So i just don’t know if I’m missing something, since it’s been a while since I ran through the storyline, but the inclusion NF covenant just feels Off to me. It doesn’t seem to fit in with the vibes of the other three. Like, Necrolord is for people who love conflict. Bastion is for people who love conflict… but also are Super Honorable. And Venthyr is for people who love conflict… but committed a few war crimes along the way? (yes, i’m part-joking).
And then there’s Night Fae, for… people who love trees? We can even see in the covenant campaigns that Venthyr, NL, and Kyrian have a lot in common. Their stories overlap. But over here we’ve just got the NF?
Don’t get me wrong- I’m in the NF, I love the zone and the feeling of it, even if the covenant campaign felt somewhat disjointed and jumpy between chapters, and had too much NElf and Drust focus for my liking (even as a Kul Tiran lol).
I just wish that there was more diversity in the focuses of the covenants. I get it’s world of WARCRAFT, but did we really need two covenants that were entirely centered around combat? There are moods other than warfare (bad), warfare (enjoyable), and warfare (honorable), but the only other one we get in SL is… Nature.
And this goes beyond wishing there weren’t classes that felt lore-locked to some covenants (like a druid or hunter not in NF would feel weird. Same with a DK not in NL.) Which also makes me wish the covenant focuses were different…
Ardenweald originally wasn’t going to be its own zone, but instead be part of Bastion. No idea if that had any effect on its story, but it does seem a little weird how plainly straightforward the questing is: it’s basically “bad things happening to good people, the zone.” And its story doesn’t seem to cross over to other covenant zones the way the other three seem to, instead favoring BFA leftovers, so the campaign felt disoriented.
It’s not a bad zone, but I’m not sure if yet another magical nature forest was needed. At least it’s pretty.
I love that specification about being cleaning up BFA. It was one of my favorite parts of the storyline to mention Voljin (though my Ally toon wouldn’t know who Bwonsamdi was…?), as well as the pieces on Tyrande (though they would’ve been weird as a Horde character), but the Drust aspects were WEIRD.
I love the zone, too, and I love that it feels like literally the only place in SL that isn’t combat-centric. I just wish that there had been LESS focus on combat in the other zones, as a sort of narrative foil to how consumed by their conflict the Horde and Alliance have become. Instead it acted as an affirmation of how war-consumed the factions are, except Ardenweald, which said “also nature!”.
Maybe my issue is that I think Ardenweald is the only zone that feels like it “should” be part of the afterlife, and the other three seem… disappointing? Not in terms of flavor or gameplay, but in terms of lore.
Originally the night fae were not intended to have people, it was just for the Wild God spirits. When the Arbiter sent the first person there even the Winter Queen was surprised and not expecting it. It does feel a little disconnected storywise I agree, but maybe that’ll change in the future patch arcs.
I like the nature idea of it, it’s different and to show there are other aspects of Death beyond just what to do with our souls. Thematically Ardenweald represents the other half of the cycle of nature, life and death and rebirth.
Bastion and Revendreth aren’t about warfare though. They both have their own security, as all four do. But kyrian learning to fight is for self-defense when out roaming around. It’s not a standing army. Revendreth is for the black evil criminals who did terrible things in life. They weren’t all warriors or casters, there’s many types who do bad deeds. Normally they’re pretty peaceful places, but right now everything is falling to pieces and civil wars started so they have to duke it out. We came in at a bad time.
For the last bit, there’s many reasons one might join a covenant. Not all druids have to go night fae or paladins kyrian. People are different even among the same class. You might agree or disagree with covenant ideologies, or you made friends there, or you empathize with their struggles. Could be academic curiosity. Or maybe you aren’t interested in any and just practically decided who you think is a more valuable ally against the Jailer. Lots of room to RP it! We aren’t actually staying here, they’re just temporary allies.
I mean, Bwon is the long established Loa of Graves; is the Patron Loa of the Darkspear; and you actively fight against him in Dezal’alor … so I would at least guess your Alliance toon might have happened across the name. Loa may be like any other Loa for most members of the Alliance, but he is the one who explicitly oversees the entire Troll afterlife. So … who knows?
