The Stars Align!

[Thalraxal]

Today brings us our fourth and final Dragon of Nightmare!


"The strands of LIFE have been severed!"

Ysondre was one of the four Dragons of Nightmare, former guardians of the Emerald Dream who'd been corrupted by the evil force that had invaded it. She, alongside the other three Dragons of Nightmare, emerged from the Emerald Dream, intending to spread their madness and corruption into Azeroth. Unlike Lethon and Emeriss, Ysondre has survived and is still in the game. Unlike Taerar, she's been freed from the Emerald Nightmare's corruption.


"All I did while a part of that brood... all the suffering I've caused... must be repaid today."

Ysondre mostly spends her time in Feralas recruiting adventurers to help her destroy Taerar once and for all. With Taerar's destruction, Ysondre intends to spend the remainder of her life living amongst mortals, as she feels that she cannot return to the Green Dragonflight after her bout of corruption.

[Thalraxal]

"Buru the Gorger sets eyes on you!"

Buru the Gorger is a really big bug. Strong against tanks, weak against exploding eggs. Tameable by hunters. It's watching you right now! It's Buru the Gorger!

[Thalraxal]

It's back to Silverpine Forest today!

"Who dares interfere with the Sons of Arugal?" -Archmage Arugal

The Sons of Arugal were the favoured worgen servants of the archmage, Arugal. They patrolled within Shadowfang Keep, and the surrounding lands in Silverpine Forest, where they often feasted on unsuspecting low level Horde adventurers.

With the death of Arugal, and the subsequent Cataclysm revamp of the zone, it would seem that the Sons of Arugal are no more. It would seem likely that many were killed by the Forsaken seeking to expand into Silverpine, some became Death Knights in service to the Scourge, and others likely joined the Bloodfang Pack, and ultimately, the Gilneas Liberation Front.


"Arooo!

The Lost Son of Arugal remains the last known Son of Arugal within Silverpine forest. A lone wolf, he travels the woods, seeking out any other surviving members of his pack. Sadly, he's only a rare spawn, and not an elite like his brothers were.

[Thalraxal]

"Sands of the desert, rise and block out the sun!"

Ossirian the Unscarred was once a simple anubisath construct created by the Qiraji to serve as their front line shock troops. They quickly proved their worth against the Night Elves during the First War of the Shifting Sands. However the Night Elf general, Fandral Staghelm, realized that the Qiraji forces had a critical flaw: they lacked anti-air support. With this bout of RTS logical, Fandral quickly massed dragons, who soon overwhelmed the Qiraji forces. From the air, Grakkarond and the other Bronze Dragons were able to unleash destruction on the Qiraji and anubisath ranks, without any serious fear of reprisal. Everything was going well for them, until Ossirian made a called shot on Grakkarond's wing by hurling his sword at the dragon. Ossirian got a critical hit and sent the dragon crashing to the ground. The Qiraji quickly swarmed the downed dragon and made short work of him. As for Ossirian, however, he'd been badly damaged by Grakkarond, and was quickly rushed back to Ahn'Qiraj.

As a reward for his heroic actions, the Twin Emperors reforged Ossirian as a horusath. They were able to save the badly damaged Ossirian by binding his essence to series of crystals, making him almost completely invincible. However, his salvation came at a price: should he stray too far away from the crystals, he would quickly die. Because of his near invincibility, the other anubisath gave him the title "the Unscarred" and began to worship him as an unstoppable hero.

Being nearly invincible didn't stop him from being destroyed when adventurers stormed Ahn'Qiraj during the Second War of the Shifting Sand. Not only that, but Cataclysm has muddied his origins considerably. The shared resemblance of the anubisath and the Titan Watchers of Uldum raises some questions about their origins. As the Obsidian Destroyers were revealed to be corrupted Tolvir, were the anubisath corrupted Watchers? Or were the anubisath merely forged in the image of the Titan Watchers? Who knows! Retcons!

[Thalraxal]

"Now you feel pain..."

When you first enter the dread citadel of Naxxramas, you can hear the sounds of distant screaming: people suffering unspeakable tortures and crying out for help. Turns out all those screams come from inside this guy. Thaddius might possibly be WoW's most horrifying boss. The final boss of Naxxramas' Construct Quarter, Thaddius is a massive flesh golem, constructed entirely from the bodies of dead women and children. On top of that, in typical Scourge fashion, Thaddius also contains all the souls of the bodies used to construct him. Because if you're going to build a giant, horrifying monster out of corpses, its go big or go home, right?

