How Mount Hyjal Could Fit Into Classic+ The Unfinished Zone of Southern Silithus
Although home to Karazhan, the tower of Medivh, players didn't get proper access until the game's first expansion, The Burning Crusade. Today, we take a look at this zone, its history, and what we could potentially see from it in a future version of Classic.
The History of Deadwind Pass
How did Deadwind Pass come to be the dreaded zone it is? The Tome of Blighted Implements, a book found in Dreadscar Rift, explains that the powerful weapon, Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester, wielded by a necrolyte under the direction of the Titan Sargares, would be the answer to this mystery.
"At the time, it was known only as Ulthalesh; it wouldn't earn its grim epithet until later, after Deadwind Pass was turned into a charnel house, its inhabitants obliterated, the land itself bereft of all life.... The trees were reduced to withered husks. The marshes became a desiccated waste. The sky turned a sepulchral gray, the sun covered in a burial shroud".
This would not be the Titans' only impact on this zone. At the southern point lies Karazhan, the magical tower built by Aegwynn, mother of Medivh. Although both were Guardians of Tirisfal who led to oppose the Burning Legion, the tower itself was built due to Sargeras's corruption.
It wouldn't be until the First War that Medivh was ultimately slain by his former comrades, Anduin Lothar and Archmage Khadgar, after he could not control the corruption of the Burning Legion. These conflicts would lead to the Karazhan and Deadwind Pass we see in Classic today.
Ariden and the Dark RIders
The Dark Riders were a group of traveling "merchants" throughout Azeroth. They profited from selling fraudulent "artifacts" to gullible and naive patrons. Unfortunately, they would attempt this with Medivh during the time he was corrupted by Sargeras.
Dark Rider seen in Season of Discovery
Angered by this attempted trickery, Medivh cursed the merchants, creating the Dark Riders, who now seek powerful artifacts under his leadership. Players would first learn of these cursed merchants through the Morbent Fel quest chain in Duskwood. It is said that the Dark Riders murdered Sven Yorgen's family while looking for the powerful Scythe of Elune.
Dark Rider from World of Warcraft: Legion
Players who explored Deadwind Pass for more than just the road connecting Duskwood to the Swamp of Sorrows may have found this small campsite known as "Ariden's Camp". But who is Ariden? Players wouldn't learn who he was until twelve years later, with the Legion expansion. Death Knights, Warlocks, and Druids would finally fight the Dark Riders and learn of their original leader.
Ariden's abandoned camp in Deadwind Pass
Ariden (voiced by Richard Horvitz) would attempt to steal Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester, Apocalypse, or the Scythe of Elune from the player, depending on their class. Ultimately, he would be slain in the Karazhan Catacombs (not to be confused with the Karazhan Crypts).
Ariden making his first appearance in Legion
The Dark Riders would not be seen again until Season of Discovery, where players would venture to Ariden's camp to acquire Ariden's Sigil. This trinket would allow players to find Dark Riders throughout Azeroth and retrieve artifacts they had stolen from the Kirin Tor.
Karazhan Tower
From The Burning Crusade, Legion, and Season of Discovery, players have accessed multiple parts of Karazhan in Deadwind Pass. Players first infiltrated the Tower during The Burning Crusade, where they witnessed that its inhabitants had gone mad, and that the Tower had been taken over by the demons of the Burning Legion.
Fast forward ten years, and players would return to Karazhan to assist Khadgar in reclaiming it, once again, from the demons of the Burning Legion.
The Karazhan Crypts
Behind the tower of Karazhan lies the Karazhan Crypts, which, up until Season of Discovery's penultimate phase, was inaccessible to players (by traditional means). However, players would finally see what lay underneath, and would learn that it had been taken over from the corrupted merchants of the Dark Riders.
The entrance and first room of the Karazhan Crypts in Season of Discovery
Players would find hidden artifacts, secrets, and defeat powerful foes to get the Final Dark Rider out of hiding, putting an end to the shadowy merchants' terror in Azeroth.
The Future of Karazhan in Classic
The Burning Crusade's raid iteration of Karazhan is a fan favorite amongst many in the community, and the Season of Discovery-exclusive dungeon, Karazhan Crypts was also well praised. It's somewhat ironic that one of the most popular instances is within a zone with almost no other content around it.
Could we perhaps see more of this legendary tower in the future? Could Deadwind Pass become a proper questing hub and not just a travel point between two zones? Maybe in another reimagined Classic Azeroth, similar to Season of Discovery, we could see Ariden and the Dark Riders return with a more important and prominent role in the world.
Do you think we'll see Karazhan or updates to Deadwind Pass in a future version of Classic? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!
