Khadgar knew that rifts had formed between the Betrayer and his lieutenants, most notably Kael’thas Sunstrider. The blood elves had abandoned Illidan Stormrage and left him with little in the way of an army to defend himself.
That did not seem to trouble Illidan. Sightings of the demon hunter had become increasingly rare. Khadgar was unsure about Illidan’s activities, but he knew the time was drawing near to attack the Black Temple. There was little opposition to this plan among the Horde and the Alliance. Illidan had almost destroyed Zangarmarsh. He had used Magtheridon to corrupt hundreds of orcs. If he were left to his own devices, it was only a matter of time before he caused some other calamity.
Yet the heroes of Azeroth were not ready to besiege the Black Temple. Most of their forces were still scattered across Outland. Many were gathering in the Netherstorm, particularly the Horde’s blood elves.
In Shattrath, they had learned about Kael’thas Sunstrider’s fate. It was worse than they’d expected. News had spread that their prince had pledged himself to the Burning Legion.
Some blood elves did not believe these stories. At least, not at first. When they ventured to the Netherstorm, they saw the truth with their own eyes. Kael’thas had embraced fel magic and become the Legion’s pawn. He was their prince no more.
Word of this discovery reached Lor’themar Theron and the other ranking elves in Quel’Thalas. The news broke their hearts, but they came to a consensus. Kael’thas was lost. It was their duty to vanquish him and end his treachery.
The Horde made war on Kael’thas and his followers. The battle spread into Tempest Keep and engulfed every corner of the dimensional fortress. It was there where the prince made his final stand. It was there where some of his own loyal subjects spilled his blood and ended his reign.
Yet unbeknownst to the Horde, Kael’thas Sunstrider did not die.
Kil’jaeden had expected the prince’s defeat, and he had prepared accordingly. Kael’thas’s demonic allies spirited him away and brought him back from the brink of death. Little was left of the elf’s mind. He was now Kil’jaeden’s loyal servant, and he would do whatever his master asked of him.
While the Horde and the Alliance directed their forces to the Black Temple, Kael’thas and his Legion comrades journeyed through the Dark Portal and toward the Sunwell.
Illidan Stormrage was running out of time.
Alongside forces from Shattrath City, the Horde and the Alliance had arrived at the Black Temple’s walls and begun their siege. Illidan’s defenses were sound, but they would not hold for long. Desperation consumed him. He had learned Argus’s location, but powerful enchantments surrounded the world, preventing him from opening a gateway there. A means to reach the Legion’s seat of power lay in a shattered world in the Twisting Nether known as Mardum. Illidan had discovered that this broken land was home to an invaluable artifact. It was called the Sargerite Keystone, and it could open the way to Argus.
As his enemies breached the Black Temple and poured into the fortress, Illidan made a choice. He could not simply abandon Outland. After retrieving the Sargerite Keystone, he would need to return and prepare for the assault on Argus. Instead, he sent his demon hunters to Mardum, and he remained in the Black Temple to fend off his foes. He hoped that what was left of his followers would hold back the tide.
They could not. A unified army of Horde, Alliance, and Shattrath City’s forces carved its way through the Black Temple. Some of Illidan’s servants fought to the death. Some fled in terror. And others took the assault as an opportunity to turn on the Betrayer.
Akama was one of them. His time serving Illidan had been full of suffering and disappointment. When the siege had begun, he had freed Maiev Shadowsong from her prison and urged her to strike at Illidan. She had needed little convincing.
Maiev set out on her own while Akama helped Azeroth’s champions enter the heart of the Black Temple. She eventually joined the invaders as they confronted Illidan, and she struck at the Betrayer to quench her long-held thirst for justice and vengeance.
Illidan Stormrage called on all his power and knowledge to overcome his attackers. He fought not only to save himself but to keep his war against the Legion alive. His conviction never faltered, but that was not enough to grant him victory.
In the end, he fell.
