The names of the Ancients are known Gods WoW living in Azeroth. They sound like this: K "Thun, Yogg-Saron, N" Zoth and Y "Sharaj. At an early age they had total control over the planet. They formed the so-called Dark Empire, consisting of the then inhabitants of the world.

After some time, the Pantheon arrived in Azeroth. His armies were sent to destroy the strongholds of the invaders and shift their power. The first was Y "Sharaj. He turned out to be too strong. Initially, the forces of the titans were not enough to defeat him. However, this prompted their leader Aman" Tula to deal with the enemies with his own hands.

In doing so, he inadvertently created a giant rift in the earth's crust from which the blood of Azeroth oozed. Thus, the titans realized that the Old Gods had sunk too deep into the bowels of the world. It was impossible to defeat the monsters without destroying the planet. Therefore, they decided to imprison them, imprisoning the evil forever below the surface of the earth.

Incompetent and until recently forgotten, the Old Gods still influence the people themselves and the events of the universe to this day. Along with the Burning Legion, they are one of the most powerful and recurring threats in the game series.

The manifestation of the Old Gods WoW in the game

At a certain point, K "Thun woke up and again emerged from the bowels of Azeroth. You could find him in the ruins of An" Qiraj before he was killed by adventurers.

During his reign in Ulduar, Loken came under the influence of Yogg-Saron. He eventually betrayed both the Pantheon and his brother Thorim. Loken lived in the Halls of Lightning, trying to completely free his new master.

According to Malfurion, the Old Gods are behind the corruption Although the nightmarish lord ended up being the satyr Xavius, it is suspected that he acted on behalf of some terrifying power. It is also known that Yogg-Saron is responsible for the emergence of the Emerald Nightmare, and N'Zoth is responsible for its spread.

During the war in Pandaria, Garrosh Hellscream unearthed the still beating heart of Y'Shaarj and took it with him to Orgrimmar. During the final battle, the power of the heart was depleted. The result of this was the disappearance of Y'Shaarj. The Old Gods indirectly participated in the escape of the crazed leader of the Horde to the alternate Draenor.

Nozdormu revealed that the Old Gods caused much suffering for the Aspects. The madness of Malygos and Deathwing, the Emerald Dream turned into a Nightmare, the change in timelines, the creation of the monster from Blackmoore, the Twilight Cult - all of these things were connected by a conspiracy of the Old Gods. His goal was to destroy the Aspects and dragons forever, and with them all chances for order and stability.

Whisper

While in certain locations, completing a quest, or taking part in game events, you can hear some of the phrases of the Old Gods of WoW. They will be displayed in the general chat. The language in which they are written is called Shat'yar.

This topic can be easily divided into two parts. In the first we look at how the number of Old Gods in Azeroth has changed, and in the second we will look at their numbers throughout the universe.

Of course, now we already know that there were four Old Gods in the Dark Empire that fought against the Guardians. And it is possible that in the early days of this empire there were five of them. As a result, the keepers imprisoned C'Thun, N'Zoth and Yogg-Saron, and also created a vault for the heart of Y'Shaarj, who was personally killed by Aman'Thul. In total, an unknown number of Old Gods exist in the Great Darkness, which were abandoned there by the Lords of the Abyss. But this time we will try to understand exactly how this story took on its current shape.

Old Gods of Azeroth

The Old Gods were first mentioned inWarcraft 3: Reign of Chaos guide(2002):

"Worshiping a race of unfathomable malevolent beings known only as the Old Gods, the Elementals have vowed to banish the titans and keep their world intact under the touch of these metallic invaders."

This guide covered an early version of the story of Azeroth's Ordering: the war of the titans against the elementals and the Old Gods; conclusion of the Old Gods; ordering Azeroth with the help of the races created by the titans and the blessing of the Aspects. It also mentioned the number of imprisoned deities:

“The Pantheon destroyed the strongholds of the Old Gods and imprisoned these five malevolent entities deep beneath the surface of the world.”

Then in Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne (2003) beings associated with the Old Gods were first shown: The Forgotten and the Faceless. In the game itself, no one called them servants of the Old Gods, but this connection was still obvious.

“I will not let you pass through that door, traitor. Recent earthquakes have awakened dark things under the ice… ancient, terrible things.” -Bailgun Firebeard

“They are the horrors the dwarves spoke of. I thought they were just a legend.”- Anub'arak

In one of the books on the tabletop role-playing game, Lands of Conflict (“Lands of Conflict”; July 2004), the first hints emerged as to which beings might be the Old Gods.

As a reminder, the tabletop role-playing game book series (also known as WoW RPG or rulebooks) has been announced non-canonical . And I also remind you not to confuse WoW RPG with the rest of Warcraft literature.

So. In most of these “rulebooks”, information was presented on behalf of the famous explorer Brann Bronzebeard, therefore it was sometimes worth perceiving it as material written by an experienced traveler, but still not an omniscient superbeing.

So Brann called Hakkar an ancient god, but for some reason not with a capital letter:

“Long ago, the local trolls tried to summon and subdue Hakkar, their ancient god.”

Brann also wondered if the Old God was a being called Ula-Tek, the Serpent Goddess:

“Zul'Aman is a temperate forest of towering trees. Dark shadows are everywhere, and with them ancient ruins and ziggurats. I thought that these ruins and strange step pyramids were left here from the time of the empire of Zul'Aman, but they could be much older. Perhaps something left over from the Titans or the Old Gods?”

“They worship ancient deities, but I don’t know if they are mythical Old Gods or some strange creation of their voodoo medicine men.”

“ Shrine of Ula-Tek (city, 7000):The Shrine of Ula-Tek is a gigantic ziggurat. The trolls have gathered around this structure, and their capital lies just among the local ruins. Unpretentious huts here side by side with collapsed stone walls. This area is very well guarded - too well for me to go any further. I ambushed a lone forest troll a few miles from the shrine and got the information I needed from him. It turned out that Ula-Tek is a snake goddess. Perhaps one of the Old Gods? The trolls revere Ula-Tek and regard the ziggurat as their shrine. Among the ruins there, they conduct their dark rites and voodoo rituals. Also, the trolls keep their treasures accumulated over many centuries inside the ziggurat - this is another reason why they guard it so vigilantly.”

“The great medicine man Ral'jin is an increasingly powerful figure in Zul'Aman. Ral'jin has ordered the hunters to capture hundreds of captives, whom he intends to use for a huge sacrifice. With this ritual, he is going to invoke Ula-Tek, the Serpent Goddess. Obviously, this information does not bode well, but the Ironforge dwarves are especially concerned about it: they have seen the destruction that the rebirth of the elemental lord entails, and the real Old God should be even more powerful. However, the Dark Iron dwarves are cheering. Ola-Tek, possibly being an Old God, could serve as a companion and ally of Ragnaros. They have sent a contingent of their forces to Zul'Aman to show their goodwill and protect Ral'jin while he completes his lengthy ritual."

office art for Lands of Conflict

Comparison with canon:This whole story about Zul'Aman has fallen out of canon. Ula-Tek simply does not exist in the current canon, because apart from the WoW RPG, she was not mentioned anywhere. And most likely, she was still conceived not by the Ancient God, but by another loa of winged serpents like the same Hakkar - but this is not known for sure.

True, we still have a chance to one day see the giant ziggurat of Zul'Aman. Still, in WoW, this realm of forest trolls was presented as just a small raid, and on the maps of the Eastern Kingdoms from Warcraft 3 and the manual of the original WoW, the ziggurat of Zul'Aman was still noted.

map fragment from original WoW manual

And here's what's even more interesting - the story of Ula-Tek inspired one of the storylines of the first volume of Chronicles. It's about a K'traxi named Kit'ix. It was the faceless general who founded the empire of Az'Akir and started the war between the trolls and the aqir. In the end, the trolls emerged victorious from this war, and the trolls hunted down the heavily wounded after the battle with the loa of Kit'ix. At the same place where they killed this k'thrax, the trolls founded the temple city of Zul'Aman.

It is quite possible that the hypothetical return of the forest trolls to the lands will be connected precisely with the history of this monster - just in the manner of the history of Ula-Tek. This is supported by the fact that Zakazha (a similar C'thrax) was able to resurrect the Twilight's Hammer. And even after he, being in a weakened state, was killed by a nameless warrior, the same cult of the Twilight's Hammer tried to resurrect him again. Zakaj was finally destroyed only when Xal'atath and the High Priest of the Conclave consumed its power.

And it is also known that the Lord of Curses Malacrass tied to himself the essence of the darkest loa beast of his tribe. The developers know who the loa is, but they still don't want to reveal who it was. Is it possible that it was not a loa at all, but just Kit'ix?

