Worgen (playable)

The worgen are a race of feral wolf-beasts whose very name inspires fear. Worgen are the new playable Alliance race introduced in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and are able to choose a class from death knight, druid, warrior, hunter, mage, priest, rogue, or warlock. Outside of combat, worgen can appear in either their human form or their worgen form. However, they will immediately turn into their worgen form should they enter combat or activate their Darkflight or Running Wild racial abilities.

Origins
The worgen curse originated from a druidic sect who followed Goldrinn, known as Druids of the Scythe. They shapeshifted into the feral worgen and eventually lost their minds to its violent nature. The other druids agreed that they must be locked away, and thus put them into eternal slumber deep beneath a tree... until the day Arugal and Velinde Starsong tampered with the Scythe of Elune, releasing them.

The curse could not be contained, persisting in the lands of Silverpine and extending into the walled nation of Gilneas, where the curse rapidly reached epidemic levels. The citizens of Gilneas found themselves trapped, with no hope of escape. They retreated deeper within the isolated domain, and there they survived, fearful of the savage presence that lurked just outside the barricades.

Tensions among the displaced citizens escalated over time, resulting in a civil war that now threatened to destabilize the embattled nation even more. There were those among the Gilneans, however, who clinged to hope. Many believed that a cure for the worgen curse may exist, although others had nearly given up, fearful that if the barricades should fall, their humanity would be lost forever.

Induction to the Alliance
After the Shattering, the Greymane Wall was destroyed. Setting their sights on the vulnerable country of Gilneas, the Forsaken have started an invasion of the kingdom. In their hour of greatest need, the worgen of Gilneas called out for their old allies' aid. As it was the night elves who created the curse in the first place, they felt obliged to help their newfound allies. The Gilneans are now back in the Alliance, and with their new allies by their side they aren't giving up their home without a fight.

Your character
When starting a worgen character, the first 5-6 levels are played as a human fighting in the Gilneas civil war at the beginning of the worgen invasion of Gilneas City. After finishing the questline in Gilneas City, during which the player becomes a worgen, the player is moved to Duskhaven, prior to the Forsaken invasion of Gilneas.

When creating a worgen character, a human stands in the background displaying the worgen's human form.

Druid
As stated above the worgen curse was created by night elf druids, and the night elves feel somewhat responsible and are helping the worgen fight for their city. During this time the night elves have taught the worgen the terms of magic that led to their creation, druidism.

The presence of harvest-witches like Celestine suggests that Gilneans already had a good start with druidism. She makes reference of druid practices being "the old ways" and recounts a time when their powers supplied food during a time of famine, pointing to druidic roots as a base, even before night elf contact. This is agreed with in "Lord of the Pack" short story when Genn Greymane stated "He had heard that druidism was practiced among some of Gilneas's agrarian folk, but he hadn't been exposed to it until recently". It seems many Worgen have at least tried to embrace the druidic herritage of their new race after their transformation. This can be seen as a coping mechanism, or the fact that the natural powers can help them keep control of their animalistic rage.

Mage, warlock, priest, rogue, warrior and hunter
The worgen have retained the skills they had as human citizens and choose to continue using them after their transformation.

Death knights
Worgen death knights are former slaves of Arugal. These former Gilnean citizens of Pyrewood Village managed to escape the wizard's control only to fall prey to the Lich King. During the Death Knight starting quests, you learn how Worgen death knights came to be.


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Mounts
Worgen do not have a racial mount, but instead have Running Wild, in which they take to all fours and travel at mount speed. Running Wild is automatically learned at level 20, allowing worgen players to travel 60% faster, but they'll have to purchase Journeyman riding skill at Level 40 to upgrade the ability to go 100% faster.

Running Wild is a different mechanic than the removed tauren Plainsrunning ability.

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