by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

Sure, you can play that winning card and step away from your match the glorious victor. But where is the fun unless you can also drop some lore knowledge on your opponent and add insult to injury? In this column, we don’t worry about card values or strategy – all we care about is that sweet, sweet lore.

Today, we are finally featuring a card that everyone can learn to love, or learn to hate: Old Murk-Eye is our legendary minion this week, and he is available to collect and play by all hero classes.

He’s a legend among murlocs.  “Mrghllghghllghg!”, they say.

Alliance players know Old Murk-Eye well: he has been terrorizing low-level players questing in Westfall for years.

Murlocs communicate in their own, primitive sounding guttural language, but they also have the ability to use tools, and can defend their territory quite effectively. Smaller tribes can band together to form clans, capable of mobilizing large fighting forces. Murlocs also demonstrate clear roles and  leadership structures, with Old Murk-Eye sitting at the top of his particular tribe.

Most of us likely view murlocs as either a coastal or riverside dwelling nuisance, or a creature overflowing with sheer cuteness. What is less known about them is that they are one of the few ancient races of Azeroth, and an evolutionary offshoot of the gorlocs. For millennia, murlocs were deep sea dwellers. Only recently have murlocs begun to slowly move in-land and stake their claim to beaches, coastlines, and rivers.

It is unclear what prompted this change in their behavior, but it does coincide with the reemergence of the naga. Whether this is an intentional, coordinated effort by various ocean races to draw land races into battle, or merely a coincidence, is open to speculation.

Many adventurers have made the mistake of shrugging off the murlocs due to their small stature and perceived weakness, but be warned: murlocs like to swarm their enemies with overwhelming numbers. Old Murk-Eye, in World of Warcraft as well as in Hearthstone, can pose a serious challenge to the unprepared.