Cairne Bloodhoof

Cairne Bloodhoof was the Chief of the united tribes of the tauren, chieftain of the Bloodhoof, and leader of Thunder Bluff. Allying with the Horde upon its arrival on the shores of Kalimdor, Cairne stood as one of its wisest and most venerated leaders, until his unfortunate death in a duel against Garrosh Hellscream, the new Warchief of the Horde. He was succeeded as chief by his son Baine Bloodhoof.

Cairne is voiced by voice actor William Bassett.

Early history
The fearless and wizened leader of the Bloodhoof Tauren, Cairne lived near the shores of the Great Sea in the Barrens.

Cairne is a peerless warrior and a wise leader of his ancient people. Though slowed somewhat by the weight of age, Cairne still possesses great strength and valor. This great hearted giant knows that his people are in grave danger of extermination from the marauding centaurs. However, he has never given up hope of one day finding a way to lead his people to a new land where they can make their home and live in peace.

However, between the centaur marauders' savage attacks on his people and their hunting of local game to near extinction, Cairne planned to relocate his tribe to the verdant lands of Mulgore. But with centaur attacks growing more and more frequent, Cairne knew that on the open plains they would not be able to defeat them, and he quickly began to lose hope.

Third War
Things changed when Cairne met Thrall, the young warchief of the new orcish Horde, and, watching him battle and destroy a group of centaurs who had been attacking a tauren, he became intrigued with their nobility and savagery. When Thrall told him that they came to look for their destiny, Cairne directed him to the north, where there was an Oracle.

Thrall reported seeing an army of centaur going north, and Cairne quickly left to defend his village. Thrall brought his followers with him, and followed Cairne to defend the village. After defending against wave after wave of centaur warriors, Cairne told Thrall of his plight, and Thrall vowed to protect the caravan of Tauren as they crossed the barrens to Mulgore, in exchange for the location of the Oracle.

Cairne and Thrall managed to evade and defeat the centaur marauders, and finally made it to Mulgore. Cairne told Thrall that the Oracle was within Stonetalon Peak, and bid him good luck.

Upon arriving at Stonetalon, Thrall was surprised to find that Cairne had sought him out, and pledged to repay the debt they owed Thrall and the Horde. Cairne enlisted the wyverns to help them, and helped to free them from the harpies. He then helped to claim the peak from the humans so that they could enter freely. However, Jaina Proudmoore entered first.

Cairne and Thrall split upon entering the bowels of Stonetalon, and Cairne found an enchanted spirit stone that would activate an ethereal bridge towards the Oracle. When they found the Oracle, Cairne and Thrall found Jaina already there. All three spoke to the Oracle, who told them that they must all ally if they wished to defeat the Burning Legion. The three hesitantly agreed.

Cairne's wisdom and strength, and the power of his tauren warriors, helped Thrall to reclaim Grom Hellscream. In a combined effort, the sorcery of all three races were needed to purge the demonic influence from Hellscream. United in arms, Cairne pledged the loyalty of his race to the Horde, and together, they managed to defeat the Burning Legion once again.

Founding of Durotar
Cairne helped the orcs establish their new nation of Durotar before bidding them farewell and leaving to take his own people to a new land in Mulgore. There, they established a strong defense against the centaurs and harpies who harassed them. Several months later, however, Cairne's son, Baine Bloodhoof, was captured by centaurs. Cairne feared the worst, and slipped into a lethargic depression. His followers scrambled to lead their people adequately, but they were no substitute for Cairne's wisdom. His second, Tagar, tried to help Cairne, but Cairne would not hear of it. Tagar feared that without the leadership of Cairne, the tauren would not last long.

When Rexxar and Rokhan arrived to ask Cairne for the tauren's assistance in the coming battle against Admiral Proudmoore and his Kul Tiras forces, Cairne told them to leave him and tell Thrall that he had died. Tagar told the heroes of Baine's capture, and they quickly left to investigate his disappearance. With the help of Bovan Windtotem, they recovered Baine and returned him to his happy father.

Cairne, overjoyed, told Rexxar that not only would he pledge the service of his people to Thrall once more, he would be returning himself. He joined with Rexxar's band of warriors and returned to Dustwallow, and then helped to repel Proudmoore's forces. Victorious, they then took the fight to the humans and ended Proudmoore's reign of hatred. Cairne returned to his people and his son in Mulgore.

