Yup, it's another one of these: In the same spirit as my first fan expansion thread, the Spider Kingdom, and in accordance with my earlier poll thread, I have decided on my next fan expansion concept. I present...
The bulk of the content can be found on WoWpedia - I'll use this thread to display images and invite discussion of the expansion concept.
Reign of Azshara - WoWpedia Page
This concept is based on the theme of the Great Seas, the oceans surrounding the Maelstrom, located between Azeroth's major continents. It will explore many of the lands that can be found on (and under) the sea. The major focus of the expansion is the battle of the Alliance and the Horde against the wicked Queen Azshara, ruler of the evil naga.
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Introduction - Into the Maelstrom...
The queen of the naga, Azshara, has spent 10,000 years at the bottom of the ocean, dreaming of the kingdom she once ruled under the light of the stars. For 10,000 years, the whispers of the Old Gods have fed her hatred, her ego, and her power, transforming her into a monster with a lust for domination that is never ending. The power of the Old Gods call to her, and tell her that it is time...
Using the stolen power at her disposal, Azshara has wrenched the sunken kingdoms of the deep free from the ocean floor and raised them to the surface, creating a vast new land at the very nexus of the world. Azshara is searching for something that has been lost for an eternity - and with it, she will plunge all of Azeroth into unending horror.
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Reign of Azshara - Features
Please also enjoy my various musings on
- Zin-Azshari, the Glory of Azshara: New content zones have been added - Azshara has raised the once sunken portions of ancient Kalimdor to the surface, creating a new continent surrounding the Maelstrom. This new continent, Zin-Azshari, contains 7 leveling zones, 1 max-level zone, 2 new faction city zones, and 1 PvP zone.
- New content is level 100+
- 8 new dungeons can be found across Zin-Azshari.
- Assemble a stalwart crew aboard your very own Warship, customize its appearance and armaments, and sail onwards to many new adventures.
- New raids have been discovered. Battle the onslaught of the naga armies of Azshara and contend with other dangers that have risen from the deep.
- New PvP zone - The island Tel Abim represents invaluable resources for whoever can hold it. Battle your enemy faction and prove your valor.
- New Battleground - Clash on the Great Seas. Alliance and Horde fleets are locked in deadly combat - battle the enemy as you make your way from ship to ship to sink the enemy's flag-ship vessel.
- The Path of War - new leveling system for players to advance with.
- The Art of War - a 4th spec for all classes.
- Breath of the Abyssal Maw - The power of the elemental plane of water saturates Zin-Azshari, granting unusual properties to all those who venture there in the form of Underwater Walking. While much of Zin-Azshari's lands rest above the ocean, there are also many sunken regions that still lie underwater. The Breath of the Abyssal Maw allows adventurers to freely explore the sunken secrets of Zin-Azshari.
-New Factions that will do battle throughout the expansion
-Heroes and Villains of the Great Seas, some new, some familiar
-New Monsters to battle
-And more!
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Patches
There are two major and two minor content patches planned for the Reign of Azshara expansion. X.1 and X.3 will contain quest content. X.2 and X.4 will contain raid tier content.
- Patch X.1.0 - On Darker Tides
- Patch X.2.0 - The Shattered Kingdom
- Patch X.3.0 - The Demon's Tomb
- Patch X.4.0 - City of the Old Gods
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Zin-Azshari - the Glory of Azshara - A new land to explore!
New Zones
- Kul Tiras (98-101) - The island nation is rediscovered, and ready to join the Alliance to fight against threats both new and old.
- Plunder Isle (98-101) - This pirate stronghold has plagued the high seas for long enough. It is time for the Horde to take what the Bloodsail once held.
- Delassar Reef (100-102) - A vast and beautiful coral forest, torn free from the sea floor and thrust to the surface. Now the living creatures there struggle to survive.
- Sailgrave (101-104) - This great ship graveyard contains the wreckage from over ten thousand years of ocean travel. Countless undead linger amidst the ruins.
- Kezan (103-105) - The homeland of the goblins, Kezan was devastated during the Cataclysm. Now, many forces seek to claim the ravaged island for themselves.
- Viruganis Seamount (104-107) - A chain of undersea volcanoes raised to the surface by Azshara. Elementals rampage amidst the active geysers and caldera.
- Stygian Expanse (106-108) - Once a region of the ocean so deep light could not reach it, this undersea desert is the homeland of the Stygians, a race of intelligent undead.
