Gamers all across Azeroth are preparing to bid adieu to even more of their free time as the November 13th release date for Warlords of Draenor comes closer and closer. The fifth expansion pack for Blizzard’s iconic MMORPG World of Warcraft takes place on the world of Draenor, ancestral home to the orc and draenei races. Split into seven zones and replete with new dungeons, raids, badass bosses, and battlegrounds, the expansion promises to offer hours of brand new content. Additionally, the level cap has been raised to 100, and players have the option of boosting one character to level 90 to start enjoying the new content immediately. Lastly, the expansion will also let players build garrisons, which are customizable strongholds that serve as player bases, and will offer cosmetic upgrades to several races, to boot.

To help prepare lore-hungry players, Blizzard is releasing a series of animated short films that highlight the larger than life characters from Warcraft’s storied history. The first episode, which premiered today at a LA-based livestreamed event, follows the story of Kargath Bladefist, a slave-turned-gladiator who would eventually rise to glory and lead the Shattered Hand. It’s a grisly, bloody tale that gives Gladiator a run for its money and has me anxiously hovering my mouse over the “Unfreeze Account” button on Blizzard’s website.

Future episodes will follow Kilrogg Deadeye, Grommash Hellscream, and Durotan, who is said to be one of the main characters in Duncan Jones’ hotly anticipated Warcraft film. Blizzard also released a teaser trailer for the rest of the Lords of War series, which you can watch right here.

Blizzard also released a brand new Warlords of Draenor cinematic for your viewing pleasure.

Currently, Warlords of Draenor is in closed beta, and according to Blizzard, “This phase of test focuses on the Tanaan Jungle starting experience and allows players to continue on into Shadowmoon Valley (Alliance) and Frostfire Ridge (Horde). High-level content will become available for testing in future updates. Level-90 character templates are available if you’d like to try a new character, or you can copy over your own high-level characters.”

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor is available on November 13, 2014.

Will you be picking it up? Who is your favorite character from Warcraft lore? Let us know in the comments below.