Cairne also recognized that the nomadic traditions of tauren society were a danger to the survival of the people. There were few tauren, and their wandering lifestyle meant that they would be vulnerable to attacks by centaur, quilboar and other races. With the help of the Horde, Cairne secured the grasslands of Mulgore as a permanent home for the tauren, and constructed their first city high atop Thunder Bluff.

The Shattering
Cairne, though impressed with Garrosh Hellscream's ability as a commander after visiting Warsong Hold in Northrend, opposes his selection as Thrall's replacement, and makes his feelings known to the outgoing Warchief; the old friends bitterly part ways as Thrall leaves for Outland, both leaders refusing to budge on their positions.

Upon receiving word from the owl Hamuul Runetotem sent, that the new Warchief sanctioned the killing of innocent druids (actually carried out by orcs loyal to Twilight's Hammer), Cairne issues a mak'gora, challenging Garrosh for leadership of the Horde. Garrosh accepts, but adds the caveat that the combat would not be the non-lethal combat sanctioned by Thrall, but by the old laws - to the death. Cairne agrees, and the combatants meet in the arena in Orgrimmar.

Each combatant is allowed one weapon and no armor. Cairne takes up his Bloodhoof Runespear, a sacred weapon of the Bloodhoof chieftains, while Garrosh carries Gorehowl, the axe that belonged to his father, Grom Hellscream. The weapons are blessed by shaman; Gorehowl is blessed by Magatha Grimtotem, who seems approving of the new Warchief. At first gaining the upper hand, the Runespear is shattered by Gorehowl and Cairne takes a glancing slash in the chest. Cairne suddenly becomes faint and unable to raise what remained of his Runespear to defend himself, and he realizes that Magatha has poisoned Garrosh's weapon. Cairne's last thought is a lament - that he, who had lived with honor, would die betrayed, just as the howling axe of Hellscream slices into his neck. The tauren leader dies before he even hits the ground.

The moment Cairne died, Magatha orders the Grimtotem tribe to take over Thunder Bluff and the surrounding towns, murdering everyone who stood in their way. Baine, Cairne's son and heir, manages to escape, and with the aid of Jevan GrimtotemGazlowe, leader of the goblins of Ratchet, retakes Thunder Bluff and exiles Magatha and the surviving Grimtotems who chose to follow her instead of Jevan. Baine is formally installed as leader of Thunder Bluff and chieftain of the tauren.

Cairne's remains are placed upon a pyre along with the shattered debris of his Runespear. Thrall returns from Outland to mourn him, regretting that he parted on bad terms with his friend. He weeps for the loss of a future lifetime of his friendship, his kindness, wisdom, and humor. Thrall speaks to the wind, hoping that Cairne's spirit hears him, to tell him that Cairne and the tauren were always the heart of the Horde - their true spiritual center, of forgiveness, compassion, and guidance. Thrall places his hand reverently on Cairne's now peaceful brow, to say a final goodbye to his old friend, and took with him the smallest piece of Cairne's Runespear to forever remember him and be in touch with his heart. The fragment was etched with a single rune, whose meaning did not escape Thrall - "healing".

Character
Cairne is dedicated to serving his people and to watching over their safety in an ever-darkening world. An outstanding warrior, Cairne is considered one of the most dangerous creatures alive. Despite his strength and valor, he is a gentle soul who longs only for the peace and tranquility of the open plains. It is rumored that if he could lay the responsibilities of chieftain on another, Cairne would leave Thunder Bluff in an instant and retire to the wilds. Many believe that he is training his son, Baine, to take his place as chieftain one fateful day.

Cairne Bloodhoof employs only tauren holy striders, out of respect of their long heritage. Although his demeanor does not suggest a covert mind, Cairne does not disclose how many holy striders he employs, only that they are all tauren. Perith Stormhoof, a notable holy strider works only for Cairne Bloodhoof and keeps many of his leader’s secrets (even secrets Thrall doesn’t know).

Cairne is the spiritual leader for the tauren tribes in Kalimdor. He has an incredibly strong connection with the environment and deeply respects both the elemental forces and the natural beasts of the wild.

