The C'Thraxxi were terrifying harbingers of war—colossal creatures far larger and tougher than any n'raqi. They were not mere killing machines; they were entities that combined overwhelming physical power with brutal intelligence capable of devising strategies for total annihilation. The dark power flowing through their bodies, along with the ancient curses inherited from the Old Gods, could pierce the mental resilience of the Titan-Forged, driving them into madness and despair.
These tentacled C'Thraxxi, towering and filled with hatred in their eyes, wiped out the last remnants of the Black Empire still clinging to survival. They surged from every direction, crushing the ranks of the Titan-Forged who had grown weary from prolonged battle. By the time the Keepers and their allies reached the heart of Yogg-Saron's power, their forces had been severely depleted. They realized their numbers were no longer enough to face an Old God whose strength continued to grow. If not for Odyn's heroic intervention, Yogg-Saron would have annihilated the entire Titan-Forged army without a trace.
Odyn, though wounded and drained of strength, stood tall as a symbol of hope. With unshakable resolve, he summoned the last of his power to inspire the Titan-Forged to rise and fight. He ordered Loken to cast a grand illusion spell—a high-level magic that twisted the perception of the C'Thraxxi, causing them to see one another, and even Yogg-Saron himself, as enemies to be destroyed. In the chaos that followed, the forces of the Black Empire turned on each other mercilessly. Odyn seized the moment to charge and eliminate his confused foes. The other Titan-Forged followed his lead, and together they subdued Yogg-Saron. As they had done with C'Thun and N'Zoth, the Keepers buried the entity deep underground, sealing it within a monolithic magical prison that could not be breached.
The Pantheon finally understood why the Valar and Maiar had never intervened directly to restore Azeroth. The tendrils of the Old Gods had long been embedded throughout the world, reaching into its deepest layers and intertwining with the soul of the young Titan slumbering within. If they attempted to kill or forcibly remove that power, the resulting damage would wound the world-soul itself, causing irreversible destruction.
The Pantheon's interest in the Valar grew. They decided to make an official visit to the continent of Valinor, where the Valar resided, and entrusted the task of restoring Azeroth to the Titan-Forged, who better understood the planet's condition. While the members of the Pantheon journeyed to Valinor, the Titan-Forged remained on Azeroth, working tirelessly to purify the planet—still warm and fragile from the devastating war between the Elementals and the Old Gods.
Aman'Thul, Aggramar, Eonar, Khaz'goroth, Norgannon, and Golganneth stepped into the heart of Valinor, the dwelling place of the Valar. There, they were warmly welcomed and quickly engaged in deep conversations filled with respect and curiosity.
Aman'Thul opened the dialogue by formally introducing himself. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Aman'Thul, leader of the Pantheon. If I may ask—who are you?" he said, presenting the members of the Pantheon to the fourteen Valar.
Manwë, leader of the Valar, stood before them. The Valar appeared majestic and indescribable, each radiating the elemental aura they embodied. Behind their heads glowed halos that signified their closeness to the Creator.
Manwë, resembling the element of wind, replied in a calm yet authoritative voice. "Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the Valar, children of the Creator, Eru Ilúvatar. We were tasked with guarding the seed of the World Tree by the Creator, until new Valar are sent to replace us."
Aman'Thul gazed at Manwë with awe. "So you are the ones who once sang the song that echoed throughout the Vast Great Void?"
Manwë nodded. "Yes. We followed the Creator's command to expand this planet and create the new continent we now call Arda. We built many creations in Arda—from flora and fauna to its ecosystems—until the tree grew."
"What is your purpose here?" Aman'Thul asked again.
"We only create life in Arda. Once the World Tree grows, we will return and let nature decide what comes next," Manwë answered peacefully.
The conversation continued in a warm atmosphere of mutual respect. Eonar, alongside Yavanna and the other female Valar, discussed various types of plants and life energy. Eonar was deeply intrigued by Yavanna's golden and silver trees, said to repel evil and maintain natural balance. They also spoke of the World Tree, the central source of life energy in Arda.
Elsewhere, Aulë and Khaz'goroth engaged in a deep discussion about crafting techniques and the creation of great artifacts. They exchanged methods and principles, forging a new bond between two very different worlds.
