Broken Isles

[Wain]

Ah yes, I remember seeing "Acherus" on one of their maps. Weird there are so many variants though. I wonder which is the current "correct" one. And is the number of areas growing or shrinking?

[Lupen202]

I'm crossing my fingers that they'll be added before launch or in a patch but not keeping my hopes up :s Shame though because that's one large zone.

[Nimrod]

Given their history it's likely that the first one posted here is the latest version.

One with Gul'dan is concept, followed by early build, and then beta version.

[Wain]

Can anyone clear up my confusion? From the interviews and presentation I'm seeing information about the origin of the Broken Isles that seems completely contradictory.

The presentation said:
The Broken Isles is a land at the heart of Azeroth that is long forgotten. 10,000 years ago, before the Great Sundering, the whole area was a vast Night Elf civilization. What remains after the world was destroyed is the bones of that civilization. The entire continent is a graveyard of sorts.

As well as:
Val'Sharah was once the pinnacle of druidism on Azeroth, but it is now a forgotten druid refuge on the Broken Isles. This is the place place Malfurion became the first Druid under Cenarius.

(quotes are paraphrasing by MMO-Champion, but they did essentially say that in the presentation)

That, and other things that were said (not to mention a World Tree and a well-established natural ecosystem), indicate that the Isles are at least ten thousand years old, if not older.

Except in WCIII lore, Gul'dan raised the Broken Isles from the depths of the sea, meaning they're only decades old.

You could argue that part of them (the older part) was already present, except the BlizzPlanet interview with Ion Hazzikostas and Tom Chilton says:

Q: In Warcraft II, Gul’dan raised the Broken Isles from the depths of the sea. Is the entire continent the Broken Isles?
A: Tom Chilton: Yes, essentially it is. We also saw in Warcraft 3, we saw the Broken Isles as the places to go to the Tomb of Sargeras, so that was in the campaign for Warcraft 3, so it is the same area.

So now I'm confused. Are they old or new? Tom seems to be saying that the entire thing is what Gul'dan raised up. I can only assume that's not the case and he didn't mean that at all.

[Slickrock]

So now I'm confused. Are they old or new? Tom seems to be saying that the entire thing is what Gul'dan raised up. I can only assume that's not the case and he didn't mean that at all.

This is why you need Kosak doing lore.. and RedShirtGuy watching over.

Based on the presentation on Thursday, they would have to be old. All those races would not be there.

Also, where is the tomb? If it's out on Broken Shore, it will probably be explained as that was the part that was sunk.

[Ironclaws]

I also want to know how Gul'dan got into our timeline. I didn't know that demons also had the power to throw people into different dimensions. I would have played a warlock by now...

[Wain]

I also want to know how Gul'dan got into our timeline. I didn't know that demons also had the power to throw people into different dimensions. I would have played a warlock by now...

The Legion apparently exists outside the various timelines (or something like that). So the Archimonde at the end of HFC is the one and only copy of Archimonde. He sent Gul'dan to our timeline and world.

[Ironclaws]

I also want to know how Gul'dan got into our timeline. I didn't know that demons also had the power to throw people into different dimensions. I would have played a warlock by now...

The Legion apparently exists outside the various timelines (or something like that). So the Archimonde at the end of HFC is the one and only copy of Archimonde. He sent Gul'dan to our timeline and world.

Timeline hops ftw.

[Lisaara]

Who let the Legion borrow the TARDIS? gfd....

[Slickrock]

So now I'm confused. Are they old or new? Tom seems to be saying that the entire thing is what Gul'dan raised up. I can only assume that's not the case and he didn't mean that at all.

The latest interview did confirm that they were old, and that no one bothered with them, so they weren't really lost, lol.

Considering all the lore arcs they are trying to wrap into this expac, it should just be called LoreBits.

[Wain]

So now I'm confused. Are they old or new? Tom seems to be saying that the entire thing is what Gul'dan raised up. I can only assume that's not the case and he didn't mean that at all.

The latest interview did confirm that they were old, and that no one bothered with them, so they weren't really lost, lol.

Considering all the lore arcs they are trying to wrap into this expac, it should just be called LoreBits.

Ah thanks. I figured what he said before had to be wrong. I assume Gul'dan just raised up the bit with the Tomb. I'll look for the new interview

[Zalani]

It's a possibility that Thal'dranath is part of the pre-event. Like it gets blown up at the end or something.

