Unofficial Sethrak Discussion Thread 🐍

Community General Discussion
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Have Faith in Sethrallis!

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Sethrak Community

https://blizzard.com/invite/ZnZBwsgpj

This thread is to discuss the possibility of playable Sethrak for the Alliance, as well as to talk about how generally awesome they are. I do not know if showing support for them as a playable race will play a part in Blizzard's decision regarding Alliance allied races... But it can't hurt either.
Below I am going to be going through a bit of what we know about them, some FAQs and some links to some interesting Sethrak related stuff. Keep in mind what has been datamined is few and far between and is subject to change. I will update this thread with any new information I find or am provided. Please feel free to share any Sethrak related findings in this thread!
Please keep things civil and adhere to the ToS because I do not want to see this thread 404'd
Also be aware there will most likely be spoilers in this thread, especially about Vol'dun.

What do we know about Sethrak so far?

The Sethrak are a bipedal race of Cobra-like people living in Vol'dun. Their empire seems heavily influenced by ancient Egypt. Their entire role in Battle for Azeroth is not entirely known but what we do know is that there are two different groups of Sethrak.

The Sethrak led by 'Korthek' are an evil group that enslave Vulpera and have turned away from their Loa religion and seem only interested in expanding their empire and turning everything into a sandy desert because that is what they are most comfortable with.

Another group of Sethrak led by a Sethrak named 'Vorrik' have abandoned Korthek's group and stand against him. These Sethrak still closely follow their Loa religion and refer to Korthek's group as 'The Faithless.' Vorrik and his group are trying to keep old god servants locked away while Korthek's group works to unleash it. Part of the story revolving around Vorrik is finding keys used to keep the old god servant locked up, one of these keys is found by an Alliance scout.

The War Campaign
While the Horde helps Vorrik through the Vulpera it is actually The Alliance who find him first and save him from The Faithless's poison near the Sethrak main city. It is then that Vorrik promises to repay them for their kindness. Vorrik also decides to hide his key directly with the Alliance, where as in the Horde version the key was found among some ruins.
The Alliance commander is pleased with the prospect of positive relationships with Vorrik's Sethrak.
"you did well in befriending the local population. This likely won't be the last time we'll have to depend upon them."


An important thing to note in this story is that (Spoilers ahead) Vorrik entrusts the Horde to guard the keys to which they fail quite miserably. The Keys are stolen and Serrik, Vorrik's friend and comrade, is killed. Mythrax is then successfully summoned by the enemy. It is not yet known how Vorrik will react to this, with any luck he will be angry at the Horde, at least enough to trust the Alliance a bit more.

We hope to see more positive interactions between The Alliance and Vorrik's Sethrak during the second part of the War Campaign.

Below is quest text you are given when after finding Vorrik.

You must believe me when I say that I mean you no harm.
I am a follower of Sethraliss, like my people before me.
The other sethrak you have encountered in Vol'dun have long abandoned the ways of Sethraliss.
The faithless seek to destroy us just as they do your kind.

Back then, Korthek and I led our people in worship to Sethraliss together.
Our most sacred site was the adytum, hidden away in the hills.
But the Faithless have no need for it anymore. It's been abandoned for generations.
It will be a safe and fitting place to start our- Wait... Is that vulpera down there?


I will update this section as more information comes out.

FAQ

Why would Sethrak join The Alliance? They look like a Horde race

While it is true the Sethrak would be an unprecedented and unique race among the Alliance that is precisely why we think they would be perfect. Elves and varying degrees of humans are alright but it is about time the Alliance gets something unique... Something cool, something to stir things up a bit. Sethrak are just different enough to be a total breath of fresh air while still maintaining that Alliance sense of dignity, duty, honor and above all, faith.
Keep in mind The Alliance is not all about 'The Light' but welcomes many followers of different beliefs, backgrounds and magical what have you. Sethrak would be different, but that is a good thing.