Back to the Lands of Conflict. For some reason, they indicated the Ancient God and Ragnaros there. Perhaps this mistake was caused by the fact that it was in this book that the Lord of Fire was first mentioned. Or it was a deliberate mistake, which was supposed to show the fallacy of the judgments of Brann or the people of Shadowforge. But it looks more like the first option.

“However, he inadvertently summoned Ragnaros, the blazing Old God whose birth tore the earth to pieces.”

“Their eyes glow with orange flames, one of the many gifts from their Old God master.”

In November 2004 onWoW official websitethe page appeared History of Warcraft” . In particular, there was an updated version of the "Ordering of Azeroth" text from the WC3 manual. The new version of the text differed in some details, for example: the titans did not create dwarves from stone, but earthlings; the elementals did not disappear of their own accord after the Old Gods were imprisoned, but were imprisoned in the Plane of Elements. They also changed the number of Old Gods from five to four:

“The Pantheon destroyed the strongholds of the Old Gods and imprisoned these four malevolent deities deep beneath the surface of the world.”

In November 2004, the release of the World of Warcraft . And then already in the game itself it was possible to read the in-game book, repeating the text of the paragraph of the same name from the page from the office. site -.

The next source that mentioned the number of Old Gods was the final noveltrilogy "War of the Ancients"by Richard Knaack -“War of the Ancients: Sundering”(July 2005). In this novel (as in the second part of the trilogy), the worldview and thinking of the Old Gods were fully revealed, describing how they themselves see what is happening in the world and plan to escape from their prisons. We are talking about a trinity of Old Gods who telepathically communicated with each other. But that's not all, Krasus claimed that there were not four or five Old Gods in total, but only three in general:

“The Old Gods were only a legend even to most dragons who were born at the dawn of this world. But thanks to his insatiable curiosity, or as Rhonin put it, "an indefatigable desire to stick his nose in everything," Krasus knew that the Old Gods were much more than that.

According to legend, three dark entities once ruled a bloody chaos that even the demon lords of the Burning Legion could not imagine. They ruled the original plan until the coming of the creators of the world. A war of cosmic proportions followed, and in the end, the Old Gods fell.

The trinity was thrown into eternal imprisonment. The place of their imprisonment was hidden from everyone, and their strength was broken until the end of time. This should have been the end of this saga, but now Krasus began to suspect that the Old Gods had somehow found a way to reach out to the mortal plane and search for something that could free them.”

We now know that this trio included C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, and N'Zoth. And it turns out that Krasus was simply mistaken, trusting the legend, and believing that the representatives of the current trinity were the only Old Gods.

In update 1.8: Dragons of Nightmare(October 2005) The name of the first Ancient God is finally known - C'thun . Many new quests were added to Silithus in that update, and one of them revealed"Prophecy of C'Thun". This was the first mention of C'Thun and the Qiraji - before that, no one knew what exactly was hidden behind the Scarab Wall in the ruined realm called Ahn'Qiraj.

This prophecy was written by the prophet Skeram and represents Qiraji folklore. The prophecy states that the Qiraji were created by C'Thun from silithids born from the aether of the Well of Eternity. In fact, the Qiraji are the Aqir who conquered the Ahn'Qiraj prison complex. The presence of the Old God nearby slowly changed their appearance until they became the race now known as the qiraji. However, the question remains of how the silithids came to be. They may have been part of the original aqir, or may have only appeared with the qiraji civilization.

Also omitted from the prophecy is the fact that the modern qiraji kingdom was built on the ruins of a titan-forged prison complex.

And the most important thing in this story:

“During the time before the beginning of time, when this world had just come into being, a fierce battle took place on this very earth between a Titan and an entity of unimaginable power and evil. The prophecy does not say if the Titan was slain in this fight, but it says that the Titan fell. The Ancient God also fell—or so they thought.”- geologist Echidnaya

We now know that the only direct involvement of the real titans in the war against the Dark Empire was the assassination of Y'Shaarj by Aman'Thul.

“Aman'Thul, the leader of the Pantheon, literally uprooted Y'Shaarj and crushed him in the grip of his fist. And Y'Shaarj was the strongest of the Old Gods of Azeroth, and back then there were no prisons that could contain his power or capture his mountain-sized body. Y'Shaarj was so powerful that he was one step away from being able to drive his entire titan-forged army insane with his whispers and visions, including the Guardians (who were also terribly powerful in those days). The situation was so dire that Aman'Thul intervened personally. And he handled it just playfully.” - fromthe second part of Spoiler Alert for update 7.3

And if the strongest Old God could not oppose anything to the titan, then what can we say about C'Thun?

In general, up to this point, the Pantheon did not personally intervene in the war, because he was afraid to injure the world-soul. And after that, the titans became even more cautious, because the death of Y'Shaarj left a terrible wound on the body of Azeroth. Another such injury threatened to kill the world-soul, so it was decided to imprison the Old Gods. But in general, it is enough to say that it could not be a titan, because we know the names of all the titans of the Pantheon, and they all successfully survived the conflict with the Old Gods.

However, it is possible that some nameless titan-forged played a role in the defeat of C'thun. Or it was one of the Guardians. After all, the peoples of Azeroth very often mistakenly call the Guardians titans and attribute their deeds to the Pantheon. But it's still just speculation.

“Then, the Titan-Forged traveled southwest to the sprawling temple city that had grown up around the third Old God, C’Thun. The Keepers and their allies cleared the area of ​​the n'raki swarms before laying siege to the Old God himself and subjugating him. Just like with N'Zoth, the keepers buried this entity alive underground and built a prison around his body."- the first volume of "Chronicles"

And already in the update1.9: Gates of Ahn'Qiraj(January 2006) C'Thun became the final boss of the Ahn'Qiraj raid.

In another now non-canonical Lands of Mystery (“Lands of Mystery”; April 2006), there are new musings from Brann about the personalities and locations of the Old Gods:

“Sword of the Ruler: This unusual monument is a large statue (or corpse?) Surrounded by a small lake. Once sacred to the night elves, the area is now under the control of the Twilight's Hammer. After dragging one of those robed psychos around the corner, I came to the conclusion that the statue is some sort of divine corpse, the remains of an Old God. The term “Sword of the Ruler” refers to one of the parts of the monument: if you examine everything carefully, it turns out that the strange statue or mound in the center is a shell-like skull pierced by a huge blade. I'm guessing that perhaps this is where the Titan killed one of the Old Gods or their servants.”

Comparison with canon:During the Cataclysm, the Twilight's Hammer cult was able to unearth the remains of this creature, at the same time it became known who it really was:

“The Overlord's Sword is an ancient battlefield. The Titans sent twenty stone giants against Soggoth. Of the twenty, only one survived.

The tablets say that Kronn, the largest of the giants, allowed Soggoth to bind him with his tentacles - so that the monster would lift him closer to his head ... just within reach of his mighty sword. It's good that he's dead… we don't have twenty stone giants around right now to stop him again.”- Archaeologist Groff

“Valley of Bones: Many consider the Valley of Bones to be cursed, and as such, most centaur clans shun it. It is believed that the surface of this valley is littered with the bones of the Old Gods. This area is occupied by centaur necromancers from Magram and skeletons.”

Comparison with canon:It is still unknown who owns these two skeletons, now known as the Dead Goliaths. But it is clear that they were not Old Gods.

It is not known exactly when this happened, but byUpdate 1.11: Shadow of the Necropolis(June 2006) number of Old Gods from the in-game book"The Old Gods and the Ordering of Azeroth"changed from four to five. On theofficial websitethis change came later - in August 2006:

“The Pantheon destroyed the strongholds of the Old Gods and imprisoned these five malevolent deities deep beneath the surface of the world.”

The in-game book still talks about the five Old Gods. In terms of plot, this can be attributed to the fact that this book was written by someone from Azeroth, which means it may contain errors. And this particular error could be caused by the same legends about the former existence of Xal'atath to the Old Gods.

Then the personalities of the Old Gods were remembered in the next non-canonical tabletop role playing book Horde Player's Guide (“Horde Player's Guide”, November 2006):

“Perhaps Hakkar is the child of an Old God? It's hard to say: I'm not even sure that they can have children. And it’s not like I want to know the answer to that question.”

Comparison with canon:The identity of Hakkar is a mystery that deserves a separate discussion. In WoW itself, there were also hints of his possible connection with the Old Gods, but things never went beyond these hints. At the moment, it is known that Hakkar is a loa. Indeed, it is very specific.

An add-on was released in November 2008World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. It revealed the name of the second Ancient God - Yogg-Saron . The influence of this monster was felt in various places in Northrend, and as a result, he became the penultimate boss of the Ulduar raid, introduced inPatch 3.1: Secrets of Ulduar(April 2009).

