The Twilight Cult

There was one simple rule that all had to follow...

You serve or you die.

Serve well, and you will die last.

Your death will be painless.

Simplicity at its best when it came to the enigmatic Twilight's Hammer. The cult itself held a prophecy of doom since its formation and all members were steadfast to bring about this prophecy. They wanted it, they desired it. They believed that Gul'dan's Horde would bring about the destruction of the world of Azeroth and they were his best supporters. When he did not, they looked to other sources who would work for their needs. The Hammers continued to hold their beliefs strong. Destruction of life is what they desired, the world thrown into chaos and madness, for in the beginning, that is what ruled, not order. Hope came to them when they heard the sinister voices of the Old Gods, twisted, elderich monsters, trapped in the deep and dark places of the planet by the Titans. The Old Gods let loose their tentacles upon the twin-minds of their leader Cho'Gall, the first ogre mage and leader of the Hammers, and he answered them with fervor. He became a servant of them.

However, as it must be, good triumphs over evil and his master, the sinister C'thun was thwarted and slain, but this did not stop the Hammer's strike. They found no end of support from the other Old Gods. And their numbers grew. Cho'Gall welcomed anyone into the cult itself, anyone who he could use for his means, for to the Old Gods, it did not matter what race they were, only that they were here to serve.

And serve they did.

They served, their faith in the true masters of Azeroth was strong.

If they died, their death was only a victorious one to the might of the Hammer. True blind devotion.

The madness of the Old Gods spread through the ranks. Those who once held allegiance to the forces of good now did not even know their own family's faces. All that mattered was the coming of Armageddon. The end of Azeroth and the beginning of the Hour of Twilight.

The Hour of Twilight, the end of the Titan-created plague upon Azeroth, and all will return to what it once was before they came. All would be madness. The chaotic elements will once more rule, the dead will walk the earth, in service to the Old Gods, and order will be destroyed.

This is what they wanted. They knew their deaths will come, it was inevitable. But it was necessary. They will bring about the means of the end itself, and then rest for eternity, sleeping in chaos. Perhaps they will rise as new undead denizens of the world for their service to the Old Gods.

Their faith was strong.

Their numbers were growing.

They called out to the lost, to the confused, to those who heard the Old Gods and were shunned by those who did not. They belonged together. And together, they will unmake the world.

Through the whispers of the Old Gods, they were lead to Deepholm. There, they found the one thing that they knew would be the ultimate weapon against those who clinged to their pathetic lives and faith in the order the Titans created.

They found the fallen Aspect of Earth.

Deathwing, once called Neltharion, the Earth-Warder, created and empowered by Khaz'Goroth to guard the planet itself and watch over the prison of the Old Gods. The immense Black Dragon Aspect had fallen into Deepholm, one of the places he had called his home, in order to heal from his last battle. He had been defeated by the four other Aspects, who destroyed his precious Dragon Soul and released their powers upon him. The ancient adamantine armor goblin servants fashioned him was shattered, pulled apart from his body. His jaw was broken. His fiery blood bled from the splitting fissures along his body. He had retreated to the deep-most part of the Temple of Earth, the temple the Titans created for him to guard the World Pillar, and there he rested. They found him in a pool of his magma-like blood, his body expanding enormously from the incredible power he was given from the Dragon Soul. The Old Gods told the Hammers his story that he was the first of their servants.

Ten thousand years ago, the Three saw the flaw that Khaz'Goroth made his "son" with when he created the mighty and noble Black Dragon from the flesh of Galakrond. Neltharion, though created with great wisdom and a strong mind, was not fashioned with the mental fortitude to fight against the Whispers. They exploited it. Because he was the closest to them, and also because he was created with the Heart of Azeroth inside of him, taking him down would spell out doom for the world. He wielded the very fabric of the planet, calling it to his needs. He shaped the land, made the air, and seeded the water. If Neltharion fell, then the very planet that is Azeroth without its Earth-Warder will slowly go into chaos. Without the planet remaining stable, life will be plunged into chaos as well.

He was perfect for their needs.

They broke him, they showed him horrors beyond his imagination. Twisted and vile, they tore his mind apart until two beings split off. One was good, the other evil. The evil personality, they nourished with their powers and he grew beyond the control of the good personality. However, one could not live without the other, and so the good personality was locked up, forced to watch as his other self acted out horrible atrocities with the powers bestowed upon him. With the planet at his command, Deathwing slaughtered all who would stand against him, including the flight of his once best friend Malygos. He demanded worship from the mortals, claiming to be their new god. He demanded that both his sisters Alexstrasza and Ysera be nothing more than slaves to him for him to use as he saw fit, including sexual pleasures. He raped and killed his consorts, all but one, only to drive her to madness. His flight were also plunged into the same madness.