We also believe that Sethrak would be the ideal paring with Vulpera. The Vulpera are far more hinted at at being an allied race for The Horde at this point and the Sethrak directly tie in with their lore and vice versa. These two races seem made for each other, to counter each other. To have one without the other seems like a wasted opportunity.

we know that the Alliance have a port in Vol'dun conveniently placed right beside the Sethrak. It would be wise of the Alliance to make an ally with a race familiar with the area, if they hope to stand a chance against The Horde and the Zandalari trolls.

Also it would bring Loa into The Alliance and that would just be awesome!

What about helmets? Helmets will look stupid!

To this I would say you are right. Most helmets are going to look really dumb on Sethrak. But guess what? They look quite bad on every other anthropomorphic race in this game as well as some of the humany races. Helms make Draenei appear bald, they make a Dwarf's beard disappear, they clip into Troll tusks and look laughably bad on Worgen and Tauren most of the time.
We Sethrak enthusiasts accept this as just the reality of the game. We do not care if they look bad as we know there is an option for transmog and to turn off helms completely. It is not a big deal.

In terms of fitting it on their model it probably is not as hard as you might imagine. The Sethrak frill is located along their neck, not on their heads as a cobra IRL is. The Sethrak head is really not anymore wide than a Tauren's is. Like I said, helmets will look bad most of the time, but that is a small price to pay.

A visual example of how helmets may look on Sethrak, compared to other races who notoriously do not wear helmets very well. Made by Gado from Khaz'Goroth
https://imgur.com/a/Y8LQyJ4

Allied races use other race's rigs. Sethrak are too unique to be an allied race

The Sethrak use female Worgen rigging as well as a mixture of animations from other races. It is disguised really well but they are indeed borrowed material same as any other allied race. Blizzard had also said using this allied race system will more easily allow them to add races unique to BfA. We feel that it is only fair if The Horde gets Vulpera, a brand new race to BfA, that The Alliance deserves something brand new and unique as well with Sethrak.

Sethrak can't wear playable armor and have no female models

Yes, this is the big one. Right now the Sethrak can not wear playable character armor very well. However I will point out that that could change at any point between now and anywhere in BfA. Vulpera were not anywhere near player quality when they were first shown off and now look at them. We are hoping for the same updates to happen for Sethrak.

There is a model for the Sethrak Loa that is confirmed female though does not have many differences. Most people feel like the Sethrak do not need too much sexual dimorphism because well... They're sneks? Some unique male/female colors and some other feminine qualities would probably be enough for Sethrak. My own personal idea for female Sethrak was Egyptian inspired eyeliner. Think Cleopatra.

Interestingly Sethrak were given player gear geosets on their models in one of he beta builds for tabards. They did not work correctly and were removed in a later build. There are many theories as to why this was done, but there's no real concrete answer to that question.

We keep a very close eye on all Alpha builds and while we do know datamining info is not a for sure thing, we hope to see more positive signs for playable Sethrak soon!

Female Voices
In beta right now there are Sethrak NPCs who do have female voices. However they still use the same model as the male Sethrak,which includes wearing masculine looking clothing. We hope that this is a placeholder and that those with the female voice will be updated with female models, or else it just feel very awkward.

Customization
A big part of being playable is having customization. From what we can tell so far the most obvious customization for Sethrak is skin color, piercings on their hoods and tail decorations. There are literally thousands of snakes Blizzard could use as references for colors and patterns and the tail decorations are very unique and pretty as well. I also believe faces would be important which they also have many snakes to choose from as inspiration.
Here is some art of possible male and female Sethrak options made by someone in the Sethrak discord, which I have gotten permission to use.
https://imgur.com/a/olaFn
https://tinyurl.com/ycm5aqea

Videos, gifs and pics

Now for some fun stuff!

