A mountain dominates those shattered planes,
its ashen rampart looming, looking down,
the searing summit where a Dragon reigns,
his brow encircled with a flaming crown.
Within the mountain’s heart a secret hoard,
in dwarven halls of shadowed flame and forge,
while deeper still a mighty Firelord
lies sleeping, guarded in a molten gorge.
For eons in that place a spirit dwelt
whose hidden, natural form was never seen—
a middle-aged adult with bulging belt,
intently staring at a glaring screen.
And many days cascaded through his hands,
scrabbling after fame in simulated lands.
—David Jackson Lohnes
2022
Notes:
I first played World of Warcraft in 2010, and over the next 12 years poured an enormous quantity of time into exploring the lands and stories of Azeroth. This poem is a memorial to those days. It focuses on what was from the beginning my favorite in-game location, Blackrock Mountain. (DL, Dec. 21, 2022)
those shattered plans – Blackrock Mountain is situated between two mostly flat zones, the Blasted Lands and the Searing Gorge.
ashen rampart – Nefarian’s Lair, a large balcony at the top of Blackrock Mountain that looks down on the lands below.
searing – a verbal nod to Searing Gorge. Many of the specific words in the octave of this poem are specific references to the names of characters or locations in World of Warcraft.
a Dragon – Nefarian, a major antagonist early in the history of World of Warcraft
a flaming crown – In his human form Nefarian wore a flaming crown that could be acquired by players.
a secret horde – The Heart of the Mountain, a gem stored in the Black Vault in the depths of Blackrock Mountain
dwarven halls – The capital city of the Iron Dwarves, Shadowforge City, excavated into the roots of the mountain. Location of the Black Vault.
shadowed flame and forge – Many item and place names associated with the Dark Iron dwarves have “shadowforge” and “shadowflame” in them. When World of Warcraft was released, the Dark Iron dwarves were antagonists, evil servants of flame and shadow.
Firelord – Ragnaros, the Firelord, with Nefarian the other major antagonist in the early history of World of Warcraft.
lies sleeping – When players first encounter him, Ragnaros is in hibernation on an elemental plane of fire and must be summoned into the world by one of his chief minions.
guarded – Players must defeat all of his minions and lieutenants before Ragnaros can be summoned.
molten gorge – The fiery pit where Ragnaros and his forces are located is in the very deepest pit of Blackrock Mountain, the Molten Core.
For eons – I played World of Warcraft for an absurdly high number of hours.
a spirit – The human player that inhabits all the player characters running around the virtual locations of World of Warcraft.
hidden, natural form – The real human body of the player.
bulging belt – I was never not significantly overweight during the time I was playing World of Warcraft.
The final couplet is an accurate reflection of my experience.