User:GoldenYak/Netherglades

Related to the Into the Void Expansion Concept

The Netherglades is a zone located in the central the Voidlands. A verdant, swampy jungle-realm, with rainbow-shimmering foliage and darkly beautiful inner regions. The realm's abundant life energy holds back the devouring entropy of the Void.

The Primal Heart
The world of Phylarc was a curiosity in the Great Dark Beyond. Perched precariously on the edge of a rift to the Twisting Nether, the world was bathed in ambient arcane energies emanating from that most mysterious of dimensions. The raw magical power saturated Phylarc, a world that bristled with the primal energies of nature, and the two energies merged and wrought a most unusual transformation upon the world's flora.

While creatures of flesh and blood were the most common forms of life to compete in the bloody cycle of predator and prey on other worlds, Phylarc was a world dominated by plant-life. The vast primordial energies of nature and arcane within the world drove the plant-life to take on a spectacular array of forms. Plants would uproot themselves and hunt and prey on one-another, prowling like beasts through the jungles. Carnivorous monsters made of leaf and vine and thorn would track and kill creatures of flesh and blood, tearing chunks of meat from their kill and digesting it in vegetable stomachs. Only the most ferocious of flesh and blood beasts could compete with the plant-forms. On the primal world of Phylarc, tooth and claw was met and equaled by thorn and vine. Sentient races of flesh and blood and plant arose from the brutal cauldron of Phylarc's natural world, praying to Wild Gods and forest spirits born of the world's life energies. The other elemental powers of the world dwindled in the face of ever-growing, ever-changing life.

The Void Reaches Out
The races of Phylarc live forever in the present, consumed by the immediate needs of survival. Their history does not record the circumstances that brought the Void to Phylarc. But one day the sky turned black, and the planet shuddered and groaned. Phylarc plummeted into the Void, its green flesh devoured by darkness. In the heart of the greatest jungle-swamp, the mighty elemental lord Verdanis arose, the last and greatest of the world's nature elementals. With his booming voice, Verdanis called together the world's remaining life and arcane energy and infused it all directly into the forest, creating a shield of shimmering energies that halted the collapsing curtain of the Void. The tremendous life energies of Phylarc had become a shield between its last shard and oblivion, and its arcane power had forever changed the forest. Though Phylarc was no more, its last forest, the Netherglades, survived.

Poison in the Forest's Heart
The tremendous energies of the Netherglades were a potent defense against the ravages of the Void. Entities of darkness and shadow could not withstand the brilliant life and arcane energies of the forest, and after only a short time within the jungle even the most profoundly stygian creature of the Void would unravel. Verdanis, the lord of the swamps, watched over his domain careful, ever vigilant for threats from beyond that would endanger the worldshard.

Soon however it became apparent that something was wrong in the Netherglades - a strange poison had begun to leech into the jungle from the north. This foul miasma fed on life energy and twisted arcane magic into a destructive green flame. Verdanis found that the poison was neither of the Void nor of the natural world - it was the corrosive energy of fel, the power of demons. It was impossible for the nature beings to fight the fel - those who tried were corrupted and turned on their brethren. Verdanis pulled his children back from the corruption, but the sickness only grew unchecked. Soon, demonic beings followed the pollution into the Netherglades themselves, building vast machines to drain the swamps and pollute the air. Helpless to fight back effectively, Verdanis could only watch and hope somehow for a miracle as his home began to rot and sicken under the dark influence of demons.

Geography
The Netherglades is a worldshard filled with a vast swampy jungle, verdant and bountiful. The abundant life energies in the worldshard hold back the entropic curtain of the Void and give rise to its lush ecosystem. The trees of the Netherglades are tinged in purple and sprout metallic-grey leaves that glimmer with a rainbow sheen. Deep and verdant marshes fill the forest floor. Some regions to the north have begun to sicken due to fel pollution that is flowing into the glades from Nachitar. Small encampments of demons have built infernal machine pumps that have begun to drain the marshes.

Settlements of the boggruk are found throughout the Netherglades, simple huts made of lashed hides and vines suspended above the marshes, with bridges and wooden walkways linking them.

Dungeons
- The Netherhollow - With the heart of the Netherglades is a nexus of primal nature energies, the Netherhollow. This fountain of life has been responsible for preserving the ecosystem of the glades and the inhabitants of the broken world, holding back the devouring entropy of the Void. But now the nexus' power is beginning to fade, leeched away by an unknown enemy. Deep within the Netherhollow, adventurers must discover the cause of the fading energy and stop it before the land is consumed by darkness.

