Ancient gods. The Old Gods and the Formation of Azeroth Warcraft Old Gods

Ancient gods of Azeroth

Before the Titan invasion of Azeroth, this world was ruled by completely different creatures, who were called the Old Gods. They were nicknamed so for a reason. The Ancients because they were the first creatures to inhabit Azeroth, and the Gods, because these creatures were equal in power to the Titans.

When the Titans invaded Azeroth and began to restore order, the Old Gods did not allow their lands to change and sent their elemental allies to fight them. After a long war, the Titans gained the upper hand and destroyed the citadel of the Old Gods, but the losses were colossal, during the war they drove Neltharion insane, which led to the betrayal of other aspects. Many guardians were broken by the will of the Old Gods. And rumor has it that he destroyed one of the Titans.

Since the destruction of the Old Gods would entail the destruction of Azeroth, the Titans imprisoned them. Since then, the Old Gods have wanted to destroy the Pantheon and all of Azeroth.

One of the Old Gods that we know is - hedoes not waste time in vain, during his imprisonment in the prison of Ulduar, he gradually broke the will of the keepers and won them over to his side. And although the prison can no longer hold him, he has not yet escaped. He is guarded by a detachment of faceless men led by General Vezax, indicating that the Old God is their ally.

We also know that with his immense power, Yogg-Saron infected the world tree Vordrassil when the roots of the tree began to penetrate into his lair. The druids destroyed the tree upon discovering its curse, but the infection continued to spread to the furbolgs, who later repopulated what was left of the tree and tried to grow the tree again. They also tried to use cursed magic to resurrect the bear god Ursoc, who was transformed by picking up the curse.

Also possibly related to Arthas's insanity. There are many saronite in Frastmorn's cave, and as you know, saronite is“ the black roof of Yogg is Saron ”, but even his blood is so powerful that it can crush any mortal and drive him crazy.

And there is a theory that we do not kill the Old Gods, but destroy only one of the body parts, since even the Titans found it especially difficult to wage war with them, and we, mortals, simply could not so easily destroy a powerful creature. And as written above, the destruction of the Old Gods will entail the destruction of Azeroth, but nothing happens to Azeroth after the killing of Yogg-Saron and K'Thun. It could also explain the strange body shape. We are most likely destroying the brain, as it poses a particular threat to Azeroth, and near the eyes. The rest of the body of these mysterious creatures is located far in the bowels of the earth.

Perhaps in Cataclysm we will meet another of the Old Gods, since Uldum can also be the prison of one of the Old Gods, who is gaining strength for his release.

According to the War of the Ancients trilogy, there are only 3 Old Gods imprisoned in prison, but where did the other two go?

The first one whose name we know - hid in the depths of Silithus during the war, observing the races of Azeroth in search of a suitable one for its purposes. There he discovered a primitive insect-like race - the Silithids, whom he turned into Qiraji in his own image and likeness, with the help of the well of eternity. Qiraji built a huge city, calling it An'Qiraj. When he gathered a large enough army, he tried to wipe the night elves and dragons from Azeroth's face. But their combined strength was so great that they destroyed the army and sealed the gates of An'Qiraj. Part of the underground city was destroyed, but K'Tun is still preparing a plan to seize Azeroth and other lands.

And second could somehow get into the Emerald Dream. This can confirm that the 4 green dragons, the once proud lieutenants of Ysera, went mad and turned their anger on the destruction of Azeroth and since then the Nightmare has settled in the Emerald Dream, and as you know, the Old Gods can completely drive you crazy and subdue almost all living things. The following evidence can serve this: during the war with the Old Gods, they drove one of the dragon aspects - Neltharion (Deathwing) - mad. Also

When the Titans arrived in Azeroth, they faced a hostile force - the elementals and their masters - the Old Gods. The war for Azeroth has begun: between the Titans and the Old Gods. The armies were led by their main servants:

Ragnaros the Firelord.

