Nordrassil had not fully healed since the Third War, but it still held immense power. Its roots reached deep into Azeroth, nurturing the land and mending its unseen wounds. Due to Nordrassil’s presence, much of Hyjal was finally starting to bloom again. N’Zoth believed that burning the World Tree would deal a blow to the world from which it would never recover.
As the sworn guardians of nature, the druids of the Cenarion Circle and their ancient friends, the green dragons, stood as the first line of defense against the elementals. They were soon joined by the night elf military and champions from the Horde and the Alliance. This unified front established defenses across the mountain, but even these were not enough to hold back the storm of smoke and ember.
Hyjal’s defenders needed something more. They needed the Wild Gods, nature’s most ferocious guardians.
The Cenarion Circle led efforts to rally the legendary Wild Gods for battle. Most of these immense beasts had either died during the War of the Ancients or gone into hiding following that conflict. Only Cenarius had played an active role in safeguarding the woodlands in recent times. In the Third War, he had fallen to Grommash Hellscream’s axe, and his spirit was lost in the depths of the Emerald Dream.
As the Third War had drawn to a close, the druids had tried and failed to rouse the other Wild Gods from the Dream, asking them for help. Cenarius’s death had thrown the creatures into turmoil.
By now, enough time had passed for the Wild Gods to find inner peace. Slowly and with great care, the druids and their allies drew the majestic creatures to Hyjal. They even found Cenarius’s spirit in the Dream and brought him back to the physical world. The forests soon trembled with the footfalls of legends like Goldrinn, the Great Wolf, and Tortolla, the wise and unyielding turtle.
The return of the Wild Gods was a historic moment. Not since the War of the Ancients had they come together with so many other races in defense of the world.
Unified in purpose, Hyjal’s guardians were unstoppable. With blade and spell, talon and fang, they destroyed the Twilight’s Hammer’s presence in the region and pushed back the fire elementals. Even Ragnaros fled before the fury of the Wild Gods and their mortal allies. He and what remained of his servants vanished into the rift between Azeroth and the Firelands.
For the moment, Hyjal was safe.
With the elemental and naga assaults thwarted, the tide of war turned. The Alliance and the Horde remained consumed by their own power struggle, but recent events had taught them that they could not ignore what was happening to the rest of the world. Though the true purpose behind the Cataclysm and the elemental invasions was still unknown, the attacks had clearly been coordinated. The Alliance and the Horde believed that Deathwing was using the Twilight’s Hammer cult to organize this campaign against the world.
At one time, the Alliance and the Horde had regarded the cult as nothing more than an order of loosely affiliated fanatics and rabble-rousers. Now, they knew that the Twilight’s Hammer was highly organized and extremely dangerous. The cultists had spread across the land like rats. They would only grow in power if ignored.
The Horde and the Alliance launched a counterattack against the Twilight’s Hammer, targeting its most prominent holdings. This offensive culminated in a strike on the Twilight Highlands. Fleets of airships blotted out the sun, laden with war machines and soldiers. The Horde and the Alliance did not strike in unison, but they had the same goals. They wanted to bring the cult to its knees, and they hoped to secure the Highlands for themselves in the process.
The Alliance found new friends among the region’s Wildhammer dwarves. They were a fiercely independent people, isolated from the rest of dwarf society and not accustomed to working with outsiders. It took time to win their support, but it proved invaluable in the battles ahead.
The red dragonflight also came to the Alliance’s aid, most notably at Grim Batol. They joined forces for a unified attack on the ancient stronghold and ripped it free from the clutches of the Twilight’s Hammer.
Meanwhile, the orcs of the Horde rekindled old bonds with the Dragonmaw. Since the end of the Second War, the clan had remained isolated and aloof. Warchief Garrosh Hellscream convinced the Dragonmaw’s orcs to pledge themselves to his Horde with promises of blood and glory. Under his command, they had their fill of both.
As war raged in the Twilight Highlands, Garona emerged to scour the cult. She had not given up her quest to destroy Cho’gall and his followers. Though she had not sworn herself to the new Horde, she fought by their side. She was vengeance incarnate, and she painted her daggers with the blood of all who wore the Twilight’s Hammer sigil.
