Chapter Text
Planar Cosmology
As in all things, existence within these united cosmos cannot be said to be simple. The Great Dark is composed of four Elemental Planes, four Conceptual Planes, and two that are a hybrid of both. In the beginning, these forces were balanced against each other, with one giving meaning and shape to another, and all together they were the foundation of all that was, is, and will be. However, if existence was so simple and predictable, much tragedy could have been avoided.
An Adventurer's Guide to the Planes
Plane of Fire (Firelands) - This plane is the home of flame elementals of all kinds, from the great Lords and Furies to the smallest kindled elemental. Any denizen of the Firelands has the motivation to consume all in fire, consuming all that exists. Fire is fed by Air, quenched by Water, and contained by Earth. Fire creates both Light and Shadow due to the way it illuminates as it burns, and creates the contrast between infinite light and eternal darkness.
Plane of Air (Skywall) - This plane is the home of wind elementals of all kinds, from the great Zephyrs and Caliphs to the smallest breeze elemental. Any denizen of Skywall has the motivation to suffocate all with air, sweeping clean everything. Air can feed fire, be suffocated by Earth, and shape Water. Air provides breath to Life, and its absence is Death due to the necessity of oxygen for most typical forms of life, and the lack thereof for the dead.
Plane of Water (Abyssal Depths) - This plane is the home of wave elementals of all kinds, from the mighty Tidelords to the smallest rivulet elemental. Any denizen of the Abyssal Depths has the motivation to drown all with water, transforming existence into an endless ocean. Water smothers Fire, is transmuted by Air, and is constricted by Earth. Water is capable of taking on any shape, and has unique properties that make if invaluable for living things and easily shaped by the Arcane.
Plane of Earth (Deepholm) - This plane is the home of rock elementals of all kinds, from the greatest Stonebrethren and stone drakes to the smallest pebble elemental. Any denizen of Deepholm has the motivation to smother all with earth, creating an existence of sterility and stasis. Earth restricts Fire, stands firm against Air, and contains Water. Earth is foundational to all existence, a crucial part of every world that hangs in the Great Dark.
Plane of Light (Lightforge) - This plane represents the concept of illumination, opposing Shadow. It embodies all forms of light, including fire, as well as the concept of sacred power that protects others from evil, pain, and death. It also represents sterility, moral inflexibility, dogma, and doctrine. It is associated with Holy magic, and its inhabitants are the Naaru, elemental beings composed of holy energy. This is the first of the Elemental-Conceptual Plane hybrids.
Plane of Shadow (Shadowmorn) - This plane represents the concept of darkness, opposing Light. It embodies the absence of light, the space between objects, peace, and restfulness, as well as cold, shade, madness, and fear of the unknown. It is associated with Shadow (or void) magic, and its inhabitants are the Void Lords, including voidwalkers. This is the second of the Elemental-Conceptual Plane hybrids.
Plane of Life (Verdant Wilds) - This plane represents all living things, opposing Death. It embodies all forms of life, from the ancient, majestic forests to the parasites that consume them from within; the animals that roam the plains and the hunters that kill and eat them; the gods themselves and those who would drag them from their thrones and put them to the sword. It is associated with Nature magic, and its inhabitants are the Wild Gods, who are considered to be the deities of the Beast Tribes. A small fragment of this plane is tied to the Emerald Dream.
Plane of Death (Final Respite) - This plane represents the end of corporeal existence, opposing Life. It embodies all forms of endings, not just dying, however, and many things require a stopping point, including seasons, bad relationships, scholarship, childhood, and so on. It is associated with Necromantic magic, and its inhabitants are the Undead. A fragment of this plane is associated with the Shadowlands.
Plane of Chaos (Twisting Nether) - This plane represents the concept of disorder in all its forms, opposing Order. It embodies randomness, natural existence, and the primordial state of the universe, as well as wholesale destruction, suffering, and despair. It is associated with Fel (or demonic) magic, and its inhabitants are Demons, who form the core of the Burning Legion.
Plane of Order (Land of Uld) - This plane represents the concept of civilization and rejects disorder, opposing Chaos. It embodies the impetus to create, to learn, to understand the unknowable, and to shape that which has no set form. It also embodies stasis over change, calcification instead of growth, as well as interference with the natural state of the universe, including various worlds for both good and ill. It is associated with Arcane magic, and its inhabitants are the Titans, who form the core of the Army of Light.
The Six Elemental Planes
Out in the vast darkness, there was nothing. Stillness. An emptiness so profound that even the slightest Spark could disturb it, changing its very nature forever. From that singular spark came Fire, an ember burning in the void. It struggled valiantly, small and weak, requiring nourishment to fan its flames. Then came Air, filling the void, and yet so diffuse that it could barely be said to make an impact. Fire fed on Air, and it became vast, lighting the very void aflame. Fearing consumption without limit, then came Water, seeking to tame Fire, but threatened to quench it. So finally, came Earth, to shelter and protect Fire, but also to contain it. Earth gave Air definition by being its opposite, and gave Water the freedom to choose its shape. Fire, for this gift of existence, shelter, and sustenance, gave back the gift of Light, which burst forth to fill everything that existed. Light, however, was transient and retreated quickly, leaving behind specks of itself. Where Light had touched and then abandoned, it left fragments of itself in the darkness, and between Light and darkness existed Shadow.