Eugh.

Despite its horrible origins, Thaddius seems to be a decent enough fellow. It seems to have resisted being controlled just long enough for the raid to arrive, and politely thanks you for destroying it and ending its twisted and painful existence.

[IskatuMesk]

The amount of people that couldn't make the jump to Thaddius would shake even the Pope's faith.

[Thalraxal]

When I fought Thaddius, I thought for sure I was going to be one the ones who wouldn't make the jump. I did managed to make the jump though! Ended up getting killed in a polarity reversal.


"Do not proceed. You will be eliminated."

Doomwalker was a unique Fel Reaver built by the Burning Legion engineers stationed at Legion Hold. Doomwalker represented a considerable upgrade on the standard Fel Reaver design, and upon completion it was immediately sent to go and assault the gates of the Black Temple.

It has been said that Doomwalker used to patrol through Shadowmoon Valley, but apparently a lot of people complained about being stepped on by an outdoor raid boss. C'mon guys! Hellfire Peninsula trained you for avoiding being stepped on by Fel Reavers. By level 68-70 this should have been old hat.

Doomwalker was likely destroyed, either by adventurers or the Sha'tari forces laying siege to the Black Temple.

[Thalraxal]

"None of your kind should be here! You've doomed only yourselves!"

Broodlord Lashlayer was a black drakonoid who served the black dragon, Nefarion. As a darkonoid, Lashlayer was likely once a mortal who served Nefarion, and was transformed into a drakonoid as a reward. Alternatively, he may also have just been a really successful experiment.

Lashlayer is almost certainly dead, as he was guarding the doors to Nefarion's inner sanctum in Blackwing Lair and we know that adventurers get in there and kill Nefarion. While Nefarion got better, it's unlikely that Lashlayer did.

[Thalraxal]

"You wish to fight us all at once? This should be amusing!"

Grand Warlock Nethekurse is a fel orc warlock and a member of Kargath Bladefist's Fel Horde. Within the Fel Horde, Netherkurse serves as its highest ranking warlock, and chief torturer.

Nethekurse was once a shaman, and member of the Shadowmoon Clan. However, he was quick to abandon the ways of shamanism in favour of demonic magic. His pursuit of power has left him empty inside, and now his only joys in life comes from tormenting others. In typical, BC-era warlock fashion, when players first encounter him he's busy spamming fear spells on four Fel Orc Converts he's been busy "training".

[Thalraxal]

"Our fate is the doom of all who face the Great Fire."

After the Dark Iron clan launched their disastrous two-pronged assault on Ironforge and Grim Batol, Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissian I retreated back to their holdings in the Redridge Mountains. With the combined armies of the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer Clans marching towards them, Thaurissian was desperate for something he could use to save his kingdom. Calling on the aid of his seven most powerful clansfolk, he cast a desperate ritual to summon the Fire Lord, Ragnaros, and bind the elemental lord to his will! Didn't work out so great. Ragnaros' arrival into Azeroth resulted in the death of him and his fellow summoners, many Dark Iron dwarves, as well as the complete destruction of his city, the creation of Blackrock Mountain, and the enslavement of his people to the Fire Lord. At least the massive explosion convinced the Bronzebeards and Wildhammers to call off their attack.

The Seven were the unlucky souls who helped Thaurissian summon Ragnaros. Now their spirits are forever bound to the service of the Fire Lord. Anger'rel, Doom'rel, Dope'rel, Gloom'rel, Hate'rel, Seeth'rel, and Vile'rel are now doomed to guard the gate in the Summoner's Tomb, and deny access to anyone not of the Dark Iron clan passage. Of particular note: Doom'rel is the leader of the Seven, and if spoken too before issuing a challenge to Doom'rel, Gloom'rel is willing to teach adventurers how to smelt dark iron ore.

They are likely a reference to Tolkien's seven dwarf- oh, who are we kidding? The Seven are totally a reference to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

[Thalraxal]

For this weekend, in honour of Valentine's Day presumably, we get WoW's favourite boss duo! That also makes this a double feature weekend!


"Arise, my champion!"

High Inquisitor Sally Whitemane was a powerful priestess of the Light, one of the highest ranking members of the Scarlet Crusade, and the leader of the Scarlet Monastery. During the Third War, Whitemane was forced to fight the zombified members of her family, which seemed to have caused her to lose a few sanity points. That, and instil a burning hatred for the Scourge and all forms of the undead in her. As such, she was quick to sign on with the Scarlet Crusade and its efforts to free Lordaeron of the undead who'd overrun it.

