This thread is dedicated to discussing the possibility of playable Arakkoa, as well as Arakkoa in general, and all the things they might come with if they are to be playable. Such as customization and new lore.
Content
Arakkoa Lore
Arakkoa Culture
Which faction?
Emotes and Voice-Lines
The Dance Emote
Racial Banner and Tabard
Racial Leader
Racial Capital
Potential Classes
The Female Model
Customization options
Racials
Arakkoa Heritage Armor and Mount
Arakkoa and Shadowlands
My personal interest in Arakkoa
- Arakkoa Lore - What we know so far.
Arakkoa (“Heirs of Arak” in Ravenspeech) are a bipedal, keenly intelligent avian race, native to Draenor. There are two groups of Arakkoa: the winged Arakkoa (High Arakkoa) were proud descendants of the once-grand Apexis civilization. The other group, called the Arakkoa Outcasts, were born from the treachery of their kin. their bodies were mutated into hunched shadows of their former selves by the Curse of Sethe.
The origins of the Arakkoan race and its two distinct subcultures are tightly bound to the three primal gods of the Draenic region known as Arak. The strong and graceful Rukhmar, mother of the Kaliri; the slight but clever Anzu, father of the Dread Ravens; and the cold and scornful Sethe, father of the Wind Serpents. Sethe, jealous of being unable to fly like Rukhmar could, plotted to betray her and Anzu. Anzu, in an effort to protect Rukhmar, battled with Sethe. Before Sethe was dealt the lethal blow, he used his last breath to curse his own flesh and blood to rot and corrupt all that it touched. In an attempt to contain the curse, Anzu devoured Sethe’s corpse, crippling Anzu and mutating him into flightless and pained by dark visions.
Anzu, not being able to bear presentinghimself to Rukhmar, shrouded himself in a realm of shadow to hide from Rukhmar forever. Rukhmar wished to see Anzu, but was not successful in finding him. Humbling his sacrifice, she was horrified by the curse that darkened her home. She left Arak, soaring to Gorgrond’s highest peak until the Curse of Sethe no longer lingered.
Rukhmar decided that if she could no longer find Anzu to thank him, she would reward his sacrifice by creative a new race in his honor. Using her own life energies, Rukhmar transformed some of her Kaliri followers into the Arakkoa. They embodied her physical grace and majesty, as well as Anzu’s intellect and cleverness.
Feeling her life fading, Rukhmar communed with her children one last time and urged them to claim Arak for themselves. Once they reached Arak, Rukhmar breathed her law breath. The Arakkoa saw this as a sign of their ascendancy, and vowed to create a grand civilization that would outshine any other culture on Draenor in order to honor her.
As their empire grew, they would fight a battle against the Evergrowth and come out the victory. They single handedly began a new golden age for mortal civilization on Draenor. They would also go on to successfully battle against the Saberon.
- Arakkoa Culture
Arakkoa are as “smart as any gnome you ever met”, accordng to Gremni Longbeard in the Hellfire Peninsula. Grizzik demonstrates that Arakkoa are able to become fluent in languages at a remarkable rate by observing speakers for only a short time. Arakkoa also decorate their weapons and armor with fantastic jewels.
Both flying and cursed Arakkoa have caste systems. Arakkoa are given a place in society before they are even given a name. The Adherents pair young Arakkoa together. Doing so means that fledgling members of the order can watch over each other and ensure that everyone follows the decrees of Rukhmar. If one accomplishes a great beat, both would be showered with praise. Likewise, if one transgresses, both would be punished.
Flying Arakkoa carry with them dreamcatchers that are said protect them from Sethe’s curse. Outcast Arakkoa have repurposed them not to ward off the curse, but to instead capture and harvest tiny amounts of essences from their lost gods.
Adherents are known to burn their victims alive in ritualistic sacrifices, and the cursed Arakkoa have some knowledge of celestial bodies. Arakkoa are also well known for breeding various types of birds, and training them as guards and companions.
Calling themselves the Apexis, the Arakkoa claimed the highest reaches of Arak’s spire. Embracing both Light and Void, the Apexis believed they were both natural parts of life. Two factions formed within the Apexis: The Anhar order studied Holy magic, while the Skalax studied Shadow and Arcane magics. Both groups occupied the upper echelons of Arakkoa society, sharing equal prestige and influence.
As the Arakkoa solidified their power in Arak, they also began to explore the rest of Draenor, though not expansionists, they were curious. They watched the endless warring between the Primals and breakers with pity and fascination. They never intervened however, playing a part in the lives of land-dwellers was seen as beneath the Apexis.
