not moving, Liadrin is trying to reach him and push him off, but once close
to the Draenei, she would find herself unable to move further.
Normally, she would just keep burning him with the Light, but Nobundo seems to feel
almost no pain, to be immune to the suffering brought by her judgement.
Frustrated and impressed, Liadrin would consecrate the ground and make the rock itself burn in
holy fire, doing anything she can to attack.
At this moment, Nobundo would heavily stomp the ground with his foot, then seem to lose
all his focus and crumble, exhausted by his efforts.
Liadrin would feel the resistance of the wind vanish, and would dash to finish her opponent
immediately.
Nobundo counted on this however.
As the Light closes in to burn him, the Farseer would shift to the astral plane and basically
phase through Liadrin with no harm, becoming physical again behind her.
Turning around, Liadrin would understand the trap.
The cracks on the ground are already visible.
The very earth Liadrin is standing on is aiding her enemy and crumbling under her feet to
drop her into the Twisting Nether.
Running like hell to try and survive, she would end up falling among the debris and
grabbing onto the remaining edge by one hand, with Nobundo standing over her.
The hooded and disfigured silhouette of the Broken would loom over for a minute, silent,
while she frantically tries to climb up and find a way to survive.
He would then kneel down and offer his helping hand, while stating « Now, Lady Liadrin,
you have lost. ». Being faced with the choice of taking his hand and risking betrayal, or
slowly slipping to death, Liadrin would actually hesitate.
In the end, she would take the Broken’s hand, guided by what she recognizes as faith.
The Shaman would help her, saving her life, and once on her feet, she would understand
that now, she simply couldn’t attack again.
All that would be left to do would be to concede defeat, meaning that she had indeed lost.
Both wounded and heavy with thoughts for the future, Liadrin and Nobundo would help each
other limp back to their respective encampments.
Both would stand by their decision.
Nobundo would think of the Blood Knight who had faith in him, when they were trying to
kill each other the second before.
Liadrin would think of the wretched shamanic creature who had risked the possession of
the Eye of the Storm rather than kill in cold blood.
This dual has probably not settled that issue, but it certainly has ensured renewed trust
between Blood Elves and Draenei for the future.
Well, Nobundo won.
Or did he ? This was supposed to be a death match, and he failed to end his opponent’s
life, shouldn’t this be a draw ? The problem with setting fictional death matches is that
they ignore the characters morals and give an unfair disadvantage to those who would
refuse killing.
Nobundo had the knowledge and forethought to rid Liadrin of her mount and her weapon,
and as long as he managed to stay away, her strength and resistance were useless to her,
effectively making him the better suited combattant in this situation.
Liadrin’s talent and magical ressources would have been more than enough to match
his magical power, had it been a lengthy battle, and she would eventually have caught up to
him.
What Nobundo did was prevent this and survive long enough to trap her in a situation where
the fight would have been decided without the death of one or the other.
His greatest advantages were his experience, and his wisdom.
The hindrance of his morals was taken into account, and he won anyway : the winner is
the Farseer Nobundo, High Shaman and Champion of the Earthen Ring.
Thanks for watching this video ! I was interested in making something about characters who are not necessarily on
the forefront of the main lore, they’re sometimes more interesting than bigger figures,
and since these two never met, I wanted to do exactly that.
Next time, I’ll take the opposite direction and show a fight between none other than the
two most powerful creatures of the entire Warcraft lore.
Azeroth might get destroyed a bit.
Oh well.
Subscribe and like if you wanna see that happen, and until next time !