World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 (34 page)

On his final voyage from Pandaria, the elderly Liu Lang fell into a deep sleep from which he never awoke. In death, his spirit merged with the sea turtle himself. Liu Lang’s tradition of bold exploration and daring to dream beyond the known did not die with him. The pandaren of the Wandering Isle would carry on his values for many centuries to come.

A
fter their battle in Northrend,
Sargeras began twisting
Aegwynn’s thoughts. He pushed her to isolate herself from the
Council of Tirisfal, drawing on concerns that she had always harbored about the order. Chief among these concerns was something Aegwynn had recently discovered: the Council of Tirisfal’s members were interfering in the politics of
human nations. The magi argued that what they were doing was necessary—their order had stayed in the shadows for too long. With their knowledge and wisdom, they had the power to prevent war and suffering in the mortal world.

Aegwynn, however, viewed the council’s shadowy activities with skepticism and unease. She feared that if she stepped down, they would choose a weaker Guardian, someone they could use to pursue their political agendas. Thus Aegwynn decided to stay on as Guardian past her first century of service. She used her powers to extend her own life for decades longer than what would have been otherwise possible. Though some members of the council were displeased with Aegwynn’s choice, they accepted her decision. After all, she had performed incredible feats during her time as the Guardian.

Over the next hundred years, Aegwynn’s relationship with the council became more and more strained. Sargeras’s subtle influence made her ever more paranoid about her fellow magi. Her growing unease led her to construct a refuge far from the eyes of the council. Within the barren and remote Deadwind Pass, she forged the grand tower known as
Karazhan. Its whereabouts would remain a secret from the council for many years.

Aegwynn would often retreat to Karazhan to work in peace and quiet. Yet the tower also served another vital purpose. It acted as a conduit for the potent ley lines in the surrounding region, through which Aegwynn could siphon power when needed.

In time, the aging members of the council began passing away, their powers still held in Aegwynn’s grasp. New sorcerers arose to join the order. They continued the council’s practice of interfering with the nations of the Eastern Kingdoms. Many of these new members also pushed for a more hard-line approach to deal with the wayward Guardian and force her to relinquish her powers.

During one of Aegwynn’s rare visits to
Dalaran, the council demanded that she step down as Guardian or face immediate consequences. Aegwynn balked at their threat. Her distrust of the council had now shifted to outright hostility. She told the magi that putting the fate of Azeroth in their hands was tantamount to dooming the world.

Furious with Aegwynn’s behavior, the council members agreed among themselves to take action. If the Guardian would not give up her powers voluntarily, they would force her to do so. The council long debated how best to accomplish this. Some members proposed empowering a new Guardian, but this idea presented too many dangerous possibilities. If Aegwynn and another Guardian were to do battle, the results could be disastrous for the world. Of even greater concern was that such a conflict would call public attention to their clandestine order.

Ultimately, the council agreed on a more subtle course of action. They formed the
Tirisgarde, an order of magi girded with relics and armaments that could diminish the Guardian’s incredible powers. After years of training, these resourceful and gifted hunters set out to find Aegwynn and bring her back to Dalaran.

The Guardian eluded many of the Tirisgarde with ease. However, the hunters did succeed in finding Karazhan and reporting its location back to the council.

With Karazhan no longer safe, Aegwynn magically sealed off the tower from outsiders. She then set out to locate a new refuge—one that neither the council nor the Tirisgarde would ever find. After much consideration, she decided to build this stronghold in the ruins of ancient
Suramar, deep beneath the sea. Her dwelling, the
Guardian Sanctum, would stay hidden from the Tirisgarde for centuries.

F
ar from the hidden Guardian Sanctum, High King
Modimus Anvilmar and his
dwarves thrived in their mountain home of
Ironforge. Over the centuries, trade partnerships with the human city-states had filled Ironforge’s coffers with riches. Great architectural feats, such as the
Stonewrought Dam, attracted curious visitors from as far away as the elven kingdom of
Quel’Thalas.

Yet beneath the façade of prosperity, tensions simmered between Ironforge’s three powerful clans: the
Bronzebeards, the
Wildhammers, and the
Dark Irons.

Thane
Madoran Bronzebeard was the head of the Bronzebeard clan, the largest of the three factions. The clan, which formed the bulk of Ironforge’s military and mercantile classes, considered itself the backbone of the kingdom and claimed to share distant blood relations with High King Modimus.

