User:GoldenYak/Heart of the Dream

Heart of the Dream is a raid instance in the Emerald Dream Expansion Concept. It features 9 bosses and is the second of three raids in the Dream Tier 01 raid tier, having higher difficulty overall than the Hollow'Gan and Sartan's Wrath raids. The Nightmare's Forces have launched an all-out assault upon Eden'ar, striking at the very heart of the city, the last region of the Dream untouched by corruption. The Nightmare Lord himself has led the assault and seeks to corrupt the Heart of the Dream.

Background
The city of Eden'ar is the living heart of the Emerald Dream. Sculpted from the living earth, stone, and forests of the Dream by the Green Dragonflight eons ago, it has been a sanctum both for the green dragons and spirits of the Emerald Dream, as well as countless mortals who have devoted their lives to protecting the balance of nature. The city is a beacon of safety and purity in the Emerald Dream, and at its core is the growing sapling of G'Hanir, the first tree to grow in the Emerald Dream. Thought slain long ago during the War of the Ancients, a seedling of G'Hanir survived and was planted within Eden'ar, allowing the great dreaming tree to be reborn. The aura of G'Hanir provides nourishment to the creatures of the Dream, protecting and empowering them.

Ever since the Nightmare first appeared within the Dream, its agents have looked upon Eden'ar with hungry eyes, longing to tear down its walls and slaughter it's inhabitants. The city has weathered many attacks in recent times, with the forces of the Nightmare being repelled time and time again, only to return with greater ferocity. It is only a matter of time before the sanctum of Eden'ar is finally breached...

Velgus, the Dark Storm

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Once a noble and wise raven god who provided worthy druids with the form of a stormcrow, Velgus the Dark Storm was tainted by the Nightmare's corruption when it polluted his domain, and has now become a servant of the Nightmare Lord. The wicked satyr Grebbex Raveneye, an ancient enemy of the druids of the talon, has taken a particular delight in Velgus' corruption, and has claimed the corrupted wild god as his personal mount. Grebbex rains down dark enchantment from astride Velgus, sowing terror upon the defenders of the Dream below.

Houndmaster Logor, Lord of the Vile Hunt

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Many are those in the Emerald Dream who know the thrill of the hunt, but those who respect the ways of the Dream hunt only what is necessary to feed themselves and their pack. The balance of nature is thus respected. But the vile satyr Houndmaster Logor does not hunt out of need, but only out of a desire to slaughter his prey for the dark joy of murder. He feeds not on the flesh of his kills, but on their pain and terror. At his beckon call are the Hounds of Horror, creatures twisted by the Nightmare into vicious pack-beasts that can smell the fear of Logor's chosen prey.

Doomstone

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Once a proud dream giant and child of noble Sartan, Doomstone is now nothing more than a living siege-weapon for the forces of the Nightmare. The power of the Nightmare seethes through his massive body, spilling from his screaming maw like a river of corruption. Even the enchanted walls of Eden'ar shatter utterly before his blows.

Nash'tihr Festeroot

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A treefolk twisted into an insane champion by the Nightmare's touch, Nash'tihr Festeroot projects an aura of utter malignity. This diseased energy saps the strength of Eden'ar's defenders, even as it empowers and enriches the corrupted servants of the Nightmare.

Terror Commander Kyraphet

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Once a satyr of flesh and blood, Kyrephet devoured so much corrupted elemental energy that he was able to take on an elemental form himself. Composed of living water stained by darkness, Kyraphet has infiltrated the Pools of Tranquility, once a place of rest and reflection concealed beneath Eden'ar. The magical waters of that place have now been tainted by the Nightmare, rising as living incarnations of pollution.

Yith, Wyrm of the Nightmare

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The Nightmare has corrupted many of the green dragonflight, and each noble drake and wyrm devoured by the crawling darkness has taught it much. With the walls of Eden'ar crumbling, the Nightmare unleashes its own dragonflight - the Nightmare Flight. Largest of the nightmare wyrms is Yith, an unspeakable behemoth of corruption and desecration. Leaves wither and die in the shadow of her wings, tree-trunks splinter in fear at the sound of her bellowing screech. She will not rest until she sinks her fangs into the heartwood of G'Hanir itself and tears apart the world tree in the name of the Nightmare.

