Dota 2 has recently been updated to version 6.88b, and while the various buffs and nerfs are most welcome, the short comic that came along with it is far more fascinating. Throughout the freely available Tip of The Spear comic we can get a look into Legion Commander's past, including a hilarious cameo from her Warcraft 3 equivalent and a brief explanation on why exactly she appears horseless in Dota 2, as well as a rather obvious foreshadowing.
From page 21 and onward you can quite clearly see an ominous smoke cloud appear in the distance, something that wouldn't usually be amiss on a battlefield, if it wasn't for the simple fact that this one is pale-green! On its own this ending might look like a cliffhanger, here simply to tease a future comic, but in reality its actually a prelude to the events that happen in Legion Commander's official lore. Here's the full story, and fair warning, its a wee bit lengthy:
"They came without warning. Within the city walls of Stonehall there came a rumble and a terrible sound, and from blackness unknown came a force of beasts numbering beyond count, wielding flame and foul sorcery, slaying and snatching mothers and sons to dark purpose. Of once-mighty Stonehall's military strength only the Bronze Legion, led by the indomitable Commander Tresdin, was near enough to answer the call of battle. They rode into their city, fighting through bloodstained alleyways and burning markets, cutting their way through the monstrous throng to the source of the sudden invasion: an ethereal rift within the city square, and at its precipice thundered their dreaded champion.
Enwrapped in a corrosive shimmer, the leader of the abyssal horde swung its massive blade, cleaving a legionnaire in two as his flesh began to spoil. Tresdin lifted her blood-stained sword and settled her sights on the beast. It turned, smiling at her through a maze of teeth. Heedless of the battle raging around them, they charged one another.
Deflecting blow after blow, the pair danced their deadly duel as the Bronze Legion met its end around them. Tresdin leapt forward as her foe swung its sword to meet her. The odds turned. The attack smashed into Tresdin suddenly, a brutal thrust from the side, but even as her balance slipped she rallied her strength for another stroke. Blade scraped on blade, beyond the hilt to the gnarled paw below, carving it in two in a fearsome spray of sparks and blood. The vile audience looked on in astonishment as she pressed the attack, driving her blade through her foe's flesh into the stampeding heart within. With a scream that split the clouds above, the beast erupted in a torrent of gore and anguish. The stygian portal wavered, the power sustaining the chasm beyond vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared. The remaining invaders fell quickly to Stonehall steel.
Though victorious, the survivors saw little to celebrate: the city lay in ruins, and survivors were few. Fires continued to spread. Unfurling her banners of war, Tresdin gathered what allies she could. Her anger smoldered as she pledged brutal vengeance upon the forces of the abyss, and damned be any who would dare stand in her way."
While all of this is obviously pointing towards Pit Lord, or rather Abyssal Underlord as he's known these days, the timing of this comic is a bit too perfect for the whole thing to be a simple reference. Legion Commander just received her own set of quests and a brand new item, so why steal the spotlight from her and put it squarely on an entity that still hasn't been properly introduced into the Dota 2 world?
It just doesn't make sense... unless Valve is planning to release, or at least announce Pit Lord during this year's International. Naturally, all of this is pure speculation on my part, but what better time is there to release a brand new hero than the International, an event that already has Dota fans riled up into a frenzy.
If all of my speculations end up being true and Pit Lord makes his way to Dota 2, it'll be a momentous occasion as we'd finally have ALL of the classic heroes available in Dota 2 as well. What happens after that, I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure it'll involve hats, and a whole lot of 'em.
Some old (and leaked) concept art for Abyssal Underlord