Next WoW Expansion Speculation: The Black Empire and Old Gods

Blizzard Posted 2017/10/31 at 5:02 PM by perculia

Warning: expansion speculation/spoilers ahead.The Wound in the Worldmassive wound in SilithusReddit threadSargeras shirt

Magni Bronzebeard: The tortured soul of Argus has been put to rest.
Illidan Stormrage: It matters not. We have lost. Look to the skies!
Prophet Velen: Sargeras will soon undo all we have fought for.
Voice of Amanthul: No.
Voice of Amanthul: We will use the last glimmer of Argus's power to bind him here. The Seat of the Pantheon shall become Sargeras's prison... and ours as well.
Prophet Velen: You would condemn yourselves to stop him?
Illidan Stormrage: Our world must survive... no matter the cost!
Voice of Amanthul: A sacrifice must be made.
Voice of Amanthul: Return home, children of Azeroth. Protect the final titan.
High Exarch Turalyon: Prophet... what happened out there?
Prophet Velen: Illidan serves as the Dark Titan's jailer. His sacrifice has ended the Legion. At long last, the Burning Crusade...is over.

The Legion is defeated. Its master, imprisoned.

But in his final spiteful act, Sargeras may have doomed us all. Our world is wounded, champion. Its life essence seeps out into the sands just as Magni foresaw.

This mere drop of Argus' blood surges with incredible power, the might of a titan. (Relates to turning in the Blood of a Titan quest)

if the blood of Azeroth also proves to be a source of such strength, those who seek to rule this world will stop at nothing to possess it. The days ahead may be dark indeed.

For now, go to Silithus, gaze upon the wound in the world with your own eyes. We will find a way to save Azeroth, I know it.

ZidormiTime Travelling

Silithus has ever been a magnet for ancient, malevolent powers.

I could open a timeway to reveal how the Black Empire once sprawled across these sands. Or show you wars waged between mighty armies.

So much history. So much pain.

But that can wait. I believe you are here for another purpose.

Blood of a TitanBlood of the Unmaker

Magni's VisionWhispers of a Frightened World Scenario

The Dark Titan comes! We gotta stop him! Argus... the Legion's homeworld. She says our destiny lies there.
Her feelin's are a jumble. I need ta focus, let her thoughts flow into--UNNGG!
Sands... soaked in pain. Rivers... rivers of blood.
Skies aflame. A sword... in the darkness... the wound... burning...
Sar...ger...as...
Talkin' to a world soul ain't like chattin' with a mortal. Might be why she needed someone ta become her Speaker.
She's haunted by the Legion... and the Old Gods. But there be somethin' more... a greater darkness...

Il'gynoth

"The King of Diamonds is made a pawn."
“Five keys to open our way. Five torches to light our path.”
“The Lord of Ravens will turn the key.”

Pillars of CreationTomb of SargerasKil'jaeden cinematicThe Tyrande DialogueIl'gynoth

“Her heart is a crater, and we have filled it"
“At the hour of her third death, she will usher in our coming.”

shedatamined dialogue

In my lifetime, I have twice witness a sundering of the world. Mother moon, I pray I do not see a third.

World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 3Tentacles on Kul Tiras ArmorJaina and Kul Tiras speculation postStar Augur PlanetsStar Augur

Phase 1 "Absolute Zero" has a Frost theme, like Wrath of the Lich King

Phase 2 "A Shattered Void" has a Fel theme, like the Burning Legion and Argus

Phase 3 "Inevitable Fate" has a Void theme, showing a planet encased in tentacles.

Nether Traversal	Phase 2: A Shattered World
Phase 1: Absolute Zero
Phase 3: Inevitable Fate

Star Augur Etraeus yells: Is that not enough? Must I show you the true horror of our reality?
Star Augur Etraeus yells: Very well... witness what I have seen, and TREMBLE!
Star Augur Etraeus yells: These are the beings who will devour the future you so futilely fight to protect!
Star Augur Etraeus yells: Avatars of non-existence... knowing nothing but hunger.

