Any lore at all about Forsaken beliefs?

[Smeedle]

I was wondering if there exist any official lore about the beliefs of the Forsaken priests. As far as I know there is next to none.

What we have is:
- a small blurb on http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/ that says: "the undead priests of the Forsaken, their faith twisted and tainted by their tortured existences, spread a dark interpretation of the Holy Light."
- a few throwaway sentences from the Forsaken NPCs that give you your 1st-level priest quests. They don't tell you very much, but they say "the Holy Light no longer concerns you" and "It is faith in ourselves that separates us from others" and "Our power comes from darkness and shadow".
- The Forsaken priest NPCs often have titles like "Dark Cleric" or "Shadow Priest"
- The WoW RPG tells us that "The Forsaken have abandoned religion" which is kind of strange since there are Forsaken priests in the MMORPG.

So that's pretty much everything we have in terms of official lore that I know of. There is of course some mention in some places about the "Shadow" but even if we assume the Forsaken priests worship this "Shadow" we don't know what this worship really implies. Are there some kind of twisted virtues the Forsaken priests follow like the priests of the Holy Light do? Is there any more to Forsaken priests than "Muahaha, I draw my powers from the darkness! Forget the Light, the Shadow rul0rz!"?

So, does anyone know if there is more official (not fan-made) lore about Forsaken priests out there? Or an explanation what the "Shadow" really is and how it correlates to the Holy Light?

[Kerrah]

I was wondering if there exist any official lore about the beliefs of the Forsaken priests. As far as I know there is next to none.

What we have is:
- a small blurb on http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/ that says: "the undead priests of the Forsaken, their faith twisted and tainted by their tortured existences, spread a dark interpretation of the Holy Light."
- a few throwaway sentences from the Forsaken NPCs that give you your 1st-level priest quests. They don't tell you very much, but they say "the Holy Light no longer concerns you" and "It is faith in ourselves that separates us from others" and "Our power comes from darkness and shadow".
- The Forsaken priest NPCs often have titles like "Dark Cleric" or "Shadow Priest"
- The WoW RPG tells us that "The Forsaken have abandoned religion" which is kind of strange since there are Forsaken priests in the MMORPG.

So that's pretty much everything we have in terms of official lore that I know of. There is of course some mention in some places about the "Shadow" but even if we assume the Forsaken priests worship this "Shadow" we don't know what this worship really implies. Are there some kind of twisted virtues the Forsaken priests follow like the priests of the Holy Light do? Is there any more to Forsaken priests than "Muahaha, I draw my powers from the darkness! Forget the Light, the Shadow rul0rz!"?

So, does anyone know if there is more official (not fan-made) lore about Forsaken priests out there? Or an explanation what the "Shadow" really is and how it correlates to the Holy Light?
Well, if it helps, i quess its the same "Shadow", that the "shadow priests" in for example humanity embrace. Its just another religion i believe.

[Smeedle]

Well, if it helps, i quess its the same "Shadow", that the "shadow priests" in for example humanity embrace. Its just another religion i believe.
Well, the thing is that this so called "shadow" spells that "shadow priests" (which is mostly an out-of-character term used by the players of WoW and not a term used inside the lore as far as I know - with the exception of a few Forsaken NPCs that do indeed call themselves "Shadow Priest") can be used by priests of the Holy Light as well. So it's not like this kind of "shadow" is any kind of opposite of the Holy Light. It's more of a classification. "Shadow spells" are the destructive spells that priests can use. But you can worship the Holy Light and still use this "shadow spells" (of course you use them in a non-evil way, to kill the bad guys for example), so this kind of "Shadow" isn't really a new belief or philosophy. So the question remains what the Forsaken priests believe in or what this "dark interpretation of the Holy Light" really is. My guess is it isn't really that different from the belief in the Holy Light, meaning they also got three Virtues (just a bit different ones or they at least interpret them differently) and all that stuff, but this thread isn't about guessing. I just wanted to know if there really isn't any more official lore about this topic.

[Kenzuki]

The Shadow is the "dark side" of the Holy Light. Like the Force, and Metzen is a big Star Wars Fan.

[Smeedle]

The Shadow is the "dark side" of the Holy Light. Like the Force, and Metzen is a big Star Wars Fan.
Sure, there are parallels to Star War's Force, but it's not exactly the same thing. The whole "surpress your feelings" vs. "let the hate flow through you" thing from Star Wars doesn't seem to exist in the philosophy of the Holy Light. On the contrary, the Holy Light teaches you to embrace your feelings since it's the feelings that connect us to one another. Also, I think somewhere in the RPG books it is mentioned that the Holy Light doesn't really distinguish between good and evil as long as you adhere to the Three Virtues. So, what does that mean in regards to the "Shadow"?

