User:GoldenYak/M'kossei Province

Related to the Into the Void Expansion Concept

The M'kossei Province is a zone located within the Void. Once a fragment of the ethereal homeworld of K'aresh, it has survived within the Void all this time, preserved by a ethereal technology.

History


The ethereal homeworld of K'aresh was devoured by the Void long ago. Its people, the aresheem, were transformed into the ethereals through exposure to the energies of the Twisting Nether, barely managing to escape falling into darkness with their home. But though K'aresh was consumed by the Void, some fragments of it survived total destruction.

The M'kossei Province
The M'kossei Province was one such realm. When K'aresh was whole, the M'kossei Province was the bread-basket of the eastern continent. A land of plenty, its farms provided for the entire aresheem population. Farmers and merchants thrived and grew rich on their homeland's bounty. The nobility were fair and beloved, and their magical gardens were considered one of the wonders of K'aresh.

Memnarchs, the aresheem sorcerer-scientists, were employed to create a means that would preserve the farmlans of M'kossei from the ravages of time and nature, increasing their yield and preventing loss from drought or disease. Soon, a great network of arcane machinery covered much of M'kossei's farmlands. It was this very machinery that would prevent the realm's total destruction when the Void devoured K'aresh.

Fragment of Hope
The memnarch had only recently finished the construction of their new eco-dome technology when the Void engulfed K'aresh. The great arcane shields generated by the eco-dome machinery acted as a buffer against the ravages of the Void, preserving great tracts of the M'kossei province from the entropic darkness. Though most of K'aresh crumbled into ruin, the M'kossei lands survived, drifting in the darkness.

When the Ethereum, led by their new monarch Damendra, began exploring the depths of the Void, they discovered the remaining fragments of K'aresh, including the M'kossei province. The ethereals also located a surviving piece of K'aresh that contained their great capitol, the city of Or'Damaz. Intending to retake their former capitol, the ethereals first decided to occupy M'kossei as a staging ground.

Geography
The worldshard of the M'kossei Province has been badly ravaged by the Void, leaving much of the region uninhabitable. The land is cracked and lifeless, desiccated and empty. Fragments break off and fall into the Void, eruptions of dark energy spill out of rents in the earth, and bizarre monsters infest the ruined wilderness. The few livable regions are those that have been preserved by ethereal eco-dome technology, which holds back the Void. Within the eco-domes, the last of K'aresh's natural ecosystem survives - grassy plains, forests, and garden-hills. The ethereals value these remaining pockets of life very highly - it is the last surviving piece of their world's former natural beauty.

Ethereal installations are found across the region. These precious facilities maintain the last of the eco-domes - without them, the Void will devour M'kossei Province.

Story
The ethereals have discovered M'kossei Province floating intact within the Void. All of the disparate factions - the Ethereum, the Consortium, the Protectorate - have all joined forces for a singular purpose - to stop the latest incursion of the Void into the material universe, and prevent the fate of K'aresh from befalling other worlds. Many ethereals have been drawn from all corners of the universe to M'kossei for the first offensive against the Void - forging into the K'aresh Remnants and seizing the former ethereal capitol of Or'Damaz.

The Nexus Prince
The leader of the Consortium, Nexus-Prince Haramad, has assumed leadership over the ethereals on M'kossei, and is responsible for organizing the offensive to retake Or'Damaz. Haramad's Consortium forces have capture a landing site on M'kossei and constructed nexus-gates, allowing ethereals from across the universe to arrive. Haramad is joined by token forces from the other two largest ethereal cadres - the Ethereum and the Protectorate, both of whom despise each other but are willing to work together against the Void.

Haramad directs newly arrived ethereals to secure the remainder of M'kossei for the operation to retake Or'Damaz - as the ethereals make their way across M'kossei, they will be approached by agents of the Protectorate and the Ethereum, who are both seeking new recruits to join their respective cadres. The ethereals will also learn of the long-term plans to oppose the Void - by joining with the races of Azeroth and leading their armies to confront the Void directly.

Ultimately, the ethereals report all of their findings to Haramad, who proposes a way to steer both factions towards the common good while also solidifying relations with the people of Azeroth - the formation of two secret cabals within the Consortium, the White Nova and the Ebon Maw. Each cabal will pledge loyalty to a disparate ethereal faction and seek to join with either the Alliance or the Horde on Azeroth, while ultimately reporting to Haramad. Ethereals who are drawn to the Ethereum join the Ebon Maw, while those who have found common cause with the Protectorate join the White Nova.