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Environments\Stars\7XP_Astromancer_OldGodPlanet_Front01.blp
Environments\Stars\7XP_Astromancer_OldGodPlanet_Nether02.blp
Environments\Stars\7XP_Astromancer_PlanetAlpha_Dark02.blp
Environments\Stars\7XP_Astromancer_Planet_CutOut02.blp

History of the Black EmpireWorld of Warcraft Chronicle

The Old Gods originated from the Void Lords' desire to create eternal torment. Their strategy was to create Old Gods, fling them into the Great Dark, and hope they would make contact with worlds and contaminate vulnerable titans in their pre-awakened state.

The Old Gods that found Azeroth quickly plunged it into a world of despair, forming the expansive Black Empire. They created two races--the "faceless ones" (n'raqi") and the aqir (later split into the Mantid, Qiraji, and Nerubian races).

The Elemental Forces--Ragnaros, Al'Akir, Therazane, Neptulon--fought back against the Black Empire but were ultimately imprisoned. The Pantheon took pity on Azeroth, forming an army of metal and stone servants to fight the Black Empire, as well as titan-forged generals, known as the keepers, with special abilities to lead these forces. You may recognize these keepers from past content in World of Warcraft: Freya, Mimiron, and Thorim are encounters in Ulduar, Loken is a boss in Halls of Lightning, Highkeeper Ra became Ra-den in Throne of Thunder (and was given the Elemental Shaman artifact The Fist of Ra-den as a weapon in the war), Odyn is the namesake of the Fury Warrior Artifact in Legion, Archaedas is an encounter in Uldaman, and Tyr is the namesake of Tirisfal Glades and The Silver Hand.

The titan-forged were able to defeat the elemental lords, who were banished to the Elemental Plane. The Pantheon then turned to defeating the Old Gods, destroying Y'Shaarj first. The resulting chaos and destruction led the Pantheon to realize that destroying the other three Old Gods would destroy Azeroth itself. Instead, they decided to imprison C'Thun, N'Zoth, and Yogg-Saron deep underground. Y'Shaarj played a large role in Mists of Pandaria; learn about the history of Pandaria in our World of Warcraft Chronicle: Pandaren guide.

The destruction caused by eliminating Y'Shaarj and his stronghold was still corrupting Azeroth, so the keepers poured their energy into controlling this rift, turning it into the life-giving Well of Eternity. This location continued to be important in Azeroth's history, notably during the Sundering. Learn more about the Well of Eternity in our World of Warcraft Chronicle: Night Elves guide.

To further stabilize Azeroth, the titans built the Forge of Wills and the Halls of Origination. The Forge of Wills created new titan-forged servants to maintain order in the world. The Halls of Origination in Uldum would be watched over by the Tol'vir, a race players encountered in Uldum in Cataclysm, and the Halls would send healing energy through the world and also have the power to obliterate the world if it completely fell to corruption. Highkeeper Ra also retrieved the pieces of Y'Shaarj and sealed them into a vault. He then assigned the mogu followers with guarding the vault--this race later enslaved the Pandaren and became a major enemy in Mists of Pandaria.

N'Zoth

Il'gynoth whispers: N'zoth... I journey... to Ny'alotha...
Il'gynoth whispers: To find him, drown yourself in the circle of stars.

Reddit discovered

Xal'atath whispers: The God of the Deep writhes in his prison, breaking free ever so slowly. You should hurry and defeat the fallen titan... there are greater battles yet to fight.

Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron, an Archaeology solve, has whispers that alluded to a drowned god in a sunken city:

At the bottom of the ocean even light must die
The drowned god's heart is black ice.
In the sunken city, he lays dreaming.
The fish know all the secrets. They know the cold. They know the dark.
In the land of Ny'alotha there is only sleep.
In the sleeping city of Ny'alotha walk only mad things.
Ny'alotha is a city of old, terrible, unnumbered crimes.