The Primal Heart of Phylarc Still Beats
The Alliance and the Horde have secured routes through Rakari and the Algol Expanse, and come to the border of the worldshard known as the Netherglades. The vast jungle realm forms a formidable barrier to large-scale troop movements, and adventurers join a small expeditionary force to explore the region and secure a supply line.

Almost immediately, the force is set upon by the ferocious inhabitants of the Netherglades - creatures that are both plant and animal, brutal predators that attack in great swarms and do not fear destruction. The force is overwhelmed and nearly wiped out, when the plant-creatures are suddenly driven away by another group of Netherglades natives - a race of sapient beings called the boggruk. Part flesh and part plant, the boggruk appear to be little more than primitive savages, but they display a surprising insight into the reasons for the Alliance and the Horde presence in the Voidlands. The boggruk warn that, while the Netherglades have remained virtually immune to the Void, a new threat has began to threaten the region, and they implore the adventurers to aid them in their plight.

The Essence of the Glades
The Netherglades are home to many Wild Gods. Emerging from the cauldron of natural energies during the birth of lost Phylarc, these demi-god beings are both plant and animal, like many of the native lifeforms in the glades. But while the Wild Gods have always been at one with nature, now they are beginning to war against it. Some terrible dark poison has begun turning the Wild Gods against the realm they once defended. The boggruk reveal the three most powerful Wild Gods that have become corrupted - the fernhawk, the carnagon, the thornwolf. All three must be slain - their poisoned bodies destroyed, their pure essence returned to the glades so they may be renewed and rise again, uncorrupt.

With the Wild Gods put down, the boggruk direct the adventurers to tame the maddened elementals of the glades. The poison that drove the Wild Gods mad has begun to seep into the very heart of the realm, tainting its soul. Creatures made of the swamp - wood and vine, moss and rot - have risen and begun to rampage, driven to madness by the poison that burns inside them. With the aid of the boggruk, the adventurers destroy the swampwalkers and discover the nature of the poison in their core - fel pollution. Demons from the Twisting Nether have intruded into the Netherglades.

Hakhan, Noctarch of Beasts
The pollution of the Legion is not the only danger in the Netherglades. Hakhan, the Noctarch of Beasts, has managed to infiltrate the Netherglades, and are using Void energies to corrupt the native wildlife, transforming them into creatures of darkness. An army of monsters devoted to destruction are taking form in the Netherglades. Hakhan is even able to corrupt the mighty carnagons, creating living weapons of darkness. The adventurers resolve to drive the Noctarch from the glades and preserve the natural beauty of the realm.

Verdanis, Lord of the Swamp
The boggruk direct the adventurers to the Glade of Verdanis, where the master of the Netherglades can be found. Rising from the swamp, a giant of plant-growth, Verdanis is the living incarnation of the Netherglades. Verdanis directs adventurers to the northern regions of the glades, where the poison has taken hold. The region is inhabited by tribes of boggruk that have succumbed to the fel poison. Driven to madness, the fel boggruk rant about ancient prophecies of chaos and destruction. With the aid of Verdanis, the adventurers are able to restore many of the boggruk to their senses and root out the fel corruption, destroying the demonic nature-beasts it has spawned.

At the northern edge of the glades, the adventurers discover the source of the fel corruption - demons of the Burning Legion have invaded the glades, constructing fel machinery that drains the life from the glades, producing fel poison as a byproduct. Mo'arg and gan'arg construct the machines, while vethrezim and nathrezim oversee the operations. The incursion is led by the dreadlord Detheroc, who seeks to exploit the resources of the Voidlands to fuel the Legion's Burning Crusade. The adventurers are able to drive the demons off, but discover that the very heart of the glades, the Netherhollow, has been tainted with fel pollution. If the Netherhollow is not saved, the entire worldshard will succumb to corruption and be destroyed.

Questlines

 * The Swampwalkers - The inhabitants of the Netherglades, the plant-creatures known as the boggruk, have been tainted by a foul pollution that has seeped into their homes. Trespassers will become targets.
 * Gods of the Glades - Many Wild Gods stalk the Netherglades, and the pollution that is spreading through their home is beginning to taint them down a dark path. Drive the corruption from the glades.
 * Nesingwary's Netherglades Safari - Oh good grief, him again?
 * Hakhan, Noctarch of Beasts - The Voidtouched ethereal Hakhan has been using dark sorcery to transform the Netherglades wildlife into creatures of the Void. Put an end to his plans.
 * The Swamplord - Verdanis, a powerful elemental giant, acts as the lore of the Netherglades. Seek out his aid in determining the source of the pollution.
 * The Fel Touch - The source of the pollution has been discovered - a demonic warband has begun making its way into the glades from the north. Confront their leader, the dreadlord Detheroc.