World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3

by Blizzard Entertainment

  Throughout his hardships, Velen had never abandoned his faith in the Holy Light. He prayed daily for guidance from the naaru. And when the Legion began its new invasion of Outland, he prayed even more.

  Velen was not the only one who reached out to the naaru for help. Archmage Khadgar had remained on Outland since the destruction of the Dark Portal, eking out an existence alongside other members of the Sons of Lothar. Over time, he had used his magic to scour the Great Dark Beyond for allies to fight the Legion. Along with Velen’s prayers, Khadgar’s presence was felt by the naaru in the Army of the Light.

  The Army of the Light had been waging a war against the Legion on Argus itself. The naaru were eager to aid Velen and Khadgar, and they saw Outland as an important battlefront against the demons. However, their current battles with the Legion were costly and ceaseless. They could not spare soldiers from their army to protect Outland, but perhaps they could still do something to help Velen and Khadgar defend themselves.

  The naaru A’dal, M’uru, and O’ros volunteered to assist the peoples of Outland. Aboard a dimensional fortress known as Tempest Keep, the beings traversed the stars and arrived in an otherworldly corner of the shattered realm called the Netherstorm.

  Their arrival in the Netherstorm was not by chance. Reality itself was warped in the region. The Twisting Nether constantly ate away at the Netherstorm’s borders, and its chaotic magics slowly bled into Outland. This made the Netherstorm a dangerous and unpredictable place, but it also made it easy for the naaru to reach.

  A’dal immediately surveyed Outland. The being sensed different enclaves of draenei scattered across the wastelands, as well as the remnants of the Sons of Lothar. These creatures were divided, but they did not need to be. They all sought to protect themselves from the Legion.

  A’dal searched for a place to rally the factions of Outland and organize them into a defense force. The naaru chose Shattrath City after sensing holy rituals being performed there. An order of draenei priests, the Aldor, had moved into a temple in the stronghold’s ruins and continued their worship of the Holy Light.

  Calling on Tempest Keep’s energies, the naaru transported itself to the city, leaving M’uru and O’ros behind to watch over the dimensional fortress.

  The Aldor welcomed A’dal with open arms, and they pledged themselves to do the naaru’s bidding. Soon other creatures trickled into Shattrath. Drawn by A’dal’s holy power, they journeyed from the far corners of Outland. Velen brought only a handful of followers to the city, fearing a Legion trap. He was elated to discover the truth—his prayers had been answered after all.

  Khadgar and other members of the Sons of Lothar also braved the wilds and traveled to Shattrath. Many draenei were wary of these outsiders, but A’dal quickly put them at ease. The naaru called on those gathered in Shattrath to find common ground and unite. Divided, they would fall to the Legion. Only together did they stand a chance of surviving.

  The naaru’s advice was welcomed by all. Much like the draenei, Khadgar and his followers had weathered enough hardships. They were not eager to make new enemies. Under A’dal’s guidance, the Alliance forces and the draenei began rebuilding Shattrath as a beacon of hope that would one day shine across Outland.

  The draenei and the Sons of Lothar were not the only factions that noticed the naaru’s arrival. So did Illidan Stormrage. He saw the resurgence of Shattrath as a potential threat to his war against the Legion. If the naaru gathered enough strength, they would likely move against Illidan’s holdings and seize control of Outland.

  Illidan decided to strike while Shattrath was still weak. He ordered Kael’thas Sunstrider to send his blood elves against the city and take it by force.

  Kael’thas requested that the demon hunters join the assault, but Illidan refused. They had another purpose, though he remained silent about what that was.

  Illidan’s response angered Kael’thas, but he obeyed the command. He charged a gifted magister named Voren’thal with leading the attack. The blood elf army soon marched to Shattrath. Among its ranks were some of Kael’thas’s most skilled sorcerers. They knew the ways of war, and they were eager to please their prince. In their eyes, Shattrath and its defenders stood no chance against them.

  Yet the attack on Shattrath would end before even a drop of blood was spilled.