While questing in the underwater zone Vash’jir, there are several references to an Old God underneath. The Undershell area of L’ghorek sprouts enormous tentacles. In ... It Will Come, the player summons Ick'thys the Unfathomable who states ”I laugh at you, feeble <name>, but I will oblige. Now, let us return to my master, below!” In the followup quest Unplug L'ghorek, Erunak Stonespeaker states:

L'ghorek is the ancient that rests upon the shelf across from us. It is being controlled and its life energies slowly consumed by something immense beneath us.

There is a cave known as the Undershell down below L'ghorek. In that cave are three powerful ogre magi that are maintaining a ritual connecting the thing below with the ancient.

The Dragon Soul boss Warlord Zon'ozz has lines about N’Zoth:

Gaze into the heart of N'Zoth.
The will of N'Zoth corrupts you.
Your deaths shall sing of N'Zoth's unending glory.
Your skulls shall adorn N'Zoth's writhing throne.
Victory for Deathwing. For the glory of N'Zoth!
Your souls shall sate N'Zoth's endless hunger.
Once more shall the twisted flesh-banners of N'Zoth chitter and howl above the fly-blown corpse of this world. After millennia, we have returned.

Whispers of the Old Godsdetails about his involvement in WarcraftHearthstoneWarcraft

Emerald Nightmare: The Emerald Nightmare is a corrupted version of the Emerald Dream. In World of Warcraft Chronicle, we learn that the Emerald Nightmare was started when the Night Elves planted World Trees, one of which reached Yogg-Saron's prison. This allowed the other Old Gods to use the trees as a gateway to corrupt the Emerald Nightmare. In early WoW expansions, players encountered the Emerald Nightmare through Naralex's disciples in Wailing Caverns, The Overgrowth in Southern Barrens, the corrupted Green Dragon world bosses (removed in Cataclysm), and the Valithria Dreamwalker encounter in Icecrown Citadel. The Emerald Nightmare also has a major role in Legion.
The Emerald Nightmare is spreading from Shala'drassil in Val'sharah in the Broken Isles. As part of the corruption, Xavius captures Malfurion Stormrage and corrupts Ysera. The final quest in Val'sharah sends you to help Tyrande subdue Ysera and thwart the attack on the Temple of Elune. The Emerald Nightmare is also the first raid in Legion with bosses Cenarius and Xavius.

Corrupting NeltharionQueen AzsharaWell of EternityDragon SoulSpine of DeathwingMadness of DeathwingHighborne TransformationBones of TransformationLady VashjSharas'dal, Scepter of TidesVisions of Vashj'ir PastC'Thun, Silithus, and Ahn'Qiraj

In World of Warcraft Chronicle we learn the titans imprisoned C’Thun underneath Silithus, reinforcing his prison by building the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. This was a 40-player raid in classic WoW that dropped Tier 2.5 and notable upgrades for players progressing through Naxxramas. It opened alongside the 20-player raid Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj which offered more-casual players a chance at Cenarion Circle reputations and books that granted more-powerful spell ranks.

On a mission to revitalize the desert of Silithus and transform it into a lush forest, the night elves discovered Ahn’Qiraj and entered the temple. This awakened C’Thun and the qiraji, starting the War of the Shifting Sands. The only way to subdue the qiraji was to seal them behind a magical wall, which could only be opened with the Scepter of the Shifting Sands.

The events of the War of the Shifting sands are heavily referenced in the questline to Ring the Scarab Gong, a massive server-wide event in classic WoW. Players across realms had to do numerous turn-ins of trade goods while raiders worked towards retrieving the scattered pieces of the Scepter around the world. These quests involved a variety of tasks such as farming green dragons for The Nightmare's Corruption, raid all classic content and defeat Dr. Weevil for Draconic for Dummies, and complete a speed run of Blackwing Lair in Nefarius's Corruption. You can read more about the questline on the The Scepter of the Shifting Sands page. It is no longer possible to do, but players could complete it until Cataclysm to get the Veteran of the Shifting Sands achievement.

