Nazjatar

Nazjatar (pronounced "NAWZ-juh-tahr") is the subaqueous capital city of the naga race, ruled by Queen Azshara, the former ruler of the Kaldorei Empire. It forms the core of the empire of the same name.

Nazjatar is a new zone that came with patch 8.2.0. It is located inside a massive crevasse in the middle of the Great Sea, created by Azshara's power. The entire zone is below water level and is entirely surrounded by waterfalls. This large open-world zone will culminate in the champions of the Horde and the Alliance confronting Queen Azshara.

Description
''Delve into the depths of Nazjatar, capital city of the naga, in an all-new full zone far beneath the sea, and set foot in this fabled area for the first time in WoW history. This is a large zone with new story quests, new and interesting friends and allies to meet and befriend, new foes to overcome, a variety of replayable outdoor content, and new rewards to earn including new mounts and even a baby naga!''

Everything culminates at Azshara's palace where players will face her in her seat of power.

Nazjatar is a dangerous and beautiful place, filled with coral forests and unfathomable deep-sea creatures skittering through passageways and clinging to rockfaces. Secrets that have remained submerged for millennia are now exposed to the surface world, including the ancient ruins of Zin-Azshari, the once-glorious capital of the kaldorei. Further in the depths, the beautiful and terrible city of the naga—and the palace of the Queen of Tides herself—awaits.

History
The city was constructed following the events of the Great Sundering, when the remaining Highborne were transformed into naga. Under the direction of their ever-pragmatic Queen Azshara and Lady Vashj, they set about constructing a new capital beneath the waves of the Great Sea, where Zin-Azshari and the Well of Eternity were once located. Thus, Nazjatar was created, and Azshara knew that one day her empire under the sea would eclipse even that of the ancient night elves.

The naga of Nazjatar are masters of sorcery and natural dwellers of the ocean deeps. The naga reinforcements sent to Azuremyst Isle for Warlord Sriss'tiz came directly from Nazjatar.

Battle for Azeroth


While the Alliance struck a decisive blow to the Horde in the Battle of Dazar'alor, it was not without some casualties. With both sides reeling from the events and healing their wounds, the naga made their move and begin striking against the two. Taking any remaining ships, the Horde and the Alliance set sail and arrive in the ancient land of Nazjatar: the land of the naga and the location of Azshara's seat of power, her Eternal Palace, where they will face Queen Azshara herself.

Warchief Sylvanas Windrunner devised a plan to finally destroy the Alliance and end the war. For that outcome, she sent a fleet to the high seas from Zuldazar, led by Nathanos Blightcaller alongside Lor'themar Theron and First Arcanist Thalyssra. Sylvanas gave Nathanos the blade of Xal'atath to guide them to the rendezvous point. After finding out about it, the Alliance sent another fleet led by Lord Admiral Jaina Proudmoore alongside Genn Greymane and Shandris Feathermoon to chase them. It was at the rendezvous point that Queen Azshara used the Tidestone of Golganneth to open the seas making the two fleets wreck into the reefs of Nazjatar.

Wildlife
Outside the waterwall, the following wild animals can be seen swimming about:
 * Abyssal Hawkray
 * Archelion Great Turtle
 * Duskwave Dolphin
 * Reef Hammerhead
 * Reef Sawtooth
 * Reef Thresher
 * Whale Shark

In Lands of Mystery and Shadows & Light
The naga capital of Nazjatar is built into the walls of the Rift, just under the Maelstrom's center. This is the seat of their hideous empire, and it is an eerie and frightening place. The naga dominate the Eye from here.

Description
Much of Nazjatar was once a Kaldorei city (presumably Zin-Azshari), and the ruins and architecture remain. However, the naga have added a good amount of their own art to this place, dredging building material from coral and rock and the fallen ruins of their former civilization. The buildings' foundations merge with the walls of the Rift, though the structures themselves are oriented vertically, as normal (not horizontally; their foundations are on their walls). The place has a dark and sinister atmosphere, and naga swim among the buildings, conducting their nefarious plans. The buildings' colors are muted, usually tan or gray, and bear carvings of waves, seahorses, fish, and more disturbing motifs: powerful naga warriors and mages, battling the makrura, enslaving the mur'gul, and returning to the surface to exact revenge on their ancient kin.

Queen Azshara, grown massive in size and in power, dwells in the Eternal Palace in Nazjatar's center; this structure was her palace in the Kaldorei civilization 10,000 years ago as well.

Geography
Nazjatar is found in a trench beneath the Eye of the Maelstrom. Nearby areas of interest include Mak'aru — capital city of the makrura lobster-men, the Scintal Reef, the Gishan Caverns, Pillar Deep, the Boiling Terrace, and the Drowned Reaches.

