I really liked your topic, you put a lot of effort into it. But I would say he’s a bit horde centric. And I would make another observation, you were under-ambitious about certain structural changes in Azeroth’s geopolitics.
My idea for a new balance of power in Azeroth would follow the premise that such changes would be post-Shadowlands and that our period outside of Azeroth actually led to a passage of a few years as time flows differently in Shadowlands.
In the meantime Yrel’s army of light finally reaches Azeroth through the dark portal. This ends up having a profound impact on Azeroth, accelerating changes in the geopolitical tectonic plates of the world.
In my ideal representation of Yrel she would be something of an anti-Christ, pushing the Alliance into a period of reconstruction, which would serve to cement her reputation as a benevolent agent or even a Messiah, supported by Turalyon’s good graces.
Even before Yrel’s arrival, the Scarlet brotherhood lobby would have been a major presence in Stormwind politics. And it would gain even more traction with the fact that Yrel would announce that his lightforged along with the Naarus possess the technology to eradicate the remnants of the plague from Lordaeron and Gilneas.
The first step towards hostilities would therefore be from the Alliance, once the heir to the Menethil throne would be revealed (and to me it would be more interesting if she were a female heir). And she proceeded to demand that Turalyon as her vassal reclaim her lands.
This course of events would be interesting for two reasons, it would deal with two loose ends of history the scourge that no longer has the restraints of a helm of domination and the fact that the undeads are now a nihilistic race on its way to extinction. When the Alliance moved its resources to reclaim the lost kingdoms, notably Lordaeron, the Horde weakened by recent events would view this juncture in an ambivalent way. While some races see this as an open declaration of war, others would see this as a minor fact due to the treachery of the vast majority of forsakens during Sylvanas’ rule.
For me the fate of forsakens must always follow two premises, their link with Lordaeron and especially the link with the fate of Arthas and his legacy. So since the Horde would do little to help them, they would eventually flee to Northrend. And in this new scenario they would use all the knowledge learned from their apothecaries, to take control of the remnants of the scourge. Culminating with them having access to new valkyrs and claiming ICC as their new capital. It’s obvious that in the course of events I’ve drawn, the forsaken’s situation will be temporary, and they’ll vow to reclaim their former realm of Lordaeron in every way possible. This would set the precedent for a new lore of invasion of Lordaeron by a new “scourge” as in warcraft 3.
In this new scenario, forsakens would again be a power house, and two fundamental aspects of the race would be respected, first that its fate was always tragic and, furthermore, this would serve to give the race a kind of redemption, since finally the forsakens were who they would manage to put an end to the scourge once and for all. This would in a way be the end of Arthas’ influence over them, as the subjects became the lords of their king’s armies. Not to mention that forsakens have always had a trajectory independent of the Horde. And that his lore has always followed a logic of its own.
In Kalimdor we would have a much more volatile scenario. With the arrival of Yrel the mag’hars became extremely warmongering. And dreams of rebuilding an Iron Horde like war machine would be an obsession for the race, as the mag’hars were defeated by the lightbounds as the mag’hars lost virtually all their military might with the fall of Iron Horde.
In that sense they would see Azuremyst Isle as a legitimate target postforsaken fall in Eastern Kingdoms. And they would attack the island in full force. In this new scenario, I would consider that there would be a very strong bond between Talanji and Geya’rah with the two increasingly converging on the council on what to do with Yrel, and taking into account that the mag’har have warned the Horde of what they are and only Talanji took Geya’rah seriously. The blood elves and the nightborne by extension, will see Yrel in a friendly way much influenced by Liadrin’s experience with the draenei of Draenor.
With the imminent prospect of an invasion of Azuremyst Isle by the mag’har and zandalari, Velen and the draenei are rescued by Vindicaar and Yrel and Turalyon take the draenei to Eastern Kingdoms. As a symbol of good faith the new queen of Lordaeron donates the lands of Eastern Plaguelands to the draenei. And a new capital following the lines of Shattrath is rebuilt in Stratholme.
Malfurion has transformed into an entirely different character after Tyrande’s disappearance. He like everyone else is convinced that she is dead just like the other heroes who went to this realm.
In this new scenario Malfurion with the assistance of Shandris and Maiev his lieutenants became extremely aggressive. And the kaldorei have deep distrust of the Alliance, mostly because they resent the fact that past events and little Alliance assistance led to Tyrande’s death. This is one of the reasons the kaldorei did nothing to help the draenei when their island fell.
The kaldoreis now control the maps of Hyjal, Felwood and Dark Shore and still have great influence on Feralas. But they lost control of Ashenvale. The botani, who have been creating trouble for the Horde since their arrival in Azeroth, end up encountering Malfurion as they try to expand their evergrowth to Hyjal. They are amazed by the druid’s great power, and come to worship him as a god and submit to him completely.
The kaldorei following Malfurion’s orders turn their eyes to Broken Isles as well. The maps of Val’sharah and Azsuna are repopulated by kaldoreis, the world tree in Val’sharah is rebuilt by Malfurion, and following Malfurion’s orders Maiev helps rebuild kaldorei influence in Azsuna using the influence of Prince Farondis. The academy of Narthalas is rebuilt and the kaldoreis once again claim their connection to the arcane.
This scenario culminates in mounting hostilities with the nightbornes who intended to claim Azsuna as part of their legacy. And that can contribute to building a lore of elven wars that take place on these islands. With the direct involvement of at least 3 elven races. Since blood elfs and nightbornes are now part of the grand elven kingdom as Lor’themar and Thalysra are the respective Sun King and Grand Magistrix and are married.
The Horde will fear Malfurion, and will at all costs avoid an open confrontation with the great druid, so hostilities between the Horde and the kaldorei come to an end. The Horde accepts that kaldorei pilgrims go to the temples of Elune in Ashenvale, and let them not be disturbed in any way. The Horde will preserve these temples and they will be guarded by Horde troops.
I would use the orc clans to mimic the rebuilt human kingdoms. Shadowmoons now live on Azuremyst Isle, as they have a strong interest in the draenei crystals left behind and the island resembles the ancient shadowmoon. Warsongs build a big city in Ashenvale. The blackrock clan rebuilds a new foundry in Desolace. The frostwolf clan expelled from Ek takes up residence in Winterspring. The thunderlord clan lives in Barrens as gronns have come to roam these lands. The bleeding hollow clan comes to live in Feralas as it resembles Tanaan. And the shattered hand clan moves to thousand needles.
The Horde is once again experiencing an industrial revolution in Kalimdor, with railroads linking its large settlements. A strong trade between the races is established, we would see the influence of zandalari in Kalimdor as well, with Talanji taking over the role of overlord of all trolls.
Greymane will be somewhat ostracized in this new Alliance, and despite being the only one to suspect Yrel and Turalyon’s intentions will be silenced as the worgen will admire the high exarch for having reclaimed their lands. Velen will also be silenced in this context.
In this scenario I created to explain the map changes I tried to build justifications in lore. But the ultimate goal would be how to build an anti-Christ figure like Yrel. Yrel’s actions will be justified, as the Horde will also move to take Alliance territories. In this sense Yrel will consolidate as someone who just showed the true intentions of the Horde, paving the way for the construction of his character as an eventual villain.
This would be my ideal scenario for an ambitious expansion that would revamp maps that I would find much more interesting. As I am tired of seeing maps destroyed I would much more like to see an extremely powerful Alliance and Horde again.