The Wildhammers lived among the craggy hills and icy slopes outside Ironforge. Led by Thane
Khardros Wildhammer, they gained notoriety as adept and incredibly resilient mountaineers. Considered uncouth by the Bronzebeard clan, the Wildhammers struggled to gain more sway with High King Modimus and to solidify their place among the ruling elite of Ironforge.

Sorcerer-Thane
Thaurissan ruled the Dark Irons, who inhabited the deepest and darkest corners of the subterranean city. Their long-standing practice of dabbling in sorcery, along with a penchant for secrecy and political scheming, drew the ire of Ironforge’s other inhabitants. Thaurissan held firm control over the kingdom’s richest gem and mineral deposits, using his wealth as leverage to protect his people and secure a place in Ironforge’s increasingly volatile political arena.

High King Modimus strived to treat each clan with fairness and respect, but his inability to ease tensions between the factions ultimately led to disaster. The high king passed away from old age, and before his eldest son could be crowned, the simmering cauldron of Ironforge boiled over.

No one knows exactly who struck the first blow. War ignited between the three clans as each vied for dominion of the mountain. Bloody battles raged in every corner of the kingdom for many long and terrible years. In the end, the Bronzebeard clan used its martial expertise to drive the Wildhammers and Dark Irons from the mountain and claim total victory.

Khardros conceded defeat and led his clan north. The Wildhammers eventually settled in a nearby region of marshlands. They carved out a great subterranean city named
Grim Batol, one that soon rivaled even Ironforge in scope and prestige. The earlier defeat weighed heavy on Khardros’s shoulders, but in time, he and his kin accepted their lot and prospered in their new home.

The Dark Irons ventured south to the tranquil Redridge Mountains. There, they founded the new kingdom of Thaurissan, named after their leader. Although his people prospered, Thaurissan himself wallowed in humiliation. He dreamed of one day exacting retribution upon his cousins in the north and claiming all of Khaz Modan as his own.

After years of secretly forging a new army, Thaurissan launched a brazen two-pronged assault against the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer clans. The sorcerer-thane himself led the attack on Ironforge. He had bolstered his formidable Dark Iron warriors with legions of immense war golems and siege engines. The invaders reached the very heart of the city before the Bronzebeards finally rallied and pushed the Dark Irons all the way back to Redridge.

Thaurissan’s wife, the sorceress Modgud, led the second army against Grim Batol. The Dark Irons besieged the mighty fortress and called upon their dark magics to break the Wildhammers’ will. They brought the shadows of Grim Batol to life, transforming the bustling city into a realm of nightmare and terror. Khardros led his Wildhammers in a daring counterattack and vanquished Modgud. With her death, the Dark Irons retreated south, only to find themselves face to face with the armies of Ironforge. Madoran had caught wind of the attack and brought his forces north. The Bronzebeard and Wildhammer armies crushed the Dark Irons from both sides, utterly annihilating them.

In the Dark Irons, Madoran and Khardros found a common enemy and a new purpose. They put aside their old rivalries and marched their mighty host southward, pledging they would not stop until they had purged Thaurissan and his treacherous Dark Irons from the face of the world.

As the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer armies drew near, Thaurissan scrambled for a way to defeat his enemies. He decided to draw the fiery power from deep within the world and use it as a weapon. Thus Thaurissan wove a great spell to save his kingdom. Yet amid his conjuration, his mind turned to the death of his wife and his recent defeats. Anger roiled through Thaurissan’s heart. His rage grew so absolute that his spellwork breached the
Elemental Plane and tapped into
Ragnaros the Firelord.

Unwittingly, Thaurissan ripped Ragnaros from the Elemental Plane and summoned him to the surface of Azeroth. The earth buckled and wrenched apart. The Firelord’s violent rebirth sparked a series of apocalyptic explosions that instantly killed the sorcerer-thane and shattered the surrounding mountains.

From afar, Madoran and Khardros watched in horror as the world was torn asunder and firestorms engulfed the area. They knew in that instant that Thaurissan had doomed himself and his people. Frightened for their own safety, the Wildhammers and Bronzebeards turned north and fled.

THAURISSAN SUMMONS RAGNAROS THE FIRELORD INTO THE WORLD