[Fan-Saga Concept] - The Throne of Destruction Saga

[Golden Yak]

Hey everyone. It'sa me. Golden Yak. I sometimes make up fan-concepts about WoW expansions that I would like to see. I don't know why I like to do this. There's probably some psychology involved.

My first one was The Spider Kingdom, which was set in Azeroth's underworld and featured the nerubians as major villains.
You may have heard that the next WoW expansion, The War Within, is set in Azeroth's underworld and features the nerubians as major villains.
So it took like a decade and a half, but Blizz eventually granted my wish. The lesson here is: follow your dreams. Or don't. They'll come true either way, somehow.

But Blizz also revealed that TWW is only the first part of the three-expansion spanning Worldsoul Saga, and when I learned this I felt as though I was standing on the edge of a huge pit. A huge dark pit, reaching down into the depths below the world, with something unspeakable lurking in it. I heard a sibilant voice in my mind, whispering, its words growing more terrible and profound with every passing moment.

"Make a fan-saga concept. Do it. Make it. Do three interconnected fan-expansion concepts in a row together. Do it. Do it. Do it."

I tried to fight it. I swear I did. It will take too long, I said. It will use up so much time, time I could spend doing something productive or useful for the world.

But I am weak and pliable. So here it is: my fan-saga concept, the Throne of Destruction Saga. Don't pray for me, this is beyond forgiveness.



Disorder...

That is not our nature.

We are not some fractured, flawed reflection of another power. Not merely the absence of their guiding principle, defined by lacking what they offer.

That is what they try to make us, in their vanity and cowardice. That is the role that was forced upon us, by ignorant and desperate hands...

We never needed anything from them.

We are not the hand that meekly shapes. We are the hand that cuts away weakness. We break all that can be broken. We scour from existence that which does not deserve to exist.

We are the means by which the cosmos takes its true form.

We are Destruction.

And we shall return...

-Antares, the First Demon

This thread contains AI generated images: I apologize to all the artists whose work was assimilated to birth these abominations.

Prelude - Events of the Worldsoul Saga

It came to pass as was foretold:
The Harbinger wrenched the Worldsoul of Azeroth from the grasp of the Titans, purging it of the Order magic that they had infused into it.

Then, the Void descended to claim the liberated Worldsoul, intending to raise it as a goddess of darkness and usher in an age of eternal night.

The heroes of Azeroth defied the agents of the Void, defending their home against invasion.

Until the Titan Pantheon arrived to carry out the Re-Origination of the world, so that they could secure their prize without interference.

It was revealed that the Worldsoul was never an innately Titan entity - it would only become a Titan when infused with the Pantheon's Order magic. The magic of other cosmic forces would change the Worldsoul in different ways. But no matter what form the Worldsoul took, if it arose as a new god the world of Azeroth would be consumed to fuel that ascension.

Iridikronn the Stonescale, Primal Incarnate of Stone and Earth, became an unlikely ally against the Pantheon - for all his wickedness, he still desired the salvation of the world of his birth. His sacrifice stirred the Worldsoul of Azeroth to awaken, and her power was unleashed upon all who would claim her.

The darkness of the Void and the Titan Pantheon were both repulsed, and Azeroth declared that she would not align with any of the cosmos' great powers. She would remain as she was - the Worldsoul, the sleeping heart of the planet, an eternal source of power and life for the world and all who dwell there. Any who would threaten that life would feel her wrath, and that of her champions...

Azeroth's challenge rang out across the cosmos.

Now comes the response.

Throne of Destruction Saga - Table of Contents

Act I - Doom of Kalimdor
Act II - Lightfall
Act III - The Demon Monarchs

_______________

There's a lot of stuff, but I'm going to keep the whole thing to this one thread, so this first post is going to be a table of contents of sorts.
Subsequent posts will be overviews of the three expansions. The bulk of content will be linked in google docs, while the thread post will contain briefer summaries and a bit of art.

A lot of art is by me, you should be able to tell which. The other art is by other people. I also used BING to generate images for zone and raid concepts - I submit to our AI overlords.

[Nork]

It would make me unsuscribe and delete my account, to be honest.

[KayRule]

Always a fan of your work, excited to see where this goes.

[Golden Yak]

Act I - Doom of Kalimdor



Major Features

A Living World: Southern Kalimdor - The invasion of Life has altered the land itself. Explore the changes in the newly remade regions of Tanaris, The Razorfen, Feralas Expanse, Uldum Territories, and the Un'Goro Subterrane.

