Back before Shadowlands was announced, I came up with an Old God expansion for the fun of it that takes place after an 8.3 where we chase N’zoth up Teldrassil and make him flee underground. When we follow it was his “plan all along” and he fall into a cavernous pit and bam. Subterranean continent expansion. Some of you may even remember me posting it all here on the forums. Had it all mapped out in my head, 10 zones total. There is…
Azjol Nerub(118-122) is the empire of the nerubians. It was destroyed by the Lich King unbeknownst to the surface world nearly two decades ago. Even prior, the powerful empire had already dug deep into the bowels of the earth, awakening the horrid monstrosities of the forgotten ones. These remnants of the empire are just that: remnants.
It’s an entrance zone for the new continent that has a lot of familiar scenery with a dash of new stuff from deeper in the abyss to introduce us to it. The main story is a threeway war between Kel’thuzad’s branch of the Scourge, N’zoth’s minions, and the remains of the Nerubians. They might have their own ambitions but they seem to make decent allies for the time being.
The Whispering Breach(118-120) is another entrance zone you can get to from an elevator system made by druids and faerie dragons in the Whispering Forest. The corruption left behind by the C’thrax before Xal’atath consumed it has been warping the zone for millennia. Only the faerie dragons have noticed and done their best to stop it, but the Void is now threatening to burst free.
The story involves a team up of the Argent Crusade and the Cenarion Circle to combat the threat. There’s a little tension here what with many members of the Circle having been vaporized, and players primarily stick to working with either Silver Hand or Blood Knights depending on their faction. This zone is supposed to bridge the gap between Old God and Void Lord. There’s a lot of Void portals opening up and at the end of the story we’re introduced to a new player on the cosmic stage.
Chittersong Rift(121-123) is an adjacent zone to Azjol Nerub. As the Nerubians carved their way into the depths, they dug too deep and unearthed a hidden altar to an Old God from the Black Empire days. The altar began to consume the minds of the Nerubian diggers and unleash the faceless that haunt the empire to this day. Ever sinking deeper into the earth in a sort of funnel shape, it acts as a forge for nameless flesh beasts that fuel N’zoth’s armies.
The main questline here is very exploration themed. It is here that players will see both Nerubian history and culture, and also ancient Black Empire ruins, relatively intact. As the heroes of Azeroth fight to cut off N’zoth’s endless stream of flesh beasts, they will be given help from an unexpected source, a mysterious benefactor, who is considered the spirit of the cavern but later on revealed to be Xal’atath, whose altar it actually belongs to.
Blacklight Depths(121-124) is a subterranean river zone that feeds out of the Whispering Breach and into the Endless Lake. It is here where naga remnants followed the trail of their lost queen. Loyal to nothing but the cause to save their queen, they have fought both N’zoth’s minions and the inhabitants of the depths to settle the area as they search for their Light Beneath the Waves.
The main questline here is a further exploration on what happened at the end of the Eternal Palace. Naga have taken fortifications around the river, enslaving deep sea murlocs and drogbar to gain an edge over N’zoth. It is our introduction to non-hostile inhabitants of the deep abyss, and we go from tribe to tribe trying to solve problems and destabilize N’zoth’s foothold. The naga aren’t portrayed as pure evil in this zone, and we even get to see a few characters emerge from them that can stand as their own, rather than a supporting character to Azshara.
Shath’mah(123-126) is reached by skirting about the upper layer of the Chittersong Rift. It is a “root system” for some horrific, enormous monster displaying similar qualities to all Old Gods. It is a forest of tentacles and spines, all covering an extensive tunnel system used by neutral inhabitants to survive and avoid the madness above.
The theme of this zone is the history of the Black Empire. It is theorized that this is the place where the first Old God landing occurred, and we get to see how the four (five?) Old Gods acted in their prime. The main questline is killing the horrific mass that sprawls across the zone, which N’zoth is trying to rouse to the surface. The thing that makes up the forest is eventually revealed to be some twisted horror borne from the Old Gods’ combined essences. It consumes all biomass on the surface level and steals the traits of all it devours.
Gaz’mah, the creature, is the first raid tier where we attack various organs inside the monster because you can’t fight it on the outside. Final boss is delaying it while it bleeds out internally.
The Endless Lake(124-126) is rumored to be the surface of a lake that plummets so deep that it actually grants access to a part of the wound beneath the Maelstrom. The arcane blood and energies that seep into it, while diluted, do have some potency and has reformed the inhabitants around it into uncanny yet beautiful, elven-like beings. They have used the power to form a capital on its shores, which protects all from the aqir that stalk the lands below the surface.
This city, Shel’vorzz, is the neutral city players will be given. The lake is connected to both the Blacklight Depths, Shath’mah, and the Forgotten Shelf, making it a centralized zone that is very useful to have as a base of operations.
Many quests actually revolve around the city. The copious races taking refuge inside naturally spark problems and the madness of N’zoth spreads rampant like a plague, ravaging the dense population center horribly. Outside, players help naturalists uncover a plot by a sect of twice-corrupted naga to use the lake’s power, under the command of a warped husk of Azshara. The zone itself will be a smaller one, however, so there will be less quests there in general.
