User:GoldenYak/World's Heart/The Shadowlands

The final raid of World's Heart Tier 1 Raids.

Background
Jaina Proudmoore seeks to master the power of Death in order to bring an end to the countless losses inflicted upon the world by war. To do so, she has captured powerful artifacts related to the focusing of death magic and entered the Shadowlands, the dimension of Death itself, to perform as ritual that will grant her the power she seeks. But a malevolent intelligence seeks to usurp her ritual for its own purposes...

Rift Warden Khayron
.

Immortals of Malykriss
.

Nottjarmna, the Dark Val'kyr
.

Azraeuz, Incarnate of Death
.

Odyn, the Abominable
.

Storyline
Jaina Proudmoore, seeking the ability to master Death itself in order to bring an end to loss, sought out relics of great power hidden in Azeroth's underworld, many of which were associated with the Black Empire and in the keeping of the nerubians. The two most noteworthy however were the necroplis Malykriss, forged of the blood of the Old God Yogg-Saron, and the Black Casket, a treasure hidden in Icecrown Citadel that contains the body of Arthas Menethil, the former Lich King.

With these relics, Jaina entered the Shadowlands to seek out the Incarnate of Death and seize a final artifact - the Eye of Odyn. This relic was traded to the Incarnate of Death by Odyn long ago in exchange for a measure of power over the realm of the dead. With the Eye of Odyn as a focus, Jaina intends to master the powers of death, allowing her to continually resurrect any who perish. With mastery over death, Jaina intends to finally stop the endless cycle of war between the Alliance and the Horde. However, Jaina's reckless bid for the power she seeks has made her many enemies, including keeper Odyn himself, who demands that she be brought to heel before she can find his eye.

After reaching the heart of the Shadowlands and summoning Azraeuz, Jaina successfully captures the Eye from him. Jaina uses the Eye of Odyn and the Black Casket as totems to draw the power of the Shadowlands into Malykriss, the saronite necropolis, which acts as a massive holding vessel for the power. The ritual is threatened by the sudden arrival of Odyn and his Valarjar forces, who intend to halt the ritual. However, before Odyn can take action, something goes hideously wrong with Jaina's ritual.

The flow of power through the Eye becomes corrupted, and infuses itself in the Black Casket, which erupts. Emerging from the destruction is the revived body of Arthas Menethil, the former Lich King, animated by the dark essence of Yogg-Saron. Mortally wounding Jaina, Yogg-Saron reveals that his essence had lain dormant within Malykriss, the necropolis forged of his own blood, manipulating matters until he could be revived in a new vessel. Yogg-Saron reveals that Odyn's eye was long ago tainted by Yogg-Saron's servant, Ysildar, and that Odyn chose this eye to trade away to save himself from being fully corrupted. Instead, the tainted eye corrupted Azraeuz and gave Yogg-Saron a foothold in the Shadowlands to spread his influence. Now, Yogg-Saron has capitalized on his manipulations, and risen to become a true God of Death.

Yogg-Saron casts the polluted eye back into Odyn himself, corrupting the keeper and transforming Odyn into an insane abomination. Yogg-Saron unleashes the corrupted Odyn upon the heroes while he returns to Azeroth with Malykriss and a legion of corrupted undead, intending to carry out his plans to capture the Worldsoul for himself. The heroes manage to banish Odyn into the depths of the Shadowlands and discover that Jaina has entombed herself in ice, still barely clinging to life. Jaina's tomb is returned to Doorward, while the heroes confer on their world's defense and await Yogg-Saron's next move.