Spider Kingdom fan expansion concept

[Mokaproductionist]

Putting up the heroic boss in the Palace raid will probably be the capstone. The Spider Queen is the mother of the Newbreed. But of course, to get babies, you need a daddy too...

Isn't Tuten'Kahn the daddy, or is there another, who instead puts the momma into the line...?

[Golden Yak]

Update! Did a little work on my raid concepts, which can be found here:

Necropolis of Nerub
Nidhogg's Lair
Palace of the Spider Queen

And here's a little spooky ghost:

Aqir Wraith

Get ready for more art cuz I have like 8 more pics almost ready to post.

In the meantime have fun reading my thoughts on archaeology, legendary weapons, and such and such.

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Im guessing you play horde as most if not all the allies camps have been wiped out in your maps,but also the levelling thing,having a 93 92 and 91 clash all in one zone would create a million and one problems so it wouldnt work.

I am Horde yes, but for all the camps I've destroyed I've created new ones to replace them, regardless of faction. The Horde have lost plenty of their own.

Re.: the different levels, in MoP you're called to fly all over Pandaria at level 90 to fulfill various daily quests, sometimes passing through areas with lower levels, but mostly sticking to regions specifically set up to be level 90 questing areas. What I've done isn't any different, I've just spread the leveling quest areas across multiple zones instead of just the daily ones.

The artwork is nice but speaking as a games designer myself i think the concept is a little over the top,needs to be toned down abit.

Go big or go home! I've actually tried to set this concept up in such a way that if it were an actually game design proposal, there are plenty of areas where things could be cut, removed, toned down, etc. to make it more viable (skipping the Northrend revamp zones, taking out some dungeons, etc.)

Oh mi Godness! This would be a very interesting expansion undoubtedly forming along with the return of the new Lich King ("lavaman") the perfect excuse to revisit Northrend.

Yeah, he's definitely gonna do stuff.

[*]It would be interesting to renew the Crystalsong Forest zone: an enlarged area (with fewer dead zones) without Dalaran and therefore with two facing cities, both for the Alliance and for the Horde, led by the Silver Covenant and the Sunreavers respectively (the current Windrunner's Overlook and Sunreaver's Command but more developed and fortified).

I basically have done that, in an effort to turn it into a pvp-oriented zone - the Krasarang Wilds PvP area is pretty much exactly what I envisioned the new Crystalsong being.

Dalaran moving away actually fucks up my story super, super hard... I hope they put it back when they're done with it.

Isn't Tuten'Kahn the daddy, or is there another, who instead puts the momma into the line...?

Tuten'Kahn is not the father of the Newbreed, as he has not been called upon by the Spider Queen to fulfill the task of fathering the next generation of nerubians. This is not something that has ever happened before in the entire history of the Spider Kingdom. Always before, the queen calls and the king answers. The queen has not called the king, yet she continues to produce Newbreed eggs all the same.

The Newbreed receive orders through a psychic hivemind that is controlled by the Spiderminds, leaving non-Newbreed spider lords like Tuten'Kahn with little actual authority and few of the duties they once fulfilled for the Spider Kingdom. He is the Spider King and thus technically ruler of all Azjol-Nerub, but his subjects are not his own children, nor do they require his leadership. He and his title are largely obsolete in the Newbreed order.

All of this has contributed to him having an extremely bad attitude, and anyone trespassing in the palace will find themselves as a target of his considerable frustration.

[Ama]

that wiki page doesn't show maps for your raids

[lichkingsbitch]

Inspired in equal parts by Cataclysm, Wrath, various wow fan works, and my own not inconsiderable insanity, I've created a fan expansion for World of Warcraft:



I've been using WoWpedia's fan fiction section to set up pages related to all the dungeon, storyline, and zone ideas I've come up with, and I'll be organizing them together into what will hopefully become a self-contained fan expansion wiki page.

The Spider Kingdom

It started out as a raid idea, grew into a zone, and has since blossomed out of control into what it is now, which is still growing (Old Gods help me). The concept is in two parts - The first centers around the reshaping of Northrend due to the Cataclysm and the death of the previous Lich King, Arthas. The second part will involve exploring the depths of Azeroth's underworld, the Spider Kingdom of Azjol-Nerub and beyond.

