I'm not in the Shadowlands Alpha (hoping to maybe get an invite when it goes to beta, which I think is how things went down with BFA, though given my luck, I'll probably not get in at all like I didn't with Legion).
But I'm being my usual "I don't mind spoiler" self, and as such, I'm going to put most of this behind a spoiler cut, as there's stuff here that is spoilery, even if, being in alpha, things are bound to change (though what I've seen them show off has looked pretty damn polished for an alpha).
Ok: Spoiler time:
Revendreth will be the last zone we come to in the initial climb from 50 to 60 (it's going to take some getting used to, using those numbers,) though on alts, you'll be able to do the Shadowlands zones in any order.
Probably the most visually exciting area for anyone who's a fan of gothic horror (and those who feared a death-themed expansion would be too high-fantasy for such a vibe,) Revendreth is the land of the Venthyr, and unlike the other three leveling zones, Revendreth is not really designed as a "final destination" for the souls of the dead to wind up. While souls might shed their identities to become the angelic Kyrians, or commit to a relentless afterlife of warfare in Maldraxxus, or take part in the eternal cycles of Ardenweald, Revendreth is much more of a temporary purgatory than the other Shadowlands zones.
Now, it can serve as a final destination for souls, as souls who go there might choose to become Venthyr, but the general idea is that this is soul rehab.
The purpose of Revendreth is to purge the sins of bad, but not irredeemable souls. Souls arrive and are given a Sin Stone to bear, which lists their sins. They are then punished for their sins, and perhaps also forced to work off the debt they've accrued through their sinful ways (I'm kind of speculating on that latter part) but if they manage to do this, they are then sent off to one of the other infinite afterlives, including, potentially, Maldraxxus, Ardenweald, or Bastion. If they prove unrepentant, they are dumped in the Maw (or rather, that's the normal process - things are broken so everyone is getting dumped in the Maw, which is the main conflict of the expansion.)
The look and feel of the zone is one of gothic horror, with autumnal colors, gothic architecture, and inhabitants who evoke Nosferatu. Their leader is Sire Denathrius, who apparently created the Venthyr in his image.
Here's the thing:
A: while we, at first, work with Denathrius to help with the soul-drought, we eventually discover that Denathrius is one of the various Shadowlands leaders who has thrown his lot in with the Jailer, and we then switch our allegiance to the rebellion within Revendreth who oppose Denathrius.
B: Denathrius doesn't look 100% like his creations. He has horns and wings, and between that and his pale visage, he looks, well, a lot like a Dreadlord.
Dreadlords' official, demonic name, is Nathrezim.
C: Notice how his name is DeNATHRius?
Now, this could be coincidental. After all, I don't think that the fact that the Naaru word for light is Sha (hence Sha'tar) is directly related to the Sha on Pandaria. Hell, there's Hakkar the Houndmaster, who is a Felguard that has nothing to do with Hakkar the Soulflayer, a Loa. Coincidences do happen.
But the Nathrezim have been specifically referred to in the past as vampiric demons, and frankly, they've always fit quite well as the more gothic-horror-like demons than the Legion's typical evil space monsters.
The Nathrezim have always felt like an exception to the general demonic order.
Dreadlords seem to have their own society within the Burning Legion, such that the various Dreadlords sent to control the Scourge during the Third War kind of operated independently, even if ultimately in service to Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, and thus Sargeras.
We know that some demonic species were originally humanoids. Man'ari Eredar were originally just Eredar, who are now only represented by the uncorrupted Draenei. Satyrs were originally Night Elves. It seems possible that many of the Burning Legion's species were actually mundane humanoids (or possibly beasts or elementals) prior to their corruption into demons.
We also know, thanks to the Warlocks' Green Fire quests, that some demons were originally used by the Titans - like the Doomguards, who were particularly attuned to sacrificial magic - not that they're exactly summoned by it, but that they were programmed to home in on it. Were the Doomguards already demons when the Titans started using them? Or are they some kind of corrupted Titanforged?
The only demons we can be 100% sure were demons before the creation of the Burning Legion were the Nathrezim. The Nathrezim were the ones that Sargeras was chasing when he came to Telogrus - a world corrupted by the Void, which the Nathrezim were using for their own (as yet not explained) purposes.
The Void was the first threat Sargreras found that seemed worse than demons, and it was the reason why he chose to use demonic, fel magic to fight the void.
But while the demons who worship Sargeras as their god now claim to be the only thing that can stop the void, it's clear that being a demon does not automatically mean an antipathy toward the void (indeed, even within the Legion, they use void magic - hell, look at Voidwalkers.)
But while the Nathrezim were plaguing Sargeras before his fall, that still doesn't answer the question: where did demons come from in the first place?
I don't know that I have a solid answer, but I suspect that Sire Denathrius is related to them.
As I see it, if that's true, it means one of two things: Either
A: Sire Denathrius is a dreadlord, but perhaps one that is very different due to his being powered by death magic rather than fel - and that perhaps Natrhezim can take on different powers, like how Lothraxion is powered by the Light, and perhaps those Nathrezim that Sargeras was chasing were experimenting with being powered by the Void. He might have arrived in the Shadowlands somehow and then taken on this role. Or...
B: The Nathrezim were originally created out of Revendreth. Perhaps they are a manifestation of the sins that are drawn out in Revendreth, or simply Shadowlands creatures who escaped into the land of the living.
This latter notion does have precedent: The Scourge, we're now discovering, seemed to be drawn from Maldraxxus. Obviously, most of it was just dead folks who were raised to fight for it on Azeroth, but my sense is that the raw, necromantic power that allowed the Lich King such dominion over the Scourge was pulled from Maldraxxus, and I also suspect that the convenience with which Scourge (or former Scourge, like Unholy Death Knights) can just make undead creatures appear might be because they are pulling them directly from Maldraxxus.
Similarly, the Val'kyr are very clearly tied to the Kyrians, acting as some sort of imitation or copy.
Another question I have regards vampires in WoW.
Perhaps a bit like how they never call Worgen werewolves, despite the fact that that is almost exactly what Worgen are, we didn't really hear about vampires until Legion.
But our examples of vampires in Azeroth are as follows:
The Nathrezim are described as vampiric in nature. The San'layn - blood elves raised by the Scourge after Illidan's failed attempt to defeat Arthas - were vampiric in sort of vibe, which tied in quite nicely with the Blood Elves' new identity (a sort of coincidence, or perhaps a cruel irony inflicted by Arthas). And then, extremely randomly, there are a couple of side quests in Stormheim in which a group of pirates have turned into vampires after discovering an ancient vrykul vampire in a tomb.
Little lore note: when Wrath was first announced, the Vrykul were described as vampire-like half-giants. I suspect that they scrapped that idea when they came up with the idea that they'd be humanity's ancestors, and it's possible that the vampire in Stormheim was just a nod to this. But it's still a pretty puzzling thing to find in the Legion zone, especially given how it has no connection to any other part of the expansion.
So what does it all mean?
Given the end of the Legion, I suspect that the demonic hordes are on the back burner of WoW lore for now. Still, even if Sargeras is now sealed away at the Seat of the Pantheon and both Kil'jaeden and Archimonde are dead-dead (though I'm less confident in proclaiming the latter quite so dead,) demons are still out there.
And in fact, given the prominent position in the Legion that they held, as well as their penchant for manipulating things in the background, I really have to wonder if the Nathrezim aren't up to something big.
Could that tie into Revendreth? It's obviously too early to say for certain, but I think it would be wise to keep an eye out for any hints that there's a connection there.
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