The Zandalari Prophecy

As of BfA, both Rastakhan and Zul's models have been updated for this story.

Starts from a quest item mailed to the player upon completion of the achievement The Zandalari Prophecy.

When you turn in the quest, Lorewalker Cho tells you a story complete with a play-like reenactment and casts Storytime on the player.

It is said the God King Rastakhan, ruler of the Zandalari, lords over his mighty kingdom from a throne carved of solid gold. Years ago, as he sat on this opulent seat of power, he was visited by his most trusted prophet: Zul.

Zul warned King Rastakhan of a terrible Cataclysm. For Zul had seen a vision of a great armored dragon clenching the world in his ferocious jaws. King Rastakhan did nothing.

Months later Zul returned, bearing more grim news from his visions. He saw a legion of serpents pouring forth from a gaping fissure that tore open the floor of the ocean. Still, King Rastakhan did nothing.

Finally, mere months before the Cataclysm, Zul returned. Tearing his clothes and throwing down his staff to the ground, Zul spoke of earthquakes and tidal waves. He described the golden capital of Zandalar slowly sinking beneath the waves in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, its once-great people drowning as their mighty works slipped forever beneath the sea.

King Rastakhan grew tired of Zul and his troubling nightmares. To be rid of the prophet, he granted Zul the use of his largest ships, so that he and his followers could seek a new land if his visions came to pass. And his visions DID come to pass.

When Deathwing rose from the Maelstrom, dark, angry waves crashed into the Zandalari capital. The spine of the land broke in two, and soon, the city and all its riches began to slide into the hungry sea. The Zandalari people turned to their King for help, but there was only one Zandalari equipped to help them: the prophet Zul. The prophet, and the mighty warfleet he had assembled while his King sat idle.

You see, the TRUE power of kings and emperors stems from the power to aid their people. The moment they fail, they cede their power to one who can.

You can have Lorewalker Cho tell the story again by talking to him or clicking on the book that is added to your bookcase in the Seat of Knowledge.

It wasn't as much retconned as it was expanded. Zul's prophesies turned out to be only partially true. Zandalar indeed took some serious damage but they managed to recover. However, those Zandalari who followed Zul had no idea that their home survived and Lorewalker Cho's speech is based on their faulty knowledge.