And so did the six Elemental Planes form, each separate in their way, yet inextricably intertwined. Each Plane nourished its chosen element, and within their confines did form various separate distinct beings, from the smallest droplets and zephyrs to the great Phoenix Kings and Stone Giants. These courts formed factions, each vying for dominance with the others. Sentience blossomed and exploded as being of raw elemental power became fully intelligent and independent from the fundamental components of existence. It was then that changes stole over the planes of Light and Shadow. Instead of merely being the concepts of illumination without cease and darkness without end, each began to draw on philosophical principles. While the denizens of the plane of Fire could not cease to burn, no matter how much they wished to, Light became associated with something else, something new again after so long a time of balance.
The Six Conceptual Planes
Let There Be Light
Due to the nature of their creation, elemental beings are relatively simplistic in strategy and intellect. A creature of Fire, regardless of its size, age, or personal power, will want to burn things, and continue to do so until there is nothing left to burn. A creature of Water will want to drown all of existence and turn it into an endless ocean. And so on. Creatures of Light initially began existence no differently, possessing a desire to illuminate everything so strongly that no darkness could exist. From this simplistic desire came a question - what would happen if it succeeded? What would an existence of all light and no darkness be like? If it eliminated fire, earth, water, and air? Would light have any meaning at all?
This self-reflection, so alien to a being of elemental nature, actually *changed* one of the great Light elementals, and they became a Prime Naaru, Xe'ra. Xe'ra began to ponder not simply the existence of literal light, but of a dichotomy between Light and Shadow, as well as taking an identity. She found qualities that she felt best embodied Light - illumination, but protection from Shadow, as well as evil, pain, and even death, concepts that she had largely not recognized or conceptualized previously. The Elemental Plane of Light, newly called Lightforge, became a Conceptual Plane, bringing with it greater intelligence, morality, and in so doing, also created its greatest failings, for light with no shadow creates sterility, and a refusal to concede the importance of shadow results in moral inflexibility, dogma, and doctrine.
One Brings Shadow, One Brings Light
With the creation of Lightforge came a similar revelation to the denizens of the Elemental Plane of Shadow, transforming it into Shadowmorn, ruled by the Void Lords. Their existence served to provide dichotomic balance: shadow without light, the space between objects within the Great Dark, peace, restfulness, shade, but also madness, cold, and fear of the unknown. The Void Lords, embodiments of all that it meant to be shadow, led by Mu'ru, came to the swift conclusion that to be Shadow, one needed to contend against the Light, pushing it back to give itself space, to define Light and be defined by it. The forces of Light could do no less than push back against Shadow, beginning the first celestial war.
It would not be the last.
As this conflict shook the stars, places where the two forces clashed were stained in permanent twilight, an existence that was not Light nor Shadow, but both at once. With the combined warmth and energy of Light, and the peacefulness and fertility of Shadow, something new sprung up, something unseen before that moment: the concept of Life.
Life Finds a Way
While elementals can be said to be alive, they do not truly encapsulate the concept of Life. They are sentient concentrations of any given element, who have cycles of existence not truly consistent with what mortal beings would understand as life and death. Not so with the creations of Life. Verdant and abundant without restraint or reason, Life is the first entirely Conceptual Plane, and represents Life in all of its forms, from plants and animals, to all sentient beings. This includes both the parasites and the trees they consume, hunters and their prey, gods and those who would slay them.
The Conceptual Plane, the Verdant Wilds, is vast and untamed, cluttered and tangled with living things. Since this Plane represents unrestricted growth, the danger became immediately clear - such would strangle other living things, choking them into a sense of stasis. Further, that which depended on the lives of other living things to survive would, of course, die without being able to absorb their nutrients. The whole system risked collapse. It was from these need was birthed the concept of Death, so that everything that Life created, from parasite to god, would pass from its hands into the realm of the dead.
Death, Or Something Like It
Death, as a concept, is the opposite of Life, and its Conceptual Plane is no different - where Life is about beginnings, Death is about endings in all their forms. Death is an end to a living thing's lifespan, but also a season, both pleasant or otherwise; a relationship, both good and bad; scholarship, in triumph or tragedy; childhood, becoming adulthood; and the whole of a world, rapid apocalypse or in slow decline. The maxim of Final Respite is: all who are born, die.
The essence of the dead, often called souls, do linger in the Final Respite, rarely as anything other than energy. Few souls are coherent enough to communicate, and even fewer retain their whole personality, instead often existing in fragments. Some few beings are bodies with disincorporated souls, and are called undead. These beings exist for a short time before crumbling and decaying, though there are a few that learn to linger far beyond the end of their lifespans.
Reign of Chaos
With the existence of new, burgeoning life and its variable mortality, the influence of the Conceptual Planes spread wide across the Great Dark. Whole worlds sprung up, soaked in Life-attuned magic that allowed living beings to spring forth, utterly unchecked, colliding with one another until conflict caused them to interfere with each other unto death. Existence meandered freely, and existence was deeply chaotic.
From this came the Twisting Nether, the Conceptual Plane of Chaos. It was a thing of randomness, of primordial existence without structure or form, and with an existence that was natural and directionless, so too came destruction, suffering, and despair. There was also the greatest embodiment of freedom, creation, and a wonder unlike anything that anyone had ever seen. This raw mass of creation was missing something, however: structure.
