World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 (24 page)

Brimming with newfound confidence and purpose, Shaohao set out to spare Pandaria from the Sundering that was to come. He planned to do so by separating his land from the rest of Kalimdor. The emperor would perform his grand task in the heart of Pandaria: the sacred Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

In the vale, Shaohao focused his powers to sever his empire from Kalimdor. Yet try as he might, he could not succeed. His doubts and fears returned. Across Pandaria, the imprisoned sha stirred to life and feasted on the emperor’s uncertainties.

As the Legion’s fel magics set the heavens alight, Shaohao desperately called upon the aid of the wisest August Celestial, the Jade Serpent. She appeared in the roiling skies and told Shaohao that Pandaria was more than just
his
empire. Everything in Pandaria was connected. Everything in Pandaria was one.

It was then that Shaohao understood the Jade Serpent’s advice: to save his land, he would need to become one with it. Despite his dream of living a long and prosperous life, he knew it was not to be.

With his mind clear and his heart set on the task ahead, Shaohao merged his spirit with the land itself and forced it to break away from the rest of Kalimdor. His very essence shrouded Pandaria in a thick mist that would hide it from the outside world and protect it from the terrible Sundering.

For the next ten thousand years, Pandaria would remain hidden, and it faded into legend.

T
HE
S
HA OF
P
RIDE

There was one negative emotion that Shaohao never purged from himself: pride. It would silently lurk in Pandaria in the millennia after the emperor spared his people and his land from the Sundering
.

MAP OF AZEROTH AFTER THE SUNDERING

THE HIGH ELF KINGDOM OF QUEL’THALAS

T
he
Sundering had left the world broken. The
Well of Eternity was gone, and so, too, was the once-coveted source of the
night elves’ arcane power. Desperate for refuge, the surviving night elves fled northwest to
Mount Hyjal, one of the few places on Azeroth untouched by the destruction.

En route to Hyjal,
Malfurion Stormrage and the other night elves concluded that arcane magic was not safe. They agreed to prohibit its use to avoid another catastrophe like the
War of the Ancients. Yet as they reached the summit of Hyjal, they were horrified to discover a second, smaller Well of Eternity. Equally shocking was the figure whom the night elves found standing at the fount’s shores:
Illidan.

Before the Sundering, Illidan had filled several vials with enchanted liquid from the original Well of Eternity. He had poured some of them into the lake atop Hyjal, transforming the idyllic waters into another fount of arcane power.

Violence erupted when a group of night elves confronted Illidan, and his brother Malfurion was forced to restrain him. Yet Illidan insisted that a new Well of Eternity was necessary. With it, the night elves would have the arcane power they needed to fight off the
Burning Legion when—not
if
, but
when
—it returned.

Though some of the surviving
Highborne agreed with Illidan, the majority of the night elves did not. They chastised him for his brash and selfish act, claiming that a new Well of Eternity could be used as a gateway for the Legion. Even then, Illidan remained unapologetic.

Seeing no other recourse, the night elves decided to deal with Illidan once and for all. Ultimately, the decision was made to imprison the sorcerer. Malfurion himself would see to enacting this punishment. With the help of
Cenarius, he chained Illidan deep within a barrow prison. Malfurion then charged the priestess
Maiev Shadowsong to stand guard over the wayward sorcerer. She would later take on the mantle of warden, founding an order of elite and secretive night elf jailors.

THE
DRAGON ASPECTS BLESS THE WORLD TREE
NORDRASSIL

Upon learning of the second Well, three of the great Dragon Aspects converged on Hyjal. Like the night elves, they knew that so long as the fount of power existed, the Legion would have a means to invade Azeroth once again. Thus the Aspect of Life,
Alexstrasza, used an enchanted seed to sprout a mighty tree over the Well of Eternity. The tree’s boughs soon towered over the lake, scraping the belly of the heavens. Its roots grew deep into the earth, spreading life-giving energies across the war-torn world. Thereafter, the great tree would act as a seal over the new Well of Eternity, preventing the Legion or anyone else from abusing its powers.

Malfurion and the other night elves looked upon this colossal World Tree and named it
Nordrassil
, meaning “Crown of the Heavens.” They vowed to keep it safe and protect the Well of Eternity at any cost.

To honor this decision, the Dragon Aspects agreed to bless the night elves so that they could perform their guardianship successfully. Alexstrasza infused Nordrassil with renewed strength and vitality, which would also extend to the night elves.

The Aspect of Dreams,
Ysera, then blessed the tree, binding it and all night elf druids to the
Emerald Dream. Prior to this, Malfurion and his followers had wandered Ysera’s realm, but doing so required difficult meditation. The new enchantment placed on Nordrassil would allow these druids to journey into the Dream whenever they so wished.

Lastly,
Nozdormu, the Aspect of Time, wove his energies through the boughs and roots of Nordrassil, assuring that as long as the colossal tree stood, the night elves would possess immortality.

With that, the Aspects ventured back to their hidden lairs. Due to their enchantments, the second Well of Eternity would no longer act as a beacon to demons, nor could the Legion easily use it as a gateway into Azeroth. It would become a symbol of the night elves’ connection to the natural world, a sacred monument that empowered their race with immunity to sickness, disease, and aging.