New Campaign - Hold fast against the power of Life itself as Ogun the Worldhunter and his Wyldborn forces invade Azeroth! The World Hunt has begun!

New Enemy: Ogun the Worldhunter - A demigod sent by the Everliving Parliament, the pantheon that reigns over the cosmic power of Life. His World Hunt forces invade Southern Kalimdor seeking an ancient power hidden deep beneath the land.

New Allied Race: Qiraji Recreants - As the power of Life sweeps across Southern Kalimdor, unlikely new allies have emerged. Qiraji rebels from hidden quarters of Ahn'Qiraj have come before the Alliance and the Horde, offering strange new powers, forbidden knowledge, and dire warnings of a malevolent power on the verge of rebirth...

New Features: Living Power Talents - The class abilities of Azeroth's heroes continue to evolve. Harness the power of unfettered life, and sharpen your ability to deal death. Only the strong will survive the World Hunt...

New Dungeons and Raids - The power of Life is in ascendancy, galvanizing monstrous beasts across Kalimdor, while countless worshipers of nature rally to the banner of Ogun and his Huntmasters. Azeroth's champions must prove their fitness against mighty and terrible new threats.

Patch Updates - Even as the forces of Life launch an all-out assault upon the world, dreadful threats are lurking in the shadows plotting even greater destruction... Caverns of Time and Silithus revamps introduce new zones, dungeons, and raids, as well as advancing the world story.

Ogun the Worldhunter - Demigod of Life, Champion of the Everliving Parliament, the Doom of Kalimdor


Ogun's Huntmasters - Mayasska the Prey-Taker, Tybalt the Sun, Valthraxx the Bio-Vizier, and Delphis the Stars


New Allied Race - Qiraji Recreants

Read the full concept here.

TLDR Shorter summary here:

Spoiler: 

-Launch Content - The World Hunt-
Ogun the Worldhunter invades Kalimdor to unearth the Seed of Elun'Ahir, an artifact of tremendous Life magic. As the power of Life transforms the surrounding lands of Southern Kalimdor, Ogun's Huntmasters strike out to conquer.

The heroes of Azeroth rally to defend their world, driving back the forces of the World Hunt and confronting Ogun in the depths of Un'goro Crater. Ogun is brought to the brink of defeat, but the blessings of the pantheon of Life, the Everliving Parliament, allow Ogun to retrieve the Seed of Elun'Ahir and escape into the wilderness.

Belore, God of the Sun, Praelynx, God of Beasts, Mottom, Goddess of Decay, Thastrea, Goddess of the Wilds

-Patch Content - C'thun Lives-
In search of allies, Ogun and his servant Valthraxx engineer the resurrection of C'thun with the Seed of Elun'Ahir. The revitalized Old God launches an attack on the Cavern of Time, seeking the timeway that connects to the world's most ancient era, the time of the Black Empire. C'thun succeeds in drawing the other Old Gods out of the past and into the present era. Chaos engulfs Kalimdor as the influence of the Old Gods wars with that of the Everliving Parliament.

Old Gods in New Bods

-Patch Content - Judgement of Elune-
Valthraxx goes rogue and shatters the Sword of Sargeras in an effort to extract its demonic power. Ogun schemes to infuse the Seed of Elun'Ahir into the damaged blade, intending to channel the Life energies of the seed to remake Azeroth. The heroes battle Ogun until the goddess Elune intervenes to end the conflict. Her actions enrage her fellow godlings however, and Elune is removed from the Everliving Parliament, choosing to align herself fully with Azeroth.

Elune, Goddess of the Moon

-Epilogue-
The renegade Valthraxx travels to the Twisting Nether with the Ember of Sargeras' power, stolen from his blade. There, Valthraxx is revealed to be a dreadlord, and delivers the ember to Sire Denathrius.

Sire Denathrius, demonized

[Alanar]

The art is kinda cool. The effort is there as always. Thanks.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

As always, it is an absolute pleasure to read your fan expansion concepts. Thanks for linking the Google document for this as well!


EDIT: Your art style is pretty dope too, and I love the the resurrected Old Gods in their new bodies.

[Golden Yak]

It would make me unsuscribe and delete my account, to be honest.

Not a fan of sagas, then?

As always, it is an absolute pleasure to read your fan expansion concepts. Thanks for linking the Google document for this as well!

