Without warning, the Lich King unleashed his necropoli. The floating fortresses appeared over several regions of Azeroth and terrorized the local populations.
The Argent Dawn sent word that the Scourge’s power was concentrated in Naxxramas, the best defended of all the necropoli. Home to the lich Kel’Thuzad and other mighty undead, it loomed over the Plaguelands.
Bolvar Fordragon recruited scores of Alliance heroes to assault Naxxramas. The twisted creatures that roamed the necropolis proved to be nearly insurmountable foes. The Alliance champions faced plagued abominations, a monstrous frost wyrm, and the Scourge’s most powerful death knights. Finally, they confronted Kel’Thuzad, and the lich unleashed all his power upon them.
But in the end, Kel’Thuzad fell. The Alliance had succeeded in stopping the Scourge’s short-lived invasion. Though they could not destroy Naxxramas itself, none dared stay inside the fortress. It soon began drifting back to Northrend.
With his last breath, Kel’Thuzad promised that he would return, more powerful than ever. They were not idle words.
Ten thousand years ago, a group of mortals had joined together with the powerful Wild Gods to drive back the Burning Legion’s invasion. It was a long, drawn-out war, filled with incredible victories, shocking betrayals, and heartbreaking sacrifices.
For creatures who could traverse the timeways like the bronze dragonflight, such a momentous period of history drew a great deal of attention. It was common for them to quietly observe the War of the Ancients in detail, for there always seemed to be new acts of heroism to witness.
But as the bronze dragons studied the War of the Ancients, they discovered that some parts of history were changing. At first, these anomalies were subtle, but they became more drastic, even to the point that the Burning Legion seemed to have won the war. Nozdormu, the Aspect of Time, could not see what force was corrupting the timeways, and that alarmed him greatly.
Since he could not discern what was altering history from the outside, Nozdormu dispatched three heroes into the past to make sure events played out correctly. They were the human mage Rhonin, the red dragon Korialstrasz, and Broxigar, an orc veteran of the First, Second, and Third Wars.
The three time-lost champions joined the night elf resistance and mounted a defense against the Legion to ensure that the demons were defeated. In the final battle, when events seemed to spiral out of control, Broxigar leapt through the Burning Legion’s portal to Azeroth, slaughtering countless demons.
TIMEWAY CORRUPTION
In all known realms of the cosmos, time flows forward, ever forward. Chaotic energies in places like the Twisting Nether can affect how quickly it flows, but it only flows forward.
Once an event happens, it cannot be changed. These events and choices, made up of all creatures and forces in the cosmos, join together like a river, sharing the same reality. Different choices and different possibilities naturally spin off the river of time like small creeks and estuaries, ebbing and flowing for a while. If these shades of what could have been are left alone, they will eventually dissipate into nothing. If efforts are made to preserve them (or alter them), they can indeed remain in existence indefinitely. They can even be made to feed back into the main river—dead creatures can seemingly “live again,” and the past (or future) may literally come back to haunt you. This is not a natural phenomenon, and the inhabitants of the main timeway will often find these experiences to be quite alarming.
But the only timeway that has a permanent effect on the cosmos is the main timeway. Creatures like the bronze dragons, who have command of temporal magic, can see all the countless tributaries of alternate universes and timelines, and they can even move back and forth along the stream to observe the past and the future.
If that main river is disrupted, it could spell doom and disaster. All life on Azeroth depends on time to flow ever forward. Without the surety that the sun will rise and set each day, the seasons would not pass, the cycle of life would become meaningless, and all living creatures would eventually die from being unable to sustain themselves. It is the most sacred mission of the bronze dragonflight to keep that from happening.
He died on Argus, the Legion’s seat of power, while challenging Sargeras himself.
After their mission was complete, Nozdormu returned Rhonin and Korialstrasz to the present. The sanctity of the timeways had been upheld, but it would not be the last time that anomalies would appear in history. Nozdormu became obsessed with unraveling the mystery of what—or who—was responsible.
