Storming Sea

The unexplored ocean on the far side of Azeroth.

The Storming Sea, or Storming Seas, is a rarely mentioned and nearly impassable sea that lies beyond the currently explored landmasses of Azeroth. It is unclear whether this name refers to either or both the Forbidding and Veiled Seas, or to the vast expanse of unexplored ocean that lies between them on the far side of the world.

In the age before the Sundering, when the dragonflights were still young, Keeper Tyr warned the adventurous green dragon Erinethria that only ruin lies beyond the Storming Sea, urging her to find contentment with the bounty provided by Kalimdor. She ultimately refused and flew west, high above the storms, seeking the place from which the winds blew. Though she never returned, some of her kin claim to have dreamed of her reaching a land beyond where she raised a brood of her own. Others instead recount the tale as a warning to ignore the call of the western wind and remain close to home and kin.

At some point between the founding of Arathor in 2,800 BDP, and its fracturing into the Seven Kingdoms in 1,200 BDP, a splinter faction of Light-worshipping Arathi humans and Thalassian high elves set sail and successfully navigated the Storming Seas, reaching a continent where they established a colony that would grow into a new Arathi Empire. In the millennium that followed the two populations mixed and became a race of half-elves that self-identify as Arathi and the Empire grew vast and powerful under the influence of the Light. In approximately 26 ADP, their Emperor sent an expedition back across the Storming Sea to fight in the Renilash—a presaged war between light and shadow—but most of the armada was destroyed by the storm. The few surviving airships were miraculously transported to Hallowfall beneath Khaz Algar, where they founded the settlement of Mereldar and became embroiled in a conflict with the nerubians of Azj-Kahet, eventually coming into contact with the forces of the Horde and Alliance during their pursuit of Xal'atath.^{[citation needed]} 

In recent years, reports indicate that the Dread Admiral Nightsquall successfully returned from an expedition to the west of Kalimdor with a tremendous amount of treasure. He now seeks to amass a unified pirate fleet to plunder the lands beyond, beginning by pillaging the secrets of the Dragon Isles.

Geography

Lore locations

• Arathi Empire

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

• Faerin Lothar knows dragons as legendary beasts that "scour lands and grant wishes," suggesting that Erinethria likely did establish her own brood on a landmass in or beyond the Storming Seas, which may be the same landmass where the Arathi Empire was founded. Whether or not they persist to the present day is unclear.
• It's probable that Avaloren lies within or beyond the Storming Sea, and may be the continent upon which the Arathi settled and built their empire.