Korthrek meeting with Troll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i-I91ZYLrs

The Story of Vol'dun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyJRq_dhKlg

Vorrik's voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yV4FBXXNyk

Female Sethrak voice overs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NKfr8wZKBk&feature=youtu.be

Sethrak animations
https://tinyurl.com/yamzgdt7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5FmRQx8yik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIRX_D57QgE
https://youtu.be/83tkYYgA5v0

Click View in 3D if it does not automatically pop up
https://beta.wowdb.com/npcs/121678-good-sethrak

Gifs
https://imgur.com/jikZmcV
https://imgur.com/YsBR5IK
https://tinyurl.com/ybrqfj7e
https://tinyurl.com/y8orjfmg
https://imgur.com/x6ggH99

Concept art and models
https://tinyurl.com/y7rfowht
https://tinyurl.com/y8qwnn25
https://tinyurl.com/yc9nqkvu
https://tinyurl.com/y6uooqgp
https://tinyurl.com/yaamt6uc
https://tinyurl.com/y9kqmvsf
https://tinyurl.com/ybqpkhos

Discords

Please join us for Vulpera and Sethrak Discussions in 'The Vulpera Hype Caravan' Discord. While it is focused on Vulpera most of us are under the belief one goes with the other and we are on the same team. We post recently datamined information on both races and discuss among ourselves in a chilled out environment. All are welcome.
http://discord.gg/VWtmNME

If you are looking for more Sethrak related discussion check out the Support our Sethrak Discord.
http://discord.gg/ZKPK65p
218 Likes
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/tongue flick
37 Likes
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i have come to support our sneaky sneks
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/tongue flick
11 Likes
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I support this thread. /tongue flick
11 Likes
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Keep the worgen support combo going!
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Really looking forward to Blizzcon to hopefully shed some light on whether or not we'll ever get to play as these guys. Fingers crossed!
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I really hope Sethrak become a reality. >w<
There has been too much effort put in to their models for them not to end up playable.
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step aside, worgen, it's bloof time
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Sethrallis welcomes all.
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I still say all this worgen support is because we have no better option on the alliance. We are also tired of playing a hunch back with lip problems, thus we massively support alliance sethrak.
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If the alliance saves him first from the poison then did he get poisoned again near a sethrak city for the horde to help him with an antidote?

Fact is alliance got a loose copy+paste of the horde quest line in voldun with a few changes. Horde are a lot closer with the devoted sethrak than the alliance are.
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09/29/2018 04:21 PMPosted by Släm
I still say all this worgen support is because we have no better option on the alliance. We are also tired of playing a hunch back with lip problems, thus we massively support alliance sethrak.


Eh.. I only sort of agree. You make it sound like we're "settling" when we choose to play worgen. At least from my perspective, that's not why I play a worgen; I play one because I love their bestial nature and have been a fan of lycanthropes for a very long time.

I'm a fan of sethrak for many of the same reasons, and I think they can definitely help harden the Alliance's overall image (I actually made a thread advocating for Broken Draenei as well, also because of how they'll help the Alliance's image).

But do I think they're necessarily better than worgen? Not so much; I still eagerly want cool new worgen stuff like model updates and customization options. But I'd definitely love a sethrak toon as equally as I do this one.
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09/29/2018 04:29 PMPosted by Nappa
If the alliance saves him first from the poison then did he get poisoned again near a sethrak city for the horde to help him with an antidote?

Fact is alliance got a loose copy+paste of the horde quest line in voldun with a few changes. Horde are a lot closer with the devoted sethrak than the alliance are.

The horde saves Serrik from poison, not Vorrik.
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09/29/2018 04:29 PMPosted by Nappa
Horde are a lot closer with the devoted sethrak than the alliance are.


Then I'll ask the same question I seem to end up asking every Sethrak thread; Why would any of the Devoted look at what the Horde currently are and sign up on board with that? Even ignoring the fact the Zandalari are not exactly fans of them from the get go, the Horde's rap sheet in the two months alone should have them raising their eyeridges at any prospect of allying with them. They are a deeply spiritual, honourable and virtuous people. Now looking at your current leadership, tell me how would any of that fit with the Horde over the Alliance?

This is why Vulpera would work so well with the Horde. They seem to be a lot smaller picture people and have a pretty questionable level of ethics from the get-go. They are not going to take much issue with budding up with a faction who incinerates civilians on whim as long as they get looked after. On the other hand, the whole story of the Devoted Sethrak is breaking the hold of a faithless tyrant over their people who believed in nothing but himself.

Sound familiar?

It would make zero sense for the Sethrak to bend the knee to someone like Sylvanas when she is pretty much the exact thing the Devoted were trying to overthrow in the first place.
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But you can see how it’s very similar yes? Blizzard got lazy with the alliance storyline in voldun.
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Here's a bit of light speculation. This was posted by Eevee over in the Vulpera thread.