This powerful fire elemental was banished to the Elemental Plane after the fall of the old gods. But many years later, during the war of the three hammers, Thaurissan summoned him in the hope that the powerful Lord Elemental would help him. But Thaurissan died, and Ragnaros hid in the Molten Core of Blackrock Mountain. Later he joined Deathwing.

Terazana Stone Mother

Lord of the earth, mud, rocks and mountain ranges. She is worshiped by earth elementals and all underground creatures. It is believed that she is Mother Earth, who is so revered by the tauren.
After the war with the Titans, in which she fought on the side of the Old Gods, she was burned along with the rest of the elemental in the Elemental Plane. Unlike the other two Elemental Lords, she did not side with the Earth Aspect.

Neptulon Tide Hunter

He is worshiped by all the water elementals. He is the master of all waters, be it a stream or an ocean. Mariners who entered his domain without special permission will know the fate of imminent death.

Al "Akir Lord of the Wind

Weakest of the four elemental lords. His world, the Heavenly Heights is the sky above the Abode of the Elements, which is in contact with all the other elements. His mood changes as quickly as the weather.
Al "Akira is revered by air elementals and all winged creatures. He himself says that he knows about any air spell, wherever in the universe he is not conjured - and, although this seems to be true, he himself rarely takes part in magic, only if sorcery is not affects him personally He is one of two Lords to join the Aspect of Earth.

The Pantheon destroyed most of the enemy's strongholds and divided the three Gods. Without the support of their overlords, the elementals were defeated and banished to the Elemental Plane. There are no chronicles of that war, and if they were, they were lost forever. After the victory, the Titans established that the Old Gods are part and possibly the foundation of Azeroth itself and the destruction of the DB will entail the destruction of Azeroth. Therefore, the Old Gods were imprisoned. The exact number of the Old Gods is unknown. Someone says that there are five of them, and who claims that there are 4. It is assumed that one was killed - his remains are in Darkshore, at the Sword of the Ruler .. Also, one Old God was killed in the Valley of Tirisfal. Of the remaining, Azeroth knows the names of only two.

To "Tun

When the war was lost, defeated but not destroyed, he hid in the depths of the Silithus desert. For many years he slept and watched. He saw the invasion of the Legion. And he was still making plans. He discovered the primitive Silithid race and saw in these arachnids suitable servants who could restore his power and destroy other rebellious creatures. Therefore, he endowed them with the ability to think and endowed with part of his power. This is how the terrifying Qiraji race was born, and their ancient city, An'Qiraj, was located in Silithus, in the far south of Kalimdor, and was the capital of a huge empire ruled by the twin emperors Vek'Nilash and Vek'Lor.

After K "Tun waited thousands of years, until his children finally created an army capable of revenge on all of Kalimdor. The Titans left and only the Caldorei could defend themselves. Soon all Silithus was invaded by the Silithids and the night elf army was thrown through the crater of Un" Goro, to the desert Tanaris. But with the help of the dragons, the Silithid armies were driven back. There the insurmountable Scarab Wall of rocks, roots and stones arose.

Yogg-Saron

After the war, Yogg-Saron was imprisoned in Ulduar and the Guardians were put on his guard: Loken, Thorim, Hodir, Mimiron and Freya. Gradually, their will was broken and they were enslaved. The first to fall was Loken, the warden of the prison. he was seduced by the whispers of Yogg-Saron. The last to fall was Thorim, deceived by his brother and the prison's curator Loken. Yogg-Saron's whispers also played a role in Garona's betrayal of King Llane, which marked the fall of Stormwind and the end of the First War.

This Octopus-like Old God is responsible for the corruption that covered the Grizzly Hills and the destruction of Nordrassil. When the roots of a mighty tree pierced the walls of his dungeon, Yogg-Saron infected him. The Druids destroyed the tree as soon as they learned of its illness, but the corruption continued to spread and infected the Greymaw furbolgs, who later populated the remnants of Vordrassil and tried to grow it again. The Furbolgs used corrupted wood magic to resurrect Ursoc, the bear god, who was also corrupted.

