1. #1

    Why are Hearthstones Neglected in Lore?

    I find it strange that there is so little lore regarding one of WoWs most important game items.

    According to the Warcraft novels, Hearthstones are magical artifacts (can be crafted by mages in lore) that, when activated, can transport the user (one person only, confirmed in the Shattering) to a preset destination (in front of a hearth/fireplace). The stone itself is engraved with two words (written in the language of magic, presumably). The first word is the name of the owner of the hearth to which the stone is set to, and the second word is home (ie, a Hearthstone set to Razor Hill Inn would say "Grosk Home").

    But in lore context, how is it even activated? In the game, all we see is our toons doing some magic spell, but no stone is seen.

    Also, why don't the armies of Azeroth issue them out for military use for their soldiers? If a city is under attack and the guard patrol is miles away, they could hearth back and help save the town. If a caravan stranded and they have no food or water, they could hearth back to town and live. What if there was an uprising back at the capital, and the nation leader was out on the other side of the world? He could be back within ten seconds to sort things out.

  2. #2
    I would guess that (in answer to the question about military use) there aren't nearly enough of them to issue out to soldiers. As players we're the special ones, the hero that comes swooping in to save the day, so of course we have the nicest toys.
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  3. #3
    According to Wowpedia:

    In the novel Stormrage, hearthstones are depicted as very rare objects. King Varian believes them to be only a legend, "Things heard only in stories concerning magi... or elves." A hearthstone owned by the night elf ambassador to Stormwind was the goal of Tyrande, Broll Bearmantle, and Thura. They intended to use it to return to Darnassus when Stormwind was attacked by the Emerald Nightmare. In the end, the group was ambushed and only Broll made it back.

    In The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, Jaina Proudmoore gives Anduin Wrynn a hearthstone she had already arranged to be created for him, set to Jaina's tower in Theramore so that he could get away whenever Varian is in one of his Lo'Gosh moods. Jaina states that such an object is "rather rare".


    so the alliance and the horde don't use a lot of hearthstones because they are rare.

    now, if you look at this quest:

    http://wowpedia.org/Quest:Make_Haste_to_Orgrimmar!

    "Use the attached hearthstone to transport yourself to Orgrimmar. Our allies await your return, hero."

    so the alliance and the horde already use hearthstones, by lending their great heroes hearthstones so they can quickly answer to the calls of war.
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  4. #4
    Deleted
    In The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, Jaina Proudmoore gives Anduin Wrynn a hearthstone she had already arranged to be created for him, set to Jaina's tower in Theramore so that he could get away whenever Varian is in one of his Lo'Gosh moods. Jaina states that such an object is "rather rare".
    That's a very good passage of that book. At one point when Anduin uses his Hearthstone:

    He basicly teleports to her study/lounge room when she's having a discussion with Baine Bloodhoof, ever since that meeting, the two young princes with a father who'se proud of them have grown a mutual respect for eachother.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by checking facts View Post
    According to Wowpedia:

    In the novel Stormrage, hearthstones are depicted as very rare objects. King Varian believes them to be only a legend, "Things heard only in stories concerning magi... or elves." A hearthstone owned by the night elf ambassador to Stormwind was the goal of Tyrande, Broll Bearmantle, and Thura. They intended to use it to return to Darnassus when Stormwind was attacked by the Emerald Nightmare. In the end, the group was ambushed and only Broll made it back.

    In The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, Jaina Proudmoore gives Anduin Wrynn a hearthstone she had already arranged to be created for him, set to Jaina's tower in Theramore so that he could get away whenever Varian is in one of his Lo'Gosh moods. Jaina states that such an object is "rather rare".


    so the alliance and the horde don't use a lot of hearthstones because they are rare.

    now, if you look at this quest:

    http://wowpedia.org/Quest:Make_Haste_to_Orgrimmar!

    "Use the attached hearthstone to transport yourself to Orgrimmar. Our allies await your return, hero."

    so the alliance and the horde already use hearthstones, by lending their great heroes hearthstones so they can quickly answer to the calls of war.
    Ok, sure, they are rare, but as I said, they can be made by mages (Jania made one herself for Anduin). Also, it seems that the only time it was used in lore was by a single hero to rush back to castle to tell the king of what has transpired. I'd like to see more regular use of the device.
    Last edited by Val the Moofia Boss; 2013-10-21 at 11:19 PM.

