World of Warcraft‘s next expansion, The war withinis underway. In the lead up to the start of the Worldsoul Saga, Blizzard has released a new animation focusing on the Nerubian kingdom of Azj-Kahet. These spider people are having a hard time, but a helpful figure appears to lend a hand. I don’t see how this could possibly go wrong!
We first met Xal’atath in Legion; she was captured in a blade and served as the Artifact weapon for Shadow Priests. Later we free Xal’atath from that blade and she causes all sorts of trouble. In this animation we see her reaching out to the Queen of Azj’Kahet, promising her power and a return to glory. The Queen is not so interested in this pact, but her daughter is much more willing to seal the deal. One assassination later, Xal’atath gets her alliance.
This is the story of the first invasion of The war within; we delve deep into the Nerubian kingdoms and plunder the lair of this newly crowned queen. However, Blizzard is clearly establishing Xal’atath as a long-running villain. We know that The war within is the first expansion in a three-expansion story arc centered around the World Soul of Azeroth. Xal’atath is not an Old God, but she is clearly connected to The Void and the Dark Realm in some way. Now she possesses the corpse of a dead elf and is causing all sorts of trouble that will undoubtedly increase and continue into Midnight And The Last Titan.
For those players with arachnophobia, Blizzard is adding an accessibility feature that will turn the in-game spiders into crabs. While this won’t affect the cinematics, it should go a long way toward helping players plumb the depths of Azj’Kahet without feeling too scared.
The war within will be released for PC on August 26.