User:GoldenYak/K'aresh Remnants

Related to the Into the Void Expansion Concept

The K'aresh Remnants is a zone located in the western Voidlands. The shining city of Or'Damaz, capitol of the ethereal nation, lies at the heart of this region, surrounding by forests whose natural beauty yet endures the ravages of the Void.

The Jewel of the Great Dark Beyond
The world of K'aresh was filled with the energies of creation, giving rise to an abundance of life. An arid world lit by twin suns, K'aresh was home to many sapient races, the most numerous and advanced of which were the aresheem. Adaptable, intelligent, and naturally curious, the aresheem developed a love of travel and learning, spreading rapidly across their world and founding cities and centers of learning. Trade was also beloved by the arsheem, and they brokered peace among the other races of their world so that a wealth of goods and knowledge flowed freely across all K'aresh.

As the aresheem civilization advanced, they mastered principles both scientific and magical. Great colleges of study in both disciplines sprung up in cities across the world, none greater than the Memnarch Collegiate in beautiful Or'Damaz, the aresheem capitol. Those who studied became known as memnarchs, individuals who were both sorcerer and scientist. The arsheem began to unravel the greater mysteries of the cosmos - the elemental energies that formed the material universe, the forces of order and disorder that existed beyond the material, and the Twisting Nether's endless currents, opening up the possibility of travel to other worlds.

Ahriman, Herald of the Void
As the arcane and scientific understanding of the aresheem grew, so too did their boldness in exploring the cosmos. One of the aresheem's most brilliant minds, a gifted memnarch named Ahriman, discovered a layer of reality that he named the Void, and theorized that it formed the underlying basis for all existence. Captivated by the prospect of studying the source of all creation, the memnarch council granted Ahriman the resources to construct the Void Auger, a machine that would pierce through all the dimensions of the cosmos to expose the underlying Void. When Ahriman first activated the device before the gathered memnarch council, he became directly exposed to a flux of Void energies which infused themselves into his body. While Ahriman gazed directly into the very heart of the Void, the other assembled memnarchs remained outside the Void's influence and beheld only a dreadful darkness spilling from the rift the Void Auger had created. Desperately, the other memnarchs shut down the device, to Ahriman's outrage.

Ahriman argued passionately that his experience proved his theories, and that the Void was the true source of all things, but the other memnarchs refused to accept that the terrible blackness they had witnessed represented the whole truth. Deploring the other memnarchs as small-minded fools, Ahriman declared that he would not rest until the full wonder of the Void was revealed to all. Fearing what Ahriman would unleash, the memnarch council stripped him of his privileges and exiled him from their ranks.

However, the memnarchs underestimated Ahriman's drive. Defying the laws of the aresheem, he continued his work in secret, moving amongst the criminal element of aresheem civilization. His new technology, necessarily more limited than his original designs, still enabled him to pull through wisps of the Void's power, and eventually Voidwalkers and other entities. These Void-based powers he made available to patrons who would support his further work. In time, he came to the notice of the Ethereum class, who saw the Void as a potent new weapon to be used against their rivals. Playing one Ethereum patron off the other, Ahriman was eventually able to amass enough resources to rebuild a new, more advanced Void Auger, many times more powerful than his first.

Fall of K'aresh
Ahriman's actions in the criminal underworld had not gone unnoticed. The Shandarm, the aresheem law enforcement authorities, had been tracking Ahriman for some time, having identified him as the source of the deadly new Void power that had been the cause of great destruction throughout aresheem society. A force of Shandarm agents had discovered Ahriman's laboratory in the aresheem city of Ang'Manyu, and their raid coincided with the completion of Ahriman's Void Auger. As the Shandarm burst in on the renegade memnarch, Ahriman activated his machine, tearing open the veil between the material universe and the blackest depths of the Void.

Terrible darkness spilled out, enshrouding all of Ang'Manyu in blackness. The Shandarm screamed in horror as the darkness devoured them, pulling them into the Void. Only one aresheem voice did not cry out in horror - that of Ahriman himself, who fell into the Void laughing in triumph. The darkness of the Void spilled out across the surface of K'aresh, both from Ahriman's Void Auger and from his earlier lesser machines, used as weapons by unwitting aresheem criminals. With the Void in ascendancy, even these earlier devices now formed portals into the heart of darkness. Arising from the largest vortex was a giant of utter darkness, a roaring maw of Void given form - Dimensius the All-Devouring, one of the Void Masters, a terrible manifestation of the Void's hunger. Dimensius led an army of Void entities across K'aresh, destroying and consuming everything they touched. The aresheem fought the advanced of the Void for a time. The memnarch council used Ahriman's earlier designs to devise the means to halt the advancing darkness. But the Void had damaged the fabric of the cosmos around the entire world, and the arcane energies of the Twisting Nether began to bleed through the torn rents in reality. While the council's countermeasures held back the ravages of the Void, they were less effective against the energies of the Nether. Curtains of mystical energy, part arcane, part fel, shone through the Void shields, splintering and fracturing before streaming through the bodies of the aresheem. The energy changed them, stripping away their material forms while also strengthening their spirits with arcane might. Their bodies crumbled, but the aresheem now glowed with forms of solidified mana. The aresheem were no more - now, they were the ethereals. With their new energy-based forms, the ethereals were able to flee their world before it was utterly destroyed by the rampant energies that engulfed it. The ethereals looked back on their world as it tumbled into darkness, Dimensius bellowing in triumph, and within their souls a burning hatred and thirst for vengeance was born.