With nothing to threaten them, the Apexis dedicated themselves to the advancement of science and magic, and knowledge became their culture’s most coveted resource. The Anhar and Skalax became the caretakers of wisdom with the duty of cataloging history, the study of magic, and information about the world and its various creatures. Rather than keeping this knowledge in tomes or scrolls, the Anhari and Skalaxi sorcerers combined their magic to develop Apexis Crystals. By merely touching one of the crystals, an Arakkoa would consume all of the knowledge contained within and could even experience the memories of whoever had crafted it.
The Apexis applied their magics to the creation of mechanical construct that would do their bidding. The Arakkoa had always been arrogant, and had become even more so after their victory. They deemed those who walked the surface to be unclean and used their constructs to mine and father other resources from the ground.
Arakkoa visited shrines and temples dedicated to Rukhmar and Anzu, performing rituals to honor them and their sacrifies. Eventually a rivalry reveloped between the two groups as each vied for the support of the greater populace. The Anhari wanted to seize control of knowledge, while the Skalaxi believed knowledge was a basic right for all.
A civil war erupted, ending with a furious explosion that split Arak’s spire into many smaller spiries and left the surrounding region a barren wasteland. The Apexis society was no more, but from its ashes new cultures would arise. What happened to them to make them vanish would become a mystery.
It was a group of Skalaxi that taught the Ogres how to use Arcane magics. The other group began using the Sethekk Hollow, formed from the cursed blood of the dead god Sethe, as a form of punishment where any who disagreed with the Anhari were deemed heretics and cast into the pools to lose their wings.
The Anhari king created new laws restricting the authority of the Anhar order, declaring that high arakkoan society must be guided by a thirst for knowledge and wisdom, not by fear and superstition. This made them rebel, and he was cast into the pools of Sethekk Hollow.
As more became Outcasts, they would go on to form a city of their own where they would worship Anzu and Sethe. With the destruction of Draenor, it’s believed that the only Arakkoa survives were of the Outcast group.
- Which faction?
I know right away which faction Arakkoa would align with, and I’d understand if this may cause some disagreement. Much as I feel Ethereals are absolutely Alliance and Saberon are absolutely Horde, I feel Arakkoa are absolutely Alliance.
Their culture was based around a worship of Light and Void, as well as the Arcane. The Alliance has the 4 races that provide a linkage for them to join. There are the Lightforged Draenei for a linkage to their Light worshipping, the Void Elves for a linkage to their Void worshipping, and both the Night Elves and Draenei for a linkage to their Arcane worshipping. Additionally for the Draenei, they made a predication about their arrival would could have helped solidify their beliefs and could see them as important.
As for which Arakkoa faction will join the Alliance, that’s quite simple really depending on which route is taken to acquire the playable race. I must make one thing clear however, I am specifically requesting for the winged Arakkoa to become playable, but as I’ll note later I’d be pleased if one of their customization options allowed players to select if they are cursed or not.
The main route can be done through either Alternate Draenor or the Main Timeline on Outland. It’s hinted at through archeology that the Apexis planned to build a “Temple in the Sky” and may have succeeded. This temple could make a return on Outland, returning to see what remained of their home and having a desire to rebuild. The temple in the Alternate Timeline could also be used to reopen the way into the Main Timeline, where the inhabitants are trying to escape the Lightbound and open portals into a different dimension of Draenor (ours) which would place them on Outland as well.
- Emotes and Voice-Lines
- The Dance Emote
The Outcast Arakkoa already have a dance animation, a half-hearted “The Twist”. Simply replicate that for the High Arakkoa and we’ll be golden.
- Arakkoa Racial Banner and Tabard
The top is already their racial banner, the bottom is an already in-use tabard. The banner design could be used on the tabard with the same purple and gold color scheme.
- Racial Leader
There are several possibilities for who could be selected as the racial leader.
One perfect choice is King Terokk himself. While dead in the Main Universe, in the Alternate Universe he has hid himself within a realm of shadow and can be summoned back into the physical world when his people need him most. Therefore this choice would require the “Temple in the Sky” to come from the Alternate Timeline rather than be from the Main Timeline.
Another choice that could be used if they go down the path of using the “Temple in the Sky” from either the Alternate Universe or Main Universe is Kirrik. This would more likely be his Main Universe counterpart, and as leader of the Skettis Outcasts he could take the role of leader of the Arakkoa race of either the new arrivals from the AU or MU “Temple in the Sky”.
- Racial Capital
There are two options here.
The first, and one that makes the most sense, is simply using the “Temple in the Sky” since that’s the method by which Arakkoa would be returning.
The other is using an updated Skettis.
Both is also an option, where the “Temple in the Sky” is floating above an updated Skettis.
- Potential Classes
Warrior
Priest
Druid
Mage
Shaman
Rogue
Paladin
Hunter
- The Female Model
We already know that both sexes do in fact exist, and there are a handful of NPCs and voice-lines to prove it. However, the sexual dimorphism is a bit lacking. This isn’t an issue though.
Androgyny is not a bad thing! An androgynous race could fit well for players that are non binary, prefer an androgynous look, and much more!