Wyl Bearclaw, the Unwaking

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The druid known as Wyl Bearclaw is famed throughout Azeroth as a ferocious champion of the Alliance, having defended the lands of Kalimdor from despoilers for centuries. His valor in defending the night elf people have earned him the esteem of druids across the world, and he was personally honored by archdruid Malfurion Stormrage himself. Wyl Bearclaw has slain wicked demons from the Twisting Nether, battled monstrous abominations from the age of the Black Empire, and has been instrumental in Alliance victories on hundreds of battlefields across Azeroth. Now, the corruption of the Nightmare festers in his once mighty heart, and now those who were once his cherished comrades appear only as enemies in his eyes.

Mournbough, Fallen Guardian of the Heart

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Mornbough is the oldest and most powerful elder treant who dwells within Eden'ar, named for the light of the rising sun falling upon healthy tree branches. Mornbough fought ceaselessly with all of his boundless strength against the forces of the Nightmare, but he could not endure the wicked sorcerey of the Unwaking Council, a tetrad of the most powerful satyr spell-casters that serve the Nightmare. Led by Xavius himself, the first of the satyr, the Unwaking Councilors Argeus, Noimoth, and Yuganon have woven dark enchantments about Mornbough, pouring the corruption of the Nightmare deep into the heartwood of the ancient treant. Rancid with corruption, the former guardian of the Dream is now Mournbough, another unwilling servant of the Nightmare.

Malorne, the Nightmare Lord

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Once the most stalwart and benevolent of the wild gods, Malorne sacrificed his freedom and his sanity to save the heroes of Azeroth from the horrific corruption of N'Zoth. Caught in the Old God's eldritch grip, Malorne was twisted and defiled, transformed into N'Zoth's agent in the Emerald Dream. He is the master of the Unwaking, the avatar of the Nightmare's corruption. He is the Nightmare Lord.

Storyline
While the heroes have driven back the Nightmare's forces from Eden'ar before, this attack is unlike any other. The Nightmare has unleashed its mightiest servants upon the last pure piece of the Emerald Dream, and it is the Nightmare Lord himself who leads this onslaught. The towering giants and nightmarish corrupted dragons quickly decimate the overburdened defenders of the city, and at last the walls of Eden'ar come crumbling down. Swarming through the breach are hordes of Unwaking forces, corrupted treefolk, and fouler abominations still. Even the plant-life that was once bound so closely with Eden'ar becomes corrupted, transforming into Nightmare-polluted growth that spreads and chokes out all pure life.

The heroes are quickly cut off from reinforcements and are forced to retreat back through Eden'ar, forcing the Nightmare to pay dearly for every inch of ground its forces gain. Finally, the heroes draw out the Nightmare Lord himself - Malorne, the once-noble stag god who sacrificed himself to save the heroes from the wrath of N'Zoth. Now corrupted by the Old God, Malorne has come to carry out the Old God's will.

The one hope the heroes have is the pure light of the Emerald Dream that is exemplified in G'Hanir, the mother tree, who still grows pure at Eden'ar's heart. While the Nightmare Lord battles the heroes in an attempt to reach and corrupt the tree, the druids of Eden'ar call upon G'Hanir and the pure Dream energies to re-awaken Malorne's true self. In an explosion of mystical energies, G'Hanir is immolated, its power burned out. However, the pure light of the Dream shines anew within Malorne, driving out the Nightmare corruption and restoring Malorne to his true self. Malorne's light shines out and banishes the Nightmare from Eden'ar, saving the city.

Though G'Hanir's physical form was destroyed, that pure light of the Dream now exists within Malorne, who takes his place in the heart of Eden'ar. The Nightmare corrupted wild-growth that once threatened the city is purified, reversing the Nightmare's pollution. The Nightmare suffers greatly from the loss of another Nightmare Lord, and its forces are in retreat, but it will only be a matter of time before it returns even more deadly than before, with a new Nightmare Lord at the head of its armies. Malorne warns the heroes of the Dream that N'Zoth's dark spirit lurks in the deepest depths of the Emerald Dream, fueling the Nightmare's growth eternally. N'Zoth has already called up more reinforcements to invade the Emerald Dream, and they are seeking out the original seeds of the Nightmare for some dark purpose.

With Malorne providing renewed defense for Eden'ar, the course of the heroes is clear - the Nightmare infestations that threaten the realms of the Dream must be opposed, and the Nightmare Seeds located before N'Zoth's servants can find them.