Traces of the Old God can be found throughout Northrend. This is his blood - saronite. His minions, the Faceless, live in An "Kakhet and other buildings of the nerubians. They serve him faithfully, such as General Vezax.

Worship of the Old Gods.

The will of the DB prisoners breaks through Azeroth and enslaves some of its inhabitants. Thus, the most famous cult of DB ministry was created - the Twilight's Hammer. At first, the orc clan, not related to the DB, became not only orcish. It consists of both dwarves and people and orcs and trolls. Representatives of many races of Azeroth serve as DB.

TOTAL

Although the DBs were defeated with their fate, they did not accept. An evil will seeps into Azeroth and leaves noticeable and fatal traces in the history of the world. It is they who are to blame for the clouding of the mind of Neltharion, the Aspect of the Earth. It is they who, judging by the "War of the Ancients" trilogy, created a temporary vortex and imprisoned Nozdormu in it. They are responsible for the origin of the Emerald Nightmare. The curse of the flesh, the rise of the Qiraji, the assassination of King Llane, the desecration of Nordrassil are all traces of the Old Gods.

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All Ancients (demo)

The ancients (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 Ancients re-incarnated on Azeroth to protect Mount Hyjal from the invasion of the Twilight's Hammer and Ragnaros.

Known Ancients

• Agamaggan - huge boar
• Essina - nature spirit, light
• Aviana the Raven Messenger
• Goldrinn - the 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 \u200b\u200b- Satyr

Return

Source of information in this section - add-on Cataclysm to World of Warcraft.

The Ancients who defended the world during the first invasion of the Burning Legion ten millennia ago return to Azeroth. The keepers of Hyjal need to return the sanctuaries of the Ancients, captured by both cultists and elementals, and other creatures.

The Worgen of Gilneas, new allies of the night elves, are helping to retake the Sanctuary of Goldrinn, the ancient wolf god. However, the sanctuary was desecrated by the maddened Worgen, who came with the Twilight's Hammer cult and worship a false deity - Licanthoth, summoned by the cultists to prevent Goldrinn's return. The Guardians of Hyjal fight the Worgen and Lycanthoth, then incinerate the false deity's body and help Goldrinn return to Azeroth. After that, the sanctuary of the wolf god was cleared, and a tribe of ogres led by Gar "gol, who made their lair here, were expelled from the sacred lands.

At the apex of Lightning Ledge, the cultists create a fire gate into which Goldrinn, through a vision of one of his minions, directs the adventurers to destroy what lies in the world beyond the gates of which the wolf god knows nothing. Dark Iron dwarves are found behind the gates in the realm of fire, creating weapons for the Twilight's Hammer cultists. To close the passage, the Guardians of Hyjal destroy the Ashhammer Portal Masters and remove the Tome of Opening from his body, used to open the gates between the worlds through which the cultists deliver supplies from the Elemental Abode to Azeroth. The tome helps in the battle against the head of the forge, Plamy, 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, whose presence is weakened by Plamia. With all of Ragnaros' minions destroyed, the Guardians of Hyjal sealed the passage to the Firelands with the power of a tome of opening.

Fire elemental armies attack Aessina's Grove and attempt to incinerate it. The defenders turn to the satyr Tyrius Chernorog for help, who is imprisoned in a tower nearby. With Tyrius' help, Tol 'embaar, one of Ragnaros' strongest minions, was summoned and destroyed, and Tyrius took possession of his black heart.

Meanwhile, Hamuul Runetotem protects the Sanctuary of Malorne and the surrounding mountains, all living on which the fire elementals are about to destroy. The Guardians of Hyjal learn that the Twilight's Hammer cultists have captured the turtle god Tortolla, one of the Ancients, and he languishes in captivity in the dark 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 them to speak with Tortolla, and after being freed, the turtle god agrees to fight for Hyjal along with his descendants.

