Recaps

Aaron and Vereesa sailed from Quel'Thalas toward the Broken Isles, passing the Windrunner family’s lighthouse and enduring several dull days at sea. The captain’s stories kept them entertained until dark clouds appeared on the horizon on the fourth day.

• Aaron asked whether Vereesa’s sister would pursue her, and Vereesa explained that her mission to inspect elven settlements had been authorized by the Ranger-General.
• As the ship sailed southwest, Vereesa pointed out Windrunner Spire and told Aaron that Windrunner Village was where she had grown up.
• The captain explained that Windrunner Spire served as a lighthouse to guide ships through dangerous coastal waters.
• On the fourth day at sea, Vereesa complained of boredom, and the captain entertained them with stories about the Maelstrom, Goblins, and other sea legends.
• Aaron spotted a mass of dark clouds on the distant horizon.

Aaron and Vereesa prepared to defend their merchant ship from Naga as a Tidesage calmed the storm surrounding it. The Naga emerged from the sea, and Xal'atath warned Aaron that they were stronger than the old man beside him.

• Aaron and Vereesa recognized that the unnatural clouds and fishy wind signaled an approaching Naga attack, and the captain urged them to take shelter.
• Aaron and Vereesa armed themselves and refused to hide as the captain fetched the elderly Master to protect the ship.
• The Master used his staff to calm the ship's violent rocking, and Aaron recognized him as a Tidesage.
• Xal'atath told Aaron that the approaching Naga were powerful and warned him not to rely on her help again.
• Vicious male Naga emerged beneath the dark clouds as the sailors readied the deck's four heavy ballistae for battle.

Aaron and Vereesa fought off the first Naga to board their ship while a Tidesage used magic to hold back the sea. A female Naga surfaced and began casting beneath a growing mass of storm clouds, leaving the ship facing a greater threat.

• Male Naga surrounded the ship, dodged the sailors’ ballista bolts by diving, and used rising seawater to reach the deck.
• The old Tidesage chanted and lowered the water, knocking most of the Naga back into the sea.
• Aaron stunned an attacking Naga, Vereesa shot it repeatedly, and Aaron killed it and pushed its body overboard.
• The Tidesage calmed a wall of waves, but a female Naga surfaced as the storm clouds overhead churned.
• The Tidesage summoned a water elemental, which male Naga held off while the female Naga began casting beneath darkening clouds.

Aaron and Vereesa flew toward the distant Naga thunder caller while the Tidesage strained to hold back her storm. Vereesa fired a purple-lit arrow at the witch, and Aaron escaped the Naga’s nets as he turned back toward the ship.

• The Tidesage identified the enemy as a Naga thunder caller and used his magic to disperse the storm clouds, but warned that he could only keep countering her briefly.
• Aaron refused to retreat below deck and prepared to fly to the witch, and Vereesa climbed aboard to help him.
• Aaron steered the gryphon through attacks from the Naga while he and Vereesa approached the witch, who called the surrounding Naga to her aid.
• Vereesa waited until Aaron brought the gryphon within range, then fired a purple-lit arrow at the Naga witch.
• Aaron sent the gryphon climbing to evade the nets thrown by the Naga and flew back toward the merchant ship.

Aaron and the crew survived the Naga attack and resumed their voyage toward the Broken Isles. After seven days at sea, the ship reached the islands.

• Aaron realized his reactions had sharpened during the fight, though he could not work out how to enter that state again.
• The remaining Naga fled after their leader died, and the sailors cheered as the storm cleared.
• The captain thanked Aaron and Vereesa and returned their money pouch, which Vereesa accepted.
• Fannar explained that female Naga led their communities and shared stories about distant peoples with Aaron and Vereesa.
• Three days later, the navigator announced land, and the ship arrived at the Broken Isles after seven days at sea.

Aaron and Vereesa sailed toward Azsuna after the captain refused to enter the storm-shrouded waters beyond it. They saw Suramar’s immense magical barrier and the Tomb of Sargeras before the ship entered Azsuna’s harbor.