There's a lot of talky, so I'll be trying to break it up over time with some artwork - maps, characters, monsters, and so forth.

Check for updates below.

This thread is also on the Official WoW Forums in both the General and Story sections - feel free to comment there if you wish:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2089281854
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2191130878

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Basic Information
* The Spider Kingdom Revealed: New content zones have been added - The Upper Kingdom, the Shadow Web Caverns, and Ahn'Saron - the Inner Kingdom. These zones are accessed through the Pit of Narjun in Dragonblight. A fourth zone, the Wound of the World, acts as the center of the Spider Kingdom and a natural barrier separating the leveling zones, but contains no leveling content.
* New zone content is level 90+.
* Level cap is set at 93. Advancing from one level to the next will involve the Path of War leveling system.
* The Cataclysm has rent Northrend asunder, altering many of it's regions. The fall of Arthas and the rise of a new Lich King has also brought about a drastic change in the balance of power all across the continent. The Northrend content remains a 70-80 leveling experience.
* New dungeons and raid instances have been discovered throughout the new Spider Kingdom zones, as well as the newly reshaped Northrend zones.
* New battlegrounds and new arenas are available.

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New Spider Kingdom Zones

The Upper Kingdom



Shadow Web Caverns



Ahn'Saron, the Inner Kingdom



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New Spider Kingdom Dungeons

Naxxramas, the Fallen Necropolis

Riplash Ruins

Doorward Underhalls

Terromaw Hold


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Northrend Zones post Cataclysm

Northrend's zones have been wracked by the Cataclysm as well, changing the leveling experience. Here's a few of the new maps:


Howling Fjord


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Dragonblight


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Icecrown



Icecrown Citadel - The Frozen Halls

Forge of Souls

Pit of Saron

Halls of Reflection


Check out the WoWpedia page for all of the revamped Northrend zones.

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Original Characters

Horde and Alliance scouts have uncovered the identity of the leader of Northrend's Twilight's Hammer sect!

Twilight Master Velius


As the ogre Cho'gall was to C'thun, the human Velius is to Yogg-Saron. Here's a snippet from the Twilight's Hammer page:



Further information on the Twilight's Hammer of Northrend can be found here:
Twilight's Hammer of Northrend

Death Queen Angerboda


One of the new villains of the reworked Northrend content. Click on her name to see my fan article about her. Here's a snippet:



I've also written up a fan article detailing the different factions of Scourge Remnants that have arisen in the wake of the Lich King's demise:
Scourge Remnants

Vidar Ymironson




Madra



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Spider Kingdom Bestiary Entries


Ursol the Bear God




Nerubian Infiltrator




Undying Tendrils




Nerubian Newbreed


Check the bestiary page on wowpedia for lots more.


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JISSES CHRIST! I got more chilling in my backbone then i got from ,,, or then i mean if any i got from pandara expansion. Very nice ideas blizzard have lost so mutch cooler deeper lore ideas in their hunt for pandas.... ( yes panda are lore but not coll in my oppinion)

[Golden Yak]

that wiki page doesn't show maps for your raids

Haven't done 'em yet. Might not bother, it's a lot of work for not terribly exciting results.

JISSES CHRIST! I got more chilling in my backbone then i got from ,,, or then i mean if any i got from pandara expansion. Very nice ideas blizzard have lost so mutch cooler deeper lore ideas in their hunt for pandas.... ( yes panda are lore but not coll in my oppinion)

If anything, panda-land expansion means there's no idea too strange for an expansion - certainly not mine...

[Lolercaust]

It's good to see this thread still getting bumped once in a while! The concept is great and the OP clearly put a shitton of effort into fleshing it out. It deserves to be seen.

[Humbugged]

I love your idea Golden Yak. I've curiously clicked your signature a few times over the years and am always fascinated. If ever we go back to Northrend, I hope Blizzard contacts you and spreads your idea to the game (really).

[Mokaproductionist]

About the heroic only boss in Palace of the Spider Queen, judging its subzone name and the trash mob I'm almost certain that it's the dreaded "bad guy" you pointed out in this story. So is he the mastermind behind the Newbreed, and the one whom Nezar'Kali claims to serve (according to her quotes)?
Speaking of which, is Neraz'Kali Newbreed too or part of the previous generation?

