The War Within #4: The Arathi Expedition

October 4, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"The History of the Expansions" series — The War Within, part 4. The story of World of Warcraft told expansion by expansion, with the patches that changed it. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

The fourth part of The War Within takes place in Hallowfall, a giant cavern lit by a crystal in the ceiling called Beledar. This is home to the Arathi, humans from an expedition of the old Arathi Empire who crossed the sea following a vision of the Sacred Flame and ended up trapped underground. The campaign shows their faith, the threat that comes when Beledar goes dark, and it ends with Anduin Wrynn being left behind.

Who are the Arathi of Hallowfall

The Arathi emperor received a vision of the Sacred Flame. A fleet crossed the sea to follow it and was swallowed by the light, ending up inside Hallowfall. The survivors were cut off from the rest of the empire. They farmed the fertile lands of the cavern and began calling the source of light Beledar, the "Emperor's Vision".

To them, Hallowfall is a holy land that must be protected from the darkness. The capital is Mereldar, and the one in command is General Steelstrike.

Beledar and the darkening

Since the Day of Darkness, when Sargeras drove his sword into Azeroth, Beledar has shifted from time to time into a Void state. When that happens, Hallowfall plunges into darkness, and the threats in the cavern grow stronger.

To hold the darkness back, the Lamplighters keep the flame towers spread across Hallowfall lit. On top of the darkening, the Arathi face constant attacks from the kobyss, who come from the underground sea, and from the nerubians of Azj-Kahet, the neighboring kingdom.

Faerin Lothar and the heroes' arrival

The one who guides Anduin and the heroes through Hallowfall is Faerin Lothar, a Lamplighter. The leader of the Lamplighters, Kyron, asks for help to light a flame and drive back the nerubians. A bigger attack, led by the siege lord Xerosh, reaches Tenir's Ascent and is defeated with Alleria's help.

But soon after, Beledar shifts to shadow, and Hallowfall goes dark.

The Order of Night

While General Steelstrike wanted to focus every force on the war, the heroes found another threat: a cult, the Order of Night, had corrupted one of the flame towers. Anduin and Faerin purified the tower and relit the Sacred Flame, and Beledar returned to light.

In Mereldar, Faerin warned the General about the cult's plan. The Order attacked the Veneration Grounds, the heroes broke the attack, and Alleria shattered the shadow barrier protecting their leader, Aelric Leid, who was killed.

Anduin is left behind

The next blow came from the nerubians, who destroyed the village of Livia's Patience. The heroes boarded the airship Reckoning to strike back. Anduin stayed behind to sabotage an enemy ballista, was surrounded and could not make it back.

The campaign continues straight into Azj-Kahet, the kingdom of the spiders, where the heroes go after him.

Where to see it in WotLK

Arathi Highlands and Stromgarde: the lands of the old human kingdom of Arathor, which gave the Arathi their name.
Arathi Basin: the League of Arathor fighting the Forsaken for the highlands.
Icecrown: the Argent Crusade and the Light against the Scourge, another form of faith you see in WotLK.