• Aaron learned that the crew would not sail through the mist toward Stormheim because giants were said to attack ships there.
• The captain told Aaron and Vereesa that a magical barrier farther south had stood for thousands of years.
• After lunch, Aaron and Vereesa saw the vast purple barrier surrounding Suramar, while Xal'atath mocked the Nightborne in Aaron’s mind.
• Aaron pointed out the Tomb of Sargeras, and Vereesa recognized similarities between its architecture and that of the High Elves.
• The captain ordered the crew to prepare for port, and the ship entered Azsuna.

Aaron, Vereesa, and the Kul Tiran sailors reached the Azsuna trading post and found its island camp destroyed by a sea giant. After rescuing the camp’s survivors from murlocs, they returned to a temporary camp, where a sentry halted someone approaching.

• Aaron, Vereesa, and the sailors rowed inland to the Kul Tiran trading post, passing ruined buildings that reminded Vereesa of Quel'Thalas.
• The sailors discovered the island camp had been destroyed, and a sea giant charged after their boats.
• Vereesa shot arrows at the sea giant, and Aaron fired his dwarven gun before the boats escaped its pursuit.
• The captain led the sailors to the southern shore, where they rescued the camp steward and his companions from murlocs.
• The survivors explained that the sea giant had forced them to abandon the camp two days earlier, and everyone returned to a temporary camp on shore.
• A sentry shouted "Halt!" as someone approached the temporary camp, and the sailors drew their weapons.

Aaron recognized the bedraggled newcomer as Kel'Thuzad, who recounted his troubled journey to Azsuna in search of the Val'kyr and his research into undead. After being badly injured by powerful ghosts, Kel'Thuzad returned to camp and told Aaron he had found another, apparently less dangerous group of undead.

• Aaron recognized the disheveled newcomer as Kel'Thuzad, the archmage he had met in Dalaran.
• Kel'Thuzad told Aaron that Antonidas had helped him leave Dalaran and travel to the Broken Isles to investigate the Val'kyr.
• Kel'Thuzad learned in Azsuna that the Vrykul lived in Stormheim and that the Val'kyr were mostly known through legend.
• Kel'Thuzad described attacking a group of rational ghosts to study their continued existence, then barely escaping their powerful spells.
• Kel'Thuzad said he later found another group of undead without mages and thought they would be easier to handle.

Aaron recognized Kel'Thuzad’s target as Prince Farondis and considered letting Kel'Thuzad’s kidnapping attempt end in disaster. He decided to offer a new idea as Kel'Thuzad prepared to go alone.

• Aaron identified the mages and Nightwatchers Kel'Thuzad had encountered as undead Night Elves from Nar'thalas Academy and the royal guard.
• Kel'Thuzad described how the Nightwatchers had beaten him and said he planned to capture an unpopular undead who stayed in nearby ruins.
• Aaron realized Kel'Thuzad meant Prince Farondis, whose fellow undead blamed him for Azsuna’s curse.
• Kel'Thuzad decided to pursue his research alone, despite the danger, and started to leave.
• Aaron weighed letting Kel'Thuzad be killed but then stood up and told him he had a new idea for the plan.

Aaron, Kel'Thuzad, and Vereesa observed Prince Farondis at the ruins of Nar'thalas Academy as they prepared to carry out their plan. Aaron disguised himself as a spirit, and Kel'Thuzad began the scheme by attacking him with a fireball.

• Aaron decided to help Kel'Thuzad despite the danger, and Vereesa joined them to observe the undead.
• Kel'Thuzad showed Aaron and Vereesa the ruined academy and led them to a hidden observation spot while Vereesa climbed a nearby tree.
• The three watched Prince Farondis mourn the spirits of his former subjects and reflect on his past rebellion against Queen Azshara.
• Aaron used two toys to disguise himself as a ghostly high elf, and Kel'Thuzad confirmed the disguise concealed his magical presence.
• Kel'Thuzad hurled a fireball at Aaron, who turned and ran to begin their plan.

Prince Farondis recalled how his defiance of Queen Azshara had led to the curse that condemned Nar'thalas's elves to an endless afterlife. When one of his subjects called for help from Kel'Thuzad, Farondis intervened, but a surge of magic suddenly enveloped him.