Aggramar and Tulkas, two mighty warriors from their respective realms, sparred to test their strength and endurance. Their battle was not to defeat one another, but to understand each other's power.
Norgannon, ever hungry for knowledge, explored the unique magic of the Valar that allowed them to create through song. He was fascinated by the concept and wished to study it further, even offering a knowledge exchange with the Maiar.
Golganneth and Aman'Thul sat with the other Valar, chatting casually beneath Valinor's bright sky. The atmosphere felt like a noble garden tea gathering—warm, trusting, and serene.
The Pantheon was finally convinced that the Valar harbored no ill intent. Their creations, though different from Titan methods, held great potential to help protect Azeroth's world-soul. With that assurance, they could breathe easy.
While the Pantheon and the Valar exchanged knowledge and strengthened their bond, the Titan-Forged continued working tirelessly on Azeroth. They cleansed the remnants of chaos, stabilized the elements, and reinforced the world's fragile structure.
For the first time in Azeroth's long history, a temporary peace blanketed the world. The Titan-Forged had successfully banished the chaotic elemental rulers to another plane of existence. They had purged the Black Empire and suppressed the terrifying power of the Old Gods. Against all odds, the world had been saved from total annihilation.
But their work was not yet done. The Keepers' greatest concern was the horrific scar left by Aman'Thul when he tore Y'Shaarj from the crust of the world. That colossal rupture continued to spew uncontrollable streams of mysterious energy, surging across Azeroth. The Keepers knew that if left unchecked, this energy would consume the world from within, destroying all remaining life.
The Keepers worked day and night, crafting magical shields to surround the gaping wound. They stemmed the flow of life-blood pouring from the rupture, striving to stabilize the raging pulse of energy. After months of relentless effort, the volatile energy finally calmed and reached equilibrium.
What remained of the scar was a vast, shimmering lake of energy, radiating a gentle light that bathed the surrounding land. The Keepers named it the "Well of Eternity." This source of magical power was then channeled across the wounded world, helping life take root and flourish once more.
Once the ancient wound in Azeroth's world-body had been calmed, the Keepers wasted no time. They immediately turned to their next task: fortifying the nascent world-soul and stabilizing its fragile flow of life-force. To achieve this, Archaedas and Mimiron—two master architects among the Titan-Forged—combined their intellect and power to construct two monumental machines: the Forge of Wills and the Forge of Origination. These were not mere tools, but cosmic instruments designed to inject primordial energy directly into the slumbering core of Azeroth's soul.
The Forge of Wills was designed to be embedded in the northern reaches of the world, in a region that would later be known as Storm Peaks. This machine would shape the consciousness and identity of the developing world-soul, regulating its thought patterns and guiding its spiritual growth. Meanwhile, the Forge of Origination was to be installed deep beneath the volatile southern lands of Azeroth. Its purpose was to regulate the rhythms of the planet's inner crust, reinforce its physical structure, and synchronize the pulse of life with cosmic intent.
Once both colossal machines were completed, the Keepers mobilized. Odyn, whose valor in the war against the Old Gods had been proven beyond doubt, was appointed by the Pantheon as Prime Candidate. He was entrusted with full authority over the installation and operation of the Forge of Wills in the vast northern mountains. Additionally, he was tasked with guarding the prison of Yogg-Saron, ensuring that the horrific entity remained sealed for eternity.
Odyn and the other Keepers began construction of a massive fortress that would serve as their northern command center. This fortress was named Ulduar—a majestic structure designed to house the prison of Yogg-Saron, the Forge of Wills, and a multitude of arcane and high-tech devices crafted by the Keepers. Ulduar was not merely a defensive bastion; it was a laboratory, a research hub, and the birthplace of a new generation of Titan-Forged.
The Forge of Wills possessed an additional, critical function. It could absorb the life essence of Azeroth itself and use it to create beings of living stone and metal. These creations ranged from towering giants to various specialized forms of Titan-Forged, each designed for specific tasks. This new generation of Titan-Forged would become the guardians of the world—maintaining order, preserving balance, and protecting the planet's soul from external threats.