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

At this time, the harpies of the Wormwing flock begin attacks on the sanctuary of the one whom they 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, who is considered by the harpies to be the lord of the skies. Setria gets a special egg at his disposal.

A codex of shadows found among Setria's minions makes it clear that dragons are trying to hide something through this book. Choluna suspects that the mysterious item is Aviana's egg, and turns out to be right when it was found after disabling the cloaking devices. Druids-ravens attack Setria and destroy it, and in the sanctuary after the ritual, Aviana herself appears over the egg, who really returned to Azeroth.

Despite the awakening of the other Ancients, the spirit of Aessina that dwells in her face remains silent, although her help could turn the tide of the battle and correct the consequences of the Twilight's Hammer's activities. The Guardians of Hyjal decide to turn to Nord, the eldest of the trees, who has been in the center of what is now known as the Enduring Fire for thousands of years. The Loremaster remembers everything that happened to this world since its inception, and perhaps knows how to summon Essina. However, found Nordu was already charred and almost destroyed by the fire elementals, but a short delay in death allowed him to give the druids the seed of life - the Forest Heart. Hamuul Runetotem uses it in the grove, and Essina returns to Azeroth, giving new life to the scorched lands of Hyjal - a young forest grows in the places of conflagration.

Tortolla, knowing that Nemesis is still alive, heads for the Blasted Plains, which were the first to fall before the cultists, and the Guardians of Hyjal follow, confident they can reclaim these lands now. Ogre warlords have a symbol of Discovery, which is used to invade the Firelands through the third portal while the battle for the Blasted Plains is underway. In the cave behind the third portal, Nemesis is hidden, 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 gateway to the Emerald Dream through the Gate of Sozanne, through which Cenarius returns to Azeroth. The Ancients and the Guardians of Hyjal begin their final battles against the Twilight's Hammer and battle the cultists in the Circle of the Ascended and the Diviner's Sanctuary. Under the protection of Tortolla, Moltron, lord of the magmatic elementals serving Ragnaros, was destroyed.

To banish Ragnaros, the defenders of nature 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 is known that the gate of the spire is guarded by Azralon the Gatekeeper, one of the most powerful servants of Ragnaros. After Azralon's defeat, Cenarius, Malfurion, and Hamuul travel through the fourth portal from the Sanctuary of the Diviners and fight Ragnaros in the Spire of Sulfuron. The Firelord retreats to his realm, promising to return, and the Guardians of Hyjal, along with the Ancients, win this war.

• Evolution theory on Blizzgame

Comment by Kalandrios

Page 1
Unaware that Sargeras intended to destroy the fruits of their countless labors, the titans continued to move from world to world, shaping and arranging whatever planets they found fit. On their journey, they accidentally ended up in a small world, which its inhabitants later called Azeroth.

Page 2
Traveling through this virgin world, through a primeval land, the titans met many aggressive elementals. These spirits, who worshiped a race of incredibly evil creatures known as the Old Gods, vowed to drive back the Titans and save their world from the metallic touch of the invaders.

Page 3
The Pantheon, worried about the Old Gods' penchant for evil, began a war against the elementals and their dark overlords. The armies of the Old Gods led the most powerful elementals into battle: Ragnaros the Firelord, Terazan the Stone Mother, Al "Akir the Lord of the Wind, and Neptulon the Tide Hunter.

Page 4
These forces of chaos raged and fought against the colossal titans on the chest of the world. Despite the fact that the elementals were so powerful that mortals could not even imagine, their combined forces were not enough to stop the mighty titans. One by one, the Elemental Lords fell and their forces retreated.

Page 5
The Pantheon destroyed the citadel of the Old Gods and imprisoned five evil gods deep in the depths of the world. The Elementals, who could not contain their rampage without the power of the Old Gods, were banished into the abyss of worlds, where they remained to fight each other forever and ever. With the disappearance of the elementals, nature softened, and complete harmony came to the world. The Titans saw that the threat was over and went to work.