In April 2009 onofficial websiteonce again they conjured over the number of the Old Gods - this time they decided to remove it altogether:

“The Pantheon destroyed the strongholds of the Old Gods and imprisoned these malevolent deities deep beneath the surface of the world.”

At Blizzcon 2010 (October 2010) Chris Metzen revealed the name of the third Old God - N'Zoth . But in the game itself, N'Zoth was first mentioned only in an update.4.3: Time of Twilight(November 2011). And although it has not yet been shown in WoW, it is still done in the add-on"Whispers of the Old Gods"for Hearthstone (April 2016).

February 2012 Nyorloth , who was then the community manager of the official history forum, gave a rather lengthy answer to a question about the confusion over the number of Old Gods in Azeroth:

““They don't live; they don't die. They are out of the loop.”

Perhaps, in order to truly kill something that lives outside of space and time, life and death, it must be completely erased from existence? Perhaps this will explain why the records of the Old Gods seem so... contradictory?

Only those on the other side can know for sure...

Just empty thoughts, pay no attention.”

By the way, about the death of the Old Gods. In March 2017, Gamemaster Kelethross answered a question about their deaths. the following :

“We discussed this today with a team of historians, and according to them, both options do not really fit here. Yes, they are clearly defeated, but they are not technically dead in the sense that we usually put into this word.

Y'Shaarj was torn from the planet by Aman'Thul, and his remains eventually became the sha after they rained down on Pandaria. C'Thun and Yogg-Saron have not been defeated in this way, but even if they were, the sha only apply to Y'Shaarj. Each of the Old Gods is quite unique in their ways of accomplishing their goals, in what form they take on, and in what they are capable of.

The Sha would not have appeared if C'Thun or Yogg-Saron had also been torn from the planet. But you can safely bet that there would be much more madness and saronite in the world!”

On September 9, 2012, an add-on was releasedWorld of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. In it, the fourth Ancient God of Azeroth was introduced into the plot, who, moreover, turned out to be already dead - Y'Shaarj . This deity was mentioned in the legends of the mogu and the tales of the Klaxxi. In Whispers of the Old Gods from Hearthstone, Y'Shaarj, like N'Zoth, also received the first official image of his person.

Released in March 2016first volume of Chronicle, wherein revealed many previously unknown facts about the Old Gods. It became known that the Old Gods were created by the Lords of the Abyss in order to defile one of the soul worlds and thus create a dark titan. And if we talk about what primordial power their abilities go back to, then the Old Gods are the physical manifestations of the Abyss.

The first volume does not mention the specific number of Old Gods that crashed onto Azeroth:

“The elemental lords reveled in primal bedlam until a group of Old Gods collapsed onto the world from the Great Darkness. They crashed into the surface of Azeroth, attaching themselves to various locations around the world. These Old Gods towered above the earth, mountains of flesh adorned with hundreds of gnashing maws and black, unfeeling eyes. A miasma of despair soon engulfed everything that lay beneath their writhing shadows.”

Dark Empire

However, it is known that at the time of the Dark Empire's victory over the Elemental Lords of the Old Gods, there were four.

Map of Azeroth ruled by the Dark Empire

from the first volume of Chronicles

An add-on was released in August 2016 World of Warcraft: Legion , in which a new character appeared -Xal'atath, Blade of the Dark Empire. In the history of this artifact, described in the in-game book"About the Light and the Abyss", it is mentioned that in time immemorial he could be an Old God:

“There are many theories about the origin of the blade. The most outlandish of them all claim that the dagger is all that remains of a forgotten Old God who was devoured by his own kind in the early days of the Dark Empire. Other theories say that Xal'atath is the claw of Y'Shaarj, torn from his monstrous body and given to his servants for use in ritual sacrifices.

As incredible as these theories are, they may have some truth to them. Xal'atath pulses with the foul essence of the Old Gods. Moreover, the blade is said to be able to bestow visions of the Dark Empire upon its wielder, but all who gaze upon these horrors are victims of madness.”

“Xal'atath has a mind of his own. Ignore his maddening whispers. Don't trust the lies he entangles you with. Take what you need from him, but always remember that the dark presence in the blade is not your ally.”

At the same time, the essence of the dagger often whispered various advice to the high priest, which, for the most part, turned out to be relatively practical. And that is not all. Some her quotes add tangible weight to the theory that she was once an Old God:

“We may face some of my kind in this conflict. This perspective - I like it. Their strength will be mine. They will pay for what was done to me a long time ago.”

“How ironic that the weakest of us could be the ultimate victor. C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, Y'Shaarj, and... well... only one could remain to devour the world. That's how it should have been."

Under the weakest deity, the dagger means N'Zoth - in general, she often notices his successes and the gradual weakening of his dungeon. But in our case, something else is important - the fact that Xal'atath puts himself on a par with the Old Gods and, in fact, ranks himself among them.

“I look forward to the day when our hosts can truly walk into this dimension. You saw only fragments, shadows, the faintest echoes. Ask the ethereals what one of his manifestations is capable of.”

And this quote is notable for the fact that the dagger calls the Lords of the Abyss its masters. Coupled with the fact that she considers the Old Gods equal to herself, this is another coin in the piggy bank of the theory that she herself was once an Old God.

Indeed, the "Chronicles" does not mention the specific number of the Old Gods at the time of their coming to Azeroth. So Xal'atath could well have been swallowed up just in the early days of the Dark Empire, as some of the theories of the historians of Azeroth describe. However, so far they still remain only theories.

Old Gods Beyond Azeroth

AT World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade(January 2007) the first evidence has emerged that the Old Gods of Azeroth are not the only ones of their kind. First evidence - historyHarbinger of Skyriss, a Qiraji prophet who was captured in the Arcatraz. He was somehow imprisoned in the naaru space prison, from which he freed himself thanks to telepathy: he simply drove the head jailer of the blood elves who occupied the satellites of Tempest Keep insane. Fortunately, the heroes managed to kill him immediately. And judging by the fact that enough Azerothians were captured in Arcatraz, like a draconian from Nefarian's retinue, Skyriss was probably also from Azeroth. If he was just an akir, then that would be a different question.

However, Skyriss has made it clear that the powers he serves extend far beyond Azeroth:<В голосе А’дала слышится негармоничная нота.>

Prince Kael'thas made a mistake in choosing a jailer, and now the entities we have locked up in the Arcatraz are starting to break free. Among them is a servant of the Old Gods known as Harbinger Skyriss, who wishes to fulfill his masters' vision of conquering all worlds in the universe. You must stop him from escaping. Return to Tempest Keep, infiltrate the Arcatraz, and slay Harbinger Skyriss before it's too late!"

And his own quote after killing the Qiraji:

“<Кристаллический тембр голоса А’дала начинает звучать в твоем разуме более гармоничной мелодией, нежели в последний раз, когда вы говорили> Harbinger Skyriss is said to be a servant of the Old Gods. He is also said to carry a large scroll containing instructions on how he is to command life in the universe on their behalf.

My current customer wants to get his hands on this scroll even though he can't even read the language it's written in. Go to Tempest Keep's Arcatraz and get it for me, okay?”

And his own quote when handing over the scroll:

“I dare not touch the scroll, otherwise I too risk attracting the attention of the Old Gods. I will entrust the delivery of this package to one of my assistants. You more than deserve your reward and I wish you good luck in all known worlds.”

And here is the second evidence - in fact, an unknown Ancient God from some other world. He is known to us only as“Summoned Old God”and "an ancient and powerful evil". He was being summoned by arakkoa ghosts from the Dark Conclave.

“The spirits of the dark conclave are attempting to summon an ancient and powerful evil through a ritual they are currently performing at the lava pits south of Camp Sket'lon. Gul'dan's magic merged with their own, and it gave them the power to help this creature come to our world! We must stop them. It is impossible to imagine how much death and destruction this creature will bring with it!”- Parshah

A former member of the Dark Conclave named Parshah and a nameless hero were able to stop the ritual of summoning this monster.

And in the first volume of "Chronicles" it has already become known that the Lords of the Abyss threw an unknown number of these unholy creatures into reality in order to defile the sleeping souls of the titans. During his travels, Sargeras discovered a soul world corrupted by the Old Gods and split it in two. The ensuing explosion consumed the Old Gods and their energies, but also killed the newborn titan.