While the Forge of Wills began producing new constructs, Highkeeper Ra led a grand expedition southward to establish the Forge of Origination. He was accompanied by freshly-forged stone-skinned beings: the mighty Anubisath giants, the wise Tol'vir Leo, and the disciplined, resolute Mogu. They traversed uncharted lands, carrying blueprints and machine components that would reshape the southern face of Azeroth.
During their journey to the construction site, Ra discovered something horrifying: the physical remnants of Y'Shaarj scattered across the southern edge of the world. When Aman'Thul had ripped the Old God from Azeroth's body, fragments of the entity had fallen back to the surface, contaminating the land with poisonous Void energy. The largest and most dangerous piece was Y'Shaarj's frozen heart—a diseased mass of flesh that continued to churn, radiating dark power that disrupted the balance of nature.
Ra, understanding the peril of Void energy, chose not to destroy the heart. Instead, he constructed a subterranean vault specifically designed to contain and neutralize the evil within. He believed that studying the heart could yield vital insights into the nature of the Old Gods and other Void-born entities. The other Keepers agreed with this approach, and Ra assigned his loyal Mogu followers to guard the Vault of Y'Shaarj and tend the surrounding land to prevent further contamination.
With that task complete, Ra continued his expedition westward. There, he and his followers embedded the Forge of Origination into carefully selected ground. As the massive machine activated, the earth trembled beneath their feet. Ra immediately sensed that both forges—one in the north and one in the south—had begun to operate in harmony, sending waves of healing energy across the world. This energy merged with Azeroth's life-stream, strengthening the world-soul and stabilizing the planet's structure.
Ra and his followers established a vast fortress around the Forge of Origination. This site was named Uldum, and it would serve as the southernmost operational base for the Keepers. Uldum was designed to house surveillance facilities, laboratories, and garrisons to protect the machine from external interference.
Like the Forge of Wills, the Forge of Origination had two primary functions. In addition to fortifying the world-soul, it was also designed as a final failsafe. Should Azeroth's flora and fauna become irreversibly corrupted by Void energies or other uncontrollable threats, the immense power stored within the Forge of Origination could be unleashed to annihilate all life on the planet. In doing so, the world could be purified completely and begin a new cycle of life from scratch.
Highkeeper Ra ordered a contingent of Tol'vir and Anubisath to guard Uldum for eternity, ensuring that the Forge of Origination remained secure and never misused. Afterward, he and his remaining servants traveled northwest to the region that would later be known as Silithus. This land was barren, inhospitable, and saturated with lingering dark energy from ancient wars. Hidden there was an underground prison containing the Old God C'Thun—an entity that had once shaken the world with its terrifying mental power.
Ra and his allies labored to expand the prison, reinforcing its walls with magic and living metal, and constructing impenetrable defensive structures. The result of their efforts was a mighty fortress named Ahn'Qiraj. This bastion was designed to contain C'Thun's power and prevent its resurgence. Once the task was complete, Ra ordered the remaining Titan-Forged created by the Forge of Wills to guard the fortress permanently, ensuring that the Old God would never escape again.
Ra himself, after completing his monumental tasks, chose not to return to the central seat of the Keepers' power. He decided to spend the following ages wandering the southern reaches of Azeroth, observing from afar the titans he had forged, ensuring they carried out their sacred duties with unwavering discipline and loyalty. He no longer led directly, but remained a silent high overseer, guarding the balance and order of the lands he had once shaped with his own hands.
With two cosmic forges now embedded in the body of the world—the Forge of Wills in the north and the Forge of Origination in the south—the Keepers began to reshape the surface of Azeroth. Their goal was clear: to create a stable, orderly world, ready to become a cradle for life yet to come. To realize this vision, they summoned a new generation of servants forged directly from the Forge of Wills—beings born from the essence of the world and shaped with precision by the hands of the Keepers.
Each of these loyal and mighty titanic beings was given a specific role in organizing and protecting the world. The kind-hearted stone creatures, sturdy and serene, specialized in forming mountains and carving out the deepest places of the world, creating caves and valleys that would one day become homes to countless future beings. The clockwork mechagnomes, clever and precise creations of Keeper Mimiron, were tasked with building and maintaining the Keepers' extraordinary machines, ensuring that technology and magic remained in harmony.
