Midsummer Fire Festival Guide
Starting in either Stormwind or Orgrimmar, this year's Midsummer Fire Festival comes with a brand new questline for players to undertake. Centered around skyriding through blossoms placed around each city, completing Ignite the Skies: Stormwind or Ignite the Skies: Orgrimmar will then allow players to learn about the history of Midsummer for each faction.
These questlines can all be completed on one character of either faction for a total of 230 Burning Blossom, with the order of stories depending on your character's faction. Subsequent completions will give 15 Burning Blossom per story quest.
The Tauren and An'she's Favor
The story told by Elder Sunhorn starts with Ignite the Skies: Northern Kalimdor quest, detailing the path the tauren walked to appease their sun god An'she. During an especially hot summer, the tauren sought ways to stave off the sun's heat, and created sun blossoms as tribute to An'she. When those blossoms failed to reach sufficient heights in their own lands, they endeavored to offer them from Kalimdor's highest mountain: Mount Hyjal.
As they ventured into night elf lands, the tauren were supported not only by the night elves, but the Ancients and even Cenarius himself, who approved of their quest. Pointed in the direction of the harpy goddess Aviana, the tauren's tenacity gained her favor, and thus her aid in carrying their sun blossoms into the sky.
Traveling back down through Azshara and towards their lands, the tauren quickly felt the sun's heat lessen. While their ritual had been successful, the tauren still wonder if it had been the blossoms, or the dedication of the tauren that appeased An'she. From then on, the tauren continued this ritual every Midsummer to satiate their sun god.
Elder Sunhorn says: Long ago, before the Sun Blossom ritual was practiced, the tauren tribes would journey to Stonetalon to celebrate Midsummer.
Elder Sunhorn says: During one particularly hot summer, as the sun blazed and the crops wilted, the elders pondered on how to appease An'she.
Elder Sunhorn says: "Perhaps a bundle of sun blossoms will appease him?" one suggested. An offering to the Sun was needed.
Elder Sunhorn says: When ignited, sun blossoms would soar upwards in the warm summer winds. But with the sun high in the sky, the blossoms would not reach.
Elder Sunhorn says: "Perhaps we should offer them from the highest mountain?" another suggested.
Elder Sunhorn says: When the elders had agreed, a few select chosen would journey north to the highest peak in the land to make the offerings.
Elder Sunhorn says: But such a journey involved entering the moonlit lands of the kaldorei...
Elder Sunhorn says: Although the kaldorei and tauren kept an amicable distance, the elven priestesses granted our request and guided us through their lands.
Elder Sunhorn says: Our first resting point was at the shrine of the Wisp Mother. Here, we shared our stories of An'she with the kaldorei.
Elder Sunhorn says: As the Summer pilgrims continued further into kaldorei lands, they stopped to rest in the once green Irontree Woods.
Elder Sunhorn says: There, the ancients of the forests welcomed them with shade and shelter from the scorching heat.
Elder Sunhorn says: The pilgrimage continued with a detour into the grove of Moonglade, home of Cenarius the Forest Lord.
Elder Sunhorn says: Cenarius saw wisdom in the tauren reaching out to An'she, and granted them shelter and the cool waters of his glade as respite.
Elder Sunhorn says: Cenarius advised them to seek the mistress of the skies atop the great mountain, as they would need her boon to bring their offerings into the skies.
Elder Sunhorn says: Yet, as the tauren pressed on, they found even the cold alpine forests of Winterspring had felt the blaze of the sun overhead.
Elder Sunhorn says: Aviana was a goddess of winds and wild, and this was not a land the tauren usually ventured to.
Elder Sunhorn says: "The shu'halo rarely risk journeying so high up these slopes, yet I see the selflessness of your purpose. May these winds carry your blossoms high above."
Elder Sunhorn says: It is said that as the pilgrims descended the waterways into the red forests below, the blaze of An'she seemed to dissipate.
Elder Sunhorn says: An'she was now sated and the tauren tribes agreed to carry out this ritual journey at the start of every Midsummer.
Elder Sunhorn says: As the sun pilgrims traversed the rivers south, they wondered: had it truly been the offerings of the Blossoms themselves that had appeased An'she...
Elder Sunhorn says: ...or had it been the selflessness of their effort that brought relief to the heat-scorched lands of Kalimdor?
Elder Sunhorn says: To this day, the sun blossoms we use in our rituals remind us to ponder such questions and find lessons in our fireside stories.
Elder Skyhorn then tells the story of the return home to the tauren's scattered homelands after their summer festivals in the Ignite the Skies: Southern Kalimdor quest. Thanks to the aid of bonfires set across the lands of Kalimdor, the tauren gathered in their sacred lands of Stonetalon Mountains to spend their summer months in celebration of An'she. When those summer months ended, the tauren then migrated back to their homelands, guided by those very same bonfires.