The Forgotten Shelf(125-126) is a long ravine that curls around the eastern side of the Endless Lake. Its northern stretch connects to Shath’mah and the southern portion connects to Uldaz, which empties out its abandoned contents into the crevice. It is a tragic place where failed titan creations go to pass into antiquity, and is the home to malfunctioning mechagnomes, troggs, kobolds, destabilizing earthen, and a “deep-crust” giant race.
Similar to Mechagon, the Forgotten Shelf is filled with the discarded and advanced creations of the titans. Another smaller zone, this is sort of meant to be a “highway” between Shath’mah and Uldaz. However, there are still some themes which include an expansion on trogg and kobold cultures and introductions to Uldaz and the Deeplords.
Yogg-Halahs(126-129) lies beyond an unassuming cave near the borders of Shath’mah and the Forgotten Shelf. But what this zone contains is among the worst things you will find outside of Ny’alotha: the body of Yogg-Saron. It has long been thought that Yogg-Saron’s body extended the entirety of Northrend. The theories were correct, and a massive twisting mound of flesh writhes for miles and miles beneath the surface. The nightmarish corpse has attracted all kinds of nasty minions of the Old Gods, and is one of the most dangerous places on Azeroth.
The main theme of Yogg-Halahs is to go nuts showcasing the horrific nature of the Old Gods. This is where corruption is at its deepest, and the entire zone is intended to have a surreal feeling as players traverse through the body. Inside duels the remnants of Yogg-saron and N’zoth, both of which don’t necessarily see eye to eye. It’s the closest players will have at a seeing at how the Old Gods view and compete with each other.
Uldaz(127-130) used to be a large titan facility that acted as a garrison to watch the abandoned capital of N’zoth’s Black Empire. Aware that the living mass of aqir on Azeroth could never be fully eradicated, a mighty watcher was sent with powerful titan constructs to ensure the city was never used again. With the fall of the titan keepers on the surface, the garrison fell into disrepair and was eventually flooded by Azshara as she made a direct route from Nazjatar to Ny’alotha, which is hidden below.
This zone is lorded over by a number of deep-crust giants known as the Deeplords. When the madness of the titan keepers spread to the garrison, the seven Deeplords, originally lieutenants to the watcher Alvaron, killed their master and took control of the massive complex. Now they vie for control of Uldaz in various factions and players must choose sides. Meanwhile, the opening in the southern cavern gushes both water and deep things of the sea; krakens, naga, and faceless into the fortress. The second raid tier is here, it is Uldaz, the Last Garrison.
Ny’alotha(129-130), the capital of the Black Empire. The Heart of Madness. The Land Where All Things Sleep. Below the flooded gates of Uldaz, Ny’alotha rests almost peacefully. The outskirts of the horrific capital of N’zoth’s empire are a blackened forest reminiscent to the Emerald Nightmare. Were one to be brave enough to travel deeper, they would come across monolithic structures of obsidian that seem to whisper to them. Deep in the center of the city is Uhn’agh Zeth, an enormous, sealed temple that marks the entrance to the heart of Ny’alotha, a place we cannot seem to penetrate in our current state.
The power layout in Ny’alotha is a bit different from other zones. Creatures get stronger the closer you get to Uhn’agh Zeth, so generally players will be confined to the outskirts of the city and the Black Forest, with groups forming to delve deeper inside and claim greater rewards. The main story involves players’ arrival to Ny’alotha with a faction leader, and both of them are mind controlled. For the first third of the zone, players are given quests to serve N’zoth. Eventually they are rescued by two unlikely shades, the consciousness of Azshara and Xal’atath working together.
The next third of the zone’s story is working to reunite Azshara’s consciousness with her body so she can help open the way to inner Ny’alotha and stop the naga from being a thorn in our sides. The final third of the story is releasing our faction leader from the mind control and then being betrayed by Azshara as she leaves us to pursue her own goals instead of opening the way to Ny’alotha. Xal’atath has mysteriously vanished throughout this whole storyline.
There will be other sub plots running alongside this, including a conclusive epilogue to BfA’s faction war with players finding a very depressed and suicidal Sylvanas with Nathanos refusing to let her die. Forgiveness does not occur here, and the two sort of fade into obscurity as neither seem to have any more ambition, as Sylvanas explains none of this was her plan and it all blew up so spectacularly that she just wants to be left to rot. There is even a quest where Sylvanas simply permits the player to kill her, if they choose. Naturally, Nathanos intervenes should players try to, but it does express the depths of remorse she feels.
There is a segue though with Alleria finding her and having a brief chat before recruiting Alliance players to help her save the void elves from N’zoth, whose broadcast to control Old God minions is beginning to affect them. This will grant a network of Void rifts to quickly travel through the Void to other parts of the Abyss. Horde will work with Mag’har engineers to establish an Iron Horde railroad connection that functions similarly. The Alliance will also use this to establish a portal to the surface from Shel’vorzz, with the Horde creating a big ol’ elevator. There will be structures that appear throughout zones as players complete these quests, creating a fun visual reward as they establish a presence in the Abyss. Alts will be able to use these structures as well while leveling.
I’ve got content and dungeons thought up too, but that’s not part of the prompt I’m afraid