World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is quickly approaching launch. The game is set to release on October 27 and the team at Activision-Blizzard is full into the hype cycle. Their set of Afterlives shorts just released its third video. This go-around, we're getting a better look at the machinations happening in Ardenweald. For all you druid fans out there, it's finally time to see what Ursoc has been up to since Legion. Spoilers: it's mostly sleeping while waiting to be reborn. Check it out below.

Seeing Ursoc is pretty neat, but the bigger characters here are Ara'lon and the Winter Queen. These two members of the Wild Hunt are set up as two NPCs you'll encounter during the Ardenweald questline. If my World of Warcraft history is anything to go by, Ara'lon is going to introduce you to the zone, while the Winter Queen will play a part in some major raid. Obviously, if you really want to know, the info is probably available in the beta patch notes. I'm not spoiling myself though.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is shaping up to be more exciting for me personally than I was originally expecting. While the gameplay is mostly still the same old WoW, the lore implications have sufficiently piqued my interest. I, of course, won't be surprised if I'm disappointed, but seeing some lesser-known characters showing up in these shorts has me ready to give the expansion a try.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands launches on October 27 on PC. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that last Afterlives short. It should be out sometime next week. We'll get a look at what's going on with the vampiric Venthyr over in Revendreth. That's the covenant I messed around with most in the beta. I'm expecting some Game of Thrones-like plotting.