by Magistrate - 8 years ago     show comments

Suramar, sanctuary of the descendants of the ancient Night Elves from around the Well of Eternity, lays shrouded in perpetual shadow by the power of the Nightwell. This post breaks down the different sub zones, points of interest, lore, and models that bring the zone to life.

Much of the initial story of Legion connects and culminates in Suramar. The ancient Night Elf capital spans back in history for thousands of years before the Sundering and beyond, the zone itself connecting the other four launch zones, and, eventually, Thal’dranath.

Within the zone, players encounter enchanting, high fantasy forests much like Eversong Woods, majestic Elven towns, and even the fully-realized, fully-explorable city of Suramar, itself. The team calls the city one of the most ambitious projects they’ve ever undertaken and it’s still under heavy development.

Suramar City

In many ways, I personally think Suramar is an updated echo of Silvermoon City. Much like Silvermoon’s wards in Eversong, the city has been shielded by powerful arcane magic for 10,000 years, leaving the city proper in perfect functioning condition while the surrounding areas have been mostly devastated by the Sundering.

The shield, summoned by powerful mages, was fueled by a pure arcane well from the Grand Palace of Suramar. The Elves kept the shield intact for so long for fear of what laid outside–which they assumed was a world of demons and destruction from the Legion invasion during the War of the Ancients.

The city is still under heavy development.

The Nightborne and the Nightwell

The Night Elves of Suramar have evolved drastically in their 10,000 years of isolation within the shield. The arcane well they used, come to be known as the Nightwell, became abused and corrupted over the millennia, shrouding the city in perpetual darkness.

The Night Elves, themselves, evolved into the Nightborne, now heavily reliant on the magic of the Nightwell in very similar fashion to the Blood Elves with the Sunwell.

Their arcane affinity is nearly unrivaled. Their clothing often features arcane enchantments and symbols, and they specialize in conjuring arcane weapons.

Nightborne convicted of crimes against their kind are exiled outside of the city and lose connection to the Nightwell. They then devolve into the monstrous Nightfallen. If they go too long without sating their magical hunger, they devolve further into the bestial Withered, who dwell in the shadows of the city and the zone proper.

Forests and Surrounding Areas

Much of the surrounding area of the city proper has seen destruction, although it’s still beautiful in its own right. The team set out to make every detail new–trees, plants, buildings, and other details had to be unique and convey the high fantasy of the shattered but powerful civilization.

Much of the flora was designed with arcs to flow and dance in an enchanting sort of way. The glow and flow of these forests seems similar to a mix of Eversong Woods, the Ghostlands, and the Shadowmoon Valley of Warlords of Draenor.

They focused on majestic colors, like orange, yellow, pale blue, and purple. Ancient Night Elf buildings stand in stark contrast to modern Night Elf structures–where modern Night Elves are druidic and their less grand buildings focus on nature, the ancient Night Elves were extravagant beings obsessed with the arcane.

That concludes the zone previews for Legion! Check out all the zones below:

• Highmountain
• Stormheim
• Azsuna
• Val’sharah
• Suramar