WARNING: Dragonflight story spoilers below! Continue at your own risk!
The questline starts with Mayla, who’s standing right by the fountain at the central portion of Valdrakken. She requests you to find Baine in the Ohn’ahran Plains – He’s out to search for a group of missing tauren and insisted he needed to go alone. Mayla is worried, as she knows about the bloody history between the Shu’halo and the Centaur, even if the Maruuk Centaur have nothing to do with it.
Baine can be found by the entrance to Maruukai, mentioning he’s going after Bovan Windtotem – Bovan shows up in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, during the Old Hatreds mission, in which he aids Rexxar with rescuing Baine from the Kalimdor centaur. Baine requests you to talk with the Maruuk Centaur to see if they saw Bovan. He wants to avoid entering Maruukai due to past memories. Our search eventually leads us to Scout Tomul, who accompanies us for the mission, much to Baine’s chagrin.
Baine: I will wait here. I… prefer to avoid centaur camps. Difficult memories.
—
Baine: Absolutely not! I will not have you following us like a watchdog!
Tomul: You don’t want me here. I don’t want to be here. But my khan commanded me to help you with this, and that is exactly what I am here to do.
—
Tomul: Listen, two-foot. If you want to find your friends, you’ll need me. I know the land and the people. So if you’re done with your tantrum, let’s go. I don’t have all day.
Baine: Hmph. Fine. But make no mistake, centaur — I’ll be watching you.
Tomul: You can watch me leave for all I care. I have a job to do.
The first scouting brings us to the eastern road of Ohn’ahran, where a Windtotem survivor can be found. The Windtotem survivor has a broken arm, and although Tomul assures them Clan Shikaar has nothing to do with it, the Tauren still threatens to strike them right then and there. According to the survivor, they were ambushed by centaur, and Tomul mentions that Clan Nokhud is still stirring trouble, even after Balakar Khan’s fall in the Nokhud Offensive dungeon. We’re tasked with looking for more survivors, while Baine and Tomul have some very unfriendly chatter.
Tomul: My clan had nothing to do with this…
Windtotem Survivor: Lies! If my arm were not broken, I would strike you down where you stand!
—
Tomul: Since I’m not particularly welcome at the moment, I think I’ll go help <player>.
Baine: You will go nowhere, centaur!
Baine: You will explain everything you know about this situation. And if I find you are lying to me, I want you close at hand.
During our search for other survivors, we learn that they are in the Ohn’ahran Plains due to a vision from Bovan himself, so finding him is now all the more important. We then advance to an abandoned village where the Tauren set a camp in. We first deliver tokens from the Windtotem tauren that fell to the ambush, with one of the items believed to belong to Bovan himself!
Koya Windtotem: My husband is… gone. My daughter will grow up without a father because of the centaur. Just as I did.
Ironhoof: This axe belonged to my friend Nawa. She would never willingly part with it. If you did not see a body, then chances are she may yet live.
Tam Windtotem: This necklace belongs to Bovan! I would lead a search party if I could, but we are in no condition to leave the village.
We then return to Baine, who’s accompanied by another Tauren familiar to those who played Warcraft III: Tagar! Or more specifically, Tagar Bloodhoof, who served as the second in command for Cairne Bloodhoof. You can talk with Tagar for some Shu’halo lore and more information!
We have taken shelter at this abandoned village for now. But stay vigilant — the centaur may attack at any time.
—
> What is the history between the tauren and the centaur?
Long ago, centuries before Thunder Bluff and the Horde, we were nomads. We wandered Kalimdor in tribes, following the migration of kodo and other game.
Then the centaur poured out of Desolace like a flood. They ravaged the lands and fell upon us like a plague.
Over generations of war, the centaur sought our extermination. No peace. No mercy. Most centaur we met tried to kill us on sight.
Only with the arrival of the Horde were we able to defeat the centaur once and for all.
But we will never forget what the centaur did to us.
—
> Why won’t you let Tomul into the village?
During our time here, every centaur we have met has tried to do us harm. Many have been lost in these attacks.
This centaur may claim to want to help, but you understand why we must act out of an abundance of caution.
—
> Why did the tauren come to the Ohn’ahran Plains?
The Windtotem have many differences from other tauren tribes. They remained nomads, and never settled in Mulgore. Another difference is their veneration of the wild god Ohn’ahra.
Recently, Bovan believed he received visions from Ohn’ahra. They showed the Windtotem traveling to a faraway land. After much discussion, the tribe decided to follow the visions.
When Bovan told Thunder Bluff of his intentions, some decided to join him.
It is still unclear what his vision meant. And with Bovan gone, we may never know.
We then accompany Baine to Pinewood Post, leaving Tagar in command of the tauren village. Baine and Tagar talk about Tomul and how she has helped them so far, despite their other encounters with the centaur in the Ohn’ahran Plains resulting in bloodshed so far. In Pinewood Post, we’re requrest to free Windtotem captives and plant Shikaar banners at the centaur outpost in the Shikaar Highlands – Which was taken over by the Nokhud in an ambush.
Baine: Tagar, I will be going after Bovan. Tomul says she might have a lead on his whereabouts.
Tagar: Baine… she is a centaur. How can you trust that she is not leading you into a trap?