Page 6
The Titans have empowered many races to help shape the world. To create bottomless underground caverns, the Titans crafted dwarf-like earthers from magical living stone. To help them drain the seas and raise the land above sea level, the Titans created huge but meek sea giants. For centuries the titans shaped the lands until they were able to create a perfect continent.

Page 7
In the center of the continent, the Titans placed a lake of sparkling energy. The lake, which they called the Well of Eternity, was the source of life in the world. Its powerful energy nourished the roots of the world and made it possible for life to sprout in its fertile soil. Over time, grasses, trees, monsters and creatures of all kinds appeared on the primitive continent.

Page 8
In honor of the twilight that fell on the world on their last day of work, the titans named this continent Kalimdor - "the land of eternal starlight."

It is easier to split this topic into two parts. In the first, we'll take a look at how the number of Old Gods has changed in Azeroth, and in the second, at their numbers in the entire universe.

Of course, now we already know that in the Dark Empire, which fought against the Guardians, there were four Old Gods. And it is possible that in the early days of this empire there were five of them. As a result, the keepers imprisoned K'Tun, N'Zot and Yogg-Saron in dungeons, and also created a repository for the heart of E'Sharaj, whom Aman'Tul personally killed. And all in the Great Darkness there is an unknown number of Old Gods who were thrown there by the Lords of the Abyss. But this time we will try to understand exactly how this story took its current form.

Ancient Gods of Azeroth

The Old Gods were first mentioned inwarcraft 3: Reign of Chaos manual(2002):

"The Elementals who worshiped a race of inscrutable evil creatures known only as the Old Gods vowed to exorcise the titans and keep their world untouched by the touch of these metal invaders."

This guide covered an early story of the Ordering of Azeroth: the war of the titans against the elementals and the Old Gods; the conclusion of the Old Gods; Ordering Azeroth with Titan-Formed Races and Blessing the Aspects. It also mentioned the number of imprisoned deities:

"The Pantheon destroyed the citadels of the Old Gods and imprisoned these five evil entities deep below the surface of the world."

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

“I won't let you walk through this door, traitor. Recent earthquakes have awakened dark things under the ice ... ancient, terrible things. ” - Beilgun Firebeard

“These are the horrors the dwarves talked about. I thought they were just a legend. "- Anub'arak

In one of the books on board RPG,Lands of Conflict (“Lands of Conflict”; July 2004), the first hints emerged as to what kind of beings might be the Old Gods.

As a reminder, a series of RPG books (also known as WoW RPGs or “roulbooks”) have been announceduncanonical ... And also remind you not to confuse the WoW RPG with the rest of the Warcraft literature.

So that's it. In most of these "rollbooks" information was presented on behalf of the famous researcher Brann Bronzebeard, therefore it was sometimes worth taking it as material written by an experienced traveler, but still not an omniscient super being.

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

"Long ago, local trolls tried to summon and subdue Hakkar, their ancient god."

Brann also wondered if a creature named Ula-Tek, the Snake Goddess, was an Old God:

“Zul'Aman is a temperate forest of towering trees. There are dark shadows everywhere, and with them ancient ruins and ziggurats. I thought these ruins and strange stepped pyramids were here from the Zul'Aman Empire, but they may 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."

