Battle for Azeroth will launch with six new zones. The Horde travels to Zandalar, which is divided between the city of Zuldazar, the desert of Vol'dun, and the swamp of Nazmir. The Alliance heads to Kul Tiras, which contains Tiragarde Sound, Drustvar, and Stormsong Valley.
Let's see if we can put together all we know about these zones:
Zandalar:
The Horde's continent for the expansion is Zandalar. Prior to the Sundering, Zandalar was a mountain-top civilization that dominated the rest of Troll society. While the great Zandalari Empire fractured after it defeated the Aqir, the other troll empires always held a certain respect for Zandalar, and it was that respect that the Prophet Zul exploited in order to try to unify the various troll empires under their command shortly after the Cataclysm. While the Zandalari went from friendly to hostile very suddenly, there are hints that there has been a rift within their society, with the Prophet Zul in conflict with King Rastakhan.
Zuldazar:
This is the capital city of Zandalar, and given that both continents appear to have major cities, it looks as if we might get Suramar-like areas to adventure through, which I find super exciting. It sounds as if Rastakhan will be a friendly presence to Horde players, but some of the dungeon bosses refer to them following Zul. I expect Zul will be a major villain in the expansion, potentially as a raid boss.
There are some mentions of Blood Trolls attacking Zuldazar, which to me suggests some connection to Hakkar the Soulflayer, as the evil serpent loa (if that's what he really is) is often referred to as "The Blood God."
Nazmir:
Apparently Nazmir was a lush forest, but began to sink into the ocean after the Cataclysm, and has become a swamp. We know that we'll be dealing with the Loa here, including a new Frog Loa and, according to the demos, Bwonsamdi (the Darkspear's patron Loa, based on the real-world Vodoun Loa Baron Samedi) which could explain how we're going to get more Vol'jin story despite his death at the beginning of Legion. This also appears to be where the Titan facility of Uldir is, which is the first raid, and I'd bet that we'll get more of the "Blood Troll" plot here.
Vol'dun:
This is a desert where Zandalari criminals were exiled. We know there is a race of snake-people who are making life difficult for the adorable fox-people in this area. To go a bit meta here, I wonder if the snakefolk are going to be anything like the Yuan-Ti, who in D&D are former humans that transformed into snakefolk through dark magic and human sacrifice. Perhaps these guys are former trolls? Alternatively, maybe they are worshippers of Hakkar, and much as the Furbolgs are tied to Ursoc and Ursol, perhaps these snake people are connected to Hakkar.
Kul Tiras:
The Alliance continent of Kul Tiras was the backbone of the Alliance's navy. While Gilneas shut itself off from the Alliance, Kul Tiras never officially withdrew, so its absence has been odd, though we do see Kul Tiran sailors in several areas (including Azsuna. Actually, I think we might see Zandalari trolls there too?) This big connection here is Jaina, who is the daughter of Kul Tiras' de facto leader, Katherine Proudmoore. There is a very complicated history here, with Jaina allowing Rexxar to kill her father so that the Horde would have a chance to build their home in Durotar - a decision that Jaina probably regrets even more now. But we also know there are four noble houses who rule Kul Tiras, and so the Proudmoores do not have total control.
Tiragarde Sound:
Like Zuldazar, this appears to be a primarily urban location, and is the seat of the Proudmoores. We know that Tiragarde is going to be plagued by pirates, but I'd also imagine that we'll have a bunch of other threats to deal with there, including potentially complicated politics and intrigue (something the Alliance has sorely lacked.) Also, I want to be a fly on the wall when Jaina and Katherine see each other again.
Drustvar:
Home of House Waycrest, Drustvar has been cursed by what seems to be a coven of witches employing some kind of mix of druidism and death magic. While I'm happy with the life-affirming, hippie/New Age form of Druidism that the Cenarion tradition holds, I've always wanted to see a darker side of druidism, with the kind of witches and wickermen paganism that freaked people out when kids started playing D&D, and that looks like what we're getting. Drustvar looks like it'll have a lot of mystery to it, like the fact that the Waycrests are actually missing and it's unclear what the source of the power the witches are using is (unclear, though I strongly suspect that it's either something from the Shadowlands, the Scourge, or that the two are strongly connnected.)
Stromsong Valley:
The most idyllic part of Kul Tiras, this is an area of forests and rolling grassy plains. It's also home to the House Stormsong, who have sea-priests that bless the ships Kul Tiras produces. It's also under threat from some "dark forces," but we've gotten strong hints at what those are. In addition to some concept art of a Sea Priest that has him wearing robes decorated with eyes and tentacles, we also got a glimpse of the dungeon there, Shrine of the Storm, which is not only a cathedral that has a giant stone octopus at its base, but is also guarded by a water elemental that is apparently corrupted by the void and has watery tentacles coming out of it. So I strongly believe that we're going to see a N'zoth presence here.
Future Zones?
These six are what we're getting at launch with Battle for Azeroth, but we also know that Azshara is going to be a raid boss at some point in the expansion. That to me suggests that we'll get Nazjatar as either a zone or at least a raid instance. If Azshara's the final boss, then that will probably be the last patch. However, if she's a mid-tier boss (I doubt she's first tier, given that it wouldn't make sense for her to appear in any of these six zones,) I'd imagine we'll see Ny'alotha as again, either an instance or a zone, with N'zoth as the expansion's final boss.
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