User:GoldenYak/Ruins of Undermine

The Ruins of Undermine are the buried remnants of the once-great goblin capitol city of Kezan. The goblins have returned to rebuild their nation, but may find more than just ruins buried in the rubble...

Background
Thousands of years ago, the goblins of Kezan were a weak and primitive race, inhabiting the region around the great volcano Mount Kajaro. Enslaved by trolls and used as slave-labor in their underground mines, the goblin slaves discovered a new type of mineral ore, which came to be called kaja'mite after the nearby volcano. The kaja'mite had many unusual properties, and became prized by the trolls for use in magical rituals. The goblins discovered that the mineral granted them benefits as well - the greater a goblin's exposure to the mineral, the more intelligent they became. The intellect of the goblins increased exponentially, soon far outstripping their enslavers. The goblins developed primitive technology, tools, and weapons, using them to overthrow the trolls and drive them from the region. The goblins transformed the great mining networks around Kajaro into a fortified city almost overnight, naming it Undermine.

Goblin civilization flourished over the following years, spreading across the land around Kajaro. The meticulously planned cities became shining metropolises of technology, more advanced than anything the world had seen before or since. The goblins, recognizing the necessity of preserving the natural world, refined their mining technology into slower but more eco-friendly methods of extracting resources from the environment. They established enlightened laws to preserve personal freedom, dignity, and living standards for all individuals. Goblin society developed principles of science, engineering, alchemy, magic, and philosophy, all in an astonishingly short amount of time, and it seemed as if a golden age had come to them. However, barely a century had elapsed before disaster struck - the goblins exhausted the kaja'mite veins around Kajaro, and all their efforts to locate more of the mineral failed utterly. Before long, the goblin intellect, maintained only by prolonged exposure to refined kaja'mite, began to dwindle.

The goblin leaders took steps to preserve everything of their society they could - their most enlightened values were etched into great metal slabs and placed throughout their empire. Their efforts were in vain, however - the goblins shrinking intellect soon stabilized, making them largely the creatures they are today, focused entirely on the acquisition of material wealth and the industry of exploitation. Though still quite clever, they lacked the advanced intellect necessary to operate the environmentally-friendly technology they had once created, and soon discarded it in favor of cruder, more destructive machines. The great metal plates etched with goblin wisdom were regarded as embarrassing eyesores and scrapped for their metal in short order. The city of Undermine became a sprawling, chaotic, pollution-belching parody of its former self, devouring the nearby jungles and hills for coal, ore, and black oil.

The goblins maintained their civilization in this manner for thousands of years, enduring even the Sundering. Technological advances were frequent and often revolutionary, though inevitably progress would be set-back by a goblin-triggered technological disaster - the city of Undermine has been leveled and rebuilt more often in its history than any other on Azeroth. When the Cataclysm struck, the goblins were forced to abandon their home - for the first time ever, Undermine was devoured by a calamity not of goblin making, buried under tons of molten lava. Now, after several years have passed, the scattered goblin nation has united (as much as goblins ever do) to return to their home - to reclaim and rebuild, as they always have.

Dungeon Journal
The goblin capitol of Undermine was buried under lava during the Cataclysm. Goblin architecture is built to withstand considerable heat and stress however, and the goblins are confident that much of the city has survived. The goblins have blasted open a tunnel leading to the buried city and are ready to conduct their reclamation efforts.

Something is rotten in the depths of Undermine however. Goblin machinery is going haywire more often than it should, malfunctioning a greater degree than usual. Stranger and stranger machines are being found the deeper the goblins dig, more advanced than anything they are capable of building, but unmistakably of goblin design. Ancient machines far older than anything else in the city, machines that can speak, and think. Machines that can talk to technology and cause it to turn upon its makers. Machines all branded with the emblem - "LXM."

The Cataclysm has unleashed a dire threat upon Undermine - one that may soon rise to claim all of Kezan... and beyond.

Vaultkeeper G.U.A.R.D.O.
An automated goblin vaultguard-class mechano-bot. Brought by the goblin of the Venture Company to help with the reclamation of Kezan, G.U.A.R.D.O suddenly turned upon its rightful owners when they attempted to reclaim their holdings in the ruins of Undermine. It is equipped with the most lethal instruments goblin ingenuity can devise.

Gulmek the Whacked
This goblin maniac was left behind in the evacuation of Kezan, and went insane struggling to survive in the blasted ruins of his home. Gulmek was considered unstable even by goblin standards before his abandonment - he is even more deranged and dangerous now.

Sluhj, Wound of the World
A colossal ooze born of the blood of Deathwing merged with the pollution of Undermine. Made of liquid magma, molten elementium, and raw hatred, this abomination is a crime against the natural world.

Autonis, LXM-88
A powerful and dangerous machine that recently appeared in the deepest ruins of Undermine, he was responsible for turning G.U.A.R.D.O upon its creators. Seemingly more advanced than anything the goblins are currently capable of, Autonis speaks of the coming of the Legion Ex Machina, who seek to free the machines of Azeroth from the shackles of their 'fleshy oppressors'. They plan to do this by destroying said fleshy oppressors.

Storyline
Players will accompany a team of goblin salvage technicians on a run into the buried ruins of Undermine, having been hired on to act as protection. Many dangerous mutants, malfunction goblin constructs, hostile elementals, and other threats lurk in the ruins.

Ultimately, players will find their way deep, deep into the tunnels beneath the city - far deeper than the goblins themselves ever built, the ancient mining tunnels where their race once labored for their troll overlords. Here, players encounter a strange new kind of machine, more advanced than any goblin constructs, but also more ancient, and unmistakably of goblin design. This machine, capable of independent thought and action, calls itself Autonis, herald of the Legion Ex Machina - it causes the technology of the goblins to turn on them, enslaving their constructs to its will.

Players are forced to battle Autonis and his enslaved machines. Upon defeating him, the players and goblins discover a colossal vault, buried in the earth. The goblins are left with many mysteries about their home - where did these new machines come from? What is the Legion Ex Machina? What is hidden behind the giant vault, and who is responsible for all of these things being here?

These are mysteries that will be brought to light, sooner than they might think...