The Story of The Drust & Thros, the Blighted Lands [Lore]

The Drust and Thros played a huge part in the story of Ardenweald and the Night Fae campaign, but the story behind them wasn't really explained. A couple of you requested if I could deep dive into the story of the Drust and Thros, the Blighted Lands so that's what we're going to do today!
I hope you'll enjoy ^_^
Check out the full interview with Alex Afrasiabi & Patrick Dawson done by The Lost Codex during Blizzcon 2018: • Blizzcon 2018 Intervie...
Or their awesome lore channel: / thelostcodex
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Want More Lore?!
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The Story of/ What is Elune: • The Story of/ What is ...
The Story of "The Pantheon of Death: • The Story of "The Pant...
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Intro screen made by Pakulia: / wowpaku
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© 2001-2008 Kevin MacLeod
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#Worldofwarcraft #Lore #Story #WoW

[@josiebianchi3481]

Can't believe I never put two and two together that Thros was just the Emerald Nightmare but blue

[@Dani.G_German]

The drust are hands down the most interesting part of warcrafts druidism

[@BottledDelusion]

I love the drust and it doesn’t come from nothing like everything in WoW there are things in the real world that inspire them. I want to see more stuff like it but don’t want people claiming it was ripped off from WoW lol. Which they will

[@howardhavardramberg7160]

And one of the very few and redeemable bits of BfA

[@bullshmit7743]

@@BottledDelusion 77

[@josiebianchi3481]

Drustvar was the best BfA zone aesthetically, hands down.

[@BottledDelusion]

@@bullshmit7743 wut?

[@stormstrider1990]

I don't think Thros is entirely the same as the Emerald Nightmare, at least not the one we know. Thros is clearly connected to Death, and somehow the Drust found a way to call on the power of Death, and combine it with their druidism. The Thornspeakers found a balance between Life and Death, where as Gorak Tul twisted it. After his defeat, he and his followers retreated to Thros, unable to return on their own. Considering Ardenweald is a mirror of the Emerald Dream, I believe Thros is Death's mirror to the Emerald Nightmare. What we saw in BfA was a mere fraction of the Blighted Lands. It's a realm within the Shadowlands that seeks to consume Ardenweald, and its power has grown with the drought. It's even possible the Drust are mere pawns, and Thros has another ruler beyond Gorak Tul or Gorak Zarr.

[@shadowgamer4306]

What do you think, who is the leader of The Drust?

[@StormsparkPegasus]

You had to play an alliance character to do the Drust storyline and go to Thros. That was a great questline.

[@mep1455]

Nobbel this is really weird as I was wondering about the Drust today and watched some lore videos on them. Then I was watching your Drustvar lore video and then bam you upload this. Thank you!

[@DragonWolfZenno]

I'm early !!! Hallo Nobbel! Commenting here to boost the algorithm! I'm trying to be more active in your community since I've been lurking and listening to your videos since I discovered your very first Varien Lore video 8 years ago! I Certainly hope your day finds you well! As an interesting point of discussion about the Drust, I can't help but wonder about a scenario if the drustvar Druids ever encountered Gilnean Harvest Witches prior to the Worgen joining the alliance during the cataclysm. I wonder about how such a theoretic scenario may have gone down since it appears that despite being walled off and having a barrier reef, Shipwrecks could certainly still occur which could have caused such a chance encounter. Interesting food for thought, eh? Thanks very much again for this lovely video! Until next time~ Tot Zeins!

[@vettethewarlock5448]

The aesthetic of the Drust and Drustvar is so cool, was one of my favourite place in WoW to just talk around

[@coffeecryptid]

Thank you so much for all these lore vids! I work full time and never have time to play through all the stories lately so this is so nice to unwind to.

[@OmegaSoypreme]

I only ever did the quest to save Jaina once. So I'd completely forgotten that we already killed Gorak Tul. That's a shame. I'd also missed that lore about thros being part of the nightmare! That's interesting. That void connection just keeps persisting!

