User:GoldenYak/Shimmerwyld

Related to the Emerald Dream Expansion Concept

The wondrous Shimmerwyld is a testament to the beauty and other-worldliness that the realms of the Emerald Dream can possess. A sprawling woodlands in the northern Dream, its silver-leafed forests conceal countless fierce and savage creatures.

History
The forests of the Shimmerwyld were first formed eons ago, borne on the breeze as drifting seedlings from the mother tree G'Hanir. The wild god Aviana followed the currents of air that flowed across the face of the newly-shaped Emerald Dream, and granted her blessings to the clouds of seedlings that fell upon fertile soil. Thus the forests of the Shimmerwyld have ever been a favored place for the flying creatures of the Dream, often visited by Avaiana and her winged children and followers. The Shimmerwyld suffered badly during the War of the Ancients when Aviana suffered death in the mortal realm and the mother tree G'Hanir was nearly destroyed. Huge swathes of the woodland withered and perished in sympathetic reaction to G'Hanir's fall. But in the millennia since that age, the forests have recovered and spread, more beautiful than ever. In the wake of Aviana's first ancient death, some of her fellow avian wild gods came to dwell in the Shimmerwyld to ease their grief, claiming portions of it as permanent roosts. The twin eagle gods, Shaharroth the White and Raes'Velg the Black, ruled the skies uncontested for a time, until Raes'Velg's grief drove him to flee the region and vanish into darkness. In Raes'Velg's absence, the great owl wild god Straga came to dwell in the region, frequently clashing with noble Shaharroth. Their descendants still dwell in these ancestral regions to this day.

Long ago, druids of the kaldorei came to dwell permanently in the Shimmerwyld, so captivated by the natural splendor of the realm that they lost all desire to return to the waking world. In their desire to be as one with the wild beasts of the realm, the kaldorei shed their previous existence and became the Wyldborn, creatures that are more beast than elf, guardians of the natural cycle of predator and prey. Over the millennia, other races that have practiced the art of druidism and walked the lands Dream have felt the same temptation as those ancient kaldorei, to cast off their previous existence and become Wyldborn themselves. It is no longer possible to discern what members of the Wyldborn may have belonged to other races, their former existence subsumed by their new role as hunters in the Dream. All who visit the Dream run the risk that they will walk down the same path.

With the coming of the Nightmare, many of the inhabitants of the Shimmerwyld are at risk to falling to the dread corruption.

Geography
The forests of the Shimmerwyld are among the most beautiful in the Emerald Dream. The leaves of the Shimmerwyld's trees are a silvery-green that glint like blades of metal, refracting the sunlight overhead in a glorious display that the region is named for. Rolling hills, deep woods, and mighty mountains stretch across the realm as far as the eye can see. In deep valleys the trees grow tall and cast the land in shadow, with deep rivers and streams filling ponds and forming marshlands in the regions near the Zurvan Sea to the west.

Dungeons and Raids
- The Wyld Hunt - The Wyldborne rule the forests of the Shimmerwyld, and none are more ferocious than Kurnog the Hunt-Master. From his sprawling forest lodge, Kurnog oversees his tribe's many ritual hunts, seeking out and bringing down worthy prey in the eternal cycle of survival. Tendrils of the nightmare have infused themselves into the Wyldborne's territory, and Kurnog has become gradually more blood-thirsty. Any who stray into his territory must be prepared to become a target.

Straga the Night Hunter
One of the most terrifying creatures in the Shimmerwyld, the colossal Straga is known and feared as the Night Hunter. He takes the form of an enormous horned owl, swooping silently through the darkest forests of the Shimmerwyld, his massive talons carving open mortal prey by the dozen with a single pass. Straga's cruel children, the strigoi, swarm to his worship and adorn his roosting grounds with the corpses and their kills. Already belligerent and hostile, Straga has been made even more dangerous due to the influence of the Nightmare. His corrupted presence cannot be tolerated any longer.

Kroak, King of the Swamps
The enormous toad wild god, Kroak, dwells in the boggy marshes of the Shimmerwyld's valleys, snatching unwary flying monsters from the air with his long tongue and swallowing them whole. The progenitor of the amphibious sluagh, Kroak was a relatively benign entity before the corruption of the Nightmare poured into the Shimmerwyld. The first regions to be infested were the low-land swamps that Kroak claimed as his lair, and the Nightmare's corruption has filled Kroak and his children with wicked impulses. The infestation must be rooted out and the corrupted wild god slain for the good of the entire realm.