The Horde eventually struck at the cult’s seat of power: the Bastion of Twilight. The stronghold’s defenses crumbled before the onslaught, and the Horde’s greatest champions cut their way through the citadel. They did not rest until they had plunged their blades into Cho’gall’s black heart. The two-headed ogre did not flee from his enemies. He embraced his fate. Despite the defeats he had suffered, he died believing the Hour of Twilight was inevitable.
The fall of Cho’gall and the Bastion of Twilight broke the cult’s strength, but its influence endured. Many of its members remained active throughout the world. With Cho’gall dead, Archbishop Benedictus ascended to a position of leadership. He cast off his old identity once and for all, and he assumed his true name: the Twilight Father.
RISE OF THE ZANDALARI
Cultures across Azeroth reeled from the Cataclysm, but some suffered more than others. Earthquakes and tidal upheaval rocked the Zandalari trolls, causing widespread devastation on their island, Zandalar.
Following these natural disasters, a strange force began assaulting the trolls—an enemy from the past.
These events were only the latest in a string of hardships that had weakened the trolls. The Zandalar tribe had once reigned over an empire that stretched to the far corners of the world. Those glorious days were gone. For millennia, the trolls had known little more than war and famine.
A mysterious prophet known as Zul arose to help his people. He had seen troubling visions of his island home sinking beneath the waves, and he urged the trolls to abandon Zandalar and embark on a new destiny. The Cataclysm had caused political upheaval across the world, and Zul saw that as an opportunity. The Zandalari could take advantage of the chaos to unite the scattered troll tribes into a mighty empire and establish themselves as Azeroth’s preeminent power like in ancient times.
The Zandalari’s ruler, King Rastakhan, did not heed Zul’s advice to abandon their home, but he did give him permission to take the tribe’s fleet and bring along anyone else who wanted to join him.
Other troll tribes throughout the world embraced Zul’s call. The most powerful were the Gurubashi and Amani. With the Zandalari’s guidance, they rebuilt their shattered nations and readied themselves for war.
Zul reached out to Vol’jin and his Darkspear trolls as well, hoping to win their support. This proved to be a grave mistake. Not only did Vol’jin reject the offer, but he also moved to end the Zandalari’s warmongering.
Vol’jin was not as hostile to the Alliance as Warchief Garrosh Hellscream. Seeing the wisdom in cooperation, he recruited heroes from the Alliance and the Horde to crush the ascendant troll empire. They succeeded, but that did not deter Zul. He would continue to search for ways to assert troll dominion over the world.
After the Horde and the Alliance arrived in the Twilight Highlands, Deathwing briefly appeared in the skies. So, too, did Alexstrasza, the Aspect of Life. She had been horrified by the sheer destructive power unleashed by the Cataclysm and the untold deaths it had caused. Yet when she learned that Deathwing was responsible for the disaster, she knew it was only the beginning. Alexstrasza vowed to stop the fallen Dragon Aspect and end Azeroth’s suffering.
The two dragons clashed above the Twilight Highlands in a storm of fire and scales. Deathwing was
severely wounded in the encounter, but he nonetheless triumphed. Alexstrasza was forced to flee before his fury.
Despite his victory, Deathwing was troubled. He had narrowly bested Alexstrasza. What if Ysera and Nozdormu had been at her side?
Unlike Alexstrasza, the other Dragon Aspects seemed harmless and in disarray, but Deathwing knew that could change. If they returned to their former glory and power, they would become the only true threat to his existence. Deathwing was eager to destroy the noble Dragon Aspects before that came to pass. He rallied an army to his side, composed mainly of the fearsome twilight dragons. Then he vanished from the Twilight Highlands, leaving Cho’gall and the rest of the cultists to their fate. Whether they lived or died was of little concern to Deathwing.
An opportunity to strike at the Dragon Aspects soon presented itself. Alexstrasza had called on Nozdormu and Ysera to gather at Wyrmrest Temple. Her hope was to bring order to the scattered dragonflights and unite them against Deathwing.