Order From Chaos
Given its purpose, the Conceptual Plane of Order is meant to provide a framework for all that exists in the Great Dark: while Life is required for something to live, and Death for it to die, Order decides how long each of these stages of existence last. For Light to shine, and Shadow to envelop, Order determines the magnitude of each. Chaos, bringer of destruction, is opposed by Order, which is grounded in creation, though not mindlessly as Life does.
This desire to give meaning to the meaningless and purpose to the purposeless is the origin of the Land of Uld, from which Order radiates out, imposing itself on all of existence. Order is also a thing that is resisted greatly by all other Conceptual Planes: the natural state of existence is Chaos, so Order struggles with it. Light and Shadow want to be all-encompassing, both necessary and yet deadly in their most concentrated forms in the manner of other Elemental Planes. Life does not like to end; Death does not like to be constrained.
It is in this manner that the six Conceptual Planes, along with the six Elemental Planes, came to exist and shape the Great Dark and all that dwell within it.
The Eternal Conflict
Once the Elemental and Conceptual Planes were completed, they immediately came into conflict with one another: due to the very nature of their creation, the Conceptual Planes contend against each other, striving for dominance while knowing that actually achieving supremacy over their opposite would mean absolute catastrophe. To that end, each Plane would strive to remain strong in the face of their counterbalance. This led, quite naturally, to alliances of the like-minded Planes against their opposites.
Led by the inhabitants of the Land of Uld, the Army of Order consists of the Conceptual Planes of Order, Light, and Life, promoting their ideals throughout the Great Dark. As expected, this was countered by the Army of Chaos, with the residents of the Conceptual Planes of Chaos, Shadow, and Death imposing their own beliefs whenever they could. So did this great conflict begin while life took root on thousands of worlds amid the hundreds of thousands of stars.
The War in Heaven
The Army of Order, sometimes called the Light's Crusade, were led by the inhabitants of the Land of Uld, called the Titans. The Titans varied in power, and sometimes stature, but they were all united in the goal of bringing order to the Great Dark, so fresh from its own creation. The Army of Chaos, sometimes called the Burning Legion, were led by the denizens of the Twisting Nether, a nebulous, loose collection of beings aligned to chaos, called Demons. Their own motivations ran naturally counter to that of the Titans: that which was ordered must always come undone.
The Light's Crusade would frequently travel to worlds with primitive, or limited sentient life, and colonize it by planting a structure called the Genesis device in the core of the world. This machine, which contained raw Arcane magic, was capable of affecting great change in the beings that inhabited the world, as well as their constructed builder races known as Seed Races. The Seed Races would be first tasked with shaping the world, and then altered, becoming part of it, retiring from their tasks or being absorbed by the Genesis device if they were not capable of reproducing on their own. The natives of the world would equally be uplifted, and eventually recruited into the Army of Order once they had become sufficiently advanced. The Genesis device itself would go dormant, the magic drawn into the world and largely inaccessible and incapable of affecting further change on any of the races living on the planet.
The Burning Legion, on the other hand, would travel to advanced worlds with vast populations and turn them to their cause, using manipulation, lies, promises of power, and sometimes outright enslavement to bolster their ranks. Unlike the Army of Order, the generals of Chaos tended to change frequently, negating their more destructive tendencies with infighting, limiting the damage they could do during each great Crusade. This state of affairs created a sense of balance in the cosmos, no matter how terrible and destructive that balance might have been. All of this, however, was to change.
Fall From Grace
While the leader of the Titans was Aman’Thul, their great general was Sargeras. Peerless in battle, the Titan of War was undefeatable by normal means. Thousands of demons, undead, and shadow creatures could be thrown at him and he would destroy them all. There was no hope for the Burning Legion so long as Sargeras led the Light's Crusade. A radical change in tactics was in order and it was to this end that the de facto leaders of the Burning Legion, the Dreadlords, met to come up with a new, decisive plan to put an end to the threat of Sargeras once and for all. If there was no way to defeat the Titan of War in battle, they need not engage him in battle. Instead, their plan was to *seduce* him with the same dark promises that had once swayed the Nathrezim and led to their existence as vampiric demons called Dreadlords.
At the end of one particularly brutal campaign, Dreadlord agents met with Sargeras when he was away from his fellow Titans and convinced him of one simple truth - he was fighting a war without end, hopelessly. The Titans and their allies had set themselves deliberately against the natural order of the universe - chaotic, shadowed, and dead - and that while the Army of Chaos was honest about their manipulation, the Titans and their ilk deliberately raised up slave races to fight in wars they would never understand. Sargeras denied it at first, but suspicion and doubt, met with vague responses or flat refusal to discuss other options, enraged Sargeras. He cast off his role as protector and guardian, instead falling from grace to become the leader of the Burning Legion, a veritable avatar of destruction, chaos, and death.
The First Strike
For long centuries, the Light's Crusade had cultivated a race of beings that were both immortal and powerfully magically attuned to each of their three primary magic schools - the Eredar. Argus, their homeworld, was a massive gas giant from which they had long drawn energy, powering the ships they used to travel their solar system, and lived on the large, planet-sized moon called Eredun. For centuries, the Eredar had developed their magic-centred society: in their priesthood, they worshipped the Light, serving the Naaru faithfully; in their mage schools, they were potent wielders of arcane magic, favoring Order; and in their serene retreats deep in the wilds of Eredun lived their shamans, masters of elemental magic, devotees of Life. Their destiny had long been to join the Army of Order, adding not just people to their ranks, but spaceships, weapons, and more.
