This part is exceptionally fascinating. This would be quite interesting to explore.
Knowing SI:7 they’re ignorant. Worst spy organisation ever.
They canonically oscillate between clockwork police state surveillance and hilarious incompetence up to and including being infiltrated and led by a dreadlord, so… yeah…
The shattered hand on the other… hand are clearly caught up in orc clan politics and it’s the undead deathstalkers that do the covert ops heavy lifting with Voss as a prime field agent.
I wish we knew more about each faction’s and kingdom’s spooks but it’s too niche for blizzard to bother. I imagine the dark iron clan fields the finest dwarf assassins and the sneakier rangari serve a similar role for the draenei.
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I have no idea what you’re talking about, Levey.
Of course, there’s no such thing as a dwarf assassin.
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The san’layn, beings primarily suited for intelligence, infiltration and being commanders, were conceived of to replace the vacuum left by the loss of the Nathrezim in the Scourge.
I don’t think it was ever said so explicitly anywhere, but it makes perfect sense in my headcanon.
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To rural Gilneans, and by extension ancient Humanity as a whole, Hallow’s End used to be a far more involved and sacred affair than it is currently in Azeroth - though some wary and superstitious folks may still deem to practice it.
It would have involved the gathering of rural communities for a day of both mourning and celebration to both mark the passing and celebrate the lives of those who passed; in the cities the celebrations may be led by a King, Queen, Mayor or notable figure but in the rural communities it would have been a notable farmer, alderman or even a Harvest Witch themself.
The pumpkin’s usage and symbolism in Hallow’s End represented not just a bounty to be used during the feast, or as tribute to the dead but also abundance; the pumpkin grows in large quantities in the northern Eastern Kingdoms after all so its usage by the common folk as a sign of the autumnal event was common sense, it helped keep the populace fed going into winter so allowing it to be given an elevated status at a holiday that marked the beginning of winter was a pleasing notion to your average peasant.
What of the spiritual part of Hallow’s End however? Well, that would depend upon whom you ask. The rural folk, led by the alders and Harvest Witches that helped their bounties bloom and kept the local populace fed and well-tended might have believed this to be a more joyous occasion, a time where they would set their humble tables with food for both the living and the dead of their family, hoping to appease their ancestors or seek a boon from the otherworldly. Harvest Witches, whom would know more than most of the magical, alchemical and supernatural, would lead any rites or prayers for the departed who wished to return for one night where the veil was thin as they set candles and incese across the towns to help guide the spirits back home for one, solitary night of celebration.
But in the cities? Hearts of industrialisation and “progress” that largely shunned “The Old Ways” of Ancient Humanity and the Harvest Witches in favor of the Holy Light, Church and Civilisation your average citizen may be far less open to the notion of welcoming spirits; symbols of the Church and Light strewn across the homes of the very faithful to ward off “evil” spirits, whilst the “friendly” spirits may be welcomed by the clergy with prayers and hymns.
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Outland slowly dying is a known axiom, but it’s not something unnatural or not supposed to happen. The reason is the fact that a continent-sized chunk of stone is not enough to mantain gravity, atmosphere and suitable climate on its own. And to prevent it from becoming a barren asteroid drifting in open space, the local elementals slowly burn themselves out to sustain the life on the surface. It’s similar to the Wandering Isle, which too would have deteriorated from the soil exhaustion and lack of fresh water ages ago if not for the elementals, but far worse due to lack of spiritual resources as well. The local denizens know about this too, which might well be the main source of orcs, draenei and Broken among the Primalists’ ranks. They simply wish to save their home by bolstering the Furies… although whether the Incarnates would be interested in claiming the dying continent is to be found.
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With the current and ongoing peace on Azeroth in general and relatively between the Horde and Alliance many Paladins have either retired (having been older veterans from the Old Alliance of Lordaeron) or have taken up station training new faithful and acting as peacekeepers and civil servants of the Alliance as they did in past times of peace between war; helping the needy, tending to the sick, offering philosophical/mental/physical guidance and overall acting as a beacon of the highest virtues of the Alliance.
This return to idyllic-esque form that ended up shaping the philosophy of Paladins such as Uther, Bolvar, Tirion and Turalyon has in turn led to some Paladins often taking up ambassadorial roles in negotiations, both because of their ability to calm a situation supernaturally but also because a shared value and belief in the Holy Light amongst some of the Forsaken, the majority of Blood Elves and other Horde/Neutral races allows for negotiations to start off more postiviely due to the shared reverence they all hold for the Holy Light.
The return of General Turalyon has also helped ease this return to a more pacifistic state-of-being for the Church and Silver Hand as he was a fervent believer in Uther’s philosophy of Paladins as civil servants and living symbols of nobility, compassion and justice.
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Great, now I imagine paladins trading in their suits of armor for fancy suits and their weapons for briefcases full of documents.
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Sir that’s called a Libram.
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bubble is diplomatic immunity
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That means Peter Griffin is a paladin.
