https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOoMal-MdOw&ab_channel=TheLostCodex
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Arbiter sent souls to the Maw “occasionally” for souls that are “irredeemable”
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Drust tapped into “death-centered Druidism” and “darkness”; Ardenweald as a way to tap into this, Druidism as “decay that Fall and Winter represent”, Druidism is “about the cycle between life and death”
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Thros is on the “precipice” of the Shadowlands, “not quite” in the realm of death but touched by it, on the precipice of a lot of those confluence, “not fully” in the Shadowlands
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Gorak Tul did not speak to any Eternal One he reached out to or tapped into, he just delved in a lot, including the Nightmare “which if you think about, it just another variation of that cycle and that balance, just the Void-touched version of that”
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re: Necromancy; using Thoras Trollbane who was dead for a while, perhaps a Kyrian, what happens upon turning into a Death Knight? Normally in WoW, beings are born, life is tying their soul to their body, building up anima, but in the case of necromancy/undeath, it is death that is tying the soul to the form; different rules but a similar principle. Time is perceived differently, not about measuring time, in the Shadowlands. Necromancy brings back their actual spirit, not an echo or copy. Even if the soul is pulled back, it still has a tether to the Shadowlands, almost like a “second life” or “continuation” with the tether to the Shadowlands on pause; the undead are a very small number in the cosmic scheme of things
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It’s an interesting question to think if the things they did in the second existence of undeath might affect their judgement in the afterlife
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In Maldraxxus, when a fresh soul arrives come into arena with Margraves watching showing their might and proving themselves, Margraves pick what souls they want with the Primus settling disputes/ties between Margraves. Maldraxxus is a meritocracy, proving yourself every day, best souls climbing the ladder; based on victories and losses their bodies change respectively. Draka and Vashj worked their up very quickly, shaped their flesh in specific ways.
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Teaser for Grimoire of the Shadowlands book: book was a lot of fun to write, written from the perspective of a broker, cataloguing for his cartel information of Azerothian funeral rites, influence of mortals on shadowlands, histories of shadowlands, observing the importance of Azerothian heroes in the cosmos
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there is a chapter at the end of the book where the narrator delves into the nature of the universe and the mysteries of the first ones and the efforts of the brokers to delve into it, and a unique perspective on the cosmology, another perspective of the cosmic forces
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6 of 8 bosses of Tazavesh are in the Veiled Market, there’s an encounter in the post office of the Brokers (lots of portals), lots of delving into Broker culture
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how does Aucindoun/Auchenai work with the Shadowlands, were they circumventing the fate of souls? Not a major plot point of shadowlands, but the Watchers responsibilities includes “wait a minute, is there another cosmic force interfering this soul”, example Bridenbrad in Northrend where the Naaru intercedes and claims the soul over the Kyrian Watchers; religions in cultures can cause this via the powers they channel and beliefs, like the Eredar/Draenei being able to tether souls and temporarily keep them from crossing over
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Portal Rooms largely are gameplay; entering the Shadowlands isn’t easy, Griftah had trouble entering, average citizen could not just enter the Shadowlands
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beings bound to the cosmic realms cannot on a whim enter reality, takes a lot of effort
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Gem used for Shalamourne, what was it, where did it come from? When we see the Jailer move his hand to open the portal and take out the crystal, that was something Sylvanas hadn’t seen before and caught her eye. The Jailer has his own private stock of powerful things, like souls or other forms of power. Also safe to say, he didn’t choose something at random, put in a very specific thing into that forge, and the story of what that is and what it means we’ll revisit as the story continues to develop
My hot takes:
- The crystal in Shalamourne is Arthas’s soul reshaped into a Stygia crystal, much like Nerzhul was bound to the Helm of Domination
- The Grimoire book is going to give us a new Cosmology Map
- The Broker Dungeon will involve Karazahn
