[Update #2]: Shadowlands' animated shorts are here to introduce the four Covenants!

[Update]: World of Warcraft's Shadowlands expansion will allow secondary characters to skip the story bits!

World of Warcraft's Shadowlands expansion is set to launch this October 27th, and in order to celebrate its upcoming arrival, Blizzard is looking to give away a unique mount to all players. This won't be any random mount, however, but rather one out of five concepts voted by the WoW community!

While there is sadly no concept art showing off what these mounts might look like, their names are fairly descriptive and you should have an easy time figuring out just what the final product will look like. As for the mounts themselves, here's what's on offer:

Wandering Ancient – Not all ancients are interested in war or lore, some just want to travel the world! A large and leafy mount, the Wandering Ancient invites you to climb aboard and grab ahold of its branches as you embark on a lumbering expedition.

Soaring Spelltome – In the forgotten depths of the Dalaran library, this oversized tome was found flapping madly around the room. Open the pages of this arcane-infused book and hitch a ride to magical adventure.

Nerubian Swarmer – When the Helm of Domination shattered, the Nerubians under the control of the Lich King were unleashed. Some were captured by the Argent Crusade and turned by their allies in the Ebon Blade. Now their spidery claws are put to use as mounts, skittering through the frozen tundra of Icecrown in pursuit of the rampaging undead.

Curious Caterpillar – A curious caterpillar found its way to the Heartland in Valley of the Four Winds one night and gorged itself on the oversized vegetables. The Pandaren of Halfhill awoke the next morning to find the crops half-eaten and an enormous, slumbering caterpillar among them. Too large to become a butterfly, this friendly worm is just the right size to train as a mount.

Gooey Slimesaber – From the slime pools of Plaguefall emerged all manner of jellied creature, including this sticky kitty. A slimy saber cat that’s dripping with ooze, it’s the kind of mount that you’re going to want to wear gloves for.

The polls will close on September 18th, so do make sure to cast your vote over at the official website sooner rather than later. The only catch is that you'll need an active WoW subscription in order to do so, as that's the only way you can actually post on the forums.

You can expect to see the mount arrive at some point in early 2021, though no exact release date has been set just yet, for obvious reasons. More importantly, this mount will be entirely free for everyone that owns Shadowlands!

Oh, and if you're wondering, I'm on team caterpillar because that sounds like an absolutely ridiculous concept, and one that I would love to see zooming around the world!