Emerald Dream (2024)

This article is about the lore of the Emerald Dream. For the playable zone added in patch 10.2.0, see Emerald Dream (zone). For other uses, see Emerald Dream (disambiguation).

Emerald Dream
Capital(s)	Eye of Ysera
Races	Green dragon Wild God Dryad Keeper of the grove Faerie dragon Mortal druids
Ruler(s)	Merithra
Former ruler(s)	Ysera
Affiliation	Green dragonflight, Pantheon of Order, Cenarion Circle, Emerald Nightmare, Independent
Former affiliation(s)	Burning Legion

The Emerald Dream (also known as the Emerald Dreaming,^[1] the Dream of Creation,^[2] the land of dreams,^[3] or simply the Dream^[4] or Dreaming^[5]) is a vast, ever-changing spirit world that exists outside the boundaries of the physical world^[2] and is the verdant realm of the Dragon Aspect Merithra of the green dragonflight. The Emerald Dream represents how Azeroth would have been if intelligent beings had not altered its surface,^[6] or what the world might some day be again.^[7][8] However, some suggest that the Dream is not only bound to Azeroth but also to realms not yet discovered, such as the Realms of Life.^[9]

The Emerald Dream apparently has some kind of ancient link with the realm of Ardenweald, where souls close to nature, such as Ysera herself, rest in the Shadowlands.^[10] Both planes are essentially opposite blooms connected to the same tree, with the former personalizing Life in its waxing stages, and the latter embodying Life in its wane.^[11] Where the Dream represents the spring and summer of the cycle of life, Ardenweald reflects autumn and winter,^[12][13] in essence, being the highest expression of the relationship between endings and beginnings - between Death and Life.^[14]

In this world of untamed nature, druids gain insight and oneness with the Great Cycle,^[15] and everything about them is rooted in cycles and transience, and the Emerald Dream itself.^[16]

Nature of the Dream

The Dream's Purpose

Long ago after the titans had shaped Azeroth, the green Dragon Aspect Ysera entered into an eternal trance and was charged with watching over all of Azeroth from the Dream. The two realms are bound as one: as life ebbs and flows across the physical world, the spiritual energies that saturate the Emerald Dream keep pace with it.^[17] As a result, green dragons guard every portal into the Dream, and they always see both the landscape of Azeroth and the corresponding dreamscape. This enchanted vision, known as dreamsight, allows them to perceive their surroundings with perfect clarity despite their closed eyes.

Unlike Azeroth, the Emerald Dream is a realm that is primarily spiritual instead of physical. All who enter the Dream can affect it to a minor extent, but only temporarily: the underlying structure of the Dream inevitably reasserts itself. Even Ysera cannot change the Dream permanently, nor, indeed, would she wish to do so. She does not control the Dream; on the contrary, it is closer to the truth to say that the Dream controls her. Using the Dream as her unfaltering guide, she regulates the ebb and flow of nature and the evolutionary path of the world itself.^[6]

Characteristics

The Dream can be affected by all dreamers to a minor and temporary extent. However, no living creature except the titans has ever been able to permanently change the Dream. By channeling druidic magic, some can enter a state of dreaming and consciously navigate the Emerald Dream. Their thoughts can also shape and influence portions of this verdant spirit realm, but the imprint that these dreamers leave behind is never permanent.^[17] Ysera herself cannot control or shape the Dream, which has its own ecology and a variety of inhabitants, both sentient and non-sentient. Since time is meaningless inside the Dream, the green dragonflight, which spends the majority of its time in the Dream, is extremely long-lived. Ysera's consorts in particular almost never emerge from the Dream and are effectively immortal, as are all other permanent denizens in the Dream. Because the titans invested a great deal of work in perfecting their design of Azeroth, the Emerald Dream is not one a single perfect vision of what Azeroth would become. The finished design of the planet was the product of many previous flawed or unfinished models. The Dream, therefore, has multiple layers, one for each of these earlier incarnations. These older layers of the Dream are often incomplete and therefore limited in scope, relative to the finalized Dream.^[6]