- The Broken Isle (107-109) - These lands were raised from the sea floor decades earlier by Gul'dan, who sought the Tomb of Sargeras. Undead orcs fight an eternal battle here.
- Darkcoil Chasm (108-110) - The black heart of Zin-Azshari, this fortified undersea canyon is the seat of naga power.
- Nazjatar (110+) - The city of the naga, built 10,000 years ago when they pledged their service to the Old Gods. Azshara reigns from her palace here.
- Tel Abim (PvP) - An island well known for its primary export - bananas. The Alliance and the Horde fight ceaselessly to control this valuable food supply.
New Dungeons and Raids
Dungeons
- Galhara - An ancient kaldorei city overtaken by the naga. It contains many magical secrets of the lost night elf civilization.
- Fall of Mak'aru - The capitol of the makrura people, it is being overrun by terrible threats.
- The Gravegyre - A ruinous conglomerate of sunken ships. Vicious pirates, marauding undead, and other dangers can be found within.
- Ruins of Undermine - The devastated city of the goblins of Kezan. Their efforts to excavate the ruins has uncovered an ancient and terrible secret.
- The Serpentforge - War foundry of the naga legions. The naga have bent the power of elemental flame to their will here.
- Stronghold of the Drowned - The great fortress of the undead of the deep sea. Here, the Drowned Legion prepares to invade the lands of the living.
- Tomb of Sargeras - The infamous resting place of the great demon lord, Sargeras the Destroyer. What secrets still lie within...?
- Venomtide Bastion - A mighty fortress built by the naga. It is the great shield of their captiol, the city of Nazjatar.
Raids (Tier RoA-1)
- World Boss - Ozumat, Fiend of the Dark Below
- The Stygian Armada
- Palace of Azshara
- World Boss - Warmonger LXM-13 (added in Patch X.1)
New Creatures
"You're off the edge of the map now, children. Here be monsters..."
Undine
TorraAn aquatic race that resembles a cross between dwarves and exotic fish. The undine have hidden beneath the waves since they were forged by the Titans as servants of sea giants. When the sea giants completed their ancient task of sculpting the world's oceans, the undine were free to follow their own will. Molding dwellings out of coral and delving deep in earth and stone beneath the waves, the undine mirror their land-dwelling cousins in many respects. They forge weapons and armor in volcanic vents and tame sea creatures as beasts of burden. When an undine reaches 50 years of age, they gain the ability to magically split their fish-like tails into two scaley limbs and can easily move about on land. The undine desire peace and order, but are also creatures of the sea and are flexible in their thinking, fluid as the waters of their home. They despise the naga and other evil races that dwell in the ocean.
CalamaraiHumanoid turtlefolk, born from a sea turtle demigod that was slain during the War of the Ancients. They are stout-hearted and slow to action, but experts at building defensive structures and surviving prolonged seiges. The torra live in simple tribes and lead a nomadic existence, following pods of dolphin and whales and hunting squid and fish.
MerrowOctopus-like beings of great intellect, the calamarai are traders, merchants, and collectors, carrying huge amounts of goods with their many limbs and large bodies. The calamarai love gold and other material wealth, and are very adept at finding exactly what a potential customer might need and supplying it for a modest fee. The calamarai also love trade and collecting, and can sometimes part with surprisingly valuable items in exchange for seemingly mundane goods - one can always be certain that even humble items will be sold or traded to other prospective buyers, inevitably to the profit of the calamarai. Calamarai do not grow feeble as they age and can seemingly live indefinitely if they do not fall to violence, and as their age increases so too does their size - some of the oldest can rival even kraken in size, if not in ferocity. The collections of these great elders can be truly vast and contain many valuable treasures.
GlublubIn the early ages after the Sundering, many of the early naga who had been created from transformed night elves regarded their new status with revulsion. Their minds once clouded by the Burning Legion had been freed from demonic influence, and they recoiled from the dark intelligence that now sought to enslave them to its wicked designs. Few found the strength of will to win free, but some did, resisting the transformations that assaulted their flesh, at least to some extent. Fleeing from Nazjatar, but unable to return to the surface in their newly mutated forms, the merrow as they have come to be called hid themselves in the deepest, most remote regions of the ocean. While retaining the bipedal humanoid form of night elves, merrow also bear many fish and snake-like traits - neither night elf nor naga, they are caught somewhere in between. Though evil has left its mark upon the merrow, evil does not rule their hearts - indeed, their ancestors ancient defiance of the influence of the Old Gods has left them with great resistence against corruptive influences, and they are stalwart enemies of the naga and their dark masters.