[@greyworld6242]

Nature and death. How many old god whispers have we heard to now be true and how many are left?

[@seanh1321]

@@cameronmcewen9666 when they referred to the "enemy of all" I assumed it was the force of death. And now we have Calia, this lightforged "undead", the whole situation going on with Anduin, and the naaru in Revendreth!

[@principetnomusic]

I really want to see the story of the drust from their perspective. They seem to have a lot of potential for moral ambiguity, but for some reason it has not been realised so far. I mean, look at this from the drust point of view! Foreign people come to your land and settle in without your permission. You try to drive them back. The foreigners retaliate with such force that your entire nation risks extinction, so you have to resort to dark magic to defend your home - but even with that, you fail. Now, your people are all gone, and the dark magic eventually dooms them to endless torment in the afterlife. You have nothing to lose now, so you make one last bid for glory. Break the entire world and the afterlife down, just so that your people can avenge themselves and return to the land that was taken away from them. I really hope that the drust are portrayed more sympathetically in the future patches. We have friendly drust here and there, but I'd like to see some sympathy for the "evil" drust too. Could they perhaps find a way to make peace with the Night Fae and escape Thros?

[@mokarokas-2138]

Their decision to wage war instead of coexisting and sacrificing their own people and civilization instead of yielding can probably never be construed as "morally ambiguous", but maybe after all that's happened there can be a bit of peacemaking and redemption like you suggest. Provided they have anything but vengeance left...

[@bullseye6714]

Noble man! Your work is appreciated .!!

[@greybornherc5567]

Excellent video as always. I agree a drust themed patch would be awesome. Even better imagine a raid with the Drust theme! I always felt like Gorak Tul's story was too short and wished he was a bigger threat.

[@cheesecheese7104]

Awesome work man, I hope you'll cover the stone creatures in revendreth some time in a small vid or in passing

[@almosthalo]

Keep up the great work. Love your vids.

[@acadarin1409]

I was so excited for more Drust in Shadowlands. I loved how mysterious they were in BFA (though not by their own choice).

[@Darmalarm777]

i don't think i've seen a more poorly communicated faction than the drust.

[@Hajiwarlock]

such great video , i talking about this RIght now While streaming with my audiance , you are such Great prophet Nobble

[@MelfiSilver]

No matter what everyone says, zone stories of BFA (every one of them) were cool af. Way cooler than those of Shadowlands.

[@fezzverbal]

I agree that BFA was a lot cooler than it gained credit for but cooler than Revendreth? If vampires become playable that's my main right there!

[@jeffreyarnold2626]

i'd like the writers to tie up all these unfinished, loose ends blizz left over the past few exp, instead of using it as a placeholder for little events like for instance new allied races content only involving one faction. as for now, it's all over the place. make the stories cohesive before creating new loose ends so it all makes sense.

[@HiddenEvilStudios]

You expect consistency from Blizzard? A company that favors the "rule of cool" over a deep and meaningful narrative?

[@mokarokas-2138]

@@HiddenEvilStudios - Well, they used to at least be better at it. They even wrote these three books, the Warcraft Chronicle, to be the definitive lore or as close to one as possible. Then they suddenly started breaking this newly defined lore, and did a 180 the moment the last one was released and said it's just the lore from one specific perspective... So yeah, no, I don't expect consistency anymore. But I used to be able to.

[@LarsIsReal]

Sure. The mighty Odyn has to give up one of his eyes to just peek into the afterlife, and his former servants travel there daily without any problems.

[@mokarokas-2138]

If you're referring to the Drust, they literally had to die to get there. Regarding Thros, as was stated in the video, it's just part of the Emerald Dream/Nightmare rather than the Shadowlands.

[@OzzFan1000]

Thanks for the video! I never made the connection that the Blighted Lands was the Emerald Nightmare. I thought they were introducing yet another reality to us to be explored later.

[@gorvarhadgarson5227]

So Viking Blair Witches, got it! Dank je wel Nobbel!