He disappeared into the timeways and would not be seen again for years.
HORDE AND ALLIANCE FORCES BATTLE THE BURNING LEGION AT THE DARK PORTAL ON OUTLAND
Years before the assault on the Molten Core and Ahn’Qiraj, conflict raged on the broken realm of Outland.
Illidan Stormrage’s failed campaign against the Lich King had cost him dearly. He had fled from Northrend, wounded and humiliated, with much of his army broken and bloodied. His defeat had also drawn Kil’jaeden’s ire. The demon lord would not give him another chance to prove his worth.
But Illidan didn’t need one. The time for feigning subservience to the Legion was over. The time for his true war had begun.
Illidan assumed Kil’jaeden would launch an attack on Outland soon, and he strengthened his defenses in preparation. To replenish his army, he transferred the captured pit lord Magtheridon to Hellfire Citadel, former capital of the old Horde. Illidan’s servants bound the demon in enchanted bonds within the stronghold. They siphoned Magtheridon’s blood from his veins and infused it into hundreds of orcs, transforming them into ruthless, battle-crazed soldiers.
As Illidan’s army grew, so did its need for provisions. Most of Outland was a dust-blown wasteland. Food was scarce. Water, even more so. Illidan sent Lady Vashj and her naga to secure resources in one of the few regions that still had them: Zangarmarsh.
Zangarmarsh had once been a vast sea, but the destruction of Draenor had transformed it into a swampy mire of islands and waterways. The region teemed with creatures of all kinds, from lumbering fungal giants to small and primitive sporelings. Zangarmarsh was also home to a considerable population of draenei and their mutated cousins, the Broken.
Lady Vashj and her servants were well suited to the watery terrain, and they quickly spread to the far corners of Zangarmarsh. The draenei kept to their main refuge, Telredor, and used its defenses to fend off the naga.
Yet the Broken were not so lucky. In recent years, some of the twisted creatures had mended ties with the draenei and worked together with them. However, many tribes of Broken roamed the wilds in isolation. Lady Vashj hunted down these groups, and she used many of them as slave labor to forge Coilfang Reservoir in the heart of Zangarmarsh. The massive stronghold housed a complex network of machineries designed to leech water from the swamp.
Draining the water threw Zangarmarsh’s delicate ecosystem out of balance. Some creatures, like the fungal giants, began to die off. Yet Lady Vashj cared little about these consequences. Coilfang Reservoir was a success—it was keeping Illidan’s army alive.
From the Black Temple, Illidan Stormrage oversaw these activities. Most of the shattered realm had fallen under his sphere of influence, if not his direct control. Outland was effectively his domain.
With his defenses in place, he focused his attention on molding a new weapon to strike at the Legion. Years ago, he had envisioned making warriors in his own image, fellow elves empowered by demonic energy. A fighting force unified by their need for vengeance, willing to sacrifice everything to destroy the Legion.
He would call these new warriors demon hunters.
Illidan Stormrage forged his demon hunters from blood elves and night elves who came from all walks of life. They were sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers. Some were trained in the arts of war. Others were simple artisans. The one thing they had in
common was the hatred that burned in their souls. They had all lost someone to the Legion. And they were all consumed by a need for vengeance.
Illidan trained these elves within the Black Temple, but he kept their existence a secret from the rest of his allies. Even Kael’thas Sunstrider, leader of the blood elves, knew only rumors about what was happening. The stories that did reach his ears were grisly and almost too outlandish to believe.
The truth was even more unsettling. Illidan gave no quarter to his demon hunters during their training. He could not afford weakness in those who would stand by his side against the Legion. He forced each of his servants to eat the flesh of a demon and bind their spirit with the creature. This granted the elves great power as well as visions of the Legion’s true nature. What they saw was so shocking, so terrifying, that they cut out their own eyes.