  En route to Shattrath, Voren’thal experienced a vision. He saw a glimpse into the future, a time when his people would rise to their former glory and live free of addiction and despair. At the heart of this vision was a naaru. Its Holy Light radiated across Quel’Thalas and eased the torment in the soul of every blood elf it touched.

  Voren’thal was forever changed by what he saw. He told his followers of the vision, and he convinced them that the naaru were somehow the key to saving their people. The blood elves embraced Voren’thal’s optimistic future. It was not a difficult choice for them. They had faced hardship after hardship on Outland with little to show for it. The elves were desperate for a new path to follow, even one based on a fleeting vision.

  OUTLAND PRIOR TO THE HORDE’S AND THE ALLIANCE’S INVASION

  Upon reaching Shattrath, Voren’thal and his army put aside their weapons and pledged their loyalty to A’dal. These blood elf newcomers would become known as the Scryers.

  Voren’thal sent word to Kael’thas, urging him to join the naaru in Shattrath. He received no reply.

  Kael’thas was furious that his army had abandoned him to follow the naaru. Publicly, he condemned the act as treason and an attack on his sovereignty as prince. Privately, he saw Voren’thal’s defection as evidence of his own failure.

  This incident widened the rift between Kael’thas and Illidan. The prince demanded that the former night elf retaliate against the naaru, but nothing was done. Illidan was so focused on his demon hunters that he paid little attention to Voren’thal’s army. This only proved to Kael’thas that what Kil’jaeden had told him was true: Illidan did not care about the prince and his people.

  Kael’thas would not allow Illidan to sacrifice the blood elves as pawns. He lost all faith in the former night elf, and he looked to Kil’jaeden as a new benefactor. Some small part of Kael’thas knew that he should not trust the Legion, especially after what it had done to his kingdom. But he could not resist the temptation of fel magic. The prospect of finding new ways to feed on the dark energy dominated his thoughts and made all else secondary.

  With little hesitation, Kael’thas forged a pact with the demon lord, and he agreed to abandon Illidan Stormrage. In return, Kil’jaeden granted the prince what he sought most: more knowledge about using fel magic.

  While Illidan Stormrage was focused on his demon hunters, Kael’thas Sunstrider and most of his followers quietly left the Black Temple. The prince promised he would return, but it was a lie. He sought out a distant corner of Outland known as the Netherstorm, where he established his own base. Only much later would Illidan realize that Kael’thas had no intention of rejoining his forces at the Black Temple.

  Kael’thas had journeyed to the Netherstorm before and had tried to harness the latent energies that suffused the region. Even for a sorcerer as skilled as Kael’thas, it had been an impossible task. The Twisting Nether’s magics were chaotic and fickle, and the prince’s efforts had resulted in little more than frustration.

  Yet that was before Tempest Keep’s arrival. It boasted technologies far beyond anything he had seen on Azeroth.

  Kael’thas knew little of Tempest Keep’s inner workings, but he believed he could deploy its machinery to capture the region’s errant magic and feed on it. He and a small army of elves used their newfound command over fel energy to infiltrate the fortress and overrun its defenses. The naaru within stood no chance against the invaders. O’ros called on its magic to bar the elves from its wing of the fortress, a satellite structure of Tempest Keep known as the Exodar. M’uru suffered a different
fate. It fell under the blood elves’ control.

  Despite his allegiance to Kil’jaeden, Kael’thas still cared for his people. He believed that M’uru’s power could sate the elves’ cravings for magic.

  ANVEENA TEAGUE

  Through his demonic agents in Quel’Thalas, Kil’jaeden learned that Kael’thas Sunstrider did not know of Anveena Teague’s existence. Only the kingdom’s regent lord, Lor’themar Theron, and a handful of others were aware of her presence and of what she truly was. They’d kept this information a secret from Kael’thas. Lor’themar and his followers understood that the prince was desperate to save the elves. They feared that if Kael’thas learned of Anveena, he might act without considering the consequences. The elves did not know what would happen if the avatar’s power was infused into the site of the Sunwell. Quel’Thalas was already a wounded nation. Another disaster might destroy it forever.