• Farondis remembered his rise as ruler of Nar'thalas, his discovery of Azshara's alliance with demons, and his failed attempt to stop her with the Tidestone of Golganneth.
• Farondis recalled how Azshara cursed him and his people, after which his subjects blamed and reviled him for their fate.
• Farondis heard an elven spirit call for help while Kel'Thuzad chased and attacked it with spells.
• Farondis blinked between Kel'Thuzad and the spirit, conjured a fireball, and ordered the human mage to withdraw.
• Farondis turned toward a strange sound and was suddenly enveloped by a surge of magical power.

Aaron and Kel'Thuzad captured Prince Farondis, who explained that Queen Azshara had cursed him and his subjects after he rebelled. Aaron then challenged Farondis's account by retelling his actions as a disastrous betrayal of his people, leaving the prince unable to respond as the story continued.

• Kel'Thuzad bound Farondis while Aaron revealed his human form, prompting Farondis to understand why he had mistaken Aaron for an ally.
• Kel'Thuzad told Farondis he wanted to study how the elves had become undead, but Farondis said Queen Azshara had cursed them after he betrayed her.
• Kel'Thuzad and Vereesa cried out in disbelief at Farondis's claim that Azshara had wielded such power.
• Vereesa asked Aaron whether Farondis's story was believable, and Aaron began recounting his own version of the prince's rebellion.
• Aaron described Farondis as a foolish prince whose actions wasted the strength of a commoners' revolt and doomed his subjects, leaving Farondis speechless.

Aaron and Vereesa parted ways with Prince Farondis and Kel'Thuzad before continuing toward Stormheim. Their journey took an unexpected turn when Aaron shot a flying shadow that sounded like a dragon.

• Aaron told Farondis about the resistance and explained that Dath'Remar's ancestors had left for the Eastern Kingdoms.
• Kel'Thuzad's comments about elves and Trolls angered Vereesa and Farondis, and Aaron persuaded him to abandon his plan to study Farondis.
• Farondis set out for Val'sharah, while Kel'Thuzad returned to Dalaran after Aaron and Vereesa secretly watched him board a ship.
• Aaron and Vereesa traveled toward Stormheim along an old road after leaving the Kul Tiras trading post.
• Vereesa fired a flare at a shadow in the trees, and Aaron shot at it with his firearm, drawing a pained howl that sounded like a dragon.

Aaron investigated a dragon’s roar and found a young blue dragon surrounded by Withered elves. He helped the dragon defeat them, then learned that a Nightfallen spell—not Aaron’s shot—had grounded it.

• Aaron told Vereesa to stay behind and went to investigate the dragon’s roars.
• Aaron found a wounded young blue dragon fighting a group of Withered in the woods.
• Aaron killed several Withered siphoning the dragon’s mana, and the dragon drove off the rest.
• The blue dragon thanked Aaron and explained that a Nightfallen had restricted its flight, causing it to crash.

Aaron and Vereesa met the young blue dragon Stellagosa, who invited them to the Azurewing Whelplands to meet her grandfather and thank them for helping her. They arrived at the blue dragons’ settlement, where Stellagosa hurried inside ahead of them.

• Stellagosa changed into a High Elf and introduced herself to Aaron, then asked him about humans.
• Aaron and Stellagosa returned to Vereesa at their campsite, and Aaron introduced them to each other.
• The next morning, Stellagosa returned and invited Aaron and Vereesa to visit her grandfather in the Azurewing Whelplands.
• Aaron and Vereesa agreed, and Stellagosa carried them on her back to the blue dragons’ settlement.
• Stellagosa greeted the dragonkin on patrol, identified Aaron and Vereesa as her friends, and rushed inside to announce her return to her grandfather.

Aaron and Vereesa visited the Azurewing Whelplands with Stellagosa, where they met blue dragon whelps and learned how difficult it was for dragons to grow there. Stellagosa brought them to meet her frail grandfather, Senegos, one of the oldest dragons alive.

