Rift of Aln under Tirisfal Glades?

[Trassk]

Curiously, only then did Malfurion truly sense that the ancient evil, though it fought to keep its grip there, did so from somewhere deep in the depths of Azeroth's own seas

The rift mentioned in the novel appears to be connected to the Rift in the Maelstrom. It may even be the same location, only as seen inside the Emerald Dream.

It seems the rift is more connected with what lays belong the sea, yet they claim its not to do with old gods.

[Deleted]

Speculation thread, wanna hear your ideas. ALso, sorry if this is a re-post theres a lot to post and I didn't feel it appropriate to tack it onto someone else's thread.

So after reading some of the Cdev questions, I read the question:

"Q: During your recent Cdev, you stated that it wasn't an Old God underneath Tirisfal. Any chance you could give us any kind of hint as to what's down there? Any tidbit of info would be awesome.

A: I hate to do this, but I didn't want to leave you hanging without an answer. My answer is: We're not saying. Not yet."

cited here:http://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments...developer_ama/

And the first question asked about this subject was this:

Q: Is there truly an Old God underneath the Tirisfal Glade?

A: Nope! There’s something incredibly unsettling there, but it’s not an Old God. It isn’t recommended to go digging through the Glades, though.

cited here:http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6489940501

Got me thinking, if it isn't an Old God, then it's gotta be something with some type of nightmare-esque qualities. all the animals around the whispering forest are frightened and scurrying, there's the fairy circle that could have very well been placed there by Malfurion himself based off of this excerpt:

"Malfurion and Tyrande Whisperwind cleansed the Emerald Dream everywhere, except in the rift where the Nightmare stubbornly held firm. There was no point to keep pushing, as the people of Azeroth still needed the couple's help. Thus, Malfurion sealed off the vicinity around the rift, he and Tyrande silently agreeing that the day had been saved, and this was another war that would have to wait for a better time."

cited:http://www.wowwiki.com/Rift_of_Aln

This could be heavily tied to Vashj'ir, with this excerpt found at the same cite above:

"Curiously, only then did Malfurion truly sense that the ancient evil, though it fought to keep its grip there, did so from somewhere deep in the depths of Azeroth's own seas."

Knowing that all of the "old god-ish" tenticles from around abyssal depths, and the sudden cancellation of the Abyssal maw may have something to do with it not being ready, not in the sense of development but in the sense of story-line.

Also the interesting site in Kalimdor, specifically southern barrens in Bael Modan - where an NPC says:

"Turn away, <class>.
Before the cataclysm hit, we found something.
We dug something up that should've stayed buried.
Pray to whatever you believe in that the landslide was enough to keep it down..."

Maybe this is one giant f***in' Old god?

Also, the interesting question "Q:Arathi Highlands has the potential to be a real epic convergence of a lot of stories, the Forsaken warmachine was last seen setting up camp here, Stromgarde sits eagerly awaiting revival as well as being the last line of defense between the Forsaken and Khaz Modan, giving the Dwarves and interesting stake in it. What are your plans with this zone, if any?

A:Agree completely. But, it's unlikely we'll revisit old zones once again. Until the next Cataclysm... "

This could possibly be coincidence, or maybe I'm just "in the moment" and trying to pull things into this speculation that really don't fit, but maybe this Old God sparks up yet another cataclysm after being defeated or "subdued"? But I also know this could be GC just being sarcastic.

There is also strong presence of Lord Xavius in this speculation,

"Lord Xavius was a powerful user of magic, and the high councilor to Queen Azshara."

Looking back at the fairy circle, the "fey-drunk darter" or "Faerie dragons, also known as sprites or blink dragons, are fey that look like flying lizards (much like a chameleon with butterfly wings). Though not actual dragons, these mystical looking creatures police the Emerald Dream from magic. As such they are immune to magic."

then take the name Fey "1. doomed; fated to die. 2.appearing to be under a spell; marked by an apprehension of death, calamity, or evil."
cited:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fey

If the darter polices and is immune to magic, how is it possible it's fey-drunk? Lets say it's impaired by evil, the only real explanation is an old god, which was kinda taken out of commission by previous quotes, or Lord Xavius, who is said to be located in the rift of aln.

I'm quite strongly convinced that the Tirisfal Glades thing and the Emerald Nightmare are completely separate from each other.

[leviathonlx]

I don't think the Rift is under there, I thought it was within the Maelstrom itself

That's the current theory that the Rift of Aln is just the Rift's representation within the Dream.

[Phasma]

With what we know about Old Gods (I.E. their bodies literally support the weight of entire continents (see Yogg-Saron and Northrend)) it's doubtful that one just got up and moved.

and if one did, it would probably cause another cataclysm...

[Baykin1298]

I'm quite strongly convinced that the Tirisfal Glades thing and the Emerald Nightmare are completely separate from each other.

Can you be more specific as to why?

[Combatbutler]

Can you be more specific as to why?

Because the Highborne that landed there 10.000 years ago were driven mad, the nightmare isn't that old.

[Elim Garak]

Unless they recton the Highborne landing in Trisifal than leaving, yes it has to be old. Whatever is down there had to have been there when the Highborne first came to the Eastern Kingdoms, so 10,000 years or so.

That could be:
a. just completely unrelated to current events. Something new is there.
b. it and Sargeras Avatar could be a catalyst for bigger happenings.
c. related to Burning Legion, with Sargeras Avatar as catalyst again.

[Lyriok]

If it's going to be Sargeras related I hope it bring's Med'an back into the story.