  Over time, Lor’themar’s opinion about this secrecy changed. He and his people constantly worried about Kael’thas’s fate on Outland. It was time for him to come home, and Lor’themar believed the only way to bring him back was by telling him about Anveena.

  After Kael’thas dispatched M’uru to Azeroth, messengers from Lor’themar set out to inform the prince about Anveena. Yet they never reached him. Kil’jaeden’s agents in Quel’Thalas made sure of it. The prospect of restoring the Sunwell would give Kael’thas hope, and that was not what the demon lord needed. He wanted the prince to be desperate and uncertain about the future until he was firmly under Kil’jaeden’s control.

  Kael’thas drew on Tempest Keep’s ability to traverse the cosmos to form a gateway to Azeroth. He ordered some of his followers to take M’uru to Quel’Thalas, where the rest of the elves could feed upon the being. He also ordered his servants to teach the people of his kingdom how to siphon magic from other sources, like creatures and artifacts.

  The blood elves of Quel’Thalas had mixed feelings about M’uru’s arrival. Regent Lord Lor’themar Theron and many other elves were troubled by the idea of leeching energy from a being of Holy Light. Others did not share their concerns. Some spent months experimenting on M’uru. Eventually they learned how to force out the naaru’s holy energies and wield the Light themselves.

  Word of this development traveled fast among Quel’Thalas’s former priests, including Lady Liadrin. When the Scourge destroyed her kingdom in the Third War, she had felt that the Light had forsaken her. Liadrin’s faith had faltered, and she had lost her ability to call on her holy powers. A similar fate had befallen some of Quel’Thalas’s other priests.

  But through M’uru, Liadrin and her kind found a way to call on the Holy Light. They would bend the naaru’s energies to their will.

  Liadrin was the first to indulge in M’uru’s energies. She and those who followed in her footsteps forged a new order of elf paladins known as the Blood Knights.

  Along with M’uru, Kael’thas Sunstrider sent another source of power to Quel’Thalas. He and his blood elves had discovered how to harness Tempest Keep’s technologies to siphon magic from the Twisting Nether. They dismantled parts of the fortress and built a series of devices called manaforges. The elves placed these arcane machines throughout the Netherstorm. As they rumbled to life, they harvested magic from the Twisting Nether and stored it in enchanted mana cells, which the blood elves fed on.

  Kil’jaeden urged Kael’thas to continue his work and dispatch shipments of the mana cells to Quel’Thalas. His advice was far from altruistic. The demon lord believed that Kael’thas could use the cells to help craft the Legion’s portal in the Sunwell when the time was right.

  Over time, the manaforges weakened the fabric of reality in the Netherstorm. This attracted the mysterious ethereals, a race of gifted scientists and magi who originally dwelled on the world of K’aresh. In pursuit of knowledge and arcane technologies, they had doomed themselves and their home: the K’areshi had torn open a rift into the Void and drawn the wrath of a being known as Dimensius the All-Devouring.

  Dimensius had bathed the world in volatile energies that slowly tore it apart, and the K’areshi had desperately tried to shield themselves from harm. Their efforts had only partially worked. Their magic had blocked Dimensius’s shadowy power, but raw arcane energy had shattered their physical bodies. All that remained were their souls, bristling with magic. From that day forward, these incorporeal creatures called themselves ethereals.

  The ethereals had splintered into different factions. Some had become nomads and traders, roaming the cosmos in search of sources of magic and powerful artifacts. Others had sworn to destroy Dimensius and the creatures of the Void to avenge K’aresh.

  These factions saw Outland as a realm where they could pursue their interests. Merchants hoped to ply their trade and discover new wealth, while the more militant ethereals sought new weapons to fight their war against the Void.

  As Kael’thas Sunstrider was settling in the Netherstorm, Illidan Stormrage continued his attacks against the Legion. His obsession with the demon hunters soon alienated another ally: Akama.