Baine: If she had wanted that, she could have done it already. She has sworn to help save Bovan, and thus far she has upheld the end of her bargain.
Tagar: She may not be an enemy, but the centaur are still unreliable and without honor. Perhaps she will help for now, but will she stand with you in your hour of greatest need?
Baine: I have no doubts. But I will give her the opportunity to dispell them. One way or another, we shall see what her words are worth. Farewell, my friend.
Tagar: Earthmother watch over you, Baine.
We find out in the Shikaar Highlands that the Nokhud and the Primalists were asking about the other centaur clans and the Emerald Gardens, and that once Bovan revealed to be the leader of the tauren entourage, they took him away somewhere else. Out of options, Tomul then wants to try to talk to Clan Ohn’ir and see if they can possibly scry Bovan’s location from the necklace we found earlier. While we go to the Ohn’ihri Springs, Baine and Tomul finally find common ground – They both lost their homes to hostile centaur.
Tomul: It feels different… being back here.
Baine: Tomul. Was this your home?
Tomul: It was. Until the Nokhud launched a surprise attack and put it all to the torch. Now my home is gone and my people are scattered across the plains.
Baine: I… know how you feel. When I was young, I never had a place to call home. Home was where my people were.
Tomul: Then perhaps we have more in common than you thought. Come, let us take the tauren… home.
At Ohn’ihri Springs, we meet up with Boku, the centaur that helped us during the Ohn’ahran Plains leveling storyline, who is now a full blown windsage! After gathering some materials, Boku manages to locate Bovan… who is being held captive in Nokhudon Hold. The mission is now too dangerous for Tomul, but Baine wants to attempt it anyway by using subtlety.
Boku: Oh Ohn’ahra, grant us your aid. Show us where we may find Bovan Windtotem!
Baine: Bovan! He looks badly hurt… who is that centaur with him?
Tomul: I was afraid of this. His name is Jamoku. He is a powerful Nokhud, an ally of the Primalists who leads a large army.
Tomul: It means your friend is in Nokhudon Hold. This mission has now become too dangerous for just us to handle. I must speak with Sansok Khan.
Baine: There is no time! Did you not see Bovan? We must reach him now!
Tomul: That place is the seat of Jamoku’s power. We cannot rescue your friend alone against an army! It would be foolish to even try!
Baine: We can make our way in undetected! I have a few potions that will mask our presence. We have no time to find aid — we must go now or Bovan will die!
Tomul: Even with those potions, the Nokhud wardogs will sniff us out in a second! I will not throw my life away for a lost cause!
Baine: So this is how you aid me? By fleeing at the first opportunity? Tagar was right! Your words are worth noting — go then, coward!
Tomul trembles with rage and stomps on the ground.
Tomul: Fine! If you truly insist on getting yourself killed, I will not stop you!
We then go to Nokhudon Hold, where Baine hands us invisibility potions to sneak around the Hold and try to find information on Bovan’s whereabouts. Unfortunately… we do not reach Bovan in time, finding just his corpse in a pool of blood.
With this, Baine has had enough of the centaur, wanting to end them right then and there, starting with the Nokhud. We eventually make our way to their leader Jamoku, who is empowered by the storm. Jamoku eventually overpowers us and Baine.
A cutscene then plays at this point, but it is currently not working on the PTR, but we reappear with the company of Tomul and the Shikaar centaur, next to Bovan’s body. From what Baine tells us, the Nokhud were about to flank us while we were battling Jamoku, but Tomul and her entourage appeared in the nick of time to save us, with two Shikaar centaur dying in the process. Baine is shaken by the fact that a centaur clan went as far as helping them and losing their own during the battle.
We then return with Bovan’s body to the tauren village, with Baine and Tomul finally having cleared the air between them. With Baine finally trusting at least one centaur clan, Baine and Tomul decide to have the funeral of both the tauren and centaur at the same time, as a peace treaty between them.
Tagar: We are here together in the sight of the ancestors to honor our fallen. Bovan Windtotem, Karuul Windtotem, Borke of the Shikaar, and Joshi of the Shikaar.
Shikaar Ranger: Joshi was my mentor. Though strict and severe, he had a kind heart. He taught and cared for the orphans of the clan. I will carry out his legacy.
Shikaar Ranger: My sister Borke loved animals. She would nurse any injured animal back to health, whether bakar or ottuk. Her compassion will live on in me. This I promise.
Koya Windtotem: My husband Karuul filled our lives with silly jokes and laughter. I hear his voice in my daughter’s laughter, and I will remember him always.
Baine: Bovan… my friend. He once rescued me from certain death. He asked for nothing in return. I live a life dedicated to courage, humility, and honor, because of him. I can never repay him. But I hope that my words and my deeds honor his memory, always.
Tagar: Honored ancestors, welcome our loved ones at your hearth. May their spirits know peace, their deeds be remembered, and their memories live on through us.
With this funeral, the Baine questline is completed, although we never learn what Bovan saw in his visions the reason as to why he wanted to bring the Windtotem to the Ohn’ahran Plains with him. Was it because he saw a potential home for the Windtotem? Or maybe he saw an opportunity to strike peace between the Tauren and the Centaur? We may never know, but Toghusuq Village, previously destroyed by the Nokhud, might serve as a starting place for this new budding relationship.
