The warforged clans of Draenor and the Orcish Horde have a bright if violent history. From them were born the heroes and villains of the past, baptized in blood and fire, carrying colorful banners that served as badges of triumph and honor. Despite their unity within the Horde, the Clans of the First and Second Wars were fiercely loyal to their own glory; to their own ambitions, and those ambitions varied as dramatically as the menacing names and banners that flew over their heads.
There were clans like the Shattered Hand, led by Chieftan Kargath Bladefist, which performed ritual self mutilations as a rite of passage before becoming battle worthy within the clan. The Black Tooth Grin, led by Rend and Maim Blackhand, was known for its tradition of violently removing a tooth from each new recruit as a show of force and loyalty. Then there were other clans like the Warsong, revered for the prowess in battle and their fierce battlecries or the Bonechewers, renowned for their cannibalistic nature. Clan agendas varied from the preservation of the Horde, to dying in mortal combat, but of them all there is one clan that has evolved beyond its tribal roots, and under the rule of the once Ogre-Mage Cho’gall, it means to deliver Azeroth to the primal fury of the Old Gods and their twisted champion; the Twilight’s Hammer Clan.
Prior to the reign of Chog’all, the Twilight’s Hammer is lost to the histories of the Horde. His rise to power was orchestrated by the Shadow Council, and his installation as chieftan came on the heels of his predecessor’s untimely death, but with the Ogre in power, the Twilight’s Hammer served as the right hand of the Shadow Council, and it often enjoyed a tight alliance with Gul’dan’s own Stormreaver clan. During the first Orc invasion of Azeroth, the Twilight’s Hammer, alongside the Bleeding Hollow, was charged with destroying the human capital in the first Battle of Stormwind, and though the city eventually fell to the Horde, it was not until after the Twilight’s Hammer was crippled and sent to the rear lines of the First War, destined for obscurity.
And in shadow and obscurity the clan dwelled, devoutly worshiping the nihilistic virtues of its two headed master until it was once again called into service of Gul’dan and his ambitious push for power, though this time it was not just the Orcs of Draenor that Gul’dan sought to master; it was all life and all things. Gul’dan sought the Tomb of Sargeras and the ancient power locked within, and with the Horde steeped in the battles of the Second War, he called Cho’gall and the Twilight’s Hammer to his side.
Furious that Cho’gall and his clan would betray the Horde, Orgrim Doomhammer ordered them destroyed, but finding only Gul’dan and his Stormreavers massacred upon the isles on which the Tomb was thought to be, it was reported that Cho’gall and his followers had suffered the same fate, a fitting end to a monstrous traitor. For the second time, Cho’gall and his Twilight’s Hammer faded into obscurity.
Perhaps it was their nihilistic nature that attracted the Old Gods of Azeroth to them, or perhaps it was that nature that attracted them to the Old Gods—the only thing that we know for certain is that the Twilight’s Hammer clan was eventually introduced to the mad whispers of the Old Gods C’Thun and Yogg-Saron, and the clan’s propensity for bloodshed and betrayal gave way to the machinations of a fledgling religion. Slowly the clan evolved, shedding its tribal foundation in favor of a more organized and structured organization that would develop in cells and pockets around Azeroth.
Month after month the lawless chaos of the Old Gods was preached to the denizens of Azeroth, subscribers donning the rich purple vestments of the clan and resistors finding their way to sacrificial altars with their bellies or throats split in the name of their dark masters. Membership expanded—no longer was it limited to Orcs and Ogres, but Humans, Dwarves, Trolls, Tauren, and Gnomes found truth in the whispers of the Old Gods, and wherever the clan maintained a presence, it also maintained a connection with the elemental lords of the Abyssal Council, the noble hierarchy of the Old Gods’ servants.
For years the Twilight Cult has obediently serviced the whims of the elemental lords and the Old Gods, becoming increasingly more bold and imbued with perverse fanaticism, but to what end? The Old Gods command armies of their own in the Silithid of Ahn’Qiraj and the Keepers of Ulduar. What purpose does the Twilight Cult truly serve? When we take the time to observe them, the shocking realization that we are left with is that Twilight Cult itself has no deep association with the Old Gods and their lieutenants. Are they merely a misguided cult of fanatics? Though they outwardly serve the Old Gods, have they served a much more sinister purpose all along?