[Kerrah]

Sure, there are parallels to Star War's Force, but it's not exactly the same thing. The whole "surpress your feelings" vs. "let the hate flow through you" thing from Star Wars doesn't seem to exist in the philosophy of the Holy Light. On the contrary, the Holy Light teaches you to embrace your feelings since it's the feelings that connect us to one another. Also, I think somewhere in the RPG books it is mentioned that the Holy Light doesn't really distinguish between good and evil as long as you adhere to the Three Virtues. So, what does that mean in regards to the "Shadow"?
If you ambrace the shadow you can cast evil spells, wow is not the mirror of Lore, could clerics cast shadow word pain in WC1?

[Kakwakas]

I think Metzen mentioned that the Light vs Shadow thing would be a big part of tBC. Of course, he could've just been talking about the Eredar and their Alliance counterparts...

[Smeedle]

I think Metzen mentioned that the Light vs Shadow thing would be a big part of tBC. Of course, he could've just been talking about the Eredar and their Alliance counterparts...
I guess you are referring to this quote by Metzen:
"The ‘Light’ and the ‘Shadow’ are both philosophies of a sort, but they also tap into universal powers that are at play in the cosmos. Good and Evil are real things – not just ideaological distinctions. You’ll see these themes play much more clearly in the coming chunks of content. That’s all I’ll say about that. All those paladins are tapping into SOMETHING to pull off those heals!"

Yeah, I think he was only hinting a the Naaru, which doesn't really help me here. Or, wait, if the Naaru are the source of power for the worshippers of the Holy Light than who/what is the source of power for the worshippers of the "Shadow"? The Burning Legion? No, I guess not, as that would make Forsaken priests into warlocks. So, something else entirely?

[Kerrah]

I guess you are referring to this quote by Metzen:
"The ‘Light’ and the ‘Shadow’ are both philosophies of a sort, but they also tap into universal powers that are at play in the cosmos. Good and Evil are real things – not just ideaological distinctions. You’ll see these themes play much more clearly in the coming chunks of content. That’s all I’ll say about that. All those paladins are tapping into SOMETHING to pull off those heals!"

Yeah, I think he was only hinting a the Naaru, which doesn't really help me here. Or, wait, if the Naaru are the source of power for the worshippers of the Holy Light than who/what is the source of power for the worshippers of the "Shadow"? The Burning Legion? No, I guess not, as that would make Forsaken priests into warlocks. So, something else entirely?
The Dark Naaru!!!

This is becoming more and more like Metroid Prime 2...

[Kakwakas]

I guess you are referring to this quote by Metzen:
"The ‘Light’ and the ‘Shadow’ are both philosophies of a sort, but they also tap into universal powers that are at play in the cosmos. Good and Evil are real things – not just ideaological distinctions. You’ll see these themes play much more clearly in the coming chunks of content. That’s all I’ll say about that. All those paladins are tapping into SOMETHING to pull off those heals!"

Yeah, I think he was only hinting a the Naaru, which doesn't really help me here. Or, wait, if the Naaru are the source of power for the worshippers of the Holy Light than who/what is the source of power for the worshippers of the "Shadow"? The Burning Legion? No, I guess not, as that would make Forsaken priests into warlocks. So, something else entirely?

It was never said that the naaru are the Light's source of power. They TAUGHT the ways of the Light to that select group of eredar.

[Wulfang]

The only thing that has been said about the naaru is that they are energy beings devoted to the Holy Light of Creation (as in, they're the biggest followers of the Light out there) that taught the teachings of the Light to the draenei.

It isn't stated anywhere that they are the source of the Light.

[Yuber8900]

So they worship the titans or something?

[Timolas]

The Shadow is the "dark side" of the Holy Light. Like the Force, and Metzen is a big Star Wars Fan.

May the Holy Light be with you.

[Kakwakas]

So they worship the titans or something?

They worship the Light.

[Smeedle]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/draenei.html as well as http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/faq.html both state that the naaru "blessed" the draenei with Light-given knowledge and power. I think "blessed" can be read in different ways.

And if you look at Metzen's statement where he says "Good and Evil are real things [...] All those paladins are tapping into SOMETHING to pull off those heals!" it looks like he is saying that the Light isn't just an abstract thing but there is something very real and tangible where the Light worshippers draw their power from. The Naaru would certainly fit that bill. They are creatures of energy after all - why shouldn't they be able to lend this energy to others.

Okay, I think that probably the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The Naaru aren't the source of the Holy Light but they surely have a stronger connection to the Holy Light than just some beings who discovered this power, followed the teachings of the Holy Light and now teach this philosophy to others. The Naaru are probably physical manifestations of the Holy Light - beings that sprung from it. They are quite literary beings of the Light. So, in a way paladins etc do get their power from the Naaru as the Naaru are just manifestations of the Light. That's my theory anyway until we get more information about them. However, that doesn't really help me in regard to the "Shadow".