The spirits of departed animals on Azeroth can travel to the Emerald Dream as their afterlife, with the mighty G'Hanir in particular serving as the home to the spirits of winged creatures.^[18] A few members of the green dragonflight such as the former Dragons of Nightmare came here after dying. Some druids, such as Elerethe Renferal and Thaon Moonclaw, do as well, though it is unclear if all druids do. It was on the slopes of Hyjal that Freya bound the spirits of her beloved Wild Gods to the Emerald Dream. Inexorably tied to the ethereal realm, they would come to symbolize the health and vitality of Azeroth itself.^[19] When Wild Gods die, they go to Ardenweald in the Shadowlands and enter a wildseed to be taken care of by the caretakers and tenders of the groves of one of the celestial trees until they are ready to be reborn through the Grove of Awakening,^[20] and can later return to the Emerald Dream.

Perception of the self

The Dream is a vast and ever-shifting dimension of spirits and nature magic that defies mortal perceptions of reality. Time and distance hold no meaning in this intangible realm, and a day in the physical world feels like decades in the Dream.^[21] Spirits flow like living winds through lush tracts of constantly shifting primordial woodlands. What appears tangible one moment becomes intangible the next; seemingly impermeable landmarks transform in the blink of an eye.^[17]

Although tied to the physical world, the Emerald Dream is a place that most mortal minds would find alien and surreal.^[17] The creatures of Azeroth can visit the Emerald Dream either physically or via dreams, as the realm's name indicates. When an individual's spirit visits the Dream, leaving the body behind, that individual will manifest his or her dreamform, which normally looks and behaves much as that individual's physical body might. Hence, for most creatures, moving through the Dream is achieved in the normal fashion, despite the realm's chiefly spiritual character. These rules do not apply to druids of sufficient skill or experience, who are trained to see beyond physical reality. These druids might be capable of abnormal movement in the Dream (e.g., a night elf who can sprint at a greatly accelerated rate, walk through solid objects, or fly). It is quite rare to see such unusual capabilities in non-druids, but it is not beyond the realm of possibility.^[6]

History

Origins

During the Ordering of Azeroth, the Emerald Dream was created by Freya, one of the nine titan-forged Keepers, to serve as the underlying blueprint for the planet. Some believe that she wove the Emerald Dream into being from nothing, others claim that this strange place had always existed in some form, a dream born from Azeroth's slumbering world-soul, which Freya tapped into and molded what would become known as the Dream as a way to commune with the nascent titan.^[21] Nymue the Weaver of the Cycle was placed in this verdant realm when Eonar and Freya shaped the Dream. In the Wellspring Temple, they enforced and protected the ordering of the Emerald Dream, weaving its wilderness into complex patterns.^[22]

Within the Dream, Freya planted G'Hanir, the Mother Tree, a single massive tree set atop a high peak. From it bloomed many fruits and flowers, and new life flowed outwards in waves, sweeping across the land. Freya sculpted many pools of life in other locations within the Dream, but G'Hanir was the first, the tallest, and the most radiant. For millennia, it served as a source of healing and balance that extended beyond the Dream and into the physical world,^[18] acting as a guide for Azeroth's natural life.^[23] As Freya set out to populate the world with life, she placed one of the first seeds in what would become Pandaria, near the powerful energy of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. From it grew Fu Zan, the first tree. It grew strong and tall, drinking deeply from the Vale's resonant power. More trees arose around it. Lush forests, both in the Dream and in the waking world, sprang to life across the region. All of Pandaria's forests descended from it.^[24][23]

