User:GoldenYak/The Ebon Throne

The Ebon Throne is a raid instance in the Into The Void Expansion Concept. It features 15 bosses.

Background
The fortress of Nigh, leader of the Void's forces in the Voidlands. Many years ago, before the fall of the world of K'aresh, the brilliant Ahriman perfected the arcane device known as the Void Augur in the city of Ang'Manyu. When the Void Augur was activated, the darkness of the Deep Void spilled out into the material universe, devouring the world of K'aresh and its people. The city of Ang'Manyu was the epicenter of this calamity, and the city was preserved within the Void in homage to K'aresh's fall. Ahriman, transformed by the Void, turned Ang'Manyu into his stronghold, and brought it to the Voidlands when the Void called upon him to invade.

The city of Ang'Manyu is much changed from its original state on K'aresh. It has become a twisted reflection of the ethereal capital of Or'Damaz, a dark metropolis that demonstrates the black majesty of the Void. At the city's heart is the Ebon Throne, the great fortress-citadel of the Void. Within the fortress, Nigh, Avatar of the Void Lords, Voice of the Void, has begun a dark ritual that may spell doom for not only the Voidlands, but Azeroth as well.

Aeronox and Cryonox
The Void reaches out, seeking to devour the material universe, hungering to experience all the energies of the cosmos beyond its borders. In an effort to purge the presence of the Light from existence, the Void has formed itself into new configurations, striving to replace the elemental energies that constitute the material universe with new elemental powers derived purely from the Void. Aeronox and Cryonox are elemental lords of air and water spawned from the Void, their underlying essence lacking any of the influence of the Light. The Void would supplant all the elemental lords of the cosmos with such entities.

Pyronox and Terranox
These two elemental lords hold mastery over fire and earth. Their elemental make-up is, at its core, composed of Void energy, and without the balance of Light and Void that natural elemental energies posses, these corrupted elementals are highly unstable, on the verge of collapsing back into pure Void essence. Despite the Void's ravenous hunger of the energies and beings that lie beyond its black dimensions, it is a force ill-suited to creation. Anything that rises from the Void inevitably returns to it, collapsing back in maddening, chaotic darkness.

Omnox
The Void ultimately failed to create stable elemental energies purely from its own essence, generating instead highly corrosive and unstable beings that ultimately devour themselves and all things around them. Nigh has embraced this, giving rise to the creation on Omnox, a colossal elemental fiend that possesses control over all four elements - earth, fire, air, and water. There is a singularity of Void energies at the heart of this towering fiend, and as its outer layer of Void-elemental essence is stripped away, the chaotic instability at its core is exposed.

Thundaloth, Hound of Ny'alotha
The Canticle of Twilight speaks of Ny'alotha, the Corpse City of the Void, where the Void Lords themselves hold court. Such a city rests in the black depths of the Deep Void, the most chaotic and incomprehensible region of that black dimension. As the effective capitol of the Void, the city is naturally heavily guarded. The great Void Terrors, aberrant beasts spawned from the Void, are used as guard dogs of the Corpse City, and few are as powerful or vicious as Thundaloth. Nigh has summoned the fiend from the gates of Ny'alotha to the Ebon Throne to act as her personal attack dog.

Kharbidyss, the Gnawing Serpent
The Canticle of Twilight speaks of the Worlds Tree Vrildrassil, a cosmos-spanning system of pure energies that connect a million worlds, of which it is said all the trees in all existence are minor reflections. The Void Lords seek to tear down this cosmic marvel and drag all the worlds nestled in its starry branches into oblivion. To this end, they spawned dread Kharbidyss, a serpentine horror that gnaws at the roots of the Worlds Tree. The Old Gods were so impressed with the fiend that they spawned the hydra in homage to it. In an effort to thwart the advance of the defenders of Azeroth, Nigh has summoned the hideous fiend to the Ebon Throne.

