The Arathi of Arathor
Like all humans, the Arathi are decended from the vrykul. Centuries ago, the Arathor empire was founded when Thoradin, an Arathi warlord, united the human tribes of the Eastern Kingdoms under one banner. This empire went on to ally with the high elves of Quel’Thalas in the fight against the Amani Trolls, who the Arathi successfully defeated.
Over time, Arathor split into the Seven Kingdoms. Thoradin’s descendants moved south, eventually founding the kingdom of Stormwind. Thoradin’s last known descendant was Anduin Lothar, who died a hero in the Second War.
The Arathi in the War Within
The Arathi that we’ll meet in the War Within are not, as far as we know, Thoradin’s direct descendants. According to our interview with Anne Stickney and Tina Wang, this particular tribe splintered from the original empire long ago – before Arathor even split into the seven kingdoms.
Guided by a vision of a falling star, these Arathi have arrived in the zone of Harrowfall. Deep beneath the earth, this zone is lit up by the subject of their vision – a crystal sun. The Arathi that we will meet are utterly devoted to the Light, and in fact their airships are even run on the Sacred Flame.
According to the Blizzcon What’s Next panel, since the Arathi’s arrival in Khaz Algar, they’ve found themselves trapped within the zone. Every member of this society is an able combatant, but they deal with the constant threat of sea monsters as well as invading nerubians.
By the time we arrive in Harrowfall ourselves, its crystal sun will have begun to fade to darkness for periods of time – an unprescedented problem. On top of all of this, the Arathi are also facing devision within their ranks.
Currently, we don’t know what the crystal sun is exactly – although we can’t help but think of the Light’s Heart in Legion, the sentience core of the naaru prime Xe’ra. This crystal-like item served as a vessel for the soul of Illidan Stormrage, and helped facilitate his resurrection. While the two items are obviously different – for a start one could be picked up and put in our Order Halls while the other acts as a sun for an entire zone – we can’t help but notice the similarities. Both are discovered thanks to a “Falling Star”. Both are crystal-like in appearance, and are a source of Light. If anyone knows more about this crystal, we suspect it will be the naaru.
Anne Stickney mentioned Anduin Wrynn will be spending time in Harrowfall, and we’re not surprised. Not only is he named after the last descendant of Thoradin’s line, Anduin has been particularly struggling with his connection to the Light, which he no longer feels he is worthy of. Hopefully, the Arathi can help – though of course, the fact that their own sun has also lately been touched by darkness could only make matters worse.
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