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Depths of Uldaman: Why we should go back

Depths of Uldaman Why we should go back

I wrote a KYL this week talking about Uldaman, and one thing became clear to me very quickly - there's a ton of things we haven't done in Uldaman yet. We barely explore the place at all, really - the Map Room we find during the dungeon clearly shows many, many more buildings than the few we actually explore, and it's telling that the Reliquary dig and the Explorer's League digsite are half the length of the Badlands away from each other. Furthermore, the long Wrathion quest chain makes it clear that there was a lot going on in Uldaman - the Eye of the Watchers used to purify Wrathion's egg comes from Uldaman.

Uldaman is often referred to as one of three Titan cities along with Uldum and Ulduar, but unlike those two it has barely been explored due to its position buried beneath the Badlands. It's possible that the original Uldaman complex reaches as far as Khaz Modan (both Gnomeregan and Ironforge are settled by beings that would have traced their descent to Uldaman, and the troggs flooding into Gnomeregan are escaping from Titan vaults that are part of the Uldaman complex) which would mean that its size rivals the Storm Peaks Titan complexes that were part of the Forge of Wills inside Ulduar or the vast Uldum ruins.


But it's not just the size of the place that merits a return - we simply haven't begun to discover what Uldaman was for. In my KYL I speculated a lot, but the facts remain - we found the Discs of Norgannon in the depths of one structure, and that's it really. We have no idea what the Eye of the Watchers had to do with them (if anything). We know that Ironaya was sealed in contemplation of the original design of Uldaman before she was freed and killed, but we don't know what that purpose was. We don't know why the Titans constructed Uldaman, what secrets it might still contain, why an artifact out of the place was capable of cleansing Old God corruption and this is something that's pretty important.

Furthermore, with both the Reliquary and Explorer's League digging at the place, we're in a situation where all sorts of things better left confined could be released. The troggs that swarm the place now could be the very least of the problems. Clearly, the Reliquary isn't going to let this be another Ulduar - why should the Explorer's League be the only ones to get to release ancient horrors best left undisturbed and to discover artifacts of enormous historical significance? These two organizations engaging in a Warcraft version of a excavator's war could not only disturb that which should not be disturbed, they could begin making direct war on one another, and enlist the players' to their sides. Plus, while Moira Thaurissan represents the Dark Irons in the Council of the Three Hammers, that doesn't mean that the ones in Uldaman are playing nice with anyone.

Depths of Uldaman Why we should go back


And let's not forget Wrathion's potential interest in the site. Not only is the Badlands where he's from, so to speak, but it was the Eye of the Watchers that purified his egg. He could well consider the Titan lore here to be rightfully his, due to the role it had in his creation or his hereditary connection to the deep places of the world (As the only uncorrupted Black Dragon, his nature is tired to earth and stone in this way) plus, as Uldaman was designed by Khaz'goroth the Black Dragonflight is connected to Uldaman via Deathwing, who as Neltharion was invested as an aspect by Khaz'goroth.

Finally, there's also the fact that both Ulduar and Uldum had Titan Watchers entrusted with controlling their secrets. The presence of the Eye of the Watchers indicates that there's potentially a group of Watchers in Uldaman somewhere, and this particular group is somehow involved with the secret of removing the taint of the Old Gods. This means the Old Gods and their servants might well be involved in trying to stop anyone from digging too deeply into Uldaman, for once. Rather than seeking out dangerous and forbidden lore, they might be the ones trying to stop you from finding it, meaning that we could have a dungeon or raid dungeon where we're chased into the depths of the lost city by the bad guys rather than trying to find them for once.

There's a lot left under the surface here, and I'd love to see it in a future raid or dungeon. What was the area today called the Badlands originally intended for? Why did the Titans build Uldaman, and what's waiting for us down there?


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