Along the way, the southern tribes had many stops, including the hunting grounds of Mulgore that would one day house Thunder Bluff, or returned into their homelands of Manan'she -- the region that would one day turn into Desolace. Those traveling even further south continued with additional sun blossom ceremonies, stopping along the ridges of Feralas and Thousand Needles to say farewell to An'she as winter approached.
In the furthest reaches, the tauren traveled to their homes in Tanaris, which had been a lush forest long before the desert it is known as today. According to legends, it was these southern tribes who had first made these pilgrimages, turning their hunting traditions into sacred rituals for their people.
Elder Sunhorn says: Each year, as the cooler spring days turned to summer, the southern tribes migrated north towards Stonetalon Peak.
Elder Sunhorn says: Even the most resilient of tribes found the blaze of the sun to be daunting in scorching summer months.
Elder Sunhorn says: As the southern tribes traveled, flame keepers would build great bonfires to maintain the light of An'she during the colder nights.
Elder Sunhorn says: These bonfires would serve as path markers for the southern tribes as they made their way home during the end of Midsummer.
Elder Sunhorn says: As the tribes ventured south, some followed the rocky ridges that divided the plains of Mashan'she and the rolling valleys of Mulgore.
Elder Sunhorn says: These plains would serve as a rest stop and hunting grounds for many tribes of central Kalimdor, long before Thunderbluff ever stood.
Elder Sunhorn says: Some tribes returned home to the plains of Mashan'she, as others broke off toward the jungles of Feralas.
Elder Sunhorn says: As a farewell to An'she in the cooler seasons, these neighboring tribes would celebrate one last sun blossom ceremony.
Elder Sunhorn says: As some tribes traversed the jungles, others kept to the steppes and cliffs that divided their territories.
Elder Sunhorn says: This retreat, often known as the Brow of the Sun, served as the final resting point for the tribes who made their home in Thousand Needles.
Elder Sunhorn says: As the cooler winds descended upon Thousand Needles, the tribes here gathered atop the southern bluffs to ignite their blossoms.
Elder Sunhorn says: These tribes paid homage to both wind and fire with their celebration.
Elder Sunhorn says: Although the sands of Tanaris are now an arid wasteland, these once-lush lands were home to many tauren tribes.
Elder Sunhorn says: Some say these tribes were the first to make the pilgrimage north, following the path of the great beasts migrating to cooler pastures.
Elder Sunhorn says: Retracing the path of this great summer migration reminds us that even as the light of the sun wanes and the days grow shorter, our path home will always be illuminated by the fires of An'she.
At the end of each quest, we also visit a camp of tauren Sunwalkers and Seers gathering together in celebration. These camps bring back almost every holy cow you can think of, from class trainers to order hall NPCs to notable lore characters such as Sunwalker Dezco and Aponi Brightmane.
The Dwarves and the Wildsages
Told by the Wildhammer dwarf Aedh Firebeard, the Alliance's story takes a more comprehensive look at the origins of modern Midsummer celebrations in the Eastern Kingdoms. In the Ignite the Skies: Southern Eastern Kingdoms quest, she explains how the practices were rekindled in Stormwind in the wake of the dwarven War of the Three Hammers.
When the war ended with Ragnaros being summoned at Blackrock Mountain, he obliterated much of the surrounding lands, but the damage also had a lingering effect on the people of Redridge. Using their celebration to overcome lingering fears, the practices in Lakeshire spread throughout the kingdom of Stormwind through the use of ceremonial blossom lights.
Speaking then of the origins of the relationship between humans and dwarves that was kindled by the Fire Festival, Aedh discusses the importance of fire to all three dwarven clans. From their origins at Uldaman to their divided rivalries in the modern day, fire has played a crucial role for all three clans, even if their practices vastly differ.
Aedh Firebeard says: The Summer Festival of Fire has long been a time of revel and good fortune for the Kingdom of Stormwind.
Aedh Firebeard says: But what was once a season of celebration, became a chapter of paranoia and darkness for the people in these lands.
Aedh Firebeard says: Long ago, at the height of midsummer celebrations, the northern mountains of Redridge were shattered by a catastrophic eruption.
Aedh Firebeard says: With most of northern Redridge and its resource rich territories lost, paranoia and fear set in around Stormwind and soon, many celebrations fell out of practice.
Aedh Firebeard says: Through great tenacity, the people of Lakeshire were the first to rebuild and rekindled the summer celebration, choosing to honor the spirit of fire, not fear it.
Aedh Firebeard says: Inspired by their neighbor's celebration, the people of Brightwood would soon set ablaze their own blossom lights and rekindled their region's festival.
Aedh Firebeard says: They say the summer winds carried these lights into the haunted canyon of Deadwind Pass, bringing a flicker of hope to the kingdom's darkest places.