" Chapter: 1. Classes

Old Gods

The Old Gods are some of the most powerful beings that have ever inhabited Azeroth. Nobody knows them true names and nature. All that is known is that there were five of them. Their servants were four elemental lords. The Titans, having come to the future, in order to build a normal world in it, could not do this, since the Old Gods were against it. A war of cosmic proportions has begun.
The elemental lords were Ragnaros (fire), Neptulon (water), Al'Akir (air) and Ferazan (earth). Though incredibly powerful by mortal standards, these elementals were easily defeated. With their combined strength, the titans defeated each of the Old Gods. There was also a one-on-one battle between the titan and the Old God, who would later be called K "tun. The battle ended in a draw, both K" tun and the titan were defeated (but it is not known whether the titan died). Until the end, the titans could not kill all the Old Gods. Destroying the strongholds of the Old Gods, they forged them under the earth of Azeroth. One of the five titans still killed. Part of his body sticks out of the ground, pierced by a sword
titanium. K'tun was also seriously wounded. Without the power of their masters, the elementals were disembodied and fell into the Elemental Plane of Azeroth, where they fought among themselves.

After the defeat of the Old Gods, the chaos in Azeroth ceased, and the titans began to build the world. However, not all of the Old Gods were finally defeated. Three of them, after the departure of the titans, were able to establish contact with Azeroth. They made various plans for their release. Telepathically, the Old Gods could communicate with various inhabitants of Azeroth in order to manipulate them for their own purposes. So they contacted the then young race of tauren, one of the first mortal races of Azeroth. They taught the tauren to hunt the demi-god stag Malorne (father of Cenarius). The tauren hunted Malorne and nearly caught him, but Elune saved the demigod.

K "tun

The defeated K "tun fell into the badlands of Silithus. He fell, but did not die.
K'tun was in this state for a millennium, saw the change in the world, the birth and death of races, the invasion of the Burning Legion, but he did not remain inactive, but created a plan for the revival of his power.
In the desert into which he fell, K'tun found primitive life forms known as Silithids. Old God created avatars of the Silithids in his own image, the Qiraji. And he developed the silithid race itself and on its basis the Akir empire was created - insidious, vicious arachnids. The large fortress city of Az "Akir was created to house their growing armies and prepare for the arrival of K" tun.

The Gurubashi and Amani troll empires had little sympathy for each other, but they rarely fought against each other. At that time, their greatest common enemy was the third empire - the civilization of Az "Akir. The Akiri were consumed by trying to destroy all life of primitive Kalimdor. The trolls fought them for many thousands of years, but never succeeded in this. But in Ultimately, due to the persistence of the trolls, the Akir empire split in two.

As a result, two city-states appeared - Azol-Nerub in the north, and An "Qiraj in the southern desert. Although the trolls suspected that there were other Akiri colonies outside Kalimdor, their existence was never verified.

Centuries later, the Qiraji opposed an alliance of Night Elves and dragons for the territories required for K'Thun's arrival. To prevent further invasion, the entrance to An'Qiraj was sealed - using the combined magic of both dragons and Night Elves.

For many thousands of years, the Qiraji worked tirelessly to revive K'tan in his true physical form.

Recently, the Scarab Wall was opened and rumors appeared that K "tan was here in his incarnation - a huge eye surrounded by many terrible tentacles. Warriors of many races, as well as adventurers united together, broke into An" Qiraj and did away with the terrible incarnation of the old god, but only with implementation...

Forgotten

One of the Old Gods found followers in Northrend. The Nerubians, who settled their underground kingdom of Azol-Nerub in the lands of Northrend, began to worship one of the Old Gods, known to them as the Forgotten One. The Forgotten One's servants were the Faceless, supposed relatives of Hakkar. The Faceless were dormant for a long time underground in Northrend in Azol-Nerub, and numerous legends about them existed among the Nerubians. As Illidan's magical blows shook Icecrown, the Faceless Ones awakened in Azol-Nerub. Along with them, a weaker incarnation of the Forgotten One came from the underground depths. When Arthas and Anub'arak made their way through Azol-Nerub to Icecrown, they, along with a squad of undead, killed the Forgotten in this incarnation, but he himself survived. WotLC tells the story of the Forgotten One. Long ago, the night elf druids attempted to create the World Tree, Vordassil, in Notrend. But something went wrong and Vordassil was cut down. Later, the furbolgs settled on the remains of the felled Vordassil, who built their city there - Grizzlemaw. With the help of the remaining magic of Vordassil, the furbolgs tried to resurrect their god - Ursoc (one of the bear demigod brothers killed in the War of the Ancients). To do this, they began to restore the World Tree. But Vordassil was infected with a strange corruption, which was transmitted to the resurrected Ursoc, and through him touched the furbolgs. It was true that Vordassil's roots had touched the dwelling of an ancient, horrific creature that was awakening again due to the furbolgs' attempts to resurrect Ursoc. It was Yog-Saron, the monster with a thousand mouths. Perhaps this is the Forgotten One.
As proof that the Forgotten One is an Old God: in Dark Factions, a dead Old God in Darkshore is referred to as the Forgotten One, Blizzard has said that there is an Old God in Azol-Nerub.

elemental lords

Netulon Tidechaser

He is the lord of water and the most powerful of the elemental lords. He rules over the water part of the Elemental Plane. According to the legends, the Gurubashi Empire fell after Neptulon sent powerful creatures called Krakkens to the trolls. It may have something to do with the Stone of Tides, a Gurubashi relic that allowed the trolls to control the power of Neptulon's waters. Neptulon may be associated with Azara's Highborne transformation into naga. Beneath the Eternal Storm, northeast of the naga capital Najjatar, lies the Gishan Caverns. Even the nagas, who are not a superstitious people, avoid these caves, believing that giant aquatic creatures dwell there. It is possible that Neptulon or his servants live there.

Ferazan Mother of Stone

Unlike other elemental lords, she is not sinister or aggressive. She patronizes creatures that live underground and plants. Ferazan is in constant conflict with elementals of other elements attacking the land of the Elemental Plane under her control. Some druids believe that the destruction brought by Deathwing, the fallen Aspect of the Earth, hurts Ferazan.

Ragnaros

230 years before the opening of the Dark Portal, the War of the Three Hammers took place between the three dominant dwarf clans, the Wildhammers, Bronzebeards, and Dark Irons. At the end of the war, the leader of the Dark Iron summoned the Black Stone of Ragnaros in the mountain. The incarnation of Ragnaros on Azeroth unleashed a firestorm that destroyed part of the Red Mountains. The Burnt Steppes formed to the south of Black Stone Mountain, and the Burning Gorge to the north. Ragnaros enslaved the Dark Iron dwarves, and the Firelord's avatar remained in the depths of Blackstone Mountain.

Al "Akir Lord of the Wind

This elemental lord rules the sky and air of the Elemental Plane. Al "Akir is the weakest of the four elemental lords. His element, air, is in contact with all others and therefore interacts with them more than others. The Lord of the Wind has the ability to turn himself into a thunderstorm and a tornado.

Zanderaan and Ahune

Once in the Elemental Plan there was a Split of the Elements. This battle between the elementals lasted five thousand years, and during it, Ragnaros the Firelord tried to absorb Prince Zanderaan, son of Al "Akir. Ragnaros caught Zanderaan by surprise and won. But he failed to completely absorb the essence of the prince of air. Part of it was invested in a special talisman Ragnaros split the talisman in two, and gave the pieces to his assistants.

Ahune - Lord of Cold, Neptulon's servant. The Twilight's Hammer wants to summon him to fight Ragnaros, sparking an elemental war on Azeroth.

Participation in the War of the Ancients.

Nearly six thousand years after that, the three Old Gods began to carry out their other plan to free them. They connected to the Well of Eternity. The Old Gods began to push some of the Highborne to contact the Legion in order to lure the latter to Azeroth. They also created a tear in the fabric of time. Thanks to this rupture, they managed to send several personalities back in time a few months after RoC, just before the War of the Ancients (Ronin, Krasus and by mistake the orc Broxigar). Their plan was that, thanks to the intervention of the relocated individuals, the course of the War of the Ancients would change and the Old Gods would manipulate events to their own ends. They drove Neltharion crazy and gave him the idea of ​​the Dragon Soul. Neltharion persuaded the other four Aspects to put a piece of their essence into the disk the goblins had made, creating a super-powerful weapon. The Old Gods put their corruption on the Dragon Soul.
In the midst of a battle with the Legion, a distraught Neltharion betrayed the night elves and fellow dragons, became the Deathwing, and claimed the Dragon Soul (renamed Demon Soul) for himself. After some time, Farion and Brox took her away from him.

Meanwhile, Illidan, jealous of Tyrend for Farion, went to Zin-Azari, swore allegiance to Sargeras (it was then that Sargeras burned out his eyes and inscribed runes on his body) and promised the Fallen Titan to bring the Demon Soul to further strengthen the portal to Well. Illidan and the captain of the Highborne Varo "then took the Demon Soul from Farion. Illidan brought it to Sargeras. In fact, Illidan's goal was to do the following: when the Highborne continue to open the portal in the Well, he will reverse the magic of the Demon Soul and the portal will expel the Legion and Sargeras from Azeroth Illidan made the appropriate changes to the spell, taking some water from the Well of Eternity.