Cairne is an extremely wise individual, but his lumbering demeanor often comes across as ponderously slow to members of other races. He always prefers to contemplate problems before acting to try to solve them, and frequently meditates for several days in a row without interruption. However, when he does decide to act, Cairne can rarely be deterred from his path. He fights with incredible passion, but is never out of control. He prefers to observe his enemies before fighting them so that he can more fully understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Cairne has a very trusting attitude toward orcs and greatly respects their newly shamanistic culture. Night elves are likewise regarded positively because of their strong connection with the woodland environment. However, he usually avoids humans, dwarves and goblins; and if they must be dealt with, he tends to treat them in a patronizing manner. Cairne believes that the spiritual eyes of these races have not fully opened yet, and that members of these races are, in essence, children who are still learning and must be coddled. He has great disdain for the arcane practices of high elves and deeply resents their abandonment of the natural ways.

In World of Warcraft


Cairne Bloodhoof was a level ?? faction leader located on the High Rise in the tauren city of Thunder Bluff.

He started the quest.

He ended the quest (Feast of Winter Veil).

Cairne honors members of the Horde who attain the title of Loremaster by delivering to them their.

See List of Thunder Bluff NPCs.

Tactics
Thunder Bluff is a very easy city to get into to. It can be underguarded by Horde players so you do not always have to worry about them. Get the entire raid onto an elevator and go up. However, if word of incoming Alliance raids reaches the Horde, it is likely that shamans and balance druids will blow players off the platforms, making it much much more difficult to get to him. Run straight for the giant totem pole in the center and run up it to Cairne's rise. go to the center of the little amphitheater and AoE all the guards that you pulled. Then pull and kill Cairne.

Cairne isn't as difficult to deal with as the other Horde bosses, Cairne has several knock back attacks that he will use on the tank as well as a random charge. The main tank should immediately run behind Cairne, The rest of the raid should filter out, but must not go beyond the first set of tents, as if Cairne charges them he will run back to his tent and reset.

Without the worry of a reset Cairne was a really simple fight and could be downed without much resistance.

Abilities

 * Cleave: Inflicts 110% of normal melee damage to an enemy and its nearest allies, affecting up to 3 targets.
 * Mortal Strike: Inflicts 200% weapon damage and leaves the target wounded, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 50% for 5 sec.
 * Thunderclap: Inflicts 1407 to 1593 Nature damage to nearby enemies, increasing the time between their attacks by 100% and slowing their movement by 60% for 8 sec.
 * Uppercut: Inflicts normal damage plus 50 to an enemy, knocking it back.
 * Warstomp: Inflicts Physical damage to nearby enemies, knocking them back and stunning them for 6 sec.

Elemental Unrest
During the Elemental Unrest invasion, Cairne defends the main mesa of Thunder Bluff from attacking elementals. He also assists Horde players in the destruction of Prince Sarsarun and Kai'ju Gahz'rilla.

Removal
Cairne was removed in Cataclysm (following his death in The Shattering), succeeded by his son Baine.



During Children's Week, Cairne is shown being honored by his son and the elders of Thunder Bluff, he is then allowed to join the other elders in the Spirit World

Warcraft III

 * I am Cairne, chief of the Bloodhoof tauren. You greenskins fight with savagery and valor. I am intrigued.
 * Our debt to you orcs can only be repaid with blood. We've come to help you reach the Oracle. However, those metal-clad pinkskins look like trouble.
 * Ha! There's no need to coddle me, boy. I may be old, but I'm not helpless.
 * (to Rexxar) Now, you said that your warchief was in trouble – that the Horde needed the tauren once again. Well, Thrall did much for us in his time, and we will not fail him. My warriors will rendezvous with the warchief upon the battlefield, but I will be returning with YOU!

Greetings

 * We Tauren have always held a great respect for the ways of the Earthmother.
 * I am Cairne, chief of the Bloodhoof Tauren.
 * Take heart young one, the Earthmother is near.
 * Ish-ne-alo por-ah, may the Earthmother smile upon you.

Aggro

 * For honor!

Raid wipe

 * The attackers have fled! Strength and honor to the Horde!

WoW TCG

 * Ha! There's no need to coddle me, boy. I may be old, but I'm not helpless.