Aedh Firebeard says: In later seasons, the people of Westfall and Elwynn joined their neighbors in reigniting the festival.
Aedh Firebeard says: Much like Lake Everstill, the rivers of these regions were dotted with blossom lights and in time, the once abandoned festival returned to all corners of the Kingdom.
Aedh Firebeard says: Although humanity's celebration of summer predates even the kingdom of Strom, it was their kinship with the dwarves that inspired many customs still practiced today.
Aedh Firebeard says: It is said that while many descendants of King Thoradin migrated south by sea, those who traveled by land were guided through Khaz Modan by Wildhammer bonfires during the dwarven festivals of fire.
Aedh Firebeard says: Though the dwarven festivals of fire were celebrated by all clans in the ages before the War of Three Hammers, the Dark Iron clan paid a heavy toll for summoning the Firelord.
Aedh Firebeard says: Even so, after breaking free from the Firelord's chains, the Dark Iron clan have once again embraced their faith in the flame and reverence for the element that flows through their veins.
Aedh Firebeard says: In fact, since the dawn of dwarven kind, fire has played a crucial role in the shaping and forging of our people. For the Bronzebeards, a tool of industry and trade.
Aedh Firebeard says: For the Dark Irons, a weapon to wield and master. And for the Wildhammer, the flicker of flame was our tool for survival in the rugged mountains of Khaz Modan.
Turning then to the origins of the dwarven celebrations in the Ignite the Skies: Northern Eastern Kingdoms quest, Aedh explains the importance of Midsummer to the very foundations of Wildhammer culture. Driven by a fiery shooting star, the dwarven Wildsages set out from Khaz Modan to follow it north. Passing by the lands that would later become Grim Batol and the Twilight Highlands, the wildsages passed into the Arathi Highlands in search of their star.
After exchanging cultural traditions, including the very blossom lights that would one day revive the Midsummer traditions in Stormwind, the wildsages set north for the untamed Hinterlands in pursuit of their burning star. There, they not only found the star they were after, but first encountered their iconic gryphon companions at the site that would one day become their capitol of Aerie Peak.
Aedh Firebeard says: Long before the humans established Stormwind, the dwarves of Khaz Modan honored the elements of fire through festival and revelry.
Aedh Firebeard says: At the start of summer, dwarves of all clans would gather to celebrate around the bonfires.
Aedh Firebeard says: As the Wildhammer hosted the festival in their foothills, the wisest and eldest of their shamans, known to some as "wildsages", would tell stories around the bonfires.
Aedh Firebeard says: One such tale told of the origins of the Wildsage Pilgrimage, carried out at the end of each summer, in the wake of a fiery shooting star.
Aedh Firebeard says: The story tells of the first wildsages witnessing a brilliant burning streak shooting across the summer night sky.
Aedh Firebeard says: Following the star as it illuminated the crags and foothills of Khaz Modan, the wildsages watched from afar as it briefly settled over the second highest mountain in the land.
Aedh Firebeard says: Marked forever as an important natural landmark for the wildsage yearly pilgrimage, this mountain would later house the great Wildhammer fortress of Grim Batol.
Aedh Firebeard says: The wildsages followed the star over rolling hills and vast river lands under open skies; a journey through lands rich with elemental spirits--another auspicious sign.
Aedh Firebeard says: It is said that the pilgrims even witnessed the great star dancing among the thunder strikes atop the northern-most mountain in these highlands.
Aedh Firebeard says: As the star swept northwest across the sea, the wildsages crossed the narrow channel into the human lands, where they found another celebration underway.
Aedh Firebeard says: Having already established trade with Khaz Modan, the ancient humans were quick to welcome the exhausted pilgrims into their Midsummer celebrations.
Aedh Firebeard says: As the wildsages learned the maypole dances, and the dwarves taught the Arathi how to weave blossom lights, both races shared in their stories and customs under the warm summer skies.
Aedh Firebeard says: Around the bonfire, the Arathi elders spoke of the dwarves' star, and how this elemental spirit and others like it made its home in the untamed valley to the north.
Aedh Firebeard says: Continuing their journey, the wildsages passed into the valley, where they set their eyes upon majestic winged creatures soaring high in the sky.
Aedh Firebeard says: Above them, on emberlit wings, circling high above the tallest peak of the land, the wildsages saw their star, like a glittering torch in the summer sky.
The end of each quest also features camps full of Wildhammer dwarves, bringing back characters from across their zones on either end of the continent. Notable characters also appear at each camp, such as Falstad Wildhammer and the Firebeards from the Twilight Highlands questing.
Unlike previous holiday revamps with relatively small updates to story instances, these updates to the Midsummer Fire Festival bring a wealth of story, as well as novel gameplay through the use of Skyriding. Hopefully, this is the first of many holiday events to receive such in-depth story updates.