Seranox, the Voidsent Aspect
As the Void Lords gaze upon the worlds that lie in the Great Dark Beyond, they hunger to devour them and replace all things in the cosmos with darkness. From the dreams of the Void Lords spring all the twisted life-forms and horrors of the Void, the beasts but twisted reflections of what the Void Lords imagine true living creatures look like. The Void Lords have gazed glimpses of the dragons of Azeroth and even gleaned knowledge of the mighty Aspects, great draconic creatures blessed with the powers of the Titans. Jealous and hateful, the Void Lords have spawned their own dragon aspect, Seranox, to lead the draconic horrors born of the Void.

Gallowglass, Duke of G'Hennok
When K'aresh was devoured by Dimensius, many the aresheem found themselves drifting through the soul-shrinking black depths of the Void. After what seemed like an eternity, they found themselves washed up by the currents of the Void onto the twisting bone beaches of lake Narakaas, staring in horror up at the corpse-fire lit spires of Ny'alotha. Many aresheem screamed and burst into green flame when their gaze met the towering thing that arose from the heart of the city, but others fell to their knees and pledged their undying loyalty, becoming ethereals of the Void. Among their ranks, none have risen higher than Gallowglass, whose accomplishments have earned him a title from the Void Lords themselves.

Mnemeon, Dancer of the Green Flame
The Twilight Canticle speaks of the Festival of Whispertide, a time sacred to the worshipers of the Void. All among the Twilight's Hammer make a point to celebrate this holy night, indulging in rituals and narcotics meant to transport their spirits to the sprawling streets of great Ny'alotha itself, to revel and adore the glories of the Void. Some among the Hammer speak of the Unveiling of the Green Flame, where revelers gather to witness graceful Mnemeon, whose dances transport those who witness them to fantastic dream-like realms and vistas of new insanities. In anticipation of her victory in the Ebon Throne, Nigh has called for Mnemeon to attend, along with many of the entity's minstrels and attendants. Few are those who can survive a dance with Mnemeon with their sanity intact.

Chomaggus and Gallamoth
When Nigh plucked the twin souls of Cho'Gall from the Void to act as her new Primarch, the Void Lords eagerly dispatched a pair of enforcers to ensure that their chosen herald would not fail again. Birthed from the black depths of the Void in the form of great ogre-like beings, Chomaggus and Gallamoth are two of the mightiest voidsent, each one meant to embody one of Cho'Gall's two personalities. Chomaggus represents overwhelming destructive force applied with strategic cunning, while Gallamoth represents unbridled chaotic devastation and insanity.

Neganimus, Fist of Nigh
Called up from the depths of the Void, Neganimus is the mightiest Void Giant ever formed. Nigh summoned the fiend to act as her ultimate enforcer, and he stands as overseer of the legions of the Void's forces in the Voidlands. His colossal black mace is forged from the black blood of the Old God Ny'Adrin, who was felled and cast down over Bysmault by Zom-Nurgal. The weapon seethes with the anger and hatred of the fallen Old God, yearning to destroy everything around it in its outrage. All of the power of Ny'Adrin that was not devoured by Zom-Nurgal now lies at the disposal of the Void Giant, and that power is still mighty enough to crack apart worlds.

Verminlord Shem'Hazi
Within the Ebon Throne nests the Old God Zom-Nurgal, watched over by Nigh as the way is prepared to send the Old God to Azeroth. Zom-Nurgal, bloated with the might of all the other Old Gods she has devoured, cannot be contained within her sprawling flesh, and it has begun to leak out into the Ebon Throne. Taking shape from her writhing flesh and seething dark power are the aqir, chaotic insectile entities born of the Void and adapted to consume and corrupt the living worlds of the material realm. Among the mightiest of these horrors is the Verminlord Shem'Hazi, who commands all things that skittering, crawl, sting, and infest. He stands prepared to defend his mother and goddess against intrusion.

Legions of the Silent One
Nigh stands ready to dispatch Zom-Nurgal to Azeroth, where she will burrow deep and devour the worldsoul at its heart, ushering in the corruption of the Final Titan. As the heroes of Azeroth race to stop her, Nigh calls upon the squirming spawn of Zom-Nurgal to intercept them. Hordes of aqir slither free from the writhing flesh of the Old God, advancing in a shrieking tide that would, if given the chance, overwhelm all worlds.

