Tyr's Fall

Tyr's Fall is a craterous lake found within the Whispering Forest in western Tirisfal Glades, for which it is the namesake. As the name suggests, it was the place where the titan keeper Tyr made his final stand. Under the lake lies a tomb, the final resting place of Tyr.

The tomb and the surrounding area has been guarded by a secretive group of paladins known as the Tyr's Guard for thousands of years.

Origins


Thousands of years ago, the titan-forged Tyr, Archaedas, Ironaya and their followers fled Ulduar after stealing the Discs of Norgannon from the corrupted self-appointed Prime Designate Loken. To pursue them and recover the discs, Loken sent two of the most powerful C'Thrax generals—Zakajz and Kith'ix—who felt the lingering touch of their master Yogg-Saron on Loken's mind and decided to abide.

In a tranquil and temperate glade far to the south, the two C'Thraxxi finally overtook them. Fearing for his allies, Tyr ordered his friends to lead the rest of their followers farther south while he held off the enemy for as long as he could. Only a faint of Aggramar's power lingered within Tyr's iron form, but still he decided to make a stand. As he fought with the C'Thraxxi, torrents of arcane and shadow energy ripped through the once peaceful glade. The violent struggle between them lasted for six days and nights, but Tyr never gave ground, though neither did his foes. As fatigue began to set on Tyr, he resolved to sacrifice himself to protect his allies. Unleashing all of his renaming power, Tyr expended his life force against his enemies in a blinding and massive explosion of arcane energy that was even sighted by Archaedas and Ironaya in the far south. The two titan-forged turned back and returned to the battlefield. There they found a gigantic crater crackling with arcane magic. In it, the lifeless bodies of Tyr and Zakazj rested. Kith'ix had narrowly escaped Tyr's vengeful onslaught, who severely wounded fled west, not to be seen again for many years.

In honor of their fallen friend, Ironaya named the glade surrounding the crater "Tyr's Fall", which in the vrykul tongue translated into "Tirisfal". She and her followers buried Tyr and his foe where they laid, placing Tyr's massive silver hand atop his final resting place as a memorial to his valiant sacrifice. Although everyone there would carry on the story of Tyr's noble endeavor, the vrykul, in particular, felt compelled to do something more. They were so moved by the keeper's deeds that they decided to settle at the battle site and stand vigil over Tyr's tomb until the end of their days. Honoring their wishes to settle there, Archaedas and Ironaya—and their earthen and mechagnome followers—continued their journey to the southeast, eventually reaching the easternmost titan-forged vault in ancient Kalimdor—Uldaman.

Over time, the crater was filled with water, becoming a lake and burying the tomb underneath it.

Tyr's Guard
The vrykul watching over the tomb would form the order known as the Tyr's Guard. These vrykul, knowing that they would not live forever, started inducting some of the fledgling humans into their ranks, teaching them the history of the fallen keeper, his tenets of self-sacrifice and justice, and the truth of what laid within the tomb.

Tyr's weapon, the Silver Hand, was held here alongside Tyr, with a failsafe set up in the tomb that should the hammer ever be removed from where it was held, the tomb would collapse.

The only time they ever failed their task was when, thousands of years later, the legendary human king of Arathor Thoradin, obsessed with his specie's history after abdicating his throne, eventually traveled to Tirisfal Glades, where he discovered the tomb of Tyr. In his intent of breaching into the tomb, he and his magi accidentally broke the wards that kept Zakajz dead within the tomb. To protect the world from such creature, Thoradin fought the reawaken Zakazj with his sword Strom'kar, eventually managing to not let the creature escape. Although the human king fell in battle, his sword kept the monster at bay for millennia, keeping it from regenerating fully. The Tyr's Guard knew that Thoradin's magi had broken the tomb's wards and its members made a vow that they would not enter the catacombs again, for fear that further meddling could awaken the C'Thrax buried inside and unleash its evil on the world.

When the Scourge swept over the human kingdom of Lordaeron, the Tyr's Guard crumbled. Only a few brave members, led by a paladin named Travard, remained to uphold their ancient vows.

Delving the tomb
Around the time of the Burning Legion's third invasion of Azeroth, a remnant group of the Twilight's Hammer, led by the Twilight Deacon Farthing, found and opened Tyr's tomb, hoping to awaken Zakajz the Corruptor, and possibly corrupt the body of the dead watcher, to bring about the end of Azeroth. To this end, they set up their base of operations on the shore of the lake.

Sometime after the tomb was broken open, at least two adventurers — a priest and a warrior — ventured to Tyr's Fall and defeated the Twilight forces at the lake. They then went into the tomb itself and retrieved the artifacts they sought, and, having killed all the Twilight's Hammer members they could find, left the tomb and Tyr's Fall behind.

Later on, a paladin adventurer seeking the Silver Hand, the very weapon of Tyr himself, delved into the tomb alongside Tyr's Guard, and, after killing the remaining dark forces found within, retrieved the fallen watcher's hammer. Due to a failsafe that was connected to the artifact, the tomb then collapsed, preventing further incursions, so as to protect Tyr's secrets forever. The paladin then left the area as well.

It is unknown exactly what became of the Tyr's Guard order, but it is likely they plan to continue keeping watch over the area in case anyone plans to excavate the tomb in the future.