From the outset, the meeting was a disaster. Nozdormu’s whereabouts remained unknown. Ysera answered Alexstrasza’s call, but her mind was clouded by strange visions of the future. She had lost the ability to tell the difference between these premonitions and reality.
The blue dragons Kalecgos and Arygos also convened at Wyrmrest Temple to discuss the future of their flight. With Malygos dead, they had emerged as the two most promising candidates to succeed him. Yet they couldn’t have been more different. Kalecgos was wise and even-tempered. Arygos, the son of Malygos, was brash and arrogant. He still blamed Alexstrasza for his father’s death, and he had no intention of forgiving her.
A heated argument erupted between Arygos and the other dragons. It was at this moment that Deathwing’s forces struck.
Twilight dragons descended from the skies and launched an attack against Wyrmrest Temple and its defenders. Unbeknownst to Alexstrasza and her allies, the assault was merely a diversion.
Members of the Twilight’s Hammer infiltrated a series of enchanted sanctums beneath Wyrmrest Temple, which housed each dragonflight’s eggs. The cultists shrouded the clutches with Void energies, slowly transforming the unhatched creatures into twilight dragons.
Their ritual would have worked if not for Alexstrasza’s consort, Korialstrasz. The red dragon learned of the corruption seeping through the sanctums. It was too late to cleanse the eggs of the cult’s magic. Korialstrasz decided to end their tortured existence before the creatures hatched as twilight dragons, and he saw only one way to do it.
He drew on his own life essence, igniting an explosion of enchanted fire within the sanctums. Every egg and cultist was destroyed in the blaze. So, too, was Korialstrasz.
The blast shook Wyrmrest Temple to its foundations. Not long afterward, the twilight dragons pulled back and vanished into the skies.
THE LEGACY OF TWILIGHT
During their campaign against the Twilight’s Hammer cult, the Horde and the Alliance vanquished Nefarian and Sintharia. Yet their creations lived on. They had both produced powerful weapons to serve the cult, particularly Sintharia. She had forged hundreds of twilight dragons, and they became the backbone of Deathwing’s army.
Upon investigating the sanctums, Alexstrasza and the other dragons learned that Korialstrasz was responsible for the eggs’ destruction. However, they did not know why he had destroyed them. Rather than seeing his actions as a heroic sacrifice, the dragons believed he had fallen under Deathwing’s sway.
This apparent betrayal, the loss of so much new life, shattered Alexstrasza’s heart. Overcome with grief, she disappeared from Northrend. The others who had gathered at Wyrmrest gradually abandoned the temple as well. With their departure, whatever hope remained of uniting the dragonflights vanished.
Though Deathwing’s plan to corrupt the eggs had failed, he was pleased with the aftermath. The bonds between the dragonflights had broken. Wyrmrest Temple fell under the control of Deathwing’s forces. He commanded the Twilight Father to occupy the sacred temple alongside an army of twilight dragons and cultists.
There was still much work to be done before the Dragon Aspects could be eliminated forever.
South of Northrend, Thrall and the Earthen Ring continued their struggle to restore balance to the elements. Day and night, they performed rituals at the Maelstrom. All of them ended in failure. The Earthen Ring’s troubles were not only due to the unruly elementals. Thrall was also to blame.
He remained haunted by Cairne Bloodhoof’s death and the Horde’s uncertain future. His inner turmoil disrupted the Earthen Ring’s rituals. Thrall was lost, unsure of who he was and what difference he could make in a world teetering at the edge of oblivion. An answer came from a mysterious visitor at the Maelstrom.
Ysera had foreseen the Hour of Twilight. In a vision, she saw a gray world devoid of all life. Even Deathwing would perish in this dire future. Yet there was a glimmer of hope. Ysera had also seen Thrall in her dreams, playing some important role in the days to come. Ysera did not know exactly what role Thrall would play, but she was determined to find out.
Unsure how to leverage Thrall’s abilities, Ysera initially asked him to embark on a simple quest to calm the elements in a distant corner of Feralas. The orc balked at the suggestion, but Aggra convinced him to take part. Though it was difficult for him to admit, he was doing more harm than good at the Maelstrom. He needed time to reflect if he was to overcome his uncertainties.
