It is in this quest that we get the following text:
Emissaries of the Light, minions of the Void, meddlers from the Gardens of Life… all have fallen before me!
Now this line does come from a braggart who is not a reliable narrator, given the that the sword the warrior has you look for turns out to not actually be very impressive.
But still, as Ardenweald is just one of the Shadowlands’ realms, likewise the Emerald Dream may just be one part of whole of the Gardens of Life, from what little we know about it.
The Gardens of Life are simply described as meddlers… Sounds as if Life isn’t preforming insane invasions but is simply meddling with the various Cosmic Forces…
Since Danuser claims the Great Dark Beyond is an Order Realm one wonders what the Gardens of Life will do with it… Aside from attempt to mess around with various AUs(stabilizing them in the process) out of boredom.
Ardenweald’s drawing beings tied to Nature to it’s Realm gives it a predilection towards following in the Gardens of Life’s footsteps naturally.
Spriggans of course are the only Ardenweald Denizens that uses Nature in large amounts so they are closest in personality to the Gardens of Life Denizens!
Expect twisted sadistic pranks from the Gardens of Life!
Incidentally Fairies which have the most light-hearted pranks utilize Twilight Death Energies and traditional Arcane Energies so their personalities are tied to Life(by being of Ardenweald), Death(through their Death Magics) and Order(through their Arcane Magics).
I’ve seen Lady Moonberry make her Plays as Orderly as possible so her Arcane Magic definitely influences her personality just as much as her bonds to a Realm closely linked to the Cosmic Force of Life influences her to play pranks!
At this point, out of everything else in the entire expansion, this is the thing that still “keeps me up at night:” why in the world is Ardenweald—which pure beings of Life, like Ancients, go to—inside the realm of Death?
Wild Gods look more like Animals than embodiments of pure Life.
Tree Ancients(not to be mistaken for beings of Death like Tirnenn) and Blood Elementals seem closer to pure embodiments of Life than the Wild Gods which are merely Animals(basically Mortals) with strong ties to Nature.
Wild Gods and their descendants are as tied to Nature as Lightforged are tied to Light and Naga are tied to Void!
You have to remember that in most (all?) worlds, the forces of life, arcane, light, void, etc. occur naturally. Unless a particular being/thing is explicitly touched/influenced/what have you by the realm of X itself, then you’ll by default be going to the Shadowlands when you die. Death, as they say, does not discriminate - unless of course another realm calls dibs on you, such as the ‘Lightlands’ have on naaru.
I’d posit that unless you come from another cosmic world (born in light/arcane/voidland), you go to the Shadowlands when you die.
I don’t find it too strange. After all, Naaru switch back and forth from being pure beings of Light to pure beings of Void. If anything the Ancient Guardians and other Wild Gods only traveling to the realms of Death instead of becoming spirits of Death itself is less extreme than that.