She eventually came to be placed in charge of the Scarlet Monastery, which had been converted into a fortified stronghold by the Scarlet Crusade. While she was in charge of spiritual matters, and ultimately head of the Monastery, Renault Mograine was assigned to act as the commander of the monastery's garrison. As the leaders of the Scarlet Monastery, High Inquisitor Whitemane and Commander Mograine have survived multiple attempts on their lives, including efforts by Forsaken agents from the Undercity to drive the Scarlet Crusade out of the Tirisfal Glades, and even an Alliance-supported rebellion within her own ranks led by Joseph the Awakened Crazed Insane. Eventually, one of these attempts got Commander Mograine, which led to the promotion of Commander Durand.

With the destruction of the Scarlet Enclave, and the resulting loss of their forces in Stratholme, Tyr's Hand and Hearthglen, the Scarlet Monastery has likely become the last bastion of the Scarlet Monestary, with High Inquistor Whitemane serving as its highest ranking surviving member following the Cataclysm.

However, all things must come to an end. High Inquisitor Whitemane was eventually killed by adventurers working alongside the undead killing machine Lilian Voss, who instructed adventurers to drive a pair of holy rune blades into her corpse that should prevent her from being resurrected. Only time will tell if that's true or not.

[Thalraxal]

Part Two of our double feature weekend!


"At your side, milady!"

Scarlet Commander Renault Mograine was the eldest son of Highlord Alexandros Mograine the Ashbringer. Alexandros Mograine was a paladin, one of the highest ranked knights of the Order of the Silver Hand, the wielder of the legendary sword, Ashbringer, and one of the founders of the Scarlet Crusade. Renault was quick to follow in the footsteps of his father, trained to become a paladin and also joined the Scalret Crusade following the dissolution of the Silver Hand. As a member of the Scarlet Crusade, however, Renault soon came under the sway of Grand Crusader Saidan Dathrohan, who convinced him to lead his father into a trap. If Highlord Mograine's were dead, Renault could claim the Ashbringer for himself, and have all the power and glory that would entail.

To that end, Renault tricked his father and High Inquisitor Fairbanks into traveling to Stratholme. Mograine and Fairbanks were quickly overwhelmed. Despite losing his pocket healer early on, however, Highlord Mograine continued to fight off wave after wave of undead. Taking a break between waves, Highlord Mograine put his sword down for a moment while he caught his breath. Renault took that as his chance, grabbed the Ashbringer and plunged it through his father's chest. This act, however, resulted in the corruption of the sword. Renault quickly fled the scene, leaving the corrupted Ashbringer and his father's corpse behind. Kel'thuzad claimed both, raising Highlord Mograine as a death knight.

Grand Crusader Dathrohan rewarded Renault as promised, promoting him to Scarlet Commander and placing him in charge of the garrison at the Scarlet Monastery. From there, he and High Inquisitor Whitemane survived multiple attempts on their lives, including efforts by Forsaken agents from the Undercity to drive the Scarlet Crusade out of the Tirisfal Glades, and even an Alliance-supported rebellion within her own ranks led by Joseph the Awakened Crazed Insane.

One day, Renault's younger brother, Darion Mograine arrived at the Monastery bearing the Corrupted Ashbringer. Renault had ventured into Naxxramas, with thirty-nine other people, defeated the death knight their father had become, and won the loot roll on their father's sword. Renault at first welcomed his brother to the Monastery, only for the enraged soul of his father to emerge from the blade and kill him for his treachery.

With Renault dead, and Darion not sticking around, Commander Durand was promoted to take his place as commander of the Scarlet Monastery's garrison.

[Thalraxal]

The ground begins to crack open!

Supremus was a really big abyssal constructed and deployed by the Illidari for the defence of the Black Temple. He was really big.

You can also see the planet of Azeroth if you look up at the sky from the courtyard you fight Supremus in.

Supremus was most likely destroyed by adventurers when they stormed the Black Temple.

[Mucky]

My guild wiped on this guy many more times than they should have. Those fucking volcanoes, man.

[IskatuMesk]

My guild could clear Hydross with minimal fuss and then spend a week nonstop dying to lurker. Just like the previous guild could down twin emps and die to ony trash 5 times in a row.

Raiding is so stupid.