“ Ula-Tek shrine (city, 7000): Ula-Tek Shrine is a giant ziggurat. The trolls have gathered around this structure, and their capital lies right 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 miles from the sanctuary and got the information I needed. It turned out that Ula-Tek is a snake goddess. Perhaps one of the Old Gods? Trolls revere Ula-Tek and consider the ziggurat to be their shrine. Among the ruins there they perform 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 witch doctor Ral'jin is becoming an increasingly influential figure in Zul'Aman. Ral'jin has ordered the hunters to capture hundreds of prisoners, whom he intends to use for a huge sacrifice. With this ritual, he is going to summon Ula-Tek, the Snake Goddess. Obviously, this information does not bode well, but the dwarves of Ironforge are especially worried about it: they have seen the destruction that leads to the rebirth of the elemental lord, and the real Old God must be even more powerful. However, the Dark Iron dwarves are simply jubilant. Ula-Tek, perhaps the Old God, could serve as an ally and ally of Ragnaros. They sent a contingent of their forces to Zul'Aman to show their goodwill and protect Ral'jin while he completes his lengthy ritual. ”

of. art for Lands of Conflict

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

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

map fragment from the original WoW guide

And what is more interesting - the story of Ula-Tek inspired one of the storylines of the first volume of "Chronicles". It's about a c'traxie named Kit'ix. It was a faceless general, thanks to whom the Az'Akir empire was founded and the war of trolls and aqirs began. In the end, the trolls emerged victorious from this war, and the trolls tracked down the badly wounded after the battle with the loa of Kit'ix. In the same place where they killed this c'trax, the trolls founded the temple city of Zul'Aman.

It is quite possible that the hypothetical return to the land of the forest trolls 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 (similar to 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 Twilight's Hammer cult tried to resurrect him again. The Zakazh was finally destroyed only when his power was consumed by Xal'atath and the High Priest of the Conclave.

Curse Lord Malacrass is also known to have tied the essence of his tribe's darkest loa beast to him. The developers know what 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?

Returning to the "Lands of Conflict". There, for some reason, they pointed out the Old God and Ragnaros. Perhaps this error 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 that would show that Brann's or the people of Shadowforge were wrong. 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 an orange flame - one of the many gifts of their Ancient God master."

In November 2004 atthe official WoW website the 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 created not dwarves from stone, but earthen; The elementals did not disappear by themselves after the imprisonment of the Old Gods, but were imprisoned in the Plane of Elements. And they also changed the number of Old Gods from five to four:

"The Pantheon destroyed the citadels of the Old Gods and imprisoned these four evil deities deep below the surface of the world."

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

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

“The Old Gods seemed like nothing more than a legend, even to most dragons who were born at the dawn of this world. But thanks to his irrepressible curiosity, or as Rhonin put it “an irrepressible desire to poke his nose everywhere,” Krasus knew that the Old Gods were something much more.

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

The Trinity was cast down into eternal confinement. The place of their imprisonment was hidden from everyone, and their forces were broken to the end of time. That was how this saga should have ended, but Krasus now 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. ”

Now we know that this trinity included K'Tun, Yogg-Saron and N'Zot. 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 the update 1.8: Dragons of Nightmare (October 2005) the name of the first Ancient God finally became known -K'Tun ... In that update, many new quests were added to Silithus, and one of them revealed"Prophecy of K'Tun"... This was the first mention of K'Tun and the Qiraji - before that no one knew what exactly was hidden behind the Scarab Wall in the destroyed kingdom called An'Qirazh.

This prophecy was written by the prophet Skeram and is the folklore of the Qiraji. The prophecy says that the qiraji were created by K'Tun from silithids born from the ether of the Source of Eternity. In fact, the qiraji are the akirs who conquered the An'Qirazh 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. Perhaps they were part of the original aqirs, or they only appeared with the Qiraji civilization.

The prophecy also omits the fact that the modern kingdom of the Qiraji was built on the ruins of a Titan-forged prison complex.

And the most important thing in this story:

“Before the beginning of time, when this world had just been born, a fierce battle took place on this very earth between the Titan and the essence of unimaginable power and evil. The prophecy does not say if the Titan was slain in this battle, but it says that the Titan fell. The Old God also fell — or so they thought. ” - geologist Echidnaya

We now know that the only direct intervention of the real titans in the war against the Dark Empire was the assassination of Y'Sharaj by Aman'Tul.

