I got my copy early. I’m enjoying it, definitely appeals to my interests. Couple or three interesting tidbits not mentioned already:
- The entire nightborne race has eaten of the arcan’dor; no more withering for anybody. This apparently took a Herculean effort on the part of Thalyssra’s government. The Neo Moon Guard Sky mentioned are garrisoned at Shal’Aran to protect the tree.
- Thalyssra despises fel magic and the nightborne have “severed all ties with warlocks.” They hold demon hunters in only slightly higher regard. No doubt an interesting development for NB warlock PCs.
- A joint druid-shaman venture completely cleansed the Broken Shore.
- Lor’themar isn’t fluent in Shalassian yet but Thalyssra picks up Furbolg in the course of an evening. Crazy. Lots of little character moments and details like that.
- The book equivocates on the topic on nightborne faith, but at several points Thalyssra mulls on the nature of the loa/wild gods and her only point of reference is Elune, whose temples she visited as a child and to whom she offers up a prayer when she visits Elune’s gardens in Azsuna. But this is framed as a slip back into old habits.
- The Horde’s leaders are written as friends, which is cute. Thalyssra and Talanji in particular get along famously.
- The Broken Isles have only one canker left, which is Odyn, and his vrykul are neither friendly nor hostile. But he doesn’t play politics with his neighbors and won’t even grant Thalyssra an audience unless she undergoes the trials of valor. The few storm drakes who didn’t abandon him for Vyranoth are emancipated.
- Thalyssra generally has a miserable time in Stormheim. Theron falls in love with Highmountain, and pretty much anywhere else that puts him in a “Farstrider” kind of mood.
- It’s set right before TWW and ties back into the Radiant Song plot at times. Lor’themar and Khadgar chat in Dalaran about the Alleria short story.
- The Wardens owe no allegiance to Suramar but aren’t really in a position to argue if its head of state wants to inspect their facilities on the Broken Isles. Racial leader privilege also gets Lor’themar and Thalyssra into a few of the order halls.
- Thalyssra goes to Zandalar. She meets three or four loa; her interaction with Krag’wa is especially memorable. Talanji is stringent on equal representation for the loa in Zuldazar despite her pact with Bwon. Zul’s temple was renovated rather than razed and a gift was made of its stone to the Pandaren in reparation for Zul’s invasion in MoP. Alliance camps were ceded back to the Zandalari and the jungle ate them up. The Gurubashi reclaimed Tal’gurub.
- Thalyssra claims that the Zandalari and nightborne have comparable lifespans. Seems iffy.
- Thalyssra revisits Nazjatar, which sank after Azshara lost the Tidestone in BfA. The naga have fallen into infighting without her. There’s a great passage about the city’s “overprints” seen through the eyes of one who remembered Zin-Azshari.
- Lor’themar goes to Kul Tiras. There’s some insight into the state of Horde-Alliance relations in this bit. He sails into Boralus in a blood elf destroyer flying the Horde’s flag, which gets him chilly looks upon arrival, but he wins the locals over with a few rounds at the pub. Jaina assigns him a “guide” and Katherine hosts him at Proudmoore Keep. She gives him a tour of the academy in what he takes as a flex and a message to the Horde as to KT’s recovery. They hit it off however and Katherine recommends some areas of interest.
- He’s also stupid enough to visit Brennadam, whose residents live in terror of the Horde, but he’s at least smart enough to dismiss it as a honeymooning spot. (It’s said that Sylvanas glossed over just how depraved the Horde’s war campaign got in her reports to the leaders uninvolved in it.)
- Lor’themar runs into Jaina and reflects on their fraught history. But he’s made an effort to “build bridges” these past eight years and they hang out for a bit. There’s actually a mutual “sadness” to their parting that Thalyssra remarks upon in her postscript, and I take as a sad commentary for other reasons, but enough said…
- Alex sends Wrathion to be the couple’s guide to the Dragon Isles and he somehow gets a better portrayal in this book than the actual expansion.
- They consider Amirdrassil as a prospective honeymooning spot but figure it’d be impolitic to drop by without full retinues and gifts and blessings for Tyrande and Malfurion. Thalyssra expresses hope for better relations between the shal’dorei and kaldorei.
- Lor’themar develops an enthusiasm for snail racing in Zaralek Cavern. Also dragonriding in general.
- Unsurprisingly, Lor’themar is a Red Dragonflight kind of guy, and Thalyssra is a Blue.
- Plot kicks in around the end, which I won’t spoil, but the Aspects have decided amongst themselves to kill Iridikron rather than imprison him again.