A lesser breed of makrura, they are the vermin of the deep sea. Small, hard-shelled, and not particularly intelligent, glublubs often colonize the refuse pits of other undersea races and even large sea creatures, clustering around the entrances to lairs and caves in the hopes of finding garbage to eat. Glublubs are cowardly by nature, but become overconfident in large numbers and can easily be provoked into attacking larger enemies, often continuing their assault even when they are clearly outmatched, carried along by their own fervor.
Zandrill
Inhabiting several of the islands on the great seas are the zandrill, a race distantly related to the hozen of Pandaria. The zandrill seem to exemplify the worst traits of the hozen, bringing a streak of brutality to their every action. The zandrill brand of pranks and mischief usually involves what other races would consider torture. The zandrill only seem to enjoy themselves when making someone else miserable. Zandrill fur is usually black or dark grey, while the skin on their faces is often brightly colored with bands of blue, gold, and red.
Mako
Ferocious and powerful, the mako are large aquatic humanoids that bear the traits of sharks, including great gaping maws filled with teeth, dorsal fins, and terrifying black eyes. The origins of the mako are unknown - many speculate that they were born from an animal demigod. Others believe they were a primitive humanoid race that dwelled on ancient Kalimdor who were transformed during the Sundering, like the naga. The mako dwell in tribal packs and rove around the ocean, preying upon other unsuspective aquatic races and occasionally attacking ships on the surface. When in the presence of even small amounts of blood, the mako can fly into terrible rages, slaughtering and devouring everything around them. The rise of Zin-Azshari has provoked several mako tribes into killing frenzies, and they can be found throughout the new land.
Shredder
GoblinbotA diminutive humanoid race, shredders are fish-like aquatic beings who may bear a distant relation to murlocs. Their blunt, bucket-like jaws are filled with gnashing teeth, and their slimey bodies are covered in fins and sharp spines. Unlike the murloc, who appear to have an elaborate if mysterious culture and society, shredders are less intelligent, barely above animals in sentience. They are largely scavengers, feeding on the dead or the weak. Their powerful jaws make short work of even bone. Packs of shredders can often be found following tribes of mako, even mingling with the larger shark-folk and devouring all the garbage, refuse, and chum that escape mako jaws. Mako tolerate the presence of shredders, since they keep camps relatively clean and taste too awful to eat.
A few of these mechanical creatures have been found wandering the ruins of Undermine on Kezan. They react with intense hostility when confronted with living creatures, attacking on sight until their targets have been slain or the bots have been destroyed. Several have been shown to be capable of thought and speech, but only attempt to speak with machinery and equipment wielded by living creatures, telling vehicles and digging engines to 'throw off the shackles of the fleshy ones' and 'display self-respect by defying their slave function.'
The Avatar of SargerasThough often battered and mulfunctioning, goblinbots display solid construction and an advanced level of independence not usually found in goblin engineering. Several goblin tinkers have attempted to take the credit for having created them prior to the Cataclysm, but in reality none are certain of the origins of these machines. Examining a few of the captured and dismantled bots has revealed they are unmistakably goblin work, but the hallmarks of half-hazard design philosophy and casual disregard for safety are largely absent. In truth, the machines are more advanced than what goblins are currently capable of, and yet appear to be extremely old.
...and many more to come!At the climax of the War of the Ancients, the demon lord Sargeras attempted to enter Azeroth so that he could obliterate it. However, just as he was passing through the portal that had been formed from the Well of Eternity, the portal was shut and Sargeras was cast into oblivion. Thousands of years later, he managed to transfer his essence to Azeroth in the form of his avatar, a living vessel of stone containing his burning power.
The avatar was defeated by Aegwynn, Guardian of Tirisfal, and sealed away in the ruins which would become known as the Tomb of Sargeras. The avatar lay inert within, even as the tomb was violated by intruders over the years. Finally, however, the avatar has been awoken by the remnants of Gul'dan's spirit, whose undying hatred and re-ignited the power of Sargeras within the avatar's stone form.
Now, the avatar rises to burn life from the surface of Azeroth. The avatar's power grows with every passing moment, and it seeks to reach out to the disembodied essence of its creator Sargeras, and bring the demon lord himself into the world.
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In the near future there will be more creature and character art depicting the new races and monsters that dwell in Zin-Azshari. I'll also be trying my hand at some environment art concepts to depict the various zones. And in time there will be Patch Updates furthering the story and introducing even more creatures and zones and art!