Restoration and Revenge
The ethereals were scattered across the universe after the fall of K'aresh. Their arcane-powered skiffs sailed on currents in the Twisting Nether, bringing them to a hundred different worlds. They faced many dangers and saw many more wonders, exploring alien worlds they'd never imagined existed and battling vicious demons on blistered hellscape planets.

In time, the scattered throngs of ethereals began to band together, with a singular leader ethereal gathering a nexus of numerous others around him or herself. Numerous new factions arose in the aftermath of their society's fall - the Ethereum had been born of the aresheem ruling class and their subordinates, who burned with hatred for the Void and wished to punish it for the loss of their former world. The Consortium arose from the merchant classes, who saw their new nature as a pathway to greater riches and a universe-spanning trade empire the likes of which they never dreamed of. The remnants of the Shandarm became the Protectorate, a nexus devoted to justice and law. For many years the ethereal nexii established their influence throughout the universe, each following their own agenda. The Protectorate began to focus all of their efforts on thwarting the actions of the Ethereum, seeing them as a danger equal to the Void itself. After suffering numerous losses, the Ethereum began to explore the realm of the Void more and more, hoping at first to use the Void's own power against it. Ultimately many of the Ethereum succumbed to the corrupting influence of the darkness, becoming Void entities themselves. The Ethereum's dabblings within the Void led to a schism in the nexus, with many rejecting the Void utterly and declaring their former comrades corrupt. Nexus-Queen Damendra seized control of these ethereals and took them away from the other Ethereum, seeking a path out of the Void.

The Void Beckons
During Damendra's search through the Void, she and her agents discovered a fragment of K'aresh still survived within it, and upon that fragment the aresheem capitol of Or'Damaz still stood, its arcane machinery holding back the ravages of the Void. Damendra used the city as a base of operations and opened numerous portals to the Twisting Nether and the material universe, sending out her agents to alert all the ethereal nexii that their wondrous city still survived. The ethereals rallied together and returned to Or'Damaz, fortifying it further against the Void, although they were not able to complete their ultimate goal of freeing the city from the Void entirely.

While rebuilding within Or'Damaz, the ethereals discovered that the Void was growing unstable, with surges of Void energy becoming stronger and more frequent. The ethereals determined that some great power was on the move within the depths of the Void, and that the Void's power would soon spill out into the material universe, ravaging untold worlds as it ravaged K'aresh. Using their advanced machinery, enhanced with knowledge bought, bartered, or stolen from races across the universe, the ethereals located the source of the Void disruption - a cluster of world fragments swallowed by the Void, yet brimming over with natural energies that kept them from being utterly consumed. The ethereals anchored the remnants of K'aresh to these Voidlands, intending to search them for the source of the Void's growing might. The scouts that ventured into the Voidlands returned with stories of fantastic realms still preserved within the many worldshards, and that in the furthest reaches of them a monstrous manifestation of the Void was growing in power, throwing the entirety of the Void into imbalance.

Knowing that they would need help to destroy this growing threat, the ethereals began to reach out to their allies from across the universe. One world in particular was marked by the ethereals, a world that had turned aside terrible threats again and again. The malefic Old Gods had failed to corrupt it. The dreaded Burning Legion had foundered there, time and again. Filled with mighty heroes who had fought the darkest evils in the cosmos, it contained the hope of the universe. And so the ethereals made their way to Azeroth, to enlist their aid in battling the forces of the Void.

Geography
The worldshard of the K'aresh Remnants is a fragment of the ethereal homeworld, long ago devoured by the Void entity Dimensius the All-Devouring. Rolling forested hills with azure foliage surrounding the gleaming ethereal city of Or'Damaz, the former capitol of their homeworld, preserved from the ravages of the Void by arcane technology. While much of K'aresh had been a dry and arid world, the ethereals had shaped the lands around their city to be a vertible paradise.

The beauty of the region is marred by great cracks and rents in the ground, yawning chasms that open into the destructive energy of the Void. Immense fragments of land drift like clouds nearby. The skies overhead are roiling strands of energy arcing across a star-lit sky.