C’Thun was the first old god players faced in World of Warcraft, as the final boss of Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. While this encounter is easily soloable now, it was challenging due to his chaining Eye Beam ability, one-shot ability Dark Glare, numerous spawning tentacles, and stomach phase with the dangerous stacking Digestive Acid debuff.

Old God-themed loot includes Eyestalk Waist Cord, Grasp of the Old God, Vanquished Tentacle of C'Thun, and Dark Edge of Insanity. The transmog sets from this instance also have beetle elements.

Throughout the instance, C’Thun whispers you:

"Death... is... close..."
"You are already dead."
"You are weak."
"Your courage will fail."
"Your friends will abandon you."
"Your heart will explode.”
"You will betray your friends."
"You... will... die..."

Cho'gall tried to resurrect C’Thun, and his close ties to the Old God are reflected in his loot: Shalug'doom, the Axe of Unmaking, Membrane of C'Thun, and Helm of Maddening Whispers.

The archaeology item Blessing of the Old God has C’Thun’s whispers as the flavor text. This item turns you into a Green qiraji tank. You can also loot Qiraji tank mounts from AQ40 trash: Red Qiraji Resonating Crystal, Blue Qiraji Resonating Crystal, Yellow Qiraji Resonating Crystal, Green Qiraji Resonating Crystal

The Cenarion Circle is fighting the qiraji in Silithus and you can earn reputation with them by killing cultists, insects, and NPCs in AQ. Reputation with the Cenarion Circle was needed to complete a 3-piece class-specific set from AQ20. The weapons from this set had a distinctive insect appearance.

Mistress Natalia Mar'alith is a Night Elf who grew corrupted by C'Thun. Dearest Natalia explains how, while on an expedition, she became entranced with the hives in Silithus. She demanded to return to them, and eventually attacked other members of her exploration party. In Into The Maw of Madness you confront Mistress Natalia Mar'alith who is now the High Priestess of C'Thun.

In Cataclysm, placeholder quests were added for Silithus which never made it to live: Befoulers of the Wind, Recalling, Baristolth's Plan, Secretion and Subterfuge, Riding in Plain Sight, Mysteries of the Twilight Hive, Prisoners of Madness, <PH>Hive'Zora B/C, <PH>Faceless, <PH>Bad Stuff. These quests show the Twilight Hammer’s renewed activity in Silithus. The final quests could briefly be completed, depicting Cenarion Hold overrun with tentacles and Vision of C'Thun, who says Hi! when you fly into him.

Yogg Saron - The Gift of FleshBetrayal of the Titans

Il'gynoth whispers: Flesh is his gift. He is your true creator.

Yogg-Saron was the most challenging Old God for the Titan-Forged to subdue. World of Warcraft Chronicle describes the C’Thraxxi, monstrous generals unleashed by Yogg-Saron, that were so powerful they could mind-control the Titan-Forged. Once defeated, Yogg-Saron was sealed inside Ulduar (later a raid zone).

A number of titan watchers were sent to guard Yogg-Saron, but Yogg-Saron turned Loken against the rest, and brought the Curse of Flesh to the creations in the Forge of Wills. Hodir, Freya, Mimiron, and Thorim, encounters you can fight in Ulduar, were now trapped there against their will. In Legion, Beast Mastery Hunters are aided by the now-freed Mimiron and Thorim to acquire Titanstrike.

To prevent further chaos in Azeroth, Tyr, one of the watchers that resisted Loken, prepared to overthrow Loken by stealing the Discs of Norgannon. These relics recorded the history of everything in Azeroth, and studying them would provide key information about Loken’s betrayal. When Loken discovered the Discs were missing, he sent several C’Thraxxi to fight Tyr.

Tyr sacrificed himself to destroy Zakajz the Corruptor, and his resting place is in Tirisfal Glades, now the starting zone for the Undead. Several Legion Artifact questlines send players to the Tomb of Tyr, when the Twilight Cultists try to reawaken Zakajz in the hopes that he will corrupt Tyr. The Shadow Priest Artifact Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire has Old God themes in its appearance.

