If you got exalted with the Proudmoore Admiralty and/or the Zandalari Empire and got all your pre-8.1.5 war campaign stuff taken care of, you are, as of Tuesday, able to unlock the locals on BFA's two continents as playable races.
Let's start with the Kul Tirans, which I got first. (Went Druid, because Kul Tiran Druid forms are so amazingly awesome and creepy.)
The premise here is that the Kul Tirans have already technically returned to the Alliance - a lot like the Dark Iron Dwarves, actually. So rather than have them officially join, which would be redundant, Jaina sends you to find the legendary shipwright who built her father's ship (which she raised from the ocean's floor to serve as her own.) She wants to give Anduin the gift of a fully-fledged Kul Tiran vessel as a gesture of good will and friendship.
You go across Kul Tiras, gathering supplies and crew, and meet the shipwright, who, hilariously, is very clearly a Shaman but does not seem to know that terminology (she has animated a bunch of elementals around her house to do all her work - it's how she builds ships so quickly.)
Anyway, once the Drust-cursed wood you get is cleansed by Ulfar in a druidic ritual, the ship gets blessed by Brother Pike and you get to pick a name from a list of four: Dawnsailor, Anduin's Wrath, The Lionheart, and Tiffin's Melody. On my Paladin I was tempted to go with Dawnsailor, though The Lionheart seemed the most "on-brand" for Anduin (Anduin's Wrath seemed wrong for such a measured and diplomatic king and Tiffin's Melody... actually in retrospect, my Paladin would have probably preferred that name. He's a super chill dude.)
With that, you get a Kul Tiran stallion which I believe is a palette-swap for the Seabraid Stallion you get with the collector's edition.
The whole thing takes about an hour, given the travel time across KT.
Now, Zandalari (I went Shaman here, just because it seemed right and I like Shaman.)
This is actually probably a shorter quest chain - it all takes place on the Zanchuli temple north of the main pyramid. But it seems more eventful. In the wake of the Battle of Dazar'alor (which I still haven't run... except one Normal mode night of failed attempts on the first boss) Talanji is awaiting her coronation. She also needs to assemble a new Zanchuli council.
As preparations are made, it appears there are riots in the Zocalo, and you are sent to investigate. Turns out that there is some figure named the White Widow who is riling people up - though it doesn't seem as if there's much she needed to do. Bwonsamdi's ascension within the pantheon of Loa is basically causing a religious crisis in Zandalar, which is a place pretty defined by its religious practices. Many dissenters decry Rastakhan's decision to give Bwonsamdi the place of honor in the pantheon, and they believe that Talanji is going to perpetuate that drastic change.
Talanji of course shows herself to be a merciful leader, trying to get you to kill as few people as possible while subduing the riots, even as her main prelate is really focusing on the Retribution side of her paladin-ness (I was tempted to make a Zandalari Paladin, though between my human, Lightforged Draenei, and Tauren, I figured that might be one too many. Then again, how many shaman do I have...?)
Once the riots are settled and the White Widow is slain - loyal to Shadra, but seemingly not corrupted, only angry at this religious upheaval - you then go and help Talanji as she is tested by the Loa - meeting Krag'wa, Gonk, Paku, and finally Bwonsamdi at the top of the temple, who playfully (or maybe not) tells Talanji that he'll let her out of her father's bargain if she gives him the head of the Warchief. (Something tells me this is more than just a test of her loyalty - Bwonsamdi is definitely not a fan of Sylvanas.) She of course refuses to betray her new allies, and accepts the bargain he had initially made.
With that, Talanji addresses her people and is made Queen. Then, she summons Sylvanas to her throne so that she may officially have the Zandalari Empire join the Horde.
What is interesting about this scene is that there is no lengthy loyalty oath in which she swears herself to the Warchief. Instead, she agrees to join the Horde as an equal, which Sylvanas, rather amused by this notion, accepts.
I think it's important we don't gloss over this moment - the Horde, despite theoretically opposing the "tyranny" of the Alliance, is a far more autocratic regime than their rivals. The Warchief is an absolute ruler, and Sylvanas has made use of those powers in myriad ways. If the Zandalari are truly securing a place that is not subservient to the Warchief but instead of equal stature, that seriously upends the notion of what it means to be in the Horde.
Now, Sylvanas might just be acting pragmatically - given how ancient the Zandalari Empire is, they would lose face in the world if they were to submit themselves to anyone else's rule, even if that is effectively the nature of the alliance they've entered. But it strikes me that if Talanji maintains control over her own territory without the Warchief's agents and enforcers looking over her shoulder, it could be Zandalar where the dissenting voices of the Horde find a safe harbor to oppose Sylvanas.
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