Sargeras, well aware of the Eredar’s potential as leaders of the Burning Legion, traveled to Eredun to speak with their Triumvirate: Kil'jaeden of the shaman school, Archimonde of the mage school, and Velen of the priest school. Sargeras and his new subordinates seduced these first two with promises of power and warnings of their fate as perpetual slaves and pawns of the Titans, while Velen was more skeptical of Sargeras’ claims. Velen withdrew to his sanctum and fell into a deep trance and was touched by L’ura, one of the Naaru serving with the Light's Crusade. His communion with her took nearly a full day, but by the end of it, he condemned Sargeras and the Dreadlords as liars and monsters, leaders of an army of pure evil.
Unfortunately for Velen and his followers, these words were in vain - his fellow Triumvirate members had turned many of the Eredar to Sargeras’ cause and their first act of betrayal was the attempt to capture Velen and his followers. Bravely, L’ura protected them as they fled in the great Genedar, or Tempest Keep. Enraged, Kil’jaeden, always closer to Velen than any other, vowed to hunt him across the stars and drag him before their new lord in chains. For safety’s sake, Velen’s followers were forced to scatter, sometimes finding small, safe enclaves on distant planets, while others went to serve the Naaru directly out of gratitude, becoming the Lightforged.
One of these groups would eventually become grounded on a remote world named Draenor, mingling with the native Draenei and observing the way the world changed over time as timeless, immortal, homeless beings, never daring to meet their potential lest their excellence attract Sargeras and his terrible Legion to their location.
The Darkness Between the Stars
While the Armies of Order and Chaos fought their endless wars, a different race of beings lurked in the darkness between the stars. Styling themselves gods, these Shath’Yar sought worlds not for colonisation but consumption. These beings were powerful psychic parasites, infecting victims with paranoia, doubt, crushing pessimism, madness, and eventually the desire to offer up their very lives for their so-called Gods. Wise enough to steer clear of the clashing armies, the Old Gods plotted the infection of a world known to its eventual inhabitants as Azeroth. At this stage of its development, the fledgling world was only thinly inhabited, the first of the trolls and goblins were barely living outside of caves and mastering fire, and the world was rich with biomass and elemental potential.
The Shath’Yar sent forth the Aqir - their insectlike, hive-minded servants - to enslave these early inhabitants, driving them into work camps while the world was slowly but inexorably transmuted into an Aqiri hive. The more of the world that was destroyed, the more of the Old Gods’ minions were sent, until they themselves descended upon the world to consume it. During this time, they were able to tap into the potent elemental energies that swirled around the planet, freeing the six Elemental Lords to wreak havoc on the husked remains. Unfortunately for the Shath’Yar, this finally attracted the attention of the Army of Order, who travelled to Azeroth and learned of this previously unknown threat and responded predictably: with violence.
World of Ruin
Before the coming of the Aqir, Azeroth was a world with few native inhabitants, and heavily steeped in primal elemental power. It had several large continents and three primary sentient races. The first, and most prominent, were the Zandalari. Tall, wiry, and resilient, they developed many methods of surviving the worst Azeroth had to throw at them and only became stronger for it. They had skin from the palest blue and white hues to a medium green, and sometimes even sandy gold or dusky purple. They lived in tribes spread out across Azeroth, their natural strengths allowing them to live even in the most hostile of environments, and of those there were many.
The second race with the Kezani, who were diminutive and green, with slightly elongated and pointed ears, sharp noses, and typically darker shades of green skin. While not as resilient as the Zandalari, the Kezani made up for it by being incredibly cunning, finding new ways of surviving in the same kinds of places as their neighbours, not through brute-force survival, but instead keen observation and allowing others to perform the trial and error acts that would otherwise get a Kezani killed. Kezani tended to gather together, and rarely struck out on their own.
The final race were the Mogu, tall and strong, muscular and suspicious of all outsiders. Instead of living on one of the two major continents, the Mogu lived on a smaller continent, to the east of the primary landmass. Their continent was a paradise of climate, resources, and safety. Their obsession with strength led them to conquer it, naming it Mogushan. Highly conscious of their own mortality, the Mogu sought ways to increase their lifespans until the coming of the Shath'Yar disrupted many of their plans.
The Madness Descends
The Aqir fell upon the Zandalari and Kezani with terrible violence, enslaving both races, driving some mad, while others were used for physical labour, as the Aqiri forms were suited to little but war and death. The Zandalari were found to be ideal, as they healed rapidly from injuries, so punishment was heaped on them. The Kezani were viewed as weaker and more cowardly, and after they found them, the Mogu were judged to be incredibly stubborn, and many were killed before finally submitting to their new overlords.
What the Shath'Yar wanted at first was unclear. Much of the work the native Azerothians were forced to do seemed pointless: digging holes, destroying plantlife, and slaughtering so many animals that their corpses began to rot in the ever-warming sunlight. The Aqiri enforced these orders with minimal patience and increasing hostility. With the resources, and with the forced aid of the Mogu, the Aqiri oversaw the construction of vast temple-complexes. They were huge ziggurats, as black as the depths of the Great Dark, meant to house the coming Shath'Yar and make them comfortable in their conquest.
