Mythos of Lament

The original "hook" to WoW (World of Warcraft) for me was the mythos. The history of a world that only exists in the shared will of those who created it. Unlike many other games where the realm exists only in a brief paragraph of introduction, usually on the back of the box, there is so much more here to be explored.

This is one of the major examples of how deep the mythos can go with an on-line MMORPG world can be:

"The exact origins of "Lament of the Highborne" have been lost to antiquity. Certainly the melody pre-dates the War of the Ancients, in which the song served as a lament for the fallen: a tribute to their steadfast bravery against overwhelming odds. Millennia later, the high elves of Quel'Thalas sang the lament, largely unaltered, in the Troll Wars. Here, too, the elves ultimately proved victorious, but they would not remain so. A plague of undeath swept through the human nation of Lordaeron in the Third War and converted many citizens into mindless undead minions of the Lich King. This army--the Scourge--invaded elven lands and decimated the populace, some of whom were raised into undeath and forced to join the Scourge."

"As leader of the last elven defenders of Quel’Thalas, Sylvanas Windrunner suffered a terrible fate: her spirit was ripped from her body and transformed into a banshee. When the Lich King's power faltered, however, she and other undead were freed of Scourge control. She has since reclaimed her body and become queen of these undead rebels, the Forsaken. Although her heart is full of bitterness, she cannot forget the people she once loved... "

Thalassian Version: Anar'alah, anar'alah belore, Sin'dorei, Shindu fallah na. Sin'dorei, Anar'alah, Shindu sin'dorei, Shindu fallah na. Sin'dorei, Anar'alah belore. Shindu sin'dorei, Shindu fallah na. Sin'dorei, Anar'alah belore, Belore.

Loosely translated version: By the light, by the light of the sun, Children of the blood, Our enemies are breaking through. Children of the blood, By the light, Failing children of the blood, They are breaking through. O children of the blood, By the light of the sun. Failing children of the blood, They are breaking through. O children of the blood, By the light of the sun, The sun.

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/downloads/movies.html#lament