Warlord Ordro'Noxx
Bursting forth from the flesh of Zom-Nurgal is the c'thraxxi abomination, Ordro'Noxx. Though newly spawned, the fiend is impossibly ancient and intelligent, a result of the maddening paradoxes that can only come from the chaos of the Void. Ordro'Noxx is overflowing with polluted energies, having absorbed a significant portion of the stolen power of Zom-Nurgal. Even as he moves to attack the heroes of Azeroth, more of his n'raqi brethren begin to claw their way free from the flesh of Zom-Nurgal to join in the carnage.

Void Primarch Cho'Gall - Grandmaster of Eternal Nightfall
The insane two-headed ogre Cho'Gall began to worship the Void long ago, and even perished in its service, his twin-soul plunging into the depths of the Deep Void. But in the Void, there is no life or death, and all that languish in its chaotic darkness are forever thralls of the Void Lords. Nigh plucked the twin-soul of Cho'Gall from the Void's depths and furnished him with new flesh, even more monstrous and powerful than his twisted mortal form. No longer a creature of the material realm, Cho'Gall has become a Void entity minds, body, and souls. Cho'Gall was summoned from the Void to replace the fallen Ahriman as Primarch of the Void's forces, and has been declared the Grandmaster of Eternal Nightfall, Nigh's ultimate agent in the Voidlands. He stands at the apex of the Ebon Throne, conducting the ritual that will tear open the veil between the Void and material space and dispatch the Old God Zom-Nurgal to Azeroth.

Nigh, Voice of the Void
With all of her pawns defeated, Nigh stands alone. But her victory is already assured. The Old God, Zom-Nurgal, bloated with the black power of the Void, has been sent to Azeroth, and already burrows towards the worldsoul of the Final Titan. Should Azeroth fall to corruption, the universe will know the dominance of the Void. Exalting in the dark joy of her wicked masters, the Void Lord, Nigh unleashes all of her dread power upon the heroes of Azeroth, determined to end any threat to the Void's grand design. All the great powers of the Voidlands, the elemental lords, the constellar Nodensius, the naaru, and all the mortals who would stand against the darkness, gather to battle the avatar of twilight itself. As the battle rages, the stone lord Stratagor discovers the horrible truth - Nigh is the spirit of life and light Auriallis, stolen from their shared world of Nachitar by the Void long ago. Twisted and tainted by the Void Lords, a being of glorious harmony has become the nemesis of all living things.

Storyline
After breaching the defenses of Ang'Manyu, the Ebon Throne is exposed. This is the final bastion of the Void in Bysmault, the final challenge that must be overcome to oust the forces of darkness from the Voidlands. Within the Ebon Throne, the Old God Zom-Nurgal waits, bloated with all of her stolen power. The Void Lords have prepared the Old God to finally conquer and corrupt Azeroth, transforming the nascent Titan within that most unique of worlds into their instrument of oblivion. Nigh, the avatar of the Void, stands ready to rend apart the veil between the Void and the material realm and send Zom-Nurgal to Azeroth. If she succeeds, the cosmic balance of power will tip towards the final darkness.

Gulf of the Elements

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Storming into the Ebon Throne, the heroes of Azeroth find the twisted experiments conducted by the Void Lords in replacing the energies of the material realm with the powers of darkness. Earth, fire, air, and water elemenetal powers, forged not from a balance of Light and Void but Void alone, are taking shape within this twisted laboratory. The elemenetal horrors spawned by the Void's experiments are as chaotic and unstable as any creature born purely of darkness, but Nigh's latest efforts have yielded the two mightiest such creatures yet, Aeronox and Cryonox, Void-based elemental lords of screaming winds and lethal frost.

Chamber of Breaking

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Further within the Gulf of the Elements is the Chamber of Breaking, where the elemental powers of stone and flame are twisted and malformed, infused with the powers of darkness to create elemental beings that will supplant the natural forces of earth and fire. The infernal storm, Pyronox, and the eater of earth, Terranox, are the results of Nigh's elemental warping efforts.