[Murphlord]

inb4 blizzard steals all of your ideas. Pretty darn cool nonetheless.

[quras]

If this expansion had came out after me leaving cataclysm, it would have probably brought me and my money back to the game.

We would have seen enough of the spiders in LK to be enticed for more. Expanding on what we knew and saw from LK. Some familiarity in old content to drive new content but expanding on it in a big way. Expansion gold.

MOP - Vague information few knew about unless you played an old WC strat game and you could still play it and miss the connection.
If you were not a book reader of WC and played the game only, you would have little to no clue about anything in MOP. Very skippable expansion with little to no information to from the game to build on.

A Spider expansion in an underground kingdom with some similar themes from LK. (of course all of it expanded on as well).

Hell, I'm almost sold now thinking about it vs what I actually played of MOP.

[Kornath]

Massive amount of work, amazing stuff.

Have you considered linking this stuff on the official forums? Blizzard might take an interest!

[Conjor]

Great artwork! I don't know if the "spider" theme would be enough for an entire expansion though Would make an interesting content patch though.

If this expansion had came out after me leaving cataclysm, it would have probably brought me and my money back to the game.

We would have seen enough of the spiders in LK to be enticed for more. Expanding on what we knew and saw from LK. Some familiarity in old content to drive new content but expanding on it in a big way. Expansion gold.

MOP - Vague information few knew about unless you played an old WC strat game and you could still play it and miss the connection.
If you were not a book reader of WC and played the game only, you would have little to no clue about anything in MOP. Very skippable expansion with little to no information to from the game to build on.

A Spider expansion in an underground kingdom with some similar themes from LK. (of course all of it expanded on as well).

Hell, I'm almost sold now thinking about it vs what I actually played of MOP.

Something tells me if the OP was designing MoP and Blizzard designed this Spider themed exp that your views would be 100% reversed. The storylines in MoP are rich and full of depth, on par with what we saw with WotLK. Of course you won't see it unless you actually play it and do more than just click through quests like a madman. And using the argument "well, this whole Mists thing wasn't in the original lore!" What do you do when your primary lore has all been covered? You make more. You continue the storyline. Like any other franchise.

[Golden Yak]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Have some bug people:

Croojer




The 'Murloc/Gorloc/Virmin' of the Spider Kingdom.

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About the heroic only boss in Palace of the Spider Queen, judging its subzone name and the trash mob I'm almost certain that it's the dreaded "bad guy" you pointed out in this story. So is he the mastermind behind the Newbreed, and the one whom Nezar'Kali claims to serve (according to her quotes)?

He is indeed. That's why the Newbreed are so different from the previous generations. They're only half-nerubian.

As for Nezar'Kali, she is not one of the Newbreed. In-game right now, if you go through the Ahn'Kahet dungeon and beat the last boss, a bunch of living nerubians come in and start tending to the clutch of nerubian eggs hidden there, including one especially big one. According to my story, that's Nezar'Kali, and those eggs are the last of the non-Newbreed nerubians, the previous generation.

The first Newbreed didn't appear until after Nezar'Kali hatched and reached maturity (which was rapidly, thanks to the nerubian viziers tending her egg - they needed a new queen quickly).

inb4 blizzard steals all of your ideas. Pretty darn cool nonetheless.

They are welcome to it. How amazing would that be? It's their world, I'm just playin' in it.

A Spider expansion in an underground kingdom with some similar themes from LK. (of course all of it expanded on as well).

Hell, I'm almost sold now thinking about it vs what I actually played for MOP.

Like I always say, if nothing else MoP has proved that you can take any element of lore and develop enough to be expansion-worthy. No one can say a Spider Kingdom expansion is too limited after Pandaria.

Have you considered linking this stuff on the official forums? Blizzard might take an interest!

I had a couple threads going, but they garnered little attention. You can't link images on the official forums, so it's not quite as eye-catching posting there. It was a while ago, so perhaps when this concept is largely complete it'll make a bit more of a splash.