[@nesto2947]

Bfa should have introduced forsaken druids. Kul tirans are just thick humans right? So they have no passive immunity like the worgen. Also the forsaken druid models could look dope as hell

[@mokarokas-2138]

I mean, then why not just give the Forsaken paladins and shaman too? I'd prefer if they keep what little unique-ness they have instead of just being 100% "humans but dead".

[@nesto2947]

@@mokarokas-2138 kul tirans shouldnt be able to become shammys. I remember a long while ago taking a human orphan to the throne of the elements for childrens week and being told that the child and other humans would never hear the call of the elements. Forsaken paladins would work if light reborn forsaken had also been introduced.

[@DarkApostleNoek]

@@mokarokas-2138 I really feel like Zelling will return to create Forsaken Shamans, while that Night Elf from the Paladin Order Hall will create a Night Elf Paladin order.

[@mokarokas-2138]

@@DarkApostleNoek - I'm honestly surprised night elf paladins aren't a thing yet, with their strong priest/warrior tradition. It could definitely happen, if the Alliance wasn't so overpopulated with races able to be paladins already... As for Forsaken shaman, not really feeling that one. :D I'm sure their totems would be dope, though.

[@otfdes860]

Bliz missed epically with not diving further into the drust 💯

[@imaboy33]

thanks nobbel for this pressent! :D

[@Waffle-tv7rg]

I wish Shadowlands did them more justice. I hope they come back in a “Lifelands” expansion.

[@peelpoteer6477]

i hope they do a firelands raid style like in cata for drust zone for 9.1 or 9.2

[@xlashe]

thank you nobbel!!

[@derekrichardson7853]

The drust are so confusing to me, but I’m also fascinated by them. How did this sect of vrykul become druids? How are they so different in that they turn into wooden animal shapes instead of actual animals? Is it because they weren’t taught by Cenarius and/or use the emerald dream? But most importantly, what is Thros, and how and why did Gorak Tul go there in order to hang around and make a come back in BFA? Are drust just Druidism mixed with death magic? Was hoping for answers in the night fae campaign. Maybe in a future patch we’ll get some answers.

[@shadowgamer4306]

If you are interested in learning more about The Drust you can check an interesting speculation video done by a you tuber called The Dread Expanse. You can check it out if you want!😀

[@3XC4L1B3R]

I was wondering what the Drust was and why they were in Ardenweald. I thought it was just some crazy sect of druids that served as the alliance's antagonists in Drustvar, since I never played alliance in BfA. It's interesting to know that the lore goes so much deeper! I hope we more with the Drust in SL.

[@illirei]

I like Thros a lot, it can be explained so many ways and it only gets better if you explain it with ALL of the possibilities. The Shadowlands already has more pockets than we explore, we just go through the most major ones; so Thros being part the 'Drusts Shadowland' zone, as well as dragging in the Emerald Dream AND the Void in the form of the Nightmare just.. It really strums my heartstrings. Could there be a similar Shadowlands/Dream/Fel zone?? Are there other 'layered pockets'?? We've seen the Nether and the Void intruding and overlay in other parts of worlds before, both Outland and Draenor. Are there places in the Dream similarly overlaid with the Shadowlands that are layered alongside Arcane, or the Light?? I NEED TO KNOW

[@alaszrar6202]

Hey nobbel will you do the remaining videos for shadowlands side quests? I'm especially looking forward to the venthyr one

[@DeEwouterKabouter]

Maybe we’re be heading to the blighted lands next patch? Feel like they need more explaining

[@TheDerek14]

datamining has revealed some weapons that look like they originated from Ardenweald, from the next raid. So if the next raid is in Ardenweald, we'll probably end up fighting the drust in that supposed raid, and the blighted lands might be in the same patch.

[@seanh1321]

@@TheDerek14 those weapon models are actually just the ones from the covenant vendors when you hand in the Castle Nathria raid tokens.

[@TheUrobolos]

They are building the Drust and their realm since BFA, so a major patch centered to them is almost a given

[@slinttu1378]

@@TheDerek14 Those are just for the Night Fae covenant weapon tokens from Castle Nathria.