In Dark Factions
The naga capital of Nazjatar is at the bottom of the ocean in the Eye, beneath the Maelstrom. Their city is built into the cliffside and adorned with fantastic decorations. Nazjatar is in fact built upon the remains of the former kaldorei capital of Zin-Azshari — as the naga changed with the Sundering and evolved over the millennia, so too did their city. In current times, many naga range out from Nazjatar. They prefer sea coasts and can be found throughout Azeroth.

Naga serve their own purposes and are united in their efforts to return their race to glory. All others — the Alliance, the Horde, the Scourge, the Burning Legion and all the rest — are either tools to further this goal or obstacles that must be destroyed.

History
When the Well of Eternity imploded it left behind residual energies, which twisted in the ocean depths near the naga's city. Over ten millennia these energies mutated the fallen Highborne, altering them even further to suit their new environment. The naga recast ruined Zin-Azshari into a new capital: Nazjatar. Ruling the naga was Azshara, now mutated into a terrible demigod.

Naga history takes a breather for 10,000 years. What they did while they sat in Nazjatar, aside from mutate, is not known. They probably tamed some native creatures to use in warfare. Studied arcane magic, and probably clashed with the makrura, whose capital Mak'aru is in close proximity. The makrura hate the naga and slaughter them on sight; in turn, the naga show no mercy to the makrura. Murlocs fear Nazjatar's power.

People and culture
Over the eons, Queen Azshara, the most powerful arcanist of the ancient world, has grown in power and magnificence. To the naga, she is a living demigod, and they venerate her. Her presence in Nazjatar is a powerful motivating force for the naga, and in their minds Azshara, Nazjatar, and the naga are inextricably linked — perhaps the same thing, in a way. Naga pay homage to their heritage and their queen. The beings they once revered as kaldorei — Malorne, Cenarius, even Elune — are nothing but shadows. The naga draw power from the arcane influence around Nazjatar.

While exceptions exist, naga men perform tasks requiring physical strength and stamina, while naga women take up intellectual pursuits. Men mine stone and coral for building, for example, while women draw the blueprints and create the strangely delicate frescoes that adorn Nazjatar's buildings. In military matters, men are warriors and guards, while women are generals and magi. As said, some exceptions exist, and male naga commanders are not completely unknown. Both men and women emphasize learning, from weaponsmithing to spellcraft. Naga know the value of knowledge. As far as anyone knows, the only real naga armies that currently exist are beneath the waves, in Nazjatar, and in Outland, where a force of naga under Lady Vashj works with Illidan Stormrage.

The naga have had millennia to adapt to their environment, and they make use of the surrounding areas and the native flora and fauna. Trained sharks, dragon turtles, and great serpentlike tube wyrms called tidal guardians patrol the waters around Nazjatar. Apparently, this rapport is not limited to creatures beneath the waves, for naga forces on land include trained couatl as well. The naga also work with a race called the mur'gul, who were once murlocs, but are now brutal, warped, and twisted due to the Legion's influence.

Notes and trivia

 * An Unseen Presence whispers to the player when in Deepcoil Tunnels or Shirakess Repository.
 * Naga on the Broken Isles occasionally yell "For Nazjatar!", and on Outland yell "By Nazjatar's Depths!"
 * The War of the Ancients Trilogy originally mentioned that Zin-Azshari sunk whole to the bottom of the ocean during the Great Sundering and, "over the centuries, [would] begin to birth a new horror", which back then implied that it would become Nazjatar. Other sources say that the naga "built" and "created" a "new" capital and empire at the bottom of the sea. In Battle for Azeroth, it is shown that the ruins of Zin-Azshari are part of Nazjatar.
 * Nazjatar was originally planned to be included in classic World of Warcraft as the capital for playable naga.
 * This zone takes some of the elements used in the Maelstrom's Eye RPG location, such as the subzone themes, the makrura inhabiting the region, or the slaves used by the naga.
 * The map labeled Nazjatar was first datamined long before the announcement of patch 8.2.0, during the Battle for Azeroth alpha.
 * Budding Deepcoral allows aquatic mounts function like normal mounts in Nazjatar. If players achieved Battle for Azeroth Pathfinder, Part Two, the mounts can fly beside Sea Turtle (mount).

Speculation

 * The name 'Nazjatar' is presumably derived from the name of the naga language, Nazja, or the opposite.
 * The destruction wrought by the Deathwing's emergence from Deepholm may have damaged Nazjatar, as this violent event occurred in the vicinity of the Maelstrom and, as such, near the naga capital.