The Birth of Nya'lotha
The Aqiri called the city Nya'lotha, Heart of the Black Empire. The Old Gods were so vast, bloated with madness and power, that they required support to exist on planets like Azeroth. As such, the city existed to house not just the Aqiri, but the Shath'Yar as well. The holes bored in Azeroth's surface would allow the world-parasites to dig deep to harvest Azeroth's raw, primal power. The ziggurats would serve to contain their festering broods, until so much energy had been gathered that they could burst forth from Azeroth's empty shell to spread to a million more worlds, perpetuating their cycle of feeding, reproduction, and destruction.
The Zandalari and Kezani vowed to stop the Old Gods, even as they were forced to worship them, to serve them, and to destroy their own world. The Zandalari withstood beatings and horrific injury to pass the word between enclaves of slaves. The Kezani and Mogu studied the building structures, seeking out vulnerabilities to commit sabotage. Starving the Kezani did little, as they learned to survive off of the most putrid of discarded leavings, and the Mogu studied the darkest of Aqiri magics to defend themselves, even as their masters hunted them to near-extinction. On and on it went, with no goal other than survival, until a Light shone in the darkness.
One Light in the Dark
As the Light's Crusade traveled the Great Dark, they sought to recruit new members to their vast Army, just as the Burning Legion did. Countless times, they clashed over different worlds, one side or the other gathering new followers, and many times, the worlds themselves fell to death and ruin. During one of these journeys, the Army of Order came across Azeroth and were alarmed by the presence of the Aqir, the Shath'Yar, and what the existence of a third potential faction meant for the balance of the cosmos.
A large force, led by Aman'Thul and five of his Titan compatriots, descended on Azeroth to investigate. They found the battered, though not cowed, natives of Azeroth on the very edge of despair. With their guidance, the Titans led their forces into the dark heart of the Black Empire, and assaulted their forces directly. It was then that the Shath'Yar revealed a mighty secret weapon: the six Elemental Lords.
Storm, Earth, and Fire
Azeroth, like a number of other lightly populated planets, was heavily exposed to the Elemental and Semi-Elemental Planes, shaping the magics of the early races who lived there. The Zandalari developed various techniques for appealing to the elementals, and those who mastered those techniques and taught others were considered to be gurus, or Loa. Kezani, who were less prone to survive encounters with angry elementals than the Zandalari were, became adept at forming agreements that would curtail the excesses of the Elementals so long as no promises were broken. The Mogu viewed strength as the ultimate form of power, and used such displays to keep the Elementals to their bargains. All three races had members that were part of cults that worshiped elementals, in theory if not always in practice.
With the coming of the Shath'Yar, this balance shifted. Great rifts were opened from the Elemental Planes into Azeroth, allowing the Elementals to spill onto the world. Almost immediately, they began to war, tearing up earth, sea, and sky, destroying large swaths of the planet. The Zandalari, Kezani, and Mogu watched in disbelief as this behaviour seemed to please the Old Gods instead of enraging them. Some of the slave races, hoping desperately to gain the favour of the Elementals, told them of the cults. In exchange, some were given great power. All died of it.
The Elemental War
Aman'Thul and the other Titans were well aware of the existence of powerful elementals; their very origins led from the Elemental Planes to the Existential ones. They had not, however, prepared for beings as powerful as Elemental Lords to be on the side of the Shath'Yar. Unrelenting in their desire to consume, smother, scour, and wash away, the Elemental Lords Ragnaros, Therazane, Al'Akir, and Neptulon ravaged Azeroth, drawing the Titans away from the Shath'Yar strongholds so that the Aqir could spill out over the world and fight back. A Naaru and a Void Lord, B'lor and E'lun respectively, threw the day/night cycle of Azeroth into chaos.
The Titans fought back, driving the elementals from Azeroth, chaining their power and curtailing their influence, though their conflict damaged more of Azeroth, exposing parts of it to the raw, molten core of the world, which began to churn in unhealthy ways. Worried about the mortal races of Azeroth, the Titans did what they could to preserve them, though casualties mounted as the war progressed until, finally, the Elemental Lords were subdued, and the Titans could turn their attention back to the Shath'Yar.
Clash of the Titans
Now wary of the Shath'Yar and their tactics, the Titans declared total war on the Old Gods. Fear and anger at the immense beings drove them to greater heights of violence, refusing to give into doubt or despair, guided by their hatred of the Shath'Yar's destructive nature, and stinging pride regarding being tricked into blunting their forces on the Elementals. Aman'Thul and Norgannon led the charge against one of the great ziggurat-temples, hoping to strike a decisive blow. Unfortunately, they did.
The Shath'Yar in question, Y'shaarj, broke into seven fragments, each pure, concentrated essence of one of seven negative emotions, seeking to overwhelm the Titans in their arrogance for daring to stand against gods. The balance of the battlefield tipped sharply in the Old Gods' favour until Khaz'goroth trapped the seven fragments in separate prisons that were heavily warded to prevent the negative emotions from leaking out. Infinitely powerful and yet finitely contained, what had seemed like a defeat became a great victory.