In fact, the effect would be quite different. The Old Gods (who had corrupted the Demon Soul) wanted the Soul to be used in the ritual of opening the portal, because in this case, when Sargeras passes through the portal to Azeroth, he will open the way for the Old Gods from their prison. Perhaps after that they planned to change the outcome of their battle with the titans in their favor.

When the final battle in Zin-Azari began, Deathwing took the Demon Soul, but the essence of the Old God struck him with a tremendous force. Afterwards, Farion and Illidan took the Demon Soul and joined forces to channel its magic in a different direction, causing all of the Legion's demons, including Archimonde and Mannoroth, to be banished from Azeroth. But Sargeras still continued to pass through the portal and was almost there. Broxigar jumped into the portal and used the magical wooden ax (created for him by Cenarius) to strike Sargeras' leg, inflicting a minor wound on the titan at the cost of his own life. Krasus, Rhonin, and Alexstrasza combined to deliver a magical blow to the wound, delaying Sargeras for a couple of moments, long enough for Farion and Illidan to complete the spell. The portal destabilized and the Well of Eternity exploded. After the Sundering, the Aspects placed a spell on the Demon Soul that prevented the Deathwing and dragons from touching it.

During the War of the Ancients, Nozdormu held back a rupture in the fabric of time and therefore was not present during the creation of the Demon Soul, but transferred part of his essence in the form of an hourglass. After the Sundering, he successfully contained the rift and sent Rhonin and Krasus back to the future. The plans of the Old Gods never materialized. Most likely, after the Sundering, the Old God, manifested at the Well of Eternity, remained under the Eternal Storm in his partial incarnation (WoW addon with the South Seas). Transformed by the explosion of the Well of Eternity, Azara and her Highborne were transformed into naga, servants of the Old Gods.

Silithids and Qiraji

K'tun turned his attention to the silithids who settled in the south. He decided to create avatars from them in his own image. and founded the underground city-state - An "Qiraj. For many millennia, the children of K'thun created an army capable of capturing Kalimdor and freeing the Old God. It was from the qiraja that K'thun got his name.

centaurs

Zaetar, eldest son of Cenarius, and Feradas, daughter of the earth elemental lord Ferazan, produced the centaurs, the illegitimate descendants of Cenarius. The centaurs killed their father, Zaetar. Feradas remained in the crystal caverns of Terramoke, her home in Kalimdor.

Hakkar

Great Schism led to very dire consequences for the jungle trolls of the former Gurubashi empire. Their kingdoms were destroyed. In addition, Neptulon and his elementals attacked the trolls' lands. In a desperate attempt, they asked for help from Hakkar the Soul Eater, Blood God of the trolls. Hakkar was one of the servants of the Old Gods, it was rumored that he was even the son of one of them. Hakkar revealed his bloody secrets of magic to the jungle trolls, which helped them expand their holdings to almost the entire Stranglethorn Vale in southern Azeroth. The evil deity demanded that sacrifices be made to him every day. Hakkar sought to incarnate in Azeroth in order to absorb the souls of all mortal beings. A group of troll priests loyal to the Blood God was called the Ata'lai. The Ata'lai also summoned an avatar of Hakkar. Over time, the jungle trolls realized who they served and rebelled against Hakkar and the Ata'lai. A terrible war has begun. As a result, the rebel trolls destroyed Hakkar's mortal avatar and drove out his priests. But the Gurubashi state split. Civil wars soon began. In one of these wars, the Darkspear tribe was driven out of Stranglethorn. The Darkspear trolls have settled on the islands near the Everstorm. The surviving priests of Hakkar have not abandoned their efforts to summon the Blood God. They believed that his coming would bring them immortality. In the Swamps of Sorrows north of Stranglethorn, they built a temple where they planned to summon Hakkar, but Ysera, who learned of this, destroyed the temple. To this day, green dragons guard the sunken sanctuary. The Ata'lai learned that the only other place they could summon Hakkar was Zul'Gurub, the ancient capital of the Gurubashi.

Shortly before the events of WoW, the Atal'ai began to make headway in summoning Hakkar. His avatar was summoned in Zul'Gurub. To suppress the incarnation of the Blood God, the trolls chose five priests who embodied the five main deities of their Pantheon: Bat, Panther, Tiger, Spider and Snake. Though the priests held off Hakkar, they were subdued by the Soul Eater. By the events of WoW, Hakkar's avatar resides in Zul'Gurub. Some time later, he was killed by the adventurers.

Nightmare in the Emerald Dream

Fandral Staghelm and a group of like-minded druids took the acorn of Nordassil and on the island of Calidar near northern Kalimdor, created a new World Tree - Teldrassil, which means "Crown of the Earth" in Darnassian. Their goal was to restore the night elves to the immortality they had lost when Farion directed the forces of Nordassil against Archimonde. However, the new World Tree was not connected to the Well of Eternity or the Emerald Dream and was not blessed by the Dragon Aspects, so immortality did not return to the Kaldorei. Shortly after the creation of Nordassil, Farion and some of the other druids re-entered the Emerald Dream for an unknown reason. It may have had something to do with the incorrectly crafted Teldrassil. Later it became known that the Nightmare penetrated the Emerald Dream, a force that attacks the essence of the sleeping and even changes the Dream, causing damage to it. Farion and the other druids, along with the spirit of Cenarius and the green dragons, battle the Nightmare. If the Nightmare takes over the Emerald Dream, then it will take Azeroth through it. The Nightmare entered the Emerald Dream through Teldrassil. The Nightmare was created by the Old Gods and Hakkar. Nightmare has already infected four green dragons, turning them into Nightmare Dragons. They left the Emerald Dream in Azeroth at the Great Trees (paths to the Emerald Dream). Eranikus, green Dragon, who was supposed to destroy the avatar of Hakkar summoned in Zul'Gurub, fought the Blood God, but was consumed by the Nightmare and enslaved by Hakkar.

Old Gods and Aspects.

Not so long ago, the Infinity Dragons, a previously unknown species of dragons, began to attack the time tunnels of the Caverns of Time. They began to break through to different time periods in the past in order to change various events. Bronze dragons began to send various groups of heroes through the Caverns of Time into the past in order to prevent changes in history. When the plans of the dragons of infinity to disrupt an event were thwarted, the bronze dragons changed time, removing interference from the present. As you know, by the time of the events of WoW, Nozdormu is absent from the Caverns of Time, dealing with some important issues. The Infinites have been known to seek to create chaos in time by changing important events in Azeroth's history. This may well allow the Old Gods to recreate the time rift they had previously created, thus changing the outcome of the battle at Zin-Azari. It is likely that the Old Gods subjugated Nozdormu and he created the dragons of infinity. The Hourglass of Eternity, which the bronze dragons used to find out who the leader of the dragons of infinity, showed Nozdormu.
During the events of WotLK, Malygos is about to transfer the magic of Azeroth back to the twisted Void through the ley lines. The transfer of magic by Malygos to the Nexus will cause magical and ecological disasters in Azeroth, the thinning of the magical fabric of Azeroth and the cracks in the earth. This, no doubt, will help the Old Gods to be freed, since they are imprisoned underground. Perhaps it was they who pushed Malygos to the decision to start a war with the magicians of Azeroth.

Other information

Recently, elemental invasions have begun to occur in various parts of the world. This is apparently due to the increased activity of the fire elementals of Ragnaros and the summoning of the avatar of Hakkar, both of whom are servants of the Old Gods. Also, the cult of the Twilight's Hammer began to manifest itself more often. When the Twilight's Hammer clan was decimated by the forces of Orgrim Doomhammer during the Second War, some of the Twilight's Hammer orcs survived and continued their mission to bring the apocalypse closer. There were others, representatives of various races, who became interested in the Old Gods and their servants. Together with the surviving orcs, they founded the Twilight's Hammer Cult, an organization of worshipers of the Old Gods. AT recent times Twilight's Hammer cultists have begun to appear throughout Azeroth. They draw strength from areas where elemental power is strong, attempt to resurrect the Old God on the Dark Coast, and strengthen the paths to the Elemental Plane in Silithus.

It is also possible that the Glades of Tirisfal in Lordaeron had the influence of one of the Old Gods. The exiled Highborne Dath'Remar landed in the Glades of Tirisfal and built a settlement there. Over time, some of them began to go crazy. Shortly thereafter, the Highborne left Tirisfal. There is a version that something evil sleeps in those places, but this has not been confirmed.
The head of the slain Old God still sticks out of the ground on the Dark Coast, pierced by the titan's sword.

Among the pet animals of the Old Gods were sea monsters - hydras. The strongest of them is Aku'mai. When the Great Sundering occurred, one of Elune's temples was flooded and Aku'mai settled there. Some hydras have been tamed by the naga.