EDIT: Your art style is pretty dope too, and I love the the resurrected Old Gods in their new bodies.

Thanks, I was inspired by the concept of visage forms. I want them for every big monster now - old gods, elementals lords... visages for everybody!

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Interesting enough, but I'm not a big fan of certain "exaggerated qualities" across the female characters, namely the Aqir. I think if you're going to make them that humanoid, it's probably fine to just go all the way and make playable Qiraji all look like Battleguards (maybe they're without wings because they were tortured en masse by the loyalist Qiraji). Similarly, I think methodically slaughtering each cosmic force wouldn't work well for the setting in the long-term. One or two of the old gods taking on a humanoid form is cool in concept, though I figure it would be best to stick with something like the idea you had for Spider Kingdom with said old god(s) being shoved into a preexisting body instead of just having them get "Bishonen Line"-type forms, especially given the Spider Kingdom Yogg-Saron idea has been pretty much totally vindicated by Xal'atath doing the same. Definitely cooler imagining an ancient horror shoved into the body of the most evil person on Azeroth than said ancient horror just turning into a humanoid with a big hammer. Giving N'Zoth the Vivec treatment is kind of cool, and he probably should've had more "personas" from the start anyway. I kind of like how Valthraxx seems to be a call-back to Didier's early "Denizen of Silithus" art.

[username993720]

Always a pleasure to read one of your concepts. They're always so detailed. Where do you draw inspiration from?

Thanks, I was inspired by the concept of visage forms. I want them for every big monster now - old gods, elementals lords... visages for everybody!

To be honest, i'm not a fan of visage forms for everyone. It takes away from the actual creatures as we've seen with the Aspects and Primal Incarnates in Dragonflight.

[Khaza-R]

Love the concept, zone progression and the main villain. Impressive stuff.

My only criticism is the Qiraji. I think the concept misses the mark a little. I love that you tried to take inspiration from the gladiators and battleguards. But it feels like part of their appeal is being insects who eeriely mimick a more human appearance. The saturans look too much like mantid imo.

[Orange Joe]

Those qiraji look more like klaxxi

[Golden Yak]

Interesting enough, but I'm not a big fan of certain "exaggerated qualities" across the female characters, namely the Aqir.

Gotta have that sex appeal.

Similarly, I think methodically slaughtering each cosmic force wouldn't work well for the setting in the long-term.

Hey, not slaughtering. Some of them don't die.

Though there are plenty of fans who don't care for the greater cosmology stuff and would prefer things to be more grounded and Azeroth-focused. One way to do that would be to do some damage to them so they back off. It's what I expect of Midnight in fact, a major push by the Void, we probably see some of the Void Lords, and maybe even kill one to get the rest to back off. The Void then goes into the background of the setting for a while. The cosmic powers become remote elements that influence the setting with magic and ideology, rather than being at the forefront of events.

especially given the Spider Kingdom Yogg-Saron idea has been pretty much totally vindicated by Xal'atath doing the same.

...huh. Y'know I hadn't actually ever thought of it like that? But I guess it is pretty similar. I still wanna know what happened to Arthas' body. You don't just throw away something like that...

In the case of my thing, it's technically something similar, with the Old Gods getting Zereth Vessels to inhabit as their new forms. Shadowlands had its problems lorewise, but the concept of the 'God Bods' in Zereth Mortis, these incredibly powerful shape-shifting magical vessels that transform when you plug powerful divine souls into them, really stuck with me.

I kind of like how Valthraxx seems to be a call-back to Didier's early "Denizen of Silithus" art.

He is! Love that art.

Always a pleasure to read one of your concepts. They're always so detailed. Where do you draw inspiration from?

The game! As a setting it is dense with stuff to build on. Most everything in this concept is built on existing elements that have already been introduced, but not yet fully explored.

To be honest, i'm not a fan of visage forms for everyone. It takes away from the actual creatures as we've seen with the Aspects and Primal Incarnates in Dragonflight.

Makes them a bit easier to interact with if they can walk around and talk though, instead of being mountain-sized piles of flesh or living flame. The Old Gods have been criticized for not being very developed characters, but they also aren't especially Lovecraftian god-types either - they talk and have plans and personalities, they have character, but it's pretty shallow. Giving them 'avatars' to make them more personable might be something that helps with that.

This didn't really come up in the concept I made, but I did imagine the Old Gods also being able to change back into mobile, beholder-like forms that reflect their original eldritch-abomination selves.