Great artwork! I don't know if the "spider" theme would be enough for an entire expansion though Would make an interesting content patch though.

Well, the theme is really 'underground' more so than 'spider' - 'Spider Kingdom' refers to the most powerful underground empire (currently known, that is *cough*).

But if you replace 'spider' with 'panda' I would have had the same thought before Mists came out. You might be able to tell this from my earlier comments, but I loooove that I can point to Pandaria now.

And using the argument "well, this whole Mists thing wasn't in the original lore!" What do you do when your primary lore has all been covered? You make more. You continue the storyline. Like any other franchise.

I think there's a certain amount of (understandable) frustration when previously established concepts are put on hold in favor of new stuff, especially if one had a particular interest in one thing or another. Obviously, fans that were hoping existing ideas would be addressed won't be as happy to see them put on the back burner while brand new concepts are introduced, even if the new stuff winds up being great. I love Mists so far, but if they had offered me a choice between Mists and, say, an Emerald Dream expansion that had the same quality of work put into it as Mists has gotten so far, I'd have picked the Emerald Dream one.

[Skytotem]

Mmn, read through the Archeology bits. Amazing stuff as always, though I'm not a fan of the trolls getting help from the dragons. Still you do a great job with all this.

[quras]

SNIP...

Something tells me if the OP was designing MoP and Blizzard designed this Spider themed exp that your views would be 100% reversed. The storylines in MoP are rich and full of depth, on par with what we saw with WotLK.

Well, whatever "something" told you that. It would be wrong. BUT...

Thats the great thing about stories. Not everyone likes the same thing. It's not a hard concept to get. MOP was some poorly written junk (and I'll put this in cause I'm sure someone will jump on it ----> IMHO)

Of course you won't see it unless you actually play it and do more than just click through quests like a madman.

Again, been there, read them. Very easy to skip as far as stories go. However, I...

Played, Vanilla, TBC, WoTLK - liked them.
Played Cataclysm - Not so good and a good reason to keep my money.
Played MOP - Not good enough to pay for.

It's not a hard concept to understand. I do not like the current story. It had little mentioning in game but unlike the spiders which were all over some expansions and in various forms. People had some connection to them throughout the game. MOP - out of left field from some vague reading. Showed in a different game many didn't see (even though many did) and even if you played it could easily miss. So many other avenues lore stories could have taken that would have had a better impact. They could have dropped back to Serpent shrine cavern and what all was going on there and it would have grabbed more peoples attention on lore than MOP. (again IMHO)

And using the argument "well, this whole Mists thing wasn't in the original lore!" What do you do when your primary lore has all been covered? You make more. You continue the storyline. Like any other franchise.

And using the argument, "Oh they will just make more lore." doesn't mean it will be worth a damn. Which I don't think it currently is. I at least think the spider kingdom held more merit than MOP did and currently does.

But all this is for a different thread. The work the OP is doing is much more impressive in my eyes than what I have seen come from WOW's developers in the last 2 expansion and for me, it actually got my attention as something I would like to see vs what I have seen.

and thats saying something given the OP is just having fun with it

SNIP....

Like I always say, if nothing else MoP has proved that you can take any element of lore and develop enough to be expansion-worthy. No one can say a Spider Kingdom expansion is too limited after Pandaria.

SNIP...

You got that right. I know I had more of a connection to the spider stories than anything in MOP. I felt I had more connection to the kobolds and what was so damn important about those candles than I did anything in MOP.

Maybe I should work on a kobold expansion. If you can take something as obscure as MOP is and turn it into an expansion and then see what you have done with the spiders (which we knew more about in game) then kobolds should be interesting.

[Golden Yak]

I might just like these guys even more than spider people...

Duggum


Worker

Mole-like humanoids who have survived the underworld of Northrend for centuries. They were born from the shed blood of a mighty mole ancient who fought against the Burning Legion 10,000 years ago. The ancient slew many demons before it was finally slain in turn, and its blood flowed into the caverns and tunnels of the land that would become Northrend. There it gave rise to the duggum, who formed a close-knit society of many clan-families that has survived since the time of the Sundering. Small and clever, they avoided conflict with all the other races that shelter in the underworld.