For now, it looks like the Old Gods are attacking from all directions. They sent the Nightmare to take over Azeroth through the Emerald Dream; drove Nozdormu crazy so that with the help of the dragons of infinity he changed the course of history in their favor; inspired Malygos with aggression towards magicians in order to cause a cataclysm in Azeroth for their release; stage elemental incursions. I wouldn't be surprised if they use the Lich King and Illidan for their own purposes. In addition, they are removing Aspects one by one. They drove Neltharion, Malygos, Ysera (there are hints in WotLC that she was infected by the Nightmare), possibly Nozdorma. Only Alexstrasza remained.
The Forgotten One will reappear in Azol-Nerub during WotLC.

Images related to the Old Gods:

Old God? It is not entirely clear what is depicted in this concept art. It is possible that this is the capital of the Naga - Najjatar, but this is not certain, since Najjatar is under water. It could be the Dragon Isles cut from WoW in the South Seas. Most likely, the concept depicts the Old God and he is located in one of these two places. It is possible that in Najjatar. In the RPG book Shadows & Light, there is a story in which a group of adventurers (a witcher troll, a human paladin, a high elf technician and a dwarf pilot) want to use a special device that is thrown off with the help of a goblin airship to raise the earth to the surface under the Eternal Storm.

Three Arrakoa in the valley of the Dark Moon are performing a ritual with a creature that is very similar to K "Thun.

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All Ancients (demo)

ancient(English Ancients) - the very first and most powerful inhabitants of Azeroth, deities, demigods or those who became demigods, having received their power as a gift, like Aviana from Elune.

After the Sundering, the Old Ones reincarnated into Azeroth to defend Mount Hyjal from the Twilight's Hammer and Ragnaros.

Known Ancients

• Agamaggan - a huge boar
• Essina - natural spirit, light
• Aviana - raven messenger
• Goldrinn - white wolf
• Tortolla - turtle
• Omen - two-headed demonic dog
• Ursol and Ursoc - Bear Brothers
• Malorne - white deer
• Cenarius - demigod of forests and groves
• Elune - moon goddess
• Queen Azshara - Naga
• Xavius ​​is a satyr

Return

The source of information in this section is an addendum cataclysm to World of Warcraft.

The Ancients who defended the world during the first invasion of the Burning Legion ten millennia ago are returning to Azeroth. The Guardians of Hyjal need to reclaim the shrines of the Ancients, which have been taken over by cultists, elementals, and other creatures alike.

The worgen of Gilneas, new allies of the night elves, help retake the Sanctuary of Goldrinn, the ancient wolf god. However, the shrine has been desecrated by the crazed worgen, who have come along with the Twilight's Hammer cult and worship a false deity, Lycanthoth, summoned by the cultists to prevent Goldrinn's return. The Keepers of Hyjal battle the worgen and Lycanthoth, after which they burn the body of the false deity and help Goldrinn return to Azeroth. After that, the sanctuary of the wolf god was cleared, and the tribe of ogres led by Gar "gol, who made their lair here, was expelled from the sacred lands.

At the top of the Lightning Ledge, the cultists create a fiery gate, through which Goldrinn, through a vision of one of his minions, directs adventurers to destroy what is in the world beyond the gate, about which the wolf god knows nothing. In the fiery realm beyond the gate, Dark Iron dwarves have been discovered creating weapons for the Twilight's Hammer cultists. To close the passage, the Guardians of Hyjal destroy Portal Master Ashenhammer and take from his body the Tome of Revelation, used to open the gates between worlds through which the cultists bring supplies from the Elemental Realm to Azeroth. The tome helps in the battle against the head of the forge Flamius, who personally created the strongest weapon for the cultists - the Guardians of Hyjal open short-term passages to the Abyssal Abyss, the water world of the Abode of the Elements, the presence of which weakens Flamius. With all of Ragnaros' minions destroyed, the Guardians of Hyjal closed the passage to the Firelands with the power of the Tome of Revelation.

Armies of fire elementals attack the Grove of Aessina and try to incinerate it. The defenders seek help from the satyr Tyrius Blackhorn, who is imprisoned in a nearby tower. With the help of Tyrius, Tol'embaar, one of the strongest servants of Ragnaros, was summoned and destroyed, and Tyrius took possession of his black heart.

Meanwhile, Hamuul Runetotem protects the Shrine of Malorne and the surrounding mountains, where all life is about to be destroyed by the fire elementals. The Guardians of Hyjal learn that the cultists of the Twilight's Hammer have captured the turtle god Tortolla, one of the Ancients, and he languishes in captivity in the murky waters of Ash Lake. The cultists succeeded in creating Nemesis, a fallen likeness of Tortulla. From the stolen scale of Nemesis, the Guardians of Hyjal prepare a potion that allows you to speak with Tortolla, and after being freed, the turtle god agrees to fight for Hyjal along with his descendants.

Ysera senses that the sanctuary of Aviana, patroness of all feathered creatures, is in danger. Choluna, one of the wisest of the Raven Druids, learns that a certain winged spirit was seen during the offering ritual to Aviana and is about to summon the deity to Azeroth. To do this, you have to kill Blayt, an ancient feathered predator who was co-ruler of Aviana in the distant past and reveled in grief after her death for ten thousand years.

At this time, the Wormwing harpies launch attacks on the sanctuary of the one who was once revered, and steal the eggs of all the feathered inhabitants of Hyjal. It becomes known that their actions are directed by the black dragon Setria, whom the harpies consider the lord of heaven. Setria gets a special egg at her disposal.

The Code of Shadows, discovered among Setria's minions, makes it clear that the dragons are trying to hide something with the help of this book. Choluna suspects the mysterious item is Aviana's egg, and is proven right when it is found after disabling the cloaking devices. Raven druids attack Setria and destroy it, and after the ritual, Aviana herself appears in the sanctuary over the egg, who really returned to Azeroth.

Despite the awakening of the other Old Ones, Essina's spirit residing in her face is still silent, although her help could turn the tide of battle and undo the effects of the Twilight's Hammer activity. The Guardians of Hyjal decide to turn to Nord, the Elder of the Trees, who has been at the center of what is now known as the Endless Fire for thousands of years. The keeper of wisdom remembers everything that has happened to this world since its inception, and perhaps knows how to summon Essina. However, the found Nordu was already charred and almost destroyed by the fire elementals, but a brief delay in death allowed him to give the druids the seed of life - the Heart of the Forest. Hamuul Runetotem uses it in the grove and Aessina returns to Azeroth, granting the scorched lands of Hyjal new life- A young forest grows in the places of fires.

Tortolla, knowing that Nemesis is still alive, heads for the Blasted Plains, which were the first to fall to the cultists, and the Guardians of Hyjal follow him, confident that they can reclaim these lands now. The Ogre warlords have been found carrying a Glyph of Discovery, which allows them to re-enter the Firelands through the third portal while the Battle for the Blasted Plains is underway. Nemesis hides in the cave behind the third portal, and the descendant of Tortulla partially acquires his power in order to turn it against himself and protect himself from the most powerful blows of the perverted deity. Nemesis is destroyed, and a pleased Tortolla informs Ysera that he is ready to join the final battle against the Twilight's Hammer and the fire elementals.

Ysera opens the passage to the Emerald Dream through Sozann's Gate, through which Cenarius returns to Azeroth. The Ancients and Guardians of Hyjal begin the final battles against the Twilight's Hammer cult and battle the cultists at the Circle of the Ascended and the Sanctuary of the Diviners. Under the protection of Tortolla, Moltron, the lord of the magma elementals serving Ragnaros, was destroyed.

To exorcise Ragnaros, the conservationists break through to the Spire of Sulfuron, which links Hyjal and the Firelands. From records found among the cultists of the Circle of the Ascended, it becomes known that the gates of the spire are guarded by Azralon the Gatekeeper, one of the most powerful servants of Ragnaros. After Azralon's defeat, Cenarius, Malfurion, and Hamuul pass through the fourth portal from the Sanctuary of the Diviners and fight Ragnaros in Sulfuron Spire. The Firelord retreats to his realm, promising to return, and the Guardians of Hyjal, along with the Ancients, win the war.

• Theory of Evolution at Blizzgame

Old Gods- terrible and disgusting entities created by the Lords of the Abyss. In the distant past, they crashed to the surface of Azeroth from the Great Dark Beyond and began to expand their influence, giving birth to two races - the Faceless and Akiri. The civilization they created was called the Dark Empire and occupied a large part of the unified Kalimdor. The elementals, who first declared war on the Old Gods, eventually began to serve them and joined the Dark Empire.

