Patch 9.2 zone Zereth Mortis is our latest destination in our campaign to stop the Jailer

World of Warcraft patch 9.2: Eternity’s End takes us to Zereth Mortis, a new zone that showcases the origins of the Shadowlands we’ve been exploring all expansion. Zereth Mortis is the primal laboratory where the Shadowlands were essentially invented and set into motion along with the machine of Death. This is where the Shadowlands were initially created, and the dev team discussed making it an alien landscape unlike any we’ve experienced before.

The zone itself is ethereal, full of water you can walk on, and an obscuring white mist. Half of the zone is a lush wonderland where the First Ones plied their craft of creation. The other half is a sandy wasteland they didn’t touch with their energy of creation. Both halves are littered with mysterious constructs and new enemies to defeat. The creatures which inhabit Zereth Mortis are both familiar and quite new — there are creatures that are reminiscent of chickens, for instance, but with parts that aren’t fully attached. The announcement promises new mounts and pets, so you may be able to tame a few for your own.

There’s a new race we’ll be working with called the Automa which will greet us on our arrival — a pretty standard thing in a new WoW patch, but they provide a unique twist.

Up until now, every time we arrived on a new shore with inhabitants we’ve never before encountered, the denizens could immediately speak our language — whether it was Common or Orcish — and ask us to help them kill 10 boars on the spot. This time, there’s a language barrier to overcome. The Automa’s speech sounds more like music, and their text uses the odd angular characters we initially saw in the patch 9.2 teaser posted to the World of Warcraft Twitter. As we hang out more with the Automa we’ll start to understand them more — daily quests and new activities to engage in will serve as an immersion course that rivals Duolingo. It may be frustrating to work through initially, but now that they’ve added it, having a difference in language makes total sense.

We’ll also meet a new faction of splinter Brokers which are quite unlike the ones we’ve been dealing with so far. While the Brokers in the Shadowlands have been primarily profit-driven, the Enlightened in Zereth Mortis have had a “change of heart,” and now work to keep the secrets of creation, not sell them. In the announcement video, it was discussed that their clothing is tattered and worn, because they don’t care about appearances the way the Brokers we’ve already met do.

Zereth Mortis looks as though it will prove to be a playground for us, much the same way as it was for the First Ones before us. Now, to wait patiently for my new not-chicken.