User:GoldenYak/Arach'layn

UNDER CONSTRUCTION related to Spider Kingdom Expansion Concept

The arach'layn were once night elves who lived in the northern regions of Azeroth. They were forced to abandon their homes after the Sundering and were nearly wiped out by the nerubians. Taking refugee in the darkness of Azeroth's underworld, they were warped by the evils dwelling there into creatures of terrible power and warped beauty.

Introduction


Arach'layn, or Spider Elves, are the twisted brethren of the night elves. The survivors of the night elf civilizations of Northrend, they fled into the darkness of Azeroth's underworld to escape the killing cold of the surface world and the predations of the nerubians. Transformed by the power of the Old Gods into monstrous reflections of their former selves, they have been unleashed upon Azeroth in the wake of the Cataclysm. They serve the darker powers slumbering beneath Northrend, and lie in wait at the heart of the Spider Kingdom for the right moment to make their move.

The Night Elves of Northrend
Long ago, the night elf civilization flourished and stretched across the whole of ancient Kalimdor. Cities populated even the frozen crown of the world, the land that would one day be known as Northrend. But the nerubians had begun the construction of their great kingdom even before the night elves settled there. Though there were occasional clashes between the two races, the night elves never learned just how vast Azjol-Nerub truly was, or how many of their own cities were built across the nerubians' roof.

The Sundering and the Shadows
When the Sundering split the land of ancient Kalimdor into the familiar continents of modern Azeroth, the night elf civilization was split asunder as well. Many of the cities in the lands that would become Northrend were cut off from both those who would retain the ways of the night elves and those who would one day take the name blood elves. As the tranquility of ancient Kalimdor was lost, and the endless winter began to grip the northren lands, the kaldorei who dwelled there struggled to survive. Marauding nerubians, stirred to action by the Sundering, began to prey on the cities of the kaldorei, which were soon abandoned as their people fled in terror.

Unable to survive the harsh climate of Northrend outside their cities, the kaldorei had no choice but to flee deep into the caverns underground, fleeing far from the nerubian menace, seeking deeper and deeper caves to hide in. Stretching their abilities to Shadowmeld to their utmost, the kaldorei became one with the darkness itself, shrouding themselves in the deep blackness of the underworld where no light had ever been.

Something happened to the night elves in the dark places beneath Northrend. Each time they used their Shadowmelding abilities, it became harder for them to return to normal. The darkness seeped into their flesh and blood, their very souls, draining away their vitality. But they could not stop. The darkness had taken hold of them, becoming akin to an addiction - the shadows called to them and they were wracked with pain and suffering when they did not respond. At last, the night elves succumbed completely - they became shadows themselves, without form or substances, trapped in the depths of the underworld.

The Silence that Speaks
For centuries, the night elves languished as living shadows, unable to return to physical form. Unable to speak, barely aware of each other, they nearly faded from existence completely... but then came the voice. A whisperer in the darkness. A silence that spoke.

The night elves had roused something in the darkness, their pitiful suffering drawing the attention of a being old and vast and deeper than any shadow. The being spoke to the night elf shades, offered them a way to return to the realm of light, offered them a respite from their formless suffering. In exchange, they would serve as the voice's agents and carry out it's will. The night elves, in their wretched state, had lost all sense of morality and righteousness, and did not hesitate to agree.

Birth of the Arach'layn
The power of the Silent One surged through the shades, filling them with alien strength unlike any they'd felt before. They erupted back into the physical realm, flesh and blood bodies forged from shadow and power. Their bodies had been greatly changed by their centuries of immaterial existence, and were warped further still by the power of the Silent One. Their skin crackled and blackened, becoming hardened carapace. Glistening arachnid eyes sprouted across their brows, glaring balefully in all directions. They were taller, their limbs slender and agile, moving with an alien grace altogether different from the beings they had once been.

The Silent One had granted them a new form pleasing to it. A predator form akin to the nerubians that had menaced them long ago. Swift and silent, graceful and deadly, pitiless and remorseless. They were no longer the kaldorei. They had become Arach'layn.

Children of the Spider.

Rebirth of the Spider Kingdom
The arach'layn have returned to the world to assist in the rebirth of the Spider Kingdom. Acting as go-betweens for the Twilight Cult of Xarosan and the nerubian Newbreed led by the nerubian queen Nezar'Kali, the arach'layn have been instrumental in welding all the disparate servants of the Old Gods together into a single allied force.