Dragons of Nightmare
Reports from the north come to Eden'ar revealing that the Nightmare has unleashed some of its most potent and lethal instruments - the Nightmare Dragonflight. Created from corrupted green dragons that have fallen under dark influence, the Nightmare Dragons are wreaking a terrible toll on the defenders of the Dream in the Shimmerwyld. The heroes travel north to the Shimmerwyld, and upon arrival at the Emerald Dreamguard's forward base they find the Dreamguard and their treefolk allies coming under attack by the Order of Thorns and their Nightmare drakes. Just as the Nightmare's forces gather for a major push that threatens to overwhelm the defenders, the Nightmare's forces come under attack by a newly arrived army - winged humanoid eagle-folk, offspring of the mighty Wild God, Shaharroth the White Eagle. Shaharroth slays several Nightmare drakes while the eagle-folk reinforce the Emerald Dreamguard's lines, forcing the Nightmare's army to retreat.

Shaharroth and his eagle-folk children, the shayetar, are sympathetic to the Dreamguard and wish to aid them in their battle with the Nightmare. They warn that the Nightmare's corruption has seeped into the lower swamps of the Shimmerwyld, affecting the creatures that dwell there, while the shayetar have largely escaped thanks to flying high above. Two races in particular, the owl-like strigoi who dwell in trees and the toad-like sluagh who live in the swampy glades of the surface, have been affected and are savagely warring against each-other, with many refugees desperately fleeing the conflict. The Dreamguard's forces must make their way through just such a battlefield to reach the source of the Nightmare infestation.

Hunters in the Wild
Passing through the warzone, the Dreamguard encounter the wyldborn, a race of strange beastmen who hunt the woods of the Shimmerwyld. They begin preying upon the few refugees and purified survivors and must be repulsed by the Dreamguard. The Order of Thorns is present in the Wyldborn's camp, hinting at possible Nightmare corruption. After driving the Nightmare's forces away, uncorrupted wyldborn emerge to offer the Dreamguard cautious thanks.

The Wyld Hunt
Within the major Nightmare infestation zone, a spawning ground for nightmare dragons is discovered. Bighted treefolk and ancients are also plentiful, as are many of the Order of Thorns forces. At a major site of infestation, Darcath and his satyr meet with the mighty Wyld Hunt, a pride of wyldborn that are the strongest in the region. The huntmaster, Kurnog, warns Darcath to keep away from their hunting grounds, while Darcath offers a deal instead, providing Kurnog with the power to hunt the greatest of foes. Kurnog is arrogant and takes Darcath's powers, warning the satyr that he had best keep on Kurnog's good side.

After establishing a base beyond the corrutpion zone, the Dreamguard call on more Shayetar allies and organize for an attack on the Nightmare zone on two fronts. Shaharroth appears again to battle Darcath's flying forces, however, Kurnog and his wyldborn join the battle, and Kurnog slays Shaharroth with his Nightmare-infused greatspear, causing the eagle demigod to plunge into the heart of the Nightmare zone, his body devoured. Darcath retreats at this.

The Dreamguard's forces are badly mauled by the unexpected attack from the Wyldborn, and are forced to fallback. Luckily, the Nightmare does not advance any further. The Dreamguard turn their efforts towards purging Kurnog's Nightmare-corrupted Wyld Hunt. Uncorrupted Wyldborn emerge to lend their aid to the Dreamguard in this effort.

From the Depths of the Dream
Agents of the Nightmare guided by the satyr have begun efforts to corrupt some of the slumbering mountain giants in the east. In the north are exposed Titan structures that the Nightmare's forces are investigating, though many of them have been wiped out by some unknown foe.

The Dreamguard have established a forward base near the first of the Titan ruins and have sent troops north. The troops soon return as Blighted Treefolk, corrupted by the Nightmare. A massive Nightmare infestation has taken root in the north-west, spilling forth corrupted animals and turning at Dreamguard who become exposed. Efforts are being made to halt the spread.

The tendrils of Nightmare corruption curling east are halted at exposed Titan ruins. A major force of Nightmare entities emerges from the corruption zone and heads towards the ruins, but by the time the Dreamguard arrive at the ruins with troops to counter it, the Nightmare's forces have already been exterminated. A new enemy, the Deviaan Host, have emerged from the titan ruins, despoiling many of them and enslaving or destroying all they find. The Dreamguard decide to unleash their powers to seal the Deviaan back inside the ruins, but it's only a matter of time before they emerge again.

Nightmare Incursion
With Shaharroth's death and fall into the Nightmare, and the destruction of the Nightmare Dragon spawning grounds, the major infestation in the region receeds somewhat. However, during a Nightmare Incursion, it will flare up horrifically again, disgorging Blighted and Nightmare-spawned horrors. Flare-ups will also strike near the Titan ruins, in Sluagh swamps, and near the original Dreamguard base in the south.