Stone Tender

The duggum are cautious to approach other races, but those who earn their trust can learn a great deal about Azeroth's underworld, and will find in them a people prepared to stand against the dark threats that rise from further below. The duggum have a vast knowledge of farming and gathering in subterranean environments, and their sages and spell-casters know a great deal of lore about the tending of life in the deep earth.

Rock Breaker

The duggum are nearly sightless, and sense their enviornment through smell, sound, and detecting the vibrations of the world around them. They dwell mainly in deep darkness, as the light of day is harmful to them, and any illuminattion brighter than the faintest glow of shimmer moss or glowstone is uncomfortable. Becuase of this trait, they have had some difficulty in communicating their ideals to those who follow the Holy Light of Creation. While the duggum honor its power, their name for it is different - they call it the Guardian Dark. The duggum believe that light blinds, while in the darkness, eyes open wider. The darkness they call upon with their spell-casting is nothing like the spells of shadow and negative energy that warlocks and shadow-priests use - rather, it is a dark radiance that brings comfort and healing, not unlike the soothing balm of sleep. This phenomenon has perplexed the priests and paladins who have come to study under this curious people.

Because I decided that I needed more friendly people.

Mmn, read through the Archeology bits. Amazing stuff as always, though I'm not a fan of the trolls getting help from the dragons. Still you do a great job with all this.

I understand. I have no wish to detract from the power and majesty of the ancient trolls! The trolls were at the height of their strength back then, with vast numbers of warriors and spell-casters, loa spirits and trained war-beasts - the forces on Thunder King Island in patch 5.2 can give you an idea of what the ancient trolls were capable of bringing to bear. In fact, the success of the troll forces is what prompted the ruler of the aqir to begin a desperate plan to turn the tide - the nature of this plot is largely what brought them into conflict with the dragonflights in the first place.

The blue, black, and green dragonflights did not give public or widespread support to the trolls, and the red and bronze flights refrained altogether. The dragons waited until the aqir legions were engaged on numerous widespread battlefields against the trolls. They took advantage of Azj'Aqir being depleted of most of its forces and struck at the aqir central hive-city, Azj'Naggai. It was an attack meant to halt a threat to all of Azeroth, one as great as the Hour of Twilight, and the dragons succeeded. It was possibly the first recorded instance in Azeroth of a small group of determined and capable beings (who just so happened to be dragons) penetrating an enemy stronghold to eliminate a powerful, monstrous threat.

With their emperor's scheme foiled, there came no relief to the aqir armies, and they fell to the might of the trolls. The destruction of Azj'Aqir might not have been as complete if the aqir emperor had not invited the fury of the dragonflights, but even if he hadn't, the loss of the aqir was inevitable.

Thanks for the post!

Maybe I should work on a kobold expansion. If you can take something as obscure as MOP is and turn it into an expansion and then see what you have done with the spiders (which we knew more about in game) then kobolds should be interesting.

Well, I always did wonder where they got all those candles...

[Orby]

I would so 'dig' mole men in WoW (see what I did there)

Blizzard need to hire you, or at least get you to work with them for these ideas,

[Marston]

Oh god, updates. <3

I just finished reading the newest 5 man dungeons, awesome as always (even though I still think some of those 5 man bosses are simply too complex for a 5 man enviroment - even though, none of the newer bosses is as complex as your first ones in Naxxramas and Riplash... xD).

I am now going to read through your raid content and I am going to expect greatness beyond from those battles! :A

[Golden Yak]

I would so 'dig' mole men in WoW (see what I did there)

Ha hah hah hah... ha... I don't get it.

Oh god, updates. <3

I just finished reading the newest 5 man dungeons, awesome as always (even though I still think some of those 5 man bosses are simply too complex for a 5 man enviroment - even though, none of the newer bosses is as complex as your first ones in Naxxramas and Riplash... xD).

I am now going to read through your raid content and I am going to expect greatness beyond from those battles! :A

Cool, I'm glad they're getting read. I never know what's really going to work as a boss mechanic, but I figure better too much than not enough. I'm probably not going to do anymore and just focus on creature art and dungeon journal entries, since it takes so long to think up mechanic ideas.

[Skytotem]

Why don't you work for blizz? You're awesome.