Fall of the Black Empire
Realizing that this was the better tactic -- and acutely aware of the damage they caused in the fight to begin with -- the Titans changed tactics to containing the Shath'Yar, often within their own temples, collapsing tunnels and cutting them off from their Aqiri troops, which quickly became erratic and reckless in their isolation from their great masters. Khaz'goroth built four prisons for the remaining Old Gods, spreading them out across the planet's surface. One was imprisoned on the northern continent. Another in the south-west, still another in the north-east. The last was placed in the middle of the continent and the fragments of Y'shaarj, now called Sha, were separated too, and placed on one of the lesser islands under the disbelieving eyes of the Mogu.
Once the Shath'Yar could be said to be neutralized, the Titans built five complexes over the top of or nearby to each prison, linking them so that, should the Old Gods ever seek to escape, the facilities would pool all their resources together and stop them. Named after their own homeland, the guardian facility for C'thun, to the south-west, was Uldum. To the north-east, the complex Uldaman was meant to watch over the constrained coils of Nyarthalak. Far to the north, Ulduar would be wary of Yogg-Saron, the Beast of a Thousand Maws, and in the heart of the ravaged continent, Uldir would ward N'zoth. Uldaz, on Mogu-Shan, would monitor the seven sub-prisons of Y'shaarj, guarding the Sha of Anger, Fear, Hatred, Violence, Doubt, Despair, and Pride.
The Shaping of Azeroth
With the Shath'Yar contained and the Aqiri killed or driven into hiding, the Titans turned their attention to the natives of Azeroth. The Mogu had been all but wiped out, and in particular their mighty matriarchs had been all but annihilated after generations of war. The Titans offered their considerable know-how, but the Mogu refused, distrustful after the Sha had been chained under their home island. They retreated to Mogu-Shan, and began to plot. The Kezani downplayed their role in the war with the Shath'Yar, trying their best to look cowardly and greedy, all the while wary of gods bearing gifts.
This left the Zandalari, who were reduced in number but not so devastated as the Mogu, and too prideful as a race to simply pretend to have been merely surviving rather than a force to be reckoned with. The Titans were impressed by them, however even after the war, they were far too primitive to join the Light's Crusade. Too many steps would be skipped along their development as a race to simply uplift them, but they would be wiped out if the Titans did nothing to remedy the damage done by the war.
From the Sea to the Sky
The first step was to bury all five facilities, and for this they brought forth one of the many Titan Seed Races. Seed Races were artificially created life forms, more intelligent than constructs but less organic than true life, like the Zandalari. Mountain Giants, huge and craggy, like and yet unlike larger forms of earth elementals, were brought forth to reshape the land, heaving great plots back into place, covering the Titan facilities and then continued to shape the continent, bringing forth great mountains and deep canyons. Sea Giants, scale-skinned with webbed fingers and toes, continued the work underwater, shaping the ocean floor and its many features, some of which were breathtakingly deep, and frighteningly dark.
Next, the Titans brought forth the Earthen: diminutive, sexless beings formed of clay, with no hair and plain features. Of these, there were four different varieties, one for each purely elemental plane of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. These beings were set to carve out the land features, and tend to the land meant for growing, the lakes meant for fishing, the air meant for birds, and the volcanoes meant for forging. The Earthen were far more vulnerable to being damaged than the Giants, and so they were given the means to reproduce by carving out new ones from the mighty mountain where they were formed initially.
Once the land began to grow once more, the Titans realized that the land needed stewards, people to tend to the forests, plains, and hills until the Zandalari were more capable of taking their place as rulers of Azeroth. For this reason, the Titans brought forth the Stormforged, half-giants of bronze skin, graven with runes. They were to be hunters, fishers, and even warriors, meant to keep the animal population under control, to ensure that the forests grew healthily, and grooming the various natural resources for use. They too would require repopulating in time, and so a great forge was created to reproduce them as needed.
Finally, knowing that they would not be able to stay, and wanting to ensure all of their facilities would continue running smoothly in their absence, the Titans brought forth the Mechagon. Extremely small and similarly made of metal, these beings were designed to be the perfect maintenance drones. Intelligent enough to recognize problems and solve them, their purpose was to keep the machinery of Azeroth functioning, which would be necessary for the next and greatest of the gifts the Titans would bestow upon Azeroth: the Genesis Device.
Refulgent Destiny
While it was possible, with sufficient power, time, and resources, to reshape a planet and make it habitable, it could take billions of years to restore life to a nearly lifeless rock. While the various Seed Races performed their tasks, the Titans built a vast reservoir of Arcane magic, the magic of Order, and placed in the middle of the largest continent, though further north from Uldir, to avoid potential contamination. Their allies of Life and Light also imbued the Device, providing not simply the capacity for new growth, but for new life. Animals would once again roam the land, swim the seas, and soar in the skies. Arcane energies would, in time, be absorbed into the world, creating a protective layer between Azeroth and the Elemental and Conceptual planes, solidifying this world as part of the Existential Plane of Reality, which was simply meant to distinguish physical existence from spiritual.
To make sure all went according to plan, the Titans brought forth a final Seed Race, one that, like the various Giants, had been used on many other worlds that were in need of shaping - the Protodrakes. Winged, flight-capable, and large, these Protodrakes were of limited intelligence and were often used to simply monitor the skies, just as the Mountain Giants watched over the land, and the Sea Giants stewarded the seas. The Titans grew them in large glass and metal pods on a small island far away from the others, a blessed creche meant to allow for special training and instruction of those who would become Azeroth's wardens, even as analysis brought troubling news - while the Shath'Yar were contained, their contamination could never truly be removed.