Or'Damaz
The ethereal city of Or'Damaz acts as the central captiol city of the Voidlands. Districts of the city are given over to the Alliance and the Horde exclusively, while the rest of the city is open to all. Portals to Azeroth have been established, so that adventurers need not journey back to the Voidgate to return home. Ethereal warriors and traders from all ethereal nexii have gathered at Or'Damaz, together with other races from across the universe.

The ruling government of Or'Damaz is the Conflux, a council composed of the leaders of the three strongest ethereal nexii - Nexus-Prince Haramad and his Consortium, Commander Ameer of the Protectorate, and Nexus-Queen Damendra of the Ethereum. Haramad often struggles to keep the peace between Ameer and Damendra, the former not trusting the latter due to the Ethereum's past dabblings in the Void. Nexus-Queen Damendra is ambitious and power-hungry, seeing herself as the rightful ruler of all ethereals, but is pragmatic and has accepted that she requires aid in defeating the powers of the Void. Her hatred for the force that stole her kingdom knows no bounds.

Or'Damaz was only recently reclaimed by the ethereals - for centuries it was lost in the Void, until it was found by Ethereum scouts. Nexus-Queen Damendra alerted the other ethereal nexii to the discovery, rallying them to the cause of reclaiming their ancient capitol. The ethereals succeeded in retaking the city and constructing arcane devices to push back the devouring energies of the Void even further, anchoring the K'aresh Remnants to the Voidlands and securing their capitol against the armies of the Void. Nexus-Queen Damendra had expected to be hailed as the supreme monarch over the reunited ethereal nation, but the other nexii were not so quick to forgive the Ethereum for their transgressions, let alone allow them to rule. Reluctantly, Damendra agreed to yield power to the Conflux, recognizing that she could not expect to rule through force.

Dungeons
- Siege at Darkbreach - The voidgate leading to Azeroth located on the western archipelago of K'aresh has come under attack by the forces of the Void Primarch Ahriman.

Story
After pushing back the forces of the Void, the ethereals lead the Alliance and the Horde through the Voidgate on Azeroth. They emerge onto the K'aresh Remnants region of the Voidlands. In the distance lies bright and shining Or'Damaz, capitol of the ethereal civilization, preserved on the last fragment of K'aresh through arcane ethereal technology. Or'Damaz is a shining beacon in the darkness, the one safe haven in the Voidlands.

Master of the Void
Approaching the city K'aresh is under siege by the legions of the Void. The Alliance and the Horde join forces with the ethereal defenders of the city to push back the armies of darkness. At the height of the battle, the forces of the Void are reinforced by Voidtouched ethereals led by Void Primach Ahriman, the very Ahriman who lured the Void to K'aresh long ago. Ahriman summons forth an immense giant of darkness - Dimensius the All-Devouring, the same Void entity who consumed K'aresh. Thought to have been destroyed on Outland, Dimensius was reconstituted in the Void into a new and more powerful form.

Reinforcements
Dimensius himself begins assaulting the main gates of the city directly. Just before the void entity can breach the city walls, ethereals arrive with potent new allies - the naaru. Xi'ri, V'eru, M'ori, G'eras, and V'ena manifest around Or'Damaz, driving back the darkness of the Void. The five combine their light on Dimensius and disperse his form, banishing him from K'aresh. The five naaru then take up positions around Or'Damaz, blanketing the entire region in the Light and holding back the Void. Ahriman and his void-ethereal servants, the Noctarchs, quit the field, warning that the Void is growing in strength with every passing moment and that they will return with greater forces to crush the champions of the Light.

Seeking the Heart of Darkness
The ethereals and their allies rally to Or'Damaz, making it into a nigh-impregnable foothold in the Voidlands. From the safety of the Light, they will strike out at the heart of darkness and destroy the source of the Void energy that threatens the engulf countless worlds. The ethereals warn that even the safety of Or'Damaz is temporary - the Void will utterly consume the Voidlands in time. It is inevitable. The champions of the Light must vanquish the darkness and depart the Voidlands before they crumble into oblivion forever.

Questlines



 * Defense of Or'Damaz - Rally to the ethereal defenders of Or'Damaz and aid in their battle against the forces of the Void.
 * The Noctarchs - The Voidtouched ethereals who lead the armies of the Void are known as the Noctarchs. Each one commands a different and varied manifestation of the Void's dark power.
 * Securing the Remnants - With the Void pushed back from the city, the ethereals and the naaru need help securing the surrounding region for the push into the Voidlands.
 * Solovun, Noctarch of Legions - One of Ahriman's Noctarchs, Solovun commands the endless rank and file of the Void's armies. His repeated attacks on Or'Damaz must be put down or the city will fall due to sheer attrition.