According to [On the Nature of the Dream], written by an unnamed green dragon, none of the nature spirits they met told them that a titan created the Emerald Dream. Instead, they spoke of the first spirits awakening long ago within its wilds, in lands as beautiful and free as they are today. These revelations left the author to speculate if the Pantheon of Order truly created the Dream, or merely discovered it, seeing its vibrancy as chaos to which they were compelled to bring structure. During their explorations, they discovered strange, impossible creatures and plants never seen before, and theorized that the Dream was not just bound to Azeroth but also to other realms, and that they had just seen their reflections. When they reached the supposed edges of the Dream, flowing into the Realms of Life, they felt the presence of entities whose power seemed vast and unknowable, akin to the titans themselves. When the author woke up at the Eye of Ysera, they were sure of one thing - that the servants of the titans wished the Dream to stay unchanging, or at least, unchanged by any hand but theirs.^[9]

Ancient times

When Ysera became one of the Dragon Aspects, she was sent into an eternal trance and charged with watching over all of Azeroth from the Emerald Dream.^[25] As a result, green dragons guard every portal into the Dream, and they always see both the landscape of Azeroth and the corresponding dreamscape. This enchanted vision, known as "dreamsight", allows green dragons to perceive their surroundings with perfect clarity despite the dragons' closed eyes.^[6] The very first connection that the green dragonflight forged with the Dream was the Dream Portal, located on the Ancient Bough in the Dragon Isles.^[26] Nature magic billows out of the portal, encouraging life to thrive in the surrounding Emerald Gardens.^[27] All of the primordial flora and fauna thriving in the Dream is reflected on the Ohn'ahran Plains that border the Gardens.^[28]

20,000 years BDP, just before the War of the Scaleborn broke out,^[29] the Eye of Ysera was created in the Dream as the green dragonflight's main base^[30]

As the son of the Moon Goddess Elune and the demigod Malorne, Cenarius's birth sent a ripple through the Emerald Dream, and Ysera took an immediate interest in him. Guiding him into the Dream, she taught him much of its secrets and became a foster mother of sorts to him. In time, Cenarius grew to love the lush forests of Ysera's verdant realm, and could often be found treading its infinite dreamways, either watching over Azeroth and its creatures, or simply hoping for all that they might yet become.^[31]

War of the Ancients and aftermath

During the War of the Ancients, the night elf druid Malfurion Stormrage made use of the Emerald Dream powers to enter the palace of Queen Azshara and thwart the plans of Lord Xavius.^[32] Following the end of the demonic invasion, three of the Dragon Aspects grew a World Tree, Nordrassil, atop the new Well of Eternity. Among them, Ysera was the one who linked Nordrassil to the Emerald Dream. Her action was primarily meant to prevent abuse of the Well and to keep its chaotic powers from growing with the tempering energies of the Dream.^[33] Secondarily, Nordrassil's connection to the Emerald Dream allowed the druids of Azeroth to travel easily to the Dream.^[34]

Since that time, all druids have periodically hibernated while their spirits wandered the dreamways. This hibernation is not some sort of physical requirement for druids, though; rather, the hibernation was a communion with the Emerald Dream. The druids were learning more about the natural world through the Dream.^[35] There was always something new for the druids to learn, even in the smallest blade of grass.^[6] The first druids molded the forests of Val'sharah on the Broken Isles to be a reflection of the Dream—no more than an echo, but as close to the Dream as the real world could ever come.^[36]

During the war of the Satyr, the night elves suffered terrible losses from the satyr's assaults, and Genereal Shandris Feathermoon of the Sentinels suggested that the druids should be called from their sojourns in the Emerald Dream so they could be used as a fighting force. By the end of the conflict, Malfurion reluctantly banished Ralaar Fangfire and his Druids of the Scythe to the Dream, believing the worgen would enter a peaceful eternal slumber beneath the great tree known as Daral'nir.^[37]