“Aman'Tul, the leader of the Pantheon, literally ripped Y'Shaarj from the ground and crushed him in the grip of his fist. And Y'Shaarj was the strongest of the Old Gods of Azeroth, and then there were no prisons that could contain his power or capture his body the size of a mountain. E'Shaarj was so strong that he was one step away from driving the whole army of titan-forged, including the Guardians (who were also terribly powerful in those days), mad with his whispers and visions. The situation was so deplorable that Aman'Tul personally intervened in the case. And he handled it just playfully. " - fromspoiler Alert part 2 of Patch 7.3

And if the strongest Ancient God could not oppose anything to the titan, then what can we say about K'Tun?

In general, until this moment, the Pantheon did not intervene in the war personally, because it was afraid to hurt the world-soul. And after that, the titans became even more cautious, because the death of E'Shaarj left a terrible wound on Azeroth's body. Another such wound threatened to kill the soul world, so it was decided to imprison the Old Gods. But in general, suffice it 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 unnamed titan-forged played a role in the victory over K'Tun. 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 this is still just speculation.

“The Titan-Forged then traveled southwest to the chaotic temple city that grew around the third Ancient God, K'Thun. The Guardians and their allies cleared the area of \u200b\u200bthe swarms of n'raki before laying siege to the Ancient God himself and subduing him. As with N'Zoth, the guardians buried this entity alive underground and built a prison around his body. ” - the first volume of "Chronicle"

And already in the update1.9: Gate of Ahn'Qiraj(January 2006) K'Tun became the final boss of the An'Qiraj raid.

In another nownon-canon Lands of Mystery (“Lands of Mysteries”; April 2006), there are new reflections from Brann about the personalities and location of the Old Gods:

“Sword of the Overlord: This unusual monument is a large statue (or corpse?) Surrounded by a small lake. Once a sacred land of the night elves, the area is now under the control of the Twilight's Hammer. After I dragged one of these robed psychos around a corner, I came to the conclusion that the statue was something like a divine corpse, the remains of an Old God. The term “Sword of the Overlord” 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 guess it is possible that the Titan killed one of the Old Gods or their servants here. "

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 the Soggoth. Of the twenty, only one survived.

The tablets say that Cronn, the largest of the giants, allowed the Soggoth to bind him with his tentacles - so that the monster would lift him closer to his head ... just within reach for his mighty sword to strike. 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: Valley of Bones is considered by many to be cursed, which is why most centaur clans avoid it. It is believed that the surface of this valley is dotted with the bones of the Old Gods. This area is occupied by necromancer centaurs from Magram and skeletons.”

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

It is not known when exactly this happened, but byupdate 1.11: Shadow of the Necropolis (June 2006) number of Old Gods from the in-game bookThe Old Gods and the Ordering of Azeroth changed from four to five. Onofficial website this change happened later - in August 2006:

"The Pantheon destroyed the citadels of the Old Gods and imprisoned these five evil deities deep below the surface of the world."

The in-game book still talks about the five Old Gods. From a plot point of view, 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 have been caused by the same legends about the former existence of Ksal'atat to the Old Gods.

Then the personalities of the Old Gods were remembered in the next nowuncanonical a book on board role-playing game,Horde Player's Guide (Horde Player's Handbook, November 2006):

“Perhaps Hakkar is a child of the Ancient God? It's hard to say: I'm not even sure they can have children. And I don't really want to know the answer to this question. "

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

In November 2008, an add-on was releasedWorld of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King... It revealed the name of the second Ancient God -Yogg-Saron ... The influence of this monstrosity 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 atofficial website once again they conjured over the number of the Old Gods - this time it was decided to completely remove it:

"The Pantheon destroyed the citadels of the Old Gods and imprisoned these evil deities deep beneath the surface of the world."

