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The Scarab Dais lore and history - Field Photographer Friday

Updated 6 years ago by Preston in Field Photographer Friday, Lore, Warcraft. View the change log.

Field Photographer Friday is a weekly look at the lore and history behind locations around World of Warcraft. This week, we're taking a look at the Scarab Dais!

Prales on the Scarab Dais Thumbnail
Prales on the Scarab Dais

The Scarab Dais is located in southern Silithus on the Kalimdor continent, just outside of Ahn’Qiraj. The Dais, and the Scarab Gong it holds are relics of the Qiraji empire that were reconstituted by Fandral Staghelm and Anachronos following the War of the Shifting Sands nearly 1,000 years before World of Warcraft’s time. Following the War, the duo and their armies created a magical barrier around the walls of Ahn’qiraj and set the Scarab Gong atop the Dais to be used as the mechanism to open the Scarab Gate, should the need ever arise. The Gong has seemingly been guarded by Jonathan the Revelator, a Watcher from the Bronze dragonflight, since it was put in place.

The need to open the Scarab Gate and face the Qiraji inside came almost 1,000 years later, during the middle of Classic World of Warcraft, when it was discovered the old god C’Thun had awakened and begun empowering the Qiraji. With the empowered Qiraji able to find ways passed the barrier, it was clear they needed to be stopped from within. Thus began the long process of both the Horde and Alliance heroes collecting war supplies and forming the Scepter of the Shifting Sands to ring the Gong at the Scarab Dais. This event is widely considered the largest and most spectacular event in World of Warcraft, one which has never quite been replicated on the same scale. The Scepter questline took heroes through the process of acquiring shards from each of the dragonflights, requiring them to face many of the toughest bosses at the time, all while “racing” against each other for the coveted Scarab Lord title and mount. The collection of war supplies took the effort of all heroes on a realm and required tens of thousands of materials to be turned in before the Scarab Gong could be rung, ushering in the Ahn’Qiraj War.

The Scarab Dais and Scarab Gong Thumbnail
The Scarab Dais and Scarab Gong

With the Qiraji and C’Thun defeated, the Scarab Dais has remained unused for years, serving simply as a reminder of the efforts put forth by the Horde and Alliance leading up to and during the war. It will likely never see use again unless there comes a time when Ahn’qiraj must be sealed up once again.

With the micro-holiday system added during the Legion expansion, the Call of the Scarab event takes place on January 23. This event commemorates the date when the very first Scarab Gate was opened on the US-Medivh server. It features several quests and world events in Silithus meant to mimic some that were available or required during the original event. This includes the collection of war supplies which are turned in at the Scarab Dais. The faction which collects the most supplies during the event will have their banners flown near the Dais and the Scarab Gate until the next time the event is active.

Additional Lore Resources for The Scarab Dais

Fandral Staghelm - +

Former Archdruid of Darnassus, first Druid of the Flame.

Anachronos - +

Child of Nozdormu and prominent member of the Bronze dragonflight.

Articles

C'Thun - +

The Old God of madness and chaos.

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Join me every Friday as I work to expand my lore knowledge while completing the Field Photographer achievement. Read lore summaries for each location and follow up with resources where you can go more indepth! I encourage you to share your own selfies and any additional lore resources you know of in the comments below, or tweet @PrestonDvorak. Bonus points if the selfie is somewhere you shouldn’t be (such as an Alliance player in Orgrimmar)!


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