Alcaz Prison

Where it lies

On Alcaz Island, northeast of Dustwallow Marsh. The island has been there since Classic, guarded and closed, and it is where Varian Wrynn was held. Walking onto it was possible; getting anything out of it was not.

What it is about

Forever opens it as a prison the Defias once used to hold nobles for ransom. Inside, Defias and naga are fighting each other - two groups with a claim to the same rock, neither of which is going to share it. For a place whose whole Classic role was "you may not go in here", that is a pointed way to answer the question.

What stood there before

Alcaz Island is not new. It has sat off the Dustwallow coast since Classic, guarded, hostile to anyone who swam over, and useful for nothing - the kind of place you reach once, look around, and leave. Its one story came later: this is where Varian Wrynn was held after he vanished, and the island turns up again in the quest chain that goes looking for him. Forever takes an island whose entire function was to be closed and puts a door in it. That is the same move as the gate in Azshara and the dome over Dalaran, three times over: the map already had the questions, and the answers were simply never built.

What it is built for

Levels 48 to 53, from Blizzard's list. Seventh of the nine, in the stretch where Classic sends everyone to the Sunken Temple and Blackrock Depths and little else.

What the beta can show of it

Out of reach, and by a wide margin: 48 to 53 against a beta that ends at 30. Alcaz Island itself has been walkable since Classic, so the outside is nothing new - but the prison is, and nobody outside Blizzard has been inside it. This page will stay thin until launch, and it says so rather than filling the space.

What is not known yet

Everything past the setting. No boss names, no mechanics, no loot, and no word on whether the island above the prison changes with it. The level range is the only figure Blizzard has published.