• Stellagosa led Aaron and Vereesa into the magic-rich Azurewing Whelplands, where Vereesa noticed the crystallized landscape and enjoyed the abundance of magic.
• Blue dragon whelps flocked to Vereesa, while a dragonkin caretaker explained that they liked her arcane scent and were familiar with High Elves.
• Vereesa asked why the whelplands held many whelps but few adult dragons, and Stellagosa explained that the habitat hindered their growth.
• Stellagosa told Aaron and Vereesa that her grandfather had asked to meet them and led them to a mana pool.
• Aaron and Vereesa saw Senegos resting in the pool, old and frail but still a dragon of great stature.

Aaron and Vereesa met the frail blue dragon Senegos, who thanked them for rescuing his granddaughter Stellagosa. After learning that the Nightfallen were draining mana from the ley lines and had attacked Stellagosa, Senegos grew furious, while Aaron and Vereesa settled in the Azurewing Whelplands and prepared to learn more about the conflict.

• Senegos thanked Aaron and Vereesa for helping Stellagosa and gave them rings that restored mana and health.
• Stellagosa told Senegos that the Nightfallen at the Zarkhenar Ley Line Ruins were draining mana and had attacked her when she tried to speak with them.
• Senegos tried to rise in anger but collapsed back into the mana pool, and Stellagosa soothed him.
• Aaron explained the Nightborne and Nightfallen to Vereesa, who accepted his claim that he had learned about them in a dream.
• Stellagosa brought Aaron and Vereesa to a cave among the ley line crystals, and Vereesa asked her about the Nightfallen's history with the Azurewing Whelplands.

Stellagosa explained that the Nightfallen were draining ley line energy and worsening Senegos’s condition, so she agreed to return to the Zarkhenar Ley Line Ruins with Vereesa and Aaron to negotiate. Aaron hoped to persuade the Nightfallen to stop and considered ways to ease their magical addiction, and the group prepared to enter the ruins in High Elf forms.

• Stellagosa told Aaron and Vereesa that the Nightfallen had attacked her when she tried to investigate their magic-draining, leaving her unable to negotiate.
• Vereesa offered to approach the Nightfallen as their distant kin, and Stellagosa welcomed the idea.
• Aaron considered using demons as a source of fel energy or finding a tree that could cure the Nightfallen’s magical addiction, and he hoped to bring them into the Alliance.
• Stellagosa carried Aaron and Vereesa to the Zarkhenar Ley Line Ruins and landed outside to avoid another surprise attack.
• Aaron, Stellagosa, and Vereesa changed into High Elf forms, and Aaron led them toward the ruins.

Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa searched the mana-saturated Ruins of Zarkhenar for the Nightfallen and fought Withered inside a ruined temple. Aaron explained that elves dependent on arcane energy could become Withered without a source such as the Sunwell, while he kept his knowledge of the Sunwell’s future corruption to himself.

• Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa entered the Ruins of Zarkhenar and found its intense mana concentration uncomfortable.
• Aaron led the group to inspect the intact buildings, where they encountered Withered in a ruined temple.
• Aaron fought the Withered while Stellagosa used ice spikes and Vereesa shot arrows to defeat the attackers.
• Vereesa asked how the Withered had come to be, and Aaron explained that elves deprived of arcane energy could lose their reason and become monsters.
• Vereesa took comfort in the Sunwell’s protection, while Aaron privately remembered that it would eventually be corrupted and decided to focus on growing stronger.

Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa discovered five enormous arcane constructs blocking their way through the ruins, and Aaron fought the first one. He found that destroying its protected ley line crystal disabled it, leaving four constructs and their hidden controller still ahead.

• Stellagosa and Vereesa found five large arcane constructs that had not been there before, and Aaron suspected the Nightfallen had lured them deeper into the ruins.
• Aaron told Vereesa and Stellagosa to stay back and engaged the first construct, discovering that its blows were powerful and its body resisted his sword.
• Aaron dodged the construct’s attacks and found that its movements were slow when it tried to turn, though its ley line crystal repelled his strikes.
• Aaron repeatedly attacked the ley line crystal until its protective light faded, causing the construct to stop and fall apart.

Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa defeated the Arcane constructs and followed Ishkaneth to the palace of the Nightfallen prince, though Aaron remained suspicious of the invitation. They were greeted there by the prince, who welcomed them as unfamiliar kin.

• Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa fought the Arcane constructs, with Stellagosa’s dragon breath and Vereesa’s Tar Trap helping bring them down.
• A hidden spellcaster destroyed the last Arcane constructs, then revealed herself as Ishkaneth, a messenger for the Nightfallen prince.
• Ishkaneth invited the three to the prince’s palace, and Stellagosa accepted while Aaron warned Vereesa that the messenger seemed suspicious.
• Aaron convinced Vereesa to follow Ishkaneth cautiously rather than detain her, and they reached the palace without encountering an ambush.
• A Nightfallen man came out of the palace and welcomed Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa as unfamiliar kin.

Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa met Prince Farondis in his palace in the ruins, where he told them a highly theatrical account of his exile from Suramar. Aaron pieced together that Farondis had lost a power struggle with Elisande after the Sundering, though the prince hid his own role in a plot to assassinate her.

• Prince Farondis welcomed Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa into his palace, which was filled with mana crystals.
• Farondis gave the visitors an exaggerated account of his hardships, while Aaron doubted his sincerity and Vereesa repeatedly reached for her weapon.
• Aaron recalled that Farondis had ruled Suramar, where tensions had persisted between Queen Azshara and the Sisterhood of Elune.
• After the Sundering, Grand Arcanist Elisande seized control of Suramar and exiled Farondis following political struggles.
• Farondis briefly let slip that he had plotted to assassinate Elisande, then returned to denouncing her as Aaron feigned indignation.

Aaron tried to convince Farondis to stop siphoning ley line energy and capture demons instead, but Farondis refused after hearing how Gul'dan died at the Broken Shore. When Stellagosa revealed that Farondis's siphoning was harming her grandfather, Farondis trapped the three visitors and disappeared.

• Aaron falsely told Farondis that he and his companions had abandoned arcane magic for the Holy Light.
• Aaron warned Farondis that siphoning pure arcane energy would worsen his addiction, but Farondis rejected capturing demons after hearing about Gul'dan's death.
• Stellagosa revealed that Farondis's ley line siphoning was interfering with her grandfather's recovery and identified herself as a blue dragon.
• Farondis realized the old dragon was near death, bound Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa with a spell, and vanished.

Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa returned to the Azurewing Whelplands as Farondis led the Withered assault, but a giant arcane construct broke through the defenses and reached Senegos. Senegos destroyed the construct with his dragon breath, leaving Farondis's fate unclear.

• Stellagosa freed Aaron and Vereesa, then carried them toward the Azurewing Whelplands as Withered marched from the ruins.
• Stellagosa and the young dragons attacked the Withered, but a giant arcane construct broke through the dragonkin's defensive line.
• Aaron and Vereesa spotted Farondis inside the construct as Stellagosa pursued it to Senegos's mana pool.
• Farondis tried to drain Senegos's power, then charged him with the construct when his spell failed.
• Senegos blasted the construct with dragon breath, shattering it as Farondis screamed from within.

Aaron and Stellagosa pursued Farondis after Senegos drove him from the Azurewing Whelplands, and Aaron confronted him while Farondis used spells to bring down the pursuing dragons. Aaron severed Farondis’s connection to the damaged Arcane Construct, leaving it collapsed and powerless.

• Senegos ordered the dragons to pursue Farondis after he escaped the dragon breath in his damaged Arcane Construct.
• Stellagosa and Aaron joined the chase, but Farondis hit Dagrulna and other young dragons with spells that forced them out of the sky.
• Stellagosa charged through a spell to reach the construct, and Aaron leapt from her back to strike it with his sword and Holy Light.
• Farondis recognized Aaron and overcharged the construct, but Aaron reached toward him and severed his connection to it.
• The Arcane Construct ran out of Farondis’s mana and collapsed into a heap of scrap.