When the forces of Doorward joined with the Alliance and the Horde to assault the palace of the spider queen, the arach'layn briefly acted as an elite guard for Nezar'Kali and her Newbreed. However, upon using the Twilight Cult to secure the removal of hundreds of Newbreed nerubian eggs, the arach'layn withdrew the bulk of their forces together with the Twilight Cult, leaving Nezar'Kali to her fate.

Twilight of Dalaran
The arach'layn were present aboard the saronite necropolis Malykriss when it began its assault against Dalaran. However, only a token force were present, with the majority of their forces having hidden elsewhere with the stolen cache of Newbreed eggs.

Arach'layn were also encountered by the allies of Doorward during the exploration of the ancient aqir homeland, Azj'Aqir. They were observed taking several of the qiraji refugees in the region captive before vanishing.

Malevolence Rising
The arach'layn have gathered many of their forces at the city of the iron dwarves, meeting with the iron dwarves master Tyr. When Xarosan and his Twilight Cult retreat to the iron dwarves capitol of Dreadstorm after their failed assault on Dalaran, the arach'layn take control of the Twilight Cult, much to Xarosan's dismay.

The arach'layn direct the Twilight Cult to conduct dark magic rituals upon the Newbreed that the arach'layn had taken. In addition, the Cult was also provided with numerous captured qiraji and mantid specimens, infusing their essence into the Newbreed to make them even more powerful and monstrous.

Culture


The Arach'layn have departed drastically from their night elf origins. They are bitter and withdrawn, caring nothing for preserving order or protecting the natural world. The joys of life have been bled out of their existence by their eons in the shadow, and they seem to have discarded emotions all together. They loathe all the creatures of the surface world and see them as nothing but resources to be exploited and discarded. Most of them cannot even muster the passion to hate - their distaste for all outsiders is cold, detached, and utterly alien.

The Arach'layn are few in number, having only recently regained their physical forms. They exist as warbands that move throughout the abandoned ruins of the Spider Kingdom of Azjol-Nerub. They have been empowered by the Old Gods to act as leaders and emissaries over the forces of Twilight - they are often found ruling over Twilight Cult covens. They have seized ancient ruins throughout the Spider Kingdom for their own purposes, and many can be found in Ahn'Saron, the Immortal City, the very heart of Azjol-Nerub.

Druids of the Spider
The Arach'layn still have druids among them, but they embody the dark and deadly side of nature - the venom that kills agonizingly slowly, the parasite that sucks strength and life from a host, the vermin that feast on sickness and death. They honor Ynnilith, the Spider-Ancient, a dark and dreadful creature who dwells within the Emerald Dream, in a Nightmare shrouded land known as the Darkholt. Ynnilith has served the Nightmare also since it first appeared in the Dream, though it has changed her little. She gladly serves the forces of darkness and the Old Gods, and is one of the Silent One's most powerful minions.

Languages
The Arach'layn speak Naggossian, a corrupted dialect derived from the Darnassian language. There are several sounds that cannot be made by many non-arach'layn races - insectile clicks and shrill buzzes cannot be replicated by beings without the complex mouthparts of an arachnid.

Appearance
Arach'layn are as tall and broadly built as their night elf cousins. Their time in the shadows has twisted their physical appearance, turning their skin rough, cracked, and colorless, and causing their hair to turn white. Arach'layn have developed chitinous growths across their bodies, like the carapace of arachnids, making them tougher and more durable than night elves. Many have also developed more arachnid-like traits, including large spider-like mandibles and extra eyes.

Notable Arach'layn

 * Luth'rahn, Prince of the Darkholt - Supreme ruler of the Arach'layn, he directs their efforts from atop the Hanging Tower of Naz'Zuraq.


 * Zephon the Venomous - Once a great night elf hero, he has become a monstrous mockery of his former self. He wields the legendary blade Blightsear and leads the Arach'layn's military forces in the Inner Kingdom.


 * General Griever - A student of Zephon, he leads the Arach'layn military forces at the Hanging Tower.


 * Nadala Wrencry - High-priestess of the Silent One, Nadala is the spiritual leader of the Arach'layn.