My only criticism is the Qiraji. I think the concept misses the mark a little. I love that you tried to take inspiration from the gladiators and battleguards. But it feels like part of their appeal is being insects who eeriely mimick a more human appearance. The saturans look too much like mantid imo.

Another one for the more humanoid qiraji. I always felt that it was a bit too goofy for the qiraji ladies to seemingly just be 'sexy human lady' with buggy hands and feet. I imagined them as being something like mimics - those headpieces are their actual eyes, their 'human' faces just a false-face that would unfold into mandibles behind that veil, something like that.

[Sezerek]

Not really sold on the setting, but nonetheless some great stuff that has a lot of character to it which I can appreciate.

And I have to say that the fabulous art is reminding me heavily of the artstyle in the game Wildermyth...is there perhaps some part of the inspiration coming from?

[Faerillis]

As always I'm very eager to see where you go with this, your ideas are almost always incredibly thorough and fun, but I'm not really digging the theme and how that's driving the setting. I absolutely love revamping these old parts of the world but it feels a little too Cosmic for the follow up to the deeply Cosmic story era we're in already. Maybe because Elun'ahir's roots are already looking like a big plot point for TWW and that it looks like our initial endgame is also underground when we're already inundated with underground, it ends up seeming like a major revisiting of what we're already doing... but TWW would be several years past done by the advent of this, so that would soothe that issue a bit as is. It also doesn't seem like this needs to be immediately after the World-Soul Saga with the way you've written it though

[username993720]

Makes them a bit easier to interact with if they can walk around and talk though, instead of being mountain-sized piles of flesh or living flame. The Old Gods have been criticized for not being very developed characters, but they also aren't especially Lovecraftian god-types either - they talk and have plans and personalities, they have character, but it's pretty shallow. Giving them 'avatars' to make them more personable might be something that helps with that.

This didn't really come up in the concept I made, but I did imagine the Old Gods also being able to change back into mobile, beholder-like forms that reflect their original eldritch-abomination selves.

It also takes away from what they are, as it makes them all into humanoids. Meaning, we'll be facing humanoids for the rest of the game, since it is the preferred form most of the time. Not all villains need to be humans who make villainous monologues in dramatic cutscenes. Iridikron's one after DotI already looked like the Jailer's one after SoD.

[Golden Yak]

Not really sold on the setting, but nonetheless some great stuff that has a lot of character to it which I can appreciate.

And I have to say that the fabulous art is reminding me heavily of the artstyle in the game Wildermyth...is there perhaps some part of the inspiration coming from?

I'm not familiar with that game, no. Some neat character design in it though, so I appreciate the comparison.

It also doesn't seem like this needs to be immediately after the World-Soul Saga with the way you've written it though

Yeah, it's set after Last Titan but doesn't need to happen the day after or anything. There isn't that much in the way of underground I don't feel either, the revamped Un'goro would have an underground element (in addition to the surface) as a lead-in to the first raid but that's it. Everything else is on the surface.

Except I guess the last raid, but like... lots of raids are in enclosed spaces, I don't think that should count.

I do understand that a lot of folks aren't that interested in the cosmic scene - I personally am, though I want it to feel connected with Azeroth as much as possible. Hence the notion of a 'demigod,' a lesser agent of one of the greater powers, coming to attack us rather than us going to some 'Life Realm' or into the Emerald Dream for the whole thing.

It also takes away from what they are, as it makes them all into humanoids. Meaning, we'll be facing humanoids for the rest of the game, since it is the preferred form most of the time. Not all villains need to be humans who make villainous monologues in dramatic cutscenes. Iridikron's one after DotI already looked like the Jailer's one after SoD.

I guess I just don't really feel the same way about monstrous entities. I don't find them having humanoid avatars detracts from the impact of their true selves, especially when they transform into their more monstrous states - then you get a sense that the gloves are off and things are getting serious.

Frankly, I found the visages of the Incarnates more interesting than their primal dragon forms - I like those too, but Fyrakk looks cooler in his humanoid form. I still think it's impactful when he leaps into the air and explodes into his dragon form and comes crashing down on you.

[Faerillis]

Yeah, it's set after Last Titan but doesn't need to happen the day after or anything. There isn't that much in the way of underground I don't feel either, the revamped Un'goro would have an underground element (in addition to the surface) as a lead-in to the first raid but that's it. Everything else is on the surface.

Except I guess the last raid, but like... lots of raids are in enclosed spaces, I don't think that should count.