  6. #6
    By using it in the lore it's basically a cheat. Building suspense through travel is one of the most prominent techniques used by writers, so teleportation kind of ruins that whole aspect of storytelling.
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  7. #7
    Stood in the Fire Zanito44's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Diabloss View Post
    By using it in the lore it's basically a cheat. Building suspense through travel is one of the most prominent techniques used by writers, so teleportation kind of ruins that whole aspect of storytelling.
    Walking/running on foot maybe. We have mages and warlocks teleporting and summoning along with all the different flying mounts. I would say it's just a lame excuse to just see heroes on the ground suddenly without knowledge that magic is able to be used as a convenience of life.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Valyrian Stormclaw View Post
    Ok, sure, they are rare, but as I said, they can be made by mages (Jania made one herself for Anduin). Also, it seems that the only time it was used in lore was by a single hero to rush back to castle to tell the king of what has transpired. I'd like to see more regular use of the device.
    They're rare and, presumably, hard to make. They're probably restricted to special uses due to that. They certainly can't just throw them around in case you might need one.

    The one player characters carry around in their inventory is a game mechanic, not a lore object, at least if you don't have the special archeology one.

  9. #9
    Mechagnome Warpaladin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by checking facts View Post
    According to Wowpedia:

    In the novel Stormrage, hearthstones are depicted as very rare objects. King Varian believes them to be only a legend, "Things heard only in stories concerning magi... or elves." A hearthstone owned by the night elf ambassador to Stormwind was the goal of Tyrande, Broll Bearmantle, and Thura. They intended to use it to return to Darnassus when Stormwind was attacked by the Emerald Nightmare. In the end, the group was ambushed and only Broll made it back.

    In The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, Jaina Proudmoore gives Anduin Wrynn a hearthstone she had already arranged to be created for him, set to Jaina's tower in Theramore so that he could get away whenever Varian is in one of his Lo'Gosh moods. Jaina states that such an object is "rather rare".


    so the alliance and the horde don't use a lot of hearthstones because they are rare.

    now, if you look at this quest:

    http://wowpedia.org/Quest:Make_Haste_to_Orgrimmar!

    "Use the attached hearthstone to transport yourself to Orgrimmar. Our allies await your return, hero."

    so the alliance and the horde already use hearthstones, by lending their great heroes hearthstones so they can quickly answer to the calls of war.
    They're so rare that there are only tens of millions of them left!! :P
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  10. #10
    I think it's basically been answered. Hearthstones are rare and would devalue travel in story if they weren't rare.

    Players only have them because, technically, only YOU should have the only hearthstone and everyone else doesn't.

  11. #11
    The Insane Aquamonkey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Warpaladin View Post
    They're so rare that there are only tens of millions of them left!! :P
    Oldest trick in the book. It's a scam to line the pockets of the sleazy hearthstone salesmen.

  12. #12
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    I am absolutely sure they first tried out Scroll of Town Portal in WoW, where you had to buy scrolls in a shop and consume them... as in Warcraft 3, but, noticing how huge the world is, how much frustrated one would be knowing he forgot to buy scrolls and is 1 hour away from town, they decided to make something that sticks with you always. So, after this decision took place in the game design sector, the lore sector thought "ok, we have to put these somewhere..." and therefore there are not a ton of references to them.

  13. #13
    Appearently, mages are not the only people able to make hearthstones:

    http://www.wowhead.com/spell=91226

    "According to legend, Bryher Stonekeeper ran a prosperous tavern near Loch Modan. His daughter, Keelin, travelled far from home, eventually developing the kind of reputation that embarrassed her father. Bryher made a deal with a gnome warlock to keep his daughter close to home. The warlock turned Keelin into a hearthstone, so that she would always return to the inn."

    Warlocks can do it too!

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Valyrian Stormclaw View Post
    Also, why don't the armies of Azeroth issue them out for military use for their soldiers? If a city is under attack and the guard patrol is miles away, they could hearth back and help save the town.
    They did actually. http://www.wowhead.com/item=17904 Was used pretty often during Vanila.
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