At Blizzcon 2010 (October 2010) Chris Metzen revealed the name of the third Ancient God -N'Zot ... But in the game itself, N'Zota was first mentioned only in the update4.3: Time of Twilight (November 2011). Although it hasn't been shown in WoW yet, it was still done in the expansion."Whispers of the Old Gods" for Hearthstone (April 2016).

In February 2012Nyorloth , who was then the community manager of the official history forum, gave a rather lengthy answer to the question about the confusion with 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 space and time, life and death, it needs to be completely erased from being? 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, never mind. "

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

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

E'Shaarj was ripped out of the planet by Aman'Tool, and his remains eventually became sha after they rained down on Pandaria. K'Thun and Yogg-Saron were not defeated in this way, but even if they did, the sha only refer to E'Shaarj. Each of the Old Gods is quite unique in their ways of achieving goals, in what form they take and in what they are capable of.

The Sha would not have appeared if K'Thun or Yogg-Saron were also plucked from the planet. But you can safely bet that there would be much more madness and saronite in the world! "

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

In March 2016 came outthe first volume of "Chronicle", in which 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 desecrate one of the soul worlds and thus create a dark titan. And if we talk about the primordial power to which their abilities go back, then the Old Gods are the physical manifestations of the Abyss.

The first volume does not mention a specific number of Old Gods who fell on Azeroth:

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

Dark empire

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

A map of Azeroth ruled by the Black Empire

from the first volume of "Chronicle"

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

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

As incredible as these theories are, there may be some truth in them. Xal'atath pulses with the hideous essence of the Old Gods. Moreover, it is said that the blade is capable of bestowing visions of the Dark Empire upon its wearer, but everyone who looked at these horrors fell prey to madness. "

“Xal'atat has a mind of its own. Ignore his maddening whisper. Do not trust the lies that 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. Someher quotes add tangible weight to the theory that she was once an Old God:

“We may face some of my kin 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. ”

“It's ironic that the weakest of us can be the ultimate winner. K'Tun, Yogg-Saron, E'Sharaj and ... well ... only one could stay to consume the world. It should have been. "

By 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 - that Ksal'atat puts himself on a par with the Old Gods and, in fact, reckons himself with them.

“I look forward to the day when our hosts can truly move into this dimension. You saw only fragments, shadows, the dimmest echoes. Ask the Ethereals about what one of its manifestations is capable of. ”

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

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

The Old Gods Beyond Azeroth

IN World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (January 2007) The first evidence emerges that the Old Gods of Azeroth are not the only ones of their kind. The first evidence is historyharbinger of Skyriss, the prophet of the qiraji, captured in the Arcatraz. He was somehow imprisoned in the space prison of the naaru, from which he was freed thanks to telepathy: he simply drove the head jailer of the blood elves who occupied the satellites of Tempest Keep. Fortunately, the heroes managed to kill him immediately. And judging by the fact that enough of Azeroth's inhabitants, such as Nefarian's dragonfly, were captured in the Arcatraz, Skyriss was probably also from Azeroth. If he were just akir, it 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 trapped in the Arcatraz are beginning to break free. Among them is a servant of the Old Gods known as the Harbinger of Skyriss, who wishes to fulfill the vision of his masters to conquer 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 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> The Harbinger Skyriss is said to be a servant of the Old Gods. They also say that he has a large scroll with him containing instructions on how he should command life in the universe on their behalf.

My current customer wants to get his hands on this scroll, even though he is not even able to read the language in which it is written. Go to the Arcatraz of Tempest Keep and get it for me, okay? "

And his quote when handing over the scroll:

“I dare not touch the scroll, otherwise I would also risk attracting the attention of the Old Gods. I will assign the delivery of this package to one of my assistants. You more than deserve your reward and I wish you the best of 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"Called Old God" and "ancient and powerful evil." Arakkoa ghosts from the Dark Conclave tried to summon him.

“The spirits of the dark conclave are attempting to invoke 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 she gave them the strength to help this creature appear in our world! We have to 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 an unnamed hero were able to stop the ritual of summoning this monster.

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