I do understand that a lot of folks aren't that interested in the cosmic scene - I personally am, though I want it to feel connected with Azeroth as much as possible. Hence the notion of a 'demigod,' a lesser agent of one of the greater powers, coming to attack us rather than us going to some 'Life Realm' or into the Emerald Dream for the whole thing.

I like the idea of the Demigod as a Lesser Agent coming to us — and for what it's worth Ogun's design is phenomenal (though he might be a little misnamed, as his real life namesake is a god of metalwork) — and it does make for a good way to seed a 'Saga' like this. The problem is... well, that's Xal'atath. A not quite Godly servant of the highest echelons of their Cosmic force priming Azeroth for their God's arrival? Yeah that's our knaifu in a nutshell. Add on to that the major Old God elements, the newer more Humanoid forms of an Aqir off-shoot race with, the heavy ties to Sargeras's sword and Elun'ahir? It's hard not to draw the parallels. That's not to call your ideas derivative or anything, it's that you're using what Blizzard has established in this chunk of Azeroth in the way that makes sense for a Cosmic power to interact with it. Sadly, Khaz Algar is so geographically close that Blizzard is using a lot of those same beats for TWW.

But there are a lot of things I quite like about it.

I always got the feeling that Life was the most Collaborative of the Cosmic Forces, and it feels like you echo that notion. You even use that as a way for an interloper to take advantage of Life's tendencies, and that's just good narrative planning.
Although I'm not so hot on the change from Disorder to Destruction, I think the Doom of Kalimdor finale with Denathrius switching sides the way Sargeras had is a very cool way to bring that character back as a plausible threat with new power sets.
Expanding the Razorfens and making the Quilboar actually significant is a really good way to show the impact of Life on the area. A lot more interesting than the Botani who escaped into the Barrens who would have been an easy but less satisfying way to do similar things.

Also I didn't realize the other two chapters were up, and I'm looking forward to reading them as I drag my ass to bed.

[username993720]

I guess I just don't really feel the same way about monstrous entities. I don't find them having humanoid avatars detracts from the impact of their true selves, especially when they transform into their more monstrous states - then you get a sense that the gloves are off and things are getting serious.

Frankly, I found the visages of the Incarnates more interesting than their primal dragon forms - I like those too, but Fyrakk looks cooler in his humanoid form. I still think it's impactful when he leaps into the air and explodes into his dragon form and comes crashing down on you.

I guess that's where you and i differ. I think they look like Cartoon Network villains. Barely in draconic forms, they don't feel very intimidating.

[Z3ROR]

Cool idea. Love this.

I feel like Tauren would be quite important in this saga as well. And it would be a good opportunity to revamp Mulgore/Thunder Bluff as well.

[Golden Yak]

I like the idea of the Demigod as a Lesser Agent coming to us — and for what it's worth Ogun's design is phenomenal (though he might be a little misnamed, as his real life namesake is a god of metalwork)

Also hunting and war! And there's an Ogoun in expanded wow lore who is the Loa of War that in my headcanon actually refers to my Ogun. There would be some troll lore to explore through that angle.

The problem is... well, that's Xal'atath. A not quite Godly servant of the highest echelons of their Cosmic force priming Azeroth for their God's arrival? Yeah that's our knaifu in a nutshell. Add on to that the major Old God elements, the newer more Humanoid forms of an Aqir off-shoot race with, the heavy ties to Sargeras's sword and Elun'ahir? It's hard not to draw the parallels.

...huh. I guess the similarities do start to stack up. I choose to believe this is an example of great minds thinking alike. Though in fairness, the qiraji have always had pretty humanoid designs, imo. 'cept for the prophet, those guys are pretty weird.

Although I'm not so hot on the change from Disorder to Destruction

It's really just a name change to a term I find more fitting for the demon faction. To me, the notion of 'chaos/disorder' fits much better with Void, it being the chaotic mass of all possibilities and potentials, whereas demons have always just kind've destroyed stuff.

Also I didn't realize the other two chapters were up, and I'm looking forward to reading them as I drag my ass to bed.

Would love to hear your thoughts on them as well.

Cool idea. Love this.

I feel like Tauren would be quite important in this saga as well. And it would be a good opportunity to revamp Mulgore/Thunder Bluff as well.

I thought about having Mulgore be the expansion capitol early on. I forget why I changed it. I think I just like the idea of Gadgetzan getting an overhaul to be more like the Hearthstone version.