Ysera sank a temple to stop Hakkar’s return, but the cult beneath the marsh survived and corrupted its jailers.
Origins & history
The Atal’ai built the Temple of Atal’Hakkar in the Swamp of Sorrows after their attempts to serve the blood god led to exile. The temple was intended to prepare Hakkar’s return to the physical world. Ysera intervened, sinking the structure beneath the marsh and assigning green dragons to guard it.
The destruction did not eliminate the priesthood. Cultists endured in the drowned halls, while the corruption surrounding the site reached the dragons meant to contain them. The Sunken Temple is both a prison and a sanctuary whose original guardians have become part of its danger.
Why we enter
Adventurers enter to stop the Atal’ai’s rituals and confront the corruption within the temple. Jammal’an’s prophecy and the possibility of invoking Hakkar give the priesthood a continuing objective. The expedition also touches the troubled green dragon Eranikus and the wider sickness of the Dream.
The story inside
The original dungeon includes lower chambers, a statue puzzle associated with Atal’alarion, and upper passages guarded by six named troll defenders. These open the route toward Jammal’an the Prophet and Ogom the Wretched. Green dragons, including Dreamscythe, Weaver, Hazzas and Morphaz, occupy the surrounding halls.
The Shade of Eranikus concludes a central route, while the Avatar of Hakkar belongs to a separate summoning ritual. The avatar is not Hakkar’s full incarnation. The dungeon’s multiple levels and optional objectives explain why a single abbreviated route does not tell its whole Classic story.
The vessel carried out
The Egg of Hakkar connects this expedition to Zul’Gurub. Following Yeh’kinya’s instructions, adventurers filled the vessel with the essence of the defeated avatar. What appeared to contain the danger instead preserved the power his followers needed.
The later revelation does not undo the fighting against Jammal’an and the corrupted guardians. It changes the meaning of one particular task: an apparent success became assistance to Hakkar’s return.
Aftermath & legacy
The assault disrupts the temple’s immediate rites, but Hakkar’s followers remain active elsewhere. Eranikus’s story continues beyond his shade, connecting the dungeon to the Emerald Dream and the long campaign surrounding the opening of Ahn’Qiraj.
Key figures
Ysera — Green Aspect who sank the temple to contain the Atal’ai.
Jammal’an the Prophet — Priest leading the surviving cult.
Eranikus — Green dragon whose shade is encountered in the corrupted sanctuary.
Hakkar — Blood god whose avatar can be summoned in the temple.
The Atal’ai sought a place to prepare Hakkar’s return and built their temple in the Swamp of Sorrows. Ysera answered the danger by sinking the sanctuary beneath the marsh and assigning green dragons to contain what remained.
The intervention did not end the cult. The drowned halls still sheltered its rituals, and the corruption reached the creatures meant to guard them. By the time adventurers entered the temple, Jammal’an’s followers and the afflicted dragons formed parts of the same crisis.
The Shade of Eranikus showed the cost to the guardians. The expedition could disrupt the sanctuary, but sinking a building had never been enough to erase the purpose for which it was built.
Yeh’kinya directed adventurers to recover an ancient vessel and carry it into the Sunken Temple. There, the defeat of an avatar supplied the essence needed to fill the Egg of Hakkar. The instructions appeared to make the danger containable.
Later investigation revealed the opposite purpose. The egg had helped return Hakkar to the world in Zul’Gurub. By the time Yeh’kinya was confronted, the warning came too late to prevent it.
The failed containment joins two expeditions into one story. Killing an immediate enemy was not enough when the person directing the recovery intended to use the remains. The next campaign had to confront the consequence.
From Yojamba Isle, the Zandalar Tribe called for help against the power restored in Zul’Gurub. The danger hinted at in the Sunken Temple was now manifest within the Gurubashi capital.
The assault confronted the high priests whose powers strengthened Hakkar. Breaking that support prepared the way for the confrontation at the central temple. The enemy was the blood god himself, rather than the avatar encountered beneath the swamp.
Hakkar was defeated, and his heart was taken to the Zandalari in the hope of destroying its remaining power. The victory ended his immediate hold on the city. It did not establish that every follower or future attempt to restore him had vanished.