Birth of the Nightmare

Main article: Emerald Nightmare

4,500 years before the First War, a small group of druids led by Fandral Staghelm took six branches from Nordrassil and planted them over saronite that had begun to appear across the world. The first five branches grew into Great Trees, while the last and greatest branch became the World Tree Andrassil in the Grizzly Hills. Unfortunately, Andrassil's roots went deep enough that they touched the prison of the Old God Yogg-Saron, corrupting the tree and spreading madness throughout the nearby wildlife. The druids sorrowfully destroyed the World Tree, believing that this act would halt Yogg-Saron's corruption. What they did not know, however, was that Yogg-Saron had used the trees planted by Fandral as a doorway for the Old Gods to access the Emerald Dream. The Old Gods spread small seeds of corruption throughout the dreamways, in time these seeds polluted the Dream beginning what would become known as the Emerald Nightmare.^[38] While Yogg-Saron was the Old God who opened the Emerald Dream to its brethren, N'Zoth later became the one who took the most active role in its corruption.^[39]

Great Wars and aftermath

In the aftermath of the Second War, Krasus entered Ysera's domain of dreams using a poison that nearly killed him since death could be compared to the deepest sleep.^[40] After the destruction of the Demon Soul and the return of her long-withheld power, Ysera suddenly felt the sinister and brooding darkness slithering deep within the Dream, the Emerald Nightmare.^[41]

Prior the Third War, the druids were the first to notice the plague of undeath killing the wilds as it spread across the Eastern Kingdoms. From within the Dream, their spirits reached out to the physical world to stop the blight, but they had little success.^[42] After the Scourge destroyed most of Lordaeron, Archmage Arugal was called by King Genn Greymane to find a way to protect Gilneas. As the battle raged outside the Greymane Wall, Arugal used Ur's research and performed his summoning, connecting the physical world and the Emerald Dream and drawing the worgen into Silverpine Forest. Though they successfully killed the undead, they soon turned their rage against the Gilnean soldiers. This started spreading the worgen curse in the kingdom.^[43][44]

When the Burning Legion began its invasion of Kalimdor, Tyrande Whisperwind was troubled that Malfurion Stormrage and his druids had not yet emerged from the Dream to defend Mount Hyjal. The reason was the death of Cenarius in Ashenvale, which sent a shockwave through the Dream, weakening the druids and throwing them into a state of confusion. Malfurion and his followers sensed fragments of what was happening in the physical world, but they were effectively trapped within the Emerald Dream, until they were eventually all awakened.^[45] During the Battle of Mount Hyjal, the druids empowered Nordrassil with the night elves' immortality and the energies of countless night elf spirits. Nordrassil then gave off a blast of energy that killed the demon lord Archimonde, ending the war and sealing the Burning Legion's defeat on Azeroth. Although Nordrassil was not killed in the process, the night elves' noble sacrifice left them mortal and cost the druids their easily accessible link to the Dream, and reaching it has become a significantly more difficult prospect.^[6][46]

Certain that the night elves' immortality could be restored, Archdruid Fandral Staghelm proposed growing a replacement World Tree, though the dragons showed no sign of offering their assistance in the process. Malfurion flatly refused; he argued that without the blessing of the dragonflights the tree would be an abomination, but soon fell into a mysterious coma. Since his spirit was nowhere to be found within the Dream,^[47] Fandral, responsible for this betrayal, became the new leader of the Cenarion Circle. His first act was to persuade the rest of the druids to grow the World Tree, which they named Teldrassil.^[6] Unfortunately, Fandral's decision proved to be a terrible mistake. At first, Teldrassil did not restore the night elves' immortality.^[6] Secondarily, without the Dragon Aspects' blessings, Teldrassil was vulnerable to the dark influence of the Emerald Nightmare, which reached out the new World Tree from the heart of the Emerald Dream, and before long, it seeped into its essence.^[48]

World of Warcraft

This section concerns content related to the original World of Warcraft.

