Shadowlands

History

World of Warcraft: Great Beyond

For eons since Zovaal's defeat, the Shadowlands had changed, for which a number of infinite planes had grown strong and the Covenants had worked closely together into preventing anima droughts from ever happening again. Without an Arbiter, new souls, who arrive in the infinite city of Oribos, are judged by the Attendants Tal-Inara, Roh-Tahl, Kah-Delen, and Kah-Sher. After been judged, souls can choose where to go within the Shadowlands or find peace in Luminar, for which a gateway had been made for them to enter. Even several residents within the Shadowlands can enter and leave the Maw, which has recently changed and continues to remain in its current state without having to grow strong than before when Zovaal nearly fulfilled his role.

Geography

Map of the Shadowlands.

Although the world map for the Shadowlands (pictured right) depicts the realms of the Shadowlands on a flat plane, this is only a top-down view. In reality, the Shadowlands are an infinite three-dimensional space, and Revendreth is the zone that is lowest down and closest to the Maw. Similarly, while Maldraxxus appears to be adjacent to the Maw, it's not being directly affected by it in the same way that Revendreth is.^[1]

Zones

Maw (50 - 60)
Bastion (50 - 60, Storyline 50 - 52)
Maldraxxus (50 - 60, Storyline 52 - 54)
Ardenweald (50 - 60, Storyline 55 - 58)
Revendreth (50 - 60, Storyline 57 - 60)
Oribos (sanctuary)
The In-Between (space between zones)

Other areas

Lore locations

Amelior - realm of the Brokers and the House of Reformation
Arborea - realm of the House of Nature
Bytopia - realm of the House of Faultless
Craftenium - engineering afterlife^[2]
Nirvana - realm of mechanism and the House of Appliance

Dungeons

Main article: Instances by continent

Inhabitants

A number of ancient beings, such as the Eternal Ones, are known to be powerful in the Shadowlands, and it is dangerous to meddle in their own infinite planes of existence. When Odyn peered into the Shadowlands, he saw some of its inhabitants: souls in torment, the husks of the dead, ghostly wraiths with no face, and others with no form, all made of death itself. This was enough to frighten even him.^[3] Many beings in the Shadowlands are souls of deceased mortals, some of which have been transformed to serve a new purpose, such as the kyrian of Bastion. Other creatures—such as dredgers and stewards—are endemic to the Shadowlands and are naturally born from the magic of Death to serve the different realms and help facilitate the process of the afterlife.^[4]^[5] The various races of Ardenweald are born from the infinite realm itself, such as the Tirnenn coming to be same time as the dream trees came about and the faeries springing from the ground.