YSERA’S VISION OF THE HOUR OF TWILIGHT, WITH DEATHWING IMPALED ON WYRMREST TEMPLE
Thrall’s mission started in Feralas, but it soon grew into something far more. In the time that followed, the orc traveled the far corners of the world in a quest to help the Dragon Aspects. He would see things that few mortals had ever laid eyes on.
After visiting Feralas, Thrall plunged into the timeways and found Nozdormu. The wise Aspect of Time had become lost in his own domain—he had become trapped in all moments of time. Thrall helped liberate Nozdormu from his temporal prison, and the bronze Dragon Aspect returned to the present.
Nozdormu was changed by his experience. In the timeways, he had discovered that the Old Gods were responsible for Deathwing’s corruption, the Emerald Nightmare, and other dark events throughout history. For thousands of years, the vile entities had chipped away at the Dragon Aspects’ strength and unity.
Nozdormu had also learned that the Old Gods had orchestrated the rise of the infinite dragonflight. This shadowy force was responsible for the time anomalies that had consumed his attention for so many years. Just as unsettling was the identity of the infinite dragonflight’s leader.
It was Nozdormu himself.
In some distant future, he had fallen to corruption and taken on the name Murozond. This shade of Nozdormu had forged the infinite dragonflight to unravel the sanctity of time.
Thrall later journeyed to the Nexus to aid the blue dragons in selecting a new Dragon Aspect for their flight. There was deep division between those who supported Kalecgos and those who supported Arygos. Most of the dragons tried to make their decision with reason and cold logic, but Thrall helped convince them to trust their hearts instead. In doing so, they chose Kalecgos.
In response, Arygos did the unthinkable. He attacked his own kind.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the blue dragonflight, Deathwing had won Arygos to his side. He had played on the rage that consumed the blue dragon in the wake of his father’s death. Arygos had nursed a bitter hatred toward Alexstrasza and the mortals who had struck down Malygos. He saw their actions as a betrayal, and he longed for a way to exact retribution. Through his allegiance to Deathwing and the Twilight’s Hammer, Arygos believed he had an army powerful enough to end those who had wronged him and his father.
THRALL’S LESSONS
Thrall changed the lives of Alexstrasza and her allies. In the process, he also changed himself. His journey to the far corners
of the world brought him inner peace and strengthened his connection with the elements. He learned to focus on the present rather than worry about the decisions he had made in the past, or the uncertainties that awaited him and the rest of Azeroth in the future.
Arygos revealed his alliance with Deathwing by assaulting the Nexus with an army of twilight dragons. His attack failed, and Arygos himself was slain. He died as a traitor to his flight.
Following Kalecgos’s ascension to Dragon Aspect, Thrall met with Alexstrasza. The Life-Binder had taken refuge in the wastelands of Desolace. She dwelled there alone, lost in her sadness. Thrall pulled her from the grip of despair with a vision of the past. Through the elements, he had witnessed Korialstrasz’s sacrifice to spare the red dragonflight’s eggs from corruption.
Thrall shared this vision with Alexstrasza, and it rekindled her hope. She found inspiration in Korialstrasz’s noble sacrifice. She found a reason to fight again.
Alongside Thrall, Alexstrasza rallied the dragons and set out for Wyrmrest Temple. For the first time in over ten thousand years, the noble dragonflights were unified in purpose.
The battle to reclaim Wyrmrest Temple from Deathwing’s forces was long and brutal. In the end, the combined strength of the Dragon Aspects and their followers was too much for the Twilight’s Hammer to withstand, and they abandoned the temple.
The Dragon Aspects were eager to take the fight to Deathwing and the remnants of the Twilight’s Hammer, but they first sought to heal the broken world. They gathered at Hyjal Summit to perform a ritual on Nordrassil. The World Tree was mending, but not fast enough. By infusing it with their power, the Dragon Aspects hoped to restore Nordrassil to its former glory. Its withered roots would grow and flourish again, strengthening the world and hastening Azeroth’s recovery.
World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 Page 25