I could easily see a more grey Paladin serving the Necrolords. Or a Green Faith Tauren Paladin serving the Night Fae can make a good deal of sense if the zone and the story wasn’t so heavily slanted towards Night Elves.
Incidentally Renethal’s statements indicate that Revendreth was originally designed to serve as a Paradise for the Evildoers it puts in their place! A Place where they could plot against each other for power using whatever justifications they desired!
The Maw having originally being just Torghast was(considering the Jailer is behind all the Torments of the Damned) intended as a paradise for Unspeakably Evildoers who don’t have justifications for their Evil!
As for who goes to Maldraxxus: Paladins made Heroes because of their Memories, Unapologetic Ambitious Backstabbers who massacre anyone in their way including family and Fierce Fighters.
Any class can go to any covenant for any reason, it’s based on the individual’s own beliefs and what they are. Mograine is in Maldraxxus because of his family takes precedence above his faith, regardless of being a Paladin. That was even part of the Necrolord’s Covenant to explain the way things work in the Afterlife. I think the confusing part is that the covenant zones look like they’re based off of classes, but in reality it’s entirely based on individual basis.
Also as mentioned Ardenweald was part of Bastion, but got separated which probably skewed up the story. The other zones seem based around Shadowlands, while Ardenweald is based off continuing BfA’s plot.
Yeah, Mograine’s memories weren’t a burden to him, they’re his strength. Whereas Bluther’s memories are his biggest burden and why he was sent to Bastion to have them wiped so he could do something better with himself.
There’s also many other realms which are part of the Shadowlands, these are just the four we’re getting focus on right now.
The Night Fae exist to return powerful nature spirits (ie Wild Gods, like Cenarius) to life, while being a resting place for nature spirits who aren’t powerful (e.g. Dryads, who are Cenarius’s children) and mortal souls who similarly simply love nature (e.g. druids, hunters, etc).
Bastion’s Crest of Ascension, which is what allows Kyrians their wings which let them traverse realms and planes, is made with the power of the Grove of Awakening, which is what sends Wild Gods back into reality.
During development
Bastion and Ardenweald were going to be one giant zone; you can sort of see remnants of this in certain color pallets used for Bastion’s valleys, or how in the south of Bastion there’s a hill that you can walk into the edge of the zone’s mist. Or how they’re both generally ruled by a winged queen (Moth Queen vs Dove/Owl Queen) with some subgroup that resembles them (Ascended Kyrians vs Faeries) and another subgroup that does not (Stewards and Vorkai/Sylvar).
I figure Bastion-Ardenweald were meant to be ruled by two queens: Winter Queen and Archon, at the very “top” of the Shadowlands, closest to the Veil. Kyrian are in charge of taking all souls to Oribos, which they take from the veil, while I think originally, Kyrians did not take Nature spirits but rather nature spirits automatically go into the Celestial Trees of Ardenweald.
We can still see this in the Ardenweald cinematic where Ursoc just kinda floats down from the tree, we don’t see any Kyrians involved. It doesn’t seem he made a pit-stop in Oribos.
But in-game, we know they do.
On a related note: I think animacones are just dead small animals. Animals not strong enough to go into a Wildseed or be sent back to reality.
Alliance players get some specific dialogue in The Other Side from Bwonsamdi: “Wait…who…? Heroes! Uh…no hard feelins 'bout dat little disagreement dat we had in Zuldazar?”
So at least the game acts as if Alliance players know who Bwonsamdi is, and have had experience with him in the past.
I want to be clear- I get the point behind all four covenants. I understand why they function the way they do in the story, and I enjoy the gameplay. I ALSO think that Ardenweald is the most unique, realistic, and therefore (to me) interesting zone. I think it would have been really damn cool to have the zones focus around something different than just their function.
