Worgen starting experience

The worgen starting experience takes place in an instanced version of Gilneas City and later, the peninsula of Gilneas. It takes place during the invasion of Gilneas.

Upon the conclusion of Endgame (quest), players leave the instance and head to Rut'theran Village on Teldrassil of Northern Kalimdor, take a quick trip into Darnassus and then start the Darkshore storyline.

In Gilneas City players are thrust into the action as the city is being locked down. The worgen are invading the city and all citizens are being told to stay inside. When it becomes apparent that the Gilnean forces cannot stop the worgen, players help evacuate the citizens into the Military Quarter for safety in the quest Evacuate the Merchant Square. In an effort to protect the city, King Genn Greymane decides on a drastic course of action - he frees the rebel Lord Darius Crowley from prison. Together, Greymane and Crowley try to defend the city but to no avail. Greymane begins an evacuation of the city as players join Crowley in Light's Dawn Cathedral to make a Last Stand (quest).

Several months have passed since the evacuation of Gilneas City and a cutscene reveals that players were transformed into worgen by the curse. All of the Gilnean survivors regrouped in Duskhaven where those who had been afflicted by the curse were treated by Krennan Aranas. He developed a temporary treatment that allows those afflicted by the curse to control it, but only lasts as long as he has ingredients. Matters get complicated again in Invasion as it is revealed that the Forsaken have arrived in Gilneas with an invasion force. Together with Prince Liam Greymane and Lord Godfrey, players resist the invasion before a massive explosion sounds out.

It turns out the massive explosion heard during the battle was the land of Gilneas collapsing. The Cataclysm weakened the earth and now it is collapsing into the sea. Mayor Gwen Armstead immediately initiates an evacuation from Duskhaven before the entire town goes under and commissions players to help convince the more "difficult" citizens to leave. The evacuated citizens travel to Greymane Manor briefly, before moving onwards toward Stormglen.

On the way to Stormglen, players work with Prince Liam Greymane to halt the Forsaken forces following them before arriving in the abandoned town, finding it overrun with spiders. In hopes of finding out what happened to Stormglen, Lorna Crowley, daughter of Lord Darius Crowley, sends players into the Blackwald - a great marsh north of Stormglen. In the Blackwald players meet with Belysra Starbreeze, a night elf from Darnassus and travel to Tal'doren, finding Lord Darius Crowley alive and transformed into a worgen himself. In Tal'doren, Belysra and the other Night Elves reveal the origin of the worgen curse - it was a Night Elven creation thousands of years earlier. Using a mystical artifact known as the Scythe of Elune as well as the waters of the tree Tal'doren, the Night Elves enact a ritual that gives players permanent control of the worgen form, making it a blessing instead of a curse in Neither Human Nor Beast. As the ritual completes, King Genn Greymane arrives with Lorna Crowley and Lord Godfrey, who immediately demands Lord Darius Crowley surrender. With mounting tensions, King Greymane reveals a secret - he is also a worgen. Finding common ground, Lord Crowley and King Greymane agree to unite and take back Gilneas City.

As the united Gilneans and worgen return to Gilneas City to seize it from the Forsaken that occupied it, Lord Godfrey betrays King Greymane in Betrayal at Tempest's Reach, then jumps off a cliff after players rescue him. As the Gilneans prepare to assault the city, Lorna Crowley helps players liberate the small town of Emberstone from Forsaken control. Finally in the massive quest The Battle for Gilneas City, players join the fight to retake the city, moving from quarter to quarter and pushing back the Forsaken forces. Finally the armies come face to face with Sylvanas Windrunner herself and she shoots at King Greymane - only to have the shot blocked by Prince Liam Greymane. With Prince Liam Greymane dying, King Greymane promises vengeance before realizing that the Forsaken intend to use the Undead Plague to purge the city of life. Abandoning his third for vengeance, Greymane orders the Gilneans to abandon their city for the second time - traveling to the shore. Arriving at Keel Harbor, Night Elves from Darnassus have ships ready to take the Gilnean survivors to Teldrassil.

In Darnassus, the worgen are set up in a great tree known as the Howling Oak. There, King Genn Greymane asks players to aid the Night Elves as thanks for saving them and sends them to Darkshore in Breaking Waves of Change.