GODS OF ZUL’AMAN
As the Horde and the Alliance were waging war on Illidan Stormrage’s forces, Warlord Zul’jin and his Amani trolls prepared to march on Quel’Thalas. They were bitter enemies of the blood elves, and they had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to launch a full-out assault. With most of Quel’Thalas’s soldiers occupied on Outland, that opportunity was now.
Zul’jin was a cunning leader, and his attack was motivated by hatred of Quel’Thalas as well as strategic reasons. The blood elves had recently joined the Horde, which had granted them more power and resources. Zul’jin believed Quel’Thalas would inevitably convince its new allies to strike at the Amani empire.
Within the Amani capital, Zul’Aman, troll priests performed rituals to harness the power of their loa. These mighty creatures roamed the city in the form of giant beasts. Their energies suffused the troll soldiers, transforming them into living embodiments of the loa.
The Horde was desperate not to fight a war on two fronts—Outland and Quel’Thalas. The faction’s mightiest champions volunteered to storm Zul’Aman. They did not have the strength to face the trolls’ army directly, but they had no need to. The Horde’s strike force cut off the serpent’s head, killing Zul’jin and his priests before their rampage in Quel’Thalas could even begin.
It was a cruel twist of fate that heroes from the very world Illidan sought to protect were the ones to kill him and cut short his war against the demons. In his final moments, his thoughts turned to his old nemesis. He knew that his defeat would ruin Maiev Shadowsong. She had spent much of her life acting as his jailor and hunter. Now that her quest was over, she had lost her purpose.
Illidan’s demon hunters returned from Mardum with the Sargerite Keystone only to witness their master’s fall. Maiev quickly subdued them. She froze the demon hunters and Illidan’s corpse in enchanted crystals. They were too dangerous to abandon, and so Maiev transported them back to Azeroth for safekeeping. She would later lock them away in the Vault of the Wardens, a closely guarded prison on the Broken Isles.
Outland was free of Illidan Stormrage and his army. Yet before the Horde and the Alliance could celebrate, dire news reached them. Kael’thas Sunstrider was not dead. He had rallied a force of corrupted elves and demons on Azeroth.
North of Zul’Aman, Kael’thas Sunstrider and his forces invaded Quel’Thalas. With most of its soldiers still in Outland, the kingdom could do little to stop the fallen prince.
Under Kil’jaeden’s orders, Kael’thas and his forces captured the naaru M’uru and Anveena Teague, the avatar of the Sunwell’s energies. The prince leeched away their power to re-form the ruined Sunwell. A brilliant explosion of energy erupted from the fount, sparking it to life for the first time since the Third War. Kael’thas fortified his ritual with energy from the mana cells he had gathered in the Netherstorm.
Kael’thas then began weaving the Sunwell’s power into a gateway for Kil’jaeden to reach Azeroth. As he worked, some blood elves fled to Outland to warn the Horde leadership about what was transpiring. One of these elves was the Blood Knight Liadrin. She had witnessed Kael’thas’s assault with her own eyes. In Shattrath City, Lady Liadrin met with A’dal, renouncing her allegiance to Kael’thas and swearing to defeat the Legion. The naaru welcomed her into a new order that had been forged to stand against the prince. It was called the Shattered Sun Offensive, and it included both the draenei of the Aldor and the blood elves of the Scryers.
The Shattered Sun Offensive marched on the Sunwell and waged a fierce battle against the Legion forces in the area. Though constantly besieged by
demons, Liadrin and her allies had an impact. They disrupted Kael’thas’s spellwork long enough for more help to arrive.
Members of the Horde and the Alliance soon converged on the Sunwell and stood alongside the Shattered Sun Offensive. Liadrin directed the Horde’s champions to hunt down Kael’thas in the Magisters’ Terrace. Though the prince had grown more powerful since his defeat at Tempest Keep, so had the heroes he faced. The Horde slew Kael’thas Sunstrider and ended him once and for all.
Meanwhile, the Alliance infiltrated the Sunwell Plateau, which housed the Sunwell itself. Kael’thas’s spellwork had torn a rift in the fount’s depths. Before the Alliance’s eyes, Kil’jaeden emerged from the portal and into the world.