Like, what, the afterlife exists… to continue the afterlife’s existence? That seems like a dull theology to me. Ardenweald is the only zone that- to me -treats its role in the shadowlands as SECONDARY. The focus of the fae is to enjoy things. To put on plays, to go hunting, to create and laugh.
The kyrian seem to exist exclusively for their solemn duty. The NecroLords seem to exist exclusively to become better fighters to defend the shadowlands… See what I mean? It’s less so that I didn’t enjoy the concept, and more that I would personally have preferred to see a less utilitarian afterlife. The theology of WoW seems quite depressing to me.
Emeni the Slaughter Daughter takes Pride in her slaughtering her Hundreds of Siblings to seize the Throne and is mentioned as killing random bystanders whenever she felt like it.
She had no Virtues and her crimes were all based on the notion of Killing for the Sake of Killing and Ambition.
Maldraxxus accepts Senseless Killers, Heroes of War made strong by their Memories and Ambitious Schemers with no Remorse.
Any Virtue intended or not is required to go to Revendreth for it is a Paradise to Schemers and Thugs who are of a dignified class! The denizens of this Realm clearly do not realize how Revendreth works otherwise they would have a meltdown over the Afterlife having no Morality despite their Paradise being created to humor them!
Bastion is for those with Burdens and Virtues. If an Aspirant can’t remove all the Burdens required to become a Kyrian they are sent back to the Arbiter as their Purpose in Bastion(easing what Burdens can be eased) has been served.
Ardenweald is for Hunters and Druids who love the Beauty and Wonder of the Forest. Hunters and Druids who love Jungles will probably go somewhere else.
The Afterlives are designed to be Paradises for each Soul with the Jobs being added to each Realm to satisfy each Paradise’s way of life.
Any sense of Morality and Duty in the Afterlife was forced on it when the Jailer went rogue and was imprisoned in the Paradise for the worst of Sinners which he turned into a Plane of Torment which sustained itself with fellow rogue Eternal One Sire Denathrius’s gifts of Unrepentant Sinners!
Denathrius and the Jailer are the source of WoW Morality! If it weren’t for them the Mortals would have simply lived how they saw fit probably filling Maldraxxus and Revendreth with vileness with rare threats to the Shadowlands sent to the most secure Paradise of the Maw!
I mean that’s because, as per world quest Our Heart Will Go On, happy memories/experiences are necessary for the survival of the forest. They are the only way for a new Heart of a Celestial Tree to regrow.
Well, that’s because in Shadowlands we’re basically visiting the utility room of the afterlife to fix the machinery that runs everything else.
Proportionally speaking very few souls actually end up in the zones we’re seeing, aside from their momentary trip through Oribos. That includes the Maw, when things were operating properly. The idea is that by far the vast majority of souls in the universe are sent to more idealized eternities in keeping with their expectations in life; the realms we’re currently playing through exist specifically to make sure those other souls all get to where they’re supposed to go and aren’t subsequently under threat by external foes or irredeemable souls.
Which is why I’m kinda hoping before the end we get to visit a few of those other domains to help the Kyrian protect souls en route and aid Maldraxxus in doing its job of preventing the Mawsworn or some other cosmic intruders from invading them. The sort of thing that arguably the Invasion Point mechanic from Argus could be better suited to than its application back in Legion.
So indeed it’d be nice to see some of what we’re actually protecting by helping the Covenants rebuild themselves, even though we already ostensibly know such places exist. As things stand, a lot of people have the impression that we’re trying to restore this strictly utilitarian system that exists solely to perpetuate itself, when that’s never actually been the point. The truth is that there are a bunch of “heavens” in the Shadowlands and we’re really just trying to correct the damage done to the machinery that allows them to exist without fear of being attacked or corrupted.
So would the Hunters and Druids you mentioned. Ardenweald is meant for t hose who SERVE nature, not just live with it. For all of its superficial simmilarity, Ardenweald is not the Night Elf ideal of nature any more than it is the Taurens or Trolls. It rocks a distinctly Celtic vibe.