The Arathi of Hallowfall: Origin of the New Settlement
The Hallowfall Arathi crossed the Storming Sea into a buried cavern, raised Mereldar beneath the crystal Beledar, and now guard against Renilash.
By:
John Langan
Key Takeaways
- The Hallowfall Arathi are a splinter of the old Arathi Empire who crossed the Storming Sea and were swept into the cavern of Hallowfall, where they raised the city of Mereldar.
- They descend from the humans of Arathor and the high elves of Quel'Thalas, which makes the modern Arathi a mixed-race people who simply call themselves Arathi.
- Beledar, the immense crystal lodged in the cavern ceiling, is their sun and the fulfillment of the Emperor's Vision. It periodically darkens into Beledar's Shadow.
- General Steelstrike commands the settlement's defense, while the Lamplighter Faerin Lothar is the player's window into Arathi life.
- The Arathi stand watch against Renilash, the prophesied final battle between Light and the Void foretold in "The Song of Renilash."
- Their home is besieged by kobyss raiders from the Undersea and nerubians spilling out of neighboring Azj-Kahet.
With that summary in hand, here is the fuller story of how a lost expedition came to call a buried cavern home.
Who Are the Hallowfall Arathi?
When The War Within sent players beneath Khaz Algar, the cavern of Hallowfall introduced one of the expansion's most striking peoples: the Hallowfall Arathi. They are not strangers to Azeroth's history. Their roots reach back to the empire of Arathor, the first great human nation of the Eastern Kingdoms, and to the high elves of Quel'Thalas who fought beside it. Centuries ago a branch of that bloodline sailed away to found an empire of their own across the ocean, and their descendants are the Arathi we meet today. They no longer call themselves human or elf. They are simply Arathi.
From their capital city of Mereldar in the western reaches of the cavern, the Arathi spread docks, farms, and villages across Hallowfall using a fleet of Light-touched airships. Mereldar stands as proof of their resilience: a fortress-city carved out of a hostile underground world, built by people who arrived with nothing but faith and the wreckage of their fleet.
The Voyage Across the Storming Sea
More than a decade before the events of The War Within, the Arathi emperor received a vision through the Sacred Flame, a radiant light he believed was the future of his people. Pursuing that prophecy, the Hallowfall Expedition set sail across the treacherous Storming Sea. Their fleet was caught in a tremendous storm and then enveloped in a golden radiance that carried them, impossibly, into the sealed cavern of Hallowfall. They have been stranded there ever since, cut off from the empire they left behind.
Beledar and the Emperor's Vision
The light the emperor saw was real, and it had a name. Beledar is a colossal crystal driven into the ceiling of the cavern, and it bathes Hallowfall in light, warmth, and growth like a buried sun. To the Arathi it is the fulfillment of the Emperor's Vision, the very star that drew them across the sea. It is the heart of their settlement and their faith in equal measure.
Beledar is not constant. On a recurring cycle the crystal slips into a void state the Arathi call Beledar's Shadow, draping the cavern in darkness and danger. During these Days of Darkness the Lamplighters keep the dawntowers burning so the settlement is not overrun while the light is gone. That rhythm of light and shadow shapes daily life in a way no surface zone ever demanded of its people.
Life in Hallowfall: A Settlement Under Siege
Survival in Hallowfall is a constant fight on several fronts. The cavern is not empty, and the Arathi are not its only claimants. Kobyss raiders rise from the black water of the Undersea, while nerubians swarm in from the neighboring depths of Azj-Kahet. The settlement's military answer is led by General Steelstrike, who has drilled the Arathi into a people who can hold a wall in the dark.
Much of what the player learns about that struggle comes from Faerin Lothar, a Lamplighter known as "the Stowaway." She crossed the sea as a child hidden aboard the fleet, lost an arm and an eye to the cavern's dangers, and fights now with a prosthetic shield. Faerin surmises she shares distant blood with Anduin Lothar, the Lion of Azeroth, whose branch of the family stayed in the old world. Her personal story is the human thread that makes the Arathi feel less like a faction and more like a people.
Behind the daily fighting sits a heavier purpose. Arathi prophecy speaks of Renilash, the foretold final battle between Light and the Void. The Hallowfall Expedition did not sail merely to find new land; it sailed to take its place in that coming war. Read through that lens, the Arathi are not refugees who washed ashore by accident. They are a people who believe they were carried to Hallowfall to guard against the end.
If reading their story leaves you wanting to walk Hallowfall yourself, you can still explore the War Within campaign before it rotates out of the spotlight.
| Character | Role | What They Add |
|---|---|---|
| Faerin Lothar | Lamplighter ("the Stowaway") | The player's storyteller and emotional anchor in Hallowfall. |
| General Steelstrike | Military Leader | Commands the defense of Mereldar against kobyss and nerubians. |
With those figures in mind, the larger meaning of the Arathi story comes into focus.
What the Arathi Mean for the Story Ahead
The Hallowfall Arathi opened a door that the game has not yet walked all the way through. Their original empire, somewhere across the Storming Sea, remains unvisited. That leaves an obvious thread for the future: a people who never stopped hoping to return home, and a homeland that no current expansion has shown. Nothing has been promised, so treat it as the open question it is. Even so, few War Within stories planted a seed quite as deliberate as this one.
What makes the Arathi land is the specificity. Mereldar is a real place with a real skyline, Beledar is a sun with a shadow, Faerin is a soldier with a name and a wound, and Renilash gives the whole settlement a reason to exist. That is the difference between background lore and a people worth remembering.
FAQ
Where did the Hallowfall Arathi come from?
They are descendants of a branch of the Arathi Empire that sailed away from the Eastern Kingdoms generations ago. Following the Emperor's Vision, the Hallowfall Expedition crossed the Storming Sea and was magically transported into the cavern of Hallowfall, where they have been stranded for more than a decade.
What is Beledar in Hallowfall?
Beledar is the giant crystal embedded in the cavern ceiling that lights Hallowfall like a sun. The Arathi see it as the fulfillment of the Emperor's Vision. It cycles into a void state called Beledar's Shadow, plunging the cavern into a Day of Darkness.
Is Faerin Lothar related to Anduin Lothar?
Faerin surmises that she and Anduin Lothar are distant relatives, with his branch of the Lothar family having stayed in the old world. It is presented as her own conclusion rather than a confirmed bloodline, so the connection is best read as a likely but unproven family tie.
What is Renilash?
Renilash is the prophesied final battle between Light and the Void, foretold in the Arathi text "The Song of Renilash." It is a prophecy of an apocalyptic end rather than a place, and guarding against it is the Arathi's stated reason for crossing the sea.
Who leads the Arathi in Hallowfall?
General Steelstrike (Vaelisia Steelstrike) commands the Arathi military and the defense of Mereldar. Faerin Lothar, the Lamplighter often mistaken for the settlement's leader, is a combatant and storyteller rather than the ruler.
What threats do the Arathi face in Hallowfall?
Two outside forces press the settlement constantly: kobyss raiders rising from the Undersea and nerubians attacking from Azj-Kahet. Internally, the Void-worshipping Order of Night plots against the Arathi from within their own ranks.
Is the old Arathi Empire ever shown in the game?
Not yet. The homeland the Hallowfall Arathi left behind across the Storming Sea has not appeared in any expansion to date. It remains a notable loose thread in their story rather than confirmed future content.
Last reviewed 2026-06-24 against Patch 11.0.2 The War Within. Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.