The Alliance soldiers fought with all their strength to drive Kil’jaeden back through the portal, but their efforts had little effect. In the end, it was Anveena Teague who turned the tide of battle. She sacrificed her own existence, expending what was left of her energy to weaken Kil’jaeden. It was just enough for the Alliance to finally banish the demon lord and close his gateway into Azeroth.
The world was spared from the Legion once more, but there were consequences. Kael’thas’s meddling had tainted the Sunwell. As before, corruptive energies coursed through the fount, and they would soon spread throughout Quel’Thalas and engulf the blood elves. Lor’themar Theron and his followers considered destroying the Sunwell again, but another solution presented itself.
Velen had come to the Sunwell to pay his respects to M’uru. Little was left of the naaru save its heart. Velen sensed a glimmer of power—of hope—in what remained of M’uru. He used the naaru’s heart to cleanse the Sunwell and transform it into a fount of Holy Light and arcane magic. Its brilliant energy blazed across land and sky for all in Quel’Thalas to see.
This turn of events had a profound effect on the blood elves, particularly Lady Liadrin and her Blood Knights. They abandoned wielding holy energies by force and returned to their old ways. Through the Sunwell, they would ask for the Light’s blessing.
The Sunwell was reborn, and its return heralded a promising future for the blood elves. With the fount to draw on, they no longer needed to look elsewhere to satisfy their cravings for magic.
KALECGOS AND ANVEENA
For years, the kindhearted blue dragon Kalecgos had watched over Anveena Teague in Quel’Thalas. When Kael’thas Sunstrider invaded the kingdom, Kalecgos fought desperately to protect the human avatar, but his foes were too numerous to hold back.
The dreadlord Sathrovarr the Corruptor possessed Kalecgos and forced him to serve the Legion in the Sunwell Plateau. Only later did the Alliance free him from the demon’s control.
The journey to Outland had a profound impact on the Horde and the Alliance, but it also changed the destiny of many beings who had not visited the shattered realm.
While exploring Outland, the blue dragon Tyrygosa had befriended a brood of creatures known as nether dragons. They traced their lineage to the black Dragon Aspect, Deathwing, from when he had left some of his eggs on Draenor for safekeeping. When the world had exploded, the influx of energies had warped the unhatched dragons into partially incorporeal beings. These nether dragons were powerful yet childish. They had no true leader, and that made them unruly. It also made them susceptible to outside influence.
A renegade death knight named Ragnok Bloodreaver had seen great potential in the nether dragons. He had hoped to incorporate them into his army—an army he would use to conquer Outland.
His plans fell to ruin, but his abuse of the nether dragons deeply troubled Tyrygosa. She was concerned that they would die from the injuries they’d suffered while fighting under Ragnok’s command. Tyrygosa transported many of the nether dragons to the blue dragonflight’s lair, the Nexus. She hoped that its energies would reinvigorate the wounded creatures. What Tyrygosa never considered was whether the blue dragons would be safe from their new guests.
The nether dragons bathed in the arcane energies of the Nexus. The magic was unlike anything they had ever experienced. They wanted it all, seeing it as a way to make themselves stronger so that no one would control them as Ragnok had. The nether dragons launched a surprise attack against the blue dragons to seize the Nexus for themselves.
The battle that unfolded drew the attention of Malygos.
Millennia ago, after Deathwing betrayed the other dragonflights in the War of the Ancients, Malygos had become a recluse. He hid himself away in the Nexus, engulfed in grief and pain. Malygos largely ignored what was happening in the outside world, relying on his servants to investigate anomalies and keep watch over Azeroth. Yet he would not ignore an attack on his own lair.
KIL’JAEDEN EMERGES INTO AZEROTH AT THE SUNWELL
Malygos lashed out at the nether dragons, absorbing nearly all of them into his being. Unexpectedly, the energies of the incorporeal creatures swept away the haze of suffering and regret that had clouded his mind.
The nether dragons’ attack convinced Malygos that he needed to embrace his sacred duty of safeguarding arcane magic on Azeroth once again. He assessed the state of magical affairs on the world, and he was not pleased by what he saw. In his eyes, the foolish actions of mortal magi had led to war and chaos.
