It's been three years since we looked at what's happening with the Grimtotem tribe. Since that time, a lot has changed for the malcontents of the shu'halo, and it's worth our time to go back again and take a start looking in the functions which have turned them from the opposition to Cairne Bloodhoof from within the Horde to a dispossessed enemy tribe cast out from Thunder Bluff and the Horde. Who would be the Grimtotem? What are their goals, and how can they mean to attain them?

Even before the death of Cairne Bloodhoof the Grimtotem were less than pleased with his influence on the tauren people and his acceptance of their Horde allies. Under the leadership of Magatha Grimtotem, the elder crone of their tribe, they were involved in plots against both their supposed Horde allies as well as Alliance forces in Dustwallow Marsh. Strangely, though, it was Magatha and the Grimtotems who counseled that the Forsaken be allowed to join the Horde, and the Grimtotems seemed most likely to ally with the Forsaken of any on the Horde. The presence of Forsaken even today in the Pools of Vision within the Spirit Rise is due towards Grimtotems.

Cairne allowed Magatha to remain in Thunder Bluff to watch her, and check her influence. In the end, it was not enough. To recognize the existing state on the Grimtotem, one must first recognize the Elder Crone.

Blessed by the elements, cursed by her own hand
Magatha Grimtotem was strong with the elemental spirits since before she was an adult. A potent shaman, she became leader on the tribe by marriage and death. Her marriage was an arranged one towards then-leader on the tribe (who has, as yet, gone nameless in the telling); his death was the event that led her to assuming energy more than the whole tribe. A climbing accident, they said, and if anyone had suspicions that the strong young shaman could have spoken towards earth and asked it to give way, none voiced them. Since before Cairne united the tauren people and led them to Thunder Bluff, Magatha has ruled the Grimtotem tribe. A stern and potent shaman and a leader with a penchant for her own tribe, then her own people, more than all others, Magatha by no means fully accepted Cairne as leader of all tauren or even the Bloodhoof as the tribe that would bring all shu'halo together. None denied her power, her acumen or her knowledge but few outside her tribe were comfortable with following exactly where she seemed likely to lead.

Even while Magatha resided in Thunder Bluff under Cairne's watchful eye, the Grimtotem in Stonetalon were attacking and burning villages belonging towards Horde, and her own nephew Arnak Grimtotem was a desired murderer pursued by Horde justice. Magatha was also suspected in the operations on the Grimtotem in Dustwallow Marsh, exactly where suspicious deaths could possibly be traced to her tribe and Forsaken operatives working with them. Still, while Cairne lived, the fragile relationship among the Grimtotem tribe and the rest on the tauren people remained an uneasy peace.

"Either way, I start looking forward to hearing of your demise"
Make no mistake. While Garrosh Hellscream may be many things, he does not seek out outside aid in personal combat. He did not desire to kill Cairne via poison. It was Magatha Grimtotem who anointed his axe with a deadly toxin. Magatha killed Cairne Bloodhoof, and it was Magatha most of all who engineered the brief Grimtotem seizure of Thunder Bluff. If not with the actions of one of her own tribe who was disgusted by her dishonor, Baine Bloodhoof as well would have died, and the shu'halo today might well be led by the Grimtotem. Betrayed by Jevan, one of her own, Magatha was defeated by Baine's forces (a ask for for aid from Garrosh in return for her poisoning Cairne revealed that the Elder Crone had greatly and grossly misunderstood the new warchief on the Horde). The son of Cairne destroyed her totems, thus breaking the pacts she'd produced more than the years with the elemental spirits and greatly reducing her power. He then banished her from Thunder Bluff and all lands held by his people on penalty of death. A fraction on the tribe stayed with the Horde under Jevan's leadership, but the majority followed the Elder Crone into exile.

If Baine believed that exile would permanently carry out the threat of Magatha Grimtotem, he was mistaken.

After making her way towards Grimtotem stronghold of Darkcloud Pinnacle, Magatha disappeared. While the Grimtotem tribe went on a rampage following the Cataclysm's opening up of Thousand Needles towards ocean, the Elder Crone was nowhere to be found. As might surprise no one, so potent a shaman was a prize towards Twilight's Hammer, who took Magatha prisoner alongside many others in the region. However, the Twilight Cultists may have miscalculated in taking her prisoner, as she seems to have gained a fantastic deal of understanding of their operations in Thousand Needles and even manages to manipulate others into not only opposing the Hammer, but in giving her access to several potent artifacts in the process, including the Doomstone, a magical product capable of absorbing and amplifying elemental power. While the Twilights intended to produce use of the Elemental Animus powered by the Doomstone to destroy all of Thousand Needles, it is as however unknown what Magatha intends to do with the device.

What is clear is the fact that Magatha managed to not only defeat the Twilight cult and gain several potent magical items that could well catapult her well beyond her prior abilities, she did so while solidifying her preserve more than the Grimtotem tribe. The brief Alliance/Grimtotem detente founded in Stonetalon is most likely severed and she's still hunted by the Horde, but Magatha is now a potent wild card in the struggle against Deathwing's servants. Whether she ends up the element of Death's enemy or an ally, it's clear that Magatha will always plan for her own survival. It is quite likely we will listen to additional of her soon. For one thing, the warchief on the Horde would like to put her head on a pike and carry it around, and it's not likely that the Alliance will extend by themselves to protect her following her Grimtotem attacked their settlements in Feralas. The Elder Crone is powerful, but she has a positive gift for making enemies. Thank you! Have a good time in the game!

source: www.wow-gold-team.com