In World of Warcraft Chronicle, we learn that Yogg-Saron was awakened when the roots of the World Tree, Andrassil, reached him. The world tree was originally planted to counteract the growth of Saronite, a byproduct of Yogg-Saron’s corruption.

The Nerubian race was also a byproduct of Yogg-Saron’s influence. Originally a group of aqir that had settled in Northrend, due to their proximity to Yogg-Saron they mutated into the Nerubian race. You can find them in Azjol-Nerub and Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom. Their leader, Anub'arak, was the final boss in Trial of the Crusader.

Andrassil was chopped down to avoid the corruption spreading to the inhabitants of Northrend. Vordrassil, the fallen world tree, lies in the heart of Grizzly Hills. Several quests send you to investigate the corruption, such as Vordrassil's Fall.

The other trees were planted in Feralas, Ashenvale, Duskwood, and the Hinterlands. At Warcraft’s launch, these portals would spawn Green Dragons--world bosses who dropped powerful loot and recipes. Players would call each other to frantically assemble groups when one finally spawned! Unfortunately, these trees also served as avenues for the Old Gods to corrupt the Emerald Dream, and the Emerald Nightmare is now a raid in Legion.

Saronite Ore was one of the main crafting materials in Wrath of the Lich King. Saronite nodes are primarily found in Storm Peaks, Icecrown, and Sholazar Basin and were used to craft Blacksmithing Weapons and Armor. Icecrown Citadel was built from Saronite, and Primordial Saronite is an item required for Shadowmourne. General Vezax, an Ulduar encounter, required players to defeat Saronite Vapors in order to replenish their mana. In Heroic Mode, a Saronite Animus spawned and the related achievement was I Love the Smell of Saronite in the Morning (10 player).

Yogg-Saron’s whispers can be heard in areas filled with Saronite - Whisper Gulch and the Ymirhiem Saronite Mines:

All that you know will fade.
Give in to your fear.
Hope is an illusion.
It WAS your fault.
Kill them all before they kill you.
Tell yourself again that these are not truly your friends.
There is no escape. Not in this life, not in the next.
They are coming for you.
They have turned against you. Now, take your revenge.
Trust is your weakness.
You are a pawn of forces unseen.
You will be alone in the end.

Yogg-Saron is the final encounter in Ulduar, considered one of the most difficult raid encounters. Players who participated in the Realm-First kill with no assistance from the Keepers were awarded the title , and Mimiron's Head was a 100% drop. Yogg-Saron was a unique 3 part encounter: in the first part, players slowly damaged Sara, the vrykul image of Yogg, by killing Faceless Guardians; in the 2nd phase, players defeated different types of tentacles while one group attacked his brain, and in the final phase, players handled constantly-spawning Immortal Guardians. Throughout the encounter, players had to closely monitor their Insanity - when you hit 0 Sanity, you became mind-controlled.

Players witness three important events in Yogg-Saron’s brain, implying that the Old God was behind these key moments: the creation of the Dragon Soul by Neltharion, the assassination of King Llane by Garona, and the Lich King torturing Bolvar Fordragon. This image were tied to major events: Deathwing’s corruption, the sundering of Azeroth, the fall of Stormwind, and the fall of the Lich King.

Old God-themed loot includes: Vanquished Clutches of Yogg-Saron, Faceguard of the Eyeless Horror, Touch of Madness, Caress of Insanity, Hammer of Crushing Whispers. Uhn'agh Fash, the Darkest Betrayal from Cho'gall has Yogg-Saron's last words as its flavor text.

Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron is an archaeology solve that whispers the player about despair and the Old Gods. A full list of whispers can be found in this comment.

Comment by BadanThere is so much information about this speculation, that it is the most likely to be next xpac.Comment by GrortraughThey've been building up void stuff for a little while now, I suppose we'll be seeing the payoff eventually.