Malygos formed a plan to reestablish his dominance over magic. He would sever the link between mortals and the latent arcane energy coursing through Azeroth.
As events transpired on Azeroth and Outland, Cho’gall had continued expanding the Twilight’s Hammer cult. The organization had transformed into something far different from the orcish clan it had once been. The cult welcomed members from all races and walks of life. Cho’gall’s followers spread throughout every major city on Azeroth, secretly evangelizing and converting others to their cause. They often preyed on survivors of the Third War, especially those who had witnessed unspeakable horrors in Lordaeron.
One of these individuals was Archbishop Benedictus, leader of the Church of the Holy Light. He had lived through the First and Second Wars. Though the suffering he’d seen troubled him, it had not shaken his faith. In some ways, he’d viewed the conflicts as a test of his beliefs. Yet the Third War had been different. The fall of Lordaeron and the appearance of the Scourge had pushed his conviction to the breaking point. Why had the Holy Light not protected Prince Arthas, King Terenas, the paladins, or the other good people of the kingdom? Why, in humanity’s hour of greatest need, had it abandoned its pious servants?
The cultists learned of the archbishop’s uncertainty, and they flocked to him like crows to carrion. They presented themselves as believers of the Holy Light in need of guidance. In truth, they came to whittle away at what was left of the archbishop’s beliefs. Slowly but surely, they did. Some spoke of the Void, a universal force of energy that would never abandon its servants as the Holy Light had.
Like other priests, Archbishop Benedictus knew of shadow magic. He had not experimented with it himself, believing it was unholy and corruptive. Yet he now began to wonder if that was truly the case, or if it was merely what he had been led to believe.
And it was this curiosity that opened the way to the Old Gods. They whispered in the archbishop’s dreams and showed him the Light from their perspective. The holy energy was not as benevolent as it had once seemed. It tolerated only perfect order and obedience. It served its mortal adherents when it needed to, not because of their faith.
These dreams continued for many nights, culminating in a vision of the Hour of Twilight. Benedictus was moved by what he saw. He considered the Hour of Twilight as not the apocalyptic end to all things but a chance to break free from the Holy Light’s tyranny, a chance to create a new world where he would be the master of his own destiny. He came to believe that the Old Gods and the powers of the Void were the natural state of the universe, and that it was wrong to fight that reality as he had once tried as a practitioner of the Holy Light. The Light had brought him and t
housands of other people only disappointment and heartache. The Void was not the source of lies but of every possible truth. It would not ignore or abandon its followers, and Benedictus pledged his life to serving it.
Benedictus joined the Twilight’s Hammer cult, becoming one of its most influential members. Publicly, he remained head of the church, and through sheer willpower, he retained his ability to wield the Holy Light. The position afforded him great power and access to disillusioned priests and believers whom he could recruit into the cult.
Cho’gall saw Benedictus’s induction into the Twilight’s Hammer as a triumph. The number of cultists was growing at a faster pace than he had expected.
Though Cho’gall was pleased by the Twilight’s Hammer cult’s burgeoning strength, he remained troubled by C’Thun’s fall. He had never expected mortals to have the power to defeat an Old God. Nonetheless, Cho’gall did not abandon his quest to initiate the Hour of Twilight.
While the Horde and the Alliance were occupied in Outland, Cho’gall visited Northrend and infiltrated Ulduar, the keeper-wrought prison of the Old God Yogg-Saron. He slipped into the depths of the fortress, and its defenders did nothing to stop him. Yogg-Saron clouded the minds of Loken and the other ancient keepers, concealing Cho’gall’s presence.
Yogg-Saron had long ago enthralled the keepers who guarded Ulduar, but the entity’s grasp on them was tenuous. Convincing them to directly help the Old God had proved fruitless in the past, but there would be no such trouble with Cho’gall. The two-headed ogre willingly chipped away at Yogg-Saron’s enchanted bonds. He could not break them, but he managed to weaken the chains.
World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 Page 19