[SherbertLand]

With what we know about Old Gods (I.E. their bodies literally support the weight of entire continents (see Yogg-Saron and Northrend)) it's doubtful that one just got up and moved.

Do not take this as an attack post.

How do you know old gods support the weight of entire continents? Yogg Saron and C'thun are rather small.

[Lyriok]

Do not take this as an attack post.

How do you know old gods support the weight of entire continents? Yogg Saron and C'thun are rather small.

Yogg and C'thun were both in their prisons, what we saw was basically the size of their fingernail. The rest of them is underground (From what I read quite some time ago)

[SherbertLand]

Yogg and C'thun were both in their prisons, what we saw was basically the size of their fingernail. The rest of them is underground (From what I read quite some time ago)

So we really didn't defeat an old god at all?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

But Gul'dan didn't find it in the tomb near the Maelstrom. And "when" is irrelevant. It doesn't have to be old. Order of Tirisfal is old, it had a meeting place in Tirisfal Glade. And new order of Tirisfal could hide the body under Tirisfal Glade, along with other things hidden there by Old Order. That could make things MORE unsettling than before there. Some imprisoned demon possessing the Avatar of Sargeras...

When is relevant, unless Blizz feels like retconning the whole history of the High Elves.

[Lyriok]

So we really didn't defeat an old god at all?

We have defeated them but from what I understand we havn't killed any. We've only mortally wounded them.

Quickly and poorly done to put it into a bit of a perspective.

http://i.imgur.com/6M2Nf.jpg

[Hitei]

Yogg and C'thun were both in their prisons, what we saw was basically the size of their fingernail. The rest of them is underground (From what I read quite some time ago)

There's nothing that says that old gods are massive physically. The farthest shown reach of Yogg-Saron's direct physical influence is when he captures Thorim. And Loken specifically had to lure Thorim to Ulduar proper for Yogg to be able to act.

It's probable that Old Gods are significantly bigger than the "heads" we see, but they're more like icebergs. That is, Yogg-Saron probably has a large body and tentacles in the depths of Ulduar, but he doesn't span the entirety of Northrend.

C'thun isn't in a prison at all, he's just in a weakened state, and we still don't ever see him indicate any physical presence beyond his chamber.

Old Gods are probably several times the size of a dragon aspect, but not by any means the size of a significant portion of Azeroth.

So we really didn't defeat an old god at all?

Most of the evidence seems to suggest that Old Gods can't die to begin with.

Edit: None of this is really relevant though, since Blizzard stated that it wasn't an Old God.

[SherbertLand]

We have defeated them but from what I understand we havn't killed any. We've only mortally wounded them.

Quickly and poorly done to put it into a bit of a perspective.

http://i.imgur.com/6M2Nf.jpg

I guess that would make much more sense for a prison. Thanks.

[Sesto]

On the topic of the Old God's size, I'm almost certain that the entire idea that they as large as continents is a fan theory. It just so happens that this theory has been repeated so many times that people think it is fact. This, as well the theory that the Titan's didn't kill the Old Gods because it would destroy Azeroth, but that kinda has become less plausible seeing as Y'Shaarj was killed.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

On the topic of the Old God's size, I'm almost certain that the entire idea that they as large as continents is a fan theory. It just so happens that this theory has been repeated so many times that people think it is fact. This, as well the theory that the Titan's didn't kill the Old Gods because it would destroy Azeroth, but that kinda has become less plausible seeing as Y'Shaarj was killed.

I'd say they're Stormwind-size at best.

[Lyriok]

There's nothing that says that old gods are massive physically. The farthest shown reach of Yogg-Saron's direct physical influence is when he captures Thorim. And Loken specifically had to lure Thorim to Ulduar proper for Yogg to be able to act.

It's probable that Old Gods are significantly bigger than the "heads" we see, but they're more like icebergs. That is, Yogg-Saron probably has a large body and tentacles in the depths of Ulduar, but he doesn't span the entirety of Northrend.

I've never envisioned old gods to be wide spanning a continent just tall and having their body deep down in the earth with tentacles that flay out.

Agreed not very relevant at all but a topic I find to be interesting. The only thing I can see it being is either Sargeras or a completely new threat im hopeful that it will involve Med'an in some way.

[Hitei]

On the topic of the Old God's size, I'm almost certain that the entire idea that they as large as continents is a fan theory. It just so happens that this theory has been repeated so many times that people think it is fact. This, as well the theory that the Titan's didn't kill the Old Gods because it would destroy Azeroth, but that kinda has become less plausible seeing as Y'Shaarj was killed.

It's a fan theory that has no real base.
The idea behind the Titans not being able to kill Yogg-Saron/N'zoth specifically (Because they thought they'd killed C'thun) is because the curse of the flesh had corrupted the seed races and corrupted the word itself enough that the Titans feared if they destroyed the old gods, everything they had corrupted would be destroyed as well. Thus they created the re-origination protocols to judge if the corruption reached a point where it just wasn't worth it anymore. It has nothing to do with them "supporting" the continents of Azeroth. That idea is silly to begin with, since it's the Titans that locked/forced the Old Gods deep beneath the surface.

I'd say they're Stormwind-size at best.

This is a pretty good size estimate.

[BrokenHearthstone]

Do not take this as an attack post.

How do you know old gods support the weight of entire continents? Yogg Saron and C'thun are rather small.

If you look at pictures of Yoggy and C'thun, it looks like its just their heads above ground.

Yogg-Saron:
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__..._Companion.jpg

C'Thun
http://gamechurch.com/wp-content/upl.../Cthun-p21.jpg

Well... C'thun, maybe not so much...