At some point, Eranikus, former consort to Ysera, was sent to guard the Temple of Atal'Hakkar in the Swamp of Sorrows and prevent Hakkar the Soulflayer's emergence. However, he and his retinue were corrupted by the Emerald Nightmare, and he became a shade, pulled between the realms of the Emerald Dream and the physical plane.^[49]

In Kalimdor, the Wailing Caverns were discovered by the night elf druid Naralex, who believed that if he connected the underground waters directly to the Emerald Dream, he could spread growth across the Barrens and restore the region to its original lush state. He traveled into the caverns with his loyal disciples and settled into meditation, allowing the Dream to connect to Azeroth through his body. However, he was unexpectedly overwhelmed by the Nightmare. Unable to wake, the sleeping Naralex inadvertently channeled the Nightmare's energies into the caverns, corrupting the waters, the wildlife (which turned into deviate forms), and his disciples, most of whom went insane and became the Druids of the Fang.^[50][51][52]

Soon, corrupted green dragons emerged from the Emerald Dream across Azeroth. Driven mad, they murdered innocents by the hundreds, indiscriminately targeting whatever living creatures were nearby. The Cenarion Circle's members were mournful but resolute, very few could be saved and were killed, as there was no other way to stop their rampages.^[53] Four of Ysera's lieutenants later fell prey to the Nightmare and became twisted and disfigured. They became known as the Dragons of Nightmare, consisting of Emeriss, Lethon, Taerar, and Ysondre who threatened the balance of nature, appearing periodically on the mortal plane via the Dream portals at the Great Trees in Ashenvale, Duskwood, Feralas, and the Hinterlands.^[54] Two of them, Lethon and Emeriss, were eventually put down by mortal heroes but their twisted spirits persisted in the Emerald Dream.^[55]

During the Ahn'Qiraj War, the heroes needed the Scepter of the Shifting Sands' shard held by the corrupted Eranikus.^[56] In order to free him, Keeper Remulos at Moonglade instructed the adventurers to gather shards of the Nightmare from each portal to the Dream across the world.^[57] Remulos later opened a portal into the heart of the Dream over Lake Elune'ara, from which Eranikus emerged, and was eventually purified by Tyrande Whisperwind and her priestess with the moonlight of Elune.^[58] Now free from corruption, the green dragon apologized for all the harm he had wrought and left to continue the battle raging within the Emerald Dream, as an attempt to begin to make amends for his actions.^[59]

During Season of Discovery, the Emerald Nightmare launched several incursions on Azeroth, prompting adventurers and Emerald Wardens to strike back inside the Dream. Several mortal races such as worgen, harpies, satyrs, and even an expedition of goblin lumberjacks could be found in these.

The Burning Crusade

This section concerns content related to The Burning Crusade.

This section is a lore stub.

By the time of invasion of Outland, the Emerald Dream was under assault from outside forces led by an ancient arakkoa spirit called Anzu. Within the Dream, the adventurers were tasked to wake up and protect Clintar Dreamwalker who was sleeping in the Stormrage Barrow Dens in Moonglade. Phantasmal Lashers were also seeping out from the Dream and had to be suppressed by Cenarion Dreamwardens.^[60]

Wrath of the Lich King

This section concerns content related to Wrath of the Lich King.

During the war against the Lich King, in order to save the life of Crusader Bridenbrad, the keeper of the grove Remulos sent the adventurer into the Dream's version of Moonglade to gather Emerald Acorns.^[61]

In Icecrown Citadel, Valithria Dreamwalker opened a few portals to the Dream, as a phased version of her room, for the adventurers who attempted to rescue her from the Scourge.

Stormrage

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

During the events of the War Against the Nightmare, the Emerald Nightmare was almost able to take hold of the whole Emerald Dream and Azeroth at the same time. People across the world could not wake up, and were lost in nightmares, without any way to let them out. Meanwhile, Xavius the Nightmare Lord had turned a great part of the Emerald Dream into the Nightmare, and though nature's defenders did not stop in their attacks, they seemed to have no effect in stopping the corruption. Planning to drain Ysera's power, the Nightmare seized the Eye of Ysera and imprisoned the Green Aspect within, assaulting her in a storm of magic, until she was freed by her consort Eranikus and his allies.

