Who are the Hallowfall Arathi, and how did they end up in Khaz Algar?

The Hallowfall Arathi are major players in The War Within story so far, but who are they and how did their group end up deep in Azeroth’s underground? Let’s take a look at this lynx-loving society, their history, and the most outstanding questions that have yet to be answered about this light-wielding faction.

The Arathi Empire

If the name ‘Arathi’ rings a bell, it may be due to the fact that the Arathi Highlands is a zone in the middle of the Eastern Kingdoms. We’ve been questing there since the very beginning of World of Warcraft, and we’ve returned for several visits in more recent times. In Battle for Azeroth it is one of many battle sites between the Horde and Alliance. Earlier this year it was the setting for the all-pirate battle royale, Plunderstorm.

But it turns out that all of these events take place atop the ruins of the heart of an ancient civilization that dominated respectable swaths of Azeroth. The Empire of Arathor was founded nearly three thousand years ago when the human tribes united together and formed an alliance with the high elves of Quel’thalas in order to defeat the encroaching Amani Trolls. A long period of prosperity followed, with the human race expanding across much of the northern portion of the Eastern Kingdoms.

Eventually, the city-states that existed became less unified and the Empire of Arathor fractured into the Seven Kingdoms that we are more familiar with today. This is how we ended up with the human strongholds that have played a major role in the last thirty years of the Warcraft story, such as Lordaeron and Stormwind. Yet just before this splintering, a group of Arathi was joined by a faction of high elves from Quel’thalas on a voyage across the sea, never to be heard from again…until now.

The Arathi Expedition

After assisting the Earthen with forging their own path on the Isle of Dorn, we continue our helping ways by performing some much-needed mechanical maintenance in The Ringing Deeps. Then we head through the Hallowfall Gate and meet some surprisingly familiar faces. They may appear human, but as Matt and Joe point out on the podcast, each and every one of them sports the trademark pointy ears that betray a part-elven lineage. How long has this group made their home on the shores of this underground sea? It turns out to be not that long at all.

That mysterious splinter group of humans and high elves from the old Arathi Empire has survived to the modern day on a continent beyond all our adventuring on Azeroth thus far. The two cultures (humans and high elves) seem to have melded together into one half-elf society. They are ruled by an emperor who receives visions from the Sacred Flame, a central part of Arathi culture which we are just learning about. So far, the best description I’ve heard is “a more flammable Light”. One of these visions was of a fallen star and a great battle in a strange land.

The emperor assembled the most formidable members of his society and sent them off on an expedition to find this sacred land and participate in Renilash, the great and final battle between light and darkness. Just over a decade ago, this group boarded airships and faced the perils of The Storming Sea. Just as the raging tempest was about to obliterate the fleet entirely, they were surrounded by light and teleported to Hallowfall.

Many airships and expedition members were lost in the ensuing chaos (including all of the mages who were able to open portals to home), but enough survived to land and gaze in awe at the enormous light-giving crystal embedded in the ceiling of the cavern. They gave it the name ‘Beledar’, meaning ‘Emperor’s Vision’, and set about making a living in their new underground home.

Where we come into the story

After years of relative peace, the Hallowfall Arathi now find themselves in a perilous situation. For us on the surface of Azeroth, the titan Sargeras plunging his sword deep into Silithus led to the Fourth War and our experiences in the Battle for Azeroth expansion. That very event is known to the Hallowfall Arathi as the Day of Darkness, as Beledar began its periodic shift to a void state. This has caused a loss of contact with the neighboring Earthen in the Ringing Deeps as well as constant assaults from the Nerubians of Azj-kahet and the kobyss of the Undersea.

Throw in turmoil within the ranks in the form of void-worshipping cults, and it seems that the champions of Azeroth have arrived just in time. You get to meet several of the major players of the Hallowfall Arathi while questing throughout the zone, some of them with backstories and lineages interesting enough for their own article.

For now, there is unquestionably more that we do not know about Hallowfall and the Arathi than what we’ve learned so far. What is the modern Arathi Empire like, and what kind of character is their emperor? What is Beledar, and what role will it have in the continuing story of the Worldsoul Saga? Which light-based entity sent visions to the Arathi emperor, and why? Do you think we’ll learn more about this empire as we progress through The War Within, or perhaps even visit their far-flung hidden continent across the Storming Sea?