  Akama had joined Illidan under the expectation that the Broken would assume control over the Black Temple, a site that he and his people considered sacred ground. That had not yet occurred, and he was uncertain if it ever would. Illidan was a secretive and ruthless leader. He openly embraced fel magic, as did the mysterious demon hunters who lived in his shadow. In some ways, Illidan was little different than the Black Temple’s former overlord, Magtheridon.

  Akama’s distrust of Illidan drove him to find new allies who could liberate the Black Temple from evil. Chief among them was Maiev Shadowsong.

  Maiev and her Watchers had remained on Outland, building up their forces for another attack on Illidan. They had faced many hardships on the shattered realm, but Maiev gave them little rest. Her obsession with hunting Illidan clouded her judgment and pushed her to dangerous extremes. She would not leave Outland until she had captured her prey, even if that quest put her Watchers at risk.

  ILLIDAN STORMRAGE AND HIS DEMON HUNTERS

  It took time for Akama to earn Maiev’s trust. They were born on different worlds and compelled by different desires, but they shared a common goal. In secret, they planned to bring Illidan to his knees and purge the Black Temple of his servants.

  Akama took great care to keep these dealings hidden from his master, but it mattered little. Illidan was far more perceptive than the Broken had realized. He learned of Akama’s treachery, but he did not kill him. Illidan had another use for the Broken.

  The demon hunters were nearly prepared for their invasion of Nathreza. All that remained was opening a portal to the world, but doing so required a source of immense power. The souls of Maiev’s followers would do nicely.

  Illidan forced Akama to lure Maiev and her allies into an ambush. She and her Watchers walked right into the trap. Maiev’s followers fell to Illidan and his soldiers, and their souls were used to fuel a gateway between worlds. Of the Watchers, only Maiev survived. It was not out of mercy. Illidan ordered his servants to imprison Maiev. He looked forward to tormenting her just as she had tormented him, but that would have to wait.

  The way to Nathreza was open.

  Illidan and his demon hunters struck at the dreadlords’ homeworld with lethal precision. They stormed Nathreza’s main archive and slaughtered its guardians. None could stand between Illidan and his prize: the Seal of Argus. The artifact thrummed with potent energy and knowledge. Illidan knew it was the key to his war—it held the location of the Legion’s seat of power.

  After taking the artifact, Illidan and his servants cut their way through the world’s defenders and slipped through the portal back to Outland. Rather than close the gateway, Illidan focused all his power on destabilizing it.

  It was time to see if he could do to Nathreza what had been done to Draenor years ago.

  The porta
l unraveled, and a tidal wave of magic surged over Nathreza. The earth roared in protest. The dreadlords’ cities crumbled to dust. Illidan Stormrage quickly closed the gateway on Outland to protect his domain from the destruction unfolding on Nathreza.

  He was just in time. Shortly after the portal closed, Nathreza blew apart. Every demon on its surface perished.

  It was the greatest defeat the Burning Legion had suffered in millennia.

  In Hellfire Peninsula, Highlord Kruul and his invasion force crept across the region and carved out fortresses in the barren hills. Day by day, their strength grew.

  A’dal and its followers in Shattrath kept abreast of the Legion’s activities. The naaru knew it was only a matter of time before the demons moved into other parts of Outland. Though many brave souls had gathered in Shattrath, the city’s defenders were outnumbered by the Legion. That fact was not bound to change. There were simply not enough soldiers to draw on from Outland.

  A’dal needed new allies, and it could not pull them from the Army of the Light. The naaru looked to Azeroth instead. A’dal knew of the world and its heroes, and it knew of their history with the Legion. Getting to Azeroth would be difficult but not impossible. Though Kael’thas Sunstrider and his blood elves had dismantled parts of Tempest Keep, A’dal sensed that there was one wing of the fortress that was still able to traverse the stars and reach Azeroth. O’ros had hidden itself away in the Exodar, and it remained untouched by the blood elves.

  When A’dal proposed commandeering the Exodar, Velen immediately volunteered to make the perilous journey. He was tired of hiding, and he felt it was his duty to do something to protect what remained of his people from the Legion. He also knew the inner workings of naaru fortresses.