The Black Nexus

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At the heart of the Void's operation to replicate Void-based elemental energies in the chamber of the Black Nexus, where all the twisted elemental powers forged by Nigh are gathered. With Void alone as a basis, the elemental energies created by Nigh are too unstable to last long, and inevitably collapse into pure corrosive, entropic Void essence. Nigh efforts to stabilize the process has resulted in the creation of a being that is the very incarnation of entropy, the colossal elemental abomination Omnox.

Den of Stygian Beasts

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The Void's efforts to replace the material universe as the underlying essence of all things do not stop at creating tainted elemental energies. The Void Lords look with hunger upon the material universe in all its variety, and through the twisted lens of their vision a dark ecosystem has been spawned in the black depths of the Void. Beasts and monsters, wrought of Void energy and clad in flesh born of darkness, prowl the Void in countless multitudes, their forms the twisted interpretations of how the Void Lords perceive true living creatures. The Den of Stygian Beasts is a riot of creatures called up from the depths of the Void, Nigh's personal menagerie. The most ferocious creature is the dread Hound of Ny'alotha, the great void terror Thundaloth.

The Stygian Maw

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After slaying the void terror Thundaloth, the heroes of Azeroth are forced to traverse the Stygian Maw, the lower pits of the Ebon Throne. Nesting in this revolting sewer is the abhorrent fiend Kharbidyss, the Gnawing Serpent of the Void. The Void Lords created this abomination to gnaw away the roots of the great cosmic Worlds Tree, Vrildrassil, whose starry roots and branches maintain the balance of powers in the cosmos and separate Light and Void from the realms of the material and the Twisting Nether. To destroy this cosmic miracle would cause all things to collapse into ruin, a ruin that the Void Lords would rule over.

Voidscream Apex

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Emerging from the filth of the Stygian Maw, the heroes of Azeroth climb the black stone crags on the outer walls of the Ebon Throne, reaching the roost of the Voidsent dragons, the Voidscream Apex. Nesting atop the black spires is the Voidsent Aspect, Seranox, a colossal draconic entity forged by the Void Lords as a black parody of the true dragon aspects of Azeroth. The heroes of Azeroth must contend not only with the Voidsent fiend, but the terrible storms that wrack the Apex.

Ebon Stronghold

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With the Void's beasts and monsters defeat, the heroes of Azeroth must contend with an even greater challenge - the Voidsent legions, soldiers of darkness that have marched from the gates of Ny'alotha to answer Nigh's call to battle. The garrisons of the Ebon Throne are fully manned, and the darkness-wrought blades of the Voidsent are sharp and thirsty for the blood of mortals. The leader of the Ebon Stronghold is the most lethal of the Voidsent ethereals, Gallowglass, who pledged himself to the Void Lords when K'aresh fell to their dark power.

The Sacellum

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Beyond the Ebon Stronghold, the heroes of Azeroth discover the Sacellum, a vast shrine devoted to the Void Lords, in all their terrible majesty. Frescoes and altars depicting the dread entities festoon the area, the carvings seeming to writhe and come to life, stealing the sanity of those who gaze upon them too long. Presiding over the worship of the Void Lords is the mysterious entity Mnemeon, whose eldritch form moves with a disturbing and alien grace, weaving spells of green fire that devour the enemies of Nigh.

Altar of Nightfall

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The most sacred of the altars in the Sacellum is the Altar of Nightfall, a shrine devoted to the Void as a whole. Guarding this sacred site are two Voidsent horrors, Chomgaggus and Gallamoth. Forged by the Void as the devoted servants of Cho'Gall, these two ogre-like beings will defend their place of worship to the death.

Chamber of Nul

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At the heart of the Ebon Throne is the Chamber of Nul, where the Ebon Throne connects from the pocket dimensions of the Voidlands into the true realm of the Void itself, a gateway to the dread Corpse City of Ny'alotha itself. Through this chamber, the soldiers of the Void stream in an unending black tide, enough to overwhelm the world. Overseeing the flow of troops is Neganimus, the Fist of Nigh, a colossal Void Giant. The portal into the Void is tied to the cohesion of the Void Giant, and if Neganimus can be destroyed then the flow of reinforcements from the Void will be cut off, leaving the remainder of the Ebon Throne vulnerable to an all-out assault by the combined allied forces of the Alliance and the Horde.