I propose they have a single model for both sexes, only having a separate model for their High and Outcast forms.
- Customization Options
All of what I’ll be listing is what we currently have available through NPCs. I’ll be leaving out obvious things like various face options, just specific examples that can be easily described.
Feather Color
- Cyan → Green → Orange gradient
- Brown
- White
- Black
- Red-Orange
- Cyan
- Yellow → Orange → White gradient
- Magenda → Blue gradient
- Tan → Green gradient
- Tan → Purple gradient
- Tan → Blue gradient
- Tan → Dark Blue/Purple gradient
- Tan → Orange gradient
- Red → Purple gradient
- Cyan → Green gradient
Neklace
- Silver metal - Blue crystal (1)
- Silver metal - Blue crystal (2)
- Silver metal - Blue Crystal (3)
- Gold metal - Yellow crystal (1)
- Gold metal - Yellow crystal (2)
- Gold metal - Yellow crystal (3)
Earrings
- Gold metal - Yellow crystal
- Silver metal - Blue crystal
Arm Bands
- Silver
- Gold
Beak Decoration
- Gold loops - Yellow crystals
- Silver loops - Blue crystals
- Gold single loop
- Silver single loop
- Gold side loop
- Silver side loop
- Gold stud
- Silver stud
Curse Toggle
- Cursed
- Not cursed
- Racials
Drawing from what we know, here are my suggestions:
“Eye of _” are buffs that the Arakkoa player would be able to select from, and empower 2 of their other racials. Only one “Eye of _” can be active at a time.
Eye of Anzu - Empowers the player with the energy of Anzu. Small chance while in combat to send out an arcane missile against an enemy.
Eye of Rukhmar - Empowers the player with the energy of Rukhmar. Small chance for enemies to take burn damage while attacking you.
Eye of Sethe - Empowers the player with the energy of Sethe. Small chance for a curse to be applied to enemies during combat that deals periodic damage during its duration.
Zephyr - Unleashes a gust of wind, inflicting Nature damage, slowing movement speed and knocking back enemies. It also summons a Cyclone Elemental for 8 sec sec.
Chakram - The caster hurls a chakram at their opponents. Anyone caught in the chakram’s path suffers Physical damage. It also guarantees an “Eye of _” proc on the target.
Kaleidoscope - The caster hurls a chakram at an enemy. When the chakram reaches the target location it splits into a series of chakrams that fly around in a dizzying pattern. Enemies caught in the path of these chakram suffer Physical damage. It also guarantees an “Eye of _” proc on any target hit. Additionally, the damage proc is much more potent and consumes the “Eye of _” buff.
- Arakkoa Heritage Armor and Racial Mount
There are several viable options for their heritage armor. It’s hard to pick any single set, but something that combines Outcast and High Arakkoa attire into a single outfit is ideal.
Something along the lines of this would be a good base. I’d recommend making the color scheme a combination of golds, silvers, and purples. That way all three of the Primal Gods are represented, as they were all important to the Arakkoa.
As for their mounts, I’d say those that select the High Arakkoa during character customization should have the ability to use their wings to fly.
Their actual racial mount though should be a either the Stormcrow since it’s a recolor of the Rukhmar Solar Spirehawk, and also matches the color scheme of the Anzu Raven Lord mount.
If it absolutely must be a ground mount, then I suggest it be a recolor of the Voidtalon. As for which color, I would say blue since a void and fire varient have already been made and blue would match the arcane of Anzu.
- Arakkoa and Shadowlands
This section isn’t for the involvement of Arakkoa in the Shadowlands, but more so what is possible outside of it. We know there won’t be a time skip, but given the average expansion canonically lasts about 1-2 years (plus the amount of time they’ve already been on Azeroth during BfA) that is more than enough time for Arakkoa story to progress an adequate amount for them to get involved again.
As I’ve mentioned, the “Temple in the Sky” can make a return. We were told it’s likely Alternate Draenor may make a comeback in the story, so that would be a prefect avenue as to how.
- My personal interest in Arakkoa
Similar to Ethereals and Saberon, ever since I first saw Arakkoa introduced I’ve wanted them as a playable race. I love their story, and they’re one of the reasons I enjoyed WoD.
Please consider submitting an in game suggestion for Arakkoa (as well as Ethereals and Saberon). This can be done by: In Game Menu → Support - > Submit feedback or bug report.
- I’ve finally decided to create a Discord server for this small community. If you’re interested in joining, the invite link is: https://discord.gg/MKzZUdyauY
- Please respect the rules and if you see something I need to improve on I kindly ask that I’m notified.
- Since there is downtime in terms of new races, and information is few and far between, I’ve included an arcade section with a few games to provide members with things to pass the time.
If you made it this far and haven’t yet seen my Ethereal and Saberon posts, please feel free to take a look here:
