Artwork © Blizzard EntertainmentClassic baseline · Forever beta stories
Timeline
Before the original Sunken Temple expeditionA Shrine Beneath the Swamp
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.
Sources (1)
An Unintended Offering
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.
Sources (2)
The Blood God’s Hold Broken
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.
Sources (3)
