Uhm thats northern barrens
And maybe its druidic energy comming up from the earth (from WC)?

I agree with Rob.


Of course, I'm still wondering if the zone should be called the "barrens" when it's so verdant.

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Tell that to Desolace .

Anyway: those NE ruins. I don't remember anything like that being around Barrens, and night elves no longer build stuff like that.

So, what's that doing there? was it unearthed by the cataclysm or the druids?

And, dunno if it's only me, but that gree stuff doesn't look like natural, and druidism is supposed to be natural.

Hints for nightmare?

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Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

I think that's where Mankirk's Wife is.

That's it.

Awesomeness made the place explode.

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Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

I remember a " leak " way before when WOTLK was released,

It told us that azshara was on the move and was planning to flood the continents, and that somehow the havoc she will cause will disturb the Emerald Dream who will pour inside the real world, this picture remind me that.

Replace Azhara by Deathwing and flooding by Cataclysm, and It could be possible, the Emerald Dream is supposed to be Azeroth without any interference of the Mortal Races, but since there is the nightmare and now the Cataclysm I'm wondering if the ED was not affected somehow and that parts of it are surging into the real world...

I like the Emerald Dream theory, but what if it was more that Naralex channeled the energies of the Emerald Dream to regrow the Barrens, and accidentally channeled a little too much of it.

On the Night Elf ruins, perhaps they were buried in the Sundering, and were brought back to the surface.

Also, noticing the Tauren buildings in the background, it seems like the Tauren will still have a presence in SB

That almost looks like Desolace. Are you sure it's barrens? Because it could be some random night elf ruins in desolace; i know there are a lot there. Not to mention also fel activity from some satyrs and demons.

Can't be Desolace.

There aren't any Thunder Lizards of that colour in the Desolace. Plus it's the wrong ambience colour. (Bright instead of dark. Even now Desolace is still pretty dark, despite being lush.)

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My father was killed by a coward's poison and the wrath of Hellscream...! WHAT CHANCE HAVE YOU!!?

Meh, you are right there.

Well, there are some tauren houses in the background. How many tauren houses are there in north barrens?

The shot is at around the middle of the Barrens actually so that location would be near "The Rift".

As people said before, its the location of Manriks wife. ;P
They MUST keep that quest in some way.
"Find Manriks wifes bones. They are buried somewhere in the mud in southern Northern Barrens (lol). Then bury her bones under a rock in southeastern Stranglethorn Vale."

I dont think its that Rob but here's what I think:

Blizz have been giving us Emerald dream plot hooks for a long time with WOTLK allowing us to visit a portion of the Dream. I think it's drudic greenish energy that will be the subject of yet ANOTHER ED plot hook.

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"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered...~Thomas Jefferson


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Yes, it is
Go to her in-game and compare yourself. Same huts and the small rift is now covered with water.

I'm just curious as the the night elf ruins, personally. If the Emerald Dream really is penetrating the normal world, then I don't think there would be any ruins in the first place; Isn't the emerald dream supposed to be Azeeroth before any settlements were built?

Cataclysm probably opened up the earth, uncovering some old ruins in certain places

So the Cataclysm created openings into the Elemental Plane and the Emerald Dream? They sure don't make strong dimensional walls like the old days.

None outside of Crossroads.

People are right, though, it's where Mankirk's wife was.

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My father was killed by a coward's poison and the wrath of Hellscream...! WHAT CHANCE HAVE YOU!!?

There are several mentions in The Barrens article on WoWWiki that apparently many Kaldorei settlements were there prior to The Sundering, but I'm not sure if this was a recent addition because of Cataclysm - as I can't see anything citing it. :/

Looking at the picture, It almost looks like the ruins were a rocket shot up into the barrens, with the form of that crater. It's just strange to think that there are kaldorei settlements that far underground. Plus, I don't think we've seen many ruins anywhere near the titan structures, and that one is within sight of Bael Modan, if this is near Mankrik's wife. But, hey, maybe Kaldorei decided to worship titans later on, I dunno.

They did say at Blizzcon that archaelogy "unearthed" new ruins and secrets. Perhaps that's what an archaelogy node looks like?

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That'd certainly make sense.

This is the most probable theory.

And there you have the ultimate archeology quest.

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Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

The fact that it could be buried isn't far off. It's been 10,000 years since the Sundering. In real life, Babylon fell 2,500 years ago, yet we are currently digging up parts of the city that are 50-100 feet or more below the surface.

Its been 4 times that long since the Sundering.