Ingesting demon flesh also infused the trainees with fel energy. The elves transformed, sprouting horns and wings much like Illidan’s. From that point on, each demon hunter would fight an inner struggle against the monster that lurked in their soul. The spirits of the demons within them would constantly whisper in their minds, urging them to turn on Illidan and give in to the Legion.
Few prospective demon hunters survived the training. Most died in the process or were driven to madness. Those who became demon hunters were forever changed by their experiences.
Using the portals that remained open on Draenor, Illidan and his servants stormed into worlds controlled by the Legion and slaked their thirst for vengeance with demon blood.
For Illidan, these operations were mere overtures for what was to come. It wasn’t enough for him to destroy the Legion’s agents; he needed to destroy its worlds. Chief among these targets was Argus. It was the Legion’s seat of power, home to Kil’jaeden and other high-ranking commanders. Due to its location in the Twisting Nether, any demons Illidan killed there would be gone forever.
Destroying an entire world was not beyond Illidan Stormrage. He had studied Draenor’s fate, and he had learned how Ner’zhul’s uncontrolled spellwork had torn the world asunder. Illidan would do the same to Argus, but first he had to find it.
He knew of only one place to look for clues: Nathreza, homeworld of the dreadlords and a repository of the Legion’s arcana and forbidden knowledge. However, it would take time for Illidan to prepare for his assault.
Kil’jaeden had misjudged Illidan Stormrage. He’d once seen the former night elf as little more than a troublesome pest, but that was not the case. Illidan had forged an army of fel-empowered warriors. He had found a way to strike at Legion-controlled worlds.
Kil’jaeden knew this was only the beginning. Illidan was unpredictable and secretive, but his true motives were now clear: he aimed to destroy the Legion. Kil’jaeden speculated that he might even try to strike at Argus itself. The only questions were when and how.
If it was a war Illidan wanted, Kil’jaeden would indulge him. The demon lord immediately dispatched an army to Outland. This force was led by one of Kil’jaeden’s most trusted lieutenants, the doomguard known as Highlord Kruul. Though the demons were eager to spill Illidan’s blood, they found it difficult to reach Outland. Illidan and his followers had closed many of the portals on the shattered realm. It would take months before Kruul gathered enough demons to establish a foothold on Outland.
Kil’jaeden feared that Illidan would launch new attacks on the Legion before Kruul and his forces could mount a proper campaign. Waiting for that to happen was not an option. Kil’jaeden needed another weapon, and he found one among his enemies.
Illidan’s obsession with fighting the Legion was his greatest weakness. In his fervor, he had embraced fel magic and alienated the peoples of Azeroth. They did not distinguish between him and the Legion. They saw him as a monster. If the Horde and the Alliance learned that he had taken control of Outland and built an army—with demon blood fueling a large part of it—they would stop him. The only thing Azeroth’s nations needed to rally their forces against Illidan was a push in the right direction. Kil’jaeden would give them that.
As this plan took shape in his mind, Kil’jaeden saw yet another opportunity. If he could manipulate the Horde and the Alliance into committing their resources on Outland, that would leave Azeroth vulnerable to a Legion invasion on a second front.
Kil’jaeden would lead this attack himself. The failures of the Lich King, and even of Archimonde, had shown him that he could not rely on anyone else to secure Azeroth for the Legion. Yet he needed a powerful gateway through which to enter the world. During the Third War, the Legion had tried to seize the second Well of Eternity on Mount Hyjal to form such a portal. The assault had failed, and the fount of magic was now under close watch by the night elves. Launching another campaign against Hyjal would draw too much attention. However, there was an alternative: the Sunwell.
The blood elf prince, Kael’thas Sunstrider, and his followers had destroyed the Sunwell and dispersed much of its power, but Kil’jaeden had discovered a means to restore it.