[Zulmalakhan]

well in all honesty they can retcon a bit of the lore, as in Gul'dan only raised the tomb of sargeras part of the broken isles and the parts with the druid world tree and the new night elves and highmountain were already there, as in the cataclysm avoided them by some magical protection brought about by the titan pillars, that is the most likely way to go, HOWEVER...... that world tree and ancient center of druidism crap doesn't fly..... there is NO way in the current lore to integrate it.... Malfurion was the first druid, the first world tree was nordrassil, those islands were lost to time for the past 10000 years there was no center of druidism prior to the sundering and there is no way malfurion or any other druids got to those islands...... not to mention that while tauren indeed share territory with the ancient night elf empire there is no mention of Vrykul..... so that is also a big question sign...... but then again we have druids who tried to make a world tree in northrend so yea...... druid lore is very poorly done ( especially since they won't make a few glyphs for troll druids to actually have their loa's forms as the lore states I mean bear form, really ? the only bear loa is Nalorakk and he is amani not darkspear.... the tiger and bat forms are indeed Shirvallah and Hir'eek, but the raptor that convinced the other loas to let their priests take on all their forms was Gonk.... do we get a bloody raptor form? no.... I mean look at the zandalari dinomancers, they even have new dino models both armored and unarmored to use as glyphs... )


One more problem... the broken isles that Gul'dan raised and illidan visited were TROPICAL... I didn't see much of that climate, plenty for miserable forests and snowy mountains though......

[Wain]

According to the Gamereactor interview of Tom and Ion, as paraphrased in MMO-Champion today:

• The Tomb of Sargeras was the anchor for the Broken Isles. The places and cultures related to it were then considered. The Tomb was a temple to Elune, surrounded by Night Elf civilization. That felt like a good direction to go, especially after all of the Orcs

So... either the Tomb was a temple that sank and then Gul'dan raised it, or none of the Isles were raised and they've rewritten the WC3 story. Hmmm.

[Quiv]

Wish I had some insight but this got me all like...

[Nimrod]

Suramar was the home of Malfurion/Tyrande/Illidan pre-Sundering. Malfurion learned druidism at Val'sharah, pre-Sundering.

After the Sundering decimated much of the Elven civilization (Night Elves were the ones who revered Elune, hence the Temple to Elune in Suramar that became the Tomb), Suramar and the rest of what became the Broken Isles was sent to the bottom of the sea.

Aegwynn later used the temple to hold the remains of the Avatar of Sargeras, which is one of the reasons Gul'dan opened the dark portal and raised the Broken Isles.


The only question is; what is this ancient elven race that now occupies Suramar? It's a handful of years since the Isles were actually raised so it's likely that they're mer-folk of some kind. Think along the lines of Elune granting them a blessing to survive underwater, rather than being twisted into Naga.

[Wain]

The only question is; what is this ancient elven race that now occupies Suramar? It's a handful of years since the Isles were actually raised so it's likely that they're mer-folk of some kind. Think along the lines of Elune granting them a blessing to survive underwater, rather than being twisted into Naga.

It would have to have been a dome over the entire isles since the flora and fauna can't have just appeared in the last few decades either. The landscape looks to well established. Maybe they did a Hyrule on the place

[Nimrod]

The only question is; what is this ancient elven race that now occupies Suramar? It's a handful of years since the Isles were actually raised so it's likely that they're mer-folk of some kind. Think along the lines of Elune granting them a blessing to survive underwater, rather than being twisted into Naga.

It would have to have been a dome over the entire isles since the flora and fauna can't have just appeared in the last few decades either. The landscape looks to well established. Maybe they did a Hyrule on the place

Well, stranger things have happened. Hyjal was restored in a matter of moments to a lush wilderness after the Firelands incursion.

[Zulmalakhan]

I am still surprised that we don''t have any more stormreaver necrolytes and undead orcs fighting about the place..... also again I must point out... what happened to the tropical climate... hydras... makrura... palm trees and sandy beaches.... suddenly over a few years they turn to mountains, mooses, deers, lush temperate forests and frozen peaks .

[Pewmew]

I always assumed Aegwynn was the one that sunk the tomb after locking Sargeras' avatar deep inside. As a form of extra security against tomb robbers and others...