User:GoldenYak/Heroes of the Nexus/World Story

Introduction
The Lords of Mystery forged the Nexus in a time beyond reality. From the Nexus they drew upon a million realities and more, searching for a path to greater power and knowledge. After eons of toying with realities, their experiments yielded the first true child of the Nexus - Azera, a being of immaculate divinity, forged to be the perfect god, the architect of the ultimate cosmos. Yet even as the greatest creation of the Lords of Mystery was born, so too was born their ultimate nemesis - a crawling cancer upon all existence, the Umbra, devourers of reality! The Umbra spread like a plague from the Nexus to innumerable realities, devouring them one after another until the Lords of Mystery vanished from the Nexus, either in fear or annihilation. Alone, Azera has spent countless millennia fighting against the Umbra, her nearly futile efforts sparing a handful of realities from extinction while the Umbra have freely devoured thousands more.

Now, the reality of Azeroth has been joined with others through the Nexus, another war-front against the cosmos-threatening Umbra.

Chapter One: The Nexus Awaits
As Azeroth rebuilds from the great conflicts it has suffered in the past, a new threat rears its ugly head - the Umbra! A swarm of crystalline monstrosities from realms beyond the known cosmos, the Umbra seek to establish a foothold in Azeroth's dimension from which they will spread across the world and then the stars themselves! The initial incursion is thwarted, but the great rifts that allowed the Umbra into the world remain. From beyond the torn edges of reality, a bright light shines, a summons calling the heroes of the Alliance and the Horde to strike back against this new enemy. Great sorcerous engines are constructed that allow the chosen champions of Azeroth to depart their world and enter a new one - the Nexus, a world born of many different realities joined as one.

Chapter Two: The Realm Lords
The rulers of the Nexus, powerful beings known as the Realm Lords, battle against the swarms of the Umbra in all the regions of the Nexus. The Realm Lords call upon the aid of Azeroth's heroes not only to protect their dominions against the Umbra, but to deal with their many wicked rivals who seek to unseat them. Some of these rival beings have even begun to tap the power of the Umbra to overthrow their hated lords, bringing more of the destructive entities into the Nexus. The heroes of Azeroth wage war across the Nexus, driving back the Umbra invaders and the armies of the usurpers in order to secure the support of the Realm Lords for a concentrated offensive against the Umbra.

As the heroes journey through the many strange and wondrous realms of the Nexus, they begin to encounter the ethereal Azera. The mysterious hidden goddess of the Nexus grows in power whenever the Umbra are driven from a realm, and reveals secrets about the nature of the Nexus. Her gifts further empower the heroes of Azeroth against the Umbra.

Chapter Three: The Umbra War
After securing the aid of the Realm Lords of Raven's Court, Luxoria, Mistharbor, and Kings Crest, the Nexus suddenly comes under a massive Umbra assault. Rifts to the Umbra's enigmatic home dimension tear open all across the Nexus, and the heroes must rally their allies in a desperate defense. The tide is turned when Azera reveals her greatest power - the ability to connect the Nexus with other realities. A new Realm appears in the Nexus - the Eternal Battlefield, where the armies of the High Heavens and the Burning Hells clash in an endless Eternal Conflict. The appearance of a new Realm drives the Umbra into retreat and creates the opportunity for new potential allies, but the angels and demons of the Eternal Battlefield have their own war to fight...

As the heroes of Azeroth prove themselves to be heroes of the Nexus as well, Azera approaches them to reveal a dire secret - the Umbra have a master, a singular driving intelligence that guides their every action. Azera takes the heroes to the very edge of her realm to reveal the existence of the Umbra's true domain - the Dark Nexus. And at its black heart is the master of the Umbra, the evil Omnecron. Omnecron himself appears to taunt the heroes, revealing that the Umbra only grow more powerful the more they are resisted, and will eventually overwhelm and devour all realities.

Chapter Four: The Raven Falls
In a disastrous turn of events, the Raven Lord Oberon, Realm Lord of Raven's Court, becomes seduced by the dark power of the Umbra and seeks to master it, only to become corrupted by Omnecron and invite an incursion from the wicked entity's realm, the Dark Nexus. The Raven Lord's foolish actions plunge all of Raven's Court into a nightmarish rift leading to Omnecron's realm, threatening all of the Nexus with annihilation. The Raven Lord's daughter Orphea rallies the heroes of Azeroth in a desperate counter-attack to depose him.

