Devourers - Where are they from and what are they?

[Belorious-aerie-peak]

Has anyone got any information on these lot?
The Wowpedia entry on them seems to be a bit of stub and we seem to know very little about them at the moment.
I’ve also got this funny feeling the next zone we visit might begin to touch on their origins alongside potentially that of the Brokers? Like for instance were the devourers the native inhabitants before the enigmatic First Ones ordered the Shadowlands as the PC sees it today?
They seem to be endemic to the Shadowlands itself and pop up anywhere where one of the covenants seems to be weak due to infighting, or doesn’t have too much oversight of within their own realms. Overall, being drawn to any large concentrations of anima once they detect it.

Also, I remember someone was questioning some clarity on the role of Maldraxxus as the defenders of the Shadowlands on another thread.
A Venthyr calling popped up today from Rendle asking the PC to aid Maldraxxus. Within the quest text he mentions the Devourers being a significant threat to all of the Shadowlands and touches on how that covenant used to defend all of them.

Quest text as reference: https://www.wowhead.com/quest=60397/aiding-maldraxxus#comments

Could it speculated that one of the primary objectives of the Maldraxxus covenent as envisioned by the First Ones was to keep the tide of devourers at bay? If so what happens now that they are no longer actively fulfilling this duty and what are the consequences of this lapse in their vigilance?

The impression I get so far as I can tell, is that they seem to be treated like how the Old God threat was foreshadowed during the events of Legion and the early stages of BFA.

[Crahlak-argent-dawn]

They don’t belong to the Shadowlands. During a quest near the Theater of Pain we follow a Broker to pacify a giant anima monster, surrounded by anima devourers and « insects-like ». This place is located in Argus.

[anon42187138]

I remember reading they exist between the veil of the shadowlands and the rest of reality.

so maybe like their own plane of reality, its too early to tell if they are just a throwaway creature or not

[Icefall-hellfire (Icefall)]

From what I’ve read, they originate from The In-Between - the realm between the other realms of the Shadowlands that we pass through when entering/leaving Oribos on a flight path.

It used to be full of anima, presumably because some leaked into as souls passed through it into their respective afterlives. With the drought, the devourers have left their home realm seeking other sources of anima, turning up in all the other realms.