Once he was freed from his prison, Malfurion Stormrage contacted every sentient and wild being that remained awake in the physical world, and asked them to fall asleep and lend their dreamforms to attack within the Dream. Led by King Varian Wrynn and Baine Bloodhoof, the Dreamform army eventually managed to hold off the Nightmare's armies long enough for Malfurion and his allies to defeat Xavius. On the waking world, and with the help of several druids, Malfurion destroyed the Nightmare Lord's power source, both on the Emerald Dream and in Azeroth. However, despite Xavius' defeat, the Nightmare was not entirely destroyed following its master's defeat. One small part stubbornly stayed in the Rift of Aln, and Malfurion could only seal off the vicinity around the rift for the time.^[62]

Cataclysm

This section concerns content related to Cataclysm.

Following the Cataclysm, the defenders of Mount Hyjal needed the help of the Wild Gods to face the forces of Deathwing and Ragnaros. Slowly and with great care, the druids of the Cenarion Circle and their allies drew the majestic creatures to Azeroth, including Aessina, Aviana, Goldrinn, Tortolla and Malorne. They even found Cenarius's spirit in the Dream and brought him back to the physical world.^[63] When the forces of Ragnaros assaulted the Barrow Dens of Mount Hyjal, where Fandral Staghelm was imprisoned, the green dragon Alysra feared that the Twilight's Hammer would use him for nefarious purposes. She tasked the adventure to smuggle him out of the dens, and to avoid the cultists, they both escaped through the Emerald Dream, encountering creatures called Nightmare Terrors on their way.^[64]

While the corrupted dragons Emeriss and Lethon died in the War Against the Nightmare, Ysondre eventually managed to free herself of the Nightmare's hold, but at the cost of her connection to the Emerald Dream.^[65] When she learned of Taerar's continued attempts to spread the Nightmare's rot, she asked for help from adventurers to kill him and seal the Dream Bough's portal in Feralas, thus breaking its connection to the Dream.^[66]

Meanwhile, Naralex, who regained from the Nightmare in the Wailing Caverns, used his powers to bring life back to the dusty plains of the Barrens outside the caverns. However, the Overgrowth was suffering from the Nightmare which seeped out from the Dream at the Nightmare Scar. Entering the physical world, the Nightmare's influence caused the plant life in the area to grow uncontrollably and the wildlife to mutate.^[67] Fortunately, Naralex and his tauren disciple Muyoh managed to seal off the Nightmare corruption thanks to the aid of brave adventurers,^[68][69] and they believed the balance of nature would take hold here once again.

Dawn of the Aspects

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

During a meeting of the Wyrmrest Accord, Merithra noted that the Emerald Nightmare was stirring within the Rift of Aln and seemed to be seeking a new Nightmare Lord to replace Xavius. However, Ysera replied that it was now the duty of the mortal druids to watch over the Emerald Dream as she had become mortal following the Hour of Twilight.^[70]

Warlords of Draenor

This section concerns content related to Warlords of Draenor.

During the war in Draenor, the Wild God Aviana had an interest in giving the arakkoa a place on the Great Bough, and sought a way into offering the species an invitation.^[71]

Legion

This section concerns content related to Legion.

At the beginning of the third invasion of the Burning Legion, the Emerald Dream is entered by druid heroes to recover artifact weapons such as the Claws of Ursoc and the staff G'Hanir, the Mother Tree.^[72][73] The druids of the Cenarion Circle later gained access to the Emerald Dreamway, through which they could traverse Azeroth via portals.

After Xavius had been resurrected, and re-allied with the Burning Legion, the Emerald Nightmare returned in full force and corrupted much of the Dream once again until class order leaders came to defeat the lord of the satyrs. Upon killing Xavius, the Dream was restored, along with several druid ghosts. Despite this, a remnant of the corruption remained.

At an unknown point, but still before the end of the Fourth War,^[74] the Nightmare was still threatening the Dream.^[75]

Battle for Azeroth

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

During the Fourth War, adventurers entered the Emerald Dream with Merithra to save what remained of the green dragonflight after shadows of the Void were on the rise in the Emerald Dream.^[76]

Princess Tess Greymane was later sent by Goldrinn on a spiritual journey into the Emerald Dream's version of Gilneas City (Emerald Dream), in order to learn more about the worgen curse.^[77]

Dragonflight

This section concerns content related to Dragonflight.