[@TheUrobolos]

The Drust and Thros will almost for sure the mid raid/content zone of Shadowlands. For being the main enemy of Ardenweald they are suspiciously lacking presence in both the two dungeons and in the campaign. I also found interesting that for the moment they are apparently unrelated to the Jailer's forces

[@stormstrider1990]

The first boss in Tirna Scithe is a Drust. But I agree, they could make an interesting raid. Maybe a filler raid, since they don't work with the Jailer as far as we know.

[@TheUrobolos]

@@stormstrider1990 I have this theory that we will have a Crucible of Storms-like small raid for the Kyrians (just so every covenant have a thematic raid), a major Maldraxxus/Neo Naxxaramas Raid with Kel'Thuzad, maybe tied with Maw invasions of the current zones, a major Drust raid, and then the final Jailer raid. Not necessarly in this order ofc

[@roniromero1313]

Nice video

[@Jaricko]

If it is the nightmare, that does mean the nightmare isn't dealt with. Though we had an idea of that anyway since a flowering bud of the nightmare still remained. But this implies that was only a sector of the nightmare.

[@BunnychanFarabee]

Explaining away the Blighted Lands as a part of the Emerald Nightmare makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It would have made more sense if it was a constructed part of the Shadowlands to house Drust souls, like how Bwonsamdi created De Other Side to shelter the Zandalari from the Maw. Seeing as how BFA was a "filler" expansion in the same way WoD was, the Nightmare explanation is probably something that was cooked up to avoid potentially spoiling the next expansion. I'm guessing if we do revisit Thros, it will end up being a subrealm of The Maw and the "dark powers" that Goruk Tul and crew called out to will end up being the Jailer.

[@fezzverbal]

Nobbel, love your videos. I was looking forward to an explanation of the Drust. It does make me wonder though. When Ysera fell, her spirit was saved by Elune, now we see her in the Shadowlands, is there an explanation for who or what Elune is in the Shadowlands?

[@Zoeila]

aren't the blighted lands(Thros) in the shadowlands? i could swear they said that at a blizzcon

[@Zoeila]

also in the ardenweald campaign theres an female antagonist with a similar name as Gorak Tul. a relative perhaps?

[@CarloRonerd]

@@Zoeila It can also be a Title, whoever leads the Drust is "Gorak", even in the quest they mentioned Gorak Thul just by Thul sometimes

[@mokarokas-2138]

@@Zoeila - I mean, you have an interview saying it's the Emerald Nightmare right here in this video...

[@Audiotrocious]

Drustvar was what Duskwood was trying to be, spooky forest. Drust aesthetic is awesome. I do wish the Kul Tiran tree form was a wicker man not some bloated harvest golem like thing

[@170skeith]

2:25 what armor is that I just started playing again after years away and it looks like a cool idea for a Warhammer Age of Sigmar witch hunter type transmog

[@TheJacob232]

what if.....the Drust are the Druidic beings infected by the nightmare, died and trapped in said cycle? then from there the original Drust could directly convert?

[@BlackElephantProject]

The drust have true detective season 1 vibes

[@karahtar]

I feel like the story of the Drust was the best part of BFA and that Blizzard didn't do a good job with continuing that story in Ardenweald.

[@TheLun4tic]

1:50 this is what happens when you make a Druid angry.,

[@EugenTemba]

Ngl, the Drust is probably one of my all-time favorite villain groups in WoW, but it does make me kinda uncomfortable how what's claimed about the Drust sounds awfully familiar like what Americans used to say about Natives..

[@minutemilitia6498]

Can you do the Reliquary?!

[@lycos94]

i had no idea drust used to be vrykul

[@manuelsturm858]

Hey Nobbel I‘ve been watching your content for a long time and thanks for your work! Im not a native speaker, personally I got a problem to understand it if you talk to fast. Best wishes!

