User:Hv3drungr/Shadowbreakers

Shadowbreakers (or shadow breakers, voidbreakers or even void knights) are soldiers who are trained to disrupt and contort void forces. These, mostly void elven champions, have banded together to use the void's own power against it, as well as other enemies. '''This page is an early concept and planning sandbox for a role playing project. You are welcome to come with input in the discussion page.'''

The spellbreakers
After Kael'thas Sunstrider renamed the high elves to blood elves, elven warriors were trained to disrupt and contort magical energies. These blood elven warriors, fresh from the destruction of their homeland, turned a new eye towards the dying land of Lordaeron. These spellbreakers had spell immunity, which granted them immunity from negative spells, and they attacked land units. While they were already few in number to begin with, the ranks of this formidable fighting force were thinned drastically when their headquarters on the Isle of Quel'Danas was overwhelmed by Kael'thas Sunstrider and his Burning Legion forces. In more recent times, Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron himself ordered a revitalisation of spellbreaker training, leading to a resurgence of spellbreakers among the blood elves' ranks.

Turning to the shadows
A blood elf magister, Umbric, was determined that the sin'dorei would never fall prey to their enemies again. Convinced that the void was essential to the defence of Silvermoon, Umbric and his followers delved into it against the wishes of Quel'Thalas' Grand Magister, Rommath. Eventually, Rommath had them banished, reasoning that any who treat with the void pose a danger to the Sunwell, and Umbric led his followers south to the Ghostlands to pursue their research. He made a breakthrough after discovering notes left by Dar'Khan Drathir, one of Quel'Thalas' most vile traitors, who had sought the power of the void long before selling his people to Arthas. While Drathir had not succeeded in his endeavor, eventually abandoning his research after a failed attempt to reach a void-infused rift world supposedly containing an item of great power, Umbric — who only now conceded that Rommath may have been right to oppose this course of study — was able to build upon Drathir's findings and open the way to the rift.

With his followers, Umbric travelled to the void world now known as Telogrus Rift, which had been destroyed long ago by a being of great power (possibly Sargeras himself). But the fragmented world endured, heavily bathed in the void's energies. Umbric, at last, had found what he was looking for: an ancient and powerful cube that could grant its masters control over shadows.

Alleria Windrunner, who herself recently had been altered by the void, arrived just in time for the ritual to unlock the cube. Umbric's followers had dispersed around Telogrus and were intent on uncovering its secrets. Umbric himself was honoured to make Alleria's acquaintance, and had learned much of her ordeal on Argus and the shadows she'd consumed. But while Silvermoon's leaders looked upon this occurrence with suspicion and mistrust, seeing only a potential threat to Quel'Thalas, Umbric was of a mind with Alleria, and firmly believed that the void could be controlled and made a force for good. Alleria accompanied Umbric to the site of the cube and cautioned him to be wary as he began the ritual to unlock its power.

At that moment, the cube opened with an explosion, allowing Nether-Prince Durzaan — the corrupt ethereal who had stalked Alleria and made an attempt to claim the Sunwell — to surge into Telogrus. Durzaan immediately began a spell to capture and corrupt Umbric and his followers, binding them in an attempt to transform the elves into creatures of the void. Alleria, swearing to save her brothers and sisters, fought a brutal battle to free Umbric and slay the Nether-Prince. Displaying her fortitude, neither Durzaan's power nor his offers to share it were enough to sway Alleria's resolve, as she made clear to Umbric that the whispers are not to be trusted. Alleria succeeded in killing Durzaan, and while their minds and souls were still their own, the sin'dorei had been transformed by the ritual: now, having consumed the void as Alleria had, they had achieved new powers as well as a dangerous susceptibility to its whispers. Alleria immediately offered her aid, wanting to help her transformed kin understand and control their new forms and powers; and Umbric, apologizing for his arrogance, happily accepted. Since Umbric felt that Silvermoon had turned its back on him and his people long ago, Umbric and the void elves swore their allegiance to Alleria and the Alliance.

Alleria and Umbric became the first to embrace a new identity: the void elves, ren'dorei in their native tongue — children of the void.

Fight shadows with shadows - rise of the shadowbreakers
Key words: Knowledge gathered from void and shadow groups throughout the known universe. Cult of forgotten Shadows, Twilight's Hammer cult, Old Gods and their forces and blessings, Sisterhood of Elune with a focus on the Night Warrior, but also the Church of the Holy Light and knowledge of Dark naaru.

Ranks
Elite shadowbreakers are known as void knights.

Void totem

 * A Void Totem weakens the barrier between this world and the Twisting Nether. Used by shadowbreakers, these totems allow the users' own shadows to come out and touch their enemies with dread and horror, and likewise drag out the enemies' own shadows so that they'll overwhelm the unaware opponent with negative emotions.

Void wyrmling

 * Void wyrms are a variation of mana wyrms that instead of stray pockets of arcane energy, feed off of void energy. For this, they have become favoured among shadowbreakers.

Tenets and beliefs
Shadowbreakers use the void's energies, and always have to resist the shadows' influence. Shadowbreakers advocate balance, knowing that both the Light and the Void can corrupt and lead to madness. This leads the shadowbreakers' major tenets.

Both these tenets and how they're described, are subjects open for debate.

Ren'selama - Shadows' justice
What does Shadows' justice mean? A shadowbreaker must contemplate this question, and strive to know both the full scope of what the shadows may be, and what justice means in a world that is not dominated by Light.



Embrace the shadows
How can one be substantial if one does not cast a shadow? One must have a dark side also if one is to be whole. Whether or not one has been touched by the Void, shadows are a part of one's person. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of Light, but by making the darkness conscious. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If the whispers and madness is conscious, the shadowbreaker always has a chance to correct them. It is a frightening thought that one also has a shadow side to oneself, consisting not just of little weaknesses- and foibles, but of a positively maddening dynamism. This is especially true for the void elf. Most people rarely know anything of this. Let these harmless creatures form a mass, and there emerges a raging monster; and each individual is only one tiny cell in the monster’s body, so that for better or worse one must accompany it on its bloody rampages and even assist it to the utmost. We have seen several occasions of this in mad cultists. Having a dark suspicion of these grim possibilities, one turns a blind eye to the shadow-side of their nature. Blindly one strives against the salutary dogmas of the Light. Yes, most even hesitate to admit the conflict of which they are so painfully aware. One who is unconscious of oneself acts in a blind, instinctive way and is in addition fooled by all the illusions that arise when they see everything that they are not conscious of in them self coming to meet them from outside as projections upon their neighbour. The spellbreakers not only acknowledge their shadows - they embrace them and incorporate them into who they are and how they fight. This is achieved through vigorous training where the initiate shadowbreaker seeks out her own inner shadows and works to allow them to become conscious parts of her own being without letting them control her.

Self reliance
The only entity one can ever truly rely on, is oneself. Through having faith in oneself, one can can control the powers of the Void, without being overpowered and corrupted by it. The actions and emotions of the self have the capacity to change one's reality. Self reliance is the tenet that truly separates a Shadowbreaker from power hungry practitioners of the Void who fall into the madness of the Void. Shadowbreakers respect the power they dabble in, and realise that those who are greedy for strength may encounter powers that are too great for them to handle.