After the awakening of the Dragon Isles, Tyrande Whisperwind brought Amirdrassil's seed to Merithra, who took her through the Ancient Bough so that she could plant it within the Emerald Dream for safety.^[78] Guarded by the green dragonflight, it peacefully grew into a giant World Tree, but also caused the energies of the Dream to manifest throughout the Dragon Isles during the Dreamsurge.

When the time neared for the tree to manifest into the physical world,^[79] the Primalists (who wanted to scour Azeroth of titanic influence) attacked the Emerald Gardens, in an attempt to reach the portal to the Dream on the Ancient Bough. Merithra did not know why they were after the Dream, but stated that she "shudder[ed] to think what they wish to do to it".^[80] With the help of their centaur, adventurer allies, and former Aspect Ysera, the greens defeated the Primalist leader Koroleth and scattered her forces, making the portal safe once more.^[81]

When the Primal Incarnate Fyrakk allied himself with the Druids of the Flame, and opened his way into the Emerald Dream with his weapon Fyr'alath the Dreamrender, the heroes and the dragonflights entered soon after to help their allies in the defence of Amirdrassil. Within the Dream, Fyrakk sought the Wellspring Temple where he desired to imbue it with his flames in order to set the Dream and Azeroth aflame.^[82] He was later joined by Smolderon the Firelord who sought to unleash the powers of the Firelands to expand and incinerate the Emerald Dream.

After Alexstrasza and the heroes destroyed the flame wards around the temple, which prevented their allies from Azeroth from entering the Dream, the various leaders of the Dragon Isles, Horde, and Alliance joined the fight against the Primalists forces.^[83] Following Fyrakk's defeat, Amirdrassil and the surrounding island crossed over from the Emerald Dream to Azeroth, appearing in the sea west of the Ohn'aran Plains.^[84]

Geography

Layers

The Emerald Dream also has multiple layers, described by Cenarius as different testing versions of Azeroth.^[85] These layers were created because the titans invested a great deal of work in perfecting their design of Azeroth, and so, the finished design of the planet was the product of many previous flawed or unfinished models.^[6] Each layer represents an abandoned segment or idea that the titans tried and ultimately discarded. Malfurion observed that it looked like neither the mortal plane nor the Emerald Dream. He saw that one mountain peak lacked its northern face, while another peak looked as if someone had started molding it like clay but had lost interest. These older layers were normally uninhabited, invisible^[85] and incomplete, therefore limited in scope, relative to the finalized Dream.^[6] But they could be accessed by any who knew how to navigate them.^[85]

Areas

• Core of the Nightmare
• The Dream's heart — This is the source of life within the Emerald Dream, hidden from mortal and druidic eyes for centuries, under the sole stewardship of Cenarius himself.
  • Ancient Rest
• Emerald Dream (zone)
  • Amirdrassil, the Dream's Hope
  • Eye of Ysera - The green dragonflight's capital.
• Emerald Dreamway
• Rift of Aln — A deep fissure in a corner of the Dream, and the source of the Emerald Nightmare.
• Thros, the Blighted Lands

Azeroth reflections of the Dream

• Gilneas City
• Grizzly Hills
  • Ursoc's Lair
• Moonglade — The most sacred place in all the Dream.^[86]
• Mount Hyjal
  • Malorne's Nightmare
• Mulgore
• Un'Goro Crater

Lore locations

• Daral'nir - The Emerald Dream counterpart of Tal'doren.^[87][88]
• Dreaming Sea^[89]
• G'Hanir^[18]
• Limbo

Inhabitants

Emerald Nightmare

• Felstalkers
• Imps
• Nightmare dragonflight
• N'raqi
• Satyrs
  • Shadow satyrs
• Unwaking

Development

Main article: Emerald Dream (unreleased)