Deep within the Earth, beyond the Skywall within the Earthen plane ruled by Therazane herself, an ancient evil stirs within the Temple of Earth. With the Twilight Cult tending to his wounds and his whims, the Old Gods’ demented champion has been revitalized, and it would seem that, as he shatters the stone sky of Deepholm and scars the world of Azeroth forever and with enmity, the Destroyer’s rebirth was their goal all along. Glory be to chaos!
Supervas out!
epic! thats all I have to say. nice introduction to the new expantion, and good way to focus my attention on a part of lore I had completely forgotten about, I must say, I don’t see how you make the link between twilights hammer and death wing. (besides the common taint by the old gods that is) but,I forsee explaining in my future
The link is on the Elemental Plane and in the original corruption of Neltharion by the Old Gods. It’s something I’m sure most people overlooked.
Kj, if I get this right, Neltharion retreated -willingly- to the elemental plane after the second war(how?), he there recovered from his wounds under aid of twilight hammer cultists. (how did they get there?) so he could come back to the mortal plane, to continue is malevolent plans.
I thought that the elemental lords might be the common link, being luitenants of the Old Gods… but the Elementals have broken away from their will, If im not mistaken… I’ve got this feeling that there are still huge gabs left within the lore. or am I missing something?
How? He’s Neltherion the Earth-Warder, given dominion over the earth and deep places by the Titans themselves. Retreating to the Elemental Planes of Azeroth would be ridiculously easy for him. With this in mind, it stands to reason that he could bring others to him (or maybe the Cultists were guided to portals by the Old Gods’ whispers) so he could be tended to as he bides his time.
-T/K
perhaps, but then… why would he litterly rip a hole in the elemental plain’s sky and bring the whole world in some kinda cataclysm when he needs to get out? and, the elemental plain is a prison for the elemental lords, not a safe-haven for the dragonflights. the dragon aspects (“elements” ) are time, magic, dream/nature life and earth,,, I think the dominion of Neltharion is a different type of earth then that of the Therezane, if you get my drift(I’m thinking Gaia, Mother Earth).
beginning to think about it, I do have a theory
acording to WoWwiki, the elemental lords are all “evil” in that they ARE chaos. but not all are as evil, Ragnaros, the Firelord could be seen as mild, Folowed by Therezane, Al’Akir is more on the mad side, and Neptulon is plain wicked. If i remember, if you were to talk to a windstone without twilight cultist gear on in silithus, you’d be stricken by lightning. so, these cultist have some pact (?) with the air-elementals, perhaps they are part in getting the cultists to the elemental plane. how Neltherion came to that plane is still somewhat a mistery (in as it is not discribed in any text I found) but… perhaps Supervas, you or some one else has more info?
-gratock
P.S. Vas, I really love this babbling about lore, you are the best! making a platform like this for me to put my questions :D
As far as the Elemental Plane being a prison versus a haven–well, Heaven of Hell, Hell of Heaven–it is what you make of it. Regardless, the Elemental Plane is where the Elementals were originally summoned from. It was never really a prison, it’s simply that they were banished back to their own world in much the same fashion that Kil’jaedan was banished back to the Twisting Nether by denying him his gateway into Azeroth.
Neltharion’s mastery of the deep reaches of Azeroth is likely the reason he is able to retreat beneath the Skywall in the first place, and that he would borrow a following from the fanatic worshipers of the Old Gods as their demented, tyrant champion ishn’t much of a reach. Where the Old Gods are just whispers to most mortals (and immortals alike), Neltharion is a living, breathing product of them. To the Twilight Cultists, he would be an idol–a physical manifestation of the power of the Old Gods.
As for his escape–Neltharion intends to destroy the lesser races of Azeroth and replace them with his Twilight Dragonflight–tearing a hole in the Skywall and releasing the Elementals unto Azeroth freely is merely a step in that direction if he thinks that he can either master or destroy them of his own volition when they’ve served their purpose.
As far as Ragnaros goes–he was summoned into Blackrock Mountain by Thaurissan and the Dark Iron Dwarves. They thought to imprison whatever supernatural entity they summoned and wield it as a weapon in their battle with the Wildhammer and Bronzebeard Dwarves. The entity they summoned, however, was Ragnaros, and he ultimately enslaved the Dark Iron Dwarves instead. His summoning created what is now the Burning Steppes and the Searing Gorge, and when we fought him in Molten Core, even though it had been more than three hundred years since he was summoned into Azeroth, he was still regenerating his strength and was not at full power. As with Kil’jaedan later, what we did was banish his avatar back to Sulfuron Keep within the Elemental Plane.