Premonitions, Theories and Revelations

The world is changing. I can feel it. It has been mere days since I acquired the map of the Ley Lines surrounding the Dark Portal, and still I have a lingering suspicion that everything the humans of Nethergarde knew has just been made obsolete. So, I had to see it for myself.

I landed at Grom'Gol, and the other changes were apparent. The dull looks on the guards' eyes were gone, and their posture has improved. Apparently the Empire's "protection" has proved ineffective, and Thrall has seen fit to beef up the defenses. Good for them.

The jungle seemed the same as always. The guards around Darkshire were as dullminded as always, and could barely notice my passing. But then.. at Deadwind Pass, I felt it again. A sense of change. A foreboding feeling. The Magus' tower has been dormant for a long time, but this.. The Portal could wait for a moment.

The feeling of foreboding only increased in intensity when I approached the Hourglass Tower. It was best to prepare. I changed into more suitable clothes, in case I ran into trouble. And this.. staff infused with infidel energies might prove to be useful. I moved closer when I was attacked by the restless spirits. I had fought them before, but now they attacked with unparallered fury!

I managed to elude them. The side entrance was unchanged, but there were three people at the main gate. Two of them were clearly mages, but the third.. I'm not sure about him.



Anyway, I approached them carefully. To my surprise, they were fairly civil. Arrogant of course, but civil enough to speak to me and not attack me on sight. After a short discussion, it became apparent that they were from de fabled Violet Citadel of the Human Spellweavers. Dalaran I believe what it was called in their language. I have passed it many times on my travels, but didn't give them much thought. But if they are moving, something is festering here. Since they have not entered the tower themselves, the Magus' barriers still hold. I had to find out more, but the spirits' fury was not to be underestimated. Fortunately there was an another way.

I took out a vial of purple liquid from my backpack. Despite my doubts, this has proven useful before. I drank the vial with one gulp. I never get used to the effect. It feels like vertigo, even if I'm standing on solid ground. I look down and see my body on the ground. Perfect. This won't last forever, so I have to move quickly.

My spirit moves past the wraiths like I was not even there. I float down the stairs and confirm some of my suspicions. The cellars are writhing with spirits, wraiths, banshees and ghosts. They too feel it. I also try to enter the crypt, but something has enforced the wards, preventing me from entering. I'm sure that the key to this mystery would be there, but my divination skills are inadequate for this task. There is nothing more to be done here.

I rode back to the pass and towards the Swamp. I was already some distance away from the Hourglass Tower, but still the feeling of foreboding has not passed. But I had to move on. It was time to see the Portal. Oddly, the demonic guards were not at their posts, and a powerful force seemed to have burrowed a small passageway in the ground.



Astonishing. It seems that all of the demonic guards have been defeated by Thrall's orcs. But where are they? Their camp is intact with no signs of combat. None whatsoever. And the portal..



The portal has been powered back up. But I don't see Outland.. This is.. bad. It's good that the demons are gone, but activating the portal now could be bad. Worse than the War of the Shifting Sands. Worse for all. I dug out the illustration from my backpack. I had borrowed it from Nethergarde just a few days ago, and it took considerable effort to decipher the meaning. The humans had just mapped the Ley Lines and left it at that. They never thought what this configuration meant. And now the Ley Lines have changed again..

Yes.. This confirms a part of my hypothesis. Creating permanent portals requires a whole lot of power. More than any being, save for the Spellweaver itself could handle. Perhaps even more. I guess that even the Ancient of Secrets would struggle with these amounts. The Magus never had a chance of opening the Dark Portal with only his own power. Not even if he had brought an army of sorcerers. But this.. this was simply.. elegant. And so simple on the surface.

Creating a rift to the Nether is easy. The hard part is to maintain it. His solution was to draw out the power from the planet itself through the Ley Lines. Then he.. streched them towards Draenor, while the orc warlock Gul'dan did the same from his side. And when the Ley Lines from the two worlds met, they were weaved together, linking the worlds. Then the pathway was carefully stretched to usable size. Despite it's elegance, it was also dangerous. If one drew too much power and stretched the Ley Lines too much, they could.. break.

Without the protection offered by the Ley Lines, the planet could not hold together. Pieces would fall off, and the complex web of the Lines would slowly unravel. Yes. This is probably what happened to the orc homeworld. They didn't know when to stop stretching. They broke the Ley Lines. They broke the world. If the Portal had not been shut down, the released energies would have travelled back here to Azeroth through the crumbling Ley Lines. The unraveling would have continued, with the power of two planets being forced to travel through less and less Lines. Azeroth would have been cut to pieces like.. hot steel wires cut a fruit.

And now something was stretching the Ley Lines again. Who would be so reckless? I had to investigate more. The Portal would not give me more answers now. I had to go elsewhere. Or else..when. Yes. They know, but they probably won't tell me. Still, it was a possibility.

When I rode towards the Caverns of Time, the feeling of foreboding returned. Were the Qiraji repeating their attempt against the guardian? Fortunately, Anachronos seemed unchanged. But.. the Caverns were open! Like a moth to the flame, I had to go in. Pieces from here and there.. boats.. buildings.. trees.. people. Yes. Humans, orcs, dwarves, elves, dragons. Familiar faces, also driven here by curiosity. Beings that I have never seen before. But something was wrong here as well. I passed a patrol of heavily armed Bronze Dragonkin on my way inside. If the Bronze prepare for war, it is always for the direst need. But then I looked up. I saw it.



Him. The Timeless One. Nozdormu. And.. I.. I don't know. I don't know at all. I have no idea what that majestic thing is. But at the same time.. I know that it is important. More important than anything.

I found myself later at Gadgetzan. I don't know how much time I spent in that wondorous place. I don't even rember riding back. I suppose it doesn't matter. But.. I completely forgot to ask about the Portal. Drat.