Following the Third War, what remained of the Legion’s army had spread across Azeroth. Kil’jaeden had used these survivors to spy on the world’s nations. Through one of his agents, the demon lord had learned of a source of power somewhere deep within Quel’Thalas. His most cunning servants had assumed the forms of blood elves and infiltrated the kingdom’s inner circle. They soon heard about the existence of Anveena Teague, an avatar containing the Sunwell’s lost energy.
She was the key to transforming the Sunwell into a gateway.
And so was Kael’thas.
Kil’jaeden’s servants on Azeroth were few. Even if they could seize the location of the Sunwell, they were not familiar enough with the fount to empower it using Anveena. However, Kael’thas Sunstrider was. He also knew the region’s defenses and how to bypass them.
For now, Kil’jaeden simply watched Kael’thas, waiting for the right moment to win him over to the Legion’s side.
Illidan Stormrage had taught Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider and his people how to siphon energy from artifacts, creatures, and the environment to sate their cravings for magic. Yet these methods only left the prince and the other elves wanting more.
Desperate to find a more satisfactory source of power, Kael’thas looked to fel magic. The prince knew the dangers of consuming the chaotic energy, but he believed it could be controlled. By now, he had confirmed the existence of the demon hunters, and he had witnessed them using fel magic without falling under the Legion’s sway. If they could bend that power to their will, then Kael’thas reasoned that he could, too.
Kael’thas convinced Illidan to show him how to feed on fel energies. The prince proceeded cautiously, only drawing on small portions of the magic. Before long, he grew hopelessly addicted to it. The more he fed on the dark energy, the more it ate away at his mind, body, and soul. His reliance on fel magic frayed the bonds between him and his people. Though he was desperate to save the blood elves, he secretly became paranoid of them. He was convinced that they saw him as a failure.
The truth was that Kael’thas’s journey to Outland had not helped his people; it had only made their suffering worse. The wise option would have been to cut his losses and return home, but the thought of marching into Quel’Thalas without a lasting solution for the blood elves filled him with shame and anger. It was this pride, this inability to admit defeat, that sealed his fate.
The emotions that warred in the prince’s heart made him unpredictable. Sometimes he played the part of kindhearted prince. Other times he lashed out at his followers with sudden, unexplained fury.
Kil’jaeden realized it would not be easy to manipulate the prince, and he treaded carefully. Kael’thas was aware of the Legion’s role in the formation of the Scourge. He knew that the demons were responsible for destroying Quel’Thalas and tainting the Sunwell.
The demon lord eventually reached out to Kael’thas
. He said nothing of Anveena Teague’s existence or his plans to invade Azeroth. He focused solely on Illidan Stormrage and the promise of feeding the prince’s craving for magic.
Kil’jaeden whispered in the prince’s mind and claimed that Illidan was holding back the true secrets of using fel magic. The former night elf had only shared one way to siphon the chaotic energies, but there were others. The demon hunters had used these more refined techniques, and that was what made them so powerful. The reason Illidan had not granted this knowledge to Kael’thas was simple: he didn’t believe the prince and his people were worthy. The former night elf saw them as tools to sacrifice in his war against the Legion. Nothing more.
Kil’jaeden promised to reveal the true power of fel magic to Kael’thas. In exchange, he simply wanted the prince to abandon Illidan’s side.
The prince refused the demon lord’s offer, but Kil’jaeden continued making subtle overtures. In the days to come, his words would fester in Kael’thas Sunstrider’s addled mind and erode his trust in Illidan Stormrage.
The constant arrival of Legion forces on Outland drew the attention of creatures across the realm. None was more concerned than Velen, leader of the draenei. The Legion had always had a presence on Outland, but the demons were now invading on a much larger scale.
For over a decade, Velen had done whatever he could to keep the draenei hidden in settlements scattered across Outland. Despite his efforts, he feared that the demons would discover them. He feared that they would finish what they’d started all those years ago and slaughter what remained of the draenei.
World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 Page 16