The Shadowlands expansion reimagined as a tale about the Twisting Nether

Ardenweald concept art by Cole Eastburn

What if the Shadowlands expansion had the very same zones and monsters, but the story had a wholly different context? Islands within the chaotic realm of the Twisting Nether instead of the actual afterlives within the underworld. A brutal design of a soulless machine and a struggle of the Jailed King to attain freedom.

It’s a shorter version of "The Shadowlands Reimagined" text I have in Russian, so not all the continuity details are going to be mentioned here, since it’s a lengthy post as it is. But you got the idea. It would be the same expansion visually, but with a more grounded lore-friendly story. Just a tale about space colonies living their lives amongst competing cosmic forces, with the Arbiter as a shady mastermind, Kel’Thuzad as a frenemy, Sire Denathrius as the same guy as before, and the Jailed King as a tragic antihero.

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Deep within the Twisting Nether hidden lies the Covenant, a collection of ruined worlds bound together by survival and a long-lasting desire to punish those who had destroyed their old realms. While powerful, the Covenant lacked the numbers to fight against the onslaught of the newly formed Burning Legion, so they spent eons plotting and scheming.

• Oribos is a lost titan space station operated by the AI called the Arbiter, who rules this collection of floating islands known as the Covenant. Once the Eternal City was a great waygate of the Pantheon but after the ancient war against the Burning Legion, which killed most of the facility’s staff, only the silent mechanical Attendants walk within these walls.

The battle against demons ravaged the space around Oribos with Fel energies, creating a tear within the Great Dark: a rift that sent the facility to the Twisting Nether. Since then, Oribos has served as a beacon of hope for the travelers within this chaotic realm.

The Arbiter possesses knowledge collected by the Pantheon over the long ages, and has an ability to calculate outcomes of cosmic events on the scale impossible even for the Void lords. Thus, no enemy has ever managed to take the Arbiter by surprise. Ultimately, it serves as the hidden antagonist of the story, willing to sacrifice the Covenant to deal lasting damage against a powerful Void lord and attain an even higher state of being.

• Bastion is a colony of the titan-forged, who once operated Oribos. They were saved from death and soul-rotting curse by a spirit healer, who in turn wanted to leave the Shadowlands and live again. A bargain was forged. Since then this society has been transformed into a cult, with the spirit healer standing as their Archon. The Kyrian society dedicates itself to protection of the veil between life and death.

• The Maw is the domain of the first of great many Lich Kings forged by Kil’jaeden a long time ago. This being is now known only as the Jailed King, it was bestowed with too much power and thus the creature was able to break free from the Legion and escape. The Jailed King created the Covenant with the Arbiter, and it was he who helped the future Kyrians contact the spirit healer. The Maw now serves as a prison for those who disobey the Covenant’s law.

No one exactly knows why the Jailed King has joined forces with the Arbiter, or why this great being never leaves its dark tower. Some doubt that he even exists. But it was he who had helped the future Kyrians in the search for the spirit healer, for no other force in the cosmos could offer their spirits salvation from the demonic curse. Ultimately, the Jailed King is the anti-hero of the story, who must be freed from his prison tower. Yet, he’s still a dark entity, whose personality has echoed through every Lich King in existence, for the Ruined King's shadow always remained as Kil'jaeden’s template in creating new, weaker lords of the undead.

• Maldraxxus was the Jailer’s Scourge, a bane of a hundred worlds. In secret, the Jailed King was slowly freeing his own generals from mind control, and when the time of the grand exodus arrived, the fleet of Maldraxxus vanished into deep space. Viewing the Jailer as weak for submitting to the Arbiter, the Necrolords refuse to do his bidding. Recently, they were joined by an enigmatic lich from Azeroth, who introduced them to the legacy of Azjol-Nerub. That which had found its use in the creation of the Lich King would surely be perfected in the hands of the Necrolords.

• Ardenweald, the forgotten twin of Elunaria. A lost remnant of the enormous world that worshiped Elune, and was sent by her to the Nether as a way of saving her followers from the catastrophe brought upon them by the Void. The Moon Goddess also connected the world to the Emerald Dream to further sustain its existence in the unforgiving Nether.

• Revendreth. The realm of the ancient Venthyr. This elder race of cosmic explorers taught waygate magic to the first Nathrezim, who despite being demons, weren’t complete monsters and slaves to Fel energies. Yet, the more corrupt the demons became with their power, the greater became the gap between the Venthyr and the Nathrezim. A war broke out, which the Venthyr ultimately lost, together with their planet. Their new realm is inspired by the kingdoms of Azeroth, for they have been spying on it since the War of the Ancients: that’s how impressed they are by the fact that someone managed to fight back against the Legion. For centuries, they studied this mortal world and even influenced its nations to attain a key that would allow them to gain vengeance.