The latest entry in Blizzard's "Leaders of Azeroth" short story series has been released. The Council of Three Hammers: Fire and Iron follows the council as it is put to its greatest test yet when mounting tensions between the rival Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron dwarf clans threaten to ignite violence in Ironforge.

"The city of Kurdran's ancestors was a simmering cauldron of old prejudice. It churned endlessly, its toxic fumes dissolving whatever logic and reason remained within the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron dwarves living together in Ironforge for the first time in over two centuries. And Kurdran was standing at the edge of it all, gazing into its fiery heart with confusion as it grew closer and closer to erupting."

Read the full short story by Matt Burns on World of Warcraft's official site.

Community Manager Zarhym just made an interesting announcement regarding warlock demons on the official World of Warcraft forums:

"I'm happy to share we actually do have plans for offering players a choice between male and female versions of all warlock demons. This is a task already in our system, though I don't have a time frame for you at the moment. Other art tasks could always take precedence, but we're committed to making this happen."

In response to a a player's comment that warlocks need other changes before cosmetic ones are implemented, Zarhym emphasized that there's no set time frame and it's "just something our artists are excited about doing." He also reminded players that artists aren't the ones balancing classes.

So, will you be choosing a female Void Walker? A male Succubus/Incubus? Discuss this topic with other ZAM users in our WoW general forum.

Blizzard has released a new entry in their Then and Now series. This time the team is taking an in-depth look at Garrosh Hellscream.

"Some have questioned Thrall's decision to set Garrosh Hellscream into the fiery crucible of Horde leadership, but none can doubt that this Mag'har orc from Outland has charted a course for his people that will change the very face of Azeroth."

Is Garrosh your Warchief or will you always hail Thrall? Read the full overview of Hellscream's transformation now on the official WoW site. Also keep an eye out for upcoming Then and Nows featuring Anduin Wrynn and Magni Bronzebeard.

Blizzard has posted the answers to its fifth Ask the Devs segment, which focuses on achievements. Here are the highlights:

• Blizzard emphasized that they want achievements to feel optional.
• They'd like to make achievements Battle.net account-wide, but there's no timetable.
• Some guild achievements related to professions will be lowered to "more sane numbers" in patch 4.1. For example, the Pen is Mightier glyph achievement will go from 25,000 glyphs to 2,500 in 4.1.
• Patch 4.1 has achievements for collecting 100 and 125 companions. Another pet reward will probably be added in the future at 150 or 200 pets.
• They plan to add a search feature in the achievement window.

For more details, check out the full Q&A after the jump.

Blizzard just announced that BlizzCon tickets will go on sale on Saturday, May 21 at 10 a.m. PDT and Wednesday, May 25 at 7 p.m. PDT through the official BlizzCon website. Tickets will cost $175 each this year, an increase of $25 over last year's tickets. They always sell out in minutes, so mark your calendars now if you'd like to attend the convention.

If you have some extra money to spare, a limited number of tickets to an exclusive pre-BlizzCon Benefit Dinner will go on sale Saturday, May 28 at 10 a.m. PDT. They will be priced at $500 each, with proceeds going to benefit Children's Hospital of Orange County.

If you'd just like to watch from home, you will be able to order live internet and pay-per-view DIRECTV coverage for $39.99. Or you can simply watch the opening ceremony and eSports tournaments online for free.

BlizzCon 2011 will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center from Oct. 21-22. What are your plans? Will you be fighting the queues for a physical ticket, buying the streaming package or just keeping an eye out for news?

Do you think you have what it takes to face Blizzard employees in World of Warcraft's Rated Battlegrounds? Then get ready to log onto the Public Test Realm today, April 12, at 4:30 p.m. PDT to take on the blues! Here are the details:

"To participate you'll need to roll Horde characters (we flipped a coin) and form teams on the Broxigar PTR realm. The reason we're specifying a faction is because this is actually a big test of our experimental same-faction rated battlegrounds."

Blue poster Sapperwix followed up the announcement by saying, "I swear that we have temporarily relinquished our special blizzard powers." Good luck!

UPDATE: Blizzard just announced that "the additional reward for completing the Dungeon Finder Call to Arms (called the Satchel of Exotic Mysteries) will be Bind on Account; able to be freely sent to other characters on your account once you receive it."

Blizzard has posted another patch 4.1 preview, and this one focuses on the Call to Arms feature that will be added to the Dungeon Finder in the upcoming update. In an attempt to lower queue times for level 85 Heroic dungeons, the new system will detect which role is currently the least represented in the queue and offer them rewards for completing a dungeon.

For example, let's say there aren't many tanks in the queue. The "Call to Arms: Tanks" icon will be displayed in the Dungeon Finder UI, and tanks who queue up solo for a random level 85 Heroic dungeon and kill the final boss will be eligible for some rewards. Here's what they can get:

"Every time you hit these requirements (there is no daily limit) you'll receive a goodie bag that will contain some gold, a chance at a rare gem, a chance at a flask/elixir (determined by spec), a good chance of receiving a non-combat pet (including cross faction pets), and a very rare chance at receiving a mount."

Blizzard went with pets and mounts so the system would have a substantial cosmetic/achievement reward tied to it. You can read more about the system after the jump and discuss it in this thread in our WoW general forum.

Blizzard has updated the World of Warcraft Remote app page with some details on the upcoming mobile guild chat feature that's currently in development for the iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices. This new feature will allow players to participate in guild chat, send whispers to their guildmates and more through their phone. You can view a couple screenshots of the app in action after the jump.

If you're not familiar with the World of Warcraft Remote app, it currently allows you to browse the auction house for free or subscribe for $2.99 per month to gain access to additional features, such as the ability to create auctions and big on items. The mobile guild chat feature will be included in the monthly subscription, so you're going to need to pay if you want to keep in touch with your guild on the go.

Do you plan on using the remote guild chat feature on your phone? Does mobile guild chat make the $2.99 per month price tag more reasonable? Let us know what you think!

Blizzard has posted the answers to its fourth Ask the Devs segment, which focuses on armor and weapons. Here are the highlights:

• "We plan on implementing a system where winning an item via Need will make a BoE item soulbound. We hope to have this working for the 4.2 patch."
• "The Firelands raid has a really strong theme, so the tier sets are based on the various creatures that live on the elemental plane: for example, fire spiders for the warlock set."
• "We think the procs are a good way from keeping the weapons from just feeling like a predictable bag of stats. There will be more in Firelands."
• "Our plan is to make Legendary completion take longer to acquire in 10-player raids."
• "Without giving too much away, the Firelands legendary weapon has an amazing story and quest chain associated with it. We think it truly delivers on the fantasy of a legendary weapon."
• Blizzard hopes to "some day" allow Account Bound items to be transferred to other realms.

Blizzard also discusses whether the Barber Shop was a good idea in retrospect, and why dye vendors might not have a place in the game. It's definitely an interesting Q&A, so check it out after the jump.

Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street has published a new Dev Watercooler blog post, and this one focuses on gear stats. He basically discusses whether gear should be more universal or more targeted toward specific talent specs. If gear is focused on specific specs, then bosses feel like slot machines. If gear is more universal, more players would be competing for items.

"Unless we come up with a really compelling reason to change gear stats, we’ll probably stick with the Cataclysm model for the foreseeable future. But we’re interested in seeing your feedback," Ghostcrawler said. So what are your thoughts on the topic? For more details, check out the full blog entry below.