I’d find this a bit of a stretch honestly, given that the Arbiter judges on personality and deeds; maybe there’s a realm for every: warrior, rogue, Druid, Shaman, Paladin, etc ancestor sure… but would it look much different from Azeroth? What would Shamanism look like in a realm where the elements are not present as they existed in the mortal planes? At most a “Shaman” realm would basically just be a knock off Maldraxxus, minus maybe all the flesh everywhere and more like a realm of ghosts everywhere…
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Non-sequitur
My argument lies in the fact that Shadowlands has largely swerved Horde-side cosmological development and is the first expansion in a while with zero zones based mostly on non-western myths.
- BFA had Zul’dazar (half the zones, or well 3/8 by the end)
- Legion had Highmountain
- WoD had a lot of Turkic/Hungarian/Mongolian elements because Orcs (Yurts and whatnot), also were-jaguars which are an Central African and Andean myth thing
- Mists of Pandaria was centered on Chinese myth with other Asian myths
- Cataclysm had Uldum in particular, more Yurts and stuff with the Orcs in Twilight Highlands
Nah with Mueh’zala as an Eternal One (you know, the idea there is ONE member of this pantheon we would’ve been pre-emptively vaguely familiar with as we are with Elune and the Life Pantheon), zone would’ve been Temples and jungle and plains.
Orcs, Dwarves, Kul Tirans, Trolls, Tauren, everyone with vaguely shamanistic practices could’ve been included.
A Council of Chieftains, one former leader per race.
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I read this thread to see if anyone mentioned it, and I didn’t see it mentioned. So I will bring it up.
The reason Shaman aren’t in Shadowlands is likely as punishment for helping Teldrassil burn, to appease the Night Elf fan base. I guess having Shaman on some spiritual equality with the Night Elves would be triggering, since Shaman were so down with burning that eye sore. Troll Shaman, at that. Which could also explain why Trolls in general get short shrift in this Expac.
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its more likely that its more a focus about thrall and his way back on his feet to be a shaman and a spiritual guid for his people again, another shaman could take that focus away from him. An entire zone would definitly take that focus away from him…he ´s “The Shaman” in blizzards pov.
and i mean, remember wod, after cata and mop…punishment? Uff…thats a strange thought if we look back to the past.
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Imagine Thrall, who lost his connection to the elements and ancestors because of self doubt, and Baine who we were told (by Afrasiabi) would meet Cairne, regaining their agency and self-confidence in a zone centered on this dynamic through their fathers (Durotan and Cairne).
Hell, imagine if one of the Chieftains was Daelin Proudmoore, and he explains to Jaina he arrived in Ancestor Land after being in Revendreth, and apologizing for what he did.
Or Thaussarian or whatever is the Dwarf Chieftain, and we get some more Dwarf development.
Alas.
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But that would take narrative weight away from the story with the mother.
she ´s the one who…will fix thrall.
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The mother story is wrapped up in 9.1
“father stories” could’ve been 9.2
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I’m not sure of the point of this thread.
We haven’t been getting discussions of the arcane or druidism, or the Light and Shadow for that matter. Much of what Shamanism deals with isn’t present in the Shadowlands.
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In-game lore has the shamans tied to Ancestors (ie Dead People) + Elements.
From Chronicles, we have that “real shamanism” is Element of Life (Spirit) acting on the elements.
The Ancestor/Dead People side of the lore has been thoroughly ignored by Shadowlands.
Meanwhile, the aspect of “death side of Druidism” has been explored with Ardenweald. And the “purpose” behind Necromancy with Maldraxxus. And the origin of Odyn’s valkyr which were part of Vrykul and early Human religiosity.
So while yes, elemental magic is largely absent in Shadowlands, the side of Ancestors/Dead People was unilaterally and totally ignored.
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The Death side of Ardenweald has a lot more connection to Shamanism than it does to Druidism since much of the Death plotline is a struggle between two Loa
Categorically false, the entire point of the questline is restoring the Heart of the Forest in order to allow the cycle to continue (restoring Wild Gods back to reality).
And Bwonsamdi/Mueh’zala are both underused (Bwon didn’t show up in the Battle of Ardenweald, doesn’t show up in Korthia or in the Maw Assault), underdeveloped (we are still entirely unclear as to where Mueh’zala came from), and de-centered (Bwonsamdi could’ve easily been a Droman of a Tirna) and nothing would’ve changed.
Loa =/= Shamanism inherently, both Druids and Shamans and Priests in Troll society work with Loa.
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It’s one of many reasons that I wish that there wasn’t this insistence of inaccurately lumping all Druidism under Cenarius as both lore and ingame material do not support such a conclusion.
That’s a word of god dev problem.
They chose to insist Malfurion was 100% the first real druid of Azeroth and Cenarius is 100% the father of all druidry on Azeroth.
Everyone else? Tauren, Trolls, Pandaren vibing with August Celestials, Drust, etc? Fake Druids.
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Well…because that’s the lore since WC3…why change that now?
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I mean, they can only make so many zones. And I don’t have any real problems with the 4 they went with.
You had one. It was called Cataclysm.
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Reminder Ardenweald was made into a full zone when originally it was part of Bastion.
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Which is good, because the two concepts have nothing to do with one another.
Sure but it’s evident the original intent is that the Winter Queen and Archon were supposed to be one being.
Kyrians ferry the souls to Bastion-weald from reality, and then the fairies ship the Wild Gods back into reality.
Shaman zone would’ve been cool.
Again, this is the first expansion in the entire history of WoW with zero zones based heavily on non-western aesthetics/myths.
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This is the biggest problem I see, a “Shamanistic” realm is just basically a realm for dead people, thematically it has no unity or core concept… Bastion has the idea of “selfless Service to others”, Ardenweald is arguably renewal, Revendreth is crime and punishment (with redemption), Maldraxxus has honor and glory in combat. Maybe we could get racial zones or at least glimpses into them like with the Legion assaults and other planets (an idea I find odd that it hasn’t been implemented to widen the creative scope of the SL and give us more exploration).
imagine, you are a warrior and fought an entire life on a battlefield until your death…but you were lucky to die to fiend finaly peace…
na…its sucked to be you…you ´ll send to maldraxxus…to fight for all eternity…peace? PAH! only for the weeklings!
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