The rule of the Old Gods continued until the Pantheon arrived on the planet. The Titans destroyed the Dark Empire's strongholds and imprisoned the Old Gods deep beneath the world's surface. If the Pantheon had destroyed them, Azeroth would have been destroyed. K'Thun pretended to be dead and was sealed in a titan research station near Uldum. Yogg-Saron was captured in the depths of Ulduar. However, Y'Sharaj, the most powerful of the Old Gods, was killed by the titans, and only his heart survived to be awakened thousands of years later. The Pantheon was unable to defeat N'Zoth, whose exact whereabouts remain unknown.

Although the Old Gods are captured or destroyed, their influence still corrupts mortal peoples (and immortal beings as well). The Old Gods are considered one of the most dangerous and persistent threats that heroes face. While the ones that made it to Azeroth remain the most famous, there are other Old Gods in the universe.

Description

Although early sources indicated the existence of three, four, and five Old Gods, according to the latest information, it was four who arrived on Azeroth - K "Thun, Yogg-Saron, N" Zot and I "Sharaj.

K "Thun

K'Thun was the lord of the qiraji, a race of intelligent insects that emerged from the akiri and also served the Old Gods. It was because of K'Thun that the War of the Shifting Sands began, in which the qiraji were defeated by the combined forces of the night elves and the Aspects. A thousand years later, after the Third War, K'tun woke up in An'Qiraj, determined to capture all the dragons that were trying to get into his lair. A group of mortal heroes managed to sneak in and destroy it.

Yogg-Saron

Yogg-Saron, the Old God of Death, was imprisoned by the titans under Ulduar, their own city in Northrend. When the Alliance and Horde troops arrived on the northern mainland to fight the Scourge of Arthas, Yogg-Saron was summoned to the surface of the earth and was able to corrupt the minds of the guardians of Ulduar, left behind by the titans. The heroes of Azeroth infiltrated the ancient city and were able to free the Guardians, who later helped them destroy Yogg-Saron's body.

N "Zot

N "Zoth was hidden by the titans in the depths of the Great Sea. It is known that in the distant past, the servants of N" Zoth fought against the combined forces of K "Thun and Yogg-Saron, and the Commander Zon" ozz led his troops. N'Zoth is directly connected to the Emerald Nightmare, who captured the Emerald Dream. Due to N'Zoth's connection with the ocean, it is assumed that it was he who created the nagas from the night elves who drowned after the Sundering. After the Cataclysm, Vashj'ir researchers stated that N'Zoth may have an influence on this place. N'Zoth is responsible for Deathwing's actions after the Cataclysm.

And "Sharaj

The strongest of the Old Gods and the only one who was killed by the titans. He was a monster with seven heads, and his last breath cursed Pandaria into Sha. Shortly before the siege of Orgrimmar, it became known that Y'Shaarj's heart survived and was hidden under the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Garrosh Hellscream gave the order to excavate the lands of the Vale and find the heart, which he managed to restore using local magical lakes. Y'Shaarj himself was not resurrected, but the heart gained power and became capable of corrupting living creatures and communicating with Garrosh. The praying mantis, who worshiped Y'Shaarj in the distant past, sided with Garrosh after the restoration of the heart. Ideals, the strongest warriors of the race, tried to protect him during the siege of Orgrimmar.

Other Old Gods

An unknown number of Old Gods were hurled into the Great Dark by the void lords, and numerous other Old Gods are active in the worlds beyond Azeroth.

• Some of the more outlandish theories regarding the creation of the sentient dagger known as Xal'atath claim that the blade is all that remains of a forgotten Old God who was consumed by its kin in the early days of the Black Empire .
• One unnamed world had become irredeemably infested by the monstrous beings during the early ages of the universe. A conclave of demonic nathrezim came to dwell among the Old Gods upon the black world, basking in their dark power. When Sargeras , defender of the Pantheon, arrived, he ruthlessly interrogated the nathrezim about the nature of the Old Gods. Once he had learned the truth about their purpose, an enraged and horrified Sargeras killed the demons and cleaved the corrupted world in two, instantly killing its world-soul and the Old Gods infecting it. This event is what led Sargeras to abandon the Pantheon and eventually form the Burning Legion to scour the universe of all life in an attempt to prevent the void lords" plans from ever coming to fruition.
• In the Burning Crusade expansion, a group of arakkoa known as the Dark Conclave attempted to summon an ancient and powerful evil entity labeled as a "Summoned Old God" into Outland ; this seemingly implies that it is one of many extra-terrestrial Old Gods.
  • A scroll in Veil Terokk mentions that Anzu would converse with "the gods of the abyss", and that he would find them "dull, witless creatures".

Story

Creation

The Old Gods were created by the Abyssal Lords, who are the purest beings in the Abyssal Dimension and are therefore unable to appear in reality. The Lords created the Old Gods in the form of flesh, consisting of the energy of the Abyss, and made them their beacon on numerous worlds in the Great Dark Beyond. The purpose of the creation of the Old Gods is the desecration of any life, not excluding the essence of the titans, which may be inside the planet.

The titans of the Pantheon were distracted by the activity of the demons and did not pay attention to the appearance of the Old Gods. They spread across the planets and found inside one of them the essence of a titan who was to be born in the future. There were also several Nathrezim on this planet, for whom Sargeras, then still serving as the champion of the Pantheon, came for. Sargeras saw that the Old Gods were carrying out a plan to corrupt the titan's essence. If they managed to do this, then a true dark titan would be born from the planet, which would become a reflection of the Lord of the Abyss in reality.

Realizing what was happening, Sargeras decided that the destruction of the entire universe is the best alternative to what awaits her under the influence of the Lords of the Abyss. He wished to convene a Legion that would exterminate all life in order to prevent the Old Gods from fulfilling their dark destiny. Sargeras began his crusade by destroying the very defiled world, in the depths of which the titan's soul was hidden.

Dark Empire

The Four Old Gods arrived on another planet that contained the soul of a titan and was located in a remote corner of the Great Darkness Beyond. This titan was to be named Azeroth in the future. The Ancient Gods, bearing the names K "Thun, Yogg-Saron, N" Zot and I "Sharaj, collapsed to the surface of the world in various places, having introduced their vast bodies into the earth's crust.

They towered like mountains of flesh, adorned with hundreds of fanged mouths and black eyes. A miasma of despair spread around the bodies of the Old Gods, and their corrupting influence spread like cancerous tumors across the planet, turning the lands into a black and lifeless wasteland. Along with this, the tentacles of the Gods broke deeper and deeper into the core of Azeroth, trying to get to his defenseless heart - the future titan.

Living matter seeped from the bodies of the Old Gods, from which two races of creatures were born: the insidious and intelligent n "crayfish, which would later become known as the Faceless, and the akiri, strong insect-like creatures with durable bodies. The two peoples were the physical embodiment of the Old Gods and fanatically served to their creators.

With new minions, the influence of the Old Gods has expanded. The Faceless Ones became ruthless overlords, forcing the Akiri to build lofty citadels and cities around the huge bodies of the Gods. The largest city was built around I "Shaarj - the most powerful Ancient God, who was located in the central part of the largest continent on Azeroth. The growing civilization, which included n" crayfish and akiri, continued to grow and was called the Dark Empire.

The development of the Dark Empire was noticed by the elementals who ruled Azeroth before the arrival of the Old Gods. Although the four elemental lords, known as Ragnaros, Al "Akir, Neptulon and Therazane, fought each other for millennia, they joined forces against the Old Gods to regain control of the planet. The power of the elementals was enough to destroy the many strongholds of the Dark Empire , but in the end they still lost the war and became servants of the Old Gods.

Finally, Azeroth was discovered by the titans of the Pantheon, who recognized their future brother in the planet and gave him this name. They realized that someday Azeroth would become such a powerful titan that it could defeat the Lords of the Abyss. To fight the Old Gods and their Dark Empire, the titans created a huge army of forged creatures, led by guardians endowed with the powers of the Pantheon. The army included Anubisats, tol "virs, earthlings, mogu, mechagnomes and various giants. The heart of I" Sharaj is all that is left of him

The Keepers, using the powers bestowed upon them, were able to destroy the most powerful Ancient God - I "Sharaj. The murder left a gaping wound on the body of Azeroth, from which blood rose, and this wound became the Source of Eternity. The Keepers realized that the titan in the depths of Azeroth would die from blood loss if they try to kill the rest of the Old Gods. Then it was decided that K "Thun, Yogg-Saron and N" Zoth would be defeated and imprisoned in the depths of the earth. Over Yogg-Saron, the last defeated god, a massive complex called Ulduar was built. K'Thun's prison became a place known in the future as An'Qiraj and located near Uldum. The heart of I "Sharaj - the only thing left of him - was placed in a crypt on the territory of the future Pandaria. N" Zoth was sealed somewhere in the depths of the Great Sea. For the four elemental lords and their servants, who were also defeated by the army of the titans, a separate closed dimension was created - the Abode of the Elements. All the elementals ended up there and continued their endless war with each other.