09/29/2018 12:52 AMPosted by Eevee
One little nugget fell out of this week's PTR patch:

https://ptr.wowhead.com/item=165804/outpost-upgrade-vulpera-hideaway

The honorbound rep lets you buy an item to upgrade the Vulpera hideaway "outpost".

Not only does this imply the Vulpera hideaway is or will be a horde affiliated base, but it has been selected instead of the Sethrak temple which would presumably be larger and more defensible. Unless of course, our noodley neighbors have some misgivings with the horde...


Whether or not the Vulpera are ultimately made playable, this all but confirms that, lorewise, the race will be drawing closer to the Horde. This made me think why the Volundai as a faction don't actually use the Temple of the Devoted as their base of operations, and why the Horde wouldn't want to fortify -that- location after the conclusion of the Vol'dun storyline. The logistical answer is likely just because it's a neutral tavern utilized by both factions, but then the next question becomes why did they even bother making it neutral to begin with? The Alliance have one relevant quest there in the War Campaign and then they never return. Outside of an errant WQ or two in the area, the Alliance tend to have no reason in utilizing the temple's services as an inn, especially given its close proximity to the port the Alliance claims as their foothold.

I'm probably jumping the gun here, but this seems to imply one of two things; the Horde do not have enough favor with the Sethrak to fortify the Temple of the Devoted (which in turn might point to some friction between them), or it is imperative that Alliance players continue to have unrestricted access to the Temple of the Devoted for future lore developments.
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09/29/2018 04:41 PMPosted by Vandren
09/29/2018 04:29 PMPosted by Nappa
Horde are a lot closer with the devoted sethrak than the alliance are.


Then I'll ask the same question I seem to end up asking every Sethrak thread; Why would any of the Devoted look at what the Horde currently are and sign up on board with that? Even ignoring the fact the Zandalari are not exactly fans of them from the get go, the Horde's rap sheet in the two months alone should have them raising their eyeridges at any prospect of allying with them. They are a deeply spiritual, honourable and virtuous people. Now looking at your current leadership, tell me how would any of that fit with the Horde over the Alliance?

This is why Vulpera would work so well with the Horde. They seem to be a lot smaller picture people and have a pretty questionable level of ethics from the get-go. They are not going to take much issue with budding up with a faction who incinerates civilians on whim as long as they get looked after. On the other hand, the whole story of the Devoted Sethrak is breaking the hold of a faithless tyrant over their people who believed in nothing but himself.

Sound familiar?

It would make zero sense for the Sethrak to bend the knee to someone like Sylvanas when she is pretty much the exact thing the Devoted were trying to overthrow in the first place.

Well given Saurfang is already starting his rebellion I think Vorrik will find a lot of similarities between the horde and the entire race of sethrak. How there was a morally questionable schism between the faithless and the devoted is somewhat similar to the Sylvanas loyalists and Saurfang revolutionaries.
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On a scale of 1 to 100, how disappointed are we going to be when they announce the next race for horde is vulpera and for alliance it's junker/mecha gnomes? They are heavily, HEAVILY setting junker or mecha gnomes up in the datamined patch stuff.

I want Sethrak, but I think it's best to um, lower our expectations. Unfortunately.
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09/29/2018 06:04 PMPosted by Esaara
On a scale of 1 to 100, how disappointed are we going to be when they announce the next race for horde is vulpera and for alliance it's junker/mecha gnomes? They are heavily, HEAVILY setting junker or mecha gnomes up in the datamined patch stuff.

I want Sethrak, but I think it's best to um, lower our expectations. Unfortunately.


Not disappointed at all. I was always expecting the Sethrak to be released, if at all, later rather than sooner. They're similar to the Nightborne in that we need for the storyline to move away from the questing zones before factions within those questing zones become playable, sort of like how the Alliance worked with the Nightborne but only before they made the choice to side with the Horde.

Junker gnomes are valid options, but I see no reason to expect them to be mutually exclusive with the sethrak. There's room for both.