Lore
The waking Dream of Creation and verdant realm of the Dragon Aspect Ysera. The Emerald Dream, as the realm of the wild, appears to those who travel within it as Azeroth would have appeared without the development of the sentient races. It is what Azeroth would have been if not for humans, elves and other intelligent creatures. This plane shows travelers what their world would be if intelligent races had not cut forests, farmed prairies, diverted rivers and built cities. It is a vision of the world as a verdant natural paradise. Verdant forests stretch away in every direction, and rolling hills and majestic mountains mimic Azeroth’s landscape.
Indeed, Azeroth and the Emerald Dream are quasi-duplicates of each other — the Emerald Dream is Azeroth as seen through a magic lens, untouched by the hands of mortals. Indeed, the Emerald Dream is the Azeroth that would not have been split by magic into the two landmasses of today - within it is the original greater landmass of Kalimdor, covered in the hazy emerald green forests of aeons past.
Nature is in a perfect balance in the Emerald Dream. Animals of all types inhabit the world, including some that are extinct on Azeroth and subspecies that never got the chance to evolve. Many fey creatures, such as sprites and faerie dragons, also roam the forests. However, it is not only the inhabitant creatures that roam the Dream. Creatures from Azeroth constantly visit, though they may or may not know it. Dreaming creatures arrive in the Emerald Dream and often have prophetic and helpful visions.
Druids enter the plane through their connection with nature. While within the dream, the traveler can, through exercise of will, view the waking world and to a limited extent interact with it (as presumably all aspects of the world have some connection to the Emerald Dream). Accessing the Emerald Dream via more conventional magic is possible, but the plane’s natives do not look kindly on intruders.
The entire plane is the dominion of Ysera, the mighty green dragon Aspect, and she and her brood ensure that none despoil this paradise. For all its wonder, the Emerald Dream is not without its dangers. Those who visit via their dreams are welcomed and enfolded within the natural balance, but those who bring their physical selves face suspicion and hostility.
The Druid Malfurion Stormrage made use of the Emerald Dream to enter into the palace of Queen Azshara and thwart the plans of Lord Xavius. Ysera herself and a great number of the green dragonflight reside in the dream either permanently or occassionally, as do the vast majority of the Night Elf Druids. As part of an ancient pact made between Ysera and Malfurion Stormrage, the druids are required to spend long periods of time sleeping in the Emerald Dream in exchange for their powers over the forces of nature, presumably so that they will better appreciate that which they have pledged themselves to preserve. Recently, strange events have been transpiring within the Emerald Dream and it appears that Malfurion himself may be trapped within its confines.
A darker force has found its way into the Emerald Dream as well. Called The Nightmare, this mobile area of corruption stems from the twisted thoughts and fears of sleeping beings’ subconscious minds. The Nightmare travels slowly through the Emerald Dream, leaving corrupted, vicious animals and Unwaking travelers in its path. None, not even Ysera, knows why the Nightmare exists — nor why its boundaries grow.
In World of Warcraft
The Emerald Dream will likely appear in WoW at some point in the near future, but it's still unclear if it will be a new zone, a world spanning several new zones (Emerald Paradise, etc.), an instance, an expansion pack, or what. Five Great Trees exist in Azeroth, with swirling green portals in front which are believed to be entrances to the Emerald Dream. (though evidence is circumstantial at best) These portals are in Duskwood, Feralas, The Hinterlands, Ashenvale and Crystalsong Forest. Currently none of these portals do anything if a player steps through them, and Crystalsong Forest will not be implemented until Northrend is released. However the portals in Ashenvale, Feralas and the Hinterlands are protected by high level elite dragonkin. Also, since patch 1.8.0, the Four Dragons, who normally live in the Emerald Dream, have begun emerging from the portals at regular intervals.
In written Warcraft lore (see the War of the Ancients Trilogy), the Emerald Dream is accessed by Malfurion and Cenarius by achieving a deep meditative state. Therefore, it's unclear if it will be accessible to non-druids, or if it will indeed be something that can be entered via the aforementioned portals at all. It is possible Blizzard could even add a new high level Druid spell to port them directly to the Dream itself from anywhere.
What we know
- Endgame Zone. Exceedingly challenging.
- The zone is massive and beautiful.
- Druids have link to the Emerald Dream. Possibly can enter it from anywhere and/or use it for travelling normal world.
- Is being corrupted by the Nightmare, which taints the wildlife and overcomes sleepers with insanity.
- Ruled by Ysera and the Green Dragonflight.
Disturbance at the Great Trees
(from the World of Warcraft Client Patch 1.8.0 (2005-10-11))
- See also the article "the Four Dragons".
| Something is amiss in the Emerald Dream. Immense dragons with the shimmering emerald scales of the Green Dragonflight have been sighted guarding the portals at the Great Trees... but these once-noble creatures crawl with a new, strange menace, not the peace for which Ysera is known. Bring many allies should you dare to confront them; their powers are formidable and they will not hesitate to crush any who draw near. |
Blizzard Quotes
Back before Closed Beta, Tigole mentioned interesting details about the Emerald Dream, that seem to support the idea that it will be released in the current Wow build, before the Expansion.
| Tigole: "The Emerald Dream is shaping up to be extremely cool. We don't want to preview any of that content yet as it is *endgame* and we want some surprises for players. |
| The zone is massive and beautiful. And once the content team is done with it, it will be exceedingly challenging >=] Sat, 06 Dec 2003 22:01:05 PST |
| Tigole: "Actually, we have some pretty cool stuff planned for druids. They will definitely have a link to the Emerald Dream. There's also a zone on the way to the peak of Mount Hyjal called Moonglade that will be very core to druid characters. Our *master of Warcraft lore*, Chris Metzen, is never short on ideas when it comes to the druid class. I was running around the Emerald Dream last Thursday... you guys are in for a treat. The level designers are doing a killer job."
Sat, 06 Dec 2003 06:01:04 PST |