Cloister of Silence

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The heroes of Azeroth begin their ascent to the top of the Ebon Throne. There, they discover the lair of the Old God Zom-Nurgal, the great fiend having shaped herself into a massive chrysalis. Swarms of insectile aqir spill forth from Zom-Nurgal's cocoon, the Old God's power made manifest. Here, in the Cloister of Silence, the heroes of Azeroth discover the full scope of the Void Lords scheme within the Voidlands - to send Zom-Nurgal directly to Azeroth and finally carry out the corruption of the Final Titan. The Void Lords called their mightiest creations to the Voidlands and pit them against each other, with each victorious Old God devouring the power of their victim. The same cycle had played out on worlds across the cosmos, including Azeroth, but the Titan Pantheon had shattered the designs of the Old Gods on Azeroth before they could be fully realized. Now, however, Azeroth is vulnerable, and the gaze of the Void has fallen upon in.

Voidspace Rift

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The power of the Void thrums through the Ebon Throne, tearing open the veil of reality. A billion chattering voices howl and gibber in the darkness, the laughter of the Void Lords echoing up from the blackest depths of the Void. The darkness parts and in the skies above, the heroes of Azeroth can see their home. Within Azeroth lies the final Titan, still slumbering in nascency, still vulnerable to corruption. As the veil yawns wide, Zom-Nurgal stirs in her massive cocoon, sensing that the time has come. The Ebon Throne begins to channel the powers of darkness into the cocoon, preparing to send it hurtling through the portal like a meteor to Azeroth. As the Old God's power waxes, more and more of her children manifest, spilling forth in a tide to protect their goddess and mother.

The Void Auger

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The core of the Cloister of Silence is nothing less than the Void Auger, the ancient device forged by Ahriman that exposed his homeworld of K'aresh to the entropic hunger of the Void. The machine was responsible for rending open the veil of reality, and as the cocooned form of Zom-Nurgal begins to move, the Void Auger overloads and pulls all within the Cloister of Silence into the Void itself. The ground underfoot crunches, a field of brittle black bones. Waves of stygian ooze lap at the shore, the horizon a writhing cloud of tentacles. In the distance, a great and terrible city stands, columns of corpse-light fire rising into the dark sky. The heroes of Azeroth find themselves on the very shores of the Deep Void, the city of Ny'alotha gleaming in the distance. The only thing that allows the heroes of Azeroth to cling to their sanity is a thin sliver of light - the rift leading back to the Ebon Throne. Standing between the defenders of Azeroth and escape from the insane realm of the Void is the monstrous c'thraxx, Warlord Ordro'Noxx, spawned by Zom-Nurgal to ensure that the mortals remain trapped in the Void forever.

Pinnacle of Twilight

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Barely managing to escape the clutches of the Void, the heroes of Azeroth make their way to the highest reaches of the Ebon Throne, there confronting the resurrected Cho'Gall. The two-headed ogre has become an even more hideous and mutated abomination, overflowing with the blessings of the Void. Cho'Gall oversees the final phase of Nigh's plan - the launching of the cocooned Zom-Nurgal through the massive Void rift to Azeroth. Even as the heroes engage the maniacal Cho'Gall in combat, the Old God moves, drifting away from the Ebon Throne and hurtling through the portal. Once again, the insane ogre is put down, but it is too late - Zom-Nurgal has been sent to Azeroth, the mightiest Old God that the Void has yet produced. As the cocoon passes through the gateway, the rift collapses, and the darkness of the Void begins to spill into the Ebon Throne in an unstoppable tide. Exalting in their victory, the Void Lords have turned their full attention to the Voidlands, and the thin barrier of energies that has preserved the worldshards thus far begins to fray under the tides of darkness.