Questlines

 * The Murkwallow Sluagh - A swamp-full of sluagh to the north beneath the curling arches and stone pillars of the Shimmerspyre Mountains is menaced by Nightmare corruption. It's not too late to preserve the sluagh from full infestation, but the Nightmare entities encroaching upon the region must be dealt with swiftly.
 * War in the Wylds - Near the territory of the Wyldborn another warzone between the strigoi and the sluagh has erupted, this one fiercer than ever. The ancient wild god progenitors of the two races, Straga the owl and Kroak the toad, lair near the region, providing considerable challenges for those who attempt to end the violence.
 * War in the Wylds - Near the territory of the Wyldborn another warzone between the strigoi and the sluagh has erupted, this one fiercer than ever. The ancient wild god progenitors of the two races, Straga the owl and Kroak the toad, lair near the region, providing considerable challenges for those who attempt to end the violence.


 * The Ebonwing Shayetar - Not all of the shayetar of the Shimmerwyld are the children of noble Shaharroth. The Ebonwing flock are the children of Raes'Velg, the long-vanished black eagle wild god and brother to Shaharroth. The allegiance of the Ebonwing flock is not yet known - any efforts to approach them should be undertaken with the utmost caution. If the children of the Black Eagle have fallen to the Nightmare, a new warfront in the campaign against the Unwaking will erupt.
 * Twinkleberry, Destroyer of Worlds - The Shimmerwyld is home to many wild gods, but perhaps none are more curious than Twinkleberry, the Squirrel God, She Who Has Gnawed a Thousand Skulls. Despite her grandoise ambitions to dominate all the forests of the Emerald Dream, the animal deity has lived in relative peace with the other wild gods in the Shimmerwyld for generations. Her children, the nutkin, are a nuisance to many, but even they do not deserve the fate of being devoured by the Nightmare's encroaching pollution. Perhaps if the heroes of Azeroth earn her favor by aiding her children, her terrible wrath might be turned from them.
 * The Xaviaan Satyr - The Nightmare itself has birthed dreadful agents of its will - the Xaviaan Satyr. These creatures of pure corruption are formed in the image of Xavius, the former Nightmare Lord and first of all satyr kind. These shadow-satyr have begun to crack open the hills and mountains of the Shimmerwyld, exposing the slumbering mountain giants to the pollution of the Nightmare. Such mighty beings must not fall under the Nightmare's sway.
 * Legacy of the Life-Binder - In the north, the earth has been torn asunder by quakes and tremors, exposing Titan-built structures that have remained buried in the lower depths of the Dream for untold millennia. The forces of the Nightmare are scouring the Titan structures for something to exploit in their campaign of corruption, but some unknown hostile force has awakened from the depths to attack them.
 * Festergrind Treefolk - The Dreamguard established a forward base near unearthed Titanic ruins, only to be overtaken by the Nightmare's corruption. Now, the former treefolk defenders of the Dream have become the Festergrind Treefolk, a grove of treants that serve amongst the ranks of the Nightmare's Unwaking. The infestation in Festergrind Grove must be rooted out, lest it spill forth into the Shimmerwyld and turn all who become exposed.
 * Legacy of the Life-Binder - In the north, the earth has been torn asunder by quakes and tremors, exposing Titan-built structures that have remained buried in the lower depths of the Dream for untold millennia. The forces of the Nightmare are scouring the Titan structures for something to exploit in their campaign of corruption, but some unknown hostile force has awakened from the depths to attack them.
 * Festergrind Treefolk - The Dreamguard established a forward base near unearthed Titanic ruins, only to be overtaken by the Nightmare's corruption. Now, the former treefolk defenders of the Dream have become the Festergrind Treefolk, a grove of treants that serve amongst the ranks of the Nightmare's Unwaking. The infestation in Festergrind Grove must be rooted out, lest it spill forth into the Shimmerwyld and turn all who become exposed.
 * Festergrind Treefolk - The Dreamguard established a forward base near unearthed Titanic ruins, only to be overtaken by the Nightmare's corruption. Now, the former treefolk defenders of the Dream have become the Festergrind Treefolk, a grove of treants that serve amongst the ranks of the Nightmare's Unwaking. The infestation in Festergrind Grove must be rooted out, lest it spill forth into the Shimmerwyld and turn all who become exposed.

X.1 - The Dark Ancients
When the Nightmare unleashes its Dark Ancients upon the Emerald Dream, the wicked wolf god Lycanthoth choose the Shimmerwyld as his hunting grounds. With him he brings his evil children, the lycanorn, a breed of wolf-men created for the express purpose of hunting down and exterminating, and ultimately replacing, all those who bear the mark of the worgen. Lycanthoth will not rest until he has slaughtered all of Goldrinn's children.

Lycanthoth will spawn as a world-boss and his presence will greatly increase the power of the Nightmare and its servants during a Nightmare Incursion.