After a mighty battle, the Raven Lord is defeated and the Dark Nexus is banished from Raven's Court. Orphea succeeds her father as Realm Lord of Raven's Court, and reaffirms her forces commitment to aiding the champions of Azeroth.

Chapter Five: The Eternal Empire
The burgeoning alliance in the Nexus is threatened when a new Realm suddenly appears beyond Azera's control, unleashing a new threat upon the Nexus - The Star Empire of Eternia. Led by the dreaded Space Lord Leoric, the forces of the Eternal Empire launch an invasion of the Nexus, little knowing that their actions will only serve to render countless realities vulnerable to the waiting Umbra. Azera sends the heroes of Azeroth to turn back the invasion. When the Umbra launch another incursion during the Eternal Empire's attack, a desperate pact is struck between the Empire and the forces of the Nexus to turn them back. In the end, the Empire becomes another uneasy ally of the Nexus, though whether they will hold to the tenuous peace is anyone's guess.

Chapter Six: The Prime Evil
The Realm Lords have gathered to discuss how to deal with the Umbra, but another threat arises to test the new alliance. From the Eternal Battlefield, the Master of the Burning Hells has come - Diablo, the Prime Evil! With a new demonic host at his command, the Lord of Terror launches an attack to seize the Nexus for himself.

Chapter Seven : Raiders of Warchrome
As the Realm Lords continue to rebuild their strength and keep watch for Omnecron and his Umbra, a new realm appears without warning to join the Nexus, the Warchrome Wastes. The debased ruler of the wasteland realm, Archdominus Vile, is another pawn of Omnecron sent to weaken the Nexus for the Umbra's inevitable return. Vile's Chrome Horde launches a devastating assault upon the Nexus, threatening to overwhelm the united defenders. Only the heroes of Azeroth stand a chance of turning the tide.

Chapter Eight: The Other Side of a Shadow
Azera reveals that, like the Star Empire of Eternia, the Warchrome Wastes were connected with the Nexus by Omnecron himself, who possesses the same powers as Azera. Indeed, both Azera and Omnecron are but two sides of the same being - the Lords of Mystery created Azera to be the ultimate god, and split away her wicked attributes in order to perfect her. However, her negative aspects did not simply vanish, but instead incarnated as Omnecron, Azera's dark reflection. The more Azera struggles against Omnecron, the more powerful Omnecron becomes. Omnecron created his Dark Nexus and the Umbra to devour all other realities to further increase his power, while Azera struggled to assembled a Nexus of free worlds that can defeat her evil counterpart.

The Umbra continue to menace the Nexus and evolve into deadly new forms known as the Shroud, twisted incarnations of Azeroth's heroes that serve Omnecron.

Chapter Nine: The Dark Nexus
While the heroes of Azeroth have struggled to find a solution to Azera's dilemma, the Dark Nexus suddenly erupts into being, unleashing hordes of Umbra upon the true Nexus. The heroes must venture into the Dark Nexus itself to stem the tide.

The Dark Nexus is a monstrously hostile environment, but the heroes discover that some life still exists and resists being consumed by the Umbra. The most significant of these beings is an entity called Talandros, who has gathered much information about the nature of Azera and Omnecron through its studies in the Dark Nexus. Talandros reveals that the many worlds absorbed into the Dark Nexus may be the key to destroying it and halting Omnecron's evil designs.

Chapter Ten: The Umbra Convergence
As Omnecron's Dark Nexus threatens to engulf the true Nexus, Talandros reveals a fantastic secret - the Lords of Mystery, the creators of Azera and original architects of the Nexus may still exist! The heroes of Azeroth venture across time, space, and parallel realities to contact the hidden Lords, seeking their aid against the evil of Omnecron.

One by one, the hidden Lords of Mystery lend their remaining power to Azera, raising her to equal Omnecron's dark might. However, Azera and Omnecron are one, and neither can defeat the other. As their war threatens to destroy the Nexus and all the realities bound to it, Azera makes a dire choice - accepting that she cannot be truly free of Omnecron, she decides instead to free the cosmos from him. Azera merges the Nexus with the Dark Nexus, connecting the two realms as one, and using the combined power of infinite realities she merges completely with Omnecron. Both entities cease to exist separately and instead meld together into an entirely new existence.

In an act of newborn divine will, the new Entity restores the damaged worlds connected to the Nexus and banishes the Umbra from existence. Then, without a word to the gathered heroes, the Entity vanishes.