Ordered Azeroth and the locations of the Old Gods" prisons.

In order to provide the world with protection from the influence of the Old Gods, who, despite being captured, could influence others, the titans decided through the guardians to empower five dragons who became Aspects and were obliged to protect Azeroth. Nozdormu became the Aspect of Bronze and was given power over time to keep history running smoothly and to watch over the fate of mortals. Alexstrasza, the red dragon, became the guardian of all life and played a key role in protecting the world from corruption. The task of the green Ysera was to protect the Emerald Dream - a special dimension of Azeroth through which life spread. Blue Malygos became the guardian of arcane magic, which was an incredibly dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. The Keepers made a fatal mistake, which still played a role in the future: black Neltharion, the fifth Aspect, they gave power over the lands, although it was there that they imprisoned the Old Gods.

Meanwhile, Sargeras, who finally left the Pantheon, completed the creation of the Burning Legion. The Pantheon attempted to meet with Sargeras, aware of the threat of the Void Lords, and spoke of Azeroth, who would be able to deal with them in the future. Sargeras destroyed the rest of the Titans with the help of fel magic and began the search for Azeroth in order to prevent absolute evil from incarnating in this world due to the actions of the Old Gods. The souls of the titans of the Pantheon, protected by a spell, survived and tried to move into the guardians of Azeroth, but died during the resettlement. The Keepers received only flashes of emotions and memories of their creators and, not understanding anything, turned to the Pantheon, from which they never received an answer. Only Ra understood what exactly happened, and was able to save a particle of the soul of Aman "Tula, after which he hid it in the Eternal Blossoms Valley.

Curse of the Flesh

Yogg-Saron, imprisoned deep beneath Ulduar, created the Curse of Flesh, which rendered titan creatures weak and easily destroyed, turning their stone or iron bodies into living flesh. The Old God began to influence the guardian Loken and over time was able to drive him insane. Under the influence of Yogg-Saron, Loken intervened in the Will Forge, through which the creations of the titans appeared.

All new creatures created with the Will Forge received this curse, turning their bodies into flesh over time. The Curse of Flesh was later made into a disease that spread from one creature to another. Loken reprogrammed Ulduar as chief curator and set out with his armies to retrieve the guardian Ra, whom he could never find. However, his armies passed on the Curse of Flesh to the uninfected Tol'vir, Anubisath, and Mogu.

Although the curse was created by the Old Gods to serve their dark purposes, it is thanks to him that many of the peoples of modern Azeroth were born, including dwarves, gnomes and humans.

War of the Ancients

Ten thousand years before the start of the First War, Queen Azshara, who ruled the night elves, and her Highborne desired to open a portal for Sargeras, who finally managed to discover Azeroth. Alexstrasza turned to the rest of the Aspects, and Neltharion, the most respected of them, proposed a plan to protect the planet - to invest the strength of each of the Aspects in a simple golden disk that would become such a powerful artifact that it could protect Azeroth from any threats from outside. Neltharion succeeded in convincing the other Aspects of the need for this plan, and thus the Dragon Soul was created.

Unknown to the Aspects, Neltharion heard the whispers of the Old Gods, trapped in the very land he was supposed to watch over. The gods knew who Sargeras was and what his arrival meant to Azeroth. They decided to use the energy of the portal created for him in order to free themselves from captivity. However, Illidan Stormrage possessed the Dragon Soul and used it to close the portal, preventing the release of the Old Gods and causing a massive catastrophe that changed the world forever.

Ten thousand years later, the Old Gods invaded the realm of Nozdormu and created a rift in time to send several creatures into the War of the Ancients. This could change the course of history and give them another chance to free themselves. But this plan was not realized due to the intervention of Nozdormu, who sent Krasus, Rhonin and Broxigar back in time.

Quicksand War

Over time, K'Thun began to gain strength and, using the qiraji army that emerged from the akiri, conquered the ancient research complex of the titans built over his dungeon in Silithus. K'Thun waited until his army of insects became powerful enough and began to conquer nearby territories night elves, intending to rule all of Kalimdor. Thus began the War of the Shifting Sands, in which cursed titan creatures like the tol'vir fought on the side of the Qiraji.

In the early battles, the night elves were quick and efficient, winning victories thanks to the brilliant leadership of Fandral Staghelm. However, after the death of his son, the Qiraji were able to drive the night elves out of Silithus. It seemed that the war was almost won by K'Thun and his army, but the combined forces of the night elves and dragons were able to drive the insects back to An'Qiraj. They did not even hope to defeat the Old God and decided to seal the Qiraji troops inside their own fortress. Fandral Staghelm, entrusted with the Scepter of Shifting Sands, closed An'Qiraj behind the Scarab Wall and shattered the scepter, mourning the death of his son.

New era

K'Thun awakened in the ruins of An'Qiraj, and in order to defeat him, the Scarab Wall was opened. A squad of heroes of Azeroth descended into the dark depths and dealt with the Old God. The remains of K'Thun, which still had power, were later used by Cho'Gall and the Twilight's Hammer cult, until An'Qiraj was finally brought down. During the war against the Scourge in Northrend, it was revealed that Loken, sitting in the Halls of Lightning, plans release Yogg-Saron. Soon the League of Explorers reached Ulduar and, having discovered the activity of the Old God, reported this to the Alliance, the Horde and the Kirin Tor. A squad of heroes again descended into the depths of the titan complex and destroyed the Old God. N "Zoth created the Emerald Nightmare, which corrupted the Emerald Dream, and turned the satyr Xavius ​​into a Nightmare Lord. He was also behind Deathwing's plans to return to Azeroth and cause the Cataclysm. The heart of I "Shaarj was found in Pandaria, and Garrosh Hellscream awakened him by saturating him with the waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Garrosh took the heart to Orgrimmar and used its power to strengthen himself and his associates. However, during the siege of Orgrimmar, he was defeated, and the heart lost the last remnants of energy.

Power and strength

Despite the awesome might of the Old Gods, those who believed them to have powers greater than the titans have grossly overestimated power of the parasitic beings. Sargeras and Aman"Thul both demonstrated the ability to kill Old Gods with ease. Sageras demonstrated the ability to kill numerous Old Gods simultaneously when he, with a single stroke of his sword, destroyed a nameless world-soul that had been corrupted by Old Gods . Aman "Thul killed the most powerful of the Old Gods on Azeroth, Y" Shaarj, by simply plucking him from the surface of the planet. In doing so, he inadvertently wounded the sleeping world-soul due to how deeply Y "Shaarj had infected the planet. Though the titans could have easily destroyed the rest of the Old Gods in a similar fashion, it was believed that doing so would have destroyed Azeroth itself. The titans decided to imprisoned the remaining Old Gods where they lay and contain their evil rather than risk further harming Azeroth.

Abyss

Whispers

The most notorious and tragic victim of the old whisperings is Neltharion the Earth-Warder ; the once mighty Dragon Aspect who had been empowered by the titan Khaz"goroth with dominion over the deep places of the world. Yet, not even Neltharion"s great wisdom and power proved capable of breaking the grip the old whisperings had on his mind, causing the Earth-Warder to eventually lose all his sanity. Neltharion renamed himself Deathwing , seeking the genocide of all non-draconic life as well as the enslavement of the other dragonflights.

The most striking historic account of the old whisperings, however, is found in the ancient scrolls of lore of the tauren tribes, kept at Elder Rise within their capital city of Thunder Bluff . The legend of creation of the formerly nomadic Tturen makes a direct reference to the whisperings, stating that the first incidents of tauren having committed acts of deceit, murder or warfare were because some of their early brethren " hearkened to the dark whispers from deep beneath the world." Ysera acknowledged that these whisperings originated from the Old Gods, and that they penetrate even into the Emerald Dream .

The Old Gods are the main focus of the third expansion for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft: Whispers of the Old Gods. In addition to adding legendary card versions of the four Azerothian Old Gods, the expansion adds a myriad of different cards related to the eldritch beings in some way - mainly in the form of faceless ones , mortal cultists and new, "corrupted" versions of pre -existing characters such as the "Polluted Hoarder" (Loot Hoarder) or "Hogger, Doom of Elwynn" (Hogger). C"Thun is the primary focus of the expansion, and is accompanied by a total of 16 different minion cards who either buff C"Thun in various ways, or activate unique effects if C"Thun has been buffed a sufficient amount of times.

inspiration

The names and overall nature of the Old Gods are an homage to the various group of deities from the Cthulhu Mythos in the works of H.P. Lovecraft (first stage), Brian Lumley (third stage), and the Call of Cthulhu RPG. C "Thun and Yogg-Saron are named after