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Druids all across Azeroth feel a pull toward the Dream. Quite unlike the disquieting ripple from the sprawling infection of the Nightmare in years past, it’s a strange experience particularly harsh on novices unprepared for the overwhelming surge.
Such novices end up dazed and half awake at the best of times and others need to be coaxed from their dreaming by their elders. It’s a spiritual as well as physical adjustment and millennia of accumulated knowledge for handling similar states are drawn upon daily.
This in turn causes a rise in material costs for the potions and herbs valued for such procedures and many are happy to exploit the situation for some quick coin while certain druid elders make it a point to cultivate these herbs quickly to cover the intense demand.
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A random thought.
As the general awareness of the ways of the afterlife are known, people have largely folded these concepts neatly into their existing beliefs. It has however created some friction with people arguing which afterlives exist and which ones clearly cannot be true.
Religious orthodoxy, while taking a mighty blow, defiantly remains upright but curious theological questions have risen as to what exactly constitutes a sin as judged by the Arbiter and pronounced in judgement by the Accuser.
These two figures loom large specifically in the moral absolutism of the Church of the Holy Light. A new, somewhat more extensive list of great Virtues and grave Sins are hotly debates among the learned.
One odd detail is that it is known that all cats go to Revendreth. Are they just naturally sinful, unclean creatures? This idea is unpopular among many humans, as humanity is rather infamously responsible for spreading housecats across the world in their enduring fondness of the things even if they’re invasive!
Kaldorei similarly take offense at the notion that their great cats are bound for a realm of penitent torment.
Ultimately it’s no less a cultural problem than the controversy regarding squids and octopi in years past as unholy spawn of the Old Gods and unfit for consumption by the righteous, something that’s in these days regarded as a silly overreaction.
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I doubt this is going to find much appeal, but:
The Lordaeron part of the Silver Hand is seen by the older members of the Order as a more prestigious “chapter”. Be it due to nostalgia, personal bias or what have you. For one reason or antoher, those who were part of the Order during its glory days see its current form as something lesser than what it once was.
To maybe add to that fire, clergy/members of the “Southern Order” have taken to trying to establish some manner of authority over the northern survivors who threw their lot with the Alliance. Leaving some of the old survivors with a small bit of resentment towards the Cathedral’s authorities.
Due to the Scourge doing what we all know they did, items once thought as ordinary are now seen as relics in the eyes of those who somehow managed to survive the Order’s dissolution by Arthas.
Be it old standards, weapons that once blinded onlookers, or ceremonial cloaks blessed to protect their wearers. With plenty of that having fallen into the hands of the Forsaken, such items have grown even more difficult to obtain/recover.
Attempts at creating a blade that would rival the Ashbringer have been made in the past by other vengeance driven Paladins, all meeting obvious failure.
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(This one’s because I’m sure I’ve heard Gilnean npc’s say it as a farewell)
When Gilneans bid one another farewell, they say “Gilneas will rise again.” Not just as a farewell, but also as a promise, from one Gilnean to another, from one Gilnean to the rest of their people, until the words stood etched into the collective heart of the people.
Throughout the years, as the Gilneans recovered from being a people scattered across the globe, the words were still being repeated, even if some started to doubt whether or not they could follow through on that promise. They fought alongside the rest of the Alliance to protect the homes of others, their bloody feud with the Forsaken and by extension the rest of the Horde continued. But always, the longing for their own homeland would stay with them, even if it was only in farewells.
Now, as the wars between the Alliance and Horde have come to an end, and the former Princess of Lordaeron, Calia Menethil, has expressed a desire to have the Forsaken pull out of Gilneas, hope is rekindled amongst the people, and the by now near-hallowed words were spoken with a renewed sense of hope.
“Gilneas will rise again.”
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Random thoughts of late that I treat as headcanon:
Kul tiran medical science, to the delight of the tidesages, long ago concluded that the body contains an astounding amount of water. Thus the expression “I feel it in my waters” is an expression of deeply held intuitive certainty with a touch of spiritual affirmation.
Dracthyr, as test tube creations are more akin to clones from a template than a biological species of their own. As such, they cannot breed and have common features akin to siblings, not that non-dracthyr can really tell. As such, they embrace their varied visages as self expression.
Shadow Word: Pain and the Agony spell are essentially the exact same shadow magic called different things by priests and warlocks, the latter being willing to steal any suffciently useful trick and dark magic they can manage.
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This could be fun, but everyone have to be accepted and is valid now, according to Blizzard, we gonna forgive Sargeras one day, and if you protest againt it, you are a bad guy. 
Societal change is normal and knowing the shape of the afterlife, the truly remorseful of monsters have an undeniable chance to be redeemed. This sort of thing would spawn new theological schools and philosophies, budding off new sects of Light worship more focused on redemption while others would focus on fear of judgement.
Alas, the lore writing team isn’t interested in social factors, political realignments and religious reform, just portraying the change of a more tolerant society.
I insist the yearly crisis of world ending calamity, perpetual war and objective facts about all our faiths would have cataclysmic consequences with azeroth’s people caught between apathetic despair, constant civil and world war(s) and a collapsing global economy.
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