My worry is that we don't have a good antagonist character. There no void themed enemy like Gul'dan to interact with during questing, it's all nameless, shapeless stuff.Comment by BuphallusThere no void themed enemy like Gul'dan to interact with during questing, it's all nameless, shapeless stuff.Comment by SpectrenceThere no void themed enemy like Gul'dan to interact with during questing, it's all nameless, shapeless stuff.Comment by perculiaThere is so much information about this speculation, that it is the most likely to be next xpac.Comment by DrLemonI would love to have unabashedly terrifying horror introduced into an Old Gods expansion. Sure, the Tim Burton aesthetic for the Undead and Scourge is playful and fun, but we need something more impactful to properly depict such eldritch horrors.

I want to see several characters become truly corrupted by the Old Gods -- I'm not talking about being covered in purple and having their voice drop an octave. Imagine having an NPC act relatively normal during a quest -- even going so far as to endear the player to befriend them like Runas. Then suddenly, they transform into a horribly twisted visage as their head stretches out until it falls off, grows several legs, and scurries towards you like a spider whilst letting out an inhuman shriek. As you struggle to regain your bearings, the rest of the body continues to mutate in the background as more pieces of it turn into sentient, inhuman weapons of terror.

If you've ever seen The Thing, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Tentacles and maws of sharp teeth are cool, but we need something sinister and disturbing as a change of pace after all of the boisterous bluster of the Legion.Comment by KulrulkBlizzard should so give you a job of some sort. Love the ideas as always.

It would be epic if blizzard did a cata 2.0 and remade the world back into one continent like the map of the black empire. Be so good, don't know if they could make it work though.Comment by gaticajr1They've been building up void stuff for a little while now, I suppose we'll be seeing the payoff eventually.

My worry is that we don't have a good antagonist character. There no void themed enemy like Gul'dan to interact with during questing, it's all nameless, shapeless stuff.Comment by AdamsmThere is so much information about this speculation, that it is the most likely to be next xpac.Comment by Badan
I'd originally written some of the article back in 2016 when I wanted to summarize the Black Empire from WoW Chronicles in one place! But the first half is all interesting new data.Comment by Zawodowiec1532World of Warcraft: Return of the Old GodsComment by gingerbell60At least two artifact weapons whisper to their owners hints of a second coming of Old Gods and perhaps how Khaghar may even be responsible for unleashing them using the Pillars of Creation. At least this is what my son says. He is pretty good at predicting this sort of thing. After telling me this I started listening and watching and it seems this may actually turn out to be true. Unless of course the shadow weapons are just liars. I guess we will know soon enough!Comment by Grey77They've been building up void stuff for a little while now, I suppose we'll be seeing the payoff eventually.

My worry is that we don't have a good antagonist character. There no void themed enemy like Gul'dan to interact with during questing, it's all nameless, shapeless stuff.Comment by feffe79This feels like the most probable expansion theory so far. But please lord of all that is sacred, not another Vash'jir again!Comment by neuroxxDoes the Felslate Anchor also point to an expansion partly underwater? Always wondered why this crafted item appeared in Legion.Comment by Trask00please please blizzard not another area like Vash'jir anything but that..... i'd sell you my soul to do that but you already drained it dry over the last 10yearsComment by bass679This feels like the most probable expansion theory so far. But please lord of all that is sacred, not another Vash'jir again!Comment by MaelchavI'm kinda banking on this being the basis of the next expansion. Ever since I read about the Black Empire in the first Chronicles I've been fascinated with it, and even boosted a troll shadow priest to play the part of an Oracle of the Black Empire. The clues are compelling, and it would let us stay on Azeroth (instead of making our way to yet another world) for a while.Comment by Maulis425Come on now WoWHead, this is getting a little out of hand - I expect this speculation on MMO-C, not here, let's keep it to straight facts, not tinfoil hat type stuff.Comment by BuphallusThere no void themed enemy like Gul'dan to interact with during questing, it's all nameless, shapeless stuff.