The Dark Portal and Outland

[Nograx]

Hey guys,

Foremost Spoiler warning regarding the Dark portal in WoD.

Let's get to it then.

I just had a realisation, regarding to the Dark Portal, that most likely will heavily affect the Tribes buisness.
Most of you know already, that when WoD hits, the Dark Portal in the blasted lands will change its colour and will be realligned to Draenor in an alternate Timeline, with the Iron Horde and stuff.

The problem that we now get, is that our way to Outland is cut off, meaning the World/Continent will be completely blocked off. Seeing that there is no connection anymore. So no entry and this will also mean, that we cant travel to Outland ever again.

Of course this is just speculation as seen in this Forum post.

But this should in my opinion be discussed in some form or another.

Greetings,
Nograx

[Groshnok]

Are portals we see to Shattrah counted IC? If so, they'd be counted.

I'm sure if not anyway, there'll be some reason in the CoT, a mini Dark-Portal or something.

[Regorn]

I always found the Mage portals hard to accept IC

If they could just open portals, why were there even humans trapped in Outland? Just close the portal and let that incredibly powerful wizard you have with you open a portal home.

Maybe they needed a link to Azeroth to make a portal there? Would explain why they could not open them until the Dark Portal reopening. But if that is it, then they will close in Shattrah.

I can accept very powerful mages (like Jaina) making portals inside a world (like from Stormwind to Ogrimmar) but open a portal to an other world? Was that not realllllllly hard? (I mean, Draenor exploding hard).

[Therak]

Eh, portals themselves isn't a problem at that. I'm guessing there'll be some kind of connection, because the portal from Outlands doesn't shut from what I gather.
My personal guess would be something in CoT to get there. If not, the tribe could just get a portal from the capital to get through.
The thing to remember is that (at least for me) fun RP > mechanics to a point at least. Portals shouldn't be used to bounce all over the world at speed. But to get to the original places. Heck, could even be a major storyline to arrange a consistent passage like that.

[Sadok]

Are portals we see to Shattrah counted IC? If so, they'd be counted.

I always found the Mage portals hard to accept IC

If they could just open portals, why were there even humans trapped in Outland? Just close the portal and let that incredibly powerful wizard you have with you open a portal home.

Maybe they needed a link to Azeroth to make a portal there? Would explain why they could not open them until the Dark Portal reopening. But if that is it, then they will close in Shattrah.

I feel there needs to be a distinction made between the Dark Portal itself and other forms of dimensional gateway (which encapsulates portals, including from Shattrath, if it's to be taken in-characterly).

A dimensional gateway is effectively a portal linking two worlds - it's unstable, volatile and often haphazard in nature. Even with the inherent risk, it's possible for certain highly-trained magi to use these -- Kel'thuzad was able to use the Dalaran ley nexus to summon Archimonde to Azeroth, and in WC3:TFT, Kael'thas and Vashj use the same dormant rift to travel to Outland.

What seems to be established in these appearances is that they're short-term gateways that do tremendous damage to Draenor's already shattered remnants - it was Ner'zhul's uncontrolled use of dimensional gateways that tore the very planet asunder. Another Frozen Throne mission has Illidan and Kael'thas shut down these remaining gateways to stabilise Outland while cutting off Legion reinforcements.

The Dark Portal, in contrast, is depicted as a significantly more stable gateway that is specifically fixed between Outland and Azeroth, rather than the more transitive properties of other dimensional rifts.

The exact mechanics of its use in WoD are as of yet unclear, but it's evident that its primary reagent is fel in nature (meaning effectively the sacrifice of life-force) -- the lush Tanaan jungle around the Portal has become fel-corrupted and is dying off, and Gul'dan is being used as some sort of fel-battery to kick-start its energies.

I'm not certain as of yet whether the Dark Portal remains open during the course of WoD, but even if its gateway leads to the AU Draenor, it likely still has some form of immutable transdimensional connection to Outland -- a sort of anchor that continues to draw two areas together despite the vast spatial gulf (the exact plot of Warcraft 2: BtDP, which revealed that there was still a dormant connection despite the destruction of the first Dark Portal).

It of course begs the question of why Khadgar couldn't harness this connection (as even Illidan and Kael'thas did). If ley-lines are truly as important a piece of the puzzle as I suspect (specifically the ley conflux of Karazhan's relation to the Dark Portal, and the prior-mentioned Dalaran portal), then it may be that the ley-lines of Outland were too damaged to successfully empower a dimensional gateway without the Dark Portal being in full force -- it might risk causing Outland's complete destruction. As such, traveling from Azeroth to Outland would have been a good deal easier than traveling from Outland to Azeroth.

What does this mean for travel to Outland in WoD? Who knows, let's see!  

[-Catari]

On a pure OOC note, i'd be cautious by saying you cant go to Outland's in WoD. That's alot of awesome rp areas cut out for you for 2 years.

[Nograx]

On a pure OOC note, i'd be cautious by saying you cant go to Outland's in WoD. That's alot of awesome rp areas cut out for you for 2 years.

Indeed. I just wanted to bring your attention on this for one reason. So the guys, that plan our events can take it into consideration. So we can avoid an awkward situation like the Tribe sitting in Outland and WoD hitting, robbing us of a good explanation to return to Azeroth... if the connection between Outland and Azeroth gets cut off in WoD.

On another note. I am fully aware, that the way of getting to outland, will be transfered into the caverns of time. Though there are some problems with that. First off the Caverns of Time are used to witness past events and making sure they happen. The other problem is, that even if that Portal in the Caverns of Time connects to the real Outlands (which Sadok stated might be highly unlikely, considering the nature of Portals), will the Tribe IC'ly be bothered to go through the Bronze Dragons territory, just to visit a broken world?