Charge of the Dragonflights
While the Protodrakes developed and grew, the Titans hurried to their facilities, and studied the readouts with dismay: the Shath'Yar had polluted the whole of Azeroth and, while the Titans had done much to cleanse it, some would still remain, potentially staining the souls of any living beings on the planet. The Titans considered destroying Azeroth, which would release the Old Gods from their carefully constructed prisons, or scouring the world entirely, and starting again. This would, of course, wipe out the Zandalari, Kezani, and Mogu, as well as forcing them to start over with new batches of Seed Races.
Further, there was no proof that this staining would be detrimental long-term. They required a way to perform analysis on souls over the course of many thousands of generations, and so they came up with a plan: an afterlife specifically meant to capture, examine, and eventually disperse the souls of all those who had been born and died on Azeroth. This plane became a second Existential Plane, that of Decay, called the Shadowlands. Its guardian would perform this task, and warn the Titans of serious containment breach through the souls of the dead.
Additionally, to determine if they would cause serious damage while alive, a third and final Existential Plane, that of Spirit, was created, called the Emerald Dream. This Plane would allow its guardian to determine if the Shath'Yar could infect the dreams of the living, and similarly warn the Titans of what had happened. It would also, theoretically, prevent those living on Azeroth from being affected by external threats, such as the Burning Legion, should they happen upon Azeroth by accident.
Finally, other guardians would be needed to protect various conceptual and literal aspects of Azeroth - for all of these purposes, decided to uplift six Protodrakes, protectors, watchers, and wardens all in one, into true Dragons, from whom the template for other dragons who shared in their power would be birthed. To this end, each of the six Titans present would uniquely imbue one of the dragons, charging them with one aspect of Azeroth's protection.
Aman’Thul, the All-Father , charged the dragon Alexstrasza with leading both the red dragonflight and the newly created Dragon Aspects, naming her Lifebinder. Her domain was to be all living things, including and especially the races not yet born. Her fellow Aspects would look to her for guidance in the future, and she was to lead them with wisdom, grace, determination, and compassion. For her dragonflight, all places where life was abundant would be their home.
Eonar, the Verdant, charged the dragon Ysera with leading the green dragonflight, naming her the Dreamer . Her domain was to be that of the newly created Existential Plane, the Emerald Dream, where the slumbering minds of sentient life would travel safely without fear of being infected by the Shath’Yar or poisoned by the Army of Chaos. As the Emerald Dream is a place where the first, primal forests were dreamed of, all forests with a connection to the ethereal realm are this dragonflight’s home.
Norgannon, the Celestial, charged the dragon Malygos with leading the blue dragonflight, naming him the Spellweaver. His domain was to be that of magic itself: protecting the Genesis device, making sure that all went to plan with it, and eventually teaching the races of Azeroth how to use magic of all kinds, arcane, elemental, and divine. For his dragonflight, places rich with magic would be their home.
Khaz’goroth, the Shaper, charged the dragon Neltharion with leading the black dragonflight, naming him the Earthwarden. As she was a mighty artisan and builder, so too would be her chosen. His domain was to be the physical realm of earth, every high mountain and deep canyon, all the way into the burning, fiery heart of Azeroth. His realm would also be tied to the Elemental Plane of Earth. For his dragonflight, all deep places, close to the pulse of a living, thriving planet, would be their home.
Golganneth, the Sky-Gazer, charged the dragon Nozdormu with leading the bronze dragonflight, naming him the Timeless. As the mighty Titan understood the winds of change, so too did his charge. His domain would be one of eternal vigilance over the natural flow of time. The Old Gods were still an unknown quantity in many ways, and the Titans feared that they could even warp space-time to their own terrible ends. For his dragonflight, a special place was carved out, simply known as the Caverns of Time, a place where all history flowed together, and this would be their domain.
Charonas, the Reaper, charged the dragon Koirala with leading the silver dragonflight, naming her the White Monarch. All things, all states, must have their opposite, but they need not be evil or at odds. As the Titan was both the ally and the opposite of the All-Father, so too would they be both the opposites and allies of the red dragonflight. Where Alexstrasza would watch over the living, Koirala would be the steward of the dead. Her dragonflight would occupy the newly created Shadowlands and safeguard the souls of the dead until they were ready to reincarnate into new living beings. Her dragonflight, by far the smallest, would be seen only rarely, but their work would be invaluable.
So did the Dragon Aspects humbly accept their charge, and set out to supervise their newly appointed domains. The Titans were pleased and satisfied, and then initiated the next stage of their plans - to create the same restrictions on the Elemental Lords as they had for the dreaming and the dead.
Cage the Elements
Subdued but not killed, the Elemental Lords that the Shath'Yar had recruited bore the same potential for corruption that everything on Azeroth did. It was not their penchant for destruction that was of concern - the elementals were amoral, incapable of acting against their natures - but that they could be harnessed to serving the so-called Old Gods and potentially free them from their prisons, or even recruiting other elementals for a similar purpose. It was for that reason that the Titans decided to confine the Elemental Lords to Azeroth, along with those of their respective Elemental Courts. Following the pattern of the creation of existence within the cosmos, the Titans began their work.