The stone-skinned mogu, with their immense physical strength and tireless perseverance, dug countless rivers and waterways across Azeroth, creating flow systems that would sustain life. The duty of guarding the Keepers' many holdings fell to two distinct construction groups: the iron-skinned vrykul, fierce warriors who protected fortresses and defensive structures, and the sculpted tol'vir, elegant and disciplined beings who watched over temples and sacred sites.
To shape a balanced and dynamic environment, the Keepers also recruited mighty stone and sea giants. These colossal beings roamed the vastness of Azeroth, raising towering mountains, dredging deep and unpredictable oceans, and forming coastlines and seabeds that would become habitats for future marine life.
While the Titan-Forged were busy shaping the physical structure of the world, Keeper Freya held a different vision. She was determined to fill the world with diverse and dynamic organic life. To achieve this, she created the Emerald Dream—a vast dimension of spirit and natural wonder, ever-shifting and unbound by the laws of physical reality. This subtle realm acted as a mirrored shadow of Azeroth, a spiritual domain that helped guide the evolutionary paths of the world's flora and fauna.
Spirits and strange creatures from other worlds filled the Emerald Dream, frolicking in the surreal paradise that became their home. This realm defied human perception of reality. Concepts like time and distance held no meaning within it. A single day in the physical world could feel like decades in the Dream, and changes that occurred there could directly influence the growth and direction of life on Azeroth.
Freya then journeyed through the physical world, seeking areas where the energy of the Well of Eternity had fused with the land. These regions created optimal conditions for the development of new flora and fauna. In these power zones, Freya formed vast pockets of nature, brimming with astonishing diversity. She spread life across the world, creating rich and complex ecosystems.
The locations where Freya worked were found at the extreme poles of the world—regions later known as Un'Goro Crater, Sholazar Basin, and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. In these places, life energy flowed freely, and mighty creatures began to rise from the fertile earth.
The greatest beings to emerge from these pockets were the colossal beasts known as the Wild Gods. Freya revered and nurtured these majestic creatures as if they were her own children. She often wandered the physical world with the Wild Gods at her side, and wherever they walked, vibrant forests and grasslands bloomed in their wake.
However, there was one place she and the Wild Gods visited most often: the towering forest peak known as Mount Hyjal. It was on Hyjal's slopes that Freya bound the spirits of her beloved Wild Gods to the Emerald Dream. Tied closely to the subtle realm, they became symbols of Azeroth's health and vitality. Forevermore, Hyjal would remain a sanctuary and sacred haven for the Wild Gods.
THE DREAMWORLD
Some believe Freya created the Emerald Dream from nothing, a direct manifestation of her will. Others claim this strange place had always existed in some form—a primordial dream born from the sleeping soul of Azeroth itself. It's said that Freya entered this world and shaped what would become the Emerald Dream as a way to communicate with the newborn titan, forging a deep spiritual bond between the Keeper and the world she guarded.
THE WILD GODS
Among the greatest and most revered Wild Gods were:
Malorne, the noble White Stag
Aessina, Mother of Wisps
Agamaggan, the Boar
Aviana, Lady of Birds
Ursoc and Ursol, the colossal Bear Lords
Tortola the Wise
Goldrinn, the Great Wolf
Chi-Ji, the Red Crane
Niuzas, the Black Ox
Xuen, the White Tiger
Tu'lon, the Jade Serpent
Their spirits were bound tightly to the Emerald Dream, and they came to embody the forces of nature, balance, and vitality of Azeroth. They were not only protectors, but guides for the living beings yet to come.
As Freya's creations roamed the world, they encountered other strange creatures. These beings emerged from Azeroth's elemental past, appearing of their own will. When the Keepers sealed the Elemental Realms, some lingering entities managed to escape exile. The fury of these spirits faded over time, and they transformed into flesh-and-blood creatures, adapting to the new physical world.
These elementals became the origin of certain wild species, such as the proto-dragons—scaled beasts that combined primal power with predatory instinct. Over time, the Keepers and their servants stabilized Azeroth's main continent, creating a land filled with plants and creatures of all kinds, each playing a role in the ever-evolving ecosystem.
Dusk fell as the Titan-Forged gazed upon the world they had shaped through toil and sacrifice. They stood atop a mountain, o