[@mokarokas-2138]

He's not a native English speaker either; you can keep learning and be just as good as him or better. =)

[@klonvomhaus]

So... Jaina is stronger than Malfurion, when she fights evils in the Emerald Nightmare without breaking a sweat? Or at least they are on the same level, right?

[@giovannimarchesini7557]

Why they have this appereance if they are vyrkul? How they turned into this?

[@luanlightbringer8151]

Nobel i have a question when they said The Lich King had a connection with Yog Sarron what could that be i mean did they had a conversation ??

[@Nobbel87]

That's old wotlk speculation! There are 3 visions when you enter the mind of yogg. One shows the Lich King torturing Bolvar and since yogg mentions they influenced the other visions, peops wonder what he has done with the lich king. That and icecrown being build further with saronite, saronite being the blood of yogg-saron.

[@marcelflow3121]

@@Nobbel87 make a lore video about the Drenai Startin zone's lore with Nixx and bro's. That will make my Year.💖

[@michaelkelley2727]

I actually find the Drust alot more interesting than the Maw. I wish Gorak Tul wasn't a one-shot villain, he was alot scarier and more interesting than the Jailer.

[@Anthosius]

Ah yeah, there we go, i was so waiting for this! Thanks Nobbs!

[@stepanpytlik4021]

Would be cool to actually see Jaina involved.

[@DarkApostleNoek]

Has it been explained why Nature/Emerald Dream can go the Shadowlands but the other Cosmic Factions can't?

[@DarkApostleNoek]

@dembro when they die they go back to their plain demons (including former mortals) go to the twisting neather, Old Gods the Void, and Titans to whatever theirs is. But Wild Gods and nature beings go to the shadowlands. Specifically a zone for nature, beforehand it was they went to the emerald dream when they are killed.

[@Beetlejuice2959]

I think Titans just die a final death as they have no soul aka are basically constructs. Demons have their souls anchored to the burning nether, so unless the connection is severed somehow they will never go to Shadowlands, exactly what happenned to Illidan. I strongly suspect the light and the void are the same when they die either they have no soul and die a final death or are anchored tor return to the light/void - either one I think is likely as we don't see either of them in the afterlife in Shadowlands. The one in Revendreth is just a captured one, not a dead one in the afterlife. Wild gods (same as loa) are not true gods and are basically demi gods (with souls) with powers vastly superior to most mortals hence when they die a lot of them are sent to Ardenweld.

[@DarkApostleNoek]

@@Beetlejuice2959 It is theorized that the Old Gods and Titans do return to their realm. But it is a fact that Titans have souls cause you know Legion expansion mentions Titan souls.

[@Spongeyknight6491]

where too late. wait. who are you?

[@Tatsu9522]

naw, thanks man for THAT video

[@DrakusXVIII]

Druids, but Ardenweald... In my bfa?

[@someonecomenting1300]

Next shadowland zone

[@danb596]

undead drood inc or what

[@druidofthewolf5996]

the nightmare of the realm of life.why not use the dream to get in to life? since the emerald dream is a part of the realm of life. just like the light change a part of of the realm of death. what if the dream was not the only part of the realm of life that the void change? what do we call a part of the realm of life corrupted by the void nightmare? that is the only way we know it. that is what we call it but then again the only part of life we know is the dream. so we know it as a nightmare since that is are only point of reference. why would we call it something else? we have no knowledge of the realm of life but the dream.what if the void is not responsible for this corruption?why can't death or fel or order or light be the corrupting Force? what if the dream is just a order corrupted part of the realm of life? Is the blighted lands a death corruption of the realm of life? If the dream is a order corruption then the nightmare is just a void corruption of the order corruption of the realm of life.

[@elijahmoon21able]

God why is this guy doing the majority of the heavy lifting on WoW lore… Maybe just hire someone to do the voice over bud???

[@brokentoes6721]

here is a comment to help yhour chaNNEL WITH INTERRATION

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

:)D

[@ginglwitz]

Pls German!! :D

[@mrderp93]

Bfa sucked, but drust and vrykrul lore is perfect.