The base of their cage was to be taken from the Elemental Plane of Earth, Deepholm . It was home to Therazane , the Stonemother, and her earth elementals. This was a massive geode, filled with rivers of mercury and encrusted with precious minerals and salts. Living rock, referred to as stone drakes, patrolled the empty spaces, while golems roamed the gem-studded mountains, seeking to remove any non-earth based existence. This was a land of no air, no light, but was extremely orderly. The Elemental Plane of Earth is associated with Order and Shadow.
Cradled within was the Elemental Plane of Fire, Firelands. It was home to Ragnaros , the Firelord, and his fire elementals. So bright that it was dark, so hungry that it had nothing to consume but itself, this realm required constant vigilance, and so Deepholm gave the Firelands shape. The Firelord bellowed his endless, all-consuming rage, but was safely installed within, along with magma giants, phoenixes, salamanders, corehounds, and other such creatures. The Elemental Plane of Fire is associated with Light and Chaos.
Not to show undue favour to one particular element over the others, the Elemental Plane of Water, the Abyssal Depths , was placed above Deepholm, both to help keep it cool from the Firelands’ endless inferno, but also to affect slow change on the earth, just as enough water can erode even the greatest mountain. It was home to Neptulon, the Tidehunter, and she was as mercurial as Ragnaros was angry and Therazane was stubborn. It is Neptulon who desires nothing more than to drown worlds in endless oceans of salt, but still cares for the smallest ponds and streams, along with raging rivers and depthless lakes, along with all of the creatures that dwell within. The Elemental Plane of Water is associated with Order and Life.
Finally, at the top of this realm, was the Elemental Plane of Air, Skywall, and it was ruled by Al’Akir, the Windlord. Skywall is a realm without form, save that which is given by Neptulon’s oceans, Therazane’s mountains, and Ragnaros’ heat. Despite being crucial for all living beings, this plane is violent and dangerous, and lacks even the basics of a place to stand, and platforms, made of glass and marble, can simply disappear at the Windlord’s whim. Here, balls of lightning, djinns, air elementals, and cloud drakes dwell, endlessly soaring through the whipping winds. The Elemental Plane of Air is associated with Chaos and Death.
Shadows and Light
Satisfied with their work, the Titans then turned themselves to a great conundrum - the fragments of Shadow and Light taken from the Conceptual Planes. As these forces were not elemental, they could not be treated in the same way as the Elemental Lords, however they were ranked in the same category, had their own followers and servants, and were equally likely to be infected by the Shath'Yar’s whispers. They could not simply be returned to their respective Conceptual Planes. The Titans considered their options and decided that not unlike the other four Elemental Lords, these too would contain and constrain each other, even as one gave the other form.
The first of these two entities was B’lor, or Balor, or Belore, and was a Naaru from the Conceptual Plane of Light. He represented illumination, light, heat, innovation, and day, as well as sterility, stasis, and the sun. Without light, shadow has no form. The second of these two entities was E’lun, or Selene, or Elune, and was a Void Lord from the Conceptual Plane of Shadow. She represents darkness, shadow, coolness, intuition, and night, as well as secrecy, change, and the moon. Without shadow, light cannot be conceived.
For this pair, the Titans created an entirely physical complex, outwardly no different from Azeroth’s existing moon, and placed it in the sky, far away from the influence of the Shath’Yar, should they ever awaken. Contained within, Elune and Belore would forever chase each other as the moon pursues the sun across the sky, and night follows day. This realm does not specifically have a name as the Elemental Planes do, but they are often thought of as Yin-Yang, Tao, or Libra (balance). Once completed, the Titans departed Azeroth to return to the Light's Crusade to simply wait for the right time to return to recruit.
Sidebar: Existential Planes
An Existential Plane is where non-Conceptual and Elemental beings dwell. Typically, they follow rules meant to both benefit and restrict mortal beings, and protect them from being directly exposed to deadly environments like the Elemental Planes, as well as being exploited by beings of the Conceptual planes. In Azeroth's case, they are artificially generated in large part, but all planets in the cosmos touch on multiple Existential Planes.
Physical Realm (Azeroth) - This is where physical beings live, whether they be animals, plants, insects, or humanoids, and is guarded by Alexstrasza and the Red Dragonflight as well as Neltharion and the Black Dragonflight. The Physical Realm is covered with oceans, mountains, breathable air, and is subject to various physical laws such as gravity and thermodynamics, but also magic in various forms. As a result, it can be chaotic but orderly, a place of death as well as life. The Physical Realm is associated with all four Elemental Planes in a limited fashion, as well as Libra, the moon.
Existential Plane of Spirit (Emerald Dream) - This is the realm of dreams, guarded by Ysera and the Green Dragonflight. Its shape is that of the primordial forests of Kalimdor, a dream of an idyllic past. Here, the trees are endless and shade is plentiful without it being a realm of shadows and darkness. Instead, it is a place of twilight, verdant life, and endless beauty. It is associated with the Elemental Planes of Water and Fire, along with the Conceptual Planes of Light and Life, and is the home of the Wild Gods of Azeroth.
Existential Plane of Decay (Shadowlands) - This is a realm of the dead, guarded by Koirala and the Silver Dragonflight. Its shape is that of the fallen Black Empire, a place that is dead and gone, never to return. It also holds fragments of other fallen realms, and any place where death has touched the world of the living. It is associated with the Elemental Planes of Earth and Air, along with the Conceptual Planes of Shadow and Death, and is associated with the Undead.