Edge of the Night

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As the darkness of the Void envelopes the Voidlands, Nigh herself manifests. Her purpose is fulfilled, and the designs of her masters have been realized, but there is one final task for her to carry out - the utter annihilation of those who sought to thwart the Void Lords. During the battle with Nigh, the naaru appear with reinforcements from across the Voidlands, including the elemental lords that have been gathered from the myriad worldshards. Even with the power of the naaru and the elemental lords, Nigh's darkness threatens to overwhelm them all, until Stratagor of Nachitar recognizes Nigh for what she truly is - his fellow elemental lord, the spirit of light and life from Nachitar, the spirit Auriallis the Golden One. When the Void shattered Nachitar and absorbed Auriallis, she was twisted and deformed by the wicked power of the Void Lords, turned into their herald and sent to the Voidlands to carry out their plan.

Some small part of Auriallis that remains recognizes Stratagor, and for an instant Nigh hesitates. The naaru A'dal seizes the opportunity, using Nigh's connection with Stratagor to awaken her past self. The Void exists within the Light, and the inverse is also true - within the Void is the potential for the Light to reignite. A'dal sacrifices his physical form and imbues his Light into Nigh, fusing together with the Void being and forming a singularity of Void and Light - a seed of light and darkness, luminous creation and entropic possibility, whose power threatens to annihilate everything. At this final, ultimate turning point, Nodesius appears with the Worldseed.

Into the Void - Epilogue
The constellar Nodensius appears atop the Ebon Throne with the Worldseed, a Titan-made device that the constellar created together with A'dal. Merging the Worldseed with the singularity of Void and Light, Nodensius hurls the Worldseed deep into the heart of the Ebon Throne.

Without Nigh, the darkness of the Void seems to lose some of its profoundness, a strange sense of eerie calm descending over the Ebon Throne. The heroes of Azeroth barely have a moment to collect themselves, their gathered allies stunned by the sudden loss of A'dal and appearance of Nodenisus. Suddenly, the stormy skies overhead thunder with frightful bellows and screeches, the roiling clouds taking the shape of hideous beasts and monsters howling from within the dark gale. The Lords of the Void have witnessed the demise of their herald, and their fury has risen to even greater heights. Their rage threatens to collapse the thin veil of reality protecting the Voidlands from their fury, when suddenly a column of brilliant, prismatic energy lances up from within the Ebon Throne, its luminance driving back the dark clouds. Its source is the Worldseed, the arcane instrument carrying out its ultimate function.

The Worldseed devours the energies of the singularity as it plunges into the heart of Bysmault, its energy spilling out and enveloping first the broken worldshard, then spreading out across the Voidlands. Phenomenal cosmic energies are unleashed by the Worldseed, the process mirroring the very collision of Light and Void that first birthed the cosmos in the distant, primordial past. As the prismatic light of the Worldseed continues to grow, the elemental lords step into the radiance to lend their powers to the process - Stratagor of stone, Verdanis of life, Ailerith of air, Brimius of water, and Incendra of fire. As each lord sacrifices itself to the light, the energy spreads further, driving back the darkness of the Void wherever it encroaches upon the worldshards. The worldshards themselves shudder and quake with the power, before slowly beginning to move, drifting into new, orderly configurations.

Overhead, the darkness of the Void slowly fades. Starlight can be seen, bright lights burning through the darkness. On the horizon, a sun rises - bright and glorious. As the heroes of Azeroth watch the fantastic sight, Nodensius explains - the Worldseed has pulled the broken worldshards out of the Void and returned them to the material universe. The Voidlands are no more - the worldshards are now becoming part of a brand new world, a new planet that will exist in the Great Dark Beyond, with the Worldseed as its core. Each elemental lord has now become a part of the new world, as have A'dal and Nigh, their combined cosmic energies working together to bring the new world into existence.

All present are awed at the spectacle, while the naaru shine with joy at the birth of a new world, feeling no remose - they explain that A'dal still lives, that he and the elemental lords will be reborn as part of the balance of the new world. It will be millennia before the process is complete and the new world is fully form, but when it is, A'dal will return to the universe, shining brighter than ever.


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As the heroes of Azeroth make ready to return to their homeworld and battle the new threat on the rise there, a new golden sapling sprouts within the Golden Grove in Nachitar.