In the RPG

This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

Description

Also called Green Dream,^[91] it appears to those who travel within it as how Azeroth would have been if intelligent beings had not altered its surface,^[92] such as humans or elves,^[93] with the cut forests, farmed prairies, diverted rivers, or built cities. It is a vision of the world as a verdant natural paradise. Tranquil forests stretch away in every direction, and rolling hills and majestic mountains mimic Azeroth's landscape.^[91]

Azeroth and the Emerald Dream are quasi-duplicates of each other — the Emerald Dream is Azeroth as seen through a magic lens, untouched by the hands of mortals. The mountains are in the same places in both worlds, but where a human metropolis stands in Azeroth, a lush field, vacant of artifice, grows in the Emerald Dream.^[91]

Tauren ancestors dwell deep within the Dream.^[94]

Access

The Emerald Dream can be visited in dreams or in the flesh.^[93] Although the druids enter the plane through their connection with nature, accessing the Emerald Dream via more conventional magic is possible, but the plane's natives do not look kindly upon intruders.^[91]

Some creatures cannot help but dream of the plane and find themselves there without any preparation or conscious intent;^[93] these dreaming creatures arrive in the Emerald Dream and often have prophetic and helpful visions.^[91] Other creatures intentionally use dreams to reach the Emerald Dream, such as the druids.^[93]

Inhabitants

The entire plane is the dominion of Ysera, the mighty green dragon Aspect, and she and her brood ensure that none despoil this paradise.^[91]

Nature is in a perfect balance in the Emerald Dream. Animals of all types inhabit the world, including some that are extinct on Azeroth and subspecies that never got the chance to evolve. Many fey creatures, such as sprites, dryads and keepers of the grove, also roam the Dream. However, it is not only the native inhabitant creatures that roam the Dream. Creatures from Azeroth constantly visit, though they may or may not know it.^[91]

List of races:^[95]

Notes and trivia

• Dryads enter the Dream by shifting their bodies between planes.^[96]
• Sometimes, the keepers of the grove make use of the Emerald Dream in their duties.^[97]
• The Dreamrunners are capable of traveling between Azeroth and the Dream at will.^[98]
• Though not actual dragons, the faerie dragons police the Dream from magic, and as such, they are immune to magic.^[99]
• Some loa, like Gonk, can enter the Emerald Dream.^[100]
• According to Muradin Bronzebeard, the Dreamwalker Raiment armor calls on the healing power of the dream itself.^[16]
• Emerald dreamcatchers siphon power from the Emerald Dream to bring their owners good luck.^[101]
• The Emerald Dream was originally described as "a vast, ever-changing spirit world, existed outside the boundaries of the physical world. From the Dream, Ysera regulated the ebb and flow of nature and the evolutionary path of the world itself."^[102] This implies less stagnation than the Emerald Dream described in other sources.
• Emerald Dream (US RPPvP server) and Emerald Dream (EU PvE server) are named after the Emerald Dream.
• Grove wardens are the wardens of peaceful, primordial groves within the Emerald Dream.^[103] However, they were also some of the first to become corrupted by the Nightmare.^[104]

Inspiration

• According to Chris Metzen, the Emerald Dream was partially inspired by the Dreaming from The Sandman and the Green from comics involving the Swamp Thing, both published by DC Comics.^[105]
• The Dream may also have been influenced by H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands. The Dreamlands is a vast, alternate dimension that can be entered through dreams, similar to astral projection or lucid dreaming. Experienced dreamers are among the most powerful inhabitants of the Dreamlands and may become its permanent residents after their physical deaths.
• Another similarity to the Dream is Tel'aran'rhiod, a parallel world in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, that is normally accessed through dreams. There are specially gifted people called "Dreamwalkers" who are able to access this reality at will.

Gallery

• 

  Vanilla "Emerald Paradise" concept art.

• 

  The Dream's Hearth

• 

  The Dream's Hearth as seen in Legion.

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  Gilneas City's reflection in the Dream.

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  The Emerald Dream in-game appearances in The Burning Crusade.

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  The Twilight Grove within the Dream in Season of Discovery.

References