He lowered the mountains, raised the seas, and through him, Azeroth knew its first wars. The Old Gods had found a powerful pawn. All the good personality of the Black Aspect could do was watch in horror as if he was living an unending nightmare.

The Old Gods led the Twilight Hammers to Deathwing and they spoke to him as well, telling him that they would be the means for his recovery. The Hammers set their best right to work on fashioning a new set of armor plates, made from elementium. Elementium was stronger than the old Adamantine armor that Deathwing previously wore. They cast the plates in molds and began to hammer them onto his back and sides. They fashioned a jaw brace and drilled it into his lower jaw. They even fashioned a blade for his tail and blade-like spines for his wings. As he moved in almost joyous agony from the work done, the world itself began to heave around him. The earth split, walls of water rose up and crashed upon the land, swallowing coastline towns. Volcanos irrupted. Then, when they were through, Deathwing bellowed, spreading his wings wide and launched into the air, destroying the World Pillar as he blasted out of Deepholm. With his rise came the Second Sundering of the world.

He was the Aspect of Death now, bringing about chaos and destruction as he flew.

The world broke as Deathwing set fire to the ground, unleashing the chaotic elementals.

At last, the Twilight's Hammer would have their doomsday. They would obey Deathwing as they did the Old Gods. They believed that basking in his flames would be the glory they sought when the world finally ended.

And it would end when all five Aspects were dead.

Deathwing had created a new flight, known as the Twilight Dragonflight, vampiric purple-scaled dragons that fed upon the energies of the world. They were wielders of the power of shadow. Though he had his own flight, he prized the new flight he created above even them. The Twilight Dragons were superior to his own black dragons, and they served their father with endless loyalty. Though, underneath that loyalty to Deathwing was a greater loyalty to the Old Gods. They knew that for the Old Gods to fully return, their father had to die. And they were more than willing to carry out that act once Deathwing's usefulness had come to an end. Though, Deathwing's own madness clouded his mind to the truth. Deep down, the remaining good personality that was Neltharion knew it all too well his days were limited.

Death will come to him.

And he longed for that death. He cried out for it. It would end his torment.

The day came and Deathwing was finally ordered to make an assault upon Wyrmrest. He brought his twilight dragons there and Twilight cultists flocked to assist him. Alexstrasza and the other Aspects banned together to stop him. They had called upon their champion, Go'el, also known as Thrall, the former Warchief of the Horde, a powerful shaman to aid them in defeating Deathwing once and for all. Alexstrasza and the other dragons raced up to meet him while Thrall gave them his support with his power over the elements. Thrall had called upon the powers that still bound Neltharion as the Earth-Warder, and without knowing, had called upon the Earth-Warder himself to aid in defeating Deathwing. He had touched the personality of Neltharion and through the Earth Aspect, was able to bring down Deathwing. Neltharion reached out to Thrall, giving him the last of his strength and Deathwing fell upon the frozen wastes of Dragonblight. It seemed, Deathwing was finally dead.

However, Neltharion was not.

The Black Aspect awoke, opening his eyes for the first time in ten thousand years, asking for forgiveness from his siblings. He explained what had happened to him, that the Old Gods in breaking his mind, created that horrible personality who came into control. When Thrall freed Neltharion from his bonds, the Earth-Warder broke the ties he had with the Old Gods, and the great power they fed him was purged from his body. Neltharion had become the first uncorrupted black dragon in ten thousand years.

It was an irony.

Alexstrasza healed most of Neltharion's broken body, sealing the fissures that ran along his great flank. The broken elementium plates were tossed aside and goblins and dwarves, allies to Wyrmrest fashioned new elementium plates (since elementium had become quite a common ore during the Cataclysm), hammering them to his spine. His jaw was healed and the horrible mandible that was attached to it now tossed aside.

Earth-Warder had returned and he once more pledged his service to keeping the order of the world. Old allegiances were abandoned while new ones were formed. However, because his ties to the Old Gods were severed and the fact he had not used his powers in ten thousand years, Neltharion was weakened. He had to rest so that he may become strong again and once more return to his duties with renewed strength as the Guardian of Azeroth.

Neltharion found a kindred spirit in the form of the former princess of Lordaeron and sister of the Lich King Arthas, Calia Menethil, his wife by a political marriage during the Second War. Together, they stopped the remaining allies of Deathwing from activating a terrible device. Neltharion settled down with her in Theramore, resting to regain his strength.

However, news of his betrayal came swiftly to Twilight's Hammer. They were cheated by Deathwing, who promised them the destruction of Azeroth. Neltharion wanted nothing of that and turned his back on them.

There was one simple rule, serve or die.

For this betrayal, there can be only one punishment.

Neltharion had to die.

If in life, he will not bring about the Hour of Twilight, then Azeroth will crumble upon his death.