Seriously, I would like to know. Note, this article contains lore spoilers if you have not completed both Alliance and Horde storylines in Battle for Azeroth.
In World of Warcraft: Legion the Xorothian Cultists of the Broken Shore would start channeling a long cast at various times. Their casts end times have happened to coincide with various events such as the opening of the Antorus raid, patch 7.3.5 and the Seething Shore battleground.
Nazeshi Tempest-Wielders channeling Calling the Storm
Since then Battle for Azeroth has launched. With it new zones, new NPCs, and of course new channelers. This time Nazeshi Tempest-Wielders near the shore in Zuldazar can be seen channeling a spell named Calling the Storm. At the time of this article, there are several channeling. Some are casting on top of a rock while the others are casting a storm on top of the coastal waters. The spell is currently set to end on Saturday, September 22nd.
Calling the Storm cast bar
The Calling the Storm spell is being cast by Naga. In Warbringers: Azshara we learn that the Naga are transformed Highborne from a deal Queen Azshara made with N’Zoth. The spell name in itself may be a reference to the Before the Storm novel that covered rising tensions between the Alliance and Horde in the events before the War of the Thorns also known as the Burning of Teldrassil. Lastly, the spell icon is that of a fish.
Blizzard tends to release content on Tuesdays however, in the past has released content on Thursday such as Warlords of Draenor. So something happening on a Saturday, while odd, is not out of the realm of possibility. Looking at the in-game calendar, September 22nd puts us a few days into the Brewfest holiday event. Maybe the Calling the Storm spell cast is a new craft beer launch party countdown for Brewfest?
But the Nazeshi Tempest-Wielders are not the only NPCs with a countdown that ends on September 22nd. Morwin Gladeheart in Drustvar and Nepatalo in Zuldazar are both channeling spells.
Morwin Gladeheart in Drustvar
Morwin Gladeheart of The Thornspeakers is channeling the spell Forest’s Embrace. It appears he is using it to hold back a witches corruption on Jakob Teller. Jakob is rooted in place and his dog is next to Morwin. Morwin even goes as far to state “Do not rush me! I am trying to save your master!” to Jakob’s dog.
The Thornspeakers are a group of druids who operate in the Kul Tiras zone of Drustvar. It was founded by Drust druids who disagreed with Gorak Tul’s war against the humans. Over time some humans were taught in their ways, however few now follow this path.
Nepatalo channeling Blessing of Pa’ku
Back in Zuldazar at the Terrace of the Chosen, Nepatalo <Herald of Pa’ku> can be seen channeling Blessing of Pa’ku. Pa’ku is a pterrordax loa that is worshipped by the Zandalari. Pa’ku is the master of the Zandalari Navy. Pa’ku is referenced as the “mother of de seas” in Tales of the Loa.
In the Horde quest Zandalar Forever! Pa’ku is seen participating in the battle against Zul. Zul was an advisor to King Rastakhan, ruler of the Zandalari. He viewed the king as weak and lead a coup against him. Zul struck a deal with Queen Azshara as learned in the Horde quest Word from the Deep.
Zul eventually revealed he had allied with the Blood God G’huun, an old god. In the process of breaking the final seal of G’huun’s prison, King Rastakhan killed Zul. Zul was later resurrected as an undead with little of his former self remaining. Zul is currently a boss in Uldir.
Bound Seasurge channeling Fury of the Sea
And in Stormsong Valley between Fort Daelin and Millstone Hamlet there a few Bound Seasurge elementals are channeling Fury of the Sea with the same spell end cast time.
With so many channeling it is hard to ignore a few facts. The naga Nazeshi Tempest-Wielders, Nepatalo, and Bound Seasurge are channeling spells associated with water. While Morwin Gladeheart is channeling a spell based in nature. All the channelers have spells that have a shamanistic or druidic connection.
Xorothian Cultist casting Fel Channeling
Lastly, it should be noted that the Xorothian Cultists on the Broken Shore are channeling at this time too. Their Fel Channeling spell cast ends on September 22nd as well. The in-game tooltip for Fel Channeling says they are channeling void energy.
One can only speculate what all this could mean if anything. Possibilities could include a potential announcement at the Tokyo Game Show which runs from September 20th to September 23rd.
However, a possible technical explanation was given on Reddit by user MMOSimca. They presented a case that the cast time end date is merely the largest value of milliseconds the game can hold and any correlation to the release of content is a coincidence. So, in other words, all of these cast times may simply be Blizzard’s way of saying cast this NPC’s spell for a very long time.
Even if the above technical explanation is true, one can still have fun speculating on what the future holds.
Let us know in the comments below what you think this all means or if it means nothing at all.
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