[Update #2]: The Shadowlands expansion will be launching for real this November 23rd!

[Update]: Blizzard has now detailed what's coming with the Shadowlands pre-patch.

Once World of Warcraft's Shadowlands expansion launches this October 27th, players will be able to ally themselves with one of four Covenants: the Kyrian of Bastion, the Necrolords of Maldraxxus, the Venthyr of Revendreth and the Night Fae of Ardenweald. Each of the Covenants will feature their own storyline and will offer players new abilities, talent-like effects, and naturally, fancy cosmetics.

So in order to help you figure out just where each of the Covenants stand, as well as what sort of trouble they'll need a bit of help with, Blizzard has now released four animated shorts highlighting just that. Have a gander, starting with my favorite - Revendreth:

To learn more about the gameplay side of things, or just Shadowlands in general, you should hop on over to the official website. And if you don't mind spoilers, you'll also find a whole bunch of previews and gameplay videos online given that the Shadowlands beta has been going on for quite a while now.

The final thing worth mentioning is that the Shadowlands pre-patch is likely going to arrive in late September or early October, so if you're thinking about coming back to World of Warcraft, I'd highly recommend waiting until the update arrives. Once it does, I'll make sure to let you know, but until then enjoy the animated shorts!